[index (frame version)]       [index (text version)]

STREAMS_MON Minimization.                      Original Date: Oct.  7/96
------------------------                       Last  Revised: Oct. 10/96

  Due to a deficiency in IRIX 5.3, the current operating system on our SGI Challenge XL (server), the users of this system sometimes encounter slow response times especially in the echo back of characters typed. This is known as the 'streams_mon' or 'streams_strhold' problem. An operating system upgrade to IRIX 6.2, to resolve this deficiency, was scheduled for August, in time for the Fall Semester.  Unfortunately, the upgrade was delayed in order to accommodate other important software, which will not be compatible with IRIX 6.2 until later this year. The upgrade to IRIX 6.2 to resolve this deficiency has been rescheduled for January 1997, in time for the Winter Semester.Computing Services regrets the frustration and inconvenience that the streams_mon problem is causing our customers. We are doing whatever we can to minimize the streams_mon impact. We also have some suggestions for our customers to try when confronted with the slow echo back of characters typed.

1. Remote connections.
For those people who use a telnet program from your PC at home or  through dialup, try again at another time, preferably before 10:00a.m. or after 6:00p.m. when the number of users on the system is lower. Or instead of telnet, use an X Windows emulator such as Micro-X.  Licenced copies of Micro-X for home use are available from the  University Bookstore for a nominal fee.

2. Office connections.
Instead of using Clarkson or some other telnet package, use an X Windows emulator such as Micro-X. Staff and Faculty may obtain a copy of Micro-X for on-campus office use from the Helpdesk.

3. Editing.
For graphical users of the editors pico, vi, and uniXEDIT (xe), try the  'nedit' editor, or the 'xedit' editor. Nedit and xedit only work if you are   using an X-terminal or are running an X Windows emulator on your PC such as Micro-X. We are busy searching for a suitable alternative editor for our ASCII/telnet customers.
 
4. Mail Processing.
For users of 'pine', try the 'elm' mail reader instead. If you are a graphics user, set your default ELM editor to 'nedit' or 'xedit' by selecting 'o' (for options) from the ELM main menu, and following the prompts.

5. Reading Newsgroups.
If you are using 'pine' to read the news groups, then use a different  newsgroup reader, such as 'trn' for ASCII clients or 'netscape' for GUI clients.  If you have access to the NOVELL network, try the NOVELL  netscape client instead of the one on 'server'.
 
This document will be updated whenever we find other options to improve response times for our users.
 
 

[index (frame version)]       [index (text version)]