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1993-03-03
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79KB
Path: labri.greco-prog.fr!corsini
Newsgroups: news.answers,comp.answers,comp.os.linux,comp.os.linux.announce
Distribution: world
Followup-To: poster
From: corsini@labri.greco-prog.fr
Reply-To: linux@numero6.greco-prog.fr
Organization: Greco Prog. CNRS & LaBRI, Bordeaux France
Subject: Linux Frequently Asked Questions 1/4 [monthly posted]
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
Summary: Linux, a small and free unix-like for 386-AT computers.
Archive-name: linux-faq/part1
Last-Modified: 93/02/11
Version: 1.16
*********************************************************
* *
* Answers to Frequently asked questions about Linux *
* *
*********************************************************
This post contains Part 1 of the Linux FAQ (4 parts)
Hi Linuxers!
The original FAQ 1st version was posted on Dec. 19, 1991 by Robert Blum.
Most credits to Linus, Robert and Ted for the departure point of this
work. The first X11 section was written by Peter Hawkins, the rest was
either on the list posted by many (real) activists, not me ;-), either
in some other news groups, or else by direct posting to me (thanks
Humberto, Dan, Michael, Drew, Audoin). I haven't systematically
copyrighted them, so thanks to every one who participated even
indirectly to this FAQ.
Since September 1992, the FAQ is co-written by:
WHO (WHAT) E-MAIL
=============================================================================
Lars Wirzenius (META-FAQ) wirzeniu@cc.helsinki.fi
Mark Komarinski (DOS) komarimf@craft.camp.clarkson.edu
Matt Welsh (GENERAL INFO) mdw@tc.cornell.edu
Matt Welsh (INSTALLATION) mdw@tc.cornell.edu
Drew Eckhardt (SCSI) drew@headrest.woz.colorado.edu
Hongjiu Lu (GCC) hlu@eecs.wsu.edu
Krishna Balasubramanian (X11) balasub@cis.ohio-state.edu
Zane Healy (BBS INFO) healyzh@holonet.net
Philip Copeland (NET INFO) p_copela@csd.bristol-poly.ac.uk
Rick Miller (DEVICE INFO) rick@ee.uwm.edu
Peter MacDonald (SLS INFO) pmacdona@sanjuan.uvic.ca
Rick Sladkey (EMACS) jrs@world.std.com
Dirk Hohndel (PROOF READER) hohndel@informatik.uni-wuerzburg.dbp.de
Marc-Michel Corsini (FAQ collector) corsini@{labri,firmin}.greco-prog.fr
=============================================================================
If anyone is interested in participating with this FAQ, just send me a
note with: your name/e-mail and the section you want to maintain.
Many of the questions could be avoided, if people had read the FAQ of
the following newsgroups: news.announce.newusers, comp.lang.c,
gnu.emacs.help, comp.unix.questions, comp.windows.x.i386unix.
[The last-change-date of this posting is always "two minutes ago". :-)]
This is the introduction to a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ
for short) about Linux with answers (Yeap!). This article contains a
listing of the sections and queries.
This FAQ is supposed to reduce the noise level ;-) in the
comp.os.linux newsgroup, and spare the time of many activists. I will
cross-post it each month to news.answers. This FAQ is NOT an
introduction to UNIX, there are many books for unix, and there is
*also* a FAQ for unix (it's the one of comp.unix.questions which
contains things such as "How do I remove a file named -". I DO NOT
WANT TO ADD SUCH THINGS IN THIS FAQ DEVOTED TO LINUX.
Some books to read:
The C Programming Language: Kernighan & Ritchie
POSIX Programmer's Guide: D. Lewine
Unix System Administration Handbook: Nemeth, Snyder & Seebass.
Unix for the Impatient: Abrahams & Larson
Unix System V Release 4, An Introduction, by Rosen, Rosinski and
Farber; Publisher Osborne MacGraw-Hill.
The X Windows System in a Nutshell: O'Reilly.
.....
BTW This FAQ is available at the main Linux sites in the doc
directory, the addresses are given in section II. of this FAQ. There
is also an automated FAQ mailserver archive at pit-manager.mit.edu.
Send mail to mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu with the word "help" in
the body.
The information in this multi-parts FAQ is likely to change relatively
quickly. If this is more than two months old (it was released on
February 1993) then you should obtain a new copy. See the paragraph
above for details of where to find a more recent version.
Please suggest any change, rephrasing, deletions, new questions,
answers ...
Please include "FAQ" in the subject of messages sent to me about FAQ.
Please use linux@numero6.greco-prog.fr whatever will be the From part
of this message. Finally discussion about the FAQ can be done on the
DOC Channel (see section II).
Thanks in advance,
Marc
The FAQ can be found in LaTeX version, thanks to Pepe Flores Peters.
Future Plan:
- provide FAQ as diff too, since it seems to stay stable
except for very few sections.
- perform automatic post to c.o.l, c.o.l.a, c.a and n.a
every month as I promised long time ago.
================================8<=====8<==============================
CONTENTS (of this part)
0. WARNINGS (part1)
I. LINUX GENERAL INFORMATION (part1)
II. LINUX USEFUL ADDRESSES (part1)
III. INSTALLATION and COMMON PROBLEMS (part1)
================================8<=====8<==============================
0. WARNINGS
===========
The FAQ contains a lot of information sometimes I've put it down
in 3 different ways because people seems not to understand what they
read (or what I wrote, you know I'm just a froggy and english is not
my natural language). What I mean is that not all is in the FAQ but
many things are there, so please just take time to read it this will
spare a lot of the other linuxers [and if you think I should rephrase
some Q/A just drop me a note with the corrections].
As the Linux kernel changes monthly (and even more ...), I define 2
pseudo variables a la C one for the version, and one for the date of
the release.
#define CURRENT_VERSION 0.99 /* the current version */
#define PATCH_LEVEL 5 /* the patch level */
#define KERNEL_DATE 10, Feb. /* Date of the CURRENT_VERSION */
In what follows I'll consider CURRENT_VERSION as the current version.
> From: torvalds@cs.Helsinki.FI (Linus Torvalds)
> Subject: ANNOUNCE: linux 0.99 patchlevel 5
> Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1993 12:02:55 +0200
>
>
> "He's done it yet again - doesn't he ever rest?"
> - anonymous linux kernel hacker
>
> Only complete newbies don't know what this is all about, but I'd better
> tell you anyway: patchlevel 5 of the 0.99 kernel is now available on
> nic.funet.fi (pub/OS/Linux/PEOPLE/Linus) as both context diffs against
> pl4 and complete source code. I'm not even going to speculate on 1.0
> right now.
>
> The pl5 diffs are about 90kB compressed: the major changes are to the
> tcp/ip code and the serial driver, while there are various minor fixes
> strewn around the system:
>
> - serial lines/tty changes (tytso & Fred v Kempen)
> - NFS bugfixes (Rick Sladkey)
> - tcp/ip (Ross Biro)
> - coprocessor handling changes (me)
> - harddisk driver error handling (Mika Liljeberg)
> - various minor patches (me and others)
>
> Serial lines now implement non-blocking opens correctly and support
> dial-out lines (same minor, major==5). I changed the default startup
> mode to be CLOCAL so that people won't get confused by the modem line
> code when not using dial-in.
>
> Another interesting change is the 387 error-coupling tests at bootup:
> the code to check if the intel-recommended exception 16 error reporting
> is present is "non-obvious". If you have had problems with coprocessor
> error handling, or have a non-intel coprocessor, I'd suggest you test
> this out: I'd like to hear about problems/successes.
>
> Linus
>
> PS. If you tested out the latest ALPHA-diffs (the ones that already
> changed the kernel version to pl5), the changes to the final pl5 were
> only cosmetic.
I. LINUX GENERAL INFORMATION
=============================
*** This section is maintained by Matt Welsh (mdw@tc.cornell.edu). Mail
*** him if you have corrections, additions, other questions, etc.
*** Last update November 1992.
QUESTION: What is linux?
ANSWER: Linux is a small unix for 386-AT computers, that has the added
advantage of being free(*). It is still in beta-testing, but is slowly
getting useful even for somewhat real developement. The current
version is CURRENT_VERSION, date: KERNEL_DATE.
(*) Free means that you may use it, change it , redistribute it, as
long as you don't change the copyright. Free does not mean public
domain.
Linux is a freely distributable UNIX clone. It implements a subset of
System V and POSIX functionality, and contains a lot of BSD-isms.
LINUX has been written from scratch, and therefore does not contain
any AT&T or MINIX code--not in the kernel, the compiler, the
utilities, or the libraries. For this reason it can be made available
with the complete source code via anonymous FTP. LINUX runs only on
386/486 AT-bus machines; porting to non-Intel architectures is likely
to be difficult, as the kernel makes extensive use of 386 memory
management and task primitives.
QUESTION: Does Linux support GCC, TCP/IP, X-Windows, MGR, etc.?
ANSWER: Linux currently supports and uses a large amount of the GNU
software (i.e. GCC, bison, groff, etc) so all of that functionality is
there. X-Windows is also available, along with many client
applications. MGR is there too. TCP/IP is in testing, and is available
for you to try out.
(Dirk Hohndel:) TCP/IP is available. I use Linux boxes as Xterminals
and my "own" asterix has mounted half a Gig via NFS. Mitch DSuoza is
running an anonymous FTP server on his Linux box. This is definitely
more than testing. The newest SLS has a TCP/IP kernel by default.
See section VIII of this FAQ ("Features")!
In short, Linux supports many, many features and programs. One of the
biggest questions is:
"Does ***** work on Linux? Does Linux have *****?"
The answer, usually, is "yes". Just check out the rest of this FAQ,
the newsgroup, as well as the files on the FTP sites.
QUESTION: What is the current state of Linux?
ANSWER: read the comp.os.linux newsgroup, where the INFO-SHEET is
periodically posted.
QUESTION: I've just heard about linux, what should I do to get it?
ANSWER: FIRST read this FAQ, and especially section III
(installation). Choose a "release" of Linux (such as MCC, SLS,
bootdisk/rootdisk, etc). Download from your nearest FTP site, use the
"rawrite" program as needed to write the images to high-density
floppies (5.25 or 3.5). Specific instructions are given in section III
and in the README files for each release.
Note that some releases only give you the kernel and a few utilities,
and others give you everything you need (including X11, GCC, and more)
in that latter case the downloading is close to a douzen of SOFT. Just
check out section III for more info.
QUESTION: Does it run on my computer?
ANSWER: Linux has been written on a clone-386, with IDE drives and a
VGA screen. It should work on most similar setups. The harddisk should
be AT-standard, and the system must be ISA. (though *some* EISA
success has been reported [T. Koenig], Linux doesn't take advantage of
the EISA structure). A high density floppy drive -- either 5.25" or
3.5"-- is required.
{Drew's information:
Linux supports anything that's register compatable with a WD1003 MFM
disk controller (ie, the original PC-AT disk controller.) Most AT
MFM, RLL, ESDI, and IDE setups look like this.
XT compatable disk controllers won't work.
Generally, the rule is if you have the disk configured into the
CMOS setup of your machine, it will work (because the BIOS is talking
to a WD 1003 compatable board), otherwise it won't.}
IDE and MFM seem to work with no problem. It works, also, for some
ESDI drive (you might have to comment out the "unexpected hd
interrupt"-message from hd.c). There exists a high-level SCSI driver,
under which low-level drivers are placed; a ST-01/ST-02 low driver has
been completed see the FEATURES and the USEFUL ADDRESSES sections.
Otherwise the requirements seem relatively small: a 386 (SX, DX or any
486). Any video card of the following: Hercules, CGA, EGA, (S)VGA.
It needs at least 2M to run (with SWAP), and 4M is definitely a plus.
It can happily use up to 16M (and more if you want).
BTW There are problems with some MAXTOR drives on high speed machines
(sometimes switching off "turbo" helps). There may also be a problem
with "slow" memory (under 60ns) on fast machines. Again, the solution
is to turn off "turbo". Mixed SIMMs (3 and 9 chip versions) have also
reported to be problematic.
NOTE1: It doesn't run (yet?) on a MCA machine
NOTE2: There is a driver for XT but not tested by me (see below)
NOTE3: There is also a support for 8514 and S3.
From: smackinla@cc.curtin.edu.au (Pat Mackinlay)
Subject: ANNOUNCE: New XT disk driver
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 15:24:27 GMT
This is a short note to annouce the second release of the XT hard disk
drivers for Linux. This set of patches is for Linux 0.99 (pl0) and
should be available on tsx-11 under
/pub/linux/ALPHA/xtdisk/xtdisk2.tar.Z and
/pub/linux/ALPHA/xtdisk/README.xtdisk.
Just a brief introduction: this driver allows you to use XT-style (8
bit) hard drive controllers. The advantage of these is that you can
use them in conjunction with normal AT-style (16 bit) controllers,
IDE drives and SCSI drives. The major problem with them is the fact
that they are very slow, so swapping to one of these
controllers/disks is not recomended <grin>.
QUESTION: Will Linux run on a PC or 286-AT? If not, why?
ANSWER: Linux uses the 386 chip protected mode functions extensively,
and is a true 32-bit operating system. Thus x86 chips, x<3, will
simply not run it.
QUESTION: Will Linux run on a 386 Laptop?
ANSWER: It works, including X on most of them.
QUESTION: Why the suggested 4Meg, for Linux?
ANSWER: Linux uses the first 640k for kernel text, kernel data and
buffercache. Your mother board may eat up 384K because of the chipset.
Moreover there is: init/login, a shell, update possibly other daemons.
Then, while compiling there is make and gcc (2.01 ~770k).
So you don't have enough real memory and have to page.
QUESTION: How would this operate in an OS/2 environment?
ANSWER: Linux will coexist with *ANY* other operating system(s) which
respects the "standard" PC partionning scheme - this includes Dos,
Os/2, Minix etc.
WARNING: Linux and OS/2 *can* co-exist on the same machine. BUT, you
cannot use Linux's fdisk to make Linux partitions! See the warnings in
section III about Linux and OS/2.
QUESTION: (Dan) How long has Linux been publicly available?
ANSWER (partial): Few months, v0.10 went out in Nov. 91, v0.11 in Dec.
and the current version CURRENT_VERSION is available since
KERNEL_DATE. But even it is pretty recent it is quite reliable. There
are very few and small bugs and in its current state it is mostly
useful for people who are willing to port code and write new code. As
Linux is very close to a reliable/stable system, Linus decided that
v0.13 will be known as v0.95. Believe it or not: the whole story
started (nearly) with two processes that printed AAAA... and BBBB...
BTW consult the digest#136 Vol2 for a complete story.
QUESTION: What is the proper pronounciation for "Linux"?
ANSWER: (Linus himself)
'li' is pronounced with a short [ee] sound: compare prInt, mInImal etc.
'nux' is also short, non-diphtong, like in pUt. It's partly due to
minix: linux was just my working name for the thing, and as I wrote it
to replace minix on my system, the result is what it is... linus' minix
became linux.
I originally intended it to be called freax (although buggix was one
contender after I got fed up with some of the more persistent bugs :)
and I think the kernel makefiles up to version 0.11 had something to
that effect ("Makefile for the freax kernel" in a comment). But arl
called the linux directory at nic.funet.fi pub/OS/Linux, and the name
stuck. Maybe just as well: freax doesn't sound too good either (freax
is obviosly free + freak + the obligatory -x).
(Rick's note for English speakers: Linux - "LIH-nuhks".)
QUESTION: What's about the copyright of linux?
ANSWER: This is an except of the RELEASE Notes v.095a: Linux is
NOT public domain software, but is copyrighted by Linus Torvalds. The
copyright conditions are the same as those imposed by the GNU
copyleft: The GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2, June 1991 is part
of the source tree.
QUESTION: Should I be a UNIX and/or a DOS wizard to install/use Linux?
ANSWER: Not at all, just follow the install rules, of course it will be
easier for you if you know things about Unix. Right now Linux is used
by more than BIGNUM persons, very few of them enhance the kernel, some
adds/ports new soft, most of us are only (but USEFUL) beta testers.
Last but not least, various Linuxers work on manpages, newuser_help,
file-system organization. So join us and choose your "caste".
It is even used in production environments (Dr. G.W. Wettstein)
QUESTION: Does Linux use TSS segments to provide multitasking?
ANSWER: Yes!
QUESTION: If my PC runs under Linux, is it possible to ftp, rlogin,
rsh etc.. to other Unix boxes?
ANSWER: Kermit and ka9q have both been ported to Linux. Also, TCP/IP is
quite reliable, only a few clients are missing.
Read section XI. devoted to Ethernet and Linux.
QUESTION: Does linux do paging? Can I have virtual memory on my small
machine?
ANSWER: Yes, it does. Generally you set up a swap file or partition, and
enable it with the "swapon" command. Voila! Virtual memory.
QUESTION: Can I have tasks spanning the full 4GB of addressable 386
memory? No more 64kB limits like in coherent or standard minix?
ANSWER: Since 0.97 it uses 4 GB Process Space, 3 for userspace and
1 for the kernel space.
QUESTION: Does the bigger program sizes mean I can run X?
ANSWER: Yes! See section XII below for details on X11.
QUESTION: What are the differences, pros and cons compared to Minix ?
ANSWER (partial):
Cons:
- Linux only works on 386 and 486 processors.
- Linux needs 2M of memory just to run, 4M to be useful.
- Linux is a more traditional unix kernel, it doesn't use message
passing.
Pros:
- Linux is free, and freely distributable, BUT copyrighted.
- Linux has some advanced features such as:
- Memory paging with copy-on-write
- Demand loading of executables
- Page sharing of executables
- Multi-threaded file system
- job control and virtual memory, virtual consoles and pseudo-ttys.
- Linux is a more traditional unix kernel, it doesn't use message
passing.
QUESTION: What are the pros and cons compared to 386BSD ?
ANSWER: Linux and 386BSD started out as completely different projects,
with completely different goals and design criteria in mind. Personally,
my experience with 386BSD has shown that :
(a) its TCP/IP is more stable, and seems to work (on my NE2000 card,
which Linux doesn't support yet), but
(b) the interface and "feel" just wern't the same as Linux (which I liked
better :) ). You'll have to try it out for yourself. Here's information
from comp.unix.bsd, September 1992:
| This is a free BSD for the 386. It does NFS and X.
| Grab it from agate.berkeley.edu (128.32.136.1).
| Bill Jolitz is writing a book on it.
|
| It has a neat, small kernel, and is stable enough to run for a week or
| more without crashing/hanging. It works fine with 4MB RAM and 80MB
| disk. Running X however needs 8MB RAM, and supports only vanilla VGA.
| The TCP/IP implementation in this is functional, but not optimised.
| This means that FTP throughput is about 5KB/sec on Ethernet, when
| almost anything else gives you about 70KB to 100KB per second.
|
| Read comp.unix.bsd. That is almost entirely Jolitz's 386BSD now.
|
| 3. How much disk space for:
| *kernel
| *X
| *source to kernel
| *source to X
| Binary only: 49 M (30 disk, 5 swap, 14 extraction)
| Source: 125 M (49 bin, 37 disk, +6 extraction, 25 recompile)
| User software: +51 M
|
| X Binaries require about 61 Meg (?)
| I don't know about the sources.
To conclude this Q/A wrt Linux vs 386BSD, you should read the Linux News
Issue #5 of L. Wirzenius, where a true story of Mark W. Eichin is
reported.
QUESTION: How much space will Linux take up on my hard drive?
ANSWER: It depends on which release you choose. See the section
INSTALLATION below. Usually it's somewhere between 10 megs (for a
nominal system+swap space) and 30-40 megs (for everything plus space
for user directories, etc.).
BTW the full SLS needs around 60 MB (including TeX and other goodies).
II. LINUX USEFUL ADDRESSES
=========================
II.A. LINUX ON THE NET: ftp, mailing-list
II.B. OBTAINING LINUX FROM BBS'S: everything about bbs
II.A. LINUX ON THE NET
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUESTION: Where can I get linux?
ANSWER: Linux (all the software, binaries, sources, releases, and so on),
can be retrieved via anonymous FTP from :
[ Major sites ]
EUROPE:
nic.funet.fi (128.214.6.100):
directory /pub/OS/Linux
ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de (131.159.0.110)
directory /pub/Linux
US:
tsx-11.mit.edu (18.172.1.2):
directory /pub/linux
sunsite.unc.edu (152.2.22.81):
directory /pub/Linux
[ Mirroring sites (some of them, there are lots now) ]
AUSTRALIA:
kirk.bu.oz.au (131.244.1.1)
directory /pub/OS/Linux
EUROPE:
src.doc.ic.ac.uk (146.169.3.7):
directory /pub/os/Linux
ftp.mcc.ac.uk (130.88.200.7):
directory pub/linux
ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de (137.226.4.105):
directory /pub/linux
ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (137.226.112.172):
directory /pub/Linux
ftp.ibr.cs.tu-bs.de (134.169.34.15):
directory /pub/os/linux
JAPAN:
kuis.kyoto-u.ac.jp (130.54.20.1):
directory /Linux
/Linux/mirror (for the tsx mirror)
KOREA:
cair.kaist.ac.kr (143.248.11.170):
mirror of sunsite; directory pub/Linux
US:
wustl.wuarchive.edu (128.252.135.4):
directory /pub/mirrors4/linux
ftp.eecs.umich.edu (141.212.99.7):
directory linux
You might want to check out which of these is the most up-to-date.
If you have no FTP capability, you are in trouble. See the next Q/A.
Also, you'll need the "UNCOMP.EXE" and "RAWRITE2.EXE" programs for DOS
(to make your install disks). These are usually found in the Linux
directories on the above FTP sites.
QUESTION: I do not have FTP access, what can I do to get linux?
ANSWER: You can either read the next subsection related to BBS's
otherwise, read the following.
The SLS release is distributable by snail-mail on floppies for those
without net access; see the SLS section in section III of this FAQ for
more.
Try to contact a friend on the net with those access, or try
mailserver/ftpmail server otherwise contact tytso@ATHENA.MIT.EDU. You
might try mailing "mailserver@nic.funet.fi" with "help" in the body of
the mail. If you choose ftpmail server (example: ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com),
with "help" in the body, the server will send back instructions and
command list. As an exemple to get the list of files available at tsx-11
in /pub/linux send:
mail ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
subject: anything
reply <your e-mail>
connect tsx-11.mit.edu
chdir /pub/linux
dir -R
quit
In Europe ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de is accessible via e-mail (send
"help" in the body to ftp-mailer@informatik.tu-muenchen.de)
QUESTION: Is there a newsgroup or mailing-list about linux? Where can
I get my questions answered? How about bug-reports?
ANSWER: The comp.os.linux newsgroup is literally *teeming* with postings.
So, to the first question, yes. :) The older newsgroup, alt.os.linux,
is being phased out and shouldn't be used anymore.
If you don't have news access you can get the digest of postings via
e-mail from: Linux-activists-request@news-digests.mit.edu. This list
is gatewayed to the newsgroup as well. Only use the 'request' address
for subscribe/unsubscribe messages; don't post those to the newsgroup
or to the actual mailing list.
Questions and bug-reports can be sent either to the newsgroup or to
Linus himself at "torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi", depending on which you
find more appropriate.
And last but not least there is the original mailing-list, which is
now a multi-channel list.
contact linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi
QUESTION: Could you be more explicit about the multi-channel list?
ANSWER: Well, there are many things to say:
- these channels are rather devoted to hackers
- the ones I am aware of are: GCC, MGR, X11, SCSI, NEW-CHANNELS,
MSDOS (emulator discussion) , NORMAL, KERNEL, FTP, LAPTOP, DOC,
NET, CONFIGS, LINUXNEWS ...
- whenever you want to JOIN or LEAVE a channel you have to
contact the request address
- you have to use special header (X-Mn-Key and Mn-Admin); X-Mn-Key
is *ONLY* for regular post, the X-Mn-Admin is for *REQUEST*
(Ari Lemmke: 1 Nov. 1992):
Hmmm.... It seems our list has now about 1500 users
in 21 channels (mailing lists). 3960 without uniq.
"echo foo | mail linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi"
to get the Mail-Net User Guide.
QUESTION: How can I join the channel XXX on the linux-activists
mailing list?
ANSWER: just send a mail to the request address with help in the body;
you will get back a mail which gives you the list of channels and the
way to join/leave them. Basically you send mail to the request address
with the line:
X-Mn-Admin: join <channel>
QUESTION: How can I leave the channel XXX on the linux-activists
mailing list?
ANSWER: Same as above, basically. You send mail to the request address
that contains the line:
X-Mn-Admin: leave <channel>
QUESTION: I'm not an hacker, what are the channels I could be interested
in?
ANSWER: Probably these are the most interesting for you (IMHO)
Channel NORMAL:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Channel normal is the former Linux-Activists mailing list
(all the people who were on the old Linux-Activists list
are moved to this channel).
Channel DOC:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This channel is for Linux document "project". Discussion about Linux
documents, manuals, papers, etc.
Channel CONFIGS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This channel will be devoted to send submissions of systems that have
Linux already running, AND those that, for any reason, can't get it
to work yet.
Mainly, what it's need from all the channel users is to send their
hardware configuration list (as complete as possible). Include
anything that you feel pertinent for information: CPU,
motherboard, RAM amount, HD & floppy controller, BIOS, monitor,
video card & memory, network adapter, etc. If you are having trouble
with your current system, or you find out that a program doesn't work
properly on your system due to a HARDWARE problem, it may be useful
for us to know your configuration; maybe you can get a lot of help.
Channel LINUXNEWS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The LINUXNEWS channel will be used for distribution of Linux News, a
weekly (if I can find the time) summary of things that happen in the
Linux community. Discussion is not encouraged, if you have complaints
or suggestions, send them directly to me (Lars.Wirzenius@helsinki.fi).
Channel NEW-CHANNELS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the future users on this channel get the information about new
channels created.
By this way you can join the channels you want, and do not need to
send mail to Mail-Net info server or listen rumours.
QUESTION: Does there exist a place where the traffic of the newsgroup
is kept?
ANSWER: Yes, on nic and tsx-11 (see the ftp addresses above), and since
12th March, a Gopher server is up at beryl.daimi.aau.dk (130.225.16.86).
The archives go back to Nov. 18. 91. Also recently a WAIS server for the
linux mail archive has been setup at fgb1.fgb.mw.tu-muenchen.de. Contact
tw@fgb1.fgb.mw.tu-muenchen.de for more info.
All back issues of the Digest are available on tsx-11.mit.edu
[18.172.1.2] in the following place(s):
pub/linux/mail-archive
~/Volume? /* where '?' in volume #
~/digestnnn.Z * and nnn is issue #
*/
II.B OBTAINING LINUX FROM BBS'S
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*** This section is maintain by Zane Healy (healyzh@holonet.net)
*** Last Update November 1992.
QUESTION: I don't have access to FTP, how can I obtain Linux?
ANSWER: Linux is available from various BBS's around the world.
QUESTION: I got this FAQ from a local BBS, or a friend, and I see there
is a newsgroup called comp.os.linux . I don't have access to USENET or
mail, so how can I get the messages?
ANSWER: Some of the BBS's on FidoNet carry comp.os.linux as a FidoNet
conference. Also some of the other BBS's carry it in some form or other.
QUESTION: Do BBS's offer anything that the Internet does not?
ANSWER: Yes, on the information side there are the UNIX conferences on
both the RIME network and FidoNet. Although they are not dedicated to
linux, a large amount of the messages are linux related. Also at least
one software package being developed for linux, and also one port is
available via BBS's long before they are available via anonymous FTP.
QUESTION: What is a BBS?
ANSWER: A BBS is a Bulletin Board System, it let's you transfer
message's and file's via your phone line and all you need is a
computer with communications software and a modem. Some BBS's
transfer message's among each other forming large computer network's
similar to USENET. The most popular of these in the US are FidoNet
and RIME.
QUESTION: How can I get a (Near) complete list of BBS's that carry Linux?
ANSWER: I (Zane Healy) post a list of all known BBS's that carry Linux
to comp.os.linux as well as the RIME and Fidonet UNIX conferences on the
1st and 15th of each month.
QUESTION: Now that I have a phone number, how do I go about accessing a
BBS?
ANSWER:
1. You need a computer equipped with communications software and a modem.
2. For ALMOST all BBS's you will need to set the comm software up for:
8 - Data Bits
N - Parity
1 - Stop Bit
Although certain BBS's and Communication services require that the
software be set for:
7 - Data Bits
E - Parity
1 - Stop Bit
You will also need to set the comm software for the correct speed,
either the top speed, or the max speed for your modem.
3. Using the comm software, call the BBS. Once you connect with the
BBS (this may take awhile, as other people are likely to be using it),
you will be asked some questions.
If you are a registered user of the BBS it will normally only ask
for your name and password. However if you are not a registered user,
it will most likely require that before you do anything, you register.
The method of registration varies from BBS to BBS.
Normally the first thing that will happen is, you sign on to the
BBS, and tell it your name. It will then check it's list of user's
and see that you are not one of them. At which time it will ask you
if you are a new user, or if you wish to re-enter your name. When you
tell it you are a new user, it will then ask you some questions about
yourself, such as where you are calling from and your phone number. A
lot of BBS's will want some statistical info such as what type of
computer you are using, your communications software, your age, etc,
etc.
After this, most BBS's require some sort of validation, this is for
the System Operator's (SysOp's) protection. One type is where you
give the BBS software your phone number, hang up, and the BBS calls
your computer to verify that you gave it legitament phone number.
Some BBS's require that you mail the SysOp a postcard. Most, however
just require that you give the SysOp the request info and then he
upgrades your level of access a couple of day's later.
For the most part you will find that the registration process is
easy to follow and well documented.
QUESTION: There is a local BBS that carries Linux, but it isn't on the
latest Linux BBS List. How do I go about submitting it for inclusion in
the list?
ANSWER: Send the following information on the BBS to me:
BBS Name:
Phone Number:
Modem Speed:
City and State/Country:
Whatever Network it's on (i.e. FidoNet, RIME, etc.):
First Time access to D/L Linux Files (Y/N):
Free Access to Linux Files (Y/N):
Allow File Requests (Y/N):
BBS Rating (1-5):
I can be reached at one of the following E-Mail Addresses:
Internet -- healyzh@holonet.net
CompuServe -- 70332,14
Prodigy -- SCNN49A
Fido NetMail -- Zane Healy at 1:109/615
RIME UNIX Conference -- Zane Healy
QUESTION: What can I do to help ensure the continued development of
Linux?
ANSWER: PLEASE UPLOAD FILES TO BBS'S
I would like to point out that a very large number of the Linux
enthusiasts don't have FTP access. In fact it is possible that by now
most of the Linux fan's don't. So I would like to suggest that those of
us that do, find at least one BBS to post the Linux file's to. I, for
one post every file that I get to at least one of the local BBS's, and
from there they the file's tend to find there way to other local BBS's.
I've seen posts about the future of Linux etc., well here is a way to
help guarantee it. I think it's safe to assume that most people with FTP
access also have a modem. So how about doing other Linux fan's a favor
and finding a BBS to upload the Linux files to.
QUESTION: How do I read the data contained in the Linux BBS List?
ANSWER: The list uses the following format:
State YYY BBS Name Phone Number Modem Speed
Rating City Other data
The BBS's are rated by the number of Linux related file's that they
carry. This is so you can choose one's that has a better chance of
carrying the file's you are looking for if you are calling long distance.
The BBS's are rated on a scale of one to five.
1 -- Only enough the most basic of files
2 -- The basics and a little more
3 -- So, so
4 -- A respectable amount
5 -- Pretty much everything you need
Information about the boards access policies can be obtained by
checking a three digit field.
YYY -- Either a Yes/No/? answer to the question
|||
||Free access to Linux files
|Allow file requests (FidoNet)
First time D/L of Linux related files
NOTE: Just because a board has N's in the first two fields does not
mean that it is a board to stay away from. A lot of boards require
that you register and be verified before you can access most of their
features, hence the first N. The second field is, to the best of my
knowledge, limited to BBS's that are part of FidoNet.
QUESTION: What are some of the best BBS's to check out?
ANSWER:
In the US:
CA YNY hip-hop 408-773-0768 14.4k V.32bis/HST
5 Sunnyvale Login: guest (no password)
DC NNY When Gravity Fails 202-686-9086 14.4k
5 Washington
FL ??? Slut Club 813-236-1232 14.4k
5 Tampa/St.Pete Fidonet 1:377/42
GA YYY Information Overload 404-471-1549 9600 HST
5 FidoNet 1:133/308
ID ??? Rebel BBS 208-887-3937 9600
5 Boise
IL YYY EchoMania BBS 618-233-1659 14.4k HST
3 Belleville Fido 1:2250/1 (f'reg LINUX)
F'reqs from unlisted nodes, online callback verifier (works L.D.)
MD ??? Brodmann's Place 301-843-5732 14.4k
5 Waldorf RIME ->BRODMANN
NC ??? MAC's Place 919-891-1111 DS modem
5 Dunn RIME ->MAC
NY YYY Prism BBS,Middleton 914-344-0350 9600 HST/v.32
5 Middletown, NY Fidonet 1:272/38
NY YYY The Laboratory 212-927-4980 16.8k HST, 14.4k v.32bis
3-4 FidoNet 1:278/707
OR YYY Intermittent Connection 503-344-9838 14.4k HST v.32bis
5 Eugene, Ore 1:152/35
TX YYY Advanced BBS 512-578-2720 9600
5 Victoria, TX Fidonet 1:3802/215
VA ??? VTBBS 703-231-7498
5 Blacksburg
WA YYY S'Qually Holler 206-235-0270 9600
5 Renton Fidonet 1:343/34
And here are all the known BBS's outside the US:
AUSTRALIA:
NSW YYN Linux-Support-Oz +61-2-418-8750 2400
2-3 Sydney Intlnet, SBCNet
? ??? 500cc Formula 1 BBS +61-2-550-4317 V.32
? (2-3)
CANADA:
ON ??? EX-10 Kitchner 519-725-4400
?
ON ??? Ned's Ottawa 613-739-1591
2
ON ??? Bytown 613-236-1232
2 SmartNet
PQ ??? Synapse 819-246-2344 819-561-5268
5 Gatineau RIME->SYNAPSE
GERMANY:
??? bakunin.north.de 00 49 421 870532 9600
? D 2800 Bremen kraehe@bakunin.north.de
??? ?????????????? +49-40-735-5349 14.4k
1
??? Hipposoft's Mail Server +49-241-875090 14.4k V.32bis/HST
3 D-W5100 Aachen Fidonet 2:242/6
IRELAND:
??? TOPPSI +353-1-711047 or 773547 9600
? Fidonet 2:263/151
NORWAY:
??? Thunderball Cave 472567018
? RIME ->CAVE ?
NETHERLANDS:
??? DownTown BBS Lelystad, Linux Support BBS 14.4k
? +31-3200-48852 FIDONET
SOUTH AFRICA:
??? Andre Skarzynski - Linux Activists of Southern Africa
? +27 2231 78148 (Is this voice or data?)
UNITED KINGDOM:
NYN The Purple Tentacle +44-734-590990 HST/V32bis
3-4 Reading Fidonet 2:252/305
??? A6 BBS +44-582-460273 14.4k
? Herts Fidonet 2:440/111
QUESTION: What are File Requests?
ANSWER: FidoNet BBS's with the right type's of front-end mailer's can
call other Fido BBS's and request their front-end mailer to send them
files that they want. All this can be done automatically. File
Requests (freqs) are basically the FidoNet equivallent to UUCP.
III. INSTALLATION, SETUP, and COMMON PROBLEMS
=============================================
*** Note: this FAQ section should be kept up-to-date, and should
*** be the most 'reliable' source for installation info. Please mail
*** any corrections or changes to this section's coordinator,
*** Matt Welsh (mdw@tc.cornell.edu). Last update 9 Feb 93.
III.A. WHERE TO START: What are the reliable sources of information
III.B. LINUX PACKAGES: Where and how install a complete Linux package
III.C. SOME COMMON PROBLEMS: Simple problems and simple solutions
III.A. WHERE TO START
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUESTION: I want to install Linux on my machine. Where do I start?
ANSWER: The first thing you should do is read through the various
introductory files, and ESPECIALLY the FAQ (this file). Especially
this section :). A lot of effort has been done on these intro files,
but note that some of them conflict with each other and cover older
versions of Linux. When in doubt consult this file.
These files are all found on tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/docs...
FAQ
The Linux Frequently Asked Questions list
It's sitting in your hands now. This section is probably the best
place to start to get the most up-to-date Linux installation
information.
INFO-SHEET
Linux Information Sheet, by J. Winstead/L. Wizenius
This is a collection of general info about Linux. It's
a good place to start if you've never heard of the package
before.
README.kernel
Kernel compilation README file, by L. Wirzenius
This is the README notes for recompiling the Linux kernel from the
sources. You don't need it unless you're planning to upgrade
your kernel by compiling it yourself.
Others
Every "release" of Linux (such as SLS, boot/root, HLU's disks, etc.,
see below) has its own up-to-date README files and docs that explain
how to install that release. This FAQ section summarizes, but for more
info on how to install Linux, read the READMEs and docs for the release
that you choose.
Old docs
There are a number of obsolete, old docs lying around. Most of these
tell how to install Linux from the old boot/root disk combo. I DO NOT
SUGGEST that you use these docs unless you know what you're doing--
the best thing for beginners to do is read this FAQ and install the SLS
release (using the docs and READMEs for the SLS release).
These old docs are things like "install.txt", "guide.txt", "RELNOTES",
"CHANGES", and so on, and are all geared towards old versions of the
boot/rootdisk. They are *NOT* relevant to current versions of Linux.
QUESTION: Is there some kind of limit on how large my Linux partitions
and/or filesystems can be?
ANSWER: There's no limit on partition size (just the size of your drive),
but Linux mainly uses the minix filesystem which limits filesystems to
64 megs each. You can also use the extended filesystem (which is still
in testing, but has been included with recent kernel versions) which has
a limit of 4 terabytes. Probably enough unless you have a disk array. :)
See section III.C below on creating partitions and filesystems for more info.
III.B. LINUX PACKAGES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This section contains information about *SOME* of the current Linux
packages available.
QUESTION: Does there exist a way to get all (or nearly all) of the Linux
stuff?
ANSWER: Yes. To install Linux, you're going to want to choose one of the
"releases" of Linux, all of which have a different method of installation
and set up. Each release also has its own README and installation docs,
which you'll want to read first. But I'll summarize here. The major
releases are:
* The "Softlanding Linux System Release"
Also known as the "SLS" release, consists of 14 disks for Linux
and 8 for X11. The nice thing about this release is that you can
pick and choose which disks and packages you want to install. The
first 2 disks must be "rawritten" (using rawrite.exe) on floppies,
and the rest of the images are put onto DOS format floppies.
Contains all of the softs you'll ever need, and is easy to install
for newcomers.
This is the release that I suggest everyone new to Linux should
install. It's the most complete and up-to-date package. HLU's
disks, below, are good for upgrading, and (unfortunately),
the MCC-interim is quite dated at this point. If you install
SLS you'll save yourself a lot of trouble.
* The "TAMU" (Texas A&M University) Linux Release
This release is supposedly like the SLS release, but has some
different softs and a different installation procedure. From Dave
Safford, "The installation procedure is the main difference from
SLS. A single boot diskette is used, and it boots directly into
an automated installation program." This installation program
asks a few questions about the desired configuration, and sets up
everything, including your filesystems, booting from the hard
drive with LILO (see section III.C below), and a simplified
X-Windows configuration.
This humble author has never installed the TAMU release but I've
heard good things about it.
* H.J. Lu's "bootable rootdisk"
This is a release of the Linux kernel and basic binaries on
a single floppy. It, along with HLU's 'gccdisk', 'libdisk',
and so on, are good for upgrading or installing basic
Linux system by hand. It's not reccommended for newcomers,
because there's no real install script, it's mostly meant
as an upgrade of the basic system software. Beginners should
install SLS or MCC-interim (see below) instead.
The images and docs are found at tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux.
* Others but OUTDATED
There are other releases and distributions of the Linux software,
such as the "MCC-Interim" and "MJ" releases. There is also an older
"boot/root" disk combo (0.98.1) which is like HLU's bootable
rootdisk, above, but it's no longer supported (as far as I know).
The MCC-Interim release (the previous de facto Linux standard)
isn't going to be updated anymore, according to Owen LeBlanc. So
if you install it, be warned that you'll have to upgrade it all
in some other way (the last version of MCC-Interim was 0.97.2,
quite dated).
The "MJ" release, according to Martin Junius, is no longer
maintained. The last version was 0.97.1.
QUESTION: Where can I get these versions of Linux?
ANSWER:
The SLS release is at tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/packages/SLS and
sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/SLS.
H.J. Lu's "bootable rootdisk" release is found at tsx-11.mit.edu:
/pub/linux/packages/GCC, as well as the mirror sites.
TAMU.99p4 is available from sc.tamu.edu in pub/free_unix/TAMU.99p4.
QUESTION: What should I do to install the SLS release?
ANSWER: Basically all of the releases are alike. You need to get the
DOS program 'rawrite.exe' (or 'rawrite2.exe'). This program takes a
binary file and writes it, block by block, to a blank formatted
floppy. This is the way to take a Linux floppy image and put it onto a
disk from DOS.
For the SLS release, you need to get the files in the a1, a2, a3, and
a4 directories at least. You also need the README's there. Basically,
you use rawrite to copy the a1 and a2 images onto floppies. Or, you
can use 'dd' on your UNIX system to transfer the files directly to
floppies (assuming you have a floppy drive on your UNIX system) in
place of rawrite.
The rest of the files all go onto DOS-formatted floppies, just using
DOS copy. The SLS release is nice because it reads the DOS floppies
during installation, so you don't have to rawrite all of those disks.
Once you have these 4 disks, you're ready to go. You can also get all
of the files in the b1-b7 directories (for extras, like man pages and
emacs), c1-c4 directories (for the GCC compiler and libraries), the
x1-x8 directories (for Xwindows), and so on, but they're all optional.
I suggest at least getting the files in the a, b, and c directories.
Remember that only the a1 and a2 images need to be rawritten, ALL of
the other files just do onto the floppies in DOS format.
First you boot the a1 disk. It will load up Linux, and will ask you to
put in the a2 disk at some point. You'll be left with a prompt... from
here you want to look at the SLS README file on-line (it tells you
how). Then you'll run 'fdisk' to create your Linux partition(s), and
then reboot the a1 disk again (putting in the a2 disk, again, when
asked). Then you'll run 'mkfs' and 'mkswap' to make your filesystems
and swap space. Then you're ready to install the software-- type
doinstall /dev/PART
where PART is the main Linux partition you created with fdisk, above.
>From here on it's pretty automatic-- you simply flip disks while it
installs the software. First it will ask you how much software you
plan to install-- just choose the correct option depending on which
sets of disks you got.
You will need to have a blank DOS-formatted floppy on hand. The
installation procedure makes a Linux kernel boot disk out of it.
QUESTION: What's about SLS ?
ANSWER: (this is part of the FAQ written for SLS 0.98p5 by Peter
MacDonald).
SLS (Softlanding Linux System) Copyright 1992, Softlanding Software.
which is NOT just an image dump of someones Unix system.
Also note that in the interest of preventing ftp storms, the version
of SLS that appears on the internet, is not quite the same as the
version distributed by Softlanding. Softlanding regularly gets a
whole new version which has the changes integrated. But the updates
to the Internet version are tailored to minimize the amount that has
to be downloaded to become current. That is why bugs manage to creep
in on me. I am not installing and testing the Internet version,
although, functionally, it should be quite close to the Softlanding
one.
So, why am I telling you this? After the next period of stability
(few changes to SLS), I will be uploading the Softlanding version of
SLS to tsx-11.mit.edu.
This distribution is freely available if you have internet
access, or an obliging friend with access to it.
The purposes of the SLS are the following:
0) provide an initial installation program (for the queasy).
1) utilities compiled to use minimal disk space.
2) provide a reasonably complete/integrated U*ix system.
3) provide a means to install and uninstall packages.
4) permit partial installations for small disk configs.
5) add a menu driven, extensible system administration.
6) take the hassle out of collecting and setting up a system.
7) give non internet users access to Linux.
8) provide a distribution that can be easily updated.
SLS is a binary mostly distribution (except for the kernel), and is
broken into multiple parts, or series, each of which is denoted by a
letter followed by the disk number as follows:
a1-aN: The minimal base system
b1-bN: Base system extras, like man pages, emacs etc.
c1-cN: The compiler(s), gcc/g++/p2c/f2c
x1-xN: The X-windows distribution
i1-iN: Interviews (doc and idraw)
t1-tN: TeX (document processing)
This scheme allows new disks to be added to the distribution without
changing the disk numbering. Also, the sysinstall program doesn't
have to be changed when new disks are added as the last disk is marked
by the presence of the file "install.end". And when interviews is
added, say as a new series "i", it can be installed with:
sysinstall -series i
Highlights of the base are: gcc/g++, emacs, kermit, elm/mail/uucp,
gdb, sc (spreadsheet), man pages, groff, elvis, zip/zoo/lh and menu.
Highlights of X are: X, programmers libs, 75 dpi fonts, games (spider,
tetris, xvier, chess, othello, xeyes, etc) and utilities like xmag,
xmenu, xcolormap and ghostscript. Approximate usage is as follows:
Tiny base system: 9 Meg (Series 'a')
Main base system: 25 Meg (Series 'a', 'b' and 'c')
Main base system + X11: 45 Meg (Series 'a', 'b', 'c' and 'x')
Please read the file COPYING which outlines the GNU copying
restrictions. The linux kernel is copywrite Linux B. Torvalds.
Various other copywrites apply, but the upshot is that you
may do whatever you like with SLS, except restrict others
in any way from doing likewise, and you must leave all copywrites
intact, and you can not misrepresent or take credit for others work.
AVAILABILITY
SLS is available from the address:
Softlanding Software
910 Lodge Ave.
Victoria, B.C., Canada
V8X-3A8
(604) 360-0188
More details about SLS can be asked to pmacdona@sanjuan.uvic.ca
QUESTION: What should I get to install the bootdisk/rootdisk combo
release?
ANSWER: Essentially it's a lot like the SLS installation, above. You
get the boot disk and root disk, and use rawrite to transfer them to
floppies. Then you boot the boot disk, and put in the root disk when
asked. At this point you login as 'install' to install the software.
QUESTION: How do I get and install H.J. Lu's "bootable rootdisk" release?
ANSWER: It's just like the boot/root disk and the SLS release. Just
get the bootroot disk image and use rawrite to transfer it to a
floppy, and then boot it. You'll probably want to get the 'gccdisk'
and 'libdisk', etc. images and rawrite them to floppies as well. Note
that this release doesn't have a user-friendly installation script,
it's meant mostly to upgrade or install the system by hand. Unless
you're familiar with Linux this may prove difficult. :)
QUESTION: What is the MCC interim version of Linux?
ANSWER: The MCC-Interim release of Linux was put together by Owen
LeBlanc of the Manchester Computing Centre. Unfortunately, it's quite
dated, and isn't going to be updated anymore. :(
III.C. SOME COMMON PROBLEMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUESTION: How do I make partitions and/or filesystems for Linux?
ANSWER: For most Linux installations (such as SLS) you'll need at
least two partitions: one for swap space (used as virtual memory) and
another for your "root filesystem" (that is, the actual Linux software
itself). You can also make seperate partitions for your /usr
filesystem, etc. (however, the SLS doinstall program, at this point,
mounts your root filesystem for you before installing, thus, you can't
have a seperate /usr filesystem to start out with).
But that's beside the point. First thing you need to do is resize the
existing partitions on your drive (if any) to make space for Linux;
for example, if you have a DOS partition taking up all of your drive,
you need to use FDISK under MS-DOS to delete it and recreate it with a
smaller size. Of course, in so doing you'll lose everything on that
DOS partition-- just back it up first and reinstall after you've
recreated and reformatted the partition. That's life! :)
Now you can boot up Linux (say, from SLS, or from the boot/root disks).
>From there you run 'fdisk' to create your partitions: it's very self-
explanatory. If you make a swap partition you need to change it's type
to "Linux swap" with the fdisk 't' command.
And, if you want a Linux partition larger than 64 megabytes, you'll
need to use the extended filesystem (as opposed to the default, the
Minix filesystem). The extended filesystem ("extfs" for short) has a
4 terabyte size limit (and lets you have filenames longer than 14
characters). If you want to use it just set the type of the partition
to "Linux extfs" with the fdisk 't' command.
NOTE: "Extended filesystem" does NOT equal "extended partition". An
extended partition acts as a "container" for logical partitions, which
is nice because you can have many logical partitions inside the
extended partition, and only use up one of your four available primary
partitions on the drive. (You can have only one extended partition
per drive). Extended partition can't hold data on their own: you need
to create logical partitions on top of it first. They are numbered
/dev/hda5, /dev/hda6, and so on.
The extended FILESYSTEM on the other hand has nothing to do with
extended partitions. It's just the name of another filesystem used by
Linux which lets you have larger filesystem sizes and other features.
Once you've got your partitions created, you need to reboot the system
so that changes to your partition table are picked up. Then you need
to 'format' the partitions (i.e. create filesystems on them). For your
swap partition, use the command 'mkswap <partition> <size>'. For
example, if you have a swap partition on /dev/hda2 with a size of 8208
blocks (about 8 megs), use the command
mkswap /dev/hda2 8208
If you have a partition set up for a Minix filesystem (the default
type) use the command 'mkfs <partition> <size>'. If however you're
going to use the extended filesystem (a must for partitions over 64
megs) use the command 'mkefs <partition> <size>'.
QUESTION: Linux mkfs doesn't accept the size I give the device,
although I double-checked with fdisk, and it's correct.
ANSWER: Be sure you give the size in Linux BLOCKS (1024 bytes), not
sectors. Also make sure that you have the right partition: partitions
are numbered "/dev/hda1", "/dev/hda2", and so on (and "/dev/hdb1",
"/dev/hdb2" for the second hard drive)... DON'T use "/dev/hda" or
"/dev/hdb" as they correspond to the entire disk, not just single
partitions.
Also remember that SCSI drives use /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2... and
/dev/sdb1, /dev/sdb2, and so on for their partitions.
QUESTION: How can I get mkfs/mkefs to check for bad blocks?
ANSWER: Unfortunately the -c option on mk(e)fs does not work; it
cannot detect bad blocks on the drive, and thus if you create a
filesystem over a part of your hard drive with bad blocks, things will
eventually go wrong. So you need to generate a bad block list (in a
file) and use the -l option on mk(e)fs so it will flag those blocks
when making a filesystem.
NOTE: This is only needed for older RLL and MFM drives. SCSI and IDE
drives have bad block logic on-board.
Generating a bad block list for mk(e)fs
=======================================
Nov 11, 1992 Gerhard Kircher (kircher@neuro.tuwien.ac.at)
Introduction
------------
First of all: the -c option (check bad
blocks) of mk(e)fs does not work (the code used cannot detect any bad
blocks). Fortunately there is another option -l <file> to tell
mk(e)fs where the bad blocks are. SCSI and IDE drive users do not
need any bad block management - the drive logic does it for them.
However, users of old MFM or RLL drives do need it.
1 Where are my bad blocks ?
---------------------------
Every MFM or RLL drive is tested by the manufacturer and the locations
of bad blocks are usually printed directly on the drive case. If you
cannot find any bad block information on your drive, you can use the
common disk test software (Norton,...) to check your drive and obtain
a defect list.
Locations of bad blocks are given in terms of cylinder and head
coordinates. Cylinder and head together specify a certain track. Some
manufacturers are more specific about the location of the bad spot
within the track but if you know how to use this information you
probably do not need to read this guide. So if we know the track
where the bad spot sits, we declare the entire track as bad (even
experts do this).
What we have now is a table of the form
CYLINDER HEAD
... ...
... ...
... ...
2 calculating all bad sectors
-----------------------------
Each sector on the drive can be addressed by three cordinates:
Cylinder = [0..CYLINDERS-1]
Head = [0..HEADS-1]
Sector = [0..SECTORS-1]
where
CYLINDERS ... total number of cylinders
HEADS ... total number of heads
SECTORS ... number of sectors per track
The absolute address of a sector on the disk is then calculated
according to the formula
Abssector = HEADS*SECTORS*Cylinder + SECTORS*Head + Sector.
We can now calculate the absolute addresses of all sectors
of every bad track on our disk according to
for each bad track given by Cylinder and Head do
begin
for Sector=0 to SECTORS-1 do
begin
Abssector = HEADS*SECTORS*Cylinder + SECTORS*Head + Sector
end
end
obtaining a list of all bad sectors.
3 Converting absolute sectors to partition relative sectors
-----------------------------------------------------------
Partitions are like separate disks, that means that sector counting
starts with 0 for each partition. So what we have to do next is to
generate a bad sector list for each partition we want to use for
linux. To do that, we must know where each partition starts and ends.
We can get this information from fdisk. When we start fdisk and type
'p' to view the partition table, the begin, start and end information
will be given in terms of cylinders. When we type 'u' to toggle the
units, an then again 'p' we get what we need: Start and End of each
partition in terms of absolute sectors. Here is what I see on my
system (I use my second disk for linux):
# fdisk /dev/hdb
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/hdb: 8 heads, 17 sectors, 1024 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 136 * 512 bytes
Device Boot Begin Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdb1 1 1 963 65483+ 81 Linux/MINIX
/dev/hdb2 964 964 1024 4148 82 Linux swap
Command (m for help): u
Changing display/entry units to sectors
Command (m for help): p
Disk /dev/hdb: 8 heads, 17 sectors, 1024 cylinders
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 bytes
Device Boot Begin Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdb1 1 1 130967 65483+ 81 Linux/MINIX
/dev/hdb2 130968 130968 139263 4148 82 Linux swap
Sector counting (as counting always should do :-) starts with 0.
The first partition begins with sector one, as sector 0 is
always the boot sector.
This is how we calculate the addresses for one partition:
a) From the list obtained in section 2, cancel all addresses
that are not in the range [Start..End] (including limits)
shown by fdisk.
b) Subtract Start from each remaining entry.
4 Converting to blocks
----------------------
A disk sector has a length of 512 bytes (this is the usual size
BIOS/DOS can handle). Linux groups two sectors to an entity called
block. A block therefore consists of two physical sectors and has a
size of 1024 bytes (I read somewhere that larger blocks will be
supported in the future). The mk(e)fs program wants to know the
addresses of bad blocks, not sectors. So we convert our partition
relatve sector addresses to partition relative block addresses by
dividing by two and taking the integer part. Doing that we certainly
get a lot of duplicate addresses which we have to get rid of, so we
simply delete redundant entries.
What we have now is a list of bad blocks for each partition. Mk(e)fs
likes to get this information from a file, one address per line, one
file for each partition.
5 Automating the process
------------------------
Doing all the calculations by hand is tedious and error prone.
So we may decide to automate the whole thing.
We can do everything in dos when we use the proper utilities
(see later)
5.1 The Input File
We need a single file containing the coordinates of all bad tracks of
one entire disk. Each line of the file consists of two fields, the
first of which is the cylinder number and the second is the head
number. These are the first few lines of the file for my second disk:
48 0
105 4
150 2
224 1
380 2
427 6
435 1
5.2 An AWK script for doing all the calculations
In the following we present an awk script that does all the work for
us. We just have to plug in the correct values of the partition and
drive parameters and off we go. I use gawk211.zip and sort03.arc
which I downloaded from a simtel20 mirror. Sort is used to remove the
duplicates.
#---the awk script starts here
# generates linux bad blocks file (starting count with 0)
# for partition ONE
# for micropolis drive 8 heads, 17 sectors
# input file: cyl[0.. ] head[0.. ]\n
# stdout: abs blocks of corresponding partition\n
BEGIN { start = 1;
end = 130967;
sectors = 17;
heads = 8;
}
{ sec=$1*sectors*heads+$2*sectors;
if (sec>=start && sec<=end)
for (i=0; i<sectors; i++) print int((sec-start+i)/2) | "sort -mu"
}
#---the awk script ends here
Suppose that our input file is named 'badtrack.lst' and that the awk
file is 'part1.awk', then we can generate a bad block list for mk(e)fs
by typing the command
gawk -f part1.awk badtrack.lst > badblk1.lst
This is the file we need.
5.3 Making the file system
What we must do now is to have this file accessible for linux during
installation. There are several ways to do this. You can either mount
your DOS partition and copy the file over to Linux, or use mtools (as
in 'mcopy c:badblk1.lst /user/badblocks').
Now we can make the file system. In this case the bad blocks file is
in /user/badblocks, and the partition we're making a filesystem on is
/dev/hdb1. We're making an extended filesystem with a size of 65483
blocks:
mkefs -l /user/badblocks /dev/hdb1 65483
Thats it!
Bugs
----
I only tried mkfs but I'm rather convinced that it works with
mkefs as well.
QUESTION: How can I boot Linux off of my hard drive?
ANSWER: You need to install the "LILO" program which changes the boot
sector of your hard drive to allow you to choose between a DOS or a
Linux partition to boot from. These programs are provided with most
major releases, or you can get them seperately from one of the FTP
sites.
As of LILO version 8 there is a "quick install" script available which
should make LILO installation quick and easy. See Section VII for LILO
information.
QUESTION: Cripes! I tried to install LILO, but screwed up somehow, and
now can't boot anything from the hard drive. How can I fix this?
ANSWER: Simple. First you need an MS-DOS 5.0 bootable floppy with
FDISK.EXE on it. Boot it and run the command
FDISK /MBR
which will (hopefully) restore your hard drive's master boot record to
a standard MS-DOS boot record. Now you can go back and reinstall LILO.
:)
QUESTION: When installing SLS, I get the error "You may have inserted
the wrong disk" when putting in the next disk in a series. What's
going on?
ANSWER: Each disk has a small file on it which contains the name of
the disk. For example, the SLS a3 disk has a file on it called
"diska3". If it doesn't exist, or is named something else (like
"diska3.z"), then just create it/rename it.
Also, the last disk in a series (i.e. the a4 disk, b5 disk, etc.) has
a file on it called "install.end". You need this file as well. These
files are used by the SLS doinstall program to keep track of where it
is.
QUESTION: When installing SLS, the installation script creates a "boot
floppy" for me to boot Linux with. How can I make these myself (or fix
problems with them?)
ANSWER: The SLS install scripts just copy the kernel image to a blank
floppy for you to boot Linux with. When SLS is installed, a copy of
the kernel is stored in the file /Image on your hard drive: since you
use the kernel on your boot floppy to boot, this file isn't used
during the bootup process (unless you install LILO).
To make a boot floppy yourself, you must do two things:
1) Run 'rdev' (a.k.a. 'rootdev') on the kernel in the file /Image to set
the root partition it uses. For example, if your root partition is
/dev/hda3, run the command
rdev /Image /dev/hda3
2) Copy the kernel to a new floppy. You may need to DOS format the floppy
first (who knows why). Then run the command
cp /Image /dev/fd0
if the floppy is in /dev/fd0 (the first floppy drive). You can use a
command like
dd if=/Image of=/dev/fd0 bs=16k
as well; they should accomplish the same thing.
Many folks have problems with their SLS boot disks made in this manner
because they forgot to run 'rdev' on the kernel image before copying
it to the floppy.
QUESTION: When I login as non-root, I get tons of errors about
"shell-init: permission denied". Also, some things work as root but
not as a normal user. What's the deal?
ANSWER: This is a really common problem which comes from not having
permissions set right and a misunderstanding of some UNIX terms. Some
installations won' t have the file permissions set correctly on the
various directories that normal users (i.e. non-root) will use. For
example, if your user directories are in /home, then /home must be of
mode rwxr-xr-x, or 'chmod 755 /home'. Also, a home directory must be
owned by the user who it belongs to (i.e. /home/mdw must be owned by
'mdw'... just 'chown mdw /home/mdw', for example). Also, the
permissions must be set correctly for / (the root directory). Here's a
list of permissions that should work (although you can use other
permissions, these are just suggestions that shouldn't cause trouble):
permissions (chmod) owner file
----------- ------- ----- ---------------------------------------------
rwxr-xr-x (755) root /
rwxr-xr-x (755) root /home
rwxr-xr-x (755) mdw /home/mdw
rwxr--r-- (744) mdw /home/mdw/.profile (or other startup files)
rwxr--r-- (744) mdw /home/mdw/foo (normal files)
In most cases the group of the file doesn't matter, but in general
most files are set to group 'root' (except for binaries which are
group bin, and so on) and user files are set to group 'user' (or
whatever group users are in).
In general you want directories that everyone can access to be
rwxr-xr-x (chmod 755). Files that everyone can read are rwxr--r--
(chmod 744), and programs that everyone can run are rwxr-xr-x (chmod
755).
Thus /bin, /usr, /usr/bin, /etc, and so on, should all be rwxr-xr-x.
All binaries should be rwxr-xr-x (unless, of course, they're setuid
programs). For UNIX newbies, setuid programs run under the user id of
the owner, thus programs owned by root which have a permission of
rwsr-xr-x (note the 's') run as root, with root's priveleges. So
before changing permissions on a program check to see if it's setuid
first. To make a program setuid prepend a '4' to the permissions you
give to chmod, i.e. rwsr-xr-x is 'chmod 4755'.
Here's a list of common uses for permissions:
permission effect on files effect on directories
---------- ----------------------- ---------------------------------
read lets you look lets you see what's in the directory
at a file, lets you with ls
run a shell script
write lets you edit a file or lets you delete a file from the
copy over it directory (*)
execute lets you run a binary or lets you cd into the directory
shell script
(*) Note that you can delete a file from a directory even if you DON'T
have write access to the file itself! Write access to the DIRECTORY
that the file is in will let you delete any file in that directory.
The permissions of the file itself have nothing to do with being able
to delete a file. This is standard across all UNIX systems, nothing
new with Linux.
QUESTION: I have the previous Linux version, how can I upgrade it?
ANSWER: If you've never done this before, get the kernel sources from
your nearest FTP site (in a file named something like linux-*.tar.Z)
and unpack them into /usr/src/linux. As of Linux-0.99 there is a
script to autoconfigure your kernel, and you need at least GCC version
2.3.3. First run 'make config' and answer the various questions. Then
edit /usr/src/linux/Makefile to set the root partition, keyboard, etc.
Finally, do a 'make dep' (to set dependencies: VERY important!) and
finally 'make'. Assuming you have GCC installed correctly, the kernel
should compile and you'll be left with a new "Image" which is your new
kernel: if you boot from harddrive, copy the Image to wherever you
told LILO to look for it, or if you boot from floppy dd the Image to a
new floppy. Make sure that you run "rdev" on the Image to make it look
for the correct partition for your root filesystem (if you specified
this correctly in the Makefile you don't need to do this).
** Make sure you read /usr/src/linux/README, which explains in detail
** what to do when recompiling the kernel.
If you HAVE done this before, you can just apply the source patches to
your old sources and then recompile (i.e. you don't have to get the
entire kernel sources all over again). Use the "patch" program to do
this. Before you recompile the kernel do a 'make dep' to set
dependencies and a 'make clean'.
QUESTION: Where is /usr/include/linux and /usr/include/asm, or,
Why won't the kernel compile correctly?
ANSWER: The files /usr/include/linux and /usr/include/asm are symbolic
links to /usr/src/linux/include/linux and /usr/src/linux/include/asm,
respectively. In other words, all of the Linux include files are
actually under /usr/src/linux/include, but to access them you need two
symbolic links in /usr/include:
/usr/include/linux -> /usr/src/linux/include/linux
/usr/include/asm -> /usr/src/linux/include/asm
To make these, run the commands
ln -sf /usr/src/linux/include/linux /usr/include/linux
ln -sf /usr/src/linux/include/asm /usr/include/asm
NOT the other way around. :) If you dont have these links then many
compilations will surely fail.
QUESTION: How can I upgrade to the newest version of GCC?
ANSWER: See section IX on GCC for more information, but essentially
all you need to do is FTP to sunsite.unc.edu (or one of the other
Linux FTP sites) and look in /pub/Linux/GCC. You'll see a number of
.tar.Z files there (often abbreviated .TZ). The names change from time
to time: you need to get the compiler (often in a file such as
'gcc233.TZ'), header files, and library files. At this point, the
compiler lives in /usr/bin, the compiler's setup files are under
/usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-linux, and the libraries (shared, jump table,
and static) are all in /usr/lib. It's all very straightforward once
you actually unpack the tar files and everything falls into place.
QUESTION: What's the deal with these things called "jump tables"?
ANSWER: There's more information in section IX and VII, but to be
brief: There are three kinds of libraries for Linux. As of gcc v2.3.3
they all live in /usr/lib. The files are...
/usr/lib/*.a static (non-shared) libraries (use gcc -static ...)
/usr/lib/*.ca classic shared lib stubs (use gcc -nojump ...)
/usr/lib/*.sa jump table shared lib stubs (use gcc -jump ...)
When you compile a program, depending on the options you give gcc
(-jump is the default) it will link it against one set of these
libraries. The static libs contain all of the code and thus make your
executable very big; no shared code is used. The classic shared libs
are actually 'stubs' which reference the shared code in
/lib/libc.so.VERSION (where VERSION is a number like '4.2').
/lib/libc.so.VERSION is a file which contains the actual code of the
library, which is accessed at runtime by your executable. The
jump-table library stubs are also shared libs, but they are built in
such a way that you can upgrade the /lib/libc.so.VERSION file without
having to recompile the programs that use it.
So when we say "uses Jump Tables version 4.2" we mean it uses the
actual library itself, /lib/libc.so.4.2. To compile programs that use
jump tables version 4.2 you need the right version of /usr/lib/*.sa
installed, but you don't need them to RUN programs that use jump
tables.
However programs that are compiled to use, for example, jump table
version 4.2 (in the file /lib/libc.so.4.2) won't work if you only have
libc.so.4.1 installed. They're only backwards-compatible. If you get
errors about 'can't find /lib/libc.so.4.1' then the executable you're
using is looking at runtime for a jump table version that you don't
have. Basically you're safe if you have the most recent version of the
/lib/libc.so.VERSION file installed (which is found on
sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/GCC and comes with the GCC stuff).
You should always have a symbolic link with the major version number
of the library in /lib, because that's what's actually read. For
instance, if you have /lib/libc.so.4.2 installed, then you need the
symbolic link
/lib/libc.so.4 -> /lib/libc.so.4.2
Make this with the command
ln -s /lib/libc.so.4.2 /lib/libc.so.4
QUESTION: How to upgrade jump tables? (Without hanging my system)
ANSWER: Be careful! If you upgrade your /lib/libc.so.VERSION file and
either remove the symlink or delete the old libc.so.VERSION file
before the new one is in place (and the link points to it), then more
than likely all of your binaries like "cp", "mv", "ls" and "ln" use
the library, so they'll all stop working once you kill the link or the
library file. So to upgrade the file, copy the new version to /lib and
switch the link in one step with a command such as
ln -sf /lib/libc.so.NEW_VERSION /lib/libc.so.4
where NEW_VERSION is the new version of the library you're installing.
This will switch the link in one step and everything should work. You
just can't copy over the old file because the old version is in use by
'cp', 'mv', and so on.
QUESTION: How can I be sure I won't be writing over anything important
when installing Linux? I have to use DOS on my machine, and I don't
want to lose any files.
ANSWER: Back up everything. Just in case. As long as your DOS and
Linux partitions don't overlap you should be okay.
QUESTION: I just rebooted my machine, and now Linux dies with a
"panic: trying to free unused inode". What's going on?
ANSWER: You probably forgot to "sync" before rebooting, which stores
on the disk physically the contents of the kernel buffers. You can
either run "fsck" on the partition to TRY to correct the problem (it
might fail), or re-mkfs and re-install the software on that partition.
For the extended filesystem use "efsck" instead.
The best way to shutdown your system is the "shutdown" command. To
shutdown and reboot the system, use
shutdown -r now
or substitute a number of minutes in place of "now". Leave off the
"-r" switch if you just want to shutdown and not reboot.
QUESTION: Can I use both OS/2 and Linux on my machine??
ANSWER: Yes! See the following two Q/A's about getting your OS/2 Boot
Manager to work. But, be warned: IF YOU USE OS/2, DO NOT USE LINUX's
FDISK TO CREATE LINUX PARTITIONS!! The problem is with a bug/feature
in OS/2's fdisk that tries to correct 'errors' in partitions that it
doesn't like... Linux partitions included. The solution: make your
Linux partitions with OS/2's fdisk, then use Linux's fdisk to change
the partition ID's to the right values (this is self-explanatory with
Linux's fdisk).
If you made your Linux partitions with Linux's fdisk, and OS/2 sees
them, it will think they have errors and end up trashing them.
QUESTION: I use OS/2's Boot Manager on my hard drive. How can I get it
to recognize Linux?
ANSWER: To do this, install LILO on your Linux root partition, NOT on
your hard drive's master boot record. The lilo command for this would
be (if /dev/hda3 is your Linux root partition, and your Linux kernel
is in /Image):
/etc/lilo/lilo -c -b /dev/hda3 -v -v /Image
Then use OS/2's fdisk to add it to the Boot Manager.
QUESTION: When I run Linux's fdisk it says "OPUS" for OS/2's Boot
Manager partition. Is this right? What's OPUS?
ANSWER: It's correct. OPUS is BBS software that used partition type
0x0A long before OS/2.
QUESTION: (Denise Tree)
Where is /usr/include/linux and /usr/include/asm?" or "Why
won't my new kernel source compile without errors?", etc.
ANSWER: These directories exist as symbolic links to the online linux
kernel source found (usually) in /usr/src/linux/include/linux/* and
/usr/src/linux/include/asm/*. Do:
ln -fs /usr/src/linux/include/linux /usr/include/linux
ln -fs /usr/src/linux/include/asm /usr/include/asm
to create the symlinks. OR ELSE! It's a good idea to keep kernel
source on your system because the header files are needed for
compilations other than the kernel.