Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr55/cld9linx.zip/CLD9LINX.TXT

Text File | 1993-06-08 | 289KB | 7,076 lines

Archive-name: linux-faq/part1
Last-Modified: 93/06/07
Version: 1.18

*********************************************************
*       *
*   Answers to Frequently asked questions about Linux   *
*       *
*********************************************************

This post contains Part 1 of the Linux FAQ (5 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
=============================================================================
Michael K. Johnson   (META-FAQ)  [e-mail]
Matt Welsh  (GENERAL INFO) [e-mail]
Zane Healy  (BBS INFO) [e-mail]
Matt Welsh  (INSTALLATION) [e-mail]
Peter MacDonald  (SLS INFO) [e-mail]
Mark Komarinski  (DOS)    [e-mail]
Drew Eckhardt  (SCSI)  [e-mail]
Rick Miller  (DEVICE INFO) [e-mail]
Hongjiu Lu  (GCC)  [e-mail]
Krishna Balasubramanian (X11)  [e-mail]
Rick Sladkey  (EMACS)  [e-mail]
Philip Copeland  (NET INFO) [e-mail]
Brian McCauley  (LPD)  [e-mail]
Dirk Hohndel  (PROOF READER) [e-mail]
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.
.....

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
archive of (all) FAQs at rtfm.mit.edu [18.172.1.27]. Have a look in
the anonymous ftp directory: /pub/usenet/news.answers/linux-faq.
If you do not have anonymous ftp access, you can access the archive by
mail server. Send mail to [e-mail] with the words
"help" and "index" in the body on separate lines for more information.

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 send them to [e-mail] 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)

================================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    pl10     /* the patch level */
#define KERNEL_DATE    29, May  /* Date of the CURRENT_VERSION */

In what follows I'll consider CURRENT_VERSION as the current version.

> From: [e-mail] (Linus Torvalds)
> Subject: Re: New pl10 uploaded
> Date: Sat, 29 May 1993 17:21:35 +0300
>
>
> I uploaded a new version of the ALPHA-pl10 to nic.funet.fi: this one
> contains some more fixes for the networking code, along with various
> other minor changes (including the math emulation fix).  The directory
> is, as before, pub/OS/Linux/PEOPLE/Linus.  I'd suggest removing any old
> traces of linux before unpacking this, so that you won't have problems
> with old object files etc.
>
> Also note that Fred put the new networking binaries on tsx-11 the other
> day, so you should probably get them from pub/linux/packages/net/net-2.
> I'd suggest getting at least the 'net-base' and 'net-std' packages of
> binaries, as they contain the config programs as well as all the normal
> networking binaries.
>
> I'd be especially interested to hear comments from the people who were
> unable to get the previous alpha-pl10 working.  Does this one work for
> you? If it doesn't *please* mail me directly, as that problem is now the
> only thing keeping me from a real release.
>
> To recap, pl10 gives you roughly:
>  - new net-2 code (FvK) along with the newest drivers from Donald.
>  - IPC doesn't need patching (Krishna Balasubramanian).
>  - various FPU-emulation details fixed (Bill Metzenthen)
>  - ext2fs updates by Remy Card and Steven Tweedie.
>  - dynamic inode and file allocation (Steven Tweedie) with hash tables
>    for better inode lookup etc.  Hopefully no more EMFILE errors.
>  - updated fdomain driver by Rik Faith (along with some other SCSI
>    changes by others)
>  - tty changes by Tytso and others.
>  - new uname() call for extended info (ie domain). HLU.
>  - iBCS signal stacks and stubs for 'lcall 7,0'.
>  - buffer cache / code page sharing.  Small changes since the last
>    ALPHA-diff, as people with 4MB reported that the old code didn't
>    relinquish pages very nicely.
>  - updated 'clone()' - it didn't actually work with 'execve()' before,
>    and there may still be some problems.  Untested.
>  - various other changes: I've probably forgotten half the changes since
>    0.99pl9.
>
> Please test it out, and if you have problems, mail me about them so that
> I know about it.  Feel free to send them to the mailing list and
> newsgroup too, of course, but at least include a mail to me - I'm
> working on finding the reason for the bootup problems that two persons
> have experienced: the more data I can get on this, the merrier.
>
>   Linus
>
>


I. LINUX GENERAL INFORMATION
=============================
*** This section is maintained by Matt Welsh ([e-mail]). Mail
*** him if you have corrections, additions, other questions, etc.
*** Last update June 1993.

   I.01)  What is linux?

ANSWER: Linux is a free, copylefted full-featured UNIX for 386 and 486
machines which use the AT bus. It is still in "beta testing" (the current
version number of the kernel is less than 1.0) but is being used worldwide
by thousands (?) of people.

(*) 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 copylefted under the GNU General Public License.

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.

   I.02)   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 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.

See section IX 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.


   I.03)   What is the current state of Linux?

ANSWER: read the comp.os.linux newsgroup, where the INFO-SHEET is
periodically posted. You can also read comp.os.linux.announce, which
is a moderated newsgroup, has a lot less traffic, and contains all
of the "important" information on Linux.

   I.04)  Linux sounds great, but where do I get it and how do I
install it?

ANSWER: FIRST read this FAQ, and especially section III (installation).
There is no single, "official" release of Linux--- instead, there
are several independent releases, all with their own advantages and
disadvantages. The SLS release is the de facto standard.

Choose a "release" of Linux (such as the SLS release, TAMU, bootdisk/
rootdisk, etc). Download from your nearest FTP site, and put it on
floppies. 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.


   I.05)  Sounds good, but all of these docs are very confusing. Is
Linux really difficult to install and use?

ANSWER: This FAQ, as you can see, if very large. This is mostly because
it's full of every single frequently asked question about Linux on the
net. In essence, it's very simple: to get started with Linux, download
the SLS release, put it onto floppies (see section III), repartition your
drive, and install the software.

If you're new to the UNIX world, Linux (as with any UNIX) is going to
be difficult to understand at first. There isn't a lot of real
documentation (other than this FAQ) out there. The Linux Doc Project
(mail `[e-mail]' for info) is working on a set of Linux manuals
which should solve this problem. However, Linux is a hacker's UNIX, in
many ways: it was developed by experienced UNIX hacks for experienced
UNIX hacks. People are working on making it more "newbie-friendly",
however, keep in mind that this is an afterthought. Linux was never meant
to be the huge popular free UNIX that it has become, and the lack of
documentation doesn't bother UNIX wizards who can figure it out from
just poking around.


   I.06)  What's the best advice you can give to a Linux newbie?

ANSWER: Go read a *good* book on using UNIX before you even get started.
Jumping cold-turkey into the Linux world from DOS is going to be quite
difficult. Also remember that you'll be running the system, as well
as using it, so get a book on UNIX system administration.

Too many folks post questions to comp.os.linux which aren't Linux
specific at all, and thus aren't covered in this FAQ. (i.e. "How to
remove a file called '-i'?). If you can't figure out something, it's
more than likely a misunderstanding of UNIX concepts, not a bug in Linux.
Please read up on UNIX (see the comp.unix.questions FAQ; that's a good
one) before you get started.


   I.07)  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 for installation.

{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.

There is an alpha driver for the XT disk controller, but in general it's
best to have an AT controller. Mail [e-mail] about
the XT controller.

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"-messages). 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.

NOTE: It doesn't run (yet?) on a MCA machine (such as the IBM PS/2 line).


   I.08)   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 80 megs (for everything plus space
for user directories, etc.).


   I.09)   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.


   I.10)   Will Linux run on a 386 Laptop?

ANSWER: It works, including X on most of them.


   I.11)   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.


   I.12)   How would this operate in an OS/2 environment?

ANSWER: Linux will coexist with *ANY* other operating system(s) which
respects the "standard" PC partioning 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.


   I.13)  (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.


   I.14)  How reliable is Linux, anyway?

ANSWER: Very much so. The only real "bugs" that we see are with
alpha drivers (that's why they're alpha) and with some parts of
the TCP/IP code. For 99% of applications, however, Linux is very
robust. Linux and Xwindows is faster on a 486-33 than on many
Sun workstations with the same amount of RAM, running SunOS.


   I.15)   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".)


   I.16)   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.


   I.17)  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).


   I.18)  Does Linux use TSS segments to provide multitasking?

ANSWER: Yes!


   I.19)  If my PC runs under Linux, is it possible to ftp, rlogin,
rsh etc.. to other Unix boxes?

ANSWER: Yes; Linux supports serial communications (kermit), pseudo-SLIP
(with ka9q), and TCP/IP. Bona fide SLIP is on its way. Read the NET-FAQ
(see section IX) for information on networking.


   I.20)   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.


   I.21)   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.


   I.22)   Does the bigger program sizes mean I can run X?

ANSWER: Yes! See section XII below for details on X11.


   I.23)   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.


   I.24)   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.

there are newsgroups devoted to 386BSD : comp.os.386bsd.*

- I have seen in may the first attempt for 386BSD FAQ. Nevertheless
  the Linux FAQ is not bug free, and contains some outdated information.
- 386BSD can do POSIX and BSD
- Linux can do POSIX, SYSV and some BSD stuff
- Linux was developed with portability in mind. So it's not directly
  System V, nor is it directly BSD. It's the best of both worlds,
  a la SunOS. :)

For most of the *nix* users both systems are fairly usable, but none
of them are bug free.


   I.25)   Why can't we split comp.os.linux ?

ANSWER: (Ian Jackson)
There is a procedure for creating new newsgroups, involving discussion
periods and votes; it can be found in news.announce.newgroups.

In November 1992 I (Ian Jackson) started a formal discussion
under that procedure and duly held a vote for four new groups,
comp.os.linux.announce (moderated), comp.os.linux.questions,
comp.os.linux.bugs and comp.os.linux.misc.

There was quite a heated argument, with many people (esp from Fidonet
and the news->mail gateway) complaining that if the group split they
wouldn't be able to read it.

At the end of the vote the results were as follows (culled from the
announcement at the end of the voting period):

                yes    no   abs    diff    ratio      result why     to change
.announce       479   131     3     348    3.6564885   PASS             249
.questions      380   217    16     163    1.7511521   FAIL (ratio)      54
.bugs           390   212    11     178    1.8396226   FAIL (ratio)      34
.misc           390   207    16     183    1.8840580   FAIL (ratio)      24

 diff = number more yes than no votes - this must be >=100 for a group
 to pass.
 ratio = ratio of yes to no votes - this must be >=2 for a group to
 pass.
 to change = the minimum number of votes which would have been
 required to change the result (if they were all "yes" or "no"
 as appropariate).

The guidelines say that unless a group gets at least twice as many
"yes" as "no" votes and at least 100 more "yes" than "no" votes it
won't be created. Hence all the new groups except .announce failed.
Comp.os.linux.announce now exists: the submission address is via
Matt Welsh ([e-mail]).

The guidelines also say that you have to wait at least 6 months after
a failed vote before trying again - this to stop the obvious problem
of failed groups coming back over and over again.

Hence any more discussion of proposed splits is futile until at least
very late in June. In any case, such a discussion should take place in
the group reserved for that purpose, news.groups, not in
comp.os.linux.



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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  II.01)  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 (146.169.2.1):
  directory packages/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.

> (From: Lee M J McLoughlin <[e-mail]>)
> src.doc.ic.ac.uk:
>
> We are also on Janet (the main UK academic network) as
> uk.ac.ic.doc.src (000005102000).
>
> More useful perhaps is we are the only big archive available via FTAM,
> the ISO equivalent to FTP.  We can be reached either over the
> internet or janet (see above addresses) or via the European IXI
> network on 204334504108


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.


  II.02)  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 [e-mail]. You
might try mailing "[e-mail]" with "help" in the body of
the mail.  If you choose ftpmail server (example: [e-mail],
[e-mail]), 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 [e-mail]
  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 [e-mail])


  II.03)  Is there a newsgroup or mailing-list about linux?

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: [e-mail]. 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.


And last but not least there is the original mailing-list, which is
now a multi-channel list.
  contact [e-mail]

  II.04)  Where can I get my questions answered? How about bug-reports?
What do I put into a post to comp.os.linux?

ANSWER: (Paul Gortmaker [e-mail])
 You can post your problem to the above group, comp.os.linux. BUT, BEFORE
 YOU DO THIS, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES.

 If you have read the FAQ, man pages, etc, and you still haven't
 solved your problem, then check to make sure you have got the latest
 version of whatever it is that you are working with. Check the dates
 and revision numbers of your versions with the versions on your local
 ftp site (tsx-11.mit.edu , sunsite.unc.edu ?). This includes (most
 importantly) the kernel itself. Make sure you have applied the latest
 patches and recompiled the kernel, or have got the kernel "Image"
 from someone who has done so. And, of course check comp.os.linux
 for info too. If you have a genuine problem, chances are that you
 aren't the first one to find it. So it has probably already been
 reported (...and fixed???). For example, if you are having trouble
 with say Xconfig for some strange VGA card, and you use nn to read
 comp.os.linux, then you could invoke nn as follows:

  nn -x -s 'config' comp.os.linux

 and it will find all the latest articles with the word config in
 their subject for you. This will be one of the most up to date
 sets of information that you can get -- DON'T OVERLOOK IT !!!
 (You can check the man pages of your news reader to determine
 the options that do the same as the above.)

 OK, so you've done all the above, spent 40 hours trying to figure
 it out, have had a nervous breakdown, your girlfriend/boyfriend has
 stopped talking to you, and you decide that you will turn to the
 Linux community for help. Here are some guidelines on posting that
 will ensure that you get a quick response, and that you hopefully
 don't get flamed.

 1) Choosing a Subject:

 It is important to try and squeeze as much information into
  as few words as possible. If you can manage it, try and
  put the package name, version, and problem into the subject.
 But don't make it too long, or the middle will get chopped
  out. For example "I'm having problems with poeig-1.1.tar.Z
  on my 486 with 0.99p6" will probably appear to everybody as
 "I'm having prob <> ith 0.99p6" Not very useful...
 What should have been used was something like:
 "poeig-1.1 w 99p6 wont compile" would be much better, and
  relays that you are having trouble with getting it to
  compile. (Note that this is just an example, I have no
  knowledge of problems with poeig!) Also, (unless you like
 bugs -> getting flamed!) DON'T claim you have found a bug, unless
  you are ABSOLUTELY SURE! Nothing p***es developers off more
  than erroneous bug reports.

 2)  Keywords:

  If your news poster program asks for keywords, try and put
  in some useful descriptive words, so that others can use them
  for a meaningful search.

 3) Body of the Article:

  There are some key things that need to be included in the
  body of the article. (a) The name and version of the thing
  that you are having the problem with. (b) The type of problem,
  ie compilation, execution, etc. -- (c) versions of related
  software, ie if compilation is the problem, then the version
  of GCC you are runnning is relevant. If you are having trouble
  with a program that uses X, then the version of X you are using
  is relevant. (d) The version and patchlevel of the kernel you
  are using at present. (ie. 0.99p7 or whatever) (e) the type
  or brand of any related hardware, ie. if you are having problems
  with networking, then you would want to say that you are using
  a Western Digital SMC Elite 16 or whatever your ethernet card
  is. (f) Any relevant error messages that were reported by the
  system during the problem.
  And, of course, there are some things that one should NOT put
  in the article. For example, don't post a 30 page configuration
  file and expect anybody in their right mind to look through it.
  And similarly for any HUGE files. If they are relevant to your
  problem, then someone will respond by asking you something like
  "Did you check line 32 in file such and such???"  And try to
  avoid negative comments like "The documentation isn't fit for
  my dog." If you have a bone to pick, do it via e-mail, so the
  rest of us don't have to read a flame war! It just adds to the
  amount of useless noise on comp.os.linux, which already takes
  too long to scan through. Besides, the developers are doing this
  FOR FREE. THEY ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO DO ANYTHING. DON'T ABUSE
  THEM!!! (Or they might just go away, which hurts us all.)

 Well, with all this in mind, hopefully you will get a quick response to
 your problem, and maybe someday you will be able to answer someone else's
 problem from the experience you gain!

  II.05)  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 [e-mail]"
 to get the Mail-Net User Guide.

  II.06)  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>


  II.07)  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>

  II.08)  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 ([e-mail]).

 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.

  II.09)  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
[e-mail] 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 ([e-mail])
*** Last Update June 1993.

  II.10)   I don't have access to FTP, how can I obtain Linux?

ANSWER:  Linux is available from various BBS's around the world.

  II.11)   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.

  II.12)   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.

  II.13)   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.

  II.14)   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.

  II.15)   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.

  II.16)   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 -- [e-mail]
           CompuServe -- 70332,14
              Prodigy -- SCNN49A
         Fido NetMail -- Zane Healy at 1:109/615
 RIME UNIX Conference -- Zane Healy

  I would apprieciate it if when you send me info on a BBS that you
send me all the info that you see in the entries, thanks.

 It is my understanding that if you have access to a BBS on
FidoNet that if you can talk the SysOp into it he can get the
Linux Files via Fidonet Linux SDN.


  II.17)   What can I do to help ensure the continued development of
Linux?

ANSWER:  PLEASE UPLOAD FILES TO BBS'S

   In posting this list I would like to point out that a large number
enthusiests 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 post's about the future of Linux etc., well here is a
way to help guarentee 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.

BBS OF THE MONTH:
  MD      Brodmann's Place        301-843-5732    14.4k
   This BBS not only carries an excellent selection of Linux file, but
it also has the following Linux related newsgroups/conferences.
   USENET              Fidonet                             RIME
   ------              -------                             ----
comp.os.linux          Fido UNIX                           RIME UNIX
comp.os.linux.announce Linux_Local(local to 109 Fido area)

FORMAT:
State   YYY  BBS Name                Phone Number    Modem Speed
Rating       City                    Other data

RATING SYSTEM:  1 -- Only enough the most basic of files
                2 -- The basic's and a little more
                3 -- So, so
                4 -- A respectable amount
                5 -- Pretty much everything you need

ADDITIONAL INFO:

     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

File Requests:
  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.


UNITED STATES:

??  ??? ??????????????????      516-244-7064    9600
  3-4   ??????                  ???

CA  NNY Citrus Grove Public Access 916-381-5822 ZyXEL 16.8/14.4
  3     Sacramento              citrus.sac.ca.us
CA      High[er] Powered BBS    408-737-7040
  4     ?                       RIME ->HIGHER
CA      hip-hop                 408-773-0768  19.2k
                                408-737-8300  38.4k
  5     Sunnyvale               USENET
CA  YYY Unix Online             707-765-4631    9600
  4     Petaluma                USENET
CA      The Outer Rim           805-252-6342
  ?     Santa Clarita
CA      Programmer's Exchange   818-444-3507
                                818-579-9711
  ?     El Monte                Fidonet
CA  ??? Micro Oasis             510-895-5985    14.4k
  ?     San Leandro
CA  YNY Test Engineering        916-928-0504
  ?     Sacramento
FL  NYY Slut Club               813-975-2603    USR/DS 16.8K HST/14.4K
  5     Tampa                   Fidonet 1:377/42
FL      Lost City Atlantis      904-727-9334    14.4k
  4     Jacksonville            Fidonet
FL  YYY Acquired Knowledge BBS  305-720-3669    14.4k v.32bis
  5     Fort Lauderdale         Internet (UUCP)
GA      AVSync                  404-320-6202
  2     Atlanta
GA  YYY Information Overload    404-471-1549    19.2k ZyXEL
  5                             FidoNet 1:133/308
GA      Atlanta Radio Club      404-850-0546    9600
  ?     Atlanta
ID      Rebel BBS               208-887-3937    9600
  5     Boise
ID  YYY Phantasia BBS           208-939-1350    9600
  5     Boise                   Smartnet 1:347/25
ID  YYY Rocky Mountain HUB BBS  208-232-3405    38.4k
  4     Pocatello               Fido,SLNet,CinemaNet,etc
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 verifire (works L.D.)
IL  YNY UNIX USER               708-879-8633    14.4k
  4     Batavia                 USENET, Internet mail
        Home of Unix User newsletter
IL  NYY PBS BBS                 309-662-2042 Node 1 - 16.8k v.32/HST
                                309-663-7675 Node 2 - 2400
  2     Bloomington             Fido 1:232/303
IL      Third World             217-356-9512    9600 v.32
  3-4
IN  NNY Digital Underground     812-941-9427 14.4k v.32bis
  5        USENET News Feed
LA      The OA Southern Star    504-885-5928
  ?     New Orleans             Fidonet 1:396/1
MA  N?N Channel One             617-354-8873
  ?     Boston                  RIME ->CHANNEL
MA  YNY VWIS Linux Support BBS  508-793-9568    9600
  4     Worcester
MA  YYY WayStar                 [phone]   14.4k v.32bis
        [phone]           [phone]
  5     Marlborough             FidoNet (1:322/140)
MD  N?N Programmer's Corner     301-596-1180    9600
  5     Columbia                RIME
MD      Brodmann's Place        301-843-5732    14.4k
  5     Waldorf                 RIME ->BRODMANN
                                FidoNet
  Carries 5 different message groups dealing with Linux/UNIX
MD      Main Frame              301-654-2554    9600
  4     Gaithersburg            RIME ->MAINFRAM
MD      1 Zero Cybernet BBS     301-589-4064
  2
MD  YNY WaterDeep BBS           410-614-2190   9600 v.32
  5     Baltimore
ME  ??? Harbor Heights BBS      207-663-0391
  ?     Boothbay Harbor
MN  YNY Part-Time BBS           612-544-5552   14.4k v.32bis
  ?     Plymouth
MO  NNY The Sole Survivor       314-845-6616   14.4k v.32bis
  5     St. Louis               WWIVnet, WWIVlink, +more
NC      MAC's Place             919-891-1111   16.8k, DS modem
  5     Dunn                    RIME ->MAC
NC  YNY Digital Designs         919-423-4216   14.4k,23k
  4     Hope Mills
NE      Flite Line              402-421-2434
  2     Lincoln                 RIME ->FLITE   DS modem
NE      Legend                  402-438-2433
  2     Lincoln                                DS modem
NE      MegaByte Mansion        402-551-8681    14.4 V,32bis
  ?     Omaha
NJ      Mycroft QNX             201-858-3429 14.4k
  4     ?
NJ  YNY Steve Leon's            201-886-8041    14.4k
  3     Cliffside Park
NJ  YYY Dwight-Englewood BBS    201-569-3543    9600 v.42
  3     Englewood, NJ           USENET
NJ  YNY WEFUNK, The Mothership Connection 908-940-1012     38.4k
  4     Franklin Park, NJ
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
        f'req LINUX for a list - CBV not needed to d/l linux files
PA  NNY Centre Programmers Unit 814-353-0566    14.4k V.32bis/HST
  5     Bellefonte, PA
PA  YNY Allentown Technical     215-432-5699    9600 v.32/v.42bis
  4     Allentown               WWIVNet 2578
PA  YYY Tactical-Operations     814-861-7637    14.4k V32bis/V42bis
  1     State College           Fidonet 1:129/226  tac_ops.UUCP
TX      North Shore BBS         713-251-9757
  2     Houston
TX      The Annex               512-575-1188    9600 HST
  ?                             Fidonet 1:3802/217
                                512-575-0667    2400
                                Fidonet 1:3802/216
  Files available by f'req or by sign-on with a 60-minute per-day limit
TX      Walt Fairs              713-947-9866
  2     Houston                 FidoNet 1:106/18
TX  YYY CyberVille              817-249-6261    9600
  3                             FidoNet 1:130/78
TX  YNY splat-ooh               512-578-2720    14.4k
                                512-578-5436
  5     Victoria
TX  YNY alaree                  512-575-5554    14.4k
  5     Victoria
TX  YNY Ronin BBS               214-938-2840    14.4 HST/DS
2       Waxahachie (Dallas)     RIME,Intelec,Smartnet,and more!
VA      VTBBS                   703-231-7498
  5     Blacksburg
VA      MBT                     703-953-0640
  ?     Blacksburg
VA      NOVA                    703-323-3321    9600
  4     Annandale               Fidonet 1:109/305
VA      Rem-Jem                 703-503-9410    9600
  2     Fairfax
VA      Enlightend              703-370-9528    14.4k
  3     Alexandria              Fidonet 1:109/615
VA  YYY My UnKnown BBS          703-780-6890    14.4k V.32bis
  5                             Fidonet 1:109/370
VA  YN? Georgia Peach BBS       804-727-0399    14.4k
  1     Newport News
WA  YYY S'Qually Holler         206-235-0270    14.4k USR D/S
  5     Renton                  FidoNet: 1:343/34
        USENET squally.halcyon.com
        (Anon UUCP: nuucp nuucp /sc2/bbs/filelist.z)
WA  YYY Top Hat BBS             206-244-9661    14.4k
  2                             Fidonet 1:343/40
WA  YNY victrola.sea.wa.us      206-838-7456    19.2k
  3     Federal Way             USENET

Commercial Services that carry some of Linux:

--  NNN Compuserve CIS          ???????????     9600
  1     UnixForum               800-848-8199 voice number
--  NNN GENie                   ???????????     9600/2400
  3                             800-638-9636 voice number
                                301-251-6415 voice number, international
--  NNN BIX                     ???????????
  1                             800-227-2983 voice number
--  NNN Delphi                  ???????????
  ?     In PC SIG

OUTSIDE US:

AUSTRIA:
W   YYY Galaktische Archive     0043-222-8303804 16.8 ZYX  (19:00-7:00)
  4     Wien                    fido 2:310/77

AUSTRALIA:
NSW YYN Linux-Support-Oz        [phone] v.32bis 14.4k
  5     Sydney                  Internet/Usenet, E-Mail/News
NSW NYY 500cc Formula 1 BBS     [phone] V.32bis
  4     Sydney

CANADA:
AB  NNN  Magic BBS              403-569-2882  14.4k HST/Telebit/MNP
  3      Calgary, AB, Canada    Internet/Usenet
AB  Y?Y   Logical Solutions     2400 Baud lines - 299-9900 to 9911
  5                             14.4 K lines    - 299-9912 to 9913
                                16.8k USR v32bis- 299-9914 to 9917
AB  YNY  V.A.L.I.S.             403-478-1281  14.4k v.32bis
  5      Edmonton               USENET
ON  ???  The Windsor Download   (519)-973-9330  v32bis 14.4
  ?
ON   YYY r-node                 416-249-5366  2400
  3      Toronto                USENET
QC       Synapse                819-246-2344  819-561-5268
  4      Gatineau               RIME->SYNAPSE
QC   YNY Radio Free Nyongwa     514-284-6693  v.32bis (ZyXEL)
  2      Montreal               USENET, Fido

GERMANY:

   The BBS's in the German and Austrian sections are thanks to
   Rasca Gmelch who maintains a list of German and Austrian BBS's.
   He can be reached at: [e-mail]

HB      bakunin.north.de        [phone]           9600
  ?     D 2800 Bremen    [e-mail]

NDS ??? DataComm1               0531/13216    14.4 HST
    ?   Braunschweig            fido 2:240/550, LinuxNet
NDS ??? DataComm2               0531/13217    14.4 HST
    ?   Braunschweig            fido 2:240/551, LinuxNet
NDS YYY Linux Server /Braukmann 0441/592963   16.8 ZYX
    5   Oldenburg               fido 2:241/2012, LinuxNet
HH  ??? Hub Hamburg & trash-hh  040/?         14.4     (8:00 - 24:00)
    ?   Hamburg                 fido 2:241/2100, LinuxNet
NDS YYY MM's Spielebox          05323/3515    14.4 ZYX
    5   Clausthal-Zfd.          fido 2:241/3420, SLS 1.01, SLT
NDS YYY MM's Spielebox          05323/3516    16.8 ZYX
    5   Clausthal-Zfd.          fido 2:241/3421, SLS 1.01, SLT
NDS YYY MM's Spielebox          05323/3540    9.6
    5   Clausthal-Zfd.          fido 2:241/3422, SLS 1.01, SLT
NDS YYY Bit-Company             05323/2539    16.8 ZYX   MO
    5   Clausthal-Zfd.          fido 2:241/3430, SLS 1.01
BW  NYY Fractal Zone BBS /Maass 0721/863066   16.8 ZYX  (24h)
    3   Karlsruhe               fido 2:241/7462
NRW ??? Hipposoft /M. Junius    0241/875090   14.4 HST  (4:30-7,8-23:30)
    5   Aachen                  fido 2:242/6, SLS1.01/kernel 0.99.9
??? YYY UB-HOFF /A. Hoffmann    0203/584155   19.2 ZYX+
    3   Duisburg                fido 2:242/37, SLS1.0/kernel 0.99.7
SHL ??? FORMEL-Box              04191/2846    16.8 ZYX  (6:00-20:00)
    ?   Kaltenkirchen           fido 2:242/329, LinuxNet
??? ??? (boxname)               ?             16.8 ZYX  (10:00 - 22:00)
    ?   ?                       fido 2:246/55.4
BAY ??? (boxname)               08161/82615   16.8 ZYX  (22:00-8:00)
    ?   Freising                fido 2:246/129
BAY ??? BOX/2                   089/6019677   16.8 ZYX  (22-24,0:30-2,5-8)
    ?   Muenchen                fido 2:246/147, info magic: LINUX
BAY YYY DBP Line 2+1            0851/55596    14.4 V32b (8:00-3:30)
    2   Passau                  fido 2:246/200
BAY YYY DBP Line 1              0851/753789   16.8 ZYX  (8:00-3:30)
    2   Passau                  fido 2:246/2000
BAY YYY DBP Line 3              0851/73273    14.4 HST  (5:00-3:30)
    2   Passau                  fido 2:246/202
BAY YYY DBP ISDN                0851/950464   38.4/64k (V.110/X.75)
    2   Passau                  fido 2:246/201 (8:00-24:00,1:00-3:30)
BLN ??? (boxname)               030/6866250   16.8 ZYX
    ?   ?                       fido 2:2403/17
BLN YYY CS-Port                 030/4913418   19.2 ZYX+
    4   Berlin                  fido 2:2403/13, SLS1.02
BLN YYY BigBrother / R. Gmelch  030/3356328   16.8 Z16 (16:00-23:00)
    5   Berlin                  fido 2:2403/36.4, SLS1.02/kernel 0.99.9
BW  YYY Echoblaster BBS #1      07142/21392   HST/V32b (7-19:00,23-01h)
    5   Bietigheim              fido 2:2407/4, LinuxNet
BW  YYY Echoblaster BBS #2      07142/21235   V32b (20:00-6:00)
    5   Bietigheim              fido 2:2407/40, LinuxNet
BW  NYN LinuxServer             0711/756275   16.8 HST (8:3-17:5,19-2) MO
    5   Stuttgart               fido 2:2407/34, LinuxNet
BW  NYY Rising Sun BBS          07147/3845    16.8 ZYX  (05:30-02:30)
    4   Sachsenheim             fido 2:2407/41, LinuxNet

FINLAND:
    NNY The Field of Inverse Chaos [phone]      14.4k v32bis/HST
  4     Helsinki, Finland       USENET; ichaos.nullnet.fi

FRANCE:
    NNY Modula BBS  [phone], [phone]  HST 14.4 V.32bis
  5     Paris        Michel Parlebas (no fee for Linux files)
    NNY Windows Manor   ???????????? NEED MORE INFO PLEASE.
  ?     Paris        Francis Rozange (recently relocated)
    YYY  BuBullux  (semi-private, number by request)  16.8k V32bis
  5     Paris        send requests for number to [e-mail]
    free semi-private system, hours 18:30-08:00 (but weekends 24 hours)
    2 hours download time per day, FREQ for both listed and
    unlisted nodes.
    NYY  STDIN BBS              [phone]       V32bis
  5      Lyon, Laurent Cas      FidoNet 2:323/8
    NYY  Le Lien                [phone]       HST 14.4/V32bis
  ?      Lyon, Pascal Valette   FidoNet 2:323/5
    YNY  Basil                  [phone]     V32bis
  2      Paris, Laurent Chemla
         BBS under Linux (xbbs)
    YNY  Cafard Naum            [phone]    V32bis
  2      Nantes, Yann Dupont
  open between 08:30-22:30 local time - BBS under Linux (pbbs 1.9)

IRELAND:
    NYN TOPPSI                  [phone]           9600 + HST
                                [phone]           14.4k v.32bis
  4     Dublin, Ireland         Fido, (Chatnet ?)       Fidonet 2:263/151
    NNN DUBBS                   [phone]          19.2 ZyXEL
  2     Dublin, Ireland         Fidonet 2:263/167
    NNN Galway Online           [phone]           14.4k v32b
  4     Galway, Ireland         RIME, @iol.ie
    N?Y Nemesis' Dungeon  [phone] or 326900       14.4k v32bis
  4     Dublin                  Fidonet 2:263/150

ITALY:
    NYY nonsolosoftware         [phone]  v.32bis,v.42bis
                                Fidonet 2:332/407
           "      "             [phone]   ZyXEL 19.2k
   5                            Fidonet 2:332/417

NETHERLANDS:
    YNY Koos z'n Doos           [phone]
NEW ZAALAND:

    YYY Advanced Systems        [phone]  ZyXEL 16.8k
   5    Auckland  Singet node number(s) 28:100/20 / 28:1000/201
                  INTLnet node number(s) 58:700/30 / 58:7200/30
       Fidonet 3:772/360.10 (Just a pont sorry) 24Hrs Freqs etc.

NORWAY:
        Thunderball Cave        472567018
   ?                            RIME ->CAVE ?

NETHERLANDS:
    YNY DownTown BBS Lelystad   [phone]          14.4k
  5     Lelystad                Fido 2:512/155, UUCP
    YYY MUGNET Intl-Cistron BBS [phone]    38.4k
  4-5   Alphen a/d Rijn         UUCP

SINGAPORE:
    YYY The Controversy         (65)560-6040            14.4k V.32bis/HST
  2-4                           Fidonet 6:600/201

SOUTH AFRICA:
    NYY Pats System             [phone]         14.4k v.32bis/HST
  3     Pretoria                Fidonet 5:71-1/36

SWEDEN
    ?Y? Gunship BBS             [phone]           14.4k HST DS
  ?     Gothenburg
SWITZERLAND:
    NNY Atlantis                [phone]          14.4k
  4                             ILINK
    YYY Baboon BBS              [phone]           19.2k
  ?                             2:301/580  /581

UNITED KINGDOM:
    NYN The Purple Tentacle     [phone]          HST/V32bis
  4     Reading                 Fidonet 2:252/305
        A6 BBS                  [phone]          14.4k
  ?     Herts                   Fidonet 2:440/111
    YYY On The Beach            [phone]          9600 HST
  4     Brighton                Fidonet 2:441/122

Commercial Service's Outside the US:

UNITED KINGDOM:
    NNN Compulink Info eXchange 081-390-1255            v.32bis
  5




  II.18)  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.


    ===================8<==========>8================

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# LaBRI     |         #
#  351 cours de la Liberation    |  e-mail:  [e-mail]   #
#  33405 Talence Cedex   |  e-mail:  [e-mail]    #
#       |         #
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
  There will be a sig when our local net is reliable.
        For now, I would rather stay anonymous.
Archive-name: linux-faq/part2

Last-Modified: 93/06/07
Version: 1.18

*********************************************************
*       *
*   Answers to Frequently asked questions about Linux   *
*       *
*********************************************************

This post contains Part 2 of the Linux FAQ (4 parts).
It must be read *after* the first part.

================================8<=====8<==============================
CONTENTS (of this part)

 III.  INSTALLATION, and COMMON PROBLEMS (part2)
 IV. SOME CLASSICAL PROBLEMS   (part2)
 V. LINUX and DOS    (part2)

===================================8<====>8============================



III. INSTALLATION, SETUP, and COMMON PROBLEMS
=============================================
*** Note: this FAQ section should be the most 'reliable' source for
*** installation info. Please mail any corrections or changes to this
*** section's coordinator, Matt Welsh ([e-mail]).
*** Last update April 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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 III.01)  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. Wirzenius/M. Welsh/M. Johnson
    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.


 III.02)  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),
or filesystem size. The Minix filesystem type has a limit of 64 megs per
filesystem. However, most folks use the Extended 2 filesystem or the Xia
filesystem, which have limits of 4 terabytes per partition (virtually
infinite).

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.

 III.03)  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 about 23 disks for Linux
     and 9 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 disk ("a1") must be "rawritten" (using rawrite.exe) on floppies,
     and the rest of the images are put onto DOS format floppies using the
     DOS "copy" command. 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 Manchester Computing Centre Interim Release
     This is the fabled "MCC-Interim" Linux release, which was originally
     the de facto standard Linux distribution. After 0.97.2, it was dropped
     in favor of SLS, but as of 0.99.8 a new MCC-Interim has been released.
     Like SLS and TAMU, it has an easy-to-install, complete set of Linux
     software, including networking and X11.

   * Others but OUTDATED
     There are other releases and distributions of the Linux software,
     "MJ" release. 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 "MJ" release, according to Martin Junius, is no longer
     maintained. The last version was 0.97.1.

 III.04)  Where can I get these releases 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.


 III.05)  What files do I need to get for 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. Rawrite can be found in tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/dos_utils.

For the SLS release, you need to get the files:
 * SLS.README and SLS.FAQ. These files contain further information
   on the current release of SLS. You should read them in addition
   to this FAQ.

 * a1.3 or a1.5, depending on what type of floppy you boot from
   on your system. a1.3 is for high-density 3.5" floppies, and
   a1.5 for high-density 5.25" floppies.

   This file is the image of the SLS "a1" disk. You must use
   rawrite.exe (above) to rawrite the file to a high-density
   *formatted* MS-DOS floppy. (Once the file is rawritten, the
   floppy will no longer be recognized by DOS).

 * The files in the a2, a3, and a4 directories. These files must
   be copied to MS-DOS formatted floppies (using the MS-DOS
   'copy' command). For example, the files in the a2 directory
   are copied to a floppy labeled 'a2', and so on.

   These files make up the "a" disk set. They are required. The
   rest of the files below are optional.

 * The files under the directories b1-bN, c1-cN, x1-xN, t1-tN, and
   so on. These files are copied to MS-DOS floppies just like a2-a4
   above. (e.g. the files in the b2 directory are copied to a floppy
   labeled 'b2').

   These floppies contain optional software for SLS:
     b1-bN: base system extras, such as emacs and man pages
     c1-cN: compilers such as gcc, g++, f2c, etc.
     x1-xN: the X Windows system
     i1-iN: Interviews (doc and idraw)
     t1-tN: TeX, LaTex, etc. (document processing system)
     s1-sN: sources for some of these utilities

I suggest getting at least the a, b, and c disk series. If you want to
run Xwindows, get the x series as well. When you're making these floppies,
a2-a4 and so on must all be the same kind of floppy (i.e. either
3.5" or 5.25"). The a1 disk must be the floppy type that you boot from.
The rest of the disks don't have to be the same type as the a1 disk.


 III.06)  Now that I have the files, how do I install SLS?

ANSWER: Before installing SLS you may need to resize your partitions for
MS-DOS, etc. to make space for Linux on your hard drive. For this you
generally use MS-DOS's "fdisk" and resize your partitions by first
deleting them and then re-creating them with smaller sizes. Note that
this procedure deletes everything on the affected partitions: you'll need
to make backups first and restore from them later. See section III.C for
more info on this.

To install the system: First boot the a1 disk. You should see the prompt
"LILO". Press <ctrl> or <shift> to get a list of instructions: at this
point you'll be able to choose how you want to boot the a1 disk (i.e.
choose the option "floppy" to boot without the ramdisk enabled, "ramdisk"
to boot normally, and so on). If you just press <return> you'll boot with
the ramdisk enabled (recommended, but may not be possible for systems with
less than 4 megs of RAM).

Once the system boots up login as "root" (no password). You can now
use 'fdisk' to create partitions for Linux, and reboot (from the a1 disk
again). Again, login as "root" and use 'mke2fs', 'mkswap', and
so on to create filesystems and swap space. See section III.C below for
information on making partitions and filesystems.

To install the software, use the command
 doinstall <partition>
where <partition> is the location of your root filesystem that you just
created. For example, if your Linux root filesystem is on /dev/hda2, use
the command
 doinstall /dev/hda2
If you have more than one Linux filesystem (for example, a filesystem on
/dev/hda3 for /usr), then use something like
 doinstall /dev/hda2 /dev/hda3 /usr
Those with previous UNIX experience will know what this means.
See section III.C below.

Next, the system will ask how you want to install the system (from
floppy, hard disk, tape, CD-ROM, or over the network). If you're
installing from floppy, choose "floppy". (For info on installing
from the hard drive, etc. see the file SLS.FAQ). For floppy
installations you'll also be asked what drive to install from and
how much software you're going to install. It's very self-explanatory.

You must have a formatted high-density floppy on hand before you go on.
It must be the type of floppy that you boot from (i.e. same type as the
a1 disk). It will be used to make a boot disk at the end of the installation
procedure.

>From here on it's pretty automatic-- you simply flip disks while it
installs the software.


 III.07)  Any other information about SLS?

ANSWER: This comes from the file SLS.FAQ, by Peter MacDonald.
Please get the most recent version and read it: sunsite.unc.edu:
/pub/Linux/SLS/SLS.FAQ.

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.

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.

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.

SLS is also available via mail from the address:

        Softlanding Software
        910 Lodge Ave.
        Victoria, B.C., Canada
        V8X-3A8
        [phone]

More details about SLS can be asked to [e-mail].


 III.08)  How do I get and install H.J. Lu's "bootable rootdisk" release?

ANSWER: It's much like 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. :)

This release is VERY USEFUL as a recovery disk in case you trash your
Linux system. Everyone should have a copy of the newest bootroot disk
for emergencies. It contains a full Linux system on one floppy.



III.C. SOME COMMON PROBLEMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 III.09)  What filetype is the extension ".z"? What about ".taz",
".tpz", and ".tgz"? I see these files on the archives but I don't
know how to unpack them.

ANSWER: Here's a list of common filename extensions on the archives.

   Extension      Used by
   ---------      ----------------------------------------------------------
    .Z              compress/uncompress. Use "uncompress foo.Z" to
      uncompress the file.
    .z              gzip. Gzip is now used by many archive sites instead
      of compress; if you don't have gzip on your system,
      get it! To uncompress one of these files use
      "gzip -d foo.z".
    .tar            Tar file. Use "tar xvf foo.tar" to unpack it. Or, you
      can fo "tar tvf foo.tar" to get an index listing of
      the tarfile.
    .taz            Compressed tar file. You can do something like
      "zcat foo.taz | tar xvf -" or "tar xvfz foo.taz" to
      unpack it (some versions of tar don't have the z
      option).
    .tpz, .tgz      Gzipped tar file. If you have gzip, zcat is linked to
      it, so you can do "zcat foo.tpz | tar xvf -" to unpack
      it. .tpz is the old extension; all gzipped tar files
      should now end in .tgz instead.

The SLS distribution uses gzipped tar files (.tgz).


 III.10)  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 separate partitions for your /usr filesystem...
if you have UNIX experience, you'll be able to figure out how to
divide software between multiple partitions.

For most installations simply having one root filesystem and one
swap partition is the best way to go.

The 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 use the command 'fdisk' to create partitions for Linux:
 fdisk <drive>
where <drive> is the name of the drive which you're installing Linux on.
Valid drive names are:
 /dev/hda: first IDE drive
 /dev/hdb: second IDE drive
 /dev/sda: first SCSI drive
 /dev/sdb: second SCSI drive
For example, to run fdisk on the first SCSI drive in your system, use
the command
 fdisk /dev/sda
If you don't specify a drive name for fdisk, it will assume /dev/hda.

The fdisk command "m" prints a menu. The "n" command is used to create
a new partition. "w" writes the partition table and exits fdisk; "q"
quits without saving changes. The "p" command displays the current
partition table.

When creating partitions with fdisk, you may get an error message to the
effect of "Warning: Linux cannot currently use xxxxx blocks of this
partition." This simply means that the Minix filesystem type (which is
the default) is limited to filesystems which are 64 megs in size. You can
ignore this warning, because when creating your filesystems, you can use
one of the other filesystem types (ext, ext2, or xia) which have a size
limit of 4 terabytes.

Just keep in mind that if you create a partition larger than 64 megabytes
then you cannot use the Minix filesystem type ('mkfs') when creating
the filesystem (see below). You must use the ext, ext2, or xia filesystem
type instead.

NOTE: An "extended partition" DOES NOT equal "extended filesystem".
An "extended partition" acts as a container for logical partitions. This
allows you to have more than 4 partitions on a hard drive. Extended
partitions cannot hold data on their own. You must create logical
partitions on the extended partition to hold data.

On the other hand, an "extended filesystem" is a Linux filesystem which
uses the "extended filesystem type" (as opposed to the Xia filesystem,
the Minix filesystem, and so on). Extended partitions and extended
filesystems have nothing to do with each other.

The TYPE of the partition (in the rightmost field when you use the
fdisk "p" command) does not matter to Linux. However, it does matter to
other systems such as OS/2. Just make sure that your Linux partitions
have a type such as "Linux/MINIX" to distinguish it from other systems.
(i.e. It doesn't matter if you set the type of the swap partition to
"Linux swap". All of your Linux partitions can use the default type
"Linux/MINIX" which is fine).

WARNING: DO NOT use Linux fdisk to manipulate partitions for operating
systems other than Linux. This means don't use Linux fdisk to delete
or create MS-DOS partitions, for example. Use MS-DOS fdisk for this
instead. Linux fdisk doesn't properly know how to create partitions for
MS-DOS and other operating systems.

When creating partitions, write down the names and sizes of the partitions
you create. You need this information later on. Use the fdisk "p" command
to display this information.

Once you have your partitions created, reboot the system (with the SLS
disk, reboot with the a1 disk again). You can now create filesystems
on those partitions (which is similar to "formatting" a partition under
MS-DOS). For the swap partition, use the command
 mkswap <partition> <size>
then
 swapon <partition>
For example, for a swap partition on /dev/hda2, with a size of 8208
blocks, you'd use the commands
 mkswap /dev/hda2 8208
 swapon /dev/hda2
This will make the swap space and enable it. Swap space is used as
virtual memory... if you have 4 megs of RAM in your machine, and a
16 meg swap partition, you have a total of 4 + 16 = 20 megs of RAM
available for Linux.

To make your filesystems, use the correct version of the 'mkfs'
program, depending on the type of filesystem you wish to use:
 Filesystem type     Command to create filesystem
 ---------------     ----------------------------
 Minix               mkfs -c <partition> <size>
 Extended (old)      mkefs -c <partition> <size>
 Second Extended     mke2fs -c <partition> <size>
 Xia filesystem      mkxfs -c <partition> <size>
The Minix and Extended filesystem types are older, and while more
robust, are slower and may eventually be phased out. The most
popular filesystem type used right now is the Second Extended fs
type ('mke2fs'). The Minix filesystem type is limited to 64 megs
(and 14-character-long filenames). It's suggested that you use
either mke2fs or mkxfs.

For example, to create a 61000-block Second Extended filesystem on
/dev/hda3, use the command
 mke2fs -c /dev/hda3 61000
The "-c" option checks for bad blocks on the filesystem. Apparently
mkfs and mkefs do not actually use the bad block information
correctly (see Q/A below).

Now you're ready to install the software. For SLS this means just
using the 'doinstall' command (see section III.B above). For other
installations you may need to 'mount' the filesystems first. Just
see the relevant READMEs for information.


 III.11)  Why does fdisk say "Linux cannot currently use XXXX sectors of
this partition"?

ANSWER: See the previous Q/A. Fdisk is an older program which expected
all filesystems to be Minix fs, which limited filesystems to 64 megs. You
can ignore this warning because the extfs, xiafs, and ext2fs don't have
this limit.

 III.12)  What does the message "MINIX-fs: Magic match failed" on bootup
mean?

ANSWER: Basically, this means that you're trying to mount a non-Minix
filesystem as a Minix filesystem, and mount is croaking on it because the
type is wrong. If you use a filesystem type other than Minix fs (i.e.
if you use the extfs, ext2fs, or xiafs) you'll probably see this message:
the kernel tries to mount root as Minix, then extfs, then ext2fs, and so on...
every time it fails for one type it tries the next type.

In most situations, this can be ignored, if the kernel is able to mount
your root partition as any one of its known types. However, if you have
recompiled the kernel yourself and set the root device to the wrong
partition, then the kernel should hang at this point and you'll have to use
"rdev" to set it correctly.

 III.13)  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.


 III.14)   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.

mke2fs and mkxfs correctly flag bad blocks, so this only applies to
mkfs and mkefs. This is also only needed for older RLL and MFM drives.
SCSI and IDE drives have bad block logic on-board.

How to generate a bad block list? Since this is only needed for older
drives and older filesystem types (i.e. Minix and extfs), just mail
[e-mail] or [e-mail] if you need
instructions on this procedure. Your best bet is to use mke2fs or
mkxfs anyway.


 III.15)  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. You can also see the "LILO QUICKSTART GUIDE" by Matt Welsh
which should be available on sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/docs.


 III.16)  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 (or OS/2) 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 (resp. OS/2) boot record. Now you can go back and
reinstall LILO. :)


 III.17)  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. If you copied the files
to the SLS floppies using "copy *.* ..." then you probably missed
the "diska3" file because it doesn't have an extension in the
filename!

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.


 III.18)   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(*). 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.

(*) (From: "Michael L. Kaufman" [e-mail])
Formating the floppy lays down the track/sector information. If
you have a completely unformated floppy, dd can fail in interesting
ways.

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.

 III.19)  How can I set the default video mode used by Linux? Do I have
to recompile the kernel to do this?

ANSWER: No, you don't have to recompile the kernel. Just use "rdev" with
the "-v" switch to set the video mode in the kernel (either on your
hard drive (if booting from LILO) or on your boot floppy). For example,
to change the kernel in /Image to prompt for the videomode on bootup, do
 rdev -v /Image -3
to change the kernel on your boot floppy do,
 rdev -v /dev/fd0 {video-mode}

 III.20)   How else can I use rdev?

ANSWER: rdev is very handy and also is used to set the root and swap
partitions, ramdisk size, and more, in a compiled kernel. It means you
don't have to recompile the kernel to make these changes. Use "rdev -?"
for a list of options.


 III.21)   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 create or delete a file from
       copy over it              the 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.

If any of this is confusing, please go buy a good book on using UNIX
and read it. All of the above is standard UNIX fare. It's included here
because many Linux newcomers don't take the time to learn UNIX before
they dive in. :)


 III.22)  I have the previous version of the Linux kernel, 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. You unpack these sources in /usr/src/linux. Make sure you have
the logical links for /usr/include/linux and /usr/include/asm as
described below.

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'.


 III.23)  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.


 III.24)   How can I upgrade to the newest version of GCC and/or
libraries?

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 .tpz). The names change from time
to time: you need to get the compiler (often in a file such as
'gcc233.tpz'), 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.


 III.25)  What's the deal with these things called "jump tables"?

ANSWER: There's more information in section X and VII, but to be
brief: There are two 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/*.sa jump table shared lib stubs (use gcc -jump ...)

There is an older form of the shared libraries which is no longer widely used.
Nonetheless, you may run across it from time to time.
 /usr/lib/*.ca  classic shared lib stubs

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
were 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

 III.26)  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.

BTW you get new versions of GCC, jump tables, libraries, include files, etc.
from tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/GCC.


 III.27)  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.


 III.28)  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.


 III.29)  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.


 III.30)   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 -s /Image

Then use OS/2's fdisk to add it to the Boot Manager.

Thanks to Thomas Brodt <[e-mail]>.


 III.31)   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.



IV. SOME CLASSICAL PROBLEMS
===========================

  IV.01)  While running du I get "Kernel panic: free_inode: bit
already cleared".  Also, du produces a ENOENT error for all the files
in certain of my directories.  What's going on?

ANSWER: These are both consistent with a bad file-system.  That's
relatively easy to produce by not syncing before rebooting, as linux
usually has 1.5MB of buffer space held in memory (unless you have <=4M
RAM, in which case the buffers are only about 0.5MB). Also linux
doesn't do anything special about the bit-map blocks, and as they are
used often, those are the thing most likely to be in memory. If you
reboot, and they haven't been written to disk ...

Just do an fsck on the device, the -a flag might repair it otherwise,
the only thing to do is to reinstall the filesystem from the Images.

A sync is done only every 30 seconds normally (standard unix
practice), so do one by hand (some people think you should do 3 syncs
after each other, but that's superstition, you just have to give time
to the first sync to finish), or by logging out from the
startup-shell, which automatically syncs the system. Unmounting a
filesystem also syncs it (but of course you can never unmount root).

Another (sad) possibility is that you have bad blocks on your disk.
Not very probable, as they would have to be in the inode-tables, just
a couple of blocks in size. Again there aren't programs available to
read a disk for bad sectors and put them in some kind of
"bad-sector-file".  On IDE drives this is no problem (bad sectors are
automatically mapped away).


  IV.02)  How can I partition my hard-drive to use Linux?

ANSWER: See section III of the FAQ on installation.

  IV.03)  I heard something about repartition a hard disk without
deleting everything on it, any clue?

ANSWER: It's not a program but a partition procedure which requires
a) a partitionning program
b) a sector editor
The procedure itself can be found (at least) in digest#132 Vol2.


  IV.04)  What must I do to mkfs a floppy?

ANSWER: blocks are of size 1K so 1.44 floppy is 1440 blocks. The
floppy has to be formatted before this will work (e.g., fdformat can
do this from within Linux).


  IV.05)  I have some trouble with tar/untar; any clue ?

ANSWER: The tar provided on .96 and later is Pax (don't know for
CURRENT_VERSION) which does not accept the z flag. You can download
the GNU tar at tsx-11 in /pub/linux/binaries/usr.bin


  IV.06)  I can do this as root but not as non-root, is it a bug?

ANSWER: Except for an early make utility, the problem is caused by an
incorrect permission flag. The most common problems are about /tmp
which should be 1777 and /dev/ttys? which might be 766. So as root do

 chmod 1777 /tmp ; chmod 766 /dev/ttys?


  IV.07)  "du" reports twice the size showed with "ls -l", is it a
bug?

ANSWER: No it is not, the report is 512 bytes multiple (due to POSIX
requirement), for KB you just add the -k flag. You can add a du
function in your .profile which does this automatically, something
like du(){ /usr/bin/du -k $* }


  IV.08)  Sometimes, I get "mount can't open lock file"; what does this
means?

ANSWER: This can happened for two reasons:
A) You try to mount something as non-root. In that case you can either
retry as root, or set the setuid bit to mount as follows:
- be sure that mount belongs to root, if not do 'chown root /bin/mount'
- set the setuid bit with 'chmod u+s /bin/mount'
BTW you have to do the same with umount (in order to be able to unmount)
Remark that it is NOT safe to allow anyone to perform mount/umount.

B) You are root. mount wants to open /etc/mtab and /etc/mtab~ - the
first one for reading, the second as lock file. If there is already a
mtab~ remove it. This can happen if you used once gnuemacs on mtab.

To forbid that case, just add the following entry in your /etc/rc file:
rm -f /etc/mtab~


  IV.09)  When I try "mount /dev/hd?? /user", I get error 2.

ANSWER: Be sure, that your mount point /user does exist; if not perform
a "mkdir /user".
BTW the error numbering is explained in /usr/include/errno.h


  IV.10)  Since I have upgrade my Linux kernel, ps won't work anymore,
why?

ANSWER: Each time you upgrade (or re-compile the kernel), you should
perform a 'ps -U' (-U is for update the /etc/psdatabase).

Every time you boot a new kernel you have to do a 'ps -U' to update
the psdatabase, after doing this you can remove the system file or
even have to patch the ps-suite.

BTW: sometimes a patch makes recompiling ps necessary. Sometimes you
do a make clean.

NOTE: As of 0.99 there is now a ps package which uses the "/proc
filesystem".  This is a meta-filesystem which has an entry for each
process that's running... create the directory /proc and do a
'mount -t proc /proc /proc' to see it, or else add the following
entry in your /etc/fstab:

 none  /proc  proc

You can get the "procps" package from tsx-11.mit.edu in
/pub/linux/BETA/procps. The nice thing about this is: you don't have
to upgrade it for every kernel version (and thus ps -U is meaningless
if you use procps).

MKJ wrote in c.o.l.a:

tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/BETA/procps/procps.tar.Z is the latest
version of procps.  Most of the reported bugs (i.e. all I can remember
at the moment ;-) have been fixed, a man page for ps has been added,
and several new programs have been added and/or fixed.  A list of the
stuff provided:
 ps
 free (a real one, from Linus)
 uptime (this needs work to be good, mine is a hack)
 tload (a hack, but who cares?)
 xload (from drew)
 fuser (perl script prototype, hopefully the real thing in a
               later release)

  IV.11)  Since Linux 0.96b I have a lot of core file all over
my disk. How can I sweep them away ?

ANSWER: Use the following command
  find / -name core -exec rm {} \;

BTW: think twice before using this command, there might be a John Core
user on your system; this command will erase his mail :)

If you never want to see another core file, put this line into
your /etc/rc file:
 for a bash user
     ulimit -c 0
 for a csh or tcsh user
    limit coredumpsize 0



  IV.12)  I can only log-in as "root", is it normal ?

ANSWER: No, add "rm -f /etc/nologin" in your /etc/rc.local file

  IV.13)  Sometimes my Linux virtual console get messed up when I cat
a binary file. The characters shown are above ascii 127, any clue ?

ANSWER: (J. Stuckey [e-mail])

It's a vt-100 thing I think.
echo "^V^O"
should fix it.  Control-V is the literal-next character that stty
reports for me, and Control-O is the "magic" character that returns
you to livability.


V. LINUX and DOS
=================
*** This section is co-written by Mark Komarinski, A. V. Le Blanc and
*** MM. Corsini. The official maintainer is Mark, if you have *any*
*** questions, mail him at [e-mail]
*** Last Update 03.08.93


   V.01)  Is is possible to access DOS from Linux?

ANSWER: Yes.
(1) The mtools package allows you to access DOS files;
it emulates the DOS commands CD, COPY, DEL, DIR, TYPE, and others.
(2)  Since approximately version 0.97 of the kernel, you can mount
DOS file systems as part of your Linux directory tree, providing you
have an appropriate mount command.
(3)  A DOS emulator is in alpha test, which will allow some DOS programs
and utilities to run under Linux.


   V.02)  Why use mtools if you can just mount a drive?

ANSWER: Mtools is good if you want to do something quickly.  For
example, if you want to get directories on a bunch of floppies.  The
mount procedure requires you to mount the drive, get a directory, then
umount it. Mtools lets you get the directory with one command.

(Dirk Hohndel:) Mtools is really fast when copying disks. I mount the
SLS directory of my SUN to my linux box and use mcopy to get the files
on the disks. 3 times faster than using xcopy under DOS


   V.03)  How do I get the mtools package set up correctly?

ANSWER: The mtools package is available in source form on most Linux
ftp sites.  The most recent version (As of Sept 1992) is mtools.n2,
and there are linked binaries and library (.a) files available as
well (for example, as part of MCC interim releases of Linux).
In the n2 release of mtools, there is only one executable binary
which works differently depending on its name: you can create hard
or symbolic links to it named mcopy, mdel, mdir, mtype, etc; this
is how the Makefile in version n2 of mtools does it, and it saves
several hundred kilobytes of disk space.  Finally, you need the
correct information in the file /etc/mtools, which is described below.
Mtools also comes with the SLS release of linux.


   V.04)  What is the format of the file /etc/mtools?

ANSWER: A complete entry in the file /etc/mtools contains the following
fields: drive, device, fat, cylinders, heads, sectors, offset.  Two
examples of entries from /etc/mtools are

     A /dev/fd0 12 80 2 15
     C /dev/hda1 16 0 0 0

which defines the DOS disk A: as accessible through the device /dev/fd0,
having a 12-bit FAT, 80 cylinders, 2 heads, and 15 sectors per track;
DOS disk C: is accessible through the device /dev/hda1, has a 16-bit
FAT, and its geometry is simply that of the hard disk where it lives.
The last three numbers can be 0 if you wish; this allows mtools to
try to figure out the disk's geometry itself, and perhaps to fail.
A 12-bit FAT is common for floppies, but may occur in small hard
disk partitions.  A 16-bit FAT is common for hard disks.
This is an extract of my /etc/mtools file:
A /dev/fd0 12 0 0 0     # 3.5  1.4 Meg (autodetect)
B /dev/fd1 12 0 0 0  # 5.25 1.2 Meg (autodetect)
C /dev/hda1 16 0 0 0 # 1st partition of my Disk


   V.05)  Where can I find out more about mtools?

ANSWER: There are two detailed README files in the mtools.n2 distribu-
tion.  These files treat compiling and using mtools.  There is a file
README.mtools which treats only using mtools, which is a part of the
MCC interim version of Linux.


   V.06)  How do I use the DOS file system?

ANSWER: The DOS file system is part of the kernel.  If you have a
kernel of level .97.1 or above, and an appropriate mount command, type

     mount -t msdos [-o conv=text] /dev/hda1 /dos

to mount the partition /dev/hda1 as an MS/DOS file system on the
directory /dos.  You'll need a recent mount command, from at least
release 97 or later of the root disk.  Recent mount commands also
accept the options conv=binary|text|auto (default is binary) to
specify that text end-of-lines in DOS files are to be converted to
UNIX end-of-lines (by omitting carriage return characters) in no cases
(binary) or in all cases (text) or in cases that don't have 'well-
known binary extensions' (e.g., .EXE or .COM) (auto).


   V.07)   When I mount an MS-DOS disk, I get two lines of what seem to
be error messages and the message: No bmap support.  Is my disk bad?

ANSWER: No.  Since the dosfs is still in ALPHA mode, the two lines are
used for displaying information about the disk that was mounted, just in
case you have problems.  The 'No bmap support' message means that you
cannot run linux programs from that partition.  This has been fixed in the
latest release (alpha.9)


   V.08)  I want to use the DOS file system with either conv=binary or
conv=auto, but I want to convert text files from DOS to UNIX format,
or from UNIX to DOS format.

ANSWER: Use the utility todos/fromdos which comes as part of the
dosfs package, currently (Sept 92) in released in version 8, or
use the flip utility by Rahul Dhesi.


   V.09)  Where can I find out more about the DOS file system?

ANSWER: There is a README file included in dosfs.XX.tar.Z (the current
value of XX is 10)


   V.10)  This sounds me like a chicken and eggs problem, how can I
install the mtools package at the very beginning.

ANSWER: You have to use rawrite or the mount procedure.


   V.11)  Could someone explain how to use rawrite?

ANSWER: Rawrite is a DOS util which write sequential sectors of
a formatted disk/floppy. When a floppy has been rawritten, you can
(under Linux) untar it (use x, v, z and f flags). As an example:
a) under Dos use rawrite
rawrite
 source: kermit.z
 destination: a
b) boot under Linux, and perform a tar
tar zxvf /dev/fd0
tar zxvp < /dev/fd0

You DO NOT NEED TO MOUNT a rawritten disk


   V.12)  What is as86.tar.Z ?

ANSWER: It's the port of Bruce Evans' minix assembler, you need it to
be able to recompile Linux at your convenience. In fact this is ONLY
used for boot/setup.S and boot/bootsect.S they create 80x86 REAL mode
code.


   V.13)  Turbo (Microsoft) Assembler won't compile the Linux boot
code.  In fact, some of the opcodes in these files look completely
unfamiliar.  Why?

ANSWER: The Linux boot codes are written in Bruce Evans' minix
assembler, which has the same opcodes as the original minix assembler
ported to linux get as86.tar.Z There are a few differences
between these and normal DOS assemblers.


   V.14)  What about the dos emulator (dosemu)?

ANSWER: Dosemu is in alpha testing now, so it is very unstable and crashes
easily.  Some programs (such as earlier versions of Turbo Pascal; TP
5.5 too) seem to work fine, but other programs such as dir /p will
crash the emulator.
Look in your favorite FTP site for the dosemu kit.  For a semi-complete
list of programs that do and do not work under the emulator, get the file
/pub/Linux/docs/emusucc.txt at sunsite.unc.edu or tsx-11.mit.edu.


   V.15)   I have a Stacker volume on my hard drive.  Can I access that?

ANSWER:  Yes, but you will have to do that through the dosemu program.
For more information on it, check out the file /pub/Linux/docs/stacker.doc
at sunsite.unc.edu


   V.16)   How about OS/2 HPFS partitions, or MacIntosh/Amiga floppies?
Can I mount any of them?

ANSWER:  There is no support for any of those filesystems yet.


    ===================8<==========>8================
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# LaBRI     |         #
#  351 cours de la Liberation    |  e-mail:  [e-mail]   #
#  33405 Talence Cedex   |  e-mail:  [e-mail]    #
#       |         #
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
  There will be a sig when our local net is reliable.
        For now, I would rather stay anonymous.

Archive-name: linux-faq/part3
Last-Modified: 93/06/07
Version: 1.18

*********************************************************
*       *
*   Answers to Frequently asked questions about Linux   *
*       *
*********************************************************

This post contains Part 3 of the Linux FAQ (4 parts).
It must be read *after* the 2 first parts.

===================================8<====>8============================
CONTENTS (of this part)

 VI.  MISCELLANEOUS HINTS   (part3)
 VII. MORE HINTS   (part3)
 VIII.  EMACS for LINUX   (part3)

===================================8<====>8============================



VI. MISCELLANEOUS HINTS
=======================
*** This section is maintained by Matt Welsh ([e-mail]). Please
*** mail me if you have any changes/updates/questions. Thanks -mdw

Special gcc information are located in section X. A special section is
devoted to it since it's *the* compiler of Linux. I have subsectionned
this part in 3 subsections:


VI.A Misc Information
VI.B Minor/Major Information

VI.C Serial Information


VI.A. Misc information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  VI.01)  It seems that $#@! ported on linux don't run correctly, what
do I do about reporting bugs?

ANSWER: (Matt Welsh) It's possible that either the program itself has a bug
or that Linux has a problem that this program brings out. :) But first check
that the size of the file(s) corresponds that of the files(s) on the FTP
sites where it's available. If they're different, either you downloaded them
incorrectly (i.e. you forgot to turn on "bin") or whoever put them on the
FTP site uploaded them incorrectly.

If that's not the problem, then post to comp.os.linux asking about the
program, to verify that it is a bug. PLEASE: when posting possible "bug
reports" include all error and output information from running/compiling
the program. Just saying "it doesn't work" isn't very helpful. Also mention
your specific setup, Linux version, GCC version, etc. Some of these things
depend on running under certain versions and you may have missed that
information.

Note that my "[e-mail]" bug reporting list has been
phased out. It turns out that Linux has so few bugs, most of which are
resolved on the newsgroup or through Linus before I can accumulate them
and post. :) In short: if there's a bug in Linux or in Linux-ported
software, it will usually be fixed in the next patchlevel or version.


  VI.02)  Has $#@! been ported to Linux?

ANSWER: First check out the FTP sites and read the monthly INFO-SHEET,
as well as the new "Linux News" and the META-FAQ's (all of which are
either available on the FTP sites and/or posted to the newsgroup as they're
written). Also check out the "Linux Project Registry" (posted to the
newsgroup and on the FTP sites) which lists ongoing/current Linux projects.
Also look in the "old" Linux digests and mailing-list archives, kept on
tsx-11.mit.edu and nic.funet.fi. Also, see if there's a GNU(*) version
of the program you're looking for (which are available everywhere).
Since Linux uses GCC as its native compiler, most GNU software ports
directly to Linux without problems. If all else fails, ask on the
mailing list or newsgroup if the program is ported and where it's
available.


(*) GNU stands for GNU's Not Unix, which (besides being a recursive
acronym) is a project started by the Free Software Foundation (the FSF)
to write a freely distributable version of Unix.  The GNU kernel is
named HURD, and is based on Mach.  It is currently being written, and is
not yet done.  Many of the GNU utilities, however, are completed and are
much more functional than the original Unix utilities.  Since they are
freely available, Linux is using them as well.



  VI.03)  I've ported $#@! to Linux, what should i do to add it in the
standard distribution?

ANSWER: (Matt Welsh) First read the previous Q/A, then talk to the
maintainers of the various releases (MCC interim, SLS, and so on)
about including your program with those releases. The best way to make
programs available to the rest of the world is to upload it to one of
the Linux FTP sites (such as tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/incoming or
sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/Incoming).

BTW Whenever you submit binaries, please think that if you link them
with shared libraries, this might cause problems for those who (gasp!)
don't have the shared libraries installed. You can either link them
using -static, and if someone wants to build a shared version on their
own machine they can get the sources (which you should also make
available) and build it themself. Or else provide the shared lib.


  VI.04)  I want to port $#@! to Linux, what are the flags?

ANSWER: Recall that Linux implements subset of SYSV and POSIX, so
-DUSG and -DPOSIX work in general.

NOTE1: SIGBUS is not there, and can be safely commented out in general.
NOTE2: see section related to GCC, in the third part of this FAQ, for
more details.


VI.B. Major/Minor device number
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*** This section is maintained by Rick Miller, any comments,
*** suggestions, remarks should be mailed to him at <[e-mail]>
*** Last Update: April 1993

This is a list of the device names, along with Major and minor numbers,
which the Linux kernel may currently recognize.  I say "may" because some
of them may require patches to your kernel, others must be configured-in
using the Linux kernel's "make config" routine before compiling.

My profuse thanks to all the writers of device drivers for Linux, and to
all those patient folks who took the time to explain their devices to me.
May they become obscenely rich.  Until then, I hope this list will help
prevent driver collisions and perhaps lend a clue to a newbie or two.


        IF YOU WANT ANY CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THIS LIST, *TELL ME*!

        DEVICES NOT LISTED HERE SHOULD USE MAJOR NUMBERS *ABOVE 127*
        UNTIL ALLOCATED A MORE PERMANENT NUMBER IN THE LOWER RANGE.
        (I suggest using a more-or-less random number to avoid the
         chance of collisions with any other experimental drivers.)

        TO HAVE MAJOR/MINOR NUMBERS ALLOCATED (OFFICIALLY) FOR
        YOUR DEVICE DRIVER, SEND E-MAIL TO:  [e-mail]

  VI.05)  What are the device minor/major numbers?

Majors:
  0.  Unnamed .......  (unknown) ....  for proc-fs, NFS clients, etc. (???)
  1.  Memory ........  (character) ..  mem ramdisk kmem null port zero core
  2.  Floppy ........  (block) ......  fd[0-3]<[dhDH]{360,720,1200,1440}>
  3.  AT-Disk .......  (block) ......  hd[a-b]<[0-8]>
  4.  Tty ...........  (character) ..  tty's and pty's
  5.  Dial-out ......  (character) ..  tty cua*
  6.  Parallel ......  (character) ..  par[0-2] lp[0-2]
  8.  SCSI-Disk .....  (block) ......  sd[a-h]<[0-8]>
  9.  SCSI-Tape .....  (character) ..  <n>st[0-1] or <n>rmt[0-1]
 10.  Mouse .........  (character) ..  logibm psaux inportbm atibm (mouse)
 11.  CD-ROM ........  (block) ......  scd[0-1]
 12.  QIC-tape? .....  (character) ..  rmt{8,16} tape<{-d,-reset}>
 13.  XT-disk .......  (block) ......  xd[a-b]<[0-8]>
 14.  Audio .........  (character) ..  audio dsp midi mixer sequencer
 15.  Joystick ......  (character) ..  js[0-1]
 16.  Socket ........  (character) ..  net arp
 17.  AF_UNIX .......  (character) ..  unix
 18.  AF_INET .......  (character) ..  inet ip icmp tcp udp
 19.  WE-driver .....  (character) ..  we[0-3]
 20.  DP8390-driver .  (character) ..  wd[0-3] ec[0-3] ne[0-3]
 21.  Sony-CD-ROM ...  (block) ......  sonycd
 22.  2nd AT-Cntrlr .  (block) ......  hd1[a-b]<[0-8]>
 23.  Mitsumi CD-ROM   (block) ......  mcd
 31.  Link Interface   (character?) .  ???

Breakdown of minors by Majors:
------------------------------
  0.  Unnamed .......  (unknown) ....  for proc-fs, NFS clients, etc.
        Minors?

  1.  Memory ........  (character) ..  ram mem kmem null port zero core
        (0.  /dev/ram:  was supposed to be the ramdisk, but never got used.
         As of this date it has not been implemented and probably won't be.)
        1.  /dev/mem
        1.  /dev/ramdisk: a BLOCK device (the RAM-disk)
        2.  /dev/kmem
        3.  /dev/null
        4.  /dev/port
        5.  /dev/zero
        6.  /dev/core:  like /dev/mem, but in "core"-file format for gdb

  2.  Floppy ........  (block) ......  fd[0-3]<[dhDH]{360,720,1200,1440}>
        Minors are [[4 * type] + drive] where drive 0-3 == A:-D: (floppy)
        and type is:    0: Autodetect           4: 720k on 3.5" DD
                        1: 360k on 5.25" DD     5: 360k on 5.25" HD
                        2: 1.2M on 5.25" HD     6. 720k on 5.25" HD
                        3: 360k on 3.5" DD      7. 1.44M on 3.5" HD

        0. /dev/fd0:  Autodetected first floppy.
        1. /dev/fd1:  Autodetected second floppy.
        2. /dev/fd2:  Autodetected third floppy.
        3. /dev/fd3:  Autodetected fourth floppy.
        4. /dev/fd0d360:  360k on 5.25" DD in first drive
        5. /dev/fd1d360:  360k on 5.25" DD in second drive
                (You can work out the rest of the intermediates...)
        8. /dev/fd0h1200:  1.2M on 5.25" HD in first drive
        12. /dev/fd0D360 (/dev/fd0H360):  360k on 3.5" DD in first drive
        16. /dev/fd0D720 (/dev/fd0H720):  720k on 3.5" DD in first drive
        20. /dev/fd0h360:  360k on 5.25" HD in first drive
        24. /dev/fd0h720:  720k on 5.25" HD in first drive
        28. /dev/fd0H1440:  1.44M on 3.5" HD in first drive

     Naming goes like this:
        fd[drive][media][size]
         where: [drive]=0-3:  Corresponds to DOS's "A:"-"D:".
                [media]={d,h,D,H}:  d=Double Density 5.25" diskette
                                    h=High Density 5.25" diskette
                                    D=Double Density 3.5" diskette
                                    H=High Density 3.5" diskette
                [size]={360,720,1200,1440} kilobytes.

     Floppies are assumed to be double-sided (DS), and
        drives are assumed to be high-density devices.

  3.  AT-Disk .......  (block) ......  hd[a-d]<[0-8]>
     (For IDE, MFM, and RLE drives and controllers.)
      On the first AT controller card:
        0.  /dev/hda (/dev/hda0):  The whole first HD, including its MBR.
        1-4.  /dev/hda{1-4}:  Primary partitions on the first hard drive.
        5-8.  /dev/hda{5-8}:  Extended partitions on the first hard drive.
        64.  /dev/hdb (/dev/hdb0):  The whole second HD, including its MBR.
        65-68.  /dev/hdb{1-4}:  Primary partitions on the second hard drive.
        69-72.  /dev/hdb{5-8}:  Extended partitions on the second hard drive.
      On the second AT controller card:
        128.  /dev/hdc (/dev/hdc0):  The whole third HD, including its MBR.
        129-132.  /dev/hdc{1-4}:  Primary partitions on the third hard drive.
        133-136.  /dev/hdc{5-8}:  Extended partitions on the third hard drive.
        192.  /dev/hdd (/dev/hdd0):  The whole fourth HD, including its MBR.
        193-196.  /dev/hdd{1-4}:  Primary partitions on the fourth hard drive.
        197-200.  /dev/hdd{5-8}:  Extended partitions on the fourth hard drive.

        Notes:  BE *VERY* CAREFUL WITH the four "whole drive" devices (hda,
                hdb, hdc, and hdd)!!  These four devices embody the *entire*
                *drive*, not just one partition.  The only things that use
                them are things that need to read/change the partition table
                (like fdisk).

                Linux doesn't order anything.  It perceives partitions in the
                order in which they appear in the partition table.  Thus,
                /dev/hd?1 may follow /dev/hd?2 in the cylinder numbering.

                The names of the hard drives are not the same as under Minix.

  4.  Tty ...........  (character) ..  tty's and pty's
        0.  /dev/tty0:  This is the currently active Virtual Console.
        1-9.  /dev/tty[1-9]:  Specific virtual consoles.
        10-63.  /dev/ttyV[10-63]:  More virtual consoles that nobody uses.
        64-127.  /dev/tty[0-?][0-63]:  Dial-in serial ([controller][port]).
        128-191.  /dev/pty[p-s][0-f]:  PTY Masters.
        192-255.  /dev/tty[p-s][0-f]:  PTY Slaves. ([0-f]=0123456789abcdef)

        Notes:  NOTICE THE NEW NAMING FOR SERIAL LINES.  Serial lines will
                be named either "tty..." or "cua..." (See Major #5) followed
                by the one-digit number of the *board* the line is from, and
                the number of the line on that board.  The four default lines
                are considered to be on board "0", so what DOS calls "COM2:"
                should now be known as "/dev/tty01" or "/dev/cua01".

                For more information on the use of multi-port boards, read
                the documentation which accompanies the serial patches.

  5.  Dial-out ......  (character) ..  tty cua*
        0.  /dev/tty:  the tty that owns the process calling it.
        64-127.  /dev/cua[0-?][0-63]:  Dial-out serial ([controller][port]).
                (See Major #4 for NEW NAMING CONVENTION.)

  6.  Parallel ......  (character) ..  par[0-2] lp[0-2]
     Parallel (printer) ports.  (Increasable in include/linux/lp.h)
        0.  /dev/par0 (/dev/lp0):  First XT parallel port
        1.  /dev/par1 (/dev/lp1):  First AT parallel port
        2.  /dev/par2 (/dev/lp2):  Second AT parallel port

        Notes:  The number of line printers is defined by LP_NO which is
                found in [/usr/src]/linux/include/lp.h.

  7.  Unused.  (First come, first serve.)
        This one's getting old.  No minor numbers are yet assigned.
        It's not even in the source code.  Maybe it never will be...

  8.  SCSI-Disk .....  (block) ......  sd[a-h]<[0-8]>
        Minors numbers are ((16 * Drive) + Partition)
        where
          Drive is the number of the physical drive in order of detection
        and
          Partition is as follows:
                0   is the whole drive
                1-4 are the DOS "primary" partitions
                5-15 are the DOS "extended" (or "logical") partitions, so...

        0.  /dev/sda (/dev/sda0):  The first (detected) SCSI drive.
        1-4.  /dev/sda[1-4]:  Primary partitions on the first SCSI drive.
        5-15.  /dev/sda[5-15]:  Extended partitions on the first SCSI drive.
        16.  /dev/sdb (/dev/sdb0):  The second (detected) SCSI drive.
        17-20.  /dev/sdb[1-4]:  Primary partitions on the second drive.
        21-31.  /dev/sdb[5-15]:  Extended partitions on the second drive.
        32.  /dev/sdc (/dev/sdc0):  The third (detected) SCSI drive.
        ...and so on.

  9.  SCSI-Tape .....  (character) ..  <n>st[0-1] or <n>rmt[0-1]
        0.  /dev/st0:  First (detected) SCSI tape drive, rewind-on-close.
        1.  /dev/st1:  Second (detected) SCSI tape drive, rewind-on-close.
        128.  /dev/nst0:  First (detected) SCSI tape, *no* rewind-on-close.
        129.  /dev/nst1:  Second (detected) SCSI tape, *no* rewind-on-close.

 10.  Mouse .........  (character) ..  logibm psaux inportbm atibm (mouse)
     (MGR may require that /dev/mouse be linked to one of these...)
                NOTE THE CHANGES TO DIFFERENTIATE MOUSE TYPES!
                (Please implement these in the distributions.)
        0.  /dev/logibm:  Logitec-'compatible' bus mouse
        1.  /dev/psaux:  PS/2 mouse port (may not work on some lap-tops, yet)
        2.  /dev/inportbm:  MicroSoft "InPort" bus mouse
        3.  /dev/atibm:  ATI XL bus mouse

 11.  CD-ROM ........  (block) ......  scd[0-1]
        0.  /dev/scd0:  The first (detected) SCSI CD-ROM.
        1.  /dev/scd1:  The second (detected) SCSI CD-ROM.
        ("There's not much more to it than that" says Eric Youngdale.)

 12.  QIC-tape? .....  (character) ..  rmt{8,16} tape<{-d,-reset}>
     (I really don't have much info on this one... )
        6.  /dev/rmt8:  QIC-120
        8.  /dev/rmt16 (/dev/tape):  QIC-150
        136.  /dev/tape-d:  (It has something to do with being 128+8... ?)
        255.  /dev/tape-reset:  For resetting only.

 13.  XT-disk .......  (block) ......  xd[a-b]<[0-8]>
     XT (8-bit) hard disk controller devices.
        Minor numbers are assigned in the same manner as for the
        normal (AT-type) Hard Drive devices ("/dev/hd*").

 14.  Audio .........  (character) ..  audio dsp midi mixer sequencer
        0.  /dev/mixer:  Mixer and Control Device
        1.  /dev/sequencer:  FM-synthesizer and Midi
        2.  /dev/midi:  (for future use)
        3.  /dev/dsp:  Digitized voice (DAC/ADC)
        4.  /dev/audio:  (Reserved for compatibility with Sun)

 15.  Joystick ......  (character) ..  js[0-1]
        0.  /dev/js0:  (Left/Right?) joystick.
        1.  /dev/js1:  (Right/Left?) joystick.

 16.  Socket ........  (character) ..  net arp
        0.  /dev/net:  Generic layer (sockets)
        1.  /dev/arp:  Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)

 17.  AF_UNIX .......  (character) ..  unix
        0.  /dev/unix:  AF_UNIX protocol layer

 18.  AF_INET .......  (character) ..  inet ip icmp tcp udp
        0.  /dev/inet:  AF_INET protocol layer
        1.  /dev/ip:  Inernet Protocol (IP)
        2.  /dev/icmp:  Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
        3.  /dev/tcp:  Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
        4.  /dev/udp:  User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

 19.  WE-driver .....  (character) ..  we[0-3]
        0-3.  /dev/we[0-3]:  "WE" driver

 20.  DP8390-driver .  (character) ..  wd[0-3] ec[0-3] ne[0-3]
        0-3.  /dev/wd[0-3]:  "DP8390" driver, WD8003
        8-11.  /dev/ec[0-3]:  "DP8390" driver, 3C503
        16-19.  /dev/ne[0-3]:  "DP8390" driver, NE2000

 21.  Sony-CD-ROM ...  (block) ......  sonycd
        0.  /dev/sonycd:  Sony CDU-535 CD-ROM, I think.

 22.  2nd AT-Cntrlr .  (block) ......  hd1[a-b]<[0-8]>
     Minor numbers are like those of the primary AT-Disk controller.
        THIS MAY WORK FOR HARD-CARDS.
     (Note the "1" in the device name for the secondary controller.
      This is because we may eventually wish to change the names of
      the primary-controller drives to "hd0[a-b]...".)

 23.  Mitsumi CD-ROM   (block) ......  mcd
     I don't know much about this one.

 31.  Link Interface   (character?) .  ???
        0.  ???
     Link Interface for use with Christoph Niemann's driver for the
     INMOS C012-based high-speed serial link interface card (useful
     for talking to transputers or video digitizers).


  VI.06)  (Chuck Boyer) Could some one clear up the devices meaning?

ANSWER: (Jim Winstead Jr)
>port

This allows programs to access the hardware ports directly.  Not
something you generally mess around with much.

>ptyp0-3
>ptypa...tty

These are the pseudo-tty 'master' devices.  Each pty connection uses
a slave-master set of tty devices.

>tty0...

tty[1-8] are the virtual consoles associated with Alt-F[1-8].  tty0 is
the current virtual console (so writing something to tty0 goes to the
current vc).

>tty64 I've figured out is the modem connection

Yes, that would correspond to COM1 under DOS.  However, the tty64 name
is obsolete - ttys[1-4] should be used instead.

>ttyp0...
>ttypa...

These are the pseudo-tty 'slave' devices.

>ttys1...

These are the serial devices.  ttys1 corresponds to COM1 under DOS,
ttys2 corresponds to COM2, etc.



VI.C Special Serial
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*** This section is maintained by Jim Gifford
*** (jgifford@attmail,world.std}.com), some addenda were sent by
*** Juha Ursin ([e-mail])
*** Last update May 1993.

Douglas E. Quale:
This has come up a couple of times already (including the case of
serial mice as well), but for the record stty acts on stdin not
stdout.  Old stty's (from V7 through BSD4.3) used stdout, but this is
suboptimal and doesn't conform to POSIX.  The GNU stty you are likely
using on Linux uses stdin, as does the stty distributed with BSD
Networking Release 2.  (Also, ``stty -a'' is more informative about
possible parameters, although it's pretty hard for me to remember what
90% of that stuff does without refering to the man page.)
Jim Gifford:
However, there are a few older (of mysterious origin) stty's that work
on stdout(I have one myself!)

  VI.07)  Is there a list somewhere where I can get help with serial
   communications under Linux?

ANSWER: (Jim Gifford -- [e-mail])
   There is a list for the discussion of serial communications under
   Linux.  It is for problems, drivers, new developments, etc... with
   the Linux serial devices. The list is: [e-mail]
   To join, send mail to [e-mail]
   I hope that this list will prove beneficial to the improvement of
   Linux. This list is maintained by Michael K. Johnson as
   [e-mail]

  VI.08)  When I run kermit under Linux, I get "Warning, Read access
   to lock directory denied". What am I doing wrong?

ANSWER: Nothing, you just need to create /usr/spool/uucp (kermit 4.6?)
   or /usr/spool/locks (this is for the kermit5A), which is where kermit
   like to lock files.

  VI.09)  What are the major, minor numbers for the serial ports under linux?

ANSWER:   Major 4, Minor :
   64      /dev/ttys0      - com1
   65      /dev/ttys1      - com2
   66      /dev/ttys2      - com3
   67      /dev/ttys3      - com4

  VI.10)  can anyone give me a sample /etc/inittab entry for login
   from a pc attached to serial line /dev/ttys2?

ANSWER: "Humberto speaking :), updated by Rick Miller"
   First set up the modem to turn off echo and enable auto answer, I do
   this in kermit by connecting to the modem and typing "ate0s0=1"
   followed by enter (w/o quotes). Then setup inittab to spawn getty on
   the modem
   ttys2:vt100:/etc/getty -m 1200 ttys2
  (Replace "vt100" with the name of the /etc/termcap entry for the
   terminal type you will use, or use "dumb" if you don't have one.)

   Then it should work. Some modems can be permanently set to disable
   echo and set auto answer, see your manual.

   Jim Weigand says:
     disable all messages. This will prevent getty from hanging up
   your modem.
   Set       For:
   ATE0      No echo
   ATQ1      No messages
   ATS0=2    Answer 2nd ring
   ATS7=60   1 minute to answer (shorter if 2400 baud)
   You can use kermit to set these. Do an AT&W to save for power-up.

   Michael K. Johnson says:
   If you would rather not save these commands as defaults to come up
   on power-up, perhaps because you want to use your current modem
   settings under a DOS communications package, you can also shove
   these command out ttys? from /etc/rc (or /etc/rc.local) using
   the command:
      echo "<modem_settings>" > /dev/ttys?

  VI.11)  How do I set parameters like parity for serial login?

ANSWER: Use stty and redirect input from the serial line.
ex: stty parodd < /dev/ttys2 which gives ttys2 odd parity.
type stty -a to get an idea of possible parameters.
Or 'man stty' as well :)

  VI.12)  (Juha Ursin) I run SLS pl6, kernel is pl8 and I use
libc.4.3.2.
Trying to allow login on my terminal (on ttyS1 with only three wires
(RX, TX, GND) connected). Getty 9600 /dev/ttyS1 starts and I get the
login prompt, but the password prompt newer appears.


ANSWER: (Ted Ts'o)
Setting CLOCAL is the correct way to solve this --- it is not a bug in
the kernel.  Since you only have three wires connected, it means that
the carrier detect line was left floating, and probably floated to
ground.  Thus, the /dev/ttyS1 device blocked waiting for carrier detect
to go high.  The reason why the login prompt appeared is that getty
opened /dev/ttyS1 with the NODELAY flag; but when /dev/ttyS1 was
reopened for /bin/login, it did not have the NODELAY flag, and you ended
up blocking.

That's what the CLOCAL flag is for --- it indicates that the serial port
is hooked up to a local (hence CLOCAL) terminal, and so the carrier
detect line should be ignored.  In general, whenever the carrier detect
line is not supported by a serial device, or if your RS-232 cable does
not support the CD wire, the CLOCAL flag should be set.


  VI.13)  (Juha) Where are my Call-out-mode -serial ports (cuaX) ?,
When should I use these cuaX ports ?, Why on my system ttys3 is used
instead of ttyS3 ?

ANSWER: (Ted) Ask the person who created the install procedure (Peter
MacDonald, in the case of SLS).

>When should I use these cuaX ports?

When you're dialing out (i.e., kermit, cu, seyon, uucp, etc.).

>On my configuration ttyS3 is named ttys3 incorrectly - why?

Again, see the person who created the install procedure.  Recent
versions of SLS create the serial devices using the new convention
(ttyS3).  ttys3 represents an older convention, and some older install
procedures may not have switched over.

  VI.14)  (Juhan) What other possibly free IRQ's there are than IRQ5 ?,
Can I use IRQ7 when not printing ?,

ANSWER: (Ted)
IRQ 2 is also often free, although some networking cares use them.

> Can I use IRQ 7 when not printing?

It's generally a bad idea to have two cards plugged in sharing an IRQ
address.  It happens to work with most serial cards, but it doesn't
alwas work.  You can use IRQ 7 if you don't have a parallel port plugged
into your system.  If you do have a parallel port plugged in, you can
try using IRQ 7; it might work, it might not.  Be sure to also make sure
that the printer works after you plug in your serial card configured to
use IRQ 7.  Another alternative: If you are using the version of the
parallel printer driver that doesn't use interrupts, you can go to your
parallel port board, and disable the IRQ, thus freeing IRQ 7.

     Is pin 1 nearest to the plate or is it 31?

If this is a sample PC ISA card, then A1 is the pin closest the "back" of
the card, and on the top, if the pins are held down and the "back" of
the card is to your right:

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 |                                                                    |
 |                                                                    |
 |                                                                    |
 |                                                                    |
 |                                                                    |
 |                                                                    |
 +---------------------------------+          +---+               +---+
                                   |          |   |               |
                                   +----------+   +---------------+
                                                   A             A
                                                   3             1
                                                   1

The "B1..B31" pins are on the reverse side of the card.




VII. MORE HINTS
===============

This part try to keep track of the different information
that appeared in comp.os.linux and on the list since beginning of
March. I tried to update it for KERNEL_VERSION, so there might be some
mistakes. Moreover take care to use the correct library and include
stuff, and the ad-hoc gcc you use !!!


 VII.01)  How can I backup my Hd under Linux ?

ANSWER: I know at least two ways. One possibility is tar and mtools,
another possibility is the diskbackup/diskrestore of Diamano Bolla
(digest37 vol. #2) which saves big hd to floppies using the
stdin/stdout. These utilities have been uploaded to the major sites in
file disksplit.tar.Z.
An example usage (Roger Binns) is:

tar cvf - bin dev usr etc .. | compress | diskbackup

and to restore:

diskrestore | uncompress | tar xvf -

BTW: if you are on Ethernet you could send your files via tar..|rsh (tar...)
or even via NFS to a host which is regularly backed up !


 VII.02)  Where is 'which' ?

ANSWER: It depends on the sh you are running:
in bash  'type -path'
in tcsh  it's a builtin

for rc you can try the following (untested by me) script from
Kevin Brown:

#!/bin/sh
for i in `echo $PATH | sed 's/:/ /g'` ; do
  for j in ""$@" ; do
 if test -x "$i/$j" ; then
    echo "$i/$j"
         fi
  done
done

 VII.03)  How to use setterm: for the novice?

ANSWER:The setterm utility provides access to most of Virtual Consoles
(VCs) functionality.  You can set your screen up to blank at 10
minutes using:
         setterm -blank 10

You can set colors, and clear the screen.  For a full list of commands,
just type "setterm" with no arguments.

There are a few tricks with the screen dumper can really make VCs go a
long way.  Here are a few of the common ones that I use:

  setterm dump

Dumps the contents of the current VC to screen.dump (in the current dir).

  setterm dump 4

Dumps the contents of VC 4 to screen.dump

  setterm -file mydumpfile -dump 4

Dump the contents of VC 4 to the file mydumpfile

  setterm -file /dev/tty0 -dump 4

Dumps the contents of VC 4 to the current VC.

  setterm -file /dev/tty4 -dump

Dumps the contents of the current VC to VC 4.

  setterm -file /dev/ttys1 -dump

Dumps the contents of the current VC to the serial port.
Handy if you are logged on and want to paste a screen full without
having to resort to doing a file transfer.

  setterm -file mydumpfile -append 4

Appends to instead of overwriting the dump file.  Useful if you
have several screens you wish to concatenate.


 VII.04)  I've tried clear/reset which exist on most of unix but it
doesn't work, have I missed something?

ANSWER: setterm -clear or setterm -reset will solve your missing.  For
clear, you can also write a small script (which use the cl: part of
/etc/termcap wrt your TERM), or use bash where ctrl-l will do it for
you.


 VII.05)  I know there are VC, but where is the setterm stuff?

ANSWER: It's in the current distribution (i.e. on the images), the
source can be found in virtcons.tar.Z at nic.


 VII.06)  I know there are shared libraries; does there exist an easy
way to check an executable for sharing ?

ANSWER: (Claude Morin:) There exists at tsx-11 ldd.tar.Z If you follow
the instructions, you will be able to type "ldd <executable>" to List
the Dynamic Dependencies of the executables. In other words 'ldd'
prints the name of the shared libraries needed by the executable,
nothing appears for static one.

ANSWER: (Josh Yelon & HJ Lu) - very old binaries.
(J.Y.) An executable which shares a library is linked with an
(ordinary, non-shared) "stub" version of the library. One of the first
thing this stub does (when the executable is run) is to ask the kernel
to load the (big) "shared version" of the library (which is usually
named /lib/lib.XX.XX) The upshot of this is that in the code for the
stub (part of the executable), is the string "/lib/lib.XX.XX"; which
can be searched by using 'strings' or 'grep'.
(HJ. L.) if you have gcc2.11a or later the shared image is changed to
/lib/libxxxx_vyy_zzz. And you should better use nm to find
"__shared_lib" (nm failed on stripped executable). You can also write
a function for "file", which can even check the version number ....

 VII.07)  What is the rdev program provided in the images?

ANSWER: It's a program from Werner Almesberger of ETH. With no
argument it prints the first line of /etc/mtab. With one argument, a
boot-image, it prints the device configured as the root device, and
with two arguments, a boot image and a device, it sets the device as
default root in the specified image.


 VII.08)  How to start Linux from drive B?

ANSWER: There is a DOS utility called boot_b.exe (look at DOS ftp).
Another simple way is to open the box and invert the cables.


 VII.09)  The program boot_b works fine /but/ once the first disk is
read the system go back to the first drive, any hints?

ANSWER: Yes, change the bootimage in just the same way that you change
it to boot on the hard drive, execept that the major/minor pair is
different. All these information are in the file INSTALL-0.10.
Remember that if you use a sun or other endian machine, you will need
to reverse the byte order when you run the filter program (also in the
same file).


 VII.10)  How can I get Linux to boot directly from the harddisk?

ANSWER: (Rick) The best option right now is LILO version ALPHA.8. It
has been generally agreed that the days of using "shoelace" are at an
end. See Section III of this FAQ for LILO information.

 VII.11)  I use shoelace, but I want to change my root partition, what
is the process to get rid of it?

ANSWER: With Norton utility you can put back a standard boot sector.
Another possibility is to restore the old boot sector (the one you
should have backup *before* installing shoelace).


 VII.12)  Sometimes, when I want to remove a directory, I get an error
message, is it a (known) bug?

ANSWER: No, There is no bug at all, you probaly have another shell
on another VC whose working directory is either the one you try to
remove, either a subdirectory of it.


 VII.13)  I'm looking for init, getty, login, passwd stuff, where
can I find them?

ANSWER: You should find it in shadow.tar.Z (only sources), at least
at tsx in the usr.bin directory. Many people have reported some troubles
with the *OLD* shadow-passwd (shadow-bin.tar.Z and shadow-src.tar.Z, so
do not use them anymore); an alternative might be the mcc-interim
which contains standard passwd binary. There is also the Peter Orbaek's
admutil-1.?.tar.Z and poeigl-1.?.tar.Z which contains source for
shutdown, su, chsh, passwd and a system V init compatible.


 VII.14)  How can I setup a user account other than root ?

ANSWER: You can either use the adduser program, either do it manually.
In the later case, you have to:
a) edit /etc/passwd as root and add a line of the following format:
user:passwd:uid:gid:user name:home directory:login shell

user is the login name; uid is the numeric user id, it should be
unique; gid is the numeric group id, this number should correspond to
an entry in /etc/group. The passwd field should be left blank 'cause
it is stored in an encrypted form [to set this field just use the
passwd program].
example
faq::200:5:Marc-Michel:/home/faq:/bin/sh
b) Still as root, you shoud now create the home directory and set the
correct ownership.
mkdir /home/faq
chown faq /home/faq
chgrp 5 /home/faq


 VII.15)  I've been trying to get Linux to run on my [3/4]86 box. It
can't even boot. Any suggestions?

ANSWER: The most common error/problem is writing the bootimage to a
low density disk. It fits, but the bootstrap code will only recognize
high density disk. So try to format explicitely disk as high density:
- for 3.5",  'format a: /n:18 /t:80 '
- for 5.25", 'format a: /n:15 /t:80 '


 VII.16)  Does there exist games, languages (other than C), and
anything which make the system more friendly?

ANSWER: Yes, among other things there are rogue and yahtzee; TeX;
Prolog, Perl.. but in general, if you want some extra tool port it to
Linux this is also a good beta-testing exercice.


 VII.17)  Whenever I use uemacs 3.1X on a symlink, the symlink does
not exist anymore, why?

ANSWER: (Tristram Mabbs) Since ue3.10, uemacs uses 'safe save' mode,
writing the file to a temporary and moving it OVER the original. In
the process, this deletes the original. To prevent this just add the
following in your emacs '.rc' file: set $ssave FALSE


 VII.18)  I have an SVGA, but Linux detect an EGAc/EGAm; is it normal?

ANSWER: (Jim Winstead) This is correct actually. You have an EGA+ card
(SVGA) with a Color/Mono monitor. The only four possibilties are EGAc,
EGAm, *MDA and *CGA (according to the code in
kernel/chr_drv/console.c).
The true test, if Linux detects your video card, is if you press
<RETURN> at the "Press <RETURN> to see SVGA- ..." boot-time message.
If you have a SVGA  recognized card, it will ask you to choose a
screen size. If not detected, the default is 80x50 mode.
BTW if you have no SVGA, press the <space> and you are in 80x25 mode.

If you have dowloaded the kernel, you can automatically skip this
query at boot-time if you set the SVGA_MODE variable in the main
Makefile before compiling a new bootimage.


 VII.19)  How can I change the keyboard repeat rate?

ANSWER: (Michael K Johnson) In boot/setup.S there are the lines:
! set the keyboard repeat rate to max
 mov ax,#0x0305
 mov bx,0x0000
 int 0x16

If you don't want to change the repeat rate at all, just comment out
these lines. If you want something in the middle, change the
 mov bx,0x000
by mov bx,0x??yy
where ??yy is determined by (Ralf Brown's interrupt list)
bh= delay value (0x00 = 250ms to 0x03= 1000ms (one sec))
 this is the delay before the repeat is performed
bl= repeat rate (0x00 =30/sec to 0x1f=2/sec; 0x0c=10/sec [default])


 VII.20)  I compiled fdformat.c and ran it on 1.44Mb and 1.2Mb, the
results are unreadable, any clue?

ANSWER: (M. Pereckas) fdformat only low-level formats the disk. to use
the fdformatted disk with DOS filesystem, run mformat on the disk.
Mformat writes DOS filesystem information but is unable to low-format
:). In order to put a Linux filesystem on a (low)formatted disk you
have to mkfs it.

 VII.21)  Is it possible to disable the 3-fingers salute
(ctrl-alt-del) ?

ANSWER: Yes, in kernel/sys.c you can read the following:

/*
 * this indicates wether you can reboot with ctrl-alt-del: the deault is yes
 */
static int C_A_D = 1;

there is also a small utility written by Linus in digest242 vol#2


 VII.22)  Could some one explain the information provided at boot-time?

ANSWER: (Jim Winstead Jr)
> serial port at 0x03f8 is a 16450
> serial port at 0x02f8 is a 16450 (what's that the uart chip?)

Right, the last number should either be 8250, 16450, 16550, or 16550a,
and on the two 16550 models, it will report that FIFO's have been
disable (16550) or enabled (16550a).

> 8 virtual consoles (that's how many alt-F's I can get going?
>      but only F1-4 actually work)

You can get sessions running on Alt-F[1-8], but the 'standard'
/etc/inittab only runs getty/login on Alt-F[1-4].  You can start
sessions on the other consoles by using 'doshell' or adding lines to
/etc/inittab.

> 4 pty's (are these the consoles F1-4?)

No, those are 'pseudo' ttys, which programs like MGR use to simulate
tty connections.  That's probably a gross over-simplification, but it
gives you the general idea, I think.  :)

> p_init: lp1 exists (0) (is that the (l)ine (p)rinter?)

Right.


 VII.23)  What is the meaning of files ended by .T.Z (or .taz) ?

ANSWER: The suffix Z is for compressed files (to uncompress them use
the command `uncompress file.Z`).
The suffix T indicates a "tar file" the usual suffix is tar but, the
14 chars filename limit of the Minix filesystem makes it cumbersome to
use .tar.Z (to untar a file ended by .T, use the command
`tar options file.T` (see the man page for more details).

For the .taz file, change them as .T.Z and go-ahead.

 VII.24)  What is the meaning of files ended by .T.z (or .tpz) ?

ANSWER: The suffix z is for files compressed with the
gzip utility, which is being used more frequently because it provides
better compression.  These can be uncompressed with the `gzip -d
file.z` command.


 VII.25)  I have upgraded the kernel from XX to YY (XX > YY), however the
login screen still says YY.

ANSWER: Just change the message in one of these files: /etc/issue and
/etc/motd. The former contains the message before the login, the later
is the one after you are logged in.

 VII.26)  What is doshell good for ?

ANSWER: It's an old program provided in the early Linux version (0.12)
when the getty was not already there, it spawns a shell on any tty's.
(Mattew Gream): I do this quite often ( getty on tty1, 2, 3 and my
rc.local spawns a shell on tty4 as follows
  '/usr/bin/doshell /dev/tty4 /bin/tcsh &'


 VII.27)  I don't have the kernel sources, how can I change the keyboard
language?

ANSWER: You can use the fixkbd program written by Laurent JULLIARD
([e-mail]). Its purpose is to fix the keyboard
map used in your kernel image. It works more or less a la "rootdev"
(or rdev). It can be found on tsx-11.mit.edu in
/pub/linux/binaries/sbin/fixkbd.tar.Z.


 VII.28)  Does there exist a possibility to track down the source of
kernel pannic messages ?

ANSWER:  Here's info from Linus on how to track down the source
of kernel panic messages. The values for EIP, address, and so on are
JUST EXAMPLES: the EIP, EFLAGS, etc. can be anything.

The lines after ">" were written by me; the responses by Linus.

> Unable to handle kernel paging request at address C000000A

This means something in the kernel tried to access kernel memory at
address 0x00A (the C0000000 offset is due to the kernel starting at
virtual address 0xC0000000).  The first page of kernel address space is
unmapped to find these kinds of incorrect references (it's probably a
NULL dereference to a structure member at offset 0xA).

> Oops: 0002

Error code. This tells you if it's a read or write (forget which ritgh
now, and don't have any books handy)

> EIP: 0008:000290D2

This is where it happened: segment 0008 (kernel code segment) and offset
0x290D2 into the kernel. So to find this, you generally do something
like

 nm /usr/src/linux/tools/system | sort | less

and search for the function that contains the address 0x290D2.

> EFLAGS: 00010087
> fs: 0017

Eflags and fs when the exception happened. You usually don't need this.

> base: C0000000, limit: 000A0000
> Pid: 0, process nr: 0

In what process the exception happened. This is the swapper, which also
means the thing is fatal (other processes you can just kill). That it's
in the swapper process probably means that it's an interrupt that did
it, as the swapper doesn't really do anything.

> 89 50 04 c7 03 00 00 00 00 c7

This is the instruction that resulted in the error.  I usually
disassemble them by hand and see what it is, then I try to find out
exactly where in the function this assembly sequence comes up (probably
by compiling the .c file to a .s file and looking around).
Alternatively you can just run 'gdb' on /usr/src/linux/tools/system, but
gdb has some problems.

> task[0] (swapper) killed: unable to recover
> kernel panic: Trying to free up swapper memory space
> In swapper task - not syncing

This is just to tell you not to expect anything from the kernel any
more: linux cannot go on without the swapper task.

> How can I decode the numbers in the message?
> Also, note that sometimes the "Unable to handle..."
> message is followed by the "Oops: 0002" block, but
> the last message is sometimes something else (i.e. not
> always a "task[0] (swapper)...." message, but something
> from the TCP driver in this case.

It depends on where it happened. If it's an interrupt, it can
essentially happen in any task (all interrupts are handled in the task
that happens to be currently active), while "normal" code happens in the
task that calls it.



VIII. EMACS for LINUX
=====================
*** This section is maintained by Rick Sladkey ([e-mail])
*** Last Update March 1993.


VIII.A. GENERAL INFORMATION
VIII.B. GNU EMACS for LINUX


VIII.A. GENERAL INFORMATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a short list of Frequently Asked Questions about GNU Emacs
under Linux.  It does not address general questions about Emacs which
are not Linux specific.  For general help about Emacs, 1) learn to use
and read the online documentation, 2) read the real Emacs FAQ found in
emacs/etc/FAQ, and 3) read the newsgroup gnu.emacs.help.

                                        Rick Sladkey <[e-mail]>


VIII.B. GNU EMACS for LINUX
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VIII.01)  What version of the compiler was used?  Which shared libaries?

ANSWER: This describes version of GNU Emacs 18.59 for Linux 0.99.5 and above
compiled with GCC 2.2.3 using the libc.so.4.3 and libX11.so.3.0 shared
libraries.

VIII.02)  Which files do I need?

ANSWER:
emacs-18.59b.tar.Z  this file, sample default.el and diffs
    for this version, the eight-bit patch,
    iso-latin-1.el and eight-bit.el
emacs-etc-18.59b.tar.Z  emacs support programs and misc info
emacs-bin-18.59b.tar.Z  shared emacs binary and its doc file
x11emacs-bin-18.59b.tar.Z shared x11emacs binary and its doc file

VIII.03)  How do I install them?

ANSWER: For the latter three files, just cd to /usr and untar them.

VIII.04)  What if I want to compile Emacs myself?

ANSWER: It is fairly easy (and highly recommended) to compile Emacs
yourself if you have the the disk space.  In this case you only need
the standard Emacs distribution (emacs-18.59.tar.Z from any GNU archive)
and the Linux diffs and support files (emacs-18.59b.tar.Z from a Linux
archive).  The diffs are quite small and mostly amount to a
configuration file.

VIII.05)  What about Epoch or Lucid Emacs?  Are these available for Linux?

ANSWER: Yes.  Thomas Dunbar has been maintaining Epoch for Linux and
Chipsy Sperber has compiled Lucid Emacs.  Both of these work well
under Linux.  Look in a Linux archive index for where to find them.

VIII.06)  Does Linux Emacs support eight-bit input/output?

ANSWER: Yes.  It is new with this version.  It uses the so-called
"ctl-arrow" patch.  See the file README.8bit for more information.

VIII.07)  How much disk space is required?

ANSWER: Anywhere from 1 to 15 Meg.  Emacs works reasonably well with no
support files at all.  With a judicious selection from lisp/*.elc and
etc/*, quite a lot can be done using only 2 Meg.  If you want all of
lisp/*.elc, info/*, and etc/* this will require 4 to 6 Meg.  If you
unpack the whole source you need 8 Meg.  If you collect info files
like rare coins and install a lot of big lisp packages then Emacs may
need its own partition. :-)

VIII.08)  Why can't Emacs find its support files anymore?

ANSWER: This is because older versions of Emacs were compiled with
"/usr/local/emacs" based paths.  The current version is compiled with
"/usr/emacs" paths.  If you have a previous installation, just "mv
/usr/local/emacs /usr" and you're done.  If you can't bear to part
with the "/usr/local" pathnames because of inertia then do "ln -s
/usr/local/emacs /usr" and you can have them both.

VIII.09)  How do I get Emacs to recognize my cursor keys?

ANSWER: Simple.  Don't use them. :-)  Seriously, there are as many
ways to do this are there are elisp hackers but the preferred way is
to follow the pattern set by the other terminal definition files in
emacs/lisp/term/*.el.  For just arrow keys you can just copy vt220.el
to console.el and that's it.  For function keys and the others see
the sample default.el included with emacs-18.59b.tar.Z.

VIII.10)  What packages are particularly useful under Linux?

ANSWER: Because info format is the documentation standard of the GNU
project and just about everything except the kernel comes from FSF,
you will find that Dave Gillespie's enhanced info package is very
useful.  It allows multiple info directories, space bar paging, and
supports compressed info files. Please learn to use info.  Imagine
Unix life without man.

Others that I highly recommend are Sebastian Kremer's enhanced
dired directory editor, Dave Gillespie's calc calculator, Masanobu
UMEDA's gnus for usenet news, and Kyle Jone's vm for mail.

All can be found in the OSU Emacs archive, ftp.cis.ohio-state.edu,
/pub/gnu/emacs/elisp-archive.  See the real FAQ for more details.

VIII.11)  Does Linux Emacs use the shared libraries?

ANSWER: Yes.  It works fine with the DLL libraries and should not
require a new binary when the C or X libraries are updated.

VIII.12)  Does Linux Emacs support the X Window System?

ANSWER: Yes.  However, there are two binaries.  One without X support
(about 485k) and one with X support (about 515k).

VIII.13)  Do I need both Emacs if I don't always use X?

ANSWER: No. The X11 version works equally well inside or outside of X.
If you get the message "Check your DISPLAY variable" it means that
you have defined DISPLAY in your ~/.profile (or whatever).  You can
fix this by starting Emacs with 'emacs -nw' or by removing the DISPLAY
variable from your ~/.profile and putting it in you ~/.xinitrc.

VIII.14)  Why doesn't Emacs use the settings in my
.Xdefaults/.Xresources file?

ANSWER: You are probably using the word "emacs" and your X version of
emacs is called x11emacs.  Either use the word "Emacs" in your resource
file or rename x11emacs to emacs.  See above question on why this
is reasonable.

VIII.15)  I read about some menu that is supposed to pop up when I
press some mouse button.  Does this work with Linux Emacs?

ANSWER: Yes.  This requires XMenu support to be compiled in.  Former
versions did not support it because it did not work correctly.

VIII.16)  Sometimes Emacs crashes with a SIGALRM message.  What's
wrong?

ANSWER: The old answer about upgrading to a newer version of bash
was incorrect.  The problem was in the implementation of sleep(3)
in the old C library.  It is fixed as of libc-4.3.



    ===================8<==========>8================

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# LaBRI     |         #
#  351 cours de la Liberation    |  e-mail:  [e-mail]   #
#  33405 Talence Cedex   |  e-mail:  [e-mail]    #
#       |         #
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
  There will be a sig when our local net is reliable.
        For now, I would rather stay anonymous.
Archive-name: linux-faq/part4
Last-Modified: 93/06/07
Version: 1.18

*********************************************************
*       *
*   Answers to Frequently asked questions about Linux   *
*       *
*********************************************************

This post contains Part 4 of the Linux FAQ (5 parts).
It must be read *after* the 3 first parts.

===================================8<====>8============================
CONTENTS (of this part)

 IX.  FEATURES    (part4)
 X.  GCC MISC INFORMATION  (part4)
 XI. SCSI SPECIAL   (part4)

===================================8<====>8============================


IX. FEATURES
============

  IX.01)  I've read that linux has virtual consoles, what must I do to
get them?

ANSWER: Yes there are, you can access them with the left <alt>-key
together with <Fn>-key. With the Linux Images distribution, 4 consoles
are available, getty runs on them.
Notice that they are NOT accessible when running X (contrary to some
commercial unices).

  IX.02)  When Linux boots, I get the following message "8 virtual
consoles"; how can I acess to the 5-8 vc's ?

ANSWER: If you want the getty to run on the 5-8, you should add the
corresponding entries in /etc/inittab. You can also just run sh on
them by using the doshell soft.
And then in either case, the ALT-F[5-8] will access the corresponding
vc.

  IX.03)  What kind of shell is /bin/sh ?

ANSWER: It's the Bourne Again Shell, bash-1.12.3 and
compilation was straightforward, just "make"
that's all or nearly.
BTW There does exist different shells for Linux, these are:
bash, rc, zsh, tcsh and pdksh (a korn shell).


  IX.04)  Does there exist a man page for **** ?

ANSWER: Download man.tar.Z from your favorite linux ftp site, there is
most of the fileutils man page -- either **** or g****, example there
is nothing on ld, but there is for gld :) --, check the whatis
database provided. The files in the cat1 dir are pre-formatted man
pages that the man program can use. Quite recently the man pages for
section 2 have been written (thanks Drew) and can be found, at least
at tsx-11 in /pub/linux/docs/man/man2.tar.Z

Also manpages are in the SLS on the b? disks.

BTW there is nroff and groff for Linux. Cawf 2.0 works just
fine for simple man pages, and a partial ms support too.


Moreover Michael Johnson is the coordinator for man pages under Linux,
he is looking for volunteers, so contact the DOC Channel.

  IX.05)  Is there a simple man package (groff is too big):

ANSWER: "Cawf -man" also "fm -m" (Al Clark) tsx-11 in
  /pub/linux/binaries/usr.bin/fm.tar.Z


  IX.06)  What are the editors available in linux?

ANSWER: Right now there are uemacs-3.11, elvis-1.4 (1.5).
Gnu Emacs is there, read the section devoted to it in the 5th part of
this FAQ. Also the port of mg (micro gnu) has been done and can be
found at least at athos.rutgers.edu (128.6.4.4)
in pub/linux, mg is the binary and mg.tar.Z is the sources file. You
can also find a PD ed, and elvis has an ex mode. Also available is
Lucid Emacs (available on sunsite.unc.edu in
pub/Linux/apps/editors/lemacs), including binary and info and lisp
trees (it takes about 18MB of disk space). Finnally there are
joe, vile-3.11, elle (Elle Looks Like Emacs), Xedit and aXe.

  IX.07)  Does there exist a printer package for Linux?

ANSWER: (R. Miller) Yes.  The "plp" package is currently available
under the directory [/pub/linux]/BETA/plp on tsx-11 and its mirrors.
You may also print things manually like so:  cat filename > /dev/lp1
(Note that though "/dev/lp0" exists, most people find that their
printer is on /dev/lp1.  Use whatever the kernel says that it detects
in the boot-up messages.)

  IX.08)  Are uucp, mail, and/or USENET news available for Linux?

ANSWER: (Vince Skakan)
   Yes !!!  At this time, the following (at least) have been
        ported to Linux:

        Package name            version
        ------------            --------
        taylor uucp             1.03
        elm                     2.3-pl11
        smail                   3.1.28

        C-news                  12/22/91
        tin                     1.1pl4
        trn                     2.2
        nn                      6.4.18

[...coming soon - Expect an announcement in the near future concerning
the packages above being made available in binary form in the SLS
distribution and in source form from sunsite.unc.edu and other Linux
archive sites...]

If you are interested in the last uucp features, join the UUCP channel
(see  part1 of this FAQ for more details about the multi channels list).

  IX.09)  How do I make swapping work?

ANSWER: Quite simply, you need the swapon and the mkswap binaries.
Then you can choose between a swap partition or a swap file.
The mkswap is used to write the "swap signature", whilst the swapon
binary is to activate the swapping.

First of all you need a partition :), I assume it's the second of your
first disk namely /dev/hda2, and it's 10MB big
A) swap partition:
you have to indicate it's a swap area, this is done via mkswap
(instead of mkfs) which needs the name of the partition and the size
in blocks (a block is 1Ko big); the optional -c flag is for bad block
checking. So for our example you should perform:
mkswap [-c] /dev/hda2 10000
Then you need to indicate that you want linux to use the swap area,
this is done via swapon. In general it is set in the /etc/rc file,
just put the following entry:
/bin/swapon /dev/hda2
It can also be achieved via the /etc/fstab file
B) swap file:
The process is quite close; you need a partition, and a swap file.
Assume that I prefer a swap area of 4MB (I want to keep some place in
/dev/hda2). I need first to "dd" the file.
dd if=/dev/hda2 of=/swap_file bs=1024 count=4096
bs stands for block size, and count is the number of blocks
then I have to put the "swap signature" on that file:
mkswap /swap_file 4096
At this point, you should 'sync', just to be sure the signature is
effective. And finally add an entry in the rc file:
/bin/swapon /swap_file


  IX.10)  When I boot I get one of the following messages:
"Unable to find swap signature" or "Bad swap-space bitmap"

ANSWER: You probably forgot to make your swap-device, use the mkswap
command.


  IX.11)  How do I know if it is swapping?

ANSWER: You will notice it :)) First of all, Linux tells you at boot
time, "Adding swap: XXX pages of swap space", and if you start running
out of memory, you will notice that the disk will work overtime, and
things slow down. Generally a 2Meg RAM will make the system swap
constantly while running gcc, 4 Meg will swap occasionnaly when
optimizing big files (and having other things active, such as make).
Also, the command 'free' (from the ps package) reports total enabled
swap space and current swap use.


  IX.12)  How is it possible to remove a swap file?

ANSWER: Simply perform a rm on that file, and remove the swapon of
your /etc/rc file.


  IX.13)  How is it possible to remove a swap device?

ANSWER: mkfs the device, and remove the swapon of your /etc/rc file.

  IX.14)  How much swap space do I need ?

ANSWER: Linux does not perform real swapping, it's rather paging (see
below for a more complete explanation). The swap area is *added* to
the memory and can be viewed as virtual memory, so choose the size you
need, example:

  8MB RAM + 6MB swap => 14MB virtual memory

  IX.15)  Could someone explain the swap process on Linux?, is it
swapping or paging ?

ANSWER: (Linus) Linux uses swap as /additional/ memory, one page of
the swap-space is used for the good-page bitmap and the swapspace
signature.
In fact Linux does only paging, no swaping in the meaning "write out
one whole process to disk".
The reason it's called swapping is that Linux used paging for memory
management on a low level since the very beginning, but didn't page to
disk at all until 0.12.

  IX.16)  Is demand paging different from paging and How ?

ANSWER: (Linus) Demand-paging is really "demand loading of
executables" and is totally independent of the page-swapping
algorithms, although they have similarities. When Linux strts up a
process, no actual code space is loaded: I let the page exceptions
load in the executable as needed. Thus Linux demand-loads the code and
initialized data it needs.
Demand-loading has very good points: (a) it simplifies the exec system
call; (b) it means page sharing between that have excuted the same
file is easy to implement; (c) it cuts down on the amount of memory
required. When Linux runs out of real memory, it starts to lock for
pages it can swap out, but if it notices that the page is clean, it
just forgets about it, and demand-loads it when it's needed again.
Thta means that swap-file isn't needed as much, especially when
running big binaries such as gcc, where the code-pages can be
demand-loaded as you wish.

Point (c) means that even without any swap space, you can usually run
slightly larger programs that your memory setup would actually permit.
I've noticed this while running X and doing a kernel compilation +
something else wshen I've forgotten to turn on swapping: free reports
0 page available but things still work, although performance is
slightly down...

  IX.17)  Is there any way to tell how much swap space you are using
or have left?

ANSWER: The free program provided with the ps package handles this.


  IX.18)  I have a 2Megs box, but "free" reports only 1Meg why?

ANSWER: (Linus:) "free" doesn't concern with the memory the kernel has
allocated for itself. In other words what you see is the *user* memory
available. The kernel has taken the low 1Meg for it's use (~250Ko for
it and the rest for buffer cache and kernel data structures); for big
memory machine it could be even 2Megs.

  IX.19)  What tape drives work with Linux ?

ANSWER: (24 sept. P. Riipinen)
- There is a working QIC-02 device driver for Linux, supporting (at
  least) Everex/Wangtek cards.
- There are additional patches for the QIC-02 to support Archive
  SC402/499R. You can find them in /pub/linux/alpha/qic-02 at tsx-11
  There are some bugs in the driver but you can backup.
- Newer drivers are all SCSI, so check the SCSI section in this FAQ.

  IX.20)  Is there only the %$#@ keyboard ?

ANSWER: There are Dannish, Finnish, French, German, Uk, US and DVORAK
keyboards. Set it in the main Makefile of the kernel sources, then
(re)compile the kernel again. Make sure the files in kernel/chr_drv
directory are recompiled.


  IX.21)  (special FINNISH/US) I booteed up with the new image and
everything work except that some keyboard keys produce wrong
characters. Does anyone know what is happening?

ANSWER: Since 0.95a images are US product (and so are US-keyboard
oriented), BUT linux sources are FINNISH product, and so the default
keyboard is set to be FINNISH. The solution is in the previous Q/A.


  IX.22)  Does there exist shared libs ?

ANSWER: (H.J. Lu, [e-mail], 09/01/92)

The shared library under Linux started at 0.12. Peter MacDonald
collaborating with Linus made the first generation of shared library,
which is the base of the classic shared library which is no longer widely
used.

The kernel support of shared library under Linux is system call

extern int uselib (const char *__filename);

which loads an executable image with fixed entry point into memory,
just like the ordinary executables.

In crt0.s, a function which can find out if and which shared images
are needed and loads them is invoked before `main ()' is called if
necessary. David Engel and I developed a way to tell the loader which
shared images have to be loaded, utilizing the similar technique used
in global constructor in g++ 2.x with the help from GNU binary
utilities.

In the classic Linux shared library, we build a big executable image
for several libraries and make sure no external variables outside of
the participating libraries are referenced. Then we can get the
absolute addresses of all the global variables defined in the
libraries used to build that executable image. After that, we make a
stub library for each participating library which just has the
absolute addresses of all the global variable in it.

For each shared image, there must be one and only one .o file, which
defines a global variable containing version, name and entry point of
the shared image, and a dummy global data. Among those libraries used
to build the shared image, there must be one library which will always
be referenced whenever any other library is referenced. We put this .o
file into the stub library for that library and add a special symbol
to each of the components of the stub library in order to make sure
that this .o file is always linked in if any of the participating
libraries are linked.

In gcc 2.2.2d, jump table, developed by David Engel, was introduced in
the shared library. At the beginning of each shared image, there is
a table in which every library function has a fixed entry address and
the instruction at that address is a jump which will lead to the
real library function. So we can change the library function without
changing the corresponding entry address of the jump table. For the
global data we put them at the beginning of data section of the shared
image. We have to separate them from text code and link them in fixed
order. It is very hard to maintain the same addresses for the global
data when library is changed. After the global data are set up properly
and some spaces are left for possible future changes (that is a very
tough procedure.), it isn't too difficult to maintain.

Starting with libc.4.3, a form of dynamic linking developed by Eric
Youngdale was introduced into the shared libraries.  As part of this,
the tools that were used to generate the sharable libraries were
completely redone which made the job of building the libraries much
easier, and thus the libX*.so.3.0 libraries were made as DLL jumptable
libraries.

  IX.23)  Why do I need dynamic linking.

ANSWER: The best way to illustrate this is with a simple example of
what happens without dynamic linking.

 #include <stdio.h>

 int errno;
 FILE * foo;

 main(){
  foo = fopen("/usr/bin/foo","w");
  printf("foo: %x errno: %d\\n",foo, errno);
 }

Assume this program is run by a non-root user. Normally you would
expect that the open will fail because the user does not have
permission to write to /usr/bin - this means that fopen() would return
NULL, and errno would contain 13, which means EACCES - Permission
denied. If you link this to a normal jump table library, it prints

 foo: 0  errno: 0

Now consider the following nearly identical program:

 #include <stdio.h>

 extern int errno;
 FILE * foo;

 main(){
  foo = fopen("/usr/bin/foo","w");
  printf("foo: %x errno: %d\\n",foo, errno);
 }

The results for this program are:

 foo: 0  errno: 13

Why does this happen???. First of all you must realize that in the
first program errno is not declared external, and thus storage will be
allocated in the data segment for the variable. Unfortunately there
is no way to tell libc this, and libc has it's own storage for errno.
Thus libc writes the result in one location and you are looking in the
other. In the second program errno is declared extern, and thus no
storage will be allocated. The linker will see the need for a
definition of errno, and it will find one in libc. Thus in the second
example the user program is reading the same memory location that the
library stored the answer in.

This is of course a simple example. There are more complicated
examples involving programs that want to redefine a library function
and these can lead to quite bizarre behavior which is difficult to debug.

With dynamic linking, both of the above programs yield the same
(correct) result.

  IX.24)  How does dynamic linking work under linux?

ANSWER:  Basically, to implement dynamic linking we need to route all
function calls to global functions through the jump table. We also
need to make sure that all global data is accessed indirectly through
a pointer. The actual libraries do not really look very much
different from the actual jump table libraries that we are currently
using, but there are additional pointers to the global data in the
sharable image that are used internally by the library to access all
global data. There are also additional symbols in the stub library
that are defined as the address of the various pointers, and are used
by the linker to help determine whether there is a pointer or a jmp
instruction that needs to be fixed up.

 The linker has one new important task with dynamic linking.
It watches for duplicate definitions of symbols, and if the
second definition is in a sharable library, it makes a note of it as a
conflict that needs to be resolved at run time. The linker puts a list
of all of these conflicts into a table and makes it available to crt0
through the variable __SHARABLE_CONFLICTS_.

 At run time, crt0 (through the function __dynamic_resolve)
will go through and fix up all of the pointers that need to be fixed.
Let us say for example that you define your own malloc function in a
program - in this case at run time the startup code will actually
modify the jmp instruction in the jump table so that it points to the
malloc function in your program, not the one in the library.  The
library will never refer to the malloc function directly, but it will
always be referenced through the jump table - in this way we ensure
that there will only be one function named malloc that is used by a
given program.

 If you were to run the first example program in the "Why do I
need dynamic linking" answer, then the pointer in the library that
corresponds to the variable errno will be modified so that it points
to the errno variable that is in your program.  The library itself
will never use errno directly - it will always use it via the special
pointer variable.  In this way we ensure that all references to the
variable errno both in your program and in the sharable library will
reference the same memory address.

  IX.25)  Does Linux work for SCSI drives?

ANSWER: Yes since v0.96. Read the section devoted to SCSI in this FAQ
(check the TOC file to find the section).


  IX.26)  Linux is supposed to work with ESDI drive. However I have
trouble with my Magtron MT-4115E (Joincom controler), any clue?

ANSWER: (Linus) Some harddisk don't like linux (even though they
should). Maybe not a bug but a deficiency.
(Mika) I had to remove the printk "unexpected hd interrupt" statement
in hd.c because I was getting so many of those messages. Be warned
that if there is any read error the system just hangs, even the
ctrl-alt-del won't work. You should be able to use your ESDI drives if
you could live with those nuisances.

  IX.27)  How does one go about applying a patch to Linux ?

ANSWER: (Drew Eckhardt) In the unix world most of distribution are in
source form. This includes the operating system. To apply a patch, you
apply it with the 'patch' program to the affected sources. The patch
program takes as input the differences between the old and the new
version. After patching you need to recompile the sources.

Assume I want to apply a patch enclosed in the file XXX. First of all
I will look at the top of XXX, where the file affected is identified.
This may have aleading path attached to it. Either cd out to the
"root" of the patch, ie if I see
linux/kernel/blk_drv/blk.h

I would cd into /usr/src
(assuming it's the place where I can find linux/kernel...)
and then patch as follows
patch -p0 < whatever_place/XXX

or, you can specify a number of path components to strip from the
path. If I am in the blk_drv directory patching would be
patch -p3 < whatever_place/XXX


  IX.28)  There are a lot of patches available (ps patch, NFS patches,
CD-ROM patches ...) can I be fairly confident the subsequent patches will
work?

ANSWER: This is not true yet for the current version; but it will be
so I kept it :)
No you can't, patching is a real beta tester art :)).  People are not
working on the same patched release, so you have to check if the
patches you already applied works on the same kernel part, if not,
/great/, just apply them. If yes, check if there is an order, patch
creator knows that, and (should) try to warn patch user (in other
words: beta tester) otherwise you should edit the patch files (and
possibly make a brief note to others on this list/newsgroup or even a
cdiff) before applying them, another solution is to keep cool and wait
for the next version of Linux where, in general, the modifications
have been done but this behavior is /not/ Linux helpful.


  IX.29)  I got the patches on some ftp sites, and applied them to the
kernel and tried to compile. It didn't !!. Are the patches buggy?

ANSWER: Before remake, just do a make clean in the directories
involved by the patches. This will force a rebuild of the .o and .a
files.
If you have a RCS running on your source tree, did you checked a
patched version of the files changed before /any/ CO either by you or
make

Finally, make sure the patches succeded. Normally, failed patches on a
file FILE will leave a FILE# file. Moreover you will get a "chunk
failed" message. It is possible to capture the output while patching,
with the following:

 patch -p0 < patchfile | 2>&1 patch.result | more


  IX.30)  What is VFS?

ANSWER: (Ted) Linux 0.96 already has Virtual FileSystem, which means
that it acts as a filesystem switch. It makes it easy for someone to
design another filesystem format and include it in the Linux kernel
along with the standard minix filesystem format. So it /enables/
someone to design a robust filesystem which would have some nice
properties (no 14 chars file name limitation, nor 64Meg limit), and
could be included in the kernel in such a way that both the Minix and
the new one could be mounted at the same time. This solves the
uncompability problem; since the root disk could still use the Minix
filesystem, while the hardisk could be using the new one.



  IX.31)  What's about Bus Mice ?

ANSWER: (Nathan I. Laredo) Since the Linux v0.96c-pl2 the kernel does
support LOGITECH and BUS MICE
If you are unsure that you have a bus mouse or not, check to see if
your mouse card has a selection for a sample rate switchable between
30Hz and 60Hz (or possibly 25/50Hz), if it does not, then it is NOT a
true  bus mouse (InPort mice for example will not work with this
driver).
To create a bus mouse device:
mknod /dev/mouse c 10 0


  IX.32)  What's about TeX ?

ANSWER: The primary site for Linux TeX is 129.78.66.1, this is
P. Williams' site in Australia. The stuff at tsx-11 was posted by
T. Dunbar  who does support/maintain the dvilj stuff.


  IX.33)  What's about LILO ?

ANSWER: (Werner Almesberger)
LILO  -  Generic Boot Loader for Linux ("LInux LOader")

This is an ALPHA test release of a new boot loader. Be sure to have
some means to boot your system from a different media if you install
LILO on your hard disk.

Features
--------

- does not depend on the file system. (Tested with Minix, EXT FS and MS-DOS
  FS.)
- can be used to boot from floppies and from hard disks.
- can replace the master boot record.
- can boot non-Linux systems (MS-DOS, DR DOS, OS/2, ...) and unstripped
  kernels.
- supports up to 16 different boot images that can be selected at boot
  time. Root and swap disk/partition can be set independently for each
  image.
- boot sector, file map and boot images can be all on different disks or
  partitions.


Restrictions and known problems
-------------------------------

- SCSI disks are not fully supported yet. (Still waiting for some kernel
  changes.) (Should work in current release - EY).
- booting other operating systems doesn't seem to work everywhere. If
  everything but booting a non-Linux OS from LILO works on your system,
  you should boot LILO by BOOTACTV and select the alternate OS with the
  latter as a temporary work-around.
- booting non-Linux systems from the second hard disk ("D:") is not yet
  supported.

Please send all bug reports to [e-mail]


  IX.34)  What's about MGR ?

ANSWER: (General Information grabbed from various sources)
There is a MGR channel available , contact the request adress with
help in the body: [e-mail]
The stuff can be found at tsx-11 in pub/linux/packages/MGR
In brief:

MGR provides:
 - multiple overlapping windows
 - multiple fonts
 - text and graphics in each windows
 - a simple popup menu package
 - a client/server model 'a la' X
 - independance from any peculiar networking technology

MGR consist of a server process and some clients. Each client has his
own window, and can create subwindows. Clients communicate with the
server via a bidirectionnal channel. A C library is provided.

When a new window starts, it is as a terminal emulator running the
shell; for more information you can grab the mgr-man.out from
bellcore.com

The information hereafter appeared on the MGR channel on 19th Jan.
> From: [e-mail]
> Subject: MGR 0.53
>
>
> MGR, version 0.53 for Linux and SunOS (Coherent unfinished yet).
>
> Unpack the src* stuff under in /src/lbin/mgr and the usr* stuff in
> /usr/mgr.  I splitted things that way for making it easier to ftp
> them and carry them home.  If you don't like these paths, then use
> others, but remember to edit the Configfile after generating it.
> YOU NEED TO INSTALL ALL FILES FOR COMPILING.
>
> This is a beta release for programmers, there are no binaries.  It
> makes my work available for people who either also work on MGR and
> like to get new sources and for adventerous beta testers.  WARNING:
> I assume using Linux 0.99.2 and GCC 2.3.3.
>
> There is some new m4 code to generate menus.  It is more powerful
> than menu(1), but a little harder to use.
>
> MGR is currently being ported to Coherent 4.0, but this version
> doesn't include everything yet.  There is already a beta version
> running on Coherent, although not too stable yet.
>
> For questions, write to the mailing list, channel MGR.  Please be
> sure to talk about the latest version of MGR plus having read the
> README files in the directories containing the problem.
>
> You got this stuff from ftp.thp.uni-koeln.de:pub/linux/mgr or from
> tsx-11.mit.edu:~ftp/pub/linux/packages/MGR, which is a mirror of the
> Cologne directory.

  IX.35)  I have successfully compiled MGR, but when I try to run the
program I get "can't find mouse" or "already in use", any clue?

ANSWER: try the following "mgr -m /dev/ttys1" if the mouse is on
the serial 1. Another possibility is to link /dev/mouse with
/dev/ttys1 (assuming your mouse is on serial 1). Or if it's a bus
mouse, "mknod /dev/mouse c 10 0" once.

  IX.36)  Any tips for MGR?

ANSWER: Well, I have tried it on my 386Sx Ega/Vga; the screen is Ok
but the Logitech mouse I have is not well recognized.

BTW check the major/minor number for pty's; they should be character
device with 4 as major and 128 and bigger as minor:
ptyp0 c 4 128
ptyp1 c 4 129
...
ttyp0 c 4 192
ttyp1 c 4 193

  IX.37)  What's about X11 ?

ANSWER: See the section XII. devoted to X11 in this FAQ.



X. GCC MISC INFORMATION
=======================

**** Last update 93/03/26


X.A. HLU Information
X.B. OTHERS


X.A. HLU Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The official release of GCC for Linux is 2.3.3.
This section includes:
 README.gccdisk
 FAQ of gcc written by HLU



   X.01)  I don't know how to install gcc stuff, is there special
places?

ANSWER: This is the README.gccdisk

                    Linux GNU C/C++ [HJ release]

Introduction
------------
  This is GNU C/C++ 2.3.3. It is linked with jump table 4.2. You should use
  it with the Linux C library disks since the C/C++ compiler has no shared
  images, which are required by all the binaries in it.  It consists of
  2 minix disks, which will fit on either 5.25" or 3.5" floppies.

  It is on tsx-11.mit.edu under pub/linux/GCC/gccdisk


Distribution File Format
------------------------
There are two files, each of which goes on one disk

  A. Disk 1 (gcc233a.Z)

  This contains gcc, cpp, cc1 and crt0.o/gcrt0.o.  There are also some header
  files in /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-linux/2.3.3/include.

  B. Disk 2 (gcc233b.Z)

  This disk contains cc1plus.


Installing on the Hard Drive
----------------------------------------
  1. uncompress base[1|2].Z.
  2. rawrite or dd each file to a formatted floppy disk.

  Now you have made a copy of gcc 2.3.3 on two floppies.  To copy each
  floppy to your hd, you should mount the floppy and copy its contents to
  your hard drive.  You can do this by:

    mount /dev/fd[0|1] /mnt
    cd /mnt
    for d in bin dev etc usr
    do
      if [ -d $d ]; then
        cp -av $d /
      fi
    done

  Note: This may overwrite some files on your hard disk.

Thanks.

H.J.
[e-mail]
12/31/92


   X.02)  What compiler should I use for Linux?

ANSWER: You should only use the same version on tsx-11.mit.edu under
/pub/linux/GCC. If you want to use the testing release, first join
the GCC channel on the Linux mailing list, and then send a note to
[e-mail]. Don't use gcc older than the one on tsx-11.mit.edu.

   X.03)  Where is the latest official gcc 2.xx for Linux?

ANSWER: It's on tsx-11.mit.edu under /pub/Linux/GCC and under
pub/linux/GCC. You may find it on the other sites. Since gcc 2.3.3,
you can compile it yourself out of box from any gnu ftp sites. Just
unpack the source code and do

 configure [i386-linux|i486-linux]

You should follow the instructions in INSTALL.

   X.04)  Where is the latest official Linux C library?

ANSWER: It's on tsx-11.mit.edu under /pub/Linux/GCC and under
pub/linux/GCC. You may find it on the other sites.

   X.05)  What are the contents of them?

ANSWER: Please read the current release note and ChangeLog for
details.

   X.06)  How do I install them?

ANSWER: Read README and release notes.

   X.07)  What are the main differences with the old release?

ANSWER: Read README and release notes.

   X.08)  Can I use the old version of gcc?

ANSWER: Please get rid of gcc older than gcc 2.2.2. Starting from
gcc 2.2.2, you can do

 gcc -V xxxx

where xxxx is the version number. Please read `release.xxxx' for
detail. There is one catch in gcc 2.2.2d, setjmp/longjmp is changed,
so the old header files is not compatible with gcc 2.2.2. Before you
install gcc 2.2.2d, please do

cp /usr/include/setjmp.h /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i386-linux/2.2.2/include

where /usr/include/setjmp.h is come with gcc 2.2.2.

   X.09)  Can I delete the old shared image in /lib?

ANSWER: Since the Linux C library version 4.3, we have introduced the
dynamically linked library. There is no need to keep old shared images
in /lib if none of your binaries are linked with the classic shared
library which has been obsolete. You can just keep one version of
the shared image in /lib which has the highest major and minor
release numbers for each shared library. The name of the shared image
is "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.so.major.minor".

   X.10)  Is stdio ANSI compatible?

ANSWER: Yes, please test it.

   X.11)  Is g++ in 2.xx?

ANSWER: Yes.

   X.12)  Where can I get the gcc manual?

ANSWER: You can get man pages and manual come with the gcc source code
on any gnu ftp sites. You should find gcc-man.tar.z on tsx-11 which
has man pages for gcc.

   X.13)  What options can I use for gcc?

ANSWER: Read the manual. There is one special flag for Linux, -static
tells gcc to use the static libraries. The default is the jump table
version of shared libraries.

   X.14)  How can I debug the C code?

ANSWER: Read the gcc/gdb manuals. The simple way to do is

 gcc -g foo.c -o foo
 gdb foo

   X.15)  Where is the source code of the new libc.a?

ANSWER: The same place you find this file. It is called
libc-xx.yy.tar.z.

   X.16)  Why does g++ complain, even die?

ANSWER: You need "expr", which is in GNU shell utilities 1.6, echo (?)
and sed.

   X.17)  How do I generate code for 486?

ANSWER: Add -m486 to CFLAGS.

   X.18)  I heard malloc (0) wouldn't work with Linux, what should I
do?

ANSWER: It *does* work in a manner which POSIX allows; unfortunately,
pre-POSIX code frequently assumes that malloc(0) will not return
0 -- the standard version of malloc under Linux *does* return 0.
By including <stdlib.h>, you get a definition of malloc which behaves
more traditionally.  If you define NO_FIX_MALLOC, then you will get
the default (non-traditional) form.  If you are trying to develop POSIX
compliant code under Linux, you should probably define NO_FIX_MALLOC to
ensure that your code doesn't make assumptions about malloc() which
will not work on other systems.  (Note: NO_FIX_MALLOC is specific to
Linux.)

(Provided by [e-mail]. Thanks.)

   X.19)  Why does gcc say "xxxxx..h not found"?

ANSWER: see QUESTION: What are the contents of them?

   X.20)  I really followed every step in the documentation, but when
I do "make", why does it say "don't how to make xxxxxx"?

ANSWER: The dependency in Makefile is dated, you need to make a new
one. Please get some guide on make and read Makefile. For the kernel
sources, please do

cd src/linux
make dep

   X.21)  How do I compile programs under Linux?

ANSWER: The Linux C library is trying to be ANSI/POSIX compliant. It
is also very compatible with SYSV and BSD. The C library is loaded
with SYSV and BSD functions. There are three exceptions:

1. signal in Linux is POSIX.
2. tty in Linux is POSIX.
3. time functions are POSIX, plus a few BSD and SYSV extensions.
4. setjmp/longjmp functions are POSIX. But you can use -D__FAVOR_BSD
   to make it BSD or use sigsigjmp/siglongjmp.

When you compile a program under Linux, your best bet is include all
the appropriate header files and use -Wall. All the usable functions
and global variables are declared in the corresponding header files.
YOU SHOULD NOT DEFINE ANY functions or global variables OF THE LINUX C
LIBRARY IN YOUR CODE IF YOU WANT TO USE THE SHARED LIBRARIES.

After saying all those, you now should know you can compile a program
with -D_POSIX_SOURCE or -D_GNU_SOURCE (read <features.h> for details).
With a few modifications you can even use -DSYSV, -DUSG or -DBSD. Some
codes need to define -DSTDC_HEADERS for ANSI C compiler like gcc here.

To use malloc () and calloc () safely under Linux, please include

<stdlib.h> and don't define NO_FIX_MALLOC.

BTW, gcc -traditional should work with gcc 2.2.2d or above.

Please also read ChangeLog for the latest enhancement.

Please read the header files for details. Maybe you should get a book
on POSIX. Any suggestion of the book list?

>From Steve Robbins  --  [e-mail]

--------
I like "POSIX Programmer's Guide", by Donald Lewine.  Its essentially
a list of POSIX functions' man pages, with a very brief guide in the
beginning of a few things.  It's published by O'Reilly & Associates,
Inc.
--------

   X.22)  How can I get bsd style signal?

ANSWER: Use -D__USE_BSD_SIGNAL.

   X.23)  Why does a program that should only poll for input become
a CPU hog?

ANSWER: The select() system call. The timeout parameter was classically
used read-only by the system. Some manual pages already notes three
years ago:

       select() should probably return the  time  remaining  from
       the  original timeout, if any, by modifying the time value
       in place.  This may be implemented in future  versions  of
       the system.  Thus, it is unwise to assume that the timeout
       pointer will be unmodified by the select() call.

If you do not take this advice seriously you get a zero timeout written
back to your timeout structure, which means that future calls to
select() using the same timeout structure will immediately return.

Fix:
Put the timeout value into that structure every time you call select().
Change code like

       struct timeval timeout;
       timeout.tv_sec = 1; timeout.tv_usec = 0;
       while (some_condition)
         { select(n,readfds,writefds,exceptfds,&timeout); }

to

       struct timeval timeout;
       while (some_condition)
         { timeout.tv_sec = 1; timeout.tv_usec = 0;
           select(n,readfds,writefds,exceptfds,&timeout);
         }

   X.24)  When a program is stopped using Ctrl-Z and then restarted,
or in other situations that generate signals: Ctrl-C interruption,
termination of a child process etc. why does it complain about
"interrupted system call" or "write: unknown error" or things like that.

ANSWER: The system call the program was executing has been interrupted
to process the signal, and then it returned -1 and set errno = EINTR.
The program then was likely to draw bad conclusions from that.

Explanation: Your program has signal handlers installed, using
signal() or sigaction(). When the signal occurred, your signal handler
was invoked. In other Unix systems, this usually happens asynchronously
or in a few slow system calls:

  When a signal is caught during the execution of system calls such as
  read(2), write(2), open(2) or ioctl(2) on a slow device (such as a
  terminal, but not a file), during a pause(2) system call or a wait(2)
  system call that does not return immediately because a previously
  stopped or zombie process already exists, the signal-catching
  function is executed and the interrupted system call then returns a
  -1 to the calling process with errno set to EINTR.

Linux (following POSIX) checks for signals and may execute signal
handlers
* asynchronously (at a timer tick),
* on return from *any* system call,
* during the execution of the following system calls:
  select(),
  pause(),
  connect(), accept(),
  read() on terminals or sockets or pipes or /proc files,
  write() on terminals or sockets or pipes or line printer,
  open() on FIFOs or PTYs or serial lines,
  ioctl() on terminals,
  fcntl() with command F_SETLKW,
  wait4(),
  syslog(),
  any TCP or NFS operations.
  [For other operating systems you may have to include the system calls
   creat(), close(), getmsg(), putmsg(), msgrcv(), msgsnd(), recv(),
   send(), wait(), waitpid(), wait3(), tcdrain(), sigpause(), semop()
   to this list.]

In the last two cases and assuming the program's signal handler returns,
the system call returns -1 and sets errno to EINTR.

If the SA_INTERRUPT flag is not set for the corresponding signal,
however, in most cases the system call is automatically restarted
(continued) after execution of the signal handler, and your program
won't see any EINTR.

You may ask why this is not the default behavior when the default
Linux signal () is used to install the signal handler. This is because
POSIX adopted this. As for which one is better, it is a matter of
opinion.

Note that in some versions of BSD Unix the default behavior is to
restart system calls. To get system calls interrupted you have to use
the SA_INTERRUPT flag.

Fix:
Either add -D__USE_BSD_SIGNAL to your CFLAGS. Or for every signal
handler that you install with signal(), use sigaction() instead,
without setting SA_INTERRUPT.

Note that while this applies to most system calls, you must still check
for EINTR on read(), write(), ioctl(), select(), pause(), connect().
You may do it like this:

         int result;
         while (len > 0)
           { result = read(fd,buffer,len);
             if (result < 0) break;
             buffer += result; len -= result;
           }
   -->
         int result;
         while (len > 0)
           { result = read(fd,buffer,len);
             if (result < 0) { if (errno != EINTR) break; }
             else { buffer += result; len -= result; }
           }

and

         int result;
         result = ioctl(fd,cmd,addr);
   -->
         int result;
         do { result = ioctl(fd,cmd,addr); }
            while ((result == -1) && (errno == EINTR));




X.B. OTHERS
~~~~~~~~~~~

   X.25)  I seem to be unable to compile anything with gcc. Why?

ANSWER: If you have only 2 MB RAM, gcc will die silently without
compiling anything. You must have at least 4 MB to do compilations

BTW Since swapping is possible, I have heard that compilation works
with only 2Meg and a lot disk traffic :) Isn't it great?


   X.26)  gcc complains about not finding crt0.o and the system
include files What am I doing wrong ?

ANSWER: The include files normal place is in /usr/include. lib*.a and
*.o should be in /usr/lib or /usr/local/lib


   X.27)  I tried to port a /new/ version of gnu stuff. But in the
linking phase, gcc complains about the missing libg.a.


ANSWER: Yes this is well known for compiler version earlier than
2.2.2, throw away the flag -g that's all, anyway libg.a is /only/ for
debugging purpose.


   X.28)  How to compile programs which may be debugged with gdb?

ANSWER: There are different ways to handle this problem. If
you have the gcc2.2.2 or later it's simple, use the -g flag. Otherwise
there are different possibilities:
1) As there is no libg.a, you should throw away the -g flag in link
phase, this means that the compilation must be done in two steps
example: instead of "gcc -g monprog.c -o monprog", use the following
"gcc -g -c monprog.c" and then "gcc -o monprog monprog.o"
Alas this method is not that good if you are using Makefile.
2) The other way is to create an empty libg.a as follows (Peter
MacDonald trick):
- create libfake.c containing libgfake() {}
- compile it with: gcc -c libfake.c
- create the libg.a with: ar r libg.a libfake.o
2bis) The more tricky Humberto method:
cd /usr/lib
ranlib libg.a

then gcc -g monprog.c -o monprog will produce a debuggable monprog


   X.29)  When compiling some code, cc1 complains about some insn
code, what's that?

ANSWER: An insn is an internal representation that gcc uses when
compiling. The main part of gcc is to take ordinary c (or c++) code,
and compile it, while ding optimizations in insn part, which is
soft/hard independant. Then another part which is hard/Os dependant
takes the insns and translate it in assembly language. The fix is only
to turn off the optimization flag (-O).


   X.30)  When compiling #$@!, I've got some problems with "SIGBUS"
signal that doesn't exist. Any clue ?

ANSWER: (Louis J. LaBash, Jr.) SIGBUS is a common problem, its not
needed, just comment it all out, something like:

#ifdef SIGBUS
.. normal sigbus code ..
#endif

   X.31)  How can I write codes suitable for building shared library ?

ANSWER: (Eric Youngdale, [e-mail], 3/1/93)

In general there are very few restrictions as long as you are using the
new tools for building sharable libraries.  Before the DLL libraries were
available there were all kinds of things you had to watch out for, but
currently you can more or less build a sharable library out of the box
without making any source code modifications.  See the README in the
tools-m-n.tar.z distribution for more information on how to build a
sharable library.



XI. SCSI SPECIAL
================
*** This section is written by Drew Eckhardt, mail him for
*** information, questions related to this section.
*** Last update May 1993.

  XI.01)  What hardware is supported?

ANSWER: The Adaptec 154x, Adaptec 174x, Future Domain 8xx (TMC
950 based boards?), 16x0,  Seagate ST0x, Ultrastor 14F (Some of the
new ALPHA code makes attempts to deal with the 34F) and Western Digital
7000 are supported.  Various Adaptec clones from Bustek and Future Domain
are known to work, in both ISA and EISA flavors.

There is an alpha driver for the Ultrastor 24F -

tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/alpha/scsi/u24f-driver.tar.z

Some of the SCSI drivers will not autodetect your SCSI host if the
BIOS is disabled, and there may be IRQ, DRQ, address restrictions
compiled into the distribution kernel.

Virtually all SCSI disks, CD ROMS, and tapes should work.

  XI.02)  What hardware is not supported?

ANSWER: The Adaptec 152x, 151x, Always IN-2000, DTC, Mylex, PS/2 SCSI boards,
all SCSI ports on sound boards, the trantor parallel->SCSI adapter, Rancho
SCSI boards, Grass Roots SCSI boards, Trantor SCSI boards, etc.

Someone is working on a driver for the IN-2000, if you want to run Linux
on one of the other boards, you'll have to get technical
docs on it, and write a driver yourself or bribe someone to do it.

  XI.03)  How do I get SCSI information?

ANSWER: Subscribe to the SCSI channel of the linux-activists mailing list.
mail [e-mail]
And put in the header.
       X-MN-Admin: join SCSI

  XI.04)  Where is the latest version maintained?

ANSWER: tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/ALPHA/scsi

Please join the SCSI channel of [e-mail] before you
grab anything.

  XI.05)  I've found one of the following bugs :

- I can't swap to a SCSI disk, or mount one as /

- I get a READ CAPACITY FAILED message on bootup.

- I have a removeable disk (ie Sysquest) and have problems when I change
 media.

- I have a Seagate / Future Domain TMC-88x and the kernel panics with a
 kernel paging message.

- I have an Adaptec 1742 and am experiencing data corruption

- I have an Insite floptical drive and it won't work.

- I have a TANDBERG TDC 3600 revision U07, SONYCD-ROM CDU-541 revision
 4.3d, DENON DRD-25X revision V, or a SEAGATE ST296 revision
 921 and the system hangs or reports multiple devices.

- My Adaptec 1542C isn't recognized.

ANSWER: All of these bugs have been fixed, so UPGRADE.

  XI.06)  What do I do if I find a bug that still looks like a
bug after I've read the FAQ?

ANSWER: Your best bet is to send it to the SCSI channel of the mailing list,
where it will be seen by all of the people who've contributed to the
SCSI drivers.

In your bug report, please provide as much information as possible
regarding your hardware configuration, and all of the messages that
Linux prints when it boots.  Your chances of getting the bug fixed increase
exponentially with the amount of information provided.

The bottom line is that if we can't reproduce your bug, and you can't
point at us what's broken, it won't get fixed.

  XI.07)  What SCSI disks are supported?

ANSWER: Disks up to two terabytes in size will work, since the sd driver
switches to 10 byte reads when necessary.

Flopticals, Bernoulis, Sysquests, and other removeable media devices
are supported by the normal SCSI disk driver.

  XI.08)  What about CD ROMS?

ANSWER: CD ROMS are supported. The ISO-9660 file system with Rockridge
extensions is supported.  You will have to make sure that you have
configured the kernel to include the isofs filesystem or otherwise you
will not be able to use the cdrom.

  XI.09)  What about SCSI tapes ?

ANSWER: Tapes are supported.  You may wish to obtain the utility program mt,
which is usually available from tsx-11.mit.edu in pub/linux/ALPHA/scsi.

  XI.10)  How do I partition the disk?

ANSWER: Use fdisk, efdisk, pfdisk or the DOS parititioning program of
your choice.

  XI.11)  The linux partitioning programs don't work.

ANSWER: Some of these default to /dev/hd*, which are disks on
WD-1003 compatable controllers (IDE, MFM, RLL, ESDI, etc), rather
than /dev/sd* (SCSI disks).   Your solutions are to

1.  Call the partitioning program with a device name, ie
 pfdisk /dev/sda

2.  Make links from /dev/hd* to /dev/sd*.

  XI.12)  My partitioning program can't figure out the disk geoemetry

The problem with partitioning SCSI disks and Linux is that Linux talks
directly to the SCSI interface.  Each disk is viewed as the SCSI host
sees it : N blocks, numbered from 0 to N-1, all error free.  There is
no portable way to get disk geometry.

However, DOS doesn't like things like this, it demmands that BIOS
present it with a normal Cylinder / Head / Sector coordinates.  So,
BIOS does, and it comes up with some fabrication that fits what DOS
wants to see.  You don't want to disagree with what BIOS thinks when
you write the partition table.

The newest SCSI code will return the mapped geometry for some host
adapter / disk combinations.  Kernel release 0.99 and later should have
this capability.

QUESTION :  I can't make a filesystem on /dev/hd*

ANSWER : /dev/hd* aren't your SCSI disks.  /dev/sd* are.
See below for approproate major / minor numbers if they
do not exist on your root diskette.

  XI.13)  What are the major / minor numbers for SCSI drives?

ANSWER: Because of the large number of devices that can be hung off of
a SCSI bus (as many as 56 if you use SCSI fanouts or bridge boards),
and the possibility of 16 partitions on a SCSI disk, we'd run out of
minor numbers if they were statically allocated - so a dynamic
numbering scheme is used.

Block device major 8 is used for SCSI drives, 11 for CD-ROMs.
Character device major 9 is used for SCSI tapes.

Minors are assigned in increments of 16 to SCSI disks as they are
found, scaning from host 0, ID 0 to host n, ID 7, excluding the host
ID.  Most hosts use ID 7 for themselves.

A minor where minor mod 16 = 0 is the whole drive, where minor mod 16
is between 1 and 4, that partition, extended partitions dynamically
assigned from 5 to 15 inclusive.  Note that the gendisk.c module
prints partition tables on initialization - you should be able to see
them there.

Example : I have three SCSI disks, set up as follows
        Seagate ST02, ID=0
        Seagate ST02, ID = 5
        Adaptec 1542, ID = 0

The first disk on the seagate at ID 0 will become minors 0-15
inclusive, the second at ID5 16-31 inclusive, the disk on the
Adaptec 48-63.

  XI.14)  My tape drive or other removeable media device isn't recognized
at boot time.

ANSWER: Try booting with a tape in the drive.

  XI.15)  How do I reduce kernel bloat and eliminate the drivers I
don't want?

ANSWER: For kernel release 0.99 and later, just go to the to directory
in the kernel source tree, and type ``make config'', and answer the
questions.  For older kernel distributions, simply #undef
CONFIG_DISTRIBUTION in include/linux/config.h, and define the macros
for the SCSI hosts you want enabled.

  XI.16)  I get SCSI timeouts.

ANSWER: Make sure your board has interrupts enabled correctly, and
that there are no conflicts with other devices (Sound boards
and serial boards sometimes try to use IRQ5).

  XI.17)  My Seagate / Future Domain TMC-88x board is not detected.

ANSWER: The Seagate and Future Domain boards have memory mapped
registers.  To detect them, Linux scans for a signature in the
ROM BIOS (typically, a copyright message) and sets the register
addresses relative to that.

This can fail for two reasons
1) If the BIOS is disabled.

In this case, you should edit kernel/blk_drv/scsi/Makefile and
add -DOVERIDE=x -DCONTROLLER=y where x is the base address of your
controller (the factory default setting is 0xc8000) - note that
this is *not* the segment (ie, 0xc800), and y is the controller
type, either SEAGATE or FD.

2) If we don't know about your BIOS yet


Please use DOS and DEBUG to find us a signature that will detect
your board -

Ie, if your board lives at 0xc800 do

debug
d c800:0
q

and send me ([e-mail]) the nearest convienient
ASCII message, with the length and offset from c800:0 or
whereever.

  XI.18)  The Seagate / Future Domain TMC-88x driver doesn't work.

ANSWER: There are several possibilities
1) Is the board jumpered for IRQ5 ?

The factory settings are for MSDOS, and have interrupts disabled.

On the Seagate, Interrupts are controlled by the W3 (ST01) or JP3 (ST02)
jumper.  Shorting pins F-G selects IRQ5.

2) Cached machines will not have problems if the Seagate's address
space (typically C8000 - CAFFFF) is not marked "non cacheable."
This applies to the i486 internal cache as well as i386/i486
external caches.

This can be set in the XCMOS of most machines.  If you can't disable
cache for the Seagate's area (16K in size, starting at the base
address), then you must disable the cache entirely, otherwise
it won't work.

3) If you've defined -DFAST or -DFAST32 in the kernel, blind transfers
will be used.  This works fine with most disks, but some won't respond
fast enough, the read/write will timeout and things will get out
of sync, resulting in timeouts.  Try recompiling your kernel without
-DFAST or -DFAST32.

  XI.19)  The Adaptec driver doesn't work.

ANSWER: A common source of difficulty is a conflict between two different
boards for an IRQ level, a DMA channel, or an I/O address.  Check the
settings for the boards you have in your system (music boards are
known to use similar IRQ or I/O addresses as the Adaptec.  In the new
scsi code the Adaptec can use any of the IRQ levels that it can be
strapped for, it can use I/O address 0x330 or 0x334, and it can use
DMA channels 5, 6 or 7.

  XI.20)  The WD-7000FASST driver doesn't work

ANSWER: According to Keith Smith,

"There are two different versions of the WD7000/FASST2  One uses a
WD33C93A the other a WD33C93.  Firmware incompatibilities in the board
bios could cause a problem as the former chip fixes some problems that
were discovered on the latter.  We're talking BOARD firmware, as well as
BIOS firmware."

  XI.21)  My Ultrastor 14F or 34F isn't detected

ANSWER: The Ultrastor 14F driver won't probe for an Adapter at address
0x310.  Either move it do a different address, or recompile the kernel,
adding a rule to kernel/blk_drv/scsi/Makefile

ultrastor.o: ultrastor.c
 $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -DOVERIDE_PORT=0x310 -c ultrastor.c



  XI.22)  When using a Seagate / Future Domain TMC-88x, why does my system
hang when syncing to disk?

ANSWER: The Seagate boards are an incredibly brain dead piece of hardware.
They can only generate an interrupt when a target raises the SEL signal.
So, as long as a target is connected, the Seagate driver must spin its
wheels waiting for the actual data transfer.  Some devices agravate the
situation by connecting for long periods of time while not doing anything.

  XI.23)  My system is dog slow (ie, 60k/sec)

ANSWER: SCSI commands have an incredible amount of overhead.  For
every command, you need to arbitrate for the bus, select the target,
establish an I_T_L nexus, and send the command.  Processing of that
command may take as much as 1ms on older devices.  Add this overhead
to what you already have coming through the file system, buffer
cache, etc, and you have a real problem.

To work around this, we needed to maximize the amount of data that
could be transfered in a single command.  So, we implemented
scatter-gather, which allows reads/writes from/to contiguous
disk sectors to non-contiguous buffers.

This typically gets you a 3-5 fold improvement in performance.

The current kernel has scatter-gather support for the Adaptec, Western
Digital, Ultrastor, Future Domain 16xx, Future Domain 8xx and Seagate
boards.


    ===================8<==========>8================


--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
# LaBRI     |         #
#  351 cours de la Liberation    |  e-mail:  [e-mail]   #
#  33405 Talence Cedex   |  e-mail:  [e-mail]    #
#       |         #
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
  There will be a sig when our local net is reliable.
        For now, I would rather stay anonymous.
Archive-name: linux-faq/part5
Last-Modified: 93/06/07
Version: 1.18

*********************************************************
*       *
*   Answers to Frequently asked questions about Linux   *
*       *
*********************************************************

This post contains Part 5 of the Linux FAQ (5 parts).
It must be read *after* the 4 first parts.

===================================8<====>8============================
CONTENTS (of this part)

 XII. X11, THE MAXIMUM and MORE (part5)
 XIII. NETWORKING and LINUX  (part5)
 XIV. EVERYTHING FOR PRINTING  (part5)

===================================8<====>8============================



XII. X11 THE MAXIMUM and MORE
=============================
*** This section is maintained by Krishna Balasubramanian
*** <[e-mail]>. Mail him if you have corrections,
*** additions, etc.
*** Last update:  Thu, 13 May 93 00:35:45 -0400


XII.A. X386 GENERAL INFORMATION
XII.B. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS: Supported Video cards, mice.

XII.C. LINUX DISTRIBUTION: Files required, Current version.
XII.D. LEARNING/USING X: Pointers to X documentation.

XII.E. DEBUGGING STARTUP PROBLEMS: Checklist, Screen restoration, Hanging.
XII.F. XCONFIG: Video mode settings and common errors in Xconfig.

XII.G. X-APPLICATIONS: Compiling X programs.
XII.H. ATI: SVGA server for ATI boards.

XII.I. BUGS


The X11 directories on linux systems are:
XLIB = /usr/X386/lib/X11/   (or /usr/lib/X11/)
XBIN = /usr/X386/bin/    (or /usr/bin/X11/)
XDOC = XLIB/etc/

cwxi = the comp.windows.x.i386unix newsgroup
Subscribe to this group if you are an xfree86 user. Post general
questions on xfree86 to cwxi instead of c.o.l. Very few problems
with using xfree86 are Linux specific.



XII.A. X386 GENERAL INFORMATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 XII.01)  What is the X11 release supported by Linux?

ANSWER: It's the X11R5 (xfree86-1.2).
 There are (currently separate) servers for 8514 and S3 chips.

xfree86-1.3 should be available in a few weeks. Major changes are
Improvement of video restoration, expanded support for WD chips
and the inclusion of PEX. You should get newer versions of any
applications that are older than the xfree86-1.2 release.

 XII.02)  What is X386/xfree86?

ANSWER: X386 is the port of the X11 server to System V/386 that was
done by Thomas Roell ([e-mail]).  It supports a
wide variety of VGA boards.  X386 1.2 is included in MIT's X11R5
distribution.

The Linux X386 port was based on the stock distribution from X11R5,
from MIT and was done by Orest Zborowski ([e-mail]).

It has since moved to becoming part of the standard xfree86 distribution.
See the FAQ on cwxi for more information on xfree86.

 XII.03)  Where can I get X386 1.2 (X11R5)?

ANSWER: The X386 1.2 and xfree86 sources are available at any site that
distributes the X11R5 source (too numerous to list here, but includes
export.lcs.mit.edu)


 XII.04)  Any tips on compiling X11R5?

ANSWER:
-  Dont do it.
-  XFree86 is distributed with a link kit so you can optionally
 include what you like in the server.
-  Join the xfree86 beta team (how to? see cwxi FAQ)
-  Instructions are in the README file in XDOC/ and the cwxi FAQ.



XII.B  HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Approx: at least 4 megs of ram + swap ...slooooww. 10 Meg disk for X.
Another 6-10 meg of disk for GCC if you want to compile X11 programs.

 XII.05)  What VGA boards are supported?

ANSWER:
 et3000, et4000, gvga, pvga1a, wd890c00, tvga8900, ati ver. 5 or 6,
        8514/A. (X386mono supports generic vga's and hercules).

 Diamond cards are not supported and will not be supported. If
 you are the unfortunate owner of such a card, you can probably
 get the server up by booting in specific modes or using dos to
 set your modes before warm booting into linux or using an
 external clock setting program. You will have to bear with these
 irks until you can convince diamond to alter their policy.

    Standard x11v1.1 or xfree86 server:
 ET3000   (for ex. GENOA 5300/5400)
        ET4000   (Tricom, STB PWR Graph, Sigma Legend, etc.)
        GVGA   (Genoa 6400)
        PVGA1A   (Paradise VGA Professional)
        WD90C00  (Paradise VGA 1024)

    supported by xfree86:
 TVGA   TRIDENT 8900c, 9000, support is in xfree86

 ATI  See the ATI section below.

   Those with 8514 compatible cards may want to get
   the X8514 server for speed (~2x xstones?).

 MONO    Any vga card should be able to use X386mono server. (At least
  640x480 with 800x600 virtual). Use the vga2 section of Xconfig.
  Support for hercules monochrome card (usable as 2nd display).

The following servers will usually not handle all the options supported by
xfree86. Read the documentation that comes with them carefully. They
will be merged with the xfree86 distribution in some time.


8514 ATI graphics ULTRA, ATI graphics Vantage
 Should work with any VESA standard 8514/A register compatible
 card? Courtesy Kevin Martin ([e-mail]).

 Scott Laird ([e-mail]) writes:
 I uploaded a new version of the X8514 X Server to sunsite and
 tsx-11. It is in /pub/Linux/X11/X-servers/X8514/X8514scale.tar.Z
 on sunsite. It's linked with version 4.2 of the jumptable libraries,
 includes TCP/IP support, support for compressed bitmap fonts, Type 1
 and Speedo scalable fonts.  There's a README file in the same
 directory that will answer more questions.

XS3 S3 chipset server (Jon Tombs [e-mail])
 Get the FAQ on ftp.robots.ox.ac.uk (pub/linux/S3 check sunsite).

Xega Generic 640x480x16 compatible server (originally for laptops).
 This requires a microsoft mouse at /dev/mouse for now
 and it does not use Xconfig so use environment variables
 to define the font path etc. in .xinitrc:
 export FONT_PATH=/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc:/usr/lib/X11/fonts75dpi
 Works better with courier fonts so add to .Xresources:
 *Font: -*-courier-medium-r-*--10* ..or whatever..
 A link kit is available at tsx-11 (you need gcc2.2.2).
 in pub/linux/ALPHA/Xega/X386.ega.T.Z
 (Obselete? Unusable? Anyone?)


WARNING: Do not try to bring up an Xserver that does not support your
hardware. There have been cases where damage has resulted from pushing
the monitor (specially fixed frequency monitors) beyond its specs.


 XII.06)  What Mouses are supported?

ANSWER: Serial : Logitech, Microsoft, MouseSystems .... compatibles ...
 Busmouses : Logitech, microsoft, ATI_XL, PS/2 (aux).


 XII.07)  Does anyone have a working PS/2 mouse? Has anyone gotten the
"Mini-DIN" mouse on an HP Vectra 486/33T to work? The slight info I've
been able to find says it's PS/2 compatible. Does anyone have a
working MouseMan on a PS/2 port ?

ANSWER: ([e-mail])
First you need to create an entry in /dev for it:

mknod /dev/psaux c 10 1

The other steps depend on the version of XFree: for XFree86-1.2
add the following line to your Xconfig (and you are done):

PS/2 "/dev/psaux"

This works even for 3 button mice (e.g. the MouseMan)!
There is no direct PS/2 mouse support in XFree86-1.1, so to use the
mouse with X you'll have either to upgrade or use the mconv mouse
protocol conversion utility, which can be found on nic.funet.fi, in
/pub/OS/Linux/utils/tools/mconv.c. This program converts the packets
sent by the PS/2 mouse into the corresponding ones from a Microsoft
mouse, so you can fool X telling it you have a Microsoft serial
mouse instead. Instructions for use are included in the source file.
(Johan Myreen [e-mail])


 XII.08)  I have trouble with my logitech Pilot mouse and X under
Linux, any clue ?

ANSWER: (Thomas Roell?) There are TWO lines of Logitech mice out there.
One is the programmable and uses MouseSystems protocol at startup.
X386 reprogramms them to use another protocol. If you specify
'Logitech' in the Xconfig, X386 assumes a mouse like C7 or S9 (notC7-M).
The second line is the MicroSoft compatible. Currently all newer
Logitech mice follows this practice, like the MouseMan. In that case
you have to say 'MicroSoft' or 'MouseMan'.

From: [e-mail] (Jean Liddle)
I just purchased a new logitech mouseman, and yes, the new X-Windows
(XFree86 as opposed to X386) requires that you use the "microsoft" mousetype.
However, if you turn Third Button Emulation off, the middle button WILL work.






XII.C. LINUX DISTRIBUTION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 XII.09)  What is the current version?

ANSWER: The newest public Linux release is xfree86-1.2.
It was compiled with gcc-2.3 (jump tables 4.3) and is available
for example at tsx-11 in pub/linux/packages/X11/XFree86-1.2/.

 XII.10)  What Files do I need to download?

ANSWER: For xfree86: There is a README file in the distribution directory.
Bring this down first and read it. Then get xbin, xman and xfonts.
You need xprog and xlibman only if you plan to compile X applications.
You need xkit if you want to relink the server.

**** You need The shared images libc.so.4 (4.3 or later) and libm.so.4 (4.0)
in /lib/. All the X11 binaries use these. These are available with the GCC
distribution or any new rootdisk. To compile programs you should
get gcc-2.3 or later and the 4.3 libraries.

To get a different server, see the notes in the previous section.

X11 directories in the archive sites are:
tsx-11 : pub/linux/packages/X11, pub/linux/usr.bin.X11
sunsite : pub/Linux/X11/


 XII.11)  Where do the X11 files go? What are they?

ANSWER: The linux X binary distribution looks something like:

/usr/X386/
        lib/
     libX11.a ...     (X libraries needed for compiling stuff).
         X11/
              config/      (template files for compiling ... xmkmf)
                fonts/
             misc/ , 75dpi/ ....
                etc/         (documentation).
        bin/                 (X386, X386mono, xterm, X linked to X386).
        include/X11/         (include files needed for compiling).
            bitmaps/  (icons, bitmaps used by some applications).
        man/
     man1/, man3/, cat1/, cat3/
/lib
    libX??.so.??         (Shared images needed by all X11 binaries).


Its best you do a tar -tvzf on the distribution you get or find
some means of extracting the distribution file list.
The support files include default/example Xconfig, xinitrc, twmrc
which you could copy to your HOME directory (as Xconfig, .xinitrc
and .twmrc) and edit them to define your hardware and X11 setup.
The directory XLIB/etc/ contains much documentation on how to
configure video modes.

Read the files XDOC/README and XDOC/README.Linux.




XII.D.  LEARNING/USING X
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 XII.12)  Where can I find the basic help for learning/using X ?

ANSWER: Try man X386; man Xserver; man xterm; man twm; man xinit
on any machine with X11.  The man pages on xterm and twm will reflect
behaviour on Linux systems quite accurately. The others will give you
some bearing though not every option will work.  These man pages are
part of the xfree86 distribution.


 XII.13)  What docs are available besides man pages?

ANSWER: The FAQ in comp.windows.x is extensive and has a bibliography.
There is also the Xt-FAQ. Both are available from export.lcs.mit.edu in
pub/contrib/. There is a collection of (mit) X11 documents on tsx-11
(pub/linux/doc/xdoc.tar.Z ?) or export (pub/R5-Untarred) if you are
interested in internals.
Also of interest if you use motif, open-look/xview or interviews:
comp.windows.x.motif, comp.windows.open-look, comp.windows.interviews.


 XII.14)  How do I start up X?

ANSWER: Type 'startx' at the shell prompt. Before doing this you should:
0) Untar the xfree86 distribution from / (read XDOC/README, XDOC/README.Linux).
1) copy the file Xconfig.sample from the XLIB/ directory to your
 HOME directory (/usr/root/Xconfig?) or to XLIB/Xconfig.
2) Edit Xconfig and set the video data for your card and monitor.
   Use the clocks appropriate for your card and the modes appropriate
   for your monitor for those clock values. To determine what values are
   appropriate the Xconfig section below and the files in XDOC/.
3) Set the mouse device in Xconfig correctly....Use the busmouse entry
   for Logitech only. For other busmouses use microsoft (try all :-).
4) Ensure that there is a termcap entry for xterm in /etc/termcap
   (One is available in the subdir /doc/).
5) Ensure that the X11 binaries are in the path example:
   add the line PATH=${PATH}:/usr/X386/bin to ~/.profile or
   look at bash.ad in /doc/.
WARNING: NONE of the modes (in the Modes line in Xconfig) should use a
clock your monitor cannot handle.
Now type startx.


 XII.15)  How do I configure X .. colors, menu, keyboard?

ANSWER: makes me ... dizzy ...
server : video, keyboard
 Xconfig : man X386, man Xserver, XDOC/VideoModes.doc
           man X386keybd, man xset, man xmodmap.

resources: global and application preferences.
 XLIB/xinit/.Xresources or ~/.Xresources : man xrdb?

twm :   menus, title bars, colors .. look and feel.
 ~/.twmrc or XLIB/twm/system.twmrc : man twm

xinit : startup.
        ~/.xinitrc or XLIB/xinit/xinitrc -- man xinit

applications : XLIB/app-defaults/Xxx (also ~/.Xresources)
  man xxx

You can start with files from any X11 setup. Backup the files
you change. See the FAQ on comp.windows.x.


 XII.16)  [suggested by Thomas Koenig]
 How do I support national keyboards in X11 ?

ANSWER: Put a .Xmodmap file into the user's home directory specifying
which keys to use for what; or else replace the
/usr/lib/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap with the national keyboard keys
customized. Do man xmodmap for more details.
enclosed an excerpt of mine (french keyboard):
keycode   8 =
keycode   9 = Escape
keycode  10 = ampersand 1
keycode  11 = eacute 2 asciitilde
keycode  12 = quotedbl 3 numbersign
keycode  13 = apostrophe 4 braceleft
keycode  14 = parenleft 5 bracketleft
keycode  15 = minus 6 bar
keycode  16 = egrave 7 grave
keycode  17 = underscore 8 backslash
keycode  18 = ccedilla 9 asciicircum
keycode  19 = agrave 0 at
keycode  20 = parenright degree bracketright
keycode  21 = equal plus braceright
keycode  22 = BackSpace
keycode  23 = Tab
keycode  24 = A
........





XII.E. DEBUGGING STARTUP PROBLEMS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 XII.17)  I cannot type in my xterm

ANSWER: /dev/console must have major=4, minor=0
 rm -f /dev/console; ln /dev/console /dev/tty0


 XII.18)  What are some of the common omissions and errors?

ANSWER: (Peter)
1) Add /usr/X386/bin/ (or /usr/bin/X11) to your path.

2) Add the xterm termcap entry to /etc/termcap.

3) ln -s X386 X in the XBIN directory.
   ln -s X386mono X (if you want to use the mono server).

4) Run X as root first. This avoids some trivial problems.

5) If you change the font path entry .... X386 is finicky about
   the syntax.

6) Make sure your mouse entry in Xconfig points to a legitimate serial
   device  (or busmouse)... usually something like:  microsoft "/dev/ttyS1"
   serial devices have major # 4 minor 64,65 ... busmouses are major 10.
   ls -l in /dev will show you the major and minor entries.

7) Need read/write/exec access to /tmp directory

8) Use startx 2> x.err to log your error messages. If the server sticks
   and you have to reboot you'll probably loose this stuff... see notes
   on `hanging' below.

9) You must have a free vt (eg. /dev/tty5 with no getty (see /etc/rc)).

10) Delete /tmp/.Xn-lock if recovering from a crash.

11) Note the new probeonly option for the server (man X386):
 startx -- -pn -probeonly

12) See Xconfig problems and the device list below.



 XII.19)  Why is the server unable to find some of the fonts?

ANSWER: First check that the directories listed in the font path exist
and have font files in them. Some of the servers are not set up to use
compressed fonts. In such cases you have to uncompress the fonts in the
directory and run `mkfontdir .`. Read the man page on mkfontdir.


 XII.20)  My server "hangs" Why?

ANSWER: (Peter) Quite often it isn't a hang. If the server grabs the
screen(and enters graphics mode) and then dies, it may return you to
bash *without* restoring the screen. In other words, just because you
see no output, don't assume it's running/hanging.  The way to test
this is to see if you can use a bash command to spin your disk. eg.:
sync; ls -l /bin.

Also - I *suspect* that (at least for me), you can kill the
server if you include the servernum option in the Xconfig (Obselete?)

You can kill the server when you want to by typing ctrl-alt-backspace.
Then a couple of ctrl-C 's in case your stuck in xinit.

The two line message
   X386 version .....
   (protocol Version ....
is returned from the X386 programme itself, so if you get
this (or if the screen blanks) X must be starting.


 XII.21)  When I started X11 I got "Cannot connect to
server" or "process does not exist", any clue ?

ANSWER: The cause might be a wrong fontpath variable, mouse device
or video settings in your Xconfig.


 XII.22)  Why cant I run more than 4 xterms?
   How can I have more than 4 pty's ?

ANSWER: set the number in the header include/linux/tty.h and
recompile the kernel. Also make nodes :
 mknod /dev/ptypxx 4  minor  (where minor = 128 + xx)
 mknod /dev/ttypxx 4  minor  (minor = 192 + xx)
 This is for before linux-0.97pl6.... for later versions
 you only need to make the nodes.



 XII.23)  How does X11 start up?

ANSWER: The startup involves the server (XBIN/X), and some
programs like startx and xinit.

Typing startx runs the script  XBIN/startx. Look through startx.
For explanation of the server arguments try man Xserver.
startx does little other than gather arguments and then call xinit.

xinit runs the server X (X is linked to X386) and the client programs
specified in ~/.xinitrc. xinit continues to run, and is often the
source of the error messages you see when you exit. If you get the
message "giving up", it means X has died (quite probably  it died
immediately) and xinit has been unable to start clients from the
xinitrc script. (The scripts must be executable).


 XII.24)  What devices does X depend on:

ANSWER: check your device numbers with ls -l /dev. You should have:

5 0 tty
4 0 tty0
4 0 console
4 1 tty1 (etc)  virtual consoles (vt's) : eg. startx -- vt8
1 1 mem

4 128 ptyp0   pseudo ttys used by xterm/emacs etc
4 129 ptyp1 (etc) to talk to unix programs.
4 192 ttyp0
4 193 ttyp1 (etc)

4 64 ttyS1   one of these is the mouse
4 65 ttyS2  or you have a busmouse.
10 x mouse   busmouse x = 0 => logitech  1 => ps/2 (aux)
   2 => microsoft  3 => ATI_XL.
/tmp/.X11-unix/Xn       n = display number. Socket used by X11 programs to
   talk to the server. This is created by X386.
/tmp/.Xn-lock    n = display number. Lock file.

Note that unix programs dont expect standard names for serial devices
and mice. So you can give these devices any name as long as you tell
the server what its called (in Xconfig).



XII.F. Xconfig: Xconfig and Video mode settings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 XII.25)  What do the mode names in Xconfig mean?

ANSWER: Mode names like "640x480" are used to match entries in
the modes line with the modeDB entry which actually defines the mode.
You can toggle between modes in the modes line  with ctrl-alt-numericplus.
If you're experimenting with 640x480 you can define
      modes "640x480a" "641x480b" "642x480c"
with different entries for each under ModeDB so you can toggle between
these three modes.

 XII.26)  How do I compute the numbers for the video modes?

ANSWER: See if there is an entry that matches your chip/monitor in
XDOC/modeDB.txt. Use the clock entries for your chip
and the mode entry for that clock appropriate for your monitor.
If you cant find a mode entry for a particular clock 'needed_clock'
but can find a mode entry (for your monitor) for a nearby clock value
'found_clock', scale all numbers in the modeDB entry by
(needed_clock/found_clock). Read XDOC/VideoModes.doc


 XII.27)  How can I determine the clocks on the video chip?
 Where can I find clock.exe or clock.pas ?

ANSWER: The XFREE Team discourages the use  of clocks.exe and wants it
to be removed from all docs, since the new Server is better at
guessing the clocks than clocks.exe.

You can get X to tell you what it finds by commenting the clocks entry
in Xconfig. Use 'startx -- -probeonly 2> x.err' to log the output.
If X starts up this file gets the clocks only after you exit.

I strongly advise using the 'modegen' spreadsheets to generate the
appropriate settings. If I remember correctly you can find them in
'pub/linux/packages/SLS/x4' called modegen.taz or something equally
as obvious ... Good luck. (Andy [e-mail])

The clocks entry in Xconfig serves as an index. example:
clocks 1 2
ModeDB
1 640x480 .....
2 800x600 .....
means the first clock on the chip will be used for the 640x480 mode
and so on. Usually one uses the MHz value for the clock for convenience
instead of 1 2  you probably have 25 28 ... etc.


 XII.28)  What are the settings used with a trident-8900C?

ANSWER: To get X/SLS/Linux working with a trident-8900C :

1) From Frank Houston [e-mail]
vga256
  Virtual 1024 768
  ViewPort      0 0
  Modes         "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
Use the VESA monitor timings from the modeDB in the example Xconfig.
You do not need to specify the chipset or clocks.

2) From: Henk Vandecasteele [e-mail]
TRIDENT TVGA 8900C card with BIOS C2.11, A cheap color monitor AOC (CM-335)
with a maximum horizontal frequence of 39.5
vga256
  Virtual 1024 1024
  ViewPort      0 0
  Modes        "912x684" "800x600" "640x480"
# This mode drives my monitor to the limit (VESA timings for the rest).
 "912x684"     45      912  944 1104 1136    684  684  690  712


 XII.29)  Oh what, Oh what, Oh what can I do with a trident 8900b?

ANSWER: ([e-mail])
1.  While the 8900b works with the Xfree 8900c driver, you must
    specify a chipset line for the 8900c in your Xconfig.

2.  The tridents are miserably slow in a Color mode.  If you don't
    mind black and white, you should use X386mono.  Not only is it
    faster, but it requires less video memory, and you'll be able
    to run a 1k X 1k virtual desktop. Again, you must specify the
    Chipset line to use the banked mono server for virtual
    resolutions > ~800x600.


 XII.30)  What are common problems with Xconfig?

ANSWER: If X isn't firing at all, or even if it clears the screen and
crashes (see below) you almost certainly have a fault in Xconfig.

1. Note that the server X interprets Xconfig. (not xinit)

2. test with only one graphics mode included - one you are most sure of.

3. If you make a mistake in the mouse section, you will (I understand)
get an error message, so if you don't get some mouse error, try
elsewhere first. (eg "No such file or directory" indicates you have a
fault in the "/dev/ttyxx" line, or /dev/ttyxx doesn't exist.

4. *NB* X looks in your home directory first to find an Xconfig. make
certain it's using the one you've been working on!

5. you need double quotes (") around your chipset and modes: eg
 chipset "et4000"
 Modes   "640x480" "640x480a" "800x600"
   and around the /dev/ttyxx eg.:
 microsoft "/dev/ttys1"

6. Check your VGA section and modeDB first.

9. ensure ModeDB clock speeds match the VGA section. Comment out any
unused lines in MODEDB.

eg  clocks  25 36 00 00 00 00 00 00

then you *must* have (and only have) lines under modeDB corresponding
to speeds 25 and 36. If you have one with (say) 62 uncommented out in
the modeDB section in place of the 36 line, you will cause the server to
die immediately with no error message.

10. videoram must equal the amount of display ram on your chip.

11. The virtual resolution screen must fit in the videoram.
    eg: 512kB => 800x600 (for the 1 byte per pixel color server)


 XII.31)  What do I use in my Xconfig file to use the bus mouse?
Logitech doesn't work with my Logitech busmouse.

ANSWER: (Nathan I. Laredo)
Here are the mouse lines from my Xconfig:

BusMouse   "/dev/mouse"

You may add a sample rate if you want, but chances are, unless the model
number on your mouse matches mine: PC-93-9MD it probably will cause your
machine to lock up, as I've gotten several reports saying that.
According to the X386 documentation, non-logitech mice do not support
a sample rate.


 XII.32)  Where can I get Xconfig-files for various hardware?

ANSWER: If you have access to e-mail, e-mail  [e-mail]
a  message with the  subject: help
If you do create a new Xconfig file or improve on an old one please mail
it to [e-mail] to save others from having to duplicate
your work.



XII.G X-APPLICATIONS: Compiling X Programs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 XII.33)  Does anyone know where I can find the libobz.a library ?

ANSWER: This library contained the socket stuff, when X386 V0.1 was
released. Meanwhile it has found it's way into the kernel, so
remove -lobz from the link step in the Makefile. Any program
asking for libobz needs to be recompiled anyway.


 XII.34)  I get _setjmp undefined when linking xv from .a files.

ANSWER: You are trying to link a program compiled with gcc-2.2.2
and setjmp has changed sice then. Recompile xv from the source
using the latest gcc.


 XII.35)  How do I compile an X application that has an Imakefile?

ANSWER:
 Type xmkmf to generate the Makefile.
 Type make.


 XII.36)  How do I compile a program that has no Imakefile?

ANSWER: Use compiler options generated with programs that do have
 Imakefiles. Look in XLIB/config/ for the linux definitions.
 In particular you need -fwritable-strings.

 XII.37)  gcc complains the X libraries are not found or links static.

ANSWER: Check out the -nojump -static options of GCC ... read the GCC FAQ.
 You can tell gcc what directories to search with -L.


 XII.38)  When using Makefiles generated by xmkmf why do I get many error
 messages?

ANSWER: The old xmkmf under Linux doesn't like # comments in Imakefiles.
Therefore you must change the #'s to XCOMM. But be careful. Don't change
any pre-compiler directives. ([e-mail]  Matthew A. Lewis)

 XII.39)  (Ton van Rosmalen wrote):
I recently compiled XFree86 1.2A for Linux and it compiled fine with
gcc-2.3.3 and libc-4.3.3 iff I skipped the make depend.

ANSWER: (Rik Faith)
The source for ed.c is available from (Linux binaries are in utilb13.taz)
ftp.cs.unc.edu:/pub/faith/linux/utils/utilb-1.3.src.tar.Z
This version of ed.c has a 4096 character line limit and will work
correctly when building XFree86 under Linux.


 XII.40)  What are the  development tools available for X under Linux?

ANSWER: Some of the X development packages available on Linux:
(XS = sunsite.unc.edu pub/Linux/X11)
(Contact the people who distribute them in case of problems.)

Libraries:
Xpm, tiff .. are in XS/libs/. If you are compiling a package
that uses these libraries it is best to pick up the standard DLLs.
[e-mail], [e-mail]
(Some older libraries are in XS/libs/oldlibs).

Interviews: SLS package
Shared libraries are not yet available so doc ~1M, idraw ~1.5M, ibuild?

KHOROS:
This is the second release of my patches (~15K XS/xapps) to the Khoros
system for image processing. If you want to compile it, you
need Khoros 1.0, patchlevel 5 (source distribution) and up to 100MB
free disk space (including package 0.).
Wolfram Gloger [e-mail] Apr 04 1993.

MOTIF XS/$$$:-)
Metro Link, Inc. is pleased to announce the availability of OSF/Motif 1.2.2
for Linux at the introductory price of $199 for a complete runtime and
development system (shared libs, UIL, source for some demos + 1 Orielly book).
You can order OSF/Motif 1.2.2 for Linux by calling Metro Link,Inc. at
[phone] (voice) or [phone] (fax) or by mailing us at
[e-mail].

SUIT: XS/devel
Simple User Interface Toolkit.
Included are shared libs and static libs. Compiled with the SLS kit.
To use these shared libs you need libX11 3.0 and libc 4.3.
Rob Robert-Jan Kooper [e-mail] [e-mail]

tk+tcl: XS/devel
Here is tk3.0 and tcl6.5 sources and libraries. Compiled this with gcc2.3.3
I have also included the wish (X11) binary.
Mitch [e-mail]  [e-mail]

xview: XS/devel
New libxview.a and libolgx.a that correct some problems with the
ones found in SLS (and maybe in the other xview releases, I don't know).
Kenneth Osterberg ??


XII.H ATI: SVGA server for ATI boards.
~~~~~~~~~
Last Revised: Mon May 10 15:17:57 1993 by [e-mail]


 XII.41)  What's new?

ANSWER:
For XFree86 version 1.2 (and later versions), there are two changes to the
extregPlusXLAndOrMasks table:

1) ER_B0 was changed from 0x28 to 0x31.  (In the Linux world, this was
distributed as a binary patch long ago.)

2) ER_BE was changed from 0x08, but only for cards EARLIER than the
28800-5.

Both of these changes allow more 28800-4 cards to work, although either one
may be sufficient for any one card.  You can find these changes in the
driver by searching for the Feb 3 timestamps.



 XII.42)  What is the ATI SVGA driver?

ANSWER:
The ATI SVGA driver is a 256 color driver for the XFree86 server.  The
driver was written for the ATI WONDER series of graphics adapters.  In
general, the following modes are supported for cards with 512kb of memory:

640x480x256
600x800x256

The following modes are supported for cards with 1024kb of memory:

1024x768x256



 XII.43)  What is the ATI SVGA driver *NOT*?

ANSWER:
The ATI SVGA driver is *NOT* a black and white (2 bit) driver.  Therefore,
it will *NOT* work with the XFree86 monoserver.

The ATI SVGA driver is *NOT* a 16 color driver.  Even though your manual
says that your graphics adapter has a 1024x768x16 mode, the ATI SVGA driver
will *NOT* use this mode.  If you want to use 1024x768, you *MUST* have 1MB
of memory on your board and use the 1024x768x256 mode.

The ATI SVGA driver will *NOT* support more than 8 bits of pixel depth.
Therefore, even though your manual says that your graphics adapter supports
modes using more than 256 colors, the ATI SVGA driver will *NOT* use these
modes.

The ATI SVGA driver is *NOT* an accelerated driver.  If you have an ATI
GRAPHICS ULTRA series card, the ATI SVGA driver will *NOT* use the
accelerated hardware.  It will only use the SVGA hardware.  This will
probably not be any faster than a VGA WONDER card, unless the card is on a
local bus (and then, it won't be faster than a VGA WONDER card on a local
bus, if a card of this type existed).



 XII.44)  What cards will the driver work with?

ANSWER:
This is a difficult question, because there are many different ATI video
cards, and it is sometimes difficult to tell them apart.  The best way is
to look on the card itself for the ATI chip numbers.  Here is a partial
list of ATI VGA WONDER cards.  The MOST IMPORTANT number is the CHIP
VERSION.

Adapter version     Dot clock       Chip version

VGA WONDER V3                       ATI18800        NOT SUPPORTED
VGA WONDER V4                       ATI18800-1      NOT SUPPORTED
VGA WONDER V5       ATI18810        ATI18800-1      NOT SUPPORTED
VGA WONDER + (V6)   ATI18810        ATI28800-2      ? MAY WORK ?
VGA WONDER (1 MB)   ATI18810        ATI28800-4      SUPPORTED
VGA WONDER (1 MB)   ATI18810        ATI28800-5      SUPPORTED
VGA WONDER XL       ATI18810        ATI28800-5      SUPPORTED

Note that the ATI SVGA driver code has hooks and some support for all of
the cards listed.  However, with the earlier cards, there are serious
differences in the programmer's interface.  The only people who have ever
worked on the code have had 28800-4 and 28800-5 chips, so these chips are
the only ones that are actually known to work.

The ATI GRAPHICS ULTRA chips seem to have SVGA support which is equivalent
to the 28800-4, 28800-5, and 28800-a, although I can find no documentation
on this in the technical manuals provided by ATI.  The ULTRA PLUS and ULTRA
PRO boards have been tested to some extent, and seem to work fine, but the
original ULTRA may have some problems at greater than 640x480 resolution.



 XII.45)  What should I put in my Xconfig file?

ANSWER:
THE MOST IMPORTANT LINE IS THE CLOCKS LINE:

  Clocks        18 22 25 28 36 44 50 56
                30 32 37 39 40 0  75 65

The first row of clocks is usable on all VGA Wonder cards.  The second row
is usable only on V5, PLUS, and XL cards (28800-2, 28800-4, and 28800-5).
However, you should include *BOTH* rows for *ALL* cards.

The specification is different from the specification used with the ET-4000
cards.  Programs with claim to detect the clocks usually work only with
ET-4000 based cards.  No such program exists for the ATI cards, since it
isn't needed.  THE CLOCKS LINE SHOULD NEVER BE CHANGED.  The order of
numbers in the clocks line *is* significant.

The actual frequencies, which can be used to calculate the ModeDB lines,
are as follows:

18 = 18.000
22 = 22.450
25 = 25.175
28 = 28.320
36 = 36.000
44 = 44.900
50 = 50.350
56 = 56.640

30 = 30.240
32 = 32.000
37 = 37.500
39 = 39.000
40 = 40.000
 0 = 56.640
75 = 75.000
65 = 65.000

The Chipset will be automatically detected.  The chipset name for this
driver is "ati".

Here is a sample Xconfig (which I use):

RGBPath  "/usr/lib/X11/rgb"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc/,/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"

Keyboard
  AutoRepeat 500 5
  ServerNumLock

#Microsoft "/dev/mouse"
#MouseSystems "/dev/mouse"
#MMSeries "/dev/mouse"
#Logitech "/dev/mouse"
#MouseMan "/dev/mouse"
Busmouse "/dev/mouse"
#  BaudRate 1200
  SampleRate 150
#  Emulate3Buttons


vga256
  ViewPort      0 0
  #Modes  "1024x768v" "800x600v"
  Modes         "800x600v"
  Clocks        18 22 25 28 36 44 50 56
                30 32 37 39 40 0  75 65
  Displaysize   260 184

ModeDB

# From NEC MultiSync 3FGx manual (copied by [e-mail])
# active_area front_porch pulse_width back_porch for horiz and vert
# VESA 640x480 at 72Hz (37.860kHz)
# 20.317us 0.762us 1.270us 4.603us; 12.678ms 0.238ms 0.079ms 0.740ms
# (I couldn't find a good clock rate for this one)
# VESA 800x600 at 72Hz (48.077kHz)
# 16.000us 1.120us 2.400us 1.280us; 12.480ms 0.770ms 0.125ms 0.478ms
"800x600v"   50      800  856  976 1040    600  637  643  693
# VESA 1024x768 at 60Hz (48.363kHz)
# 15.754us 0.369us 2.092us 2.462us; 15.880ms 0.062ms 0.124ms 0.600ms
"1024x768v"  65    1024 1048 1184 1344    768  771  777  806



 XII.46)  What is the history of the driver?

ANSWER:
The complete history of the driver is cloudy.  I have tried to reconstruct
the history from several email messages from a few of the people involved.
The history is probably incomplete and inaccurate.

Apparently, Per Lindqvist ([e-mail]) first got an ATI driver
working with an early ATI card under X386 1.1a.  (This original driver may
have actually been based on an non-functional ATI driver written by Roell.)
Then Doug Evans ([e-mail]) ported the driver to the ATI XL, trying in
the process to make the driver work with all other ATI cards.

I (Rik Faith) obtained the X11R4 driver from Doug Evans in the summer of
1992, and ported the code to the X386 part of X11R5.  This subsequently
became part of XFree86.  Per and Doug did the majority of work, making the
port somewhat trivial.  I am grateful for their contribution.

The port to X11R5 required writing the ATIProbe and ATIEnterLeave routines,
and re-organizing the ATISave and ATIRestore routines.  Someone else added
the operating system specific code, but I don't know who.

The major reference that I used was manual from ATI:

"VGA WONDER Programmer's Reference"
ATI Technologies, 1991.
Release 1.2 -- Reference #PRG28800
(Part No. 10709B0412)

However, Chapter 11 (ATI 18800 ATI VGAWONDER) of George Sutty and Steve
Blair's "Advanced Programmer's Guide to SuperVGAs" (Brady/Simon & Schuster,
1990) was also useful.  Further, someone e-mailed be a random document from
the ATI BBS which was dated 3Jul91 and which may have been named
PROGINFO.DOC.



 XII.47)  What is the future of the driver?

ANSWER:
I no longer use an ATI Wonder card and have no interest in this driver.
Since I have received no bug reports or patches for the driver during the
past 3 months, I think it is about as stable as it is going to get.  (I
suspect that support for the 28800-2, 28800-4, and 28800-5 chips can be
made more robust, but I doubt that the other chips will ever be fully
supported.)

I have absolutely *NO* intention of porting the code to the mono or 16
color servers.  If *you* want ATI support in the mono or 16 color servers,
they *you* should do the port.  (Since I no longer use my ATI Wonder card,
please feel free to take over the current driver as well.)




XII.I BUGS:
~~~~~~~~~~~

Restoration of the text screen fails on some hardware. You can
get the program runx from the vgalib distribution (tsx-11
pub/linux/sources/libs/). Report the problem to the xfree86 team.

Cant compile Xaw programs without -static in versions x11v1.1 or older.

Fix for missing numlock control in xfree86-1.1.
use xmodmap to change the mapping:
  clear mod1
  add mod1 = Alt_L
  keysym Alt_R = Mode_switch
  add mod5 = Mode_switch
David (Dawes)



Sources for X11_FAQ:
Steve Kotsopoulos, Peter Hawkins, John Morris, MM. Corsini,
K. Balasubramanian.
Direct comments, questions, complaints to krishna at:
[e-mail]



XIII. NETWORKING and LINUX
============================
*** This section should be maintained by Philip Copeland
*** ([e-mail]).


XIII.01)  Where can I find useful information about networking for
Linux ?

ANSWER: Join the NET channel of the mailing list. Also, you need to
read the NET-FAQ by Phil Copeland, it's on sunsite and tsx-11 and
posted to c.o.l and the NET channel every couple of weeks.

Basically, all of the information on networking and TCP/IP for Linux
is in the NET-FAQ, because it's maintained seperately than this
document (and we don't want to waste the space reprinting it all
here--- it's big!).

The NET-FAQ has been completely rewritten as of Feb 1993. Get the new
version.



XIV.  EVERYTHING FOR PRINTING
=============================
**** This is the lpd FAQ version 1.2 (last update 1st june), this
**** section is maintained by Brian McCauley. Please send any
**** suggestion to: [e-mail]

 XIV.01)  What _is_ the lpr/lpd package?

ANSWER: To quote the net-FAQ:

Lpr is a utility that is used to print files out to local and remote
printers. As with all networking, there are configuration files which
have to be tailored to your needs. These files are concerned with
access control, accounting and page setup of your printer(s).  Now all
control of the printer is performed by a process called lpd

Lpd is a laser printer daemon (yes I know an epson isn't a laser
printer but thats besides the point). The program lpd is normally
started in /etc/rc.local in either the forground or the background.
What happens is that lpd will sink back as a daemon, only ever being
invoked when a printer request is generated. lpd itself has some
options which are of possible intrest to some people chiefly that of
the '-l' flag which causes lpd to log requests recieved from the
network (useful for debugging). The other option is for what port lpd
should listen for data on and is generally not used.

[ Note: lp really stands for line printer but as technology has
advanced laser printer makes more sense. ]


 XIV.02)  What is _the_ Linux lpr/lpd ?

ANSWER: Up until 28th May 1993, as far as there is a definitive Linux
version of anything _the_ Linux lpr/lpd is <[e-mail]>
Ross Biro's port of the BSD sources dated 20th November 1992 (so if
you're used to AT&T's you'll find some differences).  Ross's binaries
and the diffs are found in:

tsx-11.mit.edu:pub/linux/binaries/usr.bin/lpr.tar.Z
sunsite.unc.edu:pub/Linux/system/Daemons/lpr.tar.Z

The SLS file lpr.tgz on disk b2 contains the same stuff.

However this is all about to change so from now on this version will
be called the "old" binaries. As of 28th May 1993 there appears be two
different new releases of lpd expected RSN.

In addition to the standard BSD lpr capabilities Ross Biro's port
should have had better support for serial printers (but it didn't work
in the old binaries).

Ross's port was not based on the latest BSD sources (by about 3 years,
'88 vs '91). His new release will also be based on these sources which
can be found are at:

gatekeeper.dec.com and /afs/ir.stanford.edu/src/...

Recent BSD sources are all over the place.

ftp.uu.net:systems/unix/bsd-sources/usr.sbin/lpr
src.doc.ic.ac.uk:unix/bsd-sources/usr.sbin/lpr

to name but two. The BSD sources have unGNU things in their Makefiles
so they don't compile ``out of the box'' but have now been ported by
<[e-mail]> Fred van Kempen and will be available RSN
(if not now) as part of the complete overhall of the Linux Net stuff.

Ross agrees that Fred's version should be thought of as _the_ Linux
lpd package. I <[e-mail]> have not had a chance to look
at Fred's port yet (I'm waiting for the full release of 0.99pl10
before I update anything) but most of this FAQ refers to the BSD lpd
package or Linux in general so this is probably not too important.

There are some other versions of lpd stuff about but I have to draw
the line somewhere. If anyone whants to maintain FAQ sections on these
they are welcome to do so. The other versions include plp and the ka9q lp
facility. There are also romours of SysV spoolers being ported.


 XIV.03)  How do I get lpr to work properly other than for root? Where
do the files go and what should their permissions be?

ANSWER: Put /etc/lpd& in your /etc/rc or /etc/rc.local (usually in
/etc/rc.local after you start syslogd (if you use syslogd)).

Set the group fields of the file permissons/ownership as follows:

-rwxr-s---   1 root     daemon      37892 Nov 19 23:32 /etc/lpd
-rwx--s--x   1 root     daemon      21508 Nov 19 23:32 /usr/bin/lpc
-rws--s--x   1 root     daemon      17412 Nov 19 23:32 /usr/bin/lpq
-rwx--s--x   1 root     daemon      17412 Nov 19 23:32 /usr/bin/lpr
-rwx--s--x   1 root     daemon      17412 Nov 19 23:32 /usr/bin/lprm

...and for each of the spool directories listed in the sd fields of
/etc/printcap...

/usr/spool/lp1:
total 5
drwxrwxr-x   2 root     daemon       1024 May 18 23:00 .
drwxr-xr-x  11 root     root         1024 Feb 19 20:56 ..
-rw-rw-r--   1 root     daemon          4 May 18 23:00 .seq
-rw-rw-r--   1 root     daemon         18 May 18 23:00 lock
-rw-rw-r--   1 root     daemon         25 May 18 23:00 status

Note these 3 files are created by lpr and lpd so if you've never
run these they could be missing so touch them into being.

Some of these permissions may be overkill so don't be surprised if
your system works with different permissions. The fact that lpq needs
to be suid root is inelegant and may change in the future.

Alternative approach: just make lpc, lpr and lprm setuid(root) then
you can forget the file permissions on the spool queues!

You're free to choose different directories for the executables on
your system (notably lpc is often in /etc even though it has commands
that are useful to non-root). The master lpd lock file which is always
in /usr/spool/ so you must have one of those but you needn't
necessarily keep your spool queues there.

The main configuration file is /etc/printcap although the old binaries
look for it in /usr/etc/lpd.  The README says hosts.equiv and
hosts.lpd files are looked for in /etc/inet but again the more
accepted convention is to locate them in /etc.

For an simple life:

mv -i /usr/etc/inet/* /etc/inet/* /usr/etc/* /etc/
rmdir /usr/etc/inet /etc/inet /usr/etc
ln -s ../etc /usr/etc
ls -s . /etc/inet

[But make sure the files in /usr/etc and /etc/inet are not already
symlinks into /etc or you'll be in deep water.]

Eventually you'll be able to delete these symlinks once you've got rid
off all the old stuff.


 XIV.04)  Why do I sometimes see /usr/etc or /etc/inet or /usr/etc/inet?

ANSWER: For various reasons including the difficulties of fsck'ing /
some people like to put all things that aren't needed during bootstrap
in /usr so that / is as small as possible. Also some people like all
their internet stuff in /etc/inet. Most Linux gurus advise keeping it
all in /etc.

If you really want this quirky layout:

cd /etc
ls -s ../usr/etc/* .
ls -s inet/* .

[Make sure the files in /usr/etc and /etc/inet are not already
symlinks into /etc.]


 XIV.05)  Where do I get a printcap for a xxxxx?

ANSWER: This question is essentially meaningless - see next question.


 XIV.06)  What is the content of /etc/printcap?

ANSWER: Given the similarity in appearence and name between
/etc/termcap and /etc/printcap one could be forgiven for assuming that
they contain analogous infomation. This is not the case. Whereas
termcap contains informations about terminal *types* - (mostly escape
seqences) printcap contains information about *specific* printers
(like the directory that holds the spool queue and the device name of
the printer). The information about a printer model's escape sequences
and so on are held in the various filters which are _programs_ called
by lpd to drive the printer. /etc/printcap simply gives the locations
of these filters.  For details RTFM(printcap). [Alternatively the
net-FAQ has a summary of some of the more important fileds.]. One last
point you should always specify ``suppress header'' ``:sh:'' unless
you have _text_ printer and want banners. (See the banners question
for further expanation).


 XIV.07)  What is the format of a /etc/printcap?

ANSWER: Ideally RTFM(termcap) (yes, I said *termcap*) but since most
people don't have TFM(termcap) here are the essentials.

Lines starting # are comments (as you might have guessed).

For each printer usable from the lpr command on your system there is
one logical line in the file. For the sake of readability each logical
line may be spread over several physical lines by making the last
character on all but the last physical line a backslash.

Each logical line has the following format:

name1|name2|name3:string_capability=string:\
       :numeric_capability#number:boolean_capability:

The leading spaces and colon on the second line are for readability
only.

A printer can have as many names as you like but conventionally the
final name is used as a longhand description of the printer. (Still
people are free to say `lpr -P "Fred's grotty teletype"' if that's
the description you've given.)

The list of capabilities can be as long as needed and the order is not
significant. Each ``capability'' is denoted by a two character code.
(The name ``capability'' comes form the file format's termcap heritage
- parameter or attribute would be a more sensible terms.) [Note from
Ross Biro: capabilities with 3 character names don't work properly
which is why the serial port stuff in the old binaries failed.]
Capabilities having string value and have a = delimiter between the
capability name and the value while those having a numeric value use a
# (actually they can use either a # or an =). Boolean ``capablilties''
are true if they appear in the list and false if they do not.

Special characters in a string value can be expressed using `\'-escape
sequences as in C; in addition, `\E' stands for ESC.  `^' is also a
kind of escape character; `^' followed by CHAR stands for the
control-equivalent of CHAR.  Thus, `^a' stands for the character
control-a, just like `\001'.  `:', `\' and `^' themselves can be
represented as `\:', `\\' and `\^'.

Example:

lp|bam|BAM's Epson FX-80:lp=/dev/lp1:sd=/usr/spool/lp1:sh:mx#0:\
 :df=/usr/local/lib/magic-filter/lp.df:\
 :if=/usr/local/lib/magic-filter/lp.if:

Name is lp (this is the printer that lpr uses by default). It's also
known as bam or "BAM's Epson FX-80".

The printer is on /dev/lp1 (aka AT-bus LPT1:). I don't want a burst
page. I don't want a file length limit. Files queued by `lpr -d' are
passed through /usr/local/lib/magic-filter/lp.df and those queued by
`lpr' through /usr/local/lib/magic-filter/lp.lf.

See also the next question.


 XIV.08)  My /etc/printcap looks identical to someone else's but it
doesn't work - why?

ANSWER: See if lpc stat reports a printer called ` :'. The last
character on a continued line must be a \. If there are whitespace
characters after the \ then it doesn't register the next line as a
continuation.


 XIV.09)  What's the minimum /etc/printcap?

ANSWER: This is a silly question but it _is_ frequently asked. The
answer is ``lp:sh'' (that's 6 bytes including the linefeed character
on the end). To use this /etc/printcap you must make /dev/lp a symlink
to your printer and create your spool queue directory as
/usr/spool/lpd.  (You might think that if you wanted banner pages you
could loose the ``:sh'' but the termcap syntax requires at least one
charateristic per entry).


 XIV.10)  How do I prevent the `staircase effect'?

ANSWER: Unix terminates each line of a file with a linefeed but not a
carriage return so taken literally a Unix text file printed on an
ASCII device will start each line below the end of the previous line.
Some printers can be set to treat "linefeed" as "carriage return,
linefeed", others can't. If yours can then do simply do that. If the
printer cannot be fixed create a shell script filter that reads:

#!/bin/sh
if [ $1 = -c ]; then
  cat
else
  sed -e s/$/^M/
fi
echo -ne \\f

where ^M is a carriage return character not a ^ followed by a M.  To
type ^M in emacs use the sequence C-q C-m and in vi use C-v C-m.
Conventionally this script is called /usr/lib/lpf. The test of $1
allows the isertion of carriage returns to be switched off by the `-l'
switch on lpr.

Alternatively your printer may have an escape sequence that will set
the way it handles linefeed characters. A simple filter that uses an
`echo -ne' command to send this sequence may be appropriate.

#!/bin/sh
# Filter for HP printers to treat LF as CRLF
echo -ne \\033\&k2G
cat
echo -ne \\f

[ Ross Biro's new release will include a filter called lpof that does
this. ]


 XIV.11)  How do I get my printer to go back to the default font after
each printout?

ANSWER: Define the `tr' ``capability'' in /etc/printcap to be your
printer's font reset command. For details of the format of this string
see the question on the format of printcap. This may not work if a
printout crashes in the middle of an escape sequence - putting a lot
of ^@ on the front may help but this probably won't be enough it you
were printing raster graphics when the filter died.


 XIV.12)  How do I prevent a formfeed at the end of every printout?

ANSWER: If you don't have an `if' specified in /etc/printcap then lpd
will automatically put a formfeed at the end of each file. If you're
using a filter then it's up to the filter to decide if it wants to put
a formfeed. To disable formfeed completely if you don't have an `if'
put :ff=: in your /etc/printcap.  But please note this suppresses the
formfeed that would usually be printed if a filter dies. If you want
formfeeds after text printouts but not on printouts printed with `lpr
-l' then create the following `if' filter:

#!/bin/sh
cat
if [ "$1" != -c ]; then
  echo -ne \\f
fi

If you want a formfeed after `lpr -l' to be optional you can misuse the
`-i' switch to suppress the formfeed with the following trick (after
all `lpr -i -l' would usually not be implemented).

#!/bin/sh
cat
# use lpr -i -l to print raw without trailing formfeed
if [ "$1" != -c -o "$4" = -i0 ]; then
  echo -ne \\f
fi


 XIV.13)  How do I get burst/banner pages?

ANSWER: For a simple text printer (in particular not postscript) and a
simple text banner simply take :sh: out of the printcap record. If you
want to prevent the banner comming out in whatever font was last used
on the printer then define the `tr' ``capability'' to be your
printer's font reset command.

If you want a fancy cusomised banner (or have a postscript printer)
leave :sh: in the printcap and make each of your filters print the
banner. All the information to put on the banner is included in the
filter's positional parameters.  RTFM(printcap) for details. [ If
you're using <[e-mail]>'s magic-filter package then
call the code to print the banners from the config script. ]


 XIV.14)  How do I print text on a ps printer?

ANSWER: You need a filter based on a program called enscript. I don't
know where you can get enscript for Linux.


 XIV.15)  Why do files with a lot of graphics get truncated?

ANSWER: Usually because you've got a limit set on the maximum size
file that can sit in the spool queue. Put `mx#0' in your printcap.


 XIV.16)  Why doesn't `lpr -i' work?

ANSWER: To get lpr -i to work you need a filter istalled as `if' that
implements it. The -i switch is simply passed on by lpd to the filter.
There is such a filter called /usr/lib/lpf that can be opdtained from
bsd source archives in the directory bsd-source/lpr/filters.


 XIV.17)  Why doesn't `lpr -p' work?

ANSWER: Because its broken in the '88 sources from which the old binaries were
compiled.  lpd always thinks that the printer is 0 characters wide
regardless of what printcap says.


 XIV.18)  Why does lprm say `too many users'?

ANSWER: This was a bug in the C library in the scandir() function which failed
when an unsorted directory list was requested. This has been fixed now
so just get a new libc.so. Alternatively there is a lprm with a
workround (by [e-mail]) in:

sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/system/Daemons/lprm-fix.tar.z


 XIV.19)  Why does lpc complain that it hasn't stopped a daemon?

ANSWER: There's one lpd process that runs all the time and it spawns
off children to handle each printer as needed. These children leave
lock files lying about so lpc thinks that they are still running and
tries to kill them. This is probably a bug but it's not serious.


 XIV.20)  How do I print over a Network?

ANSWER: To print on the printer "foo" connected to the machine
"bar.baz.net" from the machine "mine.baz.net" you put an entry like
this in your /etc/printcap (on mine.baz.net):

foo:lp=:rm=bar.baz.net:rp=foo:sd=/usr/lpd/spool/foo:

and, of course, create the spool directory /usr/lpd/spool/foo.

There's no point specitying filters and the like in
mine.baz.net:/etc/printcap as it's the one in
bar.baz.net:/etc/printcap that will get used.

On the machine bar.baz.foo, you need to put "mine.baz.net" on a line
by itself in either /etc/hosts.equiv or /etc/hosts.lpd; note that
putting it in /etc/hosts.equiv will allow for unauthenticated logins as
well as printing.  /etc/hosts.lpd is printing only.

[ Editors note: I realise there are more questions about net printing
but I don't know them. If you find any let me know (with answers if
possible). See also the net FAQ ]


 XIV.21)  Which /dev/lp* is my printer?

ANSWER: On an XT bus system LPT1: becomes /dev/lp0 (major=6, minor=0),
on an AT LPT1: becomes /dev/lp1 (major=6, minor=1). To be more
precise:

Name Major Minor I/O address
 lp0   6     0       0x3bc
 lp1   6     1       0x378
 lp2   6     2       0x278


 XIV.22)  When the kernel boots it says `using polling driver,' is
there an interrupt driven driver?

ANSWER: Yes the latest kernels support parrallel port IRQs but to
enable them you must use `lpcntl'. The interrupt driver uses less
processor time and gives a faster throughput but sometimes one may
choose sacrifice this to free up an IRQ line. If your printer is
/dev/lp1 using IRQ 7 put:

/etc/lpcntl /dev/lp1 7

in your /etc/rc.

If you don't have lpcntl get it from:

tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/Linux/BETA/lp/lpirq.4.tar.Z


 XIV.23)  What's the difference between the polling driver and an the
interrupt driven one?

ANSWER: A polling sits in a loop repeatedly reading the port hardware
to see if it is ready for another character and then gives it one. An
interrupt driver goes to sleep and is woken by the port hardware
(using a hardware interrupt) when it wants another character. Polling
drivers are easier to write but in multitasking environments they are
a bad thing.)


 XIV.24)  How do I write filters?

ANSWER: In normal Unix terminology, filters are just programs (so they
must have execute permission) that read a stream from their standard
input and write to their standard output.

lpd filters are filters in the sense that thay read from their STDIN
and write to their STDOUT but are not necessarily true filters in that
they may assume that their standard input is a file and perform
lseek() operations on it. I'm not sure that such filters are strictly
conforming but they seem to work OK.

All lpd filters must conform to a particular command line syntax (or
more often simply ignore command line parameters). For details of the
command line parameters RTFM(printcap).

It's easier to debug filters if you test them in an immediate shell
before you install them. (If your filter make use of its command line
arguments you'll have to specify them too).

my-new-filter <file >/dev/lp1

If you want to write a shell script filter it must have a #!/bin/sh
header.  Here for example is my Epson FX-80 dvi filter:

#!/bin/sh
/usr/TeX/bin/dvips -f | \
/usr/bin/gs -q -sDEVICE=eps9high -r120x216 -dNOPAUSE -sOutputFile=- -


 XIV.25)  I've written a filter in shell script which works OK when I
use it from the shell prompt but fails when I tell lpd to use it?

ANSWER: You may need a #!/bin/sh header. You may also need to set PATH
within the script since the daemon's PATH may not have everything you
need.


 XIV.26)  When should I define an `of' filter?

ANSWER: Never. (Well strictly speaking there are circumstances but
you're unlikey to meet them until you're so familar with lpd that you
won't need this FAQ.)


 XIV.27)  Where do I get filters for given printers?

ANSWER: From BSD source archives (I think). [Editors note: I need a
better answer here ].

If you already have a program to print say DVI on your printer then
making it into a filter is usually a matter of writting trivial shell
script - see this FAQ. If the program you are using insists on reading
a names file as input see the next question. Text mode filters are
trivial too (see this FAQ) unless you want lpr to have a choice of
fonts in which case they are slightly harder than trivial.  You will
probably want to insert and `echo -ne' command at the beginning and
end of your filter to set up the font etc to your liking.


 XIV.28)  How do I get a program that won't read from STDIN to act as
a filter?

ANSWER: For example dvilj2p insists on a named file as its input (and
what's more expects one with a .dvi suffix). To make a dvi filter for
a laserjet you'll have to capture the STDIN into a temporary file.

#!/bin/sh
cat >/tmp/$$.dvi
dvilj2p /tmp/$$
rm /tmp/$$.dvi

The problem with this kludge is that is may have a very high disk
overhead. (In the long term dvilj2p should be fixed).


 XIV.29)  The set of filters supported by lpd seem strange - why
aren't there filters for Postscript, GIF, TIFF and so on?

ANSWER: History. You can, in fact, use any of the filters (with the
possible exception of the default filter) for any reason. If you're
never going to use Benson Varian raster files you could use the -v
switch for GIF files. If you are on a network remember that the filter
setups go on the print server so you will need to consider other
people's needs too. To avoid running out of possible types use magic
filters.


 XIV.30)  What are magic filters?

ANSWER: Magic filters deduce their input files' types from `magic
numbers' (distictive byte patterns at particular offsets).  Magic
filters are usually perl scripts, shell scripts or C programs that
simply identify the file type then call the appropriate non-magic
filter. Blatent plug :-) I <[e-mail]> have a generic
magic filter bash script that selects the right filter to use based on
the output of the `file' command. With my magic ``dvi'' filter (and
existing separate dvi and ps filters) I can do things like:

lpr -d file1.dvi file2.div.Z file3.ps file4.ps.z

This is not yet on any anon-ftp sites so e-mail me for a copy. Once
it's stable and I've had a bit of (possitive) feedback I'll upload it.

Magic filters should never specified as `of' as the output filter only
gets called once if a number of files are printed without a gap.

Magic filters as `if' can also be a problem as they may prevent you,
say, _listing_ a PostScript or nroff file.


    ===================8<==========>8================


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