The World of Computer Software/The World of Computer Software.iso/lnxd3-82.zip/DIGEST3.825

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From: Digestifier <[e-mail]>
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Date:     Sun, 20 Dec 92 04:45:12 EST
Subject:  Linux-Activists Digest #825
Status: R

Linux-Activists Digest #825, Volume #3           Sun, 20 Dec 92 04:45:12 EST

Contents:
  Boot problems with SLS 0.99 (Robert W. Bingler)
  Re: MONEY + Linux (Sten M. Drescher)
  Help needed in compiling sz/rz. (Tong Gao)
  Using a dumb terminal with Linux (Fester the Penguin)
  uugetty (Philip Perucci)
  Re: SCSI Controller (James Carpenter)
  Re: Serial IRQ polling (James Carpenter)
  Re: Linux 0.99 FPU question (T.J.R. Cutts)
  Re: Zip for distributions? (Jeff Randall)
  Re: LPD: no daemon present SOLVED! (I wish) (Qual Trak)
  Re: How stable is extended filesystem? (Jeff Randall)
  Two queries (T.J.R. Cutts)
  Re: PATCH: (0.98.6) allow root to link/unlink directories (Shane Alderton)
  xterm:  unable to find usable termcap entry. (Isaac Wong)
  X for 2theMax et4000 card (Linda Distributed Language)
  Re: Auto mail send (Ed Carp)
  Re: ext fs question (.badblocks) (Ed Carp)
  Re: gcc -g (H.J. Lu)
  Strange problems with .99 (Supernaw-Issen, Daniel A.)
  Re: Dumb Americans (was INTERNATIONALIZATION: JAPAN, FAR EAST) (Daniel Russell)
  Re: uucp/mail/news FAQ (Robert Kiesling)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Robert W. Bingler)
Subject: Boot problems with SLS 0.99
Date: 16 Dec 92 02:57:11 GMT

Hey,
        I am getting the same hangups using SLS 0.99 on bootup.  I'm installing on a partition I had 0.96c on. Upon installing, I got MINIX-FS Magic file mismatch or something like that, but it continued fine on reading a3 and a4.  As soon as I boot the boot floppy for the new harddrive version it hangs like others have descrbed.
        Can someone please help?
My configuration:
        486-33,  two 130Mb harddrives,  8 megs of ram.
        Linux is on /dev/hdb7

Thanks,
Rob

+--------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------+
|   o    \ /  <o>    o     |  Robert Bingler      |  .sig Virus Disenfector  |
| _/|-'   |    |   _/|-'   |->[e-mail]      |                          |
|  / \,  /o\  / \   / \,   |  [e-mail]  |  To envoke type:         |
| `                `       |                      |  rm .sig                 |
+--------------------------+----------------------+--------------------------+

------------------------------

From: Sten M. Drescher <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: MONEY + Linux
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 23:01:51 GMT

        OK, in line with this discussion, here's our situation.  We've
contracted with a lab in California to write a new training package for
us.  They've decided to build it in Unix, specifically, SCO ODT.  We're
going to need do distribute the package to several test sites, and we
don't want to have to tell them that they need to spend $1000 a machine
in order to get an OS to run it under (US residents - these would be
YOUR tax dollars being spent).  After looking at Linux, I'd like to be
able to present Linux as an alternative, but there are 2 problems:
        1) We need to get RougeWave's TOOLS.H++ to compile with gcc
(they've given up on it).
        2) We need someone to provide tech support for Linux.  We expect
to get a certain amount of Unix-related questions along with problems
relating to out package, just as we get DOS questions on our current
package, but we don't have the personnel to provide full tech support
for Linux.  Does anyone know of anyone who can provide this service, and
if so, would you e-mail me their name, smail address, and phone #?
===============================+=============================================
Sten Drescher                  | There are men who seem like more than men.
2709 13th St #1248             | Living examples of what we could be if we
Brooks AFB, TX 78235-5224      | tried.  They are men of courage, compassion,
===============================+ and justice.  On the other hand, there are
[e-mail] | presidential candidates.
===============================+=============================================
Looking for Marvel Masterpieces promo cards - email with offers.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Tong Gao)
Subject: Help needed in compiling sz/rz.
Date: 16 Dec 92 05:04:11 GMT

I download szrz9202.tar-z from oak.oakland.edu, however I had a difficult time
compiling the programs. The makefile let the user to choose which os the
program should be compiled with, but there is no Linux listed in the list.
Could someone send me a makefile which will compile the programs correctly
under Linux? Or could somebody tell me where I can download it? Thank you very
much.

Tong
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Fester the Penguin)
Subject: Using a dumb terminal with Linux
Date: 16 Dec 92 04:41:45 GMT

Since my VGA monitor died recently, I've been looking for a way to
use a dumb terminal with linux. Thanks to Thomas Ulich and his help,
I am now able to do just that. Here's how:

   vi your /etc/inittab file. Uncomment the line with a /dev/ttys1 in it.
Make sure you are using the correct baud rate and serial port (ttys0 = port 1).
To log in as root from the dumb terminal, add ttys1 to your /etc/securetty
file.

Now. for the plea for help - I've a Regent 20 terminal rather than a VT100
dumb terminal. I don't have the setup info needed for a regent. Does anyone
have a termcap file with a Regent 20 entry in it?

Thanks,
Tom C.

--
Thomas Cronin               | "Extinction is not something to comtenplate;
[e-mail]       |  rather, it is something to rebel against."
[e-mail] |  from _The_Fate_of_the_Earth_ by J. Schell
[e-mail]       | "Trinitrotoluene is an educational toy" - me

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Philip Perucci)
Subject: uugetty
Date: 16 Dec 92 15:36:15 GMT

Regarding uugetty...

I see two packages, "poe_igl" and "getty_ps".  I need a reliable
uugetty under 0.99 Linux.  Do both support this?  Currently, my
system has the binaries that come with the GCC distribution.

Rather than start a religious war, let me say that it looks like
"getty_ps" is limited to getty/uugetty, but does a far more complete
job of it.  Is there any reason NOT to use "getty_ps" package?

--
===========================================================================
  phil perucci      | "Any opinions expressed are solely my own views and
  [e-mail] |  do not reflect the position of any organization"
===========================================================================

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (James Carpenter)
Subject: Re: SCSI Controller
Date: 16 Dec 92 03:48:06 GMT

Looks like its going to be the Future Domain. It has the external port, the
Segate doesn't. Its the only other thing I can afford.

        -Jim Carpenter
         [e-mail]
         [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (James Carpenter)
Subject: Re: Serial IRQ polling
Date: 16 Dec 92 03:26:54 GMT

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Adams) writes:
>There is no reasonable way to poll a device in a multi user or
>realtime environment. Attaching to a timer
>will lead to a desastrous performance loss, and hooking the
>CPU will disable multitasking.

It is interesting that Coherent could do this with no problem. There was a
small decrease in speed but who cared... it ran unbelivably slow anyway.

>If there would be enough interest, it would be neither too hard nor
>too expensive to throw an expansion card together, handling 2-4 serial
>ports without any intervention of CPU.....

That sounds rather nice.

        -Jim Carpenter
         [e-mail]
         [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (T.J.R. Cutts)
Subject: Re: Linux 0.99 FPU question
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 23:22:54 GMT

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (James Michael Chacon) writes
|>
|> I have a 486-33 running 0.99 right now. I could have sworn I didn't compile
|> in the FPU support. I will try recompiling and get back to everyone about
|> this. Otherwise the kernel runs fine and I have had no problems.
|>
|> James

I also have a 486/33; this is my 0.99 story:

I got the most recent SLS two days ago when by crass stupidity I managed to
destroy my Linux setup.  I took the opportunity to basically set everything up
afresh, including putting everything on one 95Mb extended filesystem.  I also got
the sources for 0.99, because I needed to recompile it with UK keyboard
definitions.  I compiled without SCSI or FPU emulation.  I also added -m486 to
the CFLAGS line in the Makefile.

The entire compilation took 11 minutes (gloat at the horror stories of >15 hour
compilations :-) ), and the result seems to be a considerably smaller kernel than
the standard SLS release, though I guess that's hardly surprising.  Whatever; the
recompilation seems to have worked perfectly.  Try the -m486 option, if you
hadn't done that before.

-- Tim Cutts                             /~\     ----
                                        (   )  /     \
Sugarmice on a skateboard               /   \/        \
                                      /  O             \
                                    /                   \
                                    \____________________================
                                 -===========================-
                                   O                       O

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jeff Randall)
Subject: Re: Zip for distributions?
Date: 16 Dec 92 04:37:12 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jeff Randall)

[e-mail] (Charles Hannum) writes:
>[e-mail] (Jonathan Magid) writes:

>Convince me that reducing the amount of cruft I need to download and
>transfer on *floppy disks* to bring a machine up isn't worthwhile.  Or
>at least try.

the FTP site maintainers have said time and again that they will *NOT*
use zip or lha or zoo or arj.   They have said that they will deal only
with tar.Z files.

Do as you wish if you want to setup a distribution, perhaps they'll even
carry the distribution in zip format, but for general packages they have
aleady decided the matter... to the point of unzipping/arjing/zooing/etc
and tar.Z themselves if need be.

--
[e-mail] (ASCII mail)           THIS IS _NOT_ CCSO'S OPINION!!!
[e-mail] (NeXT mail)      If It were, It would've had a
[e-mail] (anon)                  more important name on it. =)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Qual Trak)
Subject: Re: LPD: no daemon present SOLVED! (I wish)
Date: 18 Dec 92 15:35:21 GMT

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (n liu) writes:
...
>I still haven't gotten lpd going either with this LaserWriter on ttys2.. I snagged the cable
>specs from a local hardware god (he swears they're right) and cat > /dev/ttys2 kinda works
>if you keep it small.
>
>Ideas?
>
>Here's my entry:
>
>lp|LaserWriter:\
>       :br#9600:lp=/dev/ttys2:\
>       :sd=/usr/spool/lpd: lf=/usr/adm/lpd-errs
>--
>[e-mail]
try adding a :ms=crtscts to the printcap.  I'm not sure what linux
wants in the printcap but if it understands the ms entry then you should
find that hardware flow control between your linux box and the
laserwriter should help considerably.

I imagine that on long files it prints a little and then goes catatonic.
This would indicate to me that characters were dropped and the PS
interpreter displayed an error message and then ignored all subsequent
input until receiving a ^D.

Just a guess.
=====                                                              =====
John Birchfield - QualTrak Corp [phone] Home [phone]
[e-mail]
=====                                                              =====

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jeff Randall)
Subject: Re: How stable is extended filesystem?
Date: 16 Dec 92 04:43:00 GMT
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Jeff Randall)

[e-mail] (Charles Hannum) writes:
>[e-mail] (Phillip Rzewski) writes:
>> On a related topic, if I decide to go all 213 megs Linux, I'll still
>> have some space left over on my other hard drive (the 55 megs I'm
>> using now). Would you suggest going extfs with that too, or keeping
>> some as the old style? Reasons?

>I've only been using Linux for two days.  I've installed it on a 300MB
>"extended" partition.  Half of one of those days was spent reinstalling
>after it barfed on my disk.

>If you don't *need* extfs, and don't mind short file names, I would
>recommend not using it for now.


I have been using the Extended filesystem since kernel version 0.96c
allowed them to be mounted as the root filesystem... (this was extfs
ALPHA v6) and since that time, I have *NEVER* had a single problem
with an extended filesystem that was not *DIRECTLY* the fault of my
own stupidity or power failure.  (ie, reboot w/o sync, etc)

The extended filesystem as it is, has been very stable for me over the
last 6 months.  However, there is a newer version of the extfs that will
reportedly use bitmaps instead of linked-lists for a large increase in speed.

The author doesn't want to guarantee backwards compatiblity with this
extended filesystem... thus he is reluctant to call it 'beta' even though
it is much more stable (IMHO) than any 'Alpha' status program.

I would suggest that you partition your drive in such a manner that you
can tar or zip up one entire partition to another to replace/upgrade
the filesystems as needed...

--
[e-mail] (ASCII mail)           THIS IS _NOT_ CCSO'S OPINION!!!
[e-mail] (NeXT mail)      If It were, It would've had a
[e-mail] (anon)                  more important name on it. =)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (T.J.R. Cutts)
Subject: Two queries
Date: 16 Dec 92 12:31:26 GMT

1) I am trying to compile kernel 0.99 on my machine.  I have got an error which
I have not yet seen mentioned, and which (as a non-C programmer) I do not have
a clue how to deal with!  This is the error:

kernel/kernel.o: undefined symbol _store_TR referenced from text segment

Has anyone else had this and how do you deal with it?

2) To keep data files separate from others, last week I moved /usr/users onto a
separate partition from the rest of the /usr tree.  Now when I try to log in as
anybody other than root, most commands work, after giving huge numbers of
'Permission denied' errors.  User and group ownership of the home directories
are correct, and as far as I can see from logging in as a user (amongst the
'Permission denied's'!) I have the correct read/write/execute permissions in
directories such as /bin and /usr/bin.  What's going on?

The current kernel I'm using is 0.98pl5.  Thanks for any and all help.

--
-- Tim Cutts                             /~\     ----
                                        (   )  /     \
Sugarmice on a skateboard               /   \/        \
                                      /  O             \

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Shane Alderton)
Subject: Re: PATCH: (0.98.6) allow root to link/unlink directories
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 00:44:19 GMT

[e-mail] (Linus Torvalds) writes:

>I just wanted to say that while the patch may work (I didn't look at it
>closer, but it should be simple enough), this is a feature that the
>current kernel forbids for a very good reason: linking/unlinking
>directories is generally a very bad idea, even if it's restricted to
>root.  It's available in some unixes due to the way they implement
>moving of directories, but it's unsafe.  All versions of linux have
>explicitly checked for directories, and not allowed links/unlinks to
>them.

>Is there anybody out there that actually needs this? I'm just warning
>you that this patch won't get into the standard kernel unless somebody
>can come up with a truly good reason for it (I doubt there is any).

Well, I don't know whether or not you would consider it a good reason,
but it is something I have needed to do in the past when file system
corruption caused a directory with an entry that I couldn't delete and
that the efsck of the time could not handle.  This of course meant that
I could not rmdir the directory in question, as it appeared to contain
a file.  Perhaps being able to unlink the directory would have solved
the problem, albeit in a messy fashion.

I agree that it is a very dangerous thing to do, but one of the things
I like about Unix in general is its power and the small number of
assumptions it makes.  GNU's rm does protect you from accidentally
unlinking a directory  - and even if I could not think of a reason for
being able to do this, that just means that my imagination is limited,
not that it could never be necessary.

Incidentally, I will add my voice to all those others who have said:
THANK YOU!  for the best thing to hit PCs - Linux.

Regards,
Shane Alderton
[e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Isaac Wong)
Subject: xterm:  unable to find usable termcap entry.
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 01:09:56 GMT


that's the xterm error i get when X is started by non-root. any clue?



------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Linda Distributed Language)
Subject: X for 2theMax et4000 card
Date: 19 Dec 92 07:37:29 GMT

Does any body have any ideas on running X on this card? I haven't tried anything
yet, because I want to know if any of the X packages supports the 800x600x32K
HiColor mode of this card (very hopeful, I know) and I thought someone might
have an experience to share...

Thanks,
        David Monro

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Ed Carp)
Subject: Re: Auto mail send
Date: 16 Dec 92 05:45:08 GMT

Get mailpak-1.3, or wait a couple of weeks for mailpak-1.4.  It has elm,
uucp, and mail builtin.
--
Ed Carp                 [e-mail], [e-mail]       801/538-0177

Who and what would you be if you went beyond your deepest fears?

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Ed Carp)
Subject: Re: ext fs question (.badblocks)
Date: 16 Dec 92 05:48:31 GMT

Remy CARD ([e-mail]) wrote:
: In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (David Fenyes,Neurobiol/Anatomy,5705,7901935) writes:
: >In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Mark Evans) writes:
: >>Remy CARD ([e-mail]) wrote:
: >>:   mkefs now uses a reserved inode (inode #2) to store the bad blocks.
: >>: This inode does not appear in the filesystem tree any more because it was
: >>: leading to problems (root could delete the .badblocks file or save it during
: >>: a backup).
: >
: >Is there a way to easily read the bad blocks list to verify that all the
: >bad blocks have been identified? (or even to modify it after the fs has
: >been created?)
:
:       You can add bad blocks to the list with efsck.  'efsck -t' tests for
: bad blocks in a fs and adds new bad blocks to the list.  'efsck -b file' reads
: a bad blocks list from the file and adds them to the list.
:
:       Unfortunately, there is no way to print the bad blocks list.  Seems
: like I must add an option to efsck for the next release.

Unfortunately, this doesn't work - the kernel never reports read or write
errors, so efsck -t won't work.
--
Ed Carp                 [e-mail], [e-mail]       801/538-0177

Who and what would you be if you went beyond your deepest fears?

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (H.J. Lu)
Subject: Re: gcc -g
Date: 18 Dec 92 23:14:18 GMT

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Rajat Datta) writes:
|> I'm running with the basedisk, libdisk, rootdisk, etc. that H.J. Lu
|> distributes with the GCC package.  Where can I find a working libg.a?
|> Meanwhile, any files I compile with gcc -g fails with segmentation
|> error; something to do with i/o, I believe, but haven't looked into it
|> any deeper.  Of course, this means gdb is pretty useless too.
|>
|> Any ideas?  Thanks,
|> --
|> rajat ([e-mail])

This is caused by a bad `specs'. It will be fixed in gcc 2.3.3. I am
sorry we have to wait for it. I don't want to see a buggy gcc 2.3.2 floating
around. The problem is the shared version of libgcc.a is linked if -g
is used during the final link stage. Since my current configuraion may be
very different from yours, I cannot give you my `specs'. If you are using
the alpha gcc 2.3.2, you should not have this problem. The
solutions are

1. Do

        gcc xxxxxxxxxxx -c -g foo.c
        gcc -o foo foo.o foo1.o ... # no -g

   This is what I am doing although

        gcc -g -o foo foo.o

   works for me. That saves quite a lot disk space. The only drawback
   is you cannot debug libc.a with this (Do you want to?).

2. Fix `specs' if you know how.

H.J.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Supernaw-Issen, Daniel A.)
Subject: Strange problems with .99
Date: 16 Dec 92 04:49:00 GMT


I grabbed the SLS .98pl5 distribution.  Had few problems with it.  I just
grabbed and recompiled linux .99 and lo and behold , I get a) an ioctl error
message stating that an invalid argument was passed.   This was emitted from
the line:
$CONFIG -n $NET -r $ROUTER eth0 $IPADDR
in rc.net

b) The dos emulation do longer works.  It just clears the screen and returns
my prompt.

Any ideas?
oh, btw, I compiled in TCPIP & NFS and I don't have an ethernet card.
I compiled in NFS in an effort to try to isolate the first problem.

Oh, I got xdm up and running but it kept thrashing the harddisk.  this is
strange given that it didn't do this before.

ah well..

Daniel

signature for hire.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Daniel Russell)
Crossposted-To: comp.unix.bsd
Subject: Re: Dumb Americans (was INTERNATIONALIZATION: JAPAN, FAR EAST)
Date: 19 Dec 92 03:17:26 GMT

[e-mail] (Richard L. Goerwitz) writes:
[...]
>  NT will be a welcome departure from the past, if in fact
>it offers true multilingual support.  We'll see.

        As a (kind of) side note, I have heard that the NeXT has *excellent*
foreign language support.

 dan

>   -Richard L. Goerwitz              [e-mail]
>   [e-mail]          rutgers!oddjob!ellis!goer

------------------------------

From: rak@loft (Robert Kiesling)
Subject: Re: uucp/mail/news FAQ
Date: 19 Dec 92 06:18:39 GMT


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]. (Michael Frankowski) writes:
   In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Bill Ehrendreich) writes:
   >Please do write a FAQ concerning this.

   I second the motion (tried email, but bounce :)

   Mike

My forwarding site is installing a new MX record pointing here, so if
anyone has had trouble mailing me, please let me know.  The addresses
in the .signature are still valid.

I'll relate my experiences, of course, if there's interest ;-)

Sorry of any inconvenience.

-- Bob

--
===============================================================================
Robert Kiesling                             "Durum et durum non faciunt murum."
loft![e-mail]                                         -- Anon
vela!plex-1!loft!rak

------------------------------


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The current version of Linux is 0.98pl6 released on December 2, 1992

End of Linux-Activists Digest
******************************