NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #19/NN_1992_19.iso/spool/comp/unix/bsd/4792

Internet Message Format | 1992-08-27 | 6.9 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!usc!isi.edu!allard
From: [e-mail] (Dennis Allard)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd
Subject: whereis /tmp/install.src0?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 28 Aug 92 00:40:21 GMT
Sender: [e-mail]
Reply-To: [e-mail] (Dennis Allard)
Distribution: world
Organization: USC Information Sciences Institute
Lines: 192

==================================
Short version of my question:
/tmp/install.src0 evaporated.  How can I recreate it?  I still
have all the src01.* files in /tmp.  And the extraction went
completely through it's first phase.  It now simply needs to
execute /tmp/install.src0, I believe.

==================================
(very) Long version of my question:
I know, I know, I'll have to achieve minor guru status
before I can even in most minor ways diverge from the
INSTALL.NOTES script while trying to bring up 386BSD.
Once I do become minor guru, mysteries such as the
disappearance of 'loadfd', which seems so wonderfully
present when you first do install, but mysteriously
vanishes after you install the binaries and reboot,
will all become transparently clear to me.  (I know
that loadfd is some kind of shell macro buried in
some dude.profile file somewhere.  I found it.  But
only minor gurus know when the dude.profile file
gets incarnated.  It isn't at reboot to hard
drive time.)  And please, 386BSD, stop telling me to
not log in as root and do su.  That is an EXTREMELY
cryptic thing to say to a non minor guru.  The only
thing that seems to work is to login as root, so
that's what I'll do until my caste changes.

/tmp/install.src01 not only disappeared (Elvis?), but
jeeeees, 386BSD, you didn't even give it a decent burial.
No amount of greps, finds, and whereis's can turn up anything
having to do with install.src01.  Well, ok, I haven't
examined every byte of every file yet.

Here's how the mystery occurred.  I installed the bin01 distribution
from floppies.  I started to install src01.  I was informed that
src01.00 was MISSING.  Whoops, forgot to put that one on the floppy.
Try counting from 00, as in ZERO, next time instead of from 01, as in
ONE.  Drive over to the lab.  Sure, it's almost 1AM, but hell, this is
fun!  Log onto the Sparc, insert the floppy, mcopy SRC01.00 a:, eject,
outta there, back to pc land.  My pc is there purring, with the
complaint about src01.00 missing still on the screen.  OK, mread it
in, and extract src01 ... (a little while later) Too many files open!?
Am I in MS-DOG?  I thought this was Unix.  Well, ok, every system
has to have some limits I guess.  But ever here of gradual degradation?

OK, now where is that faq about too many files and whatnot?
Dum de dum..., oh yes, it's in my MS-DOG file system.  I don't want
to boot to MS-DOG, for fear of losing BSD installation context, so:

# /usr/distbin/tip /dev/com2  (which I was minor guru enough to set up
                               at 9600 baud)
ATM1
ATDT555-1234
... dial in to my workstation, look at the faq ...
I see.  Something about csh and setting the files limit ...
~^z
# ps -a
# kill -KILL <ps number for tip>

Back to 'reality'.  Problem is, how to set the files limit thing.
Even faqs for unix are cryptic, naturally.  Hmmm...
# csh
Hey it works.  What do you know!
ok,
# man cshrc
... VOILA!!!! Got the answer:
# limit
(just limit, with no args) shows you all kinds of interesting things.
# limit files 1024
No, maybe that's too big.  Let's not push things.
# limit files 256

I decide, at this time, to start over.

01:30 AM
rebooted to TINYBSD floppy. (After turning off my pc's turbo switch)

01:36 AM
...
# loadfd
(Like I said, loadfd is present on TINYBSD, but evaporates later on)

01:48 AM
# extract bin01
lot's of insertions of floppies ensue...

01:56 AM
installation of binary distribution is complete, (I've been here before,
have you?)

I forget precisely what I did here, but I believe I rebooted to
run off the just installed binary distribution. (is this where
I go wrong, should I simply install EVERYTHING, bin01, src01,
and etc01 distributions all at once, before I ever reboot?

Turn turbo switch back on.
Reset button.
login: root
...
# cd /tmp
# loadfd
How annoying.  loadfd is missing.  loadfd has ceased to be.

2:05 AM
OK, fine.
mread "a:*.*" .
For every floppy in the src01 distribution set.  I'll do without loadfd,
thank you.

2:20 AM
# extract
How cute, again.  extract is also MISSING.  find / -name "extract*" turns
up nothing.  Must be somewhere on the TINY BSD floppy.  OK, let's see...
Now, I am clueless as to just what extract does.

So, ... it's time for minor guru tactics.
# cd /
# mv tmp tmp1
(/tmp is erased by the system when you boot, so I'm not taking chances)

Put the TINY BSD floppy into the a: drive.
Extract must be somewhere, right?
Mount the TINY BSD floppy in /mnt:
# mount /dev/fd0a /mnt
# cd /mnt
No amount of find / -name "extract" shows up anything but I notice the
/INSTALL.NOTES comments about /etc/baseutils.cpio.Z now aka
/mnt/etc/baseutils.cpio.Z..

So, for safe keeping and safe experimental do-it-myself 'extraction':
#mkdir /junky
# cp /mnt/etc/baseutiles.cpio.Z /junky/baseutiles.cpio.Z

And, since zcpio is one of the mysteriously disappeared tools on the hard
drive, I resort to using uncompress and cpio myself, hence raising my caste
one  notch.
# cd /junky
# uncompress baseutiles.cpio.Z
# cpio -idv baseutiles.cpio

That was a mistake.
Should have been: # cpio -idv < baseutiles.cpio, but I don't
know this yet.  System appears to hang.  I ^C and try to kill -9 it.
System temporarily comes to life, but then gives me login:,
stupidly sitting there waiting for me to enter my name, having surely
long forgotten that I was in the midst of attempting a cpio operation.
Oh hell, I press the RESET button.
...
System sees file inconsistency and suggests I do fdsk.  Sounds scary,
but the worst this entire episode can lead to is a disk reformat, so
I use fdsk (spelling?) and just answer yes whenever it asks if it should
do God knows what.  The system accepts my answers to fdsk and the
reboot seems to succeed.  I am thankful I moved /tmp to /tmp1.  Wonder
if anything is still there.

# cd /tmp1
# ls
...a plethora of src01.* files appear before my eyes, dazzling me with
their brilliace...
# rm /tmp
# mv /tmp1 /tmp

Are you still with me?  We're near the end.

03:30 AM
# cd /junky (also still there)
# cpio -idv < baseutiles.cpio
That worked!  All kinds of stuff now exists below my /junky directory,
which I had created to do the cpio in so as to not clutter up other
more bonafide directories, including /junky/extract.  Good.

# mv /junky/extract /tmp/extract
# cd /tmp
# extract;date

4:49AM
I am asleep, but, thanks to date, I know this happened at 4:49:
On the screen it says, roughly:

Final installation
can't open /tmp/install.src0
extract: ...installation script of distribution failed

So, I need install.src0, and am clueless as to who put it in /tmp
and why it isn't there now.

Can anyone help me on this?

to be continued...
Dennis Allard
[e-mail]
[phone]