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Subject: ULTRIX and DEC OSF/1 AXP Common Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Newsgroups: comp.unix.ultrix,comp.sys.dec,comp.unix.osf.osf1,news.answers,comp.answers From: lionel@quark.enet.dec.com (Steve Lionel) Date: 10 Nov 1994 21:55:33 GMT Archive-name: dec-faq/common Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: November 10, 1994 This is part 2 of the Frequently Asked Questions posting for comp.unix.ultrix, with answers that apply to both ULTRIX and DEC OSF/1 AXP (hereafter referred to as OSF/1). It is also posted on comp.sys.dec and comp.unix.osf.osf1, but it is not a full FAQ for those groups. Companion postings have answers specific to ULTRIX and OSF/1. A separate FAQ describes how to get information about Digital products and interacting with Digital. A separate FAQ describes how to get information about Digital products and interacting with Digital. This FAQ is archived in the following locations: comp.answers and news.answers newsgroups ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/dec-faq ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/ The archive name for this FAQ is dec-faq/common To make suggestions for changes or additions to this Frequently Asked Questions list, send mail to lionel@quark.enet.dec.com. Answers are especially appreciated. An archive of recent postings to comp.unix.ultrix can be found at ftp://ftp.cc.rochester.edu/pub/usenet/comp.unix.ultrix Thanks to folks at the University of Rochester for providing this service. Some general notes: When used alone, the word "DECstation" is used to mean any of the DECstations or DECsystems that use MIPS RISC processors. Similarly, "Alpha" refers to any DEC systems that use the Alpha AXP processor. Unless otherwise specified, these answers refer to ULTRIX 4.3, which is the current release of ULTRIX, or DEC OSF/1 AXP 3.0, the current version. World-Wide Web Universal Resource Locator (URL) notation is used for FTP addresses. Many people have contributed to this list, directly or indirectly. In some cases, an answer has been adapted from one or more postings on the comp.unix.ultrix and comp.unix.osf.osf1 newsgroups. Our thanks to all of those who post answers. The name (or names) at the end of an entry indicate that the information was taken from postings by those individuals; the text may have been edited for this FAQ. These citations are only given to acknowledge the contribution. Although the editor of this FAQ is an employee of Digital Equipment Corporation, this posting is not an official statement from Digital Equipment Corporation. Alpha AXP, AXP, DEC, DECstation, DECsystem, OpenVMS, ULTRIX, VAX and VMS are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. Other names are properties of their respective owners. Changes since last edition ========================= D1 expanded. S2 updated. Software ====================================================== S1. How can I get lots of free software for ULTRIX and OSF/1? S2. Where can I get a T-shell (tcsh) that works on ULTRIX and OSF/1? S3. How can I use audio on DECstations? S4. How do I play music CDs on DEC CD-ROM drives? S5. Can I run binaries from RISC/ULTRIX on Alpha systems? S6. How can I tell what program generated a core file? Installation ====================================================== I1. How do I copy a setld(8) tape? I2. How do I copy a CDROM installation kit to TK50? Network ====================================================== N1. How do I set up anonymous FTP? Disk ====================================================== D1. Where can I get a disktab entry for the XXX disk? D2. How can I read/write MS-DOS floppy disks? D3. How can I make an RZxx disk spinup on power-on? Programming ====================================================== P1. What does "unaligned access" mean, and how can I fix it? P2. What about "unaligned access" in FORTRAN programs? Printers ====================================================== L1. Where can I get a printcap entry for the XXX printer? Hardware ====================================================== H1. What are the pinouts of the MMJ jacks on the back of various DECstations and VAXstations? H2. How do I set the SCSI ID on an RZ25? Miscellaneous ====================================================== M1. How do I get a list of available patches for my release of Ultrix? M2. How can I get files available by anonymous FTP if I'm not connected to the Internet? M3. How can I write documentation in Bookreader format? M4. How can I print documents from BookReader? M5. How can I read VMS BACKUP tapes on a UNIX machine? M6. How do I contact Digital Customer Relations? M7. How do I get an ESC character on a DEC keyboard? M8. Where can I read announcements from Digital? M9. Where can I get performance information about Digital products? M10. How do I report security problems to Digital? ============================================== S1. How can I get lots of free software for ULTRIX and OSF/1? The main FTP server for DEC is ftp.digital.com, which maintains a large selection of sources from the net in general, as well as public code for ULTRIX, such as "monitor", "top" and other system-specific tools. /pub/DEC has sources for several packages written by employees at Digital (though they are not supported Digital products), as well as some programs that required special changes to port to ULTRIX. None of these sources or utilities are "supported" by anyone other than their authors. The directory /pub/DEC/Alpha/apps has several programs to have been ported to Alpha OSF/1. In addition, Digital's "European UNIX Competency Circle" produced a CDROM of free software for UNIX. To get a copy, speak to a local person from Digital. For questions or suggestions about it, except about availability, write to freeware@vbo.dec.com Because the disk is in ISO 9660 format, it can be mounted and used n almost any UNIX system and many proprietary systems, including ULTRIX, OSF/1, Solaris, DOS, and VMS. Answer A1 in the OSF/1 FAQ says how to order the Alpha OSF/1 Freeware CD. ============================================== S2. Where can I get a T-shell (tcsh) that works on ULTRIX and OSF/1? Versions of tcsh later than 6.01 run on ULTRIX 4.2. The latest version known to the FAQ editor is 6.05, available from ftp://tesla.ee.cornell.edu/pub/tcsh You do not need csh sources for this version of tcsh. Note that 6.05 fixes some annoying bugs exhibited by 6.03 on DEC OSF/1. The version of tcsh on the OSF/1 Freeware CD-ROM is out of date; get 6.05. ============================================== S3. How can I use audio on DECstations? Personal DECstations (DS5000/25) and Alpha workstations have builtin audio consisting of an 8KHz CODEC. Digital also sells a TURBOchannel board called DECaudio (sometimes known as LoFi). A free software package called AudioFile is available from Digital's Cambridge Research Lab. The AudioFile System (AF) is a device-independent network-transparent audio server. With AudioFile, multiple audio applications can run simultaneously, sharing access to the actual audio hardware. It supports all of the hardware listed above, as well as SPARCstation audio hardware. It can be copied from ftp://crl.dec.com/pub/DEC/AF/AF3R1.tar.Z See the README.FIRST file as well. [Win Treese, treese@lcs.mit.edu] ============================================== S4. How do I play music CDs on DEC CD-ROM drives? Music CDs can be played through a speaker jack on RRD42 CD-ROM drives, which is the one contained in the DECstation 5000/{120,125} box. The are three different programs available. A command line version and a Motif-based version can be found in: ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/cdp.c.z /* command line version */ ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/xcd_source.tar.z /* Motif version */ Neither of these programs is supported by Digital. For DEC OSF/1, sources for xcd are included in /usr/examples/motif/xcd. A newer version of xcd is on the Freeware CD-ROM in both source and binary form. [Anthony Baxter, anthony@aaii.oz.au] ============================================== S5. Can I run binaries from RISC/ULTRIX on Alpha systems? DECmigrate for DEC OSF/1 AXP Systems was announced with all of the Alpha AXP systems on November 10, 1992. For more information, look at the announcement article for the UNIX community: ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/DECinfo/DECnews-UNIX/0117.txt and the DECmigrate for DEC OSF/1 AXP Software Product Description (SPD): ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/DECinfo/SPD/39-45-01.txt [Russ Jones, rjones@pa.dec.com] ============================================== S6. How can I tell what program generated a core file? 1. Use the dbx debugger. 2. Use the "file" program (e.g., file <corefile>) 3. Use "strings" to find clues in the core file (e.g., strings <corefile>) ============================================== I1. How do I copy a setld(8) tape? First, a few words about the format of a setld tape. Tapes used by setld(8) consist of a number of tape files that contain the product subsets, installation control files and other stuff. The fourth file on the tape is an uncompressed tar(1) archive of the inventory files (.inv), subset control programs (.scp) and control information (.ctrl). There is also a file that lists the subsets, their sizes and checksums (.image). The tapes files after the 4th are the subset files. They may or may not be compressed. They will have a block size of 10 KB. The order of lines in the .image file is the order of subset on the tape, with the classic exception. There are two flavors of tapes; Layered product tapes and ULTRIX distribution tapes. The first three files on layered product tapes will typically be space holders and only one 10 KB file. Distribution tapes use the first three files for other things. The 3rd of these files is dump(8) image of the root file system. The block size of this file will be 10 KB. In the .image file for the distribution it would be listed ROOT: 44419 12720 ROOT 01690 12080 UDTBASE420 47187 14340 UDTBIN420 etc... So, on this distribution tape ROOT is 3rd, the installation control archive (INSTCTRL) is 4th, UDTBASE420 is 5th and so on. The first two files are a primary and secondary boot program. Whether the 2nd is necessary depends on system architecture. The MIPS-based systems typically only use the first boot file; the VAX uses both. The block size of the first boot program is 512 bytes. Copying a setld tape Use dd(1) to copy each tape file using the appropriate block size. When you run out of tape input files you're done. For example, if you are using two tape drives: dd bs=512 if=/dev/nrmt0h of=/dev/nrmt1h dd bs=10240 if=/dev/nrmt0h of=/dev/nrmt1h dd bs=10240 if=/dev/nrmt0h of=/dev/nrmt1h ... mt -f /dev/nrmt0h rew mt -f /dev/nrmt1h rew ============================================== I2. How do I copy a CDROM installation kit to TK50? [Note: an alternative to using tape is to copy the distribution to a spare SCSI disk and use that to install onto a local disk.] The two shell shell scripts below can be used to duplicate CDROM or disk layered product distributions (note: not the base system) onto a TK50. They are not supported by Digital. --------------------------cut here-------------------------------------------- #!/bin/sh5 # cdrom_kitcap # This script is based on one from "Guide for Preparing Software for # Distribution" (but this one really works). This script prepares the # /etc/kitcap file which is needed by the gentapes script to create, # in this specific case, a copy of cdrom software (layered product only) # to TK50... # note: this script uses tmp space, insure $TMPDIR is pointing to a file # system with enough space to copy files... # Original author: John R. Frandsen, Digital Equipment Corporation TMPDIR=/usr/tmp KITCAP=$TMPDIR/kitcap CURVOL=1 BINDIR=`pwd` touch $TMPDIR/space tar cf $TMPDIR/SPACE $TMPDIR/space cd instctrl I=`expr *.image : '$.*$.image'` echo "Your product code is $I" tar cf $TMPDIR/INSTCTRL * echo "${I}TK:$TMPDIR:SPACE:SPACE:SPACE:INSTCTRL:\\" >> $KITCAP for S in `awk '{print $3}' *.image` do [ $S = ROOT ] && continue . $S.ctrl set -- `(IFS=:;echo $MTLOC)` VOL=$1 LOC=$2 [ $VOL -ne $CURVOL ] && { echo ":%%$VOL CURVOL=$VOL" >> $KITCAP } echo ":$S\\" >> $KITCAP cp $BINDIR/$S $TMPDIR done echo >> $KITCAP mv $TMPDIR/kitcap /etc cd $BINDIR --------------------------cut here-------------------------------------------- #!/bin/sh5 # disk_kitcap # This script is based on one from "Guide for Preparing Software for # Distribution" (but this one really works). This script prepares the # /etc/kitcap file which is needed by the gentapes script to create, # in this specific case, a copy of disk software (layered product only) # to TK50... # Original author: John R. Frandsen, Digital Equipment Corporation KITCAP=/tmp/kitcap CURVOL=1 touch space tar cf SPACE space cd instctrl I=`expr *.image : '$.*$.image'` echo "Your product code is $I" cp $I.image .. tar cf ../INSTCTRL * cd .. echo "${I}TK:`pwd`:SPACE:SPACE:SPACE:INSTCTRL:\\" >> $KITCAP cd instctrl for S in `awk '{print $3}' *.image` do [ $S = ROOT ] && continue . $S.ctrl set -- `(IFS=:;echo $MTLOC)` VOL=$1 LOC=$2 [ $VOL -ne $CURVOL ] && { echo ":%%$VOL CURVOL=$VOL" >> $KITCAP } echo ":$S\\" >> $KITCAP done echo >> $KITCAP mv /tmp/kitcap /etc #---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================== N1. How do I set up anonymous FTP? The manual page for ftpd(8) tells you what you need to know. On the other hand, you might want to consider running the WU Archive version. The WU Archive ftpd can be configured easily and has lots of options. You can get the WU Archive ftpd from wuarchive.wustl.edu in pub/packages, Note that the ftpd in DEC OSF/1 does more substantial logging than the ULTRIX version. [Mike Iglesias, iglesias@draco.acs.uci.edu] [Win Treese, treese@lcs.mit.edu] ============================================== D1. Where can I get a disktab entry for the XXX disk? newfs is smart enough to get the geometry of the disk from the drive, although this feature is not documented for all versions. Use newfs /dev/rrz#x /dev/rrz#x to do this. For most uses, you don't need a disktab entry on OSF/1. The disklabel command can get the default partition table and geometry from the disk driver and will put that in the label. When the label is present, newfs doesn't need a disktab entry either. A collection of contributed disktab entries is in /pub/DEC/ultrix-disktabs on the usual archive machines. Get a copy of the file for an up-to-date list. The disktab collection may also be used on DEC OSF/1, but not all entries have been tested on all platforms. ============================================== D2. How can I read/write MS-DOS floppy disks? If you have a floppy disk drive on your ULTRIX or OSF/1 system, get "mtools", a set of MS-DOS utilities for UNIX. The package can be copied from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/mtools-2.0.7 It works on both DECstations and Alphas. When you build mtools, you need to find out which device your floppy is (/dev/rrz2c is common). Then you can clone the SPARC definitions, or #define SPARC and make /dev/rfd0c a symlink to the one you need. [Win Treese, treese@lcs.mit.edu] ============================================== D3. How can I make an RZxx disk spinup on power-on? In order to conserve power, the builtin disks on VAXstations, DECstations, and Alpha workstations do not spinup when the power is turned on, but do so under software control. If you need to change this to use an RZxx disk on another system, there are several ways to do it: 1) On ULTRIX, use "rzdisk -c ask" 2) Move a jumper. The location of this varies from drive to drive. 3) Use the SCSI console diagnostics on a DECstation. 4) Use the VAXstation service diagnostics (tricky) 5) On a Macintosh, use the "Silverlining" program. 6) On a DOS PC, use the shareware program SPINUP. The drives do respond to the START UNIT command. [William Jackson, jackson@pravda.enet.dec.com] [David Burren, davidb@otto.bf.rmit.oz.au] ============================================== P1. What does "unaligned access" mean, and how can I fix it? Unaligned accesses typically come up when programs use malloc(3) or other memory allocation routines in atypical ways, or when programs do certain (hazardous) kinds of type casts. malloc(3) returns data aligned to the most restrictive alignment (8 byte boundaries on MIPS machines). If you are writing your own malloc wrapper (say to add a reference count) and you write code like this: char *mymalloc(int size) { short *newmem; newmem = (short *) malloc(size + sizeof(short)); *newmem = 1; /* initialize reference count */ return (char *) (newmem + 1); } you are then returning a pointer that is no longer 8-byte aligned. Now, code like int *i; i = (int *) mymalloc(sizeof(int)); *i = 10; will generate unaligned access messages whenever *i is used. An example of dangerous casting would be something like char buffer[100]; int i; i = (int)*((int *)&buffer[3]); The program will usually still run correctly, because an exception handler in the kernel performs an unaligned read. There are some rare cases, however, where the fixed read yields incorrect results. The messages are printed by default because one usually wants to know when a program is generating the unaligned accesses. Now, if you're only getting a few of these messages, it might not matter, but if you're getting pages of them (or worse, have turned off the logger because you were getting so many unaligned access messages), you might consider correcting your program. You can use the uac(1) (Unaligned Acces Message Control) command to turn off the messages. If you want to find the the problem in the source code, you can use dbx. Suppose the message is: Fixed up unaligned data access for pid 2337 (bozo) at pc 0x5ad364 This tells you that the problem occurs in the program "bozo". In dbx, you would type, for example: % dbx bozo (dbx) 0x5ad364/i *[main:206, 0x0x5ad364] lw r0,40(sp) dbx prints the offending instruction, along with its location: line 206 in main(). If you need to do unaligned accesses, you might find the following useful: int unaligned_load_word(int *src); int unaligned_load_half(short *src); unsigned int unaligned_load_uhalf(unsigned short *src); float unaligned_load_float(float *src); double unaligned_load_double(double *src); void unaligned_store_word(int *dst,int val); void unaligned_store_half(short *dst,int val); void unaligned_store_float(float *dst,float val); void unaligned_store_double(double *dst,double val); These unaligned access routines are an unsupported component of the standard C library on RISC/ULTRIX. They provide for alignment-safe access to the primitive data types (short,int,float,double). They are fairly fast as they use the special MIPS unaligned instructions (LWL,LWR,SWL,SWL) for doing the complicated part of the work. If you are running ULTRIX 4.2, and you would like to disable the automatic fixup of unaligned accesses, use: #include <sys/syscall.h> #include <sys/sysmips.h> syscall(SYS_sysmips, MIPS_FIXADE, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL); The above code fragment will disable address fixups for your process, and this will be inherited by any children. Where a fixup would have occured, you will get a SIGBUS. ============================================== P2. What about "unaligned access" in FORTRAN programs? Certain common block arrangements can cause this error, particularly if integers are mixed with real or double precision numbers. One workaround is to create separate common blocks for each data type. [Marc Day, day@fusion.ucla.edu] ============================================== L1. Where can I get a printcap entry for the XXX printer? A collection of contributed printcap entries is in ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/ultrix-printcap Get a copy of the file for an up-to-date list. Despite the name, these are good for OSF/1 as well. ============================================== H1. What are the pinouts of the MMJ jacks on the back of various DECstations and VAXstations? This describes the 6-pin modified modular jack (MMJ) used for serial ports on various DECstations and VAXstations, as well as on other DEC equipment. DEC carries four DB-to-MMJ adaptors. They are internally wired as follows Rdy Out TX+ TX- RX- RX+ Rdy In Adaptor Gender 1 2 3 4 5 6 Use with: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- H8575-A F 20 2 7 7 3 6&8 VTxxx terminal H8571-C M 6 3 7 7 2 20 DEC printer H8571-D M 6 3 7 7 2 20 Modem H8571-E M 20 2 7 7 3 6&8 Female terminal or LaserWriter -------------------------------------------------------------------------- RS-232 using DB-25 connectors: DTE DCE Terminal Modem or computer Pin Number Signal Name 2 TD Transmit Data --> 3 RD Receive Data <-- 7 GND Ground --- 6 DSR Data Set Ready <-- 8 DCD Data Carrier Detect <-- 20 DTR Data Terminal Ready --> ============================================== H2. How do I set the SCSI ID on an RZ25? Back by the power connector are a row of 3 jumpers. These set the scsi id. The one closest to the power connector is bit 2, and you install a jumper to get a "1". The default id is 7, which conflicts with the controller. Note that the mounting bracket on the drive covers these jumpers, so they are not immediately obvious. ============================================== M1. How do I get a list of available patches for my release of Ultrix? At this time, Digital does not publish lists of available patches. The Customer Support Centers will inform you if you call about a problem for which there is a patch. ============================================== M2. How can I get files available by anonymous FTP if I'm not connected to the Internet? One way is to use the DECWRL ftpmail server. To find out how to use it, send a one-line message to ftpmail@pa.dec.com (or ..!uunet!decwrl!ftpmail or decwrl::ftpmail). The subject line can be anything you want since it will be ignored. The text of the message should be one unquoted lowercase word: "help". ============================================== M3. How can I write documentation in Bookreader format? On ULTRIX and VMS, DECwrite will produce Bookreader files. On VMS, VAX Document will also produce Bookreader files. Digital will provide information about the format of Bookreader format files upon request, although it is apparently difficult to work with (most have concluded that it's not worth the trouble). Note that Digital has officially announced the retirement of Bookreader and its replacement by Interleaf's WorldView product. [Patrick Stephens, stephens@galvia.enet.dec.com] [Win Treese, treese@lcs.mit.edu] [Steve Lionel, lionel@quark.enet.dec.com] ============================================== M4. How can I print documents from BookReader? BookReader on ULTRIX has a print command. BookReader on OSF/1 1.3 does not, but it does in OSF/1 2.0. Some workaround suggestions include: - NFS mount the OSF/1 bookreader directory on an ULTRIX system - Use DECmigrate to translate the ULTRIX version of BookReader (DECmigrate is a separate product) ============================================== M5. How can I read VMS BACKUP tapes on a UNIX machine? There is a utility called vmsbackup to do this. Available by FTP from ftp://bongo.cc.utexas.edu/source/util/vmsbackup ftp://cs.tut.fi/pub/src/tape-readers/vmsbackup ftp://emx.cc.utexas.edu:/pub/mnt/source/util/vmsbackup (These may or may not be exactly the same program.) [I don't know if vmsbackup runs on Alpha OSF/1 yet. --ed.] [Timothy Williams, williams@nvl.army.mil] ============================================== M6. How do I contact Digital Customer Relations? If you are having a problem dealing with Digital that you cannot satisfactorily resolve through your local Digital office, please contact US Customer Relations at: Internet: response@mkots3.enet.dec.com Phone: 800-DEC-INFO or 603-884-0915 FAX: 603-884-4692 Mail: US Customer Relations Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Drive, MKO2-2/D15 P.O. Box 9501 Merrimack, NH 03054-9501 Non-US customers may also use these contacts; information will be directed to the appropriate corporate office. Please include your name, organization, address, phone number and Internet address in all correspondence. ============================================== M7. How do I get an ESC (escape) character on a DEC keyboard? 1. Use F11 on the LK201 or LK401 (in most keyboard modes). 2. Use Ctrl-[ (left bracket) 3. Adjust the keyboard mapping in DECterm, if that's what you're using. 4. Use dxkeycaps to produce commands for xmodmap. See the manual pages for details. 5. Get an LK421-AA keyboard, a North American keyboard designed for UNIX systems. It has an ESC key, no caps lock, and the keypad has been removed so the keyboard is smaller. [Castor Fu, castor@drizzle.Stanford.EDU] ============================================== M8. Where can I read announcements from Digital? biz.digital.announce is Digital Equipment Corporation's newsgroup for posting business information on products, services, significant contracts, organizational announcements, cooperative marketing agreements, alliances, seminars, promotions, etc. The newsgroup will be organized so that you can use a "kill" file with your newsreader to skip over (or ignore) classes of announcements that are not of interest. All postings will be organized along the following lines: Subject: Press/... Digital Press Releases Subject: Fact Sheet/... - Supporting Fact Sheets Subject: Backgrounder/... - Supporting Editorial Backgrounders Subject: Partner/... Press Releases from Digital's Partners Subject: Seminar/... Seminars offered by Digital Subject: Promotion/... Sales Promotions offered by Digital Subject: Show/... Digital Tradeshow Activities Subject: Training/... Digital Education & Training The new biz.digital hierarchy is: biz.digital.announce News and Announcements biz.digital.articles Newsletters, Catalog, and Journal Articles ============================================== M9. Where can I get performance information about Digital products? World-Wide Web: http://www.digital.com/info/performance.html FTP: ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/Digital/info/performance ============================================== M10. How do I report security problems to Digital? Security problems or questions should go to your normal Customer Support Center. [End of FAQ]