Subject: Linux-Activists Digest #2
From: Digestifier <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 92 05:00:09 EST

Linux-Activists Digest #2, Volume #2              Wed, 1 Apr 92 05:00:09 EST

Contents:
  fdisk -- please try this (A. V. Le Blanc)
  Re: No more kernel messages flying off the screen ([email-masked])
  mtools error when compiling (Jiansheng Zhao)
  .emacs (thomas dunbar)
  Re: First day user... Need some help... (Charles Hedrick)
  Re: some silly questions (Charles Hedrick)
  Re: What is linux? (Charles Hedrick)
  Upload of lpd.tarZ to tsx-11.mit.edu and nic.funet.fi (Michael K. Johnson)
  patches (Michael K. Johnson)
  swapping, how to enable? (Michael Pereckas)
  Booting Linux from a Hard Disk (Michael Smith)
  gcc 2.1 & tar problems (E Elu)
  Minor lp problem (was lp for 0.95a available) (Michael Haardt)
  Re: Ghostscript, printing of dvi/ps files using lp (Michael Haardt)
  lp bug (?) (0114)

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

From: [email-masked] (A. V. Le Blanc)
Subject: fdisk -- please try this
Date: 31 Mar 92 15:43:43 GMT

I am now ready to release my fdisk for testing.  The file
/pub/linux/mcc-bin/fdisk-0.9.tar.Z available by anonymous
ftp from hpb.mcc.ac.uk (and mirrored at banjo.concert.net)
contains the source (fdisk.c), a Makefile, an executable
compiled with gcc 1.40, since bugs in 2.1 still appear to
affect this and other programs, a patch for the kernel,
which is necessary for the ioctl call to work, my current
version of hd.c, including part of the patch, and a brief
README file, which I enclose below.

(1)  This fdisk allows the creation of up to 56 logical
     partitions in an extended partition.  Extended partitions
     created by this fdisk appear to work correctly for
     mountable file systems and for swap space, at least
     when the enclosed hd.c is compiled into the kernel.

(2)  I will try to get fuller documentation written as soon
     as possible.

(3)  I would appreciate input from anyone who has two hard
     disks, as well as from anyone who has SCSI disks.
     In my ignorance, I have assumed that the same program
     should work for all.  Does it?

(4)  I have presumed to invent a new partition type code,
     0x82, which my fdisk reports as 'Linux swap', while
     it reports 0x81 as 'Linux/MINIX'.  This is simply because
     I prefer to see my swap partition clearly distinguished
     when I list the partition table.

(5)  Please send any comments or suggestions to [email-masked],
     and not to any address which may appear on this notice.
     I am currently getting more than 80 e-mail messages a day,
     so it may take me a little time to get back to you.

     -- Owen
     [email-masked]

I am calling this version of fdisk 0.9, in the hopes of its being
nearly done!

The enclosed patch file, ioctl.patch, should be applied to the kernel
so that fdisk can get the disk geometry.  You can live without it, but
it is easier for most of us not to have to remember, for example, how
many cylinders there are in the disk.  The patched include/linux/hdreg.h
file should be copied to /usr/include/linux if you wish to recompile
fdisk.

The binary version included in this tar file was compiled with gcc 1.40,
since there are apparently bugs in the gcc 2.1 library.

Since there have been many patches to linux/kernel/blk_drv/hd.c, including
the one given here, I am including my current hd.c, which contains
tentative patches suggested by Linus Torvalds, as well as my ioctl.patch.
It is not a final version, as it still cannot deal with logical partitions
produced by utilities from Dr. Dos 5, although I believe fdisk can.

I have been using the enclosed fdisk and hd.c and patches for some
time with no difficulty.  Note that I have only one disk and am running
only DOS 3.3.

Please let me know of any problems you have or changes you would like
to see.  Meanwhile I shall be working on some decent documentation.

     -- Owen
     [email-masked]

P.S.  In general, you should not use this FDISK program to create
      partitions for other operating systems, only for Linux.

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

From: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: No more kernel messages flying off the screen
Date: 31 Mar 92 09:24:39 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Bob Doolittle) writes:
> 
> In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Drew Eckhardt) writes:
> 
>    When doing heavy kernel hacking and debugging, sometimes the DEBUG messages
>    implemented with printk()'s would fly off the screen so fast, it would 
>    make you dizzy =8^)
> 

>  ......

One other thing that occurs to me, how about a screen buffer you could look back
through (aka kermit, or better NCSA's Telnet)  this would be very usefull for
many such problems, several pages of gcc errors, that sort of thing ...  Telnet 
allows you to hit <scroll lock> then move up & down through the screen buffer,
more usefull than the current use of it IMHO (given a working ps ...)  Oh, by 
the way,  if you do hit <scroll lock> how do you figure out which tty is running
which process ??? - a ps like output would make locting errant processess so 
much easier ...  hmmm ... :-)

Tony

                                                    _
Tony Kew,   Oxford University Computing Services,  (_)xford,  England,  U.K.
====================================================|=========================
Janet:- [email-masked]                     --+--    Disclaimer :-
Internet:- [email-masked] | Who is the more foolish?
Earn/Bitnet:- tony%vax.oxford.ac.uk@ukacrl          |    The fool, or the
Phone:- +44 (0)865 273268   Fax:- +44 (0)865 273275 |  man who follows him?
==================================================\=|=/=======================
                                                   \|/

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

From: [email-masked] (Jiansheng Zhao)
Subject: mtools error when compiling
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1992 00:45:24 GMT

When compiling mtools2.05 with recent patch in mtools.n.tar.Z, I got
error message:
/usr/loca/lib/gcc-ld: Not owner for mtools
make: ***[mtools] Error 1.
I checked all file and dirctory permissions and couldn't correct the error.
Please help if you can.
Thank you.

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

From: thomas dunbar <[email-masked]>
Subject: .emacs
Reply-To: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1992 02:52:33 GMT

i use linux v 0.12 (faster on my no HD system), emacs v 18.57.12, and set
TERM=vt100
   my .emacs is:

(setq text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
(setq make-backup-files nil)
(put 'eval-expression 'disabled nil)
(setq auto-mode-alist (mapcar 'purecopy
                              '(("\\.c$" . c-mode)
                                ("\\.h$" . c-mode)
                                ("\\.tex$" . TeX-mode)
                                ("\\.txi$" . Texinfo-mode)
                                ("\\.el$" . emacs-lisp-mode)
                                ("\\.a$" . c-mode))))

(defvar cursor-map-2 (make-keymap)
"for ESC-[")
(fset 'Cursor-Map-2 cursor-map-2)
(define-key esc-map "[" 'Cursor-Map-2)

(define-key esc-map "[A" 'previous-line)
(define-key esc-map "[B" 'next-line)
(define-key esc-map "[C" 'forward-char)
(define-key esc-map "[D" 'backward-char)
(define-key esc-map "[H" 'beginning-of-line)
(define-key esc-map "[Y" 'end-of-line)
(define-key esc-map "[5^" 'scroll-down)
(define-key esc-map "[6^" 'scroll-up)
(define-key esc-map "[[A" 'help-for-help)
(define-key esc-map "[[B" 'byte-compile-file)
(define-key esc-map "[[C" 'isearch-forward)
(define-key esc-map "[[D" 'query-replace-regexp)
(define-key esc-map "[[E" 'eval-defun)
(define-key esc-map "[[F" 'eval-current-buffer)
(define-key esc-map "[[G" 'buffer-menu)
(define-key esc-map "[[H" 'global-set-key)
(define-key esc-map "[[I" 'save-buffer)
(define-key esc-map "[[J" 'save-buffers-kill-emacs)
(define-key esc-map "[2^" 'set-mark-command)
(define-key esc-map "[3^" 'delete-char)

(setq load-path (cons (expand-file-name "PATH_FOR_AUC-TEX") load-path))
(autoload 'tex-mode "auc-tex" "Automatic select TeX or LaTeX mode" t)
(autoload 'plain-tex-mode "auc-tex" "Mode for Plain TeX" t)
(autoload 'latex-mode "auc-tex" "Mode for LaTeX" t)
(autoload 'LaTeX-math-mode    "tex-math"      "Math mode for TeX." t)
(autoload 'outline-minor-mode "outline-m" "Minor Outline Mode." t)

(defun Ctl-C-prefix ()
  Ctl-C-keymap)
(setq Ctl-C-keymap (make-keymap))
(global-set-key "\C-c" (Ctl-C-prefix))

(define-key Ctl-C-keymap "m" 'LaTeX-math-mode)
(define-key Ctl-C-keymap "o" 'outline-minor-mode)

(make-variable-buffer-local 'outline-prefix-char)
(setq-default outline-prefix-char "\C-l")
(make-variable-buffer-local 'outline-regexp)
(setq-default outline-regexp "[*\l]+")
(make-variable-buffer-local 'outline-level-function)
(setq-default outline-level-function 'outline-level-default)

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

From: [email-masked] (Charles Hedrick)
Subject: Re: First day user... Need some help...
Date: 1 Apr 92 02:50:25 GMT

[email-masked] (Mike Dodds) writes:

>       3) And, what if I want to boot of of my hard disk?  No one has
>said word one about his in the newsgroup?  Is no one else interested, or
>am I naive in merely asking?  

There were instructions posted on how to boot from disk.  You use
software called "shoelace", which is on tsx-11.  I suggest that you
look at the archives for the instructions.  (There are instructions
that come with shoelace, but they are far more complex than they
should be.  You just copy a few files to /etc, run laceup a couple of
times with different options, and that's it.  Unfortunately I
don't remember the details.)

>       4) Is there a better way to get software onto my machine than
>downloading it to a MS-DOS PC, tar'ing it again, then rawrite it
>to a floppy, and then sneaker-net it to my Linux machine?  If so,
>some info on where to get this magical stuff would be appreciated.

I get software in two ways: (1) ftp from tsx-11 or other machines onto
a machine at Rutgers.  Then use kermit under Linux to download it
directly to my Linux machine.  (2) run ka9q on my Linux machine and
ftp directly from tsx-11.  Both methods assume that my primary way of
getting software is via a dialup.  If your Linux machine is next to a
PC that's connected to your campus Ethernet, your method might be
faster.

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

From: [email-masked] (Charles Hedrick)
Subject: Re: some silly questions
Date: 1 Apr 92 02:59:30 GMT

[email-masked] (Animesh Karna) asks about extended partitions.
Linus is supposed to support the extended partitions created by DOS
FDISK. I don't know about DOS 3.3 -- that sounds a little old for
extended partitions, though the structure you're talking about, one
big extended partition with little logical partitions in it, is
exactly what we're looking for.  Certainly the FDISK that runs under
DOS 5 creates the sort of extended partition that Linux wants.  The
problem is that although 0.95a has code for extended partitions, it's
buggy.  Buggy enough that it isn't usable (though just by chance, it
appears to work for the first logical partition in an extended
partition).  To get extended partitions to work, you need to fix one
module in the kernel (hd.c) and if you like to see what the disk looks
like under Linux, fdisk.  A fix to hd.c is present on cs.rutgers.edu
in /pub/linux.  I hope by now it's on tsx-11 as well.  To get it,
retrieve the following three files:

  linus-95a-patch  extended.patch  fdisk-extended.c

linus-95a-patch contains a number of fixes to the kernel.  It should
be done first.  Then do extended.patch.  fdisk-extended.c is a new
version of fdisk that will work with this code.  (Like the original
Linux fdisk, it doesn't let you hack on partitions -- it just
displays them.)  

A new fdisk and hd.c were described in an earlier posting today.  They
may well contain a better way to go.

Linux does not require any special partitioning.  It can use DOS
partitions.  I'd guess that most of us have used the DOS fdisk to
partition our disks.  Linux can deal with non-DOS partitions, and
there are some advantages to using a special partition type code other
than the normal DOS ones.  But Linux doesn't care how the partitions
are labelled.

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

From: [email-masked] (Charles Hedrick)
Subject: Re: What is linux?
Date: 1 Apr 92 03:07:28 GMT

[email-masked] (/9999999) writes:

> I noted the new group linux to appear on usenet.
> What type of OS is linux?

Linux is a minimal implementation of Unix for 386 and 486 systems
using the PC/AT architecture.  It's based on a kernel that was written
from scratch, with Gnu compilers and utilities.  The kernel and
utilities are basically POSIX-compatible.  There's an FAQ that I
assume someone will post here shortly.  The major U.S. archive area is
tsx-11.mit.edu, though there are other archives (some in Europe).  The
code is generally freely distributable, though there various pieces
have slightly different copyrights.  Most of it is covered by the Gnu
license.  It's probably not ready for naive users, but it's not hard
for a moderately experience Unix programmer to bring up.  If it works
on your machine, it seems to be pretty reliable.  It works on a
variety of machines, though some types have problems.  A lot of basic
Unix software has been ported.  The main lack seems to be X and
TCP/IP.  X is in progress.  There's user level TCP/IP using KA9Q, but
that's useful mostly for dialup lines.  If you're on an Ethernet, you
want a full TCP/IP implementation in the kernel.  I don't know whether
any progress is being made on that or not.

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

From: [email-masked] (Michael K. Johnson)
Subject: Upload of lpd.tarZ to tsx-11.mit.edu and nic.funet.fi
Reply-To: [email-masked] (Michael K. Johnson)
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1992 05:02:01 GMT

   From: jim wiegand <[email-masked]>

   Hi All;
         I have uploaded to tsx-11.mit.edu and nic.funet.fi
         lpd.tar.Z
         A very crude print daemon/lp utility for Linux.

tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/patches/lpd.tar.Z

also, there is (while I'm thinking of it...)

tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/binaries/usr.bin/joe.tar.Z

which  is some version of the joe editor compiled for linux.

michaelkjohnson
[email-masked]

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

From: [email-masked] (Michael K. Johnson)
Subject: patches
Reply-To: [email-masked] (Michael K. Johnson)
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1992 05:25:21 GMT

OK -- I have spent a few hours I didn't have, and have for everyones
approval, a new, caught-up patch directory at tsx-11.mit.edu!!!

Well, OK, it's the same old directory.  But it sure doesn't look the
same!  Please, check it out if you are looking for patches.  If you
have posted a patch that is not there, mail it to me, and I will put
it there.

The buglist is still behind.  I will work on that by this weekend, if
not before.

michaelkjohnson
[email-masked]

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

From: [email-masked] (Michael Pereckas)
Subject: swapping, how to enable?
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1992 04:41:29 GMT

I have had zero success getting swapping to work with linux 0.95a.
The lack of documentation is not helping.  Can someone provide
instructions on getting a swapfile established and working?

Michael Pereckas

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

From: [email-masked] (Michael Smith)
Subject: Booting Linux from a Hard Disk
Date: 1 Apr 92 04:39:04 GMT

Would it be possible to put the bootimage and a very small partition,
and then set that partition as the boot partition ?

Would this then allow us to boot from a hard disk (assuming the correct
value was placed at offset 508 in the boot image) ?

Michael
[email-masked]

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

From: [email-masked] (E Elu)
Subject: gcc 2.1 & tar problems
Date: 29 Mar 92 13:50:46 GMT

I just downloaded the 2 files for gcc 2.1 from the net and have run into a
few problems getting it all to work. Firstly tar seemed to choke using the
command line   tar xvofvz /usr/gcc2misc.Z    It just sits there for a couple
of minutes and then gives a segmentation fault. I then uncompressed the file
and untared it with the command tar xvf gcc2misc.tar All seemed to go o.k
so I ran the inst2.x shell script which ran with out any errors. Now every time
I go and try to compile a program even something as simple as a print "hello world"
I get the following error message :- "parse error before '(' " where the '(' is 
the open bracket in the main() function call. Everything  I try and compile 
gives a parse errorwhen it hist the first function call.  Any suggestions?

My system configuration is:

386 33mhz 5MB RAM 

Linux .95a with only the patches for ps applied.

Thanks in advance

Ernie Elu

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

From: [email-masked] (Michael Haardt)
Subject: Minor lp problem (was lp for 0.95a available)
Date: 31 Mar 92 22:32:42 GMT
Reply-To: [email-masked] (Michael Haardt)

From article <[email-masked]>, by [email-masked] (Peter Williams 8169821):
> A version of the lp patch modified for linux version 0.95a is available in
> pub/linux on archsci.arch.su.oz.au (129.78.66.1).

The patches seem ok, but my printer port gives back 11 on lp0 and 255 on
lp1 and lp2.  It should return 170 (says the code).  I just wanted to as
what's wrong, my printer card (HGC with one printer port) or the patch?

Of course I could patch it, but I wanted to ask first if other people have
the same problem.

Michael

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

From: [email-masked] (Michael Haardt)
Subject: Re: Ghostscript, printing of dvi/ps files using lp
Date: 31 Mar 92 22:54:41 GMT
Reply-To: [email-masked] (Michael Haardt)

From article <[email-masked]>, by [email-masked] (R. Ramesh):
> I ported Ghostscript 2.4 (released a couple of days ago) to Linux.
What does port mean here?  Did you have things to configure and compile
or port in the meaning of debugging, patching, editing, getting long
nights and cursing at the author :)  ?

If it was difficult, then a diff package would be fine, otherwise just
comment one or two problems and how to solve them.  I can really need
it.

Concerning grafics: Is there anyone porting MGR?  I recently used
TeX-MGR, a TeX dvi previewer for MGR, on a Sun and it works pretty good.
It uses the printer fonts, so no extra preview fonts are needed.  That
should be reason enough to look at MGR, apart from the fact that it
doesn't need much CPU time or memory.

Michael

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

From: [email-masked] (0114)
Subject: lp bug (?)
Date: 1 Apr 92 07:45:54 GMT

Hi,
      there is still this strange line:
        outb(LP_B(offset), LP_DUMMY);
      in lp095a in lp_init();
      This should be:
        outb(LP_DUMMY, LP_B(offset));
       Or do I miss something here?

                   Wolfgang Thiel

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

** FOR YOUR REFERENCE **

The service address, to which questions about the list itself and requests
to be added to or deleted from it should be directed, is:

    Internet: [email-masked]

You can send mail to the entire list (and comp.os.linux) via:

    Internet: [email-masked]

Linux may be obtained via one of these FTP sites:
    nic.funet.fi				pub/OS/Linux
    tsx-11.mit.edu				pub/linux
    tupac-amaru.informatik.rwth-aachen.de	pub/msdos/replace

The current version of Linux is 0.95a released on March 17, 1992

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