Subject: Linux-Activists Digest #84
From: Digestifier <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 92 05:00:07 EDT

Linux-Activists Digest #84, Volume #2            Sun, 19 Apr 92 05:00:07 EDT

Contents:
  Looking for 'expr' and 'tr' for 0.95c+ (Sotiris C. Vassilopoulos)
  Re: Graphics and IPC questions... (Brian Chojnowski)
  Re: Patch to add Dvorak keyboard (Josh Yelon)
  Re: IDE-drive performance with linux (Scott Silverstein MD)
  timezone support, date, CMOS clock support: archive sites please note (Charles Hedrick)
  Re: all kinds of questions (autoparking) (Risto Kankkunen)
  Re: IDE-drive performance with linux (Charles Hedrick)
  Re: Need help with swapping (david nugent)
  Any comments on Quantum 240A ?? (David A. Sinclair)
  zip dies. (Geoffrey Furnish)
  Re: GNU m4 and chess work, awk, mawk and sort don't. (Jim Burns)
  ispell works (Michael Pereckas)
  MFM and IDE drives (Carol Perkins)
  Re: ESDI drives (Kayvan Sylvan)
  Re: ispell works (Hongjiu Lu -- Graduate Student)

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

From: [email-masked] (Sotiris C. Vassilopoulos)
Subject: Looking for 'expr' and 'tr' for 0.95c+
Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1992 13:34:36 GMT

Hi all,

 Can somebody out there with a working 'expr' and 'tr' e-mail me a
copy? I am using 0.95c+ and g++ complains that it cannot find 'expr'.
Some other programs, I tried to install, are missing 'tr'.

Just the executables (using either static or shared libraries) would be fine.

Tnanks in advance,
- Sotiris 

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

From: chojnows@osiris (Brian Chojnowski)
Subject: Re: Graphics and IPC questions...
Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1992 21:33:13 GMT

>Ugh. Isn't that a step backward?  Why create a completely new,
>nonstandard, *local-only*, graphics library?  I don't think there is
>much chance that people will write programs for Linux that use your
>direct-to-screen library.  To put it bluntly, if you want to fiddle
>with direct hardware access assembler routines, stick to DOS.  Even if
>you don't need networked graphics, I'm certain a significant fraction
>of the Linux community wants it.

I dont intend on making a local only system. What I do want to avoid is the
system requirements of X. I dont think there are any X telnet programs for
the 286. I already have an application, and Unix would be a good multi-user
platform for it, but it requires characterset based graphics.

        Brian Chojnowski

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

From: [email-masked] (Josh Yelon)
Subject: Re: Patch to add Dvorak keyboard
Date: Sat, 18 Apr 1992 22:01:25 GMT

Just a suggestion... perhaps it might make sense, with all the
keyboard kernel patches going around, to make a system call that
dynamically modifies the keyboard xlation table on the fly. That
way, somebody could write a nice user-friendly utility that edits
and loads up keyboard tables...

- Josh

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

From: [email-masked] (Scott Silverstein MD)
Subject: Re: IDE-drive performance with linux
Date: 18 Apr 92 23:01:26 GMT

>
>I don't know what this sort of testing is worth after all, but it seems to
>substantiate my doubts about IDE drive performance. Perhaps the problem
>lies with the particular drive I'm using. Perhaps it has to do with the IDE
>drive's internal buffering scheme. Someone willing to comment on this?
>
>Guido

Perhaps the slowness involves the drive's own internal 'translation mode'
operations?  I run MWC COHERENT with a Seagate IDE drive and it works
very speedily.  I will get LINUX 0.95c+ up and running as soon as I find
the time and energy and run similar tests.

Are you using the drive in its native or translation mode?

-- Scott.

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

From: [email-masked] (Charles Hedrick)
Subject: timezone support, date, CMOS clock support: archive sites please note
Date: 18 Apr 92 23:22:13 GMT

I've just put some stuff in /pub/linux on cs.rutgers.edu.  I'd appreciate
it if the archive sites would install in an appropriate place:

  timebin.tar.Z - date, clock, /usr/lib/zoneinfo
  timesrc.tar.Z - source for clock, zic, timezone files
  time.doc - documentation for the above (this is also included in timebin)

This supercedes the date stuff I put out a month or two ago for gcc
1.4.  Probably it should be integrated into the gcc 2.1 distribution
as part of the libraries.

These files are intended to be used with the gcc 2.1 libc.  That libc
has the necessary library routines to handle time zones, but without
the files included here, the code won't do anything.  I believe
everything except clock is from Gnu.  I wrote clock.

I have included a new copy of date, built from the Gnu shellutils 1.6.
(I didn't include it in timesrc, since it's the straight Gnu code.)
There's nothing special about this date, but you need a date that's
built with the 2.1 libc, and this is.

I have included a new program, clock.  This will set or read the
hardware (CMOS) clock.  Currently there is no way to set the CMOS
clock.  I had patched the kernel so that setting the Unix time also
set the CMOS clock.  However Linus didn't want to take the patch.
Indeed he wants to get rid of the code currently in the kernel that
initializes the Unix clock from the CMOS clock.  He feels (correctly,
I think) that the kernel shouldn't need code that duplicates the time
zone stuff in libc.  The idea is that you put a call to clock in
/etc/rc to initialize the Unix clock from the CMOS clock.  You can
also call it with another argument to set the CMOS clock from the Unix
clock.

Note that clock uses /dev/port to play with the CMOS clock.  Since
/dev/port may not be writeable by users, clock should probably be made
setuid.  It contains its own check to make sure that only root can
change the time (though it doesn't protect the CMOS clock -- this is
consistent with DOS behavior, under which there is no protection.  If
you want only root to be able to change the CMOS clock, don't install
this setuid.)  I considered putting the CMOS stuff into date.  However
this seems a violation of the Unix design philosophy.  It would have
added several extra options to date, and I couldn't figure out any way
of making it very clean.

Here's time.doc, which explains stuff in more detail:

=====================================================
Setting up time and time zones

There are several things involved in getting time right under Linux:

  - /usr/lib/zoneinfo contains files that define what time zone you
        are in.  If they are missing, no time zone calculations
        are done, i.e. your internal clock is assumed to be on
        local time rather than the Unix standard of GMT.  The only
        file that you absolutely need is /usr/lib/zoneinfo/localtime, but I
        recommend also having /usr/lib/zoneinfo/posixrules.  Posixrules
        is typically a copy of or link to localtime.  Localtime defines
        your default zone.  Posixrules is needed to interpret the TZ 
        variable, which is used if you want to specify a zone other than 
        the default.

  - the "date" command can be used to set or display the date/time.
        Note however that it does not set the hardware clock, so
        next time you reboot, you'll be back to the old time.
        I recommend that after changing the time with "date", you
        use "clock -w" or "clock -u -w" to update the hardware clock
        as well.  (See below.)

  - the "clock" command can be used to set or display the date/time
        in the hardware (CMOS) clock.  Typically your /etc/rc script
        will contain
                clock -s
        which will cause the Unix date/time to be initialized from the 
        CMOS clock when you boot.  If your CMOS clock is set to GMT
        (which is what I recommend) the correct command is
                clock -u -s

The binary time distribution should be untarred under /usr.  It
contains lib/zoneinfo, bin/date, bin/clock, and doc/time.doc (this
file).  Once you've installed these files, you'll want to do four
things:

1) set /usr/lib/zoneinfo/localtime and /usr/lib/zoneinfo/posixrules.
You should copy the file for your time zone.  E.g. if you are in the
U.S.  Eastern time zone, do

   cd /usr/lib/zoneinfo
   cp US/Eastern localtime
   ln localtime posixrules

Localtime defines the local time zone.  Posixrules defines the zone to
be used to interpret the TZ environment variable.  Since it's far more
convenient simply to use the right time zone file, nothing more will
be said here about how the TZ variable is used.  Unless you intend to
use TZ, you can ignore the next paragraph.

If you want exact POSIX behavior, posixrules should be a copy of or
link to one of the U.S. time zone files.  (For non-U.S. daylight
rules, the TZ variable defines the daylight transition rules.)
However it may make more sense practically for it to be the same as
localtime, as shown in the instructions above.

2) Once you've set up localtime and posixrules, you can remove the
rest of the files in /usr/lib/zoneinfo, if you're sure you'll never
want to operate in any other time zone.  Or you can keep just the few
time zones that you might need.

3) Put the correct "clock" command into /etc/rc.  Which command to use
depends upon whether you want your hardware clock to keep local time
or GMT.  I recommend using GMT, since that will allow daylight savings
transitions to be completely automatic.  However the same clock is
used by DOS, and some people don't like the time in DOS being GMT.  I
use Unix-compatible software under DOS.  It uses the TZ environment
variable to do time zone conversion.  Thus I prefer the clock being
GMT even under DOS.  But some people may not like that.  Anyway, if
your hardware clock is set to the local time, put the line

   clock -s

in /etc/rc.  This will set the Unix time from your hardware clock,
doing the necessary time conversion.  If your hardware clock is set 
to GMT, then you'll need the -u option:

   clock -u -s

4) Now make sure that your hardware clock is set correctly.  Try
"clock" with no arguments.  It will print the current setting of the
hardware clock.  Make sure it is right, and that it is either local or
GMT, as you decided.  (If the hardware clock is supposed to be GMT,
you can use "clock -u".  This will convert from GMT to local and
display it.)  To set the clock, first use the "date" command to get
the date right in Unix.  Then use "clock -w" to set the hardware
clock.  Note that "clock -w" will set the hardware clock to the local
time, and "clock -u -w" will set it to GMT.  Verify with "clock" that
the hardware clock is as you want it.

From now on, the time should be right.  If your hardware clock loses
or gains time, you can update it at a future date by the same
procedure just described: first get the Unix time right using "date"
and then use "clock -w" or "clock -u -w" to set the hardware clock.

If your hardware clock is set using local time, make sure to reset it
when daylight time changes.  If you're running Unix when daylight time
changes, the Unix time will adjust automatically.  In that case, all
you need is "clock -w" to update the hardware clock.  If you aren't
running Unix during the transition, then your time will be an hour off
the next time you boot.  In that case, set the correct Unix time using
"date", and then use "clock -w" to update the hardware clock.  If your
hardware clock is set using GMT time, none of this is necessary --
daylight time transitions will happen automatically.

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

From: [email-masked] (Risto Kankkunen)
Crossposted-To: alt.os.linux
Subject: Re: all kinds of questions (autoparking)
Date: 18 Apr 92 23:29:36 GMT

In [email-masked] (Kevin Cummings) writes:
> So unless you are shutting down your system to reboot DOS (or something
> else), your disk heads will not be parked by LINUX.  Maybe this is the
> cause of some of the trashed file systems some people are experiencing?

But isn't head parking suggested only before moving the computer or the
disk itself? Although there is a greater possibility for disk damage
when the heads stay above the disk on power-down, it isn't a problem in
practise on everyday desk-top use.

-- 
                                                               no sig today

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

From: [email-masked] (Charles Hedrick)
Subject: Re: IDE-drive performance with linux
Date: 18 Apr 92 23:57:36 GMT

For what it's worth, I just tried the same test you did,

  cp /dev/kmem /mnt/kmem.dump

It took me about 40 sec (note that it takes about 5 sec beyond when
the cp returns, because of buffering).  I ended up with a slightly
larger file than you, 4.5M.  Copying it to another partition took
1 min, 20 sec. I also tried

  cp /mnt/kmem.dump /dev/null

It took 12 sec.  That's certainly not up to a Sparcstation 2, but for
a 386sx on an AT bus, I think it's fine.  This is with the new Connor
510MB IDE drive, which I believe has very fast seek time.  I would
expect that copying partitions would be primarily an issue of seek,
and how well the OS optimizes things, not transfer rate.  Indeed
probably only the read time (cp into /dev/null) is dominated by
transfer rate.

Unfortunately I don't have an MFM drive to compare with.  My machine
can't handle more than one drive at a time.  I also can't tell you
much about the hardware.  I depend upon a local PC dealer to do
sensible things with controllers, etc.  I only claim to know about
software.  (I realize that a 500MB IDE disk is sort of wierd.  I
intentionally avoided SCSI because I wanted to be able to play with
OS's, and generally IDE is more likely to be supported.)

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

From: [email-masked] (david nugent)
Subject: Re: Need help with swapping
Date: Sat, 18 Apr 92 21:10:44 +1000
Reply-To: [email-masked]

[email-masked] (Hongjiu Lu) writes:

> |>      into a library using "ar rc libfoo.a foo1.o foo2.o ..." I was not
> |>      able to link these libraries to my other sources. ld complained
> |>      about undeclared symbols in the text-segment but nm showed that all
> 
> Use ranlib before linking.
> 
> Should that be in FAQ? I thought everybody knows it.

In all fairness, the majority of Sys V/386's have ranlib built into ar, so
ranlib doesn't exist on those systems.

..............................................................................
david nugent          Public Access Usenet        "Only Nixon can go to China"
[email-masked]     +61-3-792-3507                - ancient Vulcan proverb
3:632/400@fidonet, 58:4100/1@intlnet, 199:4242/5@rainbownet, 33:300/6@admin
PO Box 260, Endeavour Hills, Victoria, Australia, 3802.

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

From: [email-masked] (David A. Sinclair)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.os2.misc
Subject: Any comments on Quantum 240A ??
Date: 19 Apr 92 00:27:24 GMT

Hello, world.

I need to buy anew hard drive for my system so I can install Linux and
OS/2 2.0.  I am considering the Quantum 240A, (240 meg IDE) and would
like to hear from anyone who is either using this drive with either
OS, or has tried and failed to do so.  Anyone have any comments about
using this drive with OS/2 GA and / or Linux?  Anything to watch out
for?

Thanks for any info you can provide!!

Cheers,

-- 
=================================================================
David A. Sinclair - "Chester"                | Bobby Fischer doesn't *want* 
[email-masked]               | you to know where he is.
=================================================================

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

From: [email-masked] (Geoffrey Furnish)
Crossposted-To: alt.os.linux
Subject: zip dies.
Date: 18 Apr 92 08:30:40 GMT

Hi folks,  zip is dieing on me.  Generates a general protection fault
and lots of interesting uninteligible dump info.  My line looked like:

zip -r zipfile dir/* -x dir/subdir1 dir/subdir2

Has anyone encountered this and/or any ideas what to do instead?
It works with the zip which is on a SUN I use.

Geoff Furnish

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

From: [email-masked] (Jim Burns)
Subject: Re: GNU m4 and chess work, awk, mawk and sort don't.
Date: 19 Apr 92 04:10:37 GMT

in article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Michael Haardt) says:

> awk -F @ '{ print $2 }'

> foo@bar gives foo@bar as output, not only bar as expected.  Both GNU awk

Does it work w/o the space between -F and @ ?
-- 
BURNS,JIM (returned student)
Georgia Institute of Technology, 30178 Georgia Tech Station,
Atlanta Georgia, 30332            | Internet: [email-masked]
uucp:     ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt0178a

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

From: [email-masked] (Michael Pereckas)
Subject: ispell works
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1992 04:24:48 GMT

I have compiled ispell 2.0.02 with no problems using gcc 2.1.
Just look through the makefile to see that all the directories are
right, and set the compiler flag for sysv-type systems, as documented in
the makefile.  

Ispell is a spelling checker that can be used with GNU Emacs.  The
distribution contains elisp source for a friendly interface. 
It can be found in the pub/gnu directory on prep.ai.mit.edu and on that
site's many mirrors.

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

From: [email-masked] (Carol Perkins)
Subject: MFM and IDE drives
Date: 19 Apr 92 05:19:49 GMT

I would like to know if anyone has been successful in getting an MFM and an
IDE drive to coexist.  I want to add an IDE to my system and continue to use
an ST251-1 as the boot drive.  The IDE is an ST3144a with the ST08A
controller.  The MFM controller is an NCC.  I understand that it will probably
be necessary to change the controller or host adapter I/O port address.  How
do you do that?

Any help will be appreciated.

[email-masked]

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

From: [email-masked] (Kayvan Sylvan)
Subject: Re: ESDI drives
Date: 19 Apr 92 07:50:30 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Demian A. Johnston) writes:

   I think  I might no your problem..  I had problems when I made a very
   large partition..  You might want to try and smaller partition size.  I
   think Linux has a 64Mb limit...  My  partitions are on the order of
   40,000 blocks...

Is this true (partition sizes limited to 64MB)??? If that's the case
it would be a shame. What about those of us who have larger drives?

                        ---Kayvan
-- 
| Kayvan Sylvan, Sylvan Associates, [email-masked], (408) 978-1407  |
| Consulting, Training, Development, SysAdmin, {BSD,SVr3,SVr4} Unix Systems  |
| "Think Globally, Act Locally." "Dubito ergo sum - I doubt therefore I am." |
| Proud Dad of Katherine Yelena (2.5 years) and Robin Gregory (born 2/28/92) |

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

From: [email-masked] (Hongjiu Lu -- Graduate Student)
Subject: Re: ispell works
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 92 06:59:11 GMT

In article <mper.703657502@uipsuxb> [email-masked] (Michael Pereckas) writes:
>I have compiled ispell 2.0.02 with no problems using gcc 2.1.
>

Can we have the latest one? 3.xx. I think it was released in Jan. 1992.

H.J.

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

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

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