Subject: Linux-Activists Digest #249
From: Digestifier <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 93 00:13:20 EDT

Linux-Activists Digest #249, Volume #6           Wed, 22 Sep 93 00:13:20 EDT

Contents:
  Re: Memory LEAKING!*=--.._ (Andreas Mengel)
  PCMCIA Ethernet cards (Frank McCabe)
  Internal modem on COM3 problems (CAM PROCTOR)
  Help compiling ... weird error (Michael C. Welsh)
  X Station Hangs  -- Possible Fix Here, READ IT (Hubert Sieh)
  Re: Unable to access SCSI disk on Gateway 66E? ([email-masked])
  Re: X and Slackware 1.0.3? (Robert Cooper)
  Re: Help: EXT2-fs (Stephen Tweedie)
  Re: (Q) xia vs. ext2fs (Stephen Tweedie)
  running X appl. by modem ? (Pablo Redard)
  Math coprocessor reporting exception 16 error (...?) (Massimo Boninsegni)
  How to make dual ethernet cards linux system? (Teddy Yung)
  Re: Wanted: Simple Term for Linux (Mark A. Horton)
  Re: "Memory exhausted" pr (John Will)
  Re: Adaptec 1542B vs 1542C vs 1740 (Mark A. Horton)
  Re: Startx disables alias' (Arif Sukoco)
  Re: Linux is very unstable (Rene COUGNENC)
  about the GCC package .. (OVALLE NUNEZ CRISTIAN)
  Re: Help! Floppyless Linux ? (Eric J. Schwertfeger)

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

Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.admin.help,comp.os.linux
From: [email-masked] (Andreas Mengel)
Subject: Re: Memory LEAKING!*=--.._
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1993 12:19:55 GMT

Hi there!

[email-masked] writes:

>Hello!
>       Just installed SLS 0.99.12 and hooked that baby right up to the
>net. All went great and life was good UNTIL I did a top or a free.
>       Here output RIGHT after bootup! HELP! I'm missing 15 meg!
>       Check this out...........

>Here's the free output:

>             total       used       free     shared    buffers
>Mem:         14964      13792       1172       1856      10696
>Swap:            0          0          0

>Here's the top output:

>Load Averages 0.74 0.33 0.35
>17 processes: 16 sleeping, 1 running, 0 zombie, 0 stopped
>CPU states:  6.5% user,  0.0% nice, 12.2% system, 81.3% idle
>Mem:  14964K av, 13840K used,  1124K free,  1928K shrd, 10688 buff
>      ^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^^^^   ^^^^^^^^^^
>Swap:     0K av,     0K used,     0K free

Looks PERFECT to me :-)

Let me try to explain the mem-lines from free an top (correct me if I'm wrong):
a)  13840K +  1124K = 14964K
b)  13840K - 10688K =  3152K
c)   3152K -  1928K =  1224K

(a) total_mem = used_mem + free_mem : no memory is 'lost' (kernel-space is
    already subtracted from your physical memory size to give total_mem)
(b) used_mem - buffer_mem = memory used by existing processes (process_mem)
    where buffer_mem is used as a dynamic disk-cache
(c) process_mem - shared_mem = private memory for the all processes, i.e.
    memory that is neither shared-executable-pages (for multiple instances of
    the same executable, like getty or sh, that share some (read-only) pages)
    nor shared libraries.

[ps output deleted]

>               Any help at all is GREATLY appreciated!
>                                               Thanx,
>                                               [email-masked]

Sigh, I wish people could really READ the output-lines from free, top et al. up
to the last character... As long as total_mem=free_mem+used_mem there is really
nothing to worry about (buffers count as used memory !!!).
Hey, enjoy, the kernel has put your expensive memory in use, no chips wasting
your money by not being used at all :-)) (Sorry, couldn't resist...)
Maybe this should be in the FAQ (if it isn't already). But who actually reads
FAQs ? I usually don't as you can see ;-)

I hope this puts an end to this 'help, the kernel has a memory leak' stuff...
-- 
Bye,
        Falcon
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                          Real Name: Andreas Mengel                          |
|          Internet: [email-masked]          |
|          Home: [email-masked] | Bitnet: 169371@DOLUNI1          |
+-------------+-------------------------------------------------+-------------+
              |Some say I'm lazy, but others say that's just me.|
              |Some say I'm crazy, I guess I'll always be! (GnR)|
              +-------------------------------------------------+

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

From: [email-masked] (Frank McCabe)
Subject: PCMCIA Ethernet cards
Date: 21 Sep 93 16:48:22 GMT

I am trying to build a Linux system on my new Toshiba 4600.  It has an 
ethernet adapter installed via the PCMCIA slots. 

Has anybody already done something similar, and where can I get the relevant 
driver?

The actual card I have is an AST card; although if you look inside it says its
an IBM NIC card.

Any replies to me should be by e-mail, and I will post a summary of the 
responses I get.  I am sure that this is going to happen more often.

e-mail: [email-masked]

Frank McCabe

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

From: [email-masked] (CAM PROCTOR)
Subject: Internal modem on COM3 problems
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1993 16:57:45 GMT

I have an Infotel 14.4K baud modem (internal) set at com3 (irq4).  When trying 
to access the modem with anything (kermit, minicom, pcomm) I get the reply 
"can't open /dev/modem.  Device busy."  I've also tried setting the programs 
to look directly at /dev/cua2 and /dev/ttyS2, but still the same results.  A 
local person suggested re-linking the /dev/modem to each /dev/cuaX (where X is 
0 - 3) and seeing what happened.  I still got the same results on cua2, but on 
cua1 i would get nothing (no negative response) since this is my mouse, cua0 
would say it was busy also.

Does anyone have another suggestion to try?
Please email me at one of the following addresses.
[email-masked]
[email-masked]
[email-masked]

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

From: [email-masked] (Michael C. Welsh)
Subject: Help compiling ... weird error
Date: 21 Sep 1993 11:13:28 -0700

Help !!

I'm trying to compile Angband on my box at home (0.99 pl10) and
I'm getting a really strange error.  I get all the way through
the compilation, but when it goes to link all of the object modules
together with the libraries (i.e. -lbsd -lcurses -ltermcap),
I get an error that looks something like ths (I can't remeber the
exact phrasing of it...)

ld: something about libg 

????
I got it working fine on one of the boxes here at school running the
same version...

Is it something to do with my libraries, or what ???

Thanks,
Mike Welsh
[email-masked]

P.S. -- please don't post here as I don't read it too often
        e-mail please ( I don't have time to read 500 articles a day :-)

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

From: [email-masked] (Hubert Sieh)
Subject: X Station Hangs  -- Possible Fix Here, READ IT
Date: 21 Sep 93 13:14:31 GMT

I have had similar problems with a Diamond Stealth, XS3.0.4 server, SLS1.03,
XFree 1.3, etc.

1.  I fixed it by getting the Slackware Distribution from
    ftp.cdrom.com  (/pub/linux/slackware).  The problem DID NOT recur.

2.  I'm not sure of the effectiveness, but I heard you can get Linus'
    kernel source and rebuild it.  This apparently solves the problem.

It seems the common link is SLS.  Is that an accurate assumption????
Best bet is to get Slackware.  It worked for me.

Hubert
[email-masked]

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

From: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: Unable to access SCSI disk on Gateway 66E?
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1993 21:23:18 GMT
Reply-To: [email-masked]

>
>The problem is that the ultrastor uses a non-standard chipset to control
>the SCSI peripherals.  If you contact gateway and make a big fuss that you
>are having compatibility problems, they will replace the card.  The card to
>demand is the Adaptec 1742.  It is also a 32 bit EISA SCSI controller. I am
>currently waiting on my replacement card, since I had the same problem. I
>have heard of many successful installations using the adaptec card, so that
>is why I am recommending it.  Good Luck....
>

I had the exact same problem with my Future Domain controller.  Mine was
using the 18C50 chipset instead of the more standard 1850.  After waiting
a few weeks...I tried the latest Slackware distribution.  Apparently
this chipset is now supported and I am up and running Linux!!!!

If you can't get another controller...hang in there try to find some SCSI
support you can patch in.

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

From: [email-masked] (Robert Cooper)
Subject: Re: X and Slackware 1.0.3?
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 00:36:45 GMT

        So far everyone with problems with XFree 1.3 has had
        a Tseng chip, either ET4000/ET3000 and pl12.

        Is there anyone who has it working reliably with these
        video chips??

        Is there anyone else with other chips having trouble
        or have it working reliably??

        Post here so we can all see where the problem lies....

                                        Rob....

--
=====================================================================
Robert Cooper, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia   [email-masked]

       .....Discoveries are not made by following instructions.....

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

Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
From: [email-masked] (Stephen Tweedie)
Subject: Re: Help: EXT2-fs
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1993 19:04:50 GMT

Hi,

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Piercarlo Antonio Grandi) writes:

> On 16 Sep 1993 06:39:47 GMT, Heon J. Jo ([email-masked]) wrote:

>   EXT2-fs warning: mounting unchecked file system, running e2fsck is
>   recommended

> To prevent this the root filesystem must be mounted RO at boot,
> fsck'ed and then remounted RW, and then it must be remounted RO just
> before shutdown, which is achieved by unmounting it.

> The only thing I am a bit unsure about is whether one needs to
> reboot in case fsck had to repair the root; IMNHO I think this is
> not necessary, remounting *ought* to reload the updated filesystem
> information.

Nope!  You *do* need to reboot in order to be completely safe.  The
trouble is that you can't completely unmount the root filesystem; if
you try to do so, the filesystem still hangs around afterwards in a
read-only state.  So, you can't flush out any inode information that
the kernel may have cached about the filesystem.

Because of this danger that the kernel may have cached out-of-date
filesystem information, it is dangerous to let the kernel write to the
root filesystem after it has been fixed by fsck.  That's why a reboot
is necessary in such a situation.  However, there should be no harm in
continuing the boot process if it was a filesystem other than root
which was repaired.

Cheers,
 Stephen.
---
Stephen Tweedie <[email-masked]>   (JANET: [email-masked])
Department of Computer Science, Edinburgh University, Scotland.

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

From: [email-masked] (Stephen Tweedie)
Subject: Re: (Q) xia vs. ext2fs
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1993 19:35:53 GMT

Hi,

> Can someone explain the pros/cons of the xia vs. the ext2fs file
> systems?
> I notice that the boot disks seem to be in xia.

> the faq says they both exists but nothing about their +++ & ---.

It's really a matter of personal taste.  The HJ boot disks use xiafs
as standard but SLS uses ext2fs.  As an ext2fs developer I am
naturally biased towards ext2fs, but they are both perfectly decent
filesystems.  All my tests show that ext2fs has a consistent
performance advantage over xiafs, but I have heard reports from other
users who claim xiafs is a little faster.  Certainly, neither is much
slower than the other, although I believe ext2fs does suffer less from
long-term fragmentation.

ext2fs has several extra features.  It has fast symbolic links, and
backs up superblock information to aid recovery in case of a bad
filesystem crash.  It has a more powerful fsck, which is capable of
recovering information after a crash which would be permanently lost
on other filesystems.  e2fsck still has a couple of problems in the
case of really severe filesystem corruption, but in these cases most
other fsck's would simply fail to recover any of the lost data at all.
A new, faster and more powerful e2fsck program, as well as a fs
debugger to allow you to manually try to repair ext2fs partitions, are
under development and are now in alpha testing.

ext2fs also supports large sized filesystem blocks, and fragments for
efficient allocation of space should be implemented in the future.  I
am working on adding transparent compressed file support to ext2fs.
This is the real difference between ext2fs and xiafs - ext2fs has been
designed to grow.

Under constant use, both ext2fs and xiafs appear to be stable.  I know
of only one bug(let) in xiafs, and none in ext2fs right now.  There
are some filesystem problems occasionally attributed to xiafs and
ext2fs, but these usually seem to be associated with either the quota
patches (there seems to be some interference between the quota system
and the filesystem unmounting code), and SCSI/Net interactions (it
appears that under very high load, the combined DMA traffic incurred
by running a high-performance SCSI card with DMA networking at the
same time can sometimes cause the system motherboard's refresh cycles
to get delayed to the point where memory corruption can start).

Ultimately, it's up to you... :-)

Cheers,
 Stephen.
---
Stephen Tweedie <[email-masked]>   (JANET: [email-masked])
Department of Computer Science, Edinburgh University, Scotland.

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

From: [email-masked] (Pablo Redard)
Subject: running X appl. by modem ?
Date: 21 Sep 93 18:32:47 MDT

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if I can log into my account at the university 
from home (through modem) and run an X application?
I have linux and I'm running openwin.

thanks.

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

From: [email-masked] (Massimo Boninsegni)
Subject: Math coprocessor reporting exception 16 error (...?)
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 01:14:33 GMT

Hi ! 

Now, can anybody please explain to me the meaning of the error message 
that appears in the subject line and that I keep getting when I boot my 
system ?
TAL

Massimo Boninsegni

National Center for Supercomputing Applications
Beckman Institute
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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

From: [email-masked] (Teddy Yung)
Subject: How to make dual ethernet cards linux system?
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 01:16:09 GMT

Could anyone tell me how to modify the linus kernel in order
to have two ethernet cards working in same box?

Thanks

Teddy
-- 
Office: 450 1432
Home: 480 4826

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

From: [email-masked] (Mark A. Horton)
Subject: Re: Wanted: Simple Term for Linux
Date: 21 Sep 1993 20:02:58 -0700

Rich Mulvey ([email-masked]) wrote:
: [email-masked] writes:

: > Is there a simple terminal program for Linux?  I don't have X, nor do I wish 
: > to
: > install it.  Something simple with X modem, Zmodem and Ymodem (G preferred)
: > would be a plus.
: > 
: > Please leave ftp site and dir name if such an animal exists.

:    I believe minicom comes standard with all of the major Linux
: distributions.

: - Rich

: --
: Rich Mulvey            Amateur Radio: N2VDS            787 Elmwood Terrace
: [email-masked]    "Ignorance should be painful."      Rochester, NY 14620

        minicom-1.4 is available now - I think I got it from either 
        tsx-11.mit.edu or sunsite.unc.edu -- it says it's beta, but 
        compiles and installs clean and works great!  also allows you
        to support 14,400 modems (specify 19200) It's greatly improved
        over the older one that I had from SLS1.02!  kudos to to the author!

        - mark

================================================================================
Mark Horton Associates  (MHA)   |  Email: [email-masked] (soon) 
  Systems Consultants:          |  Voice: +1 (404) 371 0291 (office)
    Strategic Planning          |    Fax: +1 (404) 371 0291 (office)
    Performance Tuning          |   Data: +1 (404) 378 7046 (Linux bbs)
    Network Planning & Tuning   |  Snail: P.O.Box 747, Decatur, GA US 30031-0747
    Prime Time Freeware CDs     |   ICBM: 33 45 N / 084 16 W
    Linux Software Distribution | Cruise: 33 45 30 N / 084 16 50 W
================================================================================
        "We may note that, for the purposes of these experiments, the symbol 
        "=" has the meaning "may be confused with."
                                 - Anon.
================================================================================

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

From: [email-masked] (John Will)
Subject: Re: "Memory exhausted" pr
Date: 21 Sep 93 14:19:00 GMT

TR>>By the way fellows, it seems that any fear that not enough
TR>>pty's are generated, that I had, seems to be unfounded...
TR>                ...  ...   ...
TR>You do need to use mknod to make them but you don't have to do 
TR>anything in the kernel to allow you to use any set amount.

That's not really true, you are limited by the PID slots, if you have 
16 xterm's open, it's likely you're near the end of your PIDs by then,
if you're doing anything in those windows.

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

From: [email-masked] (Mark A. Horton)
Crossposted-To: misc.forsale.computers.pc-clone,comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: Re: Adaptec 1542B vs 1542C vs 1740
Date: 21 Sep 1993 20:19:45 -0700

$ Burkhard Kohl ([email-masked]) wrote:
: $ Burkhard Kohl ([email-masked]) wrote:

: : Well the 1542C supports SCSI-2 whereas the B does not. Furthermore 1542C allows
: : you to enter the SCSI-select program for test and configuration purposes from
: : ROM at boot time, so you don't need SCSI-select utilities :-)
: : --

: Sorry, but thats just wrong. Of course both adaptors are SCSI-2. Sorry again.
: To prevent being flamed I'll withdraw my stupid statement

: One of the main differences between B and C is the SCSI select feature which
: can entered during boot time by just pressing Ctrl-A. This feature allows you to 
: modify the settings of the card (e.g. disabling the host bus termination, 
: selecting the DMA transfer rate, testing the bus, and a lot more) without
: changing any jumpers and without the need of any other utility progs.

: Actually the 1542C allows a slighty higher DMA transfer rate (10 Mb/s instead
: of 8 Mb/s) but this feature is only of theoretical use, because the bus is 
: not affected - the recommend setting for most hardware combinations is still 5 Mb/s.

A       IMHO, once the card is configured and the jumpers set, I never need
        to fiddle about with it again.  Therefore, I've been happy with the
        B model... although for the first-timer, the setup utilities are nice
        rather than mucking about with the juumpers!  But you can get some
        good deals on the Bs now if the local mercchants have them -- I paid
        $180.00 (us) for a new one a few days agago - as opposed to 220+
-- Mark

: --

:   _/_/_/_/_/  _/_/_/_/  _/_/_/_/     Burkhard Kohl 
:      _/      _/    _/       _/       [email-masked]
:     _/      _/_/_/_/      _/         die tageszeitung
:    _/      _/    _/     _/           Germany
:   _/      _/    _/    _/             1000 Berlin 61      Phone: +30-259-02-120
:  _/      _/    _/   _/_/_/_/         Kochstr. 18         FAX  : +30-251-06-94

================================================================================
Mark Horton Associates  (MHA)   |  Email: [email-masked] (soon) 
  Systems Consultants:          |  Voice: +1 (404) 371 0291 (office)
    Strategic Planning          |    Fax: +1 (404) 371 0291 (office)
    Performance Tuning          |   Data: +1 (404) 378 7046 (Linux bbs)
    Network Planning & Tuning   |  Snail: P.O.Box 747, Decatur, GA US 30031-0747
    Prime Time Freeware CDs     |   ICBM: 33 45 N / 084 16 W
    Linux Software Distribution | Cruise: 33 45 30 N / 084 16 50 W
================================================================================
        "We may note that, for the purposes of these experiments, the symbol 
        "=" has the meaning "may be confused with."
                                 - Anon.
================================================================================

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

From: [email-masked] (Arif Sukoco)
Subject: Re: Startx disables alias'
Date: 22 Sep 1993 11:29:15 +1000

Warrior Of Darkness <[email-masked]> writes:

>Hi,

>I guess the bash started under X only reads the file $HOME/.bashrc or so; if
>your aliases are defined in /etc/profile, they dont run. Flame me if this is
>not true. Flames are directed to /dev/null 8)

It is true.
I copied all my aliases in /etc/profile to /.bashrc and the xterm works fine
with all the aliases.

>DrAkHaI
>ferdl<at>wildsau.idv.uni-linz.ac.at

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

From: [email-masked] (Rene COUGNENC)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: Linux is very unstable
Date: 21 Sep 1993 19:51:18 GMT

Ce brave Hugo Eide Gunnarsen ecrit:

> I'm running linux-0.99.13 on my 80486DX50 16MB RAM 490MB IDE SMC ELITE
> SB16 ASP and MS160 cards.
> I used SLS 1.03.
> My problem is tat I can not get linux to run for more than 10h before
> it's craches.

You're not using linux 0.99 pl13, but probably one of the previous alpha
releases.

This is the real 0.99pl13 kernel, running since  I get it compiled, as 
soon as available (here in France...):

/home/rene $ uptime
  9:42pm  up 1 day, 20:30,  3 users,  load average: 0.08, 0.26, 0.23

No problem at all.

--
 linux linux linux linux linux linux linux linux linux linux linux linux 

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

From: [email-masked] (OVALLE NUNEZ CRISTIAN )
Subject: about the GCC package ..
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 02:02:58 GMT

hiya!

i intalled HJ root disk in my pc .. it's great!! 
i never believed it can be possible a unix boot in only 1 disk.

i only have a 100MB HD ... and have to spare it with DOS :(

so i'm trying to install all i need in the least disk space

i want c , c++ and X ... no net nor tex (have net and tex at university :)

i tried to download HJ gccdisks but couldn't find them :(
same for the libdisks ... what happens to them ???
are they being upgraded ?? or the site (well .. sites ... tried tsx and sunsite)
run out of disk space??

please tell me what can i do ... i think installing HJ disks and tinyX
are the best choice ... what do you think ??

i'm not a unix wizard , but i know (i think) very well unix ... 
well .. as a user at least :)

i tried to mail to H.J. , but the mail returned to me with a User unknown
error . isn't it [email-masked] ???

thanks in advance

Cristian

--
================================================================================

                              _____..---======~~~~~=======---.._____
 ______________________ __,-='=====____  ================ _____=====`=
(._____________________I__) - _-=_/    `--------=+=-------'
    /      /__...---===='---+---_'               *
   '------'---.___ -  _ =   _.-'                  *
                  `--------'         _______________________________
                                    /  Cristian Ovalle N.           \
Signature being attacked by        +   Universidad de Chile          +
SS Enterprise .....                 \  [email-masked] / 
No deaths still reported .           -------------------------------

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

From: [email-masked] (Eric J. Schwertfeger)
Subject: Re: Help! Floppyless Linux ?
Date: Tue, 21 Sep 93 21:21:44 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] writes:
>In article [email-masked], [email-masked] (Andrew R. Tefft) writes:
>>In article [email-masked], [email-masked] (Byron A Jeff) writes:
>>>In article <[email-masked]>, Alex Ramos
>>><[email-masked]> wrote:
>>
>>>>I have a 386 SX/16 with 80meg of disk space (in 2 disks), BUT only a
>>>>360K floppy, which I'd call "floppyless" for all practical purposes. Is
>>>>there any way I can install Linux on this machine? I have a modem and
>>>>access to SLIP lines at school, if that would be of any help.

Rather than argue the merits of spending more money, I'd like just
one reason why someone couldn't set up a special disk for this person
to use?  He'd need a root disk, and a way to boot the kernel, but I
see no reason that this can't be accomplished with existing tools.

Alex (If I read the attrib right), how much memory do you have?  This
is an important question, as linux requires either 1.5 or 2 Meg, I'm
not sure which.  Second, how much disk space can you give
to linux?  would you have any problems making a partition of, say 20
Meg, and having about 1 Meg of stuff on your dos partition at the same
time?

Be aware, this will not be easy, as none of the packages will install
from a 360K floppy, but I'm sure we can get you up.  Also let me know
if you have any unusual hardware.  Once we get you up, you can install
standard SLS stuff by copying it to your hard disk and installing it
from there.  It's just that first step that's difficult (actually,
only getting the root partition is hard, you can easily boot off a
360K floppy).

I realize I'm basically volunteering here to do a lot of work to
benifit very few people (how many 386 machines have 2 Meg of ram but
only a 360K floppy?), but I don't like "spend more money" answers when
someone wants to try something out.
-- 
Eric J. Schwertfeger, [email-masked]

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

** 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 0.99pl9 released on April 23, 1993

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