Subject: Linux-Admin Digest #54
From: Digestifier <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 94 18:13:38 EDT

Linux-Admin Digest #54, Volume #2                Mon, 12 Sep 94 18:13:38 EDT

Contents:
  Re: How do I test my mouse installation worked? (Pat McManus)
  Re: Doom HAS no pixel doubling (Nieuwpoort van RV)
  patching the kernel (Matthew S. Crocker)
  Bus Logic SCSI Problem (Marten Liebster)
  Re: DOMM 4 Linux /X is OUT !!! (Mark A. Davis)
  Re: DOMM 4 Linux /X is OUT !!! (Highlander)
  Re: patching the kernel (Ralph Sims)
  Re: Price/Performance of Overdrive versus Pentium (Peter Suetterlin)
  Re: A couple of Linux problems... (Greg Cisko)
  Re: Smallest Linux Distribution (Dirk Eddelbuettel)
  Re: fvwm startup problems (Bill McCarthy)
  Re: Slow curses - is there a better/faster curses? (Kai Petzke)
  How do I change my Configuration??? (Tony Schwartz)
  Re: mosaic for linux? ([email-masked])
  Putting Linux on 20 PC's at a Time (David Hawkins)

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

From: [email-masked] (Pat McManus)
Subject: Re: How do I test my mouse installation worked?
Date: 12 Sep 1994 12:24:34 GMT

last time on comp.os.linux.admin, [email-masked] said.. 
>I have installed the Slackware distribution of Linux 1.0.9.  The docs
>clearly state that the 'selection' utility may not work with a bus mouse.
>Fine.  I would like to verify that my mouse is installed correctly though.
>Are there any utilities that support the mouse?  I have not installed any
>xwindows stuff.  Is it possible to disable the program that that selection
>is having a conflict with?
>

slackware 2.0 comes with a mousetest utility if you installed the
svgalib stuff...

/usr/lib/svgalib/mousetest is the usual location..

-Pat

-- 
Patrick R. McManus                                Computer Science 1996
NYSERNet, Inc.          [email-masked]      [email-masked]
Check out the cunnin.res.wpi.edu gopher, web, and ftp servers.
My loyalty is to the truth and my ideals; not to expediency or tradition.

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

From: [email-masked] (Nieuwpoort van RV)
Subject: Re: Doom HAS no pixel doubling
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 12:51:53 GMT

[email-masked] (Bill C. Riemers) writes:
: >>>>> "Christopher" == Christopher Wiles <[email-masked]> writes:
loads of trash deleted...

:   2. Fvwm doesn't work properly with resized screens.
       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
       it does with me (et4000 driver)

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

From: [email-masked] (Matthew S. Crocker)
Subject: patching the kernel
Date: 12 Sep 1994 12:56:05 GMT

I know this is stupid but:

What is the command I use to patch the kernel?

I typed

cd /usr/src/
patch </tmp/patch##

everything seems to have worked (no .rej files, no errors)
but the source will not compile (says it can't find a file...)

Also,

 What command do I use to compiler GCC iPentium? I want to run some
benchmarks with the kernel compiled for a pentium :)

-Matt/2

--
-Matthew S Crocker               "The mask, given time, comes
[email-masked]              to be the face itself."  -anonymous
*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*OS/2*
 *linux*linux*linux*linux*linux*linux*linux*linux*linux*linux*linux*linux*

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

From: [email-masked] (Marten Liebster)
Subject: Bus Logic SCSI Problem
Date: 12 Sep 1994 09:56:16 -0400

I hope this is the right newgroup for this question, and 
if it isn't, please no flames - just let me know and I'll
take my business elsewhere (did I just create a new word?) 

First my system:
TI 486-40 motherboard with 2 VESA VL-Bus slots with 20MB 
ram.  Generic full height 5.25" 630MB scsi hard drive.
Linux v. 1.0.9 and XFree 2.1.1.

Before I got this motherboard I had a 386-DX 33 without 
the local bus, so I had an Adaptec ISA controller card 
with floppy controller on the card.  So, when I got my 
new board I just put the Adaptec in the VL-Bus slot.  
My friend who let me use his Adaptec needs it back, but 
said would let use a Bus Logic SCSI 2 VL-Bus card in my 
machine. 

He got himself a new card so he let me use his old Adaptec.
It worked fine for him, and Linux had no problems with it.

After replacing the card and rebooting, I get this error
message (It comes up right after the BogoMIPS message):

(Part of the message scrolls off the screen, so this is all
I can read)

MINI-fs: unable to read superblock
SCSI: disk request error: invalid device (0)
ll_rw_block: Trying to read nonexistant block-device
EXT2-fs: unable to read superblock
SCSI: disk request error: invalid device (0)
ll_rw_block: Trying to read nonexistant block-device
XIA-fs: unable to read superblock
SCSI: disk request error: invalid device (0)
ll_rw_block: Trying to read nonexistant block-device
MSDOS: bread failed
UMSDOS Alpha 0.3
SCSI: disk request error: invalid device (0)
ll_rw_block: Trying to read nonexistant block-device
MSDOS: bread failed
UMSDOS Alpha 0.3
SCSI: disk request error: invalid device (0)
ll_rw_block: Trying to read nonexistant block-device
isofs_read_superblock bread failed, dev 0x805 iso_blknum 16
SCSI: disk request error: invalid device (64)
VFS: wrong block-size on device 8/5
VFS: wrong block-size on device 8/5
VFS: wrong block-size on device 8/5
ll_rw_block: Trying to read nonexistant block-device
HPFS: map_sector: read error
Kernel panix: VFS: Unable to mount root 

and then it just hangs :(  Do I need to reformat the
hard drive with the Bus Logic card?  I am going to 
back it up to a QIC drive tonight, before I do anything.

Thanks for the help.  Sorry for the long post, but I wanted
to give as much info as possible.

Marten

-- 
========================================
Marten M. Liebster   Please no flames for spelling,
[email-masked]    I already know I can't spell!!

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

From: [email-masked] (Mark A. Davis)
Subject: Re: DOMM 4 Linux /X is OUT !!!
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 12:22:48 GMT

[email-masked] (Stephen Benson) writes:

> 
>In article <[email-masked]>, Mike Loseke ([email-masked]) writes:
>>In article <[email-masked]>,
>>Jason Aaron Fager <[email-masked]> wrote:
>>>Vianney Govers <[email-masked]> wrote:
>>>>Sebastian W. Bunka ([email-masked]) wrote:
>>>
>>>>: X-DOOM for Linux is OUT !!!!!!!!!
>>>
>>>Anybody got feedback on how much memory is required for "decent" play?
>>>(I.E., as fast as running it on DOS?)

>I too would like to hear how it compares to the DOS version in terms of speed
>etc... on the same machine (486/33, 8 MB, 1 MB local bus graphics in my case) 

OK- I have both MS-"DOS" and Linux DOOM.  My machine is a 486 33 DX with
16 MB of 0 wait X 32 RAM.  Adaptec 16 bit SCSI controller, Orchid
Pro Designer II ET-4000 16bit SVGA card, Sound Blaster Original, etc.

The game absolutely flies under MS-"DOS", I can't even tell how many
frames per second, but at least 6.

The game is completely unplayable under Linux, with a frame rate of 0.5
per second (the is the fastest in 640x480 X, in 1024x768 it is slower).

So, the "requirement" for local bus/accelerated video is no joke.....

-- 
  /--------------------------------------------------------------------------\
  | Mark A. Davis     | Lake Taylor Hospital | Norfolk,VA (804)-461-5001x431 |
  | Director/SysAdmin | Information Systems  |    [email-masked]       |
  \--------------------------------------------------------------------------/

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

From: [email-masked] (Highlander)
Subject: Re: DOMM 4 Linux /X is OUT !!!
Date: 12 Sep 1994 13:52:48 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
Mark A. Davis <[email-masked]> wrote:
>[previous n+1 levels of quoted material deleted for brevity] :)
>OK- I have both MS-"DOS" and Linux DOOM.  My machine is a 486 33 DX with
>16 MB of 0 wait X 32 RAM.  Adaptec 16 bit SCSI controller, Orchid
>Pro Designer II ET-4000 16bit SVGA card, Sound Blaster Original, etc.
>
>The game absolutely flies under MS-"DOS", I can't even tell how many
>frames per second, but at least 6.
>
>The game is completely unplayable under Linux, with a frame rate of 0.5
>per second (the is the fastest in 640x480 X, in 1024x768 it is slower).
>
>So, the "requirement" for local bus/accelerated video is no joke.....

Hmmm...  You should be getting better performance than that.  Are you
playing with or without sound in the Linux version?  (Then again, you should
also be getting more than 6 fps out of the DOS version...)

Without sound, the Linux and DOS version of Doom are almost identical
speed-wise on my home machine (486DX50, 16MB+32MB swap, FD 1680 SCSI +
separate IDE card for DOS, no-name OEM 90c30-based ISA video, and PAS-16).
I'd guess I get between 15 and 20 fps under Linux in 1024x768.  Play is
somewhat slower on my machine at work (486DX33, similar memory, IDE
disk only, S3-based VLB video, and no sound).  I haven't recompiled my
1.1.0 kernel with the 2.90-2 sound drivers, so I don't know how much
sound slows things down.

YMMV, of course.

        --Troy
+--------------------+------------------------------------------------+
|   Troy A. Baer     | "My soul is painted like wings of butterflies, |
| Senior, Aero. Engr.|  Fairy tales of yesterday, grow but never die, |
| DOS?!? Try Linux!! |  I can fly, my friends!"  --Brian May          |
+--------------------+------------------------------------------------+

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

From: [email-masked] (Ralph Sims)
Subject: Re: patching the kernel
Date: 12 Sep 1994 14:01:38 GMT

[email-masked] (Matthew S. Crocker) writes:

>What is the command I use to patch the kernel?

>I typed

>cd /usr/src/
>patch </tmp/patch##

As the updates suggest: patch -p0 <patch##

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

From: [email-masked] (Peter Suetterlin)
Subject: Re: Price/Performance of Overdrive versus Pentium
Date: 12 Sep 1994 13:34:56 GMT

Ben Eng ([email-masked]) wrote:

: I am currently running Linux with a 486DX33, and I am getting around
: a 16.7 bogomips rating.  I have the option of upgrading by simply
: plugging in a 486DX2/66 or an Overdrive processor into the
: motherboard to replace the CPU.  Is there a significant performance
: advantage of going with the Overdrive processor as compared to the
: 486DX2/66?  What are people's opinions on the price/performance ratios
: of these two alternatives?  Would it be more cost effective to simply
: go with a full upgrade to a PCI motherboard with a Pentium processor?

: Ben
: --
: e-mail: [email-masked] or [email-masked] (Ben Eng)
: UofT EngSci 9T2            ``We are all masochists here.''
: Home: (613)-567-9983       Work: (613)-567-4740

As far as I know^*, Overdrive is the same as a DX/2-66. The only
difference is that the Overdrive is ment for the normal user to replace
an old 486-CPU and therefor has a cooler fixed on the processor, whereas
the 'plain' DX/2 doesn't have this feature (here, the manufacturer has
to take care for enough cooling)
If you buy your own fan/cooler/icecap, getting the plain DX/2 should be
cheaper than the Overdrive. 

^*: I am *very* shure, as I have the overdrive in my Computer :^)

  Peter

==================   Peter 'PIT' Suetterlin   =================
|   Kiepenheuer Institut     |   Sternfreunde Breisgau e.V    |
|   fuer Sonnenphysik        |                                |
|   0761/3198-210            |   0761/71571                   |
-<[email-masked]>-<[email-masked]>--

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

From: [email-masked] (Greg Cisko)
Subject: Re: A couple of Linux problems...
Date: 12 Sep 1994 14:33:15 GMT
Reply-To: [email-masked]

In article [email-masked], [email-masked] (Kurt Schafer) writes:
 
> Also, when I boot from floppy (linux) there is a section where it says
> 'Calibrating Delay loop' 25.04 Bogomips...
> 
> When I boot from hard drive though, immediately after the Bogomips count I get
> a 'Failed' message on the next line...
> 
> What is failing ? ANd how can I fix it ?

You probably do not have the SAME kernel on the floppy, that you have on your HD.

> ..
> Thanks for any advice.
> 

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

From: [email-masked] (Dirk Eddelbuettel)
Subject: Re: Smallest Linux Distribution
Date: 12 Sep 1994 14:16:01 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
David Petrou <[email-masked]> wrote:
>     Hi.  I'm looking for the smallest linux distribution available to
>install on my computer.  I'm looking for the Bare Essentials only.  What I'm
>trying to do is get the kernel, /bin, cc and a few other essential tools
>on a file system so I can play around and install all major unix programs
>(like Xfree, GCC, Emacs, etc...) on my own to get a lot of experience with
>unix.  (Besides, it seems like a lot of fun and a good way to learn.)

Get the MCC distribution. Built at Manchester Computing Center for their Unix
and C classes, it fits on 8 HD disks containing all these essentials (kernel,
gcc, print stuff, tcp/ip networking, flex, gawk, gprof, kermit, emacs (!!), 
gdbm, ...). It is small, compact and reliable. Just great.

I used it in late April and have installed everything else on top of it 
at great ease. It comes with a superb Installation Manual (called 
"interim" in .dvi or postscript or ascii format.
You find everything at ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/distributions/MCC/1.0+/
The doc is in distributions/MCC/1.0+/documentation/

Regards,

-- 
Dirk Eddelbuettel                                   
<[email-masked]>                     

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

From: [email-masked] (Bill McCarthy)
Subject: Re: fvwm startup problems
Date: 12 Sep 1994 12:59:46 -0400

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Srini Seetharam) writes:
>I am trying to setup fvwm on my linux machine.
>I have looked through the man pages and tried modifying
>the xinitrc and the fvwmrc files.
>
>What I want it to do is start some programs such as an
>xterm and xbiff and a clock after I log into the
>X console.
>
>Is this possible with fvwm ? 
>I know twm can do this but I have had other problems trying
>to set it up. fvwm is great  but I need to figure out
>how to autostart some programs.
>

Here's an example of my .xinitrc - that's the file I use to start X and
load xprogs auto:

fvwm &
xearth &
xld &  - a bin file that loads xload and sets fn/bg colors and geometry
xclk & - ditto for xclock
exec xterm -C name console -fn 9x15bold -fg blue

This is from memory, but pretty much does it. For an xterm you can create 
a bin file that calls the xterm, sets the colors and geometry and then call
the file in the .xinitrc. Hope this helps.

Bill McCarthy
[email-masked]

"Isn't it pretty to think so."
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT\__Jake Barnes___________________________
LinuX + i486dx2/66 
usual disclaimer 

   

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

From: [email-masked] (Kai Petzke)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.development,comp.os.linux.help,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: Slow curses - is there a better/faster curses?
Date: 12 Sep 94 15:09:09 GMT

[email-masked] (James Deibele) writes:

>Console output under Linux was very quick and I'm sure X performance is
>pretty good.  But curses performance is a little sluggish and adding
>lines near the bottom of the screen is a real killer - curses seems to
>clear the screen with blank lines <then> adds the new text.

What do you mean?  Elvis performance under X or elvis performance on
console or curses performance under X/console?

Elvis does not use curses, it has its own terminal interface.  This is
*very* fast on Linux the console.  However, in an X-Term, scrolling is
very slow when you do not have accelerated video, and that affects the
insertion and deletion of lines with elvis.

Kai
-- 
Kai Petzke                      | How fast can computers get?
Technical University of Berlin  |
Berlin, Germany                 | Sol 9, of course, on Star Trek.
[email-masked]   |

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

From: [email-masked] (Tony Schwartz)
Subject: How do I change my Configuration???
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 1994 21:15:53

This is a rookie question so be thus advised:

I have been using Linux for 4 days now and am impressed.  However, I can only 
get my system to recognize my CDROM (Mitsumi) when I boot off floppy.  I did 
the entire installation and have ran the configure option that is in the setup 
program.

Is there someplace that I need to move a file or something???  Please help...  

Second problem:

I cant get the X windows stuff to work.  When I use any of several Xconfig 
files that are set up for my exact hardware, I get an error saying something 
about No Graphics Device Defined (Something like that).

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Tony Schwartz
Portland, OR

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

From: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: mosaic for linux?
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 13:26:21 -0400

[email-masked] (Jacek A. Ponarski) writes:
> Hi, 
> Is there a mosaic version for linux.  Or maybe some other w3 client.  

In the doc directory of the Linux archive sites (sunsite.unc.edu:
/pub/Linux/doc), there is a great text file called linux software map
(lsm-05jun94 latest). You don't even have to use an editor to find the
information you are looking for (and more):

Location1:     sunsite.unc.edu: /pub/Linux/system/Network/info-systems/mosaic-2.0.tar.z (700000)
               <A HREF="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/Network/info-systems/mosaic-2.0.tar.z">Location1</A>

There you go! I currently am using the term aware version. IT IS
GREAT!!!!!!

-Bruce
[email-masked]

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

From: [email-masked] (David Hawkins)
Subject: Putting Linux on 20 PC's at a Time
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 17:18:39 GMT

I have 5 classrooms with 20 PC's in each classroom. (Different
make/model/everything in each classrooom. No CD-ROM drives).
We plan on teaching on DOS one week, Linux the next, going back at
forth on a weekly basis. So we need to rebuild on a weekly basis.
Some of the classrooms have a Novell sever, others are Windows NT,
and the new ones coming up will have Windows for Workgroups. 
Rebuilding DOS is not my problem, Linux is. 

What I had planned for the initial install of Linux was
Step 1: boot from  the scsinet and umsdos144 disks
Step 2: fdisk 
Step 3: run a modified 'setup' script with my answers already in there
        [since setup is a shell script I can modify it]
Step 3: mount a partition from a UNIX box (HP or Sun)
Step 4: un'tar dumps made to the UNIX partition

A similar process could be used to rebuild the Linux stuff after the
class. (Classes are in System Adminstration so a rebuild is
necessary).

I'm open to ideas on how to do the initial install better, but with
the above scheme my first problem is with  Step 2: fdisk
fdisk is menu driven, which would be a pain to do 20 times in
a row, especialy since I'll be doing the same partitions each time.

later, david
--
David Hawkins    [email-masked]
"It's not the world that's got so much worse but the news coverage
that's got so much better." -- G. K. Chesterton

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

** 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.admin) 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
    sunsite.unc.edu				pub/Linux

End of Linux-Admin Digest
******************************