Subject: Linux-Misc Digest #745
From: Digestifier <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 94 13:13:23 EDT

Linux-Misc Digest #745, Volume #2                Mon, 12 Sep 94 13:13:23 EDT

Contents:
  POSIX threads for Linux :Wanted (Umesh Soni)
  Re: DOOM, X, Linux, 320x200 video mode ?? (Richard Ward)
  Re: DOOM linux with TERM (Alan Cox)
  Re: Installing a new kernel on the Slackware Boot disk! (Olav Kvittem)
  Re: Linux DOOM is very impressive! (Mark A. Davis)
  Re: Horrific bug in DOOM! (Mark A. Davis)
  Re: DOOM, X, Linux, 320x200 video mode ?? (Mark A. Davis)
  Re: doom ??? (Mark A. Davis)
  Re: Linux DOOM for X released (Mark A. Davis)
  Re: Linux DOOM is very impressive! (Jim Sun)
  Ygg Fall Release Problems ([email-masked])
  Yggdrasil FTP site ([email-masked])
  Can't Run Doom!! (Nicholas J. Leon)
  Re: Smallest Linux Distribution (Larry Doolittle)
  Re: Linux DOOM for X released (Jim Sun)
  Re: DOOM and Linux (Corey Brenner)

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

From: [email-masked] (Umesh Soni)
Subject: POSIX threads for Linux :Wanted
Date: 12 Sep 94 12:06:29 GMT

Hi all,

I am considering installing Linux on my PC at home and have had no prior 
experience with it.  A major factor in deciding to go ahead, would be the 
availibility of an implementation of POSIX threads for Linux.

Can someone can point me in the direction of a site that contains POSIX threads
for Linux so that I can investigate further?

Thanks in advance.

====================================================================
Umesh Soni
Dept. of Computer Science
University College London       tel. : +44-71-387 7050 ext.3701
Gower Street                    fax  : +44-71-387 1397
London WC1E 6BT                 email: [email-masked]
====================================================================

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

Crossposted-To: alt.games.doom
From: [email-masked] (Richard Ward)
Subject: Re: DOOM, X, Linux, 320x200 video mode ??
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 07:34:47 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (David Nagy) writes:
>  Jeez, everybody should get a clue...  All this doubletalk about 
>electron drift when it's OBVIOUS that the problem is that his speakers 
>are too far away from his head... The speed of sound, remember?  And you 
>guys are worried about the speed of electrons, sheesh. <g>
>  I'm sure if he used headphones the problem would disappear. (As long as 
>he didn't use one of those curly headphone cord extenders....)
>
>                                               Dave Nagy

Let's not forget that large headed people will hear a definite lag due to the 
extra length of their auditory system.  You wouldn't believe how long it can 
take sound to get through the ears of extremely large headed people!  Even  
normal headed people with large ears are having SFX lag time problems.  Why, 
Ross Perot gave up DOOM because it took a week for the sounds to find their 
through his ears.

Richard

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

Crossposted-To: alt.games.doom,comp.os.linux.help
From: [email-masked] (Alan Cox)
Subject: Re: DOOM linux with TERM
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 12:07:28 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Mark Rejhon) writes:
>TIA is a program that you run on the remote shell account to emulate a
>SLIP / PPP server.  You simply run your Linux/unix/DOS/Windows SLIP/PPP
>software on your local end.
>It supports TCP and UDP (not ICMP).  I hear that Linux DOOM uses only
>TCP and/or UDP so it should work with TIA.  You can have a free
>trial of TIA.  Get documents from FTP or WWW at marketplace.com ....

Why not just use TERM which is free.

Alan

-- 
  ..-----------,,----------------------------,,----------------------------,,
 // Alan Cox  //  [email-masked]   //  GW4PTS@GB7SWN.#45.GBR.EU  //
 ``----------'`----------------------------'`----------------------------''

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

From: [email-masked] (Olav Kvittem)
Subject: Re: Installing a new kernel on the Slackware Boot disk!
Date: 12 Sep 1994 13:43:34 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Olav Kvittem) writes:

   From: [email-masked] (Robert Kroes)
   ...
      I would like to know how I can create a Slackware boot disk (the one used
      to install Linux from scratch) and install a kernel of my choice...

      Why? So I can make use of an alpha network driver to perform an NFS install
      and save copying 100+ MB of Slackware 2.0 on to floppies :-)

      I've formatted a diskette with "fdformat", 
      added my kernel with "dd if=/zImage of=/dev/fd0", 
      created a ramdisk with "rdev -r /dev/fd0 1440", 
      and changed the root file system with "rdev /dev/fd0 /dev/ram" (I think :-)

      The bit I can't work out is how to tweak it so it asks for the ROOT disk, 
      and copies that filesystem to the ramdisk, after the kernel has loaded...

   Done the same thing execept that I did  "rdev /dev/fd0 /dev/fd0".
   After boot the system ask for the  root diskette, but when I insert it
   I get errormessages like 'IO-error on /dev/fd0' and 'could not read
   masterblock'. 

It turned out that just using the available 'make zdisk' for the
kernel did the job of adjusting the kernel to handle the floppy root.
remember to adjust the ROOT_DEV in the Makefile or manually run the
commands. (Thanks to Per Arne Moi).

I am however still not able to make the kernel load the ramdisk from
the root-disk :

I did 'rdev -r /dev/fd0 1440'.

Olav

--
   Olav Kvittem : UNINETT A/S
      RFC Address     [email-masked]
      OR Address      C=no;ADMD=" ";PRMD=uninett; O=uninett;S=Kvittem;G=Olav
      Postal Address  Box 6883 N-7002 Trondheim
      Phone           +47-7-596981 +47-7-596450(FAX)
      Description     Network Manager
   "Networking needs neat working - Nettverk er nette verk !"

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

From: [email-masked] (Mark A. Davis)
Subject: Re: Linux DOOM is very impressive!
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 12:30:03 GMT

[email-masked] (Rene Baart) writes:

>I just ran DOOM on my 386/40 with a cheap (ISA) Cirrus VGA card.
>I expected horrible performance, but it's only
>a little bit jumpy, like a DOS game over a slow modem line.
>DOOM runs just as it would under DOS, only now in an
>X-window. Due to the small window size, the image is even somewhat
>sharper now. 

>All in all, this is something no Linux/X user should be without.
>Even without high-end equipment, you really should see this!

I beg to differ- it flies under MS-"DOS" here on a 486 33 DX with an ISA
16 bit Orchid Prodesiger II ET4000, 16MB RAM.  Under Linux it crawls at
about 1 frame every two seconds.  I don't think the requirement for
faster video cards is a joke.
-- 
  /--------------------------------------------------------------------------\
  | Mark A. Davis     | Lake Taylor Hospital | Norfolk,VA (804)-461-5001x431 |
  | Director/SysAdmin | Information Systems  |    [email-masked]       |
  \--------------------------------------------------------------------------/

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

From: [email-masked] (Mark A. Davis)
Subject: Re: Horrific bug in DOOM!
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 12:31:53 GMT

[email-masked] (Bill West) writes:

>Steven Pritchard ([email-masked]) wrote:
>: [email-masked] (Mark Stockton) writes:

>: >Seems that when exiting the Linux version, you are prompted to
>: >"...quit to DOS?".  What a blood curdling thought!  Isn't it time
>: >we put a rating system in place for these shareware games?

>It could have been worse, you could have actually exited to MSDOG!!!!

Linux is DOS.   DOS stands only for "Disk Operating System".  Most all
operating systems are DOSes.  It did not read MS-"DOS", which is a 
different story all together.....
-- 
  /--------------------------------------------------------------------------\
  | Mark A. Davis     | Lake Taylor Hospital | Norfolk,VA (804)-461-5001x431 |
  | Director/SysAdmin | Information Systems  |    [email-masked]       |
  \--------------------------------------------------------------------------/

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

From: [email-masked] (Mark A. Davis)
Subject: Re: DOOM, X, Linux, 320x200 video mode ??
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 12:38:14 GMT

[email-masked] (Stuart C Spivack) writes:

>       I really hope that you are kidding. I'd hate to think that our
>fine educational system is producing people so stupid that they can't
>recognize HUMOR.  I thought that the "Get shorter cables" comment was
>actually amusing.

Yeah, really.....   I thought it was cute too....

>       In any case, I'd have to check my physics book for exact
>numbers, but I've got a grasp on the general theory.  First, it
>doesn't really matter how fast the electrons are moving "along the
>cable."  What matters is the speed of the electic field.  It does move
>pretty darn close to C.  Second, while the electrons are jittering
>back and forth and bumping into one another, they do make progress in
>the direction of the electric field.  The rate, electron drift speed?,
>is much slower than C - in fact muhc slower than .1 C.

>Gee, I hope I'm right.

Yep.  Only one modification, the electrons only generally make progress
moving in one direction if the current is DC; if it is AC, they don't 
make all that much progress before being shoved the other way :)

Modifying the length of the cable will have an effect, although unnoticable.
Thickening the cable will reduce resistance, but not effect speed.

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

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

From: [email-masked] (Mark A. Davis)
Subject: Re: doom ???
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 12:40:47 GMT

[email-masked] writes:

>In article <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]> writes:

>> I got doom for linux..........
>> comment:  I have noticed that it does run better in twm and better still
>> in olwm than it does in fvwm.  This is unfortunate since I prefer fvwm.

>Sounds like it would run best with no window manager at all (or any other 
>signifigantly large processes)... might be worth building a custom 'startx' 
>just for Doom.

The window manager SHOULD not make any difference as long as you are not
moving/resising the window or moving the cursor.... etc.

The only thing it SHOULD effect is memory usage.  (Note the SHOULD's).
-- 
  /--------------------------------------------------------------------------\
  | Mark A. Davis     | Lake Taylor Hospital | Norfolk,VA (804)-461-5001x431 |
  | Director/SysAdmin | Information Systems  |    [email-masked]       |
  \--------------------------------------------------------------------------/

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

From: [email-masked] (Mark A. Davis)
Subject: Re: Linux DOOM for X released
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 12:47:58 GMT

[email-masked] (Michael Peek) writes:

>David Taylor ([email-masked]) wrote:
>: DOOM v1.666 for Linux using X is available at:

>I wonder: If this is a specific Linux port, and no other ports are in the
>works, it seems to me that the program would pick up a lot of speed if it
>used the SVGALIB routines.  It sure would be easier to see!

But X is the real world of Unix.  No other X86 Unix uses "SVGALIB"....
And since is is X, it can be run remotely, client/server, standalone,
over modem, on Xterminals, with other applications on the screen, etc.

Although, more options are better than fewer.  Since the X version is a
reality, I would see nothing wrong with a SVGALIB version too (I opposed
it at first, since I thought that the SVGALIB version would reduce or
eliminate the need for an X version).
-- 
  /--------------------------------------------------------------------------\
  | Mark A. Davis     | Lake Taylor Hospital | Norfolk,VA (804)-461-5001x431 |
  | Director/SysAdmin | Information Systems  |    [email-masked]       |
  \--------------------------------------------------------------------------/

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

From: [email-masked] (Jim Sun)
Subject: Re: Linux DOOM is very impressive!
Date: 12 Sep 1994 16:13:25 GMT

[email-masked] (Mark A. Davis)
>[email-masked] (Rene Baart) writes:
>>I just ran DOOM on my 386/40 with a cheap (ISA) Cirrus VGA card.
>>I expected horrible performance, but it's only
>>a little bit jumpy, like a DOS game over a slow modem line.
>>DOOM runs just as it would under DOS, only now in an
>>X-window. Due to the small window size, the image is even somewhat
>>sharper now. 

>>All in all, this is something no Linux/X user should be without.
>>Even without high-end equipment, you really should see this!

>I beg to differ- it flies under MS-"DOS" here on a 486 33 DX with an ISA
>16 bit Orchid Prodesiger II ET4000, 16MB RAM.  Under Linux it crawls at
>about 1 frame every two seconds.  I don't think the requirement for
>faster video cards is a joke.

I hope Rene (the first poster) meant a tongue-in-cheek joke.  I can't imagine
what 386-40 running linuxxdoom is like.  My current 486-25/75 with 16Mhz ISA 
(Stealth24) runs the dos version of doom about three times as fast my
old 386-40 using the same card (on 10MHz ISA).  Running linuxxdoom with the
486-75, I can get smooth motion only at third smallest (yeah, now we are counting
from innermost out, instead of from full-screen and inward) screen setting;
even that's not what I'd call snappy either.  Though I have setup 320x240
Xserver resolution, I probably won't spend much time there.  I can only
hope that things will be slightly better when I get the 864-based vlb card
to work with Xf86.  But I think the long term solution probably lies with some
kind of graphics accelearation (filled polygon and etc, too bad X doesn't
specify shaded polygon); dumping pixmaps on Xserver probably 
is not the way for X-based games.

I'm not ranting against the port;  it was an admirable effort.  Maybe I'm just
spoiled by doom on Indigo.

Jim

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

Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Ygg Fall Release Problems
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 13:51:08 GMT

I purchase the Yggdrasill Fall release yesterday and can't get it to install 
corectly or for that matter it will not even run from the CD.  It boots fine 
but when you do an ls at root there are no directories.  The install seems to 
go extremely fast less than 5 min.  As it is installing files it only copys a 
few things to a /home DIR and the /DEV dir. It also creates and copys files to 
a dir called SBIN.  Butt once I login as root there are a few file there and no 
directories at all either on the HD or CD.

I do see some sort of error fly by as it boots, somthing about UNTMP, Also it 
keeps reseting the CMOS clock and then its done.  I do not see it initialize 
any daemons like in the previous release.

I am not using a swap partition or home partition.  I have 32megs of ram and a 
dedicated 420mb HD for linux.  I'm using OS2's boot manager and have set the 
partition to type 83.

I tend to think that it must not like something on my system due to the fact 
that I can boot from the disk and run it from the CD and get the exact same 
results.  Yggdrasil if your out there...  HELP...

Eric

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

Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Yggdrasil FTP site
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 14:29:48 GMT

Is there a problem with the ftp site at Yggdrasil, I keep getting an unknown 
host from ftp.yggdrasil.com?

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

From: [email-masked] (Nicholas J. Leon)
Subject: Can't Run Doom!!
Date: 12 Sep 1994 13:59:29 GMT

When I try to run Doom on my Linux box I get the following error
after I choose which scenerio I want to play:

U_GetNumForName: SSTMINUS not found

and then proceeds to exit.

Does anyone know what I can do about this?

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

From: [email-masked] (Larry Doolittle)
Subject: Re: Smallest Linux Distribution
Reply-To: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 13:31:59 GMT

David Petrou ([email-masked]) wrote:
: [ Article crossposted from comp.os.linux.admin ]
: [ Author was David Petrou ]
: [ Posted on 12 Sep 1994 09:09:07 GMT ]

:      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.)

:      Does such a distribution exist?  If not, how would I go about doing the
: above?  It seems that I would need some time of boot disk to put a filesystem
: on my HD and to copy over a kernel and stuff like /bin.  I'm pretty clueless
: on where I would ftp, say /bin or linux cc (or is there only a linux gcc?) so
: I'd appreciate any pointers.

: Thanks,
: David Petrou
: [email-masked]

Personally, I would suggest getting the Slackware "a" series and using
that as a base.  No, It doesn't have gcc, emacs, XFree, but you can add
those independently.  The "a" series does a lot of things right that
are a little hard to clean up, or realize are wrong, until after it's
too late.  You would pick up five disk images:  boot, root, a1, a2, a3.
You have to know vi to work with these, until you find and load the
editor of your choice.  If you are on the net, I guess you would then
add the net series - three more floppies worth - so you can bootstrap
yourself from the new installation.

When you go looking for programs, all the gnu software is on prep.ai.mit.edu
and many mirrors - ftp.cdrom.com is a good one for me, YMWV.  Unless you
are compulsive about this stuff, you are better off cruising sunsite.unc.edu
or tsx-11.mit.edu (or mirrors) for _binaries_ of several key packages:
libc, gcc, XFree.  Once you have this (or the Slackware "d" development
series) as a base, you can get and build applications from _sources_.
This can be educational and productive.  Finally, there are some key
_packages_ (source and binary) available specific to Linux - e2fs progs,
util-linux, network utilities, etc.  Get the README's and have fun!

     - Larry Doolittle    [email-masked]

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

From: [email-masked] (Jim Sun)
Subject: Re: Linux DOOM for X released
Date: 12 Sep 1994 16:35:29 GMT

[email-masked] (Mark A. Davis) wrote:

>[email-masked] (Michael Peek) writes:

>>David Taylor ([email-masked]) wrote:
>>: DOOM v1.666 for Linux using X is available at:

>>I wonder: If this is a specific Linux port, and no other ports are in the
>>works, it seems to me that the program would pick up a lot of speed if it
>>used the SVGALIB routines.  It sure would be easier to see!

>But X is the real world of Unix.  No other X86 Unix uses "SVGALIB"....
>And since is is X, it can be run remotely, client/server, standalone,
>over modem, on Xterminals, with other applications on the screen, etc.

Concur.  In fact, I found it faster to run linuxxdoom as remote xclient
on a DX2-66 and display on my 486-25/75 than run it directly on my machine;
even faster if the client/server relation is reversed;  probably due to
that the DX2-66 has vlb graphics, mine only ISA albeit at 16MHz (no renewed
discussion on risks of overclocking ISA please).  BTW, when running the xclient
on the 486-25/75 (regardless of where the xserver is), I get better 
results by reducing physical memory from 24meg to 16meg; of course, I put
the 8meg back in immediately after the experimentation, no desire to 
reduce memory just to make linuxxdoom faster.

Jim

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

Crossposted-To: alt.games.doom
From: [email-masked] (Corey Brenner)
Subject: Re: DOOM and Linux
Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 14:07:28 GMT

Andreas Matthias ([email-masked]) wrote:
: Larry Mulcahy ([email-masked]) wrote:

: : : This was just updated and linux doom is out. If you don't have
: : : a Pentium though I wouldn't bother wasting the ftp time. Even
: : : in the smallest window size it ran like a dog on our 486/66
: : : with 16M of RAM. T

: : I just tried it today on my 486/40 and performance was quite
: : acceptable.  

: It is even fine on a 386/40 with 8MB, if the image details are
: set to LOW in the OPTIONS menu. As the screen resolution I used
: a homemade 320x200 with the SVGA XFree server on an ISA ET4000.

: I suggest "wasting" the ftp time, even if you don't have a
: pentium ;-)

: Ciao,

: Andreas

: --
: Andreas Matthias <[email-masked]>

: Zehntenstr.9 
: D-37120 Bovenden

: Voice: +49/551/81377

please post your Xconfig for that resolution!  :)

Thanks,

        Corey Brenner

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

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End of Linux-Misc Digest
******************************