HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: drew@kinglear.cs.colorado.edu (Drew Eckhardt)
Subject: Re: Can you access a virtual console directly?
Organization: University of Colorado at Boulder
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 17:49:31 GMT

In article <1992Sep14.164729.28907@mits.mdata.fi> kennu@mits.mdata.fi (Kenneth Falck) writes:
>Can you access a linux virtual console directly, something like what
>you usually do with MSDOS when writing characters and attributes to 
>B800:xxxx?

Maybe, but you shouldn't.

>I think it might be useful for writing a terminal program that would
>be a bit more sophisticated than kermit or XComm. It feels a bit
>dumb to use termcap-codes to handle the local output, if you know
>you'll be using this terminal from the virtual consoles only.


There are MGR drivers for Hercules, EGA/VGA, and Trident SVGA boards.
There are free Xservers for the Tseng, Paradise PVG1, Genoa GVGA, 
ATI boards, 8514/A, and EGA/VGA using the MFB code (Albeit some
are in alpha or beta form).  Chances are that you may end up 
running some windowing system with some terminal emulator on 
your system.  Of course, your program won't work with any of these.

You can pick up dumb terminals VERY cheap.  Some places even give 
them away. Of course, your program won't work with any of these.

If you use termcap or curses, your program will run on dec VT100's,
under the xterm client, under a MGR window, and even that Fubar4000 
terminal that you picked up at the local ham/computer swap for $5.  
It will also run on most other machines with the same curses library (ie SYSV 
or Beserkly).

>I thought I might ask for advice, since if I succeed in writing a 
>terminal program, I don't want it to break with the next kernel
>release because of using some odd non-fixed memory address or 
>something...

If you want to write to the buffer directly, you'll have to write
/dev/kmem, using the addresses specified in the kernel NLIST. This is 
non-portable, and there are no gurantees that the internal structures 
won't change in the next release.


-- 
Microsoft is responsible for propogating the evils it calls DOS and Windows, 
IBM for AIX (appropriately called Aches by those having to administer it), but 
marketing's sins don't come close to those of legal departments.
Boycott AT&T for their absurd anti-BSDI lawsuit.
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
From: evansmp@uhura.aston.ac.uk (Mark Evans)
Subject: Re: Can you access a virtual console directly?
Organization: Aston University
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 17:48:08 GMT

kennu@mits.mdata.fi (Kenneth Falck) writes:
: Can you access a linux virtual console directly, something like what
: you usually do with MSDOS when writing characters and attributes to 
: B800:xxxx?
: 
: I think it might be useful for writing a terminal program that would
: be a bit more sophisticated than kermit or XComm. It feels a bit
: dumb to use termcap-codes to handle the local output, if you know
: you'll be using this terminal from the virtual consoles only.
: 
: I thought I might ask for advice, since if I succeed in writing a 
: terminal program, I don't want it to break with the next kernel
: release because of using some odd non-fixed memory address or 
: something...

One small point you will need to have this running setuid root.

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Evans                                   |evansmp@uhura.aston.ac.uk
+(44) 21 565 1979 (Home)                     |evansmp@cs.aston.ac.uk
+(44) 21 359 6531 x4039 (Office)             |
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
From: greg@carnivore.tamu.edu (Greg Economides)
Subject: Kermit escape and mkfs/mkswap source
Organization: Center for Biosystems Modelling, Texas A&M University
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 16:13:43 GMT


I have two questions:

1) I have kermit5A installed (from tsx-11), booting 0.97.1.  I have been
able to get kermit to use the modem on /dev/ttys4 just fine, but I cannot
escape back to the local kermit prompt.  I have tried setting the escape
character to several different characters with no improvement in the
situation.  I did find that I could send the kermit process a SIGTERM
from another VC and I would get the local kermit prompt back -- then
I found that I could not download files (EG: put the remote kermit process
in server mode, escape to local and do a "get file.name").  When I did
a "get" I got a little garbage on the screen and that's all.  Same results
for "finish" and "bye".

Any hints??


2) I am trying to find the source for mkfs and mkswap to hack on them a
bit.  After searching tsx-11 and nic.funet.fi I have come up empty.  Will
someone please point me in the right direction?

Peace,
--
Greg Economides,   Systems Administrator, Center for Biosystems Modelling
Texas A&M University
Internet: econ@tamu.edu
Fuzzy logic -- "Everything is not always something"
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
From: jem@vipunen.hut.fi (Johan Myreen)
Subject: Re: Major/Minor numbers
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
	<1992Sep12.013448.13445@muddcs.claremont.edu>
Date: 12 Sep 92 17:52:02


>>mouse	10, 0 c		bus mouse
>>psaux	10, 1 c		ps/2 mouse
>
>Actually, the last draft of the device-naming standard I saw from the
>Linux Standards list had /dev/bm = 10,0.  I think this should be
>updated to:
>
>bm-l	10, 0 c		logitech bus mouse
>bm-p	10, 1 c		ps/2 mouse
>bm-m	10, 2 c		microsoft bus mouse

If I have understood the meaning of the words "bus mouse" correctly,
they stand for a type of mouse which connects to the computer via an
expansion board, which you plug into a bus slot.

A PS/2 mouse is *not* a bus mouse, you connect it into a connector
which goes to the "Keyboard/Auxiliary Device Controller". This is the
name IBM's Technical Reference uses, and that's why I called the
device /dev/psaux. The interface is specifically meant for pointing
devices, but is not restricted to mice, which is why they don't call
it a mouse port. It is mechanically and electrically similar to the
keyboard interface, and they share input and output registers in the
keyboard controller.

This kind of interface was introduced with IBM's PS/2 line of
computers, so you won't find it on an AT. But it is quite popular on
newer non-MCA machines too, and not only on machines made by IBM.

Conclusion: I don't think the PS/2 mouse should be called bm-p.
However, I am open to new suggestions if 'psaux' isn't ok. How about
'psmouse' or 'psm'? Personally, I don't like 'ps2mouse' or 'ps2m',
because they look stupid with that digit in the middle.

It would also be more logical if the similar Microsoft and Logitech
bus mice would be grouped together as 0 and 1, and the PS/2 mouse
would use minor number 2. But it is perhaps too late to change that?

--
Johan Myreen
jem@cs.hut.fi
From: jwinstea@fenris.claremont.edu (Jim Winstead Jr.)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
Subject: Re: Two suggestions .. comments welcome, please!
Date: 9 Sep 92 20:03:50 GMT
Organization: Harvey Mudd College, WIBSTR

In article <1992Sep9.135155.21141@crd.ge.com> davidsen@crd.ge.com (bill davidsen) writes:
>In article <1992Sep9.050138.3606@utdallas.edu>, yuanyin@utdallas.edu (Yuan-Yin Wu) writes:
>
>| How about a program to 'edit' (alter) the boot image to suit you?
>| I'm uploading such a program to SunSite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/Incoming, 
>| called chbootdev.tar.Z. You exec it in linux and will get what you want.
>| Note that it does NOT edit the floppy, but the bootimage itself.
>| There's a README in the file for a bit more detail. 
>
>  Or you could use the BPE (binary patch editor) program which works
>nicely, thanks. The source was uploaded to tsx-11 and banjo (yes that
>long ago) and the DOS binary is on most of the DOS arcives (I posted it
>several years ago to cbip).

And, as a reminder, there already exists a Linux solution on most (if
not all) Linux installations.  The program is called setroot on the
latest root images by me, and was formerly called rootdev.  It's
called 'rdev' on the MCC release.

Under DOS, as I said before, there are plenty of free binary editors
out there.

setroot will edit any image, whether it is stored on disk or sitting
there as a file.  You could even mount your DOS partition and run
setroot on an image there....
-- 
                                    +      Jim Winstead Jr. (CSci '95)
                                    |      Harvey Mudd College, WIBSTR
                                    |   jwinstea@jarthur.Claremont.EDU
                                    + or jwinstea@fenris.Claremont.EDU
From: alsaggaf@athena.mit.edu (M. Saggaf)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
Subject: xspread1.1L2 (X-based Spreadsheet) Uploaded
Date: 14 Sep 92 08:38:28 GMT
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

I uploaded xspread1.1L2 (an X-based Spreadsheet) to sunsite and tsx-11. 
You can access it right now at pub/Linux/X11/Incoming at sunsite (will
be moved to an appropriate location later). You need the new jump libc
4.1 to use it. Here is some more info:

This is xspread1.1L2, a spreadsheet program for X-Windows based on the
text-based sc. It has many graphics types and is menu-driven. The best
[free] Unix spreadsheet yet. This version [L2] is linked with the jump
libs of libc (4.1) and libm (4.0) (but the static X libs since the shared X
libs do not mix with shared/jump libs of gcc2.2.2d+) so it's smaller than
the previous version [L1]. Version L3 will be linked with the shared X libs
when x11v2.0 is released.

If you have a math coproceesor, version L1 may not have worked for you. I think
this one will work just fine. I'm interested in any feedback. Of course, you
have to have the new jump libs that H. Lu  just released.  The original sources
of xspread can be found by archie.  

To install, just untar in /usr.

/M. Saggaf
alsaggaf@athena.mit.edu

--
--
/M. Saggaf
 alsaggaf@athena.mit.edu
From: gt5584e@prism.gatech.EDU (Edward Deering Boykin)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
Subject: NFS
Date: 15 Sep 92 21:05:31 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

Is nfs available for linux? Is someone working on it. I understand I need
this for a proper peer-to-peer lan.

Edward D. Boykin                    Maximus Maximizer Ultimate        \  /|
gt5584e@prism.gatech.edu            Georgia Institute of Technology   'o.O`
                                                                     =(___)=
                                                                        U
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
From: drew@ophelia.cs.colorado.edu (Drew Eckhardt)
Subject: Re: WD 7000 FASST SCSI ADAPTER
Organization: University of Colorado at Boulder
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 06:21:47 GMT

In article <1992Sep11.184422.3286@udel.edu> golden@pineapple.cns.udel.edu (Edward Golden) writes:
>
>   Hi!  I'm new to Linux, and am struggling to make Linux work on my 386SX.
>I have a WD7000 FASST scsi controller, and understand that linux is supposed
>to support it.  I'm not having any luck making it work.
>
>   I've tried both the 0.97 and the SLS release from tsx-11.mit.edu.  Linux
>boots successfully from floppy disk, but is unable to find my hard drive.  It
>boots with 0 host adapters, 0 scsi drives, and 0 tapes found.  Fdisk also 
>does not work, failing with "unable to read /dev/hda2".  This shouldn't happen,
>right? 

Not finding the host adapter shouldn't happen.  Being unable to read /dev/hda2
should happen, since the SCSI devices are separate from the "normal" disk
devices. 

>   I've discovered a WD-7000 patch on tsx-11, but cannot figure out how to
>apply it:  I can't get anything on the drive to patch.  I don't think I
>need to apply it against 0.97 anyway...

.97 incorporates the latest publically available SCSI code.

>   I wish to put linux in a 3rd, 60Mb partition on my hard drive (the first
>two partitions belonging to DOS).  I've attempted loading Linux on the drive
>when partitioned with the SSTSETUP utility and with MsDos's FDISK (when all
>the SST partitions have been deleted).  
>
>   I've hit a dead-end, and am becoming frustrated.  Any help would be
>GREATLY appreciated.  

Some of the SCSI drivers, including the WD7000 driver, check for a BIOS 
signature to handle autoconfiguration.  Your card MUST have BIOS enabled, 
at address 0xce0000 for the Western Digital board to be detected.  

-- 
Microsoft is responsible for propogating the evils it calls DOS and Windows, 
IBM for AIX (appropriately called Aches by those having to administer it), but 
marketing's sins don't come close to those of legal departments.
Boycott AT&T for their absurd anti-BSDI lawsuit.
From: moyerg@rigel.cs.pdx.edu (gary a moyer)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
Subject: HD timeouts -- Linux or my hardware?
Date: 12 Sep 92 03:34:00 GMT

Over about the past week I've begun to notice an alarming amount of
HD timeouts on my system.  To be more specific:
HD-controller reset
HD: read_intr: status = 0x3b
HD: read_intr: error = 0x04

I have an IDE drive and recently (month or so) installed the .97 version
of the kernel (pl1).  I seem to recall a post from Linus saying that
this was a kernel problem associated with earlier versions of the 
.97 release.  Is this true?

Oh yeah, my hardware:
386sx-25, 4M RAM, 2M swap
40M Western Digital HD (IDE)

Thanks.

-g.m.

==
  Gary Moyer
  moyerg@rigel.cs.pdx.edu
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
From: loft@plex-1.ann-arbor.mi.us (Robert Kiesling)
Subject: another newbie linux user appendix 1 (postnews bombed)
Organization: Plex-1, Michigan's Public Access Usenet Gateway  (Ann Arbor).
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 02:08:28 GMT


Sorry for the break.  The vi editor on postnews bombed.  (</dev/flame)



k
From: ecktons@sirius.byu.edu (Sean Eckton)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
Subject: Important tidbit missing in MCC release...
Date: 15 Sep 92 21:09:56 GMT
Reply-To: ecktons@sirius.byu.edu (Sean Eckton)


I have found a FATAL exclusion (for some reason) in the MCC interim release.   
The file /lib/libc.2.2.2 isn't there.  TCP/IP expects it to be there but it  
isn't.  Is there anything I can do besides recompile the whole gcc stuff?   
Please, say yes!

--
Sean Eckton

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Internet:  ecktons@sirius.byu.edu      Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.
Packet Radio:  kd6bik @ wb7esh.#orem.ut.usa.na
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
From: steve@Nyongwa.CAM.ORG (Steve M. Robbins)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
Subject: Re: Problems with gettyps203 (uugetty) answering phone
Date: 5 Sep 92 00:10:55 GMT
Organization: Chiral Symmetry Breaking, Inc.

In article <1992Sep4.014521.4187@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> bjones@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (William A Jones) writes:
>I just downloaded gettyps203 from sunsite.unc.edu but everything has also
>been true for gettyps202 and the getty on the 0.97 rootimage.
>
>Try as I might, I cannot get any of these to answer the phone when it
>rings the modem.  I have tried the stock configuration files provided
[ ... ]
>My current inittab has the following
>
>ttys2:vt100:/bin/uugetty ttys2 9600
>
>to set getty on the serial port.  This, according ps, is there.  It is owned
>by root and the PID seems to increment about once each minute (is this
>supposed to happen?).

No.  This indicates that something very bad is happening.  

First thing to try is enable debugging, by putting -Dn (n = 350 is a nice 
value) on the command line (i.e. in inittab).  This may not be extremely
informative, but you should at least be able to see if the chat scripts are
working.  Debug output is in /tmp directory.

Actually, I hope this points out the trouble, because the rest of your
setup looks okay to me.

>Bill

Although neither of these appears to apply to you, I'll mention two things as 
a postscript, to spare others the grief they caused me.

1.  I used to have 'ATZ' in my INIT chat to reset the modem.  But when I
borrowed my friend's modem, resetting the modem caused something funny to
happen, which ended up killing the getty process.  My theory is that on his
modem, reset pulls DSR low and getty gets a signal (SIGHUP maybe?) and dies.
This theory is unverified, but the end result was that getty was continually
respawing: the debug output showed new a new getty in the middle of the
INIT chat.

2.  For some reason, I thought putting SANE in the second field of gettydefs
(the initial tty settings) would be a good idea.  It isn't.  SANE includes 
ECHO among other things, so anything my modem sent would be echoed back to
it, causing great confusion, and continual respawning of getty.

Steve
-- 
Steve Robbins  --  steve@nyongwa.cam.org
Be surreal.  Like an eel.  Thats how I feel.
From: martin@cs.unc.edu (Kevin Martin)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
Subject: Where to get the 8514/A X server (was Re: X11 <-> Linux)
Date: 11 Sep 92 18:02:35 GMT

In article <A3007@HB.maus.de>, Thomas_Backhaus@hb.maus.de (Thomas Backhaus) writes:
|> Ok, here are my questions (I'm an absolute beginner):
|> My configuration includes an ATI-Vantage, which ist nearly the same as
|> an ATI-Ultra (it is only a little slower and much cheaper...). Until now
|> I am not able to start X11 with the softland (SLS) Version
|> (0.96-kernel). I suppose, the problem is the missing 8514-driver and
|> perhaps the bus mouse patches.
|> Where can I get the stuff? How is it installed? Is it possible using the
|> 0.96 kernel? ...
|> 
|> Thanx in advance
|> Thomas Backhaus

I can address two parts of this:

(1) Where can I get the 8514/A X server for Linux?
--------------------------------------------------
 There are several site that have the X server and source code available:

 ftp.cs.unc.edu (the main distribution site)
    /pub/martin

 sunsite.unc.edu
    /pub/Linux/X11/X-servers/X8514

 tsx-11.mit.edu
    /pub/linux/packages/X11/X8514

 nic.funet.fi
    /pub/OS/Linux/bin/X11/servers

 The binary server is in the Xlinux8514.T.Z file and the source code is in
  the x.src.8514.T.Z file.


(2) What kernel/GCC releaes does this require?
----------------------------------
 From the README file in the Xlinux8514.T.Z file, you need at least the
  0.97 kernel and GCC 2.2.2d.

 There is one problem with 0.97.pl2 and more recent kernels, that I'm looking
  into.  For now, I suggest that you stick with 0.97.pl1 unless you have
  another work around.

Kevin
___
Kevin E. Martin               University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
martin@cs.unc.edu                          Department of Computer Science
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux,comp.lang.c
From: matthew@psych.psy.uq.oz.au (Matthew McDonald)
Subject: Re: GCC 2.2.2d bug
Organization: Psychology Department, University of Queensland
Followup-To: comp.lang.c
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 11:47:13 GMT
X-Posted-From: chrysis.psy.uq.oz.au
X-Posted-Through: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

James Henrickson writes:
|>Brendan B. Boerner writes:
|> >In article <1992Sep4.202913.14346@hippo.ru.ac.za> pi@cs.sun.ac.za writes:
|> >>I have found that gcc is generating the wrong code for the following
|> >>code fragment:
|> >>
|> >>  int p = 10;
|> >>  p = p++;
|> >>
|> >>From my C background, I have found the value to be 10.  Unfortunately
|> >>(for the gcc maintainers) the result is 11.
|> >
|> >I have this idea that if you posted this to comp.lang.c, Chris Torek or
|> >someone similar would point out that this is correct behaviour.  My gut
|> >feeling is that it SHOULD be 11 but I'm not a C guru.
|> 
|> Since the value of p isn't used for anything, it looks like the compiler
|> is optimizing it for you.  Here's another test:
|> 
|> printf("%d\n",(p = p++));
|> printf("%d\n",p);
|> 
|> The results should, I think, be:
|> 10
|> 11

	There is no correct answer, either 10 or 11 are perfectly
legal results. This isn't completely intuitive.

        When you use an operator (like =, ++, -= ...)
that modifies the value of a variable the C compiler is under
no obligation to put the new value into the variable immediately.
The variable is only guaranteed to have its *new* value after the
next end-of-statement or *logical* boolean operator, (or other
`sequence point'.)

        What's happening is that the two assignments to p (p++ and p=...)
don't have to happen in any particular order, as long as they both get
done before the next semicolon.

        "p=..." (which sets p to 10) might modify p first or "p++"
(which sets it to 11) might modify p first. You can't tell which will
happen first and which will happen last and overwrite the value of the first.

        That's what the language definition says and that's what the
compilers have done for nearly ten years now. Both Harbison & Steele
and K&R spend a fair bit of time explaining evaluation order. If this
confuses you, take a look in either of those.

Executive summary:
        It's not a gcc bug.
        Don't modify a variable twice in the same expression.

Followups to comp.lang.c

=-=-
           Matthew McDonald  matthew@psych.psy.uq.oz.au
        Kill the Lawyers.       Boycott AT&T.
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
From: haible@izfm386i.fertigungstechnik.uni-stuttgart.de (Pascal Haible)
Subject: Usage of clock.exe (was: Re: calculating resolutions for X)
Organization: IZFM, University of Stuttgart, FRG
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 11:19:37 GMT

In article <9209086064@clifton.hobby.nl> baron@clifton.hobby.nl (Wim `Blue Baron' van Dorst) writes:
>
>I also noticed that clock.exe is very limited in the number of clock
>frequency it finds: Clock.exe found 4 freqencies out of 16. 

If you have a ET4000 based card you have to type
C:\TMP >clock ET4000
not     clock et4000

>Luckily 
>X is very intelligent and work out those clocks itself: Just comment (#)
>out the Clocks line in Xconfig and give X a try: startx 2> logfile.
>After rebooting (assuming that the Xconfig still is useless) you'll
>have in logfile a complete list of clocks.
>
Add a mode to the modes line that can't be resolved: X386 will die after
printing the clocks and you won't have to reboot.

Take these clocks, round them and put them in the clocks line.
If you have a video card that supports 16 clocks (the second 8 being the 
double [or the half!!] of the first eight clocks), you might have problems
returning to text mode (out of sync) if you booted with e.g. 100x40 mode. 
If this is true for your configuration and you can
live without the second 8 clocks, remove them from the clocks line (leaving
8 clocks) and this problem should disappear.

>> (BTW, do I round these????? and why????)
>
>I did, but I don't know why. I recently read in c.o.l that the actual
>value you write in Xconfig is not important at all: it is the place
>in the list that counts.
>

Pascal

-- 
(haible@izfm386i.fertigungstechnik.uni-stuttgart.de)
From: davidsen@ariel.crd.GE.COM (william E Davidsen)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux
Subject: Re: clearing SUID bit on writes
Date: 8 Sep 92 18:28:55 GMT
Reply-To: davidsen@crd.ge.com (bill davidsen)
Organization: GE Corporate R&D Center, Schenectady NY

In article <814@dsbc.icl.co.uk>, mbm@dsbc.icl.co.uk (Malcolm Mladenovic) writes:

| Stock System V prior to SVR4 never cleared the s[ug]id bits on write.  The
| current SVR4 clears them unless the writer is the superuser (even if the
| writer owns the file).


I can live with that. Checking for owner is nice, but as long as the
bits get cleared when the file is written I'm happy. Of course I can't
think of a good reason to allow changing the file at all, but I've seen
some bad ones mentioned.

-- 
bill davidsen, GE Corp. R&D Center; Box 8; Schenectady NY 12345
    I admit that when I was in school I wrote COBOL. But I didn't compile.