From: montjoy@thor.ece.uc.edu (Robert Montjoy)
Subject: Bi-Monthly Posting of Sun FAQ
Organization: University of Cincinnati, ECE Dept
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 15:02:03 GMT


Frequently Asked Questions for Comp.sys.sun.admin

Last update Nov 5 1992

This is collection of common questions posted to the comp.sys.sun.*
hierarchy.

Please send corrections or submissions to "Rob.Montjoy@UC.EDU". Mark
the Subject as Sun FAQ.


Note: As of this writing almost all of these questions apply
      to SunOS versions up to 4.1.3. SunOS 5.0 questions
      will start appearing gradually as more people start
      installing SunOS 5.0(Solaris 2.0). 


				Questions

 1) 	How to get DNS working when not running NIS ?
 2) 	How to get DNS to be used when running NIS ?
 3)	How to properly setup NFS mounting of /var/spool/mail ?
 4) 	Can I use AnswerBook under X11R5?
 5)     What does "NFS write error X" mean?
 6)	How do I find the amount of memory installed or other
 7)     Where can I get a version of ftp that does logging?
 8)     Where can one get SunOS patches? Where can I get patch 100xxx-xx?
 9)	How to setup Opewindows Calendar Manager in a distributed
10) 	Why does the talk command fail between SunOS
	and any other manufacturers equipment(like DEC)? 
11)	How do I setup "anonymous" ftp?
12)     How come yppasswdd does not automatically update the yp maps?
13)     What does NFS getattr failed/RPC: Authentication error mean?
14)     Why did my Quantum 105 megabyte hard disk stop working?
15)     Can I replace the 105 megabyte internal drive with a higher capacity
16)     How can I turn my Sun3 into an X-Terminal?
17)	Why is my console login prompt garbled or in some strange
18)	Why are the "random" missing services at boot time(even
	though the services are in the /etc/services file or NIS map)?
19)	Where can I get Data Certified tapes for 8-mm tape drives(at
	a reasonable price)?
20)	What is "archie"?
21)	How do I synchronize time between several Suns?
22)	What is the phone number for Sun Express or other important Sun 
23) 	How do I join sun related  mailing lists?
24)	How do I use Mac floppies in a SUN drive?
25)	How can transfer floppies back and forth between MS-DOS and Sparc?
26)	Why is my biff not "biffing" when using biff in a networked
27)	How do I disable L1-A(STOP-A) or re-map it?
28) 	Why are all the local users "unknown" when using sendmail under 4.1.2?
29)	What is the dump parameters for an exabyte 8200 or 8500?
30)	What are the guidelines for setting up swap space ?
31)	What are the general guidelines for maxusers to be set to on machine X?
32)	What does "zsN: silo overflow" mean?
33)	What does the "N" in "zsN: silo overflow", and other "zsN" messages,
34)	How do I set up a Sun serial port both for dial-in and dial-out?
35)	I can't get my Sun, running SunOS 4.1[.x], to establish a UUCP
	connection to some non-Sun machine; it won't log in.  What's wrong?
36)	Do the Sun serial ports support RTS/CTS flow control?
37)	How do I specify that a serial port should, or should not, ignore the
	state of the Carrier Detect line?
38)	I put in a new "termcap" entry, or updated an existing "termcap" entry,
	for a terminal, but "vi" doesn't seem to know about my change.  Why?
39)	I have a Type 5 keyboard, and find its placement of the Caps Lock,
	Control, and Esc keys inconvenient.  How do I remedy this?
40)	How can I move keys around on a Sun keyboard, for example exchanging the
	Caps Lock and Control keys on a Type 5 keyboard?
41)	My Sun doesn't have an ANSI C compiler.  How can I get one?
42)	How do I change the time zone setting on my machine?
43)	I'm getting messages that say one of the following:

	 	proc: table is full	and/or
        	file: table is full	and/or
        	dquot: table is full 	and/or
        	inode: table is full

	What do these errors mean, and how do I fix the problem?

44)     How do I run X11R5 applications under Openwindows or Openwindows 
	applications under X11R5?
45)	Where do I find a "restricted" shell for SunOS?
46)	Will SunOS 4.1.x binaries run under Solaris 2.0?
47)	When I try to compile MITs X11R4 applications under Openwindows 3.0,
	I get the following "undefined" symbols(_get_wmShellWidgetClass, and
	_get_applicationShellWidgetClass). What is the Problem?
48)	What is Solaris?
49)     What does the "nres_gethostbyaddr !=" error mean?
50)     How come my mouse only works in the vertical(or horizontal) direction,
        how do I repair it?
51)	What do the following undefined symbols mean(dlopen, and dlclose)?
52)	What does "No network locking on host" mean after upgrading to
	Solaris 2.0?
53)	Does Password Aging work with NIS(YP) ?
54)	What does "rpc.lockd: Cannot contact status monitor!" mean?
55)	How do I join the Sun User Group(SUG)?
56)	How do I increase the number of "pseudo" terminals(ptys) ?


				Answers

 1) 	How to get DNS working when not running NIS ?
	
        The "normal" behavior of a hostname lookup under NIS is to
        consult the NIS hosts map and then DNS (if configured). If
	you are not running NIS the system will only look in 
	the /etc/hosts file. 

	You have two options to correct this situation:

		A) Re-build shared libraries by installing the
		   shlib custom option and one of the many 
		   "bind" resolver library packages available
		   for SunOS. You can only do this if you are 
		   running SunOS version 4.1 or greater. 

		   If you want to do it under 4.0.3 you
		   need to get the patches available from
		   ftp.uu.net in /systems/sun/sun-fixes. The files
		   you will need are as follows:

			1) lib.msg
			2) libc_pic.a.sun3 or libc_pic.a.sun4
			3) libc_resolv.so.sun3 or libc_resolv.so.sun4

		   There should be a README in the same directory 
		   explaining what these files are.
		   

		B) Run NIS with the "hosts" maps only.

	
	Option A is the "hardest" to implement. It requires
	that you change all the shared libcs on the all
	machines that you want name resolving on. Also, it
	"breaks" several statically linked commands such as
	mount and rcp. If you are under Software maintenance
	you may be able to get a "dynamically" linked "mount".
	
	Complete directions for installing DNS without
	NIS can be found in the bindon4.1.shar file or 
	the resolv+ tar file. 

	Here is a list of the software one can use to modify your
	shared libraries to use DNS without NIS.

		bindon41.shar is on qiclab.scn.rain.com in the file
    				/pub/network/bindon41.shar.Z
        	bind 4.8.3 is on okeeffe.cs.berkeley.edu in the file
				/4.3/bind.4.8.3.tar.Z

        	resolv+ is on liasun3.epfl.ch in file 
				/pub/net/dns/resolv+-2.1-beta.tar.Z

        Note: that you can still use NIS for other things in environment,
              such as passwd, and group maps.

	Option B is the "easiest" of the two to implement. It
	just requires you to run NIS and change the "all"
	line /var/yp/Makefile to "all:	hosts". Also,
	it does not require any change to the shared libraries.
	It does not "break" anything. You can install
	operating system patches that require updating
	the shared libraries without having to remake the
	shared libraries. 


 
 2) 	How to get DNS to be used when running NIS ?

	First setup the appropriate /etc/resolv.conf file.
	Something like this should do the "trick". 

	;
	; Data file for a client.
	;
	domain		local domain 
	nameserver	address of primary domain nameserver
	nameserver	address of secondary domain nameserver 

	where:	"local domain" is the domain part of the hostnames.
		 For example, if your hostname is "thor.ece.uc.edu"
		 your "local domain" is "ece.uc.edu".

	You will need to put a copy of this resolv.conf on
	all NIS(YP) servers including slaves.

	Under SunOS 4.1 and greater, change the "B=" at the top
	of the /var/yp/Makefile to "B=-b" and setup NIS in the 
	usual fashion.   

	Under 4.0.x, edit the Makefile or apply the following "diff":

*** Makefile.orig       Wed Jan 10 13:22:11 1990
--- Makefile    Wed Jan 10 13:22:01 1990
***************
*** 63 ****
!                   | $(MAKEDBM) - $(YPDBDIR)/$(DOM)/hosts.byname; \
--- 63 ----
!                   | $(MAKEDBM) -b - $(YPDBDIR)/$(DOM)/hosts.byname; \
***************
*** 66 ****
!                   | $(MAKEDBM) - $(YPDBDIR)/$(DOM)/hosts.byaddr; \
--- 66 ----
!                   | $(MAKEDBM) -b - $(YPDBDIR)/$(DOM)/hosts.byaddr; \

 
 3)	How to properly setup NFS mounting of /var/spool/mail ?

	On the Client machines:

		A) mount /var/spool/mail with the no attribute caching
		   option.
		
		   An example, fstab line would be the following:

		   mailhost:/var/spool/mail /var/spool/mail nfs rw,noac 0 0

		B) Use a sendmail.cf that forces all mail to be delivered
		   by the mailhost. 

		   One such file is available via anonymous ftp to 
		   thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the file 

				/pub/sun-faq/sendmail.client.cf

		   Do not use the OR option that Sun provides. It is broken
		   in many ways.

	On the server machine:
	
		A) Setup MX records pointing to the mailhost for
		   all client machines.

		B) Edit the /etc/exports file to export /var/spool/mail
		   to the mail client machines. You may want
		   to use a netgroup for this purpose.

		C) Setup the /etc/sendmail.cf on the server recognize
		   that mail to/from a client is "local".

		   One such file is available via anonymous ftp to 
		   thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the file 

				/pub/sun-faq/sendmail.server.cf

		
	Note: 	You may want to install IDA sendmail instead of Suns
		stock sendmail. 



 4) 	Can I use AnswerBook under X11R5?

	AnswerBook in its current form requires the Openwindows
	server. It uses the NeWS extensions(Postscript) extensions
	to this server to display the Answerbook files.

	To use AnswerBook under X11R5 you will need to replace the 
	docviewer program with xdocviewer.  Xdocviewer does not support
	all the options that the "real" docviewer supports such
	as "hypertext" links.

	To install "xdocviewer" you will need the following programs.

		Perl-4 patchlevel 35  
		Ghostscript 2.4 or above
		GSpreview 2.1   or above  or Ghostview 1.3   or above

		All of these are available from prep.ai.mit.edu. They are 
		located in the /pub/gnu directory.

		Finally, You need xdocviewer. It is available from the
		/contrib directory on host export.ai.mit.edu.


 5)     What does "NFS write error X" mean?

        You can lookup the error codes in /usr/include/sys/errno.h.

        Two common NFS error codes are 13 - "permission denied" and 70 -
        "stale file handle".

	Error code 13 can occur from incorrect /etc/exports entry. Also,
	it can occur because someone has changed the /etc/exports
	entry to disallow the client after the client has already
	been granted permission to perform this operation.

        Error code 70 occurs when a fileserver gets rebooted and
	the server NFS "file handle" for a particular filesystem
	changes. The "file handle" can be changed under the following
	circumstances.
		
		A) Installing a new drive in place of an old.

		B) Moving a filesystem from one devices to
		   another.

		C) Performing a format, newfs, dump, and restore
		   cycle. Even if to the same device.

        You can usually get rid of the error by unmounting and
        remounting the filesystem in question. 

	Also, error code 70 can occur when someone removes a file 
	that a process is actively writing from a NFS client machine.

        Under SunOS 4.1, you can run "showfh" to translate the NFS
        "file handle" given in the error message into a Unix pathname.
        Beware that showfhd does a "find" on your server to get the
        filename.  "man 2 intro" will give you some more general
        information on what error codes could mean.

	You will need a patch to get "showfh" to work correctly. The patch
	id is 100371 and this patch is required for 4.1, 4.1.1, and 4.1.2.
	Sun claims that its been integrated into 4.1.3.


 6)	How do I find the amount of memory installed or other
	system configuration information?

	You can use the "devinfo" command to find out general
	information about the hardware attached to your Sun.
	The "devinfo" command is only available on desktop SPARCsystems,
	SPARCengine 1E(although not in the version used in Auspex Systems), 
        or 600MP series server only.
	
	The "best" command for the job is "sysinfo". Sysinfo is public
	domain utility available via "anonymous" ftp on 
	usc.edu in directory /pub/sysinfo. Sysinfo works on all Sun	
	architectures(inculding Sun-3s) as well as many other UNIX 
	boxes such as Ultrix, and Next. Sysinfo does not run on
	SunOS 5.0.

	For SunOS 5.0 you can use sysdef.

	Note:  "wc -l /dev/mem" and "dd if=/dev/mem of=/dev/null" and 
               the like will *not* give the correct answer on machines 
	       where physical memory is not contiguous, such as many Suns.


 7)     Where can I get a version of ftp that does logging?

        There are at least 2 versions that have enhanced logging or 
	can be modified to enable logging:

        wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) /packages/ftpd.wuarchive.shar
	pprg.unm.edu (129.24.24.10)	    /pub/misc/unm-ftpd.tar.Z

	The most widely used is the "wuarchive" version.

        The stock Sun ftpd will log some information if you add the "-l"
        flag in /etc/inetd.conf:

        ftp stream tcp nowait root /usr/etc/in.ftpd in.ftpd -l

        Also enable syslogd by adding:

        daemon.info      /var/adm/syslog

        to "/etc/syslog.conf".


 8)     Where can one get SunOS patches? Where can I get patch 100xxx-xx?

        Many anonymous ftp sites have partial collections of patches.
        These sites include the following:

                princeton.edu:/pub/sun-fixes
                qiclab.scn.rain.com:/pub/sunos-patches
                iskut.ucs.ubc.ca:/pub/ubc/sun-patches/
                ftp.uu.net:/systems/sun/sun-dist/

	princeton.edu has patches for SunOS, AnswerBook, Openwindows,
	lang, and PC-NFS.

	qiclab.scn.rain.com has several hundred patches available
	for SunOS only.

	iskut.ucs.ubc.ca has several of the newer patches.

	ftp.uu.net is the "official" distribution point for SunOS
	security patches.

        Also, you should use "archie" to look for specific patches.

        Finally, the Sun User Group (SUG) CD ROM has a collection of Sun
        patches.

 9)	How to setup Opewindows Calendar Manager in a distributed
	environment?

	Sun's original assumption that each user has a permanent machine 
	allocated to them is not applicable in most environments. Just as 
	users send mail to 'user' rather than 'user@machine', users want 
	to browse others user's calendars and do not care or want to know
	where the calendar is actually stored.

	Here is procedure to accomplish our goal. All calendars
	will be stored on a central server. The initial setup
	must be down on the server.

		A) Have the user login to the calendar host(calhost)
		   machine.
		
		B) Change everyone's .cm.rc file so that 
		   Calendar.DefaultCal points to user@calhost

		   calhost can be an hostname alias or an actual
		   hostname. You may want to use the alias
		   just in case you change the "calhost" later.
	
		C) Change their Access List and Permissions (under
	           Edit/Properties) to show user@client with BID (browse,
	           insert, delete) permissions for any client machine the
		   user wanted to access their calendar from.

	Notes: If you use the scheme you should not NFS mount 
	       /var/spool/calendar on the client machines.



10) 	Why does the talk command fail between SunOS
	and any other manufacturers equipment(like DEC)? 

	SunOS has the old BSD 4.2 version of talk. The old talk
	uses "machine dependent" byte ordering. Since
	DEC has different byte order the two talks can not
	communicate(even if you use "otalk" on the DEC
	machines).
	
	Also, most vendors have the newer version of 
	talk from BSD-4.3 and this version is not compatible
	with the Sun Version(which is BSD-4.2).

	The solution is to get and install the new version
	of talk because it uses "network" byte ordering and
	it is compatible with most Vendors current talk 
	implementations.
	
	"New Talk" is available via anonymous ftp from several
	sites including thor.ece.uc.edu(Get the file 
	/pub/sun-faq/ntalk.tar.Z). 

11)	How do I setup "anonymous" ftp?
	
        Read the man page ftpd(8) in the SunOS 4.x documentation, as 
        the procedure differs from vanilla BSD and most examples in 
        system administration books. 

	The "ls" binary is dynamically linked, requiring you to 
	duplicate ld.so, libc.so.* and /dev/zero in the ftp area.
	The permissions and ownership of the files within the 
        ftp area are critical to having a secure configuration.
	
	Note: For SunOS versions 4.1.2 and 4.1.3 you will need
	      to copy /usr/lib/libld.so.* to the ftp area as well.

	You can use a "statically" linked binary from the GNU
	fileutils instead of the "dynamically" linked SunOS
	version. You can get the GNU fileutils from prep.ai.mit.edu
	in the directory /pub/gnu

	A complete procedure to setup anonymous under SunOS is
	available via anonymous ftp to thor.ece.uc.edu. Get
	the file /pub/sun-faq/anon-ftp.how-to.



12)     How come yppasswdd does not automatically update the yp maps?

        There is a bug in 4.1 rpc.yppasswdd that causes it misinterpret
        the command line arguments.  A work-around is to add the
        "-nosingle" flag (which is the default), this shifts the
        arguments over one, so "passwd" is read instead of "-m".
	Also, you should use the complete path to rpc.yppasswdd

        For example:

        /usr/etc/rpc.yppasswdd /var/yp/passwd -nosingle -m passwd DIR=/var/yp

        If you are running the C2 security package, you should apply
        patch 100201-04, as it fixes several problems with rpc.yppasswdd.

13)     What does NFS getattr failed/RPC: Authentication error mean?

        You are probably running a pre-4.0 version of NFS and your
        username is in more than 8 groups.  There is a limit on the
        number of groups that could be represented in the rpc service
        (called NGRPS).  On pre-4.0 systems this was 8, now it is 16.
        Since many vendors other than Sun are still running old versions
        of NFS, you might see this error even if your SunOS is recent.

        Authentication errors are also caused by having secure RPC
        enabled on the client but not on the server, or by having a
        misconfigured secure RPC configuration for the user name
        generating the errors.  Beware of this problem when you are
        using the automounter, as programs (such as Sendmail) may
        silently fail when when they try to mount a directory
        and get this error.


14)     Why did my Quantum 105 megabyte hard disk stop working?

	This the now infamous Quantum drive "stickation" problem.

	If the drive is allowed to cool down(even for a short period 
	of time) the drive lubricant will congeal and prevent the disks
	platters from rotating. 

	Before you get a replacement, try lightly tapping
        the drive to loosen the lubricant. If this does not work try
	shaking and twisting the drive at the same time. One last
	thing to try is to lift the system up a couple of inches
	and drop it.

15)     Can I replace the 105 megabyte internal drive with a higher capacity
        model?

        The higher capacity drives create more heat and draw more power than
        the 105S.  The case cooling ability and power supply in the SS-1 and
        SS-1+ are not adequate for the 210 megabyte or higher capacity drives
        possible in the SS-2.

16)     How can I turn my Sun3 into an X-Terminal?

        You can use Seth Robertson's Xkernel package.  It is available
        via anonymous ftp from sol.ctr.columbia.edu (128.59.64.40) in
        /Xkernel.  The package describes how to configure a minimal kernel
        that runs the X server and offloads all the clients onto another,
        hopefully more powerful host on the network. 

	If you are in hurry get the 4LAZY.sun3.tar.Z file. It contains
	all the necessary software to get Xkernel up and running.

	Xkernel is attractive to some sites that have a large investment in 
        sun3 platforms, as moving  most of the processing off the sun3 
        cpu makes it tolerable to use.  

	Finally, a used 3/50 is competitive with low-end X Terminal and 
        you get a 19" monitor with an optical mouse.  

	Some disadvantages are that 4.1.1 is supposed to be the last SunOS
        release on the sun3 and maintenance costs might be higher for
        sun3 hardware.


17)	Why is my console login prompt garbled or in some strange
	alphabet after upgrading to 4.1.3?

        The problem is /etc/ttytab, with 4.1.3, the console is now
	able to display 8 bits characters and getty must take this 
	into account.

	The solution is easy, replace your console entry in /etc/ttytab 
	by the following, the important part is 'cons8':

	console "/usr/etc/getty cons8"  sun             on local secure

	Also, if you did an upgrade(instead of a full install) you may 
	need to add the following to your /etc/gettytab.

	# This is a new entry to internationalize the console.  It needs to be
	# 8 bit clean so that ISO 8859 characters can be displayed without
	# the window system.
	#
	cons8:\
        	:p8:lm=\r\n%h login\72 :sp#9600:


18)	Why are there "random" missing services at boot time(even
	though the services are in the /etc/services file or NIS map)?

	The two primary causes for "random" missing services are
	as follows:

		A) "Blank" lines in /etc/services. This is the primary
		   cause.

		B) NIS/YP server not responding quickly enough
		   to the "getservbyname" call. The only fix
		   is to replace the systems version of inetd
		   with a version that re-tries a "unknown" service.

		   I have "hacked" a version of munetd(public domain
		   replacement for inetd) to do this. It is available
		   from thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the file /pub/sun-faq/munetd.tar.Z

	Another suggestion that has worked for some people is to
	add the following to your rc.local(right after ypbind is started):

		ypwhich > /dev/null 2>&1

	This will force ypbind to bind.

19)	Where can I get Data Certified tapes for 8-mm tape drives(at
	reasonable price)?

	Here is an incomplete list of vendors how have "data certified"
	tapes for the exabyte.

	Misco 			  800-876-1726   $12 - 15 each.	
	TecBridge		  800-972-7405   $12 - 15 each.
	R-Squared		  800-777-3478	 Sony 112m 120@8.00 Each
	K and K Systems		  612-475-1527	 $10 Each
	SCR			  314-739-0808	 $10.95 for Memorex

20)	What is "archie"?

	Archie is a database of what is on several thousand anonymous 
	ftp sites. 

	To use archie get one of the three archie clients which
	are as follows:

		xarchie		-	For use under X11
		c-archie	- 	Curses version of Archie
		archie		- 	Perl Version of Archie
	
	Theses are available from archie.ans.net in the directory 
	/pub/archie.

	List of other publicly available archie servers:

		archie.rutgers.edu  128.6.18.15   (Rutgers University)
		archie.unl.edu      129.93.1.14
                                        (University of Nebraska in Lincoln)
		archie.ans.net      147.225.1.2   (ANS archie server)
		archie.au           139.130.4.6   (Australian server)
		archie.funet.fi     128.214.6.100 (European server in Finland)
		archie.doc.ic.ac.uk 146.169.11.3  (UK/England server)
		archiecs.huji.ac.il 132.65.6.15   (Israel server)
	
21)	How do I synchronize time on my Sun Network?

	You should use xntp version 3 to synchronize your time. Xntp 
	synchronizes to "atomic" and/or Radio Frequency clocks. Using
	xntp time should always be within a few "milliseconds" of the
	actual time.

	xntp is available from udel.edu. Get the file /pub/ntp/xntp3.tar.Z
	


22)	What is the phone number for Sun Express or other important Sun 
	phone numbers?

	Sun Express: 		1-800-USE-SUNX (1-800-873-7869)
	Main Sun Helpline: 	1-800-USA-4SUN (1-800-872-4786)
	

23) 	How do I join sun related  mailing lists?

	Mailing Lists:

	Sun Managers:	Used for "emergency" information only. The
			users of this list are "very" knowledgable.
		sun-managers-request@eecs.nwu.edu	add requests
		sun-managers@eecs.nwu.edu		submissions

    	Sun-386i:   discussion about the Sun 386i product
        	sun-386i-request@mailhost.acq.osd.mil   add requests
        	sun-386i@mailhost.acq.osd.mil           submissions

    	Suns-at-home:   discussion about maintaining Sun2/3/4/4c
                    	systems at home
        	suns-at-home-request@orchestra.ecn.purdue.edu   add requests
        	suns-at-home@orchestra.ecn.purdue.edu           submissions

    	Auspex:  managers of Auspex NFS file servers
        	auspex-request@princeton.edu                    add requests
        	auspex@princeton.edu                            submissions

    	Epoch:  managers of Epoch NFS file servers       
        	EPoch Users Forum  (EPUF)             
        	epuf-request@mcs.anl.gov                        add requests 
        	epuf@mcs.anl.gov                                submissions

	sun-flash: Provides articles about Sun products 
		   and services.

		Subscription request should be sent to
			sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM


	NOTE!!!  if you wish to be added to one of the above mailing lists,
	         send mail to the REQUEST address!  Do not send add requests 
		 to the main address!


24)	How do I use Mac floppies in a SUN drive?
	
	The easiest way is to use suntar on the Macintosh to
	copy files to a "high density" floppy.  Then you can use 
	"tar" on the Sun to get the files off the floppy.

	It is available from sumex-aim.stanford.edu. Get the file
	/info-mac/util/suntar-131.hqx

	Also, you could use the Apple File Exchanger to translate
	the files to MS-DOS format. Then use one of the methods
	for transferring MS-DOS disks to Sun.


	Note: There are  several commercial packages available for
	      this purpose.

	      Also, low density Mac floppies are not comparable with
	      low density Sun floppies. 


25)	How can transfer floppies back and forth between MS-DOS and Sparc?

	There are two packages which allow you to do this(mtools and mntdsk)

	Mtools writes directly to the floppy device and it does not
	require special privileges. It is faster than mntdsk
	but it requires the user to learn a new set of commands.

	mntdisk "mounts" the floppy using the "pcfs" filesystem type. Once
	mounted you can use regular UNIX commands(cp,mv,and rm)
	to access it.

	A copy of mtools can be found on thor.ece.uc.edu. Get
	the file  /pub/sun-faq/mtools-2.0.7.tar.Z

	Mntdisk is available in your local comp.sources.misc, Volume 22,
	Issue 31. Mntdsk can be used to mount CD-ROMS and even
	UFS floppies.

	Note:	You should not use "setuid" shell scripts for mounting
		floppies.


26)	Why is my biff not "biffing" when using biff in a networked
	environment?

	In its current form comsat/biff are only usable on the mail
	server. You need to replace them network capable programs.

	A shar file containing network capable versions of comsat
	and biff is available from thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the
	file /pub/sun-faq/biff-comsat.

27)	How do I disable L1-A(STOP-A) or re-map it?

	You need to get one of the many re-mapping programs. Two
	of these are available from thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the file
	disable-L1-A.tar.Z

28) 	Why are all the local users "unknown" when using sendmail under 4.1.2?

	There is a known problem with sendmail and frozen config
	files under 4.1.2.

	The fix is to remove /etc/sendmail.fc or consider replacing
	it with IDA sendmail. You could also try moving it to the
	end of /etc/rc.local.


29)	What is the dump parameters for an exabyte 8200 or 8500?

	8200 -- dump 0budfs 126 54000 /dev/rst0 6000
	8500 -- dump 0budfs 126 54000 /dev/rst0 12000

30)	What are the guidelines for setting up swap space ?

	This question under construction.

31)	What are the general guidelines for maxusers to be set to on machine X?

	This question under construction.

32)	What does "zsN: silo overflow" mean?

        The CPU serial ports - both ordinary serial ports A and B, and
        the port for the keyboard and mouse - use the Zilog Z8530 SCC
        chip.  That chip has a 3-character on-board buffer called the
        "silo".  If a character arrives in the silo, the chip interrupts
        the CPU at a high priority, and the interrupt service routine
        reads the character out of the silo.

        If the interrupt isn't serviced in time, more than 3 characters
        can be placed in the silo by the chip; if so, the chip notes
        that the silo "overflowed", and the interrupt service routine,
        when called, will note that a "silo overflow" occurred.

        If the machine is printing a message from the kernel, interrupts
        from the chip will be held off; if the message takes long enough
        to print, and characters are coming in quickly enough on the
        serial port, more than 3 can arrive, and a "silo overflow" will
        occur.

        It is possible that a machine that's sufficiently busy in other
        code that runs with interrupts held off could get a silo
        overflow as well.

33)	What does the "N" in "zsN: silo overflow", and other "zsN" messages,
	signify?

        The name "zsN" is ambiguous.

        In kernel "config" files, and in the boot-time autoconfig
        messages, "zs0" is the first on-board Z8530 chip, the two
        channels of which handle "ttya" and "ttyb", respectively, and
        "zs1" is the second on-board Z8530 chip, the two channels of
        which handle the keyboard and mouse ports, respectively.

        In "zsN: silo overflow" messages and the like:

                "zs0" is the A channel on the first on-board Z8530, handling
                    "ttya";

                "zs1" is the B channel on the first on-board Z8530, handling
                    "ttyb";

                "zs2" is the A channel on the second on-board Z8530, handling
                    the keyboard;

                "zs3" is the B channel on the second on-board Z8530, handling
                    the mouse.

        So a "zs0: silo overflow" error is for "ttya", and a "zs1: silo
        overflow" error is for "ttyb", not for the keyboard or mouse.
        Keyboard silo overflows are "zs2: silo overflow"; mouse silo
        overflows are "zs3: silo overflow".


34)	How do I set up a Sun serial port both for dial-in and dial-out?

        You need to read Chapter 11 in  the "Systems and Network 
	Administration" manual.

35)	I can't get my Sun, running SunOS 4.1[.x], to establish a UUCP
	connection to some non-Sun machine; it won't log in.  What's wrong?

        The 4.1[.x] UUCP normally runs in even-parity mode when logging
        into another machine.  If the other machine is running in 8
        bits, no parity, mode, the fact that the 8th bit is set on some
        of the characters the Sun is sending to it will confuse it.

        The Sun can be made to turn the 8th bit off by putting P_ZERO in
        the appropriate place in the appropriate UUCP configuration file
        [I may have been the one to put P_ZERO there, but I forget the
        details; it's in the send-expect sequence in the Systems file
        entry for the machine, and I think you have an "expect" string
        of "" - i.e., "expect nothing" - and a "send" string of P_ZERO -
        i.e., make the parity bit zero.  Check the UUCP stuff in the
        "Systems and Network Administration" document to make sure.]


36)	Do the Sun serial ports support RTS/CTS flow control?

        The serial port hardware can do CTS-based control of the flow of
        data *from* the Sun *out* the serial port automatically.  The
        tty driver option for that is the CRTSCTS option; it can be
        specified in:

                the "printcap" "ms" capability for a printer;

                in the "gettytab" "ms", "m0", "m1", or "m2" capabilities
                for a dial-in port;

                the "STTY=" option for a dial-out line for UUCP or "cu"
                [check the UUCP documentation for details];

        and can be specified with the "hf" capability in "/etc/remote"
        for "tip".

        The hardware cannot directly do RTS-based control of the flow of
        data *into* the Sun, and the software does not currently support
        controlling the flow of data into the Sun with RTS.

        NOTE: the EEPROM options in newer Suns do not affect the flow

        control performed by the OS; in fact, the OS ignores the
        "ttya-mode", "ttyb-mode", "ttya-rts-dtr-off", and
        "ttyb-rts-dtr-off" EEPROM options entirely.  You don't need to
        set them to change the way the OS handles the tty, and even if
        you do set them, it won't change the way the OS handles the tty.



37)	How do I specify that a serial port should, or should not, ignore the
	state of the Carrier Detect line?

        Prior to SunOS 4.1, you do so either by:

                changing the "flags" field for the serial port device in the
                kernel "config" file, re-running "config", rebuilding
                the kernel, and rebooting with the new kernel;

        or, on the Sun-4c machines:

                changing the setting of the "ttya-ignore-cd" or
                "ttyb-ignore-cd" EEPROM settings if the port is one of
                the CPU serial ports.

        In SunOS 4.1 (and, I think, some SunOS 4.0[.x] releases for the
        Sun386i), you do so by changing the "/etc/ttytab" line for the
        port in question to have the "local" attribute if CD is to be
        ignored, or not to have it if CD is not to be ignored, and
        running the "ttysoftcar" command to tell the kernel that the
        status of the "ignore CD" flag should be changed.

        In 4.1, there's no need to change the EEPROM setting to change
        SunOS's behavior; it may affect the PROM's behavior, but that's
        the only reason why it'd be necessary.

38)	I put in a new "termcap" entry, or updated an existing "termcap" entry,
	for a terminal, but "vi" doesn't seem to know about my change.  Why?

        The "vi" in SunOS 4.1[.x] is based on the System V Release 3.1
        "vi", because that version of "vi" supports 8-bit character
        sets.  That version of "vi" uses "terminfo", not "termcap"; you
        have to change the "terminfo" entry for the terminal.

        You may first have to convert the compiled "terminfo" entry to a
        text entry; "/usr/5bin/infocmp -I <terminal-type>" will write
        the text of the "terminfo" entry for the terminal
        <terminal-type> to its standard output.

        If you already have a "termcap" entry, you can convert it to a
        "terminfo" entry with "/usr/5bin/captoinfo".

        A text "terminfo" entry must be recompiled in order for programs
        using "terminfo" to use it; "/usr/5bin/tic" will recompile it.

39)	I have a Type 5 keyboard, and find its placement of the Caps Lock,
	Control, and Esc keys inconvenient.  How do I remedy this?

        Well, one remedy may be to buy the "UNIX layout" version of the
        Type 5; this option seems, unfortunately, to be little-known to
        Sun customers, and Sun may not be promoting it as they should.
        That keyboard has a layout much more friendly to the traditional
        UNIX user than do the normal PC-style layouts for the Type 5.

        If you don't have that option, you can use the appropriate
        program to reprogram the keys; see the next question.

40)	How can I move keys around on a Sun keyboard, for example exchanging the
	Caps Lock and Control keys on a Type 5 keyboard?

        It depends on which window system you're running, if any.

        If you're not using any window system, or you're using a window
        system such as SunView that uses the OS's keyboard event
        translation mechanism, you can dump the tables used by the OS's
        keyboard event translation mechanism with the "dumpkeys"
        command, and load changes to that table with the "loadkeys"
        command; see LOADKEYS(1).

        If you're using X11 - either in its MIT incarnation, or Sun's
        Open Windows incarnation - or some other window system that
        shuts off the OS's keyboard event translation mechanism, you
        need to use the window system's commands, if any, for that
        function.

        In X11, the command for that is "xmodmap"; its translation
        tables can be printed with "xmodmap -pk", and changes to that
        table can be loaded with "xmodmap" as well.

        NOTE: in the particular case of the Control and Caps Lock keys,
        while MIT X appears to handle interchanging those two keys
        correctly, so that the new Caps Lock key is a toggle and the new
        Control key is not, some versions of Open Windows do not - even
        though the keys have had their mappings exchanged, the window
        system server still thinks that the *old* Caps Lock key, which
        is now the Control key, should be a toggle, and that the *old*
        Control key, which is now the Caps Lock key, should not be a
        toggle.

41)	My Sun doesn't have an ANSI C compiler.  How can I get one?

        SunOS releases prior to 5.0 come with a C compiler; however,
        it's an old compiler, and doesn't support ANSI C syntax or such
        ANSI C features as function prototypes.

        Many vendors offer ANSI C compilers for SunOS.  Sun sells Sun C
        1.1 for SPARC, which includes an ANSI C compiler (although not a
        full ANSI C environment, i.e. it doesn't necessarily include all
        the ANSI C include files or library routines); various other
        vendors (Lucid? Others?) sell ANSI C compilers as well.

        The Free Software Foundation's GCC also supports ANSI C syntax
        and ANSI C features; it can be FTP'ed in source form from many
        sites, and in binary form from some sites.  [Sorry, I don't have
        details.]

        SunOS 5.0 - the OS component of Solaris 2.0 - doesn't come with
        a C compiler of any sort (NOTE: it isn't necessary for kernel
        configuration).  If you want a C compiler for it, you'll have to
        buy or otherwise obtain one; Sun has or will have one for SunOS
        5.0, and a version of GCC for Solaris 2.0 is also available.
        The include files and libraries in SunOS 5.0 should (modulo
        bugs) fully support ANSI C. 

	A compiled version of GCC for SunOS 5.0 is avaliable from 
	ftp.uu.net in the /systems/sun/gnu-solaris directory.


42)	How do I change the time zone setting on my machine?

        In releases prior to SunOS 4.0, you will have to reconfigure
        your kernel, recompile it, install the new kernel, and reboot.
        See the documentation on kernel configuration.

        In SunOS 4.0 and later releases, you will need to run the "zic"
        command with the "-l" flag, with the appropriate time zone
        setting as the argument.  For example, to set the time zone to
        US Eastern Time, do:

                zic -l US/Eastern

        to set it to the proper setting for Great Britain and Eire, do:

                zic -l GB-Eire

        and so on.

        You will then probably want to reboot your machine, in order to:

                1) cause any daemons started before the time zone was
                   changed to restart, and pick up the new time zone;

               2) run "tzsetup" for the benefit of old pre-SunOS 4.0
                   binaries, old programs not converted to use the new
                   routines to convert local time to UNIX time, and
                   Calendar Manager.

        You can also manually link "/usr/share/lib/zoneinfo/localtime"
        to the appropriate time zone file, but there's really no point
        in doing so when "zic -l" will do that for you.

43)	I'm getting messages that say (one of):

        proc: table is full

        file: table is full

        dquot: table is full

        inode: table is full

	What does this mean, and how do I fix the situation?

        In SunOS releases prior to 5.0, many tables in the system are
        allocated once at system startup time, with a fixed size, and do
        not grow in size.  If the system needs more entries than are
        present in that table to perform some operation, it can't
        perform the operation, and it will log a message and return a
        failure indication.

        The sizes of the tables in question are based on the "maxusers"
        value in the configuration file for your kernel; to increase the
        size of the table, change the configuration file for your kernel
        to have a larger "maxusers" value, re-run "config" on that file,
        rebuild the kernel, install the new kernel, and reboot.

        SunOS 4.1 and later shouldn't get "inode: table is full", as
        that table is dynamically allocated; SunOS 5.0 should
        dynamically allocate entries in most if not all of those tables.

	I did that, and I'm still getting that message.  What do I do now?

        Presumably, then, either:

                1) you didn't increase "maxusers" enough

        or

                2) some process is consuming resources from the table in
                   question without bound.


	Note: SunOS kernels(up to 4.1.3) by default allow the user to use 
	      all available process slots(except for the last 5). 

	      If you are running out of process slots you may want to 
	      change the kernel parameter that controls the maximum number
	      of per user processes. You can change this in the param.c
	      in /sys/conf.common. You will need to change the following
	      define:

			#define MAXUPRC (NPROC - 5)

	      to something more reansable like

			#define MAXUPRC (NPROC - 5)/2

	      After making this change you should re-config and re-build
	      your kernel.

        The "proc" table has one entry for every process on the system;
        if it's overflowing, some process on the system may be creating
        new processes over and over again.  If you can, do a "ps -ax" to
        see what processes are on the system, and see if that gives any
        clues as to what process, if any, is spawning those other
        processes.
		

        The "file" table has one entry for every "active file
        descriptor" on the system; each time an "open", "dup", "socket",
        etc. call is made, a new "active file descriptor" is required.
        There's no way of finding out what process or processes are
        consuming file descriptors that's as convenient as "ps" can be
        for finding out what process or processes are spawning additional
        processes; "/usr/etc/pstat -f" will print the "open file table"
        of "active file descriptors", but it's tricky for the novice
        user, programmer, or administrator to interpret the output of
        "pstat -f", and that output doesn't indicate which processes are
        using a given "active file descriptor".


44)     How do I run both OpenWindows and MIT X11R5?

	To get X11R5(or R4) applications to run under Openwindows you will
	need to set the appropriate LD_LIBRARY_PATH. 

        Assuming you installed the MIT libraries in
        /usr/lib and the OpenWindows libraries are in
        /usr/openwin/lib, set the following before you start the
        windowing system:

        MIT X11R4 environment

                set path = (/usr/bin/X11 $path)
                setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/lib

   	OpenWindows

                set path = (/usr/openwin/bin /usr/openwin/demo $path)
                setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/openwin/lib

        You can also run clients from one environment under a different
        server on a one command at a time basis.  This example runs a

     	OpenWindows client under the MIT server:

                (setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/openwin/lib; x_soundtool)


	A better way to handle this(in the long run) is to re-compile 
	the X server clients to include a "hard" coded shared library
	search path. You will need to link the clients with -L
	option.  For example, if your X11 libraries are installed
	in /usr/local/lib/X11 you will link your application by

		   cc -o app app.c -L/usr/local/lib/X11 -lX11 -lXext

	By doing this to all applications you can eliminate the need
	to set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH. 

	For applications that you do not have source for you should
	write a shell script wrapper similar to the following:

	#!/bin/sh
	LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/X11; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
	/usr/local/bin/X11/xterm.bin $*
	

	Note: Source code for the Xview toolkit and MIT X11R5 are
	      available from prep.ai.mit.edu. 


        The OpenWindows server has the ability to display PostScript that
        several of the OpenWindows applications require to run.  Sun's
        AnswerBook is an example that requires PostScript.  These clients
        will not run under the MIT server.   

	You can get a limited PostScript preview capability under 
	either server with GNU Ghostscript, a GNU "copyleft" package
	available from various ftp sites.  

	Two enhanced versions of Ghostscript are also available,
        CSPreview and Ghostview, they both offer fancier preview capabilities.
        These programs are currently available via anonymous ftp:

        Ghostscript is on prep.ai.mit.edu (18.71.0.38) in /pub/gnu
        GSPreview   is on export.lcs.mit.edu (18.24.0.12) in /contrib
        Ghostview   is on prep.ai.mit.edu (128.105.2.196) in /pub/gnu


45)	Where do I find a "restricted" shell for SunOS?

	/usr/lib/rsh is a "restricted" Bourne shell.

46)	Will SunOS 4.1.x binaries run under Solaris 2.0?

	This question under construction.

47)	When I try to compile MITs X11R4 applications under Openwindows 3.0,
	I get the following "undefined" symbols(_get_wmShellWidgetClass, and
	_get_applicationShellWidgetClass). What is the Problem?

	There are problems with the Xmu shared library as shipped from Sun.

	There are two "fixes". One is to get the Openwindows patches
	that apply to this problem and the other is to "statically" link
	the Xmu library into the executable.

	The patches you will need are as follows:

        Patch i.d.      Bug i.d.'s      O/S     Description
        ----------      -------------------------------------------------------
        100512-02       1086793 1086912 	4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 libXt 
			1074766 		Jumbo patch
 
        100573-03       1087332 		4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 undefined
						symbols when using shared
						libXmu.

	To "statically" link your executable with libXmu modify the
	compile line as follows:

		  -Bstatic -lXmu -lBdynamic 


48)	What is Solaris?
	
	Solaris consists of the following facilities:

		1) SunOS 
		2) Openwindows
		3) Openwindows deskset tools
		4) ONC networking products and services(which includes NFS
		   and NIS)

	Solaris is not an operating system but a "complete" user
	environment.

49)     What does the "nres_gethostbyaddr !=" error mean?

        This message is from "ypserv" and has been determined to be
        "harmless" (bug #1039839). Sun supplied a patch 100141-01 to
        quiet it, but the patched version appears to die silently at
        random times, so Sun now has a new patch, 100141-02.

	This message can be generated because the Domain Name Server lacks
	a reverse map entry for that particular host.


50)     How come my mouse only works in the vertical(or horizontal) direction,
	how do I repair it?

	One of the LEDs on the under side of the mouse has probably 
	"burnt" out.

	You can probably repair it yourself(if you can get a replacement 
	LED and you know how to use a Soldiering Iron) by following
	a set of directions available from thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the
	file /pub/sun-faq/mouse.fix.

	Finally, you should try turning your mouse pad 90 degrees and
	see if that corrects the problem.

        Note: Also, you may have one of the bad mice that came with
	      early SS-1 shipments.  The LED on the underside of the 
	      mouse can fail.  Request a replacement from Sun.
	

51)	What do the following undefined symbols mean(dlopen, and dlclose)?

	If you have just installed a new shared library under 4.1.2 or
	greater you need to modify the Makefile for the shared libraries
	and re-install. You will need to change the following line

		ld -assert pure-text `${OBJSORT} lorder-sparc tmp`
	to read 
		ld -assert pure-text `${OBJSORT} lorder-sparc tmp` -ldl

	Note: You should change both such lines.

	If you are trying to run a 4.1.2 or greater executable on
	machine running 4.1.1 or earlier you will need to copy
	/usr/lib/libdl.so.1.0 off a 4.1.2 machine and install in 
	/usr/lib on the 4.1.1 machine.
	

	Note: 	These symbols can be found in libdl.so.1.0 under 4.1.2 or 
		greater machines.


52)	What does "No network locking on host" mean after upgrading to
	Solaris 2.0?

	Your SunOS 4.x(or above) machines are running an old version
	of rpc.lockd. You need to get and install patch number 
	100075-09 to correct this problem.

53)	Does Password Aging work with NIS(YP) ?

	Password aging will only work under SunOS 5.0 with NIS+.

	Sun does not support password aging under NIS(OS version
	to 4.1.3). The rpc.yppasswdd needs to modified to 
	make password aging work. 

54)	What does "rpc.lockd: Cannot contact status monitor!" mean?
	
	For some reason rpc.lockd can not talk to rpc.statd. 

	Check to see if rpc.statd is running. If rpc.statd
	is not running re-start it. If rpc.statd is running, 
	kill it and restart it. 

	To get rpc.statd to re-start you may need to
	remove the /etc/sm and /etc/sm.bak directories.

55)	How do I join the Sun User Group(SUG)?

	Here is the information on joining SUG.

		Sun User Group, Inc.
		1330 Beacon Street, Suite 315
		Brookline, MA 02146
		USA
		voice: +1 617 232-0514		fax: +1 617 232-1347
		office@sug.org 

	With your membership you get the following:
		
		*  Vendor Discounts
		*  Technical Conferences
		*  Software Distribution
		*  README Newsletter
		*  Annual Exhibits
		*  Local User Group Support
		*  Newsgroup comp.org.sug 


56)	How do I increase the number of "pseudo" terminals(ptys) ?

	To add more ptys you must install a new kernel. 

	The default number of "ptys" is  48.  To get more "ptys" 
	change the kernel config line "pseudo-device pty" to 
	"pseudo-device pty#" where '#" is the number of "ptys"
	you want. 

	Be warned the maximum number you can have is 255(don't use 256,
	this wraps to 0)
-- 
Rob Montjoy                   		- Rob.Montjoy@UC.Edu
Computer Engineer    	      		- montjoy@ucbeh.BITNET
University of Cincinnati      		- montjoy@babbage.ece.uc.edu
Electrical and Computer Engineering	- uunet!uceng!rmontjoy

--  To Save the Earth. The Humans must die.

Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun.admin