From: ahh@moji.uucp (Andy Heffernan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.3b1
Subject: Frequently-asked Questions about the UNIX-PC/3b1, Part 1/2
Date: 2 Sep 92 04:00:34 GMT
Expires: Mon, 2 Nov 1992 05:00:00 GMT
Reply-To: 3b1-faq@glyph.kingston.ny.us (Andy Heffernan)
Organization: Moji Computing

----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Answers to some frequently asked questions about the AT&T UNIX PC, |
|     as well as some frequent problems, hints, and solutions.	     |
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[$Revision: 2.3 $ $Date: 92/06/30 23:17:48 $]
Send updates to 3b1-faq@glyph.kingston.ny.us.

		Part 1 of 2

This article contains answers to the following questions:
1)  What exactly are the AT&T UNIX PC, PC7300, and 3B1?
2)  What is the operating system?  Its origins?
3)  What are the "OSU Archives"?
4)  Who supports these machines?  Are there any user groups?
5)  Where can I get my machine serviced or fixed?
6)  How do I get my free Personal Calendar program?
7)  What is "THE STORE!" and how can I access it?
8)  Is there any GNU software available?
9)  Is the X Window system available for the UNIX PC?
10) What's MGR?
11) How can I get a full 360kB when I format a MS-DOS floppy on the UNIX PC?
12) Are there any other utilities for fiddling with MS-DOS floppies?
13) What commercial software was available for the UNIX PC?
14) Can I use the GNU C compiler in place of the hard-to-find development set?
15) What do I with old object-file archives?
16) How do I restore from a backup when one of the floppies is bad?
17) How can I make a floppy-disk-based UNIX for fsck'ing the hard drive?
18) How can I get the machine to ask the device and program to boot from?
19) How do I get multiple login windows? 
20) What the heck is a +IN suffix on a file?
21) What do the HDERR (FDERR, or TPERR) messages in /usr/adm/unix.log mean?
22) Why are the header files missing after an install of the Development Set?
23) Why is the machine is booting over and over?
24) Is HoneyDanBer UUCP available to replace the stock uucp software?
25) Why doesn't the On-Board Modem (OBM) work with some other modems?
26) How do I get my on-board modem to be a dial-out-only modem?
27) Does the on-board modem support 2400 bps?
28) Why aren't the lpadmin, accept, and reject commands working right?
29) Why are all the jobs on the printer always followed by a formfeed?
30) Why can't I send bitmapped images to the printer correctly?
31) How do I configure a Hayes compatible external modem on the UNIX PC?
32) Any tips on building Cnews?
33) What are lipc and nipc, and how can I use nipc instead of lipc?
34) What third-party hardware is available?
35) Can I put a 68881 math coprocessor in my machine?

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- General -------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
1)  What exactly are the AT&T UNIX PC, PC7300, and 3B1?

	The name "UNIX PC" is a catch-all name for a set of machines
developed by Convergent Technologies (now part of Unisys) and sold by
AT&T in the mid to late 80's, all having the same basic configuration:

	o 10MHz 68010 with custom MMU
	o demand paged, virtual memory UNIX (max. process size 2.5M)
	o 10/20/40/67MB disk
	o 512k/1M/2MB RAM
	o monochrome, quasi-Hercules display

	As marketing strategies changed and basic features were added,
the original offering (the PC7300) became known as the 3B1.  The 7300
machines featured 512k RAM on the motherboard with a 10 or 20MB disk.
The later 3B1 machines had 1M or 2M on the motherboard, and came with
a 40 or 67MB disk.  Accommodating the larger, full-height drives in the
3B1 required that a hump be added to the sloping, wedge-shaped case
top.  The 3B1 also has a heftier power supply.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
2)  What is the operating system?  Its origins?

	The operating system is based on UNIX System V Release 2, with
extensions from BSD 4.1, BSD 4.2, System V Release 3 and Convergent
Technologies.  The most recent version is 3.51, with a 3.51m FIXDISK
(2.0) available.  The FIXDISK was available from AT&T directly, but is
now only available on the OSU Archives as FIXDISK2.0+IN.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
3)  What are the "OSU Archives"?

	OSU-CIS is an Ohio State University computer system which
holds a very large selection of UNIX-PC-related programs and files.
David Brierley (dave@galaxia.network23.com) is the current maintainer
of the archives.  Ohio State graciously allows both anonymous FTP and
UUCP access to this archive.  For FTP from the Internet, access is via
the machine archive.cis.ohio-state.edu (IP address: 128.146.8.52).

They recommend the following L.sys (Systems) entries:

	#
	# Direct Trailblazer
	# dead, dead, dead...sigh.  for the 3rd time in as many months.
	#
	#osu-cis Any ACU 19200 1-614-292-5112 in:--in:--in: Uanon
	#
	# Direct V.32 (MNP 4)
	# dead, dead, dead...sigh.
	#
	#osu-cis Any ACU 9600 1-614-292-1153 in:--in:--in: Uanon
	#
	# Micom port selector, at 1200, 2400, or 9600 bps.
	# Replace ##'s below with 12, 24, or 96 (both speed and phone number).
	# Can't use MNP with V.32 on -3196
	#
	osu-cis Any ACU ##00 1-614-292-31## "" \r\c Name? osu-cis nected \c GO \d\r\d\r\d\r\d\r\d\r\d\r\d\r in:--in:--in: Uanon

	The file ~/att7300/README.Z contains a detailed list of the
archive's contents and should be the first thing to get.

	Another source of software for Internet-connected sites is the
anonymous FTP area on ftp.cs.caltech.edu.  Andy Fyfe
(andy@cs.caltech.edu) maintains new versions of TeX and GNU utilities
in the pub/3b1 directory.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
4)  Who supports these machines?  Are there any user groups?

	The primary support for the machine is the Usenet newsgroup
comp.sys.3b1.  There are a lot of dedicated people who enjoy these
machines and post a wealth of information to the network.

	If you are in the Silicon Valley area, contact Thad Floryan
(thad@btr.com) for information on how to go to the "AT&T UNIX User's
Group" meeting on the fourth Wednesday of every month.  Although it's
a generic AT&T UNIX group, a large number of the members (including
Thad) own UNIX PC's.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
5)  Where can I get my machine serviced or fixed?

	This is difficult, since AT&T no longer supports the machine.
The only remaining possibility appears to be ``A Small Computer Repair
Company'' (ASCRC).  They will diagnose your problem, and repair or
replace the part that is broken.  They will try their hardest to
repair the item first.  You need to send the computer (or just the
component in question) to them.  They will repair/replace it and ship
it back.  Their turn-around time is usually 48-72 hours.  They repair
AT&T's 6300, 6300+, 7300, 3B1 and UNIX PC computers. For more
information and/or to arrange servicing, contact:

		A Small Computer Repair Company
		5762 Dichondra Place
		Newark, CA  94560
		(415) 430-9226 or (415) 793-6980

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Software ------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
6)  How do I get my free Personal Calendar program?

	Enclosed with the documentation of many or all UNIX PC's was a
card which you could send in to receive a free copy of the Personal
Calendar program.  The machine is discontinued, so sending in the card
now won't accomplish anything, but that doesn't mean that you're out
of luck.  Many machines were shipped with the calendar program in
/etc/fixes.  Install it as follows (the name of the program is
"pcal"):

	Append this to your /usr/lib/ua/Office file:

		Name=Calendar
		Default = Open
		Open=EXEC -d /usr/bin/pcal -c
		Help=EXEC -d /usr/bin/uahelp -h /usr/lib/ua/ua.hlp -t Calendar

	Append this to your /usr/lib/ua/Preferences file:

		Name=Calendar
		Default = Open
		Open=EXEC -d /usr/bin/pcal -p
		Help=EXEC -d /usr/bin/uahelp -h /usr/lib/ua/ua.hlp -t Calendar

	If you are using the pcal that is located in /etc/fixes:

		$ su
		Password:
		# mv /etc/fixes/pcal /usr/bin
		# mv /etc/fixes/pcal.hlp /usr/lib/ua
		# chown bin /usr/bin/pcal /usr/lib/ua/pcal.hlp
		# chgrp bin /usr/bin/pcal /usr/lib/ua/pcal.hlp
		# chmod 755 /usr/bin/pcal 
		# chmod 644 /usr/lib/ua/pcal.hlp

------------------------------------------------------------------------
7)  What is "THE STORE!" and how can I access it?

	THE STORE! was owned and operated by AT&T, but is no longer
available for dialup uucp.  All publicly accessible software that was
formerly available there has been moved and archived on the OSU
archives (see above).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
8)  Is there any GNU software available?

	There are fairly recent versions of gcc, g++, gas, gdb, and
emacs as binary-only cpio archives on OSU as well at CalTech (see
above).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
9)  Is the X Window system available for the UNIX PC?

	No, X has not been ported, and probably won't ever be ported
to the UNIX PC.  X is quite large, and there have been several
discussions about porting it in comp.sys.3b1, but it's probably not
worth the effort.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
10) What's MGR?

	MGR is an alternative windowing environment developed by Steve
Uhler at Bellcore and ported to the UNIX PC by Brad Bosch and Brian
Botton.  The MGR windowing environment can replace the standard
/dev/window environment on the UNIX PC quite nicely (it does prevent
some UNIX PC specific programs from being run since the wind.o
loadable device driver is not loaded).  MGR's user interface is quite
similar to a SunWindows environment, and raster operations are quite
fast.  MGR is a user program, not a driver (besides the pty driver),
so it doesn't take up precious kernel space.  It does require a
hardware modification called the VIDPAL.  The VIDPAL (developed by
Brian Botton [...!att!iexist!botton]) is a daughterboard that sits
sandwiched between the 68010 CPU and the motherboard and allows direct
access to video memory from a user process.

	At one time, Brian had provided VIDPAL kits but no longer does
so.  If you want to try out MGR, but can't get a VIDPAL board, you may
want to try out John Milton's VIDPAL emulator -- a software-only
solution to video memory access.  It is certainly slower than a real
VIDPAL, but is interesting none the less.  The VIDPAL emulator was
posted to comp.sources.3b1 and so should be archived at standard
archive sites like uunet.uu.net.

	A beta source distribution of MGR is on OSU, and can also be
gotten via anonymous ftp from max.physics.sunysb.edu (129.49.21.100).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
11) How can I get a full 360kB when I format a MS-DOS floppy on the UNIX PC?

	The md_format program defaults to formatting floppies with 8
tracks per sector (320kB).  Use the "-9" option to get 9 tracks per
sector (360kB).

	A further suggestion is to get windy ("windy.cpio.Z" at OSU)
and use it to run the md_format program, since md_format is one of
those which tends to turn your full-screen UNIX window into a little,
horrible-looking window.  Windy fixes this by running the command in
its own window.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
12) Are there any other utilities for fiddling with MS-DOS floppies?

	The best of the bunch is Emmet P. Gray's Mtools package, which
is available on OSU.  The utilities in this package allow one to copy
files, delete files, rename files, make directories, format disks,
etc.  The 2.0 version of Mtools also supports the C:, D:, etc. drive
partitions of the DOS-73 emulator.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
13) What commercial software was available for the UNIX PC?

	What follows is a list Steve Urich (beyo@beyonet.UUCP) typed
in from an old TRC catalog listing UNIX PC commercial software.  At
the end of this list are a few more products seen by other folks on
Usenet.

			    UNIX PC SOFTWARE

Model		Description
AT&T650002	GSS Terminal. Access to host graphics; Tektronix 4014 EGM
AT&T650005	3270+ Emulator. For SNA networks through dial-up or dedicated
		lines
AT&T650007	AT&T Electronic Mail. menu driven with lots of options for
		sending notes & files
AT&T650008	TCP/IP Ethernet, includes ICMP, UDP, NVT, PTP, SMPT, TFTP &
		remote cmnds
AT&T650101	Voice Mail Software. Send and receive text and vioce mail
AT&T650S01	UNIX PC Network. Starlan messaging, file transfer and e-mail
AT&T650S02	UNIX PC Server. Starlan file server for MS-DOS networks.
AT&T651002	GSS Drivers+ VDI based software for printers
AT&T651003	UNIX System V Release 3.51 
AT&T651004	GSS Toolkit. Graphics programming including metafile, plotting
		& windows.
AT&T651005	GSS Metafile Interpreter. Library of functions for VDM standard
AT&T651006	GSS GKS. C tool implements the GKS standard
AT&T651007	GSS Plotting System. Chart building capabilities.
AT&T651008	GSS Window Manager for C language windowing.
AT&T651010	Informix C-ISAM. Tool for ISAM without a full RDBMS.
AT&T651018	Development Tools. Commercial and scientific ISAM sort/merge
AT&T651021	UNIX Utilities 3.51.
AT&T651201	MS Basic. Basic with over 120 commands from Microsoft.
AT&T651202	SMC Basic. Business Basic III compatability.
AT&T651203	SMC Run Time. Executable only; non-development version.
AT&T651204	RM Cobol. 1974 ANSI standard; certified by GSA.
AT&T651205	RM Cobol Run Time. Executable only; non-development version.
AT&T651209	LPI Fortran. Fortran 77 meeting ANSI X3.9-1978
AT&T651210	LPI Pascal. ANSI/IEEE standard supported by LPI Debug.
AT&T651211	LPI C Full implementation with LPI's modular component 
		architecture.
AT&T651216	LPI Debug. Interactive source level debugger works with all
		LPI products.
AT&T651219	RM Fortran. High preformance implementation of F77 and ANSI
		3.9-78.
AT&T651221	Animator. Integrated with MF Level II Cobol.
AT&T651223	Cobol LVL II. ANSI-74, ISAM tools, source compatible with 
		compact Cobol II
AT&T651224	Forms II. Visual programming tool for screen based forms
		generation.
AT&T651226	Cobol LVL II Run Time. Executable only; non-development version
AT&T651227	SVS Fortran. ANSI-77 including Symbolic Debugger.
AT&T651229	SVS Pascal. Combines ISO and UCSD standards
AT&T651232	AT&T BASIC Interpreter. Standard Basic with many extensions
AT&T651233	AT&T BASIC Compiler. Full implementation of ANSI X3.60-78 with
		extensions.
AT&T651237	UNIFY. Multi-user RDBMS.
AT&T651702	dBASE III. Ashton-Tate and AT&T
AT&T651706	QUICKCODE III. Automate dBASE III programming.
AT&T651707	dUTIL. Toolkit for dBASE III programmers.
AT&T651713	FILE-IT. Easy to use personal DBMS which builds informix files
		thru menus.
AT&T651713	INFORMIX. The most flexible true relational multi-user
		programming language.
AT&T651714	INFORMIX Run Time. Executable versions of Informix programs.
AT&T651715	SMART DBMS. Powerful relational database integrated with the
		Smart package.
AT&T651L60	BASIC ORACLE. Fully compatible with IBM's SQL/DS and DB2
AT&T651L61	TURBO ORACLE. ANSI Standard SQL; C language precompiler.
AT&T652004	Multiplan. Microsoft's spreadsheet solution.
AT&T652009	GSS CHART. Interactive standalone package for mainframe quality
		graphics.
AT&T652010	GSS Sound Pres. Fully featured interactive graphics on a wide
		variety of devices.
AT&T652016	AT&T SUPERCOMP 20. The multiuser standard of spreadsheets.
AT&T652017	BUSINESS GRAPHICS. Turn your 20/20 data into charts.
		(Requires Supercomp 20).
AT&T652022	PAINT POWER. Sophisticated but easy to use drawing package.
AT&T652026	SMART SFTWR SYS. Database-Spreadsheet-Wordprocessor.
AT&T652029	TEAM POWER. Office work groups for 2 to 5 users sharing all
		resources.
AT&T652202	MS WORD. Microsoft's professional word processor for UNIX.
AT&T652204	AT&T Word Processor. Easy to use word processor.
AT&T652208	Crystalwriter. Powerful word processing with English language
		commands.
AT&T652209	Wordstar 2000. MicroPro's best selling word processor.
AT&T652210	SMART WORD PROCESSOR. Professional word processor which works
		with Smart.
AT&T653001	BUSINESS ACCTING. Complete business accounting system.
AT&T653002	OC/INV. Complete package for managing incoming orders and 
		product control.
AT&T653003	PAYROLL. Complete payroll and personnel management.
AT&T653004	A/P. Comprehensive control system-can be integrated with G/L.
AT&T653005	A/R. Maintains customer profiles and accounts-can be integrated
		with G/L.
AT&T653006	GENERAL LEDGER. Fully automated package for maintaining
		business records.

AT&T??????	Wordmarc Composer.  Word processing package.
AT&T??????	Pegasys.  Computer-aided design.
AT&T??????	Image Director
AT&T??????	Samna.  Word processor.
AT&T??????	Q-Office.  Office integration
AT&T??????	User Agent Design Tool.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Software development ------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
14) Can I use the GNU C compiler in place of the hard-to-find development set?

	In theory, anyway, most of what you need from the Development
Set can be obtained elsewhere.  There are at least five things that
you need to do C programming on the UNIX PC:
	o a C compiler
		Use GCC (binary available in languages/gcc-gas.tar.Z
		on OSU-CIS)
	o an assembler
		Use GAS (binary available in languages/gcc-gas.tar.Z
		on OSU-CIS)
	o a linker/loader (/bin/ld)
		This is included in the Foundation Set.
	o system header files
		Alex Crain (alex@umbc3.umbc.edu) has created a set of
		ANSI header files which appeared in Volume 1, Issue 49
		of comp.sources.3b1, with one patch.
	o libraries
		This is the tough one.  There are a bunch of libraries
		that come the Development Set which would be difficult
		to replace.  One of the most important (/lib/libc.a)
		is on the Encryption Set disks in the Foundation Set.
		Supposedly FIXDISK2.0 contains one or more updated
		libraries.  The network and OSU remain good sources
		for strings, POSIX, dirent, etc. libraries.  Of
		course, there are other libraries like /lib/libm.a
		(math) and /lib/libld.a (COFF access) which might be
		more difficult to replace.

	This writer hasn't actually heard of anyone actually pulling
this feat off, but sometimes he has trouble paying attention. ("Eh?")

	(Thanks to Glenn Thobe for providing up-to-date information.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
15) What do I with old object-file archives?

	The object-file archive format was changed from release 3.0 to
3.5 of the operating system.  There is a utility to convert these
archives to the new format.

		# convert oldarchive.a newarchive.a

	Or you can run:

		# arconvert
		# file oldarchive.a newarchive.a
		oldarchive.a: 5.0 archive
		newarchive.a: 5.2 archive

	That will convert all the archives in /usr/lib and /lib that
are in the old 5.0 archive format to the new 5.2 archive format.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Administration ------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
16) How do I restore from a backup when one of the floppies is bad?

	Get the public domain program called "afio".  It's available
in the OSU archives.  It supports reading the floppy disk backup set,
and will ignore errors and recover when it finds the next cpio ASCII
header if you use the "-k" option.  The backup set must be written
using cpio and the "-c" option must have been used during the writing
of the diskettes.

	The syntax for afio to restore is:
		# cd /
		# afio -ivk /dev/rfp021
			  ^ use the k option to allow dealing with
			    corrupted archives

------------------------------------------------------------------------
17) How can I make a floppy-disk-based UNIX for fsck'ing the hard drive?

	Make a copy of the "Floppy Filesystem Disk" (Disk 3 of ##) of
the Foundation Set as follows.  Insert the original floppy filesystem
diskette, and have a formatted, 10 sectors/track diskette ready.  Type
the "fpcp" command and copy it.

	Now that you have a copy, place a copy of /etc/fsck on it.
While you're at it, save your /etc/inittab in case it gets destroyed
in the future and you can't get the machine to boot.

		# mount /dev/fp021 /mnt
		# cp /etc/fsck /mnt/etc/fsck
		# cp /etc/inittab /mnt/etc/inittab.save
		# sync
		# umount /dev/fp021

	Now you have a disk that will help you do a standalone
filesystem check.

	To use this, first boot the system using the "Floppy Boot
Disk" (Disk 2 of ##).  It will stop and ask you to insert the Floppy
Filesystem Disk.  Insert your copy instead.  When it comes to the
first question, interrupt the script with <DEL> to get a "#" prompt.

	The disk is already mounted as /mnt, so unmount it:
		# umount /dev/fp002
		warning: /dev/fp002 not in mount table
	Do your filesystem check:
		# /etc/fsck -D -S /dev/rfp002
	Reboot the system:
		# sync
		# sync
		# reboot

	NOTE: the root filesystem is the floppy filesystem, so the
"-s" option to fsck salvages the floppy root filesystem, not the root
filesystem on the hard drive.  This is why "-s" is not used above.

    *** THE FOLLOWING IS NOT FOR THE UNINHIBITED OR CASUAL USER ***

	For the real UNIX hacker out there (who is fortunate enough to
have a tape drive on your machine) you could grab the fp_unix.sh.Z,
conf.sh.Z and kern.cpio.Z files from the OSU Archives.  This is a set
of tools, along with the kernel object files for 3.51m, that will let
you link in the tape driver (tp.o) to your floppy UNIX kernel and give
you full control of the tape device from the floppy UNIX.  This is
very handy for doing full backups or restores from the floppy!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
18) How can I get the machine to ask the device and program to boot from?

	By default the UNIX PC is set up with the non-verbose system
loader.  This can be changed to the "verbose" loader which will ask
what program and device to load from.

	*** WARNING *** Any time you write to the disk device like the
following, be extra careful that you type the correct device name.  A
backup is always recommended.

	Insert a blank diskette in the floppy drive.
		# fdfmt.vl
		# /etc/ldrcpy /dev/rfp020 /dev/rfp000

	Reboot your machine and you'll be able to load from the floppy
or the hard disk whatever program you desire (not that there is too
much you can load).  It may be useful to copy the several diagnostic
utilities to the hard disk (for easy retrieval).

	Insert your diagnostic disk ...
		# mount /dev/fp021 /mnt -r
		# mkdir /dgn
		# cp /mnt/s4diag /dgn/s4diag
		# umount /dev/fp021

	This can be repeated for diagnostics like, STARLAN, Voice
Power, DOS-73, Floppy Tape, etc.  Name the diagnostic programs
something unique (slndiag, vpdiag, dosdiag, etc.)  Now you can load
from the hard disk /dgn/s4diag, /dgn/vpdiag, etc.. and have that
diagnostic utility handy when needed.

	NOTE: After you do this procedure your system will not reboot
automatically (after power failures) without some user input.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
19) How do I get multiple login windows? 

	It is fairly easy to start up several windows with logins on
them: all you need to do is add additional getty commands to the
/etc/inittab file.  Don't be afraid to edit your /etc/inittab, even
though there is a big warning at the top of the file -- nothing will
happen if you are careful.

		 vid:2:respawn:/etc/getty window 9600
		 vd2:2:respawn:/etc/getty window 9600
		 vd3:2:respawn:/etc/getty window 9600
		^ NOTE: in all cases there is a space character there.

	This will start up 3 windows with logins.  Using the
<Shift><Suspd> key, you can cycle through all of them.

	Another option is to get the Boyd Ostroff's "wlogin" package,
posted to comp.sources.3b1 and available from the archives.  This
program can either replace or work with /etc/getty on the console and
lets you have multiple overlapping 24 line x 80 character windows
using a smaller font.  It will work with or without wmgr, smgr, ph and
ua.  The number of windows and their position is fully configurable by
the user.  If desired, it can provide a simple alternative windowing
environment to the UA, allowing you to remove ua and all its
associated files, thus freeing up over 1 MB of disk space.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
20) What the heck is a +IN suffix on a file?

	On the UNIX PC, "+IN" denotes an "Installable File".  If you
were to use the UA it would show that it's an Installable File.  The
Installable format is just a normal cpio archive.  The file can be
installed by hand by doing:

		# mkdir /tmp/install
		# mv FILE+IN /tmp
		# cd /tmp/install
		# cpio -icduvmB < ../FILE+IN
		[...]
		# ./Install

	A list of other Suffixes appears in the file
/usr/lib/ua/Suffixes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
21) What do the HDERR (FDERR, or TPERR) messages in /usr/adm/unix.log mean?

	There are several possible causes for these.  One of course is
a bad disk, or a disk that has gone bad.  But one should check the
other options before determining the disk is really bad.

	Dirty power supply contacts have been known to cause these
problems.  Open the machine and clean the power supply contacts on the
ribbon-type cable that goes from the supply to the motherboard.

	A weak or faulty power supply could also be your problem.
Test the power supply voltages (with the hard drive and motherboard
connected as a load), using some sort of Y-connector off the power
cable to the hard drive.  Test the +12VDC and +5VDC supplies with a
meter, and make sure they are within acceptable tolerances.  If they
are too low, intermittent HDERRs will occur.  There are several
adjustment screws on the power supply (marked +5, +12, -12) that can
adjust these values.  Turning clockwise will increase the value, and
counterclockwise will decrease it.  Faulty power can make a good hard
disk or motherboard appear to be bad.

	More commonly you'll find FDERRs in your /usr/adm/unix.log
file.  Every time you format a new floppy disk, you'll get at least
one.  Floppy disks are prone to more errors, especially if you get
those bargain basement brand types.

	TPERRs might appear if you have a bad or defective cartridge
tape block.  If you start seeing a lot of these during your backup or
verify phases, it would be a good idea to re-format the tape and run
another surface check (to check for possibly bad streams, or good
streams that have gone bad).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
22) Why are the header files missing after an install of the Development Set?

	One of the packages' Install scripts (apparently that of
"Curses/Terminfo Programmers Package"), copies curses.h to
/usr/include anticipating that the directory has already been created
by a previous package's Install script.  If /usr/include doesn't exist
yet because the packages weren't installed in the right order, the
Install script will make a *file* called /usr/include, which is really
curses.h.

	To prevent this from happening, install the packages in this
order:

		Curses/Terminfo End User Package
		Development Set 3.5x
		Curses/Terminfo Programmers Package

---------------------------------------------------------------------
23) Why is the machine is booting over and over?

	The stock /etc/rc that called when the machine boots up writes
the output of the fsck(1M) to the hard disk (/etc/.lastfsck).  This is
definitely a problem.  Many people prefer having control over what
fsck does rather than running fsck with the "-y" option and having it
do all the work.  A lot of times fsck will delete files or clear them
and you have no control over what it's doing.

	Check out the fsokay.cpio.Z package on OSU, it contains some
enhanced /etc/rc scripts and tools to make the booting phase of the
UNIX PC a lot cleaner and more reliable.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
24) Is HoneyDanBer UUCP available to replace the stock uucp software?

	HDB binaries and documentation are available on OSU as the
following files:
		~/att7300/STORE/HDB3.5+IN.Z
		~/att7300/STORE/HONEYDOCS+IN.Z

------------------------------------------------------------------------
25) Why doesn't the On-Board Modem (OBM) work with some other modems?

	One problem is that the OBM seems to create answerback tones
which identifies itself (for some reason) as an MNP reliable modem
(!).  This confuses some MNP modems and the Telebit Trailblazer (only
if set in MNP reliable mode).  These cannot be altered in the OBM, but
often a system which cannot call the UNIX PC OBM can be called by the
UNIX PC OBM.

	Another problem is that the OBM has trouble establishing a
UUCP connection when calling Telebits configured in locked-speed mode.
Chris Lewis (clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca) has written a program called
phfix which can be invoked from /etc/rc to correct this particular
problem using the (undocumented?) PIOCOVSPD setting on the OBM.  The
result is that the OBM can successfully connect with locked-speed
Telebits, and they can connect back.  The program is not on OSU or in
any comp.sources.3b1 archives, so it is presented here:

/*	Sample program for bashing the OBM into tone dial and
	setting PIOCOVSPD to permit talking to certain modems
	(particularly telebits).
	The documentation mentions 2.3% speed change for PIOCOVSPD.
	That's all I know.

	You are free to do whatever you wish with this code, but
	please leave this comment in.

	Chris Lewis, clewis@ecicrl.uucp, Jan 2 1991.
 */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <sys/phone.h>

main(argc, argv)
int argc; char **argv; {
    int f;
    struct updata upd;
    f = open("/dev/ph1", O_RDWR | O_NDELAY, 0);
    if (f < 0) {
	perror("/dev/ph1");
	exit(1);
    }
    ioctl(f, PIOCGETP, &upd);	/* retrieve Phone parameters */

#ifdef	NEVER
    /* if you want to play with these go ahead - for some reason my
       3b1 always comes up in PULSE */
    upd.c_lineparam &= ~PULSE;	/* reverse the sense to set to pulse dial */
    upd.c_lineparam |= DTMF;	/* reverse the sense to set to pulse dial */

    upd.c_feedback |= SPEAKERON;
    upd.c_feedback |= LOUDSPK;
    ioctl(f, PIOCDISC, &upd);	/* apply PIOCOVSPD for talking to some modems*/
#endif

    ioctl(f, PIOCOVSPD, &upd);	/* apply PIOCOVSPD for talking to some modems,
				   eg: Telebits */
    ioctl(f, PIOCSETP, &upd);	/* set phone parameters */
}

------------------------------------------------------------------------
26) How do I get my on-board modem to be a dial-out-only modem?

	The easiest way to do this is to edit (with your favorite
editor) the /etc/inittab file.  Change the line:

		 ph0:2:respawn:/etc/getty ph0 1200
	to:
		 ph0:2:off:/etc/getty ph0 1200
		^
	NOTE: There is a space character in front of the first "ph0"
in the lines above.  ph0 may be ph1 if you are using line 2 for the
on-board modem.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
27) Does the on-board modem support 2400 bps?

	In what Convergent considered future releases of the UNIX PC
(P6), there was to be a 2400 bps modem.  This machine was never fully
developed to production levels, and therefore there is no 2400 bps
modem.  As the existing OBM is a proprietary AT&T chip, the likelihood
of there being a drop-in upgrade is remote at best.

	Interesting trivia: The P6 machine was to have a color video,
60MB QIC tape, as well as a 68020 CPU paired with a 68881 FPU.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
28) Why aren't the lpadmin, accept, and reject commands working right?

	The lpadmin(1M), accept(1M), and reject(1M) commands require
the user to be logged in as (or su'd to) user "lp".  Being root will
not work.

		# su lp
		$ disable lp1
		$ /usr/lib/lpadmin -plp1 -mdumb -v/dev/lp
		$ enable lp1

------------------------------------------------------------------------
29) Why are all the jobs on the printer always followed by a formfeed?

	The line printer driver follows each close(2) of /dev/lp with
a formfeed.  There is no way to disable this, except by avoiding the
driver altogether and going straight to the raw printer device.

		# su lp
		$ /usr/lib/lpadmin -plp1 -mdumb -v/dev/rawlp

------------------------------------------------------------------------
30) Why can't I send bitmapped images to the printer correctly?

	8-bit, bitmapped images need to go to the raw printer device,
/dev/rawlp.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
31) How do I configure a Hayes compatible external modem on the UNIX PC?

	Thanks to Jim Adams, included in the OSU Archives is an
informational posting (posted to unix-pc.uucp and comp.sys.att) on how
to set up your external modem under HDB uucp.  The file is named
HDB_Modem.Z.

	The file uses the "hayes" modem as the example, although
information could probably be extracted for uses with other modems.
If you want information on how to set up your Telebit Trailblazer
modem, get the file tb-setup.sh.Z on OSU.

	This posting was too large to include in its entirety here, so
a completely separate posting was made.  He goes into how to set up
the modem, proper cabling, proper Devices and Dialers entries, and a
discussion on HFC (hardware flow control).

	Additionally, the "modemon" package by Boyd Ostroff provides a
simple way to configure external modems.  It consists of a small
program executed via inittab which can reset your modem and execute
any desired AT commands each time a getty is spawned on the serial
port.  This allows you to configure the modem differently for incoming
and outgoing calls and is especially handy if your modem doesn't have
nonvolatile parameter RAM.  The package includes complete
documentation and examples of how to set up an external modem.  It was
posted to comp.sources.3b1 and is available in the archives.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
32) Any tips on building Cnews?

	A sample build.def from Jan Isley (jan@bagend.uucp) follows
with the following interesting characteristics noted:
	- news account is uid=20, gid=20
	- bin owns the executables
	- using Doug Gwyn's dirent library (available on OSU)
	- using a mailer that understands @ addressing (like smail 2.5)
	- UNIX PC kernel does not support setuid(geteuid())
	- other site-specific stuff (machine name and organization)

newsuid="news"
newsgid="news"
binuid="bin"
bingid="bin"
binsrc="no"
mess="no"
unmess="no"
newsarts="/usr/spool/news"
newsctl="/usr/lib/news"
newsbin="/usr/lib/newsbin"
newsumask="002"
newsmaster="usenet"
newsconfig="/usr/lib/news/bin/config"
chown="/bin/chown"
chboth="yes"
chgrp="/bin/chgrp"
unixkind="usg"
addrsize="big"
dbmopt=""
faststdio="no"
storeval="yes"
faststrchr="yes"
sete="no"
ranlib="no"
symdef="yes"
cc="ccc"
copts="-O"
ldopts="-s"
postlibs="-ldirent"
hostname="no"
uname="yes"
uucptype="hdb"
dftype="ustat"
dfdirs="no"
archive="yes"
spacelow="yes"
nfsgroup="no"
server="newsie"
manpages="/usr/man"
manmess="no"
rbin="/usr/bin"
doui="no"
bin="/usr/bin"
atok="yes"
postdefltdist=""
paranoid="no"
whoami="bagend"
mailname="bagend.uucp"
organization="1 Bagshot Row, the Shire"
postdefltgroup=""
newspath="/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin"
fake=" fsync.o mkdir.o symlink.o strerror.o"
fakehdrs=" ../include/string.h ../include/sys/timeb.h"
immediate="no"
inputstall="yes"
defsub=""
mustsub=""

------------------------------------------------------------------------
33) What are lipc and nipc, and how can I use nipc instead of lipc?

	/etc/lddrv/lipc is the loadable device driver that implements
System V inter-process communications on the UNIX PC (semget(), etc.).
/etc/lddrv/nipc is a newer implementation of this driver which fixes
an IPC bug, but was never fully tested.  The default driver loaded by
/etc/lddrv/drivers is lipc, and in fact, this is the driver which the
program ipcs looks for when it reports on IPC usage.  No bugs with nipc
have been uncovered since it was made available (87?), and many people
would rather run the "better" driver than stick with the old lipc.

	There are two approaches for replacing lipc with nipc.  The
most obvious way is to edit /etc/lddrv/drivers to replace lipc with
nipc for when the system is next booted, then replacing the in-core
lipc with nipc with the following sequence:

		# cd /etc/lddrv
		# ./lddrv -dv lipc
		# ./lddrv -av nipc

	Unfortunately, ipcs will not find the lipc driver, and so
won't give any IPC status.  This can be overcome by wielding a binary
editor in the general direction of /usr/bin/ipcs, replacing the
hard-coded instances of "lipc" with "nipc".

	Another method is to remove lipc from core (./lddrv -dv lipc),
rename its files to something benign (lipc -> lipc.old, lipc.o ->
lipc.o.old, ifile.lipc -> ifile.lipc.old), rename the nipc files to be
lipc (nipc -> lipc, nipc.o -> lipc.o, ifile.nipc -> ifile.lipc), and
finally reload the new lipc (./lddrv -av lipc).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Upgrading -----------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
34) What third-party hardware is available?

	Presently there are no known distributors that have a
selection of UNIX PC hardware.  The best source for hardware is the
network, reading comp.sys.3b1 and misc.forsale.  There is always
someone selling UNIX PCs and the appropriate hardware expansion.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
35) Can I put a 68881 math coprocessor in my machine?

	AT&T had listed a 68881 feature as being available for the
UNIX PC, but it was never fully developed.

-- 
Andy Heffernan		$BJ8;z(J	ahh@moji.uucp (uunet!glyph!moji!ahh)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.3b1