HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit,comp.unix.sysv386,comp.unix.sys5.r4
Subject: Re: It's Time for a Shakedown (was Re: A few answers to Dell Unix FAQ)
Date: 6 Jan 93 14:56:50 GMT
Organization: Somewhere just far enough out of Toronto

In article <1993Jan4.170752.16527@sbcs.sunysb.edu>
	shane@cs.sunysb.edu (Shane Bouslough) writes:

>Although the analogy is unfair, the Novell/USL situation reminds me of a
>a movie I saw recently. An young director wanted to make a quality movie,
>but the only people he could get to finance it were rich business men
>who just wanted their talentless girlfriends to be the star.

>I'm afraid of Novell making its girlfriend, NetWare, the star of the show
>at the expense of UNIX technology.

Sigh. NetWare is nothing more than a brain-damaged MS-DOS (or DR-DOS)
base with a different protocol stack from TCP/IP and some maintenance tools.

NetWare is *not* an operating system. It requires an underlying operating
system, including file systems and system calls which need not be of its
design.

This is not an either-or. NetWare and UNIX are not mutually incompatible.

NetWare is not UNIX. Neither, for that matter, is TCP/IP. All three can
run on the same platform. There are too many TCP/IP systems out there
(and too many companies now insisting upon it) for Novell/USL to stop
offering it.

In the cheapest version of Univel, NetWare is standard and TCP is an
(inexpensive) option. Considering the market into which this is being sold,
it's hardly the end of the world. Novell can promote NetWare (as a
protocol) all it wants without hurting the functionality of UNIX.

Think of it this way. You're not losing an operating system, you're
gaining a protocol....

(...and not losing the one you had)
-- 
 Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software Ltd., located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
         evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!utzoo!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504
What's with all this multimedia stuff? Most vendors can't get *one* done right.
From: solsman@ra.nrl.navy.mil (Mark Solsman)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
Subject: which scsi-ii host adapter for Dell
Date: 12 Jan 93 18:33:04 GMT
Organization: Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC

Hello,
I am looking to build a small I486 unix box with Dell Unix.

My question is which scsi-II (scsi fast) host adapter will Dell Unix
support?  [Or, which will work?]

thanks in advance!
Mark Solsman
-- 
Mark Solsman                                 Building 1, Code 5160
United States Naval Research Laboratory      solsman@ra.nrl.navy.mil
Washington, DC                               (202) 767-5769
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
From: shane@cs.sunysb.edu (Shane Bouslough)
Subject: Re: It's Time for a Shakedown (was Re: A few answers to Dell Unix FAQ)
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, State U of NY at Stony Brook
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 17:07:52 GMT

Evan Leibovitch (evan@telly.on.ca) wrote:

: Which R4 company will be *the* one? Who cares anymore? Let's just get on
: with the issue, which is making UNIX better and more popular. The current
                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
: obstacle course of implementors working in self-imposed vacuums, only
: detracts from this goal.

Although the analogy is unfair, the Novell/USL situation reminds me of a
a movie I saw recently. An young director wanted to make a quality movie,
but the only people he could get to finance it were rich business men
who just wanted their talentless girlfriends to be the star.

I'm afraid of Novell making its girlfriend, NetWare, the star of the show
at the expense of UNIX technology. The money-men in the movie insisted on
plot changes to suit their mate's idea of an ideal leading role. So too,
I fear what Novell may do to UNIX to promote its star child.

I think we may see "making UNIX better and more popular" transformed
into "using UNIX to make NETWARE better and more popular".

BTW, I in no way wish to imply NetWare is 'talentless' (I said the analogy
was weak!), it's just not UNIX, and it has a rich boyfriend.

: We've had our nice little experiment of all these nice little companies
: selling UNIX. This hasn't worked. Time to let some big boys play.

Considering the UL/OSF battles, I don't think the big boys have anything
over the little guys :-)!

:  Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software Ltd., located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
:          evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!utzoo!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504

-Shane

--
Shane Bouslough       | #include <stddisc.h>
shane@sbcs.sunysb.edu | #include <happy.rhodes>
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
From: chip@chinacat.unicom.com (Chip Rosenthal)
Subject: SCSI 9-track on SCO
Organization: Unicom Systems Development, Austin, TX
Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1993 04:45:11 GMT

Has anybody had any particularly good or particularly bad experiences
with various 9-track tape drives on SCO Unix?  Heck, I'd be interested
if you've got any experiences at all.  SCSI interface is required,
and I'm considering using the Chantal drivers.  If you use email, I'd
be glad to summarize.
-- 
Chip Rosenthal  512-482-8260 | Ergonomic (adj) - Designed to ensure
Unicom Systems Development   | maximum discomfort in left-handed people.
<chip@chinacat.Unicom.COM>   |
From: paul@isl.cf.ac.uk (Paul Richards)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
Subject: Re: Shared Memory or DMA ethercards for UNIX on a PC
Keywords: Ethernet Adapters
Date: 8 Jan 93 10:36:33 GMT
Organization: Intelligent Systems Lab, ELSYM, Universiity of Wales, College of 
              Cardiff.

As I hint at above, I don't think DMA is a good thing but you don't
get a lot of choice with the isolan cards. That's the only way to
get packets from it.

>My ethercard drivers for Linux use shared memory if it's available,
>otherwise they use programmed I/O.  When shared memory is used the
>whole packet is immediately removed from the ethercard, just the same
>as the programmed I/O interface.  You might at first think you can
>just pass the memory pointer up to the higher layers, but
>
>	o you don't want to go over the ISA bus twice for the same data
>	  so you should move the data someplace cacheable ASAP
>	  (the ethercard is thoughtfully placed in a non-cacheable region)
>	o you are probably going to look at most of the packet anyway
>	  so you might as well move it to your cache now
>	o leaving a packet on the ethercard takes up packet buffer space,
>	  creates a garbage collection problem, and will clog things
>	  up if your ethercard uses a ring buffer (most do).

Unless I've missed something regarding BICC cards (I certainly may have
because I don't have data sheets and gleened all my info from the Crynwr
packet driver) you can't leave the packet on the card even if you wanted
to. The cards have no memory of their own and therefore use dma to
access some of the cpu's memory.

I wouldn't recommend these cards to anyone but unfortunately our campus
people only allow machines with these cards to connect to the campus
backbone!!!

-- 
  Paul Richards, University of Wales, College Cardiff

  JANET:paul@uk.ac.cf.isl	Internet:paul@isl.cf.ac.uk
  UUCP: paul@cf-isl.UUCP or ...!uunet!mcsun!uknet!cf!isl!paul
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit,comp.unix.pc-clone.16bit,alt.sources
From: mark@cyantic.com (Mark T. Dornfeld)
Subject: Re: It's Time for a Shakedown (was Re: A few answers to Dell Unix FAQ)
Organization: CYANTIC Systems
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1993 03:18:40 GMT

In article <1993Jan8.044534.9595@uhura1.uucp> bryan%uhura1@uunet.uu.net writes:
>In article <2B4AF334.5E9A@telly.on.ca> evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) writes:
>>
>>NetWare is not UNIX. Neither, for that matter, is TCP/IP.
>
>Geez, you obviously haven't been listening to Sun.  Remember,
>"The network is the computer."  :-)

They have retracted that statement and now believe that

"The computer is the computer and the network is the network"
-- 

Mark T. Dornfeld                              Voice: (416) 234-9048
CYANTIC Systems                               Facsimile: (416) 234-0477
101 Subway Crescent Suite 2103                Email: mark@cyantic.com
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit,comp.os.msdos.misc,comp.periphs,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
From: pyro@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Leedell J. Miller)
Subject: Zenon Computers / VL-Bus Spec
Followup-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 15:31:39 GMT


A question....  Well, actually two.
-------
 
First:  Zenon.
 
After perusing a LOT of ads in several magazines, and studying a lot of
product reviews, the EISA/VESA VL-Bus systems from Zenon appear QUITE
appealing from their descriptions and pricing.  However, despite their
claims for their product, I can't seem to find a REVIEW of their
systems, or any mention of them other than their ads in recent issues of
Computer Shopper and PC Sources.
 
Has ANYONE had any experience with Zenon?  Good, Bad or otherwise?
 
-------
 
Second: VESA Local Bus.
 
Zenon's systems contain either an EISA/Local Bus combination or an
ISA/Local Bus combination.  However, in both cases, they have THREE
local bus expansion slots available on their 486DX/50MHz and
486DX2/66MHz systems.
 
I consider this excellent in terms of expandability, but I wonder how
they can do it.  A technical discourse of the VL-Bus specifications in
the December 1992 issue of Computer Shopper magazine indicate that due
to timing specifications of the bus, there is an upper limit to the
number of VL-Bus connectors one can have on a motherboard.
 
The table shown below indicates the VESA committee's specifications:
 
                        Unbuffered Design       Buffered Design
CPU Speed               Slots / Devices         Slots / Devices
<= 33MHz (DX2/50&66)      2        2              3        3
   40MHz                  1        2            not recommended
   50MHz                  0        2            not recommended
 
This last would indicate devices hard-wired into the motherboard, rather
than using an expansion slot.  (sigh)  Anybody got an opinion on this?
Is Computer Shopper's info out of date?  Has this technical limitation
been circumvented, or is Zenon "pushing the spec" with these machines?
-- 
Leedell J. Miller  | Academic Computing & Network Services | I said:
leedell@nwu.edu    | Northwestern University, Evanston, IL | "the disk format."
pyro@nuacvm.BITNET | (708)491-4054 Monday-Friday 0900-1800 | I did *NOT* say:
powerdril on IRC   | FIGHT THE POWER! REPEAL MURPHY'S LAW! | "format the disk."
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit,comp.unix.xenix.misc,comp.unix.xenix.sco
From: ckurs-2@wilbur.uni-mainz.de (Teilnehmer am C-Kurs WS 1992_93)
Subject: Re: PC Unix/Xenix vendors
Organization: Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 16:32:42 GMT

Try Linux! It's free ...
look at comp.os.linux or ftp to tsx-11.mit.edu /pub/linux/docs for a
LaTeX-Version of the faq (over 80 pages, it should answer all questioms ...)

Dominik
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| eMail to:      kubla@MZDMZA.ZDV.UNI-MAINZ.DE                                |
|       or:      kubla@vzdmza.zdv.uni-mainz.de                                |
| sMail to:      Dominik Kubla, Steinsberg 34, 5428 Nastaetten, GERMANY       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                             |
|                     I don't  *like*  LINUX, I  *LOVE*  it ...               |
|                                                                             |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
From: chip@chinacat.unicom.com (Chip Rosenthal)
Subject: Re: Changing serial port characteristics under SCO
Organization: Unicom Systems Development, Austin, TX
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1993 23:24:37 GMT

In article <1993Jan8.034306.26786@bilver.uucp>
	bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion) writes:
>I put a line in rc.d to run an stty on the port at boot time, and then
>sleep for 5 minutes, then run again. [...] Would this concept work for
>the device that is printing directly to the port?

Maybe, maybe not.  If the problem is that the print spooler wants the
printer serial line configured some way other than the dorky app does,
then no, it won't work.  If the problem is that the serial port is
being initialized at first open to unusable values, then it might work
(by keeping the port from closing and the config from being reset).

This little `stty' deamon is not the right way to fix the truncated
print problem, and it's a kludgey way to fix this problem too.  For
reference, the best way to fix the truncated print problem is to add
something like:

	stty ixany </dev/whatever

at the end of the printer interface script.

If the brain-dead app will accept a named pipe (c.f. mknod) as the
printer device, the problem can be solved by running a simple daemon
at boot:

	while : ; do lp -dwhatever < /path/to/the/fifo ; done

and specifying /path/to/the/fifo as the print device.
-- 
Chip Rosenthal  512-482-8260 | Ergonomic (adj) - Designed to ensure
Unicom Systems Development   | maximum discomfort in left-handed people.
<chip@chinacat.Unicom.COM>   |
From: shane@cs.sunysb.edu (Shane Bouslough)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
Subject: Dell SVR4.2: yes or no?
Date: 7 Jan 93 22:41:51 GMT
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, State U of NY at Stony Brook
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5


To the kind Dell support person who responded to my flame about
spending $1300 on Issue 2.2 and then finding out Dell didn't plan
on a 4.2 release, I accidentally squashed your email, thus I'm
posting a reply instead.

Since the discussion was about Dell's public position on future
UNIX product offerings, this seems acceptable. If not, please
accept my apologies.

Your main point seemed to be that Dell was 'perhaps' planning
on a 4.2 and/or a Solaris offering in the future, so:

	I.  The support person I talked to on the phone was
	    justified in telling me so.

	II. The post by the Dell support person who started
	    this thread was also justified, because all he said
	    was 'Dell didn't plan on changing its 4.0 source base'.

To me, these statements are incompatible. If Dell is planning on a
4.2 release, the post from II should have said it was a possibility.
The implication of that post was clear: 4.0 would be the last USL
release from Dell in the foreseeable future. By bringing up the
'source base' comment you're just hiding behind semantics. Who cares
if Dell has one or multiple source trees for generating its UNIX
products (besides the support staff, that is)?

I think a Dell position statement is in order: do you, or do you not
have plans for releasing a 4.2 product?

-Shane

--
Shane Bouslough       | #include <stddisc.h>
shane@sbcs.sunysb.edu | #include <happy.rhodes>
Xref: sparky comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit:949 comp.unix.sys5.r4:1120
From: marcr@studsys.mscs.mu.edu (Marc Rassbach)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit,comp.unix.sys5.r4
Subject: The Esix 403 lp saga continues.
Date: 4 Jan 1993 15:41:07 GMT
Organization: Marquette University - Department MSCS
Distribution: world
Reply-To: marcr@studsys.mscs.mu.edu (Marc Rassbach)
NNTP-Posting-Host: studsys.mscs.mu.edu
Originator: marcr@studsys.mscs.mu.edu


Back again.  Same machine, slightly diff problem now.  

I've got the fonts DLing correctly.

(the hint is:  -opost and raw  and I'll be summerizing sometime this 
week AFTER I talk with Esix)

What's happening now is in the upper left hand corner the printer adds
some 'garbage'.  Now only one conditionn REALLY confuses me.  At the
tail end of a file to dump is an esc (8U and (guess what!) the (8U prints
And at the start of the page, there is an esc (some stuff I don't quite
remember) 6fL  And, (surprise) this prints too.  Now, here's the part
that confuses me a 0G aslo shows up.  Now, to the best of my grep'ing
there is no 0G in the test file, nor in the interface file.

I believe re-writing cat (adding a pause/loop when a form feed/
printer reset/carrage return) will solve the esc 8 and esc (whatever)6fL
but....what/where is the 0G comming from?

I'll add the solution of all of this to the summary.

-- 
Marc Rassbach    marcr@studsys.mscs.mu.edu    If you take my advice, that
MS-DOS - it's not   marc@milestn.mil.wi.us    is your problem, not mine!
my problem!     If it was said on UseNet, it must be true.
   Unix - It's a nice place to live, but you don't want to visit there.
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
From: adam@microware.com (Adam Goldberg)
Subject: Re: Shared Memory or DMA ethercards for UNIX on a PC
Keywords: Ethernet Adapters
Organization: Microware Systems Corp., Des Moines, Iowa
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 14:33:35 GMT

bad@flatlin.ka.sub.org (Christoph Badura) writes:

>In <1993Jan6.201525.24636@nisc.psi.net> adams@nisc.psi.net (Mark Adams) writes:
>>I have a chance to purchase an ethernet adapter which supports
>>10BaseT and 10Base2 for about $100.  Two models are available,
>>one uses 32k shared memory, the other DMA.
>>For a multitasking system, which would be a wiser choice?

>The best choice would be a card that is supported with a driver by your
>UNIX. That said, I know of no ethernet card driver for UNIX that does
>DMA (if someone knows better please correct me).

Furthermore:

  o  DMA would likely be slower

  o  If you do use DMA in addition with other DMA-using cards (ie,
SCSI cards like the Adaptec 1542), you may run into problems with
memory refresh.  If you spend too much time doing DMA for other
purposes, you don't refresh RAM often enough (since the refresh uses
DMA as well).  There are workarounds (at least for the Adaptec), but
they are not, well, optimal.

-- 
Adam G.
adamg@microware.com, or ...!uunet!mcrware!adamg
The above is not to be construed in any way as the official or unofficial
statements of Microware, or any Microware employees.
From: johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
Subject: Re: Shared Memory or DMA ethercards for UNIX on a PC
Date: 7 Jan 93 21:43:05 GMT
Article-I.D.: iecc.9301071643.AA19543
Organization: I.E.C.C.

>I'm not a hardware expert but from what I've heard go for the shared
>memory.  There are various problems with DMA on ISA buses in
>performance and it's 16Mb limit. 
>
>However as I said I'm not a hardware expert and I'd be interested in
>some definite information. 

An ISA bus only has 24 address lines, so no device on the bus can address
more than 16 meg.  High performance 386 and 486 systems always put the RAM
on a faster local bus with more address lines, so a programmed I/O device
like an ESDI disk controller has no address limitations because the CPU
fills and empties it with REP INS and REP OUTS instructions.

The motherboard DMA has the added problem that it uses a tired old controller
chip from the late 1970s which takes about a month to grab and release the
bus.  It's OK for devices like floppies or parallel printers which are a
little too fast for comfortable character at a time I/O, but hopeless for
disks, tapes, and anything fast.

"Bus master" controllers generate their own bus control signals so they
avoid the performance problems of motherboard DMA.  But they're still
limited to 16MB because they only have the 24 address lines, and to 16 bit
transfers because there are only 16 data lines on the bus.  To get full 32
bit data and addresses you need EISA or microchannel or (if they're available)
bus master controllers on the local bus.

Regards,
John Levine, johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us, {spdcc|ima|world}!iecc!johnl
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
From: sauer@chs.dell.com (Charlie Sauer)
Subject: Re: Dell SVR4.2: yes or no?
Organization: Dell Computer Corporation
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 16:41:07 GMT

In article <1993Jan7.224151.26153@sbcs.sunysb.edu> shane@cs.sunysb.edu (Shane Bouslough) writes:
>I think a Dell position statement is in order: do you, or do you not
>have plans for releasing a 4.2 product?

The answer in my previous posting still stands:

	Q.  Is Dell changing the source base for Dell Unix to V.4.2 or Solaris?

	Dell does not plan to change Dell Unix to a new source base, neither 4.2
	nor Solaris.  

Though there are no current plans for Dell to offer UnixWare or other 4.2 based
products, it is conceivable that Dell would offer such a product in addition
to Dell Unix, just as Dell offers SCO Unix as well as Dell Unix today and plans
to offer Solaris in the future.

--
Charlie Sauer       Dell Computer Corp.            Internet: sauer@dell.com
(512) 343-3310      1807 West Braker Lane, Bldg C  CompuServe: 70540,1131
                    Austin, TX 78758
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
From: cpcahil@vti.com (Conor P. Cahill)
Subject: Re: HOSTID's for SCO and ISC UNIX???
Organization: Virtual Technologies Inc.
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 13:41:22 GMT

rar@multix.no (Rolf A. Rennemo) writes:
>scott@ais.com writes:
>>Does anyone know of a way to get some unique machine id under SCO and
>>Interactive Unix?  Something like what 'hostid' returns on a DEC?
>
>For SunSoft ISC UNIX you can user /etc/ser to return serial number.
>I think it was included in ver. 3.0.1.

One thing to note about /etc/ser is that this is a user-registered serial
number.  If you are intending to use this as a way to prevent unauthorized
copying of your software, it doesn't work very well because if they
are going to copy your software, they probably also copy the OS.

-- 
*** SENTINEL(tm) The ultimate Debugging Environment - email for more info ***

Conor P. Cahill              (703)430-9247            cpcahil@virtech.vti.com
Virtual Technologies, Inc.  46030 Manekin Plaza          Dulles, VA 20166 
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
From: jcosta@quimic.pt (Joao Costa)
Subject: Recital
Organization: Quimicontrol. Lda
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 17:11:41 GMT

Has anyone had any bad experiences with Recital on Unix 3.2? I have a customer
running it on an 8Mb machine and the performance is appaling.

-- 
joao costa@quimic.pt	 Tel: 351-1-545787	 Fax: 351-1-3159074
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tonight's the night: Sleep in a eucalyptus tree.
Xref: sparky comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit:1043 comp.unix.sys5.r4:1246
From: guy@Auspex.COM (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit,comp.unix.sys5.r4
Subject: Re: It's Time for a Shakedown (was Re: A few answers to Dell Unix FAQ)
Date: 12 Jan 93 19:10:11 GMT
Followup-To: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit
Organization: Auspex Systems, Santa Clara

>Sun, BTW, decided that they would not provide an upgrade path from Solaris 2.0
>to Solaris 2.1.  You could upgrade from SunOS 4.1, or do a fresh install.
>Really.  "Tough Luck" was basically the response I got.

You'd have gotten the same response if you asked for an upgrade path
from SunOS 4.1 to SunOS 4.1.1 - fresh install, or nothing.  (I.e., this
ain't unique to SunOS 5.x....)
From: darkshot@rock.concert.net (Michael B Garrett -- Chudys)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit,comp.unix.sysv386,biz.sco.general
Subject: Re: [SCO] execvp(2) seems to fail on shell scripts!
Date: 12 Jan 93 05:24:57 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: Gestapo Aerobics

Test your available swap with a "vmstat -s" - I'll bet you find it to be
"going where the woodbine twineth"; i.e. vanishing- and I dunno why either.

Just do a script that goes:
while true
do
vmstat -s
done



Do this on a terminal/multiscreen and check it from time to time. The problem
is probably in SCO's clumsy implemenation of the "malloc" function.


If you run this test, and notice swap vanish, let me know. There are ways
around it.

'Shot