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Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu comp.os.linux:18315 news.answers:4211 Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!julienas!corton!geocub!labri.greco-prog.fr!corsini From: corsini@labri.greco-prog.fr Newsgroups: comp.os.linux,news.answers Subject: Linux Frequently Asked Questions 1/4 [monthly posted] Summary: Linux, a small and free unix for 386-AT computers. Message-ID: <PART1_722647309@geocub.greco-prog.fr> Date: 24 Nov 92 23:21:56 GMT Expires: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 23:00:00 GMT Sender: corsini@greco-prog.fr (Marc-Michel CORSINI) Reply-To: linux@numero6.greco-prog.fr Followup-To: poster Organization: Greco Prog. CNRS & LaBRI, Bordeaux France Lines: 1468 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Supersedes: <PART1_722567366@geocub.greco-prog.fr> Archive-name: linux-faq/part1 Last-Modified: 92/11/20 Version: 1.11 ********************************************************* * * * Answers to Frequently asked questions about Linux * * * ********************************************************* This post contains Part 1 of the Linux FAQ (4 parts) Hi Linuxers! The original FAQ 1st version was posted on Dec. 19, 1991 by Robert Blum. Most credits of this work to Linus, Robert and Ted. The first X11 section was written by Peter Hawkins, the rest was either on the list posted by many (real) activists, not me ;-), either in some other news groups, or else by direct posting to me (thanks Humberto, Dan, Michael, Drew, Audoin). I haven't systematically copyrighted them, so thanks to every one who participated even indirectly to this FAQ. Since September 1992, the FAQ is co-written by: WHO (WHAT) E-MAIL ============================================================================= Lars Wirzenius (META-FAQ) wirzeniu@cc.helsinki.fi Mark Komarinski (DOS) komarimf@craft.camp.clarkson.edu Matt Welsh (GENERAL INFO) mdw@tc.cornell.edu A. V. Le Blanc (MCC, DOS) LeBlanc@mcc.ac.uk Matt Welsh (INSTALLATION) mdw@tc.cornell.edu Drew Eckhardt (SCSI) headrest.woz.colorado.edu Hongjiu Lu (GCC) hlu@eecs.wsu.edu Krishna Balasubramanian (X11) balasub@cis.ohio-state.edu Jim Gifford (SERIAL) jgifford@{attmail,world.std}.com Zane Healy (BBS INFO) healyzh@holonet.net Philip Copeland (NET INFO) p_copela@csd.bristol-poly.ac.uk Rick Miller (DEVICE INFO) rick@ee.uwm.edu Peter MacDonald (SLS INFO) pmacdona@sanjuan.uvic.ca Rick Sladkey (EMACS) jrs@world.std.com Dirk Hohndel (PROOF READER) hohndel@informatik.uni-wuerzburg.dbp.de Marc-Michel Corsini (FAQ collector) corsini@{labri,firmin}.greco-prog.fr ============================================================================= If anyone is interested in participating with this FAQ, just send me a note with: your name/e-mail and the section you want to maintain. Many of the questions could be avoided, if people had read the FAQ of the following newsgroups: news.announce.newusers, comp.lang.c, gnu.emacs.help, comp.unix.questions. [The last-change-date of this posting is always "two minutes ago". :-)] This is the introduction to a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ for short) about Linux with answers (Yeap!). This article contains a listing of the sections, followed by the question/answer part. This FAQ is supposed to reduce the noise level ;-) in the comp.os.linux newsgroup, and spare the time of many activists. I will cross-post it each month to news.answers. This FAQ is NOT an introduction to UNIX, there are many books for unix, and there is *also* a FAQ for unix (it's the one of comp.unix.questions which contains things such as "How do I remove a file named -". I DO NOT WANT TO ADD SUCH THINGS IN THIS FAQ DEVOTED TO LINUX. Some books to read: The C Programming Language: Kernighan & Ritchie. Unix System Administration Handbook: Nemeth, Snyder & Seebass. Unix for the Impatient: Abrahams & Larson. Unix System V Release 4, An Introduction, by Rosen, Rosinski and Farber; Publisher Osborne MacGraw-Hill. The X Windows System in a Nutshell: O'Reilly. ..... BTW This FAQ is available at the main Linux sites in the doc directory, the addresses are given in section II. of this FAQ. There is also an automated FAQ mailserver archive at pit-manager.mit.edu. Send mail to mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu with the word "help" in the body. Please suggest any change, rephrasing, deletions, new questions, answers ... Please include "FAQ" in the subject of messages sent to me about FAQ. Please use linux@numero6.greco-prog.fr whatever will be the From part of this message. Finally discussion about the FAQ can be done on the DOC Channel (see section II below). Thanks in advance, Marc Future Plan: - reorganization of the FAQ. I don't know what will be the next step of this, may be numbering and subsectionning. ================================8<=====8<============================== CONTENTS 0. WARNINGS (part1) I. LINUX GENERAL INFORMATION (part1) II. LINUX USEFUL ADDRESSES (part1) III. INSTALLATION and COMMON PROBLEMS (part1) IV. LINUX and DOS (part2) V. SOME CLASSICAL PROBLEMS (part2) VI. MISCELLANEOUS HINTS (part2) VII. MORE HINTS (part2) VIII. FEATURES (part3) IX. GCC MISC INFORMATION (part3) X. SCSI SPECIAL (part3) XI. X11, THE MINIMUM and MORE (part4) XII. NETWORKING and LINUX (part4) XIII. EMACS dor LINUX (part4) 0. WARNINGS =========== The FAQ contains a lot of information sometimes I've put it down in 3 different ways because people seems not to understand what they read (or what I wrote, you know I'm just a froggy and english is not my natural language). What I mean is that not all is in the FAQ but many things are there, so please just take time to read it this will spare a lot of the other linuxers [and if you think I should rephrase some Q/A just drop me a note with the corrections]. As the Linux kernel changes monthly, I define 2 pseudo variables a la C one for the version, and one for the date of the release. #define CURRENT_VERSION 0.98 /* the current version */ #define PATCH_LEVEL 5 /* the patch level */ #define KERNEL_DATE 15, Nov. /* Date of the CURRENT_VERSION */ In what follows I'll consider CURRENT_VERSION as the current version. Below is the information provided by Lars Wirzenius on the LINUXNEWS Channel: "Linux News, a summary. Issue #5" November 9. Linus announced kernel version 0.98 patchlevel 4. The most important changes are: * The inode caching bug (resulting in bad filesystem info when mounting/umounting devices) should be gone for good. * Bug fix of a race-condition in the filesystem (which may have caused people to get occasional fsck errors). * Math emulator fixes (mainly for the re-entrancy problem) * NR_OPEN was changed from 32 to 256 (this will break GNU Emacs, the term program, and possibly other programs; a recompilation should fix things). * the process kernel stack is now on a separate page (needed due to * Changes in kernel data structures (these require a new ps) * System call tracing * Changes to networking (tcp/ip, some nfs) FTP: nic.funet.fi: pub/OS/Linux/PEOPLE/Linus/ (presumably on other sites too, by now), files linux-0.98.4.tar.Z (complete source), linux-0.98.patch4.Z (patches against pl3). Also ps-diff.Z, patches by Linus to ps-0.98 that should fix ps to work with 0.98.4. (Source: <1992Nov9.112201.14250@klaava.Helsinki.FI>) November 15. Linus announced kernel version 0.98 patchevel 5. This version fixes a swap-partition bug in pl4. The symptoms where incorrect swapping with a partition, e.g. xterm could dump core when swapping was enabled and you typed at the keyboard. This version also checks against writing to the text segment (i.e. program code). This will break some binaries, especially some very, very old ones that were compiled using the estdio library (this library is no longer used in Linux). If previously well-working programs suddenly start to dump core, this might be the reason. There are also some other changes. See also 0.98.4 announcement above. FTP: nic.funet.fi: pub/OS/Linux/PEOPLE/Linus/. (Source: <1992Nov15.220138.5434@klaava.Helsinki.FI>) I. LINUX GENERAL INFORMATION ============================= *** This section is maintained by Matt Welsh (mdw@tc.cornell.edu). Mail *** him if you have corrections, additions, other questions, etc. *** Last update November 1992. QUESTION: What is linux? ANSWER: Linux is a small unix for 386-AT computers, that has the added advantage of being free(*). It is still in beta-testing, but is slowly getting useful even for somewhat real developement. The current version is CURRENT_VERSION, date: KERNEL_DATE. (*) Free means that you may use it, change it , redistribute it, as long as you don't change the copyright. Free does not mean public domain. Linux is a freely distributable UNIX clone. It implements a subset of System V and POSIX functionality, and contains a lot of BSD-isms. LINUX has been written from scratch, and therefore does not contain any AT&T or MINIX code--not in the kernel, the compiler, the utilities, or the libraries. For this reason it can be made available with the complete source code via anonymous FTP. LINUX runs only on 386/486 AT-bus machines; porting to non-Intel architectures is likely to be difficult, as the kernel makes extensive use of 386 memory management and task primitives. QUESTION: Does Linux support GCC, TCP/IP, X-Windows, MGR, etc.? ANSWER: Linux currently supports and uses a large amount of the GNU software (i.e. GCC, bison, groff, etc) so all of that functionality is there. X-Windows is also available, along with many client applications. MGR is there too. TCP/IP is in testing, and is available for you to try out. (Dirk Hohndel:) TCP/IP is available. I use Linux boxes as Xterminals and my "own" asterix has mounted half a Gig via NFS. Mitch DSuoza is running an anonymous FTP server on his Linux box. This is definitely more than testing. The newest SLS has a TCP/IP kernel by default. See section VIII of this FAQ ("Features")! In short, Linux supports many, many features and programs. One of the biggest questions is: "Does ***** work on Linux? Does Linux have *****?" The answer, usually, is "yes". Just check out the rest of this FAQ, the newsgroup, as well as the files on the FTP sites. QUESTION: What is the current state of Linux? ANSWER: read the comp.os.linux newsgroup, where the INFO-SHEET is periodically posted. QUESTION: I've just heard about linux, what should I do to get it? ANSWER: FIRST read this FAQ, and especially section III (installation). Choose a "release" of Linux (such as MCC, SLS, bootdisk/rootdisk, etc). Download from your nearest FTP site, use the "rawrite" program as needed to write the images to high-density floppies (5.25 or 3.5). Specific instructions are given in section III and in the README files for each release. Note that some releases only give you the kernel and a few utilities, and others give you everything you need (including X11, GCC, and more) in that latter case the downloading is close to a douzen of SOFT. Just check out section III for more info. QUESTION: Does it run on my computer? ANSWER: Linux has been written on a clone-386, with IDE drives and a VGA screen. It should work on most similar setups. The harddisk should be AT-standard, and the system must be ISA. (though *some* EISA success has been reported [T. Koenig], Linux doesn't take advantage of the EISA structure). A high density floppy drive -- either 5.25" or 3.5"-- is required. {Drew's information: Linux supports anything that's register compatable with a WD1003 MFM disk controller (ie, the original PC-AT disk controller.) Most AT MFM, RLL, ESDI, and IDE setups look like this. XT compatable disk controllers won't work. Generally, the rule is if you have the disk configured into the CMOS setup of your machine, it will work (because the BIOS is talking to a WD 1003 compatable board), otherwise it won't.} IDE and MFM seem to work with no problem. It works, also, for some ESDI drive (you might have to comment out the "unexpected hd interrupt"-message from hd.c). There exists a high-level SCSI driver, under which low-level drivers are placed; a ST-01/ST-02 low driver has been completed see the FEATURES and the USEFUL ADDRESSES sections. Otherwise the requirements seem relatively small: a 386 (SX, DX or any 486). Any video card of the following: Hercules, CGA, EGA, (S)VGA. It needs at least 2M to run (with SWAP), and 4M is definitely a plus. It can happily use up to 16M (and more if you want). BTW There are problems with some MAXTOR drives on high speed machines (sometimes switching off "turbo" helps). There may also be a problem with "slow" memory (under 60ns) on fast machines. Again, the solution is to turn off "turbo". Mixed SIMMs (3 and 9 chip versions) have also reported to be problematic. NOTE1: It doesn't run (yet?) on a MCA machine NOTE2: There is a driver for XT but not very useable. NOTE3: There is also a support for 8514 and S3. QUESTION: Why the suggested 4Meg, for Linux? ANSWER: Linux uses the first 640k for kernel text, kernel data and buffercache. Your mother board may eat up 384K because of the chipset. Moreover there is: init/login, a shell, update possibly other daemons. Then, while compiling there is make and gcc (2.01 ~770k). So you don't have enough real memory and have to page. QUESTION: How would this operate in an OS/2 environment? ANSWER: Linux will coexist with *ANY* other operating system(s) which respects the "standard" PC partionning scheme - this includes Dos, Os/2, Minix etc. WARNING: Linux and OS/2 *can* co-exist on the same machine. BUT, you cannot use Linux's fdisk to make Linux partitions! See the warnings in section III about Linux and OS/2. QUESTION: Will linux run on a PC or 286-AT? If not, why? ANSWER: Linux uses the 386 chip protected mode functions extensively, and is a true 32-bit operating system. Thus x86 chips, x<3, will simply not run it. QUESTION: Will Linux run on a 386 Laptop? ANSWER: It works, including X on most of them. QUESTION: (Dan) How long has Linux been publicly available? ANSWER (partial): Few months, v0.10 went out in Nov. 91, v0.11 in Dec. and the current version CURRENT_VERSION is available since KERNEL_DATE. But even it is pretty recent it is quite reliable. There are very few and small bugs and in its current state it is mostly useful for people who are willing to port code and write new code. As Linux is very close to a reliable/stable system, Linus decided that v0.13 will be known as v0.95. Believe it or not: the whole story started (nearly) with two processes that printed AAAA... and BBBB... BTW consult the digest#136 Vol2 for a complete story. QUESTION: What is the proper pronounciation for "Linux"? ANSWER: (Linus himself) 'li' is pronounced with a short [ee] sound: compare prInt, mInImal etc. 'nux' is also short, non-diphtong, like in pUt. It's partly due to minix: linux was just my working name for the thing, and as I wrote it to replace minix on my system, the result is what it is... linus' minix became linux. I originally intended it to be called freax (although buggix was one contender after I got fed up with some of the more persistent bugs :) and I think the kernel makefiles up to version 0.11 had something to that effect ("Makefile for the freax kernel" in a comment). But arl called the linux directory at nic.funet.fi pub/OS/Linux, and the name stuck. Maybe just as well: freax doesn't sound too good either (freax is obviosly free + freak + the obligatory -x). (Rick's note for English speakers: Linux - "LIH-nuhks".) QUESTION: What's about the copyright of linux? ANSWER: This is an except of the RELEASE Notes v.095a: Linux is NOT public domain software, but is copyrighted by Linus Torvalds. The copyright conditions are the same as those imposed by the GNU copyleft: The GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2, June 1991 is part of the source tree. QUESTION: Should I be a UNIX and/or a DOS wizard to install/use Linux? ANSWER: Not at all, just follow the install rules, of course it will be easier for you if you know things about Unix. Right now Linux is used by more than BIGNUM persons, very few of them enhance the kernel, some adds/ports new soft, most of us are only (but USEFUL) beta testers. Last but not least, various Linuxers work on manpages, newuser_help, file-system organization. So join us and choose your "caste". It is even used in production environments (Dr. G.W. Wettstein) QUESTION: Does Linux use TSS segments to provide multitasking? ANSWER: Yes! QUESTION: If my PC runs under Linux, is it possible to ftp, rlogin, rsh etc.. to other Unix boxes? ANSWER: Kermit and ka9q have both been ported to Linux. Also, TCP/IP is quite reliable, only a few clients are missing. Read section XII. devoted to Ethernet and Linux. QUESTION: Does linux do paging? Can I have virtual memory on my small machine? ANSWER: Yes, it does. Generally you set up a swap file or partition, and enable it with the "swapon" command. Voila! Virtual memory. QUESTION: Can I have tasks spanning the full 4GB of addressable 386 memory? No more 64kB limits like in coherent or standard minix? ANSWER: Since 0.97pl? it uses 4 GB Process Space, 3 for userspace and 1 for the kernel space. QUESTION: Does the bigger program sizes mean I can run X? ANSWER: Yes! See section XI below for details on X11. QUESTION: What are the differences, pros and cons compared to Minix ? ANSWER (partial): Cons: - Linux only works on 386 and 486 processors. - Linux needs 2M of memory just to run, 4M to be useful. - Linux is a more traditional unix kernel, it doesn't use message passing. Pros: - Linux is free, and freely distributable, BUT copyrighted. - Linux has some advanced features such as: - Memory paging with copy-on-write - Demand loading of executables - Page sharing of executables - Multi-threaded file system - job control and virtual memory, virtual consoles and pseudo-ttys. - Linux is a more traditional unix kernel, it doesn't use message passing. QUESTION: What are the pros and cons compared to 386BSD ? ANSWER: Linux and 386BSD started out as completely different projects, with completely different goals and design criteria in mind. Personally, my experience with 386BSD has shown that : (a) its TCP/IP is more stable, and seems to work (on my NE2000 card, which Linux doesn't support yet), but (b) the interface and "feel" just wern't the same as Linux (which I liked better :) ). You'll have to try it out for yourself. Here's information from comp.unix.bsd, September 1992: | This is a free BSD for the 386. It does NFS and X. | Grab it from agate.berkeley.edu (128.32.136.1). | Bill Jolitz is writing a book on it. | | It has a neat, small kernel, and is stable enough to run for a week or | more without crashing/hanging. It works fine with 4MB RAM and 80MB | disk. Running X however needs 8MB RAM, and supports only vanilla VGA. | The TCP/IP implementation in this is functional, but not optimised. | This means that FTP throughput is about 5KB/sec on Ethernet, when | almost anything else gives you about 70KB to 100KB per second. | | Read comp.unix.bsd. That is almost entirely Jolitz's 386BSD now. | | 3. How much disk space for: | *kernel | *X | *source to kernel | *source to X | Binary only: 49 M (30 disk, 5 swap, 14 extraction) | Source: 125 M (49 bin, 37 disk, +6 extraction, 25 recompile) | User software: +51 M | | X Binaries require about 61 Meg (?) | I don't know about the sources. To conclude this Q/A wrt Linux vs 386BSD, you should read the Linux News Issue #5 of L. Wirzenius, where a true story of Mark W. Eichin is reported. QUESTION: How much space will Linux take up on my hard drive? ANSWER: It depends on which release you choose. See the section INSTALLATION below. Usually it's somewhere between 10 megs (for a nominal system+swap space) and 30-40 megs (for everything plus space for user directories, etc.). BTW the full SLS needs around 60 MB (including TeX and other goodies). II. LINUX USEFUL ADDRESSES ========================= II.A. LINUX ON THE NET: ftp, mailing-list II.B. OBTAINING LINUX FROM BBS'S: everything about bbs II.A. LINUX ON THE NET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUESTION: Where can I get linux? ANSWER: Linux (all the software, binaries, sources, releases, and so on), can be retrieved via anonymous FTP from : [ Major sites ] EUROPE: nic.funet.fi (128.214.6.100): directory /pub/OS/Linux ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de (131.159.0.110) directory /pub/Linux US: tsx-11.mit.edu (18.172.1.2): directory /pub/linux sunsite.unc.edu (152.2.22.81): directory /pub/Linux [ Mirroring sites (some of them, there are lots now) ] AUSTRALIA: kirk.bu.oz.au (131.244.1.1) directory /pub/OS/Linux EUROPE: src.doc.ic.ac.uk (146.169.3.7): directory /pub/os/Linux ftp.mcc.ac.uk (130.88.200.7): directory pub/linux ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de (137.226.4.105): directory /pub/linux ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (137.226.112.172): directory /pub/Linux ftp.ibr.cs.tu-bs.de (134.169.34.15): directory /pub/os/linux US: wustl.wuarchive.edu (128.252.135.4): directory /pub/mirrors4/linux ftp.eecs.umich.edu (141.212.99.7): directory linux JAPAN: utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp (133.11.11.11): directory misc/linux You might want to check out which of these is the most up-to-date. Note that banjo.concert.net is no longer a Linux ftp site :( If you have no FTP capability, you are in trouble. See the next Q/A. Also, you'll need the "UNCOMP.EXE" and "RAWRITE2.EXE" programs for DOS (to make your install disks). These are usually found in the Linux directories on the above FTP sites. QUESTION: I do not have FTP access, what can I do to get linux? ANSWER: You can either read the next subsection related to BBS's otherwise, read the following. The SLS release is distributable by snail-mail on floppies for those without net access; see the SLS section in section III of this FAQ for more. Try to contact a friend on the net with those access, or try mailserver/ftpmail server otherwise contact tytso@ATHENA.MIT.EDU. You might try mailing "mailserver@nic.funet.fi" with "help" in the body of the mail. If you choose ftpmail server (example: ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com), with "help" in the body, the server will send back instructions and command list. As an exemple to get the list of files available at tsx-11 in /pub/linux send: mail ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com subject: anything reply <your e-mail> connect tsx-11.mit.edu chdir /pub/linux dir -R quit In Europe ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de is accessible via e-mail (send "help" in the body to ftp-mailer@informatik.tu-muenchen.de) QUESTION: Is there a newsgroup or mailing-list about linux? Where can I get my questions answered? How about bug-reports? ANSWER: The comp.os.linux newsgroup is literally *teeming* with postings. So, to the first question, yes. :) The older newsgroup, alt.os.linux, is being phased out and shouldn't be used anymore. If you don't have news access you can get the digest of postings via e-mail from: Linux-activists-request@news-digests.mit.edu. This list is gatewayed to the newsgroup as well. Only use the 'request' address for subscribe/unsubscribe messages; don't post those to the newsgroup or to the actual mailing list. Questions and bug-reports can be sent either to the newsgroup or to Linus himself at "torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi", depending on which you find more appropriate. And last but not least there is the original mailing-list, which is now a multi-channel list. contact linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi QUESTION: Could you be more explicit about the multi-channel list? ANSWER: Well, there are many things to say: - these channels are rather devoted to hackers - the ones I am aware of are: GCC, MGR, X11, SCSI, NEW-CHANNELS, MSDOS (emulator discussion) , NORMAL, KERNEL, FTP, LAPTOP, DOC, NET, CONFIGS, LINUXNEWS ... - whenever you want to JOIN or LEAVE a channel you have to contact the request address - you have to use special header (X-Mn-Key and Mn-Admin); X-Mn-Key is *ONLY* for regular post, the X-Mn-Admin is for *REQUEST* (Ari Lemmke: 1 Nov. 1992): Hmmm.... It seems our list has now about 1500 users in 21 channels (mailing lists). 3960 without uniq. "echo foo | mail linux-activists-request@niksula.hut.fi" to get the Mail-Net User Guide. QUESTION: How can I join the channel XXX on the linux-activists mailing list? ANSWER: just send a mail to the request address with help in the body; you will get back a mail which gives you the list of channels and the way to join/leave them. Basically you send mail to the request address with the line: X-Mn-Admin: join <channel> QUESTION: How can I leave the channel XXX on the linux-activists mailing list? ANSWER: Same as above, basically. You send mail to the request address that contains the line: X-Mn-Admin: leave <channel> QUESTION: I'm not an hacker, what are the channels I could be interested in? ANSWER: Probably these are the most interesting for you (IMHO) Channel NORMAL: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Channel normal is the former Linux-Activists mailing list (all the people who were on the old Linux-Activists list are moved to this channel). Channel DOC: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ This channel is for Linux document "project". Discussion about Linux documents, manuals, papers, etc. Channel CONFIGS: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This channel will be devoted to send submissions of systems that have Linux already running, AND those that, for any reason, can't get it to work yet. Mainly, what it's need from all the channel users is to send their hardware configuration list (as complete as possible). Include anything that you feel pertinent for information: CPU, motherboard, RAM amount, HD & floppy controller, BIOS, monitor, video card & memory, network adapter, etc. If you are having trouble with your current system, or you find out that a program doesn't work properly on your system due to a HARDWARE problem, it may be useful for us to know your configuration; maybe you can get a lot of help. Channel LINUXNEWS: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The LINUXNEWS channel will be used for distribution of Linux News, a weekly (if I can find the time) summary of things that happen in the Linux community. Discussion is not encouraged, if you have complaints or suggestions, send them directly to me (Lars.Wirzenius@helsinki.fi). Channel NEW-CHANNELS: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the future users on this channel get the information about new channels created. By this way you can join the channels you want, and do not need to send mail to Mail-Net info server or listen rumours. QUESTION: Does there exist a place where the traffic of the newsgroup is kept? ANSWER: Yes, on nic and tsx-11 (see the ftp addresses above), and since 12th March, a Gopher server is up at beryl.daimi.aau.dk (130.225.16.86). The archives go back to Nov. 18. 91. Also recently a WAIS server for the linux mail archive has been setup at fgb1.fgb.mw.tu-muenchen.de. Contact tw@fgb1.fgb.mw.tu-muenchen.de for more info. II.B OBTAINING LINUX FROM BBS'S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *** This section is maintain by Zane Healy (healyzh@holonet.net) *** Last Update November 1992. QUESTION: I don't have access to FTP, how can I obtain Linux? ANSWER: Linux is available from various BBS's around the world. QUESTION: I got this FAQ from a local BBS, or a friend, and I see there is a newsgroup called comp.os.linux . I don't have access to USENET or mail, so how can I get the messages? ANSWER: Some of the BBS's on FidoNet carry comp.os.linux as a FidoNet conference. Also some of the other BBS's carry it in some form or other. QUESTION: Do BBS's offer anything that the Internet does not? ANSWER: Yes, on the information side there are the UNIX conferences on both the RIME network and FidoNet. Although they are not dedicated to linux, a large amount of the messages are linux related. Also at least one software package being developed for linux, and also one port is available via BBS's long before they are available via anonymous FTP. QUESTION: What is a BBS? ANSWER: A BBS is a Bulletin Board System, it let's you transfer message's and file's via your phone line and all you need is a computer with communications software and a modem. Some BBS's transfer message's among each other forming large computer network's similar to USENET. The most popular of these in the US are FidoNet and RIME. QUESTION: How can I get a (Near) complete list of BBS's that carry Linux? ANSWER: I (Zane Healy) post a list of all known BBS's that carry Linux to comp.os.linux as well as the RIME and Fidonet UNIX conferences on the 1st and 15th of each month. QUESTION: Now that I have a phone number, how do I go about accessing a BBS? ANSWER: 1. You need a computer equipped with communications software and a modem. 2. For ALMOST all BBS's you will need to set the comm software up for: 8 - Data Bits N - Parity 1 - Stop Bit Although certain BBS's and Communication services require that the software be set for: 7 - Data Bits E - Parity 1 - Stop Bit You will also need to set the comm software for the correct speed, either the top speed, or the max speed for your modem. 3. Using the comm software, call the BBS. Once you connect with the BBS (this may take awhile, as other people are likely to be using it), you will be asked some questions. If you are a registered user of the BBS it will normally only ask for your name and password. However if you are not a registered user, it will most likely require that before you do anything, you register. The method of registration varies from BBS to BBS. Normally the first thing that will happen is, you sign on to the BBS, and tell it your name. It will then check it's list of user's and see that you are not one of them. At which time it will ask you if you are a new user, or if you wish to re-enter your name. When you tell it you are a new user, it will then ask you some questions about yourself, such as where you are calling from and your phone number. A lot of BBS's will want some statistical info such as what type of computer you are using, your communications software, your age, etc, etc. After this, most BBS's require some sort of validation, this is for the System Operator's (SysOp's) protection. One type is where you give the BBS software your phone number, hang up, and the BBS calls your computer to verify that you gave it legitament phone number. Some BBS's require that you mail the SysOp a postcard. Most, however just require that you give the SysOp the request info and then he upgrades your level of access a couple of day's later. For the most part you will find that the registration process is easy to follow and well documented. QUESTION: There is a local BBS that carries Linux, but it isn't on the latest Linux BBS List. How do I go about submitting it for inclusion in the list? ANSWER: Send the following information on the BBS to me: BBS Name: Phone Number: Modem Speed: City and State/Country: Whatever Network it's on (i.e. FidoNet, RIME, etc.): First Time access to D/L Linux Files (Y/N): Free Access to Linux Files (Y/N): Allow File Requests (Y/N): BBS Rating (1-5): I can be reached at one of the following E-Mail Addresses: Internet -- healyzh@holonet.net CompuServe -- 70332,14 Prodigy -- SCNN49A Fido NetMail -- Zane Healy at 1:109/615 RIME UNIX Conference -- Zane Healy QUESTION: What can I do to help ensure the continued development of Linux? ANSWER: PLEASE UPLOAD FILES TO BBS'S I would like to point out that a very large number of the Linux enthusiasts don't have FTP access. In fact it is possible that by now most of the Linux fan's don't. So I would like to suggest that those of us that do, find at least one BBS to post the Linux file's to. I, for one post every file that I get to at least one of the local BBS's, and from there they the file's tend to find there way to other local BBS's. I've seen posts about the future of Linux etc., well here is a way to help guarantee it. I think it's safe to assume that most people with FTP access also have a modem. So how about doing other Linux fan's a favor and finding a BBS to upload the Linux files to. QUESTION: How do I read the data contained in the Linux BBS List? ANSWER: The list uses the following format: State YYY BBS Name Phone Number Modem Speed Rating City Other data The BBS's are rated by the number of Linux related file's that they carry. This is so you can choose one's that has a better chance of carrying the file's you are looking for if you are calling long distance. The BBS's are rated on a scale of one to five. 1 -- Only enough the most basic of files 2 -- The basics and a little more 3 -- So, so 4 -- A respectable amount 5 -- Pretty much everything you need Information about the boards access policies can be obtained by checking a three digit field. YYY -- Either a Yes/No/? answer to the question ||| ||Free access to Linux files |Allow file requests (FidoNet) First time D/L of Linux related files NOTE: Just because a board has N's in the first two fields does not mean that it is a board to stay away from. A lot of boards require that you register and be verified before you can access most of their features, hence the first N. The second field is, to the best of my knowledge, limited to BBS's that are part of FidoNet. QUESTION: What are some of the best BBS's to check out? ANSWER: In the US: CA YNY hip-hop 408-773-0768 14.4k V.32bis/HST 5 Sunnyvale Login: guest (no password) DC NNY When Gravity Fails 202-686-9086 14.4k 5 Washington FL ??? Slut Club 813-236-1232 14.4k 5 Tampa/St.Pete Fidonet 1:377/42 GA YYY Information Overload 404-471-1549 9600 HST 5 FidoNet 1:133/308 ID ??? Rebel BBS 208-887-3937 9600 5 Boise IL YYY EchoMania BBS 618-233-1659 14.4k HST 3 Belleville Fido 1:2250/1 (f'reg LINUX) F'reqs from unlisted nodes, online callback verifier (works L.D.) MD ??? Brodmann's Place 301-843-5732 14.4k 5 Waldorf RIME ->BRODMANN NC ??? MAC's Place 919-891-1111 DS modem 5 Dunn RIME ->MAC NY YYY Prism BBS,Middleton 914-344-0350 9600 HST/v.32 5 Middletown, NY Fidonet 1:272/38 NY YYY The Laboratory 212-927-4980 16.8k HST, 14.4k v.32bis 3-4 FidoNet 1:278/707 OR YYY Intermittent Connection 503-344-9838 14.4k HST v.32bis 5 Eugene, Ore 1:152/35 TX YYY Advanced BBS 512-578-2720 9600 5 Victoria, TX Fidonet 1:3802/215 VA ??? VTBBS 703-231-7498 5 Blacksburg WA YYY S'Qually Holler 206-235-0270 9600 5 Renton Fidonet 1:343/34 And here are all the known BBS's outside the US: AUSTRALIA: NSW YYN Linux-Support-Oz +61-2-418-8750 2400 2-3 Sydney Intlnet, SBCNet ? ??? 500cc Formula 1 BBS +61-2-550-4317 V.32 ? (2-3) CANADA: ON ??? EX-10 Kitchner 519-725-4400 ? ON ??? Ned's Ottawa 613-739-1591 2 ON ??? Bytown 613-236-1232 2 SmartNet PQ ??? Synapse 819-246-2344 819-561-5268 5 Gatineau RIME->SYNAPSE GERMANY: ??? bakunin.north.de 00 49 421 870532 9600 ? D 2800 Bremen kraehe@bakunin.north.de ??? ?????????????? +49-40-735-5349 14.4k 1 ??? Hipposoft's Mail Server +49-241-875090 14.4k V.32bis/HST 3 D-W5100 Aachen Fidonet 2:242/6 IRELAND: ??? TOPPSI +353-1-711047 or 773547 9600 ? Fidonet 2:263/151 NORWAY: ??? Thunderball Cave 472567018 ? RIME ->CAVE ? NETHERLANDS: ??? DownTown BBS Lelystad, Linux Support BBS 14.4k ? +31-3200-48852 FIDONET SOUTH AFRICA: ??? Andre Skarzynski - Linux Activists of Southern Africa ? +27 2231 78148 (Is this voice or data?) UNITED KINGDOM: NYN The Purple Tentacle +44-734-590990 HST/V32bis 3-4 Reading Fidonet 2:252/305 ??? A6 BBS +44-582-460273 14.4k ? Herts Fidonet 2:440/111 III. INSTALLATION and COMMON PROBLEMS ===================================== *** Note: this FAQ section should be kept up-to-date, and should *** be the most 'reliable' source for installation info. Please mail *** any corrections or changes to this section's coordinator, *** Matt Welsh (mdw@tc.cornell.edu). *** Last update November 1992. III.A. WHERE TO START: What are the reliable sources of information III.B. LINUX PACKAGES: Where and how install a complete Linux package III.C. SOME COMMON PROBLEMS: Simple problems and simple solutions III.A. WHERE TO START ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUESTION: I want to install Linux on my machine. Where do I start? ANSWER: The first thing you should do is read through the various introductory files, and ESPECIALLY the FAQ (this file). Especially this section :). A lot of effort has been done on these intro files, but note that some of them conflict with each other and cover older versions of Linux. When in doubt consult this file. These files are all found on tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/docs... FAQ The Linux Frequently Asked Questions list It's sitting in your hands now. This section is probably the best place to start to get the most up-to-date Linux installation information. INFO-SHEET Linux Information Sheet, by J. Winstead This is J. Winstead's general information sheet on Linux, and along with this FAQ is a good place to start for info. RELNOTES-xxxxx Linux version xxxxx Release Notes, by Linus Torvalds This is Linus's release notice for version xxxxx of the kernel. guide.txt Beginner's Guide to Linux for DOS Users, by C. Boyer Last version was for Linux 0.95a. A bit dated, but still has lots of useful information for getting started on Linux. WARNING: Note that much information in this guide is OBSOLETE! install.notes Beginner's Installation Guide, by I. Reid Last version was for Linux 0.95a. Generally covers how to install Linux using the "bootdisk/rootdisk" combo (for a basic setup): this is discussed below. WARNING: Note that some information in this guide is OBSOLETE! INSTALL-xxxxx Install notes for version xxxxx of Linux, by J. Winstead This is Jim Winstead's installation notes on the "bootdisk/rootdisk" combo, much like "install.notes" above. The last version for this was 0.96. More recent copies are on the rootdisk itself, so follow the directions below and read the file ON the rootdisk for more. CHANGES-xxxxx Changes to the version xxxxx rootdisk, by J. Winstead These are the notes on the changes to the most recent version of Jim Winstead's "rootdisk". Notes on that are below. README.kernel Kernel compilation README file, by L. Wirzenius This is the README notes for recompiling the Linux kernel from the sources. You don't need it unless you're planning to upgrade your kernel by compiling it yourself. Others Every "release" of Linux (such as MCC-interim, SLS, HLU's disks, etc., see below) has its own up-to-date README files and docs that explain how to install that release. This FAQ section summarizes, but for more info on how to install Linux, read the READMEs and docs for the release that you choose. QUESTION: Is there some kind of limit on how large my Linux partitions and/or filesystems can be? ANSWER: There's no limit on partition size (just the size of your drive), but Linux mainly uses the minix filesystem which limits filesystems to 64 megs each. You can also use the extended filesystem (which is still in testing, but has been included with recent kernel versions) which has a limit of 4 terabytes. Probably enough unless you have a disk array. :) III.B. LINUX PACKAGES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This section contains information about *SOME* of the possible Linux packages available. The information related to the MCC package were written by A.V. Le Blanc. QUESTION: Does there exist a way to get all (or nearly all) of the Linux stuff? ANSWER: Yes. To install Linux, you're going to want to choose one of the "releases" of Linux, all of which have a different method of installation and set up. Each release also has its own README and installation docs, which you'll want to read first. But I'll summarize here. The major releases are: * The "bootdisk/rootdisk" combo Linus's "bootdisk" (a kernel) and Jim Winstead's "rootdisk" which contains the tools for installing a basic Linux system to hard disk. See below for more. * H.J. Lu's "bootable rootdisk" Essentially the same as the "bootdisk/rootdisk" combo, above, but contains several disks: one bootable kernel/root filesystem disk, a disk for GCC, and disk(s) for misc tools and GCC libraries. As HLU himself puts it, this release is best used as a system backup (it doesn't have installation scripts; if you want to install a system from it you have to do it yourself). This is still a fairly new release. The images and docs are found at tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux. * The "MCC Interim Release" ("Manchester Computing Centre") Several (at this point, seven) disk images that contain the Linux kernel, root filesystem, and binaries for every major program that you'll need, including GCC, file utils, bash, everything. Everything, that is, except X11 (which is easy to install on top of this release). The MCC interim release is very easy to install, and contains all the programs you'll need to partition your hard drive and create filesystems, etc. first before installing the Linux system itself. See below for more. *LAST UPDATE* kernel 0.97.2, a bit dated :( * The "Softlanding Linux System Release" Also known as the "SLS" release, consists of 14 disks for Linux and 8 for X11. The nice thing about this release is that you can pick and choose which disks and packages you want to install. The first 2 disks must be "rawritten" (using rawrite.exe) on floppies, and the rest of the images are put onto DOS format floppies. Contains all of the stuff in the MCC release plus a lot more (like mail/uucp), and includes X11 on the last 5 disks. Is also very easy to install for newcomers. * Others There are other releases and distributions of the Linux software, such as the "sc.tamu" and "MJ" releases. QUESTION: Where can I get these versions of Linux? ANSWER: The "bootdisk/rootdisk" combo can be found at tsx-11.mit.edu: /pub/linux/INSTALL, as well as at many mirror sites (which is true for ALL of this software). H.J. Lu's "bootable rootdisk" release is found at tsx-11.mit.edu: /pub/linux/packages/GCC, as well as the mirror sites. The MCC Interim release is at ftp.mcc.ac.uk:/pub/linux/mcc-interim. It's also mirrored to nic.funet.fi: /pub/OS/Linux/images/mcc-interim, and tsx-11.mit.edu: /pub/linux/mirrors/mcc-interim. The MJ release (discussed more below) can be found at ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de: /pub/linux/mj-bin. The SLS release is at tsx-11.mit.edu:/pub/linux/packages/SLS. The sc.tamu versions can be found at sc.tamu.edu:/pub/free_unix. QUESTION: What should I get to install the bootdisk/rootdisk combo release? ANSWER: FTP to one of the major Linux sites, such as tsx-11.mit.edu (directory /pub/linux/INSTALL) or sunsite.unc.edu (directory /pub/Linux) and get the files (you may have to look through some subdirectories): rawrite.exe (or rawrite2.exe) -- DOS executable to write the images to floppies bootimage-CURRENT_VERSION.Z -- The kernel bootimage floppy itself rootimage-CURRENT_VERSION.Z -- The root filesystem and installation floppy Also get the associated README files. Then transfer these files to DOS, uncompress the two images (you can either uncompress them under UNIX using the "uncompress" command or with the DOS executable "uncomp.exe"), and run rawrite on them. Note that rawrite2.exe may have problems on some drives and setups; rawrite.exe is older but more trustworthy. Rawrite will copy, sector-by-sector, the two images to two newly formatted floppies (of course when this is done the floppies no longer work under DOS). Note: you can also just use "dd" on your UNIX system (if it has a floppy drive attached to it) to copy the images to floppies. Something like "dd if=bootimage-KERNEL_VERSION of=/dev/fd0" should work; consult your system's manuals for the exact device name of the floppy drive. You can also try "cat bootimage-KERNEL_VERSION > /dev/fd0" Now you have two floppies: one with the bootimage and the other with the rootimage. Boot off of the bootimage disk and, when prompted, insert the rootimage disk. You're all set... look at the README files on the rootimage disk. To install the system from this disk you generally log in as "install" and follow the procedures outlined in the READMEs to create and format Linux partitions on your hard drive, install the software, and so on. Note: with the bootimage/rootimage combo release, even though you can install Linux on your hard drive, you can't BOOT Linux from your hard drive (you have to boot from a kernel floppy, the only drawback of which is that it's slower booting but afterwards you can take out the floppy and everything). To boot from your harddrive you have to install either the "LILO" program which changes the boot sector of your harddrive. This program is included with the MCC Interim and the SLS releases, or you can get is from one of the FTP sites seperately. QUESTION: What are the files /bin/sh and /bin/tar provided on the CURRENT_VERSION rootdisk image (rootdisk-CURRENT_VERSION)? ANSWER: This image has been setup by Jim Winstead Jr, thanks to him. The bin/sh is bash, the GNU tar is NOT on the root disk, instead the PAX utility is there, NOTICE that this pseudo-tar does NOT handle the 'z' option for compressed tar files, instead you have to do the following assuming the tared compressed file is myfile.Z and you want to test it (flag t): uncompress -c myfile.Z | tar tvf - or zcat myfile.Z | tar tvf - But otherwise it works fine. QUESTION: How do I get and install H.J. Lu's "bootable rootdisk" release? ANSWER: Basically follow the directions above for the 2-disk "combo" release (i.e. get the images, rawrite them to high-density DOS formatted floppies, boot off the boot disk). This release doesn't contain user-friendly installation scripts; it's meant for those who can install the images from the disks by hand (the READMEs contain instructions on doing this). QUESTION: What is the MCC interim version of Linux? ANSWER: The MCC (Manchester Computing Centre) versions of Linux are designed to provide an installation/recovery system for Linux at various release levels. As of Sept 92, five MCC versions of Linux have appeared at intervals of 6-8 weeks. The current versions include basic system utilities, many GNU utilities, man pages, groff, gcc and g++, gdb, and full kernel sources. MCC interim Linux is distributed entirely on floppy disk images, of which there are 7 in release 0.97p2 (boot, utilities, misc, comp1, comp2, g++, and gdb). The original intention was to create a basic Linux installation on two floppies, and other disks have been added in the course of time. QUESTION: What are the advantages and drawbacks of using MCC or another version over using the standard boot/root disks? ANSWER: It is not possible to keep a large distribution like the MCC interim versions absolutely up-to-date; if you want the very latest copy of one or another program, you must get it from one of the ftp sites yourself, and it might not cooperate with existing utilities. On the other hand, MCC interim versions provide a large number of utilities in a simple form, compiled in the same way, and integrated into a fairly stable system. An MCC version of Linux will not have its bugs fixed as rapidly. QUESTION: How is installing MCC interim Linux different from installing Linux from the standard boot/root disks? ANSWER: The MCC interim versions of Linux do not use a floppy as their root disk; instead they use a ramdisk contained on the boot image. This means that more programs can fit on fewer disks, but that more memory is used during installation. This may cause problems on systems with only 2megabytes of memory. Also, parts of the MCC interim systems may assume that some utility or library has been installed from the same MCC interim system, and so may not work properly if you have installed Linux from the standard root/boot disks. QUESTION: How can I find out more about the MCC interim versions of Linux? ANSWER: The file README in mcc-interim/0.97p2 at the various sites mentioned describes the available files. The file README.install in the same directory describes the installation in detail. QUESTION: How do I go about installing the MCC Interim release? ANSWER: FTP to ftp.mcc.ac.uk:/pub/linux/mcc-interim or one of the mirror sites and grab all of the images and the gobs of README files. Just rawrite these images to floppies and boot from the boot-US (or boot-UK) image (read the Q/A above on the bootdisk/rootdisk combo for instructions on using rawrite and so on). The reason you have a US and a UK boot and util disk is that the keyboard codes are different depending on the country. After booting the boot disk, you'll be prompted to put in the util-US (or util-UK) disk and proceed with the installation. The basic steps that you'll take are: -- run fdisk to create Linux partitions -- reboot from the boot floppy, then put in the util disk when asked -- run mkfs to make filesystems and mkswap to make swap space on those partitions -- Mount each of the disks in turn and run the install script on each of them It's actually pretty simple, and the installation scripts take care of most of the work. The tough part is making the partitions and filesystems, just read the "README.fdisk" with the MCC release on how to do this. QUESTION: Any information about the MJ-stuff ? ANSWER: The MJ-release was meant originally to allow users to upgrade their Linux system to the shared library structure. However, this setup has been standard for some time, and the other releases already incorporate this. You can still check it out: Following Wayne Davidson advice "the mcc-interim distribution has slightly smaller binaries on it, so I only used the mj set to fill in a few extra executables that I was missing. Now I not only have more executables on my disk than before but more free disk space than I started with." mj**** is the Martin Junius package and can be found at ftp.dfv.rwth-aachen.de in pub/linux/mj-bin. QUESTION: What's about SLS ? ANSWER: (this is part of the FAQ written for SLS 0.98p5 by Peter MacDonald). SLS (Softlanding Linux System) Copywrite 1992, Softlanding Software. which is NOT just an image dump of someones Unix system. Also note that in the interest of preventing ftp storms, the version of SLS that appears on the internet, is not quite the same as the version distributed by Softlanding. Softlanding regularly gets a whole new version which has the changes integrated. But the updates to the Internet version are tailored to minimize the amount that has to be downloaded to become current. That is why bugs manage to creep in on me. I am not installing and testing the Internet version, although, functionally, it should be quite close to the Softlanding one. So, why am I telling you this? After the next period of stability (few changes to SLS), I will be uploading the Softlanding version of SLS to tsx-11.mit.edu. This distribution is freely available if you have internet access, or an obliging friend with access to it. The purposes of the SLS are the following: 0) provide an initial installation program (for the queasy). 1) utilities compiled to use minimal disk space. 2) provide a reasonably complete/integrated U*ix system. 3) provide a means to install and uninstall packages. 4) permit partial installations for small disk configs. 5) add a menu driven, extensible system administration. 6) take the hassle out of collecting and setting up a system. 7) give non internet users access to Linux. 8) provide a distribution that can be easily updated. SLS is a binary mostly distribution (except for the kernel), and is broken into multiple parts, or series, each of which is denoted by a letter followed by the disk number as follows: a1-aN: The minimal base system b1-bN: Base system extras, like man pages, emacs etc. c1-cN: The compiler(s), gcc/g++/p2c/f2c x1-xN: The X-windows distribution i1-iN: Interviews (doc and idraw) t1-tN: TeX (document processing) This scheme allows new disks to be added to the distribution without changing the disk numbering. Also, the sysinstall program doesn't have to be changed when new disks are added as the last disk is marked by the presence of the file "install.end". And when interviews is added, say as a new series "i", it can be installed with: sysinstall -series i Highlights of the base are: gcc/g++, emacs, kermit, elm/mail/uucp, gdb, sc (spreadsheet), man pages, groff, elvis, zip/zoo/lh and menu. Highlights of X are: X, programmers libs, 75 dpi fonts, games (spider, tetris, xvier, chess, othello, xeyes, etc) and utilities like xmag, xmenu, xcolormap and ghostscript. Approximate usage is as follows: Tiny base system: 9 Meg (Series 'a') Main base system: 25 Meg (Series 'a', 'b' and 'c') Main base system + X11: 45 Meg (Series 'a', 'b', 'c' and 'x') Please read the file COPYING which outlines the GNU copying restrictions. The linux kernel is copywrite Linux B. Torvalds. Various other copywrites apply, but the upshot is that you may do whatever you like with SLS, except restrict others in any way from doing likewise, and you must leave all copywrites intact, and you can not misrepresent or take credit for others work. AVAILABILITY SLS is available from the address: Softlanding Software 910 Lodge Ave. Victoria, B.C., Canada V8X-3A8 (604) 360-0188 More details about SLS can be asked to pmacdona@sanjuan.uvic.ca QUESTION: How do I go about getting and installing the SLS release? ANSWER: Ftp to one of the Linux sites and check out the files in the "SLS" directory (usually under "packages" in the Linux directory). The README files there explain it all; basically you download the images (which are almost all DOS format files), rawrite the boot disk to a floppy, and boot from it. Because the SLS release files are DOS format, you don't have to rawrite them: the SLS installation reads them directly. You can also get the SLS release on floppies by snail mail for a nominal fee (for non-netters). See the SLS README file for details. III.C. SOME COMMON PROBLEMS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUESTION: How can I boot Linux off of my hard drive? ANSWER: You need to install the "LILO" program which changes the boot sector of your hard drive to allow you to choose between a DOS or a Linux partition to boot from. These programs are provided with most major releases, or you can get them seperately from one of the FTP sites. QUESTION: I have the previous Linux version, how can I upgrade it? ANSWER: If you've never done this before, get the kernel sources from your nearest FTP site (in a file named something like linux-*.tar.Z) and unpack them into /usr/src/linux. Then edit the Makefile to your taste, and run "make". Assuming you have GCC installed correctly, the kernel should compile and you'll be left with a new "Image" which is your new kernel: if you boot from harddrive, copy the Image to wherever you told LILO to look for it, or if you boot from floppy dd the Image to a new floppy. Make sure that you run "rdev" on the Image to make it look for the correct partition for your root filesystem (if you specified this correctly in the Makefile you don't need to do this). Note: You may need to get the new sources for programs like "mount" or "ps" corresponding to your new kernel version as well. These programs tend to change with each kernel version, so after making your new kernel make sure you have the most recent versions of these programs and compile them. If you HAVE done this before, you can just apply the source patches to your old sources and then recompile (i.e. you don't have to get the entire kernel sources all over again). Use the "patch" program to do this. QUESTION: How can I be sure I won't be writing over anything important? I have to use DOS on my machine, and I don't want to lose any files. ANSWER: Back up everything. Just in case. Then, write some easily recognizable pattern to the partition you have reserved for linux, using some DOS tool. You can then use "cat /dev/hdX" under linux to examine which of the partitions you used. QUESTION: Linux mkfs doesn't accept the size I give the device, although I double-checked with fdisk, and it's correct. ANSWER: Be sure you give the size in Linux BLOCKS (1024 bytes), not sectors. Also make sure that you have the right partition: partitions are numbered "/dev/hda1", "/dev/hda2", and so on (and "/dev/hdb1", "/dev/hdb2" for the second hard drive)... DON'T use "/dev/hda" or "/dev/hdb" as they correspond to the entire disk, not just single partitions. QUESTION: I just rebooted my machine, and now Linux dies with a "panic: trying to free unused inode". What's going on? ANSWER: You probably forgot to "sync" before rebooting, which stores on the disk physically the contents of the kernel buffers. You can either run "fsck" on the partition to TRY to correct the problem (it might fail), or re-mkfs and re-install the software on that partition. QUESTION: I have a one partitionned 40Mb disk. If I run mkfs, what happens? ANSWER: If you do that, you will have an empty 40Mb Linux file system. You should, at least, make on your hard disk, one partition per operating system you want to use. QUESTION: Can I use both OS/2 and Linux on my machine?? ANSWER: Yes! See the following two Q/A's about getting your OS/2 Boot Manager to work. But, be warned: IF YOU USE OS/2, DO NOT USE LINUX's FDISK TO CREATE LINUX PARTITIONS!! The problem is with a bug/feature in OS/2's fdisk that tries to correct 'errors' in partitions that it doesn't like... Linux partitions included. The solution: make your Linux partitions with OS/2's fdisk, then use Linux's fdisk to change the partition ID's to the right values (this is self-explanatory with Linux's fdisk). If you made your Linux partitions with Linux's fdisk, and OS/2 sees them, it will think they have errors and end up trashing them. QUESTION: I use OS/2's Boot Manager on my hard drive. How can I get it to recognize Linux? ANSWER: To do this, install LILO on your Linux root partition, NOT on your hard drive's master boot record. The lilo command for this would be (if /dev/hda3 is your Linux root partition, and your Linux kernel is in /vmlinux): /etc/lilo/lilo -c -b /dev/hda3 -v -v /vmlinux Then use OS/2's fdisk to add it to the Boot Manager. QUESTION: When I run Linux's fdisk it says "OPUS" for OS/2's Boot Manager partition. Is this right? What's OPUS? ANSWER: It's correct. OPUS is BBS software that used partition type 0x0A long before OS/2. -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ # LaBRI | # # 351 cours de la Liberation | e-mail: corsini@labri.greco-prog.fr # # 33405 Talence Cedex | # # | # ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- There will be some sig, once our local net will be reliable. Right now I rather stay anonymous.