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- From: montjoy@thor.ece.uc.edu (Rob Montjoy)
- Subject: FAQ: Sun Computer Administration Frequently Asked Questions
- Status: RO
- Message-ID: <comp-sys-sun-admin_725673375@babbage.ece.uc.edu>
- Followup-To: poster
- Summary: Answers to questions which appear in comp.sys.sun.*
- Originator: montjoy@thor.ece.uc.edu
- Keywords: Sun Computer Admin FAQ
- Sender: montjoy@thor.ece.uc.edu (Rob Montjoy)
- Nntp-Posting-Host: thor.ece.uc.edu
- Organization: University of Cincinnati
- Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 23:56:26 GMT
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
- Expires: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 23:56:15 GMT
- Lines: 1354
-
- Archive-name: comp-sys-sun-faq
- Last-modified: 1992/11/5
- Version: 1.0
-
- Frequently Asked Questions for Comp.sys.sun.admin
-
- Last update Nov 5 1992
-
- This is collection of common questions posted to the comp.sys.sun.*
- hierarchy.
-
- Please send corrections or submissions to "Rob.Montjoy@UC.EDU". Mark
- the Subject as Sun FAQ.
-
-
- Note: As of this writing almost all of these questions apply
- to SunOS versions up to 4.1.3. SunOS 5.0 questions
- will start appearing gradually as more people start
- installing SunOS 5.0(Solaris 2.0).
-
-
- Questions
-
- 1) How to get DNS working when not running NIS ?
- 2) How to get DNS to be used when running NIS ?
- 3) How to properly setup NFS mounting of /var/spool/mail ?
- 4) Can I use AnswerBook under X11R5?
- 5) What does "NFS write error X" mean?
- 6) How do I find the amount of memory installed or other
- 7) Where can I get a version of ftp that does logging?
- 8) Where can one get SunOS patches? Where can I get patch 100xxx-xx?
- 9) How to setup Opewindows Calendar Manager in a distributed
- 10) Why does the talk command fail between SunOS
- and any other manufacturers equipment(like DEC)?
- 11) How do I setup "anonymous" ftp?
- 12) How come yppasswdd does not automatically update the yp maps?
- 13) What does NFS getattr failed/RPC: Authentication error mean?
- 14) Why did my Quantum 105 megabyte hard disk stop working?
- 15) Can I replace the 105 megabyte internal drive with a higher capacity
- 16) How can I turn my Sun3 into an X-Terminal?
- 17) Why is my console login prompt garbled or in some strange
- 18) Why are the "random" missing services at boot time(even
- though the services are in the /etc/services file or NIS map)?
- 19) Where can I get Data Certified tapes for 8-mm tape drives(at
- a reasonable price)?
- 20) What is "archie"?
- 21) How do I synchronize time between several Suns?
- 22) What is the phone number for Sun Express or other important Sun
- 23) How do I join sun related mailing lists?
- 24) How do I use Mac floppies in a SUN drive?
- 25) How can transfer floppies back and forth between MS-DOS and Sparc?
- 26) Why is my biff not "biffing" when using biff in a networked
- 27) How do I disable L1-A(STOP-A) or re-map it?
- 28) Why are all the local users "unknown" when using sendmail under 4.1.2?
- 29) What is the dump parameters for an exabyte 8200 or 8500?
- 30) What are the guidelines for setting up swap space ?
- 31) What are the general guidelines for maxusers to be set to on machine X?
- 32) What does "zsN: silo overflow" mean?
- 33) What does the "N" in "zsN: silo overflow", and other "zsN" messages,
- 34) How do I set up a Sun serial port both for dial-in and dial-out?
- 35) I can't get my Sun, running SunOS 4.1[.x], to establish a UUCP
- connection to some non-Sun machine; it won't log in. What's wrong?
- 36) Do the Sun serial ports support RTS/CTS flow control?
- 37) How do I specify that a serial port should, or should not, ignore the
- state of the Carrier Detect line?
- 38) I put in a new "termcap" entry, or updated an existing "termcap" entry,
- for a terminal, but "vi" doesn't seem to know about my change. Why?
- 39) I have a Type 5 keyboard, and find its placement of the Caps Lock,
- Control, and Esc keys inconvenient. How do I remedy this?
- 40) How can I move keys around on a Sun keyboard, for example exchanging the
- Caps Lock and Control keys on a Type 5 keyboard?
- 41) My Sun doesn't have an ANSI C compiler. How can I get one?
- 42) How do I change the time zone setting on my machine?
- 43) I'm getting messages that say one of the following:
-
- proc: table is full and/or
- file: table is full and/or
- dquot: table is full and/or
- inode: table is full
-
- What do these errors mean, and how do I fix the problem?
-
- 44) How do I run X11R5 applications under Openwindows or Openwindows
- applications under X11R5?
- 45) Where do I find a "restricted" shell for SunOS?
- 46) Will SunOS 4.1.x binaries run under Solaris 2.0?
- 47) When I try to compile MITs X11R4 applications under Openwindows 3.0,
- I get the following "undefined" symbols(_get_wmShellWidgetClass, and
- _get_applicationShellWidgetClass). What is the Problem?
- 48) What is Solaris?
- 49) What does the "nres_gethostbyaddr !=" error mean?
- 50) How come my mouse only works in the vertical(or horizontal) direction,
- how do I repair it?
- 51) What do the following undefined symbols mean(dlopen, and dlclose)?
- 52) What does "No network locking on host" mean after upgrading to
- Solaris 2.0?
- 53) Does Password Aging work with NIS(YP) ?
- 54) What does "rpc.lockd: Cannot contact status monitor!" mean?
- 55) How do I join the Sun User Group(SUG)?
- 56) How do I increase the number of "pseudo" terminals(ptys) ?
-
-
- Answers
-
- 1) How to get DNS working when not running NIS ?
-
- The "normal" behavior of a hostname lookup under NIS is to
- consult the NIS hosts map and then DNS (if configured). If
- you are not running NIS the system will only look in
- the /etc/hosts file.
-
- You have two options to correct this situation:
-
- A) Re-build shared libraries by installing the
- shlib custom option and one of the many
- "bind" resolver library packages available
- for SunOS. You can only do this if you are
- running SunOS version 4.1 or greater.
-
- If you want to do it under 4.0.3 you
- need to get the patches available from
- ftp.uu.net in /systems/sun/sun-fixes. The files
- you will need are as follows:
-
- 1) lib.msg
- 2) libc_pic.a.sun3 or libc_pic.a.sun4
- 3) libc_resolv.so.sun3 or libc_resolv.so.sun4
-
- There should be a README in the same directory
- explaining what these files are.
-
-
- B) Run NIS with the "hosts" maps only.
-
-
- Option A is the "hardest" to implement. It requires
- that you change all the shared libcs on the all
- machines that you want name resolving on. Also, it
- "breaks" several statically linked commands such as
- mount and rcp. If you are under Software maintenance
- you may be able to get a "dynamically" linked "mount".
-
- Complete directions for installing DNS without
- NIS can be found in the bindon4.1.shar file or
- the resolv+ tar file.
-
- Here is a list of the software one can use to modify your
- shared libraries to use DNS without NIS.
-
- bindon41.shar is on qiclab.scn.rain.com in the file
- /pub/network/bindon41.shar.Z
- bind 4.8.3 is on okeeffe.cs.berkeley.edu in the file
- /4.3/bind.4.8.3.tar.Z
-
- resolv+ is on liasun3.epfl.ch in file
- /pub/net/dns/resolv+-2.1-beta.tar.Z
-
- Note: that you can still use NIS for other things in environment,
- such as passwd, and group maps.
-
- Option B is the "easiest" of the two to implement. It
- just requires you to run NIS and change the "all"
- line /var/yp/Makefile to "all: hosts". Also,
- it does not require any change to the shared libraries.
- It does not "break" anything. You can install
- operating system patches that require updating
- the shared libraries without having to remake the
- shared libraries.
-
-
-
- 2) How to get DNS to be used when running NIS ?
-
- First setup the appropriate /etc/resolv.conf file.
- Something like this should do the "trick".
-
- ;
- ; Data file for a client.
- ;
- domain local domain
- nameserver address of primary domain nameserver
- nameserver address of secondary domain nameserver
-
- where: "local domain" is the domain part of the hostnames.
- For example, if your hostname is "thor.ece.uc.edu"
- your "local domain" is "ece.uc.edu".
-
- You will need to put a copy of this resolv.conf on
- all NIS(YP) servers including slaves.
-
- Under SunOS 4.1 and greater, change the "B=" at the top
- of the /var/yp/Makefile to "B=-b" and setup NIS in the
- usual fashion.
-
- Under 4.0.x, edit the Makefile or apply the following "diff":
-
- *** Makefile.orig Wed Jan 10 13:22:11 1990
- --- Makefile Wed Jan 10 13:22:01 1990
- ***************
- *** 63 ****
- ! | $(MAKEDBM) - $(YPDBDIR)/$(DOM)/hosts.byname; \
- --- 63 ----
- ! | $(MAKEDBM) -b - $(YPDBDIR)/$(DOM)/hosts.byname; \
- ***************
- *** 66 ****
- ! | $(MAKEDBM) - $(YPDBDIR)/$(DOM)/hosts.byaddr; \
- --- 66 ----
- ! | $(MAKEDBM) -b - $(YPDBDIR)/$(DOM)/hosts.byaddr; \
-
-
- 3) How to properly setup NFS mounting of /var/spool/mail ?
-
- On the Client machines:
-
- A) mount /var/spool/mail with the no attribute caching
- option.
-
- An example, fstab line would be the following:
-
- mailhost:/var/spool/mail /var/spool/mail nfs rw,noac 0 0
-
- B) Use a sendmail.cf that forces all mail to be delivered
- by the mailhost.
-
- One such file is available via anonymous ftp to
- thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the file
-
- /pub/sun-faq/sendmail.client.cf
-
- Do not use the OR option that Sun provides. It is broken
- in many ways.
-
- On the server machine:
-
- A) Setup MX records pointing to the mailhost for
- all client machines.
-
- B) Edit the /etc/exports file to export /var/spool/mail
- to the mail client machines. You may want
- to use a netgroup for this purpose.
-
- C) Setup the /etc/sendmail.cf on the server recognize
- that mail to/from a client is "local".
-
- One such file is available via anonymous ftp to
- thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the file
-
- /pub/sun-faq/sendmail.server.cf
-
-
- Note: You may want to install IDA sendmail instead of Suns
- stock sendmail.
-
-
-
- 4) Can I use AnswerBook under X11R5?
-
- AnswerBook in its current form requires the Openwindows
- server. It uses the NeWS extensions(Postscript) extensions
- to this server to display the Answerbook files.
-
- To use AnswerBook under X11R5 you will need to replace the
- docviewer program with xdocviewer. Xdocviewer does not support
- all the options that the "real" docviewer supports such
- as "hypertext" links.
-
- To install "xdocviewer" you will need the following programs.
-
- Perl-4 patchlevel 35
- Ghostscript 2.4 or above
- GSpreview 2.1 or above or Ghostview 1.3 or above
-
- All of these are available from prep.ai.mit.edu. They are
- located in the /pub/gnu directory.
-
- Finally, You need xdocviewer. It is available from the
- /contrib directory on host export.ai.mit.edu.
-
-
- 5) What does "NFS write error X" mean?
-
- You can lookup the error codes in /usr/include/sys/errno.h.
-
- Two common NFS error codes are 13 - "permission denied" and 70 -
- "stale file handle".
-
- Error code 13 can occur from incorrect /etc/exports entry. Also,
- it can occur because someone has changed the /etc/exports
- entry to disallow the client after the client has already
- been granted permission to perform this operation.
-
- Error code 70 occurs when a fileserver gets rebooted and
- the server NFS "file handle" for a particular filesystem
- changes. The "file handle" can be changed under the following
- circumstances.
-
- A) Installing a new drive in place of an old.
-
- B) Moving a filesystem from one devices to
- another.
-
- C) Performing a format, newfs, dump, and restore
- cycle. Even if to the same device.
-
- You can usually get rid of the error by unmounting and
- remounting the filesystem in question.
-
- Also, error code 70 can occur when someone removes a file
- that a process is actively writing from a NFS client machine.
-
- Under SunOS 4.1, you can run "showfh" to translate the NFS
- "file handle" given in the error message into a Unix pathname.
- Beware that showfhd does a "find" on your server to get the
- filename. "man 2 intro" will give you some more general
- information on what error codes could mean.
-
- You will need a patch to get "showfh" to work correctly. The patch
- id is 100371 and this patch is required for 4.1, 4.1.1, and 4.1.2.
- Sun claims that its been integrated into 4.1.3.
-
-
- 6) How do I find the amount of memory installed or other
- system configuration information?
-
- You can use the "devinfo" command to find out general
- information about the hardware attached to your Sun.
- The "devinfo" command is only available on desktop SPARCsystems,
- SPARCengine 1E(although not in the version used in Auspex Systems),
- or 600MP series server only.
-
- The "best" command for the job is "sysinfo". Sysinfo is public
- domain utility available via "anonymous" ftp on
- usc.edu in directory /pub/sysinfo. Sysinfo works on all Sun
- architectures(inculding Sun-3s) as well as many other UNIX
- boxes such as Ultrix, and Next. Sysinfo does not run on
- SunOS 5.0.
-
- For SunOS 5.0 you can use sysdef.
-
- Note: "wc -l /dev/mem" and "dd if=/dev/mem of=/dev/null" and
- the like will *not* give the correct answer on machines
- where physical memory is not contiguous, such as many Suns.
-
-
- 7) Where can I get a version of ftp that does logging?
-
- There are at least 2 versions that have enhanced logging or
- can be modified to enable logging:
-
- wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4) /packages/ftpd.wuarchive.shar
- pprg.unm.edu (129.24.24.10) /pub/misc/unm-ftpd.tar.Z
-
- The most widely used is the "wuarchive" version.
-
- The stock Sun ftpd will log some information if you add the "-l"
- flag in /etc/inetd.conf:
-
- ftp stream tcp nowait root /usr/etc/in.ftpd in.ftpd -l
-
- Also enable syslogd by adding:
-
- daemon.info /var/adm/syslog
-
- to "/etc/syslog.conf".
-
-
- 8) Where can one get SunOS patches? Where can I get patch 100xxx-xx?
-
- Many anonymous ftp sites have partial collections of patches.
- These sites include the following:
-
- princeton.edu:/pub/sun-fixes
- qiclab.scn.rain.com:/pub/sunos-patches
- iskut.ucs.ubc.ca:/pub/ubc/sun-patches/
- ftp.uu.net:/systems/sun/sun-dist/
-
- princeton.edu has patches for SunOS, AnswerBook, Openwindows,
- lang, and PC-NFS.
-
- qiclab.scn.rain.com has several hundred patches available
- for SunOS only.
-
- iskut.ucs.ubc.ca has several of the newer patches.
-
- ftp.uu.net is the "official" distribution point for SunOS
- security patches.
-
- Also, you should use "archie" to look for specific patches.
-
- Finally, the Sun User Group (SUG) CD ROM has a collection of Sun
- patches.
-
- 9) How to setup Opewindows Calendar Manager in a distributed
- environment?
-
- Sun's original assumption that each user has a permanent machine
- allocated to them is not applicable in most environments. Just as
- users send mail to 'user' rather than 'user@machine', users want
- to browse others user's calendars and do not care or want to know
- where the calendar is actually stored.
-
- Here is procedure to accomplish our goal. All calendars
- will be stored on a central server. The initial setup
- must be down on the server.
-
- A) Have the user login to the calendar host(calhost)
- machine.
-
- B) Change everyone's .cm.rc file so that
- Calendar.DefaultCal points to user@calhost
-
- calhost can be an hostname alias or an actual
- hostname. You may want to use the alias
- just in case you change the "calhost" later.
-
- C) Change their Access List and Permissions (under
- Edit/Properties) to show user@client with BID (browse,
- insert, delete) permissions for any client machine the
- user wanted to access their calendar from.
-
- Notes: If you use the scheme you should not NFS mount
- /var/spool/calendar on the client machines.
-
-
-
- 10) Why does the talk command fail between SunOS
- and any other manufacturers equipment(like DEC)?
-
- SunOS has the old BSD 4.2 version of talk. The old talk
- uses "machine dependent" byte ordering. Since
- DEC has different byte order the two talks can not
- communicate(even if you use "otalk" on the DEC
- machines).
-
- Also, most vendors have the newer version of
- talk from BSD-4.3 and this version is not compatible
- with the Sun Version(which is BSD-4.2).
-
- The solution is to get and install the new version
- of talk because it uses "network" byte ordering and
- it is compatible with most Vendors current talk
- implementations.
-
- "New Talk" is available via anonymous ftp from several
- sites including thor.ece.uc.edu(Get the file
- /pub/sun-faq/ntalk.tar.Z).
-
- 11) How do I setup "anonymous" ftp?
-
- Read the man page ftpd(8) in the SunOS 4.x documentation, as
- the procedure differs from vanilla BSD and most examples in
- system administration books.
-
- The "ls" binary is dynamically linked, requiring you to
- duplicate ld.so, libc.so.* and /dev/zero in the ftp area.
- The permissions and ownership of the files within the
- ftp area are critical to having a secure configuration.
-
- Note: For SunOS versions 4.1.2 and 4.1.3 you will need
- to copy /usr/lib/libld.so.* to the ftp area as well.
-
- You can use a "statically" linked binary from the GNU
- fileutils instead of the "dynamically" linked SunOS
- version. You can get the GNU fileutils from prep.ai.mit.edu
- in the directory /pub/gnu
-
- A complete procedure to setup anonymous under SunOS is
- available via anonymous ftp to thor.ece.uc.edu. Get
- the file /pub/sun-faq/anon-ftp.how-to.
-
-
-
- 12) How come yppasswdd does not automatically update the yp maps?
-
- There is a bug in 4.1 rpc.yppasswdd that causes it misinterpret
- the command line arguments. A work-around is to add the
- "-nosingle" flag (which is the default), this shifts the
- arguments over one, so "passwd" is read instead of "-m".
- Also, you should use the complete path to rpc.yppasswdd
-
- For example:
-
- /usr/etc/rpc.yppasswdd /var/yp/passwd -nosingle -m passwd DIR=/var/yp
-
- If you are running the C2 security package, you should apply
- patch 100201-04, as it fixes several problems with rpc.yppasswdd.
-
- 13) What does NFS getattr failed/RPC: Authentication error mean?
-
- You are probably running a pre-4.0 version of NFS and your
- username is in more than 8 groups. There is a limit on the
- number of groups that could be represented in the rpc service
- (called NGRPS). On pre-4.0 systems this was 8, now it is 16.
- Since many vendors other than Sun are still running old versions
- of NFS, you might see this error even if your SunOS is recent.
-
- Authentication errors are also caused by having secure RPC
- enabled on the client but not on the server, or by having a
- misconfigured secure RPC configuration for the user name
- generating the errors. Beware of this problem when you are
- using the automounter, as programs (such as Sendmail) may
- silently fail when when they try to mount a directory
- and get this error.
-
-
- 14) Why did my Quantum 105 megabyte hard disk stop working?
-
- This the now infamous Quantum drive "stickation" problem.
-
- If the drive is allowed to cool down(even for a short period
- of time) the drive lubricant will congeal and prevent the disks
- platters from rotating.
-
- Before you get a replacement, try lightly tapping
- the drive to loosen the lubricant. If this does not work try
- shaking and twisting the drive at the same time. One last
- thing to try is to lift the system up a couple of inches
- and drop it.
-
- 15) Can I replace the 105 megabyte internal drive with a higher capacity
- model?
-
- The higher capacity drives create more heat and draw more power than
- the 105S. The case cooling ability and power supply in the SS-1 and
- SS-1+ are not adequate for the 210 megabyte or higher capacity drives
- possible in the SS-2.
-
- 16) How can I turn my Sun3 into an X-Terminal?
-
- You can use Seth Robertson's Xkernel package. It is available
- via anonymous ftp from sol.ctr.columbia.edu (128.59.64.40) in
- /Xkernel. The package describes how to configure a minimal kernel
- that runs the X server and offloads all the clients onto another,
- hopefully more powerful host on the network.
-
- If you are in hurry get the 4LAZY.sun3.tar.Z file. It contains
- all the necessary software to get Xkernel up and running.
-
- Xkernel is attractive to some sites that have a large investment in
- sun3 platforms, as moving most of the processing off the sun3
- cpu makes it tolerable to use.
-
- Finally, a used 3/50 is competitive with low-end X Terminal and
- you get a 19" monitor with an optical mouse.
-
- Some disadvantages are that 4.1.1 is supposed to be the last SunOS
- release on the sun3 and maintenance costs might be higher for
- sun3 hardware.
-
-
- 17) Why is my console login prompt garbled or in some strange
- alphabet after upgrading to 4.1.3?
-
- The problem is /etc/ttytab, with 4.1.3, the console is now
- able to display 8 bits characters and getty must take this
- into account.
-
- The solution is easy, replace your console entry in /etc/ttytab
- by the following, the important part is 'cons8':
-
- console "/usr/etc/getty cons8" sun on local secure
-
- Also, if you did an upgrade(instead of a full install) you may
- need to add the following to your /etc/gettytab.
-
- # This is a new entry to internationalize the console. It needs to be
- # 8 bit clean so that ISO 8859 characters can be displayed without
- # the window system.
- #
- cons8:\
- :p8:lm=\r\n%h login\72 :sp#9600:
-
-
- 18) Why are there "random" missing services at boot time(even
- though the services are in the /etc/services file or NIS map)?
-
- The two primary causes for "random" missing services are
- as follows:
-
- A) "Blank" lines in /etc/services. This is the primary
- cause.
-
- B) NIS/YP server not responding quickly enough
- to the "getservbyname" call. The only fix
- is to replace the systems version of inetd
- with a version that re-tries a "unknown" service.
-
- I have "hacked" a version of munetd(public domain
- replacement for inetd) to do this. It is available
- from thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the file /pub/sun-faq/munetd.tar.Z
-
- Another suggestion that has worked for some people is to
- add the following to your rc.local(right after ypbind is started):
-
- ypwhich > /dev/null 2>&1
-
- This will force ypbind to bind.
-
- 19) Where can I get Data Certified tapes for 8-mm tape drives(at
- reasonable price)?
-
- Here is an incomplete list of vendors how have "data certified"
- tapes for the exabyte.
-
- Misco 800-876-1726 $12 - 15 each.
- TecBridge 800-972-7405 $12 - 15 each.
- R-Squared 800-777-3478 Sony 112m 120@8.00 Each
- K and K Systems 612-475-1527 $10 Each
- SCR 314-739-0808 $10.95 for Memorex
-
- 20) What is "archie"?
-
- Archie is a database of what is on several thousand anonymous
- ftp sites.
-
- To use archie get one of the three archie clients which
- are as follows:
-
- xarchie - For use under X11
- c-archie - Curses version of Archie
- archie - Perl Version of Archie
-
- Theses are available from archie.ans.net in the directory
- /pub/archie.
-
- List of other publicly available archie servers:
-
- archie.rutgers.edu 128.6.18.15 (Rutgers University)
- archie.unl.edu 129.93.1.14
- (University of Nebraska in Lincoln)
- archie.ans.net 147.225.1.2 (ANS archie server)
- archie.au 139.130.4.6 (Australian server)
- archie.funet.fi 128.214.6.100 (European server in Finland)
- archie.doc.ic.ac.uk 146.169.11.3 (UK/England server)
- archiecs.huji.ac.il 132.65.6.15 (Israel server)
-
- 21) How do I synchronize time on my Sun Network?
-
- You should use xntp version 3 to synchronize your time. Xntp
- synchronizes to "atomic" and/or Radio Frequency clocks. Using
- xntp time should always be within a few "milliseconds" of the
- actual time.
-
- xntp is available from udel.edu. Get the file /pub/ntp/xntp3.tar.Z
-
-
-
- 22) What is the phone number for Sun Express or other important Sun
- phone numbers?
-
- Sun Express: 1-800-USE-SUNX (1-800-873-7869)
- Main Sun Helpline: 1-800-USA-4SUN (1-800-872-4786)
-
-
- 23) How do I join sun related mailing lists?
-
- Mailing Lists:
-
- Sun Managers: Used for "emergency" information only. The
- users of this list are "very" knowledgable.
- sun-managers-request@eecs.nwu.edu add requests
- sun-managers@eecs.nwu.edu submissions
-
- Sun-386i: discussion about the Sun 386i product
- sun-386i-request@ssg.com add requests
- sun-386i@ssg.com submissions
-
- Suns-at-home: discussion about maintaining Sun2/3/4/4c
- systems at home
- suns-at-home-request@orchestra.ecn.purdue.edu add requests
- suns-at-home@orchestra.ecn.purdue.edu submissions
-
- Auspex: managers of Auspex NFS file servers
- auspex-request@princeton.edu add requests
- auspex@princeton.edu submissions
-
- Epoch: managers of Epoch NFS file servers
- EPoch Users Forum (EPUF)
- epuf-request@mcs.anl.gov add requests
- epuf@mcs.anl.gov submissions
-
- sun-flash: Provides articles about Sun products
- and services.
-
- Subscription request should be sent to
- sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM
-
-
- NOTE!!! if you wish to be added to one of the above mailing lists,
- send mail to the REQUEST address! Do not send add requests
- to the main address!
-
-
- 24) How do I use Mac floppies in a SUN drive?
-
- The easiest way is to use suntar on the Macintosh to
- copy files to a "high density" floppy. Then you can use
- "tar" on the Sun to get the files off the floppy.
-
- It is available from sumex-aim.stanford.edu. Get the file
- /info-mac/util/suntar-131.hqx
-
- Also, you could use the Apple File Exchanger to translate
- the files to MS-DOS format. Then use one of the methods
- for transferring MS-DOS disks to Sun.
-
-
- Note: There are several commercial packages available for
- this purpose.
-
- Also, low density Mac floppies are not comparable with
- low density Sun floppies.
-
-
- 25) How can transfer floppies back and forth between MS-DOS and Sparc?
-
- There are two packages which allow you to do this(mtools and mntdsk)
-
- Mtools writes directly to the floppy device and it does not
- require special privileges. It is faster than mntdsk
- but it requires the user to learn a new set of commands.
-
- mntdisk "mounts" the floppy using the "pcfs" filesystem type. Once
- mounted you can use regular UNIX commands(cp,mv,and rm)
- to access it.
-
- A copy of mtools can be found on thor.ece.uc.edu. Get
- the file /pub/sun-faq/mtools-2.0.7.tar.Z
-
- Mntdisk is available in your local comp.sources.misc, Volume 22,
- Issue 31. Mntdsk can be used to mount CD-ROMS and even
- UFS floppies.
-
- Note: You should not use "setuid" shell scripts for mounting
- floppies.
-
-
- 26) Why is my biff not "biffing" when using biff in a networked
- environment?
-
- In its current form comsat/biff are only usable on the mail
- server. You need to replace them network capable programs.
-
- A shar file containing network capable versions of comsat
- and biff is available from thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the
- file /pub/sun-faq/biff-comsat.
-
- 27) How do I disable L1-A(STOP-A) or re-map it?
-
- You need to get one of the many re-mapping programs. Two
- of these are available from thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the file
- disable-L1-A.tar.Z
-
- 28) Why are all the local users "unknown" when using sendmail under 4.1.2?
-
- There is a known problem with sendmail and frozen config
- files under 4.1.2.
-
- The fix is to remove /etc/sendmail.fc or consider replacing
- it with IDA sendmail. You could also try moving it to the
- end of /etc/rc.local.
-
-
- 29) What is the dump parameters for an exabyte 8200 or 8500?
-
- 8200 -- dump 0budfs 126 54000 /dev/rst0 6000
- 8500 -- dump 0budfs 126 54000 /dev/rst0 12000
-
- 30) What are the guidelines for setting up swap space ?
-
- This question under construction.
-
- 31) What are the general guidelines for maxusers to be set to on machine X?
-
- This question under construction.
-
- 32) What does "zsN: silo overflow" mean?
-
- The CPU serial ports - both ordinary serial ports A and B, and
- the port for the keyboard and mouse - use the Zilog Z8530 SCC
- chip. That chip has a 3-character on-board buffer called the
- "silo". If a character arrives in the silo, the chip interrupts
- the CPU at a high priority, and the interrupt service routine
- reads the character out of the silo.
-
- If the interrupt isn't serviced in time, more than 3 characters
- can be placed in the silo by the chip; if so, the chip notes
- that the silo "overflowed", and the interrupt service routine,
- when called, will note that a "silo overflow" occurred.
-
- If the machine is printing a message from the kernel, interrupts
- from the chip will be held off; if the message takes long enough
- to print, and characters are coming in quickly enough on the
- serial port, more than 3 can arrive, and a "silo overflow" will
- occur.
-
- It is possible that a machine that's sufficiently busy in other
- code that runs with interrupts held off could get a silo
- overflow as well.
-
- 33) What does the "N" in "zsN: silo overflow", and other "zsN" messages,
- signify?
-
- The name "zsN" is ambiguous.
-
- In kernel "config" files, and in the boot-time autoconfig
- messages, "zs0" is the first on-board Z8530 chip, the two
- channels of which handle "ttya" and "ttyb", respectively, and
- "zs1" is the second on-board Z8530 chip, the two channels of
- which handle the keyboard and mouse ports, respectively.
-
- In "zsN: silo overflow" messages and the like:
-
- "zs0" is the A channel on the first on-board Z8530, handling
- "ttya";
-
- "zs1" is the B channel on the first on-board Z8530, handling
- "ttyb";
-
- "zs2" is the A channel on the second on-board Z8530, handling
- the keyboard;
-
- "zs3" is the B channel on the second on-board Z8530, handling
- the mouse.
-
- So a "zs0: silo overflow" error is for "ttya", and a "zs1: silo
- overflow" error is for "ttyb", not for the keyboard or mouse.
- Keyboard silo overflows are "zs2: silo overflow"; mouse silo
- overflows are "zs3: silo overflow".
-
-
- 34) How do I set up a Sun serial port both for dial-in and dial-out?
-
- You need to read Chapter 11 in the "Systems and Network
- Administration" manual.
-
- 35) I can't get my Sun, running SunOS 4.1[.x], to establish a UUCP
- connection to some non-Sun machine; it won't log in. What's wrong?
-
- The 4.1[.x] UUCP normally runs in even-parity mode when logging
- into another machine. If the other machine is running in 8
- bits, no parity, mode, the fact that the 8th bit is set on some
- of the characters the Sun is sending to it will confuse it.
-
- The Sun can be made to turn the 8th bit off by putting P_ZERO in
- the appropriate place in the appropriate UUCP configuration file
- [I may have been the one to put P_ZERO there, but I forget the
- details; it's in the send-expect sequence in the Systems file
- entry for the machine, and I think you have an "expect" string
- of "" - i.e., "expect nothing" - and a "send" string of P_ZERO -
- i.e., make the parity bit zero. Check the UUCP stuff in the
- "Systems and Network Administration" document to make sure.]
-
-
- 36) Do the Sun serial ports support RTS/CTS flow control?
-
- The serial port hardware can do CTS-based control of the flow of
- data *from* the Sun *out* the serial port automatically. The
- tty driver option for that is the CRTSCTS option; it can be
- specified in:
-
- the "printcap" "ms" capability for a printer;
-
- in the "gettytab" "ms", "m0", "m1", or "m2" capabilities
- for a dial-in port;
-
- the "STTY=" option for a dial-out line for UUCP or "cu"
- [check the UUCP documentation for details];
-
- and can be specified with the "hf" capability in "/etc/remote"
- for "tip".
-
- The hardware cannot directly do RTS-based control of the flow of
- data *into* the Sun, and the software does not currently support
- controlling the flow of data into the Sun with RTS.
-
- NOTE: the EEPROM options in newer Suns do not affect the flow
-
- control performed by the OS; in fact, the OS ignores the
- "ttya-mode", "ttyb-mode", "ttya-rts-dtr-off", and
- "ttyb-rts-dtr-off" EEPROM options entirely. You don't need to
- set them to change the way the OS handles the tty, and even if
- you do set them, it won't change the way the OS handles the tty.
-
-
-
- 37) How do I specify that a serial port should, or should not, ignore the
- state of the Carrier Detect line?
-
- Prior to SunOS 4.1, you do so either by:
-
- changing the "flags" field for the serial port device in the
- kernel "config" file, re-running "config", rebuilding
- the kernel, and rebooting with the new kernel;
-
- or, on the Sun-4c machines:
-
- changing the setting of the "ttya-ignore-cd" or
- "ttyb-ignore-cd" EEPROM settings if the port is one of
- the CPU serial ports.
-
- In SunOS 4.1 (and, I think, some SunOS 4.0[.x] releases for the
- Sun386i), you do so by changing the "/etc/ttytab" line for the
- port in question to have the "local" attribute if CD is to be
- ignored, or not to have it if CD is not to be ignored, and
- running the "ttysoftcar" command to tell the kernel that the
- status of the "ignore CD" flag should be changed.
-
- In 4.1, there's no need to change the EEPROM setting to change
- SunOS's behavior; it may affect the PROM's behavior, but that's
- the only reason why it'd be necessary.
-
- 38) I put in a new "termcap" entry, or updated an existing "termcap" entry,
- for a terminal, but "vi" doesn't seem to know about my change. Why?
-
- The "vi" in SunOS 4.1[.x] is based on the System V Release 3.1
- "vi", because that version of "vi" supports 8-bit character
- sets. That version of "vi" uses "terminfo", not "termcap"; you
- have to change the "terminfo" entry for the terminal.
-
- You may first have to convert the compiled "terminfo" entry to a
- text entry; "/usr/5bin/infocmp -I <terminal-type>" will write
- the text of the "terminfo" entry for the terminal
- <terminal-type> to its standard output.
-
- If you already have a "termcap" entry, you can convert it to a
- "terminfo" entry with "/usr/5bin/captoinfo".
-
- A text "terminfo" entry must be recompiled in order for programs
- using "terminfo" to use it; "/usr/5bin/tic" will recompile it.
-
- 39) I have a Type 5 keyboard, and find its placement of the Caps Lock,
- Control, and Esc keys inconvenient. How do I remedy this?
-
- Well, one remedy may be to buy the "UNIX layout" version of the
- Type 5; this option seems, unfortunately, to be little-known to
- Sun customers, and Sun may not be promoting it as they should.
- That keyboard has a layout much more friendly to the traditional
- UNIX user than do the normal PC-style layouts for the Type 5.
-
- If you don't have that option, you can use the appropriate
- program to reprogram the keys; see the next question.
-
- 40) How can I move keys around on a Sun keyboard, for example exchanging the
- Caps Lock and Control keys on a Type 5 keyboard?
-
- It depends on which window system you're running, if any.
-
- If you're not using any window system, or you're using a window
- system such as SunView that uses the OS's keyboard event
- translation mechanism, you can dump the tables used by the OS's
- keyboard event translation mechanism with the "dumpkeys"
- command, and load changes to that table with the "loadkeys"
- command; see LOADKEYS(1).
-
- If you're using X11 - either in its MIT incarnation, or Sun's
- Open Windows incarnation - or some other window system that
- shuts off the OS's keyboard event translation mechanism, you
- need to use the window system's commands, if any, for that
- function.
-
- In X11, the command for that is "xmodmap"; its translation
- tables can be printed with "xmodmap -pk", and changes to that
- table can be loaded with "xmodmap" as well.
-
- NOTE: in the particular case of the Control and Caps Lock keys,
- while MIT X appears to handle interchanging those two keys
- correctly, so that the new Caps Lock key is a toggle and the new
- Control key is not, some versions of Open Windows do not - even
- though the keys have had their mappings exchanged, the window
- system server still thinks that the *old* Caps Lock key, which
- is now the Control key, should be a toggle, and that the *old*
- Control key, which is now the Caps Lock key, should not be a
- toggle.
-
- 41) My Sun doesn't have an ANSI C compiler. How can I get one?
-
- SunOS releases prior to 5.0 come with a C compiler; however,
- it's an old compiler, and doesn't support ANSI C syntax or such
- ANSI C features as function prototypes.
-
- Many vendors offer ANSI C compilers for SunOS. Sun sells Sun C
- 1.1 for SPARC, which includes an ANSI C compiler (although not a
- full ANSI C environment, i.e. it doesn't necessarily include all
- the ANSI C include files or library routines); various other
- vendors (Lucid? Others?) sell ANSI C compilers as well.
-
- The Free Software Foundation's GCC also supports ANSI C syntax
- and ANSI C features; it can be FTP'ed in source form from many
- sites, and in binary form from some sites. [Sorry, I don't have
- details.]
-
- SunOS 5.0 - the OS component of Solaris 2.0 - doesn't come with
- a C compiler of any sort (NOTE: it isn't necessary for kernel
- configuration). If you want a C compiler for it, you'll have to
- buy or otherwise obtain one; Sun has or will have one for SunOS
- 5.0, and a version of GCC for Solaris 2.0 is also available.
- The include files and libraries in SunOS 5.0 should (modulo
- bugs) fully support ANSI C.
-
- A compiled version of GCC for SunOS 5.0 is avaliable from
- ftp.uu.net in the /systems/sun/gnu-solaris directory.
-
-
- 42) How do I change the time zone setting on my machine?
-
- In releases prior to SunOS 4.0, you will have to reconfigure
- your kernel, recompile it, install the new kernel, and reboot.
- See the documentation on kernel configuration.
-
- In SunOS 4.0 and later releases, you will need to run the "zic"
- command with the "-l" flag, with the appropriate time zone
- setting as the argument. For example, to set the time zone to
- US Eastern Time, do:
-
- zic -l US/Eastern
-
- to set it to the proper setting for Great Britain and Eire, do:
-
- zic -l GB-Eire
-
- and so on.
-
- You will then probably want to reboot your machine, in order to:
-
- 1) cause any daemons started before the time zone was
- changed to restart, and pick up the new time zone;
-
- 2) run "tzsetup" for the benefit of old pre-SunOS 4.0
- binaries, old programs not converted to use the new
- routines to convert local time to UNIX time, and
- Calendar Manager.
-
- You can also manually link "/usr/share/lib/zoneinfo/localtime"
- to the appropriate time zone file, but there's really no point
- in doing so when "zic -l" will do that for you.
-
- 43) I'm getting messages that say (one of):
-
- proc: table is full
-
- file: table is full
-
- dquot: table is full
-
- inode: table is full
-
- What does this mean, and how do I fix the situation?
-
- In SunOS releases prior to 5.0, many tables in the system are
- allocated once at system startup time, with a fixed size, and do
- not grow in size. If the system needs more entries than are
- present in that table to perform some operation, it can't
- perform the operation, and it will log a message and return a
- failure indication.
-
- The sizes of the tables in question are based on the "maxusers"
- value in the configuration file for your kernel; to increase the
- size of the table, change the configuration file for your kernel
- to have a larger "maxusers" value, re-run "config" on that file,
- rebuild the kernel, install the new kernel, and reboot.
-
- SunOS 4.1 and later shouldn't get "inode: table is full", as
- that table is dynamically allocated; SunOS 5.0 should
- dynamically allocate entries in most if not all of those tables.
-
- I did that, and I'm still getting that message. What do I do now?
-
- Presumably, then, either:
-
- 1) you didn't increase "maxusers" enough
-
- or
-
- 2) some process is consuming resources from the table in
- question without bound.
-
-
- Note: SunOS kernels(up to 4.1.3) by default allow the user to use
- all available process slots(except for the last 5).
-
- If you are running out of process slots you may want to
- change the kernel parameter that controls the maximum number
- of per user processes. You can change this in the param.c
- in /sys/conf.common. You will need to change the following
- define:
-
- #define MAXUPRC (NPROC - 5)
-
- to something more reansable like
-
- #define MAXUPRC (NPROC - 5)/2
-
- After making this change you should re-config and re-build
- your kernel.
-
- The "proc" table has one entry for every process on the system;
- if it's overflowing, some process on the system may be creating
- new processes over and over again. If you can, do a "ps -ax" to
- see what processes are on the system, and see if that gives any
- clues as to what process, if any, is spawning those other
- processes.
-
-
- The "file" table has one entry for every "active file
- descriptor" on the system; each time an "open", "dup", "socket",
- etc. call is made, a new "active file descriptor" is required.
- There's no way of finding out what process or processes are
- consuming file descriptors that's as convenient as "ps" can be
- for finding out what process or processes are spawning additional
- processes; "/usr/etc/pstat -f" will print the "open file table"
- of "active file descriptors", but it's tricky for the novice
- user, programmer, or administrator to interpret the output of
- "pstat -f", and that output doesn't indicate which processes are
- using a given "active file descriptor".
-
-
- 44) How do I run both OpenWindows and MIT X11R5?
-
- To get X11R5(or R4) applications to run under Openwindows you will
- need to set the appropriate LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
-
- Assuming you installed the MIT libraries in
- /usr/lib and the OpenWindows libraries are in
- /usr/openwin/lib, set the following before you start the
- windowing system:
-
- MIT X11R4 environment
-
- set path = (/usr/bin/X11 $path)
- setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/lib
-
- OpenWindows
-
- set path = (/usr/openwin/bin /usr/openwin/demo $path)
- setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/openwin/lib
-
- You can also run clients from one environment under a different
- server on a one command at a time basis. This example runs a
-
- OpenWindows client under the MIT server:
-
- (setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH /usr/openwin/lib; x_soundtool)
-
-
- A better way to handle this(in the long run) is to re-compile
- the X server clients to include a "hard" coded shared library
- search path. You will need to link the clients with -L
- option. For example, if your X11 libraries are installed
- in /usr/local/lib/X11 you will link your application by
-
- cc -o app app.c -L/usr/local/lib/X11 -lX11 -lXext
-
- By doing this to all applications you can eliminate the need
- to set the LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
-
- For applications that you do not have source for you should
- write a shell script wrapper similar to the following:
-
- #!/bin/sh
- LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/X11; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
- /usr/local/bin/X11/xterm.bin $*
-
-
- Note: Source code for the Xview toolkit and MIT X11R5 are
- available from prep.ai.mit.edu.
-
-
- The OpenWindows server has the ability to display PostScript that
- several of the OpenWindows applications require to run. Sun's
- AnswerBook is an example that requires PostScript. These clients
- will not run under the MIT server.
-
- You can get a limited PostScript preview capability under
- either server with GNU Ghostscript, a GNU "copyleft" package
- available from various ftp sites.
-
- Two enhanced versions of Ghostscript are also available,
- CSPreview and Ghostview, they both offer fancier preview capabilities.
- These programs are currently available via anonymous ftp:
-
- Ghostscript is on prep.ai.mit.edu (18.71.0.38) in /pub/gnu
- GSPreview is on export.lcs.mit.edu (18.24.0.12) in /contrib
- Ghostview is on prep.ai.mit.edu (128.105.2.196) in /pub/gnu
-
-
- 45) Where do I find a "restricted" shell for SunOS?
-
- /usr/lib/rsh is a "restricted" Bourne shell.
-
- 46) Will SunOS 4.1.x binaries run under Solaris 2.0?
-
- This question under construction.
-
- 47) When I try to compile MITs X11R4 applications under Openwindows 3.0,
- I get the following "undefined" symbols(_get_wmShellWidgetClass, and
- _get_applicationShellWidgetClass). What is the Problem?
-
- There are problems with the Xmu shared library as shipped from Sun.
-
- There are two "fixes". One is to get the Openwindows patches
- that apply to this problem and the other is to "statically" link
- the Xmu library into the executable.
-
- The patches you will need are as follows:
-
- Patch i.d. Bug i.d.'s O/S Description
- ---------- -------------------------------------------------------
- 100512-02 1086793 1086912 4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 libXt
- 1074766 Jumbo patch
-
- 100573-03 1087332 4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 undefined
- symbols when using shared
- libXmu.
-
- To "statically" link your executable with libXmu modify the
- compile line as follows:
-
- -Bstatic -lXmu -lBdynamic
-
-
- 48) What is Solaris?
-
- Solaris consists of the following facilities:
-
- 1) SunOS
- 2) Openwindows
- 3) Openwindows deskset tools
- 4) ONC networking products and services(which includes NFS
- and NIS)
-
- Solaris is not an operating system but a "complete" user
- environment.
-
- 49) What does the "nres_gethostbyaddr !=" error mean?
-
- This message is from "ypserv" and has been determined to be
- "harmless" (bug #1039839). Sun supplied a patch 100141-01 to
- quiet it, but the patched version appears to die silently at
- random times, so Sun now has a new patch, 100141-02.
-
- This message can be generated because the Domain Name Server lacks
- a reverse map entry for that particular host.
-
-
- 50) How come my mouse only works in the vertical(or horizontal) direction,
- how do I repair it?
-
- One of the LEDs on the under side of the mouse has probably
- "burnt" out.
-
- You can probably repair it yourself(if you can get a replacement
- LED and you know how to use a Soldiering Iron) by following
- a set of directions available from thor.ece.uc.edu. Get the
- file /pub/sun-faq/mouse.fix.
-
- Finally, you should try turning your mouse pad 90 degrees and
- see if that corrects the problem.
-
- Note: Also, you may have one of the bad mice that came with
- early SS-1 shipments. The LED on the underside of the
- mouse can fail. Request a replacement from Sun.
-
-
- 51) What do the following undefined symbols mean(dlopen, and dlclose)?
-
- If you have just installed a new shared library under 4.1.2 or
- greater you need to modify the Makefile for the shared libraries
- and re-install. You will need to change the following line
-
- ld -assert pure-text `${OBJSORT} lorder-sparc tmp`
- to read
- ld -assert pure-text `${OBJSORT} lorder-sparc tmp` -ldl
-
- Note: You should change both such lines.
-
- If the above problem is not the case, you may need to install
- the "Linker Jumbo Patch"(Patch id# 100257-03 or greater).
-
- 52) What does "No network locking on host" mean after upgrading to
- Solaris 2.0?
-
- Your SunOS 4.x(or above) machines are running an old version
- of rpc.lockd. You need to get and install patch number
- 100075-09 to correct this problem.
-
- 53) Does Password Aging work with NIS(YP) ?
-
- Password aging will only work under SunOS 5.0 with NIS+.
-
- Sun does not support password aging under NIS(OS version
- to 4.1.3). The rpc.yppasswdd needs to modified to
- make password aging work.
-
- 54) What does "rpc.lockd: Cannot contact status monitor!" mean?
-
- For some reason rpc.lockd can not talk to rpc.statd.
-
- Check to see if rpc.statd is running. If rpc.statd
- is not running re-start it. If rpc.statd is running,
- kill it and restart it.
-
- To get rpc.statd to re-start you may need to
- remove the /etc/sm and /etc/sm.bak directories.
-
- 55) How do I join the Sun User Group(SUG)?
-
- Here is the information on joining SUG.
-
- Sun User Group, Inc.
- 1330 Beacon Street, Suite 315
- Brookline, MA 02146
- USA
- voice: +1 617 232-0514 fax: +1 617 232-1347
- office@sug.org
-
- With your membership you get the following:
-
- * Vendor Discounts
- * Technical Conferences
- * Software Distribution
- * README Newsletter
- * Annual Exhibits
- * Local User Group Support
- * Newsgroup comp.org.sug
-
-
- 56) How do I increase the number of "pseudo" terminals(ptys) ?
-
- To add more ptys you must install a new kernel.
-
- The default number of "ptys" is 48. To get more "ptys"
- change the kernel config line "pseudo-device pty" to
- "pseudo-device pty#" where '#" is the number of "ptys"
- you want.
-
- Be warned the maximum number you can have is 255(don't use 256,
- this wraps to 0)
- --
- Rob Montjoy - Rob.Montjoy@UC.Edu
- Computer Engineer - montjoy@ucbeh.BITNET
- University of Cincinnati - montjoy@babbage.ece.uc.edu
- Electrical and Computer Engineering - uunet!uceng!rmontjoy
-
- -- To Save the Earth. The Humans must die.
-
- --
- Rob Montjoy - Rob.Montjoy@UC.Edu
- Computer Engineer - montjoy@ucbeh.BITNET
- University of Cincinnati - montjoy@babbage.ece.uc.edu
- Electrical and Computer Engineering - uunet!uceng!rmontjoy
-
- -- To Save the Earth. The Humans must die.
-
-