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SCO Xenix FAQ -- from 1996
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| Newsgroups: comp.unix.xenix.sco,news.answers | |
| Subject: Welcome to comp.unix.xenix.sco [monthly FAQ posting] | |
| Followup-To: comp.unix.xenix.sco | |
| Summary: answers to frequently asked questions | |
| Approved: [email protected] | |
| Archive-name: sco-xenix | |
| News-answers-archive-name: sco/xenix | |
| Posting-frequency: monthly | |
| Version: $Id: sco-xenix,v 1.64 1996/07/21 01:20:54 chip Exp $ | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** Introduction | |
| Welcome to comp.unix.xenix.sco. This newsgroup is about the Xenix | |
| operating system from the Santa Cruz Operation (SCO). If you have an | |
| SCO Xenix question, then you've come to the right place. | |
| This is NOT the newsgroup for SCO Unix questions. If you want to talk | |
| about other SCO operating systems, please show some courtesy and use | |
| one of the comp.unix.sco.* groups. This also is NOT the right place | |
| for questions about Xenix implementations from other vendors. Use | |
| comp.unix.xenix.misc. | |
| Certain questions are asked frequently on the net. Frequently asked | |
| questions (FAQs) get old and boring after a while. We can stamp out | |
| FAQs in your lifetime! Please review this message before posting your | |
| question to comp.unix.xenix.sco. | |
| If you haven't already done so, please read the periodic postings in | |
| news.announce.newusers entitled "A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet | |
| Community", "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Usenet" and | |
| "Hints on writing style for Usenet". You should also review the | |
| comp.unix.questions FAQ postings. These answer general questions, | |
| such as `How do I delete a file with funny characters in the name?' | |
| and `How can I change my shell prompt?' C programmers should check | |
| out the FAQ in comp.lang.c. | |
| Whenever we talk about Xenix here, we really mean SCO Xenix System V. | |
| Our comments often won't apply to the other kinds of Xenix. Also, be | |
| particularly careful if you use Xenix/286. It's been ages since we've | |
| used it and some of our suggestions might not apply. | |
| This message is maintained and posted monthly by Chip Rosenthal. Your | |
| corrections, additions, and comments are encouraged. Please mail them | |
| to [email protected]. These questions and answers were written | |
| by Chip Rosenthal, Jeff Liebermann, Ronald Florence, Chip Salzenberg, | |
| Ronald Khoo, Vic Michael, and Stephen Bleazard. Helpful contributions | |
| and comments have been provided by Andrew Phillips, Peter Funk, Paul | |
| Warren, Lawrence Kirby, Kai Ruottu, Ray Malitzke, Chet Creider, Greg | |
| Lehey, Marc Brumlik, Monty Solomon, and Bela Lubkin. | |
| Please examine the date near the top of this message. This message | |
| is updated from time to time, and older versions might be obsolete. | |
| The most up-to-date version of these guidelines are available on | |
| the World-Wide Web as <http://www.unicom.com/FAQ/sco-xenix>. For | |
| the web-impaired, try anonymous FTP to "ftp.unicom.com:/pub/FAQ/sco-xenix". | |
| If all else fails, try the standard FAQ archive on rtfm.mit.edu. | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** Table of Contents | |
| ===> Product Questions: | |
| QA1. What is the difference between Unix and Xenix? | |
| QA2. What is the minimum system required to run Xenix? | |
| QA3. Should I buy Unix or Xenix? | |
| QA4. What are the current Xenix versions? | |
| QA5. Where can I get Xenix fixes? | |
| QA6. I'm using an older Xenix/386 version. What fixes do I need? | |
| QA7. Does SCO have a BBS? | |
| ===> General Xenix Questions: | |
| QB1. Can't boot. My system used to work. | |
| QB2. Configure(ADM) fails when I modify my system name. | |
| QB3. The system is crashing with `parity error' panics. | |
| QB4. Login fails without prompting for password. | |
| QB5. Can I use `gcc' instead of buying the SCO Development System? | |
| QB6. Program `foobar' dumps core with a stack overflow. [Xenix 286] | |
| QB7. Spell cannot initialize hash table. | |
| QB8. Will my laser printer work with the Text Processing Package? | |
| QB9. Where is crypt? | |
| QB10. How can email handle `internet' addresses or use a `smart host'? | |
| QB11. Where can I find freely available software for Xenix? | |
| QB12. Why don't my arrow keys work in `vi'? | |
| QB13. Why does `cron' die periodically? | |
| ===> Disk and Filesystem Questions: | |
| QC1. Can I use a disk bigger than 1024 cylinders? | |
| QC2. Why won't Xenix recognize my SCSI disk? | |
| QC3. Where is the `/u' filesystem I created? | |
| QC4. `WARNING!! - mounting: <usr> as <news>' message when booting. | |
| QC5. `POSSIBLE FILE SIZE ERROR' when running `fsck'. | |
| QC6. Is disk fragmentation curable? | |
| QC7. Can I put a CD-ROM drive on my Xenix system? | |
| ===> Communications Questions: | |
| QD1. How do I add more than 2 COM ports? | |
| QD2. How do I set a 19,200 baud rate? | |
| QD3. How can I have more mscreen(C) sessions? | |
| QD4. Upgraded to 2.3.4 and flow control broke with mscreen(C). | |
| QD5. Terminals act funny, modems drop characters, help!! | |
| QD6. Does Xenix support 16550A UARTs? | |
| QD7. How do I increase the number of `clists'? | |
| QD8. How do I change the 16550A trigger level? | |
| QD9. How do I adjust the `ttyhog' value? | |
| QD10. BSD based uucp can't connect to my machine. | |
| QD11. uucp truncates my system name to seven characters! | |
| QD12. What is the uucp `windows' patch? | |
| QD13. uucp gives `alarm' messages, eventually dies. | |
| ===> Display and Graphics Questions: | |
| QE1. How come Xenix won't recognize my VGA display? | |
| QE2. How can I do a printscreen under Xenix? | |
| QE3. How can I blank the console display when it is idle? | |
| QE4. How can I do graphics under Xenix? What programs are available? | |
| QE5. CGI graphics mangles grey scale on a mono VGA. | |
| QE6. CGI graphics fail on a LaserJet in landscape mode. | |
| ===> Networking Questions: | |
| QF1. What do I need to run TCP/IP? | |
| QF2. What do I need to run NFS? | |
| QF3. How can I run uucp over TCP/IP? | |
| QF4. What does "NOTICE: tcp sum: src C06C6901, sum 0000B004" mean? | |
| ===> Xenix and MS-DOS Interoperability Questions: | |
| QX1. Can Xenix share a hard disk with MS-DOS? | |
| QX2. Can Xenix access MS-DOS disks? | |
| QX3. Can Xenix execute MS-DOS programs? | |
| QX4. Can MS-DOS execute Xenix programs? | |
| ===> The (in)Famous Xenix Cheat-Sheet: | |
| QZ1. What the $%*&! is happening? | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** SECTION A - Product Questions | |
| QA1. What is the difference between Unix and Xenix? | |
| Xenix is Unix -- or at least one flavor of it. In the late 70's, | |
| Microsoft licensed the Unix sources from AT&T and ported them to | |
| a number of platforms. In those days, AT&T would license the Unix | |
| software but not the Unix name, thus each company had to invent | |
| their own name. Microsoft picked Xenix. Microsoft did not sell | |
| Xenix to end users. Instead, they licensed the software to OEMs | |
| (Intel, Tandy, Altos, SCO, etc.) who provided a finished end-user | |
| package. Microsoft no longer supports Xenix, and in fact never | |
| even offered a 286 or 386 version. | |
| Several Unix implementations for the PC architecture have been | |
| tried with varying levels of success. SCO Xenix for the PC/XT | |
| was one. Nearly all of the PC/XT implementations were clunkers, | |
| because the machine lacked the hardware necessary for robust Unix | |
| operations. The PC/AT offered hardware memory protection, and | |
| SCO Xenix/286 took advantage of it. SCO Xenix/386 added demand | |
| paged virtual memory. These added features made multiuser PCs | |
| viable, and SCO Xenix popular. | |
| SCO Xenix starts with a Unix System III base, throws in several | |
| Berkeley enhancements, and adds features to obtain conformance to | |
| the System V Interface Definition (SVID). Today, the bulk of the | |
| code is from System V. Xenix/386 even has capabilities to execute | |
| Unix programs. It differs, however, in many of the SVID `optional' | |
| areas people tend to expect of a full System V. SCO Xenix lacks | |
| a real `inittab', for example. You need to go to a real System V, | |
| such as SCO Unix, for all these features. | |
| QA2. What is the minimum system required to run Xenix? | |
| You can build a minimal, single-user Xenix system with an 80386SX | |
| computer, 2MB to 4MB RAM, and 40MB hard disk. A pretty spiffy | |
| system, suitible for development, would be an 80386DX computer | |
| with 4MB RAM and 80MB hard disk. Additional resources (more speed, | |
| more RAM, more disk) will be required to support additional users, | |
| large applications, networking, or X windows. Xenix/286 will run | |
| on a PC/AT, but you will quickly become frustrated with its | |
| limitations, especially if you are a programmer. | |
| QA3. Should I buy Unix or Xenix? | |
| If you are happy running Xenix now, don't rush to throw it away. | |
| Xenix will be around for some time. If, however, you are new to | |
| multi-user computing, you should consider Unix System V Release | |
| 3.2 or Release 4.X. | |
| There are a number of reasons why Xenix is slowly fading. It is | |
| a mature product. There will be few future enhancements. Fewer | |
| and fewer vendors are supporting it. Nearly every program written | |
| for Xenix will run under Unix too. Unix offers a lot more goodies | |
| and better performance than Xenix. | |
| One advantage to Xenix is that it requires less memory and disk | |
| space. At today's hardware prices that usually isn't a big deal. | |
| There are certain applications, however, where this is attractive. | |
| Although Unix has a lot more to offer, a number of Xenix enthusiasts | |
| wouldn't switch if you gave them a free copy of Unix. They would | |
| gladly forego the new features to avoid the bloat of System V. | |
| QA4. What are the current Xenix versions? | |
| Package Version `perms' file | |
| ---------------------- -------------- --------------------------- | |
| Xenix Runtime System 2.3.4 inst, dsmd, tpmd, rts, ext | |
| Xenix Runtime (286) 2.3.2 inst, dsmd, tpmd, rts, ext | |
| Development System(386) 2.3.1 soft | |
| Development System(286) 2.2.1 soft | |
| CGI 1.1.0 cgi | |
| Text Processing 2.3.0 text | |
| Manual Pages 2.3.0 man | |
| VP/ix 1.2.0 vpix | |
| TCP/IP Runtime 1.2.0 tcprt | |
| TCP/IP Development 1.0.1 tcpdev | |
| Streams Runtime 1.0.0 streamsrt | |
| Streams Toolkit 1.0.0 streamstk | |
| Int'l Supplement(386) 2.1.0 sup.os | |
| Int'l Supplement(286) 2.0.0 sup.os | |
| The perms column lists files found in the /etc/perms directory. | |
| The `#rel=' line in these files will tell you what version you | |
| have. | |
| QA5. Where can I get Xenix fixes? | |
| SCO provides Support Level Supplements (SLS) at no charge. There | |
| are several places that make them available through anonymous uucp | |
| and anonymous ftp. | |
| Internet users may retrieve SLSs by anonymous ftp from `ftp.sco.com' | |
| (see /SLS/info) and `ftp.uu.net' (see /vendor/sco/SLS/info). | |
| SLSs may be downloaded with anonymous uucp from SCO's `sosco' | |
| machine. To retrieve a shopping list of available SLSs, add one | |
| of the following to your `/usr/lib/uucp/Systems' file: | |
| # Telebit (PEP) modem | |
| sosco Any ACU 19200 14084291786u gin:-BREAK-gin:-BREAK-gin: uusls | |
| # Hayes V-Series modem | |
| sosco Any ACU 19200 14084274470 gin:-BREAK-gin:-BREAK-gin: uusls | |
| # 1200 or 2400 bps modem | |
| sosco Any ACU 300-2400 14084253502 gin:-BREAK-gin:-BREAK-gin: uusls | |
| European folks might prefer to use `scolon' instead. From within | |
| the UK, try: | |
| scolon Any ACU 300-19200 0923210911u \ | |
| gin:-BREAK-gin:-BREAK-gin: uusls word: bbsuucp | |
| Outside the UK, replace the leading zero with the country code. | |
| A 9600bps Trailblazer answers this line. Delete the `u' at the | |
| end of the phone number if you aren't using a Telebit modem. | |
| Files are as on `sosco' but tend to be a week or so behind. Also, | |
| replace `sosco' with `scolon' `sosffm' in the examples below. | |
| In Germany, you can use: | |
| sosffm Any ACU 300-9600 069-50910736 \ | |
| "" \r ogin:-BREAK-ogin: uusls sword: bbsuucp | |
| This modem supports V.32 transfers, but not PEP. We've been told | |
| this system is often behind the other sites. | |
| [LATE BREAKING NEWS: We've been told that "sosffm" has moved. | |
| If anybody knows where it went, please let the FAQ editor | |
| know. Thanks. -ed] | |
| Add to your `/usr/lib/uucp/Permissions' file: | |
| # REQUEST files only - i.e. cannot send to sosco. | |
| # rmail required to get bounced mail and error messages. | |
| MACHINE=sosco SENDFILES=yes REQUEST=no COMMANDS=rmail:uucp \ | |
| WRITE=/usr/spool/uucppublic:/tmp | |
| To retrieve an SLS listing to your machine as /tmp/info: | |
| uucp sosco\!/usr/spool/uucppublic/SLS/info /tmp/info | |
| This file also provides directions on retrieving, unarchiving, | |
| and uncompressing the SLSs. There is also a `descriptions' file | |
| with additional details on the available SLSs. | |
| SLSs are also available on `uunet'. For example, to get the `info' | |
| file, run: | |
| uucp uunet\!~/vendor/sco/SLS/info /tmp/info | |
| Most of these machines also have Enhanced Feature Supplements (EFSs), | |
| games and graphics programs, and new termcap and terminfo terminal | |
| definitions in addition to SLS. Look for an `info' or `README' file | |
| one directory up from the `SLS' directory for more info. | |
| QA6. I'm using an older Xenix/386 version. What fixes do I need? | |
| Development System | |
| - 2.3.0 or older An upgrade to 2.3.1 must be purchased from SCO. | |
| - 2.3.1 Install `lng244'. | |
| Operating System | |
| - 2.2.X or older An upgrade to 2.3.4 must be purchased from SCO. | |
| - 2.3.0 or 2.3.1 SCO would like you to purchase a 2.3.4 upgrade. | |
| The `xnx137' fix would get you to 2.3.2, but SCO | |
| does not provide it any longer. | |
| - 2.3.2 Install `xnx296a' to get to version 2.3.3. | |
| If you have VP/ix and installed update UFJ, then your kernel is | |
| already at 2.3.3. None the less, you still want `xnx296a'. The | |
| `xnx296a' update is also known as UFN, and replaces UFJ and UFM. | |
| UFM was also known as the `xnx155b' update. | |
| You must install the development system before `xnx296a'. | |
| `xnx296a' provides you with most of the important fixes in 2.3.4. | |
| You will lack some of the nice enhancements such as updated man | |
| pages and the Korn shell. | |
| SCO preconfigures the kernel for a very minimal system. You should | |
| tune the kernel for your exact system configuration. See the | |
| "Tuning Kernel Parameters" chapter in the System Administrator's | |
| Guide. | |
| QA7. Does SCO have a BBS? | |
| Yes. The SOS Support BBS is $95/year. This is a good deal. You | |
| can: | |
| - download fixes, suggestions, and hints. | |
| - keyword access to the support problems database. | |
| - retrieve product info, release status, and hardware compatibility. | |
| - get support via email. | |
| - subscription to quarterly Discover newsletter. | |
| You can dial-in with a terminal program such as `cu' -- uucp is | |
| not required. Access is read-only, but most questions can be | |
| answered by the support database. SCO currently doesn't provide | |
| SOS access to most overseas users. | |
| Previous versions of this FAQ suggested joining the `SCO Developer | |
| Alliance'. For $100/year, it gave you BBS access along with other | |
| benefits. Somebody within SCO must have finally come to their | |
| senses and realized they were providing a worthwhile and valuable | |
| service to their customers. Can't have that! So, effective Jan | |
| 94, they jacked up the price almost 500%, thus ensuring no product | |
| offered by SCO could ever be remotely confused with a bargain. | |
| If you are a member of a Fortune 500 company, you might want to | |
| contact <[email protected]> for info. If you are a small-time | |
| developer, then kiss off, loser. | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** SECTION B - General Xenix Questions | |
| QB1. Can't boot. My system used to work. | |
| Check the A: drive. If there is a floppy in there your system | |
| might spew garbage on the monitor or hang during boot. If this | |
| problem occurs right after rebuilding a new kernel, go read the | |
| FAQ on disks bigger than 1024 cylinder. | |
| QB2. Configure(ADM) fails when I modify my system name. | |
| If you select a site name of two, three, or four characters, | |
| `configure' will fail with an error message: | |
| space.asm(XXX): error A2050: Value out of range | |
| If the development system is installed, there is a workaround. | |
| Do the following: | |
| - cd /usr/sys/conf | |
| - Edit `xenixconf'. Search for the `nodename' line and enter | |
| the desired system name between the double quotes. For | |
| example, for machine name = `foo' this line should read: | |
| nodename "foo" | |
| - Similarly, edit the `master' file and correct the `nodename' | |
| line. For machine name = `foo' it should read: | |
| nodename NODE "foo" | |
| - Run `make'. This will rebuild the kernel data files and | |
| then link a new kernel. | |
| - Run `./hdinstall' to install the new kernel. | |
| Reboot the system, and the new node name should be in effect. To | |
| verify this, run `uname -a' after rebooting. | |
| This bug has been fixed in 2.3.4. | |
| QB3. The system is crashing with `parity error' panics. | |
| Everybody knows there are eight bits to a byte. Why, then, do | |
| PCs use 9-bit wide memory? That last bit is a parity check bit. | |
| It lets the system detect when data get corrupted while sitting | |
| in memory or in transit to the CPU. | |
| Prior to Xenix 2.3.3, parity errors were silently ignored. In | |
| these releases the system would continue to run -- for a while | |
| anyway. These days, if a parity error is detected the system | |
| will panic immediately and say: | |
| PANIC: memory failure - parity error | |
| Like the message says, this is almost always caused by memory | |
| problems. If it happens, run a good memory diagnostic overnight | |
| to try to locate the problem. Keep the cover on the computer | |
| while running diagnostics; heat tends to push a marginal memory | |
| chip into failure. Similarly, running the system with the cover | |
| off might make the problem go away. If it does, possible causes | |
| are marginal chips or bad ventilation. | |
| This problem can also be caused by a marginal power supply. Xenix | |
| boxes often have more power hungry peripherals than your run of | |
| the mill MS-DOS PC. For example, suspect the power supply if the | |
| panics occur as soon as the tape drive starts spinning. | |
| QB4. Login fails without prompting for password. | |
| If /dev/tty is missing or incorrect, you will get a `Login incorrect' | |
| message without ever being prompted for a password. For security | |
| reasons, the `login' program goes directly to /dev/tty to ensure | |
| the password comes from the keyboard. Your `tty' device should | |
| look something like: | |
| crw-rw-rw- 2 bin bin 3, 0 Oct 24 04:09 /dev/tty | |
| If necessary, use the `mknod' command to recreate it. | |
| QB5. Can I use `gcc' instead of buying the SCO Development System? | |
| Yes, but the task is bigger than you think. A compiler alone | |
| doesn't do any good if you lack header files, libraries, linker, | |
| etc. Don't forget about make, yacc, lex, etc. Fortunately, the | |
| repertoire of GNU software has grown to the point where you can | |
| fill in all these pieces. Many folks, particularly Steve Bleazard, | |
| Ronald Khoo, and Kai Ruottu, have done a lot of work getting `gcc' | |
| and the GNU utilities running on Xenix. So, with anonymous FTP | |
| access and a little elbow grease, you can do it. | |
| Steve and Ronald provided the first widely available kit to use | |
| gcc under Xenix. Their package was based on the gcc-1.40 release. | |
| The most recent version (we know of) available for SCO Xenix is | |
| gcc-2.5.7, ported by Kai. The Xenix-specific patches are available | |
| on `ftp.funet.fi:/pub/unix/386ix/xenix/gcc/gcc257.xenix', as well | |
| as unix.secs.oakland.edu. | |
| An alpha test version of a `libc' for Xenix is available from | |
| kate.ibmpcug.co.uk (in /ftp/pub/xenix/libc) and unix.secs.oakland.edu | |
| (in /pub/xenix); files XLIBC.README.Z and xlibc.shar.Z. It is | |
| based on the Berkeley Networking Release 2 tape. This package | |
| was developed for use with the gcc-1.40 kit, but might be of use | |
| with more recent versions too. | |
| QB6. Program `foobar' dumps core with a stack overflow. [Xenix 286] | |
| Xenix/286 programs request a fixed amount of space for the stack | |
| in the executable file header. A program that exceeds this limit | |
| will crash with a core dump. To fix, change the header to ask | |
| for more stack space. You can recompile your programs with the | |
| `-F' flag to increase the stack size. You can change the stack | |
| size of existing programs by running `fixhdr' with the `-F' flag. | |
| This is not a problem on 80386 binaries that use a variable stack. | |
| QB7. Spell cannot initialize hash table. | |
| The `spell' script (included in the optional Text Processing | |
| package) uses an 8086 binary. It needs to stuff a bunch of data | |
| into a single 64K segment. If you exceed this limit, you will | |
| get an error saying something like: | |
| table = malloc(0xc848) fails | |
| sbrk(0) = 0x3868 | |
| spell: cannot initialize hash table | |
| You can usually get enough space for `spell' to run by clearing | |
| out your environment first. To do this, add the following line | |
| near the top of the `/usr/bin/spell' script: | |
| unset `env | sed -e '/^PATH=/d' -e '/^PS1=/d' -e 's/=.*//'` | |
| QB8. Will my laser printer work with the Text Processing Package? | |
| Xenix `troff' is based on a version written long before the advent | |
| of laser printers. The only thing old troff understands is C/A/T | |
| typesetters. Chris Lewis's `psroff' allows old troff to work with | |
| various devices, including Postscript and LaserJet printers. | |
| Version 3.0 is available from the comp.sources.unix archives. | |
| Another alternative is Rick Richardson's `jetroff', available in | |
| the comp.sources.misc archives. | |
| For production work, consider purchasing a device independent | |
| troff. Some of the suppliers of `ditroff' are Elan, Image Network, | |
| Leverage, and SoftQuad. | |
| Another alternative is the `groff' package by the Free Software | |
| Foundation. You can find it in any of the FSF archives -- but | |
| you will need `g++' to compile it. You will still need a backend | |
| program to use a LaserJet with `groff'. Some possibilities are | |
| `psroff', `jetroff', and `dvi2xx' on ftp.wu-wien.ac.at. | |
| QB9. Where is crypt? | |
| Encryption programs, such as `crypt', are are categorized by the | |
| US Government as munitions. (Three cheers for the cold war!) | |
| SCO removes the crypt(S) procedure and crypt(C) command from Xenix | |
| so it may be exported. US domestic customers may contact SCO to | |
| obtain SLS LNG190B. If you simply need a crypt(S) procedure to | |
| compile programs that do password checking, you may get the SLS | |
| LNG255B `International Crypt SLS' from any of the aforementioned | |
| archive sites. This provides a crypt(S) procedure that supports | |
| encryption but not decryption, and it does not include the crypt(C) | |
| command. A number of non-domestic archive sites, for example the | |
| European GNU mirror sites, carry `crypt' replacements that were | |
| developed outside the US to avoid this export silliness. | |
| QB10. How can email handle `internet' addresses or use a `smart host'? | |
| Neither the SCO Xenix mail transport (/usr/lib/mail/execmail) nor | |
| the mail program (/usr/bin/mail) can handle so-called `internet' | |
| addresses (e.g. [email protected]). Nor can they use a `smart host' | |
| system to route your email to its final destination. If you want | |
| to add these features, you need to install a replacement transport | |
| and reconfigure the mailer to use this transport. For simple uucp | |
| connectivity, we recommend smail2.5 (archive name `smail3' published | |
| in comp.sources.unix volume 11). If you also need network | |
| connectivity (e.g. SMTP mail) then you'll need a more full-featured | |
| mailer such as smail3.1, sendmail, or MMDF. | |
| Although smail2.5 fits right into the SCO mail system, some | |
| modifications and installation tricks are required. Both Chip | |
| Salzenberg (see the comp.sources.misc archives) and Chip Rosenthal | |
| (contact [email protected]) have provided solutions. | |
| Whatever approach you use, you must tell /usr/bin/mail to pass | |
| messages off to execmail for delivery rather than handling them | |
| itself. Do this by adding a line which says `set execmail' to | |
| the /usr/lib/mail/mailrc file. You might also think about adding | |
| a nice, full-screen mailer program such as Elm or Mush. | |
| QB11. Where can I find freely available software for Xenix? | |
| Many of the freely available programs on archive sites and published | |
| on Usenet will run under Xenix with little or no modification. Assuming | |
| you have the Xenix Development System to compile it! See news.answers | |
| and comp.archives for information on archive sites. | |
| The following systems maintain software archives that specialize in Xenix. | |
| anomaly | |
| Administrator: Michael P. Deignan <[email protected]> | |
| Description: Source code for SCO Xenix, Unix, and ODT | |
| FTP Access: anomaly.sbs.risc.net [155.212.2.2], login=anonymous | |
| information in /SOFTLIST | |
| UUCP Access: 1-401-455-0347 (PEP), 331-3706 (V.32bis) | |
| login=xxcp, passwd=xenix, information in ~/SOFTLIST | |
| Mail Server: send email to "[email protected]" with a Subject | |
| of "snarf" and the lines "snarf address <addr>" | |
| (replace <addr> with your email address) and "snarf | |
| help" to receive more information | |
| Comments: ftp is via serial connection so be patient, number of | |
| connections limited to prevent congestion | |
| Mirror Sites: novell-server.pstc.brown.edu:/home/ftp/sco | |
| oakland.edu | |
| Administrator: Ron Srodawa <[email protected]> | |
| Description: SCO Xenix ports, particularly GNU software | |
| FTP Access: unix.secs.oakland.edu [141.210.180.2], | |
| login=anonymous, files in /pub/xenix | |
| wimsey | |
| Administrator: Stuart Lynne <[email protected]> | |
| Description: SLSs, SCO Unix (not Xenix) software in `custom' format | |
| FTP Access: ftp.wimsey.bc.ca [192.48.234.1], login=anonymous, | |
| information in /READ.ME.FIRST, /ls-lR.Z | |
| UUCP Access: 1-604-939-4782 (PEP), 1-604-937-7411 (V.32bis), | |
| 1-604-939-4756 (2400bps), login=nuucp, passwd=nuucp, | |
| information in ~ftp/READ.ME.FIRST, ~ftp/ls-lR.Z | |
| Guest Access: same phone numbers, login=guest, passwd=guest | |
| Comments: ftp is via serial connection so be patient, mostly | |
| Unix oriented but some of it might work with Xenix | |
| unicom.com | |
| Administrator: Chip Rosenthal <[email protected]> | |
| Description: A small archive of various Xenix tools. | |
| FTP Access: ftp.unicom.com, files in /pub/sco-xenix | |
| Comments: This archive contains some of the code I've posted | |
| to comp.unix.xenix.sco over the years. | |
| QB12. Why don't my arrow keys work in `vi'? | |
| For versions 2.3.3 and prior, probably because your `termcap' | |
| entry does not have then defined properly. For version 2.3.4, | |
| it's because `vi' is broke. If you have an older version of Xenix | |
| laying around, you might consider grabbing `vi' off of it instead. | |
| Note, however, that 2.3.4 `vi' gets its terminal information from | |
| the `terminfo' database, while prior versions use `termcap'. | |
| QB13. Why does `cron' die periodically? | |
| Because of a bug that gets triggered by looooong periods of | |
| inactivity. The problem is that if you don't give `cron' something | |
| to do, an internal counter overflows and it dies. The solution? | |
| Give it something to do! Use `crontab' to add something like this: | |
| 0 * * * * /bin/true | |
| That runs the `true' command once an hour, on the hour. | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** SECTION C - Disk and Filesystem Questions | |
| QC1. Can I use a disk bigger than 1024 cylinders? | |
| Yes. However, your root filesystem cannot extend beyond the 1024th | |
| cylinder, because that's as far as the BIOS can reach when booting | |
| the system. The BIOS is bypassed after Xenix boots, so cylinders | |
| beyond 1024 can be accessed once Xenix is running. It is not | |
| necessary to use a sector translation mode controller to reduce | |
| the number of cylinders. The translation mode is very slow. | |
| QC2. Why won't Xenix recognize my SCSI disk? | |
| Not all versions of Xenix support SCSI. Those that do only support | |
| certain SCSI adapters. First, verify your N1 floppy says `Type: | |
| 386GT' and not `Type: 386AT'. The AT version of Xenix (now | |
| obsolete) does not include any SCSI support. | |
| The GT version supports a limited number of SCSI host adapters. | |
| The Adaptec AHA-154x is supported. We've also used compatibles | |
| such as the Buslogic BT-542B. 2.3.4 added support for the | |
| WD-7000-FASST2. If you've got something different, you have to | |
| get a driver from the board vendor. The `SCO Hardware Compatibility | |
| Guide' (contact SCO sales for one) should be consulted whenever | |
| you have any hardware compatibility questions. | |
| Some typical installation mistakes are: | |
| - SCSI ID jumper for the root (boot) hard disk must be ID=0. | |
| - The BIOS must be set for drive C:=NONE in the CMOS setup program. | |
| - I/O port, memory address, or interrupt misconfiguration/conflict. | |
| - Terminating resistors installed only at ends of ribbon cable. | |
| - The parity jumper should be enabled on all drives and controllers. | |
| A word on terminating resistors: Terminators must be installed on | |
| the two devices at the end of the SCSI chain. If you have no external | |
| devices then one end of the chain will be the SCSI adapter -- so it | |
| gets terminators. The last device on the ribbon cable also needs | |
| terminators. The terminators must be removed from everything else on | |
| the SCSI chain. | |
| Note that some SCSI disk controllers mimic the standard ST-506 | |
| interface. No special support is required for them; Xenix boots | |
| thinking you've got a plain old disk controller. See the instructions | |
| that came with your controller for details on cabling, strapping, | |
| terminating, etc. | |
| Note: If you are using Xenix 386GT 2.3.1-2.3.3 you should install | |
| xnx252b for ISA or xnx150 for MCA. This is an improved SCSI driver | |
| that yields a significant performance improvement. | |
| QC3. Where is the `/u' filesystem I created? | |
| When you create filesystems during the install procedure or with | |
| `mkdev hd', the filesystem is initialized but it isn't configured | |
| into the system. To perform that final step you need to run `mkdev | |
| fs'. For example, if you created a `/u' filesystem, run: | |
| mkdev fs /dev/u /u | |
| QC4. `WARNING!! - mounting: <usr> as <news>' message when booting. | |
| Due to a bug in the `mkdev fs' program, filesystems mounted below | |
| the root directory are labeled wrong. For example, if you mount | |
| a device `/dev/news' onto directory `/usr/spool/news', then you | |
| will get a warning message when going into multi-user mode. That's | |
| because `mkdev fs' labels the filesystem with the first component | |
| in the pathname (`usr' in this example) when it really should be | |
| the last component in the pathname (`news' in this example). | |
| This message is merely an annoyance and will not hamper system | |
| operation. To eliminate the warning, relabel the filesystem with | |
| the last component of the mount directory. For the above example, | |
| you may change the label from `usr' to `news' by running the command: | |
| fsname -s news /dev/news | |
| QC5. `POSSIBLE FILE SIZE ERROR' when running `fsck'. | |
| If `fsck' says `POSSIBLE FILE SIZE ERROR I=nnnn' don't panic. It | |
| almost always means `fsck' found a `sparse file', not a true | |
| filesystem error. A sparse file has holes in it. They are created | |
| when a program skips over sections of a file it is writing. The | |
| Xenix filesystem doesn't even bother allocating disk blocks for | |
| those holes, it just says the gaps are full of zeros. The complaint | |
| occurs because `fsck' calculates the number of disk blocks needed | |
| to store the file, counts up the number of disk blocks actually | |
| used by the file, and complains that the two don't match. | |
| When you get a file size error from `fsck' you should note both | |
| the `I=nnnn' inode number logged in the message and the filesystem | |
| which was being checked. You can see what the file is by running | |
| the following command: | |
| ncheck -i <nnnn> <fsname> | |
| where <nnnn> is the number logged in the error message and <fsname> | |
| is the pathname of the filesystem device, e.g. `/dev/u'. Chances | |
| are the file will either be a dbm(S) database file (in which case | |
| ignore the complaint, it's expected) or a `core' dump (in which | |
| case delete the `core' file). | |
| QC6. Is disk fragmentation curable? | |
| Not easily. However, the steps to slow down fragmentation are | |
| pretty simple. | |
| Xenix maintains a list of available disk blocks. As files are | |
| deleted, the released blocks are appended to this free list. | |
| Ideally, adjacent disk blocks would be used to create and grow | |
| files so that all the parts of the file sit together on the disk. | |
| Disk blocks, unfortunately, are allocated to files in the order | |
| they appear on the free list and without regard for location. | |
| Eventually, new files will be created with their data blocks | |
| scattered all around the disk. This fragmentation is undesirable | |
| because it slows down disk accesses. | |
| To slow down the tendency towards fragmentation, periodically | |
| reorder the blocks in the free list. To do this, dismount the | |
| filesystem (with `/etc/umount') and run `fsck -S'. You will get | |
| a message saying: | |
| FILE SYSTEM NOT MODIFIED, STILL DIRTY. | |
| Don't worry -- ignore that message. | |
| To determine how badly your filesystems are fragmented, run | |
| `fsanalyze' by Michael J. Young, from comp.sources.misc. You will | |
| need patchlevel 3 to analyze Xenix filesystems. | |
| The conventional cure for filesystem fragmentation is: | |
| - Make a full backup of the filesystem. Use `cpio' (or `afio' if | |
| you've got it). Do NOT use `tar'. It doesn't backup device | |
| nodes, pipes, or directories. You could use `dump', but we find | |
| it awkward. (n.b. Earlier versions of this FAQ claimed that | |
| `dump' would restore in a fragmented manner. That is incorrect. | |
| Sorry for the misinformation.) | |
| - Recreate an empty filesystem with `divvy' or `mkfs'. `divvy' | |
| is easier to use -- simply select the `create' option. However, | |
| `mkfs' will be required if you want a non-default number of | |
| inodes. Invoke `divvy' with: | |
| /etc/divvy -c 1 -b 1 # for 1st physical disk | |
| /etc/divvy -c 1 -b 1 -p 1 # for 2nd physical disk | |
| - Reload the filesystem from the backup. | |
| - Regenerate the `lost+found' directory. Run: | |
| # Substitute appropriate name for `foo'. | |
| /etc/fsck /dev/foo | |
| /etc/mount /dev/foo /foo | |
| mkdir /foo/lost+found | |
| for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ; do | |
| for j in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ; do | |
| touch /foo/lost+found/x$i$j | |
| done | |
| done | |
| rm /foo/lost+found/x?? | |
| /etc/umount /dev/foo | |
| Be very careful with this procedure. We suggest you verify your | |
| backup is readable before zapping the filesystem. One mistake | |
| (especially when running `mkfs' or `divvy') will trash everything. | |
| The filesystem you trash may be your own. | |
| QC7. Can I put a CD-ROM drive on my Xenix system? | |
| No. Sure, it would be easy for somebody to write a device driver | |
| to talk to a CD-ROM drive. But that's not the whole story. If | |
| you want to use a CD-ROM, you need to be able to mount it as an | |
| ISO-9660/High Sierra filesystem. That's not so easy. See the | |
| FAQ on NFS for additional info. | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** SECTION D - Communications Questions | |
| QD1. How do I add more than 2 COM ports? | |
| Dumb serial cards (and internal modems) may be configured for Xenix | |
| as COM3 and COM4 -- with one big caveat. Each COM port requires its | |
| own interrupt number. If you have an unused IRQ and the Development | |
| System, you may build additional COM ports into the kernel. To | |
| illustrate the procedure, we will add a COM3 configured as follows: | |
| I/O Addr: 0x3E8 | |
| IRQ: 5 | |
| device: /dev/tty3a Major=5, Minor=4 | |
| /dev/tty3A Major=5, Minor=132 | |
| Serial devices are a two-fer, you get a "direct" device (tty3a) | |
| and a "modem control" device (tty3A). The two are distinguished | |
| by the minor device numbers -- add 128 to get the "modem control" | |
| device number. | |
| The device minor number you select *must* be in the range of 0 | |
| through 15 inclusive. That's because the driver does bit twiddling | |
| that assumes the device unit number is located in the four least | |
| significant bits of the minor number. (Older versions of this | |
| message not only failed to point this out, but gave an example | |
| that would not work due to a bogus minor device number selection.) | |
| 1. Edit `/usr/sys/io/sioconf.c'. | |
| The two lines in this file that describe COM1 and COM2 are: | |
| {0,IBM_BOARD, 1,4,0, (sd)0x3f8,0, 0,MCRBIT3}, /*ibm COM1*/ | |
| {1,IBM_BOARD, 1,3,8, (sd)0x2f8,0, 0,MCRBIT3}, /*ibm COM2*/ | |
| Add a line that says: | |
| {2,IBM_BOARD, 1,5,4, (sd)0x3e8,0, 0,MCRBIT3}, /*ibm COM3*/ | |
| See `/usr/sys/io/sioconf.h' for details. | |
| 2. Edit `/usr/sys/conf/master'. | |
| The serial ports are defined by the line: | |
| sio 4 0577 104 sio 0 0 5 1 7 3 4 33 34 | |
| The last four fields define the interrupt numbers used. Change | |
| the `33' to a `5' since COM3 will be on IRQ5. For reference, | |
| here is the mapping between IRQ lines and the master file | |
| `magic numbers': | |
| IRQ0 0 IRQ4 4 IRQ8 30 IRQ12 34 | |
| IRQ1 1 IRQ5 5 IRQ9 31 IRQ13 35 | |
| IRQ2 31 IRQ6 6 IRQ10 32 IRQ14 36 | |
| IRQ3 3 IRQ7 7 IRQ11 33 IRQ15 37 | |
| 3. Rebuild the kernel. Run: | |
| cd /usr/sys/conf | |
| make | |
| Do not use `link_xenix' here. You need to run `make' to get | |
| `sioconf.o' and the kernel data files rebuilt. | |
| 4. Install the new kernel. Run: | |
| /usr/sys/conf/hdinstall | |
| This will make a backup of your current kernel to `/xenix.old'. | |
| 5. Create the device nodes. Run: | |
| mknod /dev/tty3a c 5 4 | |
| mknod /dev/tty3A c 5 132 | |
| Reboot your system, and the new serial port should be there. | |
| QD2. How do I set a 19,200 baud rate? | |
| For historical reasons, terminal speeds of 19200 and 38400 are | |
| called `EXTA' and `EXTB'. So, in the `/etc/gettydefs' file you | |
| need to say `EXTA' and `EXTB', not 19200 and 38400. These speeds | |
| are already available there as entries `n' and `o', respectively. | |
| Similarly, with the `stty' command you need to say: | |
| stty 9600 # set to 9600 | |
| stty exta # set to 19200 | |
| stty extb # set to 39400 | |
| A smart serial card is recommended for these two highest speeds. | |
| QD3. How can I have more mscreen(C) sessions? | |
| The mscreen(C) facility provides multiple sessions from a serial terminal | |
| by `multiplexing' your terminal (tty) line onto several pseudo-terminal | |
| (pty) lines. Xenix is shipped with eight ptys enabled, that provides | |
| a system-wide limit of eight sessions through the mscreen(C) command. | |
| First off, you need to determine whether you are allocating mscreen(C) | |
| sessions wisely. For example, SCO ships an `/etc/mscreencap' file | |
| that runs six sessions on a WY-60 terminal. If you edit `mscreencap' | |
| and cut this down to three you immediately double the number of people | |
| who can run mscreen(C). | |
| You cannot increase this number beyond eight if you are running TCP/IP. | |
| (More about this in a moment.) If you are not running TCP/IP, then | |
| you can increase the number of possible mscreen(C) sessions by: first | |
| creating more ptys in the kernel, second creating the device nodes | |
| for the new ptys, and finally placing a `getty' upon each of these | |
| new ptys. | |
| To create more ptys in the kernel, increase the `nspttys' kernel | |
| parameter. With Xenix 2.3.4, run the `configure' command interactively | |
| and select the `Multiscreens' option. For older versions of Xenix, | |
| run `configure' manually. For example, to provide sixteen ptys, run: | |
| cd /usr/sys/conf | |
| ./configure nspttys=16 | |
| Once `nspttys' is set, run `link_xenix' and `hdinstall' to build and | |
| install a new kernel. | |
| Next, you need to create the device nodes in the /dev directory for | |
| these additional ptys. Unfortunately, mscreen(C) uses a very poor | |
| naming strategy for ptys beyond the 8th. Once you go beyond the | |
| /dev/ttyp7 in the base Xenix distribution, mscreen(C) next looks for | |
| not /dev/ttyp8, but rather /dev/ttyp01. Therefore you should create | |
| the eighth pty with the commands: | |
| cd /dev | |
| mknod ttyp01 c 54 8 | |
| mknod ptyp01 c 55 8 | |
| chmod 666 ptyp01 | |
| chmod 644 ttyp01 | |
| You might notice that these names are the same ones used by `rlogind' | |
| and `telnetd' under SCO TCP/IP. Unfortunately, to use these ptys for | |
| mscreen(C) you need to place a `getty' on them -- but if you do then | |
| rlogin/telnet will break. Those running TCP/IP (and not weak of heart) | |
| can try editing the `/dev/ttyp' string in the `mscreen' binary and | |
| totally rename the pty devices. | |
| An alternative method to relieve the conflict between `mscreen' | |
| and TCP/IP is to use an `.mscreenrc' file. If you create a surplus | |
| of TCP/IP ptys, you can steal some of them for `mscreen'. Just | |
| create an `.mscreenrc' and enter the names of the ptys you want | |
| `mscreen' to use. Since the TCP/IP utilities start at the bottom, | |
| steal from the top and work down. The catch? You have to put an | |
| `.mscreenrc' file into the home directory of *every* user who will | |
| be using `mscreen'. Bleych. | |
| If necessary, ensure you edit `/etc/ttys' to add the new ptys. | |
| Don't forget to `enable' the lines to start a `getty' on them. | |
| QD4. Upgraded to 2.3.4 and flow control broke with mscreen(C). | |
| The 2.3.4 version of mscreen(C) was changed to run the tty line | |
| totally raw. This is required so that the ^S and ^Q keys are | |
| passed on to programs that need them, such as `emacs' and Foxbase. | |
| An unfortunate side effect of handling flow control on the other | |
| side of the session rather than directly by the tty is that response | |
| to flow control is a lot more sluggish. Now, when you hit ^S you | |
| might get another screenful of data before the display actually | |
| freezes. | |
| If you never run any applications that require full 8-bit transparency, | |
| one way to make flow control more responsive is to rename `mscreen' | |
| to `/usr/bin/mscreen.sco' and install the following script in its | |
| place: | |
| : | |
| tty=`tty` | |
| ( sleep 5 ; stty ixon <$tty ) & | |
| exec mscreen.sco | |
| QD5. Terminals act funny, modems drop characters, help!! | |
| If you are losing characters on your serial lines, consider the | |
| following steps: | |
| * Ensure that flow control is working right. | |
| * If you are running dumb COM ports, either upgrade the UART chips | |
| to 16550As or switch to a smart serial card. | |
| * If you have a lot of users or lots of high speed data lines, | |
| increase the number of `clist' buffers in the kernel. | |
| * If you upgraded to 16550A UARTs and this helped but did not | |
| solve the problem, then adjust the FIFO trigger level. | |
| * If you are running high speed lines on a loaded system, adjust | |
| the `ttyhog' value. | |
| When diagnosing serial problems, start at the top of this list | |
| and work down. If your flow control is broke, it will do no good | |
| to go poking around inside your Xenix kernel. | |
| QD6. Does Xenix support 16550A UARTs? | |
| The guts of a standard COM port is a UART (universal asynchronous | |
| receiver/transmitter) chip. Most serial ports use the 16450 or | |
| an equivalent chip. The 16550A is a pin-compatible, drop in | |
| replacement which adds 16-characters of on-chip FIFO buffering. | |
| The FIFOs reduce system loading and increase performance. | |
| Starting with 2.3.4, the `sio' driver recognizes 16550A UARTs and | |
| enables the on-chip FIFOs. Older versions of Xenix merely treat | |
| this chip as an expensive 16450. You can get 16550A support with | |
| any version of Xenix by installing the FAS driver written by Uwe | |
| Doering and based upon Jim Murray's `asy' driver. FAS was published | |
| in alt.sources, and is available at most reputable archive sites. | |
| We recommend sticking with the National Semiconductor NS16550A. | |
| Many manufactures make usable 16450 clones, but some of the 16550 | |
| compatible chips aren't so compatible. Also, older versions of | |
| the 16550 are known to be broken. Ensure yours have an `A' suffix. | |
| QD7. How do I increase the number of `clists'? | |
| Xenix buffers terminal characters in data structures called | |
| `clists'. There is a fixed pool of clists on the system, and when | |
| that supply is exhausted incoming characters are dropped. Therefore, | |
| the more active users you have on your system, the larger this | |
| pool of clists should be. The default configuration is 100 clists. | |
| Each terminal line requires an average of 5 to 10 clists. High | |
| speed modems need more. A conservative strategy would be to | |
| allocate 15 clists per active terminal. For example, if you have | |
| 16 serial ports and 4 console screens active at once, allocate | |
| (16+4)*15 or 300 clists. | |
| To see the number of clists on your system, login as root and run: | |
| cd /usr/sys/conf | |
| ./configure -y NCLIST | |
| To change the number of clists, say to 300, login as root and run: | |
| cd /usr/sys/conf | |
| ./configure NCLIST=300 | |
| then rebuild and install a new kernel and reboot. | |
| QD8. How do I change the 16550A trigger level? | |
| If installing a 16550A UART helped but didn't totally fix a lost | |
| character problem, and your system is heavily loaded, then there | |
| is something else you can try. If you installed a 16550A and | |
| there was no effect at all, then skip this -- it won't help. | |
| The Xenix `sio' driver initializes the 16550A with a trigger level | |
| of 14. This means that under continual data streams the UART will | |
| wait until 14 characters accumulate before telling Xenix to come | |
| get them. This gives the system two character times to get in | |
| and service the COM port. If Xenix does not service the port in | |
| that time the 16-character buffer will overflow and and characters | |
| will be dropped. This might happen on a heavily loaded system. | |
| The trigger level is initialized at boot time from the 16-byte | |
| `sio_fifoctl[]' array. This array specifies the UART control | |
| register initialization values for device minor numbers 0 through | |
| 15. Or more exactly, the minor number is ANDed with 0x0F to get | |
| the index into this array. For example, the initialization for | |
| /dev/tty2a (minor=8) is in `sio_fifoctl[8]'. The possible values | |
| are as follows: | |
| sio_fifoctl: 0xCF 0x8F 0x4F 0x0F | |
| trigger level: 14 8 4 1 | |
| The standard value is 0xCF. A smaller value will notify the system | |
| earlier that characters are waiting, thus providing the system | |
| more time to service the port, but increasing the number of | |
| interrupts generated by the port. | |
| As an example, here is how to change the trigger level for /dev/tty2a | |
| (and /dev/tty2A) to 8 characters (code=0x8F): | |
| cp /xenix /xenix.save # make a backup! | |
| adb -w /xenix # use "/etc/_fst" if no "adb" | |
| * sio_fifoctl+8/x | |
| sio_fifoctl+0x8: 0xcfcf | |
| | | | |
| | `---- This is the 8-bit value for the | |
| | port we want (minor=8). | |
| | | |
| `------ This is the 8-bit value for the | |
| next port (minor=9). | |
| * sio_fifoctl+0x8/w 0xcf8f | |
| sio_fifoctl+0x8: 0xcfcf= 0xcf8f | |
| * $q | |
| QD9. How do I adjust the `ttyhog' value? | |
| Since Xenix has a fixed pool of clists, the kernel tries to prevent | |
| one tty from hogging all of them. The limit is defined by `ttyhog', | |
| and defaults to 256 (0x100 hex). This limit might be too low if | |
| you've got some particularly fast devices on a particularly slow | |
| system. To change the `ttyhog' value you must patch the kernel | |
| image. The following increases `ttyhog' to 512 (0x200 hex). | |
| cp /xenix /xenix.save # make a backup! | |
| adb -w /xenix # use "/etc/_fst" if no "adb" | |
| * ttyhog/x | |
| _ttyhog: 0x100 | |
| * ttyhog/w 0x200 | |
| _ttyhog: 0x100= 0x200 | |
| * $q | |
| QD10. BSD based uucp can't connect to my machine. | |
| BSD based uucp sends even parity. Xenix uucp expects no parity. | |
| Add: | |
| "" P_ZERO | |
| to the chat script in their (not your) `Systems' or `L.sys' file. | |
| For example, the following works on a Sun 3: | |
| xnxbox Any uucp 19200 5553333 "" P_ZERO "" \r in:--in: nuucp | |
| QD11. uucp truncates my system name to seven characters! | |
| This misfeature was introduced in the xnx155b supplement. The | |
| story we hear is that SCO broke their `uucp' to cater to systems | |
| that choke on long system names. There is a workaround. For | |
| system name = `verylongname', add to every record in the | |
| /usr/lib/uucp/Permissions file: | |
| MYNAME=verylongname | |
| Next, rename /usr/bin/uuname to /usr/bin/uuname.sco. Replace | |
| /usr/bin/uuname with: | |
| : | |
| if [ $# -ne 1 -o "X$1" != "X-l" ] ; then | |
| exec /usr/bin/uuname.sco $@ | |
| exit 1 | |
| fi | |
| head -1 /etc/systemid | |
| exit $? | |
| This allows programs using `uuname' to receive the correct, | |
| untruncated name. | |
| QD12. What is the uucp `windows' patch? | |
| uucp transmits data in packets, usually 64 bytes apiece. An | |
| acknowledgment is required for every packet sent -- but not | |
| immediately. A window of unacknowledged packets is allowed. The | |
| default window size is three, that means `uucico' won't stop | |
| sending unless it falls more than three packets behind. A three | |
| packet window isn't big enough for very fast media and long delay | |
| media. The `uucico' binary can be patched to increase the window | |
| size by the following manual procedure: | |
| cd /usr/lib/uucp | |
| cp uucico uucico.old # make a backup copy!! | |
| adb -w uucico | |
| * windows/x # display windows value | |
| _windows: 0x3 | |
| * windows/w 7 # change it to seven | |
| _windows: 0x3= 0x7 | |
| * $q # done | |
| If you have Xenix 2.3.4 but not the Development System, use | |
| `/etc/_fst' instead of `adb'. If you can't find adb on your | |
| system, look on the N02 disk. | |
| This change increases the window size to seven -- the maximum | |
| possible. A similar change must be performed on the remote system's | |
| uucico because the actual window size is negotiated as part of | |
| the protocol startup. | |
| QD13. uucp gives `alarm' messages, eventually dies. | |
| If you run uucp in debugging mode (`uutry -x9') and see it get | |
| stuck like: | |
| alarm 1 | |
| send 37777777621 | |
| alarm 2 | |
| send 37777777621 | |
| alarm 3 | |
| send 37777777621 | |
| alarm 4 | |
| send 37777777621 | |
| and eventually die, this means your system got jammed waiting for | |
| a response that never came. The most common cause of this problem | |
| running uucp across a modem with XON/XOFF flow control enabled | |
| (e.g. a Telebit modem with S58=3). You can't do that; you must | |
| run with no flow control or RTS/CTS handshaking (on a Telebit that | |
| would be S58=0 or S58=2, respectively). Other possible causes of | |
| this problem are serial cards with broken handshaking or running | |
| out of clists. | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** SECTION E - Display and Graphics Questions | |
| QE1. How come Xenix won't recognize my VGA display? | |
| Probably because you are running a very old version of Xenix. | |
| VGA support was introduced in release 2.3.0. | |
| QE2. How can I do a printscreen under Xenix? | |
| MS-DOS users can produce a screen printout with one keystroke. | |
| Xenix does not offer this builtin capability. SCO's MultiView | |
| product provides this. Also, it can be simulated with the following | |
| script: | |
| : | |
| # @(#) prtscrn Print Screen | |
| # execute from cu as ~!prtscrn | |
| oldstty=`stty -g` # save stty | |
| stty -echo ixon ixoff -ixany # no echo | |
| /bin/echo '\033[2i\c' # send screen to host | |
| # grab 24 lines, clean up trailing blanks, print it | |
| sed -e 's/ *$//' -e 24q | lp | |
| stty $oldstty # put stty back when done. | |
| Another approach is the `prtscrn2' program by Chip Rosenthal. It | |
| grabs the contents of any console screen and sends it to standard | |
| output. See comp.sources.misc. | |
| QE3. How can I blank the console display when it is idle? | |
| A screen blanker is built into the new console driver, provided | |
| by 2.3.4 or 2.3.3 via SLS xnx296a. It is finicky about the hardware | |
| it likes. Anything less than a VGA display will not work. To | |
| enable the blanker, as root: | |
| cd /usr/sys/conf | |
| ./configure | |
| Select option 6 (MultiScreens) and enter a non-zero value for TBLINK. | |
| (The manual incorrectly calls this TBLNK.) Then ./link_xenix and | |
| ./hdinstall. | |
| If the built-in blanker doesn't like your video adapter or you | |
| have an older version of Xenix, save the following script to a | |
| file and run it out of cron every fifteen minutes or so. It will | |
| check if all console multiscreens have been idle for ten minutes | |
| or more, and if so switch the display to an unused screen (as | |
| configured by SCRN). | |
| : | |
| who -u | awk ' | |
| $2 !~ /^tty[01][0-9]$/ {next} # Not a console screen. | |
| $6 == "." {exit(1)} # Screen in use. | |
| $6 ~ /^0:0/ {exit(1)} # Not idle long enough. | |
| ' >/dev/null 2>&1 | |
| if [ $? -eq 0 ] ; then | |
| # Leading "\0" aborts any pending escape sequence. | |
| SCRN=10 | |
| echo "\0\033[${SCRN}z\c" >/dev/tty01 | |
| fi | |
| QE4. How can I do graphics under Xenix? What programs are available? | |
| There are two approaches to graphics programming. At the very | |
| lowest level, the screen(HW) manual page describes ioctl() codes | |
| to access the video display memory and controller. Device-independent | |
| graphics is provided by the Computer Graphics Interface (CGI) | |
| package included with the Xenix Development System. CGI drivers | |
| are provided for VGA, EGA, and Hercules displays; Epson, LaserJet, | |
| and Postscript printers; and HP plotters. Several programs have | |
| been posted to the net that run under CGI, such as gnuplot, | |
| starchart, and gif. See comp.sources.misc. | |
| QE5. CGI graphics mangles grey scale on a mono VGA. | |
| SCO fixed their monochrome VGA driver in version 2.3.3. The | |
| default color mapping in CGI maps many colors with the identical | |
| total intensity. They appear as the same shade grey-scale display. | |
| Try using the CGI functions vs_color() and/or vsc_table() to create | |
| a color map that works with your display. Try vsf_style() to | |
| create hatching or other fill-patterns in place of colors. | |
| QE6. CGI graphics fail on a LaserJet in landscape mode. | |
| A bug in the CGI 1.1.0 LaserJet driver causes all output to | |
| appear on a single line. In landscape mode the driver puts out | |
| a spurious escape sequence `\033&a864V' that forces all output | |
| to the same position on the page. You can either remove the | |
| offending escape sequence from the driver with a binary editor | |
| (keep a backup copy), or use a filter to clobber that sequence | |
| from the output. | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** SECTION F - Networking Questions | |
| QF1. What do I need to run TCP/IP? | |
| The SCO TCP/IP Run-Time includes *almost* everything you need to | |
| connect a Xenix system to a TCP/IP network. You get the drivers | |
| for several popular network interface cards (NICs), the protocol | |
| stacks, and most of the familiar programs like `telnet' and `rcp'. | |
| We say `almost' because the TCP/IP package requires Streams, and | |
| that's an extra-cost option. You need to buy and install the | |
| Streams Run-Time before you can load TCP/IP. Furthermore, if you | |
| want to develop or compile network programs, you will need the | |
| TCP/IP Development System too. | |
| QF2. What do I need to run NFS? | |
| Unix. :-) | |
| Nobody offers an NFS for Xenix, and don't hold your breath waiting | |
| for one. It is very difficult adding new filesystem types to | |
| Xenix. The `FS' in NFS does stand for `File System' after all. | |
| Newer versions of Unix provide mechanisms that allow new filesystem | |
| types to be added easily (the `vnode' mechanism in BSD Unix and | |
| the `filesystem switch' in System V 3.2 and beyond). With Xenix, | |
| the filesystem support must be coded right into the kernel. The | |
| task of merging NFS code with VP/ix hacks, Xenix-net hacks, etc. | |
| is more than can be justified. And because it requires kernel | |
| source, it is unlikely a third party would do this. | |
| QF3. How can I run uucp over TCP/IP? | |
| The Xenix `uucico' doesn't know about networking, and the Xenix | |
| TCP/IP package doesn't do anything to solve that problem. Chip | |
| Rosenthal <[email protected]> has published a program called | |
| `uucpm' that works around this problem to allow an SCO Xenix system | |
| perform uucp transfers across the network. Contact him if you | |
| need a copy. | |
| QF4. What does "NOTICE: tcp sum: src C06C6901, sum 0000B004" mean? | |
| That a bad TCP segment was received. One possible reason for this | |
| is a buffer overrun caused by a slow system, a lousy network card, | |
| or a heavy network load. Most TCP/IP implementations silently | |
| detect these errors and ask the remote system to re-transmit. | |
| SCO's TCP/IP decides to whine to the console as well. | |
| You can tell what the other system is by getting out your hex | |
| calculator (c.f. the bc(C) command) and plugging in the `src' | |
| address. In the above example, 0xC0=192, 0x6C=108, 0x69=105, and | |
| 0x01=1. So the sending machine was 192.108.105.1. | |
| If you get these messages on occasion or only under heavy network | |
| load, don't worry too much. If they are frequent then consider a | |
| faster network card with more buffering, a faster computer, or | |
| go looking for cabling problems. | |
| If you get tired of seeing these messages, you can shut them off: | |
| cp /xenix /xenix.save # make a backup! | |
| adb -w /xenix # use "/etc/_fst" if no "adb" | |
| * tcpprintfs/d | |
| _tcpprintfs: 1 # currently "1" -> enabled | |
| * tcpprintfs/w 0 # set to "0" -> disabled | |
| _tcpprintfs: 0x1= 0x0 | |
| * $q | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** SECTION X - Xenix and MS-DOS Interoperability Questions | |
| QX1. Can Xenix share a hard disk with MS-DOS? | |
| Yes. SCO directly supports an MS-DOS 3.2 partition on the same disk as | |
| your Xenix partition. You must: | |
| - Install MS-DOS 3.2 bootable partition as the FIRST partition. | |
| - Install Xenix bootable as the next partition. | |
| - Select Xenix as the `active' partition. | |
| At the | |
| Boot | |
| : | |
| prompt either type `dos' for MS-DOS boot or press ENTER for Xenix. | |
| If you create any other type of partition (e.g. one of the new, | |
| larger sized MS-DOS 5.0 partitions) or forget to create the MS-DOS | |
| partition before loading Xenix, then you can still access it by | |
| booting from a floppy disk. | |
| It is possible to provide `dual boot' capability for other partition | |
| types, for example MS-DOS 5.0 large partitions, by making a modified | |
| version of the /dos program. The following instructions, based | |
| upon a procedure by Vic Michael <[email protected]>, show how. | |
| su # become superuser | |
| cp /dos /dos5 # make a new version of dos5 program | |
| adb -w /dos5 # use "/etc/_fst" if no "adb" | |
| * 0x3f:0x61?i # examine instruction at 0x61 | |
| 0x3f:0x61: add al,0x4 | |
| * 0x61?w 0x604 # change '0x4' to '0x6' | |
| 0x3f:0x61: 0x404= 0x604 | |
| * 0x61?i # verify change | |
| 0x3f:0x61: add al,0x6 | |
| * $q | |
| Now, you can say `dos5' at the `Boot' prompt to start MS-DOS. You | |
| will NOT, however, be able to use the `dos(C)' tools to access this | |
| partition from Xenix. | |
| QX2. Can Xenix access MS-DOS disks? | |
| Yes, with limitations. The commands on the `dos(C)' manual page | |
| provide access to MS-DOS disks (floppy and fixed) under Xenix. | |
| The limitation is that only conventional MS-DOS 3.2 hard disk | |
| partitions can be recognized. Extended MS-DOS 3.2, old MS-DOS | |
| 1.0, and large MS-DOS 4.0/5.0 partitions cannot be accessed with | |
| the existing tools. | |
| If you run into problems with the dos(C) commands, check that | |
| `/etc/default/msdos' provides proper aliases for the A:, B:, etc. | |
| devices. Also, if root can access the MS-DOS fixed disk but users | |
| can't, check the permissions on /dev/hd0d (the Xenix name of the | |
| MS-DOS partition on the first fixed disk). | |
| The `mtools' package by Emmet Gray in comp.sources.misc provides | |
| better handling of MS-DOS devices under Xenix. Modify the | |
| `devices.c' file to understand Xenix device naming. | |
| #ifdef M_XENIX | |
| struct device devices[] = { | |
| {'A', "/dev/install", 0L, 12, 0, (int (*) ()) 0, 0, 0, 0}, | |
| {'B', "/dev/install1", 0L, 12, 0, (int (*) ()) 0, 0, 0, 0}, | |
| {'C', "/dev/hd0d", 0L, 16, 0, (int (*) ()) 0, 0, 0, 0}, | |
| {'D', "/dev/hd1d", 0L, 16, 0, (int (*) ()) 0, 0, 0, 0}, | |
| {'\0', (char *) NULL, 0L, 0, 0, (int (*) ()) 0, 0, 0, 0} | |
| }; | |
| #endif /* M_XENIX */ | |
| If you assign `/dev/install' to the `A' drive, you don't need to | |
| worry about disk density when reading and writing. However, you | |
| need to specify the full device name when formatting. For example, | |
| to format a high-density disk in drive A: you must specify the | |
| full device name: | |
| dosformat /dev/fd096ds15 | |
| QX3. Can Xenix execute MS-DOS programs? | |
| Yes. You must purchase SCO VP/ix. VP/ix emulates an 8086 PC/XT | |
| running MS-DOS. The compatibility provided by VP/ix is fair with | |
| a significant performance penalty. VP/ix will not run programs | |
| that use 80286 or 80386 instruction codes. VP/ix is not available | |
| for Xenix/286. | |
| QX4. Can MS-DOS execute Xenix programs? | |
| No. With the Xenix Development System, you can compile programs | |
| to execute under MS-DOS with the `-dos' command line switch. | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** SECTION Z - The (in)Famous Xenix Cheat-Sheet | |
| QZ1. What the $%*&! is happening? | |
| Who am I? /usr/bin/who am i | |
| Where am I? /bin/pwd | |
| What am I doing? /bin/ps -f | |
| Am I having fun yet? /usr/games/worms -R | |
| What's my user/group id? /usr/bin/id | |
| Who did I login as? /usr/bin/logname | |
| What's my terminal? /bin/tty | |
| What are my terminal parameters? /bin/stty -a | |
| Is terminal flow control working? /usr/games/stars | |
| What is my current crontab file? /usr/bin/crontab -l | |
| Do I have uucp jobs queued? /usr/bin/uustat | |
| What is the system doing? /usr/bin/w | |
| How is the system running? /usr/bin/vmstat 10 | |
| Has the system been swapping? /usr/bin/vmstat -s | |
| Open files, inodes, processes? /bin/pstat | grep '^[0-9]' | |
| What are the kernel parameters? /usr/sys/conf/configure -x | |
| What versions are installed? egrep "#prd|#set|#rel" /etc/perms/* | |
| What are the hardware settings? /etc/hwconfig -h | |
| Is /etc/passwd correct? /etc/pwcheck | |
| Is /etc/group correct? /etc/grpcheck | |
| Is /etc/gettydefs correct? /etc/getty -c /etc/gettydefs | |
| Do all files have owners? /usr/bin/quot | |
| Who is using all the disk space? /usr/bin/quot | |
| When did joe last login? /usr/bin/last joe | |
| What files are owned by UID=944? find / -user 944 -exec l -d {} \; | |
| Are file perms/owners set OK? cd / ; | |
| /etc/fixperm -n /etc/perms/rts | |
| How about perms on uucp files? cd / ; | |
| /etc/fixperm -nd UUCP /etc/perms/rts | |
| Check uucp file consistency. /usr/lib/uucp/uucheck | |
| What are uucp access permissions? /usr/lib/uucp/uucheck -v | |
| What is the print spooler doing? /usr/bin/lpstat -t | |
| Stop the scheduler. /usr/lib/lpshut | |
| Restart a printer. /usr/lib/accept printer_name ; | |
| /usr/bin/enable printer_name | |
| [Following apply only if TCP/IP is installed.] | |
| Where am I? /usr/bin/hostname | |
| Is system foo alive? /usr/bin/ping foo | |
| What machines are connected? /usr/bin/netstat | |
| How is the network doing? /usr/bin/netstat 10 | |
| Where are the packets going? /usr/bin/netstat -r | |
| Network not work? /usr/bin/netstat -s | |
| [Thanks to Jeff Liebermann.] | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| Subject: ***** The Fine Print | |
| This collection is Copyright 1992-1994, Unicom Systems Development, Inc. | |
| All rights reserved. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute this | |
| document provided this notice remains intact and any changes to the document | |
| are clearly marked. We have tried to review all information, but cannot | |
| guarantee it for any particular purpose. We do not offer any warranties or | |
| representations, nor do we accept any liability for any damage resulting | |
| from the use or misuse of information or procedures in this document. | |
| End of sco-xenix FAQ | |
| ******************** |
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