Linux-Hardware Digest #215, Volume #13 Tue, 11 Jul 00 14:13:12 EDT
Contents:
Re: Invalid Flag attempting to set up Lucent PCI WinModem (Daniel Gunyan)
Re: CPU temperature (David C.)
Re: K6 problem (Scott Alfter)
Re: tape on scsi bus (serveraid) (David C.)
Re: PCI Internal Modem (aflinsch)
UDMA patch is bzip2, install has no bzip2 (Sam Devol)
Re: CPU temperature (David C.)
Re: Some questions about /dev (Jerry Shenk)
Re: keyboard with additional function keys (Daniel Graf)
Re: SCSI devices - Hot removal? (David C.)
Re: Linux home server: Clean-slate hardware plan? (Scott Alfter)
Re: recommended DVD players and mice for Linux Mandrake 7 ("Dave McKay")
Re: recommended DVD players and mice for Linux Mandrake 7 ("Dave McKay")
Removing Linux install ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Removing Linux install ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Daniel Gunyan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Invalid Flag attempting to set up Lucent PCI WinModem
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 10:07:31 -0700
Darryl Goss wrote:
> I downloaded and installed the binary Lucent WinModem driver from
> http://www.linmodems.org. Folllowing the instructions, I started MINICOM
> with the -b switch, and typed AT at the command screen to see if I could
> get a response from the modem. and got none. So, I exited Linux and ran
> Norton Diagnostics in DOS to determine which port the modem was using,
> and it said COM3 (which is /dev/ttyS2 in Linux) 0x02e8 with an 8250
> UART.
This is wrong. You aren't following the instructions correctly. What
windows calls COM3 in this case is *not* what linux calls COM3. Use the
/dev/ttyS14 that the ltmodem install should have set up for you. There
should be a symlink from /dev/modem to /dev/ttyS14.
> So, I restarted Linux and ran setserial/dev/ttyS2 from a Linux
> command prompt. The result was 0x03e8 IRQ 4 with an unknown UART. I
> then ran setserial /dev/ttyS2 * port 0x02e8 * irq4 * uart 8250 from the
> command prompt and got the following error message: Invalid Flag: 2
>
You can't use setserial. You must make sure the device files are
correct as above and then '/sbin/insmod -f ltmodem.o'. Do '/sbin/lsmod'
to be sure it loaded. If it still doesn't work, try rebooting. If that
doesn't clear things up, then you may need to set "plug-n-play=no" in
the BIOS setup. (You only need to do this if 'cat /proc/pci' does not
show an IRQ on the Lucent Technologies modem.)
> I am running SuSe Linux 6.3 on a 150MHZ Pentium with 48MB of RAM and 2
I don't know what kernel SuSe 6.3 uses, but ltmodem works to 2.2.13. It
might work to 2.2.14. And it won't work on 2.2.15 and 2.2.16 unless you
recompile the kernel to have compatible ppp support.
--
DG
e-mail is: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(remove the Z's--they're what I do when I read SPAM!)
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (David C.)
Subject: Re: CPU temperature
Date: 11 Jul 2000 13:16:32 -0400
Alex writes:
> David C. wrote:
>>
>> 4: Are your case fans blowing in the right direction? You want to make
>> sure that each additional fan increases the amount of airflow. If
>> one is installed backwards, it will decrease the amount of airflow.
>
> Yes. Front: in; Back: out
Try turning around the front fan.
You're forgetting about the fan in your power supply which (for an ATX
supply) should be blowing air in.
If the PS fan and the front case fan are both blowing in, I think it
will create turbulence, which will impede airflow.
If the PS fan blows in and the other two both blow out, it should create
a smooth airflow from the PS through the rest of the case.
>> 5: You might want to consider an active-cooling heat sink for the
>> CPU. These (aka "Peltier" heat sinks) are small air conditioners.
>> They actively suck heat away from the CPU and blow it into the case.
>> (You will still need adequate airflow through the case in order to
>> dissipate this heat.) They can greatly reduce CPU temperature, but
>> they are usually not required, unless you're overclocking your CPU.
>
> I think I am going to need it. Is it hard to install? Where would be a
> good place to get something like that? I have browsed a little on the
> web but I don't really know what I am looking for... I am not over
> clocking the CPU. It is K6-3 450. Unless... it's fake... Hope not.
If you're not overclocking, this should not be necessary.
You can get them from many sources, if you need one. Local computer
shows near me always have someone selling them. Do some web searches if
you don't find one locally.
As for installation, they normally come built-in to heat sinks and
attach in the same way a CPU fan does.
>>> I don't have any problem running in Linux... But, Windoz can't even
>>> boot up most of the time (new fresh installed system. Still a piece
>>> of crap.)
>>
>>
>> I don't think this is a hardware issue.
>
> Me neither... But who knows... I have heard some people saying their
> computers crash less when the temperature is lower.
Absolutely. But I don't think your choice of OS will have much to do
with this.
Actually, I would assume that an OS with a high rate of context
switching and parallel I/O (like NT, UNIX, and others) would drive the
temperature higher (and therefore be less stable) than a relatively
simple OS like Win9x.
-- David
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Scott Alfter)
Subject: Re: K6 problem
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 17:18:58 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Carlos Franscico Sampaio Bonaf�
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I have a K6-2 300Mhz with 64MB of RAM, all programs crash after some
>time of use...
>The motherboard is made by pc100 and I suspect it is causing the
>troubles
It's the motherboard. PCChips motherboards are notorious for their
flakiness. Put your K6-2 in a motherboard from a reputable manufacturer and
it'll run like a champ. (I've used mine in an FIC VA-503+ and a Supermicro
P5MMS98. It's now on an Asus SP97-XV. It's worked fine on all of those
boards (though the VA-503+ is where it runs best since that's the only board
of the three that supports 100-MHz FSB.)
_/_
/ v \
(IIGS( Scott Alfter (remove Voyager's hull number for email address)
\_^_/ http://salfter.dyndns.org
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (David C.)
Subject: Re: tape on scsi bus (serveraid)
Date: 11 Jul 2000 13:21:09 -0400
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> Note also that the AIC-7895 is a RAIDport II controller. The
> ServeRAID controller might be nothing more than an ARO-1130 with IBM's
> name tacked on.
This would be bad. IIRC, the aic7xxx driver doesn't support RAID
controllers. Perhaps the new aacraid driver will, but I don't have
experience with this driver.
> In any case, the tape drive shouldn't be on the same channel as the
> array. That's just asking for problems. I don't know how RAIDport
> cards work; do they actually provide one or more new channels, or do
> they use the ones on the motherboard? If they use the ones on the
> motherboard, it's possible you plugged your tape drive into the 50-pin
> connector, expecting it to be a third or different channel.
A RAID controller is not merely two SCSI busses. There is some unique
stuff in there, which is why the aic7xxx driver doesn't work with them.
-- David
------------------------------
From: aflinsch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: PCI Internal Modem
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 13:11:54 -0500
Ned wrote:
>
> Further to this, what is a good modem to buy to use with linux? Is it safest
> just to get an external modem. So many modems (including external modems)
> seem to have some sort of reliance on windows.
>
As long as it is a real serial external modem (not a usb modem) you
can ignore the Windows reliance. it usually refers to whatever
software that was packaged along with the modem (which you won't need
under Linux anyway).
------------------------------
From: Sam Devol <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: UDMA patch is bzip2, install has no bzip2
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 17:22:19 GMT
Installer doesn't recognize my UDMA channel, got the patch but have NO
idea how I'm going to expand it...
Any ideas?
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (David C.)
Subject: Re: CPU temperature
Date: 11 Jul 2000 13:24:38 -0400
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (David C.) writes:
>
> [CPU air conditioners]
>
>>> The ones I've read about also cost big bucks.
>>
>> Depends on how you define "big". I see them at shows for around $50.
>> According to http://www.pcmech.com/cooling.htm, the going price is
>> $30-70.
>
> Hmm. The ones I was thinking of were, IIRC, well over a couple
> hundred bucks, so I'm probably thinking of something else.
You may be thinking of the cooling system that KryoTech's systems use.
(See http://www.kryotech.com). They cool an Athlon chip to -40 degrees,
which enables them to do some serious overclocking without destabilizing
the system.
>> More than a plain fan ($10-20, usually), but not something that
>> should break your budget either. Heck, I spend more than that on my
>> surge suppressors!
>
> Perhaps this is something I should look into. Actually, is there an
> optimal operating temperature for CPU's? I.e., is it possible to cool
> a CPU too much?
I don't think you have to worry too much about that.
Most spec sheets I read say that they'll work down to zero degrees C.
The KryoTech systems cool a chip to -40. I suspect that there is no
bottom temperature, as long as you don't get any moisture condensing on
the circuits.
-- David
------------------------------
From: Jerry Shenk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.setup,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: Some questions about /dev
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 17:23:54 GMT
I'm working on a very similar issue right now. My /dev/console is
missing but the /dev directory is there. Mine is an RH60 system so I'm
planning to boot from an emergency floppy and the install the dev*.rpm
file. If you're missing the entire /dev directory, you're gonna need a
ton of stuff.
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Roelof Knibbe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> My system crashed a while ago. It used to work fine.
> (RH6.0, Lilo dual boot.)
>
> I've tried several LILO options like:
> linux single
> linux root=....
> linux /bin/sh
>
> These options all produce the same error. I do not get a
> kernel panic
> error.
> It says:
> ....
> VMS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly
> Freeing unused kernel memory: 60 k freed
> Warning: unable to open an initial console.
>
> In the SUSE support database I read that tty1 could be erased. I think
> this is the case.
> When I startup with a rescue image I can mount the root (/dev/hdb1)
and
> create a console (mknod ...).
> After rebooting the system still halts but I do not get the 'unable to
> open an initial console' warning.
>
> When I look on the mounted disk, /dev is empty, except for the
console I
> created. (In fact /dev didn't
> even exist at first.)
>
> My questions:
> What could have happened to /dev? Did I lose data from harddisk?
> Can I somehow copy /dev from rescue floppy to my hard disk? How?
> If not, any suggestions?
>
> I would be grateful if someone has some useful suggestions.
> Thanks
> Roelof
>
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Daniel Graf)
Crossposted-To:
comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.development,comp.os.linux.development.system
Subject: Re: keyboard with additional function keys
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 17:35:28 GMT
On Mon, 10 Jul 2000 20:10:34 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(B'ichela) wrote:
>On Mon, 10 Jul 2000 21:47:20 +0200, LY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>Thanx for the information, but I still have the problem. I've mentioned that
>>if I press a key that I'll get a sequence of scancodes e.g. scancode for the
>>number "4" is 0x85, after pressing the additional function key I get 0x85
>>0x85. I can't work with this sequence of scancodes, because it's not unique.
>>
>>However, thanx for the information!!!
> Whoa! whoa! I think you are slightly confused. On the IBM
>keyboard the Fkeys are two digits for the scan codes. (grumble I wish
>I still had my Dos books here). If the preceding digit is a 0 followd
>by a number. press F1 for example. you will see a number like this
>0;32 (its an example ok, I don't have my books anymore as I dumped
>them when I went to linux full time).
> What you Need to do is... If you can give us the manufactuers
>name and Model Number, One can look on the web for the specs
>reguarding the double byte scan codes sent by your 30 extra keys!
> Isn't here a program that will show this table? I checked
>dumpkeys and it looks at keytable (when it comes to IBM compat
>keyboards I even get lost). Perhaps these keys are user Programmed
>either via software or by keyboard settings. AGain without the
>instructions one cannot be certain of which it is!
> Flip up the keyboard, give us the Manufactuer, and the model
>number (AT LEAST!!!!) and perhaps someone who has a similar keyboard
>will be able to speak up.
>
>--
>
> B'ichela
Actualy the keyboard itself sends numbers for those keys in
the range of 0-127 for a key presses and corresponding +128 value
(rang 128-255) for key releases. IIRC, these are received via port 60
usually in an interrupt service routine tied to the keyboard's irq.
Bios translates these into ascii values or 0 + extended
keyboard scan code. So, this has nothing to do with the keyboard
manufacturer.
I'm sure Linux handles this via its own ISR rather than the
one provided by bios.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (David C.)
Subject: Re: SCSI devices - Hot removal?
Date: 11 Jul 2000 13:37:40 -0400
Elliot <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> This is something I should know but don't. Is it possible to remove a
> device from the SCSI chain without shutting down the system? If so, do
> you have to inform the OS that you have done it?
It can be done, but you need to make sure that the physical act of
disconnecting the drive doesn't create electrical surges/spikes on the
wire - which can crash the bus.
Hot-swappable SCSI mountings exist. They are designed to prevent
electrical interference during hot-swapping.
I would not recommend hot swapping without such a device. It will work
sometimes, but it may crash the SCSI bus (usually taking out the whole
system) as well.
Assuming you have a proper hot-swappable mounting, the procedure is
simple:
- Unmount every volume on the drive.
- Make sure no program has an open handle to the drive. Unless
you're running something unusual, this will be taken care of
by the unmount procedure.
- Turn off the drive. You usually do this by flipping a switch
or by turning a key on the hot-swap mounting.
- Remove the drive.
When adding a drive later:
- Insert the drive
- Turn on the drive. Usually by flipping a switch or by turning
a key.
- Tell the OS to rescan the SCSI bus. This will read the
partition table and assign the new drive to /dev entries. I
don't know how you do this on Linux without unloading/
reloading the module for the SCSI host adapter.
- Mount volumes on the new drive
-- David
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Scott Alfter)
Subject: Re: Linux home server: Clean-slate hardware plan?
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 17:42:20 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, David C. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>I would recommend two computers here. One to act as your file/print
>server, and another to act as a firewall/router (for sharing the
>internet connection). I recommend not running any applications or
>servers on the firewall computer.
I had been running ipmasq on my server, but now that it's running NFS to
support a diskless workstation and doing some other stuff that I'd rather
not have hacked, I'm in the middle of doing what you suggest. I haven't
been hacked yet, and I'd like to keep that record. :-)
>Fortunately, the firewall computer can be really cheap. Cable modems
>are fast compared to modems, but they're slow compared to Ethernet. A
>486 with two 10M ethernet cards will work fine in this capacity. In
>case you're curious, here's what my firewall has:
> - Generic "Deep Green" 486 motherboard with AMD 120MHz CPU.
> (8 ISA slots, 3 with VLB extensions. No on-board devices.)
> - 40M RAM
> - Generic VLB controller for serial, parallel and single-channel IDE
> - Generic VLB S3 805-series video
> - 1G WD Caviar IDE hard drive
> - Generic (Nucom) IDE CD-ROM drive
> - E-Link 16 (NE-2000 clone) 10M Ethernet card
> - 3Com Etherlink II/16 10M Ethernet card
> - Generic keyboard
> - No mouse
You don't even need that much. I'm setting up the firewall with 16 megs of
RAM and no hard drive. The motherboard (a Biostar 8433UUD with a Cyrix
5x86-120) is of the PCI/ISA variety instead of the VLB/ISA variety, so a
wider range of hardware is available. It'll use a pair of generic
RTL8139-based Fast Ethernet NICs ($12 each) and a Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM
that I had kicking around. The only storage will be a 3.5" floppy drive.
LRP is small enough to fit on a floppy, which can be write-protected.
Hacking it ought to be beyond the ability of your garden-variety scr1pt
k1dd13; even if they run across a root kit that targets LRP, a reboot will
undo the damage.
(Yeah, Fast Ethernet is overkill for a cable-modem connection, but it's what
the other machines on the LAN are already running, and the cards are so
cheap that it's not worth bothering with the slower stuff.)
>For a server? It doesn't matter. A GUI just consumes CPU cycles which
>are better used for the server programs. Don't even bother launching
>the GUI - just let the server run in text mode. Get the cheapest video
>card you can find. A motherboard with on-board video is also OK for
>this application.
I'd agree that running a GUI on a server is a waste of processor time and
that the cheapest card you can get will be good enough (my server uses a
Hercules-compatible card going into a TTL mono monitor...when's the last
time you saw one of those?). I'd disagree about the on-board video part,
though, if it's of the UMA variety (like most SiS chipsets support). UMA
will drag down the overall performance of the computer. On-board video with
its own memory (like an on-board ATI Rage Pro or whatever, as you'd find in
computers from the big boys) would be OK as it's basically building a PCI or
AGP video card onto the motherboard.
_/_
/ v \
(IIGS( Scott Alfter (remove Voyager's hull number for email address)
\_^_/ http://salfter.dyndns.org
------------------------------
From: "Dave McKay" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.questions,alt.os.linux
Subject: Re: recommended DVD players and mice for Linux Mandrake 7
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 18:46:44 +0100
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:8kfhuq$7a2$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> This probably isn't going to help you much, but you hit on a peeve of
mine.
>
> There aren't very many ways to watch DVDs in linux *legally*. An
essential
> step to watching most DVDs is decrypting it; the MPAA says that this step
is
> unlawful, and are in court over this against the DeCSS guys. Of course
> there are concerns about potential piracy, too (I'm not trying to imply
the
> MPAA is all bad here). See the DeCSS FAQ on www.mpaa.org and see if you
> agree with everything they say (I find the linux sections interesting; I
> finished reading this FAQ feeling like I was a movie-pirate.)
maybe I should have explained myself a bit better, I will only need to use
DVDs with files on them under Linux, I will watch movies in Win2000.
I need to use files on DVDs in Linux because PC Plus (great computer mag)
is giving away DVDs with each issue and slapping whole ftp sites on the DVD
(freshmeat and gnome's ftp sites are on the current issues DVD)
> Someone has to explain to me sometime how you can watch a DVD in Windows
> without decrypting it (ie, what makes linux so threatening to the MPAA as
> they see it). Are DVD-decoder companies only being provided with a chip
> and/or piece of binary code?
> </soapbox>
>
> That said, many (most?) DVD decoders are at the point where you can get
> playback in linux. Expect to do lots of kernel tweaking. See
> http://linuxvideo.org.
The problem here is that all my Linux knowledge can be written on a grain of
sand :)
My intention is to get to grips with Linux in the next few months...
Thanks for your help, so, could you recommend any DVD players?
Dave McKay
------------------------------
From: "Dave McKay" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.questions,alt.os.linux
Subject: Re: recommended DVD players and mice for Linux Mandrake 7
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 18:47:05 +0100
Thank for your help.
Dave McKay
"William M. Perry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> "Dave McKay" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> > I was considering buying one of the new optical mice, microsoft do an
> > incredibly stylish one but i'm not sure if I will be able to use it in
> > Linux, it supposedly works on a MAC or PC, but there is no mention of
> > linux...
>
> I'm using the USB optical mouse from microsoft and it works fine. I've
> used it as a ps/2 mouse as well, with no problems.
>
> -Bill P.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.setup
Subject: Removing Linux install
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 17:43:07 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Don Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm having a problem installing RH Linux on a
dual boot with 98 on one
> drive and putting Linux on another.
I have had this same problem.. on two systems I
solved the problem by removing the Win98 drive
and removing all partitions on the Linux drive
using fdisk.
I can install linux on a single drive after
removing all windows partitions with no problem.
>
> Unfortunately, after about 6 attempts I looked
and saw that my AMD K6
> 400 and mother board have known problems with
installation lockups (No
> solutions in RH 6.1/6.2 hardware help).
>
> How do I clean up the linux partitions off my
second drive and get rid
> of lilo? Just want to wipe my system of all
Linux traces. I think lilo
> -u /dev/hdb1 would clean up my MBR but since
the install never worked I
> cant get to a linux prompt to run it. When I
use the boot disk provided
> by RH it always goes into the installation
routine without ever letting
> me access a linux prompt. I need to remove the
Linux partitions then
> remove lilo somehow.
I think the best way to remove linux partitions
is to use a utility called delpart.exe you can
find it on the internet by doing a search for
delpart. This should be able to remove any Linux
partitions and NTFS patitions. Then you can go in
and re-fdisk the drive.
I hope this helps
>
> Thanks,
> Don
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.setup
Subject: Removing Linux install
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 17:43:05 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Don Davis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm having a problem installing RH Linux on a
dual boot with 98 on one
> drive and putting Linux on another.
I have had this same problem.. on two systems I
solved the problem by removing the Win98 drive
and removing all partitions on the Linux drive
using fdisk.
I can install linux on a single drive after
removing all windows partitions with no problem.
>
> Unfortunately, after about 6 attempts I looked
and saw that my AMD K6
> 400 and mother board have known problems with
installation lockups (No
> solutions in RH 6.1/6.2 hardware help).
>
> How do I clean up the linux partitions off my
second drive and get rid
> of lilo? Just want to wipe my system of all
Linux traces. I think lilo
> -u /dev/hdb1 would clean up my MBR but since
the install never worked I
> cant get to a linux prompt to run it. When I
use the boot disk provided
> by RH it always goes into the installation
routine without ever letting
> me access a linux prompt. I need to remove the
Linux partitions then
> remove lilo somehow.
I think the best way to remove linux partitions
is to use a utility called delpart.exe you can
find it on the internet by doing a search for
delpart. This should be able to remove any Linux
partitions and NTFS patitions. Then you can go in
and re-fdisk the drive.
I hope this helps
>
> Thanks,
> Don
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
------------------------------
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