Linux-Misc Digest #724, Volume #24 Tue, 6 Jun 00 01:13:02 EDT
Contents:
Re: Bash Scripting (Grant Edwards)
Re: disabling kernel boot time messages (Prasanth A. Kumar)
Re: Sounds in KDE (Prasanth A. Kumar)
Re: DSL under linux: No Joy :-< (Gene Montgomery)
Re: disabling kernel boot time messages (Dances With Crows)
Sounds work in root, but not in user (John Holder)
Re: Freewwweb slow ? ("Mark Ricketts")
Re: Bash Scripting ("Andrew N. McGuire ")
User Ids (uid) > 65k or 32 bits uids (David Greeson)
Re: disabling kernel boot time messages ("Joe Willey")
Re: Afterstep Pager (Ed Hurst)
Re: Troubles reading Real Time Clock (Edward Lee)
Re: DSL under linux: Now working!!!! (Rod Smith)
Re: User Ids (uid) > 65k or 32 bits uids (Hal Burgiss)
Re: Where to get Java Compiler (Timothy Murphy)
Re: disabling kernel boot time messages ("Andrew N. McGuire ")
Serious fragmentation under Linux (MH)
Re: P3 halts on bootup (Checking 'hlt' instruction...) ("Lonni J. Friedman")
Re: root login remotely ("Andrew N. McGuire ")
Re: Afterstep Pager (Vilmos Soti)
Re: patch & diff ("Andrew N. McGuire ")
Re: Serious fragmentation under Linux (Dances With Crows)
Re: Troubles reading Real Time Clock ("Andrew N. McGuire ")
Re: Serious fragmentation under Linux ("Peter T. Breuer")
Re: User Ids (uid) > 65k or 32 bits uids ("Andrew N. McGuire ")
Re: Equalizing MP3 (or WAV) Volume levels ("Andrew N. McGuire ")
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Grant Edwards)
Subject: Re: Bash Scripting
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 03:10:14 GMT
On Mon, 05 Jun 2000 23:14:42 GMT, George Walford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>The problem is passing arguments to FTP automatically. How can I send
>arguments to FTP for uploading?
ncftp (included in most distributions) comes with command line
versions called ncftpget and ncftpput intended for use from
scripts.
$ man ncftpget
$ man ncftpput
IIRC the newest version of the ncftp is not longer open-source,
but previous, perfectly usable versions still are.
--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! I feel... JUGULAR...
at
visi.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: disabling kernel boot time messages
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Prasanth A. Kumar)
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 03:12:14 GMT
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> does anyone know of any information, resources, or patches concerning
> suppressing the Linux kernel boot messages? I am able to (for the most
> part) keep the init process from making noise through modification of
> the script files it uses. However, I am unsure as to whether there is a
> similarly easy method of approaching the kernel output, or whether I
> will have to play with the kernel directly. Any information would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> jw
>
> Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> Before you buy.
Maybe you can redirect the console to the serial port at the lilo
prompt? Something like 'console=ttyS0'? I havn't tried it though...
--
Prasanth Kumar
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Sounds in KDE
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Prasanth A. Kumar)
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 03:15:12 GMT
"ajohnno" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> I can't seem to get system sound running in KDE on Redhat 6.1. I can get
> full audio elswhere, but cant seem to get the sounds up and running. Any
> ideas?
In that version, there was a discrepency/bug where the sound config
files are stored in /etc/sysconfig/soundcard but kde expects it to be
in /etc/sysconfig/sound. Or was it vice versa... Anyway, symbolic link
on file to the other and it should work.
--
Prasanth Kumar
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: Gene Montgomery <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.networking,alt.os.linux.suse
Subject: Re: DSL under linux: No Joy :-<
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 03:01:15 GMT
Matt O'Toole wrote:
> "Duane" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
>
> > I would just point out that not all DSL providers using PPPoE will
> > disconnect for inactivity. I leave mine (PacBell) on pretty much 24
> > hours a day, 7 days a week. Works great. I have heard rumors of other
> > providers disconnecting, though.
>
> Yup, my Pacbell PPPoE stays up too. YMMV.
>
> Matt O.
gte.net is my ISP and gte telco is my telephone provider. My ADSL is
bronze+ (786K/128K or something like that), DHCP assignment of
IP, and 24/7, no sign of wavering. And, I'm getting the full bandwidth
all the time. Just for the record, I'm out on the end of the ~14,000 ft
tether, so I think this Fujitsu Speedport is really a good one - three
green
lights all the time...
Gene M.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Dances With Crows)
Subject: Re: disabling kernel boot time messages
Date: 05 Jun 2000 23:29:41 EDT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Tue, 06 Jun 2000 02:23:41 GMT, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
<<8hhnav$38b$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> shouted forth into the ether:
>does anyone know of any information, resources, or patches concerning
>suppressing the Linux kernel boot messages? I am able to (for the most
>part) keep the init process from making noise through modification of
>the script files it uses. However, I am unsure as to whether there is a
>similarly easy method of approaching the kernel output, or whether I
>will have to play with the kernel directly. Any information would be
>greatly appreciated.
I believe you will have to play with the kernel directly, since at least
the first half-screenful of info that gets spewed out gets printed before
init is called. Stuff like printing out the kernel version, the
compilation data, the number/quantity of drives detected, and various
other sundry details that show up before you see "INIT version 2.7x blah
blah" are all the kernel code calling printk() from various points.
I don't think it would be a good idea to disable this stuff. Having
messages appear on the screen not only gives useful debugging info, but
provides a sense of "Ooh, something's *happening*!" to the end-user.
Heck, even an ASCII progress bar like the one you get with newer versions
of e2fsck would be better than a static black screen, or (ack) a static
graphical image. Plus, if the system hangs on boot, you need to know
*where* it hung, or you'll be in for a much nastier wild-goose-chase than
you would be otherwise.
--
Matt G / Dances With Crows \###| You have me mixed up with more
There is no Darkness in Eternity \##| creative ways of being stupid?
But only Light too dim for us to see \#| Beer is a vegetable. WinNT
(Unless, of course, you're working with NT)\| is the study of cool. --MegaHAL
------------------------------
From: John Holder <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Sounds work in root, but not in user
Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 22:21:54 -0500
Hello,
I'm pretty much a newbie and I'm having problems getting system sounds
to work in the user account (they work just fine in root, but nowhere
else). I got the CD player to work in the user account by entering
chmod 666 /dev/cdrom; have tried similar entries for kaudioserver,
kwmsound, etc. (as well as editing fstab, putting in user, noauto, 0 0
etc. with these files/devices) but have not had success. Have also
issued numerous chmod commands (as root, of course) for the
files/devices I thought might be involved (audio, audio1, sdb, sbpcd,
sndstat, etc.)
System details: I'm running Caldera OpenLinux eDesktop 2.4 (with KDE
1.1.2-13) on a Dell XPS133 (upgraded to 200 MHz with an evergreen add-on
CPU chip) with 64 MB of RAM, a 3.2 GB hd and a Rage IIC video card.
Sound card is a true SB16 w/ AWE32 upgrade.
Appreciate any help you can give me!
John Holder
------------------------------
From: "Mark Ricketts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Freewwweb slow ?
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 23:32:14 -0400
FreeWWWeb is fantastic! It's faster than my old Sprint ISP and it's free.
One caveat, the NNTP news server doesn't store enough old messages.
"Paul Oliver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:8hh0s4$t8r$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> In alt.os.linux David Turley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > On 27 May 2000 12:51:30 -0400, Jim Kalb apparently wrote:
>
> >> Also, I'm a Linux newbie and just set up freewwweb with wvdial and
> >> Netscape. Two issues:
>
> > You get what you pay for.
>
> Except with Linux... It's free and better than M$!!
>
------------------------------
From: "Andrew N. McGuire " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Bash Scripting
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 22:43:55 -0500
On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, Akira Yamanita wrote:
+ George Walford wrote:
+ >
+ > I need to write a BASH script that autoupdates a few FTP servers. It
+ > takes the files from a "hidden" FTP server and copies all the files
+ > that have been altered or added in the last 24 hours over to the 4 ftp
+ > sites.
+ > Finding the altered/new files should not be hard as I can use the find
+ > command and some of its arguments to identify the files.
+ >
+ > This would be placed in a BASH script that cron would execute every
+ > night at midnight so that it uploaded the new files to the servers.
+ > <snip>
+
+ You'd probably be better off using something like mirror handling
+ this for you unless you're doing this as some sort of personal
+ scripting project.
True mirror.pl is a good one I've heard. But to answer his question
in bash...
#!/bin/bash
ftp -in <<EOF
open server.domain.name
user username password
ls
bye
EOF
The passing of arguments and 'put'ing files is left up
to the reader..
Regards,
anm
--
/*-------------------------------------------------------.
| Andrew N. McGuire |
| [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
`-------------------------------------------------------*/
------------------------------
From: David Greeson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: User Ids (uid) > 65k or 32 bits uids
Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 23:45:21 -0400
Has anybody modified Linux to use 32 bit uids? I'm using RedHat-6.2.
Thanks,
David
------------------------------
Reply-To: "Joe Willey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: "Joe Willey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: disabling kernel boot time messages
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 20:55:53 -0700
Dances With Crows <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> On Tue, 06 Jun 2000 02:23:41 GMT, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> <<8hhnav$38b$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> shouted forth into the ether:
> >does anyone know of any information, resources, or patches concerning
> >suppressing the Linux kernel boot messages? I am able to (for the most
> >part) keep the init process from making noise through modification of
> >the script files it uses. However, I am unsure as to whether there is a
> >similarly easy method of approaching the kernel output, or whether I
> >will have to play with the kernel directly. Any information would be
> >greatly appreciated.
>
> I believe you will have to play with the kernel directly, since at least
> the first half-screenful of info that gets spewed out gets printed before
> init is called. Stuff like printing out the kernel version, the
> compilation data, the number/quantity of drives detected, and various
> other sundry details that show up before you see "INIT version 2.7x blah
> blah" are all the kernel code calling printk() from various points.
>
> I don't think it would be a good idea to disable this stuff. Having
> messages appear on the screen not only gives useful debugging info, but
> provides a sense of "Ooh, something's *happening*!" to the end-user.
> Heck, even an ASCII progress bar like the one you get with newer versions
> of e2fsck would be better than a static black screen, or (ack) a static
> graphical image. Plus, if the system hangs on boot, you need to know
> *where* it hung, or you'll be in for a much nastier wild-goose-chase than
> you would be otherwise.
>
> --
> Matt G / Dances With Crows \###| You have me mixed up with
more
> There is no Darkness in Eternity \##| creative ways of being
stupid?
> But only Light too dim for us to see \#| Beer is a vegetable. WinNT
> (Unless, of course, you're working with NT)\| is the study of
cool. --MegaHAL
After looking at the situation some more, I believe that I will be able to
accomplish
the suppression with very little modification of the kernel. I think the
only change necessary
is the redefinition of DEFAULT_CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL in printk.c. Thank you for
pointing me
in the right direction. Concerning how good an idea it is, well, I wouldn't
do
this on my own machine, but its not my machine I'm playing with. Again, many
thanks...
jw
------------------------------
From: Ed Hurst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Afterstep Pager
Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 23:00:03 -0500
Mig-O wrote:
>
> Hi, folks.
>
> How do I get a single 4x4-sized pager?
> AS doesn't seem to respond to changes in the config.
>
> thnx,
> Daniel Migowski
>
> please reply to my email-address too, thnx.
According to what I've read, it's not an option. I believe you are
stuck with increments of 2x3.
Ed
------------------------------
From: Edward Lee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.hardware
Subject: Re: Troubles reading Real Time Clock
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 16:18:55 -0700
What is the standard notation for time server, similar to ns (name server). ts
did not work for me. Are there public time servers available, if my isp does not
have it?
Akira Yamanita wrote:
> David Efflandt wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, 5 Jun 2000 10:35:11 +0200, Cristiano Marini <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > >My Linux 6.0 read incorrectly the real time clock when during startup calls
> > >hwclock
> >
> > The CMOS clock calendar has nothing to do with the real time clock. The
> > real time clock (rtc) is a precise timer.
> >
> > >In my system is arc=false and uts=false and I tried both hwclock &
> > >hwclock --directisa
> >
> > --directisa is only for Alpha cpu and not for Intel like yours.
> >
> > Instead you want to set your system 'date' properly and then run
> > 'hwclock --systohc' (or 'setclock' in RedHat).
> >
> > The easiest way to set your system time accurately before doing that is
> > with 'ntpdate -b timeserver' from the 'xntp' package.
>
> I use rdate.
>
> rdate -s timeserver
------------------------------
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rod Smith)
Subject: Re: DSL under linux: Now working!!!!
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.networking,alt.os.linux.suse
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 04:11:14 GMT
[Posted and mailed]
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
"Cameron, Gary [WDLN2:2X82:EXCH]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> Did that and got it working on friday night - thanks. Now runs like a
> charm. I didn't see the documentation, since I installed from the .rpm
> file, which automagically buried it in /usr/docs or something like
> that. To make matters worse, SuSE has their default doc directories set
> up slightly differently than Red Hat. When I unpacked the tarball
> version, I was able to find the missing documentation you referred to.
> A grep through my /usr directory found the copy installed by the .rpm
> client, but I had to know it was there so that I knew what to look for.
If you're looking for something that should have been installed with an
RPM file, you can use the following command to see what files the RPM
installed:
rpm -ql foo
This shows you a list of the files in the foo package. You may want to
pipe the result through less if the list is long:
rpm -ql foo | less
Alternatively, if you're looking for specific files, like files that may
go in the /usr/doc directory, you can use grep to isolate just those
files:
rpm -ql foo | grep doc
GUI front-ends to RPM, like gnorpm, usually offer some way of locating
the same information.
--
Rod Smith, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux networking & multi-OS configuration
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Hal Burgiss)
Subject: Re: User Ids (uid) > 65k or 32 bits uids
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 04:11:32 GMT
On Mon, 05 Jun 2000 23:45:21 -0400, David Greeson
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Has anybody modified Linux to use 32 bit uids? I'm using RedHat-6.2.
There is a patch for 2.3.x. Don't know if this got incorporated or not.
You might check deja or linux-kernel archives, if you don't get a better
answer.
--
Hal B
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Timothy Murphy)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.development.system,comp.os.linux.development.apps
Subject: Re: Where to get Java Compiler
Date: 5 Jun 2000 23:23:05 +0100
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>I seem to have read somewhere that the blackdown version of JDK
>supports native threads (i.e. kernel threads), but I do not think
>the Sun Linux JDK does that yet. I think Sun JDK 1.3 for Linux which
>will be comming out soon will do that.
May be worth noting that IBM have a port of JDK-1.3 --
you can find a pointer to it at http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/ .
--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
tel: 086-233 6090
s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
------------------------------
From: "Andrew N. McGuire " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: disabling kernel boot time messages
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 23:23:08 -0500
On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
+ does anyone know of any information, resources, or patches concerning
+ suppressing the Linux kernel boot messages? I am able to (for the most
+ part) keep the init process from making noise through modification of
+ the script files it uses. However, I am unsure as to whether there is a
+ similarly easy method of approaching the kernel output, or whether I
+ will have to play with the kernel directly. Any information would be
+ greatly appreciated.
Well, I can't answer your question off the top of my head...
But you certainly have sparked my curiosity, why would you
want to?
Best Wishes,
anm
--
/*-------------------------------------------------------.
| Andrew N. McGuire |
| [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
`-------------------------------------------------------*/
------------------------------
From: MH <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Serious fragmentation under Linux
Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 21:27:59 -0700
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
I've more than a few posts regarding fragmentation under Linux. Most of
the responses have been to the effect that "Linux doesn't have a
fragmentation problem". I beg to differ.
I've been running Linux for over a year now, on multiple boxes, and
previously reported fragmentation exceeding 10% on a large root
partition of a lightly used fileserver. Since I'm learning, I haven't
had many installations last much more than 6-8 weeks before I decided to
reinstall (for one reason or another). In fact, I recently reinstalled
my primary workstation--primarily to reorganize partitions.
On a recent reboot, I noticed that I had 11.1%, 15.4%, and 19.8%
"non-contiguous" files. Since this workstation is NOT used as a server,
and since it has only been up for a few weeks, I found this level of
fragmentation more than a little surprising. Even more so, given the
box really doesn't really get heavily used. A kernel recompile, a KDE
version upgrade, a few applications installed and removed--mostly used
for Internet browsing and email.
Considering I have NEVER had a Windows box exceed 15% fragmentation even
after months of HEAVY use (not to mention numerous crashes), this
phenomenon was downright shocking. I would love to hear some
explanations, as well as solutions. My current partitioning scheme is
as below:
/ 128 MB
/boot 16 MB
/usr 1024 MB
/var 256 MB
/tmp 128 MB
/home 4904 MB
swap 128 MB
The only partition that even comes close to being full is /usr, which is
only 58% used. (sorry, I don't recall which partions were associated
with the fragmentation figures given above, except that neither / nor
/boot were significant enough to recall).
------------------------------
From: "Lonni J. Friedman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.hardware
Subject: Re: P3 halts on bootup (Checking 'hlt' instruction...)
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 00:08:03 -0400
This must be a problem to your specific hardware, as such a bug in a P3
would be widely known by now. That plus the fact that I know of someone
who has a P3/500 that is not having any such problems running linux
right now.
Andrew Powell wrote:
>
> I have an HP Vectra VLi8 with a P3/500 running Linux 6.1 and operating
> as a web server. This past weekend the system stopped running. On
> bootup, the sequence stops at the message, "Checking 'hlt'
> instruction...". This was not a problem before.
>
> Typing "linux no-hlt" at the "LILO Boot:" prompt allows for proper
> bootup, but placing append = "no-hlt" in /etc/lilo.conf does not produce
> the same results.
>
> Convincing HP technical support that there is a problem with the
> system/processor appears to be a challenge, and I wanted to see of other
> linux folk knew more about the problem.
------------------------------
From: "Andrew N. McGuire " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: root login remotely
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 23:40:10 -0500
On Mon, 5 Jun 2000, Florian E.J. Fruth wrote:
+ Chi Kwong
+
+ wrote in <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
+ > Hi
+ >
+ > I can only login to root via su at the mo. Can someone let me know what file
+ > it is that enable root to login from the login prompt ?
+
+ which distribution ?
+ on suse it's /etc/rc.config :
+
+ ROOT_LOGIN_REMOTE="no"
If that is the case then Slackware is a little more UNIX'y
( as usual ). /etc/default/securetty on Slackware. But
keep in mind that an ssh/su combination would be more secure,
but then agian security may not be an issue for you.
Best Wishes,
anm
--
/*-------------------------------------------------------.
| Andrew N. McGuire |
| [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
`-------------------------------------------------------*/
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Afterstep Pager
From: Vilmos Soti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, 06 Jun 2000 04:42:56 GMT
Ed Hurst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>> How do I get a single 4x4-sized pager?
>> AS doesn't seem to respond to changes in the config.
Which version you are using?
> According to what I've read, it's not an option. I believe you are
> stuck with increments of 2x3.
I have. I am running 1.7.90.
Vilmos
------------------------------
From: "Andrew N. McGuire " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: patch & diff
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 23:52:11 -0500
On Mon, 5 Jun 2000, Duane wrote:
+ Kostis wrote:
+ >
+ > Hi all.
+ > I've been trying to work out how I can use patch and diff to keep two
+ > directories synchronised but failing miserably.
+ >
+ > Can someone please tell me how to perform the following "simple" task?
+ >
+ > Say I have a directory /usr/local/src/Master containing lots of text
+ > and binary files.
+ >
+ > I do:
+ > cp -R /usr/local/src/Master /usr/local/src/Slave
+ >
+ > Now I make some changes in /usr/local/src/Master and I
+ > want /usr/local/src/Slave to reflect them.
[ snip ]
Here is a way, if you want both directories to be the same, why
not just use a symlink?
ln -s /usr/local/src/Master /usr/local/src/Slave
If this will do the job for you, it will save alot of pain.
Probably not what you want though..
Regards,
anm
--
/*-------------------------------------------------------.
| Andrew N. McGuire |
| [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
`-------------------------------------------------------*/
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Dances With Crows)
Subject: Re: Serious fragmentation under Linux
Date: 06 Jun 2000 00:52:45 EDT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Mon, 05 Jun 2000 21:27:59 -0700, MH
<<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> shouted forth into the ether:
>I've more than a few posts regarding fragmentation under Linux. Most of
>the responses have been to the effect that "Linux doesn't have a
>fragmentation problem". I beg to differ.
>On a recent reboot, I noticed that I had 11.1%, 15.4%, and 19.8%
>"non-contiguous" files.
As I'm sure N+1 others will point out, this isn't a problem unless you're
suffering horrible filesystem performance.
Anyway, the "non-contiguous" report can be somewhat misleading. Linux
(and Unix in general) manages disk space differently from DOS. Linux
tries to keep all the blocks of a file near each other on the disk. When
a new file is created, at least 8 blocks are pre-allocated for it, even if
the file is only 1 byte in size. If you looked at the raw disk, you'd
probably see files spread out pretty evenly across the disk, with some
buffer space between files.
Of course, files can get split up, but the ext2fs driver tries to keep
things relatively sane. So you might have 32K of file1, then 64K of
file2, then the next 32K of file1... etc. Files are kept within the same
"block group" if at all possible, where a block group is generally 8192
contiguous blocks on the disk. A block under Linux is at least 1K and
often 4K.
In contrast, DOS filesystems use the first available block they find on
the disk. So if you have a DOS filesystem like so:
FILE1.TXT 8K -- FILE2.TXT 4K -- FILE3.TXT 16K
and you delete FILE2 and then create a 32K FILE4, you'd have:
FILE1.TXT 8K -- FILE4.TXT 4K -- FILE3.TXT 16K -- FILE4.TXT 28K
whereas under Linux, FILE4 would be placed right after FILE3, where
there's more free space. That way, FILE4 could be internally contiguous,
though there'd be a 4K section of free space between FILE1 and FILE3.
I'm sure that people who are more familiar with ext2 internals could
explain this better, but the practical upshot is, "Don't worry about
non-contiguous files unless performance starts suffering!"
--
Matt G / Dances With Crows \###| You have me mixed up with more
There is no Darkness in Eternity \##| creative ways of being stupid?
But only Light too dim for us to see \#| Beer is a vegetable. WinNT
(Unless, of course, you're working with NT)\| is the study of cool. --MegaHAL
------------------------------
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.hardware
From: "Andrew N. McGuire " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Troubles reading Real Time Clock
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 23:57:28 -0500
On Tue, 6 Jun 2000, Edward Lee wrote:
+ What is the standard notation for time server, similar to ns (name server). ts
+ did not work for me. Are there public time servers available, if my isp does not
+ have it?
[ snip of jeopardy quoted text ]
Not to be mean, but a little research on your part would not hurt.
Go to www.google.com and search on 'time servers', the first hit
you get is 'Public NTP Time Servers' which is more than likely what
you want, the address of a time server you can use right?
Best Wishes,
anm
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| Andrew N. McGuire |
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From: "Peter T. Breuer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Serious fragmentation under Linux
Date: 6 Jun 2000 04:55:32 GMT
MH <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
: On a recent reboot, I noticed that I had 11.1%, 15.4%, and 19.8%
: "non-contiguous" files. Since this workstation is NOT used as a server,
: and since it has only been up for a few weeks, I found this level of
: fragmentation more than a little surprising. Even more so, given the
Well (a) who cares and (b) why do you think it's bad?
Clue: it isn't. You should recall that you have about 100 processes
running in your system at one time, thus the heads are running between
what those processes want to see. They're not waiting for you to scan
linearly over one file.
It sounds like your partitions are in rw mode and are too small for
their task.
Peter
------------------------------
From: "Andrew N. McGuire " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: User Ids (uid) > 65k or 32 bits uids
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 00:03:12 -0500
On Mon, 5 Jun 2000, David Greeson wrote:
+ Has anybody modified Linux to use 32 bit uids? I'm using RedHat-6.2.
Yes.
www.google.com, use it. Search on 'linux 32 bit uids',
and guess what you get? :-)
Regards,
anm
--
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| Andrew N. McGuire |
| [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
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From: "Andrew N. McGuire " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Equalizing MP3 (or WAV) Volume levels
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 00:07:10 -0500
On Mon, 5 Jun 2000, John Scudder wrote:
+ When getting a collection of MP3s together to burn a CD, I find that
+ many times there are obvious differences in the level of loudness from
+ MP3 to MP3. Is there an easy way to equalize the individual volumes of
+ a collection of MP3's or WAVs. I had been using Kwav to adjust the
+ loudness, but that is pretty much trial and error. What I would like is
+ some kind of indicator of the average or relative loudness of a MP3 and
+ then have some control to adjust it.
Earplugs!!!
[ ducking, running ]
Best Wishes,
anm
--
/*-------------------------------------------------------.
| Andrew N. McGuire |
| [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
`-------------------------------------------------------*/
------------------------------
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