Linux-Setup Digest #360, Volume #20 Sat, 6 Jan 01 17:13:14 EST
Contents:
DOSEMU (Harry)
DOSEMU (Harry)
setup redhat with cox cable ("ale")
Re: PANIC! Cannot see anything after install! (RH6.2) (RIch Parrett)
Re: Hang at LI prompt after RedHat 7 upgrade (Ravi)
Re: Q: HP 720C in Linux (Curtis Newton)
Re: problme with printing from mac to linux via TCP/IP ("Ingo Brand")
Re: Anyone used Partition Magic to increase size of Linux / Partition? (Rod Smith)
Re: xinetd & inetd (Rod Smith)
Install RH 6.2 over FTP ("H.A.J. van Niekerk")
Re: Matrox AGP G450 on Redhat 7 - Can't get X to Start (Tom Voltaggio)
Matrox AGP G450 doesn't work in Redhat .. Does the G400? (Tom Voltaggio)
Re: Remote Kiosk Web Application Administration (Shane Phelps)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Harry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.setup,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: DOSEMU
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 19:52:09 +0000
I tried to get this going on my laptop, but it won't compile. It
complains about a missing file "version.h" which should be in
/usr/src/linux/include, but there are no files at all in there, only
directories (infact "version.h" exists knowhere on the machine. I have
no idea what this file is or why dosemu needs it, and I can't find any
reference to this problem in the news archives. I'm running slackware
7.1 with 2.2.18 kernel - the full source tree is in place. Can anybody
advise?
Thanks
Harry
------------------------------
From: Harry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.setup,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: DOSEMU
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 19:52:09 +0000
I tried to get this going on my laptop, but it won't compile. It
complains about a missing file "version.h" which should be in
/usr/src/linux/include, but there are no files at all in there, only
directories (infact "version.h" exists knowhere on the machine. I have
no idea what this file is or why dosemu needs it, and I can't find any
reference to this problem in the news archives. I'm running slackware
7.1 with 2.2.18 kernel - the full source tree is in place. Can anybody
advise?
Thanks
Harry
------------------------------
From: "ale" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: setup redhat with cox cable
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 19:58:45 GMT
how to setup redhat 6.2 to access internet via cablemodem (cox)?
I use 2 NIC card one goes to cablemodem the other go to hub
------------------------------
From: RIch Parrett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.help
Subject: Re: PANIC! Cannot see anything after install! (RH6.2)
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 14:08:21 -0600
There are two files associated with the monitor and its resolution.
Understand that you need to know about your monitor. Vertical and
Horizontal sync rates and resolution. One file is "/etc/inittab" Which
controls whether you login under X windows or not. You need to change
the runlevel of the system to 3. The current setting is 5. Any text
editor will do this. Read through this file It gives pretty good
instruction ans starts with "# Default runlevel" You do this so that
your system will boot in text mode. You want to leave it at this setting
until you are finsihed playing with things.
The second file is "/etc/X11/XF86Config" You shouldn't modifigy it
directly but instead run a program called xf86config Notice the
capitalization. Both the progam and the file have the same name other
than that.
To start X type "startx" after you login. You must login as root. After
you get a stable display in X you can go back and change the runlevel to 5
and get the GUI interface
Bo Berglund wrote:
> The reason for my problem regarding the blank screen seems to be that
> the wrong video mode was selected during RH6.2 setup. There are two
> screens for this if you run a complete setup, the second one is for
> resolution setup. But the second screen does not show up if you do an
> upgrade and the monitor select erroneously says that my monitor can
> handle vertical rates of 110 Hz....
>
> I had to reinstall RH from scratch instead of upgrading to see both
> screens. Then I manually edited the vertical sync radte for my monitor
> to max out at 75Hz and selected 800x600 resolution on the following
> screen. This also had a test button that actually displayed something
> that I could click.
>
> After this I no longer had these problems (but others popped up
> instead....).
>
> BTW: I now want to reset resolution to 1024x768 but there seems not to
> be any function to do that. I have looked 'everywhere' in right click
> menus and regular list of functions on all buttons I have seen but the
> resolution thing is not shown. One would think that this could be
> displayed in a properties or settings dialogue somewhere, but I have
> yet to find it. It is not in the same place as in W95 at least.
> Display properties on the right-click menu is very much like the W95
> properties dialogue but lacks the resolution page.
> Does anyone know where this is located or is this a one-time setting
> during Linux installation?
>
> /Bo
>
> On Sat, 30 Dec 2000 13:52:27 GMT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Bo Berglund)
> wrote:
>
> >I am completely stumped by this:
> >Installed RH6.2 on a PC that previously was running RH5.1, but with
> >new disk, all other hardware the same. Video is a Trio S3 on teh
> >motherboard.
> >
> >Used the graphic installation and specified KDE Workstation.
> >
> >After all was completed the system restarted and during that there was
> >a brief show of a character based login. But before I was done typing
> >in the login the screen disappeared completely into a black
> >nothingness!
> >Can't do anything here. Except I tried to login blindly by first
> >typing root then TAB then the root password. This started some
> >activity showing the system somehow is acting 'normally' except
> >nothing is displayed!
> >
> >Tried to redo the installation as an 'Upgrade' (Why is there no
> >'repair' option?) to preserve what I did before, but no good - still
> >the black screen.
> >
> >Why does the screen disappear, there is a perfectly good graphics
> >screen shown during the setup sequence???
> >
> >
> >Bo Berglund
> >[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Bo Berglund
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: Ravi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Hang at LI prompt after RedHat 7 upgrade
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 15:52:30 -0500
Hi,
Thanks for your note. I finally "solved" the problem through a backdoor
inaccessible to most people - I have another machine with exactly the same
config. I copied the boot.b file from there into the newly upgraded machine
and reran lilo. Everything works fine. Very strange.
Ravi
Rich Sedman wrote:
>
> I had a similar problem. It turned out that the floppy I had installed
> lilo to was write protected. The install didn't report a problem writing
> the new boot disk so I was using lilo from 6.2 against the 7.0
> installation. Re-creating the boot disk fixed the problem.
>
> I suppose you could have the same problem if your old lilo was written to
> your MBR and your new one on your boot partition????
>
> Hope this helps
>
> Rich
>
> Ravi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:935git$pf$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > Hello,
> > I tried to upgrade one of our RedHat 6.2 systems to 7.0 recently and
> have
> > come up against a brick wall. The install went fine off the CDs. On
> reboot,
> > it hanged (hung?) at the LI prompt. Following the LILO documentation, I
> > booted using a floppy, and figured that the problem was with the
> > /boot/boot.b file. So I tried to run LILO after chrooting to the mount
> > point. The trouble began when it gave me an error saying:
> > Map segment is too big.
> > Now, everything in the /boot directory seems to have the right size. The
> > partition record seems to be ok because I can mount all the partitions
> with
> > no problem once I boot from the floppy. Is there anything I overlooked?
> Any
> > help would be greatly appreciated. I have slept since this occurred.
> >
> > As usual, thanks in advance,
> > Ravi
> >
> > PS: I cannot go back to 6.2 either because it always hangs at the
> > "Finding packages to upgrade" step.
> >
>
>
>
>
------------------------------
From: Curtis Newton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.hardware,alt.os.linux.suse
Subject: Re: Q: HP 720C in Linux
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 13:53:04 -0700
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Sun, 07 Jan 2001 03:45:24 +1100, root <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>Hi
>
>I am running SuSE Linux 7 and I have an HP Deskjet 720C. Can anyone give
>me some guidance as to how I might get this to work?
>
>Thanks
>tigs
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pnm2ppa/
-
--
===================================
Curtis Newton
cnewton<remove-me>@akamail.com
http://mypage.org/cnewton
===================================
Due to USENET spamming, I had to modify
my reply to email address.
Please delete "remove-me" to reply.
By US Code Title 47, Sec.227(a)(2)(B), a computer/modem/printer meets
the definition of a telephone fax machine. By Sec.227(b)(1)(C), it is
unlawful to send any unsolicited advertisement to such equipment. By
Sec.227(b)(3)(C), a violation of the aforementioned Section is
punishable by action to recover actual monetary loss, or $500, whichever
is greater, for each violation.
------------------------------
From: "Ingo Brand" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
alt.os.linux,alt.uu.comp.os.linux.questions,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: problme with printing from mac to linux via TCP/IP
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 21:56:30 +0100
"Henry Broekhuyse" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:Q6J56.86135$[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> Dave Pooser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> > In article <937i8a$t5$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Ingo Brand
> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> Agreed. Generally, if there is an Appletalk-protocol printer available for
> network printing from a Mac, it is far better to allow the Mac to print
> directly to the printer using Appletalk for all the reasons noted above.
But I don't want the Mac to spool printjob of several hundret MB!!! I think
it is better to let the Linuxbox do the spooling and keep faster working
during that time on the Mac!!! The fact is, that I can't print from the Mac
to the Linuxbox, Neither via netatalk, nor with TCP/IP!!!
------------------------------
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rod Smith)
Subject: Re: Anyone used Partition Magic to increase size of Linux / Partition?
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.questions,aus.computers.linux
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 21:05:46 GMT
[Posted and mailed]
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
"Shane Baker" <sbakerATpcug.org.au> writes:
> Giddy
>
> I'm running out of space, my root partition is the last thing on the drive
> and I have heaps of unused space.
>
> I hear conflicting reports on PM and Linux.
>
> Anyone know for certain whether I can extend my root partition with PM 5.01
> without buggering everything up?
For certain? Absolutely not. Just like I can't say for certain that
you'll be able to cross the street without being hit by a truck
(although your odds are better in the latter case). There are three
main dangers in using PM to resize a Linux partition:
1) It can hose the partition. Badly. To protect against this, make a
backup first. If this is too much trouble, you *NEED* better backup
hardware.
2) It may move the Linux kernel, in which case Linux won't boot. You can
recover from this if you've prepared some alternative way to boot,
such as putting the kernel and LOADLIN.EXE on a DOS boot floppy.
(Test whatever method you use first, though.)
3) The partition numbering might change, in which case your /etc/fstab
file will need editing. If you know you plan to insert or delete a
partition, you can plan for this and do it just before you shut down
and resize, and everything should be fine. There's a small chance
that PM will change the partition numbers even if you just resize,
and don't insert or delete, partitions. In this case, you'll need an
emergency boot procedure so you can edit your /etc/fstab file after
the fact.
#1 is the most serious problem, obviously; problems #2 and #3 are easily
overcome if you're even moderately prepared. Fortunately, problem #1 is
pretty rare, although not unheard-of. Problem #2 is moderately likely if
you're messing with the partition on which the kernel resides (which may
or may not be the root partition). It's more likely if you shrink or
move the partition than if you grow it.
--
Rod Smith, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux & multi-OS configuration
------------------------------
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rod Smith)
Subject: Re: xinetd & inetd
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 21:11:05 GMT
[Posted and mailed]
In article <936l20$h2$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
root <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Hi,
> I just replace my old inetd with xinetd since it
> sounds good. But I failed to telnet to my linux
> box after that.
>
> env: xinetd, RH7, wu_ftp
> err: connection refused when telnet
>
> I have checked that the /etc/services contains
> both ftp and telnet with well known port.
> the config file of xinetd includes /etc/xinetd.d
> and inside /etc/xinetd.d, I can only found wu_ftpd
> and weblinuxconf, but no inetd, should I keep to old
> inetd such that xinetd can run or somethings else.
> If xinetd must live on inetd, why should I use it?
No xinetd is independent of inetd. If you've got an inetd package
installed, shut it down and remove it. Then add a file to /etc/xinetd.d
called telnet. It should contain the following entry:
service telnet
{
flags = REUSE
socket_type = stream
wait = no
user = root
server = /usr/sbin/in.telnetd
log_on_failure += USERID
}
This assumes you've got a Telnet server package installed, with a binary
located at /usr/sbin/in.telnetd. The Telnet server package SHOULD HAVE
installed this file, so it's either not installed or it's an old package
or something from a different distribution that doesn't know about
xinetd and its RH 7 configuration files.
Once you've got this thing configured, restart xinetd by typing:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/xinetd restart
--
Rod Smith, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux & multi-OS configuration
------------------------------
From: "H.A.J. van Niekerk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.networking,redhat.general,redhat.config
Subject: Install RH 6.2 over FTP
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 22:16:34 +0100
Hi,
I'm trying to install RH 6.2 via FTP-floppie on a pc currently running
RH 5.2. The pc is i386, no CDROM, 8MB RAM, nic= NE2000 ISA clone.Nic is
ok, because when I boot RH 5.2 I can connect to and ping everything on
the network. When I boot from FTP-floppie, and choose FTP it says 'ne.o:
device or resource busy'. What is happening here and why?
Thanks,
Huub
------------------------------
From: Tom Voltaggio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.redhat,linux.redhat.install,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: Matrox AGP G450 on Redhat 7 - Can't get X to Start
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 21:31:39 GMT
Thanks for your help. I tried your Config file and can't
get it to load with StartX.
I get messages like Startx can't load because it does not
recognize "InputDevice"!!!!
Are you running Linux 7 out of the box? Have you upgraded
the kernel or anything else?
Which mga_drv.o driver are you using?
Eric Ste-Marie wrote:
>
> benoit mordelet wrote:
>
> > Tom Voltaggio wrote:
> > >
> > > Has anyone gotten Redhat Linux 7 to work with Matrox AGP
> > > G450?
> > > Everything installs and it sees my video card and monitor,
> > > but
> > > it will not give me more than vertical lines or "out of scan
> > > range"
> > > messages on my monitor (a Sony E210). I downloaded the new
> > > driver
> > > from Matrox with no luck. Redhat 7 uses Xfree 4.01.1. I
> > > checked
> > > the monitor scan rates from the specs and have used every
> > > permutation
> > > of scan rates and monitors. No luck.
> > >
> > > Is there any way I can get it to start in plain VGA?
> >
> > a patch against 2.4.0-test13-pre1 kernel has recently been made
> > available to add support for the G450 in matroxfb. thus it may be
> > present in the last 2.4.0 prerelease (I hope because I've also got
> > problems with that card, but I've not yet downloaded a recent kernel).
> >
> > if this works you will be able to run XFree on top of matroxfb (with the
> > FBDev X server).
> >
> > ben
>
> Well I'm working in X with the G450 right now. Are you guys not seeing
> anything at all?
>
> I have it running in 24bits at 1600x1200 and the card works very fine.
>
> once your XF86config file is well configured you start DualHead with
> "startx -- +xinerama"
>
> Also, read carefuly the /var/log/XFree86.0.log file for debugging info.
> This is how I manage to figure it out.
>
> The Chipset on the G450 seems to be G400 so it should work in single screen
> with the generic mga driver shipped with XFree86 4 . But you might
> experience similar problems as I did.
>
> My problems is:
>
> I boot on the first port and when I start X, the output goes to the
> second port. If I exit Xfree, the console stays on the second port. At
> first I tough my computer was crashed but at some point I tried to plug my
> monitor on the second port after I started X only to find out that the
> X was indeed displaying there. This is annoying but I can manage the
> aggravation for now. My monitor has dual port also so I select which port
> I want to use with a single monitor.
>
> I ended up recompiling XFree and the matrox driver before I could figure
> out that X was not showing on the console CRT. A
>
> I used kernel 2.4.0-prerelease with Xfree86 4.0.2 and used matrox's driver
> compiled along with Xfree.
> I enabled agpgart in the kernel. My MB has chipset is viakt133
>
> It's quite straight forward to do.
>
> If anyone can help with the wrong port output please email me.
>
> If anyone needs help just using the card (even on the wrong port ;)) email
> me, i'll try to help you.
>
> I hope this helps,
>
> -Eric
>
> For your info, here's my XF86Config file:
> ==========================
>
> Section "Files"
> RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
> ModulePath "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"
> FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
> FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
> FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
> FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"
> FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
> FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Module"
> Load "extmod"
> Load "xie"
> Load "pex5"
> Load "glx"
> Load "dri"
> Load "GLcore"
> Load "dbe"
> Load "record"
> EndSection
>
> Section "InputDevice"
> Identifier "Keyboard0"
> Driver "keyboard"
> EndSection
>
> Section "InputDevice"
> Identifier "Mouse0"
> Driver "mouse"
> Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
> Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
> Option "Emulate3Buttons"
> Option "Emulate3Timeout" "50"
> EndSection
>
> Section "Monitor"
> Identifier "Monitor0"
> VendorName "IBM"
> ModelName "p202"
> HorizSync 30.0 - 107.0
> VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
> EndSection
>
> Section "Monitor"
> Identifier "Monitor1"
> VendorName "IBM"
> ModelName "p202"
> HorizSync 30.0 - 107.0
> VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
> EndSection
>
> Section "Device"
> ### Available Driver options are:-
> #Option "SWcursor"
> #Option "HWcursor"
> #Option "PciRetry"
> #Option "SyncOnGreen"
> #Option "NoAccel"
> #Option "ShowCache"
> #Option "Overlay"
> #Option "MGASDRAM"
> #Option "ShadowFB"
> #Option "UseFBDev"
> #Option "ColorKey"
> #Option "SetMclk"
> #Option "OverclockMem"
> #Option "VideoKey"
> #Option "Rotate"
> #Option "TexturedVideo"
> #Option "XAALines"
> #Option "Crtc2Half"
> #Option "DigitalScreen"
> #Option "Tv"
> #Option "TVStandard"
> #Option "CableType"
> Identifier "G450-0"
> Driver "mga"
> VendorName "Matrox"
> BoardName "MGA G450 AGP"
> BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
> Screen 0
> EndSection
>
> Section "Device"
> ### Available Driver options are:-
> #Option "SWcursor"
> #Option "HWcursor"
> #Option "PciRetry"
> #Option "SyncOnGreen"
> #Option "NoAccel"
> #Option "ShowCache"
> #Option "Overlay"
> #Option "MGASDRAM"
> #Option "ShadowFB"
> #Option "UseFBDev"
> #Option "ColorKey"
> #Option "SetMclk"
> #Option "OverclockMem"
> #Option "VideoKey"
> #Option "Rotate"
> #Option "TexturedVideo"
> #Option "XAALines"
> #Option "Crtc2Half"
> #Option "DigitalScreen"
> #Option "Tv"
> #Option "TVStandard"
> #Option "CableType"
> Identifier "G450-1"
> Driver "mga"
> VendorName "Matrox"
> BoardName "MGA G450 AGP"
> BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
> Screen 1
> EndSection
> Section "Screen"
> Identifier "Screen 0"
> Device "G450-0"
> Monitor "Monitor0"
> DefaultDepth 24
> Subsection "Display"
> Depth 8
> Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600"
> EndSubSection
> Subsection "Display"
> Depth 16
> Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600"
> EndSubSection
> SubSection "Display"
> Depth 24
> Modes "1600x1200"
> EndSubSection
>
> EndSection
> Section "Screen"
> Identifier "Screen 1"
> Device "G450-1"
> Monitor "Monitor1"
> DefaultDepth 24
> Subsection "Display"
> Depth 8
> Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600"
> EndSubSection
> Subsection "Display"
> Depth 16
> Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600"
> EndSubSection
> SubSection "Display"
> Depth 24
> Modes "1600x1200"
> EndSubSection
> EndSection
>
> Section "ServerLayout"
> Identifier "Simple Layout"
> Screen "Screen 0" LeftOf "Screen 1"
> Screen "Screen 1"
> Option "Xinerama"
> InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
> InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
> EndSection
>
> Section "DRI"
> EndSection
> ==========================
------------------------------
From: Tom Voltaggio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.redhat,linux.redhat.install,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Matrox AGP G450 doesn't work in Redhat .. Does the G400?
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2001 21:34:05 GMT
I'm bummed about not getting my Matrox G450 AGP 16 Meg Video
card
to work in Redhat 7. Does the G400 work with no fuss?
------------------------------
From: Shane Phelps <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To:
alt.os.linux,comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.linux.security,comp.os.linux.development.systems,comp.os.linux.hardware
Subject: Re: Remote Kiosk Web Application Administration
Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2001 08:43:00 +1100
Hmmmm, free consulting :-)
Isn't the money in Open Source supposed to come from consulting services?
Well, here goes. Remember, free advice is worth what you pay for it..
Knowledge Seeker wrote:
>
> Need help with a new assignment. Company wants to distribute systems
> (kiosk-like) to about 10,000 locations throughout the US. These
I can't get over the *scale* of some of the US deployments. AWESOME!!
> systems would include a printer as well as the CPU and monitor. The
> systems would allow semi-captive audience customers to retrieve static
> pages as well as video/audio stored locally (application is therefore
> a fat client) of content pertinent to the customer interest (via a
> nice easy to use menu). (Probably similar to systems available at
> many public libraries but specific content would also be different
> from libraries). In addition we want the kiosks to allow customers to
> retrieve content not stored locally via the Internet. So the kiosks
> need a (probably broadband?) connection to the net.
>
> What issues should we expect to encounter?? What solutions exist to
> those issues??
>
> 1. Permission for the placement of the kiosk is not a problem nor is
> physical security at the sites.
> 2. What about electronic security??
I assume you're not worried about EMF from atmospheric H-bombs,
so you should just need a decent UPS (say 20 min standby) and a
line filter for the 'net conection.
> 3. Generation of pertinent content is not a problem but surely there
> are issues surrounding delivery of said content (i.e. update of 10,000
> remote locations)?? Content might change each week. What are
> practical alternatives??
a. Squid with a *big* cache
b. rsync, cvsup or sup (remote upgrade packages). Set the client
boxes to try to pick up changes every couple of hours overnight.
For that scale, you'd need to run a farm of servers which all sync
themselves to a master. The number of servers will depend very
heavily on the number of files and the amount of data to transfer.
> 4. What are the communications issues?? How to solve them??
Depends on how much you want to spend. Small routers are cheap
and nearly bulletproof. Run a cat-5 crossover between the client
and the router, and let the router do all the comms work.
You might have a bit of fun seting up the routing, though.
> 5. What are the hardware failure issues?? How to solve them??
Keep the number of boxes down and buy quality hardware. Run
monitoring software and / or have somebody on-site contact
your help desk if something falls over. You *could* cluster
at each of your kiosks, but this is generally not cost-effective.
Sign a maintenance contract with a *big* organisation (Getronics,
Unisys, etc) for hardware swapout in the event of failure.
Price goes up as response time goes down!
> 6. What are the application software upgrade issues?? How to solve
> them??
See 3.
> 7. Hardware is intel based. Would Linux or NT/W2000 be the better
> operating system for this kind of application??
Has this been definitely decided? I would seriously consider
Sun's Ultra5. You'll get a *great* deal on that quantity, and
they're a very robust box.
If it's definitely Intel, Linux / *BSD is more robust than W2K.
OS selection boils down to how well the application runs on the
platform.
> 8. If the operating system has a problem, how do we fix and reboot??
Linux / *BSD shouldn't cause any problems, but the WM may be
less stable. You could kill the WM weekly on a cron job if
necessary. Absolutely, definitely, positively run sshd on the
clients - compile with tcp wrappers, use a minimal /etc/hosts with
at least your critical central hosts (avoid using DNS if possible)
and trust at least 1 of your central hosts.
NT is nowhere near as stable as Linux / *BSD, so look at automating
a reboot at least weekly (possibley nightly). W2K is supposed to
be much more stable than NT but I only have limited experience
with W2K. Use ssh with NT as well, but NT's remote admin is more
limited.
> 9. Since most of the content is static there does not seem to be a big
> need for a big DB (at least for content). However, we do want to
> capture customer demographics and store them in a DB at a central
> host. Which DB?? And do all 10,000 kiosks "phone home" each night to
> deliver data or does the host initiate a contact to each remote
> station each night to pull data??
Depends what's at the back end. I assume you're using a big Sun
or HP or IBM box, but that's just a guess. Oracle is very capable
and runs on virtually everything, but it's not cheap. Sybase is
in the same league. PostgreSQL is quite good, but not really in
the same league. I've been at a mostly Oracle site for ages, so
I'm out of touch on the RDBMS front.
My preference is always for the central site to initiate data
pickup, using ssh/scp. Given the sheer volume, you should look
at using your upgrade distribution boxes to do the pickups.
The distribution boxes could update the DB directly, or for the
really paranoid you could get the central DB server to pick up
from the distribution boxes.
>
> Other issues??
>
Seriously consider using touch screens. It makes it much harder
for the customers to cause any problems :-)
> --
> eCommerce Knowledge Seeker
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