Re: some problems with ELKS 079
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > first of all, sorry for this awful mailer. Banyan BeyondMail at office. > then: > I'll try again with the comb-making-procedure. if you say it works, it has to > work here too! maybe I missed some error message. > > to the points: > (1: init) maybe I could help somehow? Is there a real reason why init isn't > yet able to do scripting? The code has just not been written. If you want to have a go, please do. Basically the init code needs to be modified to use an inittab file to tell it which ttys to open, and to run /etc/rc as a /bin/sh script before it does this (if it exists). > > (2: mount) I tried to set mount suid root, but it complains all the same. ls > -l gives (more or less, I'm not at my machine at home) > -rwsr-x mount Our version of mount does not have these features yet. Come to think of it we don't have any kind of fstab. This kind of links into writing the rc script stuff. > > (3: user[0-5]) it wasn't this easy. I will try again and give you the exact > problems linked with this. anyhow, it was easier to keep them! > > (4: login) as soon as I have some time, this will be the first thing I'll look > into. it would be nice if the password wasn't echoed, though. That can be done, see sys_utils/getpass.c for details. > > (5: elvis crashes) I see. I'm kind of busy with setting up mail on my > linux-box, as soon as that works, and is documented, I'll have a look at your > elvis. I'm afraid it must be quite a lot of work, finding and correcting the > remaining problems. I have the feeling it has to do with accessing the > temporary file. can you point me to some documentation of the structure of > this software? > > (6: rm /tmp/*) no, I can't do that even with /bin/sh. I knew of the sash > limitation. I notice the problem when elvis crashes and I can't remove the > temporaries if I don't specify them explicitly. I otherwise rarely have to > remove files. I'll run some more tests. See if you can reliably reproduce the problems, and describe what circumstances trigger it. I have been able to use wildcards fairly reliably. > > (7: dosemu+elks) did anyone try this? from an X session, using dosemu 0.98-8, > boot elks with `xdos -A'. does your cursor flash at the login prompt or > somewhere above it? > I have never tries dosemu for running ELKS, as I have pcemu which seems to be more realistic as a target. Al
Re: some problems with ELKS 079
first of all, sorry for this awful mailer. Banyan BeyondMail at office. then: I'll try again with the comb-making-procedure. if you say it works, it has to work here too! maybe I missed some error message. to the points: (1: init) maybe I could help somehow? Is there a real reason why init isn't yet able to do scripting? (2: mount) I tried to set mount suid root, but it complains all the same. ls -l gives (more or less, I'm not at my machine at home) -rwsr-x mount (3: user[0-5]) it wasn't this easy. I will try again and give you the exact problems linked with this. anyhow, it was easier to keep them! (4: login) as soon as I have some time, this will be the first thing I'll look into. it would be nice if the password wasn't echoed, though. (5: elvis crashes) I see. I'm kind of busy with setting up mail on my linux-box, as soon as that works, and is documented, I'll have a look at your elvis. I'm afraid it must be quite a lot of work, finding and correcting the remaining problems. I have the feeling it has to do with accessing the temporary file. can you point me to some documentation of the structure of this software? (6: rm /tmp/*) no, I can't do that even with /bin/sh. I knew of the sash limitation. I notice the problem when elvis crashes and I can't remove the temporaries if I don't specify them explicitly. I otherwise rarely have to remove files. I'll run some more tests. (7: dosemu+elks) did anyone try this? from an X session, using dosemu 0.98-8, boot elks with `xdos -A'. does your cursor flash at the login prompt or somewhere above it? regards, Mario. -- Original Text -- From: "Alistair Riddoch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, on 28-10-1999 16.18: [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > Hallo everyone, > I found a few problems installing/using ELKS on an Amstrad PPC640 and I could > not solve all of them. I also have some additional trouble in a xdos window > (dosemu 0.98-8). > Here is a description of what I did and which problems I encountered, I did not > find the solution in the documentation. > first of all, I downloaded ELKS and dev86 (did I download anything more? can't > recall). anyhow, I compiled the kernel and put it on a floppy according to the > documentation. This all worked very well. At this stage my PPC was asking for > a root filesystem to mount but I could not execute all steps leading to a > mountable one. after a few evenings trying, reading, thinking and retrying I > settled for the solution already present in 'comb', included in the images > zipfile. is there an easy way to produce it automagically here? You can build these images semi-automatically from the elkscmd package. You will need to download the latest elkscmd which is on the main ftp site in ftp://ftp.ecs.soton.ac.uk/pub/elks/elkscmd. Upack it and build its contents by doing a normal make. Then become root and type 'make comb' and it will create a comb disc image. You may have to edit Make.defs and change some of the top three lines so they point to the right place. > Well, after downloading the images zipfile and copying the comb on a 720kb > diskette, I was able to boot ELKS (but I call it Linuxino, a self explaining > term to my friends) on my almost forgotten PPC640. > now the problems: > 1) I haven't got any electric memory in that system, so it always starts timing > at 1970-01-01(0:00). Isn't this a common problem on such old systems? can a > question be added into init so that if it sees that the date isn't set, it > prompts for it? It should not take much more than 120 bytes, I guess. The init process is far from complete. In a more complete system init would run a script which sets up the system. The job of making sure the system time is correct is this scripts. > 2) as a user, I can't mount /dev/fd1. I have to do it as root. This is a normal UNIX/Linux feature. User mounting of floppy drives is achieved by having mount suid root, and adding features to mount so it can work out whether a non-root user should be able to perform mounts. > 3) how do I get rid of user[1-6]? I don't need them!!! Open the passwd file with the editor (vi on the root disk) and delete the lines. > 4) I would like to have passwords, I compiled passwd for elks but the changes > it makes to /etc/passwd make that file unusable to login. do I need a different > login? if so, I'm back to the root filesystem problem. You should by now be able to build individual programs and install them onto your root disk from a Linux machine. Check the source to login (elkscmd/sysutils/login.c) and see whether tho code to check passwords is complete. The fault could be in passwd(1), login(1) or in the libc crypt() functions. If you make any progress, please report back with your changes and I will merge them into the next release. Does passwd corrupt the passwd file, or is it just a case of login doesn't work once a password has been set? (Note:- use the user? accounts to test this, this is what they a
RE: some problems with ELKS 079
On Friday, October 29, 1999 1:39 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] wrote: : I'm sorry for having caused this confusion: the correct version of my (7) is: : : 7) (this is specific to xdos (dosemu)) the cursor keeps blinking at one : position on the screen, around (0,19). I can do whatever I want, everything : works but the cursor stays there. [the console version of dosemu does better]. : this problem is not present if I boot MSDOS. : : the first parenthesized sentence was included in the original message, but it : was not clearly linked to problem (7). : : so: ELKS does quite good under the PPC640, this problem comest to light if I : test it (ELKS) under the X version of dosemu (xdos). Perhaps you're running the gpm mouse driver, for X in another virtual console. Kill gpm by typing "gpm -k". It will run a text mode cursor in text mode, and a graphics one in graphics mode. gh
Re: some problems with ELKS 079
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > I'm sorry for having caused this confusion: the correct version of my (7) is: > > 7) (this is specific to xdos (dosemu)) the cursor keeps blinking at one > position on the screen, around (0,19). I can do whatever I want, everything > works but the cursor stays there. [the console version of dosemu does better]. > this problem is not present if I boot MSDOS. > > the first parenthesized sentence was included in the original message, but it > was not clearly linked to problem (7). > > so: ELKS does quite good under the PPC640, this problem comest to light if I > test it (ELKS) under the X version of dosemu (xdos). > Okay, that sounds easier to solve. I have witnessed a similar problem with pcemu. In this case the cursor hangs on the far left of the screen about half way up, flashing but totally stationary. Al
Re: some problems with ELKS 079
Greg Haerr writes: > > > > > > 5) I compiled elvis and it does run. well, this is a bit of an > exaggeration: > > > undo doesn't work and sometimes I have to kill the process from my root > > > session. after this, I get no more echo to the console where I was > running > > > elvis. I can do exit and login again. > > > > elvis is stalled mid port. I got it to the stage where it kind of ran, > then > > released it. The problems could be because elvis is not yet fully ported, > > or it could be bugs in ELKS. > > In my last elkscmds submission, makefile changes were made so that > the visual editors could be run under elksemu, as well as compiled > directly on Linux. In certain cases, the editor's didn't run on Linux > either. > I ported a couple more visual editors in elkscmd, try them out as well. > > > + seg cs > > mov ax, stashed_irq > > or ax,ax > > jz irq0_bios > > Al - so this was the floppy disk drive bug? I can see why > it changed whenever a few bytes more or less were added to ELKS... > Glad you found it! > Before the seg cs line was added, the code was fetching the variable stashed_irq from whatever data segment was set when the timer interrupt occured. I guess this was most often the kernel data segment. It appears that whether this value was 0 or non-zero depended on where in the data segment it was, so if the data was shifted slightly by adding a byte to the right place it ended up pointing at a different value. Sometime this value was 0, so the code worked, sometimes it wasn't, and it didn't. Al
Re: some problems with ELKS 079
I'm sorry for having caused this confusion: the correct version of my (7) is: 7) (this is specific to xdos (dosemu)) the cursor keeps blinking at one position on the screen, around (0,19). I can do whatever I want, everything works but the cursor stays there. [the console version of dosemu does better]. this problem is not present if I boot MSDOS. the first parenthesized sentence was included in the original message, but it was not clearly linked to problem (7). so: ELKS does quite good under the PPC640, this problem comest to light if I test it (ELKS) under the X version of dosemu (xdos). -- Original Text -- From: "Alistair Riddoch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, on 28-10-1999 20.26: Chris Starling writes: > > > > 7) the cursor keeps blinking at one position on the screen, around (0,19). I > > > can do whatever I want, everything works but the cursor stays there. [the > > > console version of dosemu does better]. this problem is not present if I boot > > > MSDOS. > > > > Sounds as though this is a problem caused by some slight difference in the > > Amstrad hardware. Anyone know why this might happen? > > I'll see if I can reproduct it on my Amstrad PPC640. Is there a > specific thing that you can do to cause it to happen? I've booted > ELKS on my PPC640 and it seemd ok, but I've never used it very > much on there, since it doesn't have a hard drive and my Compaq > SLT/286 does. I probably won't get to play with it until this > weekend, though. > > However, the PPC640 is cool indeed. It's the only PC-compatable > portable that I know of that runs off of stock "comodity" batteries > (10 C cells). I've been thinking it'd be cool to build a solar panel for > it. > I have just realised I used to use one of these as my ELKS test machine. Don't remember there being a problem with the cursor then. I have lent mine to someone at the moment. If it is confirmed to be a problem on that machine, I will get it back while the problem is sorted. Al
Re: some problems with ELKS 079
> > > 5) I compiled elvis and it does run. well, this is a bit of an exaggeration: > > undo doesn't work and sometimes I have to kill the process from my root > > session. after this, I get no more echo to the console where I was running > > elvis. I can do exit and login again. > > elvis is stalled mid port. I got it to the stage where it kind of ran, then > released it. The problems could be because elvis is not yet fully ported, > or it could be bugs in ELKS. In my last elkscmds submission, makefile changes were made so that the visual editors could be run under elksemu, as well as compiled directly on Linux. In certain cases, the editor's didn't run on Linux either. I ported a couple more visual editors in elkscmd, try them out as well. > + seg cs > mov ax, stashed_irq > or ax,ax > jz irq0_bios Al - so this was the floppy disk drive bug? I can see why it changed whenever a few bytes more or less were added to ELKS... Glad you found it! Greg
Re: some problems with ELKS 079
Chris Starling writes: > > > > 7) the cursor keeps blinking at one position on the screen, around (0,19). I > > > can do whatever I want, everything works but the cursor stays there. [the > > > console version of dosemu does better]. this problem is not present if I boot > > > MSDOS. > > > > Sounds as though this is a problem caused by some slight difference in the > > Amstrad hardware. Anyone know why this might happen? > > I'll see if I can reproduct it on my Amstrad PPC640. Is there a > specific thing that you can do to cause it to happen? I've booted > ELKS on my PPC640 and it seemd ok, but I've never used it very > much on there, since it doesn't have a hard drive and my Compaq > SLT/286 does. I probably won't get to play with it until this > weekend, though. > > However, the PPC640 is cool indeed. It's the only PC-compatable > portable that I know of that runs off of stock "comodity" batteries > (10 C cells). I've been thinking it'd be cool to build a solar panel for > it. > I have just realised I used to use one of these as my ELKS test machine. Don't remember there being a problem with the cursor then. I have lent mine to someone at the moment. If it is confirmed to be a problem on that machine, I will get it back while the problem is sorted. Al
Re: some problems with ELKS 079
> > 7) the cursor keeps blinking at one position on the screen, around (0,19). I > > can do whatever I want, everything works but the cursor stays there. [the > > console version of dosemu does better]. this problem is not present if I boot > > MSDOS. > > Sounds as though this is a problem caused by some slight difference in the > Amstrad hardware. Anyone know why this might happen? I'll see if I can reproduct it on my Amstrad PPC640. Is there a specific thing that you can do to cause it to happen? I've booted ELKS on my PPC640 and it seemd ok, but I've never used it very much on there, since it doesn't have a hard drive and my Compaq SLT/286 does. I probably won't get to play with it until this weekend, though. However, the PPC640 is cool indeed. It's the only PC-compatable portable that I know of that runs off of stock "comodity" batteries (10 C cells). I've been thinking it'd be cool to build a solar panel for it. -c
Re: some problems with ELKS 079
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > Hallo everyone, > I found a few problems installing/using ELKS on an Amstrad PPC640 and I could > not solve all of them. I also have some additional trouble in a xdos window > (dosemu 0.98-8). > Here is a description of what I did and which problems I encountered, I did not > find the solution in the documentation. > first of all, I downloaded ELKS and dev86 (did I download anything more? can't > recall). anyhow, I compiled the kernel and put it on a floppy according to the > documentation. This all worked very well. At this stage my PPC was asking for > a root filesystem to mount but I could not execute all steps leading to a > mountable one. after a few evenings trying, reading, thinking and retrying I > settled for the solution already present in 'comb', included in the images > zipfile. is there an easy way to produce it automagically here? You can build these images semi-automatically from the elkscmd package. You will need to download the latest elkscmd which is on the main ftp site in ftp://ftp.ecs.soton.ac.uk/pub/elks/elkscmd. Upack it and build its contents by doing a normal make. Then become root and type 'make comb' and it will create a comb disc image. You may have to edit Make.defs and change some of the top three lines so they point to the right place. > Well, after downloading the images zipfile and copying the comb on a 720kb > diskette, I was able to boot ELKS (but I call it Linuxino, a self explaining > term to my friends) on my almost forgotten PPC640. > now the problems: > 1) I haven't got any electric memory in that system, so it always starts timing > at 1970-01-01(0:00). Isn't this a common problem on such old systems? can a > question be added into init so that if it sees that the date isn't set, it > prompts for it? It should not take much more than 120 bytes, I guess. The init process is far from complete. In a more complete system init would run a script which sets up the system. The job of making sure the system time is correct is this scripts. > 2) as a user, I can't mount /dev/fd1. I have to do it as root. This is a normal UNIX/Linux feature. User mounting of floppy drives is achieved by having mount suid root, and adding features to mount so it can work out whether a non-root user should be able to perform mounts. > 3) how do I get rid of user[1-6]? I don't need them!!! Open the passwd file with the editor (vi on the root disk) and delete the lines. > 4) I would like to have passwords, I compiled passwd for elks but the changes > it makes to /etc/passwd make that file unusable to login. do I need a different > login? if so, I'm back to the root filesystem problem. You should by now be able to build individual programs and install them onto your root disk from a Linux machine. Check the source to login (elkscmd/sysutils/login.c) and see whether tho code to check passwords is complete. The fault could be in passwd(1), login(1) or in the libc crypt() functions. If you make any progress, please report back with your changes and I will merge them into the next release. Does passwd corrupt the passwd file, or is it just a case of login doesn't work once a password has been set? (Note:- use the user? accounts to test this, this is what they are for) > 5) I compiled elvis and it does run. well, this is a bit of an exaggeration: > undo doesn't work and sometimes I have to kill the process from my root > session. after this, I get no more echo to the console where I was running > elvis. I can do exit and login again. elvis is stalled mid port. I got it to the stage where it kind of ran, then released it. The problems could be because elvis is not yet fully ported, or it could be bugs in ELKS. All the time I have is currently taken up with working on the kernel, so I am not likely to make progress on this myself anytime soon, but I will integrate any patches I get sent which work. > 6) I can't use wildcards when removing files. > this is specific to xdos (dosemu): The default root shell (/bin/sash) does not have wildcard support. /bin/sh is slightly less stable and bigger than sash, so it is not the defautl root shell, but it has all the standard bourne shell features. > 7) the cursor keeps blinking at one position on the screen, around (0,19). I > can do whatever I want, everything works but the cursor stays there. [the > console version of dosemu does better]. this problem is not present if I boot > MSDOS. Sounds as though this is a problem caused by some slight difference in the Amstrad hardware. Anyone know why this might happen? > > I read that the problem with ever spinning drives was fixed. this might be a > good reason to download the new version. The new version will be available soon, but if you can't wait, here is the patch which needs to be applied to arch/i86/kernel/irqtab.c. --- irqtab.c1998/11/11 15:46:44 1.2 +++ irqtab.c1999/10/26 13:50:50 1.3 @@ -521,6 +521,7 @@ pop bx p
