Linux Gazette MailBag Issue #26

#### "Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

## The Mailbag! Write the Gazette at gazette@ssc.com | ### Contents: Help Wanted -- Article Ideas General Mail

### Help Wanted -- Article Ideas

Date: Sun, 01 Feb 1998 21:43:23 -0800
From: Bradley Akey, bakey@slip.net
Subject: Creative Labs SB-16 & Sony CDU76E-S

I am attempting to install RedHAt Linux ver 4.2 from a Sony CDU-76E-S CD-ROm connected to a Sound Blaster 16 via an IDE interface at base io 0x1E8, IRQ 15. Waht is the correct boot parameter to get this CD-ROM to function properley

Date: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 08:25:32 -0500 (EST)
From: Michael Stutz, stutz@dsl.org
Subject: Help Wanted: recording audio data

Is there any way to read and save the data that is currently being played by the soundcard, regardless of the sound source?

(There is a program in alpha which does this called paudio, at http://web.syr.edu/~jdimpson/proj/. It creates a readable /proc/audio -- but I haven't yet gotten it to work with the OSS-compatible driver produced by the Linux Ultrasound Project which I use.)

Michael Stutz

Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 14:18:49 -0500
From: Todd Blake, tbb@enterprise.aacc.cc.md.us
Subject: Help Wanted

I like most people am the only person to use my linux system at home. What I'd like to do is when my system is done booting to have me automatically login as my main user account(not as root though) on one virtual console(the first) and leave all other consoles and virtual consoles alone, so that someone telnetting in will get a login prompt like normal, just that I won't. I'd still like the other vc's have login's for others to login and other reasons. I've tried just putting /bin/sh in /etc/inittab and that didn't work, and I'm stumped. Does anyone have any ideas on this?

Todd Blake

Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 17:47:08 -0600
From: peter smith, psmith@computek.net
Subject: Problems with Linux through Wingate Socks

I'm having a few problems accessing the internet through Wingate v2.0 on my Windows95 machine using my Linux Redhat 4.2 installation. I've had this SOCKS server set-up for quite some time on my internet dial-out machine and have previously had no problems accessing the internet through this server via my second machine's installation of Windows95 or even WindowsNT. The problem is directly related to DNS lookups. If I access a domain-name from my Linux machine that seems to get redirected, I will receive an error that the DNS address does not exist. For instance, if I attempt to open the web page http://www.kernel.org (which gets redirected to http://linux.kernel.org) my browser (Netscape v4.04 for Linux 2.0* i386 rpm) reports a DNS error. However if I instead attempt to open the redirected web page http://linux.kernel.org my browser will open it ok, without error. I'm baffled by this behavior and have tried a number of different things! I can provide more detailed information if needed. Thanks in advance to any who try to help! ;)

I love Linux Gazette and have a great time browsing all the cool suggestions and tips! Keep up the ideas and info!

PeterS

Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 19:04:42 -0500
From: Melmac88, smegan@erols.com
Subject: Shadow passwords

Can someone do a clear explanation on how to set up a shadow password file, and exactly how it works? I've seen this recommended for security purposes in many books and articles, but there never seems to be an explanation on how to do this.

Date: Wed, 09 Dec 1998 04:38:06 -0900
From: David Lev, dlev@polarnet.com
Subject: my dual pentium

My name is David Lev, I have a problem with my second CPU.

I am currently using a Caldera OpenLinux Standard with Kernel (2.0.29-2). After I install the system I try to enable the 2 CPU and my computer FREEZE or I loss my DeskTop and it takes for ever to do one process. but with one CPU the computer work fine no problems at all. I ask for your help. If you can help me also on how to enable 2 modems and run them as one.

My computer content:

    ATX Dual Motherboard - GA-586DX with SCSI on board
    Adaptec 7880
    CPU - 2x 233MMX Pentium
    128M RAM EDO
    2x 3.1G HDD - W.D - IDE
    2x 8X CD-ROM - IDE
    2x 56K Modem
    ESS Sound card

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 15:00:34 EST
From: Andreas M. Weiner, HGuAWeiner@aol.com
Subject: Linux and AMD K6 Processor - any Problems?

This is my hardware configuration. Support answered that there would be problems with using the K6 with Linux; for instance a crash.

What dou you know about this problem ?
Could you send me a some informations to solve this problem ?
Are there Kernel patches available ?

I'm looking forward of getting the answers from you

Andreas M. Weiner

Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 10:26:36 -0800
From: David, elvii@writeme.com
Subject: X without a Mouse?

Been searching around the net and ldp, and can't seem to find anything on this one. Trying to be able to use X WITHOUT a mouse. Yes, I know, it works bets with a mouse, but I'd like to be able to get at least limited x funcationality without it. Any help is greatly appreciated, and being waited. Also, is there any was to do mouse emulation without a mouse? I found a program that translated ps/2 to a standard serial mouse, for before x supported ps/2, i assume... anyone know if a program has been written to allow the keypad to do mouse, ie, translate keypad input to /dev/mouse? Thanks for your time, hoping some kind linux guru's out there can help. :)

David

Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 21:59:04 -0700
From: Todd Jamison, jamisont@littoneos.com
Subject: Help with Sound Card

I currently am running RedHat 5.0 on a Pentium 150 W/48 MB Ram. I = cannot get my ESS ES1868 plug and play sound card to work. I am very = new to linux and am still learning. If anyone can help me i would = really appreciate it.

Todd

Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 16:41:49 -0600
From: John Gorman, John.H.Gorman@MCI.Com
Subject: HP4 & font

I just installed a HP LaserJet 4L on RedHat 4.2 Intel and when I print postscript (from emacs, etc), it prints at about a size 24 font. How to I set my font where I want it.

Thanks

John Gorman

Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 08:46:12 +0100
From: Jeroen Bulters, jbulters@scoutnet.nl
Subject: Changing XDM windows

Can I change the XDM login window/screen? I have a cool house logo so i want to use it in my own Home Network. And at my school they want to know to so. Is it possible. If yes, how? If no, WHY NOT.

Jeroen Bulters, The netherlands

Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 01:36:30 +0000
From: Mackenzie St. Louis, mstlouis@tiac.net
Subject: New Motherboards

A lot of motherboards have been coming out lately with built in graphics and sound. Any plans to cover them. I just bought a TX-Pro-II board with graphics and sound. However I think I will be returning it since I can't get the sound to work. It has a SoundPro chip. Can not also get XFree 3.3.1 to run properly. It will only come in 8 bit 320x200, even though the graphic chip is supposed to be AGP. If you could point out where I can get some info. I would gladly write an article for the Gazette in case any else comes across this same problem. Please email me with any info or questions.

Date: Tue, 24 Feb 1998 16:28:09 -0800
From: chewey nougat, daiger@usc.edu
Subject: HELP-Installing Linux on a FAT32 Drive

I'm interested in installing linux on a machine I built recently, but = when I installed Win95(b), I idiotically opted to format the drive using = FAT32, which in a 95-only environment is great, but linux can't read it = for greek.

I've looked around for utilities to effectively un-FAT32 the drive, = which I will then partition with Partition Magic to use the freespace as = a native ext2 partition, etc., but am having little luck. Reformating is = a disheartening prospect I would rather not face, but am fully prepared = to do so if I don't find any help here.

much thanks,
nate daiger

Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 13:47:06 -0500
From: Brian O. Bush, bbush@xtdl.com
Subject: question on motor control

Does anyone know how to interface and control two motors from a Linux box? I am looking for a simple solution (in circuit at least).

Thanks,
Brian

Date: Fri, 27 Feb 98 14:16:13 -0500
From: Bill R. Williams, brw@ETSU.Edu
Subject: Wanting HELP!

First off: I can *not* believe I am the only one bitten by this.

In the process of getting a System installed I upgraded from the original CD-ROM install of (Intel) RedHat 4.2 to the new RedHat 5.0 CD-ROM. One of the significant items on this system is the mars-nwe Netware emulator.

Under the RedHat 4.2 with mars-nwe 0.98pl8-1 the mars package ran fine, but logged copious errors about there being "too many connections -- increase the number in config.h". But it ran, and I *liked* the way it happily did Netware duties! (Especially the printer part.)

The *new* RedHat 5.0 with mars-nwe 0.99pl2-1 offered some very desirable abilities, not the least of which is the move of some items (such as number of connections) to the run-time config file (/etc/nwserv.conf under RedHat, probably nw.ini on other distributions.) Now the bad news...

Of lesser, but still irritating, importance is the fact that the mars package won't shutdown without some hard kills. This may be related to the really important problem which is:

This new package spawns out nwconn processes with an empty parenthesis as the last token instead of the USERID ('nwconn ... ()') until all connection slots are eaten, and then, of course, will not recognize any new attempts. Any users already logged into the nwserv(ice) are Ok.

Since I am neither a Netware guru nor a mars guru I can only hazard a guess, but since the nwconn(s) are children of the ncpserv daemon I suspect that ncpserv is the source of the troubles.

I have tried every combination of parameter twiddling in the run-time config file that can think of, but to no avail.

One thing I have noticed, the 2.0.32 linux kernel /usr/src/linux/.config no longer has the 'CONFIG_IPX_INTERN' setting (should be unset according to mars-nwe docs) which existed in 2.0.27. This may or may not have anything to do with the problem. Checking the kernel sources, it appears that the RedHat rpm of the 2.0.32 kernel has the mars patches incorporated into the source.

Anyone who has solved this problem, please share the secret.

BTW: I attempted resolution through the RedHat Support system as a registered RedHat customer, and if anybody wants a good laugh I'll be happy to share the "circle of correspondence" from RedHat support. I did learn from the attempt that no *human* at RedHat actually ever sees the E-Mail to the support team or 'Bugs' team. (The "auto answer" mechanism will get right back to you, though, and tell you not to expect an answer.)

As I said, I can *not* believe I am the only one bitten by this, because I've looked on the news groups and seen several posts with "Mars and RedHat 5.0" in the Subject fields. These were all on the French os.linux.... lists, and unfortunately I do not read French!

Sorry for the rambling on...
Bill R. Williams

Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 13:03:24 +0100 (CET)
From: Manfred Lemke, lema0019@FH-Karlsruhe.DE
Subject: Support for IBM Ethernet card?

I'm frantically searching for some kind of support for IBM's LAN Adapter/A for Ethernet. Does any of you know of a driver in the Linux Kernel that works?

Best regards and thanks in advance,

Manfred Lemke

### General Mail

Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 00:09:33 +0100 (MET)
From: Radoslav Dejanovic, rdejanov@public.srce.
Subject: Linux Journalists International

Linux Journalists International is an effort to make a meeting point for journalists who use Linux or simply write about it. It is also a place where other journalists and other people can take a look what is going on with Linux and media that supports it. There will be info pages about magazines/media and journalists who use Linux and/or write about Linux & related software.

I am editor in one croatian computer magazine (http://www.pcchip.hr) and this is my effort to give the Linux community something that lacks: popularity in media and a chance to boost media coverage of Linux. The homepage is at http://www.purger.com/~rado/lji.html - please take a look at it. LJ and LG are the strongest "Linux inside" media :), so your support in this project is essential.

Rado

Date: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 10:02:08 -0500 (EST)
From: Paul Lussier, plussier@LanCity.COM
Subject: Retraction Re: Linux and routing

It was just called to my attention that this came across a little to strongly and I'd like to clarify what I had previously written.

On Tue, 6 Jan 1998, I wrote:

> Some words of caution. DO NOT HAVE YOUR LAN CONNECTED AT THE TIME OF THE CABLE MODEM INSTALLATION!!!! [Comapany names removed], and most of the other cable companies (we deal with them all here) will refuse to connect a LAN to their broadband network. Simply remove your hub or coax cable from view, and let them do what they need to do, then connect everything else up after they leave.

This was probably a little of an overstatement. I know only of 1 company that has this as a policy, but have heard of people having problems with some of the others. I have even recently been informed of one company that is *quite* Linux friendly and will "encourage the use of Linux as firewall/routers" as well as "allow and assist individuals & companies to setup there own Web servers, either at their permises or ours. We offer web hosting and will assist in registering a domain name". So, I obviously made an improper, blanket statement which does not represent the attitudes or policies of all companies.

> Some other interesting tidbits of information about cable modems and cable companies:
> 1. Do not expect support for running a LAN over the cable modem from the cable company. They don't want you to do it, they won't help you do it.
> 2. Do not expect to put up a web server to be accessed by from the internet. You are a client, not a server. This technology,though fully capable of performing in this manner, is not being deployed for use this way.

Again, this is a blanket statement that *does not* apply to all cable companies. There is a good reason for those companies who do hold this policy, and perhaps I should have gone into more detail. When you get a cable modem from a cable company, *typically* you are agreeing to lease the equipment from them under similar agreement as you rent the TV set top box for cable television reception. The agreement typically states that you are not allowed to run the cable to any other TV for which you do not rent a box. The same goes for the cable modems. They are agreeing to lease you 1 modem for 1 computer. Setting up a firewall/proxy server to enable other systems access is exactly like placing a diplexor on you TV set, and running the cable to another television. That is a violation of the agreement, and is illegal, immoral, and unethical; it's stealing. And again, I re-iterate, this is not true for *all* companies. Check with your cable company, they should be happy to explain their policies to you.

I don't really think you *should* expect to be able to do either of these though, unless the cable company has provisions in place. You are agreeing to connect one computer to their network as a client. Anything more, you should expect to pay more, as they are providing you with increased capabilities. Just like the phone company charges more per added service (*69, caller ID, etc) so should the cable companies. Personally, I think that average rate of US$40-$50 a month for the equivalent of a T1 to my house is an awesome deal. If I want more capability, I should expect and be willing to pay more.

> Cable companies WILL shut you down for running a server of anykind on your end of the network, and it can be *forever* :(

Again, I spoke without clarification. Obviously it depends upon the policies of your local cable company. I know of 2 or 3 instances where this has been the case. By stating the above, I was trying to warn of the possible consequences of violating the contract with the cable company. If the cable company specifies in the contract what you are allowed to do and what you are not allowed to do, you should expect to deal with the consequences of violating the agreement.

> Spammers love cable/broadband networks. There have been several cases where a broadband network customer has been used by spammers and were subsequently shutdown for life by the cable company. What happens is the person decides to connect their private LAN to the cable modem but sets the firewall up incorrectly. Spammers search cable/broadband networks for proxy servers/firewalls (Usually Win95/NT) that allow incoming connections and then use that system to spam the entire cable/broadband network making the spam appear as if you sent it.

Spammers love any insecure system or network. Broadband Technology though, for the first time has allowed people more extensive and closer contact with other people on the internet. When you dial into an ISP with a normal modem, it's a little more difficult for devious minded people to take advantage of other users. But with cable modems, you now have hundreds and/or thousands of people all on the same private network, all with similars IP addresses, many of whom, now leave their systems connected for much longer periods of time. This makes it much easier for crackers, and other mischievous people, to take advantage of anyone who isn't running a properly secured system.

> Usually you will be given 1 warning by the cable company, but there have been cases where none was given and the customer was completely shut down.

I have heard of this happening on several occasions, where usually the person was running an improperly configured firewall, and spammers used their system to launch e-mail to thousands of people connected to cable companies' private broadband networks. If I'm paying $40 or $50 a month for this service, I, as a paying customer do not want to receive solicitous e-mail (spam) from some one else, especially if they are on the same broadband network as I. I would complain to my cable company about it and expect them to do something. It was these exact circumstances that has led to several people having their cable modems permanently removed.

> Current modems are capable of transmitting at 10Mbs in both directions, but are usually deployed throttled back to a trasmit speed of 300Kbs and a recieve speed of 1.5Mbs. You want more bandwidth, they'll be happy to charge you more money :)

Personally, I think this is very fair. The cable companies are providing us with a service. We, as consumers, have to pay for this service. Just like my electric bill, if I use a lot of electric service, I pay a lot of money; or like the telephone company, if I have more features or want a T1, I pay more money than if I only had a normal telephone line. It's the same with cable modem technology, the capability is there for 10Mbps bandwidth in both directions. The technology is also there to regulate that flow. I expect the cable companies to use that technology. If I want LAN speeds to my house, I should expect to have to pay for it.

Again, I want to apologize for not clarifying my previous statements a little more. Please check with your local cable company before you do anything like connecting your private LAN to theirs. There are as many different policies as there are cable companies, so make sure to explicitly ask if what you want to do is permitted. This is a great technology and has tremendous benefits. Playing by the rules that the cable company has put in place will only help the technology spread. By violating the rules, you run the risk of losing access to it, as well as making it more difficult for the cable comapanies to contiue selling this service. Like any other market driven product, if there's no money in it, or it costs too much to implement, it will fall by the wayside, and no one benefits. By not folling the rules, we as customers can make it cost prohibitive for implementation, and conversely, by following the rules, we create more market demand, which in turn, continues pushing the technology forward, and everyone benefits.

    #include <std_disclaimer.h>

I don't pretend to know all the policies of all the cable companies. I don't assume to speak for any of the,, nor do I tell them how to operate. My opinions are my own, and no one else's. Dammit Jim, I am a Unix sysadmin, not a sales rep :)

Please feel free to send me questions, comments, criticisms, etc.

Paul

Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 15:01:30 -0500
From: Jack Chaney, JAC14@chrysler.com
Subject: New Direction

I heard on the radio last night, an announcement that IBM has just successfully masked, produced and tested their newest piece of silicon. The processor is based on the PowerPC design and is reported to run at 1000MHz. Knowing what I know about the PowerPC and its various flavours, I think it would do to examine the idea of porting Linux in a native coded version to this processor platform. The pricing of this chip with a heavy duty operating environment could give the Alpha a real run for its money.

The PowerPC (for those who don't know) is a RISC based processor with three major operation blocks, each capable of independent operation. This enables the instruction flow to become parallelized so as many as three instructions can be done simultaneously, and because it is a RISC processor the instructions have been optimised so most occur in only one or two cycles. The other element of the design is to have an extremely large cache memory on-board the processor to reduce fetch time for instructions. To give an idea of the improvement in speed realised by this method, a PowerPC emulates the Intel part by keeping an interpreter block in the cache memory of the chip and interprets the Intel object code at comparable speeds of the Intel parts. The lure of creating a native Linux for this processor has crossed my mind on a number of occasions prior to the IBM announcement, and now I hope with encouragement this can move from fantasy to fact.

Jack Chaney

Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 08:50:00 -0500
From: Hampton, Mike, hamptom1@INDY.NAVY.MIL
Subject: Picking a nit

Maybe I should have called the subject of this "pet peeve" or something like that. What I am writing about is a simple grammatical error that I have seen many people make, but one that shouldn't appear in the Gazette or any published effort and that is the incorrect use of "it's" when the author should have used "its." An example is in the following sentence from a recent issue:

"This was necessary in order for a *nix version to behave to applications like it's counterparts so applications could run everywhere."

If you take the "it's" and expand it, the sentence would read:

"This was necessary in order for a *nix version to behave to applications like it is counterparts so applications could run everywhere."

The sentence no longer makes sense. Authors should remember that "it's" is a contraction of "it is." If they want a possessive of "it," they should use "its." I have also seen instances of authors using the apostrophe-s when they intended to form a plural but made a possesive instead (for example, using menu's, a possesive, instead of menus, the proper plural form). Like I said before, these are very simple and common errors, but ones which I feel can hurt the author's credibility.

Before anybody gets too defensive, let me say that as an employee of a major defense contractor, I have made the above error and have had it pointed out to me. Maybe that's why it stands out so much when I see it now.

Now I'll put down my pen and let others point out my errors.

Mike Hampton

Date: Fri, 06 Feb 1998 08:12:09 -0600
From: Tyree Gwyn, bounti@myriad.net
Subject: love your site!!

i very much enjoy the information found on LG!! even though i am posting from a windows machine, i use linux(redhat 5.0) the majority of the time. i just happen to be at work, at this time.

anyway, being a newbie to this whole linux scheme, i have used your site, dejanews, oreilly books, and many howto's to get my system up to my specs. linux is very exciting, and has alot of promise. please keep up the good work.

Tyree

Date: Sun, 08 Feb 98 17:34:41 -0500
From: Leon C. Isaacson, lci2@global.co.za
Subject: Incomplete Book Reviews

In Linux Gazette 25, the review of "A Practical Guide to Linux" , by Mark Sobell, fails to supply the publishers name, publication date, and price. I enjoyed the review, but surely this information should be included as a matter of course. Given your reviewers laudatory comments, how or where can the rest of us hope to acquire this book?

Leon

> (I agree. He should have included that information. Here's what I know:
> Publisher: Addison Wesley Longman, info@awl.com, http://www.awl.com/
> Price: $38.00 US
> ISBN: 0-201-89549-B
> -- Editor)

Date: Fri, 21 Nov 1997 18:59:53 -0500
From: Timothy D. Gray, timgray@lambdanet.com Subject: Getting Linux to the public...

Has anyone noticed that when your friends see your neat-o Linux system with the nice 17 inch monitor, high quality video card, and fast computer that when they say, "Wow! that is nice, and you can do almost anything on that!" you cringe with the fact that they are going to want you to put it on their system? now mind you, I dont cringe on sharing the best O/S on the planet, In fact I want everyone to use Linux. It's just that almost all X windows software is written for 1024 X 768 or higher resolution video screens and that 99% of those wanting to use Linux and X windows only have a 14" monitor that can barely get past 640X480 at 256 colors. I tried several times to get friends into Linux and X but to no avail because the software developed for X is for those that have Gobs of money for good video boards and humoungous monitors. It's not a limitation of Linux or X, it that the software that is developed for these platforms are by professionals or professional users that can afford that new 21 inch monitor at the computer store. We as a group might want to see software scaled back to the 640X480 crowd.. then Linux would take the world by storm.. Until then It's going to be limited to us pioneers and Scientists...

Tim Gray

Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 15:42:09 +0000
From: Jaime E. Villate,villate@fe.up.pt
Subject: uptime record

In Issue 25 (February 98) Sean Horan wrote about a Linux system that ran continously for 274 days. Here is a quote from Bruce Perens (president of Debian, works at Pixar) that I took from http://www.debian.org

> "I thought three months without a reboot was a big deal. When I mentioned it to our developers, one of them showed me details about his system. It was up for 458 days, and was halted to move it to another floor. The network and disk device drivers had handled tens of millions of interrupts in that time."

It would be interesting to know what the record is for other operating systems older than Linux.

Jaime Villate, University of Porto, Portugal
http://www.fe.up.pt/~villate/

Published in Linux Gazette Issue 26, March 1998

##### This page written and maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette, gazette@ssc.com
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