Index: book.sgml =================================================================== RCS file: /home/dcvs/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml,v retrieving revision 1.1075 diff -u -u -r1.1075 book.sgml --- book.sgml 19 Jul 2008 07:42:11 -0000 1.1075 +++ book.sgml 20 Jul 2008 09:31:25 -0000 @@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ - Frequently Asked Questions for &os; 6.<replaceable>X</replaceable> and 7.<replaceable>X</replaceable> + Frequently Asked Questions for &os; + 6.<replaceable>X</replaceable> and + 7.<replaceable>X</replaceable> The &os; Documentation Project @@ -57,27 +59,30 @@ - This is the FAQ for &os; versions 6.X and 7.X. - All entries are assumed to be relevant to &os; 6.X and - later, unless otherwise noted. If you are interested in - helping with this project, send email to the &a.doc;. The - latest version of this document is always available from the - &os; - World Wide Web server. It may also be downloaded as - one large HTML file with HTTP - or as plain text, &postscript;, PDF, etc. from the &os; FTP - server. You may also want to Search the - FAQ. + This is the FAQ for &os; versions + 6.X and + 7.X. All entries are assumed to be + relevant to &os; 6.X and later, + unless otherwise noted. If you are interested in helping with + this project, send email to the &a.doc;. The latest version of + this document is always available from the &os; World Wide Web server. + It may also be downloaded as one large HTML file with HTTP or as plain text, + &postscript;, PDF, etc. from the &os; FTP + server. You may also want to Search the FAQ. + Introduction - Welcome to the &os; 6.X-7.X FAQ! + Welcome to the &os; + 6.X-7.X + FAQ! As is usual with Usenet FAQs, this document aims to cover the most frequently asked questions concerning the &os; operating @@ -87,632 +92,644 @@ information resources. Every effort has been made to make this FAQ as informative as - possible; if you have any suggestions as to how it may be improved, - please feel free to mail them to the &a.doc;. + possible; if you have any suggestions as to how it may be + improved, please feel free to mail them to the &a.doc;. - - What is &os;? - - - - Briefly, &os; is a &unix; like operating system for - AMD64 and &intel; EM64T, &i386; PC-98, IA-64, &arm;, &powerpc; - and &ultrasparc; platforms - based on U.C. Berkeley's 4.4BSD-Lite - release, with some 4.4BSD-Lite2 - enhancements. It is also based indirectly on William - Jolitz's port of U.C. Berkeley's Net/2 to - the &i386;, known as 386BSD, though very - little of the 386BSD code remains. A fuller description of - what &os; is and how it can work for you may be found on - the &os; home - page. - - &os; is used by companies, Internet Service Providers, - researchers, computer professionals, students and home users - all over the world in their work, education and recreation. - - For more detailed information on &os;, please see the - &os; - Handbook. - - - - - - What is the goal of the &os; Project? - - - - The goal of the &os; Project is to provide software - that may be used for any purpose and without strings attached. - Many of us have a significant investment in the code (and - project) and would certainly not mind a little financial - compensation now and then, but we definitely do not - insist on it. We believe that our first and foremost - mission is to provide code to any and all - comers, and for whatever purpose, so that the code gets the - widest possible use and provides the widest possible benefit. - This is, we believe, one of the most fundamental goals of Free - Software and one that we enthusiastically support. - - That code in our source tree which falls under the - GNU - General Public License (GPL) or GNU - Library General Public License (LGPL) comes with - slightly more strings attached, though at least on the - side of enforced access rather than the usual opposite. - Due to the additional complexities that can evolve in the - commercial use of GPL software, we do, however, endeavor - to replace such software with submissions under the more - relaxed - &os; license whenever possible. - - - - - - Does the &os; license have any restrictions? - - - - Yes. Those restrictions do not control how you use - the code, merely how you treat the &os; Project itself. - If you have serious license concerns, read the actual - - license. For the simply curious, the license can - be summarized like this. - - - - Do not claim that you wrote this. - - - - Do not sue us if it breaks. - - - - - - - - Can &os; replace my current operating system? - - - - For most people, yes. But this question is not quite - that cut-and-dried. - - Most people do not actually use an operating system. - They use applications. The applications are what really - use the operating system. &os; is designed to provide - a robust and full-featured environment for applications. - It supports a wide variety of web browsers, office suites, - email readers, graphics programs, programming - environments, network servers, and just about everything - else you might want. Most of these applications can be - managed through the Ports - Collection. - - If you need to use an application that is only - available on one operating system, you simply cannot - replace that operating system. Chances are there is a very - similar application on &os;, however. If you want a - solid office or Internet server, a reliable workstation, - or just the ability to do your job without interruptions, - &os; will almost certainly do everything you need. - Many computer users across the world, including both - novices and experienced &unix; administrators, use &os; - as their only desktop operating system. - - If you are migrating to &os; from some other &unix; - environment, you already know most of what you need to. - If your background is in graphic-driven operating systems - such as &windows; and older versions of &macos;, expect to - invest additional time learning the &unix; way of doing - things. This FAQ and the &os; Handbook are - excellent places to start. - - - - - - Why is it called &os;? - - - - - - It may be used free of charge, even by commercial - users. - - - - Full source for the operating system is freely - available, and the minimum possible restrictions have - been placed upon its use, distribution and incorporation - into other work (commercial or non-commercial). - - - - Anyone who has an improvement or bug fix is free - to submit their code and have it added to the source tree - (subject to one or two obvious provisions). - - - - It is worth pointing out that the word - free is being used in two ways here, one meaning - at no cost, the other meaning you can do - whatever you like. Apart from one or two things you - cannot do with the &os; code, for - example pretending you wrote it, you can really do whatever you - like with it. - + + What is &os;? + + + + Briefly, &os; is a &unix; like operating system for + AMD64 and &intel; EM64T, &i386; PC-98, IA-64, &arm;, + &powerpc; and &ultrasparc; platforms based on U.C. + Berkeley's 4.4BSD-Lite release, with some + 4.4BSD-Lite2 enhancements. It is also based + indirectly on William Jolitz's port of U.C. Berkeley's + Net/2 to the &i386;, known as + 386BSD, though very little of the 386BSD code + remains. A fuller description of what &os; is and how it + can work for you may be found on the &os; home page. + + + &os; is used by companies, Internet Service Providers, + researchers, computer professionals, students and home users + all over the world in their work, education and + recreation. + + For more detailed information on &os;, please see the + &os; Handbook. + + + + + + + What is the goal of the &os; Project? + + + + The goal of the &os; Project is to provide software that + may be used for any purpose and without strings attached. + Many of us have a significant investment in the code (and + project) and would certainly not mind a little financial + compensation now and then, but we definitely do not insist + on it. We believe that our first and foremost + mission is to provide code to any and all + comers, and for whatever purpose, so that the code gets the + widest possible use and provides the widest possible + benefit. This is, we believe, one of the most fundamental + goals of Free Software and one that we enthusiastically + support. + + That code in our source tree which falls under the + GNU General Public License (GPL) + or GNU Library General Public License (LGPL) + comes with slightly more strings attached, though at least + on the side of enforced access rather than the usual + opposite. Due to the additional complexities that can + evolve in the commercial use of GPL software, we do, + however, endeavor to replace such software with submissions + under the more relaxed &os; license + whenever possible. + + + + + + Does the &os; license have any restrictions? + + + + Yes. Those restrictions do not control how you use the + code, merely how you treat the &os; Project itself. If you + have serious license concerns, read the actual license. + For the simply curious, the license can be summarized like + this. + + + + Do not claim that you wrote this. + + + + Do not sue us if it breaks. + + + + + + + + Can &os; replace my current operating system? + + + + For most people, yes. But this question is not quite + that cut-and-dried. + + Most people do not actually use an operating system. + They use applications. The applications are what really use + the operating system. &os; is designed to provide a robust + and full-featured environment for applications. It supports + a wide variety of web browsers, office suites, email + readers, graphics programs, programming environments, + network servers, and just about everything else you might + want. Most of these applications can be managed through the + Ports Collection. + + + If you need to use an application that is only available + on one operating system, you simply cannot replace that + operating system. Chances are there is a very similar + application on &os;, however. If you want a solid office or + Internet server, a reliable workstation, or just the ability + to do your job without interruptions, &os; will almost + certainly do everything you need. Many computer users + across the world, including both novices and experienced + &unix; administrators, use &os; as their only desktop + operating system. + + If you are migrating to &os; from some other &unix; + environment, you already know most of what you need to. If + your background is in graphic-driven operating systems such + as &windows; and older versions of &macos;, expect to invest + additional time learning the &unix; way of doing things. + This FAQ and the &os; Handbook + are excellent places to start. + + + + + + Why is it called &os;? + + + + + + It may be used free of charge, even by commercial + users. + + + + Full source for the operating system is freely + available, and the minimum possible restrictions have + been placed upon its use, distribution and incorporation + into other work (commercial or non-commercial). + + + + Anyone who has an improvement or bug fix is free to + submit their code and have it added to the source tree + (subject to one or two obvious provisions). + + + + It is worth pointing out that the word + free is being used in two ways here, one + meaning at no cost, the other meaning + you can do whatever you like. Apart from one + or two things you cannot do with the + &os; code, for example pretending you wrote it, you can + really do whatever you like with it. + - What are the differences between &os; and NetBSD, OpenBSD, - and other open source BSD operating systems? + What are the differences between &os; and NetBSD, + OpenBSD, and other open source BSD operating systems? - James Howard wrote a good explanation of the history - and differences between the various projects for DaemonNews, + James Howard wrote a good explanation of the history and + differences between the various projects for DaemonNews, called The - BSD Family Tree which goes a fair way to answering - this question. + url="http://ezine.daemonnews.org/200104/bsd_family.html">The BSD Family Tree + which goes a fair way to answering this question. - - What is the latest version of &os;? - + + What is the latest version of &os;? + - + At this point in &os;'s development, there are two parallel development branches; releases are being made from - both branches. The 6.X series of releases - is being made from the 6-STABLE branch - and the 7.X series of releases from 7-STABLE. - - Up until the release of 7.0, the 6.X series was the - one known as -STABLE. However, - as of 7.0, the 6.X branch will be designated for - an extended support status and receive - only fixes for major problems, such as security-related - fixes. There will be more releases made from the - 6-STABLE branch, but it is considered - a legacy branch and most current work will - only become a part of 7-STABLE. - - Version &rel.current; - is the latest release from the - 7-STABLE branch; it was released in - &rel.current.date;. Version &rel2.current; - is the latest release from the - 6-STABLE branch; it was released in - &rel2.current.date;. - - Briefly, -STABLE is aimed at the - ISP, corporate user, or any user who wants stability and a - minimal number of changes compared to the new (and - possibly unstable) features of the latest - -CURRENT snapshot. Releases can come - from either branch, but -CURRENT - should only be used if you are prepared for its increased - volatility (relative to -STABLE, that - is). - - Releases are made every - few months. While many people stay more up-to-date with - the &os; sources (see the questions on &os.current; and &os.stable;) than that, doing so - is more of a commitment, as the sources are a moving - target. + both branches. The 6.X series of + releases is being made from the + 6-STABLE branch and the + 7.X series of releases from + 7-STABLE. + + Up until the release of 7.0, the + 6.X series was the one known as + -STABLE. However, as of 7.0, the + 6.X branch will be designated for + an extended support status and receive only + fixes for major problems, such as security-related fixes. + There will be more releases made from the + 6-STABLE branch, but it is considered a + legacy branch and most current work will only + become a part of 7-STABLE. + + Version &rel.current; + is the latest release from the 7-STABLE + branch; it was released in &rel.current.date;. Version + &rel2.current; + is the latest release from the 6-STABLE + branch; it was released in &rel2.current.date;. + + Briefly, -STABLE is aimed at the + ISP, corporate user, or any user who wants stability and a + minimal number of changes compared to the new (and possibly + unstable) features of the latest + -CURRENT snapshot. Releases can come + from either branch, but -CURRENT should + only be used if you are prepared for its increased + volatility (relative to -STABLE, that + is). + + Releases are made every few months. While + many people stay more up-to-date with the &os; sources (see + the questions on &os.current; and &os.stable;) than that, doing so + is more of a commitment, as the sources are a moving + target. + + More information on &os; releases can be found on the + Release Engineering page + on the &os; Web site. + + - More information on &os; releases can be found on - the Release - Engineering page on the &os; Web site. - - - - - - What is &os;-CURRENT? - - - - &os.current; - is the development version of the operating system, which - will in due course become the new &os.stable; branch. - As such, it is - really only of interest to developers working on the - system and die-hard hobbyists. See the relevant - section in the Handbook for details - on running -CURRENT. - - If you are not familiar with the operating system or are - not capable of identifying the difference between a real - problem and a temporary problem, you should not use - &os.current;. This branch sometimes evolves quite quickly - and can be un-buildable for a number of days at a time. - People that use &os.current; are expected to be able to - analyze any problems and only report them if they are deemed - to be mistakes rather than glitches. Questions - such as make world produces some error about - groups on the &a.current; may be - treated with contempt. - - Every month, snapshot - releases are made based on the current state of the - -CURRENT and -STABLE branches. - The goals - behind each snapshot release are: - - - - To test the latest version of the installation - software. - - - - To give people who would like to run -CURRENT or - -STABLE but who do not have the time or bandwidth to - follow it on a day-to-day basis an easy way of - bootstrapping it onto their systems. - - - - To preserve a fixed reference point for the code in - question, just in case we break something really badly - later. (Although CVS normally prevents anything horrible - like this happening.) - - - - To ensure that all new features and fixes in need - of testing have the greatest possible number of - potential testers. - - - - No claims are made that any -CURRENT snapshot can be - considered production quality for any purpose. - If you want to run a stable and fully tested system, you will - have to stick to full releases, or use the -STABLE - snapshots. + + + What is &os;-CURRENT? + + + + &os.current; + is the development version of the operating system, which + will in due course become the new &os.stable; branch. As + such, it is really only of interest to developers working on + the system and die-hard hobbyists. See the relevant section + in the Handbook for + details on running -CURRENT. + + If you are not familiar with the operating system or are + not capable of identifying the difference between a real + problem and a temporary problem, you should not use + &os.current;. This branch sometimes evolves quite quickly + and can be un-buildable for a number of days at a time. + People that use &os.current; are expected to be able to + analyze any problems and only report them if they are deemed + to be mistakes rather than glitches. + Questions such as make world produces some error + about groups on the &a.current; may be treated with + contempt. + + Every month, snapshot + releases are made based on the current state of the + -CURRENT and + -STABLE branches. The goals behind + each snapshot release are: + + + + To test the latest version of the installation + software. + + + + To give people who would like to run + -CURRENT or + -STABLE but who do not have the + time or bandwidth to follow it on a day-to-day basis an + easy way of bootstrapping it onto their systems. + + + + To preserve a fixed reference point for the code in + question, just in case we break something really badly + later. (Although CVS normally prevents anything + horrible like this happening.) + + + + To ensure that all new features and fixes in need of + testing have the greatest possible number of potential + testers. + + + + No claims are made that any + -CURRENT snapshot can be considered + production quality for any purpose. If you + want to run a stable and fully tested system, you will have + to stick to full releases, or use the + -STABLE snapshots. Snapshot releases are directly available from snapshot. + url="&url.base;/snapshots/">snapshot. + - Official snapshots are generated each month on a regular basis for - all actively developed branches. There are also - daily snapshot builds of the popular &arch.i386; - and &arch.amd64 branches, hosted on - . - + Official snapshots are generated each month on a regular + basis for all actively developed branches. There are also + daily snapshot builds of the popular &arch.i386; and + &arch.amd64 branches, hosted on . + + - - What is the &os;-STABLE concept? - - - - Back when &os; 2.0.5 was released, &os; - development branched in two. One branch was named -STABLE, - one -CURRENT. - &os;-STABLE is intended for Internet Service Providers - and other commercial enterprises for whom sudden shifts or - experimental features are quite undesirable. It receives - only well-tested bug fixes and other small incremental - enhancements. &os;-CURRENT, on the other hand, has - been one unbroken line since 2.0 was released, leading - towards &rel.current;-RELEASE and beyond. For more detailed information on branches - see &os; Release Engineering: Creating the Release Branch, - the status of the branches and the upcoming release schedule can be found on the Release Engineering Information page. - - The 2.2-STABLE branch was retired with the release of 2.2.8. - The 3-STABLE branch has ended with the release of 3.5.1, the - final 3.X release. The 4-STABLE branch has ended with the release - of 4.11, the final 4.X release. The only changes made to either - of these branches will be, for the most part, security-related bug - fixes. Support for the 5-STABLE branches has ended with the - release of 5.5, the final 5.X release. - Support for the 6-STABLE branches will continue for some time but - focus primarily on security-related bug fixes and other serious + + What is the &os;-STABLE + concept? + + + + Back when &os; 2.0.5 was released, &os; development + branched in two. One branch was named -STABLE, + one -CURRENT. + &os;-STABLE is intended for Internet + Service Providers and other commercial enterprises for whom + sudden shifts or experimental features are quite + undesirable. It receives only well-tested bug fixes and + other small incremental enhancements. + &os;-CURRENT, on the other hand, has + been one unbroken line since 2.0 was released, leading + towards &rel.current;-RELEASE and beyond. For more detailed + information on branches see &os; Release Engineering: Creating the Release Branch, + the status of the branches and the upcoming release schedule + can be found on the Release Engineering Information page. + + + The 2.2-STABLE branch was retired with the release of + 2.2.8. The 3-STABLE branch has ended with the release of + 3.5.1, the final 3.X release. + The 4-STABLE branch has ended with the release of 4.11, the + final 4.X release. The only + changes made to either of these branches will be, for the + most part, security-related bug fixes. Support for the + 5-STABLE branches has ended with the release of 5.5, the + final 5.X release. Support for + the 6-STABLE branches will continue for some time but focus + primarily on security-related bug fixes and other serious issues. - &rel.current;-STABLE is the actively developed -STABLE branch. - The latest release on the &rel.current;-STABLE branch is - &rel.current;-RELEASE, which was released in - &rel.current.date;. - - The 8-CURRENT branch is the actively developed - -CURRENT branch toward the next generation of &os;. - See What is &os;-CURRENT? for more - information on this branch. - + &rel.current;-STABLE is the actively developed + -STABLE branch. The latest release on + the &rel.current;-STABLE branch is &rel.current;-RELEASE, + which was released in &rel.current.date;. + + The 8-CURRENT branch is the actively developed + -CURRENT branch toward the next + generation of &os;. See What is &os;-CURRENT? for more + information on this branch. + - - When are &os; releases made? - - - - The &a.re; releases a new major version of &os; about every - 18 months and a new minor version about every - 8 months, on average. Release dates are announced well in - advance, so that the people working on the system know - when their projects need to be finished and tested. - A testing period precedes each release, in order to ensure - that the addition of new features does not compromise the - stability of the release. - Many users regard this caution as one of the best things about - &os;, even though waiting for all the latest goodies to reach - -STABLE can be a little frustrating. + + When are &os; releases made? + + + + The &a.re; releases a new major version of &os; about + every 18 months and a new minor version about every 8 months, + on average. Release dates are announced well in advance, so + that the people working on the system know when their + projects need to be finished and tested. A testing period + precedes each release, in order to ensure that the addition + of new features does not compromise the stability of the + release. Many users regard this caution as one of the best + things about &os;, even though waiting for all the latest + goodies to reach -STABLE can be a + little frustrating. More information on the release engineering process - (including a schedule of upcoming releases) can be found - on the release - engineering pages on the &os; Web site. - - For people who need or want a little more excitement, - binary snapshots are made daily as discussed above. - - - - - - Who is responsible for &os;? - - - - The key decisions concerning the &os; project, such - as the overall direction of the project and who is allowed - to add code to the source tree, are made by a core - team of 9 people. There is a much larger team of - more than 350 committers - who are authorized to make changes directly to the &os; - source tree. - - However, most non-trivial changes are discussed in advance - in the mailing lists, and there - are no restrictions on who may take part in the - discussion. - - - - - - Where can I get &os;? - - - - Every significant release of &os; is available via - anonymous FTP from the - &os; FTP site: - - - - The latest 7-STABLE release, &rel.current;-RELEASE can be - found in the &rel.current;-RELEASE directory. - - - - - Snapshot releases are made monthly for the - -CURRENT and -STABLE branch, these being - of service purely to bleeding-edge testers and - developers. - - - - The latest 6-STABLE release, &rel2.current;-RELEASE can be - found in the &rel2.current;-RELEASE directory. - - + (including a schedule of upcoming releases) can be found on + the release engineering + pages on the &os; Web site. + + For people who need or want a little more excitement, + binary snapshots are made daily as discussed above. + + + + + + Who is responsible for &os;? + + + + The key decisions concerning the &os; project, such as + the overall direction of the project and who is allowed to + add code to the source tree, are made by a core team of + 9 people. There is a much larger team of more than 350 + committers + who are authorized to make changes directly to the &os; + source tree. + + However, most non-trivial changes are discussed in + advance in the mailing lists, + and there are no restrictions on who may take part in the + discussion. + + + + + + Where can I get &os;? + + + + Every significant release of &os; is available via + anonymous FTP from the &os; FTP site: + + + + + The latest 7-STABLE release, &rel.current;-RELEASE + can be found in the &rel.current;-RELEASE directory. + + + + + Snapshot + releases are made monthly for the -CURRENT and -STABLE branch, these being of + service purely to bleeding-edge testers and + developers. + + + + The latest 6-STABLE release, &rel2.current;-RELEASE + can be found in the &rel2.current;-RELEASE directory. + + + Information about obtaining &os; on CD, DVD, and other - media can be found in the - Handbook. - + media can be found in the Handbook. + + - - How do I access the Problem Report database? - - - - The Problem Report database of all user change requests - may be queried by using our web-based PR - query - interface. - - The &man.send-pr.1; command can be used to submit problem - reports and change requests via electronic mail. Alternatively, - the web-based - problem report submission interface can be used to submit - problem reports through a web browser. - - Before submitting a problem report, please read Writing - &os; Problem Reports, an article on how to write - good problem reports. - + + How do I access the Problem Report database? + + + + The Problem Report database of all user change requests + may be queried by using our web-based PR query + interface. + + The &man.send-pr.1; command can be used to submit + problem reports and change requests via electronic mail. + Alternatively, the web-based problem report submission interface + can be used to submit problem reports through a web + browser. + + Before submitting a problem report, please read Writing &os; Problem Reports, + an article on how to write good problem reports. + - - What other sources of information are there? - - - - Please check the Documentation - list on the main &os; web - site. - + + What other sources of information are there? + + + + Please check the Documentation + list on the main &os; web site. + Documentation and Support - + What good books are there about &os;? - + The project produces a wide range of documentation, available online from this link: . The same + url="http://www.FreeBSD.org/docs.html">. The same documents are available as packages, that you can easily - install on your &os; system. More details on - documentation packages can be found in the next - paragraphs. - + install on your &os; system. More details on documentation + packages can be found in the next paragraphs. + In addition, the Bibliography at the end of this FAQ, and the one in the Handbook - reference other - recommended books. + reference other recommended books. - - - - Is the documentation available in other formats, such as plain - text (ASCII), or &postscript;? - - - Yes. The documentation is available in a number of - different formats and compression schemes on the &os; - FTP site, in the /pub/FreeBSD/doc/ - directory. + + + Is the documentation available in other formats, such as + plain text (ASCII), or &postscript;? + - The documentation is categorized in a number of different - ways. These include: + + Yes. The documentation is available in a number of + different formats and compression schemes on the &os; FTP + site, in the /pub/FreeBSD/doc/ + directory. - - - The document's name, such as faq, or - handbook. - + The documentation is categorized in a number of + different ways. These include: - - The document's language and encoding. These are - based on the locale names you will find under - /usr/share/locale on your &os; - system. The current languages and encodings that we - have for documentation are as follows: + + + The document's name, such as faq, + or handbook. + - - - - - Name + + The document's language and encoding. These are + based on the locale names you will find under + /usr/share/locale on your &os; + system. The current languages and encodings that we + have for documentation are as follows: + + + + + + Name - Meaning - - + Meaning + + - - - en_US.ISO8859-1 + + + en_US.ISO8859-1 - US English - + US English + - - bn_BD.ISO10646-1 + + bn_BD.ISO10646-1 - Bengali (or Bangla) - + Bengali (or Bangla) + - - da_DK.ISO8859-1 + + da_DK.ISO8859-1 - Danish (Denmark) - + Danish (Denmark) + - - de_DE.ISO8859-1 + + de_DE.ISO8859-1 - German - + German + - - el_GR.ISO8859-7 + + el_GR.ISO8859-7 - Greek (Greece) - + Greek (Greece) + - - es_ES.ISO8859-1 + + es_ES.ISO8859-1 - Spanish - + Spanish + - - fr_FR.ISO8859-1 + + fr_FR.ISO8859-1 - French - + French + - - hu_HU.ISO8859-2 + + hu_HU.ISO8859-2 - Hungarian - + Hungarian + it_IT.ISO8859-15 @@ -720,10081 +737,10347 @@ Italian - - ja_JP.eucJP + + ja_JP.eucJP - Japanese (EUC encoding) - + Japanese (EUC encoding) + - - mn_MN.UTF-8 + + mn_MN.UTF-8 - Mongolian (UTF-8 encoding) - - - - nl_NL.ISO8859-1 - - Dutch (Netherlands) - - - - no_NO.ISO8859-1 - - Norwegian (Norway) - - - - pl_PL.ISO8859-2 - - Polish (Poland) - - - - pt_BR.ISO8859-1 - - Portuguese (Brazil) - - - - ru_RU.KOI8-R - - Russian (KOI8-R encoding) - - - - sr_YU.ISO8859-2 - - Serbian (Serbia) - - - - tr_TR.ISO8859-9 - - Turkish (Turkey) - - - - zh_CN.GB2312 - - Simplified Chinese (GB2312 encoding) - - - - zh_TW.Big5 - - Traditional Chinese (Big5 encoding) - - - - - - - Some documents may not be available in all - languages. - - - - - The document's format. We produce the documentation in a - number of different output formats. Each format has its own - advantages and disadvantages. Some formats are better suited - for online reading, while others are meant to be aesthetically - pleasing when printed on paper. Having the documentation - available in any of these formats ensures that our readers - will be able to read the parts they are interested in, either - on their monitor, or on paper after printing the documents. - The currently available formats are: - - - - - - Format - - Meaning - - - - - - html-split - - A collection of small, linked, HTML - files. - - - - html - - One large HTML file containing the entire - document - - - - pdb - - Palm Pilot database format, for use with the - iSilo - reader. - - - - pdf - - Adobe's Portable Document Format - - - - ps - - &postscript; - - - - rtf - - Microsoft's Rich Text Format - Page numbers are not automatically - updated when loading this format into Word. - Press CTRLA, - CTRLEND, - F9 after loading the - document, to update the page numbers. - - - - - - txt - - Plain text - - - - - - - - The compression and packaging scheme. There are three of - these currently in use. - - - - Where the format is - html-split, the files are - bundled up using &man.tar.1;. The resulting - .tar file is then compressed - using the compression schemes detailed in the next - point. - - - - All the other formats generate one file, - called - type.format - (i.e., article.pdf, - book.html, and so on). - - These files are then compressed using two - compression schemes. - - - - - - Scheme - - Description - - - - - - zip - - The Zip format. If you want to - uncompress this on &os; you will need - to install the archivers/unzip - port first. - - - - bz2 - - The BZip2 format. Less widespread - than Zip, but generally gives - smaller files. Install the archivers/bzip2 - port to uncompress these files. - - - - - - So the &postscript; version of the Handbook, - compressed using BZip2 will be stored in a file - called book.ps.bz2 in the - handbook/ directory. - - - - - - After choosing the format and compression mechanism that you - want to download, you will have to - download the compressed files yourself, uncompress them, and then - copy the appropriate documents into place. - - For example, the split HTML version of the FAQ, - compressed using &man.bzip2.1;, can be found in the - doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/book.html-split.tar.bz2 - file. To download and uncompress that file you would have - to do this. + Mongolian (UTF-8 encoding) + - &prompt.root; fetch ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/book.html-split.tar.bz2 -&prompt.root; bzip2 -d book.html-split.tar.bz2 -&prompt.root; tar xvf book.html-split.tar + + nl_NL.ISO8859-1 - You will be left with a collection of - .html files. The main one is called - index.html, which will contain the - table of contents, introductory material, and links to the - other parts of the document. You can then copy or move - these to their final location as necessary. - - - - - - Where do I find info on the &os; mailing lists? - - - - You can find full information in the Handbook - entry on mailing-lists. - - - - - - What &os; news groups are available? - - - - You can find full information in the Handbook entry on - newsgroups. - - - - - - Are there &os; IRC (Internet Relay Chat) - channels? - - - - Yes, most major IRC networks host a &os; chat - channel: - - - - Channel #FreeBSD on - EFNet - is a &os; forum, but do not go there for tech - support or try to get folks there to help you avoid - the pain of reading manual pages or doing your own research. - It is a chat channel, first and foremost, and topics there - are just as likely to involve sex, sports or nuclear - weapons as they are &os;. You Have Been Warned! - Available at server irc.chat.org. - - - - Channel #FreeBSDhelp on - EFNet - is a channel dedicated to helping &os; users. They - are much more sympathetic to questions than - #FreeBSD is. - - - - Channel ##FreeBSD on - Freenode - is a general help channel with about 300 users at any time. - The conversations have been known to run off-topic for a while, - but priority is given to users with &os; questions. We are - good about helping you understand the basics, referring to the - Handbook whenever possible, and directing you where to learn - more about the topic you need help with. We are a primarily - English speaking channel, though we have users from all over - the world. If you would like to speak in your native language, - try to ask the question in English and then relocate to another - channel ##freebsd-lang as - appropriate. - - - - Channel #FreeBSD on - DALNET - is available at irc.dal.net in the - US and irc.eu.dal.net in Europe. - - - - Channel #FreeBSDHelp on - DALNET - is available at irc.dal.net in the - US and irc.eu.dal.net in Europe. - - - - Channel #FreeBSD on - UNDERNET - is available at us.undernet.org - in the US and eu.undernet.org in Europe. - Since it is a help channel, be prepared to read the - documents you are referred to. - + Dutch (Netherlands) + - - Channel #FreeBSD on - RUSNET - is a russian-language oriented channel dedicated - to helping &os; users. This is also good place - for non-technical discussions. - + + no_NO.ISO8859-1 - - Channel #bsdchat on - Freenode - is a Traditional-Chinese (UTF-8 encoding) language oriented channel dedicated - to helping &os; users. This is also good place - for non-technical discussions. - - + Norwegian (Norway) + - Each of these channels are distinct and are not - connected to each other. Their chat styles also differ, - so you may need to try each to find one suited to your - chat style. As with all types of IRC - traffic, if you are easily offended or cannot deal with - lots of young people (and more than a few older ones) - doing the verbal equivalent of jello wrestling, do not - even bother with it. - - + + pl_PL.ISO8859-2 - - - Where can I get commercial &os; training and support? - + Polish (Poland) + - - DaemonNews provides commercial training and support for - &os;. More information can be found at their - BSD Mall - site. - - The &os; Mall provides commercial &os; support. - You can get more information at their web site. + + pt_BR.ISO8859-1 - Any other organizations providing training and support should - contact the project in order to be listed here. - - - - + Portuguese (Brazil) + - - - - Nik - Clayton - -
nik@FreeBSD.org
- - - - - Installation + + ru_RU.KOI8-R - - - - Which file do I download to get &os;? - + Russian (KOI8-R encoding) + - - You need three floppy images: - floppies/boot.flp, - floppies/kern1.flp, and - floppies/kern2.flp. These images need to - be copied onto floppies by tools like - fdimage or &man.dd.1;. + + sr_YU.ISO8859-2 - If you need to download the distributions yourself (for a - DOS file system install, for instance), below are some - recommendations for distributions to grab: - - - - - base/ - - - - manpages/ - - - - compat*/ - - - - doc/ - - - - src/ssys.* - - - - - Full instructions on this procedure and a little bit more - about installation issues in general can be found in the - Handbook entry on - installing &os;. - - - - - - - What do I do if the floppy images does not fit on a single - floppy? - - - - A 3.5 inch (1.44 MB) floppy can accommodate 1474560 bytes - of data. The boot image is exactly 1474560 bytes in size. - - Common mistakes when preparing the boot floppy are: - - - - Not downloading the floppy image in - binary mode when using - FTP. - - - Some FTP clients default their transfer mode to - ascii and attempt to change any - end-of-line characters received to match the conventions - used by the client's system. This will almost invariably - corrupt the boot image. Check the size of the downloaded - boot image: if it is not exactly that - on the server, then the download process is suspect. - - To workaround: type binary at the - FTP command prompt after getting connected to the server - and before starting the download of the image. - - - - Using the DOS copy command (or - equivalent GUI tool) to transfer the boot image to - floppy. - - Programs like copy will not work as - the boot image has been created to be booted into directly. - The image has the complete content of the floppy, track for - track, and is not meant to be placed on the floppy as a - regular file. You have to transfer it to the floppy - raw, using the low-level tools (e.g. - fdimage or rawrite) - described in the installation guide to - &os;. - - - - - - - - Where are the instructions for installing &os;? - - - - Installation instructions can be found in the - Handbook entry on installing &os;. - - - - - - What do I need in order to run &os;? - - - - For &os; you will need a 486 or better - PC, with 24 MB or more of RAM and at least 150 MB of hard disk - space. - - All versions of &os; can run with a low - end MDA graphics card but to run &xorg;, a VGA or better video - card is needed. - - See also . - - - - - - - How can I make my own custom install floppy? - - - - Currently there is no way to just - make a custom install floppy. You have to cut a whole new - release, which will include your install floppy. - - To make a custom release, follow the instructions in the - Release - Engineering article. - - - - - - Can I have more than one operating system on my PC? - - - - Have a look at - - the multi-OS page. - - - - - - Can &windows; co-exist with &os;? - - - - Install &windows; first, then &os;. - &os;'s boot manager will then manage to boot &windows; and - &os;. If you install &windows; second, it will boorishly - overwrite your boot manager without even asking. If that - happens, see the next section. - - - - - - &windows; killed my boot manager! - How do I get it back? - - - - You can reinstall the boot manager &os; comes with in - one of three ways: - - - - Running DOS, go into the tools directory of your - &os; distribution and look for - bootinst.exe. You run it like - so: - - ...\TOOLS> bootinst.exe boot.bin - - and the boot manager will be reinstalled. - - - - Boot the &os; boot floppy again and go to the - Custom menu item for custom installation. Choose Partition. Select the - drive which used to contain your boot manager (likely the - first one) and when you come to the partition editor for - it, as the very first thing (e.g. do not make any changes) - press W. This will ask for confirmation, select &gui.yes;, - and when you get the Boot Manager selection prompt, be - sure to select the &os; Boot Manager. This will - re-write the boot manager to disk. Now quit out of the - installation menu and reboot off the hard disk as - normal. - - - - Boot the &os; boot floppy (or CD-ROM) and choose the - Fixit menu item. Select either the Fixit - floppy or CD-ROM #2 (the live file system - option) as appropriate and enter the fixit shell. Then - execute the following command: - - Fixit# fdisk -B -b /boot/boot0 bootdevice - - substituting bootdevice for - your real - boot device such as ad0 (first IDE - disk), ad4 (first IDE disk on - auxiliary controller), da0 (first - SCSI disk), etc. - - - - - - - - My A, T, or X series IBM Thinkpad locks up when I first - booted up my &os; installation. How can I solve this? - - - - A bug in early revisions of IBM's BIOS on these machines - mistakenly identifies the &os; partition as a potential FAT - suspend-to-disk partition. When the BIOS tries to parse the - &os; partition it hangs. - - According to IBMIn an email from Keith - Frechette - kfrechet@us.ibm.com., the - following model/BIOS release numbers incorporate the fix. - - - - - - Model - BIOS revision - - - - - - T20 - IYET49WW or later - - - - T21 - KZET22WW or later - - - - A20p - IVET62WW or later - - - - A20m - IWET54WW or later - - - - A21p - KYET27WW or later - - - - A21m - KXET24WW or later - - - - A21e - KUET30WW - - - - + Serbian (Serbia) + - It has been reported that later IBM BIOS revisions may - have reintroduced the bug. This - message from Jacques Vidrine to the &a.mobile; - describes a procedure which may work if your newer IBM - laptop does not boot &os; properly, and you can upgrade - or downgrade the BIOS. - - If you have an earlier BIOS, and upgrading is not an option, a - workaround is to install &os;, change the partition ID &os; - uses, and install new boot blocks that can handle the different - partition ID. - - First, you will need to restore the machine to a state where - it can get through its self-test screen. Doing this requires - powering up the machine without letting it find a &os; - partition on its primary disk. One way is to remove the hard disk - and temporarily move it to an older ThinkPad (such as a ThinkPad - 600) or a desktop PC with an appropriate conversion cable. Once - it is there, you can delete the &os; partition and move the hard - disk back. The ThinkPad should now be in a bootable state - again. - - With the machine functional again, you can use the workaround - procedure described here to get a working &os; - installation. - - - - Download boot1 and - boot2 from . - Put these files somewhere you will be able to retrieve them - later. - - - - Install &os; as normal on to the ThinkPad. - Do not use Dangerously - Dedicated mode. Do not - reboot when the install has finished. - - - - Either switch to the Emergency Holographic - Shell (Alt - F4) or start a - fixit shell. - - - - Use &man.fdisk.8; to change the &os; partition ID from - 165 to 166 (this is the - type used by OpenBSD). - - - - Bring the boot1 and - boot2 files to the local - file system. - - - - Use &man.disklabel.8; to write boot1 - and boot2 to your &os; slice. - - &prompt.root; disklabel -B -b boot1 -s boot2 ad0sn - - n is the number of the slice - where you installed &os;. - - - - Reboot. At the boot prompt you will be given the option - of booting OpenBSD. This will actually - boot &os;. - - - - Getting this to work in the case where you want to dual boot - OpenBSD and &os; on the same laptop is left as an exercise for - the reader. - - - - - - Can I install on a disk with bad blocks? - + + tr_TR.ISO8859-9 - - You can, but it is a bad idea. + Turkish (Turkey) + - If you are seeing bad block errors with a modern IDE - drive, chances are the drive is going to die very soon (the - drive's internal remapping functions are no longer sufficient - to fix the bad blocks, which means the disk is heavily - corrupted); we suggest you buy a new hard drive. - - If you have a SCSI drive with bad blocks, see - this answer. - - - - - - Strange things happen when I boot the install floppy! - What is happening? - - - - If you are seeing things like the machine grinding to a halt - or spontaneously rebooting when you try to boot the install - floppy, here are three questions to ask yourself: - - - - Did you use a new, freshly-formatted, error-free floppy - (preferably a brand-new one straight out of the box, as - opposed to the magazine cover disk that has been lying under - the bed for the last three years)? - - - - Did you download the floppy image in binary (or image) - mode? (do not be embarrassed, even the best of us have - accidentally downloaded a binary file in ASCII mode at - least once!) - - - - If you are using &windows; 95 or &windows; 98 did you run - fdimage or - rawrite in pure DOS mode? These - operating systems can interfere with programs that - write directly to hardware, which the disk creation - program does; even running it inside a DOS shell in - the GUI can cause this problem. - - - - There have also been reports of &netscape; causing problems - when downloading the boot floppy, so it is probably best to use - a different FTP client if you can. - - - - - - I booted from my ATAPI CD-ROM, but the install program - says no CD-ROM is found. Where did it go? - - - - The usual cause of this problem is a mis-configured CD-ROM - drive. Many PCs now ship with the CD-ROM as the slave device on - the secondary IDE controller, with no master device on that - controller. This is illegal according to the ATAPI specification, - but &windows; plays fast and loose with the specification, and the - BIOS ignores it when booting. This is why the BIOS was able to - see the CD-ROM to boot from it, but why &os; cannot see it to - complete the install. - - Reconfigure your system so that the CD-ROM is either the - master device on the IDE controller it is attached to, or make - sure that it is the slave on an IDE controller that also has a - master device. - - - - - - Can I install on my laptop over PLIP (Parallel Line - IP)? - - - - Yes. Use a standard Laplink cable. If necessary, you - can check out the PLIP - section of the Handbook for details on parallel - port networking. - - - - - - Which geometry should I use for a disk drive? - - - - - By the geometry of a disk, we mean - the number of cylinders, heads and sectors/track on a - disk. We will refer to this as C/H/S for - convenience. This is how the PC's BIOS works out which - area on a disk to read/write from. - - - This causes a lot of confusion among new system - administrators. First of all, the - physical geometry of a SCSI drive is - totally irrelevant, as &os; works in term of disk - blocks. In fact, there is no such thing as - the physical geometry, as the sector - density varies across the disk. What manufacturers claim - is the physical geometry is usually the - geometry that they have determined wastes the least - space. For IDE disks, &os; does work in terms of C/H/S, - but all modern drives internally convert this into block - references. - - All that matters is the logical - geometry. This is the answer that the BIOS gets when it - asks the drive what is your geometry? It - then uses this geometry to access the disk. As &os; - uses the BIOS when booting, it is very important to get - this right. In particular, if you have more than one - operating system on a disk, they must all agree on the - geometry. Otherwise you will have serious problems - booting! - - For SCSI disks, the geometry to use depends on whether - extended translation support is turned on in your - controller (this is often referred to as support for - DOS disks >1GB or something similar). If it is - turned off, then use N - cylinders, 64 heads and 32 sectors/track, where - N is the capacity of the disk in - MB. For example, a 2GB disk should pretend to have 2048 - cylinders, 64 heads and 32 sectors/track. - - If it is turned on (it is often - supplied this way to get around certain limitations in - &ms-dos;) and the disk capacity is more than 1 GB, use M - cylinders, 63 sectors per track (not - 64), and 255 heads, where M is the disk capacity in MB - divided by 7.844238 (!). So our example 2 GB drive would - have 261 cylinders, 63 sectors per track and 255 - heads. - - If you are not sure about this, or &os; fails to - detect the geometry correctly during installation, the - simplest way around this is usually to create a small DOS - partition on the disk. The BIOS should then detect the - correct geometry, and you can always remove the DOS - partition in the partition editor if you do not want to - keep it. You might want to leave it around for - programming network cards and the like, however. - - Alternatively, there is a freely available utility - distributed with &os; called - pfdisk.exe. You can find it in the - tools subdirectory on the &os; - CD-ROM or on the various &os; FTP sites. This program - can be used to work out what geometry the other operating - systems on the disk are using. You can then enter this - geometry in the partition editor. - - - - - - Are there any restrictions on how I divide the disk up? - - - - Yes. You must make sure that your root partition is below 1024 - cylinders so the BIOS can boot the kernel from it. (Note that - this is a limitation in the PC's BIOS, not &os;). - - For a SCSI drive, this will normally imply that the root - partition will be in the first 1024 MB (or in the first 4096 MB - if extended translation is turned on - see previous question). - For IDE, the corresponding figure is 504 MB. - - - - - - Is &os; compatible with any disk managers? - - - - &os; recognizes the Ontrack Disk Manager and makes - allowances for it. Other disk managers are not supported. - - If you just want to use the disk with &os; you do not - need a disk manager. Just configure the disk for as much space - as the BIOS can deal with (usually 504 megabytes), and &os; - should figure out how much space you really have. If you are - using an old disk with an MFM controller, you may need to - explicitly tell &os; how many cylinders to use. - - If you want to use the disk with &os; and another - operating system, you may be able to do without a disk manager: - just make sure the &os; boot partition and the slice for - the other operating system are in the first 1024 cylinders. If - you are reasonably careful, a 20 megabyte boot partition should - be plenty. - - - - - - When I boot &os; for the first time after install I get Missing Operating - System. What is happening? - - - - This is classically a case of &os; and DOS or some other - OS conflicting over their ideas of disk geometry. You will have to reinstall - &os;, but obeying the instructions given above will almost - always get you going. - - - - - - Why can I not get past the boot manager's F? - prompt? - - - - This is another symptom of the problem described in the - preceding question. Your BIOS geometry and &os; geometry - settings do not agree! If your controller or BIOS supports - cylinder translation (often marked as >1GB drive - support), try toggling its setting and reinstalling - &os;. - - - - - - Do I need to install the complete sources? - - - - In general, no. However, we would strongly recommend that - you install, at a minimum, the base source - kit, which includes several of the files mentioned here, and - the sys (kernel) source kit, which includes - sources for the kernel. There is nothing in the system which - requires the presence of the sources to operate, however, - except for the kernel-configuration program &man.config.8;. - With the exception of the kernel sources, our build structure - is set up so that you can read-only mount the sources from - elsewhere via NFS and still be able to make new binaries - (due to the kernel-source restriction, we recommend that - you not mount this on /usr/src directly, - but rather in some other location with appropriate symbolic - links to duplicate the top-level structure of the source - tree). - - Having the sources on-line and knowing how to build a - system with them will make it much easier for you to upgrade - to future releases of &os;. - - To actually select a subset of the sources, use the Custom - menu item when you are in the Distributions menu of the - system installation tool. - - - - - - Do I need to build a kernel? - - - - Building a new kernel was originally pretty much a required - step in a &os; installation, but more recent releases have - benefited from the introduction of much friendlier kernel - configuration methods. It is very easy - to configure the kernel's configuration by much more flexible - hints which can be set at the loader prompt. - - It may still be worthwhile building a new - kernel containing just the drivers that you need, just to save a - bit of RAM, but it is no longer necessary for most - systems. - - - - - - - Should I use DES, Blowfish, or MD5 passwords and how - do I specify which form my users receive? - - - - The default password format on &os; is to use - MD5-based passwords. These are - believed to be more secure than the traditional &unix; - password format, which used a scheme based on the - DES algorithm. DES passwords are - still available if you need to share your password file - with legacy operating systems which still use the less - secure password format. &os; also allows you to use the Blowfish password format, - which is more secure. Which password format to use for - new passwords is controlled by the - passwd_format login capability in - /etc/login.conf, which takes values - of des, blf (if these are - available) or md5. See the - &man.login.conf.5; manual page for more information about - login capabilities. - - - - - - Why does the boot floppy start, but hang at the - Probing Devices... screen? - - - - - If you have a IDE &iomegazip; or &jaz; drive installed, remove it - and try again. The boot floppy can get confused by the drives. - After the system is installed you can reconnect the drive. - Hopefully this will be fixed in a later release. - - - - - - Why do I get a panic: can't mount root - error when rebooting the system after installation? - - - - This error comes from confusion between the boot - block's and the kernel's understanding of the disk - devices. The error usually manifests on two-disk IDE - systems, with the hard disks arranged as the master or - single device on separate IDE controllers, with &os; - installed on the secondary IDE controller. The boot blocks - think the system is installed on ad0 (the second BIOS - disk) while the kernel assigns the first disk on the - secondary controller device, ad2. After the device - probing, the kernel tries to mount what the boot blocks - think is the boot disk, ad0, while it is really ad2, and - fails. - - To fix the problem, do one of the following: - - - - Reboot the system and hit Enter - at the Booting kernel in 10 seconds; hit - [Enter] to interrupt prompt. This will - drop you into the boot loader. - - Then type - - set - root_disk_unit="disk_number" - . disk_number - will be 0 if &os; is installed - on the master drive on the first IDE controller, - 1 if it is installed on the slave - on the first IDE controller, 2 if - it is installed on the master of the second IDE - controller, and 3 if it is - installed on the slave of the second IDE - controller. - - Then type boot, and your - system should boot correctly. - - To make this change permanent (i.e, so you do not - have to do this every time you reboot or turn on - your &os; machine), put the line - root_disk_unit="disk_number" - in /boot/loader.conf.local - . - - - - Move the &os; disk onto the primary IDE - controller, so the hard disks are - consecutive. - - - - - - - - What are the limits for memory? - - - - Memory limits depend on the platform used. On a standard - &i386; install, the limit is 4 GB - but more memory can be - supported through &man.pae.4;. See - instructions - for using 4 GB or more memory on &i386;. - - &os;/pc98 has a limit of 4 GB memory, and PAE can not - be used with it. Other architectures - supported by &os; have much higher theoretical limits on - maximum memory (many terabytes). - - - - - - What are the limits for FFS file systems? - - - - For FFS file systems, the maximum theoretical limit is 8 TB - (2 G blocks), or 16 TB for the default block size of - 8 KB. In practice, there is a soft limit of 1 TB, but with - modifications file systems with 4 TB are possible (and - exist). - - The maximum size of a single FFS file is approximately 1 G - blocks, or 4 TB with a block size of 4 KB. - - - Maximum file sizes - - - - - FS Block Size - - Works - - Should Work - - - - - - 4 KB - - > 4 GB - - 4 TB - 1 - - - - - 8 KB - - > 32 GB - - 32 TB - 1 - - - - 16 KB - - > 128 GB - - 32 TB - 1 - - - - 32 KB - - > 512 GB - - 64 TB - 1 - - - - 64 KB - - > 2048 GB - - 128 TB - 1 - - - -
- - When the FS block size is 4 KB, triple indirect blocks work - and everything should be limited by the maximum FS block number - that can be represented using triple indirect blocks (approx. - 10243 + 10242 + 1024), - but everything is limited by a (wrong) limit - of 1 G - 1 on FS block numbers. The limit on FS block numbers - should be 2 G - 1. There are some bugs for FS block numbers near - 2 G - 1, but such block numbers are unreachable when the FS block - size is 4 KB. - - For block sizes of 8 KB and larger, everything should be - limited by the 2 G - 1 limit on FS block numbers, but is - actually limited by the 1 G - 1 limit on FS block numbers. - Using the correct limit of 2 G - 1 blocks does cause - problems. - - - - - - - Why do I get an error message, - archsw.readin.failed after compiling - and booting a new kernel? - - - - Because your world and kernel are out of sync. This - is not supported. Be sure you use make buildworld - and make buildkernel to update your kernel. + + zh_CN.GB2312 - You can boot by specifying the kernel directly at the - second stage, pressing any key when the | shows up before - loader is started. - - + Simplified Chinese (GB2312 + encoding) + - - - Installation crashes while booting, what can I do? - + + zh_TW.Big5 - - Try disabling ACPI support. When the bootloader loads, press - the Space key. The system will display the following: + Traditional Chinese (Big5 encoding) + + + + + + + Some documents may not be available in all + languages. + + - OK + + The document's format. We produce the documentation + in a number of different output formats. Each format + has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some formats + are better suited for online reading, while others are + meant to be aesthetically pleasing when printed on + paper. Having the documentation available in any of + these formats ensures that our readers will be able to + read the parts they are interested in, either on their + monitor, or on paper after printing the documents. The + currently available formats are: + + + + + + Format - Type: + Meaning + + - unset acpi_load + + + html-split - And then type: + A collection of small, linked, HTML + files. + - boot - - + + html - - + One large HTML file containing the entire + document + - - Hardware compatibility + + pdb - - General + Palm Pilot database format, for use with + the iSilo + reader. + - - - - I want to get a piece of hardware for my &os; - system. Which model/brand/type is best? - - - - This is discussed continually on the &os; mailing - lists. Since hardware changes so quickly, however, we - expect this. We still strongly - recommend that you read through the Hardware Notes for &os; - &rel.current; - or - &rel2.current; - and search the mailing list - - archives before asking about the latest and - greatest hardware. Chances are a discussion about the - type of hardware you are looking for took place just last - week. - - If you are looking for a laptop, check the - &a.mobile; archives. Otherwise, you - probably want the archives for the &a.questions;, or - possibly a specific mailing list for a particular hardware - type. - - + + pdf - - + Adobe's Portable Document Format + - - Memory - - - - - Does &os; support more than 4 GB of memory (RAM)? More - than 16 GB? More than 48 GB? - - - - Yes. &os; as an operating system generally supports as much - physical memory (RAM) as the platform it is running on does. Keep in - mind that different platforms have different limits for memory; - for example &i386; without PAE supports - at most 4 GB of memory - (and usually less than that because of PCI address space) and - &i386; with PAE supports at most 64 GB memory. - AMD64 platforms currently deployed support up to - 1 TB of physical memory. - - - - - - Why does &os; report less than 4 GB memory when installed - on an &i386; machine? - - - - The total address space on &i386; machines is 32-bit, meaning that at - most 4 GB of memory is addressable (can be accessed). Furthermore, - some addresses in this range are reserved by hardware for different purposes, - for example for using and controlling PCI devices, for accessing - video memory, and so on. Therefore, the total amount of memory usable by the - operating system for its kernel and applications is limited to significantly - less than 4 GB. Usually, 3.2 GB to 3.7 GB is the maximum usable - physical memory in this configuration. - - To access more than 3.2 GB to 3.7 GB of installed memory (meaning - up to 4 GB but also more than 4 GB), a special tweak called - PAE - must be used. PAE stands for Physical Address Extension and is a - way for 32-bit x86 CPUs to address more than 4 GB of memory. It - remaps the memory that would otherwise be overlayed by address - reservations for hardware devices above the 4 GB range and uses it - as additional physical memory (see &man.pae.4;). Using PAE has - some drawbacks; this mode of memory access is a little bit slower - than the normal (without PAE) mode and loadable modules - (see &man.kld.4;) are not supported. This means all drivers must - be compiled into the kernel. - - The most common way to enable PAE is to build a new kernel with - the special ready-provided kernel configuration file called PAE, - which is already configured to build a safe kernel. Note that some entries in - this kernel configuration file are too conservative and some drivers marked - as unready to be used with PAE are actually usable. A rule of thumb is that - if the driver is usable on 64-bit architectures (like AMD64), it is also - usable with PAE. If you wish to create your own kernel configuration file, - you can enable PAE by adding the following line to your configuration: - - options PAE - - PAE is not much used nowadays because most new x86 hardware also - supports running in 64-bit mode, known as AMD64 or - &intel; 64. It has a much larger - address space and does not need such tweaks. &os; supports AMD64 - and it is recommended that this version of &os; be used instead - of the &i386; version if 4 GB or more memory is required. - - - - - - - Architectures and processors - - - - - Does &os; support architectures other than the x86? - + + ps - + &postscript; + - Yes. &os; currently runs on the Intel x86 and the AMD64 - architectures. The Intel EM64T, IA-64, &arm;, &powerpc;, sun4v and - &sparc64; architectures are also supported. Upcoming platforms are - &mips; and &s390;, join the &a.mips; for more information about - ongoing work on the &mips; platform. For general discussion on - new architectures, join the &a.platforms;. + + rtf - If your machine has a different architecture and you - need something right now, we suggest you look at NetBSD or OpenBSD. - - + Microsoft's Rich Text Format + Page numbers are not automatically + updated when loading this format into Word. + Press CTRLA, + CTRLEND, + F9 after loading the + document, to update the page numbers. + + - - - Does &os; support Symmetric Multiprocessing - (SMP)? - + + txt - - Symmetric multi-processor (SMP) systems are generally - supported by &os;, although in some cases, BIOS or - motherboard bugs may generate some problems. Perusing - the &a.smp; may yield some clues. + Plain text + + + + + - &os; will take advantage of HyperThreading (HTT) support - on Intel CPUs that support this feature. A kernel with the - options SMP feature enabled will - automatically detect the additional logical processors. The - default &os; scheduler treats the logical processors the - same as additional physical processors; in other words, no - attempt is made to optimize scheduling decisions given the - shared resources between logical processors within the same - CPU. Because this naive scheduling can result in suboptimal - performance, under certain circumstances it may be useful to - disable the logical processors with the - machdep.hlt_logical_cpus sysctl variable. - It is also possible to halt any CPU in the idle loop with - the machdep.hlt_cpus sysctl variable. - The &man.smp.4; manual page has more details. - - - - + + The compression and packaging scheme. There are + three of these currently in use. - - Hard drives, tape drives, and CD and DVD drives + + + Where the format is + html-split, the files are bundled + up using &man.tar.1;. The resulting + .tar file is then compressed + using the compression schemes detailed in the next + point. + + + + All the other formats generate one file, called + type.format + (i.e., article.pdf, + book.html, and so on). + + These files are then compressed using two + compression schemes. + + + + + + Scheme + + Description + + + + + + zip + + The Zip format. If you want to + uncompress this on &os; you will need to + install the archivers/unzip + port first. + + + + bz2 + + The BZip2 format. Less widespread than + Zip, but generally gives smaller files. + Install the archivers/bzip2 + port to uncompress these files. + + + + + + So the &postscript; version of the Handbook, + compressed using BZip2 will be stored in a file + called book.ps.bz2 in the + handbook/ directory. + + + + - + After choosing the format and compression mechanism that + you want to download, you will have to download the compressed + files yourself, uncompress them, and then copy the + appropriate documents into place. + + For example, the split HTML version of the FAQ, + compressed using &man.bzip2.1;, can be found in the + doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/book.html-split.tar.bz2 + file. To download and uncompress that file you would have + to do this. - - - What kind of hard drives does &os; support? - + &prompt.root; fetch ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/book.html-split.tar.bz2 +&prompt.root; bzip2 -d book.html-split.tar.bz2 +&prompt.root; tar xvf book.html-split.tar - - &os; supports EIDE, SATA, SCSI, and SAS drives (with a - compatible controller; see the next section), and all drives using - the original Western Digital interface (MFM, RLL, - ESDI, and of course IDE). A few ESDI controllers that use - proprietary interfaces may not work: stick to WD1002/3/6/7 - interfaces and clones. - + You will be left with a collection of + .html files. The main one is called + index.html, which will contain the + table of contents, introductory material, and links to the + other parts of the document. You can then copy or move + these to their final location as necessary. + - - Which SCSI or SAS controllers are supported? - + + Where do I find info on the &os; mailing lists? + - - See the complete list in the Hardware Notes for &os; - &rel.current; or - &rel2.current;. - + + You can find full information in the Handbook entry on mailing-lists. + - - What types of tape drives are supported? - - - - - &os; supports SCSI and QIC-36 (with a QIC-02 interface). - This includes 8-mm (aka Exabyte) and DAT drives. + + What &os; news groups are available? + - Some of the early 8-mm drives are not quite compatible - with SCSI-2, and may not work well with &os;. - + + You can find full information in the Handbook entry on newsgroups. + - - Does &os; support tape changers? - - - - &os; supports SCSI changers using the &man.ch.4; - device and the &man.chio.1; command. The details of how you - actually control the changer can be found in the &man.chio.1; - manual page. - - If you are not using AMANDA - or some other product that already understands changers, - remember that they only know how to move a tape from one - point to another, so you need to keep track of which slot a - tape is in, and which slot the tape currently in the drive - needs to go back to. - - + + Are there &os; IRC (Internet Relay Chat) + channels? + - - - Which CD-ROM drives are supported by &os;? - + + Yes, most major IRC networks host a &os; chat + channel: - - Any SCSI drive connected to a supported controller is - supported. + + + Channel #FreeBSD on EFNet is + a &os; forum, but do not go there for tech support or + try to get folks there to help you avoid the pain of + reading manual pages or doing your own research. It is + a chat channel, first and foremost, and topics there are + just as likely to involve sex, sports or nuclear weapons + as they are &os;. You Have Been Warned! Available at + server irc.chat.org. + - The following proprietary CD-ROM interfaces are also - supported: + + Channel #FreeBSDhelp on EFNet is + a channel dedicated to helping &os; users. They are + much more sympathetic to questions than + #FreeBSD is. + - - - Mitsumi LU002 (8bit), LU005 (16bit) and FX001D - (16bit 2x Speed). - + + Channel ##FreeBSD on Freenode is a + general help channel with about 300 users at any time. + The conversations have been known to run off-topic for a + while, but priority is given to users with &os; + questions. We are good about helping you understand the + basics, referring to the Handbook whenever possible, and + directing you where to learn more about the topic you + need help with. We are a primarily English speaking + channel, though we have users from all over the world. + If you would like to speak in your native language, try + to ask the question in English and then relocate to + another channel + ##freebsd-lang + as appropriate. + - - Sony CDU 31/33A - + + Channel #FreeBSD on DALNET is available at + irc.dal.net in the US and + irc.eu.dal.net in Europe. + - - Sound Blaster Non-SCSI CD-ROM - + + Channel #FreeBSDHelp on DALNET is available + at irc.dal.net in the US and + irc.eu.dal.net in Europe. + - - Matsushita/Panasonic CD-ROM - + + Channel #FreeBSD on UNDERNET is + available at us.undernet.org in the US + and eu.undernet.org in Europe. Since + it is a help channel, be prepared to read the documents + you are referred to. + - - ATAPI compatible IDE CD-ROMs - - + + Channel #FreeBSD on + RUSNET + is a russian-language oriented channel dedicated + to helping &os; users. This is also good place + for non-technical discussions. + - All non-SCSI cards are known to be extremely slow compared - to SCSI drives, and some ATAPI CD-ROMs may not work. + + Channel #bsdchat on Freenode is a + Traditional-Chinese (UTF-8 encoding) language oriented + channel dedicated to helping &os; users. This is also + good place for non-technical discussions. + + - The official &os; CD-ROM ISO, and CD-ROMs from Daemon - News and &os; Mall, support booting directly from the - CD. - + Each of these channels are distinct and are not + connected to each other. Their chat styles also differ, so + you may need to try each to find one suited to your chat + style. As with all types of IRC + traffic, if you are easily offended or cannot deal with lots + of young people (and more than a few older ones) doing the + verbal equivalent of jello wrestling, do not even bother + with it. + - - Which CD-RW drives are supported by &os;? - + + Where can I get commercial &os; training and + support? + - &os; supports any ATAPI-compatible IDE CD-R or CD-RW - drive. See &man.burncd.8; for details. + DaemonNews provides commercial training and support for + &os;. More information can be found at their BSD Mall site. - &os; also supports any SCSI CD-R or CD-RW drives. - Install and use the cdrecord command from the - ports or packages system, and make sure that you have the - pass device compiled in your - kernel. + The &os; Mall provides commercial &os; support. You can + get more information at their web site. + + Any other organizations providing training and support + should contact the project in order to be listed here. + + - - - Does &os; support &iomegazip; drives? - - - - &os; supports SCSI and ATAPI (IDE) &iomegazip; drives out - of the box. SCSI ZIP drives can only be set to - run at SCSI target IDs 5 or 6, but if your SCSI host - adapter's BIOS supports it you can even boot from it. It - is not clear which host adapters support booting from - targets other than 0 or 1, so you will have to consult - your adapter's documentation if you would like to use this - feature. - - &os; also supports Parallel Port Zip Drives. Check - that your kernel contains the - scbus0, - da0, - ppbus0, and - vp0 drivers (the GENERIC kernel - contains everything except - vp0). With all these drivers - present, the Parallel Port drive should be available as - /dev/da0s4. Disks can be mounted - using mount /dev/da0s4 /mnt OR (for DOS - disks) mount_msdos /dev/da0s4 /mnt as - appropriate. - - Also check out the FAQ on - removable drives later in this chapter, and the note on - formattingin the Administration - chapter. - - - - - - Does &os; support &jaz;, EZ and other removable - drives? - - - - They work. Most of these are SCSI devices, so they - look like SCSI disks to &os;. The IDE EZ looks like an - IDE drive. - - Make sure that any external units are powered on when - booting the system. - - To change the media while - running, check out &man.mount.8;, &man.umount.8;, and - &man.camcontrol.8; (for SCSI devices) or - &man.atacontrol.8; (for IDE devices), plus the discussion on using removable - drives later in the FAQ. - - - - - - - - - Keyboards and mice - - - - - - Does &os; support my USB keyboard? - - - - &os; supports USB keyboards - out-of-the-box. Once you have USB keyboard support enabled on your - system, the AT keyboard becomes - /dev/kbd0 and the USB keyboard - becomes /dev/kbd1, if both are - connected to the system. If there is the USB keyboard - only, it will be - /dev/ukbd0. - - If you want to use the USB keyboard in the console, - you have to explicitly tell the console driver to use the - existing USB keyboard. This can be done by running the - following command as a part of system - initialization. - - &prompt.root; kbdcontrol -k /dev/kbd1 < /dev/console > /dev/null - - Note that if the USB keyboard is the only keyboard, it - is accessed as /dev/ukbd0, thus, - the command should look like: - - &prompt.root; kbdcontrol -k /dev/ukbd0 < /dev/console > /dev/null - - - To make this change permanent across reboots, add - keyboard="/dev/ukbd0" to - /etc/rc.conf. - - - Once this is done, the USB keyboard should work in the - X environment as well without any special settings. - - If you want to switch back to the default keyboard, - use this command: - - &prompt.root; kbdcontrol -k /dev/kbd0 > /dev/null - - To allow using both the second USB keyboard and the - first AT keyboard at the same time on a console via - &man.kbdmux.4; driver type the following commands: - - &prompt.root; kbdcontrol -K < /dev/console > /dev/null -kbdcontrol -a atkbd0 < /dev/kbdmux0 > /dev/null -kbdcontrol -a ukbd1 < /dev/kbdmux0 > /dev/null -kbdcontrol -k /dev/kbdmux0 < /dev/console > /dev/null - - See the &man.ukbd.4;, &man.kbdcontrol.1; and - &man.kbdmux.4; manual pages for more information. + + + + Nik + Clayton + +
nik@FreeBSD.org
+ + + - - Hot-plugging and unplugging of the USB keyboard may - not work quite right yet. We recommend connecting the - keyboard before starting the system and leaving it - connected until the system is shutdown to avoid - issues. - - - + Installation + - - I have an unusual bus mouse. How do I set it - up? - - - - &os; supports the bus mouse and the InPort bus - mouse from such manufacturers as Microsoft, Logitech and - ATI. The GENERIC kernel does not include the device - driver. To build a custom kernel with the bus mouse - driver, add the following line to the kernel config - file: + + Which file do I download to get &os;? + - device mse0 at isa? port 0x23c irq5 + + You need three floppy images: + floppies/boot.flp, + floppies/kern1.flp, and + floppies/kern2.flp. These images need + to be copied onto floppies by tools like + fdimage or &man.dd.1;. - Bus mice usually come with dedicated interface cards. - These cards may allow you to set the port address and the - IRQ number other than shown above. Refer to the manual of - your mouse and the &man.mse.4; manual page for more - information. - - + If you need to download the distributions yourself (for + a DOS file system install, for instance), below are some + recommendations for distributions to grab: - - - How do I use my PS/2 (mouse port or - keyboard) mouse? - + + + base/ + - - The PS/2 mouse is supported out-of-the-box. The - necessary device driver, psm, is - included in the kernel. + + manpages/ + - If your custom kernel does not have this, add the - following line to your kernel configuration and compile a - new kernel. + + compat*/ + - device psm0 at atkbdc? irq 12 + + doc/ + - Once the kernel detects psm0 - correctly at boot time, a device node - psm0 will be created - automatically. + + src/ssys.* + + + Full instructions on this procedure and a little bit + more about installation issues in general can be found in + the Handbook entry on installing &os;. + - - Is it possible to use a mouse in any way outside the X - Window system? - - - - If you are using the default console driver, - &man.syscons.4;, you can use a mouse pointer in text - consoles to cut & paste text. Run the mouse daemon, - &man.moused.8;, and turn on the mouse pointer in the - virtual console: + + What do I do if the floppy images does not fit on a + single floppy? + - &prompt.root; moused -p /dev/xxxx -t yyyy -&prompt.root; vidcontrol -m on + + A 3.5 inch (1.44 MB) floppy can accommodate + 1474560 bytes of data. The boot image is exactly + 1474560 bytes in size. - Where xxxx is the mouse - device name and yyyy is a - protocol type for the mouse. The mouse daemon can - automatically determine the protocol type of most - mice, except old serial mice. Specify the - auto protocol to invoke automatic - detection. If automatic detection does not work, see the - &man.moused.8; manual page for a list of supported - protocol types. - - If you have a PS/2 mouse, just add - moused_enable="YES" to - /etc/rc.conf to start the mouse - daemon at boot-time. Additionally, if you would like to - use the mouse daemon on all virtual terminals instead of - just the console, add allscreens_flags="-m - on" to /etc/rc.conf. - - When the mouse daemon is running, access to the mouse - must be coordinated between the mouse daemon and other - programs such as X Windows. Refer to the FAQ Why does my mouse not work with - X? for more details on this issue. - - - - - - How do I cut and paste text with a mouse in the text - console? - - - - Once you get the mouse daemon running (see the previous section), hold down the - button 1 (left button) and move the mouse to select a - region of text. Then, press the button 2 (middle button) - to paste it at the text cursor. Pressing button 3 (right - button) will extend the selected region of - text. - - If your mouse does not have a middle button, you may - wish to emulate one or remap buttons using mouse daemon - options. See the &man.moused.8; manual page for - details. - - - - - - My mouse has a fancy wheel and buttons. Can I use them in - &os;? - - - - The answer is, unfortunately, It depends. - These mice with additional features require specialized driver - in most cases. Unless the mouse device driver or the user - program has specific support for the mouse, it will act just - like a standard two, or three button mouse. - - For the possible usage of wheels in the X Window - environment, refer to that - section. - - - - - - How do I use the mouse/trackball/touchpad on my laptop? - - - - Please refer to the answer to - the previous question. - - - - - - How do I use my delete key in sh and - csh? - - - - For the Bourne Shell, add the - following lines to your .shrc. See &man.sh.1; - and &man.editrc.5;. + Common mistakes when preparing the boot floppy + are: - bind ^? ed-delete-next-char # for console -bind ^[[3~ ed-delete-next-char # for xterm + + + Not downloading the floppy image in + binary mode when using + FTP. + + Some FTP clients default their transfer mode to + ascii and attempt to change any + end-of-line characters received to match the conventions + used by the client's system. This will almost + invariably corrupt the boot image. Check the size of + the downloaded boot image: if it is not + exactly that on the server, then + the download process is suspect. + + To workaround: type binary at + the FTP command prompt after getting connected to the + server and before starting the download of the + image. + - For the C Shell, add the following - lines to your .cshrc. See &man.csh.1;. + + Using the DOS copy command (or + equivalent GUI tool) to transfer the boot image to + floppy. + + Programs like copy will not work + as the boot image has been created to be booted into + directly. The image has the complete content of the + floppy, track for track, and is not meant to be placed + on the floppy as a regular file. You have to transfer + it to the floppy raw, using the low-level + tools (e.g. fdimage or + rawrite) described in the installation guide to &os;. + + + + + - bindkey ^? delete-char # for console -bindkey ^[[3~ delete-char # for xterm + + + Where are the instructions for installing &os;? + - For more information, see this page. - - + + Installation instructions can be found in the Handbook entry on installing &os;. + + - - - + + + What do I need in order to run &os;? + - - Networking and serial devices + + For &os; you will need a 486 or better PC, with + 24 MB or more of RAM and at least 150 MB of hard + disk space. + + All versions of &os; can run with a low end MDA graphics + card but to run &xorg;, a VGA or better video card is + needed. - + See also . + + - - Which network cards does &os; support? - + + How can I make my own custom install floppy? + - - See the Hardware Notes supplied with each release of - &os; for a more - complete list. - + + Currently there is no way to just + make a custom install floppy. You have to cut a whole new + release, which will include your install floppy. + + To make a custom release, follow the instructions in the + Release Engineering + article. + - - Does &os; support software modems, such as Winmodems? - - - - &os; supports many software modems via add-on - software. For example, the comms/ltmdm port adds - support for modems based on the very popular Lucent LT - chipsets. + + Can I have more than one operating system on my + PC? + - You cannot install &os; via a software modem; this - software must be installed after the OS is - installed. - + + Have a look at the multi-OS page. + + - - Is there a native driver for the Broadcom 43xx cards? + + Can &windows; co-exist with &os;? - No, and there is not likely to be. - - Broadcom refuses to publically release programming - information for their wireless chipsets, most likely because - they use software controlled radios. In order to get FCC type - acceptance for their parts, they have to ensure that users - cannot arbitrarily set things like operating frequencies, - modulation parameters and power output. But without knowing - how to program the chipsets, it is nearly impossible to write - a driver. + Install &windows; first, then &os;. &os;'s boot manager + will then manage to boot &windows; and &os;. If you install + &windows; second, it will boorishly overwrite your boot + manager without even asking. If that happens, see the next + section. - - Which multi-port serial cards are supported by - &os;? - + + &windows; killed my boot manager! How do I get it + back? + + + + You can reinstall the boot manager &os; comes with in + one of three ways: + + + + Running DOS, go into the tools directory of your + &os; distribution and look for + bootinst.exe. You run it like + so: - - There is a list of these in the Serial Communications - chapter of the handbook. + ...\TOOLS> bootinst.exe boot.bin + + and the boot manager will be reinstalled. + - Some unnamed clone cards have also been known to work, - especially those that claim to be AST compatible. + + Boot the &os; boot floppy again and go to the + Custom menu item for custom + installation. Choose + Partition. Select the drive + which used to contain your boot manager (likely the + first one) and when you come to the partition editor for + it, as the very first thing (e.g. do not make any + changes) press W. This will ask for + confirmation, select &gui.yes;, and when you get the + Boot Manager selection prompt, be sure to select the + &os; Boot Manager. This will + re-write the boot manager to disk. Now quit out of the + installation menu and reboot off the hard disk as + normal. + - Check the &man.sio.4; manual page to get more - information on configuring such cards. - + + Boot the &os; boot floppy (or CD-ROM) and choose the + Fixit menu item. Select + either the Fixit floppy or CD-ROM #2 (the + live file system option) as appropriate + and enter the fixit shell. Then execute the following + command: + + Fixit# fdisk -B -b /boot/boot0 bootdevice + + substituting bootdevice + for your real boot device such as + ad0 (first IDE disk), + ad4 (first IDE disk on + auxiliary controller), da0 + (first SCSI disk), etc. + + + - - How do I get the boot: prompt to show on the serial - console? - + + My A, T, or X series IBM Thinkpad locks up when I first + booted up my &os; installation. How can I solve + this? + - - See this - section of the handbook. - - + + A bug in early revisions of IBM's BIOS on these machines + mistakenly identifies the &os; partition as a potential FAT + suspend-to-disk partition. When the BIOS tries to parse the + &os; partition it hangs. - + According to IBM + In an email from Keith Frechette + kfrechet@us.ibm.com., + the following model/BIOS release numbers incorporate the + fix. - + + + + + Model - - Sound devices + BIOS revision + + - + + + T20 - - - Which sound cards are supported by &os;? - + IYET49WW or later + - - &os; supports various sound cards (for more details, - see &os; Release Information - and the &man.snd.4; manual page). - There is also limited support for - MPU-401 and compatible MIDI cards. Cards conforming to the - µsoft; Sound System specification are also supported. + + T21 - - This is only for sound! This driver does not support - CD-ROMs, SCSI or joysticks on these cards, except for the - &soundblaster;. The &soundblaster; SCSI interface and some - non-SCSI CD-ROMs are supported, but you cannot boot off this - device. - - - + KZET22WW or later + - - - Workarounds for no sound from my &man.pcm.4; sound - card? - + + A20p - - Some sound cards set their output - volume to 0 at every boot. Run the following command - every time the machine boots: + IVET62WW or later + - &prompt.root; mixer pcm 100 vol 100 cd 100 - - + + A20m - + IWET54WW or later + - + + A21p - - Other hardware + KYET27WW or later + - + + A21m - - - Does &os; support power management on my - laptop? - + KXET24WW or later + - - &os; supports APM - on certain machines. Further information can be found in - &man.apm.4;. + + A21e - &os; also supports the - ACPI features found in most modern - hardware. Further information can be found in - &man.acpi.4;. If a system supports both - APM and ACPI, either - can be used. We suggest you try both and choose the one - that best fits your needs. + KUET30WW + + + + - - + It has been reported that later IBM BIOS revisions may + have reintroduced the bug. This message + from Jacques Vidrine to the &a.mobile; describes a procedure + which may work if your newer IBM laptop does not boot &os; + properly, and you can upgrade or downgrade the BIOS. + + If you have an earlier BIOS, and upgrading is not an + option, a workaround is to install &os;, change the partition + ID &os; uses, and install new boot blocks that can handle + the different partition ID. + + First, you will need to restore the machine to a state + where it can get through its self-test screen. Doing this + requires powering up the machine without letting it find a + &os; partition on its primary disk. One way is to remove + the hard disk and temporarily move it to an older ThinkPad + (such as a ThinkPad 600) or a desktop PC with an appropriate + conversion cable. Once it is there, you can delete the &os; + partition and move the hard disk back. The ThinkPad should + now be in a bootable state again. + + With the machine functional again, you can use the + workaround procedure described here to get a working &os; + installation. - - - How do I disable ACPI? - + + + Download boot1 and + boot2 from . + Put these files somewhere you will be able to retrieve + them later. + - - Add following line hint.acpi.0.disabled="1" - into your /boot/device.hints file. - - + + Install &os; as normal on to the ThinkPad. + Do not use Dangerously + Dedicated mode. Do not + reboot when the install has finished. + - - - Why does my Micron system hang at boot time? - + + Either switch to the Emergency Holographic + Shell (AltF4) + or start a fixit shell. + - - Certain Micron motherboards have a non-conforming PCI BIOS - implementation that causes grief when &os; boots because PCI - devices do not get configured at their reported addresses. + + Use &man.fdisk.8; to change the &os; partition ID + from 165 to 166 + (this is the type used by OpenBSD). + - Disable the Plug and Play Operating System - flag in the BIOS to work around this problem. - - + + Bring the boot1 and + boot2 files to the local file + system. + - - - The boot floppy hangs on a system with an ASUS K7V - motherboard. How do I fix this? - + + Use &man.disklabel.8; to write + boot1 and boot2 + to your &os; slice. - - Go into the BIOS setup and disable the boot virus - protection. - - + &prompt.root; disklabel -B -b boot1 -s boot2 ad0sn - - - Why does my &tm.3com; PCI network card not work with my Micron - computer? - + n is the number of the + slice where you installed &os;. + - - See the previous answer. - - + + Reboot. At the boot prompt you will be given the + option of booting OpenBSD. This will + actually boot &os;. + + - + Getting this to work in the case where you want to dual + boot OpenBSD and &os; on the same laptop is left as an + exercise for the reader. + + - + + + Can I install on a disk with bad blocks? + - + + You can, but it is a bad idea. - - Troubleshooting + If you are seeing bad block errors with a modern IDE + drive, chances are the drive is going to die very soon (the + drive's internal remapping functions are no longer + sufficient to fix the bad blocks, which means the disk is + heavily corrupted); we suggest you buy a new hard + drive. - - - - Why is &os; finding the wrong amount of memory on &i386; hardware? - - - - The most likely reason is the difference between physical - memory addresses and virtual addresses. - - The convention for most PC hardware is to use the memory area - between 3.5 GB and 4 GB for a special purpose (usually for PCI). This - address space is used to access PCI hardware. As a result real, - physical memory can not be accessed by that address space. - - What happens to the memory that should appear in that location - is dependent on your hardware. Unfortunately, some hardware does - nothing and the ability to use that last 500 MB of RAM is entirely - lost. - - Luckily, most hardware remaps the memory to a higher location - so that it can still be used. However, this can cause some - confusion if you watch the boot messages. - - On a 32 bit version of &os;, the memory appears lost, since it - will be remapped above 4 GB, which a 32 bit kernel is unable to - access. In this case, the solution is to build a PAE enabled - kernel. See the entry on memory limits - and about different memory - limits on different platforms for more information. - - On a 64-bit version of &os;, or when running a PAE-enabled - kernel, &os; will correctly detect and remap the memory so it is - usable. During boot, however, it may seem as if &os; is detecting - more memory than the system really has, due to the described remapping. - This is normal and the available memory will be corrected as - the boot process completes. - + If you have a SCSI drive with bad blocks, see this answer. + - - What do I do when I have bad blocks on my hard drive? - - - - With SCSI drives, the drive should be capable of re-mapping - these automatically. However, many drives ship with - this feature disabled. - - To enable bad block remapping edit the first device page - mode, which can be done by giving the command - (as root) + + Strange things happen when I boot the install floppy! + What is happening? + - &prompt.root; camcontrol modepage sd0 -m 1 -e -P 3 + + If you are seeing things like the machine grinding to a + halt or spontaneously rebooting when you try to boot the + install floppy, here are three questions to ask + yourself: - and changing the values of AWRE and ARRE from 0 to 1: + + + Did you use a new, freshly-formatted, error-free + floppy (preferably a brand-new one straight out of the + box, as opposed to the magazine cover disk that has been + lying under the bed for the last three years)? + - AWRE (Auto Write Reallocation Enbld): 1 -ARRE (Auto Read Reallocation Enbld): 1 + + Did you download the floppy image in binary (or + image) mode? (do not be embarrassed, even the best of us + have accidentally downloaded a binary file in ASCII mode + at least once!) + + + + If you are using &windows; 95 or + &windows; 98 did you run fdimage + or rawrite in pure DOS mode? These + operating systems can interfere with programs that write + directly to hardware, which the disk creation program + does; even running it inside a DOS shell in the GUI can + cause this problem. + + - Modern IDE drives also have bad block remapping - features in the controller, and they ship with this - feature turned on. - - If you see warnings about bad blocks (on either type - of drive), it is time to consider replacing the drive. - You might be able to use the drive manufacturer's - diagnostic program to lock out those bad blocks, but at - best this will buy you some time. - + There have also been reports of &netscape; causing + problems when downloading the boot floppy, so it is probably + best to use a different FTP client if you can. + - - Why does &os; not detect my HP Netserver's SCSI - controller? - - - - This is basically a known problem. The EISA on-board SCSI - controller in the HP Netserver machines occupies EISA slot - number 11, so all the true EISA slots are in - front of it. Alas, the address space for EISA slots >= 10 - collides with the address space assigned to PCI, and &os;'s - auto-configuration currently cannot handle this situation very - well. - - So now, the best you can do is to pretend there is no - address range clash :), by bumping the kernel option - EISA_SLOTS to a value of 12. Configure and - compile a kernel, as described in the Handbook entry on - configuring the kernel. - - Of course, this does present you with a chicken-and-egg - problem when installing on such a machine. In order to work - around this problem, a special hack is available inside - UserConfig. Do not use the - visual interface, but the plain command-line - interface there. Simply type the following command at the - prompt and install your system as usual: + + I booted from my ATAPI CD-ROM, but the install program + says no CD-ROM is found. Where did it go? + - eisa 12 -quit + + The usual cause of this problem is a mis-configured + CD-ROM drive. Many PCs now ship with the CD-ROM as the slave + device on the secondary IDE controller, with no master + device on that controller. This is illegal according to the + ATAPI specification, but &windows; plays fast and loose with + the specification, and the BIOS ignores it when booting. + This is why the BIOS was able to see the CD-ROM to boot from + it, but why &os; cannot see it to complete the + install. + + Reconfigure your system so that the CD-ROM is either the + master device on the IDE controller it is attached to, or + make sure that it is the slave on an IDE controller that + also has a master device. + + + + + + Can I install on my laptop over PLIP (Parallel Line + IP)? + - While - it is recommended you compile and install a custom kernel - anyway. - - Hopefully, future versions will have a proper fix for - this problem. - - - You cannot use a - dangerously dedicated disk - with an HP Netserver. See this - note for more info. - - - - - - - I keep seeing messages like - ed1: timeout. What do these messages - mean? - - - - This is usually caused by an interrupt conflict (e.g., - two boards using the same IRQ). Boot with the - option and change the ed0/de0/... entry to match your - board. - - If you are using the BNC connector on your network card, - you may also see device timeouts because of bad termination. To - check this, attach a terminator directly to the NIC (with no - cable) and see if the error messages go away. - - Some NE2000 compatible cards will give this error if there - is no link on the UTP port or if the cable is disconnected. - - - - - - Why did my &tm.3com; 3C509 card stop working for no - apparent reason? - - - - This card has a bad habit of losing its configuration - information. Refresh your card's settings with the DOS - utility 3c5x9.exe. - - - - - - My parallel printer is ridiculously slow. What can I do? - - - - If the only problem is that the printer is terribly - slow, try changing your printer - port mode as discussed in the Printer - Setup section of the Handbook. - - - - - - Why do my programs occasionally die with - Signal 11 errors? - - - - Signal 11 errors are caused when your process has attempted - to access memory which the operating system has not granted it - access to. If something like this is happening at seemingly - random intervals then you need to start investigating things - very carefully. - - These problems can usually be attributed to either: - - - - If the problem is occurring only in a specific - application that you are developing yourself it is probably - a bug in your code. - - - - If it is a problem with part of the base &os; system, - it may also be buggy code, but more often than not these - problems are found and fixed long before us general FAQ - readers get to use these bits of code (that is what -current - is for). - - - - In particular, a dead giveaway that this is - not a &os; bug is if you see the - problem when you are compiling a program, but the activity - that the compiler is carrying out changes each - time. - - For example, suppose you are running make - buildworld, and the compile fails while trying to - compile ls.c into - ls.o. If you then run make - buildworld again, and the compile fails in the same - place then this is a broken build — try updating your sources - and try again. If the compile fails elsewhere then this is - almost certainly hardware. - - What you should do: - - In the first case you can use a debugger e.g. &man.gdb.1; to find - the point in the program which is attempting to access a bogus - address and then fix it. - - In the second case you need to verify that it is not your - hardware at fault. - - Common causes of this include: - - - - Your hard disks might be overheating: Check the fans in - your case are still working, as your disk (and perhaps - other hardware might be overheating). - - - - The processor running is overheating: This might be - because the processor has been overclocked, or the fan on - the processor might have died. In either case you need to - ensure that you have hardware running at what it is - specified to run at, at least while trying to solve this - problem. i.e. Clock it back to the default settings. - - If you are overclocking then note that it is far cheaper - to have a slow system than a fried system that needs - replacing! Also the wider community is not often - sympathetic to problems on overclocked systems, whether you - believe it is safe or not. - - - - Dodgy memory: If you have multiple memory SIMMS/DIMMS - installed then pull them all out and try running the - machine with each SIMM or DIMM individually and narrow the - problem down to either the problematic DIMM/SIMM or perhaps - even a combination. - - - - Over-optimistic Motherboard settings: In your BIOS - settings, and some motherboard jumpers you have options to - set various timings, mostly the defaults will be - sufficient, but sometimes, setting the wait states on RAM - too low, or setting the RAM Speed: Turbo option, or - similar in the BIOS will cause strange behavior. A - possible idea is to set to BIOS defaults, but it might be - worth noting down your settings first! - - - - Unclean or insufficient power to the motherboard. If you - have any unused I/O boards, hard disks, or CD-ROMs in your - system, try temporarily removing them or disconnecting the - power cable from them, to see if your power supply can - manage a smaller load. Or try another power supply, - preferably one with a little more power (for instance, if - your current power supply is rated at 250 Watts try one - rated at 300 Watts). - - - - - You should also read the SIG11 FAQ (listed below) which has - excellent explanations of all these problems, albeit from a - &linux; viewpoint. It also discusses how memory testing software - or hardware can still pass faulty memory. - - Finally, if none of this has helped it is possible that - you have just found a bug in &os;, and you should follow the - instructions to send a problem report. - - There is an extensive FAQ on this at - the SIG11 problem FAQ - - - - - - My system crashes with either Fatal - trap 12: page fault in kernel mode, or - panic:, and spits out a - bunch of information. What should I do? - - - - The &os; developers are very interested in these - errors, but need some more information than just the - error you see. Copy your full crash message. Then - consult the FAQ section on kernel panics, - build a debugging kernel, and get a backtrace. This - might sound difficult, but you do not need any - programming skills; you just have to follow the - instructions. - - - - - - Why does the screen go black and lose sync when I - boot? - - - - This is a known problem with the ATI Mach64 video card. - The problem is that this card uses address - 2e8, and the fourth serial port does too. - Due to a bug (feature?) in the &man.sio.4; - driver it will touch this port even if you do not have the - fourth serial port, and even if - you disable sio3 (the fourth port) which normally uses this - address. - - Until the bug has been fixed, you can use this - workaround: - - - - Enter at the boot prompt. - (This will put the kernel into configuration mode). - - - - Disable sio0, - sio1, - sio2 and - sio3 (all of them). This way - the &man.sio.4; driver does not get activated — no - problems. - - - - Type exit to continue booting. - - - - If you want to be able to use your serial ports, you will - have to build a new kernel with the following modification: in - /usr/src/sys/dev/sio/sio.c (or in /usr/src/sys/pc98/cbus/sio.c for pc98) find the one - occurrence of the string 0x2e8 and remove - that string and the preceding comma (keep the trailing comma). - Now follow the normal procedure of building a new - kernel. - - - - - - - Why does &os; only use 64 MB of RAM when my system has - 128 MB of RAM installed? - - - - Due to the manner in which &os; gets the memory size - from the BIOS, it can only detect 16 bits worth of Kbytes in - size (65535 Kbytes = 64 MB) (or less... some BIOSes peg the - memory size to 16 MB). If you have more than 64 MB, &os; will - attempt to detect it; however, the attempt may fail. - - To work around this problem, you need to use the kernel - option specified below. There is a way to get complete memory - information from the BIOS, but we do not have room in the - bootblocks to do it. Someday when lack of room in the - bootblocks is fixed, we will use the extended BIOS functions to - get the full memory information...but for now we are stuck with - the kernel option. - - options MAXMEM=n - - Where n is your memory in - Kilobytes. For a 128 MB machine, you would want to use - 131072. - + + Yes. Use a standard Laplink cable. If necessary, you + can check out the PLIP section of the Handbook + for details on parallel port networking. + - - My system has more than 1 GB of RAM, and I'm getting panics - with kmem_map too small messages. What is wrong? - + + Which geometry should I use for a disk drive? - Normally, &os; determines a number of kernel parameters, - such as as the maximum number of files that can be open - concurrently, from the amount of memory installed in the - system. On systems with one gigabyte of RAM or more, this - auto sizing mechanism may choose values that are - too high: while starting up, the kernel allocates various tables - and other structures that fill up most of the available kernel - memory. Later on, while the system is running, the kernel has no - more space left for dynamic memory allocations, and - panics. + + By the geometry of a disk, we mean + the number of cylinders, heads and sectors/track on a + disk. We will refer to this as C/H/S for convenience. + This is how the PC's BIOS works out which area on a disk + to read/write from. + - Compile your own kernel, and add the - to your kernel configuration - file, increasing the maximum size to 400 MB - (). - 400 MB appears to be sufficient for machines with up to - 6 GB of memory. + This causes a lot of confusion among new system + administrators. First of all, the + physical geometry of a SCSI drive is + totally irrelevant, as &os; works in term of disk blocks. + In fact, there is no such thing as the + physical geometry, as the sector density varies across the + disk. What manufacturers claim is the physical + geometry is usually the geometry that they have + determined wastes the least space. For IDE disks, &os; does + work in terms of C/H/S, but all modern drives internally + convert this into block references. + + All that matters is the logical + geometry. This is the answer that the BIOS gets when it + asks the drive what is your geometry? It then + uses this geometry to access the disk. As &os; uses the + BIOS when booting, it is very important to get this right. + In particular, if you have more than one operating system on + a disk, they must all agree on the geometry. Otherwise you + will have serious problems booting! + + For SCSI disks, the geometry to use depends on whether + extended translation support is turned on in your controller + (this is often referred to as support for DOS disks + >1GB or something similar). If it is turned off, + then use N cylinders, 64 heads + and 32 sectors/track, where N is + the capacity of the disk in MB. For example, a 2GB disk + should pretend to have 2048 cylinders, 64 heads and 32 + sectors/track. + + If it is turned on (it is often + supplied this way to get around certain limitations in + &ms-dos;) and the disk capacity is more than 1 GB, use + M cylinders, 63 sectors per track + (not 64), and 255 heads, where + M is the disk capacity in MB + divided by 7.844238 (!). So our example 2 GB drive + would have 261 cylinders, 63 sectors per track and 255 + heads. + + If you are not sure about this, or &os; fails to detect + the geometry correctly during installation, the simplest way + around this is usually to create a small DOS partition on + the disk. The BIOS should then detect the correct geometry, + and you can always remove the DOS partition in the partition + editor if you do not want to keep it. You might want to + leave it around for programming network cards and the like, + however. + + Alternatively, there is a freely available utility + distributed with &os; called + pfdisk.exe. You can find it in the + tools subdirectory on + the &os; CD-ROM or on the various &os; FTP sites. This + program can be used to work out what geometry the other + operating systems on the disk are using. You can then enter + this geometry in the partition editor. - + - - My system does not have 1 GB of RAM, and &os; still - panics with kmem_map too small! - + + Are there any restrictions on how I divide the disk + up? - - The panic indicates that the system ran out of virtual - memory for network buffers (specifically, mbuf clusters). You - can increase the amount of VM available for mbuf clusters by - following the instructions in the Network - Limits section of the Handbook. - + + Yes. You must make sure that your root partition is + below 1024 cylinders so the BIOS can boot the kernel from it. + (Note that this is a limitation in the PC's BIOS, not + &os;). + + For a SCSI drive, this will normally imply that the root + partition will be in the first 1024 MB (or in the first + 4096 MB if extended translation is turned on - see + previous question). For IDE, the corresponding figure is + 504 MB. + - - Why do I get the error kernel: proc: table - is full? - - - - The &os; kernel will only allow a certain number of - processes to exist at one time. The number is based on - the kern.maxusers &man.sysctl.8; variable. - kern.maxusers also affects - various other in-kernel limits, such as network buffers - (see this - earlier question). If your machine is heavily loaded, you - probably want to increase kern.maxusers. - This will increase these other system limits in addition - to the maximum number of processes. + + Is &os; compatible with any disk managers? + - To adjust your kern.maxusers value, see - the File/Process - Limits section of the Handbook. (While that - section refers to open files, the same limits apply to - processes.) - - If your machine is lightly loaded, and you are simply - running a very large number of processes, you can adjust - this with the kern.maxproc tunable. If - this tunable needs adjustment it needs to be defined in - /boot/loader.conf. The tunable - will not get adjusted until the system is rebooted. For - more information about tuning tunables, you should see the - &man.loader.conf.5; and &man.sysctl.conf.5; manual pages. - If these processes are being run by a single user, you will - also need to adjust kern.maxprocperuid - to be one less than your new - kern.maxproc value. (It must be at - least one less because one system program, &man.init.8;, - must always be running.) + + &os; recognizes the Ontrack Disk + Manager and makes allowances for it. Other disk + managers are not supported. + + If you just want to use the disk with &os; you do not + need a disk manager. Just configure the disk for as much + space as the BIOS can deal with (usually + 504 megabytes), and &os; should figure out how much + space you really have. If you are using an old disk with an + MFM controller, you may need to explicitly tell &os; how + many cylinders to use. + + If you want to use the disk with &os; and another + operating system, you may be able to do without a disk + manager: just make sure the &os; boot partition and the + slice for the other operating system are in the first 1024 + cylinders. If you are reasonably careful, a + 20 megabyte boot partition should be plenty. + + + + + + When I boot &os; for the first time after install I get + Missing Operating System. What is + happening? + + + + This is classically a case of &os; and DOS or some other + OS conflicting over their ideas of disk geometry. You will have to + reinstall &os;, but obeying the instructions given above + will almost always get you going. + + + + + + Why can I not get past the boot manager's + F? prompt? + + + + This is another symptom of the problem described in the + preceding question. Your BIOS geometry and &os; geometry + settings do not agree! If your controller or BIOS supports + cylinder translation (often marked as >1GB drive + support), try toggling its setting and reinstalling + &os;. + + + + + + Do I need to install the complete sources? + + + + In general, no. However, we would strongly recommend + that you install, at a minimum, the base + source kit, which includes several of the files mentioned + here, and the sys (kernel) source kit, + which includes sources for the kernel. There is nothing in + the system which requires the presence of the sources to + operate, however, except for the kernel-configuration + program &man.config.8;. With the exception of the kernel + sources, our build structure is set up so that you can + read-only mount the sources from elsewhere via NFS and still + be able to make new binaries (due to the kernel-source + restriction, we recommend that you not mount this on + /usr/src directly, but + rather in some other location with appropriate symbolic + links to duplicate the top-level structure of the source + tree). + + Having the sources on-line and knowing how to build a + system with them will make it much easier for you to upgrade + to future releases of &os;. + + To actually select a subset of the sources, use the + Custom menu item when you are in + the Distributions menu of the + system installation tool. + + + + + + Do I need to build a kernel? + + + + Building a new kernel was originally pretty much a + required step in a &os; installation, but more recent releases + have benefited from the introduction of much friendlier + kernel configuration methods. It is very easy to configure + the kernel's configuration by much more flexible + hints which can be set at the loader + prompt. + + It may still be worthwhile building a new kernel + containing just the drivers that you need, just to save a + bit of RAM, but it is no longer necessary for most + systems. + + + + + + Should I use DES, Blowfish, or MD5 passwords and how do + I specify which form my users receive? + + + + The default password format on &os; is to use + MD5-based passwords. These are + believed to be more secure than the traditional &unix; + password format, which used a scheme based on the + DES algorithm. DES passwords are still + available if you need to share your password file with + legacy operating systems which still use the less secure + password format. &os; also allows you to use the Blowfish + password format, which is more secure. Which password + format to use for new passwords is controlled by the + passwd_format login capability in + /etc/login.conf, which takes values of + des, blf (if these are + available) or md5. See the + &man.login.conf.5; manual page for more information about + login capabilities. + + + + + + Why does the boot floppy start, but hang at the + Probing Devices... screen? + + + + If you have a IDE &iomegazip; or &jaz; drive installed, + remove it and try again. The boot floppy can get confused by + the drives. After the system is installed you can reconnect + the drive. Hopefully this will be fixed in a later + release. + + + + + + Why do I get a panic: can't mount + root error when rebooting the system after + installation? + + + + This error comes from confusion between the boot block's + and the kernel's understanding of the disk devices. The + error usually manifests on two-disk IDE systems, with the + hard disks arranged as the master or single device on + separate IDE controllers, with &os; installed on the + secondary IDE controller. The boot blocks think the system + is installed on ad0 (the second + BIOS disk) while the kernel assigns the first disk on the + secondary controller device, ad2. + After the device probing, the kernel tries to mount what the + boot blocks think is the boot disk, + ad0, while it is really + ad2, and fails. + + To fix the problem, do one of the following: + + + + Reboot the system and hit Enter at + the Booting kernel in 10 seconds; hit [Enter] + to interrupt prompt. This will drop you into + the boot loader. + + Then type + set root_disk_unit="disk_number". + disk_number will be + 0 if &os; is installed on the master + drive on the first IDE controller, 1 + if it is installed on the slave on the first IDE + controller, 2 if it is installed on + the master of the second IDE controller, and + 3 if it is installed on the slave of + the second IDE controller. + + Then type boot, and your + system should boot correctly. + + To make this change permanent (i.e, so you do not + have to do this every time you reboot or turn on your + &os; machine), put the line + root_disk_unit="disk_number" + in /boot/loader.conf.local. + + + + Move the &os; disk onto the primary IDE + controller, so the hard disks are consecutive. + + + + + + + + What are the limits for memory? + + + + Memory limits depend on the platform used. On a + standard &i386; install, the limit is 4 GB but more + memory can be supported through &man.pae.4;. See instructions for using 4 GB or more memory on &i386;. + + + &os;/pc98 has a limit of 4 GB memory, and PAE can + not be used with it. Other architectures supported by &os; + have much higher theoretical limits on maximum memory (many + terabytes). + + + + + + What are the limits for FFS file systems? + + + + For FFS file systems, the maximum theoretical limit is + 8 TB (2 G blocks), or 16 TB for the default + block size of 8 KB. In practice, there is a soft limit + of 1 TB, but with modifications file systems with + 4 TB are possible (and exist). + + The maximum size of a single FFS file is approximately + 1 G blocks, or 4 TB with a block size of + 4 KB. + + + Maximum file sizes + + + + + FS Block Size + + Works + + Should Work + + + + + + 4 KB + + > 4 GB + + 4 TB - 1 + + + + 8 KB + + > 32 GB + + 32 TB - 1 + + + + 16 KB + + > 128 GB + + 32 TB - 1 + + + + 32 KB + + > 512 GB + + 64 TB - 1 + + + + 64 KB + + > 2048 GB + + 128 TB - 1 + + + +
+ + When the FS block size is 4 KB, triple indirect + blocks work and everything should be limited by the maximum FS + block number that can be represented using triple indirect + blocks (approx. + 10243 + 10242 + 1024), + but everything is limited by a (wrong) limit of + 1 G - 1 on FS block numbers. The limit on FS + block numbers should be 2 G - 1. There are + some bugs for FS block numbers near 2 G - 1, + but such block numbers are unreachable when the FS block + size is 4 KB. + + For block sizes of 8 KB and larger, everything + should be limited by the 2 G - 1 limit on FS + block numbers, but is actually limited by the + 1 G - 1 limit on FS block numbers. Using the + correct limit of 2 G - 1 blocks does cause + problems. + + + + + + Why do I get an error message, + archsw.readin.failed after compiling + and booting a new kernel? + + + + Because your world and kernel are out of sync. This is + not supported. Be sure you use make buildworld + and make buildkernel + to update your kernel. + + You can boot by specifying the kernel directly at the + second stage, pressing any key when the | + shows up before loader is started. + + + + + + Installation crashes while booting, what can I do? + + + + Try disabling ACPI support. When the bootloader loads, + press the Space key. The system will display + the following: + + OK + + Type: + + unset acpi_load + + And then type: + + boot + + + + + + + Hardware compatibility + + + General + + + + + I want to get a piece of hardware for my &os; system. + Which model/brand/type is best? + + + + This is discussed continually on the &os; mailing + lists. Since hardware changes so quickly, however, we + expect this. We still strongly + recommend that you read through the Hardware Notes + for &os; &rel.current; or + &rel2.current; and + search the mailing list archives + before asking about the latest and greatest hardware. + Chances are a discussion about the type of hardware you + are looking for took place just last week. + + If you are looking for a laptop, check the &a.mobile; + archives. Otherwise, you probably want the archives for + the &a.questions;, or possibly a specific mailing list for + a particular hardware type. + + + + + + + Memory + + + + + Does &os; support more than 4 GB of memory (RAM)? + More than 16 GB? More than 48 GB? + + + + Yes. &os; as an operating system generally supports + as much physical memory (RAM) as the platform it is running + on does. Keep in mind that different platforms have + different limits for memory; for example &i386; without + PAE supports at most 4 GB of + memory (and usually less than that because of PCI address + space) and &i386; with PAE supports at most 64 GB + memory. AMD64 platforms currently deployed support up to + 1 TB of physical memory. + + + + + + Why does &os; report less than 4 GB memory when + installed on an &i386; machine? + + + + The total address space on &i386; machines is 32-bit, + meaning that at most 4 GB of memory is addressable (can + be accessed). Furthermore, some addresses in this range + are reserved by hardware for different purposes, for + example for using and controlling PCI devices, for + accessing video memory, and so on. Therefore, the total + amount of memory usable by the operating system for its + kernel and applications is limited to significantly less + than 4 GB. Usually, 3.2 GB to 3.7 GB is + the maximum usable physical memory in this + configuration. + + To access more than 3.2 GB to 3.7 GB of + installed memory (meaning up to 4 GB but also more than + 4 GB), a special tweak called PAE + must be used. PAE stands for Physical Address Extension + and is a way for 32-bit x86 CPUs to address more than + 4 GB of memory. It remaps the memory that would + otherwise be overlayed by address reservations for + hardware devices above the 4 GB range and uses it as + additional physical memory (see &man.pae.4;). Using PAE + has some drawbacks; this mode of memory access is a little + bit slower than the normal (without PAE) mode and loadable + modules (see &man.kld.4;) are not supported. This means + all drivers must be compiled into the kernel. + + The most common way to enable PAE is to build a new + kernel with the special ready-provided kernel configuration + file called PAE, which is already + configured to build a safe kernel. Note that some entries + in this kernel configuration file are too conservative and + some drivers marked as unready to be used with PAE are + actually usable. A rule of thumb is that if the driver is + usable on 64-bit architectures (like AMD64), it is also + usable with PAE. If you wish to create your own kernel + configuration file, you can enable PAE by adding the + following line to your configuration: + + options PAE + + PAE is not much used nowadays because most new x86 + hardware also supports running in 64-bit mode, known as + AMD64 or &intel; 64. It has a much larger address + space and does not need such tweaks. &os; supports AMD64 + and it is recommended that this version of &os; be used + instead of the &i386; version if 4 GB or more memory + is required. + + + + + + + Architectures and processors + + + + + Does &os; support architectures other than the + x86? + + + + Yes. &os; currently runs on the Intel x86 and the + AMD64 architectures. The Intel EM64T, IA-64, &arm;, + &powerpc;, sun4v and &sparc64; architectures are also + supported. Upcoming platforms are &mips; and &s390;, join + the &a.mips; for more information about ongoing work on + the &mips; platform. For general discussion on new + architectures, join the &a.platforms;. + + If your machine has a different architecture and you + need something right now, we suggest you look at NetBSD or OpenBSD. + + + + + + Does &os; support Symmetric Multiprocessing + (SMP)? + + + + Symmetric multi-processor (SMP) systems are generally + supported by &os;, although in some cases, BIOS or + motherboard bugs may generate some problems. Perusing the + &a.smp; may yield some clues. + + &os; will take advantage of HyperThreading (HTT) + support on Intel CPUs that support this feature. A kernel + with the options SMP feature enabled + will automatically detect the additional logical + processors. The default &os; scheduler treats the logical + processors the same as additional physical processors; in + other words, no attempt is made to optimize scheduling + decisions given the shared resources between logical + processors within the same CPU. Because this naive + scheduling can result in suboptimal performance, under + certain circumstances it may be useful to disable the + logical processors with the + machdep.hlt_logical_cpus sysctl + variable. It is also possible to halt any CPU in the idle + loop with the machdep.hlt_cpus sysctl + variable. The &man.smp.4; manual page has more + details. + + + + + + + Hard drives, tape drives, and CD and DVD drives + + + + + What kind of hard drives does &os; support? + + + + &os; supports EIDE, SATA, SCSI, and SAS drives (with a + compatible controller; see the next section), and all + drives using the original Western Digital + interface (MFM, RLL, ESDI, and of course IDE). A few ESDI + controllers that use proprietary interfaces may not work: + stick to WD1002/3/6/7 interfaces and clones. + + + + + + Which SCSI or SAS controllers are supported? + + + + See the complete list in the Hardware Notes for &os; + &rel.current; + or &rel2.current;. + + + + + + + What types of tape drives are supported? + + + + &os; supports SCSI and QIC-36 (with a QIC-02 + interface). This includes 8-mm (aka Exabyte) and DAT + drives. + + Some of the early 8-mm drives are not quite compatible + with SCSI-2, and may not work well with &os;. + + + + + + Does &os; support tape changers? + + + + &os; supports SCSI changers using the &man.ch.4; device + and the &man.chio.1; command. The details of how you + actually control the changer can be found in the + &man.chio.1; manual page. + + If you are not using AMANDA + or some other product that already understands changers, + remember that they only know how to move a tape from one + point to another, so you need to keep track of which slot a + tape is in, and which slot the tape currently in the drive + needs to go back to. + + + + + + Which CD-ROM drives are supported by &os;? + + + + Any SCSI drive connected to a supported controller is + supported. + + The following proprietary CD-ROM interfaces are also + supported: + + + + Mitsumi LU002 (8bit), LU005 (16bit) and FX001D + (16bit 2x Speed). + + + + Sony CDU 31/33A + + + + Sound Blaster Non-SCSI CD-ROM + + + + Matsushita/Panasonic CD-ROM + + + + ATAPI compatible IDE CD-ROMs + + + + All non-SCSI cards are known to be extremely slow + compared to SCSI drives, and some ATAPI CD-ROMs may not + work. + + The official &os; CD-ROM ISO, and CD-ROMs from Daemon + News and &os; Mall, support booting directly from the + CD. + + + + + + Which CD-RW drives are supported by &os;? + + + + &os; supports any ATAPI-compatible IDE CD-R or CD-RW + drive. See &man.burncd.8; for details. + + &os; also supports any SCSI CD-R or CD-RW drives. + Install and use the cdrecord command + from the ports or packages system, and make sure that you + have the pass device compiled in + your kernel. + + + + + + Does &os; support &iomegazip; drives? + + + + &os; supports SCSI and ATAPI (IDE) &iomegazip; drives + out of the box. SCSI ZIP drives can only be set to run at + SCSI target IDs 5 or 6, but if your SCSI host adapter's + BIOS supports it you can even boot from it. It is not + clear which host adapters support booting from targets + other than 0 or 1, so you will have to consult your + adapter's documentation if you would like to use this + feature. + + &os; also supports Parallel Port Zip Drives. Check + that your kernel contains the + scbus0, + da0, + ppbus0, and + vp0 drivers (the + GENERIC kernel contains everything + except vp0). With all these + drivers present, the Parallel Port drive should be available + as /dev/da0s4. Disks can be + mounted using mount /dev/da0s4 /mnt OR + (for DOS disks) mount_msdos /dev/da0s4 /mnt + as appropriate. + + Also check out the FAQ on + removable drives later in this chapter, and the note on + formattingin the Administration + chapter. + + + + + + Does &os; support &jaz;, EZ and other removable + drives? + + + + They work. Most of these are SCSI devices, so they + look like SCSI disks to &os;. The IDE EZ looks like an IDE + drive. + + Make sure that any external units are powered on when + booting the system. + + To change the media while + running, check out &man.mount.8;, &man.umount.8;, and + &man.camcontrol.8; (for SCSI devices) or &man.atacontrol.8; + (for IDE devices), plus the discussion on using removable drives + later in the FAQ. + + + + + + + Keyboards and mice + + + + + Does &os; support my USB keyboard? + + + + &os; supports USB keyboards out-of-the-box. Once you + have USB keyboard support enabled on your system, the AT + keyboard becomes /dev/kbd0 and + the USB keyboard becomes + /dev/kbd1, if both are connected + to the system. If there is the USB keyboard only, it will + be /dev/ukbd0. + + If you want to use the USB keyboard in the console, + you have to explicitly tell the console driver to use the + existing USB keyboard. This can be done by running the + following command as a part of system + initialization. + + &prompt.root; kbdcontrol -k /dev/kbd1 < /dev/console > /dev/null + + Note that if the USB keyboard is the only keyboard, it + is accessed as /dev/ukbd0, thus, + the command should look like: + + &prompt.root; kbdcontrol -k /dev/ukbd0 < /dev/console > /dev/null + + + To make this change permanent across reboots, add + keyboard="/dev/ukbd0" to + /etc/rc.conf. + + + Once this is done, the USB keyboard should work in the + X environment as well without any special settings. + + If you want to switch back to the default keyboard, + use this command: + + &prompt.root; kbdcontrol -k /dev/kbd0 > /dev/null + + To allow using both the second USB keyboard and the + first AT keyboard at the same time on a console via + &man.kbdmux.4; driver type the following commands: + + &prompt.root; kbdcontrol -K < /dev/console > /dev/null +kbdcontrol -a atkbd0 < /dev/kbdmux0 > /dev/null +kbdcontrol -a ukbd1 < /dev/kbdmux0 > /dev/null +kbdcontrol -k /dev/kbdmux0 < /dev/console > /dev/null + + See the &man.ukbd.4;, &man.kbdcontrol.1; and + &man.kbdmux.4; manual pages for more information. + + + Hot-plugging and unplugging of the USB keyboard may + not work quite right yet. We recommend connecting the + keyboard before starting the system and leaving it + connected until the system is shutdown to avoid + issues. + + + + + + + I have an unusual bus mouse. How do I set it + up? + + + + &os; supports the bus mouse and the InPort bus mouse + from such manufacturers as Microsoft, Logitech and ATI. The + GENERIC kernel does not include the + device driver. To build a custom kernel with the bus mouse + driver, add the following line to the kernel config + file: + + device mse0 at isa? port 0x23c irq5 + + Bus mice usually come with dedicated interface cards. + These cards may allow you to set the port address and the + IRQ number other than shown above. Refer to the manual of + your mouse and the &man.mse.4; manual page for more + information. + + + + + + How do I use my PS/2 (mouse port or + keyboard) mouse? + + + + The PS/2 mouse is supported out-of-the-box. The + necessary device driver, psm, is + included in the kernel. + + If your custom kernel does not have this, add the + following line to your kernel configuration and compile a + new kernel. + + device psm0 at atkbdc? irq 12 + + Once the kernel detects psm0 + correctly at boot time, a device node + psm0 will be created + automatically. + + + + + + Is it possible to use a mouse in any way outside the X + Window system? + + + + If you are using the default console driver, + &man.syscons.4;, you can use a mouse pointer in text + consoles to cut & paste text. Run the mouse daemon, + &man.moused.8;, and turn on the mouse pointer in the + virtual console: + + &prompt.root; moused -p /dev/xxxx -t yyyy +&prompt.root; vidcontrol -m on + + Where xxxx is the mouse + device name and yyyy is a + protocol type for the mouse. The mouse daemon can + automatically determine the protocol type of most mice, + except old serial mice. Specify the + auto protocol to invoke automatic + detection. If automatic detection does not work, see the + &man.moused.8; manual page for a list of supported + protocol types. + + If you have a PS/2 mouse, just add + moused_enable="YES" to + /etc/rc.conf to start the mouse + daemon at boot-time. Additionally, if you would like to + use the mouse daemon on all virtual terminals instead of + just the console, add + allscreens_flags="-m on" to + /etc/rc.conf. + + When the mouse daemon is running, access to the mouse + must be coordinated between the mouse daemon and other + programs such as X Windows. Refer to the FAQ Why does my mouse not work with X? + for more details on this issue. + + + + + + How do I cut and paste text with a mouse in the text + console? + + + + Once you get the mouse daemon running (see the previous section), hold down the + button 1 (left button) and move the mouse to select a region + of text. Then, press the button 2 (middle button) to paste + it at the text cursor. Pressing button 3 (right button) + will extend the selected region of + text. + + If your mouse does not have a middle button, you may + wish to emulate one or remap buttons using mouse daemon + options. See the &man.moused.8; manual page for + details. + + + + + + My mouse has a fancy wheel and buttons. Can I use + them in &os;? + + + + The answer is, unfortunately, It + depends. These mice with additional features + require specialized driver in most cases. Unless the + mouse device driver or the user program has specific + support for the mouse, it will act just like a standard + two, or three button mouse. + + For the possible usage of wheels in the X Window + environment, refer to that section. + + + + + + + How do I use the mouse/trackball/touchpad on my + laptop? + + + + Please refer to the answer to + the previous question. + + + + + + How do I use my delete key in sh + and csh? + + + + For the Bourne Shell, add + the following lines to your .shrc. See + &man.sh.1; and &man.editrc.5;. + + bind ^? ed-delete-next-char # for console +bind ^[[3~ ed-delete-next-char # for xterm + + For the C Shell, add the + following lines to your .cshrc. See + &man.csh.1;. + + bindkey ^? delete-char # for console +bindkey ^[[3~ delete-char # for xterm + + For more information, see this page. + + + + + + + + Networking and serial devices + + + + + Which network cards does &os; support? + + + + See the Hardware Notes supplied with each release of + &os; for a more complete list. + + + + + + Does &os; support software modems, such as + Winmodems? + + + + &os; supports many software modems via add-on + software. For example, the comms/ltmdm port adds support + for modems based on the very popular Lucent LT + chipsets. + + You cannot install &os; via a software modem; this + software must be installed after the OS is + installed. + + + + + + Is there a native driver for the Broadcom 43xx + cards? + + + + No, and there is not likely to be. + + Broadcom refuses to publically release programming + information for their wireless chipsets, most likely + because they use software controlled radios. In order to + get FCC type acceptance for their parts, they have to + ensure that users cannot arbitrarily set things like + operating frequencies, modulation parameters and power + output. But without knowing how to program the chipsets, + it is nearly impossible to write a driver. + + + + + + Which multi-port serial cards are supported by + &os;? + + + + There is a list of these in the Serial Communications + chapter of the handbook. + + Some unnamed clone cards have also been known to work, + especially those that claim to be AST compatible. + + Check the &man.sio.4; manual page to get more + information on configuring such cards. + + + + + + How do I get the boot: prompt to show on the serial + console? + + + + See this section of the handbook. + + + + + + + + Sound devices + + + + + Which sound cards are supported by &os;? + + + + &os; supports various sound cards (for more details, + see &os; Release Information + and the &man.snd.4; manual page). There is also limited + support for MPU-401 and compatible MIDI cards. Cards + conforming to the µsoft; Sound System specification + are also supported. + + + This is only for sound! This driver does not + support CD-ROMs, SCSI or joysticks on these cards, except + for the &soundblaster;. The &soundblaster; SCSI + interface and some non-SCSI CD-ROMs are supported, but + you cannot boot off this device. + + + + + + + Workarounds for no sound from my &man.pcm.4; sound + card? + + + + Some sound cards set their output volume to 0 at every + boot. Run the following command every time the machine + boots: + + &prompt.root; mixer pcm 100 vol 100 cd 100 + + + + + + + Other hardware + + + + + Does &os; support power management on my + laptop? + + + + &os; supports APM on certain + machines. Further information can be found in + &man.apm.4;. + + &os; also supports the ACPI + features found in most modern hardware. Further + information can be found in &man.acpi.4;. If a system + supports both APM and + ACPI, either can be used. We suggest + you try both and choose the one that best fits your + needs. + + + + + + How do I disable ACPI? + + + + Add following line + hint.acpi.0.disabled="1" into your + /boot/device.hints file. + + + + + + Why does my Micron system hang at boot time? + + + + Certain Micron motherboards have a non-conforming PCI + BIOS implementation that causes grief when &os; boots + because PCI devices do not get configured at their + reported addresses. + + Disable the Plug and Play Operating + System flag in the BIOS to work around this + problem. + + + + + + The boot floppy hangs on a system with an ASUS K7V + motherboard. How do I fix this? + + + + Go into the BIOS setup and disable the boot + virus protection. + + + + + + Why does my &tm.3com; PCI network card not work with my + Micron computer? + + + + See the previous answer. + + + + + + + + + Troubleshooting + + + + + Why is &os; finding the wrong amount of memory on &i386; + hardware? + + + + The most likely reason is the difference between + physical memory addresses and virtual addresses. + + The convention for most PC hardware is to use the memory + area between 3.5 GB and 4 GB for a special purpose + (usually for PCI). This address space is used to access PCI + hardware. As a result real, physical memory can not be + accessed by that address space. + + What happens to the memory that should appear in that + location is dependent on your hardware. Unfortunately, some + hardware does nothing and the ability to use that last + 500 MB of RAM is entirely lost. + + Luckily, most hardware remaps the memory to a higher + location so that it can still be used. However, this can + cause some confusion if you watch the boot messages. + + On a 32 bit version of &os;, the memory appears + lost, since it will be remapped above 4 GB, which a + 32 bit kernel is unable to access. In this case, the + solution is to build a PAE enabled kernel. See the entry on memory limits + and about different + memory limits on different platforms for more + information. + + On a 64-bit version of &os;, or when running a + PAE-enabled kernel, &os; will correctly detect and remap the + memory so it is usable. During boot, however, it may seem + as if &os; is detecting more memory than the system really + has, due to the described remapping. This is normal and the + available memory will be corrected as the boot process + completes. + + + + + + What do I do when I have bad blocks on my hard + drive? + + + + With SCSI drives, the drive should be capable of + re-mapping these automatically. However, many drives ship + with this feature disabled. + + To enable bad block remapping edit the first device page + mode, which can be done by giving the command (as + root) + + &prompt.root; camcontrol modepage sd0 -m 1 -e -P 3 + + and changing the values of AWRE and ARRE from 0 to + 1: + + AWRE (Auto Write Reallocation Enbld): 1 +ARRE (Auto Read Reallocation Enbld): 1 + + Modern IDE drives also have bad block remapping features + in the controller, and they ship with this feature turned + on. + + If you see warnings about bad blocks (on either type of + drive), it is time to consider replacing the drive. You + might be able to use the drive manufacturer's diagnostic + program to lock out those bad blocks, but at best this will + buy you some time. + + + + + + Why does &os; not detect my HP Netserver's SCSI + controller? + + + + This is basically a known problem. The EISA on-board + SCSI controller in the HP Netserver machines occupies EISA + slot number 11, so all the true EISA slots + are in front of it. Alas, the address space for EISA slots + >= 10 collides with the address space assigned to PCI, + and &os;'s auto-configuration currently cannot handle this + situation very well. + + So now, the best you can do is to pretend there is no + address range clash :), by bumping the kernel option + EISA_SLOTS to a value of 12. Configure + and compile a kernel, as described in the Handbook entry on configuring the kernel. + + + Of course, this does present you with a chicken-and-egg + problem when installing on such a machine. In order to work + around this problem, a special hack is available inside + UserConfig. Do not use the + visual interface, but the plain command-line + interface there. Simply type the following command at the + prompt and install your system as usual: + + eisa 12 +quit + + While it is recommended you compile and install a custom + kernel anyway. + + Hopefully, future versions will have a proper fix for + this problem. + + + You cannot use a dangerously + dedicated disk with an HP Netserver. See this note for more info. + + + + + + + + I keep seeing messages like ed1: + timeout. What do these messages mean? + + + + This is usually caused by an interrupt conflict (e.g., + two boards using the same IRQ). Boot with the + option and change the + ed0/de0/... + entry to match your board. + + If you are using the BNC connector on your network card, + you may also see device timeouts because of bad termination. + To check this, attach a terminator directly to the NIC (with + no cable) and see if the error messages go away. + + Some NE2000 compatible cards will give this error if + there is no link on the UTP port or if the cable is + disconnected. + + + + + + Why did my &tm.3com; 3C509 card stop working for no + apparent reason? + + + + This card has a bad habit of losing its configuration + information. Refresh your card's settings with the DOS + utility 3c5x9.exe. + + + + + + My parallel printer is ridiculously slow. What can I + do? + + + + If the only problem is that the printer is terribly + slow, try changing your printer port mode + as discussed in the Printer Setup + section of the Handbook. + + + + + + Why do my programs occasionally die with + Signal 11 errors? + + + + Signal 11 errors are caused when your process has + attempted to access memory which the operating system has not + granted it access to. If something like this is happening + at seemingly random intervals then you need to start + investigating things very carefully. + + These problems can usually be attributed to + either: + + + + If the problem is occurring only in a specific + application that you are developing yourself it is + probably a bug in your code. + + + + If it is a problem with part of the base &os; + system, it may also be buggy code, but more often than not + these problems are found and fixed long before us + general FAQ readers get to use these bits of code (that + is what -current is for). + + + + In particular, a dead giveaway that this is + not a &os; bug is if you see the + problem when you are compiling a program, but the activity + that the compiler is carrying out changes each time. + + For example, suppose you are running + make buildworld, + and the compile fails while trying to compile + ls.c into ls.o. + If you then run + make buildworld + again, and the compile fails in the same place then this is + a broken build — try updating your sources and try + again. If the compile fails elsewhere then this is almost + certainly hardware. + + What you should do: + + In the first case you can use a debugger e.g. + &man.gdb.1; to find the point in the program which is + attempting to access a bogus address and then fix it. + + In the second case you need to verify that it is not + your hardware at fault. + + Common causes of this include: + + + + Your hard disks might be overheating: Check the fans + in your case are still working, as your disk (and perhaps + other hardware might be overheating). + + + + The processor running is overheating: This might be + because the processor has been overclocked, or the fan + on the processor might have died. In either case you + need to ensure that you have hardware running at what it + is specified to run at, at least while trying to solve + this problem. i.e. Clock it back to the default + settings. + + If you are overclocking then note that it is far + cheaper to have a slow system than a fried system that + needs replacing! Also the wider community is not often + sympathetic to problems on overclocked systems, whether + you believe it is safe or not. + + + + Dodgy memory: If you have multiple memory + SIMMS/DIMMS installed then pull them all out and try + running the machine with each SIMM or DIMM individually + and narrow the problem down to either the problematic + DIMM/SIMM or perhaps even a combination. + + + + Over-optimistic Motherboard settings: In your BIOS + settings, and some motherboard jumpers you have options + to set various timings, mostly the defaults will be + sufficient, but sometimes, setting the wait states on + RAM too low, or setting the RAM Speed: + Turbo option, or similar in the BIOS will cause + strange behavior. A possible idea is to set to BIOS + defaults, but it might be worth noting down your + settings first! + + + + Unclean or insufficient power to the motherboard. + If you have any unused I/O boards, hard disks, or CD-ROMs + in your system, try temporarily removing them or + disconnecting the power cable from them, to see if your + power supply can manage a smaller load. Or try another + power supply, preferably one with a little more power + (for instance, if your current power supply is rated at + 250 Watts try one rated at 300 Watts). + + + + You should also read the SIG11 FAQ (listed below) which + has excellent explanations of all these problems, albeit from + a &linux; viewpoint. It also discusses how memory testing + software or hardware can still pass faulty memory. + + Finally, if none of this has helped it is possible that + you have just found a bug in &os;, and you should follow the + instructions to send a problem report. + + There is an extensive FAQ on this at the SIG11 problem FAQ + + + + + + + My system crashes with either Fatal trap 12: + page fault in kernel mode, or + panic:, and spits out a bunch of + information. What should I do? + + + + The &os; developers are very interested in these + errors, but need some more information than just the error + you see. Copy your full crash message. Then consult the + FAQ section on kernel panics, + build a debugging kernel, and get a backtrace. This might + sound difficult, but you do not need any programming skills; + you just have to follow the instructions. + + + + + + Why does the screen go black and lose sync when I + boot? + + + + This is a known problem with the ATI Mach64 video + card. The problem is that this card uses address + 2e8, and the fourth serial port does too. + Due to a bug (feature?) in the &man.sio.4; driver it will + touch this port even if you do not have the fourth serial + port, and even if you disable + sio3 (the fourth port) which + normally uses this address. + + Until the bug has been fixed, you can use this + workaround: + + + + Enter at the boot prompt. + (This will put the kernel into configuration + mode). + + + + Disable sio0, + sio1, + sio2 and + sio3 (all of them). This way + the &man.sio.4; driver does not get activated — no + problems. + + + + Type exit to continue booting. + + + + If you want to be able to use your serial ports, you + will have to build a new kernel with the following + modification: in + /usr/src/sys/dev/sio/sio.c (or in + /usr/src/sys/pc98/cbus/sio.c for pc98) + find the one occurrence of the string + 0x2e8 and remove that string and the + preceding comma (keep the trailing comma). Now follow the + normal procedure of building a new kernel. + + + + + + Why does &os; only use 64 MB of RAM when my system + has 128 MB of RAM installed? + + + + Due to the manner in which &os; gets the memory size + from the BIOS, it can only detect 16 bits worth of + Kbytes in size (65535 Kbytes = 64 MB) (or less... + some BIOSes peg the memory size to 16 MB). If you have + more than 64 MB, &os; will attempt to detect it; + however, the attempt may fail. + + To work around this problem, you need to use the kernel + option specified below. There is a way to get complete + memory information from the BIOS, but we do not have room in + the bootblocks to do it. Someday when lack of room in the + bootblocks is fixed, we will use the extended BIOS functions + to get the full memory information... but for now we are + stuck with the kernel option. + + options MAXMEM=n + + Where n is your memory in + Kilobytes. For a 128 MB machine, you would want to use + 131072. + + + + + + My system has more than 1 GB of RAM, and I'm + getting panics with kmem_map too small + messages. What is wrong? + + + + Normally, &os; determines a number of kernel parameters, + such as as the maximum number of files that can be open + concurrently, from the amount of memory installed in the + system. On systems with one gigabyte of RAM or more, this + auto sizing mechanism may choose values that + are too high: while starting up, the kernel allocates + various tables and other structures that fill up most of the + available kernel memory. Later on, while the system is + running, the kernel has no more space left for dynamic + memory allocations, and panics. + + Compile your own kernel, and add the + to your kernel + configuration file, increasing the maximum size to + 400 MB (). 400 MB appears + to be sufficient for machines with up to 6 GB of + memory. + + + + + + My system does not have 1 GB of RAM, and &os; still + panics with kmem_map too + small! + + + + The panic indicates that the system ran out of virtual + memory for network buffers (specifically, mbuf clusters). + You can increase the amount of VM available for mbuf + clusters by following the instructions in the Network Limits + section of the Handbook. + + + + + + Why do I get the error kernel: proc: table is + full? + + + + The &os; kernel will only allow a certain number of + processes to exist at one time. The number is based on the + kern.maxusers &man.sysctl.8; variable. + kern.maxusers also affects various other + in-kernel limits, such as network buffers (see this earlier + question). If your machine is heavily loaded, you probably + want to increase kern.maxusers. This + will increase these other system limits in addition to the + maximum number of processes. + + To adjust your kern.maxusers value, + see the File/Process Limits + section of the Handbook. (While that section refers to open + files, the same limits apply to processes.) + + If your machine is lightly loaded, and you are simply + running a very large number of processes, you can adjust + this with the kern.maxproc tunable. If + this tunable needs adjustment it needs to be defined in + /boot/loader.conf. The tunable will + not get adjusted until the system is rebooted. For more + information about tuning tunables, you should see the + &man.loader.conf.5; and &man.sysctl.conf.5; manual pages. + If these processes are being run by a single user, you will + also need to adjust kern.maxprocperuid to + be one less than your new kern.maxproc + value. (It must be at least one less because one system + program, &man.init.8;, must always be running.) To make a sysctl change permanent place the proper value in /etc/sysctl.conf. More information - about system tuning with &man.sysctl.8; can be found at + about system tuning with &man.sysctl.8; can be found at the + Tuning with sysctl + section of the Handbook. + + + + + + Why do I get an error reading CMAP + busy when rebooting with a new kernel? + + + + The logic that attempts to detect an out of date + /var/db/kvm_*.db files sometimes fails + and using a mismatched file can sometimes lead to + panics. + + If this happens, reboot single-user and do: + + &prompt.root; rm /var/db/kvm_*.db + + + + + + What does the message ahc0: brkadrint, + Illegal Host Access at seqaddr 0x0 mean? + + + + This is a conflict with an Ultrastor SCSI Host + Adapter. + + During the boot process enter the kernel configuration + menu and disable uha0, which is + causing the problem. + + + + + + When I boot my system, I get the error ahc0: + illegal cable configuration. My cabling is + correct. What is going on? + + + + Your motherboard lacks the external logic to support + automatic termination. Switch your SCSI BIOS to specify the + correct termination for your configuration rather than + automatic termination. The &man.ahc.4; driver cannot + determine if the external logic for cable detection (and + thus auto-termination) is available. The driver simply + assumes that this support must exist if the configuration + contained in the serial EEPROM is set to automatic + termination. Without the external cable detection + logic the driver will often configure termination + incorrectly, which can compromise the reliability of the + SCSI bus. + + + + + + Why does sendmail give me an + error reading mail loops back to + myself? + + + + You can find a detailed answer for this question in the + Handbook. + + + + + + + Why do full screen applications on remote machines + misbehave? + + + + The remote machine may be setting your terminal type to + something other than the cons25 terminal + type required by the &os; console. + + There are a number of possible work-arounds for this + problem: + + + + After logging on to the remote machine, set your + TERM shell variable to + ansi or sco if + the remote machine knows about these terminal + types. + + + + Use a VT100 emulator like + screen at the &os; console. + screen offers you the + ability to run multiple concurrent sessions from one + terminal, and is a neat program in its own right. + Each screen window behaves + like a VT100 terminal, so the TERM + variable at the remote end should be set to + vt100. + + + + Install the cons25 terminal + database entry on the remote machine. The way to do + this depends on the operating system on the remote + machine. The system administration manuals for the + remote system should be able to help you here. + + + + Fire up an X server at the &os; end and login to the + remote machine using an X based terminal emulator such + as xterm or rxvt. + The TERM variable at the remote host + should be set to xterm or + vt100. + + + + + + + + Why is my PnP card not found (or found as + unknown)? + + + + The reasons for this behavior are explained by the + following email, posted to the &a.questions; by &a.peter;, in + answer to a question about an internal modem that was no + longer found after an upgrade to + &os; 4.X (the comments in + [] have been added to clarify the + context). + + + The contents of this quotation has been updated from + its original text. + + +
+ The PNP bios preconfigured it [the modem] and left it + laying around in port space, so [in + 3.X] the old-style ISA probes + found it there. + + Under 4.0, the ISA code is much more PnP-centric. It + was possible [in 3.X] for an ISA + probe to find a stray device and then for + the PNP device ID to match and then fail due to resource + conflicts. So, it disables the programmable cards first + so this double probing cannot happen. It also means that + it needs to know the PnP IDs for supported PnP hardware. + Making this more user tweakable is on the TODO + list. +
+ + To get the device working again requires finding its PnP + ID and adding it to the list that the ISA probes use to + identify PnP devices. This is obtained using + &man.pnpinfo.8; to probe the device, for example this is the + output from &man.pnpinfo.8; for an internal modem: + + &prompt.root; pnpinfo +Checking for Plug-n-Play devices... + +Card assigned CSN #1 +Vendor ID PMC2430 (0x3024a341), Serial Number 0xffffffff +PnP Version 1.0, Vendor Version 0 +Device Description: Pace 56 Voice Internal Plug & Play Modem + +Logical Device ID: PMC2430 0x3024a341 #0 + Device supports I/O Range Check +TAG Start DF + I/O Range 0x3f8 .. 0x3f8, alignment 0x8, len 0x8 + [16-bit addr] + IRQ: 4 - only one type (true/edge) + + [more TAG lines elided] + + TAG End DF +End Tag + +Successfully got 31 resources, 1 logical fdevs +-- card select # 0x0001 + +CSN PMC2430 (0x3024a341), Serial Number 0xffffffff + +Logical device #0 +IO: 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 +IRQ 5 0 +DMA 4 0 +IO range check 0x00 activate 0x01 + + The information you require is in the Vendor + ID line at the start of the output. The + hexadecimal number in parentheses + (0x3024a341 in this example) is the PnP + ID and the string immediately before this + (PMC2430) is a unique ASCII ID. + + Alternatively, if &man.pnpinfo.8; does not list the card + in question, &man.pciconf.8; can be used instead. This is + part of the output from pciconf -vl for + an onboard sound chip: + + &prompt.root; pciconf -vl +chip1@pci0:31:5: class=0x040100 card=0x00931028 chip=0x24158086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00 + vendor = 'Intel Corporation' + device = '82801AA 8xx Chipset AC'97 Audio Controller' + class = multimedia + subclass = audio + + Here, you would use the chip value, + 0x24158086. + + This information (Vendor ID or + chip value) needs adding to the file + /usr/src/sys/dev/sio/sio_isa.c. + + You should first make a backup of + sio_isa.c just in case things go wrong. + You will also need it to make the patch to submit with your + PR (you are going to submit a PR, are you not?) then edit + sio_isa.c and search for the + line: + + static struct isa_pnp_id sio_ids[] = { + + Then scroll down to find the correct place to add the + entry for your device. The entries look like this, and are + sorted on the ASCII Vendor ID string which should be + included in the comment to the right of the line of code + along with all (if it will fit) or part of the + Device Description from the output of + &man.pnpinfo.8;: + + {0x0f804f3f, NULL}, /* OZO800f - Zoom 2812 (56k Modem) */ +{0x39804f3f, NULL}, /* OZO8039 - Zoom 56k flex */ +{0x3024a341, NULL}, /* PMC2430 - Pace 56 Voice Internal Modem */ +{0x1000eb49, NULL}, /* ROK0010 - Rockwell ? */ +{0x5002734a, NULL}, /* RSS0250 - 5614Jx3(G) Internal Modem */ + + Add the hexadecimal Vendor ID for your device in the + correct place, save the file, rebuild your kernel, and + reboot. Your device should now be found as an + sio device. + + + + + + Why do I get the error nlist + failed when running, for example, + top or systat? + + + + The problem is that the application you are trying to + run is looking for a specific kernel symbol, but, for whatever + reason, cannot find it; this error stems from one of two + problems: + + + + Your kernel and userland are not synchronized (i.e., + you built a new kernel but did not do an + installworld, or vice versa), + and thus the symbol table is different from what the + user application thinks it is. If this is the case, + simply complete the upgrade process (see + /usr/src/UPDATING for the correct + sequence). + + + + You are not using /boot/loader to + load your kernel, but doing it directly from + boot2 (see &man.boot.8;). While + there is nothing wrong with bypassing + /boot/loader, it generally does a + better job of making the kernel symbols available to + user applications. + + + + + + + + Why does it take so long to connect to my computer via + ssh or telnet? + + + + The symptom: there is a long delay between the time the + TCP connection is established and the time when the client + software asks for a password (or, in &man.telnet.1;'s case, + when a login prompt appears). + + The problem: more likely than not, the delay is caused + by the server software trying to resolve the client's IP + address into a hostname. Many servers, including the + Telnet and + SSH servers that come with &os;, + do this in order to, among other things, store the hostname + in a log file for future reference by the + administrator. + + The remedy: if the problem occurs whenever you connect + from your computer (the client) to any server, the problem is + with the client; likewise, if the problem only occurs when + someone connects to your computer (the server) the problem + is with the server. + + If the problem is with the client, the only remedy is to + fix the DNS so the server can resolve it. If this is on a + local network, consider it a server problem and keep + reading; conversely, if this is on the global Internet, you + will most likely need to contact your ISP and ask them to + fix it for you. + + If the problem is with the server, and this is on a + local network, you need to configure the server to be able to + resolve address-to-hostname queries for your local address + range. See the &man.hosts.5; and &man.named.8; manual pages + for more information. If this is on the global Internet, + the problem may be that your server's resolver is not + functioning correctly. To check, try to look up another + host — say, www.yahoo.com. If it + does not work, that is your problem. + + Following a fresh install of &os;, it is also possible + that domain and name server information is missing from + /etc/resolv.conf. This will often + cause a delay in SSH, as the + option UseDNS is set to + yes by default in the + sshd_config file in + /etc/ssh. If this is causing the + problem, you will either need to fill in the missing + information in /etc/resolv.conf or set + UseDNS to no in + sshd_config as a temporary + workaround. + + + + + + What does stray IRQ mean? + + + + Stray IRQs are indications of hardware IRQ glitches, + mostly from hardware that removes its interrupt request in + the middle of the interrupt request acknowledge + cycle. + + One has three options for dealing with this: + + + + Live with the warnings. All except the first 5 per + irq are suppressed anyway. + + + + Break the warnings by changing the value of + MAX_STRAY_LOG from + 5 to 0 in your + platform's (e.g. &i386;) + intr_machdep.c file and rebuild the + new kernel and all the warnings will be + suppressed. + + + + Break the warnings by installing parallel port + hardware that uses IRQ 7 and the PPP driver for it + (this happens on most systems), and install an ide drive + or other hardware that uses IRQ 15 and a suitable + driver for it. + + + + + + + + Why does file: table is full show + up repeatedly in &man.dmesg.8;? + + + + This error message indicates you have exhausted the + number of available file descriptors on your system. Please + see the kern.maxfiles + section of the Tuning Kernel Limits + section of the Handbook for a discussion and + solution. + + + + + + Why are calcru: negative runtime + or calcru: runtime went backwards + messages pounding the console? + + + + There is a known problem when enabling &intel; Enhanced + SpeedStep from the BIOS causes the kernel to start printing + calcru messages like this: + + calcru: runtime went backwards from 6 usec to 3 usec for pid 37 (pagezero) +calcru: runtime went backwards from 6 usec to 3 usec for pid 36 (vmdaemon) +calcru: runtime went backwards from 170 usec to 138 usec for pid 35 (pagedaemon) +calcru: runtime went backwards from 553 usec to 291 usec for pid 15 (swi6: task queue) +calcru: runtime went backwards from 15521 usec to 10366 usec for pid 2 (g_event) +calcru: runtime went backwards from 25 usec to 12 usec for pid 11 (swi1: net) +calcru: runtime went backwards from 4417 usec to 3960 usec for pid 1 (init) +calcru: runtime went backwards from 2084385 usec to 1793542 usec for pid 1 (init) +calcru: runtime went backwards from 408 usec to 204 usec for pid 0 (swapper) + + It is because &intel; SpeedStep (EIST) is incompatible + with some motherboards. + + Workaround: Disable the EIST feature in the BIOS. You + can still achieve ACPI-based processor frequency throttling + by using &man.powerd.8;. + + + + + + Why does the clock on my computer keep incorrect time? + + + + Your computer has two or more clocks, and &os; has + chosen to use the wrong one. + + Run &man.dmesg.8;, and check for lines that contain + Timecounter. The one with the highest + quality value that &os; chose. + + &prompt.root; dmesg | grep Timecounter +Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0 +Timecounter "ACPI-fast" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000 +Timecounter "TSC" frequency 2998570050 Hz quality 800 +Timecounters tick every 1.000 msec + + You can confirm this by checking the + kern.timecounter.hardware + &man.sysctl.3;. + + &prompt.root; sysctl kern.timecounter.hardware +kern.timecounter.hardware: ACPI-fast + + It may be a broken ACPI timer. The simplest solution is + to disable the ACPI timer in + /etc/loader.conf: + + debug.acpi.disabled="timer" + + Or the BIOS may modify the TSC clock—perhaps to + change the speed of the processor when running from batteries, + or going into a power saving mode, but &os; is unaware of + these adjustments, and appears to gain or lose time. + + In this example, the i8254 clock is + also available, and can be selected by writing its name to the + kern.timecounter.hardware + &man.sysctl.3;. + + &prompt.root; sysctl -w kern.timecounter.hardware=i8254 +kern.timecounter.hardware: TSC -> i8254 + + Your computer should now start keeping more accurate + time. + + To have this change automatically run at boot time, add + the following line to + /etc/sysctl.conf: + + kern.timecounter.hardware=i8254 + + + + + + Why did my laptop fail to correctly probe PC + cards? + + + + This problem is common on laptops that boot more than + one operating system. Some non-BSD operating systems leave + PC card hardware in an inconsistent state. &man.pccardd.8; + will detect the card as + "(null)""(null)" instead of its + actual model. + + You must remove all power from the PC card slot to fully + reset the hardware. Completely power off the laptop. (Do + not suspend it, do not let it go into standby; the power + needs to be completely off.) Wait a few moments, and reboot. + Your PC card should work now. + + Some laptop hardware lies when it claims to be off. If + the above does not work shut down, remove the battery, wait + a moment, replace the battery, and reboot. + + + + + + Why does &os;'s boot loader display Read + error and stop after the BIOS screen? + + + + &os;'s boot loader is incorrectly recognizing the hard + drive's geometry. This must be manually set within + &man.fdisk.8; when creating or modifying &os;'s + slice. + + The correct drive geometry values can be found within + the machine's BIOS. Look for the number of cylinders, heads + and sectors for the particular drive. + + Within &man.sysinstall.8;'s fdisk, hit + G to set the drive geometry. + + A dialog will pop up requesting the number of cylinders, + heads and sectors. Type the numbers found from the BIOS + separated by forward slashes. For example, values of 5000 + cylinders, 250 heads, and 60 sectors would be entered as + 5000/250/60. + + Press Enter to set the values, and hit + W to write the new partition table to the + drive. + + + + + + Another operating system destroyed my Boot Manager. How + do I get it back? + + + + Enter &man.sysinstall.8; and choose + Configure, then + Fdisk. Select the disk the Boot + Manager resided on with the Space key. + Press W to write changes to the drive. A + prompt will appear asking which boot loader to install. + Select this, and it will be restored. + + + + + + What does the error swap_pager: indefinite + wait buffer: mean? + + + + This means that a process is trying to page memory to + disk, and the page attempt has hung trying to access the + disk for more than 20 seconds. It might be caused by bad + blocks on the disk drive, disk wiring, cables, or any other + disk I/O-related hardware. If the drive itself is actually + bad, you will also see disk errors in + /var/log/messages and in the output of + dmesg. Otherwise, check your cables and + connections. + + + + + + What are UDMA ICRC errors, and + how do I fix them? + + + + The &man.ata.4; driver reports UDMA + ICRC errors when a DMA transfer to or from a drive + is corrupted. The driver will retry the operation a few + times. Should the retries fail, it will switch from DMA to + the slower PIO mode of communication with the device. + + The problem can be caused by many factors, although + perhaps the most common cause is faulty or incorrect + cabling. Check that the ATA cables are undamaged and rated + for the Ultra DMA mode in use. If you are using + removable drive trays, they must also be compatible. Be + sure that all connections are making good contact. Problems + have also been noticed when an old drive is installed on the + same ATA channel as an Ultra DMA 66 (or faster) + drive. Lastly, these errors can indicate that the drive is + failing. Most drive vendors provide testing software for + their drives, so test your drive, and, if necessary, back up + your data and replace it. + + The &man.atacontrol.8; utility can be used to show and + select the DMA or PIO modes used for each ATA device. In + particular, atacontrol mode + channel will show the + modes in use on a particular ATA channel, where the primary + channel is numbered 0, and so on. + + + + + + What is a lock order + reversal? + + + + An answer for this question can be found in the &os; + Glosssary, see LOR. + + + + + + + What does Called ... with the following + non-sleepable locks held mean? + + + + This means that a function that may sleep was called + while a mutex (or other unsleepable) lock was held. + + The reason this is an error is because mutexes are not + intended to be held for long periods of time; they are + supposed to only be held to maintain short periods of + synchronization. This programming contract allows device + drivers to use mutexes to synchronize with the rest of the + kernel during interrupts. Interrupts (under &os;) may not + sleep. Hence it is imperative that no subsystem in the + kernel block for an extended period while holding a + mutex. + + To catch such errors, assertions may be added to the + kernel that interact with the &man.witness.4; subsystem to + emit a warning or fatal error (depending on the system + configuration) when a potentially blocking call is made + while holding a mutex. + + In summary, such warnings are non-fatal, however with + unfortunate timing they could cause undesirable effects + ranging from a minor blip in the system's responsiveness to + a complete system lockup. + + + + + + Why does + buildworld/installworld + die with the message touch: not + found? + + + + This error does not mean that the &man.touch.1; utility + is missing. The error is instead probably due to the dates + of the files being set sometime in the future. If your + CMOS-clock is set to local time you need to run the command + adjkerntz -i to adjust the kernel + clock when booting into single user mode. + + + + + + + Commercial Applications + + + This section is still very sparse, though we are hoping, of + course, that companies will add to it! :) The &os; group has no + financial interest in any of the companies listed here but + simply lists them as a public service (and feels that commercial + interest in &os; can have very positive effects on &os;'s + long-term viability). We encourage commercial software vendors + to send their entries here for inclusion. See the Vendors page + for a longer list. + + + + + + Where can I get an Office Suite for &os;? + + + + The open-source OpenOffice.org + office suite works natively on &os;. The &linux; version of + StarOffice, + the value-added closed-source version of OpenOffice.org, + also works on &os;. + + &os; also includes a variety of text editors, + spreadsheets, and drawing programs in the Ports + Collection. + + + + + + Where can I get &motif; for + &os;? + + + + The Open Group has released the source code to + &motif; 2.2.2. You can + install the x11-toolkits/open-motif package, + or compile it from ports. Refer to the ports section of the Handbook + for more information on how to do this. + + + The Open &motif; + distribution only allows redistribution if it is running + on an open source + operating system. + + + In addition, there are commercial distributions of the + &motif; software available. These, + however, are not for free, but their license allows them to + be used in closed-source software. Contact Apps2go for the least expensive ELF + &motif; 2.1.20 distribution + for &os; (&i386;). + + There are two distributions, the development + edition and the runtime edition (for + much less). These distributions includes: + + + + OSF/&motif; manager, + xmbind, + panner, + wsm. + + + + Development kit with uil, mrm, xm, xmcxx, include + and Imake files. + + + + Static and dynamic ELF libraries. + + + + Demonstration applets. + + + + Be sure to specify that you want the &os; version of + &motif; when ordering (do not + forget to mention the architecture you want too)! Versions + for NetBSD and OpenBSD are also sold by + Apps2go. This is currently a FTP only + download. + + + + More info + + + Apps2go + WWW page + + + + + or + + + sales@apps2go.com or + support@apps2go.com + + + + + or + + + phone (817) 431 8775 or + +1 817 431-8775 + + + + + + + + + Where can I get CDE for + &os;? + + + + Xi Graphics used to sell + CDE for &os;, but no longer + do. + + KDE + is an open source X11 desktop which is similar to + CDE in many respects. You might + also like the look and feel of xfce. + KDE and + xfce are both in the ports system. + + + + + + + Are there any Database systems for &os;? + + + + Yes! See the Commercial Vendors + section of &os;'s Web site. + + Also see the Databases + section of the Ports Collection. + + + + + + Can I run &oracle; on + &os;? + + + + Yes. The following pages tell you exactly how to set up + &linux; &oracle; on &os;: + + + + http://www.unixcities.com/oracle/index.html + + + + + http://www.shadowcom.net/freebsd-oracle9i/ + + + + + + + + + + User Applications + + + + + So, where are all the user applications? + + + + Please take a look at the ports page + for info on software packages ported to &os;. The list + currently tops &os.numports; and is growing daily, so come + back to check often or subscribe to the &a.announce; for + periodic updates on new entries. + + Most ports should work on the + 6.X, + 7.X and + 8.X branches. Each time a &os; + release is made, a snapshot of the ports tree at the time of + release in also included in the ports/ + directory. + + We also support the concept of a package, + essentially no more than a compressed binary distribution + with a little extra intelligence embedded in it for doing + whatever custom installation work is required. A package + can be installed and uninstalled again easily without having + to know the gory details of which files it includes. + + Use the Packages package + installation menu in &man.sysinstall.8; (under the + Configure menu item) or invoke + the &man.pkg.add.1; command on the specific package files + you are interested in installing. Package files can usually + be identified by their .tbz suffix and + CD-ROM distribution people will have a + packages/All directory on their CD + which contains such files. They can also be downloaded over + the net for various versions of &os; at the following + locations: + + + + for 6.X-RELEASE/6-STABLE + + + ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-6-stable + + + + + + for 7.X-RELEASE/7-STABLE + + + ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-7-stable + + + + + + for 8-CURRENT + + + ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-8-current + + + + + + or your nearest local mirror site. + + Note that all ports may not be available as packages + since new ones are constantly being added. It is always a + good idea to check back periodically to see which packages + are available at the ftp.FreeBSD.org + master site. + + + + + + How do I configure INN (Internet News) for my + machine? + + + + After installing the news/inn package or port, an + excellent place to start is Dave Barr's INN Page + where you will find the INN FAQ. + + + + + + Does &os; support &java;? + + + + Yes. Please see http://www.FreeBSD.org/java/. + + + + + + + Why can I not build this port on my + 6.X or + 7.X-STABLE machine? + + + + If you are running a &os; version that lags + significantly behind -CURRENT or + -STABLE, you may need to update your + Ports Collection; see the Keeping Up + section of the Porter's Handbook for further information on + how to do this. If you are up to date, then someone might + have committed a change to the port which works for + -CURRENT but which broke the port for + -STABLE. Please submit a bug report on + this with the &man.send-pr.1; command, since the Ports + Collection is supposed to work for both the + -CURRENT and + -STABLE branches. + + + + + + I just tried to build INDEX using + make index, and + it failed. Why? + + + + First, always make sure that you have a completely + up-to-date Ports Collection. Errors that affect building + INDEX from an up-to-date copy of the + Ports Collection are high-visibility and are thus almost + always fixed immediately. + + However, if you are up-to-date, perhaps you are seeing + another problem. make index + has a known bug in dealing with incomplete copies of the + Ports Collection. It assumes that you have a local copy of + every single port that every other port that you have a + local copy of depends on. To explain, if you have a copy of + foo/bar on your disk, and + foo/bar depends on + baz/quux, then you must also have a + copy of baz/quux on your disk, and the + ports baz/quux depends on, and so on. + Otherwise, make index + has insufficient information to create its dependency + tree. + + This is particularly a problem for &os; users who + utilize &man.cvsup.1; (or &man.csup.1;) to track the Ports + Collection but choose not to install certain categories by + specifying them in refuse. In theory, + one should be able to refuse categories, but in practice + there are too many ports that depend on ports in other + categories. Until someone comes up with a solution for this + problem, the general rule is is that if you want to build + INDEX, you must have a complete copy of + the Ports Collection. + + There are rare cases where INDEX + will not build due to odd cases involving + WITH_* or + WITHOUT_* + variables being set in make.conf. If + you suspect that this is the case, please try to make + INDEX with those make variables turned + off before reporting it to &a.ports;. + + + + + + Why is CVSup not integrated + in the main &os; tree? + + + + The &os; base system is designed as self-hosting — + it should be possible to build the whole operating system + starting with a very limited set of tools. Thus, the actual + build tools needed to compile the &os; sources are bundled + with the sources themselves. This includes a C compiler + (&man.gcc.1;), &man.make.1;, &man.awk.1;, and similar + tools. + + Since CVSup is written in + Modula-3, adding it to the &os; base system would also require + adding and maintaining a Modula-3 compiler. This would lead + to both an increase in the disk space consumed by the &os; + sources and additional maintenance work. Thus, it is much + easier for both the developers and users to keep + CVSup as a separate port, which + can be easily installed as a package bundled on the &os; + installation CDs. + + However, &os; users are not without an integrated + CVSup compatible client anymore + since &os; 6.2-RELEASE. Thanks to &a.mux;, + CVSup was rewritten in C as + &man.csup.1; and it is the part of the base system by now. + Although it does not implement all the features of + CVSup at the moment, it is good + enough (and really fast!) to keep your sources synchronized. + For systems earlier than 6.2, it can be installed as a port + or package (see net/csup). + + + + + + I updated the sources, now how do I update my installed + ports? + + + + &os; does not include a port upgrading tool, but it does + have some tools to make the upgrade process somewhat easier. + You can also install additional tools to simplify port + handling, see the Upgrading Ports + section in the &os; Handbook. + + + + + + Why is /bin/sh so minimal? Why does + &os; not use bash or another + shell? + + + + Because &posix; says that there shall be such a + shell. + + The more complicated answer: many people need to write + shell scripts which will be portable across many systems. + That is why &posix; specifies the shell and utility commands + in great detail. Most scripts are written in Bourne shell, + and because several important programming interfaces + (&man.make.1;, &man.system.3;, &man.popen.3;, and analogues + in higher-level scripting languages like Perl and Tcl) are + specified to use the Bourne shell to interpret commands. + Because the Bourne shell is so often and widely used, it is + important for it to be quick to start, be deterministic in + its behavior, and have a small memory footprint. + + The existing implementation is our best effort at + meeting as many of these requirements simultaneously as we + can. In order to keep /bin/sh small, we + have not provided many of the convenience features that + other shells have. That is why the Ports Collection + includes more featureful shells like + bash, scsh, + tcsh, and zsh. (You + can compare for yourself the memory utilization of all these + shells by looking at the VSZ and + RSS columns in a ps + listing.) + + + + + + Why do &netscape; and + Opera take so long to start? + + + + The usual answer is that DNS on your system is + misconfigured. Both &netscape; + and Opera perform DNS checks when + starting up. The browser will not appear on your desktop + until the program either gets a response or determines that + the system has no network connection. + + + + + + I updated parts of the Ports Collection using + CVSup, and now many ports fail to + build with mysterious error messages! What happened? Is + the Ports Collection broken in some major way? + + + + If you only update parts of the Ports Collection, using + one of its CVSup subcollections + and not the ports-all + CVSup collection, you should + always update the + ports-base subcollection too! The + reasons are described in the Handbook. + + + + + + + How do I create audio CDs from my MIDI files? + + + + To create audio CDs from MIDI files, first install + audio/timidity++ from + ports then install manually the GUS patches set by Eric A. + Welsh, available at . + After TiMidity++ has been installed + properly, MIDI files may be converted to WAV files with the + following command line: + + &prompt.user; timidity -Ow -s 44100 -o /tmp/juke/01.wav 01.mid + + The WAV files can then be converted to other formats or + burned onto audio CDs, as described in the &os; Handbook. + + + + + + + + Kernel Configuration + + + + + I would like to customize my kernel. Is it + difficult? + + + + Not at all! Check out the kernel config section of the Handbook. + + + + The new kernel will be installed + to the /boot/kernel directory along + with its modules, while the old kernel and its modules + will be moved to the /boot/kernel.old + directory, so if you make a mistake the next time you play + with your configuration you can boot the previous version + of your kernel. + + + + + + + My kernel compiles fail because + _hw_float is missing. How do I solve + this problem? + + + + You probably removed npx0 (see + &man.npx.4;) from your kernel configuration file because you + do not have a math co-processor. The + npx0 device is + MANDATORY. Somewhere inside your + hardware lies a device that provides hardware floating-point + support, even if it is no longer a separate device as used + in the good old 386 days. You must + include the npx0 device. Even if + you manage to build a kernel without + npx0 support, it will not boot + anyway. + + + + + + Why is my kernel so big (over 10 MB)? + + + + Chances are, you compiled your kernel in debug + mode. Kernels built in debug mode contain many + symbols that are used for debugging, thus greatly increasing + the size of the kernel. Note that there will be little or + no performance decrease from running a debug kernel, and it + is useful to keep one around in case of a system + panic. + + However, if you are running low on disk space, or you + simply do not want to run a debug kernel, make sure that + both of the following are true: + + + + You do not have a line in your kernel configuration + file that reads: + + makeoptions DEBUG=-g + + + + You are not running &man.config.8; with the + option. + + + + Either of the above settings will cause your kernel to + be built in debug mode. As long as you make sure you follow + the steps above, you can build your kernel normally, and you + should notice a fairly large size decrease; most kernels + tend to be around 1.5 MB to 2 MB. + + + + + + Why do I get interrupt conflicts with multi-port serial + code? + + + + When I compile a kernel with multi-port serial code, it + tells me that only the first port is probed and the rest + skipped due to interrupt conflicts. How do I fix + this? + + The problem here is that &os; has code built-in to keep + the kernel from getting trashed due to hardware or software + conflicts. The way to fix this is to leave out the IRQ + settings on all but one port. Here is an example: + + # +# Multiport high-speed serial line - 16550 UARTS +# +device sio2 at isa? port 0x2a0 tty irq 5 flags 0x501 vector siointr +device sio3 at isa? port 0x2a8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr +device sio4 at isa? port 0x2b0 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr +device sio5 at isa? port 0x2b8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr + + + + + + Why does every kernel I try to build fail to compile, + even GENERIC? + + + + There are a number of possible causes for this problem. + They are, in no particular order: + + + + You are not using the + make buildkernel and + make installkernel + targets, and your source tree is different from the one + used to build the currently running system (e.g., you + are compiling &rel.current;-RELEASE on a + &rel2.current;-RELEASE system). If you are attempting + an upgrade, please read the + /usr/src/UPDATING file, paying + particular attention to the COMMON ITEMS + section at the end. + + + + You are using the + make buildkernel + and + make installkernel + targets, but you failed to assert the completion of the + make buildworld + target. The + make buildkernel + target relies on files generated by the + make buildworld + target to complete its job correctly. + + + + Even if you are trying to build &os;-STABLE, it is possible that + you fetched the source tree at a time when it was either + being modified, or broken for other reasons; only + releases are absolutely guaranteed to be buildable, + although &os;-STABLE + builds fine the majority of the time. If you have not + already done so, try re-fetching the source tree and see + if the problem goes away. Try using a different server + in case the one you are using is having problems. + + + + + + + + How can I verify which scheduler is in use on a running + system? + + + + Check for the existence of the + kern.sched.quantum sysctl. If you have + it, you should see something like this: + + &prompt.user; sysctl kern.sched.quantum +kern.sched.quantum: 99960 + + If the kern.sched.quantum sysctl + exists, you are using the 4BSD scheduler (&man.sched.4bsd.4;). + If not, you will get an error printed by &man.sysctl.8; + (which you can safely ignore): + + &prompt.user; sysctl kern.sched.quantum +sysctl: unknown oid 'kern.sched.quantum' + + The name of the scheduler currently being used is + directly available as the value of the + kern.sched.name sysctl: + + &prompt.user; sysctl kern.sched.name +kern.sched.name: 4BSD + + + + + + What is kern.sched.quantum? + + + + kern.sched.quantum is the maximum + number of ticks a process can run without being preempted. It + is specific to the 4BSD scheduler, so you can use its + presence or absence to determine which scheduler is in + use. + + + + + + + Disks, File Systems, and Boot Loaders + + + + + How can I add my new hard disk to my &os; system? + + + + See the Adding Disks + section in the &os; Handbook. + + + + + + How do I move my system over to my huge new disk? + + + + The best way is to reinstall the OS on the new disk, + then move the user data over. This is highly recommended if + you have been tracking -STABLE for more + than one release, or have updated a release instead of + installing a new one. You can install booteasy on both + disks with &man.boot0cfg.8;, and dual boot them until you + are happy with the new configuration. Skip the next + paragraph to find out how to move the data after doing + this. + + Should you decide not to do a fresh install, you need to + partition and label the new disk with either + &man.sysinstall.8;, or &man.fdisk.8; and &man.disklabel.8;. + You should also install booteasy on both disks with + &man.boot0cfg.8;, so that you can dual boot to the old or + new system after the copying is done. See the formatting-media article + for details on this process. + + Now you have the new disk set up, and are ready to move + the data. Unfortunately, you cannot just blindly copy the + data. Things like device files (in + /dev), flags, and links tend to screw + that up. You need to use tools that understand these + things, which means &man.dump.8;. Although it is suggested + that you move the data in single user mode, it is not + required. + + You should never use anything but &man.dump.8; and + &man.restore.8; to move the root file system. The + &man.tar.1; command may work — then again, it may not. + You should also use &man.dump.8; and &man.restore.8; if you + are moving a single partition to another empty partition. + The sequence of steps to use dump to move + a partitions data to a new partition is: + + + + newfs the new partition. + + + + mount it on a temporary mount + point. + + + + cd to that directory. + + + + dump the old partition, piping + output to the new one. + + + + For example, if you are going to move root to + /dev/ad1s1a, + with /mnt as + the temporary mount point, it is: + + &prompt.root; newfs /dev/ad1s1a +&prompt.root; mount /dev/ad1s1a /mnt +&prompt.root; cd /mnt +&prompt.root; dump 0af - / | restore xf - + + Rearranging your partitions with dump + takes a bit more work. To merge a partition like + /var into its parent, create the new + partition large enough for both, move the parent partition + as described above, then move the child partition into the + empty directory that the first move created: + + &prompt.root; newfs /dev/ad1s1a +&prompt.root; mount /dev/ad1s1a /mnt +&prompt.root; cd /mnt +&prompt.root; dump 0af - / | restore xf - +&prompt.root; cd var +&prompt.root; dump 0af - /var | restore xf - + + To split a directory from its parent, say putting + /var on its own partition when it was + not before, create both partitions, then mount the child + partition on the appropriate directory in the temporary + mount point, then move the old single partition: + + &prompt.root; newfs /dev/ad1s1a +&prompt.root; newfs /dev/ad1s1d +&prompt.root; mount /dev/ad1s1a /mnt +&prompt.root; mkdir /mnt/var +&prompt.root; mount /dev/ad1s1d /mnt/var +&prompt.root; cd /mnt +&prompt.root; dump 0af - / | restore xf - + + You might prefer &man.cpio.1;, &man.pax.1;, &man.tar.1; + to &man.dump.8; for user data. At the time of this writing, + these are known to lose file flag information, so use them + with caution. + + + + + + Will a dangerously dedicated disk + endanger my health? + + + + The installation procedure allows + you to chose two different methods in partitioning your hard + disk(s). The default way makes it compatible with other + operating systems on the same machine, by using + &man.fdisk.8; table entries (called slices in + &os;), with a &os; slice that employs partitions of its own. + Optionally, one can chose to install a boot-selector to + switch between the possible operating systems on the + disk(s). The alternative uses the entire disk for &os;, and + makes no attempt to be compatible with other operating + systems. + + So why it is called dangerous? A disk in + this mode does not contain what normal PC utilities would + consider a valid &man.fdisk.8; table. Depending on how well + they have been designed, they might complain at you once + they are getting in contact with such a disk, or even worse, + they might damage the BSD bootstrap without even asking or + notifying you. In addition, the dangerously + dedicated disk's layout is known to confuse many + BIOSes, including those from AWARD (e.g. as found in HP + Netserver and Micronics systems as well as many others) and + Symbios/NCR (for the popular 53C8xx range of SCSI + controllers). This is not a complete list, there are more. + Symptoms of this confusion include the read + error message printed by the &os; bootstrap when + it cannot find itself, as well as system lockups when + booting. + + Why have this mode at all then? It only saves a few + kbytes of disk space, and it can cause real problems for a new + installation. Dangerously dedicated mode's + origins lie in a desire to avoid one of the most common + problems plaguing new &os; installers — matching the + BIOS geometry numbers for a disk to the disk + itself. + + Geometry is an outdated concept, but one + still at the heart of the PC's BIOS and its interaction with + disks. When the &os; installer creates slices, it has to + record the location of these slices on the disk in a fashion + that corresponds with the way the BIOS expects to find them. + If it gets it wrong, you will not be able to boot. + + Dangerously dedicated mode tries to work + around this by making the problem simpler. In some cases, + it gets it right. But it is meant to be used as a + last-ditch alternative — there are better ways to + solve the problem 99 times out of 100. + + So, how do you avoid the need for DD mode + when you are installing? Start by making a note of the + geometry that your BIOS claims to be using for your disks. + You can arrange to have the kernel print this as it boots by + specifying at the + boot: prompt, or using + boot -v in the loader. Just before the + installer starts, the kernel will print a list of BIOS + geometries. Do not panic — wait for the installer to + start and then use scrollback to read the numbers. + Typically the BIOS disk units will be in the same order that + &os; lists your disks, first IDE, then SCSI. + + When you are slicing up your disk, check that the disk + geometry displayed in the FDISK screen is correct (ie. it + matches the BIOS numbers); if it is wrong, use the + G key to fix it. You may have to do this + if there is absolutely nothing on the disk, or if the disk + has been moved from another system. Note that this is only + an issue with the disk that you are going to boot from; &os; + will sort itself out just fine with any other disks you may + have. + + Once you have got the BIOS and &os; agreeing about the + geometry of the disk, your problems are almost guaranteed to + be over, and with no need for DD mode at all. + If, however, you are still greeted with the dreaded + read error message when you try to + boot, it is time to cross your fingers and go for it - there + is nothing left to lose. + + To return a dangerously dedicated disk + for normal PC use, there are basically two options. The + first is, you write enough NULL bytes over the MBR to make + any subsequent installation believe this to be a blank disk. + You can do this for example with the following + command: + + &prompt.root; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rda0 count=15 + + Alternatively, the undocumented DOS + feature + + C:\> fdisk /mbr + + will to install a new master boot record as well, thus + clobbering the BSD bootstrap. + + + + + + Which partitions can safely use Soft Updates? I have + heard that Soft Updates on / can cause + problems. + + + + Short answer: you can usually use Soft Updates safely on + all partitions. + + Long answer: There used to be some concern over using + Soft Updates on the root partition. Soft Updates has two + characteristics that caused this. First, a Soft Updates + partition has a small chance of losing data during a system + crash. (The partition will not be corrupted; the data will + simply be lost.) Also, Soft Updates can cause temporary + space shortages. + + When using Soft Updates, the kernel can take up to + thirty seconds to actually write changes to the physical + disk. If you delete a large file, the file still resides on + disk until the kernel actually performs the deletion. This + can cause a very simple race condition. Suppose you delete + one large file and immediately create another large file. + The first large file is not yet actually removed from the + physical disk, so the disk might not have enough room for + the second large file. You get an error that the partition + does not have enough space, although you know perfectly well + that you just released a large chunk of space! When you try + again mere seconds later, the file creation works as you + expect. This has left more than one user scratching his + head and doubting his sanity, the &os; file system, or + both. + + If a system should crash after the kernel accepts a + chunk of data for writing to disk, but before that data is + actually written out, data could be lost or corrupted. This + risk is extremely small, but generally manageable. Use of + IDE write caching greatly increases this risk; it is + strongly recommended that you disable IDE write caching when + using Soft Updates. + + These issues affect all partitions using Soft Updates. + So, what does this mean for the root partition? + + Vital information on the root partition changes very + rarely. Files such as + /boot/kernel/kernel and the contents of + /etc only change during system + maintenance, or when users change their passwords. If the + system crashed during the thirty-second window after such a + change is made, it is possible that data could be lost. + This risk is negligible for most applications, but you + should be aware that it exists. If your system cannot + tolerate this much risk, do not use Soft Updates on the root + file system! + + / is traditionally one of the + smallest partitions. If you put the + /tmp directory on + / and you have a busy + /tmp, you might see intermittent space + problems. Symlinking /tmp to + /var/tmp will solve this + problem. + + + + + + What is inappropriate about my &man.ccd.4;? + + + + The symptom of this is: + + &prompt.root; ccdconfig -C +ccdconfig: ioctl (CCDIOCSET): /dev/ccd0c: Inappropriate file type or format + + This usually happens when you are trying to concatenate + the c partitions, which default to type + unused. The &man.ccd.4; driver requires + the underlying partition type to be + FS_BSDFFS. Edit the disk label of the + disks you are trying to concatenate and change the types of + partitions to 4.2BSD. + + + + + + Why can I not edit the disk label on my + &man.ccd.4;? + + + + The symptom of this is: + + &prompt.root; disklabel ccd0 +(it prints something sensible here, so let us try to edit it) +&prompt.root; disklabel -e ccd0 +(edit, save, quit) +disklabel: ioctl DIOCWDINFO: No disk label on disk; +use "disklabel -r" to install initial label + + This is because the disk label returned by &man.ccd.4; + is actually a fake one that is not really on + the disk. You can solve this problem by writing it back + explicitly, as in: + + &prompt.root; disklabel ccd0 > /tmp/disklabel.tmp +&prompt.root; disklabel -Rr ccd0 /tmp/disklabel.tmp +&prompt.root; disklabel -e ccd0 +(this will work now) + + + + + + Can I mount other foreign file systems under + &os;? + + + + &os; supports a variety of other file systems. + + + + UFS + + + UFS CD-ROMs can be mounted directly on &os;. + Mounting disk partitions from Digital UNIX and other + systems that support UFS may be more complex, + depending on the details of the disk partitioning for + the operating system in question. + + + + + ext2/ext3 + + + &os; supports ext2fs and + ext3fs partitions. See + &man.mount.ext2fs.8; for more information. + + + + + NTFS + + + &os; includes a read-only NTFS driver. For more + information, see &man.mount.ntfs.8;. A port of ntfs-3g + supports write operations on NTFS (see sysutils/fusefs-ntfs). + + + + + FAT + + + &os; includes a read-write FAT driver. For more + information, see &man.mount.msdosfs.8;. + + + + + ReiserFS + + + &os; includes a read-only ReiserFS driver. For + more information, see &man.mount.reiserfs.8;. + + + + + ZFS + + + As of this writing, &os; includes a port of + &sun;'s ZFS driver. The current recommendation is to + use it only on &arch.amd64; platforms with sufficient + memory. For more information, see &man.zfs.8;. + + + + + &os; also supports network file systems such as NFS (see + &man.mount.nfs.8;), NetWare (see &man.mount.nwfs.8;), and + Microsoft-style SMB file systems (see &man.mount.smbfs.8;). + You can find ports based on FUSE (sysutils/fusefs-kmod) for many + other file systems. + + + + + + How do I mount a secondary DOS partition? + + + + The secondary DOS partitions are found after + all the primary partitions. For + example, if you have an E partition as the + second DOS partition on the second SCSI drive, there will be + a device file for slice 5 in + /dev, so simply mount it: + + &prompt.root; mount -t msdos /dev/da1s5 /dos/e + + + + + + Is there a cryptographic file system for &os;? + + + + Yes. You can use either &man.gbde.8; or &man.geli.8;, + see the Encrypting Disk Partitions + section of the &os; Handbook. + + + + + + How can I use the &windowsnt; loader to boot + &os;? + + + + The general idea is that you copy the first sector of + your native root &os; partition into a file in the + DOS/&windowsnt; partition. Assuming you name that file + something like c:\bootsect.bsd + (inspired by c:\bootsect.dos), you can + then edit the c:\boot.ini file to come + up with something like this: + + [boot loader] +timeout=30 +default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS +[operating systems] +multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows NT" +C:\BOOTSECT.BSD="&os;" +C:\="DOS" + + If &os; is installed on the same disk as the &windowsnt; + boot partition simply copy /boot/boot1 to + C:\BOOTSECT.BSD. However, if &os; is + installed on a different disk + /boot/boot1 will not work, + /boot/boot0 is needed. + + /boot/boot0 needs to be installed + using &man.sysinstall.8; by selecting the &os; boot manager + on the screen which asks if you wish to use a boot manager. + This is because /boot/boot0 has the + partition table area filled with NULL characters but + &man.sysinstall.8; copies the partition table before copying + /boot/boot0 to the MBR. + + + Do not simply copy + /boot/boot0 instead of + /boot/boot1; you will overwrite + your partition table and render your computer + un-bootable! + + + When the &os; boot manager runs it records the last OS + booted by setting the active flag on the partition table + entry for that OS and then writes the whole 512-bytes of + itself back to the MBR so if you just copy + /boot/boot0 to + C:\BOOTSECT.BSD then it writes an empty + partition table, with the active flag set on one entry, to + the MBR. + + + + + + How do I boot &os; and &linux; from LILO? + + + + If you have &os; and &linux; on the same disk, just + follow LILO's installation instructions for booting a + non-&linux; operating system. Very briefly, these + are: + + Boot &linux;, and add the following lines to + /etc/lilo.conf: + + other=/dev/hda2 + table=/dev/hda + label=&os; + + (the above assumes that your &os; slice is known to + &linux; as /dev/hda2; tailor to + suit your setup). Then, run lilo as + root and you should be done. + + If &os; resides on another disk, you need to add + loader=/boot/chain.b to the LILO entry. + For example: + + other=/dev/dab4 + table=/dev/dab + loader=/boot/chain.b + label=&os; + + In some cases you may need to specify the BIOS drive + number to the &os; boot loader to successfully boot off the + second disk. For example, if your &os; SCSI disk is probed + by BIOS as BIOS disk 1, at the &os; boot loader prompt you + need to specify: + + Boot: 1:da(0,a)/boot/kernel/kernel + + You can configure &man.boot.8; to automatically do this + for you at boot time. + + The &linux;+&os; mini-HOWTO + is a good reference for &os; and &linux; interoperability + issues. + + + + + + How do I boot &os; and &linux; using GRUB? + + + + Booting &os; using GRUB is very simple. Just add the + following to your configuration file + /boot/grub/menu.lst (or + /boot/grub/grub.conf in some systems, + e.g. Red Hat Linux and its derivatives). + + title &os; 6.1 + root (hd0,a) + kernel /boot/loader + + + Where hd0,a points to your + root partition on the first disk. If you need to specify + which slice number should be used, use something like this + (hd0,2,a). By default, if the + slice number is omitted, GRUB searches the first slice which + has a partition. + + + + + + How do I boot &os; and &linux; using + BootEasy? + + + + Install LILO at the start of your &linux; boot partition + instead of in the Master Boot Record. You can then boot + LILO from BootEasy. + + If you are running &windows; and &linux; this is + recommended anyway, to make it simpler to get &linux; booting + again if you should need to reinstall &windows; (which is a + Jealous Operating System, and will bear no other Operating + Systems in the Master Boot Record). + + + + + + How do I change the boot prompt from + ??? to something more meaningful? + + + + You can not do that with the standard boot manager + without rewriting it. There are a number of other boot + managers in the sysutils ports category + that provide this functionality. + + + + + + I have a new removable drive, how do I use it? + + + + Whether it is a removable drive like a &iomegazip; or an + EZ drive (or even a floppy, if you want to use it that way), + or a new hard disk, once it is installed and recognized by + the system, and you have your cartridge/floppy/whatever + slotted in, things are pretty much the same for all + devices. + + (this section is based on Mark Mayo's ZIP FAQ) + + + If it is a ZIP drive or a floppy, you have already got a + DOS file system on it, you can use a command like this: + + &prompt.root; mount -t msdos /dev/fd0c /floppy + + if it is a floppy, or this: + + &prompt.root; mount -t msdos /dev/da2s4 /zip + + for a ZIP disk with the factory configuration. + + For other disks, see how they are laid out using + &man.fdisk.8; or &man.sysinstall.8;. + + The rest of the examples will be for a ZIP drive on + da2, the third SCSI disk. + + Unless it is a floppy, or a removable you plan on + sharing with other people, it is probably a better idea to + stick a BSD file system on it. You will get long filename + support, at least a 2X improvement in performance, and a lot + more stability. First, you need to redo the DOS-level + partitions/file systems. You can either use &man.fdisk.8; + or &man.sysinstall.8;, or for a small drive that you do not + want to bother with multiple operating system support on, + just blow away the whole FAT partition table (slices) and + just use the BSD partitioning: + + &prompt.root; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rda2 count=2 +&prompt.root; disklabel -Brw da2 auto + + You can use &man.disklabel.8; or &man.sysinstall.8; to + create multiple BSD partitions. You will certainly want to + do this if you are adding swap space on a fixed disk, but it + is probably irrelevant on a removable drive like a + ZIP. + + Finally, create a new file system, this one is on our + ZIP drive using the whole disk: + + &prompt.root; newfs /dev/rda2c + + and mount it: + + &prompt.root; mount /dev/da2c /zip + + and it is probably a good idea to add a line like this + to /etc/fstab (see &man.fstab.5;) so + you can just type mount /zip in the + future: + + /dev/da2c /zip ffs rw,noauto 0 0 + + + + + + Why do I get Incorrect super + block when mounting a CD-ROM? + + + + You have to tell &man.mount.8; the type of the device + that you want to mount. This is described in the Handbook section on optical media, + specifically the section Using Data CDs. + + + + + + + Why do I get Device not + configured when mounting a CD-ROM? + + + + This generally means that there is no CD-ROM in the + CD-ROM drive, or the drive is not visible on the bus. + Please see the Using Data CDs + section of the Handbook for a detailed discussion of this + issue. + + + + + + Why do all non-English characters in filenames show up + as ? on my CDs when mounted in &os;? + + + + Your CD-ROM probably uses the Joliet + extension for storing information about files and + directories. This is discussed in the Handbook chapter on + creating and using CD-ROMs, + specifically the section on Using Data CD-ROMs. + + + + + + + I burned a CD under &os; and now I can not read it under + any other operating system. Why? + + + + You most likely burned a raw file to your CD, rather + than creating an ISO 9660 file system. Take a look at the Tuning - with sysctl section of the Handbook. - - - - - - Why do I get an error reading CMAP - busy when rebooting with a new - kernel? - - - - The logic that attempts to detect an out of date - /var/db/kvm_*.db files sometimes fails - and using a mismatched file can sometimes lead to panics. - - If this happens, reboot single-user and do: - - &prompt.root; rm /var/db/kvm_*.db - - - - - - What does the message ahc0: brkadrint, - Illegal Host Access at seqaddr 0x0 - mean? - - - - This is a conflict with an Ultrastor SCSI Host Adapter. - - During the boot process enter the kernel configuration - menu and disable - uha0, - which is causing the problem. - - - - - - When I boot my system, I get the error - ahc0: illegal cable configuration. - My cabling is correct. What is going on? - - - - Your motherboard lacks the external logic to support - automatic termination. Switch your SCSI BIOS to specify - the correct termination for your configuration rather - than automatic termination. The &man.ahc.4; driver cannot - determine if the external logic for cable detection (and - thus auto-termination) is available. The driver simply - assumes that this support must exist if the configuration - contained in the serial EEPROM is set to - automatic termination. Without the external - cable detection logic - the driver will often configure termination incorrectly, - which can compromise the reliability of the SCSI - bus. - - - - - - Why does sendmail give me an error reading - mail loops back to - myself? - - - - You can find a detailed answer for this question - in the Handbook. - - - - - - Why do full screen applications on remote machines - misbehave? - - - - The remote machine may be setting your terminal type - to something other than the cons25 terminal - type required by the &os; console. - - There are a number of possible work-arounds for this - problem: - - - After logging on to the remote machine, set your - TERM shell variable to ansi or - sco if the remote machine knows - about these terminal types. - - - - Use a VT100 emulator like - screen at the &os; console. - screen offers you the ability - to run multiple concurrent sessions from one terminal, - and is a neat program in its own right. Each - screen window behaves like a - VT100 terminal, so the TERM variable at the remote end - should be set to vt100. - - - - Install the cons25 terminal - database entry on the remote machine. The way to do this - depends on the operating system on the remote machine. - The system administration manuals for the remote system - should be able to help you here. - - - - Fire up an X server at the &os; end and login to - the remote machine using an X based terminal emulator - such as xterm or - rxvt. The TERM variable at the remote - host should be set to xterm or - vt100. - - - - - - - - Why is my PnP card not found (or found as - unknown)? - - - - The reasons for this behavior are explained by the following - email, posted to the &a.questions; by &a.peter;, - in answer to a question about an internal modem that was - no longer found after an upgrade to &os; 4.X (the comments - in [] have been added to clarify the - context). - - - The contents of this quotation has been updated from - its original text. - - -
- The PNP bios preconfigured it [the modem] and left it - laying around in port space, so [in 3.X] the old-style ISA - probes found it there. - - Under 4.0, the ISA code is much more PnP-centric. It was - possible [in 3.X] for an ISA probe to find a - stray device and then for the PNP device ID to - match and then fail due to resource conflicts. So, it - disables the programmable cards first so this double probing - cannot happen. It also means that it needs to know the PnP - IDs for supported PnP hardware. Making this more user - tweakable is on the TODO list. -
- - To get the device working again requires finding its PnP ID - and adding it to the list that the ISA probes use to identify - PnP devices. This is obtained using &man.pnpinfo.8; to probe the - device, for example this is the output from &man.pnpinfo.8; for - an internal modem: + url="&url.books.handbook;/creating-cds.html">Handbook chapter on creating CD-ROMs, + particularly the section on burning raw data CDs. + + + + + + + How can I create an image of a data CD? + + + + This is discussed in the Handbook section on duplicating data CDs. + For more on working with CD-ROMs, see the Creating CDs Section + in the Storage chapter in the Handbook. + + + + + + Why can I not mount an audio + CD? + + + + If you try to mount an audio CD, you will get an error + like cd9660: /dev/acd0c: Invalid + argument. This is because + mount only works on file systems. Audio + CDs do not have file systems; they just have data. You need + a program that reads audio CDs, such as the audio/xmcd port. + + + + + + How do I mount a multi-session + CD? + + + + By default, &man.mount.8; will attempt to mount the last + data track (session) of a CD. If you would like to load an + earlier session, you must use the + command line argument. Please see &man.mount.cd9660.8; for + specific examples. + + + + + + How do I let ordinary users mount floppies, CD-ROMs and + other removable media? + + + + Ordinary users can be permitted to mount devices. Here + is how: + + + + As root set the sysctl variable + vfs.usermount to + 1. + + &prompt.root; sysctl -w vfs.usermount=1 + + + + As root assign the appropriate + permissions to the block device associated with the + removable media. + + For example, to allow users to mount the first + floppy drive, use: + + &prompt.root; chmod 666 /dev/fd0 + + To allow users in the group + operator to mount the CD-ROM + drive, use: + + &prompt.root; chgrp operator /dev/acd0c +&prompt.root; chmod 640 /dev/acd0c + + + + You will need to alter + /etc/devfs.conf to make these + changes permanent across reboots. + + As root, add the necessary + lines to /etc/devfs.conf. For + example, to allow users to mount the first floppy drive + add: + + # Allow all users to mount the floppy disk. +own /dev/fd0 root:operator +perm /dev/fd0 0666 + + To allow users in the group + operator to mount the CD-ROM drive + add: + + # Allow members of the group operator to mount CD-ROMs. +own /dev/acd0 root:operator +perm /dev/acd0 0660 + + + + Finally, add the line + vfs.usermount=1 to + the file /etc/sysctl.conf so that + it is reset at system boot time. + + + + All users can now mount the floppy + /dev/fd0 onto a directory that they + own: + + &prompt.user; mkdir ~/my-mount-point +&prompt.user; mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 ~/my-mount-point + + Users in group operator can now + mount the CD-ROM /dev/acd0c onto a + directory that they own: + + &prompt.user; mkdir ~/my-mount-point +&prompt.user; mount -t cd9660 /dev/acd0c ~/my-mount-point + + Unmounting the device is simple: + + &prompt.user; umount ~/my-mount-point + + Enabling vfs.usermount, however, has + negative security implications. A better way to access + &ms-dos; formatted media is to use the emulators/mtools package in the + Ports Collection. + + + The device name used in the previous examples must be + changed according to your configuration. + + + + + + + The du and df + commands show different amounts of disk space available. + What is going on? + + + + You need to understand what du and + df really do. du goes + through the directory tree, measures how large each file is, + and presents the totals. df just asks + the file system how much space it has left. They seem to be + the same thing, but a file without a directory entry will + affect df but not + du. + + When a program is using a file, and you delete the file, + the file is not really removed from the file system until + the program stops using it. The file is immediately deleted + from the directory listing, however. You can see this + easily enough with a program such as + more. Assume you have a file large + enough that its presence affects the output of + du and df. (Since + disks can be so large today, this might be a + very large file!) If you delete this + file while using more on it, + more does not immediately choke and + complain that it cannot view the file. The entry is simply + removed from the directory so no other program or user can + access it. du shows that it is gone + — it has walked the directory tree and the file is not + listed. df shows that it is still there, + as the file system knows that more is + still using that space. Once you end the + more session, du and + df will agree. + + Note that Soft Updates can delay the freeing of disk + space; you might need to wait up to 30 seconds for the + change to be visible! + + This situation is common on web servers. Many people + set up a &os; web server and forget to rotate the log files. + The access log fills up /var. The new + administrator deletes the file, but the system still + complains that the partition is full. Stopping and + restarting the web server program would free the file, + allowing the system to release the disk space. To prevent + this from happening, set up &man.newsyslog.8;. + + + + + + How can I add more swap space? + + + + In the Configuration and Tuning + section of the Handbook, you will find a section + describing how to do this. + + + + + + Why does &os; see my disk as smaller than the + manufacturer says it is? + + + + Disk manufacturers calculate gigabytes as a billion + bytes each, whereas &os; calculates them as + 1,073,741,824 bytes each. This explains why, for + example, &os;'s boot messages will report a disk that + supposedly has 80 GB as holding 76,319 MB. + + Also note that &os; will (by default) reserve 8% of the disk + space. + + + + + + How is it possible for a partition to be more than 100% + full? + + + + A portion of each UFS partition (8%, by default) is + reserved for use by the operating system and the + root user. &man.df.1; does not count + that space when calculating the Capacity + column, so it can exceed 100%. Also, you will notice that + the Blocks column is always greater than + the sum of the Used and + Avail columns, usually by a factor of + 8%. + + For more details, look up the option + in &man.tunefs.8;. + + + + + + + System Administration + + + + + Where are the system start-up configuration + files? + + + + The primary configuration file is + /etc/defaults/rc.conf (see + &man.rc.conf.5;). System startup scripts such as + /etc/rc and + /etc/rc.d (see &man.rc.8;) just include + this file. Do not edit this file! + Instead, if there is any entry in + /etc/defaults/rc.conf that you want to + change, you should copy the line into + /etc/rc.conf and change it + there. + + For example, if you wish to start &man.named.8;, the + included DNS server, all you need to do is: + + &prompt.root; echo named_enable="YES" >> /etc/rc.conf + + To start up local services, place shell scripts in the + /usr/local/etc/rc.d directory. These + shell scripts should be set executable, the default file + mode is 555. + + + + + + How do I add a user easily? + + + + Use the &man.adduser.8; command, or the &man.pw.8; + command for more complicated situations. + + To remove the user, use the &man.rmuser.8; command or, + if necessary, &man.pw.8;. + + + + + + Why do I keep getting messages like root: not + found after editing my + crontab file? + + + + This is normally caused by editing the system crontab + (/etc/crontab) and then using + &man.crontab.1; to install it: + + &prompt.root; crontab /etc/crontab + + This is not the correct way to do things. The system + crontab has a different format to the per-user crontabs + which &man.crontab.1; updates (the &man.crontab.5; manual + page explains the differences in more detail). + + If this is what you did, the extra crontab is simply a + copy of /etc/crontab in the wrong + format it. Delete it with the command: + + &prompt.root; crontab -r + + Next time, when you edit + /etc/crontab, you should not do + anything to inform &man.cron.8; of the changes, since it + will notice them automatically. + + If you want something to be run once per day, week, or + month, it is probably better to add shell scripts + /usr/local/etc/periodic, and let the + &man.periodic.8; command run from the system + cron schedule it with the other periodic + system tasks. + + The actual reason for the error is that the system + crontab has an extra field, specifying which user to run the + command as. In the default system crontab provided with + &os;, this is root for all entries. + When this crontab is used as the root + user's crontab (which is not the same + as the system crontab), &man.cron.8; assumes the string + root is the first word of the command to + execute, but no such command exists. + + + + + + Why do I get the error, you are not in the + correct group to su root when I try to + su to root? + + + + This is a security feature. In order to + su to root (or any + other account with superuser privileges), you must be in the + wheel group. If this feature were + not there, anybody with an account on a system who also + found out root's password would be able + to gain superuser level access to the system. With this + feature, this is not strictly true; &man.su.1; will prevent + them from even trying to enter the password if they are not + in wheel. + + To allow someone to su to + root, simply put them in the + wheel group. + + + + + + I made a mistake in rc.conf, or + another startup file, and now I cannot edit it because the + file system is read-only. What should I do? + + + + Restart the system using boot -s + at the loader prompt to enter Single User mode. When + prompted for a shell pathname, simply press + Enter, and run + mount -urw / to re-mount the root file + system in read/write mode. You may also need to run + mount -a -t ufs to mount the file system + where your favorite editor is defined. If your favorite + editor is on a network file system, you will need to either + configure the network manually before you can mount network + file systems, or use an editor which resides on a local file + system, such as &man.ed.1;. + + If you intend to use a full screen editor such as + &man.vi.1; or &man.emacs.1;, you may also need to run + export TERM=cons25 so that these editors + can load the correct data from the &man.termcap.5; + database. + + Once you have performed these steps, you can edit + /etc/rc.conf as you usually would to + fix the syntax error. The error message displayed + immediately after the kernel boot messages should tell you + the number of the line in the file which is at fault. + + + + + + Why am I having trouble setting up my printer? + + + + See the Handbook entry on printing. + It should cover most of your problem. + + Some printers require a host-based driver to do any kind + of printing. These so-called WinPrinters are + not natively supported by &os;. If your printer does not + work in DOS or &windows;, it is probably a WinPrinter. Your + only hope of getting one of these to work is to check if the + print/pnm2ppa port + supports it. + + + + + + How can I correct the keyboard mappings for my + system? + + + + Please see the Handbook section on using localization, + specifically the section on console setup. + + + + + + + Why do I get messages like: unknown: + <PNP0303> can't assign resources on + boot? + + + + The following is an excerpt from a post to the + &a.current;. + +
+ &a.wollman;, 24 April 2001 + + The can't assign resources messages + indicate that the devices are legacy ISA devices for which + a non-PnP-aware driver is compiled into the kernel. These + include devices such as keyboard controllers, the + programmable interrupt controller chip, and several other + bits of standard infrastructure. The resources cannot be + assigned because there is already a driver using those + addresses. +
+ + + + + + Why can I not get user quotas to work properly? + + + + + + + + It is possible that your kernel is not configured + to use quotas. If this is the case, you will need to + add the following line to your kernel configuration + file and recompile: + + options QUOTA + + Please read the Handbook entry on quotas + for full details. + + + + Do not turn on quotas on + /. + + + + Put the quota file on the file system that the + quotas are to be enforced on, i.e.: + + + + + + File System + + Quota file + + + + + + /usr + + /usr/admin/quotas + + + + /home + + /home/admin/quotas + + + + … + + … + + + + + + + + + + + + Does &os; support System V IPC primitives? + + + + Yes, &os; supports System V-style IPC, including shared + memory, messages and semaphores, in the + GENERIC kernel. In a custom kernel, + enable this support by adding the following lines to your + kernel config. + + options SYSVSHM # enable shared memory +options SYSVSEM # enable for semaphores +options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging + + Recompile and install your kernel. + + + + + + What other mail-server software can I use instead of + sendmail? + + + + The sendmail + server is the default mail-server software for &os;, but you + can easily replace it with one of the other MTA (for + instance, an MTA installed from the ports). + + There are various alternative MTAs in the ports tree + already, with mail/exim, + mail/postfix, mail/qmail, and mail/zmailer being some of the + most popular choices. + + Diversity is nice, and the fact that you have many + different mail-servers to chose from is considered a good + thing; therefore try to avoid asking questions like + Is sendmail better than + qmail? in the mailing + lists. If you do feel like asking, first check the mailing + list archives. The advantages and disadvantages of each and + every one of the available MTAs have already been discussed + a few times. + + + + + + I have forgotten the root password! + What do I do? + + + + Do not panic! Restart the system, type + boot -s at the + Boot: prompt to enter Single User mode. + At the question about the shell to use, hit + Enter. You will be dropped to a + &prompt.root; prompt. Enter mount -urw / + to remount your root file system read/write, then run + mount -a to remount all the file systems. + Run passwd root to change the + root password then run &man.exit.1; to + continue booting. + + + If you are still prompted to give the + root password when entering the + Single User mode, it means that the console has been + marked as insecure in + /etc/ttys. In this case it will be + required to boot from an &os; installation disk, choose + the Fixit shell from + &man.sysinstall.8; and issue the commands mentioned + above. + + + + If you cannot mount your root partition from Single + User mode, it is possible that the partitions are + encrypted and it is impossible to mount them without the + access keys. Your chances are depending on the chosen + implementation. For more information see the section + about encrypted disks in the &os; Handbook. + + + + + + + How do I keep ControlAltDelete + from rebooting the system? + + + + If you are using &man.syscons.4; (the default console + driver) build and install a new kernel with the line in the + configuration file: + + options SC_DISABLE_REBOOT + + This can also be done by setting the following + &man.sysctl.8; which does not require a reboot or kernel + recompile: + + &prompt.root; sysctl hw.syscons.kbd_reboot=0 + + If you use the &man.pcvt.4; console driver, use the + following kernel configuration line instead and rebuild the + kernel: + + options PCVT_CTRL_ALT_DEL + + + + + + How do I reformat DOS text files to &unix; ones? + + + + Use this &man.perl.1; command: + + &prompt.user; perl -i.bak -npe 's/\r\n/\n/g' file(s) + + where file(s) is one or more + files to process. The modification is done in-place, with the + original file stored with a .bak + extension. + + Alternatively you can use the &man.tr.1; command: + + &prompt.user; tr -d '\r' < dos-text-file > unix-file + + dos-text-file is the file + containing DOS text while + unix-file will contain the + converted output. This can be quite a bit faster than using + perl. + + Yet another way to reformat DOS text files is to use the + converters/dosunix port + from the Ports Collection. Consult its documentation about + the details. + + + + + + How do I kill processes by name? + + + + Use &man.killall.1;. + + + + + + Why is &man.su.1; bugging me about not being in + root's ACL? + + + + The error comes from the + Kerberos distributed authentication + system. The problem is not fatal but annoying. You can + either run su with the option, or + uninstall Kerberos as described + in the next question. + + + + + + How do I uninstall + Kerberos? + + + + To remove Kerberos from the + system, reinstall the base distribution + for the release you are running. If you have the CD-ROM, + you can mount the it (we will assume on /cdrom) and run the commands + below: + + &prompt.root; cd /cdrom/base +&prompt.root; ./install.sh - &prompt.root; pnpinfo -Checking for Plug-n-Play devices... + Alternately, you can include the + NO_KERBEROS option in your + /etc/make.conf and rebuild + world. + + -Card assigned CSN #1 -Vendor ID PMC2430 (0x3024a341), Serial Number 0xffffffff -PnP Version 1.0, Vendor Version 0 -Device Description: Pace 56 Voice Internal Plug & Play Modem + + + What happened to + /dev/MAKEDEV? + -Logical Device ID: PMC2430 0x3024a341 #0 - Device supports I/O Range Check -TAG Start DF - I/O Range 0x3f8 .. 0x3f8, alignment 0x8, len 0x8 - [16-bit addr] - IRQ: 4 - only one type (true/edge) + + &os; 5.X and beyond use + the &man.devfs.8; device-on-demand system. Device drivers + automatically create new device nodes as they are needed, + obsoleting /dev/MAKEDEV. + + - [more TAG lines elided] + + + How do I add pseudoterminals to the system? + - TAG End DF -End Tag + + If you have lot of telnet, + ssh, X, or screen users, + you will probably run out of pseudoterminals. Here is how + to add more: -Successfully got 31 resources, 1 logical fdevs --- card select # 0x0001 + + + Build and install a new kernel with the line in + the configuration file: -CSN PMC2430 (0x3024a341), Serial Number 0xffffffff + device pty N -Logical device #0 -IO: 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 0x03e8 -IRQ 5 0 -DMA 4 0 -IO range check 0x00 activate 0x01 + where N is the number + of requested pseudoterminals. + - The information you require is in the - Vendor ID line at the start of the output. The - hexadecimal number in parentheses (0x3024a341 in this example) - is the PnP ID and the string immediately before this (PMC2430) - is a unique ASCII ID. - - Alternatively, if &man.pnpinfo.8; does not list the card in - question, &man.pciconf.8; can be used instead. This is part of - the output from pciconf -vl for an onboard - sound chip: + + Edit /etc/ttys and add lines + for each of the N terminals. + They should match the form of the existing entries, i.e. + they look like this: + + ttyqc none network + + The order of the letter designations is + tty[pqrsPQRSlmnoLMNO][0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv], + using a regular expression. + - &prompt.root; pciconf -vl -chip1@pci0:31:5: class=0x040100 card=0x00931028 chip=0x24158086 rev=0x02 hdr=0x00 - vendor = 'Intel Corporation' - device = '82801AA 8xx Chipset AC'97 Audio Controller' - class = multimedia - subclass = audio + + Reboot the system with the new kernel and you are + ready to go. + + + + + Using more than 256 (up to 512) &man.pty.4; devices + requires &os; 6.3 or later. + + + - Here, you would use the chip value, - 0x24158086. + + + How do I re-read /etc/rc.conf and + re-start /etc/rc without a + reboot? + - This information (Vendor ID or chip value) needs adding - to the file - /usr/src/sys/dev/sio/sio_isa.c. - - You should first make a backup of sio_isa.c - just in case things go wrong. You will also need it to make the - patch to submit with your PR (you are going to submit a PR, - are you not?) then edit sio_isa.c and search - for the line: - - static struct isa_pnp_id sio_ids[] = { - - Then scroll down to find the correct place to add the entry - for your device. The entries look like this, and are sorted on - the ASCII Vendor ID string which should be included in the - comment to the right of the line of code along with all (if it - will fit) or part of the Device Description - from the output of &man.pnpinfo.8;: + + Go into single user mode and then back to multi user + mode. - {0x0f804f3f, NULL}, /* OZO800f - Zoom 2812 (56k Modem) */ -{0x39804f3f, NULL}, /* OZO8039 - Zoom 56k flex */ -{0x3024a341, NULL}, /* PMC2430 - Pace 56 Voice Internal Modem */ -{0x1000eb49, NULL}, /* ROK0010 - Rockwell ? */ -{0x5002734a, NULL}, /* RSS0250 - 5614Jx3(G) Internal Modem */ + On the console do: - Add the hexadecimal Vendor ID for your device in the - correct place, save the file, rebuild your kernel, and reboot. - Your device should now be found as an sio - device. - - - - - - Why do I get the error nlist failed when - running, for example, top or - systat? - - - - The problem is that the application you are trying to run is - looking for a specific kernel symbol, but, for whatever reason, - cannot find it; this error stems from one of two problems: - - - - Your kernel and userland are not synchronized (i.e., you - built a new kernel but did not do an - installworld, or vice versa), and - thus the symbol table is different from what the user - application thinks it is. If this is the case, simply - complete the upgrade process (see - /usr/src/UPDATING for the correct - sequence). - - - - You are not using /boot/loader to load - your kernel, but doing it directly from boot2 (see - &man.boot.8;). While there is nothing wrong with bypassing - /boot/loader, it generally does a better - job of making the kernel symbols available to user - applications. - - - - - - - - Why does it take so long to connect to my computer via - ssh or telnet? - - - - The symptom: there is a long delay between the time the TCP - connection is established and the time when the client software - asks for a password (or, in &man.telnet.1;'s case, when a login - prompt appears). - - The problem: more likely than not, the delay is caused by - the server software trying to resolve the client's IP address - into a hostname. Many servers, including the - Telnet and SSH - servers that come with &os;, do this in order to, among - other things, store the hostname in a log file for future - reference by the administrator. - - The remedy: if the problem occurs whenever you connect from - your computer (the client) to any server, the problem is with - the client; likewise, if the problem only occurs when someone - connects to your computer (the server) the problem is with the - server. - - If the problem is with the client, the only remedy is to - fix the DNS so the server can resolve it. If this is on a - local network, consider it a server problem and keep reading; - conversely, if this is on the global Internet, you will most - likely need to contact your ISP and ask them to fix it for - you. - - If the problem is with the server, and this is on a local - network, you need to configure the server to be able to resolve - address-to-hostname queries for your local address range. See - the &man.hosts.5; and &man.named.8; manual pages for more - information. If this is on the global Internet, the problem - may be that your server's resolver is not functioning - correctly. To check, try to look up another host — say, - www.yahoo.com. If it does not work, that is - your problem. + &prompt.root; shutdown now +(Note: without -r or -h) - Following a fresh install of &os;, it is also possible - that domain and name server information is missing from - /etc/resolv.conf. This will often cause - a delay in SSH, as the option - UseDNS is set to yes by default - in the sshd_config file in - /etc/ssh. If this is causing the - problem, you will either need to fill in the missing information - in /etc/resolv.conf or set UseDNS - to no in sshd_config - as a temporary workaround. +&prompt.root; return +&prompt.root; exit + + + + + + I tried to update my system to the latest + -STABLE, but got + -BETAx, + -RC or + -PRERELEASE! What is going on? + + + + Short answer: it is just a name. + RC stands for Release + Candidate. It signifies that a release is imminent. + In &os;, -PRERELEASE is typically + synonymous with the code freeze before a release. (For some + releases, the -BETA label was used in + the same way as -PRERELEASE.) + + Long answer: &os; derives its releases from one of two + places. Major, dot-zero, releases, such as 6.0-RELEASE and + 7.0-RELEASE, are branched from the head of the development + stream, commonly referred to as -CURRENT. Minor releases, such as + 6.3-RELEASE or 5.2-RELEASE, have been snapshots of the + active -STABLE branch. + Starting with 4.3-RELEASE, each release also now has its own + branch which can be tracked by people requiring an extremely + conservative rate of development (typically only security + advisories). + + When a release is about to be made, the branch from + which it will be derived from has to undergo a certain + process. Part of this process is a code freeze. When a + code freeze is initiated, the name of the branch is changed + to reflect that it is about to become a release. For + example, if the branch used to be called 6.2-STABLE, its + name will be changed to 6.3-PRERELEASE to signify the code + freeze and signify that extra pre-release testing should be + happening. Bug fixes can still be committed to be part of + the release. When the source code is in shape for the + release the name will be changed to 6.3-RC to signify that a + release is about to be made from it. Once in the RC stage, + only the most critical bugs found can be fixed. Once the + release (6.3-RELEASE in this example) and release branch + have been made, the branch will be renamed to + 6.3-STABLE. + + For more information on version numbers and the various + CVS branches, refer to the Release Engineering + article. - - What does stray IRQ mean? - + + I tried to install a new kernel, and the &man.chflags.1; + failed. How do I get around this? + + - Stray IRQs are indications of hardware IRQ glitches, - mostly from hardware that removes its interrupt request in - the middle of the interrupt request acknowledge - cycle. - One has three options for dealing with this: + Short answer: You are probably at security level greater + than 0. Reboot directly to Single User mode to install the + kernel. + + Long answer: &os; disallows changing system flags at + security levels greater than 0. You can check your security + level with the command: + + &prompt.root; sysctl kern.securelevel + + You cannot lower the security level; you have to boot to + Single Mode to install the kernel, or change the security + level in /etc/rc.conf then reboot. See + the &man.init.8; manual page for details on + securelevel, and see + /etc/defaults/rc.conf and the + &man.rc.conf.5; manual page for more information on + rc.conf. + + + + + + I cannot change the time on my system by more than one + second! How do I get around this? + + + + Short answer: You are probably at security level greater + than 1. Reboot directly to Single User mode to change the + date. + + Long answer: &os; disallows changing the time by more + that one second at security levels greater than 1. You can + check your security level with the command: + + &prompt.root; sysctl kern.securelevel + + You cannot lower the security level; you have to boot to + Single User mode to change the date, or change the security + level in /etc/rc.conf then reboot. See + the &man.init.8; manual page for details on + securelevel, and see + /etc/defaults/rc.conf and the + &man.rc.conf.5; manual page for more information on + rc.conf. + + + + + + Why is rpc.statd using 256 MB of + memory? + + + + No, there is no memory leak, and it is not using + 256 MB of memory. For convenience, + rpc.statd maps an obscene amount of + memory into its address space. There is nothing terribly + wrong with this from a technical standpoint; it just throws + off things like &man.top.1; and &man.ps.1;. + + &man.rpc.statd.8; maps its status file (resident on + /var) into its address space; to save + worrying about remapping it later when it needs to grow, it + maps it with a generous size. This is very evident from the + source code, where one can see that the length argument to + &man.mmap.2; is 0x10000000, or one + sixteenth of the address space on an IA32, or exactly + 256 MB. + + + + + + Why can I not unset the schg file + flag? + + + + You are running at an elevated (i.e., greater than 0) + securelevel. Lower the securelevel and try again. For more + information, see the FAQ entry + on securelevel and the &man.init.8; manual + page. + + + + + + Why does SSH authentication + through .shosts not work by default in + recent versions of &os;? + + + + The reason why .shosts + authentication does not work by default in more recent + versions of &os; is because &man.ssh.1; is not installed + suid root by default. To + fix this, you can do one of the + following: + - Live with the warnings. All except the first 5 - per irq are suppressed anyway. + As a permanent fix, set + ENABLE_SUID_SSH to + true in + /etc/make.conf then rebuild and + install &man.ssh.1; (or run + make world). + + - Break the warnings by changing the value of - MAX_STRAY_LOG from 5 - to 0 in your platform's (e.g. &i386;) - intr_machdep.c file and rebuild - the new kernel and all the warnings will be suppressed. + As a temporary fix, change the mode on + /usr/bin/ssh to + 4555 by running + chmod 4555 /usr/bin/ssh as + root. Then add + ENABLE_SUID_SSH= true + to /etc/make.conf so + the change takes effect the next time + make world + is run. + + + + + + + + What is vnlru? + + + + vnlru flushes and frees vnodes when + the system hits the kern.maxvnodes limit. + This kernel thread sits mostly idle, and only activates if + you have a huge amount of RAM and are accessing tens of + thousands of tiny files. + + + + + + What do the various memory states displayed by + top mean? + + + + + + + Active: pages recently + statistically used. + + + + Inactive: pages recently + statistically unused. + - Break the warnings by installing parallel port - hardware that uses IRQ 7 and the PPP driver for it (this - happens on most systems), and install an ide drive or - other hardware that uses IRQ 15 and a suitable driver - for it. + Cache: (most often) pages that + have percolated from inactive to a status where they + maintain their data, but can often be immediately reused + (either with their old association, or reused with a new + association.) There can be certain immediate transitions + from active to + cache state if the page is known to + be clean (unmodified), but that transition is a matter + of policy, depending upon the algorithm choice of the VM + system maintainer. + + + Free: pages without data content, + and can be immediately used in certain circumstances + where cache pages might be ineligible. Free pages can + be reused at interrupt or process + state. + + + + Wired: pages that are fixed into + memory, usually for kernel purposes, but also sometimes + for special use in processes. + + Pages are most often written to disk (sort of a VM sync) + when they are in the inactive state, but active pages can + also be synced. This depends upon the CPU tracking of the + modified bit being available, and in certain situations + there can be an advantage for a block of VM pages to be + synced, whether they are active or inactive. In most common + cases, it is best to think of the inactive queue to be a + queue of relatively unused pages that might or might not be + in the process of being written to disk. Cached pages are + already synced, not mapped, but available for immediate + process use with their old association or with a new + association. Free pages are available at interrupt level, + but cached or free pages can be used at process state for + reuse. Cache pages are not adequately locked to be + available at interrupt level. + + There are some other flags (e.g., busy flag or busy + count) that might modify some of the described rules. + + + + + + How much free memory is available? + + + + + There are a couple of kinds of free + memory. One kind is the amount of memory + immediately available without paging anything else out. + That is approximately the size of cache queue + size of free + queue (with a derating factor, depending upon system + tuning.) Another kind of free memory is the + total amount of VM space. That can be + complex, but is dependent upon the amount of swap space and + memory. Other kinds of free memory + descriptions are also possible, but it is relatively useless + to define these, but rather it is important to make sure + that the paging rate is kept low, and to avoid running out + of swap space. + + + + + + What is /var/empty? I can not + delete it! + + + + /var/empty is a directory that the + &man.sshd.8; program uses when performing privilege separation. + The /var/empty directory is empty, owned by + root and has the schg + flag set. + + Although it is not recommended to delete this directory, to + do so you will need to unset the schg flag + first. See the &man.chflags.1; manual page for more information + (and bear in mind the answer to + the question on unsetting the schg flag). + + + + + + + + The X Window System and Virtual Consoles + + + + + What is the X Window System? + + + + The X Window System (commonly X11) is + the most widely available windowing system capable of running + on &unix; or &unix; like systems, including &os;. + The X.Org Foundation + administers the X protocol standards, + with the current reference implementation, version 11 + release &xorg.version;, so you will often see references + shortened to X11. + + Many implementations are available for different + architectures and operating systems. An implementation of + the server-side code is properly known as an X + server. + + + + + + Which X implementations are available for &os;? + + + + Historically, the default implementation of X on &os; + has been &xfree86; which is maintained by The XFree86 Project, Inc. + This software was installed by default on &os; versions up + until 4.10 and 5.2. Although &xorg; itself maintained an + implementation during that time period, it was basically + only provided as a reference platform, as it had suffered + greatly from bitrot over the years. + + However, early in 2004, some XFree86 developers left + that project over issues including the pace of code changes, + future directions, and interpersonal conflicts, and are now + contributing code directly to &xorg; instead. At that time, + &xorg; updated its source tree to the last &xfree86; release + before its subsequent licensing change (XFree86 + version 4.3.99.903), incorporated many changes + that had previously been maintained separately, and has + released that software as + X11R6.7.0. A separate but + related project, freedesktop.org + (or fd.o for short), is working on + rearchitecting the original &xfree86; code to offload more + work onto the graphics cards (with the goal of increased + performance) and make it more modular (with the goal of + increased maintainability, and thus faster releases as well + as easier configuration). &xorg; intends to incorporate the + freedesktop.org changes in its future + releases. + + As of July 2004, in &os.current;, + &xfree86; has been replaced with &xorg; as the default + implementation. Since then the default X11 implementation + in &os; is &xorg;. + + For further information, read the X11 section of + the &os; Handbook. + + + + + + Why did the X projects split, anyway? + + + + The answer to this question is outside the scope of this + FAQ. Note that there are voluminous postings in various + mailing list archives on the Internet; please use your + favorite search engine to investigate the history instead of + asking this question on the &os; mailing lists. It may even + be the case that only the participants will ever know for + certain. + + + + + + Why did &os; choose to go with the &xorg; ports by + default? + + + + The &xorg; developers claimed that their goal is to + release more often and incorporate new features more + quickly. If they are able to do so, this will be very + attractive. Also, their software still uses the traditional + X license, while &xfree86; is using their modified + one. + + + + + + I want to run X, how do I go about it? + + + + If you would like to add X to an existing installation, + you should use either the x11/xorg meta-port, which will + build and install all the necessary components, or install + &xorg; from &os; packages: + + &prompt.root; pkg_add -r xorg + + It is also possible to install &xorg; from + &man.sysinstall.8; by choosing + Configure, then + Distributions, then + The X.Org Distribution. + + After the installation of &xorg; was successful, follow + the instructions from &man.xorgconfig.1;. It will assists + you in configuring &xorg; for your particular graphics + card/mouse/etc. You may also wish to examine the + &man.xorgcfg.1; tool, which provides a graphical interface + to the X configuration process. + + For further information, read the X11 section of + the &os; Handbook. + + + + + + I tried to run X, but I get an + KDENABIO failed (Operation not + permitted) error when I type + startx. What do I do now? + + + + Your system is probably running at a raised + securelevel. It is not possible to start X + at a raised securelevel because X + requires write access to &man.io.4;. For more information, + see at the &man.init.8; manual page. + + So the question is what else you should do instead, and + you basically have two choices: set your + securelevel back down to zero (usually + from /etc/rc.conf), or run &man.xdm.1; + at boot time (before the securelevel is + raised). + + See for more information about + running &man.xdm.1; at boot time. - - - Why does file: table is full show up - repeatedly in &man.dmesg.8;? - - - - This error message indicates you have exhausted the number - of available file descriptors on your system. Please see - the kern.maxfiles - section of the Tuning - Kernel Limits section of the Handbook for a - discussion and solution. - + + + Why does my mouse not work with X? + + + + If you are using &man.syscons.4; (the default console + driver), you can configure &os; to support a mouse pointer on + each virtual screen. In order to avoid conflicting with X, + &man.syscons.4; supports a virtual device called + /dev/sysmouse. All mouse events + received from the real mouse device are written to the + &man.sysmouse.4; device via &man.moused.8;. If you wish to + use your mouse on one or more virtual consoles, + and use X, see and set up + moused. + + Then edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and + make sure you have the following lines: + + Section "InputDevice" + Option "Protocol" "SysMouse" + Option "Device" "/dev/sysmouse" +..... + + Some people prefer to use + /dev/mouse under X. To make this + work, /dev/mouse should be linked + to /dev/sysmouse (see + &man.sysmouse.4;) by adding the following line to + /etc/devfs.conf (see + &man.devfs.conf.5;): + + link sysmouse mouse + + This link can be created by restarting &man.devfs.5; + with the following command (as + root): + + &prompt.root; /etc/rc.d/devfs restart + - - Why are calcru: negative runtime or - calcru: runtime went backwards messages - pounding the console? + + My mouse has a fancy wheel. Can I use it in X? - There is a known problem when enabling &intel; Enhanced SpeedStep - from the BIOS causes the kernel to start printing - calcru messages like this: + Yes. - calcru: runtime went backwards from 6 usec to 3 usec for pid 37 (pagezero) -calcru: runtime went backwards from 6 usec to 3 usec for pid 36 (vmdaemon) -calcru: runtime went backwards from 170 usec to 138 usec for pid 35 (pagedaemon) -calcru: runtime went backwards from 553 usec to 291 usec for pid 15 (swi6: task queue) -calcru: runtime went backwards from 15521 usec to 10366 usec for pid 2 (g_event) -calcru: runtime went backwards from 25 usec to 12 usec for pid 11 (swi1: net) -calcru: runtime went backwards from 4417 usec to 3960 usec for pid 1 (init) -calcru: runtime went backwards from 2084385 usec to 1793542 usec for pid 1 (init) -calcru: runtime went backwards from 408 usec to 204 usec for pid 0 (swapper) + You need to tell X that you have a 5 button mouse. To + do this, simply add the lines Buttons 5 + and ZAxisMapping 4 5 to the + InputDevice section of + /etc/X11/xorg.conf. For example, you + might have the following InputDevice section + in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. - It is because &intel; SpeedStep (EIST) is incompatible with some - motherboards. + + <quote>InputDevice</quote> Section for Wheeled Mouse + in &xorg; configuration file - Workaround: Disable the EIST feature in the BIOS. You - can still achieve ACPI-based processor frequency throttling by - using &man.powerd.8;. + Section "InputDevice" + Identifier "Mouse1" + Driver "mouse" + Option "Protocol" "auto" + Option "Device" "/dev/sysmouse" + Option "Buttons" "5" + Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" +EndSection + + + + <quote>.emacs</quote> example for naive page + scrolling with Wheeled Mouse (optional) + + ;; wheel mouse +(global-set-key [mouse-4] 'scroll-down) +(global-set-key [mouse-5] 'scroll-up) + - - Why does the clock on my computer keep incorrect time? + + How do I use remote X displays? - Your computer has two or more clocks, and &os; has chosen to - use the wrong one. + For security reasons, the default setting is to not + allow a machine to remotely open a window. - Run &man.dmesg.8;, and check for lines that contain - Timecounter. The one with the highest - quality value that &os; chose. + To enable this feature, simply start + X with the optional + argument: - &prompt.root; dmesg | grep Timecounter -Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0 -Timecounter "ACPI-fast" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 1000 -Timecounter "TSC" frequency 2998570050 Hz quality 800 -Timecounters tick every 1.000 msec + &prompt.user; startx -listen_tcp + + - You can confirm this by checking the - kern.timecounter.hardware - &man.sysctl.3;. + + + What is a virtual console and how do I make more? + - &prompt.root; sysctl kern.timecounter.hardware -kern.timecounter.hardware: ACPI-fast + + Virtual consoles, put simply, enable you to have several + simultaneous sessions on the same machine without doing + anything complicated like setting up a network or running + X. + + When the system starts, it will display a login prompt + on the monitor after displaying all the boot messages. You + can then type in your login name and password and start + working (or playing!) on the first virtual console. + + At some point, you will probably wish to start another + session, perhaps to look at documentation for a program you + are running or to read your mail while waiting for an FTP + transfer to finish. Just do AltF2 + (hold down the Alt key and press the + F2 key), and you will find a login prompt + waiting for you on the second virtual + console! When you want to go back to the original + session, do AltF1. + - It may be a broken ACPI timer. The simplest - solution is to disable the ACPI timer in - /etc/loader.conf: + The default &os; installation has eight virtual consoles + enabled. AltF1, + AltF2, + AltF3, + and so on will switch between these virtual consoles. + + To enable more of them, edit + /etc/ttys (see &man.ttys.5;) and add + entries for ttyv8 to + ttyvc after the comment on + Virtual terminals: - debug.acpi.disabled="timer" + # Edit the existing entry for ttyv8 in /etc/ttys and change +# "off" to "on". +ttyv8 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure +ttyv9 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure +ttyva "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure +ttyvb "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure - Or the BIOS may modify the TSC clock—perhaps to change the - speed of the processor when running from batteries, or going into - a power saving mode, but &os; is unaware of these adjustments, - and appears to gain or lose time. + Use as many or as few as you want. The more virtual + terminals you have, the more resources that are used; this + can be important if you have 8 MB RAM or less. You may + also want to change the secure to + insecure. + + + If you want to run an X server you + must leave at least one virtual + terminal unused (or turned off) for it to use. That is to + say that if you want to have a login prompt pop up for all + twelve of your Alt-function keys, you are out of luck + — you can only do this for eleven of them if you + also want to run an X server on the same machine. + + + The easiest way to disable a console is by turning it + off. For example, if you had the full 12 terminal + allocation mentioned above and you wanted to run X, you + would change settings for virtual terminal 12 from: + + ttyvb "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure - In this example, the i8254 clock is also - available, and can be selected by writing its name to the - kern.timecounter.hardware - &man.sysctl.3;. + to: - &prompt.root; sysctl -w kern.timecounter.hardware=i8254 -kern.timecounter.hardware: TSC -> i8254 + ttyvb "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure - Your computer should now start keeping more accurate - time. + If your keyboard has only ten function keys, you would + end up with: - To have this change automatically run at boot time, add the - following line to /etc/sysctl.conf: + ttyv9 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure +ttyva "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure +ttyvb "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure - kern.timecounter.hardware=i8254 + (You could also just delete these lines.) + + Next, the easiest (and cleanest) way to activate the + virtual consoles is to reboot. However, if you really do + not want to reboot, you can just shut down the X Window + system and execute (as root): + + &prompt.root; kill -HUP 1 + + It is imperative that you completely shut down X Window + if it is running, before running this command. If you do not, + your system will probably appear to hang or lock up after + executing the kill command. - - Why did my laptop fail to correctly probe PC cards? + + How do I access the virtual consoles from X? - This problem is common on laptops that boot more than - one operating system. Some non-BSD operating systems - leave PC card hardware in an inconsistent state. - &man.pccardd.8; will detect the card as - "(null)""(null)" instead of its - actual model. - - You must remove all power from the PC card slot to - fully reset the hardware. Completely power off the - laptop. (Do not suspend it, do not let it go into standby; - the power needs to be completely off.) Wait a few - moments, and reboot. Your PC card should work now. - - Some laptop hardware lies when it claims to be off. - If the above does not work shut down, remove the battery, - wait a moment, replace the battery, and reboot. - - - - - - Why does &os;'s boot loader display - Read error and stop after the BIOS - screen? - - - - &os;'s boot loader is incorrectly recognizing the hard - drive's geometry. This must be manually set within &man.fdisk.8; when - creating or modifying &os;'s slice. - - - The correct drive geometry values can be found within the - machine's BIOS. Look for the number of cylinders, heads and - sectors for the particular drive. - - - Within &man.sysinstall.8;'s fdisk, hit - G to set the drive geometry. - - A dialog will pop up requesting the number of - cylinders, heads and sectors. Type the numbers found from - the BIOS separated by forward slashes. For example, values - of 5000 cylinders, 250 heads, and 60 sectors would be entered as - 5000/250/60. - - - Press Enter to set the values, and hit - W to write the new partition table to the - drive. - - - - - - Another operating system destroyed my Boot Manager. How do I - get it back? - - - - Enter &man.sysinstall.8; and choose Configure, - then Fdisk. Select the disk the Boot Manager resided on - with the Space key. Press - W to write changes to the drive. A prompt - will appear asking which boot loader to install. Select this, - and it will be restored. - - - - - - - What does the error swap_pager: indefinite - wait buffer: mean? - - - - This means that a process is trying to page memory to - disk, and the page attempt has hung trying to access the - disk for more than 20 seconds. It might be caused by bad - blocks on the disk drive, disk wiring, cables, or any - other disk I/O-related hardware. If the drive itself is - actually bad, you will also see disk errors in - /var/log/messages and in the output - of dmesg. Otherwise, check your cables - and connections. - - - - - - What are UDMA ICRC errors, and how do I - fix them? - - - - The &man.ata.4; driver reports UDMA ICRC - errors when a DMA transfer to or from a drive is corrupted. - The driver will retry the operation a few times. Should - the retries fail, it will switch from DMA to the slower PIO - mode of communication with the device. - - The problem can be caused by many factors, although - perhaps the most common cause is faulty or incorrect - cabling. Check that the ATA cables are undamaged and rated - for the Ultra DMA mode in use. If you are using removable - drive trays, they must also be compatible. Be sure that - all connections are making good contact. Problems have - also been noticed when an old drive is installed on the - same ATA channel as an Ultra DMA 66 (or faster) drive. - Lastly, these errors can indicate that the drive is - failing. Most drive vendors provide testing software for - their drives, so test your drive, and, if necessary, back - up your data and replace it. - - The &man.atacontrol.8; utility can be used to show and - select the DMA or PIO modes used for each ATA device. In - particular, atacontrol mode - channel will show the - modes in use on a particular ATA channel, where the primary - channel is numbered 0, and so on. - - - - - - What is a lock order reversal? - - - - An answer for this question can be found in the &os; - Glosssary, see LOR. - - - - - - What does Called ... with the following - non-sleepable locks held mean? - - - - This means that a function that may sleep was called while - a mutex (or other unsleepable) lock was held. - - The reason this is an error is because mutexes are not - intended to be held for long periods of time; they are - supposed to only be held to maintain short periods of - synchronization. This programming contract allows device - drivers to use mutexes to synchronize with the rest of the kernel - during interrupts. Interrupts (under &os;) may not sleep. - Hence it is imperative that no subsystem in the kernel - block for an extended period while holding a mutex. - - To catch such errors, assertions may be added to the kernel - that interact with the &man.witness.4; subsystem to emit a warning - or fatal error (depending on the system configuration) when - a potentially blocking call is made while holding a mutex. - - In summary, such warnings are non-fatal, however with - unfortunate timing they could cause undesirable effects - ranging from a minor blip in the system's responsiveness - to a complete system lockup. - - - - - - Why does buildworld/installworld die with the message - touch: not found? - - - - This error does not mean that the &man.touch.1; utility is - missing. The error is instead probably due to the dates of the - files being set sometime in the future. If your CMOS-clock is - set to local time you need to run the command - adjkerntz -i to adjust the kernel clock - when booting into single user mode. + Use CtrlAltFn + to switch back to a virtual console. CtrlAltF1 + would return you to the first virtual console. + + Once you are back to a text console, you can then use + AltFn + as normal to move between them. + + To return to the X session, you must switch to the + virtual console running X. If you invoked X from the + command line, (e.g., using startx) then + the X session will attach to the next unused virtual + console, not the text console from which it was invoked. If + you have eight active virtual terminals then X will be + running on the ninth, and you would use AltF9 + to return. - - - - - Commercial Applications - - - This section is still very sparse, though we are hoping, of - course, that companies will add to it! :) The &os; group has - no financial interest in any of the companies listed here but - simply lists them as a public service (and feels that commercial - interest in &os; can have very positive effects on &os;'s - long-term viability). We encourage commercial software vendors to - send their entries here for inclusion. See the - Vendors page for a longer list. - - - - Where can I get an Office Suite for &os;? - - - - The open-source OpenOffice.org office - suite works natively on &os;. The &linux; version of - StarOffice, - the value-added closed-source version of OpenOffice.org, also - works on &os;. + + How do I start XDM on + boot? + - &os; also includes a variety of text editors, - spreadsheets, and drawing programs in the Ports - Collection. - + + There are two schools of thought on how to start + &man.xdm.1;. One school starts xdm from + /etc/ttys (see &man.ttys.5;) using the + supplied example, while the other simply runs + xdm from from + rc.local (see &man.rc.8;) or from an + X script in + /usr/local/etc/rc.d. Both are equally + valid, and one may work in situations where the other does + not. In both cases the result is the same: X will pop up a + graphical login prompt. + + The &man.ttys.5; method has the advantage of documenting + which vty X will start on and passing the responsibility of + restarting the X server on logout to &man.init.8;. The + &man.rc.8; method makes it easy to kill + xdm if there is a problem starting the X + server. + + If loaded from &man.rc.8;, xdm should + be started without any arguments (i.e., as a daemon). The + xdm command must start + after &man.getty.8; runs, or else + getty and xdm will + conflict, locking out the console. The best way around this + is to have the script sleep 10 seconds or so then launch + xdm. + + If you are to start xdm from + /etc/ttys, there still is a chance of + conflict between xdm and &man.getty.8;. + One way to avoid this is to add the vt + number in the + /usr/local/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers + file: + + :0 local /usr/local/bin/X vt4 + + The above example will direct the X server to run in + /dev/ttyv3. Note the number is + offset by one. The X server counts the vty from one, + whereas the &os; kernel numbers the vty from zero. + - - - Where can I get &motif; for &os;? - - - - The Open Group has released the source code to &motif; 2.2.2. - You can install the x11-toolkits/open-motif package, or - compile it from ports. Refer to - the ports section of the - Handbook for more information on how to do this. - - The Open &motif; distribution only allows redistribution - if it is running on an - open source operating system. - + + + Why do I get Couldn't open + console when I run + xconsole? + - In addition, there are commercial distributions of the &motif; - software available. These, however, are not for free, but their - license allows them to be used in closed-source software. - Contact Apps2go for the - least expensive ELF &motif; 2.1.20 distribution for &os; - (&i386;). - - There are two distributions, the development - edition and the runtime edition (for - much less). These distributions includes: - - - - OSF/&motif; manager, xmbind, panner, wsm. - - - - Development kit with uil, mrm, xm, xmcxx, include - and Imake files. - - - - Static and dynamic ELF libraries. - - - - Demonstration applets. - - - - Be sure to specify that you want the &os; version of - &motif; when ordering (do not forget to mention the architecture - you want too)! Versions for NetBSD and OpenBSD are also sold by - Apps2go. This is currently a FTP only - download. - - - - More info - - - Apps2go WWW page - - - - - or - - - sales@apps2go.com or - support@apps2go.com - - - - - - or - - phone (817) 431 8775 or +1 817 431-8775 - - - - - - - - - - Where can I get CDE for &os;? - - - - Xi Graphics used to sell CDE - for &os;, but no longer do. - - KDE is an open - source X11 desktop which is similar to CDE in many respects. - You might also like the look and feel of xfce. KDE and xfce are both - in the ports - system. - - - - - - Are there any Database systems for &os;? - - - - Yes! See the - Commercial Vendors section of &os;'s Web site. - - Also see the - Databases section of the Ports Collection. - - - - - - Can I run &oracle; on &os;? - - - - Yes. The following pages tell you exactly how to set up - &linux; &oracle; on &os;: - - - - - http://www.unixcities.com/oracle/index.html - - - - - http://www.shadowcom.net/freebsd-oracle9i/ - - - - + + If you start X with + startx, the permissions on + /dev/console will + not get changed, resulting in things + like xterm -C and + xconsole not working. + + This is because of the way console permissions are set + by default. On a multi-user system, one does not + necessarily want just any user to be able to write on the + system console. For users who are logging directly onto a + machine with a VTY, the &man.fbtab.5; file exists to solve + such problems. + + In a nutshell, make sure an uncommented line of the form + is in /etc/fbtab (see + &man.fbtab.5;): + + /dev/ttyv0 0600 /dev/console + + It will ensure that whomever logs in on + /dev/ttyv0 will own the + console. + - - - - User Applications - - - - So, where are all the user applications? - - - - Please take a look at the ports page - for info on software packages ported to &os;. The list - currently tops &os.numports; and is growing daily, so come - back to check often or subscribe to the - &a.announce; - for periodic updates - on new entries. - - Most ports should work on the - 6.X, 7.X and 8.X branches. - Each time a &os; release is made, a snapshot of the - ports tree at the time of release in also included in the - ports/ directory. - - We also support the concept of a - package, essentially no more than a compressed - binary distribution with a little extra intelligence - embedded in it for doing whatever custom installation work - is required. A package can be installed and uninstalled - again easily without having to know the gory details of - which files it includes. - - Use the Packages package installation menu in - &man.sysinstall.8; (under the - Configure menu item) or invoke the - &man.pkg.add.1; command on the specific package files you - are interested in installing. Package files can usually be - identified by their .tbz suffix and - CD-ROM distribution people will have a - packages/All directory on their CD - which contains such files. They can also be downloaded - over the net for various versions of &os; at the - following locations: - - - - for 6.X-RELEASE/6-STABLE - - - ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-6-stable - - - - - for 7.X-RELEASE/7-STABLE - - - ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-7-stable - - - - - for 8-CURRENT - - - ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-8-current - - - - - or your nearest local mirror site. - - Note that all ports may not be available as packages since - new ones are constantly being added. It is always a good idea - to check back periodically to see which packages are available - at the ftp.FreeBSD.org - master site. - - - - - - How do I configure INN (Internet News) for my machine? - - - - After installing the news/inn package or port, an - excellent place to start is Dave - Barr's INN Page where you will find the INN - FAQ. - - - - - - Does &os; support &java;? - - - - Yes. Please see - http://www.FreeBSD.org/java/. - - - - - - Why can I not build this port on my 6.X or 7.X-STABLE machine? - - - - If you are running a &os; version that lags - significantly behind -CURRENT or -STABLE, you may need to - update your Ports Collection; see the - Keeping Up section of the Porter's Handbook for further - information on how to do this. - If you are up to date, - then someone might have committed a change to the port which - works for -CURRENT but which broke the port for -STABLE. Please - submit a bug report on this with the - &man.send-pr.1; command, since the Ports - Collection is supposed to work for both the -CURRENT and - -STABLE branches. - + + Before, I was able to run &xfree86; as a regular user. + Why does it now say that I must be + root? + + + + All X servers need to be run as + root in order to get direct access to + your video hardware. Older versions of &xfree86; (<= + 3.3.6) installed all bundled servers to be automatically run + as root (setuid to + root). This is obviously a security + hazard because X servers are large, complicated programs. + Newer versions of &xfree86; do not install the servers + setuid to root for just this + reason. + + Obviously, running an X server as the + root user is not acceptable, nor a good + idea security-wise. There are two ways to be able to use X + as a regular user. The first is to use + xdm or another display manager (e.g., + kdm); the second is to use the + Xwrapper. + + xdm is a daemon that handles + graphical logins. It is usually started at boot time, and is + responsible for authenticating users and starting their + sessions; it is essentially the graphical counterpart of + &man.getty.8; and &man.login.1;. For more information on + xdm see the &xfree86; documentation, + and the the FAQ entry on it. + + Xwrapper is the X server wrapper; it + is a small utility to enable one to manually run an X server + while maintaining reasonable safety. It performs some + sanity checks on the command line arguments given, and if + they pass, runs the appropriate X server. If you do not + want to run a display manager for whatever reason, this is + for you. If you have installed the complete Ports + Collection, you can find the port in x11/wrapper. + - - I just tried to build INDEX - using make index, and it failed. - Why? + + Why does my PS/2 mouse misbehave under X? - First, always make sure that you have a completely - up-to-date Ports Collection. Errors that affect building - INDEX from an up-to-date copy of the - Ports Collection are high-visibility and are thus almost - always fixed immediately. + Your mouse and the mouse driver may have somewhat become + out of synchronization. - However, if you are up-to-date, perhaps you are seeing - another problem. make index has a - known bug in dealing with incomplete copies of the Ports - Collection. It assumes that you have a local copy of every - single port that every other port that you have a local copy - of depends on. To explain, if you have a copy of - foo/bar on your disk, and - foo/bar depends on - baz/quux, then you must also have - a copy of baz/quux on your disk, and - the ports baz/quux depends on, and - so on. Otherwise, make index has - insufficient information to create its dependency tree. + In rare cases the driver may erroneously report + synchronization problem and you may see the kernel + message: - This is particularly a problem for &os; users who - utilize &man.cvsup.1; (or &man.csup.1;) to track the Ports Collection but - choose not to install certain categories by specifying - them in refuse. In theory, one - should be able to refuse categories, but in practice - there are too many ports that depend on ports in other - categories. Until someone comes up with a solution for - this problem, the general rule is is that if you want to - build INDEX, you must have a complete - copy of the Ports Collection. + psmintr: out of sync (xxxx != yyyy) - There are rare cases where INDEX - will not build due to odd cases involving - WITH_* or - WITHOUT_* - variables being set in make.conf. If - you suspect that this is the case, please try to make - INDEX with those make variables turned off - before reporting it to &a.ports;. + and notice that your mouse does not work + properly. + + If this happens, disable the synchronization check code + by setting the driver flags for the PS/2 mouse driver to + 0x100. Enter + UserConfig by giving the + option at the boot prompt: + + boot: -c + + Then, in the UserConfig command + line, type: + + UserConfig> flags psm0 0x100 +UserConfig> quit - - Why is CVSup not integrated in the main &os; tree? - + + Why does my PS/2 mouse from MouseSystems not + work? - The &os; base system is designed as self-hosting — it - should be possible to build the whole operating system starting - with a very limited set of tools. Thus, the actual build tools - needed to compile the &os; sources are bundled with the - sources themselves. This includes a C compiler (&man.gcc.1;), - &man.make.1;, &man.awk.1;, and similar tools. - - Since CVSup is written in Modula-3, adding it to the &os; - base system would also require adding and maintaining a Modula-3 - compiler. This would lead to both an increase in the disk space - consumed by the &os; sources and additional maintenance work. - Thus, it is much easier for both the developers and users to - keep CVSup as a separate port, which can be easily installed as - a package bundled on the &os; installation CDs. + There have been some reports that certain model of PS/2 + mouse from MouseSystems works only if it is put into the + high resolution mode. Otherwise, the mouse + cursor may jump to the upper-left corner of the screen every + so often. + + Specify the flags 0x04 to the PS/2 + mouse driver to put the mouse into the high resolution mode. + Enter UserConfig by giving the + option at the boot prompt: - However, &os; users are not without an integrated - CVSup compatible client anymore - since &os; 6.2-RELEASE. Thanks to &a.mux;, - CVSup was rewritten in C as - &man.csup.1; and it is the part of the base system by now. - Although it does not implement all the features of - CVSup at the moment, it is good - enough (and really fast!) to keep your sources synchronized. - For systems earlier than 6.2, it can be installed as a port - or package (see net/csup). + boot: -c + + Then, in the UserConfig command + line, type: + + UserConfig> flags psm0 0x04 +UserConfig> quit + + See the previous section for another possible cause of + mouse problems. - - I updated the sources, now how do I update my installed - ports? - - - - &os; does not include a port upgrading tool, but it - does have some tools to make the upgrade process somewhat - easier. You can also install additional tools to simplify - port handling, see the - Upgrading Ports - section in the &os; Handbook. - - - - - - Why is /bin/sh so minimal? Why does - &os; not use bash or another shell? - - - - Because &posix; says that there shall be such a shell. - - The more complicated answer: many people need to write shell - scripts which will be portable across many systems. That is why - &posix; specifies the shell and utility commands in great detail. - Most scripts are written in Bourne shell, and because several - important programming interfaces (&man.make.1;, &man.system.3;, - &man.popen.3;, and analogues in higher-level scripting - languages like Perl and Tcl) are specified to use the Bourne - shell to interpret commands. Because the Bourne shell is so - often and widely used, it is important for it to be quick to - start, be deterministic in its behavior, and have a small - memory footprint. - - The existing implementation is our best effort at meeting as - many of these requirements simultaneously as we can. In order to - keep /bin/sh small, we have not provided many - of the convenience features that other shells have. That is why the - Ports Collection includes more featureful shells like bash, scsh, - tcsh, and zsh. (You can compare for yourself the memory - utilization of all these shells by looking at the - VSZ and RSS columns in a - ps listing.) - - - - - - Why do &netscape; and Opera take so long to - start? - - - - The usual answer is that DNS on your system is - misconfigured. Both &netscape; and Opera perform DNS checks - when starting up. The browser will not appear on your - desktop until the program either gets a response or - determines that the system has no network - connection. - + + How do I reverse the mouse buttons? + + + + Run the command xmodmap -e "pointer = 3 2 1" + from your .xinitrc or + .xsession. + - - I updated parts of the Ports Collection using CVSup, and - now many ports fail to build with mysterious error messages! - What happened? Is the Ports Collection broken in some major - way? + + How do I install a splash screen and where do I find + them? - If you only update parts of the Ports Collection, using - one of its CVSup subcollections and not the - ports-all CVSup collection, you should - always update the - ports-base subcollection too! The reasons - are described in the - Handbook. + &os; have a feature to allow the display of + splash screens during the boot messages. The + splash screens currently must be a 256 color bitmap + (*.BMP) or ZSoft PCX + (*.PCX) file. In addition, they must + have a resolution of 320x200 or less to work on standard VGA + adapters. If you compile VESA support into your kernel, + then you can use larger bitmaps up to 1024x768. The actual + VESA support can either be compiled directly into the kernel + with the VESA kernel config option or by + loading the VESA kld module during bootup. + + To use a splash screen, you need to modify the startup + files that control the boot process for &os;. + + You need to create a + /boot/loader.rc file that contains the + following lines: + + include /boot/loader.4th +start + + and a /boot/loader.conf that + contains the following: + + splash_bmp_load="YES" +bitmap_load="YES" + + This assumes you are using + /boot/splash.bmp for your splash + screen. If you would rather use a PCX file, copy it to + /boot/splash.pcx, create a + /boot/loader.rc as instructed above, + and create a /boot/loader.conf that + contains: + + splash_pcx_load="YES" +bitmap_load="YES" +bitmap_name="/boot/splash.pcx" + + Now all you need is a splash screen. For that you can + surf on over to the gallery at . - - How do I create audio CDs from my MIDI files? + + Can I use the Windows keys on my + keyboard in X? - To create audio CDs from MIDI files, first - install audio/timidity++ - from ports then install manually the GUS patches set by Eric - A. Welsh, available at . - After TiMidity++ has been installed properly, MIDI files may - be converted to WAV files with the following command - line: - - &prompt.user; timidity -Ow -s 44100 -o /tmp/juke/01.wav 01.mid - - The WAV files can then be converted to other formats - or burned onto audio CDs, as described in the &os; Handbook. - - - - + + Yes. All you need to do is use &man.xmodmap.1; to + define what function you wish them to perform. - - Kernel Configuration + Assuming all Windows keyboards are + standard then the keycodes for these three keys are the + following: - - - - I would like to customize my kernel. Is it difficult? - - - - Not at all! Check out the - kernel config section of the Handbook. - - - The new kernel will be installed - to the /boot/kernel directory along - with its modules, while the old kernel and its modules - will be moved to the /boot/kernel.old - directory, so if you make a mistake the next time you - play with your configuration you can boot the previous - version of your kernel. - - - - - - - My kernel compiles fail because - _hw_float is missing. How do I solve - this problem? - - - - You probably removed npx0 - (see &man.npx.4;) from your kernel configuration file - because you do not have a math co-processor. The - npx0 device is - MANDATORY. Somewhere inside your - hardware lies a device that provides hardware - floating-point support, even if it is no longer a separate - device as used in the good old 386 days. You - must include the - npx0 device. Even if you manage - to build a kernel without npx0 - support, it will not boot anyway. - - - - - - Why is my kernel so big (over 10 MB)? - - - - Chances are, you compiled your kernel in - debug mode. Kernels built in debug - mode contain many symbols that are used for debugging, - thus greatly increasing the size of the kernel. Note that - there will be little or no performance decrease from - running a debug kernel, and it is useful to keep one - around in case of a system panic. - - However, if you are running low on disk space, or - you simply do not want to run a debug kernel, make sure - that both of the following are true: - - - - You do not have a line in your kernel - configuration file that reads: - - makeoptions DEBUG=-g - - - - You are not running &man.config.8; with - the option. - - - - Either of the above settings will cause your kernel to - be built in debug mode. As long as you make sure you - follow the steps above, you can build your kernel - normally, and you should notice a fairly large size - decrease; most kernels tend to be around 1.5 MB to - 2 MB. - - - - - - Why do I get interrupt conflicts with multi-port serial - code? - - - - When I compile a kernel - with multi-port serial code, it tells me that only the first - port is probed and the rest skipped due to interrupt conflicts. - How do I fix this? - - The problem here is that - &os; has code built-in to keep the kernel from getting - trashed due to hardware or software conflicts. The way to fix - this is to leave out the IRQ settings on all but one port. Here - is an example: + + + 115 — + Windows key, between the left-hand + Ctrl and Alt + keys + - # -# Multiport high-speed serial line - 16550 UARTS -# -device sio2 at isa? port 0x2a0 tty irq 5 flags 0x501 vector siointr -device sio3 at isa? port 0x2a8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr -device sio4 at isa? port 0x2b0 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr -device sio5 at isa? port 0x2b8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr - - + + 116 — + Windows key, to the right of the + AltGr key + - - - Why does every kernel I try to build fail to compile, even - GENERIC? - - - - There are a number of possible causes for this problem. - They are, in no particular order: - - - - You are not using the make buildkernel - and make installkernel targets, and your source tree is - different from the one used to build the currently running - system (e.g., you are compiling &rel.current;-RELEASE on a &rel2.current;-RELEASE - system). If you are attempting an upgrade, please read the - /usr/src/UPDATING file, paying - particular attention to the COMMON ITEMS - section at the end. - - - - You are using the make buildkernel - and make installkernel targets, but you failed to assert - the completion of the make buildworld - target. The make buildkernel target - relies on files generated by the make buildworld - target to complete its job correctly. - - - - Even if you are trying to build &os;-STABLE, it is possible that - you fetched the source tree at a time when it was either - being modified, or broken for other reasons; only releases - are absolutely guaranteed to be buildable, although &os;-STABLE builds fine the - majority of the time. If you have not already done so, try - re-fetching the source tree and see if the problem goes - away. Try using a different server in case the one you are - using is having problems. - - - - + + 117 — Menu + key, to the left of the right-hand Ctrl + key + + - - - How can I verify which scheduler is in use on a - running system? - - - - Check for - the existence of the kern.sched.quantum sysctl. - If you have it, you should see something like this: + To have the left Windows key print a + comma, try this. - &prompt.user; sysctl kern.sched.quantum -kern.sched.quantum: 99960 + &prompt.root; xmodmap -e "keycode 115 = comma" - If the kern.sched.quantum sysctl exists, you are - using the 4BSD scheduler (&man.sched.4bsd.4;). If not, you will get an error printed - by &man.sysctl.8; (which you can safely ignore): + You will probably have to re-start your window manager + to see the result. - &prompt.user; sysctl kern.sched.quantum -sysctl: unknown oid 'kern.sched.quantum' + To have the Windows key-mappings + enabled automatically every time you start X either put the + xmodmap commands in your + ~/.xinitrc file or, preferably, create + a file ~/.xmodmaprc and include the + xmodmap options, one per line, then add + the following line to your + ~/.xinitrc: - The name of the - scheduler currently being used is directly available as the value - of the kern.sched.name sysctl: + xmodmap $HOME/.xmodmaprc - &prompt.user; sysctl kern.sched.name -kern.sched.name: 4BSD - - + For example, you could map the 3 keys to be + F13, F14, and + F15, respectively. This would make it easy + to map them to useful functions within applications or your + window manager, as demonstrated further down. - - - What is kern.sched.quantum? - + To do this put the following in + ~/.xmodmaprc. - - kern.sched.quantum is the maximum number of - ticks a process can run without being preempted. It is - specific to the 4BSD scheduler, so you can use its - presence or absence to determine which scheduler is in - use. - - + keycode 115 = F13 +keycode 116 = F14 +keycode 117 = F15 - - + If you use the x11-wm/fvwm2 port, for example, + you could map the keys so that F13 + iconifies (or de-iconifies) the window the cursor is in, + F14 brings the window the cursor is in to + the front or, if it is already at the front, pushes it to + the back, and F15 pops up the main + Workplace (application) menu even if the cursor is not on + the desktop, which is useful if you do not have any part of + the desktop visible (and the logo on the key matches its + functionality). - - Disks, File Systems, and Boot Loaders + The following entries in ~/.fvwmrc + implement the aforementioned setup: + + Key F13 FTIWS A Iconify +Key F14 FTIWS A RaiseLower +Key F15 A A Menu Workplace Nop + + - - - How can I add my new hard disk to my &os; system? - - - - See the Adding Disks - section in the &os; Handbook. - - - - - - How do I move my system over to my huge new disk? - - - - The best way is to reinstall the OS on the new - disk, then move the user data over. This is highly - recommended if you have been tracking -STABLE for more - than one release, or have updated a release instead of - installing a new one. You can install booteasy on both - disks with &man.boot0cfg.8;, and dual boot them until - you are happy with the new configuration. Skip the - next paragraph to find out how to move the data after - doing this. - - Should you decide not to do a fresh install, you - need to partition and label the new disk with either - &man.sysinstall.8;, or &man.fdisk.8; - and &man.disklabel.8;. You should also install booteasy - on both disks with &man.boot0cfg.8;, so that you can - dual boot to the old or new system after the copying - is done. See the - formatting-media article for details on this - process. - - Now you have the new disk set up, and are ready - to move the data. Unfortunately, you cannot just blindly - copy the data. Things like device files (in - /dev), flags, and links tend to - screw that up. You need to use tools that understand - these things, which means &man.dump.8;. - Although it is suggested that you move the data in single user - mode, it is not required. - - You should never use anything but &man.dump.8; and - &man.restore.8; to move the root file system. The - &man.tar.1; command may work — then again, it may not. - You should also use &man.dump.8; and &man.restore.8; - if you are moving a single partition to another empty - partition. The sequence of steps to use dump to move - a partitions data to a new partition is: - - - - newfs the new partition. - - - - mount it on a temporary mount point. - - - - cd to that directory. - - - - dump the old partition, piping output to the - new one. - - - - For example, if you are going to move root to - /dev/ad1s1a, with - /mnt as the temporary mount point, - it is: + + How can I get 3D hardware acceleration for + &opengl;? + - &prompt.root; newfs /dev/ad1s1a -&prompt.root; mount /dev/ad1s1a /mnt -&prompt.root; cd /mnt -&prompt.root; dump 0af - / | restore xf - + + The availability of 3D acceleration depends on the + version of &xorg; that you are using and the type of video + chip you have. If you have an nVidia chip, you can use the + binary drivers provided for &os; by installing one of the + following ports: - Rearranging your partitions with dump takes a bit more - work. To merge a partition like /var - into its parent, create the new partition large enough - for both, move the parent partition as described above, - then move the child partition into the empty directory - that the first move created: - - &prompt.root; newfs /dev/ad1s1a -&prompt.root; mount /dev/ad1s1a /mnt -&prompt.root; cd /mnt -&prompt.root; dump 0af - / | restore xf - -&prompt.root; cd var -&prompt.root; dump 0af - /var | restore xf - + + + The latest versions of nVidia cards are supported by + the x11/nvidia-driver + port. + - To split a directory from its parent, say putting - /var on its own partition when it was not - before, create both partitions, then mount the child partition - on the appropriate directory in the temporary mount point, then - move the old single partition: + + nVidia cards like the GeForce2 MX/3/4 series + are supported by the 96XX series of drivers, available + in the x11/nvidia-driver-96xx + port. + - &prompt.root; newfs /dev/ad1s1a -&prompt.root; newfs /dev/ad1s1d -&prompt.root; mount /dev/ad1s1a /mnt -&prompt.root; mkdir /mnt/var -&prompt.root; mount /dev/ad1s1d /mnt/var -&prompt.root; cd /mnt -&prompt.root; dump 0af - / | restore xf - + + Even older cards, like GeForce and RIVA TNT are + supported by the 71XX series of drivers, available in + the x11/nvidia-driver-71xx + port. + + - You might prefer &man.cpio.1;, &man.pax.1;, - &man.tar.1; to &man.dump.8; for user data. At the time of - this writing, these are known to lose file flag information, - so use them with caution. - - - - - - Will a dangerously dedicated disk endanger - my health? - - - - - The installation procedure allows - you to chose two different methods in partitioning your - hard disk(s). The default way makes it compatible with other - operating systems on the same machine, by using &man.fdisk.8; table - entries (called slices in &os;), with a - &os; slice that employs partitions of its own. Optionally, - one can chose to install a boot-selector to switch between the - possible operating systems on the disk(s). The alternative uses - the entire disk for &os;, and makes no attempt to be - compatible with other operating systems. - - So why it is called dangerous? A disk - in this mode does not contain what normal PC utilities - would consider a valid &man.fdisk.8; table. Depending on how well - they have been designed, they might complain at you once - they are getting in contact with such a disk, or even - worse, they might damage the BSD bootstrap without even - asking or notifying you. In addition, the - dangerously dedicated disk's layout is - known to confuse many BIOSes, including those from AWARD - (e.g. as found in HP Netserver and Micronics systems as - well as many others) and Symbios/NCR (for the popular - 53C8xx range of SCSI controllers). This is not a complete - list, there are more. Symptoms of this confusion include - the read error message printed by - the &os; bootstrap when it cannot find itself, as well - as system lockups when booting. - - Why have this mode at all then? It only saves a few kbytes - of disk space, and it can cause real problems for a new - installation. Dangerously dedicated mode's - origins lie in a desire to avoid one of the most common - problems plaguing new &os; installers — matching the BIOS - geometry numbers for a disk to the disk - itself. - - Geometry is an outdated concept, but one - still at the heart of the PC's BIOS and its interaction with - disks. When the &os; installer creates slices, it has to - record the location of these slices on the disk in a fashion - that corresponds with the way the BIOS expects to find them. If - it gets it wrong, you will not be able to boot. - - Dangerously dedicated mode tries to work - around this by making the problem simpler. In some cases, it - gets it right. But it is meant to be used as a last-ditch - alternative — there are better ways to solve the problem 99 - times out of 100. - - So, how do you avoid the need for DD mode - when you are installing? Start by making a note of the geometry - that your BIOS claims to be using for your disks. You can - arrange to have the kernel print this as it boots by specifying - at the boot: prompt, or - using boot -v in the loader. Just before the - installer starts, the kernel will print a list of BIOS - geometries. Do not panic — wait for the installer to start and - then use scrollback to read the numbers. Typically the BIOS - disk units will be in the same order that &os; lists your - disks, first IDE, then SCSI. - - When you are slicing up your disk, check that the disk - geometry displayed in the FDISK screen is correct (ie. it - matches the BIOS numbers); if it is wrong, use the - G key to fix it. You may have to do this if - there is absolutely nothing on the disk, or if the disk has been - moved from another system. Note that this is only an issue with - the disk that you are going to boot from; &os; will sort - itself out just fine with any other disks you may have. - - Once you have got the BIOS and &os; agreeing about the - geometry of the disk, your problems are almost guaranteed to be - over, and with no need for DD mode at all. If, - however, you are still greeted with the dreaded read - error message when you try to boot, it is time to cross - your fingers and go for it - there is nothing left to - lose. - - To return a dangerously dedicated disk - for normal PC use, there are basically two options. The first - is, you write enough NULL bytes over the MBR to make any - subsequent installation believe this to be a blank disk. You - can do this for example with the following command: - - &prompt.root; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rda0 count=15 - - Alternatively, the undocumented DOS - feature - - C:\> fdisk /mbr - - will to install a new master boot record as well, thus - clobbering the BSD bootstrap. - - - - - - Which partitions can safely use Soft Updates? I have - heard that Soft Updates on / can cause - problems. - - - - Short answer: you can usually use Soft Updates safely - on all partitions. - - Long answer: There used to be some concern over using - Soft Updates on the root partition. Soft Updates has two - characteristics that caused this. First, a Soft Updates - partition has a small chance of losing data during a - system crash. (The partition will not be corrupted; the - data will simply be lost.) Also, Soft Updates can cause - temporary space shortages. - - When using Soft Updates, the kernel can take up to - thirty seconds to actually write changes to the physical - disk. If you delete a large file, the file still resides - on disk until the kernel actually performs the deletion. - This can cause a very simple race condition. Suppose you - delete one large file and immediately create another large - file. The first large file is not yet actually removed - from the physical disk, so the disk might not have enough - room for the second large file. You get an error that the - partition does not have enough space, although you know - perfectly well that you just released a large chunk of - space! When you try again mere seconds later, the file - creation works as you expect. This has left more than one - user scratching his head and doubting his sanity, the - &os; file system, or both. - - If a system should crash after the kernel accepts a - chunk of data for writing to disk, but before that data is - actually written out, data could be lost or corrupted. - This risk is extremely small, but generally manageable. - Use of IDE write caching greatly increases this risk; it - is strongly recommended that you disable IDE write caching - when using Soft Updates. - - These issues affect all partitions using Soft Updates. - So, what does this mean for the root partition? - - Vital information on the root partition changes very - rarely. Files such as /boot/kernel/kernel and - the contents of /etc only change - during system maintenance, or when users change their - passwords. If the system crashed during the - thirty-second window after such a change is made, it is - possible that data could be lost. This risk is negligible - for most applications, but you should be aware that it - exists. If your system cannot tolerate this much risk, - do not use Soft Updates on the root file system! - - / is traditionally one of the - smallest partitions. If you put the - /tmp directory on - / and you have a busy - /tmp, you might see intermittent - space problems. Symlinking /tmp to - /var/tmp will solve this - problem. - - - - - - What is inappropriate about my &man.ccd.4;? - + In fact, nVidia provides detailed information on which + card is supported by which driver. This information is + available directly on their web site: . + - - The symptom of this is: + For Matrox G200/G400, you should check the + x11-servers/mga_hal + port. - &prompt.root; ccdconfig -C -ccdconfig: ioctl (CCDIOCSET): /dev/ccd0c: Inappropriate file type or format + For ATI Rage 128 and Radeon, see the + &man.ati.4x;, &man.r128.4x; and &man.radeon.4x; manual + pages. - This usually happens when you are trying to concatenate - the c partitions, which default to type - unused. The &man.ccd.4; driver requires the - underlying partition type to be FS_BSDFFS. Edit the disk label - of the disks you are trying to concatenate and change the types - of partitions to 4.2BSD. - + For 3dfx Voodoo 3, 4, 5, and Banshee cards, there + is a x11-servers/driglide + port. + + + - - - Why can I not edit the disk label on my &man.ccd.4;? - - - - The symptom of this is: - - &prompt.root; disklabel ccd0 -(it prints something sensible here, so let us try to edit it) -&prompt.root; disklabel -e ccd0 -(edit, save, quit) -disklabel: ioctl DIOCWDINFO: No disk label on disk; -use "disklabel -r" to install initial label - - This is because the disk label returned by &man.ccd.4; is actually - a fake one that is not really on the disk. - You can solve this problem by writing it back explicitly, - as in: + + Networking - &prompt.root; disklabel ccd0 > /tmp/disklabel.tmp -&prompt.root; disklabel -Rr ccd0 /tmp/disklabel.tmp -&prompt.root; disklabel -e ccd0 -(this will work now) - + + + + Where can I get information on diskless + booting? + + + + Diskless booting means that the &os; + box is booted over a network, and reads the necessary + files from a server instead of its hard disk. For full + details, please read the Handbook entry on diskless booting + + - - Can I mount other foreign file systems under &os;? - - - - &os; supports a variety of other - file systems. - - - - UFS - - - UFS CD-ROMs can be mounted directly on &os;. - Mounting disk partitions from Digital UNIX and other - systems that support UFS may be more complex, depending - on the details of the disk partitioning for the operating - system in question. - - - - - ext2/ext3 - - - &os; supports ext2fs and ext3fs - partitions. See &man.mount.ext2fs.8; for more - information. - - - - - NTFS - - - &os; includes a read-only NTFS driver. For - more information, see &man.mount.ntfs.8;. A port of ntfs-3g - supports write operations on NTFS (see sysutils/fusefs-ntfs). - - - - - FAT - - - &os; includes a read-write FAT driver. For - more information, see &man.mount.msdosfs.8;. - - - - - ReiserFS + + Can a &os; box be used as a dedicated network + router? + - - &os; includes a read-only ReiserFS driver. For - more information, see &man.mount.reiserfs.8;. - - + + Yes. Please see the Handbook entry on advanced networking, + specifically the section on routing and gateways. + + + - - ZFS + + + Can I connect my &windows; box to the Internet via + &os;? + - - As of this writing, &os; includes a - port of &sun;'s ZFS driver. The current recommendation - is to use it only on &arch.amd64; platforms with sufficient - memory. For more information, see &man.zfs.8;. - - - + + Typically, people who ask this question have two PCs at + home, one with &os; and one with some version of &windows; + the idea is to use the &os; box to connect to the Internet + and then be able to access the Internet from the &windows; + box through the &os; box. This is really just a special + case of the previous question and works perfectly + well. - &os; also supports network file systems such as NFS - (see &man.mount.nfs.8;), NetWare (see &man.mount.nwfs.8;), - and Microsoft-style SMB file systems (see - &man.mount.smbfs.8;). You can find ports based on FUSE (sysutils/fusefs-kmod) for many other - file systems. + If you are using dialup to connect to the Internet + user-mode &man.ppp.8; contains a + option. If you run &man.ppp.8; with the + option, set + gateway_enable to + YES in + /etc/rc.conf, and configure your + &windows; machine correctly, this should work fine. For + more information, please see the &man.ppp.8; manual page or + the Handbook entry on user PPP. + - + If you are using kernel-mode PPP or have an Ethernet + connection to the Internet, you need to use &man.natd.8;. + Please look at the natd + section of the Handbook for a tutorial. + - - How do I mount a secondary DOS partition? - + + Does &os; support SLIP and PPP? + - + + Yes. See the manual pages for &man.slattach.8;, + &man.sliplogin.8;, &man.ppp.8;, and &man.pppd.8;. + &man.ppp.8; and &man.pppd.8; provide support for both + incoming and outgoing connections, while &man.sliplogin.8; + deals exclusively with incoming connections, and + &man.slattach.8; deals exclusively with outgoing + connections. + + For more information on how to use these, please see the + Handbook chapter on PPP and SLIP. + - The secondary DOS partitions are found after all the - primary partitions. For example, if you have an - E partition as the second DOS partition on - the second SCSI drive, there will be a device file - for slice 5 in /dev, - so simply mount it: + If you only have access to the Internet through a + shell account, you may want to have a look at + the net/slirp package. + It can provide you with (limited) access to services such as + ftp and http direct from your local machine. + + - &prompt.root; mount -t msdos /dev/da1s5 /dos/e + + + Does &os; support NAT or Masquerading? + - + + Yes. If you want to use NAT over a user PPP connection, + please see the Handbook entry on user PPP. + If you want to use NAT over some other sort of network + connection, please look at the natd + section of the Handbook. + - - Is there a cryptographic file system for &os;? - - - + + How do I connect two &os; systems over a parallel line + using PLIP? + - Yes. You can use either &man.gbde.8; or &man.geli.8;, - see the Encrypting Disk Partitions - section of the &os; Handbook. - + + Please see the PLIP section + of the Handbook. + - - How can I use the &windowsnt; loader to boot &os;? - + + How can I set up Ethernet aliases? + + + + If the alias is on the same subnet as an address already + configured on the interface, then add netmask + 0xffffffff to your &man.ifconfig.8; command-line, + as in the following: - - The general idea is that you copy the first sector of your - native root &os; partition into a file in the DOS/&windowsnt; - partition. Assuming you name that file something like - c:\bootsect.bsd (inspired by - c:\bootsect.dos), you can then edit the - c:\boot.ini file to come up with something - like this: + &prompt.root; ifconfig ed0 alias 192.0.2.2 netmask 0xffffffff - [boot loader] -timeout=30 -default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS -[operating systems] -multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows NT" -C:\BOOTSECT.BSD="&os;" -C:\="DOS" + Otherwise, just specify the network address and netmask + as usual: - If &os; is installed on the same disk as the &windowsnt; boot - partition simply copy /boot/boot1 to - C:\BOOTSECT.BSD. However, if &os; is - installed on a different disk /boot/boot1 - will not work, /boot/boot0 is needed. - - /boot/boot0 needs to be installed - using &man.sysinstall.8; by selecting the &os; boot manager on - the screen which asks if you wish to use a boot - manager. This is because /boot/boot0 - has the partition table area filled with NULL characters - but &man.sysinstall.8; copies the partition table before copying - /boot/boot0 to the MBR. - - - Do not simply copy /boot/boot0 - instead of /boot/boot1; you will - overwrite your partition table and render your computer - un-bootable! - - - When the &os; boot manager runs it records the last - OS booted by setting the active flag on the partition table - entry for that OS and then writes the whole 512-bytes of itself - back to the MBR so if you just copy - /boot/boot0 to - C:\BOOTSECT.BSD then it writes an empty - partition table, with the active flag set on one entry, to the - MBR. - + &prompt.root; ifconfig ed0 alias 172.16.141.5 netmask 0xffffff00 + + You can read more about this in the &os; Handbook. + + - - How do I boot &os; and &linux; from LILO? - - - - If you have &os; and &linux; on the same disk, just follow - LILO's installation instructions for booting a non-&linux; - operating system. Very briefly, these are: - - Boot &linux;, and add the following lines to - /etc/lilo.conf: + + How do I get my 3C503 to use the other network + port? + - other=/dev/hda2 - table=/dev/hda - label=&os; + + If you want to use the other ports, you will have to + specify an additional parameter on the &man.ifconfig.8; + command line. The default port is link0. + To use the AUI port instead of the BNC one, use + link2. These flags should be specified + using the ifconfig_* variables in + /etc/rc.conf (see + &man.rc.conf.5;). + + - (the above assumes that your &os; slice is known to - &linux; as /dev/hda2; tailor to - suit your setup). Then, run lilo as - root and you should be done. - - If &os; resides on another disk, you need to add - loader=/boot/chain.b to the LILO entry. - For example: + + + Why am I having trouble with NFS and &os;? + - other=/dev/dab4 - table=/dev/dab - loader=/boot/chain.b - label=&os; + + Certain PC network cards are better than others (to put + it mildly) and can sometimes cause problems with network + intensive applications like NFS. - In some cases you may need to specify the BIOS drive number - to the &os; boot loader to successfully boot off the second - disk. For example, if your &os; SCSI disk is probed by BIOS - as BIOS disk 1, at the &os; boot loader prompt you need to - specify: - - Boot: 1:da(0,a)/boot/kernel/kernel - - You can configure - &man.boot.8; - to automatically do this for you at boot time. - - The - &linux;+&os; mini-HOWTO is a good reference for - &os; and &linux; interoperability issues. - + See the Handbook entry on NFS + for more information on this topic. + - - How do I boot &os; and &linux; using GRUB? - + + Why can I not NFS-mount from a &linux; box? + - Booting &os; using GRUB is very simple. Just - add the following to your configuration file - /boot/grub/menu.lst (or - /boot/grub/grub.conf in some systems, - e.g. Red Hat Linux and its derivatives). - - title &os; 6.1 - root (hd0,a) - kernel /boot/loader - + Some versions of the &linux; NFS code only accept mount + requests from a privileged port; try to issue the following + command: - Where hd0,a points to your root partition - on the first disk. If you need to specify which slice number - should be used, use something like this (hd0,2,a). - By default, if the slice number is omitted, GRUB searches the - first slice which has a partition. + &prompt.root; mount -o -P linuxbox:/blah /mnt - - How do I boot &os; and &linux; using BootEasy? - + + Why can I not NFS-mount from a &sun; box? + - - Install LILO at the start of your &linux; boot partition - instead of in the Master Boot Record. You can then boot LILO - from BootEasy. + + &sun; workstations running + &sunos; 4.X only accept + mount requests from a privileged port; try the following + command: - If you are running &windows; and &linux; this is recommended - anyway, to make it simpler to get &linux; booting again if you - should need to reinstall &windows; (which is a Jealous - Operating System, and will bear no other Operating Systems in - the Master Boot Record). - + &prompt.root; mount -o -P sunbox:/blah /mnt + - - How do I change the boot prompt from ??? to - something more meaningful? - + + Why does mountd keep telling me it + can't change attributes and that I + have a bad exports list on my &os; + NFS server? + - - You can not do that with the standard boot manager without - rewriting it. There are a number of other boot managers - in the sysutils ports category that - provide this functionality. - + + The most frequent problem is not understanding the + correct format of /etc/exports. Please + review &man.exports.5; and the NFS + entry in the Handbook, especially the section on configuring NFS. + + - - I have a new removable drive, how do I use it? - - - + + Why am I having problems talking PPP to NeXTStep + machines? + - Whether it is a removable drive like a &iomegazip; or an EZ drive - (or even a floppy, if you want to use it that way), or a new - hard disk, once it is installed and recognized by the system, - and you have your cartridge/floppy/whatever slotted in, things - are pretty much the same for all devices. + + Try disabling the TCP extensions in + /etc/rc.conf (see &man.rc.conf.5;) by + changing the following variable to + NO: + + tcp_extensions=NO + + Xylogic's Annex boxes are also broken in this regard and + you must use the above change to connect through + them. + + - (this section is based on - Mark Mayo's ZIP FAQ) + + + How do I enable IP multicast support? + - If it is a ZIP drive or a floppy, you have already got a DOS - file system on it, you can use a command like this: + + &os; supports multicast host operations by default. If + you want your box to run as a multicast router, you need to + recompile your kernel with the MROUTING + option and run &man.mrouted.8;. &os; will start + &man.mrouted.8; at boot time if the flag + mrouted_enable is set to + YES in + /etc/rc.conf. - &prompt.root; mount -t msdos /dev/fd0c /floppy + + In recent &os; releases, the &man.mrouted.8; multicast + routing daemon, the &man.map-mbone.8; and &man.mrinfo.8; + utilities have been removed from the base system. These + programs are now available in the &os; Ports Collection as + net/mrouted. + - if it is a floppy, or this: + MBONE tools are available in their own ports category, + mbone. + If you are looking for the conference tools + vic and vat, look + there! + + - &prompt.root; mount -t msdos /dev/da2s4 /zip + + + Which network cards are based on the DEC PCI + chipset? + - for a ZIP disk with the factory configuration. + + Here is a list compiled by Glen Foster + gfoster@driver.nsta.org, with some more + modern additions: - For other disks, see how they are laid out using - &man.fdisk.8; or - &man.sysinstall.8;. + + Network cards based on the DEC PCI chipset - The rest of the examples will be for a ZIP drive on da2, - the third SCSI disk. + + + + Vendor - Unless it is a floppy, or a removable you plan on sharing - with other people, it is probably a better idea to stick a BSD - file system on it. You will get long filename support, at least a - 2X improvement in performance, and a lot more stability. First, - you need to redo the DOS-level partitions/file systems. You can - either use &man.fdisk.8; or - &man.sysinstall.8;, or for a small drive - that you do not want to bother with multiple operating system - support on, just blow away the whole FAT partition table - (slices) and just use the BSD partitioning: + Model + + - &prompt.root; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rda2 count=2 -&prompt.root; disklabel -Brw da2 auto + + + ASUS - You can use &man.disklabel.8; or - &man.sysinstall.8; to create multiple BSD - partitions. You will certainly want to do this if you are adding - swap space on a fixed disk, but it is probably irrelevant on a - removable drive like a ZIP. + PCI-L101-TB + - Finally, create a new file system, this one is on our ZIP - drive using the whole disk: + + Accton - &prompt.root; newfs /dev/rda2c + ENI1203 + - and mount it: + + Cogent - &prompt.root; mount /dev/da2c /zip + EM960PCI + - and it is probably a good idea to add a line like this - to /etc/fstab (see &man.fstab.5;) so - you can just type mount /zip in the - future: + + Compex - /dev/da2c /zip ffs rw,noauto 0 0 - - + ENET32-PCI + - - - Why do I get Incorrect super block when - mounting a CD-ROM? - + + D-Link - - You have to tell &man.mount.8; the type of the device - that you want to mount. This is described in the Handbook section on - optical media, specifically the section Using Data - CDs. - - + DE-530 + - - - Why do I get Device not - configured when mounting a CD-ROM? - + + Dayna - - This generally means that there is no CD-ROM in the - CD-ROM drive, or the drive is not visible on the - bus. Please see the Using Data - CDs section of the Handbook for a detailed - discussion of this issue. - - + DP1203, DP2100 + - - - Why do all non-English characters in filenames show up as - ? on my CDs when mounted in &os;? - + + DEC - - Your CD-ROM probably uses the Joliet - extension for storing information about files and - directories. This is discussed in the Handbook chapter on - creating and - using CD-ROMs, specifically the section on Using Data - CD-ROMs. - - + DE435, DE450 + - - - I burned a CD under &os; and now I can not read it - under any other operating system. Why? - - - - You most likely burned a raw file to your CD, rather - than creating an ISO 9660 file system. Take a look at the - Handbook - chapter on creating CD-ROMs, particularly the - section on burning raw - data CDs. - - + + Danpex - - - How can I create an image of a data CD? - + EN-9400P3 + - - This is discussed in the Handbook section on duplicating - data CDs. For more on working with CD-ROMs, see the - Creating CDs - Section in the Storage chapter in the - Handbook. - - + + JCIS - - - Why can I not mount an audio - CD? - + Condor JC1260 + - - If you try to mount an audio CD, you will get an error - like cd9660: /dev/acd0c: Invalid - argument. This is because - mount only works on file systems. Audio - CDs do not have file systems; they just have data. You - need a program that reads audio CDs, such as the - audio/xmcd port. - - + + Linksys - - - How do I mount a multi-session CD? - + EtherPCI + - - By default, &man.mount.8; will attempt to mount the - last data track (session) of a CD. If you would like to - load an earlier session, you must use the - command line argument. Please see - &man.mount.cd9660.8; for specific examples. - - + + Mylex - - - How do I let ordinary users mount floppies, CD-ROMs and - other removable media? - + LNP101 + - - Ordinary users can be permitted to mount devices. Here is - how: + + SMC - - - As root set the sysctl variable - vfs.usermount to - 1. + EtherPower 10/100 (Model 9332) + - &prompt.root; sysctl -w vfs.usermount=1 - + + SMC - - As root assign the appropriate - permissions to the block device associated with the - removable media. + EtherPower (Model 8432) + - For example, to allow users to mount the first floppy - drive, use: + + TopWare - &prompt.root; chmod 666 /dev/fd0 + TE-3500P + - To allow users in the group - operator to mount the CD-ROM drive, - use: + + Znyx (2.2.x) - &prompt.root; chgrp operator /dev/acd0c -&prompt.root; chmod 640 /dev/acd0c - + ZX312, ZX314, ZX342, ZX345, ZX346, + ZX348 + - - You will need to alter - /etc/devfs.conf to make these changes - permanent across reboots. - - As root, add the necessary lines to - /etc/devfs.conf. For example, to allow - users to mount the first floppy drive add: + + Znyx (3.x) - # Allow all users to mount the floppy disk. -own /dev/fd0 root:operator -perm /dev/fd0 0666 + ZX345Q, ZX346Q, ZX348Q, ZX412Q, ZX414, ZX442, + ZX444, ZX474, ZX478, ZX212, ZX214 (10mbps/hd) + + + +
+ + - To allow users in the group operator - to mount the CD-ROM drive add: + + + Why do I have to use the FQDN for hosts on my + site? + - # Allow members of the group operator to mount CD-ROMs. -own /dev/acd0 root:operator -perm /dev/acd0 0660 - + + See the answer in the &os; Handbook. + + + - - Finally, add the line - vfs.usermount=1 - to the file /etc/sysctl.conf so - that it is reset at system boot time. - - - - All users can now mount the floppy - /dev/fd0 onto a directory that they - own: + + + Why do I get an error, Permission + denied, for all networking operations? + - &prompt.user; mkdir ~/my-mount-point -&prompt.user; mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 ~/my-mount-point + + If you have compiled your kernel with the + IPFIREWALL option, you need to be aware + that the default policy is to deny all packets that are not + explicitly allowed. + + If you had unintentionally misconfigured your system for + firewalling, you can restore network operability by typing + the following while logged in as + root: + + &prompt.root; ipfw add 65534 allow all from any to any + + You can also set firewall_type="open" + in /etc/rc.conf. + + For further information on configuring a &os; firewall, + see the Handbook chapter. + + + - Users in group operator can now - mount the CD-ROM /dev/acd0c onto a - directory that they own: + + + Why is my ipfw fwd + rule to redirect a service to another machine not + working? + - &prompt.user; mkdir ~/my-mount-point -&prompt.user; mount -t cd9660 /dev/acd0c ~/my-mount-point + + Possibly because you want to do network address + translation (NAT) and not just forward packets. A + fwd rule does exactly what it says; it + forwards packets. It does not actually change the data + inside the packet. Say we have a rule like: + + 01000 fwd 10.0.0.1 from any to foo 21 + + When a packet with a destination address of + foo arrives at the machine with + this rule, the packet is forwarded to + 10.0.0.1, but it still has the + destination address of foo! The + destination address of the packet is + not changed to + 10.0.0.1. Most machines would + probably drop a packet that they receive with a destination + address that is not their own. Therefore, using a + fwd rule does not often work the way the user + expects. This behavior is a feature and not a bug. + + See the FAQ about redirecting services, + the &man.natd.8; manual, or one of the several port + redirecting utilities in the Ports Collection + for a correct way to do this. + + - Unmounting the device is simple: + + + How can I redirect service requests from one machine to + another? + - &prompt.user; umount ~/my-mount-point + + You can redirect FTP (and other service) request with + the sysutils/socket + port. Simply replace the service's command line to call + socket instead, like so: + + ftp stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/local/bin/socket socket ftp.example.com ftp + + where ftp.example.com and + ftp are the host and port to + redirect to, respectively. + + - Enabling vfs.usermount, however, - has negative security implications. A better way to - access &ms-dos; formatted media is to use the - emulators/mtools - package in the Ports Collection. + + + Where can I get a bandwidth management tool? + - - The device name used in the previous examples must be - changed according to your configuration. - - + + There are three bandwidth management tools available for + &os;. &man.dummynet.4; is integrated into &os; as part of + &man.ipfw.4;. ALTQ + has been integrated into &os; as part of &man.pf.4;. + Bandwidth Manager from Emerging Technologies + is a commercial product. + - - The du and df - commands show different amounts of disk space available. - What is going on? - - - - You need to understand what du and - df really do. du - goes through the directory tree, measures how large each - file is, and presents the totals. df - just asks the file system how much space it has left. They - seem to be the same thing, but a file without a directory - entry will affect df but not - du. - - When a program is using a file, and you delete the - file, the file is not really removed from the file system - until the program stops using it. The file is immediately - deleted from the directory listing, however. You can see - this easily enough with a program such as - more. Assume you have a file large - enough that its presence affects the output of - du and df. (Since - disks can be so large today, this might be a - very large file!) If you delete this - file while using more on it, - more does not immediately choke and - complain that it cannot view the file. The entry is - simply removed from the directory so no other program or - user can access it. du shows that it - is gone — it has walked the directory tree and the file - is not listed. df shows that it is - still there, as the file system knows that - more is still using that space. Once - you end the more session, - du and df will - agree. - - Note that Soft Updates can delay the freeing of disk - space; you might need to wait up to 30 seconds for the - change to be visible! - - This situation is common on web servers. Many people - set up a &os; web server and forget to rotate the log - files. The access log fills up /var. - The new administrator deletes the file, but the system - still complains that the partition is full. Stopping and - restarting the web server program would free the file, - allowing the system to release the disk space. To prevent - this from happening, set up &man.newsyslog.8;. - - - - - - How can I add more swap space? - - - - In the Configuration and - Tuning section of the Handbook, you will find a - section - describing how to do this. - - - - - - Why does &os; see my disk as smaller than the - manufacturer says it is? - - - - Disk manufacturers calculate gigabytes as a billion bytes - each, whereas &os; calculates them as 1,073,741,824 bytes - each. This explains why, for example, &os;'s boot messages - will report a disk that supposedly has 80 GB as holding - 76,319 MB. - Also note that &os; will (by default) - reserve 8% of the disk - space. - - - - - - How is it possible for a partition to be more than 100% - full? - + + Why do I get /dev/bpf0: device not + configured? + - - A portion of each UFS partition (8%, by default) is - reserved for use by the operating system and the - root user. - &man.df.1; does not count that space when - calculating the Capacity column, so it can - exceed 100%. Also, you will notice that the - Blocks column is always greater than the - sum of the Used and - Avail columns, usually by a factor of - 8%. + + You are running a program that requires the Berkeley + Packet Filter (&man.bpf.4;), but it is not in your kernel. + Add this to your kernel config file and build a new + kernel: - For more details, look up the option - in &man.tunefs.8;. - + device bpf # Berkeley Packet Filter + - - - - - System Administration - - - Where are the system start-up configuration files? - - - - The primary configuration file is - /etc/defaults/rc.conf (see - &man.rc.conf.5;). System startup scripts such as - /etc/rc and - /etc/rc.d (see &man.rc.8;) just - include this file. Do not edit this - file! Instead, if there is any entry in - /etc/defaults/rc.conf that you want - to change, you should copy the line into - /etc/rc.conf and change it - there. - - For example, if you wish to start &man.named.8;, the included - DNS server, all you need to do is: - - &prompt.root; echo named_enable="YES" >> /etc/rc.conf - - To start up local services, place shell scripts in the - /usr/local/etc/rc.d directory. These - shell scripts should be set executable, the default file - mode is 555. - - - - - - - How do I add a user easily? - - - - Use the &man.adduser.8; command, or the &man.pw.8; - command for more complicated situations. - - To remove the user, use the &man.rmuser.8; command or, - if necessary, &man.pw.8;. - - - - - - Why do I keep getting messages like root: not - found after editing my crontab file? - - - - This is normally caused by editing the system crontab - (/etc/crontab) and then using - &man.crontab.1; to install it: - - &prompt.root; crontab /etc/crontab - - This is not the correct way to do things. The system - crontab has a different format to the per-user crontabs - which &man.crontab.1; updates (the &man.crontab.5; manual - page explains the differences in more detail). - - If this is what you did, the extra crontab is simply a - copy of /etc/crontab in the wrong - format it. Delete it with the command: - - &prompt.root; crontab -r - - Next time, when you edit - /etc/crontab, you should not do - anything to inform &man.cron.8; of the changes, since it - will notice them automatically. - - If you want something to be run once per day, week, or - month, it is probably better to add shell scripts - /usr/local/etc/periodic, and let the - &man.periodic.8; command run from the system cron schedule - it with the other periodic system tasks. - - The actual reason for the error is that the system - crontab has an extra field, specifying which user to run the - command as. In the default system crontab provided with - &os;, this is root for all entries. - When this crontab is used as the root - user's crontab (which is not the - same as the system crontab), &man.cron.8; assumes the string - root is the first word of the command to - execute, but no such command exists. - + + How do I mount a disk from a &windows; machine that is + on my network, like smbmount in &linux;? + + + + Use the SMBFS toolset. It + includes a set of kernel modifications and a set of userland + programs. The programs and information are available as + &man.mount.smbfs.8; in the base system. + - - Why do I get the error, you are not in the correct - group to su root when I try to su to - root? + + What are these messages about: Limiting + icmp/open port/closed port response in my log + files? - This is a security feature. In order to su to - root (or any other account with superuser - privileges), you must be in the wheel - group. If this feature were not there, anybody with an account - on a system who also found out root's - password would be able to gain superuser level access to the - system. With this feature, this is not strictly true; - &man.su.1; will prevent them from even trying to enter the - password if they are not in wheel. - - To allow someone to su to root, simply - put them in the wheel group. - - - - - - I made a mistake in rc.conf, - or another startup file, and - now I cannot edit it because the file system is read-only. - What should I do? - - - - Restart the system using boot -s - at the loader prompt to enter Single User mode. - When prompted for a shell - pathname, simply press Enter, and run - mount -urw / to re-mount the root file system in - read/write mode. You may also need to run mount -a -t - ufs to mount the file system where your favorite - editor is defined. If your favorite editor is on a network - file system, you will need to either configure the network - manually before you can mount network file systems, or use an - editor which resides on a local file system, such as - &man.ed.1;. - - If you intend to use a full screen editor such - as &man.vi.1; or &man.emacs.1;, you may also need to - run export TERM=cons25 so that these - editors can load the correct data from the &man.termcap.5; - database. - - Once you have performed these steps, you can edit - /etc/rc.conf as you usually would - to fix the syntax error. The error message displayed - immediately after the kernel boot messages should tell you - the number of the line in the file which is at fault. - - - - - - Why am I having trouble setting up my printer? - - - - See the - Handbook entry on printing. It should cover - most of your problem. - - Some printers require a host-based driver to do any - kind of printing. These so-called - WinPrinters are not natively supported by - &os;. If your printer does not work in DOS or &windows;, - it is probably a WinPrinter. Your only hope of - getting one of these to work is to check if the print/pnm2ppa port supports - it. - - + This is the kernel telling you that some activity is + provoking it to send more ICMP or TCP reset (RST) responses + than it thinks it should. ICMP responses are often + generated as a result of attempted connections to unused UDP + ports. TCP resets are generated as a result of attempted + connections to unopened TCP ports. Among others, these are + the kinds of activities which may cause these + messages: - - - How can I correct the keyboard mappings for my system? - + + + Brute-force denial of service (DoS) attacks (as + opposed to single-packet attacks which exploit a + specific vulnerability). + + + + Port scans which attempt to connect to a large + number of ports (as opposed to only trying a few + well-known ports). + + - - Please see the Handbook section on using - localization, specifically the section on console - setup. - + The first number in the message tells you how many + packets the kernel would have sent if the limit was not in + place, and the second number tells you the limit. You can + control the limit using the + net.inet.icmp.icmplim sysctl variable + like this, where 300 is the limit in + packets per second: + + &prompt.root; sysctl -w net.inet.icmp.icmplim=300 + + If you do not want to see messages about this in your + log files, but you still want the kernel to do response + limiting, you can use the + net.inet.icmp.icmplim_output sysctl + variable to disable the output like this: + + &prompt.root; sysctl -w net.inet.icmp.icmplim_output=0 + + Finally, if you want to disable response limiting, you + can set the net.inet.icmp.icmplim sysctl + variable (see above for an example) to 0. + Disabling response limiting is discouraged for the reasons + listed above. + - - Why do I get messages like: unknown: <PNP0303> - can't assign resources on boot? - - - - The following is an excerpt from a post to the - &a.current;. + + What are these arp: unknown hardware address + format error messages? + -
- &a.wollman;, 24 April 2001 + + This means that some device on your local Ethernet is + using a MAC address in a format that &os; does not + recognize. This is probably caused by someone experimenting + with an Ethernet card somewhere else on the network. You + will see this most commonly on cable modem networks. It is + harmless, and should not affect the performance of your &os; + machine. + + - The can't assign resources messages - indicate that the devices are legacy ISA devices for which a - non-PnP-aware driver is compiled into the kernel. These - include devices such as keyboard controllers, the - programmable interrupt controller chip, and several other - bits of standard infrastructure. The resources cannot be - assigned because there is already a driver using those - addresses. -
- + + + Why do I keep seeing messages like: 192.168.0.10 is on + fxp1 but got reply from 00:15:17:67:cf:82 on rl0, and how do I + disable it? + + + + Because a packet is coming from outside the network + unexpectedly. To disable them, set + net.link.ether.inet.log_arp_wrong_iface + to 0. + - - Why can I not get user quotas to work properly? - - - - - - - It is possible that your kernel is not configured to use - quotas. If this is the case, you will need to add the following - line to your kernel configuration file and recompile: - options QUOTA + + I have just installed CVSup + but trying to execute it produces errors. What is + wrong? + - Please read the Handbook - entry on quotas for full details. - + + First, see if the error message you are receiving is + like the one shown below. + + /usr/libexec/ld-elf.so.1: Shared object "libXaw.so.6" not found - - Do not turn on quotas on /. - - - - Put the quota file on the file system that the quotas - are to be enforced on, i.e.: - - - - - - File System - Quota file - - - - - - /usr - /usr/admin/quotas - - - - /home - /home/admin/quotas - - - - … - … - - - - - - - + Errors like these are caused by installing the net/cvsup port on a machine which + does not have the &xorg; suite. + If you want to use the GUI included with + CVSup you will need to install + &xorg; now. Alternatively if you + just wish to use CVSup from a + command line you should delete the package previously + installed. Then install the net/cvsup-without-gui or the + net/csup port. If you + have a recent &os; release you may use &man.csup.1;. This + is covered in more detail in the CVSup section + of the Handbook. + + + + + + Security + - - Does &os; support System V IPC primitives? - - - - Yes, &os; supports System V-style IPC, including - shared memory, messages and semaphores, in the GENERIC - kernel. In a custom kernel, enable this support by adding - the following lines to your kernel config. + + What is a sandbox? + - options SYSVSHM # enable shared memory -options SYSVSEM # enable for semaphores -options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging + Sandbox is a security term. It can mean + two things: - Recompile and install your kernel. - - + + + A process which is placed inside a set of virtual + walls that are designed to prevent someone who breaks + into the process from being able to break into the wider + system. + + The process is said to be able to + play inside the walls. That is, nothing + the process does in regards to executing code is + supposed to be able to breech the walls so you do not + have to do a detailed audit of its code to be able to + say certain things about its security. + + The walls might be a user ID, for example. + This is the definition used in the &man.security.7; and + &man.named.8; man pages. + + Take the ntalk service, for + example (see &man.inetd.8;). This service used to run + as user ID root. Now it runs + as user ID tty. The + tty user is a sandbox designed to + make it more difficult for someone who has successfully + hacked into the system via ntalk from + being able to hack beyond that user ID. + - - - What other mail-server software can I use instead of - sendmail? - - - - The sendmail server is - the default mail-server software for &os;, but you can - easily replace it with one of the other MTA (for instance, - an MTA installed from the ports). - - There are various alternative MTAs in the ports tree - already, with mail/exim, mail/postfix, mail/qmail, and mail/zmailer being some of the - most popular choices. - - Diversity is nice, and the fact that you have many - different mail-servers to chose from is considered a - good thing; therefore try to avoid - asking questions like Is sendmail better than - qmail? in the mailing lists. If you do feel like - asking, first check the mailing list archives. The - advantages and disadvantages of each and every one of the - available MTAs have already been discussed a few - times. - + + A process which is placed inside a simulation of the + machine. This is more hard-core. Basically it means + that someone who is able to break into the process may + believe that he can break into the wider machine but is, + in fact, only breaking into a simulation of that machine + and not modifying any real data. + + The most common way to accomplish this is to build a + simulated environment in a subdirectory and then run the + processes in that directory chroot'd (i.e. / for that process is this + directory, not the real / of the system). + + Another common use is to mount an underlying file + system read-only and then create a file system layer on + top of it that gives a process a seemingly writeable + view into that file system. The process may believe it + is able to write to those files, but only the process + sees the effects — other processes in the system + do not, necessarily. + + An attempt is made to make this sort of sandbox so + transparent that the user (or hacker) does not realize + that he is sitting in it. + + + + &unix; implements two core sandboxes. One is at the + process level, and one is at the userid level. + + Every &unix; process is completely firewalled off from + every other &unix; process. One process cannot modify the + address space of another. This is unlike &windows; where a + process can easily overwrite the address space of any other, + leading to a crash. + + A &unix; process is owned by a particular userid. If + the user ID is not the root user, + it serves to firewall the process off from processes owned + by other users. The user ID is also used to firewall + off on-disk data. + - - I have forgotten the root password! What - do I do? - - - Do not panic! Restart the system, type - boot -s at the Boot: prompt to - enter Single User mode. At the question about the shell to - use, hit Enter. You will be dropped to a &prompt.root; - prompt. Enter mount -urw / to remount - your root file system read/write, then run mount - -a to remount all the file systems. Run - passwd root to change the - root password then run &man.exit.1; - to continue booting. + + What is securelevel? + - - If you are still prompted to give the - root password when entering the Single - User mode, it means that the console has been marked as - insecure in - /etc/ttys. In this case it will be required to - boot from an &os; installation disk, - choose the Fixit shell from - &man.sysinstall.8; and issue the commands mentioned - above. - + + The securelevel is a security mechanism implemented in + the kernel. Basically, when the securelevel is positive, the + kernel restricts certain tasks; not even the superuser + (i.e., root) is allowed to do them. At + the time of this writing, the securelevel mechanism is + capable of, among other things, limiting the ability + to: - - If you cannot mount your root partition from Single - User mode, it is possible that the partitions are - encrypted and it is impossible to mount them without the - access keys. Your chances are depending on the chosen - implementation. For more information see the section - about encrypted disks in the &os; Handbook. - - - + + + Unset certain file flags, such as + schg (the system immutable + flag). + - - - How do I keep ControlAltDelete - from rebooting the system? - + + Write to kernel memory via + /dev/mem and + /dev/kmem. + - - If you are using &man.syscons.4; (the default console driver) - build and install a new kernel with the - line in the configuration file: + + Load kernel modules. + - options SC_DISABLE_REBOOT + + Alter firewall rules. + + - This can also be done by setting the following - &man.sysctl.8; which does not require a reboot or kernel - recompile: + To check the status of the securelevel on a running + system, simply execute the following command: - &prompt.root; sysctl hw.syscons.kbd_reboot=0 + &prompt.root; sysctl kern.securelevel - If you use the &man.pcvt.4; console driver, use the - following kernel configuration line instead and rebuild the - kernel: + The output will contain the name of the &man.sysctl.8; + variable (in this case, kern.securelevel) + and a number. The latter is the current value of the + securelevel. If it is positive (i.e., greater than 0), at + least some of the securelevel's protections are + enabled. + + You cannot lower the securelevel of a running system; + being able to do that would defeat its purpose. If you need + to do a task that requires that the securelevel be + non-positive (e.g., an installworld + or changing the date), you will have to change the + securelevel setting in /etc/rc.conf + (you want to look for the + kern_securelevel and + kern_securelevel_enable variables) and + reboot. + + For more information on securelevel and the specific + things all the levels do, please consult the &man.init.8; + manual page. + + + Securelevel is not a silver bullet; it has many known + deficiencies. More often than not, it provides a false + sense of security. + + One of its biggest problems is that in order for it to + be at all effective, all files used in the boot process up + until the securelevel is set must be protected. If an + attacker can get the system to execute their code prior to + the securelevel being set (which happens quite late in the + boot process since some things the system must do at + start-up cannot be done at an elevated securelevel), its + protections are invalidated. While this task of + protecting all files used in the boot process is not + technically impossible, if it is achieved, system + maintenance will become a nightmare since one would have + to take the system down, at least to single-user mode, to + modify a configuration file. + + This point and others are often discussed on the + mailing lists, particularly the &a.security;. Please + search the archives here for an + extensive discussion. Some people are hopeful that + securelevel will soon go away in favor of a more + fine-grained mechanism, but things are still hazy in this + respect. - options PCVT_CTRL_ALT_DEL - + Consider yourself warned. + + - - How do I reformat DOS text files to &unix; ones? - - - - - Use this &man.perl.1; command: + + BIND (named) is listening on port 53 + and some other high-numbered port. What is going on? + - &prompt.user; perl -i.bak -npe 's/\r\n/\n/g' file(s) + + BIND uses a random high-numbered port for outgoing + queries. If you want to use port 53 for outgoing queries, + either to get past a firewall or to make yourself feel + better, you can try the following in + /etc/namedb/named.conf: - where file(s) is one or more files to process. The modification is done - in-place, with the original file stored with a .bak - extension. + options { + query-source address * port 53; +}; - Alternatively you can use the - &man.tr.1; - command: + You can replace the * with a single + IP address if you want to tighten things further. - &prompt.user; tr -d '\r' < dos-text-file > unix-file + Congratulations, by the way. It is good practice to + read your &man.sockstat.1; output and notice odd + things! + + - dos-text-file is the file - containing DOS text while unix-file - will contain the converted output. This can be quite a bit - faster than using perl. + + + The sendmail daemon is + listening on port 587 as well as the standard port 25! What + is going on? + - Yet another way to reformat DOS text files is to use the - converters/dosunix port - from the Ports Collection. Consult its documentation about - the details. - + + Recent versions of sendmail + support a mail submission feature that runs over port 587. + This is not yet widely supported, but is growing in + popularity. + - - How do I kill processes by name? - + + What is this UID 0 toor account? + Have I been compromised? + - Use &man.killall.1;. - + + Do not worry. toor is an + alternative superuser account (toor is root + spelt backwards). Previously it was created when the + &man.bash.1; shell was installed but now it is created by + default. It is intended to be used with a non-standard + shell so you do not have to change + root's default shell. This is + important as shells which are not part of the base + distribution (for example a shell installed from ports or + packages) are likely to be installed in + /usr/local/bin which, by default, + resides on a different file system. If + root's shell is located in + /usr/local/bin and + /usr (or whatever file system contains + /usr/local/bin) is not mounted for some + reason, root will not be able to log in + to fix a problem (although if you reboot into single user + mode you will be prompted for the path to a shell). + + Some people use toor for day-to-day + root tasks with a non-standard shell, + leaving root, with a standard shell, + for single user mode or emergencies. By default you cannot + log in using toor as it does not have a + password, so log in as root and set a + password for toor if you want to use + it. + - - Why is &man.su.1; bugging me about not being in - root's ACL? - - - + + Why is suidperl not working + properly? + - The error comes from the Kerberos distributed - authentication system. The problem is not fatal but annoying. - You can either run su with the option, or uninstall - Kerberos as described in the next question. - + + For security reasons, suidperl is not + installed by default. If you want + suidperl to be built during upgrades from + source, edit /etc/make.conf and add + ENABLE_SUIDPERL=true + before you build perl. + + + + + + PPP + - - How do I uninstall Kerberos? - + + I cannot make &man.ppp.8; work. What am I doing + wrong? + + + + You should first read the &man.ppp.8; manual page and + the PPP section of the handbook. + Enable logging with the following command: - + set log Phase Chat Connect Carrier lcp ipcp ccp command - To remove Kerberos from the system, reinstall the base - distribution for the release you are running. If you have - the CD-ROM, you can mount the it (we will assume on /cdrom) - and run the commands below: + This command may be typed at the &man.ppp.8; command + prompt or it may be entered in the + /etc/ppp/ppp.conf configuration file + (the start of the default section is the + best place to put it). Make sure that + /etc/syslog.conf (see + &man.syslog.conf.5;) contains the lines below and the file + /var/log/ppp.log exists: - &prompt.root; cd /cdrom/base -&prompt.root; ./install.sh + !ppp +*.* /var/log/ppp.log - Alternately, you can include the - NO_KERBEROS option in your - /etc/make.conf and rebuild - world. - + You can now find out a lot about what is going on from + the log file. Do not worry if it does not all make sense. + If you need to get help from someone, it may make sense to + them. + - - What happened to - /dev/MAKEDEV? + + Why does &man.ppp.8; hang when I run it? - &os; 5.X and beyond use the &man.devfs.8; device-on-demand - system. Device drivers automatically create new device - nodes as they are needed, obsoleting - /dev/MAKEDEV. + This is usually because your hostname will not resolve. + The best way to fix this is to make sure that + /etc/hosts is consulted by your + resolver first by editing + /etc/host.conf and putting the + hosts line first. Then, simply put an + entry in /etc/hosts for your local + machine. If you have no local network, change your + localhost line: + + 127.0.0.1 foo.example.com foo localhost + + Otherwise, simply add another entry for your host. + Consult the relevant manual pages for more details. + + You should be able to successfully + ping -c1 `hostname` when you are + done. - - How do I add pseudoterminals to the system? - - - + + Why will &man.ppp.8; not dial in + -auto mode? + - If you have lot of telnet, ssh, X, or screen users, - you will probably run out of pseudoterminals. Here is how to - add more: + + First, check that you have got a default route. By + running netstat -rn (see + &man.netstat.1;), you should see two entries like + this: - - - Build and install a new kernel with the line in - the configuration file: + Destination Gateway Flags Refs Use Netif Expire +default 10.0.0.2 UGSc 0 0 tun0 +10.0.0.2 10.0.0.1 UH 0 0 tun0 - device pty N + This is assuming that you have used the addresses from + the handbook, the manual page, or from the + ppp.conf.sample file. If you do not + have a default route, it may be because you forgot to add + the HISADDR line to the + ppp.conf file. + + Another reason for the default route line being missing + is that you have mistakenly set up a default router in your + /etc/rc.conf (see &man.rc.conf.5;) file + and you have omitted the line below from + ppp.conf: + + delete ALL + + If this is the case, go back to the Final System Configuration + section of the handbook. + + - where N is the number - of requested pseudoterminals. - + + + What does No route to host + mean? + - - Edit /etc/ttys and add lines - for each of the N terminals. They should match the form - of the existing entries, i.e. they look like this: + + This error is usually due that the following section is + missing in your /etc/ppp/ppp.linkup + file: - ttyqc none network + MYADDR: + delete ALL + add 0 0 HISADDR - The order of the letter designations is - tty[pqrsPQRSlmnoLMNO][0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv], using a - regular expression. - + This is only necessary if you have a dynamic IP address + or do not know the address of your gateway. If you are + using interactive mode, you can type the following after + entering packet mode (packet mode is + indicated by the capitalized PPP in the + prompt): - - Reboot the system with the new kernel and you are - ready to go. - - + delete ALL +add 0 0 HISADDR - - Using more than 256 (up to 512) &man.pty.4; devices requires - &os; 6.3 or later. - - + Refer to the PPP and Dynamic IP addresses + section of the handbook for further details. + - - How do I re-read /etc/rc.conf and - re-start /etc/rc without a - reboot? - + + Why does my connection drop after about 3 + minutes? + - + + The default PPP timeout is 3 minutes. This can be + adjusted with the following line: - Go into single user mode and then back to multi user - mode. + set timeout NNN - On the console do: + where NNN is the number of + seconds of inactivity before the connection is closed. If + NNN is zero, the connection is + never closed due to a timeout. It is possible to put this + command in the ppp.conf file, or to + type it at the prompt in interactive mode. It is also + possible to adjust it on the fly while the line is active by + connecting to ppp's server socket + using &man.telnet.1; or &man.pppctl.8;. Refer to the + &man.ppp.8; man page for further details. + + - &prompt.root; shutdown now -(Note: without -r or -h) + + + Why does my connection drop under heavy load? + -&prompt.root; return -&prompt.root; exit - + + If you have Link Quality Reporting (LQR) configured, it + is possible that too many LQR packets are lost between your + machine and the peer. The &man.ppp.8; program deduces that + the line must therefore be bad, and disconnects. Prior to + &os; version 2.2.5, LQR was enabled by default. It is now + disabled by default. LQR can be disabled with the following + line: + + disable lqr + + + + Why does my connection drop after a random amount of + time? + + + + Sometimes, on a noisy phone line or even on a line with + call waiting enabled, your modem may hang up because it + thinks (incorrectly) that it lost carrier. + + There is a setting on most modems for determining how + tolerant it should be to temporary losses of carrier. On a + &usrobotics; &sportster; for example, this is measured + by the S10 register in tenths of a + second. To make your modem more forgiving, you could add + the following send-expect sequence to your dial + string: + + set dial "...... ATS10=10 OK ......" + + Refer to your modem manual for details. + + - - I tried to update my system to the latest -STABLE, but - got -BETAx, -RC or -PRERELEASE! What is going on? - - - - Short answer: it is just a name. RC stands for - Release Candidate. It signifies that a - release is imminent. In &os;, -PRERELEASE is typically - synonymous with the code freeze before a release. (For - some releases, the -BETA label was used in the same way as - -PRERELEASE.) - - Long answer: &os; derives its releases from one of - two places. Major, dot-zero, releases, such as - 6.0-RELEASE and 7.0-RELEASE, are branched from the head of - the development stream, commonly referred to as -CURRENT. Minor releases, such - as 6.3-RELEASE or 5.2-RELEASE, have been snapshots of the - active -STABLE branch. - Starting with 4.3-RELEASE, each release also now has its - own branch which can be tracked by people requiring an - extremely conservative rate of development (typically only - security advisories). - - When a release is about to be made, the branch from - which it will be derived from has to undergo a certain - process. Part of this process is a code freeze. When a - code freeze is initiated, the name of the branch is - changed to reflect that it is about to become a release. - For example, if the branch used to be called 6.2-STABLE, - its name will be changed to 6.3-PRERELEASE to signify the - code freeze and signify that extra pre-release testing - should be happening. Bug fixes can still be committed to - be part of the release. When the source code is in shape - for the release the name will be changed to 6.3-RC to - signify that a release is about to be made from it. Once - in the RC stage, only the most critical bugs found can be - fixed. Once the release (6.3-RELEASE in this example) and - release branch have been made, the branch will be renamed - to 6.3-STABLE. - - For more information on version numbers and the - various CVS branches, refer to the - Release - Engineering article. - - - - - - I tried to install a new kernel, and the &man.chflags.1; - failed. How do I get around this? - - - - Short answer: You are probably at security level - greater than 0. Reboot directly to Single User mode to - install the kernel. - - Long answer: &os; disallows changing system flags - at security levels greater than 0. You can check your - security level with the command: - - &prompt.root; sysctl kern.securelevel - - You cannot lower the security level; you have to boot to - Single Mode to install the kernel, or change the security - level in /etc/rc.conf then reboot. See - the &man.init.8; manual page for details on securelevel, and see - /etc/defaults/rc.conf and the - &man.rc.conf.5; manual page for more information on - rc.conf. - - - - - - I cannot change the time on my system by more than one second! - How do I get around this? - - - - Short answer: You are probably at security level - greater than 1. Reboot directly to Single User mode to - change the date. - - Long answer: &os; disallows changing the time by - more that one second at security levels greater than 1. You - can check your security level with the command: - - &prompt.root; sysctl kern.securelevel - - You cannot lower the security level; you have to boot - to Single User mode to change the date, or change the security - level in /etc/rc.conf then - reboot. See the &man.init.8; manual page for details on - securelevel, and see - /etc/defaults/rc.conf and the - &man.rc.conf.5; manual page for more information on - rc.conf. - - - - - - Why is rpc.statd using 256 MB of - memory? - - - - No, there is no memory leak, and it is not using 256 MB - of memory. For convenience, rpc.statd maps an - obscene amount of memory into its address space. - There is nothing terribly wrong with this from a technical - standpoint; it just throws off things like &man.top.1; and - &man.ps.1;. - - &man.rpc.statd.8; maps its status file (resident on - /var) into its address space; to save - worrying about remapping it later when it needs to grow, it maps - it with a generous size. This is very evident from the source - code, where one can see that the length argument to &man.mmap.2; - is 0x10000000, or one sixteenth of the - address space on an IA32, or exactly 256 MB. - - - - - - Why can I not unset the schg file - flag? - - - - You are running at an elevated (i.e., greater than 0) - securelevel. Lower the securelevel and try again. For more - information, see the FAQ entry on - securelevel and the &man.init.8; manual page. - - - - - - Why does SSH authentication through - .shosts not work by default in recent - versions of &os;? + + Why does my connection hang after a random amount of + time? - The reason why .shosts - authentication does not work by default in more recent - versions of &os; is because &man.ssh.1; - is not installed suid root by default. To - fix this, you can do one of the - following: + Many people experience hung connections with no apparent + explanation. The first thing to establish is which side of + the link is hung. + + If you are using an external modem, you can simply try + using &man.ping.8; to see if the TD light + is flashing when you transmit data. If it flashes (and the + RD light does not), the problem is with + the remote end. If TD does not flash, + the problem is local. With an internal modem, you will need + to use the set server command in your + ppp.conf file. When the hang occurs, + connect to &man.ppp.8; using &man.pppctl.8;. If your + network connection suddenly revives (PPP was revived due to + the activity on the diagnostic socket) or if you cannot + connect (assuming the set socket command + succeeded at startup time), the problem is local. If you + can connect and things are still hung, enable local async + logging with set log local async and use + &man.ping.8; from another window or terminal to make use of + the link. The async logging will show you the data being + transmitted and received on the link. If data is going out + and not coming back, the problem is remote. + + Having established whether the problem is local or + remote, you now have two possibilities: - As a permanent fix, set - ENABLE_SUID_SSH to true - in /etc/make.conf then rebuild and install &man.ssh.1; - (or run make world). + If the problem is remote, read on entry . - As a temporary fix, change the mode on - /usr/bin/ssh to 4555 - by running chmod 4555 /usr/bin/ssh as - root. Then add - ENABLE_SUID_SSH= true to - /etc/make.conf so the change takes - effect the next time make world is - run. + If the problem is local, read on entry . - - What is vnlru? - + + The remote end is not responding. What can I do? + - - vnlru flushes and frees vnodes when - the system hits the kern.maxvnodes - limit. This kernel thread sits mostly idle, and only - activates if you have a huge amount of RAM and are - accessing tens of thousands of tiny files. - - + + There is very little you can do about this. Most ISPs + will refuse to help if you are not running a µsoft; OS. + You can enable lqr in your + ppp.conf file, allowing &man.ppp.8; to + detect the remote failure and hang up, but this detection is + relatively slow and therefore not that useful. You may want + to avoid telling your ISP that you are running + user-PPP. - - - What do the various memory states displayed by - top mean? - - - - - Active: pages recently - statistically used. - - Inactive: pages - recently statistically unused. - - Cache: (most often) - pages that have percolated from inactive to a status - where they maintain their data, but can often be - immediately reused (either with their old association, - or reused with a new association.) There can be certain - immediate transitions from active to cache state if the - page is known to be clean (unmodified), but that - transition is a matter of policy, depending upon the - algorithm choice of the VM system - maintainer. - - Free: pages without - data content, and can be immediately used in certain - circumstances where cache pages might be ineligible. - Free pages can be reused at interrupt or process - state. - - Wired: pages that are - fixed into memory, usually for kernel purposes, but also - sometimes for special use in - processes. - - - Pages are most often written to disk (sort of a VM - sync) when they are in the inactive state, but active - pages can also be synced. This depends upon - the CPU tracking of the modified bit being available, - and in certain situations there can be an advantage for a - block of VM pages to be synced, whether they are active or - inactive. In most common cases, it is best to think of - the inactive queue to be a queue of relatively unused - pages that might or might not be in the process of being - written to disk. Cached pages are already synced, not - mapped, but available for immediate process use with their - old association or with a new association. Free pages are - available at interrupt level, but cached or free pages can - be used at process state for reuse. Cache pages are not - adequately locked to be available at interrupt - level. - - There are some other flags (e.g., busy flag or busy - count) that might modify some of the described rules. - - + First, try disabling all local compression by adding the + following to your configuration: - - - How much free memory is available? - - - - There are a couple of kinds of free - memory. One kind is the amount of memory - immediately available without paging anything else out. - That is approximately the size of cache queue + size of - free queue (with a derating factor, depending upon system - tuning.) Another kind of free memory is - the total amount of VM space. That can - be complex, but is dependent upon the amount of swap space - and memory. Other kinds of free memory - descriptions are also possible, but it is relatively - useless to define these, but rather it is important to - make sure that the paging rate is kept low, and to avoid - running out of swap space. - + disable pred1 deflate deflate24 protocomp acfcomp shortseq vj +deny pred1 deflate deflate24 protocomp acfcomp shortseq vj + + Then reconnect to ensure that this makes no difference. + If things improve or if the problem is solved completely, + determine which setting makes the difference through trial + and error. This will provide good ammunition when you + contact your ISP (although it may make it apparent that you + are not running a µsoft; product). + + Before contacting your ISP, enable async logging locally + and wait until the connection hangs again. This may use up + quite a bit of disk space. The last data read from the port + may be of interest. It is usually ASCII data, and may even + describe the problem (Memory fault, + Core dumped). + + If your ISP is helpful, they should be able to enable + logging on their end, then when the next link drop occurs, + they may be able to tell you why their side is having a + problem. Feel free to send the details to &a.brian;, or + even to ask your ISP to contact him directly. + - - What is /var/empty? I can not - delete it! + + &man.ppp.8; has hung. What can I do? - /var/empty is a directory that the - &man.sshd.8; program uses when performing privilege separation. - The /var/empty directory is empty, owned by - root and has the schg - flag set. - - Although it is not recommended to delete this directory, to - do so you will need to unset the schg flag - first. See the &man.chflags.1; manual page for more information - (and bear in mind the answer to - the question on unsetting the schg flag). - - - - - - - - The X Window System and Virtual Consoles + Your best bet here is to rebuild &man.ppp.8; with + debugging information, and then use &man.gdb.1; to grab a + stack trace from the ppp process + that is stuck. To rebuild the + ppp utility with debugging + information, you can type: - - - - What is the X Window System? - - - - - The X Window System (commonly X11) is the - most widely available windowing system capable of running on - &unix; or &unix; like systems, including - &os;. The X.Org - Foundation administers the - X protocol standards, with the current reference - implementation, version 11 release &xorg.version;, - so you will often see references shortened to - X11. - + &prompt.root; cd /usr/src/usr.sbin/ppp +&prompt.root; env DEBUG_FLAGS='-g' make clean +&prompt.root; env DEBUG_FLAGS='-g' make install - Many implementations are available for different - architectures and operating systems. An - implementation of the server-side code is properly known - as an X server. - - - + Then you should restart ppp + and wait until it hangs again. When the debug build of + ppp hangs, start + gdb on the stuck process by + typing: - - - Which X implementations are available for &os;? - - - - - Historically, the default implementation of X on - &os; has been - &xfree86; which is maintained by - The XFree86 Project, - Inc. This software was installed by default on - &os; versions up until 4.10 and 5.2. Although &xorg; - itself maintained an implementation during that time - period, it was basically only provided as a reference - platform, as it had suffered greatly from bitrot over - the years. - - However, early in 2004, some XFree86 developers left - that project - over issues including the pace of code changes, future - directions, and interpersonal conflicts, and are now contributing - code directly to &xorg; instead. At that time, &xorg; updated its - source tree to the last &xfree86; release before its subsequent - licensing change (XFree86 version 4.3.99.903), incorporated - many changes that had previously been maintained separately, - and has released that software as X11R6.7.0. A separate but - related project, - freedesktop.org (or fd.o for short), - is working on rearchitecting the original &xfree86; code to - offload more work onto the graphics cards (with the goal of - increased performance) and make it more modular - (with the goal of increased maintainability, and thus faster - releases as well as easier configuration). &xorg; intends to - incorporate the freedesktop.org changes in its future releases. + &prompt.root; gdb ppp `pgrep ppp` - As of July 2004, in &os.current;, - &xfree86; has been replaced with &xorg; as the default - implementation. Since then the default X11 implementation - in &os; is &xorg;. + At the gdb prompt, you can + use the bt or where + commands to get a stack trace. Save the output of your + gdb session, and + detach from the running process by the + quit command of + gdb. - For further information, read the X11 section of the - &os; Handbook. + Finally, send the log of your + gdb session to &a.brian;. - - Why did the X projects split, anyway? - + + Why does nothing happen after the Login + OK! message? + - - The answer to this question is outside the scope of - this FAQ. Note that there are voluminous postings in various - mailing list archives on the Internet; please use your favorite - search engine to investigate the history instead of asking this - question on the &os; mailing lists. It may even be the case - that only the participants will ever know for certain. + + Prior to &os; version 2.2.5, once the link was + established, &man.ppp.8; would wait for the peer to initiate + the Line Control Protocol (LCP). Many ISPs will not + initiate negotiations and expect the client to do so. To + force &man.ppp.8; to initiate the LCP, use the following + line: + + set openmode active + + + It usually does no harm if both sides initiate + negotiation, so openmode is now active by default. + However, the next section explains when it + does do some harm. + - - Why did &os; choose to go with the &xorg; ports by default? - + + I keep seeing errors about magic being the same. What + does it mean? + - - The &xorg; developers claimed that their goal is to release - more often and incorporate new features more quickly. If they - are able to do so, this will be very attractive. Also, their - software still uses the traditional X license, while &xfree86; - is using their modified one. + + Occasionally, just after connecting, you may see + messages in the log that say Magic is + same. Sometimes, these messages are harmless, + and sometimes one side or the other exits. Most PPP + implementations cannot survive this problem, and even if the + link seems to come up, you will see repeated configure + requests and configure acknowledgments in the log file until + &man.ppp.8; eventually gives up and closes the + connection. + + This normally happens on server machines with slow disks + that are spawning a &man.getty.8; on the port, and executing + &man.ppp.8; from a login script or program after login. + There were reports of it happening consistently when using + slirp. The reason is that in the time taken between + &man.getty.8; exiting and &man.ppp.8; starting, the + client-side &man.ppp.8; starts sending Line Control Protocol + (LCP) packets. Because ECHO is still switched on for the + port on the server, the client &man.ppp.8; sees these + packets reflect back. + + One part of the LCP negotiation is to establish a magic + number for each side of the link so that + reflections can be detected. The protocol + says that when the peer tries to negotiate the same magic + number, a NAK should be sent and a new magic number should + be chosen. During the period that the server port has ECHO + turned on, the client &man.ppp.8; sends LCP packets, sees + the same magic in the reflected packet and NAKs it. It also + sees the NAK reflect (which also means &man.ppp.8; must + change its magic). This produces a potentially enormous + number of magic number changes, all of which are happily + piling into the server's tty buffer. As soon as &man.ppp.8; + starts on the server, it is flooded with magic number + changes and almost immediately decides it has tried enough + to negotiate LCP and gives up. Meanwhile, the client, who + no longer sees the reflections, becomes happy just in time + to see a hangup from the server. + + This can be avoided by allowing the peer to start + negotiating with the following line in your + ppp.conf file: + + set openmode passive + + This tells &man.ppp.8; to wait for the server to + initiate LCP negotiations. Some servers however may never + initiate negotiations. If this is the case, you can do + something like: + + set openmode active 3 + + This tells &man.ppp.8; to be passive for 3 seconds, and + then to start sending LCP requests. If the peer starts + sending requests during this period, &man.ppp.8; will + immediately respond rather than waiting for the full 3 + second period. - - I want to run X, how do I go about it? - - - + + LCP negotiations continue until the connection is + closed. What is wrong? + - If you would like to add X to an existing installation, you - should use either the x11/xorg - meta-port, which will build and install all the necessary - components, or install &xorg; from &os; packages: + + There is currently an implementation mis-feature in + &man.ppp.8; where it does not associate LCP, CCP & IPCP + responses with their original requests. As a result, if one + PPP implementation is more than 6 seconds slower than the + other side, the other side will send two additional LCP + configuration requests. This is fatal. + + Consider two implementations, A and + B. A starts sending LCP + requests immediately after connecting and B + takes 7 seconds to start. When B starts, + A has sent 3 LCP REQs. We are assuming the + line has ECHO switched off, otherwise we would see magic + number problems as described in the previous section. + B sends a REQ, then an ACK to the first of + A's REQs. This results in + A entering the OPENED + state and sending and ACK (the first) back to + B. In the meantime, B + sends back two more ACKs in response to the two additional + REQs sent by A before B + started up. B then receives the first ACK + from A and enters the + OPENED state. A + receives the second ACK from B and goes + back to the REQ-SENT state, sending + another (forth) REQ as per the RFC. It then receives the + third ACK and enters the OPENED state. + In the meantime, B receives the forth REQ + from A, resulting in it reverting to the + ACK-SENT state and sending another + (second) REQ and (forth) ACK as per the RFC. + A gets the REQ, goes into + REQ-SENT and sends another REQ. It + immediately receives the following ACK and enters + OPENED. + + This goes on until one side figures out that they are + getting nowhere and gives up. + + The best way to avoid this is to configure one side to + be passive — that is, make one side + wait for the other to start negotiating. This can be done + with the following command: + + set openmode passive + + Care should be taken with this option. You should also + use the this command to limit the amount of time that + &man.ppp.8; waits for the peer to begin negotations: + + set stopped N + + Alternatively, the following command (where + N is the number of seconds to + wait before starting negotiations) can be used: - &prompt.root; pkg_add -r xorg + set openmode active N - It is also possible to install &xorg; from - &man.sysinstall.8; by choosing - Configure, then - Distributions, then - The X.Org Distribution. + Check the manual page for details. + + - After the installation of &xorg; was successful, follow - the instructions from &man.xorgconfig.1;. It will assists you in - configuring &xorg; for your particular graphics - card/mouse/etc. You may also wish to examine the - &man.xorgcfg.1; tool, which provides a graphical interface - to the X configuration process. + + + Why does &man.ppp.8; lock up when I shell out to test + it? + - For further information, read the X11 section of the - &os; Handbook. - + + When you execute the shell or + ! command, &man.ppp.8; executes a shell + (or if you have passed any arguments, &man.ppp.8; will + execute those arguments). The + ppp program will wait for the + command to complete before continuing. If you attempt to + use the PPP link while running the command, the link will + appear to have frozen. This is because &man.ppp.8; is + waiting for the command to complete. + + If you wish to execute commands like this, use the + !bg command instead. This will execute + the given command in the background, and &man.ppp.8; can + continue to service the link. + - - I tried to run X, but I get an - KDENABIO failed (Operation not permitted) - error when I type startx. What do I do - now? - - - - Your system is probably running at a raised securelevel. - It is not possible to start X at a raised securelevel because - X requires write access to &man.io.4;. - For more information, see at the &man.init.8; manual - page. - - So the question is what else you should do instead, - and you basically have two choices: set your securelevel - back down to zero (usually from /etc/rc.conf), - or run &man.xdm.1; at boot time (before the securelevel is - raised). - - See for more information about - running &man.xdm.1; at boot time. - + + Why does &man.ppp.8; over a null-modem cable never + exit? + + + + There is no way for &man.ppp.8; to automatically + determine that a direct connection has been dropped. This + is due to the lines that are used in a null-modem serial + cable. When using this sort of connection, LQR should + always be enabled with the following line: + + enable lqr + + LQR is accepted by default if negotiated by the + peer. + - - Why does my mouse not work with X? - - - - If you are using &man.syscons.4; (the default console driver), - you can configure &os; to support a mouse pointer on each - virtual screen. In order to avoid conflicting with X, &man.syscons.4; - supports a virtual device called - /dev/sysmouse. All mouse events received - from the real mouse device are written to the &man.sysmouse.4; device - via &man.moused.8;. If you wish to use your mouse on one or more - virtual consoles, and use X, see - and set up - moused. + + Why does &man.ppp.8; dial for no reason in + mode? + - Then edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and make - sure you have the following lines: + + If &man.ppp.8; is dialing unexpectedly, you must + determine the cause, and set up Dial filters (dfilters) to + prevent such dialing. + + To determine the cause, use the following line: + + set log +tcp/ip + + This will log all traffic through the connection. The + next time the line comes up unexpectedly, you will see the + reason logged with a convenient timestamp next to it. + + You can now disable dialing under these circumstances. + Usually, this sort of problem arises due to DNS lookups. To + prevent DNS lookups from establishing a connection (this + will not prevent &man.ppp.8; from + passing the packets through an established connection), use + the following: - Section "InputDevice" - Option "Protocol" "SysMouse" - Option "Device" "/dev/sysmouse" -..... + set dfilter 1 deny udp src eq 53 +set dfilter 2 deny udp dst eq 53 +set dfilter 3 permit 0/0 0/0 + + This is not always suitable, as it will effectively + break your demand-dial capabilities — most programs + will need a DNS lookup before doing any other network + related things. + + In the DNS case, you should try to determine what is + actually trying to resolve a host name. A lot of the time, + &man.sendmail.8; is the culprit. You should make sure that + you tell sendmail not to do any + DNS lookups in its configuration file. See the section on + using email with a dialup connection + in the &os; Handbook for details on how to create your own + configuration file and what should go into it. You may also + want to add the following line to your + .mc file: + + define(`confDELIVERY_MODE', `d')dnl + + This will make sendmail queue + everything until the queue is run (usually, sendmail is + invoked with , telling it to run + the queue every 30 minutes) or until a sendmail + is done (perhaps from your + ppp.linkup file). + + - Some people prefer to use - /dev/mouse under X. To make this - work, /dev/mouse should be linked - to /dev/sysmouse (see - &man.sysmouse.4;) by adding the following line to - /etc/devfs.conf (see - &man.devfs.conf.5;): + + + What do these CCP errors mean? + - link sysmouse mouse + + I keep seeing the following errors in my log + file: - This link can be created by restarting &man.devfs.5; - with the following command (as - root): + CCP: CcpSendConfigReq +CCP: Received Terminate Ack (1) state = Req-Sent (6) - &prompt.root; /etc/rc.d/devfs restart + This is because &man.ppp.8; is trying to negotiate + Predictor1 compression, and the peer does not want to + negotiate any compression at all. The messages are + harmless, but if you wish to remove them, you can disable + Predictor1 compression locally too: - + disable pred1 + - - My mouse has a fancy wheel. Can I use it in X? - + + Why does &man.ppp.8; not log my connection speed? + - - Yes. + + In order to log all lines of your modem + conversation, you must enable the + following: - You need to tell X that you have a 5 button mouse. - To do this, simply add the lines - Buttons 5 and - ZAxisMapping 4 5 to the - InputDevice section of - /etc/X11/xorg.conf. For example, you - might have the following InputDevice section - in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. + set log +connect - - <quote>InputDevice</quote> Section for Wheeled Mouse - in &xorg; configuration file + This will make &man.ppp.8; log everything up until the + last requested expect string. - Section "InputDevice" - Identifier "Mouse1" - Driver "mouse" - Option "Protocol" "auto" - Option "Device" "/dev/sysmouse" - Option "Buttons" "5" - Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" -EndSection - + If you wish to see your connect speed and are using PAP + or CHAP (and therefore do not have anything to + chat after the CONNECT in the dial script + — no set login script), you must + make sure that you instruct &man.ppp.8; to + expect the whole CONNECT line, something like + this: - - <quote>.emacs</quote> example for naive page - scrolling with Wheeled Mouse (optional) - ;; wheel mouse -(global-set-key [mouse-4] 'scroll-down) -(global-set-key [mouse-5] 'scroll-up) - + set dial "ABORT BUSY ABORT NO\\sCARRIER TIMEOUT 4 \ + \"\" ATZ OK-ATZ-OK ATDT\\T TIMEOUT 60 CONNECT \\c \\n" - + Here, we get our CONNECT, send nothing, then expect a + line-feed, forcing &man.ppp.8; to read the whole CONNECT + response. + - - How do I use remote X displays? - - - - For security reasons, the default setting is to not allow a - machine to remotely open a window. - - To enable this feature, simply start - X with the optional - argument: - &prompt.user; startx -listen_tcp - - - - - - - What is a virtual console and how do I make more? - - - - Virtual consoles, put simply, enable you to have several - simultaneous sessions on the same machine without doing anything - complicated like setting up a network or running X. - - When the system starts, it will display a login prompt on - the monitor after displaying all the boot messages. You can - then type in your login name and password and start working (or - playing!) on the first virtual console. - - At some point, you will probably wish to start another - session, perhaps to look at documentation for a program - you are running or to read your mail while waiting for an - FTP transfer to finish. Just do AltF2 - (hold down the Alt key and press the - F2 key), and you will find a login prompt - waiting for you on the second virtual - console! When you want to go back to the original - session, do AltF1. - - The default &os; installation has eight virtual - consoles enabled. AltF1, - AltF2, - AltF3, - and so on will switch between these virtual - consoles. - - To enable more of them, edit - /etc/ttys (see &man.ttys.5;) - and add entries for ttyv8 - to ttyvc after the comment on - Virtual terminals: - - # Edit the existing entry for ttyv8 in /etc/ttys and change -# "off" to "on". -ttyv8 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure -ttyv9 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure -ttyva "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure -ttyvb "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure - - Use as many or as few as you want. The more virtual - terminals you have, the more resources that are used; this - can be important if you have 8 MB RAM or less. You may also - want to change the secure - to insecure. - - - If you want to run an X server you - must leave at least one virtual - terminal unused (or turned off) for it to use. That is to - say that if you want to have a login prompt pop up for all - twelve of your Alt-function keys, you are out of luck — you - can only do this for eleven of them if you also want to run - an X server on the same machine. - - - The easiest way to disable a console is by turning it off. - For example, if you had the full 12 terminal allocation - mentioned above and you wanted to run X, you would change - settings for virtual terminal 12 from: - - ttyvb "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure - - to: + + Why does &man.ppp.8; ignore the \ + character in my chat script? + - ttyvb "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure + + The ppp utility parses each + line in your config files so that it can interpret strings + such as set phone "123 456 789" correctly + and realize that the number is actually only + one argument. In order to specify a + " character, you must escape it + using a backslash (\). + + When the chat interpreter parses each argument, it + re-interprets the argument in order to find any special + escape sequences such as \P or + \T (see the manual page). As a result of + this double-parsing, you must remember to use the correct + number of escapes. + + If you wish to actually send a \ + character to (say) your modem, you would need something + like: - If your keyboard has only ten function keys, you would - end up with: + set dial "\"\" ATZ OK-ATZ-OK AT\\\\X OK" -ttyv9 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure -ttyva "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure -ttyvb "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure + It will result in the following sequence: - (You could also just delete these lines.) + ATZ +OK +AT\X +OK - Next, the easiest (and cleanest) way to activate the - virtual consoles is to reboot. However, if you really do not - want to reboot, you can just shut down the X Window system - and execute (as root): - - &prompt.root; kill -HUP 1 - - It is imperative that you completely shut down X Window if - it is running, before running this command. If you do not, - your system will probably appear to hang or lock up after - executing the kill command. - - - - - - How do I access the virtual consoles from X? - - - - Use - Ctrl - Alt - Fn - to switch back to a virtual console. - - Ctrl - Alt - F1 - would return you to the first virtual console. - - Once you are back to a text console, you can then use - - Alt - Fn - as normal to move between them. - - To return to the X session, you must switch to the - virtual console running X. If you invoked X from the - command line, (e.g., using startx) then - the X session will attach to the next unused virtual - console, not the text console from which it was invoked. - If you have eight active virtual terminals then X will be - running on the ninth, and you would use - - Alt - F9 - to return. - - - - - - How do I start XDM on boot? - - - There are two schools of thought on how to start - &man.xdm.1;. One school starts xdm from - /etc/ttys (see &man.ttys.5;) using - the supplied example, while the other simply runs xdm from - from rc.local (see &man.rc.8;) or from an - X script in - /usr/local/etc/rc.d. Both are equally - valid, and one may work in situations where the other does - not. In both cases the result is the same: X will pop up - a graphical login prompt. - - The &man.ttys.5; method has the advantage of documenting which - vty X will start on and passing the responsibility of - restarting the X server on logout to &man.init.8;. The &man.rc.8; - method makes it easy to kill xdm if there is a problem - starting the X server. - - If loaded from &man.rc.8;, xdm should - be started without any arguments (i.e., as a daemon). The xdm command must - start after &man.getty.8; runs, or else getty and xdm will conflict, - locking out the console. The best way around this is to have - the script sleep 10 seconds or so then launch xdm. - - If you are to start xdm from - /etc/ttys, there still is a chance of - conflict between xdm and - &man.getty.8;. One way to avoid this is to add the - vt number in the - /usr/local/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers - file: - - :0 local /usr/local/bin/X vt4 - - The above example will direct the X server to run in - /dev/ttyv3. Note the number is offset by - one. The X server counts the vty from one, whereas the &os; - kernel numbers the vty from zero. - - - - - - Why do I get Couldn't open console - when I run xconsole? - - - - If you start X - with - startx, the permissions on - /dev/console will - not get changed, resulting in - things like - xterm -C and - xconsole not working. - - This is because of the way console permissions are set - by default. On a multi-user system, one does not necessarily - want just any user to be able to write on the system console. - For users who are logging directly onto a machine with a VTY, - the &man.fbtab.5; - file exists to solve such problems. - - In a nutshell, make sure an uncommented line of the - form is in /etc/fbtab (see - &man.fbtab.5;): - - /dev/ttyv0 0600 /dev/console - - It will ensure that whomever logs in on - /dev/ttyv0 will own the - console. - - - - - - Before, I was able to run &xfree86; as a regular user. Why does - it now say that I must be root? - - - - All X servers need to be run as - root in order to get direct access to - your video hardware. Older versions of &xfree86; (<= - 3.3.6) installed all bundled servers to be automatically - run as root (setuid to - root). This is obviously a security - hazard because X servers are large, complicated programs. - Newer versions of &xfree86; do not install the servers - setuid to root for just this - reason. - - Obviously, running an X server as the - root user is not acceptable, nor a - good idea security-wise. There are two ways to be able to - use X as a regular user. The first is to use - xdm or another display manager (e.g., - kdm); the second is to use the - Xwrapper. - - xdm is a daemon that handles graphical - logins. It is usually started at boot time, and is responsible - for authenticating users and starting their sessions; it is - essentially the graphical counterpart of - &man.getty.8; and &man.login.1;. For - more information on xdm see - the &xfree86; - documentation, and the the FAQ - entry on it. - - Xwrapper is the X server wrapper; it is - a small utility to enable one to manually run an X server while - maintaining reasonable safety. It performs some sanity checks - on the command line arguments given, and if they pass, runs the - appropriate X server. If you do not want to run a display - manager for whatever reason, this is for you. If you have - installed the complete Ports Collection, you can find the port in - x11/wrapper. - - - - - - Why does my PS/2 mouse misbehave under X? - - - - Your mouse and the mouse driver may have somewhat become - out of synchronization. - - - In rare cases the driver may erroneously report - synchronization problem and you may see the kernel - message: - - psmintr: out of sync (xxxx != yyyy) - - and notice that your mouse does not work properly. - - If this happens, disable the synchronization check code - by setting the driver flags for the PS/2 mouse driver to 0x100. - Enter UserConfig by giving the - option at the boot prompt: + Or: - boot: -c + set phone 1234567 +set dial "\"\" ATZ OK ATDT\\T" - Then, in the UserConfig command - line, type: + It will result in the following sequence: - UserConfig> flags psm0 0x100 -UserConfig> quit - + ATZ +OK +ATDT1234567 + - - Why does my PS/2 mouse from MouseSystems not - work? - + + Why does &man.ppp.8; get a Segmentation + fault, but I see no ppp.core + file? + - - There have been some reports that certain model of PS/2 - mouse from MouseSystems works only if it is put into the - high resolution mode. Otherwise, the mouse - cursor may jump to the upper-left corner of the screen every - so often. + + The ppp utility (or any other + program for that matter) should never dump core. Because + &man.ppp.8; runs with an effective user ID of + 0, the operating system will not write + core image of &man.ppp.8; to disk before terminating it. + If, however &man.ppp.8; is actually terminating due to a + segmentation violation or some other signal that normally + causes core to be dumped, and you are + sure you are using the latest version (see the start of this + section), then you should install the system sources and do + the following: - Specify the flags 0x04 to the PS/2 mouse driver to put - the mouse into the high resolution mode. Enter - UserConfig by giving the - option at the boot prompt: + &prompt.root; cd /usr/src/usr.sbin/ppp +&prompt.root; echo STRIP= >> /etc/make.conf +&prompt.root; echo CFLAGS+= >> /etc/make.conf +&prompt.root; make install clean - boot: -c + You will now have a debuggable version of &man.ppp.8; + installed. You will have to be root to + run &man.ppp.8; as all of its privileges have been revoked. + When you start &man.ppp.8;, take a careful note of what your + current directory was at the time. + + Now, if and when &man.ppp.8; receives the segmentation + violation, it will dump a core file called + ppp.core. You should then do the + following: - Then, in the UserConfig command line, - type: + &prompt.user; su +&prompt.root; gdb /usr/sbin/ppp ppp.core +(gdb) bt +..... +(gdb) f 0 +.... +(gdb) i args +.... +(gdb) l +..... - UserConfig> flags psm0 0x04 -UserConfig> quit + All of this information should be given alongside your + question, making it possible to diagnose the problem. - See the previous section for another possible cause of mouse - problems. - + If you are familiar with &man.gdb.1;, you may wish to + find out some other bits and pieces such as what actually + caused the dump or the addresses and values of the relevant + variables. + - - How do I reverse the mouse buttons? - + + Why does the process that forces a dial in + mode never connect? + - - Run the command - xmodmap -e "pointer = 3 2 1" from your - .xinitrc or .xsession. - + + This was a known problem with &man.ppp.8; set up to + negotiate a dynamic local IP number with the peer in + mode. It has been fixed a long time + ago — search the manual page for + iface. + + The problem was that when that initial program calls + &man.connect.2;, the IP number of the &man.tun.4; interface + is assigned to the socket endpoint. The kernel creates the + first outgoing packet and writes it to the &man.tun.4; + device. &man.ppp.8; then reads the packet and establishes a + connection. If, as a result of &man.ppp.8;'s dynamic IP + assignment, the interface address is changed, the original + socket endpoint will be invalid. Any subsequent packets + sent to the peer will usually be dropped. Even if they are + not, any responses will not route back to the originating + machine as the IP number is no longer owned by that + machine. + + There are several theoretical ways to approach this + problem. It would be nicest if the peer would re-assign the + same IP number if possible. The current version of + &man.ppp.8; does this, but most other implementations do + not. + + The easiest method from our side would be to never + change the &man.tun.4; interface IP number, but instead to + change all outgoing packets so that the source IP number is + changed from the interface IP to the negotiated IP on the + fly. This is essentially what the + iface-alias option in the latest version + of &man.ppp.8; is doing (with the help of &man.libalias.3; + and &man.ppp.8;'s switch) — it + is maintaining all previous interface addresses and NATing + them to the last negotiated address. + + Another alternative (and probably the most reliable) + would be to implement a system call that changes all bound + sockets from one IP to another. &man.ppp.8; would use this + call to modify the sockets of all existing programs when a + new IP number is negotiated. The same system call could be + used by DHCP clients when they are forced + to call the bind() function for their + sockets. + + Yet another possibility is to allow an interface to be + brought up without an IP number. Outgoing packets would be + given an IP number of 255.255.255.255 up until the first + SIOCAIFADDR &man.ioctl.2; is done. This + would result in fully binding the socket. It would be up to + &man.ppp.8; to change the source IP number, but only if it + is set to 255.255.255.255, + and only the IP number and IP checksum would need to change. + This, however is a bit of a hack as the kernel would be + sending bad packets to an improperly configured interface, + on the assumption that some other mechanism is capable of + fixing things retrospectively. + - - How do I install a splash screen and where do I find - them? - - - - - &os; have a feature to allow the display of - splash screens during the boot - messages. The splash screens currently must be a 256 color - bitmap (*.BMP) or ZSoft PCX - (*.PCX) file. In addition, they must - have a resolution of 320x200 or less to work on standard - VGA adapters. If you compile VESA support into your - kernel, then you can use larger bitmaps up to 1024x768. - The actual VESA support can either be compiled directly - into the kernel with the VESA kernel - config option or by loading the VESA kld module during - bootup. - - To use a splash screen, you need to modify the startup - files that control the boot process for &os;. - - You need to create - a /boot/loader.rc file that contains - the following lines: - - include /boot/loader.4th -start + + Why do most games not work with the + switch? + - and a /boot/loader.conf that - contains the following: + + The reason games and the like do not work when + &man.libalias.3; is in use is that the machine on the outside + will try to open a connection or send (unsolicited) UDP + packets to the machine on the inside. The NAT software does + not know that it should send these packets to the interior + machine. + + To make things work, make sure that the only thing + running is the software that you are having problems with, + then either run &man.tcpdump.1; on the &man.tun.4; interface + of the gateway or enable &man.ppp.8; TCP/IP logging + (set log +tcp/ip) on the gateway. + + When you start the offending software, you should see + packets passing through the gateway machine. When something + comes back from the outside, it will be dropped (that is the + problem). Note the port number of these packets then shut + down the offending software. Do this a few times to see if + the port numbers are consistent. If they are, then the + following line in the relevant section of + /etc/ppp/ppp.conf will make the + software functional: + + nat port proto internalmachine:port port + + where proto is either + tcp or udp, + internalmachine is the machine + that you want the packets to be sent to and + port is the destination port + number of the packets. + + You will not be able to use the software on other + machines without changing the above command, and running the + software on two internal machines at the same time is out of + the question — after all, the outside world is seeing + your entire internal network as being just a single + machine. - splash_bmp_load="YES" -bitmap_load="YES" + If the port numbers are not consistent, there are three + more options: - This assumes you are using - /boot/splash.bmp for your splash - screen. If you would rather use a PCX file, copy it to - /boot/splash.pcx, create a - /boot/loader.rc as instructed above, - and create a /boot/loader.conf that - contains: + + + Submit support in &man.libalias.3;. Examples of + special cases can be found in + /usr/src/sys/netinet/libalias/alias_*.c + (alias_ftp.c is a good prototype). + This usually involves reading certain recognised + outgoing packets, identifying the instruction that tells + the outside machine to initiate a connection back to the + internal machine on a specific (random) port and setting + up a route in the alias table so that the + subsequent packets know where to go. + + This is the most difficult solution, but it is the + best and will make the software work with multiple + machines. + - splash_pcx_load="YES" -bitmap_load="YES" -bitmap_name="/boot/splash.pcx" + + Use a proxy. The application may support + socks5 for example, or (as in the + cvsup case) may have a + passive option that avoids ever + requesting that the peer open connections back to the + local machine. + - Now all you need is a splash screen. For that you can - surf on over to the gallery at - . - + + Redirect everything to the internal machine using + nat addr. This is the sledge-hammer + approach. + + + - - Can I use the Windows - keys on my keyboard in X? - - - - Yes. All you need to do is use &man.xmodmap.1; to define - what function you wish them to perform. - - Assuming all Windows keyboards - are standard then the keycodes for these three keys are the following: - - - - 115 — Windows key, between - the left-hand Ctrl and Alt keys - - - - 116 — Windows key, to the - right of the AltGr key - - - - 117 — Menu key, to the left of - the right-hand Ctrl key - - - - To have the left Windows key print a comma, - try this. - - &prompt.root; xmodmap -e "keycode 115 = comma" - - You will probably have to re-start your window manager - to see the result. - - To have the Windows - key-mappings enabled automatically every time you start X either - put the xmodmap commands in your - ~/.xinitrc file or, preferably, create a file - ~/.xmodmaprc and include the - xmodmap options, one per line, then add the - following line to your ~/.xinitrc: - - xmodmap $HOME/.xmodmaprc + + Has anybody made a list of useful port numbers? + - For example, you could map the 3 keys to be - F13, F14, and - F15, respectively. This would make it - easy to map them to useful functions within applications - or your window manager, as demonstrated further - down. + + Not yet, but this is intended to grow into such a list + (if any interest is shown). In each example, + internal should be replaced with + the IP number of the machine playing the game. - To do this put the following in - ~/.xmodmaprc. + + + Asheron's Call - keycode 115 = F13 -keycode 116 = F14 -keycode 117 = F15 + nat port udp + internal :65000 + 65000 + + Manually change the port number within the game to + 65000. If you have got a number of + machines that you wish to play on assign a unique port + number for each (i.e. 65001, + 65002, etc) and add a nat + port line for each one. + - If you use the x11-wm/fvwm2 port, for example, you - could map the keys so that F13 iconifies - (or de-iconifies) the window the cursor is in, - F14 brings the window the cursor is in to - the front or, if it is already at the front, pushes it to - the back, and F15 pops up the main - Workplace (application) menu even if the cursor is not on - the desktop, which is useful if you do not have any part - of the desktop visible (and the logo on the key matches - its functionality). - - The following entries in - ~/.fvwmrc implement the - aforementioned setup: + + Half Life - Key F13 FTIWS A Iconify -Key F14 FTIWS A RaiseLower -Key F15 A A Menu Workplace Nop - - + nat port udp + internal:27005 + 27015 + - - - How can I get 3D hardware acceleration for - &opengl;? - + + PCAnywhere 8.0 - - The availability of 3D acceleration depends on the - version of &xorg; that you are using and the type of video chip - you have. If you have an nVidia chip, you can use the binary - drivers provided for &os; by installing one of the following - ports: + nat port udp + internal:5632 + 5632 + + nat port tcp + internal:5631 + 5631 + - - The latest versions of nVidia cards are supported by the - x11/nvidia-driver port. + Quake + + nat port udp + internal:6112 + 6112 + - nVidia cards like the GeForce2 MX/3/4 series are - supported by the 96XX series of drivers, available in - the x11/nvidia-driver-96xx - port. + Quake 2 + + nat port udp + internal:27901 + 27910 + + nat port udp + internal:60021 + 60021 + + nat port udp + internal:60040 + 60040 + - Even older cards, like GeForce and RIVA TNT are - supported by the 71XX series of drivers, available in - the x11/nvidia-driver-71xx - port. + Red Alert + + nat port udp + internal:8675 + 8675 + + nat port udp + internal:5009 + 5009 + + - In fact, nVidia provides detailed information on which - card is supported by which driver. This information is - available directly on their web site: . + + + What are FCS errors? + - For Matrox G200/G400, you should check the x11-servers/mga_hal port. + + FCS stands for Frame + Check Sequence. Each + PPP packet has a checksum attached to ensure that the data + being received is the data being sent. If the FCS of an + incoming packet is incorrect, the packet is dropped and the + HDLC FCS count is increased. The HDLC error values can be + displayed using the show hdlc + command. + + If your link is bad (or if your serial driver is + dropping packets), you will see the occasional FCS error. + This is not usually worth worrying about although it does + slow down the compression protocols substantially. If you + have an external modem, make sure your cable is properly + shielded from interference - this may eradicate the + problem. + + If your link freezes as soon as you have connected and + you see a large number of FCS errors, this may be because your + link is not 8-bit clean. Make sure your modem is not using + software flow control (XON/XOFF). If your datalink + must use software flow control, use the + command set accmap 0x000a0000 to tell + &man.ppp.8; to escape the ^Q and + ^S characters. + + Another reason for seeing too many FCS errors may be + that the remote end has stopped talking + PPP. You may want to enable + async logging at this point to determine + if the incoming data is actually a login or shell prompt. + If you have a shell prompt at the remote end, it is possible + to terminate &man.ppp.8; without dropping the line by using + the close lcp command (a following + term command) will reconnect you to the + shell on the remote machine. + + If nothing in your log file indicates why the link might + have been terminated, you should ask the remote + administrator (your ISP?) why the session was + terminated. + + - For ATI Rage 128 and Radeon, see the - &man.ati.4x;, &man.r128.4x; and &man.radeon.4x; manual - pages. + + + Why do &macos; and &windows; 98 connections freeze + when running PPPoE on the gateway? + - For 3dfx Voodoo 3, 4, 5, and Banshee cards, there - is a x11-servers/driglide port. - - + + Thanks to Michael Wozniak + mwozniak@netcom.ca for figuring this out and + Dan Flemming danflemming@mac.com for the Mac + solution: + + This is due to what is called a Black + Hole router. &macos; and &windows; 98 (and maybe + other µsoft; OSs) send TCP packets with a requested + segment size too big to fit into a PPPoE frame (MTU is + 1500 by default for Ethernet) + and have the do not + fragment bit set (default of TCP) and the Telco + router is not sending ICMP must fragment back + to the WWW site you are trying to load. (Alternatively, the + router is sending the ICMP packet correctly, but the + firewall at the WWW site is dropping it.) When the www + server is sending you frames that do not fit into the PPPoE + pipe the Telco router drops them on the floor and your page + does not load (some pages/graphics do as they are smaller + than a MSS.) This seems to be the default of most Telco + PPPoE configurations. + + One fix is to use regedit on + your 95/98 system to add the following registry entry: + + HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\NetTrans\0000\MaxMTU + + It should be a string with a value + 1436, as some ADSL routers are reported + to be unable to deal with packets larger than this. This + registry key has been changed to + Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\ID for + adapter\MTU in &windows; 2000 + and becomes a DWORD. + + Refer to the Microsoft Knowledge Base documents Q158474 - Windows TCPIP Registry Entries + and Q120642 - TCPIP & NBT Configuration Parameters for &windowsnt; + for more information on changing &windows; MTU to work with + a NAT router. + + Another regedit possibility under &windows; 2000 to + set the Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\ID + for adapter\EnablePMTUBHDetect + DWORD to 1 as + mentioned in the Microsoft document 120642 mentioned + above. + + Unfortunately, &macos; does not provide an interface for + changing TCP/IP settings. However, there many commercial + software available that will allow users to customize TCP/IP + settings. &macos; NAT users should search for their MTU + settings and enter 1450 instead of + 1500. + + The &man.ppp.8; has an enable + tcpmssfixup command that will automatically adjust + the MSS to an appropriate value. This facility is enabled + by default. If you are stuck with an older version of + &man.ppp.8;, you may want to look at the net/tcpmssd port. + + + + + + None of this helps — I am desperate! What can I + do? + + + + If all else fails, send as much information as you can, + including your config files, how you are starting + &man.ppp.8;, the relevant parts of your log file and the + output of the netstat -rn command (before + and after connecting) to the &a.questions; or the comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc + news group, and someone should point you in the right + direction. + + - - Networking + + Serial Communications + + This section answers common questions about serial + communications with &os;. PPP and SLIP are covered in the Networking section. - - Where can I get information on - diskless booting? - - - - Diskless booting means that the &os; - box is booted over a network, and reads the necessary files - from a server instead of its hard disk. For full details, - please read the - Handbook entry on diskless booting - + + How do I tell if &os; found my serial ports? + + + + As the &os; kernel boots, it will probe for the serial + ports in your system for which the kernel was configured. + You can either watch your system closely for the messages it + prints or run this command after your system is up and + running: + + &prompt.user; dmesg | grep -E "^sio[0-9]" + + Here is some example output from the above + command: + + sio0: <16550A-compatible COM port> port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on acpi0 +sio0: type 16550A +sio1: <16550A-compatible COM port> port 0x2f8-0x2ff irq 3 on acpi0 +sio1: type 16550A + + This shows two serial ports. The first is on + IRQ 4, is using port address 0x3f8, + and has a 16550A-type UART chip. The second uses the same + kind of chip but is on IRQ 3 and is at port address + 0x2f8. Internal modem cards are treated + just like serial ports — except that they always have + a modem attached to the port. + + The GENERIC kernel includes support + for two serial ports using the same IRQ and port address + settings in the above example. If these settings are not + right for your system, or if you have added modem cards or + have more serial ports than your kernel is configured for, + just reconfigure your kernel. See section about building a kernel for + more details. + - - Can a &os; box be used as a dedicated network - router? - - - - Yes. Please see the Handbook entry on advanced - networking, specifically the section on routing - and gateways. - + + How do I tell if &os; found my modem cards? + + + + Refer to the answer to the previous question. + - - Can I connect my &windows; box to the Internet via - &os;? - - - - Typically, people who ask this question have two PCs - at home, one with &os; and one with some version of - &windows; the idea is to use the &os; box to connect to - the Internet and then be able to access the Internet from - the &windows; box through the &os; box. This is really - just a special case of the previous question and works - perfectly well. + + How do I access the serial ports on &os;? + - If you are using dialup to connect to the Internet - user-mode &man.ppp.8; contains a - option. If you run &man.ppp.8; with the - option, set - gateway_enable to - YES in - /etc/rc.conf, and configure your - &windows; machine correctly, this should work fine. For more - information, please see the &man.ppp.8; manual page or the - Handbook entry on - user PPP. - - If you are using kernel-mode PPP or have an Ethernet - connection to the Internet, you need to use - &man.natd.8;. Please look at the natd section - of the Handbook for a tutorial. - + + The third serial port, sio2 + (see &man.sio.4;, known as COM3 in + DOS), is on /dev/cuad2 for dial-out + devices, and on /dev/ttyd2 for + dial-in devices. What is the difference between these two + classes of devices? + + You use + ttydX + for dial-ins. When opening + /dev/ttydX + in blocking mode, a process will wait for the corresponding + cuadX + device to become inactive, and then wait for the carrier + detect line to go active. When you open the + cuadX + device, it makes sure the serial port is not already in use + by the + ttydX + device. If the port is available, it steals + it from the + ttydX + device. Also, the + cuadX + device does not care about carrier detect. With this scheme + and an auto-answer modem, you can have remote users log in + and you can still dial out with the same modem and the + system will take care of all the conflicts. + + + + + + How do I enable support for a multiport serial + card? + + + + Again, the section on kernel configuration provides + information about configuring your kernel. For a multiport + serial card, place an &man.sio.4; line for each serial port + on the card in the &man.device.hints.5; file. But place the + IRQ specifiers on only one of the entries. All of the ports + on the card should share one IRQ. For consistency, use the + last serial port to specify the IRQ. Also, specify the + following option in the kernel configuration file: + + options COM_MULTIPORT + + The following /boot/device.hints + example is for an AST 4-port serial card on + IRQ 12: + + hint.sio.4.at="isa" +hint.sio.4.port="0x2a0" +hint.sio.4.flags="0x701" +hint.sio.5.at="isa" +hint.sio.5.port="0x2a8" +hint.sio.5.flags="0x701" +hint.sio.6.at="isa" +hint.sio.6.port="0x2b0" +hint.sio.6.flags="0x701" +hint.sio.7.at="isa" +hint.sio.7.port="0x2b8" +hint.sio.7.flags="0x701" +hint.sio.7.irq="12" + + The flags indicate that the master port has minor number + 7 (0x700), and all the + ports share an IRQ (0x001). + - - Does &os; support SLIP and PPP? - - - - Yes. See the manual pages for &man.slattach.8;, - &man.sliplogin.8;, &man.ppp.8;, and &man.pppd.8;. &man.ppp.8; - and &man.pppd.8; provide support for both incoming and outgoing - connections, while &man.sliplogin.8; deals exclusively with - incoming connections, and &man.slattach.8; deals exclusively - with outgoing connections. - - For more information on how to use these, please see the - Handbook chapter on - PPP and SLIP. - - If you only have access to the Internet through a - shell account, you may want to have a look - at the net/slirp - package. It can provide you with (limited) access to - services such as ftp and http direct from your local - machine. - + + Can &os; handle multiport serial cards sharing + IRQs? + + + + Not yet. You will have to use a different IRQ for each + card. + - - Does &os; support NAT or Masquerading? - - - - Yes. If you want to use NAT over a user PPP - connection, please see the Handbook entry on user - PPP. If you want to use NAT over some other sort - of network connection, please look at the natd section - of the Handbook. - + + Can I set the default serial parameters for a + port? + + + + See the Serial Communications + section in the &os; Handbook. + - - How do I connect two &os; systems over a parallel line - using PLIP? - + + How can I enable dialup logins on my modem? + - - Please see the PLIP - section of the Handbook. - + + Please read the section about Dial-in Services + in the &os; Handbook. + - - How can I set up Ethernet aliases? - + + How can I connect a dumb terminal to my &os; box? + - If the alias is on the same subnet as an address - already configured on the interface, then add - netmask 0xffffffff to your - &man.ifconfig.8; command-line, as in the following: + You can find this information in the Terminals + section of the &os; Handbook. + + - &prompt.root; ifconfig ed0 alias 192.0.2.2 netmask 0xffffffff + + + Why can I not run tip or + cu? + - Otherwise, just specify the network address and - netmask as usual: + + On your system, the programs &man.tip.1; and &man.cu.1; + can only access the /var/spool/lock + directory via user uucp and group + dialer. You can use the group + dialer to control who has access to + your modem or remote systems. Just add yourself to group + dialer. - &prompt.root; ifconfig ed0 alias 172.16.141.5 netmask 0xffffff00 + Alternatively, you can let everyone on your system run + &man.tip.1; and &man.cu.1; by typing: - You can read more about this in the &os; Handbook. - + &prompt.root; chmod 4511 /usr/bin/cu +&prompt.root; chmod 4511 /usr/bin/tip + - - How do I get my 3C503 to use the other network - port? - + + My stock Hayes modem is not supported — what can I + do? + - - If you want to use the other ports, you will have to specify - an additional parameter on the - &man.ifconfig.8; command line. The default port is - link0. To use the AUI port instead of the - BNC one, use link2. These flags should be - specified using the ifconfig_* variables in - /etc/rc.conf (see &man.rc.conf.5;). - + + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. + - - Why am I having trouble with NFS and &os;? - - - - Certain PC network cards are better than others (to put - it mildly) and can sometimes cause problems with network - intensive applications like NFS. + + How am I expected to enter these AT commands? + - See - the Handbook entry on NFS for more information on - this topic. - + + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. + - - Why can I not NFS-mount from a &linux; box? - - - - Some versions of the &linux; NFS code only accept mount - requests from a privileged port; try to issue the following command: + + Why does the @ sign for the + pn capability not + work? + - &prompt.root; mount -o -P linuxbox:/blah /mnt - + + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. + - - Why can I not NFS-mount from a &sun; box? - - - - &sun; workstations running &sunos; 4.X only accept mount - requests from a privileged port; try the following command: + + How can I dial a phone number on the command + line? + - &prompt.root; mount -o -P sunbox:/blah /mnt - + + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. + - - Why does mountd keep telling me it - can't change attributes and that I have a - bad exports list on my &os; NFS - server? - + + Do I have to type in the bps rate every time I do + that? + - - The most frequent problem is not understanding the - correct format of /etc/exports. - Please review &man.exports.5; and the NFS entry in the - Handbook, especially the section on configuring - NFS. - + + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. + - - Why am I having problems talking PPP to NeXTStep - machines? - - - - - Try disabling the TCP extensions in - /etc/rc.conf (see &man.rc.conf.5;) by - changing the following variable to NO: - - tcp_extensions=NO + + How can I more easily access a number of hosts through a + terminal server? + - Xylogic's Annex boxes are also broken in this regard - and you must use the above change to connect through - them. - + + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. + - - How do I enable IP multicast support? - - - - &os; supports multicast host operations by - default. If you want your box to run as a multicast - router, you need to recompile your kernel with the - MROUTING option and run - &man.mrouted.8;. &os; will start &man.mrouted.8; at - boot time if the flag mrouted_enable is - set to YES in - /etc/rc.conf. - - - In recent &os; releases, the &man.mrouted.8; - multicast routing daemon, the &man.map-mbone.8; and - &man.mrinfo.8; utilities have been removed from the base - system. These programs are now available in the &os; - Ports Collection as net/mrouted. - - - MBONE tools are available in their own ports category, - mbone. - If you are looking for the conference tools - vic and vat, look - there! - - - - - - Which network cards are based on the DEC PCI - chipset? - - - Here is a list compiled by Glen Foster - gfoster@driver.nsta.org, - with some more modern additions: - - - Network cards based on the DEC PCI chipset - - - - - Vendor - Model - - - - - - ASUS - PCI-L101-TB - - - Accton - ENI1203 - - - Cogent - EM960PCI - - - Compex - ENET32-PCI - - - D-Link - DE-530 - - - Dayna - DP1203, DP2100 - - - DEC - DE435, DE450 - - - Danpex - EN-9400P3 - - - JCIS - Condor JC1260 - - - Linksys - EtherPCI - - - Mylex - LNP101 - - - SMC - EtherPower 10/100 (Model 9332) - - - SMC - EtherPower (Model 8432) - - - TopWare - TE-3500P - - - Znyx (2.2.x) - ZX312, ZX314, ZX342, ZX345, ZX346, ZX348 - - - Znyx (3.x) - ZX345Q, ZX346Q, ZX348Q, ZX412Q, ZX414, ZX442, ZX444, - ZX474, ZX478, ZX212, ZX214 (10mbps/hd) - - - -
- - - - - - Why do I have to use the FQDN for hosts on my - site? - + + Can tip try more than one line for each site? + - - See the answer in the &os; Handbook. - + + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. + - - Why do I get an error, Permission - denied, for all networking operations? - - - - If you have compiled your kernel with the - IPFIREWALL option, you need to be aware - that the default policy is to deny all packets that are - not explicitly allowed. - - If you had unintentionally misconfigured your system - for firewalling, you can restore network operability by - typing the following while logged in as - root: - - &prompt.root; ipfw add 65534 allow all from any to any - - You can also set - firewall_type="open" in - /etc/rc.conf. - - For further information on configuring a &os; - firewall, see the - Handbook chapter. - - - - - - Why is my ipfw fwd rule - to redirect a service to another machine not working? - - - - Possibly because you want to do network address translation - (NAT) and not just forward packets. A fwd rule - does exactly what it says; it forwards packets. It does not - actually change the data inside the packet. Say we have a rule - like: - - 01000 fwd 10.0.0.1 from any to foo 21 - - When a packet with a destination address of - foo arrives at the machine with this - rule, the packet is forwarded to - 10.0.0.1, but it still has the - destination address of foo! The - destination address of the packet is not - changed to 10.0.0.1. Most machines - would probably drop a packet that they receive with a - destination address that is not their own. Therefore, using a - fwd rule does not often work the way the user - expects. This behavior is a feature and not a bug. - - See the FAQ about - redirecting services, the &man.natd.8; manual, or one of - the several port redirecting utilities in the Ports Collection for a correct way to do - this. - - - - - - How can I redirect service requests from one machine to - another? - - - - You can redirect FTP (and other service) request with - the sysutils/socket port. - Simply replace the - service's command line to call socket instead, like so: - - ftp stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/local/bin/socket socket ftp.example.com ftp - - where ftp.example.com and - ftp are the host and port to - redirect to, respectively. - - - - - - Where can I get a bandwidth management tool? - - - - There are three bandwidth management tools available - for &os;. &man.dummynet.4; is integrated into &os; - as part of &man.ipfw.4;. ALTQ - has been - integrated into &os; as part of &man.pf.4;. - Bandwidth Manager from Emerging Technologies - is a commercial product. - - + + Why do I have to hit CtrlP + twice to send CtrlP + once? + - - - Why do I get /dev/bpf0: device not - configured? - - - - You are running a program that requires the Berkeley - Packet Filter (&man.bpf.4;), but it is not in your kernel. - Add this to your kernel config file and build a new - kernel: - - device bpf # Berkeley Packet Filter - - - - - - How do I mount a disk from a &windows; machine that is on my - network, like smbmount in &linux;? - - - - Use the SMBFS toolset. It - includes a set of kernel modifications and a set of - userland programs. The programs and information are - available as &man.mount.smbfs.8; in the base system. - - - - - - What are these messages about: Limiting icmp/open port/closed port - response in my log - files? - - - - This is the kernel telling you that some activity is - provoking it to send more ICMP or TCP reset (RST) - responses than it thinks it should. ICMP responses are - often generated as a result of attempted connections to - unused UDP ports. TCP resets are generated as a result of - attempted connections to unopened TCP ports. Among - others, these are the kinds of activities which may cause - these messages: - - - - Brute-force denial of service (DoS) attacks (as - opposed to single-packet attacks which exploit a - specific vulnerability). - - - - Port scans which attempt to connect to a large - number of ports (as opposed to only trying a few - well-known ports). - - - - The first number in the message tells you how many - packets the kernel would have sent if the limit was not in - place, and the second number tells you the limit. You can - control the limit using the - net.inet.icmp.icmplim sysctl variable - like this, where 300 is the limit in - packets per second: - - &prompt.root; sysctl -w net.inet.icmp.icmplim=300 - - If you do not want to see messages about this in your - log files, but you still want the kernel to do response - limiting, you can use the - net.inet.icmp.icmplim_output sysctl - variable to disable the output like this: - - &prompt.root; sysctl -w net.inet.icmp.icmplim_output=0 - - Finally, if you want to disable response limiting, you - can set the net.inet.icmp.icmplim - sysctl variable (see above for an example) to - 0. Disabling response limiting is - discouraged for the reasons listed above. - - - - - - What are these arp: unknown hardware - address format error messages? - - - - This means that some device on your local Ethernet is - using a MAC address in a format that &os; does not - recognize. This is probably caused by someone - experimenting with an Ethernet card somewhere else on the - network. You will see this most commonly on cable modem - networks. It is harmless, and should not affect the - performance of your &os; machine. - + + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. + - - Why do I keep seeing messages like: 192.168.0.10 is on - fxp1 but got reply from 00:15:17:67:cf:82 on rl0, and how do I - disable it? + + Why is everything I type suddenly in UPPER CASE? - Because a packet is coming from outside the network - unexpectedly. To disable them, set - net.link.ether.inet.log_arp_wrong_iface - to 0. + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. - - I have just installed CVSup but trying to execute it - produces errors. What is wrong? + + How can I do file transfers with + tip? - First, see if the error message you are receiving is - like the one shown below. - - /usr/libexec/ld-elf.so.1: Shared object "libXaw.so.6" not found - - Errors like these are caused by installing the - net/cvsup port on a - machine which does not have the - &xorg; suite. If you want to - use the GUI included with - CVSup you will need to install - &xorg; now. Alternatively if - you just wish to use CVSup from - a command line you should delete the package previously - installed. Then install the net/cvsup-without-gui or the - net/csup port. If you - have a recent &os; release you may use &man.csup.1;. This - is covered in more detail in the CVSup - section of the Handbook. + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. - - - - Security - - - What is a sandbox? - - - Sandbox is a security term. It can - mean two things: - - - - - A process which is placed inside a set of virtual - walls that are designed to prevent someone who breaks - into the process from being able to break into the wider - system. - - The process is said to be able to - play inside the walls. That is, - nothing the process does in regards to executing code is - supposed to be able to breech the walls so you do not - have to do a detailed audit of its code to be able to - say certain things about its security. - - The walls might be a user ID, for example. This is - the definition used in the &man.security.7; and &man.named.8; man - pages. - - Take the ntalk service, for - example (see &man.inetd.8;). This service used to run - as user ID root. Now it runs as user ID - tty. The tty user - is a sandbox designed to make it more difficult for - someone who has successfully hacked into the system via - ntalk from being able to hack beyond that user ID. - - - - - A process which is placed inside a simulation of the - machine. This is more hard-core. Basically it means that - someone who is able to break into the process may believe - that he can break into the wider machine but is, in fact, - only breaking into a simulation of that machine and not - modifying any real data. - - The most common way to accomplish this is to build a - simulated environment in a subdirectory and then run the - processes in that directory chroot'd (i.e. - / for that process is this - directory, not the real / of the - system). - - Another common use is to mount an underlying - file system read-only and then create a file system layer - on top of it that gives a process a seemingly writeable - view into that file system. The process may believe it is - able to write to those files, but only the process sees - the effects — other processes in the system do not, - necessarily. - - An attempt is made to make this sort of sandbox so - transparent that the user (or hacker) does not realize - that he is sitting in it. - - - - &unix; implements two core sandboxes. One is at the - process level, and one is at the userid level. - - Every &unix; process is completely firewalled off from every - other &unix; process. One process cannot modify the address - space of another. This is unlike &windows; where a process - can easily overwrite the address space of any other, leading - to a crash. - - A &unix; process is owned by a particular userid. If - the user ID is not the root user, it - serves to firewall the process off from processes owned by - other users. The user ID is also used to firewall off - on-disk data. - - - - - - What is securelevel? - - - - The securelevel is a security mechanism implemented in the - kernel. Basically, when the securelevel is positive, the - kernel restricts certain tasks; not even the superuser (i.e., - root) is allowed to do them. At the time - of this writing, the securelevel mechanism is capable of, among - other things, limiting the ability to: - - - - Unset certain file flags, such as - schg (the system immutable flag). - - - - Write to kernel memory via - /dev/mem and - /dev/kmem. - - - - Load kernel modules. - - - - Alter firewall rules. - - - - To check the status of the securelevel on a running system, - simply execute the following command: - - &prompt.root; sysctl kern.securelevel - - The output will contain the name of the &man.sysctl.8; - variable (in this case, kern.securelevel) - and a number. The latter is the current value of the - securelevel. If it is positive (i.e., greater than 0), at - least some of the securelevel's protections are enabled. - - You cannot lower the securelevel of a running system; being - able to do that would defeat its purpose. If you need to do a - task that requires that the securelevel be non-positive (e.g., - an installworld or changing the date), - you will have to change the securelevel setting in - /etc/rc.conf (you want to look for the - kern_securelevel and - kern_securelevel_enable variables) and - reboot. - - For more information on securelevel and the specific things - all the levels do, please consult the &man.init.8; manual - page. - - - Securelevel is not a silver bullet; it has many known - deficiencies. More often than not, it provides a false - sense of security. - - One of its biggest problems is that in order for it to - be at all effective, all files used in the boot process up - until the securelevel is set must be protected. If an - attacker can get the system to execute their code prior to - the securelevel being set (which happens quite late in the - boot process since some things the system must do at - start-up cannot be done at an elevated securelevel), its - protections are invalidated. While this task of protecting - all files used in the boot process is not technically - impossible, if it is achieved, system maintenance will - become a nightmare since one would have to take the system - down, at least to single-user mode, to modify a - configuration file. - - This point and others are often discussed on the - mailing lists, particularly the &a.security;. Please search - the archives here for an - extensive discussion. Some people are hopeful that - securelevel will soon go away in favor of a more - fine-grained mechanism, but things are still hazy in this - respect. - - Consider yourself warned. - - - - - - - BIND (named) is listening on port 53 and - some other high-numbered port. What is going on? + + How can I run zmodem with + tip? - BIND uses a random high-numbered port for outgoing - queries. If you want to use port 53 for outgoing queries, - either to get past a firewall or to make yourself feel - better, you can try the following in - /etc/namedb/named.conf: - - options { - query-source address * port 53; -}; - - You can replace the * with a single IP - address if you want to tighten things further. - - Congratulations, by the way. It is good practice to read - your &man.sockstat.1; output and notice odd - things! + See this answer + in the &os; Handbook. - - - - The sendmail daemon is listening on port 587 as well as the - standard port 25! What is going on? - - - - Recent versions of sendmail support a - mail submission feature that runs over port 587. This is - not yet widely supported, but is growing in - popularity. - - - - - - What is this UID 0 toor account? Have I - been compromised? - - - - Do not worry. toor is an - alternative superuser account (toor is root - spelt backwards). Previously it was created when the - &man.bash.1; shell was installed but now it is created by - default. It is intended to be used with a non-standard shell so - you do not have to change root's default - shell. This is important as shells which are not part of the - base distribution (for example a shell installed from ports or - packages) are likely to be installed in - /usr/local/bin which, by default, resides - on a different file system. If root's shell - is located in /usr/local/bin and - /usr (or whatever file system contains - /usr/local/bin) is not mounted for some - reason, root will not be able to log in to - fix a problem (although if you reboot into single user mode - you will be prompted for the path to a shell). - - Some people use toor for - day-to-day root tasks with a - non-standard shell, leaving root, - with a standard shell, for single user mode or - emergencies. By default you cannot log in using - toor as it does not have a password, - so log in as root and set a password - for toor if you want to use - it. - - - - - - Why is suidperl not working - properly? - - - - For security reasons, suidperl is - not installed by default. If you want suidperl to be built - during upgrades from source, edit - /etc/make.conf and add - ENABLE_SUIDPERL=true before you build - perl. - - - - PPP + + Miscellaneous Questions - - I cannot make &man.ppp.8; work. What am I doing wrong? - - - - You should first read the &man.ppp.8; manual page and - the - PPP section of the handbook. Enable logging with - the following command: - - set log Phase Chat Connect Carrier lcp ipcp ccp command - - This command may be typed at the &man.ppp.8; command - prompt or it may be entered in the - /etc/ppp/ppp.conf configuration file - (the start of the default section is - the best place to put it). Make sure that - /etc/syslog.conf (see - &man.syslog.conf.5;) contains the lines below and the file - /var/log/ppp.log exists: - - !ppp -*.* /var/log/ppp.log + + &os; uses far more swap space than &linux;. Why? + - You can now find out a lot about what is going on - from the log file. Do not worry if it does not all make sense. - If you need to get help from someone, it may make sense to - them. - + + &os; only appears to use more swap than &linux;. In + actual fact, it does not. The main difference between &os; + and &linux; in this regard is that &os; will proactively + move entirely idle, unused pages of main memory into swap in + order to make more main memory available for active use. + &linux; tends to only move pages to swap as a last resort. + The perceived heavier use of swap is balanced by the more + efficient use of main memory. + + Note that while &os; is proactive in this regard, it + does not arbitrarily decide to swap pages when the system is + truly idle. Thus you will not find your system all paged + out when you get up in the morning after leaving it idle + overnight. + - - Why does &man.ppp.8; hang when I run it? - - - - This is usually because your hostname will not resolve. - The best way to fix this is to make sure that - /etc/hosts is consulted by your - resolver first by editing /etc/host.conf - and putting the hosts line first. Then, - simply put an entry in /etc/hosts for - your local machine. If you have no local network, change your - localhost line: - - 127.0.0.1 foo.example.com foo localhost - - Otherwise, simply add another entry for your host. - Consult the relevant manual pages for more details. + + Why does top show very little free + memory even when I have very few programs running? + - You should be able to successfully ping -c1 - `hostname` when you are done. - + + The simple answer is that free memory is wasted memory. + Any memory that your programs do not actively allocate is + used within the &os; kernel as disk cache. The values shown + by &man.top.1; labeled as Inact, + Cache, and Buf are all + cached data at different aging levels. This cached data + means the system does not have to access a slow disk again + for data it has accessed recently, thus increasing overall + performance. In general, a low value shown for + Free memory in &man.top.1; is good, + provided it is not very low. + - - Why will &man.ppp.8; not dial in -auto - mode? - + + Why will chmod not change the + permissions on symlinks? + - - First, check that you have got a default route. By - running netstat -rn (see - &man.netstat.1;), you should see two entries like - this: + + Symlinks do not have permissions, and by default, + &man.chmod.1; will not follow symlinks to change the + permissions on the target file. So if you have a file, + foo, and a symlink to that file, + bar, then this command will always + succeed. + + &prompt.user; chmod g-w bar + + However, the permissions on foo + will not have changed. + + You have to use either or + together with the + option to make this work. See the &man.chmod.1; and + &man.symlink.7; manual pages for more info. + + + The option does a + recursive &man.chmod.1;. Be careful + about specifying directories or symlinks to directories to + &man.chmod.1;. If you want to change the permissions of a + directory referenced by a symlink, use &man.chmod.1; + without any options and follow the symlink with a trailing + slash (/). For example, if + foo is a symlink to directory + bar, and you want to change the + permissions of foo (actually + bar), you would do something + like: + + &prompt.user; chmod 555 foo/ + + With the trailing slash, &man.chmod.1; will follow the + symlink, foo, to change the + permissions of the directory, + bar. + + + - Destination Gateway Flags Refs Use Netif Expire -default 10.0.0.2 UGSc 0 0 tun0 -10.0.0.2 10.0.0.1 UH 0 0 tun0 + + + Can I run DOS binaries under &os;? + - This is assuming that you have used the addresses from the - handbook, the manual page, or from the ppp.conf.sample file. - If you do not have a default route, it may be because you - forgot to add the HISADDR line - to the ppp.conf file. + + Yes, you can use emulators/doscmd, a DOS + emulation program, available in the &os; Ports + Collection. - Another reason for the default route line being - missing is that you have mistakenly set up a default - router in your /etc/rc.conf (see - &man.rc.conf.5;) file - and you have omitted the line below from ppp.conf: + If doscmd will not suffice, + the add-on utility emulators/pcemu emulates an 8088 + and enough BIOS services to run many DOS text mode + applications. It requires the X Window System. + + You may also try emulators/dosbox from the &os; + Ports Collection. The main focus of this application is + emulating old DOS games using the local file system for + files. + + - delete ALL + + + What do I need to do to translate a &os; document into + my native language? + - If this is the - case, go back to the Final - System Configuration section of the - handbook. - + + See the Translation FAQ + in the &os; Documentation Project Primer. + - - What does No route to host mean? - + + Why does my email to any address at FreeBSD.org bounce? + - - This error is usually due that the following section is missing in your /etc/ppp/ppp.linkup file: + + The FreeBSD.org mail + system implements some of the stricter + Postfix checks on incoming mail + and rejects mail that is either misconfigured or is + potential spam. Your mail might bounce for one of the + following reasons: - MYADDR: - delete ALL - add 0 0 HISADDR + + + The email is being sent from a known spam domain or + IP block. - This is only necessary if you have a dynamic IP address - or do not know the address of your gateway. If you are using - interactive mode, you can type the following after entering - packet mode (packet mode is - indicated by the capitalized PPP in the - prompt): + The &os; mail servers reject email from known spam + sources. If you have service through a company or + domain who generates or relays spam, please switch to a + service provider who does not. + - delete ALL -add 0 0 HISADDR + + The body of the email only contains HTML. - Refer to the - PPP and Dynamic IP addresses section of the handbook - for further details. - - - - - - Why does my connection drop after about 3 minutes? - - - - The default PPP timeout is 3 minutes. This can be - adjusted with the following line: - - set timeout NNN - - where NNN is the number of - seconds of inactivity before the connection is closed. If - NNN is zero, the connection is never - closed due to a timeout. It is possible to put this command in - the ppp.conf file, or to type it at the - prompt in interactive mode. It is also possible to adjust it on - the fly while the line is active by connecting to - ppp's server socket using - &man.telnet.1; or &man.pppctl.8;. - Refer to the - &man.ppp.8; man - page for further details. - - - - - - Why does my connection drop under heavy load? - - - - If you have Link Quality Reporting (LQR) configured, - it is possible that too many LQR packets are lost between - your machine and the peer. The &man.ppp.8; program deduces that the line must - therefore be bad, and disconnects. Prior to &os; version - 2.2.5, LQR was enabled by default. It is now disabled by - default. LQR can be disabled with the following line: - - disable lqr - - - - - - Why does my connection drop after a random amount of - time? - - - - Sometimes, on a noisy phone line or even on a line with - call waiting enabled, your modem may hang up because it - thinks (incorrectly) that it lost carrier. - - There is a setting on most modems for determining how - tolerant it should be to temporary losses of carrier. On a - &usrobotics; &sportster; for example, this is measured by the S10 - register in tenths of a second. To make your modem more - forgiving, you could add the following send-expect sequence - to your dial string: - - set dial "...... ATS10=10 OK ......" - - Refer to your modem manual for details. - - - - - - Why does my connection hang after a random amount of - time? - - - Many people experience hung connections with no apparent - explanation. The first thing to establish is which side of - the link is hung. - - If you are using an external modem, you can simply try - using &man.ping.8; to see if the TD - light is flashing when you transmit data. If it flashes - (and the RD light does not), the - problem is with the remote end. If TD - does not flash, the problem is local. With an internal - modem, you will need to use the set - server command in your - ppp.conf file. When the hang occurs, - connect to &man.ppp.8; using &man.pppctl.8;. If your - network connection suddenly revives (PPP was revived due - to the activity on the diagnostic socket) or if you cannot - connect (assuming the set socket - command succeeded at startup time), the problem is - local. If you can connect and things are still hung, - enable local async logging with set log local - async and use &man.ping.8; from another window - or terminal to make use of the link. The async logging - will show you the data being transmitted and received on - the link. If data is going out and not coming back, the - problem is remote. + Mail should be sent in plain text only. Please + configure your mail user agent to send plain + text. + - Having established whether the problem is local or remote, - you now have two possibilities: + + The mailer at FreeBSD.org cannot resolve + the IP address of the connecting host back to a + symbolic name. + + Working reverse DNS is a standard requirement for + accepting mail from a host. Set up reverse DNS for your + mail server's IP address. Many home services (DSL, + cable, dialup, etc.) will not give you this option. In + this case, relay your email through your service + provider's mail server. + - - If the problem is remote, read on entry . + The hostname given in the EHLO/HELO part of the SMTP + exchange cannot be resolved to an IP address. + + A fully qualified, resolvable host name is necessary + in this part of the SMTP dialogue before mail will be + accepted. If you do not have a host name that is + registered in the DNS, then you should use your service + provider's mail server to relay your mail. - If the problem is local, read on entry . + Your message had a message ID ending with the string + localhost. + + Some mail user agents generate bad message IDs which + will not be accepted. You will need to persuade your mail + user agent to generate a valid message ID or else + configure your mail transfer agent to rewrite + them. - + - - The remote end is not responding. What can I do? - - - - There is very little you can do about this. Most ISPs - will refuse to help if you are not running a µsoft; OS. - You can enable lqr in your - ppp.conf file, allowing &man.ppp.8; to detect - the remote failure and hang up, but this detection is - relatively slow and therefore not that useful. You may want to - avoid telling your ISP that you are running user-PPP. - - First, try disabling all local compression by adding the - following to your configuration: - - disable pred1 deflate deflate24 protocomp acfcomp shortseq vj -deny pred1 deflate deflate24 protocomp acfcomp shortseq vj + + Where can I find a free &os; account? + - Then reconnect to ensure that this makes no difference. - If things improve or if the problem is solved completely, - determine which setting makes the difference through trial - and error. This will provide good ammunition when you contact - your ISP (although it may make it apparent that you are not - running a µsoft; product). - - Before contacting your ISP, enable async logging - locally and wait until the connection hangs again. This - may use up quite a bit of disk space. The last data read - from the port may be of interest. It is usually ASCII - data, and may even describe the problem (Memory - fault, Core dumped). - - If your ISP is helpful, they should be able to enable - logging on their end, then when the next link drop occurs, - they may be able to tell you why their side is having a - problem. Feel free to send the details to &a.brian;, or - even to ask your ISP to contact him directly. - + + While &os; does not provide open access to any of their + servers, others do provide open access &unix; systems. The + charge varies and limited services may be available. + + Arbornet, Inc, + also known as M-Net, has been providing + open access to &unix; systems since 1983. Starting on an + Altos running System III, the site switched to BSD/OS in + 1991. In June of 2000, the site switched again to &os;. + M-Net can be accessed via + telnet and + SSH and provides basic access to + the entire &os; software suite. However, network access is + limited to members and patrons who donate to the system, + which is run as a non-profit organization. + M-Net also provides an bulletin board + system and interactive chat. + + Grex provides + a site very similar to M-Net including + the same bulletin board and interactive chat software. + However, the machine is a &sun; 4M and is running + &sunos;. + - - &man.ppp.8; has hung. What can I do? - + + What is sup, and how do I use + it? + - Your best bet here is to rebuild &man.ppp.8; with - debugging information, and then use &man.gdb.1; to grab a stack - trace from the ppp process that is - stuck. To rebuild the ppp utility with - debugging information, you can type: - - &prompt.root; cd /usr/src/usr.sbin/ppp -&prompt.root; env DEBUG_FLAGS='-g' make clean -&prompt.root; env DEBUG_FLAGS='-g' make install - - Then you should restart ppp - and wait until it hangs again. When the debug build of - ppp hangs, start - gdb on the stuck process by - typing: - - &prompt.root; gdb ppp `pgrep ppp` - - At the gdb prompt, you can - use the bt or where - commands to get a stack trace. Save the output of your - gdb session, and - detach from the running process by the - quit command of - gdb. - - Finally, send the log of your - gdb session to &a.brian;. + SUP + stands for Software Update Protocol, and was developed by + CMU for keeping their development trees in sync. It was + used to keep remote sites in sync with the Project's central + development sources. + + SUP is not bandwidth friendly, and has been retired. + The current recommended method to keep your sources up to + date is CVSup + - - Why does nothing happen after the Login OK! - message? - - - - Prior to &os; version 2.2.5, once the link was - established, &man.ppp.8; would wait for the peer to - initiate the Line Control Protocol (LCP). Many ISPs will - not initiate negotiations and expect the client to do so. - To force &man.ppp.8; to initiate the LCP, use the - following line: - - set openmode active - - - It usually does no harm if both sides initiate - negotiation, so openmode is now active by default. - However, the next section explains when it - does do some harm. - - - - - - - I keep seeing errors about magic being the same. What does - it mean? - - - - Occasionally, just after connecting, you may see messages - in the log that say Magic is same. - Sometimes, these messages are harmless, and sometimes one side - or the other exits. Most PPP implementations cannot survive - this problem, and even if the link seems to come up, you will see - repeated configure requests and configure acknowledgments in - the log file until &man.ppp.8; eventually gives up and closes the - connection. - - This normally happens on server machines with slow - disks that are spawning a &man.getty.8; on the port, and executing - &man.ppp.8; from a login script or program after login. There - were reports of it happening consistently when - using slirp. The reason is that in the time taken between - &man.getty.8; exiting and &man.ppp.8; starting, the - client-side &man.ppp.8; starts sending Line Control - Protocol (LCP) packets. Because ECHO is still switched on - for the port on the server, the client &man.ppp.8; sees - these packets reflect back. - - One part of the LCP negotiation is to establish a - magic number for each side of the link so that - reflections can be detected. The protocol - says that when the peer tries to negotiate the same magic - number, a NAK should be sent and a new magic number should - be chosen. During the period that the server port has - ECHO turned on, the client &man.ppp.8; sends LCP packets, - sees the same magic in the reflected packet and NAKs - it. It also sees the NAK reflect (which also means - &man.ppp.8; must change its magic). This produces a - potentially enormous number of magic number changes, all - of which are happily piling into the server's tty - buffer. As soon as &man.ppp.8; starts on the server, it is - flooded with magic number changes and almost immediately - decides it has tried enough to negotiate LCP and gives - up. Meanwhile, the client, who no longer sees the - reflections, becomes happy just in time to see a hangup - from the server. - - This can be avoided by allowing the peer to start - negotiating with the following line in your ppp.conf - file: - - set openmode passive - - This tells &man.ppp.8; to wait for the server to initiate LCP - negotiations. Some servers however may never initiate - negotiations. If this is the case, you can do something - like: - - set openmode active 3 - - This tells &man.ppp.8; to be passive for 3 seconds, and then to - start sending LCP requests. If the peer starts sending - requests during this period, &man.ppp.8; will immediately respond - rather than waiting for the full 3 second period. - - - - - - LCP negotiations continue until the connection is - closed. What is wrong? - - - - There is currently an implementation mis-feature in - &man.ppp.8; where it does not associate - LCP, CCP & IPCP responses with their original requests. As - a result, if one PPP - implementation is more than 6 seconds slower than the other - side, the other side will send two additional LCP configuration - requests. This is fatal. - - Consider two implementations, - A and - B. A starts - sending LCP requests immediately after connecting and - B takes 7 seconds to start. When - B starts, A - has sent 3 LCP REQs. We are assuming the line has ECHO switched - off, otherwise we would see magic number problems as described in - the previous section. B sends a - REQ, then an ACK to the first of - A's REQs. This results in - A entering the OPENED - state and sending and ACK (the first) back to - B. In the meantime, - B sends back two more ACKs in response to - the two additional REQs sent by A - before B started up. - B then receives the first ACK from - A and enters the - OPENED state. - A receives the second ACK from - B and goes back to the - REQ-SENT state, sending another (forth) REQ - as per the RFC. It then receives the third ACK and enters the - OPENED state. In the meantime, - B receives the forth REQ from - A, resulting in it reverting to the - ACK-SENT state and sending - another (second) REQ and (forth) ACK as per the RFC. - A gets the REQ, goes into - REQ-SENT and sends another REQ. It - immediately receives the following ACK and enters - OPENED. - - This goes on until one side figures out that they are - getting nowhere and gives up. - - The best way to avoid this is to configure one side to be - passive — that is, make one side - wait for the other to start negotiating. This can be done - with the following command: - - set openmode passive - - Care should be taken with this option. You - should also use the this command to limit the amount - of time that &man.ppp.8; waits for the peer to begin - negotations: - - set stopped N - - Alternatively, the following command (where - N is the number of seconds - to wait before starting negotiations) can be used: - - set openmode active N - - Check the manual page for details. - - - - - - Why does &man.ppp.8; lock up when I shell out to test - it? - - - - When you execute the shell or - ! command, &man.ppp.8; executes a - shell (or if you have passed any arguments, - &man.ppp.8; will execute those arguments). The ppp program will - wait for the command to complete before continuing. If you - attempt to use the PPP link while running the command, the link - will appear to have frozen. This is because - &man.ppp.8; is waiting for the command to - complete. - - If you wish to execute commands like this, use the - !bg command instead. This will execute - the given command in the background, and &man.ppp.8; can - continue to service the link. - - - - - - Why does &man.ppp.8; over a null-modem cable never exit? - - - - There is no way for &man.ppp.8; to - automatically determine that a direct connection has been - dropped. This is due to the lines that are used in a - null-modem serial cable. When using this sort of connection, - LQR should always be enabled with the following line: - - enable lqr - - LQR is accepted by default if negotiated by the peer. - - - - - - Why does &man.ppp.8; dial for no reason in mode? - - - If &man.ppp.8; is dialing unexpectedly, you must - determine the cause, and set up Dial filters (dfilters) to - prevent such dialing. - - To determine the cause, use the following line: - - set log +tcp/ip - - This will log all traffic through the connection. The - next time the line comes up unexpectedly, you will see the - reason logged with a convenient timestamp next to - it. - - You can now disable dialing under these circumstances. - Usually, this sort of problem arises due to DNS lookups. - To prevent DNS lookups from establishing a connection - (this will not prevent &man.ppp.8; - from passing the packets through an established - connection), use the following: + + What is the cute little red guy's name? + - set dfilter 1 deny udp src eq 53 -set dfilter 2 deny udp dst eq 53 -set dfilter 3 permit 0/0 0/0 + + He does not have one, and is just called the BSD + daemon. If you insist upon using a name, call him + beastie. Note that beastie is + pronounced BSD. - This is not always suitable, as it will effectively - break your demand-dial capabilities — most programs will - need a DNS lookup before doing any other network related - things. - - In the DNS case, you should try to determine what is - actually trying to resolve a host name. A lot of the - time, &man.sendmail.8; is the culprit. You should make - sure that you tell sendmail not to do any DNS lookups in - its configuration file. See the section on using email with a - dialup connection in the &os; Handbook for - details on how to create your own configuration file and - what should go into it. You may also want to add the - following line to your .mc - file: - - define(`confDELIVERY_MODE', `d')dnl - - This will make sendmail queue everything until the - queue is run (usually, sendmail is invoked with - , telling it to run the queue - every 30 minutes) or until a sendmail - is done (perhaps from your ppp.linkup - file). - + You can learn more about the BSD daemon on his home page. + + - - What do these CCP errors mean? - - - - I keep seeing the following errors in my log file: - - CCP: CcpSendConfigReq -CCP: Received Terminate Ack (1) state = Req-Sent (6) - - This is because &man.ppp.8; is trying to negotiate Predictor1 - compression, and the peer does not want to negotiate any - compression at all. The messages are harmless, but if you - wish to remove them, you can disable Predictor1 compression - locally too: + + Can I use the BSD daemon image? + - disable pred1 - + + Perhaps. The BSD daemon is copyrighted by Marshall Kirk + McKusick. You will want to check his Statement on the Use of the BSD Daemon Figure + for detailed usage terms. + + In summary, you are free to use the image in a tasteful + manner, for personal use, so long as appropriate credit is + given. If you want to use him commercially, you must + contact &a.mckusick;. More details are available on the + BSD Daemon's home page. + + - - Why does &man.ppp.8; not log my connection speed? - - - - - In order to log all lines of your modem - conversation, you must enable the - following: - - set log +connect - - This will make &man.ppp.8; log - everything up until the last requested expect - string. - - If you wish to see your connect speed and are using PAP - or CHAP (and therefore do not have anything to - chat after the CONNECT in the dial script — no - set login script), you must make sure that - you instruct &man.ppp.8; to expect the whole CONNECT - line, something like this: - - set dial "ABORT BUSY ABORT NO\\sCARRIER TIMEOUT 4 \ - \"\" ATZ OK-ATZ-OK ATDT\\T TIMEOUT 60 CONNECT \\c \\n" - - Here, we get our CONNECT, send nothing, then expect a - line-feed, forcing &man.ppp.8; to read - the whole CONNECT response. + + Do you have any BSD daemon images I could use? + - + + You will find eps and Xfig drawings under + /usr/share/examples/BSD_daemon/. + - - Why does &man.ppp.8; ignore the \ character - in my chat script? - - - The ppp utility parses each line in your config files so that it can - interpret strings such as - set phone "123 456 789" correctly and - realize that the number is actually only - one argument. In order to specify a - " character, you must escape it - using a backslash (\). - - When the chat interpreter parses each argument, it - re-interprets the argument in order to find any special - escape sequences such as \P or - \T (see the manual page). As a result of this - double-parsing, you must remember to use the correct number of - escapes. - - If you wish to actually send a \ - character to (say) your modem, you would need something - like: - - set dial "\"\" ATZ OK-ATZ-OK AT\\\\X OK" - - It will result in the following sequence: - - ATZ -OK -AT\X -OK - - Or: - - set phone 1234567 -set dial "\"\" ATZ OK ATDT\\T" - - It will result in the following sequence: - - ATZ -OK -ATDT1234567 + + I have seen an acronym or other term on the mailing + lists and I do not understand what it means. Where should I + look? + - + + Please see the &os; Glossary. + + - - Why does &man.ppp.8; get a Segmentation fault, but I see no - ppp.core file? - - - - The ppp utility (or any other program for that matter) should - never dump core. Because &man.ppp.8; runs with an - effective user ID of 0, the operating system will not - write core image of &man.ppp.8; to disk before terminating - it. If, however &man.ppp.8; is actually terminating due - to a segmentation violation or some other signal that - normally causes core to be dumped, - and you are sure you are using the - latest version (see the start of this section), then you - should install the system sources and do the following: - - &prompt.root; cd /usr/src/usr.sbin/ppp -&prompt.root; echo STRIP= >> /etc/make.conf -&prompt.root; echo CFLAGS+= >> /etc/make.conf -&prompt.root; make install clean - - You will now have a debuggable version of &man.ppp.8; - installed. You will have to be root - to run &man.ppp.8; as all of its privileges have been - revoked. When you start &man.ppp.8;, take a careful note - of what your current directory was at the time. - - Now, if and when &man.ppp.8; receives the segmentation - violation, it will dump a core file called - ppp.core. You should then do the - following: - - &prompt.user; su -&prompt.root; gdb /usr/sbin/ppp ppp.core -(gdb) bt -..... -(gdb) f 0 -.... -(gdb) i args -.... -(gdb) l -..... - - All of this information should be given alongside your - question, making it possible to diagnose the problem. + + Why should I care what color the bikeshed is? + - If you are familiar with &man.gdb.1;, you may wish to find out some - other bits and pieces such as what actually caused the dump or - the addresses and values of the relevant variables. - - - - - - Why does the process that forces a dial in mode never - connect? - - - - This was a known problem with - &man.ppp.8; set up to negotiate a - dynamic local IP number with the peer in mode. It has - been fixed a long time ago — search the manual page for - iface. - - The problem was that when that initial program calls - &man.connect.2;, the IP number of the &man.tun.4; interface is assigned - to the socket endpoint. The kernel creates the first outgoing - packet and writes it to the &man.tun.4; device. - &man.ppp.8; then reads the packet and - establishes a connection. If, as a result of - &man.ppp.8;'s dynamic IP assignment, the - interface address is changed, the original socket endpoint will - be invalid. Any subsequent packets sent to the peer will - usually be dropped. Even if they are not, any responses will - not route back to the originating machine as the IP number is - no longer owned by that machine. - - There are several theoretical ways to approach this - problem. It would be nicest if the peer would re-assign the - same IP number if possible. - The current version of &man.ppp.8; does - this, but most other implementations do not. - - The easiest method from our side would be to never - change the &man.tun.4; interface IP number, but instead to change - all outgoing packets so that the source IP number is - changed from the interface IP to the negotiated IP on the - fly. This is essentially what the - iface-alias option in the latest - version of &man.ppp.8; is doing (with the help of - &man.libalias.3; and &man.ppp.8;'s - switch) — it is maintaining all previous interface - addresses and NATing them to the last negotiated - address. - - Another alternative (and probably the most reliable) would - be to implement a system call that changes all bound sockets - from one IP to another. &man.ppp.8; would - use this call to modify the sockets of all existing programs - when a new IP number is negotiated. The same system call could - be used by DHCP clients when they are forced to call the bind() function for their - sockets. - - Yet another possibility is to allow an interface to be - brought up without an IP number. Outgoing packets would be - given an IP number of 255.255.255.255 up until the first - SIOCAIFADDR &man.ioctl.2; is done. This would result in fully binding - the socket. It would be up to &man.ppp.8; - to change the source IP number, but only if it is set to - 255.255.255.255, and only the IP number and IP checksum would - need to change. This, however is a bit of a hack as the kernel - would be sending bad packets to an improperly configured - interface, on the assumption that some other mechanism is - capable of fixing things retrospectively. - - - - - - Why do most games not work with the switch? - - - - The reason games and the like do not work when &man.libalias.3; - is in use is that the machine on the outside will try to open a - connection or send (unsolicited) UDP packets to the machine on - the inside. The NAT software does not know that it should send - these packets to the interior machine. - - To make things work, make sure that the only thing - running is the software that you are having problems with, then - either run &man.tcpdump.1; on the &man.tun.4; interface of the gateway or - enable &man.ppp.8; TCP/IP logging (set log +tcp/ip) - on the gateway. - - When you start the offending software, you should see - packets passing through the gateway machine. When - something comes back from the outside, it will be dropped - (that is the problem). Note the port number of these - packets then shut down the offending software. Do this a - few times to see if the port numbers are consistent. If - they are, then the following line in the relevant section - of /etc/ppp/ppp.conf will make the - software functional: - - nat port proto internalmachine:port port - - where proto is either - tcp or udp, - internalmachine is the machine that - you want the packets to be sent to and - port is the destination port number - of the packets. - - You will not be able to use the software on other machines - without changing the above command, and running the software - on two internal machines at the same time is out of the question - — after all, the outside world is seeing your entire internal - network as being just a single machine. - - If the port numbers are not consistent, there are three - more options: - - - - Submit support in &man.libalias.3;. Examples of - special cases can be found in - /usr/src/sys/netinet/libalias/alias_*.c - (alias_ftp.c is a good - prototype). This usually involves reading certain - recognised outgoing packets, identifying the - instruction that tells the outside machine to initiate - a connection back to the internal machine on a - specific (random) port and setting up a - route in the alias table so that the - subsequent packets know where to go. - - This is the most difficult solution, but it is the - best and will make the software work with multiple - machines. - - - - Use a proxy. The application may support socks5 - for example, or (as in the cvsup case) - may have a passive option that avoids - ever requesting that the peer open connections back to - the local machine. - - - - Redirect everything to the internal machine using - nat addr. This is the - sledge-hammer approach. - - - - - - - - Has anybody made a list of useful port numbers? - - - Not yet, but this is intended to grow into such a list - (if any interest is shown). In each example, - internal should be replaced with - the IP number of the machine playing the game. - - - - Asheron's Call - - nat port udp - internal - :65000 65000 - - Manually change the port number within the game to - 65000. If you have got a number of machines that you wish - to play on assign a unique port number for each (i.e. - 65001, 65002, etc) and add a nat port - line for each one. - - - - Half Life - - nat port udp - internal:27005 - 27015 - - - - PCAnywhere 8.0 - - nat port udp - internal:5632 - 5632 - - nat port tcp - internal:5631 - 5631 - - - - Quake - - nat port udp - internal:6112 - 6112 - - - - Quake 2 - - nat port udp - internal:27901 - 27910 - nat port udp - internal:60021 - 60021 - nat port udp - internal:60040 - 60040 - - - - Red Alert - - nat port udp - internal:8675 - 8675 - - nat port udp - internal:5009 - 5009 - - - - - - - - What are FCS errors? - - - - FCS stands for Frame - Check Sequence. - Each PPP packet has a checksum attached to ensure that the - data being received is the data being sent. If the FCS of - an incoming packet is incorrect, the packet is dropped and - the HDLC FCS count is increased. The HDLC error values - can be displayed using the show hdlc - command. - - If your link is bad (or if your serial driver is dropping - packets), you will see the occasional FCS error. This is not - usually worth worrying about although it does slow down the - compression protocols substantially. If you have an external - modem, make sure your cable is properly shielded from - interference - this may eradicate the problem. - - If your link freezes as soon as you have connected and you - see a large number of FCS errors, this may be because your link - is not 8-bit clean. Make sure your modem is not using software - flow control (XON/XOFF). If your datalink - must use software flow control, use the - command set accmap 0x000a0000 to tell - &man.ppp.8; to escape the ^Q and - ^S characters. - - Another reason for seeing too many FCS errors may be - that the remote end has stopped talking - PPP. You may want to enable - async logging at this point to - determine if the incoming data is actually a login or - shell prompt. If you have a shell prompt at the remote - end, it is possible to terminate &man.ppp.8; without - dropping the line by using the close - lcp command (a following term - command) will reconnect you to the shell on the remote - machine. - - If nothing in your log file indicates why the link might - have been terminated, you should ask the remote administrator - (your ISP?) why the session was terminated. - - + + The really, really short answer is that you should not. + The somewhat longer answer is that just because you are + capable of building a bikeshed does not mean you should stop + others from building one just because you do not like the + color they plan to paint it. This is a metaphor indicating + that you need not argue about every little feature just + because you know enough to do so. Some people have + commented that the amount of noise generated by a change is + inversely proportional to the complexity of the + change. + + The longer and more complete answer is that after a very + long argument about whether &man.sleep.1; should take + fractional second arguments, &a.phk; posted a long message + entitled A bike shed (any color will do) on greener grass.... + The appropriate portions of that message are quoted + below. - - - Why do &macos; and &windows; 98 connections freeze when - running PPPoE on the gateway? - - - - Thanks to Michael Wozniak - mwozniak@netcom.ca for figuring this out and - Dan Flemming danflemming@mac.com for the Mac - solution: - - This is due to what is called a Black Hole - router. &macos; and &windows; 98 (and maybe other µsoft; OSs) - send TCP packets with a requested segment size too big to fit - into a PPPoE frame (MTU is 1500 by default for Ethernet) - and have the do not - fragment bit set (default of TCP) and the Telco router - is not sending ICMP must fragment back to the - WWW site you are trying to load. (Alternatively, the router is - sending the ICMP packet correctly, but the firewall at the WWW - site is dropping it.) When the www server is sending - you frames that do not fit into the PPPoE pipe the Telco router - drops them on the floor and your page does not load (some - pages/graphics do as they are smaller than a MSS.) This seems - to be the default of most Telco PPPoE configurations. - - One fix is to use regedit on your 95/98 system to add the - following registry entry: - - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\NetTrans\0000\MaxMTU - - It should be a string with a value - 1436, as some ADSL routers are reported to - be unable to deal with packets larger than this. This - registry key has been changed to - Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\ID for - adapter\MTU in &windows; 2000 and - becomes a DWORD. - - Refer to the Microsoft Knowledge Base documents Q158474 - - Windows TCPIP Registry Entries and Q120642 - - TCPIP & NBT Configuration Parameters for &windowsnt; - for more information on changing &windows; MTU to - work with a NAT router. - - Another regedit possibility under &windows; 2000 to - set the - Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\ID for - adapter\EnablePMTUBHDetect DWORD - to 1 as mentioned in the Microsoft document 120642 - mentioned above. - - Unfortunately, &macos; does not provide an interface for - changing TCP/IP settings. However, there many commercial software - available - that will allow users to customize TCP/IP settings. &macos; NAT - users should search for their MTU settings and - enter 1450 instead of - 1500. - - The &man.ppp.8; - has an enable tcpmssfixup - command that will automatically adjust the MSS to an appropriate - value. This facility is enabled by default. If you are stuck - with an older version of &man.ppp.8;, you - may want to look at the net/tcpmssd - port. - - - - - - None of this helps — I am desperate! What can I do? - - - - If all else fails, send as much information as you can, - including your config files, how you are starting - &man.ppp.8;, the relevant parts of your - log file and the output of the netstat -rn - command (before and after connecting) to the &a.questions; or - the - comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc news group, and someone - should point you in the right direction. - - - - +
+ &a.phk; on &a.hackers.name;, October 2, + 1999 - - Serial Communications + What is it about this bike shed? Some + of you have asked me. - This section answers common questions about serial - communications with &os;. PPP and SLIP are covered in the - Networking section. + It is a long story, or rather it is an old story, but + it is quite short actually. C. Northcote Parkinson wrote + a book in the early 1960s, called Parkinson's + Law, which contains a lot of insight into the + dynamics of management. + + [snip a bit of commentary on the + book] + + In the specific example involving the bike shed, the + other vital component is an atomic power-plant, I guess + that illustrates the age of the book. + + Parkinson shows how you can go into the board of + directors and get approval for building a multi-million or + even billion dollar atomic power plant, but if you want to + build a bike shed you will be tangled up in endless + discussions. + + Parkinson explains that this is because an atomic + plant is so vast, so expensive and so complicated that + people cannot grasp it, and rather than try, they fall + back on the assumption that somebody else checked all the + details before it got this far. Richard P. Feynmann + gives a couple of interesting, and very much to the point, + examples relating to Los Alamos in his books. + + A bike shed on the other hand. Anyone can build one + of those over a weekend, and still have time to watch the + game on TV. So no matter how well prepared, no matter how + reasonable you are with your proposal, somebody will seize + the chance to show that he is doing his job, that he is + paying attention, that he is + here. + + In Denmark we call it setting your + fingerprint. It is about personal pride and + prestige, it is about being able to point somewhere and + say There! I did + that. It is a strong trait in politicians, but + present in most people given the chance. Just think about + footsteps in wet cement. +
+ + + + + + The &os; Funnies - - How do I tell if &os; found my serial ports? - - - - As the &os; kernel boots, it will probe for the serial - ports in your system for which the kernel was configured. - You can either watch your system closely for the messages it - prints or run this command after your system is up and - running: + + How cool is &os;? + - &prompt.user; dmesg | grep -E "^sio[0-9]" + + Q. Has anyone done any temperature testing while + running &os;? I know &linux; runs cooler than DOS, but have + never seen a mention of &os;. It seems to run really + hot. + + A. No, but we have done numerous taste tests on + blindfolded volunteers who have also had 250 micrograms of + LSD-25 administered beforehand. 35% of the volunteers said + that &os; tasted sort of orange, whereas &linux; tasted like + purple haze. Neither group mentioned any significant + variances in temperature. We eventually had to throw the + results of this survey out entirely anyway when we found + that too many volunteers were wandering out of the room + during the tests, thus skewing the results. We think most + of the volunteers are at Apple now, working on their new + scratch and sniff GUI. It is a funny old + business we are in! + + Seriously, both &os; and &linux; use the + HLT (halt) instruction when the system is + idle thus lowering its energy consumption and therefore the + heat it generates. Also if you have APM (advanced power + management) configured, then &os; can also put the CPU into + a low power mode. + + - Here is some example output from the above command: + + + Who is scratching in my memory banks?? + - sio0: <16550A-compatible COM port> port 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 flags 0x10 on acpi0 -sio0: type 16550A -sio1: <16550A-compatible COM port> port 0x2f8-0x2ff irq 3 on acpi0 -sio1: type 16550A + + Q. Is there anything odd that &os; does + when compiling the kernel which would cause the memory to + make a scratchy sound? When compiling (and for a brief + moment after recognizing the floppy drive upon startup, as + well), a strange scratchy sound emanates from what appears + to be the memory banks. + + A. Yes! You will see frequent references to + daemons in the BSD documentation, and what + most people do not know is that this refers to genuine, + non-corporeal entities that now possess your computer. The + scratchy sound coming from your memory is actually + high-pitched whispering exchanged among the daemons as they + best decide how to deal with various system administration + tasks. + + If the noise gets to you, a good + fdisk /mbr from DOS will get rid of them, + but do not be surprised if they react adversely and try to + stop you. In fact, if at any point during the exercise you + hear the satanic voice of Bill Gates coming from the + built-in speaker, take off running and do not ever look + back! Freed from the counterbalancing influence of the BSD + daemons, the twin demons of DOS and &windows; are often able + to re-assert total control over your machine to the eternal + damnation of your soul. Now that you know, given a choice + you would probably prefer to get used to the scratchy + noises, no? + + - This shows two serial ports. The first is on IRQ 4, is - using port address 0x3f8, and has a - 16550A-type UART chip. The second uses the same kind of chip - but is on IRQ 3 and is at port address 0x2f8. - Internal modem cards are treated just like serial ports — except - that they always have a modem attached to the - port. - - The GENERIC kernel includes support - for two serial ports using the same IRQ and port address - settings in the above example. If these settings are not - right for your system, or if you have added modem cards or have - more serial ports than your kernel is configured for, just - reconfigure your kernel. See section - about building a kernel for - more details. - - - - - - How do I tell if &os; found my modem cards? - - - - Refer to the answer to the previous question. - - - - - - - How do I access the serial ports on &os;? - - - - The third serial port, sio2 - (see &man.sio.4;, known as COM3 in DOS), is on - /dev/cuad2 for dial-out devices, - and on /dev/ttyd2 for dial-in - devices. What is the difference between these two classes - of devices? - - You use - ttydX - for dial-ins. When opening - /dev/ttydX - in blocking mode, a process will wait for the - corresponding - cuadX - device to become inactive, and then wait for the carrier - detect line to go active. When you open the - cuadX - device, it makes sure the serial port is not already in - use by the - ttydX - device. If the port is available, it steals - it from the - ttydX - device. Also, the - cuadX - device does not care about carrier detect. With this - scheme and an auto-answer modem, you can have remote users - log in and you can still dial out with the same modem and - the system will take care of all the conflicts. - - - - - - How do I enable support for a multiport serial - card? - - - - Again, the section on kernel configuration provides - information about configuring your kernel. For a multiport - serial card, place an &man.sio.4; line for each serial - port on the card in the &man.device.hints.5; file. But - place the IRQ specifiers on only one of the - entries. All of the ports on the card should share one - IRQ. For consistency, use the last serial port to specify - the IRQ. Also, specify the following - option in the kernel - configuration file: + + + How many &os; hackers does it take to change a + lightbulb? + - options COM_MULTIPORT + + One thousand, one hundred and sixty-nine: - The following /boot/device.hints example is for an AST 4-port serial card on - IRQ 12: + Twenty-three to complain to -CURRENT about the lights + being out; - hint.sio.4.at="isa" -hint.sio.4.port="0x2a0" -hint.sio.4.flags="0x701" -hint.sio.5.at="isa" -hint.sio.5.port="0x2a8" -hint.sio.5.flags="0x701" -hint.sio.6.at="isa" -hint.sio.6.port="0x2b0" -hint.sio.6.flags="0x701" -hint.sio.7.at="isa" -hint.sio.7.port="0x2b8" -hint.sio.7.flags="0x701" -hint.sio.7.irq="12" + Four to claim that it is a configuration problem, and + that such matters really belong on -questions; - The flags indicate that the master port has minor number 7 - (0x700), and all the ports share an IRQ - (0x001). - - + Three to submit PRs about it, one of which is misfiled + under doc and consists only of it's + dark; - - - Can &os; handle multiport serial cards sharing - IRQs? - + One to commit an untested lightbulb which breaks + buildworld, then back it out five minutes later; - - Not yet. You will have to use a different IRQ for each - card. + Eight to flame the PR originators for not including + patches in their PRs; - - + Five to complain about buildworld being broken; - - - Can I set the default serial parameters for a - port? - + Thirty-one to answer that it works for them, and they + must have cvsupped at a bad time; - - See the Serial Communications - section in the &os; Handbook. - - + One to post a patch for a new lightbulb to + -hackers; - - - How can I enable dialup logins on my modem? - + One to complain that he had patches for this three years + ago, but when he sent them to -CURRENT they were just + ignored, and he has had bad experiences with the PR system; + besides, the proposed new lightbulb is non-reflexive; - - Please read the section about Dial-in Services - in the &os; Handbook. - - + Thirty-seven to scream that lightbulbs do not belong in + the base system, that committers have no right to do things + like this without consulting the Community, and WHAT IS + -CORE DOING ABOUT IT!? - - - How can I connect a dumb terminal to my &os; - box? - + Two hundred to complain about the color of the bicycle + shed; - - You can find this information in the Terminals - section of the &os; Handbook. - - + Three to point out that the patch breaks + &man.style.9;; - - - Why can I not run tip or - cu? - + Seventeen to complain that the proposed new lightbulb is + under GPL; - - On your system, the programs &man.tip.1; and - &man.cu.1; can only access the /var/spool/lock directory via user - uucp and group - dialer. You can use the group - dialer to control who has access to - your modem or remote systems. Just add yourself to group - dialer. + Five hundred and eighty-six to engage in a flame war + about the comparative advantages of the GPL, the BSD + license, the MIT license, the NPL, and the personal hygiene + of unnamed FSF founders; - Alternatively, you can let everyone on your system run - &man.tip.1; and &man.cu.1; by typing: + Seven to move various portions of the thread to -chat + and -advocacy; - &prompt.root; chmod 4511 /usr/bin/cu -&prompt.root; chmod 4511 /usr/bin/tip - - + One to commit the suggested lightbulb, even though it + shines dimmer than the old one; - - - My stock Hayes modem is not supported — what - can I do? - + Two to back it out with a furious flame of a commit + message, arguing that &os; is better off in the dark than + with a dim lightbulb; - - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - - + Forty-six to argue vociferously about the backing out of + the dim lightbulb and demanding a statement from + -core; - - - How am I expected to enter these AT commands? - + Eleven to request a smaller lightbulb so it will fit + their Tamagotchi if we ever decide to port &os; to that + platform; - - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - - + Seventy-three to complain about the SNR on -hackers and + -chat and unsubscribe in protest; - - - Why does the @ sign for the pn - capability not work? + Thirteen to post unsubscribe, How + do I unsubscribe?, or Please remove me from + the list, followed by the usual footer; - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - - + One to commit a working lightbulb while everybody is too + busy flaming everybody else to notice; - - - How can I dial a phone number on the command - line? - + Thirty-one to point out that the new lightbulb would + shine 0.364% brighter if compiled with TenDRA (although it + will have to be reshaped into a cube), and that &os; should + therefore switch to TenDRA instead of GCC; - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - - + One to complain that the new lightbulb lacks + fairings; - - - Do I have to type in the bps rate every time I do - that? - + Nine (including the PR originators) to ask what + is MFC?; - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - - + Fifty-seven to complain about the lights being out two + weeks after the bulb has been changed. - - - How can I more easily access a number of hosts through a - terminal server? - + &a.nik; adds: - - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - - + I was laughing quite hard at + this. - - - Can tip try more than one line for each site? - + And then I thought, Hang on, shouldn't + there be '1 to document it.' in that list + somewhere? - - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - + And then I was enlightened + :-) + - - Why do I have to hit CtrlP - twice to send CtrlP - once? - + + Where does data written to + /dev/null go? + - - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - - + + It goes into a special data sink in the CPU where it is + converted to heat which is vented through the heatsink / fan + assembly. This is why CPU cooling is increasingly + important; as people get used to faster processors, they + become careless with their data and more and more of it ends + up in /dev/null, overheating their + CPUs. If you delete /dev/null (which + effectively disables the CPU data sink) your CPU may run + cooler but your system will quickly become constipated with + all that excess data and start to behave erratically. If + you have a fast network connection you can cool down your + CPU by reading data out of /dev/random + and sending it off somewhere; however you run the risk of + overheating your network connection and + / or angering your ISP, as most of the + data will end up getting converted to heat by their + equipment, but they generally have good cooling, so if you + do not overdo it you should be OK. - - - Why is everything I type suddenly in UPPER CASE? - + Paul Robinson adds: - - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - + There are other methods. As every good sysadmin knows, + it is part of standard practice to send data to the screen + of interesting variety to keep all the pixies that make up + your picture happy. Screen pixies (commonly mis-typed or + re-named as pixels) are categorized by the + type of hat they wear (red, green or blue) and will hide or + appear (thereby showing the color of their hat) whenever + they receive a little piece of food. Video cards turn data + into pixie-food, and then send them to the pixies — + the more expensive the card, the better the food, so the + better behaved the pixies are. They also need constant + stimulation — this is why screen savers exist. + + To take your suggestions further, you could just throw + the random data to console, thereby letting the pixies + consume it. This causes no heat to be produced at all, + keeps the pixies happy and gets rid of your data quite + quickly, even if it does make things look a bit messy on + your screen. + + Incidentally, as an ex-admin of a large ISP who + experienced many problems attempting to maintain a stable + temperature in a server room, I would strongly discourage + people sending the data they do not want out to the network. + The fairies who do the packet switching and routing get + annoyed by it as well. + + + + + + Advanced Topics + - - How can I do file transfers with - tip? - + + How can I learn more about &os;'s internals? + - - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - + + At this time, there is only one book on &os;-specific OS + internals, namely The Design and Implementation of + the &os; Operating System by Marshall Kirk McKusick + and George V. Neville-Neil, ISBN 0-201-70245-2, which + focuses on version 5.X of + &os;. + + Additionally, much general &unix; knowledge is directly + applicable to &os;. + + For a list of relevant books, please check the + Handbook's Operating System Internals Bibliography. + + - - How can I run zmodem with - tip? - + + How can I contribute to &os;? + - - See this answer - in the &os; Handbook. - + + Please see the article on Contributing to &os; + for specific advice on how to do this. Assistance is more + than welcome! + - - - - Miscellaneous Questions - - - - &os; uses far more swap space than &linux;. Why? - - - - &os; only appears to use more swap than &linux;. In - actual fact, it does not. The main difference between &os; - and &linux; in this regard is that &os; will proactively move - entirely idle, unused pages of main memory into swap in order - to make more main memory available for active use. &linux; tends - to only move pages to swap as a last resort. The perceived - heavier use of swap is balanced by the more efficient use of - main memory. - - Note that while &os; is proactive in this regard, it - does not arbitrarily decide to swap pages when the system is - truly idle. Thus you will not find your system all paged - out when you get up in the morning after leaving it idle - overnight. - - - - - - Why does top show very little free - memory even when I have very few programs running? - - - - The simple answer is that free memory is wasted - memory. Any memory that your programs do not actively - allocate is used within the &os; kernel as disk - cache. The values shown by &man.top.1; labeled as - Inact, Cache, and - Buf are all cached data at different - aging levels. This cached data means the system does - not have to access a slow disk again for data it has - accessed recently, thus increasing overall performance. - In general, a low value shown for Free - memory in &man.top.1; is good, provided it is not - very low. - - - - - - Why will chmod not change the - permissions on symlinks? - - - - Symlinks do not have permissions, and by default, - &man.chmod.1; will not follow symlinks to change the - permissions on the target file. So if you have a file, - foo, and a symlink to that file, - bar, then this command will always - succeed. - - &prompt.user; chmod g-w bar - - However, the permissions on foo will - not have changed. - - You have to use either or - together with the - option to make this work. See the &man.chmod.1; and - &man.symlink.7; manual pages for more info. - - - The option does a - recursive &man.chmod.1;. Be - careful about specifying directories or symlinks to - directories to &man.chmod.1;. If you want to change - the permissions of a directory referenced by a - symlink, use &man.chmod.1; without any options and - follow the symlink with a trailing slash - (/). For example, if - foo is a symlink to directory - bar, and you want to change the - permissions of foo (actually - bar), you would do something - like: - - &prompt.user; chmod 555 foo/ - - With the trailing slash, &man.chmod.1; will follow - the symlink, foo, to change the - permissions of the directory, - bar. - - - - - - - Can I run DOS binaries under &os;? - - - - Yes, you can use emulators/doscmd, a DOS emulation - program, available in the &os; Ports Collection. - - If doscmd will not suffice, - the add-on utility emulators/pcemu emulates an 8088 and - enough BIOS services to run many DOS text mode - applications. It requires the X Window System. - - You may also try emulators/dosbox from the &os; - Ports Collection. The main focus of this application is - emulating old DOS games using the local file system for - files. - - - - - - What do I need to do to translate a &os; document into - my native language? - - - - See the - Translation FAQ in the &os; Documentation Project - Primer. - - - - - - Why does my email to any address at FreeBSD.org bounce? - - - - The FreeBSD.org mail system implements some of the - stricter Postfix checks on incoming mail and rejects mail that is - either misconfigured or is potential spam. Your mail - might bounce for one of the following reasons: + + What are snapshots and releases? + + + + There are currently three active/semi-active branches in + the &os; CVS Repository. + (Earlier branches are only changed very rarely, which is why + there are only three active branches of development): - The email is being sent from a known spam - domain or IP block. - - The &os; mail servers reject email from known - spam sources. If you have service through a company - or domain who generates or relays spam, please switch - to a service provider who does not. - - - - The body of the email only contains HTML. - - Mail should be sent in plain text only. Please - configure your mail user agent to send plain - text. - - - - The mailer at FreeBSD.org cannot resolve the IP - address of the connecting host back to a symbolic - name. - - Working reverse DNS is a standard requirement for - accepting mail from a host. Set up reverse DNS for - your mail server's IP address. Many home services - (DSL, cable, dialup, etc.) will not give you this - option. In this case, relay your email through your - service provider's mail server. - + RELENG_6 AKA + 6-STABLE + - The hostname given in the EHLO/HELO part of the SMTP - exchange cannot be resolved to an IP address. - - A fully qualified, resolvable host name is necessary - in this part of the SMTP dialogue before mail will be - accepted. If you do not have a host name that is registered - in the DNS, then you should use your service provider's mail - server to relay your mail. + RELENG_7 AKA + 7-STABLE - Your message had a message ID ending with the string - localhost. - - Some mail user agents generate bad message IDs which will - not be accepted. You will need to persuade your mail user - agent to generate a valid message ID or else configure your - mail transfer agent to rewrite them. + HEAD AKA + -CURRENT AKA + 8-CURRENT - - + + + HEAD is not an actual branch tag, + like the other two; it is simply a symbolic constant for + the current, non-branched development + stream which we simply refer to as + -CURRENT. + + Right now, -CURRENT is the + 8.X development stream; the + 6-STABLE branch, + RELENG_6, forked off from + -CURRENT in November 2005, and the + 7-STABLE branch, + RELENG_7, forked off from + -CURRENT in February 2008. + - - Where can I find a free &os; account? - - - - While &os; does not provide open access to any of their - servers, others do provide open access &unix; systems. The - charge varies and limited services may be available. - - Arbornet, - Inc, also known as M-Net, has been providing open - access to &unix; systems since 1983. Starting on an Altos - running System III, the site switched to BSD/OS in 1991. In - June of 2000, the site switched again to &os;. M-Net can be - accessed via telnet and SSH and provides basic access to the - entire &os; software suite. However, network access is - limited to members and patrons who donate to the system, which - is run as a non-profit organization. M-Net also provides an - bulletin board system and interactive chat. + + How do I make my own custom release? + - Grex provides a - site very similar to M-Net including the same bulletin board - and interactive chat software. However, the machine is a - &sun; 4M and is running &sunos;. - + + Please see the Release Engineering + article. + - - What is sup, and how do I use - it? - - - - - SUP stands for Software Update Protocol, and was - developed by CMU for keeping their development trees in sync. - It was used to keep remote sites in sync with the Project's central - development sources. + + Why does + make world + clobber my existing installed binaries? + - SUP is not bandwidth friendly, and has been retired. - The current recommended method to keep your sources up to - date is - CVSup - + + Yes, this is the general idea; as its name might + suggest, + make world + rebuilds every system binary from scratch, so you can be + certain of having a clean and consistent environment at the + end (which is why it takes so long). + + If the environment variable DESTDIR + is defined while running + make world or + make install, + the newly-created binaries will be deposited in a directory + tree identical to the installed one, rooted at + ${DESTDIR}. Some random combination of + shared libraries modifications and program rebuilds can + cause this to fail in + make world + however. + - - What is the cute little red guy's name? - - - - He does not have one, and is just called the BSD - daemon. If you insist upon using a name, call him - beastie. Note that beastie - is pronounced BSD. + + Why isn't cvsup.FreeBSD.org + a round robin DNS entry to share the load amongst the various + CVSup servers? + - You can learn more about the BSD daemon on his home - page. - + + While CVSup mirrors update + from the master CVSup server + hourly, this update might happen at any time during the + hour. This means that some servers have newer code than + others, even though all servers have code that is less than + an hour old. If cvsup.FreeBSD.org was a round robin + DNS entry that simply redirected users to a random + CVSup server, running + CVSup twice in a row could + download code older than the code already on the + system. + - - Can I use the BSD daemon image? - - - - Perhaps. The BSD daemon is copyrighted by Marshall - Kirk McKusick. You will want to check his Statement - on the Use of the BSD Daemon Figure for detailed - usage terms. + + Can I follow -CURRENT with limited + Internet access? + - In summary, you are free to use the image in a tasteful - manner, for personal use, so long as appropriate credit is - given. If you want to use him commercially, you must - contact &a.mckusick;. More details are available on the - BSD - Daemon's home page. - + + Yes, you can do this without + downloading the whole source tree by using the CTM facility. + + - - Do you have any BSD daemon images I could use? - + + How did you split the distribution into 1392 KB + files? + - - You will find eps and Xfig drawings under - /usr/share/examples/BSD_daemon/. - - + + Newer BSD based systems have a + option to &man.split.1; that allows them to split files on + arbitrary byte boundaries. - - - I have seen an acronym or other term on the mailing - lists and I do not understand what it means. Where should - I look? - + Here is an example from + /usr/src/release/Makefile. - - Please see the - &os; Glossary. - - - - - - Why should I care what color the bikeshed is? - - - - The really, really short answer is that you should not. - The somewhat longer answer is that just because you are - capable of building a bikeshed does not mean you should stop - others from building one just because you do not like the - color they plan to paint it. This is a metaphor indicating - that you need not argue about every little feature just - because you know enough to do so. Some people have - commented that the amount of noise generated by a change is - inversely proportional to the complexity of the - change. - - The longer and more complete answer is that after a very - long argument about whether &man.sleep.1; should take - fractional second arguments, &a.phk; posted a long - message entitled A bike - shed (any color will do) on greener grass.... - The appropriate portions of that message are quoted - below. - -
- &a.phk; on &a.hackers.name;, October - 2, 1999 - - - What is it about this bike shed? Some - of you have asked me. - - It is a long story, or rather it is an old story, but - it is quite short actually. C. Northcote Parkinson wrote - a book in the early 1960s, called Parkinson's - Law, which contains a lot of insight into the - dynamics of management. - - [snip a bit of commentary on the book] - - In the specific example involving the bike shed, the - other vital component is an atomic power-plant, I guess - that illustrates the age of the book. - - Parkinson shows how you can go into the board of - directors and get approval for building a multi-million or - even billion dollar atomic power plant, but if you want to - build a bike shed you will be tangled up in endless - discussions. - - Parkinson explains that this is because an atomic - plant is so vast, so expensive and so complicated that - people cannot grasp it, and rather than try, they fall - back on the assumption that somebody else checked all the - details before it got this far. Richard P. Feynmann - gives a couple of interesting, and very much to the point, - examples relating to Los Alamos in his books. - - A bike shed on the other hand. Anyone can build one - of those over a weekend, and still have time to watch the - game on TV. So no matter how well prepared, no matter how - reasonable you are with your proposal, somebody will seize - the chance to show that he is doing his job, that he is - paying attention, that he is - here. - - In Denmark we call it setting your - fingerprint. It is about personal pride and - prestige, it is about being able to point somewhere and - say There! I did that. - It is a strong trait in politicians, but present in most - people given the chance. Just think about footsteps in - wet cement. -
- + ZIPNSPLIT= gzip --no-name -9 -c | split -b 1392k - + - - - - The &os; Funnies - - - - How cool is &os;? - - - - Q. Has anyone done any temperature testing while - running &os;? I know &linux; runs cooler than DOS, but have - never seen a mention of &os;. It seems to run really - hot. - - A. No, but we have done numerous taste tests on - blindfolded volunteers who have also had 250 micrograms of - LSD-25 administered beforehand. 35% of the volunteers said that - &os; tasted sort of orange, whereas &linux; tasted like purple - haze. Neither group mentioned any significant variances in - temperature. We eventually had to throw the - results of this survey out entirely anyway when we found that - too many volunteers were wandering out of the room during the - tests, thus skewing the results. We think most of the volunteers - are at Apple now, working on their new scratch and - sniff GUI. It is a funny old business we are in! - - Seriously, both &os; and &linux; use the - HLT (halt) instruction when the system is - idle thus lowering its energy consumption and therefore the - heat it generates. Also if you have APM (advanced power - management) configured, then &os; can also put the CPU into - a low power mode. - - - - - - Who is scratching in my memory banks?? - - - - Q. Is there anything odd that &os; - does when compiling the kernel which would cause the memory to - make a scratchy sound? When compiling (and for a brief moment - after recognizing the floppy drive upon startup, as well), a - strange scratchy sound emanates from what appears to be the - memory banks. - - A. Yes! You will see frequent references to - daemons in the BSD documentation, and what most - people do not know is that this refers to genuine, non-corporeal - entities that now possess your computer. The scratchy sound - coming from your memory is actually high-pitched whispering - exchanged among the daemons as they best decide how to deal - with various system administration tasks. - - If the noise gets to you, a good - fdisk /mbr from DOS will get rid of them, - but do not be surprised if they react adversely and try to stop - you. In fact, if at any point during the exercise you hear the - satanic voice of Bill Gates coming from the built-in speaker, - take off running and do not ever look back! Freed from the - counterbalancing influence of the BSD daemons, the twin demons - of DOS and &windows; are often able to re-assert total control - over your machine to the eternal damnation of your soul. - Now that you know, given a choice you would probably prefer to get - used to the scratchy noises, no? - - - - - - How many &os; hackers does it take to change a - lightbulb? - - - - One thousand, one hundred and sixty-nine: - - Twenty-three to complain to -CURRENT about the lights - being out; - - Four to claim that it is a configuration problem, and - that such matters really belong on -questions; - - Three to submit PRs about it, one of which is misfiled - under doc and consists only of it's dark; - - One to commit an untested lightbulb which breaks - buildworld, then back it out five minutes later; - - Eight to flame the PR originators for not including - patches in their PRs; - - Five to complain about buildworld being broken; - - Thirty-one to answer that it works for them, and they - must have cvsupped at a bad time; - - One to post a patch for a new lightbulb to -hackers; - - One to complain that he had patches for this three years - ago, but when he sent them to -CURRENT they were just ignored, - and he has had bad experiences with the PR system; besides, - the proposed new lightbulb is non-reflexive; - - Thirty-seven to scream that lightbulbs do not belong in - the base system, that committers have no right to do things - like this without consulting the Community, and WHAT IS - -CORE DOING ABOUT IT!? - - Two hundred to complain about the color of the bicycle - shed; - - Three to point out that the patch breaks &man.style.9;; - - Seventeen to complain that the proposed new lightbulb is - under GPL; - - Five hundred and eighty-six to engage in a flame war - about the comparative advantages of the GPL, the BSD - license, the MIT license, the NPL, and the personal hygiene - of unnamed FSF founders; - - Seven to move various portions of the thread to -chat - and -advocacy; - - One to commit the suggested lightbulb, even though it - shines dimmer than the old one; - - Two to back it out with a furious flame of a commit - message, arguing that &os; is better off in the dark than - with a dim lightbulb; - - Forty-six to argue vociferously about the backing out - of the dim lightbulb and demanding a statement from - -core; - - Eleven to request a smaller lightbulb so it will fit - their Tamagotchi if we ever decide to port &os; to that - platform; - - Seventy-three to complain about the SNR on -hackers and - -chat and unsubscribe in protest; - - Thirteen to post unsubscribe, - How do I unsubscribe?, or Please - remove me from the list, followed by the usual - footer; - - One to commit a working lightbulb while everybody is too - busy flaming everybody else to notice; - - Thirty-one to point out that the new lightbulb would shine - 0.364% brighter if compiled with TenDRA (although it will have - to be reshaped into a cube), and that &os; should therefore - switch to TenDRA instead of GCC; - - One to complain that the new lightbulb lacks - fairings; - - Nine (including the PR originators) to ask - what is MFC?; - - Fifty-seven to complain about the lights being out two - weeks after the bulb has been changed. - - &a.nik; adds: - - I was laughing quite hard at - this. - - And then I thought, Hang on, - shouldn't there be '1 to document it.' in that list - somewhere? - - And then I was enlightened :-) - - - - - - Where does data written to /dev/null - go? - - - It goes into a special data sink in the CPU where it - is converted to heat which is vented through the heatsink - / fan assembly. This is why CPU cooling is increasingly - important; as people get used to faster processors, they - become careless with their data and more and more of it - ends up in /dev/null, overheating - their CPUs. If you delete /dev/null - (which effectively disables the CPU data sink) your CPU - may run cooler but your system will quickly become - constipated with all that excess data and start to behave - erratically. If you have a fast network connection you - can cool down your CPU by reading data out of - /dev/random and sending it off - somewhere; however you run the risk of overheating your - network connection and / or angering - your ISP, as most of the data will end up getting - converted to heat by their equipment, but they generally - have good cooling, so if you do not overdo it you should be - OK. + + I have written a kernel extension, who do I send it + to? + - Paul Robinson adds: + + Please take a look at the article on Contributing to &os; + to learn how to submit code. - There are other methods. As every good sysadmin knows, - it is part of standard practice to send data to the screen - of interesting variety to keep all the pixies that make up - your picture happy. Screen pixies (commonly mis-typed or - re-named as pixels) are categorized by the type of hat - they wear (red, green or blue) and will hide or appear - (thereby showing the color of their hat) whenever they - receive a little piece of food. Video cards turn data into - pixie-food, and then send them to the pixies — the more - expensive the card, the better the food, so the better - behaved the pixies are. They also need constant stimulation - — this is why screen savers exist. - - To take your suggestions further, you could just throw - the random data to console, thereby letting the pixies - consume it. This causes no heat to be produced at all, - keeps the pixies happy and gets rid of your data quite - quickly, even if it does make things look a bit messy on - your screen. - - Incidentally, as an ex-admin of a large ISP who - experienced many problems attempting to maintain a stable - temperature in a server room, I would strongly discourage - people sending the data they do not want out to the - network. The fairies who do the packet switching and - routing get annoyed by it as well. + And thanks for the thought! - - - - - Advanced Topics - - - - - How can I learn more about &os;'s internals? - - - - At this time, there is only one book on &os;-specific OS - internals, namely The Design and Implementation of the - &os; Operating System by Marshall Kirk McKusick and - George V. Neville-Neil, ISBN 0-201-70245-2, which - focuses on version 5.X of &os;. - - Additionally, much general &unix; knowledge is directly - applicable to &os;. - - For a list of relevant books, please check the Handbook's Operating - System Internals Bibliography. - - - - How can I contribute to &os;? + + How are Plug N Play ISA cards detected and + initialized? - Please see the article on Contributing - to &os; for specific advice on how to do this. - Assistance is more than welcome! - - - - - - What are snapshots and releases? - - - - There are currently three active/semi-active branches - in the &os; CVS - Repository. (Earlier branches are only changed - very rarely, which is why there are only three active - branches of development): - - - - RELENG_6 AKA - 6-STABLE - - - - RELENG_7 AKA - 7-STABLE - - - - HEAD AKA - -CURRENT AKA - 8-CURRENT - - - - - HEAD is not an actual branch tag, - like the other two; it is simply a symbolic constant for - the current, non-branched development - stream which we simply refer to as - -CURRENT. - - Right now, -CURRENT is the 8.X development - stream; the 6-STABLE branch, - RELENG_6, forked off from - -CURRENT in November 2005, and - the 7-STABLE branch, - RELENG_7, forked off from - -CURRENT in February 2008. - - - - - - How do I make my own custom release? - - - - Please see the - Release Engineering article. - - - - - - Why does make world clobber my existing - installed binaries? - - - - Yes, this is the general idea; as its name might suggest, - make world rebuilds every system binary from - scratch, so you can be certain of having a clean and consistent - environment at the end (which is why it takes so long). - - If the environment variable DESTDIR - is defined while running make world or - make install, the newly-created binaries - will be deposited in a directory tree identical to the - installed one, rooted at ${DESTDIR}. - Some random combination of shared libraries modifications and - program rebuilds can cause this to fail in make - world however. - + By: Frank Durda IV + uhclem@nemesis.lonestar.org + + In a nutshell, there a few I/O ports that all of the PnP + boards respond to when the host asks if anyone is out there. + So when the PnP probe routine starts, it asks if there are + any PnP boards present, and all the PnP boards respond with + their model # to a I/O read of the same port, so the probe + routine gets a wired-OR yes to that question. + At least one bit will be on in that reply. Then the probe + code is able to cause boards with board model IDs (assigned + by µsoft;/&intel;) lower than X to + go off-line. It then looks to see if any + boards are still responding to the query. If the answer was + 0, then there are no boards with IDs + above X. Probe will then ask for boards + below X. Finally, probe requests boards + greater than + X - (limit / 4) to go + off-line. It then repeats this query. By repeating this + semi-binary search of IDs-in-range enough times, the probing + code will eventually identify all PnP boards present in a + given machine with a number of iterations that is much lower + than what 264 would take. + + The IDs are two 32-bit fields (hence + 264) + 8-bit checksum. The first + 32 bits are a vendor identifier. They never come out + and say it, but it appears to be assumed that different + types of boards from the same vendor could have different + 32-bit vendor IDs. The idea of needing 32 bits just + for unique manufacturers is a bit excessive. + + The lower 32 bits are a serial #, or something else + that makes this one board unique. The vendor must never + produce a second board that has the same lower 32 bits + unless the upper 32 bits are also different. So you + can have multiple boards of the same type in the machine and + the full 64 bits will still be unique. + + The 32 bit groups can never be all zero. This + allows the wired-OR to show non-zero bits during the initial + binary search. + + Once the system has identified all the board IDs + present, it will reactivate each board, one at a time (via the + same I/O ports), and find out what resources the given board + needs, what interrupt choices are available, etc. A scan is + made over all the boards to collect this information. + + This info is then combined with info from any ECU files + on the hard disk or wired into the MLB BIOS. The ECU and + BIOS PnP support for hardware on the MLB is usually + synthetic, and the peripherals do not really do genuine PnP. + However by examining the BIOS info plus the ECU info, the + probe routines can cause the devices that are PnP to avoid + those devices the probe code cannot relocate. + + Then the PnP devices are visited once more and given + their I/O, DMA, IRQ and Memory-map address assignments. The + devices will then appear at those locations and remain there + until the next reboot, although there is nothing that says + you cannot move them around whenever you want. + + There is a lot of oversimplification above, but you + should get the general idea. + + µsoft; took over some of the primary printer status + ports to do PnP, on the logic that no boards decoded those + addresses for the opposing I/O cycles. I found a genuine + IBM printer board that did decode writes of the status port + during the early PnP proposal review period, but µsoft; + said tough. So they do a write to the + printer status port for setting addresses, plus that use + that address + 0x800, and a third I/O + port for reading that can be located anywhere between + 0x200 and 0x3ff. + + - - Why isn't cvsup.FreeBSD.org a round robin DNS entry to - share the load amongst the various CVSup servers? + + Can you assign a major number for a device driver I have + written? - While CVSup mirrors update from the master CVSup - server hourly, this update might happen at any time during - the hour. This means that some servers have newer code - than others, even though all servers have code that is - less than an hour old. If cvsup.FreeBSD.org was a round - robin DNS entry that simply redirected users to a random - CVSup server, running CVSup twice in a row could download - code older than the code already on the system. - - - - - - Can I follow -CURRENT with limited Internet access? - - - - Yes, you can do this without - downloading the whole source tree by using the CTM facility. - - - - - - How did you split the distribution into 1392 KB files? - - - - Newer BSD based systems have a - option to &man.split.1; that allows them to split files on arbitrary - byte boundaries. - - Here is an example from - /usr/src/release/Makefile. - - ZIPNSPLIT= gzip --no-name -9 -c | split -b 1392k - - - - - - - I have written a kernel extension, who do I send it - to? - - - - Please take a look at the article on Contributing - to &os; to learn how to submit code. - - And thanks for the thought! - - - - - - How are Plug N Play ISA cards detected and - initialized? - - - - By: Frank Durda IV - uhclem@nemesis.lonestar.org - - In a nutshell, there a few I/O ports that all of the - PnP boards respond to when the host asks if anyone is out - there. So when the PnP probe routine starts, it asks if there - are any PnP boards present, and all the PnP boards respond with - their model # to a I/O read of the same port, so the probe - routine gets a wired-OR yes to that question. At - least one bit will be on in that reply. Then the probe code is - able to cause boards with board model IDs (assigned by - µsoft;/&intel;) lower than X to go off-line. It - then looks to see if any boards are still responding to the - query. If the answer was 0, then there are - no boards with IDs above X. Probe will then ask for - boards below X. - Finally, probe requests boards - greater than X - (limit / 4) to go off-line. It then repeats this query. - By repeating this semi-binary search of IDs-in-range enough - times, the probing code will eventually identify all PnP boards - present in a given machine with a number of iterations that is - much lower than what 264 would take. - - The IDs are two 32-bit fields (hence 264) + 8-bit - checksum. The first 32 bits are a vendor identifier. They never - come out and say it, but it appears to be assumed that - different types of boards from the same vendor could have - different 32-bit vendor IDs. The idea of needing 32 bits just - for unique manufacturers is a bit excessive. - - The lower 32 bits are a serial #, or - something else that makes this one board unique. The vendor must - never produce a second board that has the same lower 32 bits - unless the upper 32 bits are also different. So you can have - multiple boards of the same type in the machine and the full - 64 bits will still be unique. - - The 32 bit groups can never be all zero. This allows the - wired-OR to show non-zero bits during the initial binary - search. - - Once the system has identified all the board IDs present, - it will reactivate each board, one at a time (via the same I/O - ports), and find out what resources the given board needs, what - interrupt choices are available, etc. A scan is made over all - the boards to collect this information. - - This info is then combined with info from any ECU files - on the hard disk or wired into the MLB BIOS. The ECU and BIOS - PnP support for hardware on the MLB is usually synthetic, and - the peripherals do not really do genuine PnP. However by - examining the BIOS info plus the ECU info, the probe routines - can cause the devices that are PnP to avoid those devices the - probe code cannot relocate. - - Then the PnP devices are visited once more and given - their I/O, DMA, IRQ and Memory-map address assignments. The - devices will then appear at those locations and remain there - until the next reboot, although there is nothing that says you - cannot move them around whenever you want. - - There is a lot of oversimplification above, but you - should get the general idea. - - µsoft; took over some of the primary printer status - ports to do PnP, on the logic that no boards decoded those - addresses for the opposing I/O cycles. I found a genuine IBM - printer board that did decode writes of the status port during - the early PnP proposal review period, but µsoft; said - tough. So they do a write to the printer status - port for setting addresses, plus that use that address + - 0x800, and a third I/O port for reading that - can be located anywhere between 0x200 and - 0x3ff. - - - - - - Can you assign a major number for a device driver I have - written? - - - - &os; releases after February 2003 has a facility for dynamically and automatically allocating major numbers for device drivers at runtime (see &man.devfs.5;), so there is no need for this. - - + - - What about alternative layout policies for - directories? - - - - In answer to the question of alternative layout policies - for directories, the scheme that is currently in use is - unchanged from what I wrote in 1983. I wrote that policy for - the original fast file system, and never revisited it. It works - well at keeping cylinder groups from filling up. As several of - you have noted, it works poorly for find. Most file systems are - created from archives that were created by a depth first search - (aka ftw). These directories end up being striped across the - cylinder groups thus creating a worst possible scenario for - future depth first searches. If one knew the total number of - directories to be created, the solution would be to create - (total / fs_ncg) per cylinder group before moving on. - Obviously, one would have to create some heuristic to guess at - this number. Even using a small fixed number like say 10 would - make an order of magnitude improvement. To differentiate - restores from normal operation (when the current algorithm is - probably more sensible), you could use the clustering of up to - 10 if they were all done within a ten second window. Anyway, my - conclusion is that this is an area ripe for - experimentation. - - &a.mckusick;, September 1998 - + + What about alternative layout policies for + directories? + + + + In answer to the question of alternative layout policies + for directories, the scheme that is currently in use is + unchanged from what I wrote in 1983. I wrote that policy + for the original fast file system, and never revisited it. + It works well at keeping cylinder groups from filling up. + As several of you have noted, it works poorly for find. + Most file systems are created from archives that were + created by a depth first search (aka ftw). These + directories end up being striped across the cylinder groups + thus creating a worst possible scenario for future depth + first searches. If one knew the total number of directories + to be created, the solution would be to create + (total / fs_ncg) per cylinder + group before moving on. Obviously, one would have to create + some heuristic to guess at this number. Even using a small + fixed number like say 10 would make an order of magnitude + improvement. To differentiate restores from normal + operation (when the current algorithm is probably more + sensible), you could use the clustering of up to 10 if they + were all done within a ten second window. Anyway, my + conclusion is that this is an area ripe for + experimentation. + + &a.mckusick;, September 1998 + - - How can I make the most of the data I see when my kernel - panics? - + + How can I make the most of the data I see when my kernel + panics? + - - Here is typical kernel panic: + + Here is typical kernel panic: - Fatal trap 12: page fault while in kernel mode + Fatal trap 12: page fault while in kernel mode fault virtual address = 0x40 fault code = supervisor read, page not present instruction pointer = 0x8:0xf014a7e5 @@ -10808,98 +11091,101 @@ trap number = 12 panic: page fault - When you see a message like this, it is not enough to just - reproduce it and send it in. The instruction pointer value that - I highlighted up there is important; unfortunately, it is also - configuration dependent. In other words, the value varies - depending on the exact kernel image that you are using. If - you are using a GENERIC kernel image from one of the snapshots, - then it is possible for somebody else to track down the - offending function, but if you are running a custom kernel then - only you can tell us where the fault - occurred. - - What you should do is this: - - - - Write down the instruction pointer value. Note that - the 0x8: part at the beginning is not - significant in this case: it is the - 0xf0xxxxxx part that we want. - - - - When the system reboots, do the following: - - &prompt.user; nm kernel.that.caused.the.panic | grep f0xxxxxx - - where f0xxxxxx is the instruction - pointer value. The odds are you will not get an exact - match since the symbols in the kernel symbol table are - for the entry points of functions and the instruction - pointer address will be somewhere inside a function, not - at the start. If you do not get an exact match, omit the - last digit from the instruction pointer value and try - again, i.e.: - - &prompt.user; nm kernel.that.caused.the.panic | grep f0xxxxx - - If that does not yield any results, chop off another - digit. Repeat until you get some sort of output. The - result will be a possible list of functions which caused - the panic. This is a less than exact mechanism for - tracking down the point of failure, but it is better than - nothing. - - - - However, the best way to track down the cause of a panic is by - capturing a crash dump, then using &man.kgdb.1; to generate - a stack trace on the crash dump. + When you see a message like this, it is not enough to + just reproduce it and send it in. The instruction pointer + value that I highlighted up there is important; + unfortunately, it is also configuration dependent. In other + words, the value varies depending on the exact kernel image + that you are using. If you are using a + GENERIC kernel image from one of the + snapshots, then it is possible for somebody else to track + down the offending function, but if you are running a custom + kernel then only you can tell us where + the fault occurred. - In any case, the method is this: + What you should do is this: - - - Make sure that the following line is included in - your kernel configuration file - (/usr/src/sys/arch/conf/MYKERNEL): + + + Write down the instruction pointer value. Note + that the 0x8: part at the beginning + is not significant in this case: it is the + 0xf0xxxxxx part that we + want. + - makeoptions DEBUG=-g # Build kernel with gdb(1) debug symbols - + + When the system reboots, do the following: - - Change to the /usr/src directory: + &prompt.user; nm kernel.that.caused.the.panic | grep f0xxxxxx - &prompt.root; cd /usr/src - + where f0xxxxxx is the + instruction pointer value. The odds are you will not + get an exact match since the symbols in the kernel + symbol table are for the entry points of functions and + the instruction pointer address will be somewhere + inside a function, not at the start. If you do not + get an exact match, omit the last digit from the + instruction pointer value and try again, i.e.: + + &prompt.user; nm kernel.that.caused.the.panic | grep f0xxxxx + + If that does not yield any results, chop off another + digit. Repeat until you get some sort of output. The + result will be a possible list of functions which caused + the panic. This is a less than exact mechanism for + tracking down the point of failure, but it is better + than nothing. + + - - Compile the kernel: + However, the best way to track down the cause of a panic + is by capturing a crash dump, then using &man.kgdb.1; to + generate a stack trace on the crash dump. - &prompt.root; make buildkernel KERNCONFIG=MYKERNEL - + In any case, the method is this: - - Wait for &man.make.1; to finish compiling. - + + + Make sure that the following line is included in + your kernel configuration file + (/usr/src/sys/arch/conf/MYKERNEL): - - &prompt.root; make installkernel KERNCONFIG=MYKERNEL - + makeoptions DEBUG=-g # Build kernel with gdb(1) debug symbols + - - Reboot. - - + + Change to the /usr/src + directory: - - If you do not use the KERNCONFIG - make variable a GENERIC kernel will - be built and installed. - + &prompt.root; cd /usr/src + + + + Compile the kernel: + + &prompt.root; make buildkernel KERNCONFIG=MYKERNEL + + + + Wait for &man.make.1; to finish compiling. + + + + &prompt.root; make installkernel KERNCONFIG=MYKERNEL + + + + Reboot. + + + + + If you do not use the KERNCONFIG + make variable a GENERIC kernel will + be built and installed. + The &man.make.1; process will have built two kernels. /usr/obj/usr/src/sys/MYKERNEL/kernel @@ -10910,52 +11196,52 @@ kernel.debug can be used as the source of debugging symbols for &man.kgdb.1;. - To make sure you capture a crash dump, you need edit - /etc/rc.conf and set - dumpdev to point to your swap - partition (or AUTO). This will cause the &man.rc.8; scripts to use - the &man.dumpon.8; command to enable crash dumps. You can - also run &man.dumpon.8; manually. After a panic, the - crash dump can be recovered using &man.savecore.8;; if - dumpdev is set in - /etc/rc.conf, the &man.rc.8; scripts - will run &man.savecore.8; automatically and put the crash - dump in /var/crash. - - - &os; crash dumps are usually the same size as the - physical RAM size of your machine. That is, if you have - 512 MB of RAM, you will get a 512 MB crash dump. Therefore you - must make sure there is enough space in - /var/crash to hold the dump. - Alternatively, you run &man.savecore.8; - manually and have it recover the crash dump to another - directory where you have more room. It is possible to limit - the size of the crash dump by using options - MAXMEM=N where - N is the size of kernel's memory - usage in KBs. - For example, if you have 1 GB of RAM, you can limit the - kernel's memory usage to 128 MB by this way, so that your crash dump size - will be 128 MB instead of 1 GB. - + To make sure you capture a crash dump, you need edit + /etc/rc.conf and set + dumpdev to point to your swap partition + (or AUTO). This will cause the + &man.rc.8; scripts to use the &man.dumpon.8; command to + enable crash dumps. You can also run &man.dumpon.8; + manually. After a panic, the crash dump can be recovered + using &man.savecore.8;; if dumpdev is set + in /etc/rc.conf, the &man.rc.8; scripts + will run &man.savecore.8; automatically and put the crash + dump in /var/crash. - Once you have recovered the crash dump, you can get a - stack trace with &man.kgdb.1; as follows: + + &os; crash dumps are usually the same size as the + physical RAM size of your machine. That is, if you have + 512 MB of RAM, you will get a 512 MB crash dump. + Therefore you must make sure there is enough space in + /var/crash to hold the dump. + Alternatively, you run &man.savecore.8; manually and have + it recover the crash dump to another directory where you + have more room. It is possible to limit the size of the + crash dump by using options + MAXMEM=N where + N is the size of kernel's + memory usage in KBs. For example, if you have 1 GB + of RAM, you can limit the kernel's memory usage to + 128 MB by this way, so that your crash dump size will + be 128 MB instead of 1 GB. + - &prompt.user; kgdb /usr/obj/usr/src/sys/MYKERNEL/kernel.debug /var/crash/vmcore.0 + Once you have recovered the crash dump, you can get a + stack trace with &man.kgdb.1; as follows: + + &prompt.user; kgdb /usr/obj/usr/src/sys/MYKERNEL/kernel.debug /var/crash/vmcore.0 (kgdb) backtrace - Note that there may be several screens worth of - information; ideally you should use - &man.script.1; to capture all of them. Using the - unstripped kernel image with all the debug symbols should show - the exact line of kernel source code where the panic occurred. - Usually you have to read the stack trace from the bottom up in - order to trace the exact sequence of events that lead to the - crash. You can also use &man.kgdb.1; to print out - the contents of various variables or structures in order to - examine the system state at the time of the crash. + Note that there may be several screens worth of + information; ideally you should use &man.script.1; to + capture all of them. Using the unstripped kernel image with + all the debug symbols should show the exact line of kernel + source code where the panic occurred. Usually you have to + read the stack trace from the bottom up in order to trace + the exact sequence of events that lead to the crash. You + can also use &man.kgdb.1; to print out the contents of + various variables or structures in order to examine the + system state at the time of the crash. Now, if you are really insane and have a second @@ -10968,45 +11254,47 @@ If you have DDB enabled and the - kernel drops into the debugger, you can force a panic (and a - crash dump) just by typing panic at the - ddb prompt. It may stop in the + kernel drops into the debugger, you can force a panic (and + a crash dump) just by typing panic at + the ddb prompt. It may stop in the debugger again during the panic phase. If it does, type continue and it will finish the crash dump. - + - - Why has dlsym() stopped working for ELF executables? - - - - The ELF toolchain does not, by default, make the symbols - defined in an executable visible to the dynamic linker. - Consequently dlsym() searches on handles - obtained from calls to dlopen(NULL, - flags) will fail to find such symbols. + + Why has dlsym() stopped working for + ELF executables? + - If you want to search, using - dlsym(), for symbols present in the - main executable of a process, you need to link the - executable using the - option to the ELF linker (&man.ld.1;). - + + The ELF toolchain does not, by default, make the symbols + defined in an executable visible to the dynamic linker. + Consequently dlsym() searches on + handles obtained from calls to dlopen(NULL, + flags) will fail to find such symbols. + + If you want to search, using + dlsym(), for symbols present in the + main executable of a process, you need to link the + executable using the + option to the ELF linker (&man.ld.1;). + - - How can I increase or reduce the kernel address space on i386? - + + How can I increase or reduce the kernel address space on + i386? + - + By default, the kernel address space is 1 GB (2 GB for PAE) for i386. If you run a - network-intensive server (e.g. a large FTP or HTTP server), + network-intensive server (e.g. a large FTP or HTTP server), or you want to use ZFS, you might find that is not enough. @@ -11019,7 +11307,7 @@ N, divide the desired address space size (in megabytes) by four. (For example, it is 512 for 2 GB.) - + @@ -11030,15 +11318,14 @@ This innocent little Frequently Asked Questions document has been written, rewritten, edited, folded, spindled, mutilated, eviscerated, contemplated, discombobulated, cogitated, - regurgitated, rebuilt, castigated, and reinvigorated over the - last decade, by a cast of hundreds if not thousands. + regurgitated, rebuilt, castigated, and reinvigorated over the last + decade, by a cast of hundreds if not thousands. Repeatedly. We wish to thank every one of the people responsible, and we encourage you to to join them + url="&url.articles.contributing;/article.html">join them in making this FAQ even better. - &bibliography;