Unofficial FAQ list for A/UX
This FAQ list is intended to cut down on the number of "often asked
questions" that make the rounds on comp.unix.aux and to bring the official
FAQ into the 21st century. Also included you'll find a few words of wisdom
as well as some general information for the A/UX community. This list
assumes that you are familiar with Unix (to some extent) but are curious
about A/UX's peculiarities. If you don't understand something in the FAQ
List, and a "Point of Contact" isn't specified, then by all means ask
comp.unix.aux - the pool of A/UX experts is growing smaller, but this is
still one of the best resources available. The list will be posted
occasionally on comp.unix.aux, and maybe on news.answers and comp.answers
as well.
This FAQ will focus on A/UX 3.1.1, but will also refer to 3.1, 3.0.2 and
3.0.1. Bugs and things "broken" in 3.0.1 but fixed in 3.0.2 (and later) or
"broken" in 3.1 but fixed in 3.1.1 won't necessarily be mentioned, since
the 3.0.1->3.0.2 and 3.1->3.1.1 fixes (the AWS "Tune-Up" disks, v1.0 and
v2.0) are free and readily available.
Newcomers to A/UX (as well as the old-timers!) should become familiar with
the sections on security, bugs, and hints before jumping to more specific
questions. You can save yourself a few headaches!
Please post your suggestions for additions/modifications to comp.unix.aux
for consideration.
Table of Contents
* List of Contributors to A/UX FAQ List
* List of security-related issues
* List of known bugs and patches under A/UX 3.x.x
* Upgrades
* 3.x.x
* Performance related patches
* Bugs and Fixes/Workarounds
* 3.1
* Bugs and Fixes/Workarounds
* 3.0.2
* Bugs and Fixes/Workarounds
* 3.0
* Performance related patches
* Bugs and Fixes/Workarounds
* Hints and Words Of Wisdom
* List of web resources and anonymous ftp archives for A/UX
* List of ported software
* General Q&A
1. What is A/UX? Is it any good?
2. Who uses A/UX? What for?
3. What's the minimum system I need (CPU, disk and RAM) to run A/UX?
4. I don't have access to a supported machine. Can I run A/UX in
emulation?
5. What's new about A/UX 3.x.x?
6. What's the diff between 3.0.2 and 3.0.2(wgs)?
7. How can I order A/UX?
8. What's the upgrade path for A/UX 3.0.2?
9. What are Right-To-Copy and Right-To-Upgrade licenses?
10. How can I report bugs that I find?
11. What's the word on A/UX 3.1 and 3.1.1?
12. How can I hack A/UX onto a Quadra 610/650?
13. What's the future of A/UX with the PowerMacs?
14. I can't use A/UX. What Unix alternatives are there?
15. What is NouveAUX?
16. I like A/UX, but I'm stuck using some other Unix system. How can
I make it more Mac-like?
* Installation
1. The installer panics that there is no root fs. Can I work around
it?
* Administration Q&A
1. How come my Login screen is gray, not color?
2. How come my Login ScreenSaver doesn't see both my monitors?
3. Even though I have lots of swap space and only a little bit is
being used, I still get a lot of messages saying that my swap
space is running low. What's the buzz?
4. How can I copy a complete file system from one disk/partition to
another?
5. What's with UUCP?
6. How can I log anonymous ftp entries? in.ftpd has a -l option, but
it doesn't work.
7. How come when I do a 'df' as a regular user, it shows me a
different number of free blocks compared to when I run it as
'root'?
8. Does A/UX LocalTalk support IP?
9. How do I get MPW 3.1 to work? It hangs my system...
10. Can I refer to a file on my Mac system from within A/UX?
11. How can I adjust the amount of virtual memory Finder uses?
12. Is there an archive of comp.unix.aux out there somewhere?
13. How come I can't use color under X?
14. Using the command shell interface, I'm trying to access some Mac
files (that have strange names) but I can't; the program returns
an error message I can't access the file. What's going on?
15. I heard the the Installer for 3.x.x works on "any" 3rd party hard
disk. Well, it doesn't on mine!
16. Since RetroSpect will no longer be bundled with A/UX 3.0.2, how
can I get it?
17. How can I configure CAP under A/UX?
18. What are some good books about A/UX?
19. When booting up, I get a "panic ialloc, dup alloc" (or other)
error message and A/UX won't boot. What can I do?
20. Is traceroute available for A/UX?
21. What is KEEPALIVE and how can I use it?
22. What does this 'panic' message mean...?
23. How often does A/UX sync the file system?
24. What is 'catsearchd'?
25. Is there any way to make AppleDouble file formats the default,
rather than AppleSingle?
26. Is there a way to update the 'whatis' database?
27. Does A/UX support Virtual Interfaces?
28. Aaargh! I can't find a command I need!
* Mac-Emulation Questions
1. What Mac applications are compatible with A/UX?
2. What screen-savers are compatible with A/UX?
3. My MacOS partition mounts fine under MacOS but it doesn't show up
under A/UX... Why?
4. I have MacsBug installed. How can I trigger it?
5. Sometimes my MultiFinder environment (and/or CommandShell)
freezes up; how can I unfreeze it? Should I hit the Interrupt
switch?
6. My site is not upgraded to EtherTalk Phase 2 yet... can I use
Phase 1 under A/UX?
7. I'm having trouble transfering files between A/UX and my MacOS
disk. Also, sometimes things get transfered fine, othertimes not.
What's going on?
8. Do I install CDEVs and Extensions in the System Folder on
MacPartition or on the "/" A/UX disk.
9. I heard that A/UX requires a special version of System 7 to
boot... Is this true?
10. After the Mac environment crashes (or when I use MacsBug), the
Desktop gets all screwed up... Argg!!
11. My MacOS partition(s) only show up on the Desktop when I login as
root. Why?
12. For some reason, my CommandShell only responds to a keyboard
event after it receives a second event. For example, typing "a"
won't show until I type something else or click the mouse. What
gives?
13. Can A/UX 3.x.x run System 7.1?
14. What version of AppleTalk does A/UX run?
15. I've just installed MacTCP 2.0.[2|4|6] on A/UX and nothing works!
What's going on?
16. Does the LaserWriter Bridge s/w work under A/UX?
17. My /etc/fidd processes refused to run and dumps core. Help!
* Devices and Peripherals
1. Storage
1. Can I use my Teac/DAT/etc tape drive under A/UX?
2. I'm trying to use a SyQuest drive under A/UX but it refuses
to work. I keep on getting a "more data than device
expected" error message. What's wrong?
3. I'm trying to access my tape drive using 'tc' (with
something like find . -print | cpio -o > /dev/rmt/tc1) but
it doesn't work...
4. Can I use my Zip Drive under A/UX?
2. Printing
1. I'm using a LaserWriter IIg with A/UX 3.x.x and whenever I
print something to it through 'lpr', the first line of the
page is cut off. Why?
2. How can I add printers other than those available in
Chooser?
3. Will the old serial HP DeskWriter work under A/UX?
4. How can I use a HP DeskWriter under A/UX?
5. I can't get my LaserJet 4M to work reliably. Help!
3. Input
1. Can I use my scanner under A/UX?
2. What 3-button mice work under A/UX (and X)? And 2-button
mice?
3. Does the Apple Adjustable Keyboard work under A/UX?
4. Output
1. Does A/UX support 24-bit color?
5. Upgrades
1. Is it worth getting a cache card for the IIci?
2. What 3rd party accelerators are compatible with A/UX?
6. Disk
1. How can I figure out the /etc/disktab entry for my hard
disk?
2. What CD-ROM drives are compatible with A/UX 3.x.x?
3. I've tried to install the CD Remote extension to A/UX so
that I can play audio CD's, but it doesn't work...
4. What Unix CD-ROM formats does A/UX support?
5. How can I increase the number of inodes when creating a new
file system?
7. Interfaces
1. I have an EtherNet card that works fine under the Macintosh
OS but not under A/UX. Why?
2. Which serial cards work under A/UX?
3. What's the specifics on the AWS95 PDS Card?
4. What are the specifics of SCSI under A/UX?
* Porting and Programming Q&A
1. How come rn/elm/less/etc... act weird concerning signals?
2. Is X11R5 available for A/UX? How about X11R6 or later?
3. I've noticed that FSF GNU doesn't support A/UX. Does that mean
I'll miss out on all the neat Gnu-stuff like gcc?
4. I've ported Elm (or other mail reader) and it doesn't seem to
work... Why?
5. What languages are available for A/UX?
6. Is OSF/Motif available for A/UX?
7. While trying to port some software, the Makefile looks for a
program called 'ranlib' and dies when it can't find it. What is
it and where can I get it.
8. When compiling, I get the message that 'setlocale' is an
"undefined symbol"... what's going on?
9. How in the world do I use nlist()?
* Communication
1. I'm unable to start a getty process on a built-in serial port.
When I use 'setport' to enable the port, I get a "no such device"
error. Configuring /etc/inittab to respawn getty on the port has
no effect.
2. I am using and depending on /etc/hosts to do all my hostname
resolving (i.e. not using named or /etc/resolv.conf). How come I
can't mail to other hosts, but I can ping/ftp/etc. them?
3. When I try to mail something, I get the following error message:
Cannot read frozen config file: not a typewriter. What's wrong?
4. How do I set up my Mac and A/UX to enable remote logins via a
modem on tty0?
5. How come I can't use 'talk' with some of the other Unix boxes out
there, and they can't talk to me?
6. How can I convince A/UX to forward IP packets?
7. Is PPP available for A/UX?
8. How can I change the MTU value for CSlip?
9. I'm having trouble having Solaris 2.4 NFS clients access my NFS
server!
10. I'm running a busy web-server and clients are getting lots of
'Connection Refused' messages... Why?
* Errors Explained
1. How do I keep command lines that I edit with "backspace" from
erasing the prompt?
2. Whenever I try to run xinit (or startx) from the CommandShell I
get a fatal server error. Why?
3. I keep on getting the following error message on the Console:
fcntl: local lock manager not registered. What's going on?
4. When I try to startup 'xterm', I get the following error message:
xterm: no available ptys... What gives?
5. 'ps' and 'pstat' only seem to work for root. If anyone else tries
these commands, they get a "no mem" error message. What's wrong?
* Copyright
List of Contributors to the A/UX FAQ List
The editor would like to thank all the various people who have contributed
to the A/UX FAQ List (both those that submitted questions as well as those
who submitted answers). Also included under the Q&A section are the
relevant people to contact if you have specific questions about specific
A/UX items. If you've been left out, please let me know!
* Brian Bechtel
* Greg Berryman
* Nick Beser
* Peter Brewer
* Manuel Bouyssou
* John Coolidge
* Bob Denny
* Eric Dittman
* John Dundas III
* Thomas Eberhardt
* Rick Ewing
* Ron Flax
* Marcelo Gallardo
* Ben Goren
* James Gritton
* Jim Jagielski
* Chris Johnson
* Bill Johnston
* Ron Johnston
* Scott C. Kanne
* Bob Kirby
* Tim Larson
* Nicolas Lenz
* Tom Long
* Plamen Mihaylov
* Darrell Pfeifer
* Phillip Porch
* Wes Price
* Alexis Rosen
* Eric Rosen
* Craig Ruff
* Jim Ryan
* Paul Sander
* Kent Sandvik
* Jon Stevens
* Craig Struble
* Richard Todd
* Chuq Von Rospach
* Jon Wa:tte
* Earl Wallace
* Herb Weiner
* Bill Woodcock
The reader is advised that it is unlikely that many of these circa-1998
addresses will still be valid today.
List of security-related issues
No system is 100% secure. To this end, it makes sense to make each one as
secure as possible, including A/UX.
Permissive Permissions
* The default distribution of A/UX has some files with somewhat lax
permissions. These should be changed to avoid problems. These files
and the recommended modes, owners and groups are as follows:
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root sys /bin/ps
-rwxr-sr-x 1 bin sys /bin/pstat
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin /etc/ncheck
-rwxr-sr-x 1 bin sys /usr/bin/lav
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin /usr/bin/X11/xterm
-rwxr-sr-x 1 bin sys /usr/etc/ncstats
-rwxr-sr-x 1 bin sys /usr/etc/nfsstat
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin /usr/etc/rpcinfo
-rwxr-x--- 1 adm adm /usr/lib/acct/diskusg
drwxr-xr-x 21 root sys /etc
The removal of SUID-to-root from 'diskusg' means that the cron 'adm'
accounting package (all the /usr/lib/acct/* stuff) will need to be run
by 'root' instead.
To make changing the user, group and permissions of these files a
little easier, Jim Jagielski has hacked together an ugly little 'ksh'
script that does it for you. The info required is self-contained in
the script itself and it's easy to add more entries as required. Look
for the script on jagubox under "/pub/aux/Security/better.perms".
* Also, to close things a little tighter, remove all permissions for
"others" (chmod o-rwx) for all files in /usr/lib/acct and
/usr/lib/cron.
* Only trusted users should be allowed to use 'lpr'. Remove execute
privileges for "others" and then change '/etc/groups' to make only
trusted users as members of group 'daemon'. If you want, you can dump
'lpr'/'lpd' and use 'lp'/'lpsched'.
* You may want to consider if you really want the 'lp'/'lpr'
administration programs (such as 'lpadmin', 'lpmove', etc.) executable
by all. If not, then remove that mode from them (chmod o-rwx).
* Under 3.x.x, make sure that all files in /dev/scsi are mode 600 with
owner 'root' and group 'sys'... Get the new 'devscsi' file (available
on jagubox) to replace what's in /etc/install.d/init.d.
* A/UX also has the 'expreserve' problem. This program (actually called
'ex3.9preserve' under A/UX) is used by 'vi'/'ex' to "save" canceled or
killed edit sessions. 'expreserve' saves a copy of the buffer in the
"/usr/preserve" directory. The program is SUID to root since the
directory is owned by root, but any other user would do just fine.
There's also no real need for it to be SUID either. To preserve the
use of 'expreserve' you'll need to create a new user whose sole
existance is to own "/usr/preserve" and 'ex3.9preserve'.
1. Create a new user on the system. Make it totally unused, e.g.:
/etc/passwd
preserve:* void *:33:33:secure
preserve:/usr/preserve:/bin/noshell
/etc/group
preserve:* void *:33:preserve
2. Now change the owner and group of /usr/lib/ex3.9preserve and
/usr/preserve to the above user. Change the mode of
'ex3.9preserve' to 2111 and 'preserve' to 775:
---x--s--x 1 preserve preserve /usr/lib/ex3.9preserve
drwxrwxr-x 2 preserve preserve 512 Mar 4 15:46 /usr/preserve
...and you're done. Now 'vi'/'expreserve' can write in /usr/preserve
but no root security hole exists! If this is too much work, then you
can just remove the SUID bit for 'expreserve'; this will close the
hole, but killed editting sessions won't be saved (except for root).
Replacing 'sh' with the "fixed" version described below fixes this
hole. Still, having 'expreserve' SUID to root goes against the ideal
of running programs with the least privileges possible.
* The '/lib/librmt.a' library has write permissions for all users. You
should remove it (the write permissions, that is, not the file :-)):
-rw-r--r-- 1 root bin 14734 Mar 23 1993 /lib/librmt.a
* Why not create a group called 'wheel' and make /bin/su mode 4750 with
owner 'root' and group 'wheel'. Then, only make trusted users with the
need to use 'su' as members of 'wheel'.
* Make sure that 'bin' has a void password and '/bin/false' as it's
login shell.
* The shadow-passwd suite has been ported to A/UX. Basically, this
package moves the encrypted passwds from world-readble /etc/passwd to
root-only-readable /ec/shadow, thus greatly increasing security. Some
daemons, such as popper and wu-ftpd will need to be recompiled. Use
it!
Other "Gotcha's" and Info
* One definite improvement you should make to your A/UX system is to
obtain (from jagubox and other A/UX mirror sites) and install the
'uwrap' program. 'uwrap' is a wrapper specfically designed to wrap and
protect /etc/init from the SIGURG signal. It can also be used to wrap
other programs and processes as well if desired. Programs linked with
-lbsd or -lposix or those compiled with 'set42sig()' do not require
SIGURG protection (and since /etc/init exec's all other processes,
unless processes use SysV signals and reset SIGURG to SIG_DFL, they
will also be protected as well).
* There is a replacement version of rpc.statd for A/UX 3.1 (3.1.1)
available on ftp.support.apple.com, in
/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/Unix/A_UX/supported/3.x that addresses and
fixes the vulnerability described in CERT Advisory CA-06.09. Get it!
* A number of holes are due to some "wrong" things that '/bin/sh' does
concerning IFS. To fix this, Apple has released a "corrected" version
of 'sh' that resets IFS to it's default value before executing a
script. This fixes some holes that exist in SUID programs that call
'system()' or 'popen()' to execute some commands. This replacement
version of 'sh' is available both on aux.support.apple.com and
jagubox. To install it, follow these directions (assuming you are
located in the directory where the new 'sh' is located):
$ cp /bin/sh /bin/Osh
$ cp sh /bin/sh
For this to work, /bin/sh shouldn't be busy, so this should be done
either in Single-User mode (as long as root's shell isn't 'sh') or
while in A/UX Startup.
* If you are connected to the Internet, it's a Good Idea to either use
either tcp_wrappers (on ftp.win.tue.nl and jagubox) or inetd 1.9 (on
jagubox), both of which provide host access control (i.e. you can
select which hosts can exec which network daemons. While you are at
it, the replacement version of 'portmap' (also on jagubox) is very
easy to compile and is recommended as well.
* By all means, remove the Guest account. Check to make sure that there
are no users with null-passwords in /etc/passwd.
* The default distribution of A/UX has 'in.fingerd' SUID to root. Even
though it doesn't have the famous Internet Worm problem, there's no
need for that. Much better to have it run as 'nobody'. You can do this
by either changing the owner of 'in.fingerd' to 'nobody' and keeping
it's SUID bit or you can remove the SUID capability and tell 'inetd'
to run it as 'nobody'. To do the latter, you'll need to use the new,
unofficial replacement of 'inetd' for A/UX (see below: Performance
related patches, List of ported software and How can I log anonymous
ftp entries?). Jim Jagielski has also ported a version of 'in.fingerd'
that logs fingers. It's available via anon-ftp on jagubox. Of course,
the most secure option is simply to disable 'in.fingerd' totally in
'/etc/servers'.
* Root should never use the common System Folder... Due to it's very
nature it's writable by everyone. Give root a personal System Folder
and sleep easier. :-)
* A/UX doesn't support the 'sticky-bit' feature for directories. So why
not create a directory in your $HOME called '.tmp' with mode 700. Now
in /etc/profile add:
if [ -d "$HOME/.tmp" ]; then
EXINIT="set directory=$HOME/.tmp"
export EXINIT
TMPDIR="$HOME/.tmp"
export TMPDIR
fi
and in /etc/cshrc add:
if ( -d "$HOME/.tmp" ) then
setenv EXINIT "set directory=$HOME/.tmp"
setenv TMPDIR "$HOME/.tmp"
endif
Now most Unix programs (like 'vi', 'elm', 'cc', 'gcc', etc.) will use
$HOME/tmp as a safer location for temp-files.
List of known bugs and patches under A/UX 3.x.x
Upgrades
AWS Tune-Up 2.0
By far, this is the most important patch you could apply to A/UX 3.1. It
updates it to 3.1.1 and fixes lots of bugs as well as provides better
performance. The patch is in the form of 1 DiskCopy image file which can
be found on jagubox and on aux.support.apple.com. You download the files
and then use DiskCopy to make the Installer disks. This is a free upgrade
to 3.1 and requires 3.1. A/UX 3.1.1 will not run reliably on the Mac II,
Mac IIx, Mac IIcx or SE/30.
On jagubox, look in ~ftp/pub/aux/Apple.fixes/supported
AWS Tune-Up 1.0
By far, this is the most important patch you could apply to A/UX 3.0.1. It
updates it to 3.0.2 and fixes lots of bugs as well as provides better
performance. The patch is in the form of 2 DiskCopy image files which can
be found on jagubox and on aux.support.apple.com. You download the files
and then use DiskCopy to make the Installer disks. This is a free upgrade
to 3.0.1 and requires 3.0.1.
3.x.x
Performance related patches
BNET
Has an incredibly small listen() queue which is a major pain for loaded
WebServers. 'adb' shell script that fixes this is available on
ftp1.jaguNET.com in /pub/aux as well as on jagubox. - Jim Jagielski
(jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
inetd
Unofficial replacement is available on jagubox in pub/aux/Daemons. This
replacement is based on the BSD-reno inetd and allows such nice features
as rereading /etc/servers on receiving SIGHUP, specifying options for
called daemons, logging when daemons are spawned and which host requested
the daemon and providing host access control. - Jim Jagielski
(jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov) and John Coolidge
(coolidge[v]apple.com)
tc (tape drive device driver)
Reports incorrect file number when 'mt' is used to skip files (fsf and/or
bsf). Doesn't allow for additional storage capability of extended length
tapes or hardware compression tape drives. Doesn't work with Exabyte
8200s.
An unofficial replacement version of 'tc' has has been written that fixes
these bugs as well as providing additional capability and support for
other drives. 3.x.x replacement is available on jagubox in
pub/aux/Sys_stuff. - Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
Bugs and Fixes/Workarounds
~lp/model/at_interface
Incorrectly prints multiple copies of input. For example, "lp file.1
file.2" would print 2 copies of file.1 and just one of file.2. Due to '>>'
being used instead of '>' in certain places in at_interface. Unofficial
replacement is available on jagubox in pub/aux/Sys_stuff. Entries in
~lp/interface based on at_interface should also be changed/patched. - Jim
Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
atprint
Doesn't correctly connect to the LaserWriter Pro 810. Official replacement
is available on ftp.support.apple.com in /pub/aws95/atprint.
syslogd
Doesn't handle some facility (like 'news') logging correctly. Unofficial
replacement is available on jagubox in pub/aux/Daemons (contains new
/etc/syslogd as well as syslog.h). - Jim Jagielski
(jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
in.telnetd
Leaves ports open and hanging occasionally. Can cause kernel crashes.
Unofficial replacement is available on jagubox in pub/aux/Sys_stuff.
Please note that it appears that this new version has some slight bugs in
correctly handling Synchs and options negotiation. Jim notes that he's
only seen this using VersaTerm Pro 3.6.2 and connecting to himself via
telnet. - Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov), John Coolidge
(coolidge[v]apple.com)
/etc/startup.d/ao,as,ae6
Ignores the Broadcast Address value in /etc/NETADDRS. If your broadcast
address needs to be different then the default, you'll need to modify
these scripts to add 'broadcast "$broadcast"' to the 'ifconfig' lines that
don't refer to loopback. Pretty easy but email Jim Jagielski if you have
questions.
/usr/include/dir.h
If entered through dirent.h and _SYSV_SOURCE is defined, rewinddir() is
incorrectly "defined". It assumes that you are linking -lposix and will
use the "real" rewinddir() function found there, when, in fact, you should
#define rewinddir as done with _BSD_SOURCE. A hacked version of dir.h is
available on jagubox. It only assumes -lposix will be included (and the
real rewinddir() called) if only _POSIX_SOURCE is defined.
/usr/include/sys/file.h
Even though fcntl.h is smart enough to know if sys/file.h has been
included, and won't redefine things defined in there, the reverse isn't
true. So if you include sys/file.h first and fcntl.h next, no warnings
will be given, but if you do the reverse, some "redefine" warnings will be
printed. A hacked version of file.h (for /usr/include/sys) is available on
jagubox. It checks for __fcntl_h first. If you are using 'gcc', you'll
also need to snag it's fixed header-file from jagubox, GNUfile.h, and put
it at <gnuinstall>/lib/gcc/aux/?.?.?/include/sys/file.h.
/usr/include/sys/param.h
MAXHOSTNAMLEN is defined as a ridiculously low value (32). It should
instead be set to what's "normal": 256. Fix is very simple... edit
/usr/include/sys/param.h and change the value from 32 to 256. If you are
using 'gcc', you'll also need to edit it's include file
<gnuinstall>/lib/gcc/aux/?.?.?/include/sys/param.h.
/usr/include/sys/types.h
Incorrectly defines size_t as signed int when every other header file
defines it as unsigned int. Fix is very simple... edit
/usr/include/sys/types.h and change it from signed to unsigned.
3.1
Bugs and Fixes/Workarounds
chsh
Resets the uid of nobody to 60001 (the MAXUID under 3.1 is 65534, but
'chsh' thinks it's 60001). Use 'vipw' to change this value back if needed.
3.0.2
Bugs and Fixes/Workarounds
elap
A/UX-mac occasionally disappears under Chooser. Official 3.0.2 patch is
now available on aux.support.apple.com in aws95/elap.
3.0
Performance related patches
MacOS System Heap Expansion
Not as robust as the real System 7.0.1 capability, thus preventing you
from loading lots of memory hungry Extensions and CDEVs. Unofficial
replacement is available on jagubox in
pub/aux/Apple.fixes/unsupported/3.0.
Bugs and Fixes/Workarounds
as, ao, etheraddr
H/W ethernet address is burned in bitwise reverse on Q9?0 and Ethernet NB
card. Thus, ao, as and etheraddr reports the incorrect address. 3.0 patch
is now available on aux.support.apple.com in supported/3.0.
BNU/HDB UUCP (the whole thing)
Severe problems as distributed, such as inability to dialout with
correctly configured modem, etc. 3.0 patch is now available on
aux.support.apple.com in supported/3.0. This "patch" is a newer version of
HDB (to 1.16) and adds some Mega-enhancements as well. Thanks to Earl
Wallace!!! If you snagged version 1.14 from aux.support.apple.com then be
sure to update to version 1.16. Installing BNU 1.6 causes syslogd to break
under new compiles. This is due to the fact that dial.o is replaced in
libc.a/libc_s.a when BNU is installed. To fix, just get the replacement
dial.o on ftp.apple.com in pub/earlw/dial.
csh
Doesn't seem to like filename completion.
pstat
Depending on the options used, can gobble memory and not release.
Unofficial replacement is available on jagubox in
pub/aux/Apple.fixes/unsupported/3.0.
rpc.rstatd
Doesn't report correct load averages. Unofficial replacement is available
on jagubox in pub/aux/Apple.fixes/unsupported/3.0.
serial drivers
After some use on all Macs (except IIfx and maybe the Quadras) the kernel
will crash. This has been confirmed by Apple but no fix exists yet!!
syslogd
If BNU 1.6 is installed, syslogd won't work on newly compiled programs due
to some munging of libc.a/libc_s.a when BNU 1.6 is installed. See BNU/HDB
UUCP above.
Hints and Words Of Wisdom
Disk buffer memory
Depending on your setup, A/UX allocates either 10% or 50% of memory for
disk buffers (that is, the value of 'NBUF' is either 0 or -1... see
kconfig(1M)). (The kernel for the AWS95 has, by default, a NBUF value of
-1 whereas "everyone else" has NBUF = 0.) If you have a lot of RAM and
A/UX is only allocating 10%, you can greatly increase system performance
by increasing the allotment. However, you cannot use kconfig to specify
"20%" but you must give it an actual number to use. The way to determine
the number of buffers being used, run "pstat -m". This will give you the
number of buffers that are currently allocated. For example, if the value
is 1000, then you know that to increase the number of buffers to 20%, you
must use 'kconfig' to set 'NBUF' to 2000. Under 3.0.2 (and later), you can
use the Memory cdev (as root) to do this as well. In fact, this is the
recommended way.
Please note that if you change the amount of RAM you have, you'll need to
change the value of 'NBUF.' Jim suggests that before you add/remove RAM,
you use 'kconfig' to reset 'NBUF' to 0, then do the RAM change and see how
your system performance is. If needed, you can then use the above to
increase (or decrease) the number of disk buffers.
Mac II PMMU
You can run A/UX on the original Mac II, however the PMMU chip must be
installed. You can also use one of the many 68030 upgrades for the Mac II,
such as the Marathon '030, but the Mac II ROMs won't recognize the PMMU
capabilities onboard the CPU. You'll need to get the Mac II FDHD ROM
Upgrade Kit. This kit replaces your ROMs with IIx ROMs, thus enabling you
(and A/UX) to use the upgrade. The kit also replaces your SWIM chip
(floppy controller) enabling you to use FDHD disks (if such a drive is
installed) too... thus the name of the kit. This kit can be had for about
$120 although some dealers also include a FDHD drive as well, bumping the
price up to about $430.
Serial ports
You can configure the built-in serial ports for hardware handshaking (RTS
& DTS) or dialup security (DTR & CD) but not both, due to the lack of a
sufficient number of modem control lines.
FTP
When using ftp, unless you are sure that a file is, in fact, a true Text
file, set the ftp mode to Binary. This is especially true when downloading
GIFs and "true" Mac files. If it's a BINHEXed file or a uuencoded file,
then you can specify Ascii mode (in some cases, it's required). If the
file you wish to download has the ".tar" or ".Z" suffix, then you need
Binary; if the suffix is ".uu" or ".hqx" then use Ascii. If you are using
a MacOS-ftp utility, then using MacBinary may confuse A/UX (well, the Unix
side of it). If the file is a tar file (for example), compressed or not,
MacBinary attaches some MacOS "information" to the file that tar can't
handle. Use 'fcnvt' to change the file to Apple Double to "strip" this
extra by separating the forks:
$ fcnvt -v -d input output
To avoid having A/UX attempt the CR->NL change when copying the file over
to A/UX, change the Creator to "A/UX" and Type to "BIN " before
drag-copying the file.
So, the flow should be as follows:
1. Set the file's Creator and Type to something safe ("A/UX" and "BIN ")
to avoid CR->NL translation.
2. Drag copy over to A/UX.
3. Use 'fcnvt' to convert file to Apple Double format.
4. Use Unix utilties as normal.
GIF files
To download GIF files via anon-ftp, be sure to specify Binary mode. Then
use 'setfile' to create the correct Type and Creator fields (for, example,
for Giffer use 'setfile -t"GIFf" -c"Bozo"'). You can then keep this file
on your A/UX disk or transfer it over to your MacOS disk (See
Mac-Emulation Questions).
Rebuilding the Desktop
If you want to rebuild the "/" desktop, be sure to avoid circular symbolic
links (links to "." and/or "..") or else you'll be waiting a looooong
time. In a similar way, make sure that you don't have NFS volumes mounted
because they will add a lot to the time required to rebuild the Desktop...
UUCP
With the newest version of HDB UUCP (1.16 - see above), use the "-u"
option on 'getty' to keep /dev/tty?? settings sane. Also use the "-t"
option with a value like 60 or so to make getty hang up a hung login
attempt.
System Folder security
If your A/UX setup is a true multi-user system, or, at the least, has
Guest as an active account, it is a Very Good Idea to give each user their
own personal System Folder (use 'systemfolder'). This is very true for
root! As root, you should also avoid using the global System Folder
(mac/sys/System Folder) as an alternate Sys. Folder... there's very little
need to do so anyway.
Oh yeah... you can't just copy /mac/sys/System Folder to something like
$HOME/System Folder... you must use 'systemfolder' and add/change/delete
things as required.
Text editor preferences
It's very easy to replace TextEditor as your Finder-double-click text
editor. All you need to do is copy the application to /mac/bin (make sure
that it's permissions are 755 bin:bin), edit /etc/profile and /etc/cshrc
to change FINDER_EDITOR to point to the application. Now, A/UX text files
will show up as that application's filetype. An excellent replacement is
BBEdit Lite (v 2.31). It is really recommended!
Dialup security
A/UX's 'login' supports additional dialup security. This is enabled by
creating/editing two files: /etc/dialups and /etc/d_passwd. The format of
/etc/dialups is a list of ports that you want to have dialup passwds. eg:
/dev/tty0
/dev/tty10
The format of /etc/d_passwd is a list which associates a password with a
login program (which is the last field in /etc/passwd). eg:
/bin/sh:&nk7h7ak92j3H:
/bin/ksh:8hw$jK4ft92jx:
/bin/csh::
/usr/lib/uucp/uucico::
In this case, if anyone attempts to login on ports tty0 or tty10 and are
using 'ksh' or 'sh', they'll get asked for a secondary (dialup) password.
Users using 'csh' or 'uucico' will not. All other logins that use login
programs not entered in /etc/d_passwd (like, for example,
/usr/local/bin/bash) will not be allowed to login on the "secure" port.
Software installers
If you want to install a program that uses a "complex" installation
procedure (like for Canvas, Word, Stuffit, etc.) then you should not try
to do a fresh install under A/UX. Instead, install under the real MacOS,
reboot A/UX and then install needed files to your A/UX System Folder.
Programs that, when installed, hack around with the System (beyond things
like Fonts) itself, most probably won't work under A/UX, since you really
can't patch System (unless you are handy with ResEdit and know exactly
what resources to add/change... even then, you are taking a chance...)
fsck
If you get an error message to the effect that you have a bad SuperBlock
when doing a 'fsck' on a disk, try having 'fsck' use another SuperBlock.
Block #16 is always an alternate SuperBlock block, so you can try:
$ fsck -b 16 /dev/rdsk/cxxxxxxxx
setpgrp()
A/UX has two versions of the setpgrp() call. The first is the standard
SysV version and takes no arguments. The other is the standard BSD version
and takes 2 arguments (setpgrp(pid, gpid)). However, if, when porting
programs, you have added the 'set42sig()' call, or link with -lbsd, then
you must use the second form (actually, the second form is required
whenever COMPAT_BSDTTY and COMPAT_BSDSIGNALS are set); the first form will
usually fail. A non-portable way of handling this is always calling
setpgrp() as setpgrp(0, getpid());. Now, no matter what the compatibility
flags are, the function will work ('cc' and 'gcc' under A/UX presently
ignores the passed arguments when the no-argument version is called).
Filesystem organization tips
It's always a Good Idea to keep "original" stuff separate from locally
added or modified stuff. '/usr/local' is a very good place for this. To
add manual pages to this location, create a '/usr/local/man' directory.
Now make a symbolic link from '/usr/catman/L_man' to '/usr/local/man'.
This does two things: (1) Allows 'man' to search down the '/usr/catman'
directory to find your local man pages while keeping the actual data under
'/usr/local'; (2) The local man-page set will be searched first (due to
the name L_man) as would be desired. If you really want, you can also make
'/usr/local/catman' a link to '/usr/local/man'.
Utilities for man pages
If you've added a number of additional man pages, you may want to snag the
'man-utils' package on jagubox. It includes a collection of programs and
scripts that make viewing, installing and making man pages easier. Also
includes a replacement for '/usr/bin/man'.
Shell scripts
Some 'configure' scripts may fail due to some line-length and
symbol-length limitations in /bin/sh (you'll see something like a "symbol
too long" error). You can get around this by changing the script type from
#!/bin/sh to #!/bin/ksh to run them as 'ksh' scripts... In fact, some
people think it's better to run all 'sh' scripts as 'ksh' scripts if
possible. :-)
Fonts
Maybe you think Courier and Monaco really don't look that nice for
CommandShell windows. Monaco is too plain and Courier takes up too much
room on the window (and with both, it's hard to see "."s, hard to tell the
difference between "O" and "0", etc.). Jim used a font called CSFont on
jagubox. It's a tweaked version of the old, original Courier bitmaps that
Apple used to provide. It's available via anon-ftp here on jagubox in
/pub/aux/Misc_stuff. He was working on tweaking a bold version of CSFont,
but apparently it never was completed.
Programming tips
If you are doing any in-depth porting, then do yourself a favor and snag a
copy of libUTIL.a from jagubox. libUTIL.a is a collection of many
functions that aren't included in the standard A/UX libraries, but are
needed (or very useful) when porting (esp. BSD sources or ANSI stuff).
Some examples of included functions are memmove(), strerror(), strdup()
and more. If you have a suggested function to include, let Jim Jagielski
(jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov) know.
Web browsing
In order to get the WWW-browser Netscape to work correctly under A/UX, you
need to make sure a few things are right. First of all, make sure that
your Preferences are setup correctly: your Temp and Cache directory should
be set and must be located on a MacOS disk, not under the A/UX file
system; your Helper applications must be selected as well. Failure to do
this can cause Netscape not to view graphics correctly.
You should also move the 'Netscape f' folder from the Preferences folder
in System Folder to the actual Netscape folder... Having it located in
Preferences will prevent Netscape from remembering certain settings, such
as Bookmarks.
List of web resources and anonymous ftp archives for A/UX
Many of these sites are defunct as of 2005, but they remain in this list
so that the significance will be realized in the event that a mirror is
discovered.
You'll notice "jagubox" mentioned a lot in this FAQ. It was a
ftp/gopher/web server run by a previous FAQ maintainer and prominent A/UX
community member named Jim Jagielski. It's address is listed below. Jim
left NASA and the jagubox archive is no longer accessible there. Some
mirrors do exist, and they are also listed below.
FTP
* 130.43.1.101 Meant to be the central server for all Apple Business
Systems products, including A/UX, AWS, MAE, etc.
* 130.43.50.2 ports and hacks for A/UX
* 155.135.16.1 neat A/UX stuff
* 128.112.64.39 mirror of jagubox
* ftp.amug.org mirror of jagubox and other goodies
* 137.224.129.4 mirror of jagubox
* ftp.geo.tu-freiberg.de has a mirror of jagubox
* 130.43.6.3 main FTP server for Apple
* 206.156.208.7 various A/UX goodies
* 128.183.44.1 FAQ List; bunch of ports, utilities, new mini-inews
(1.6); Apple fixes (in ~ftp/pub/aux/Apple.fixes)
* 130.237.222.71 mirror of A/UX items from: afsg.apple.com jagubox
wuarchive.wustl.edu
* 128.83.138.20 misc. ports; Mac applications, CDEVs, etc.
* 192.135.231.4 IIci benchmarking results
* 199.77.224.208 copies of various A/UX ports
* 128.252.135.4 ports, GNU stuff; (look in systems/aux)
Web
* Page de telechargement - scans of printed articles in French
* A/UX 3.0 Documentation - "Basic Skills" and "Installation Guide"
converted to HTML, and Apple Knowledge Base articles
* 68k Macintosh Liberation Army : UNIX on 68k forum
* Applefritter : Unix and Mac OS X forum
* A/UX : The Unix for the rest of us? - Real nice introduction to A/UX,
with screenshots
* A/UX Penelope - Fantastic overview and guide to A/UX, with screenshots
and downloads
* Server Administration with A/UX 3.0.1
* X11R5 stuff?
* Documents archive from Apple's Tech Info Library
* Apache on A/UX Performance Hints - from Mr. Jagubox himself
* LowEndMac : MaX list
* Apple A/UX Software, Binaries, & Help - OSS compiled for A/UX
* mirror of mirror of Jagubox
* The A/UX Web Server Deployment Guide
* Unix Guru Universe - A/UX - Apple Unix - Links and software
List of ported software
Already ported and available:
* 3270 (v3.6)
* Eric C Hagberg (hagberg[v]mail.med.cornell.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* Austin KCL (619)
* Thomas Weigert (weigert[v]mcs.anl.gov)
* wuarchive.wustl.edu [???]
* apache (v1.0.0 thru v1.1)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jaguNET.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Web_stuff] - ftp.apache.org [officially
supported OS]
* Josh Burker New! v 1.3.34
* aux-penelope.com
* bash (1.12)
* John Coolidge (coolidge[v]apple.com)
* wuarchive.wustl.edu [systems/aux/gnu]
* Berkeley make
* Phillip P. Porch (root[v]theporch.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* Berkeley mandoc
* Phillip P. Porch (root[v]theporch.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* cut & paste (BSD versions)
* Ken Whang (ken[v]touch.wustl.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Sys_stuff]
* dateset (not really a port, but a new utility)
* Tim Larson
* christtrek.dyndns.org:8000/doc/aux
* EBBS/BBS 2.2 (Unix based BBS)
* Jon Stevens (root[v]dolphin.csudh.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* emacs 19.21
* Brent Burton (brentb[v]tamsun.tamu.edu)
* isc.tamu.edu [pub/personal/brentb]
The diffs that Brent used, done by Paul Traina, are available on
jagubox in the emacs diffs "collection" tarchive.
* fortune
* Phillip P. Porch (root[v]theporch.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* freeWAIS (0.3)
* Jon Stevens (root[v]dolphin.csudh.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Web_stuff]
* fvwm (1.21z)
* Renzo Marcanzin (aire[v]maya.dei.unipd.it)
* maya.dei.unipd.it [pub?]
* gated (2.1.3)
* Herb Weiner (herbw[v]wiskit.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Patches]
* gcc (2.7.2)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/GNU_stuff]
See Porting and Programming Q&A below.
* gdb (4.12)
* John Coolidge (coolidge[v]apple.com)
* wuarchive.wustl.edu [systems/aux/gnu] - jagubox
[pub/aux/GNU_stuff]
* GNUplot (3.5)
* Eric Rosen (eric[v]cse.ucsc.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/GNU_stuff]
* GNUtar (1.11.2)
* Dennis Govoni (dennis.govoni[v]East.Sun.COM)
* jagubox [pub/aux/GNU_stuff]
* GNUzip (1.2.4)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/GNU_stuff]
* httpd (1.4)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jaguNET.com)
* ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu [Web/Unix]
* inetd (BSD/Reno)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov) - John Coolidge
(coolidge[v]apple.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Daemons]
* last (BSD version)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov) - Ken Whang
(ken[v]touch.wustl.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Sys_stuff]
* lemacs (19.6)
* Thomas Eberhardt
* labrea.Stanford.EDU [pub/gnu/lucid]
Anybody know where a copy might be?
* libg++ (2.5.3)
* John Coolidge (coolidge[v]apple.com)
* wuarchive.wustl.edu [systems/aux/gnu] - jagubox
[pub/aux/GNU_stuff]
* logging in.ftpd
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Daemons]
See Administration Q&A
* md5
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Security]
* Mosaic (diffs for 2.2)
* Eric Rosen (eric[v]cse.ucsc.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Web_stuff]
* Mosaic (2.4 binary)
* * jagubox [pub/aux/Web_stuff]
* msgs
* Phillip P. Porch (root[v]theporch.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* mt2 (replacement for 'mt' tape positioner program... not really needed
since NEWtc is available that fixes the need for mt2)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Sys_stuff]
* mtools (MS DOS floppy access tools)
* Parag Patel (parag[v]netcom.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/GNU_stuff]
* named
* Various A/UXers
* Don't replace the header files and don't let 'make' install the
files... instead, install them by hand. Specifically, copy the 'named'
and 'named-xfer' files from './named' to the correct location (usually
/etc) on your system. There is no need to install or use any of the
header (*.h) or library (*.a) files in the distribution!! Just replace
the binaries, not the include-files! (PS: There is also no need to
recompile your programs either.)
* patch
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* perl (4.036) (5.001e) (5.002)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* pine 3.90
* Phillip P. Porch (root[v]theporch.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* popper
* Ben Goren (ben[v]tux.fa.asu.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* popper-shadow
* * jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* portmap 4
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Daemons]
* sendmail 5.65
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Daemons]
See Communication in the Q&A
* sendmail.cf
* Alexis Rosen (alexis[v]panix.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/UUCP-sendmail-cf]
See Administration Q&A
* shadow-passwd
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Sys_stuff]
* showaudio
* Eric Rosen (eric[v]cse.ucsc.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* smail 3.1.28
* Bob Denny (denny[v]alisa.com) - Jim Jagielski
(jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Daemons]
* ssh-1.2.17
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Daemons]
Later versions compile easily out of the box.
* talk and talkd (BSD 4.3 versions)
* Steve Green (xrsbg[v]dirac.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Daemons]
See Communication in the Q&A
* tcp_wrapper 7.4
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Daemons]
* tcsh (6.03)
* * jagubox [pub/aux/GNU_stuff]
* texinfo (3.1)
* Phillip P. Porch (root[v]theporch.com)
* jagubox [pub/aux/GNU_stuff]
* vim (4.2)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/unix/vim]
* vtwm (5.1)
* Dennis Govoni (dennis.govoni[v]East.Sun.COM)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
* WUARCHIVE ftpd (2.4)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Daemons]
See Administration Q&A
* xmeter
* Eric Rosen (eric[v]cse.ucsc.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilties]
* xntpd (3.3zd)
* Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov) - John Dundas III
(dundas[v]salt.jpl.nasa.gov)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Daemons]
* zmodem
* Jon Stevens (root[v]dolphin.csudh.edu)
* jagubox [pub/aux/Utilities]
Easy to do:
The following have also been successfully ported to A/UX with minimal
trouble. Since the ports are pretty straightforward, only a few are
actually available in their ported form (please see Porting and
Programming Q&A below). Please note that most of these require or assume
using 'gcc'.
As a general rule of thumb, most of the ports that Jim J. has done use gcc
and GNUmake... provided patches may assume or require these.
* Cnews (Ver. ??)
* Deliver (v2.1 pl. 9 or later)
* Elm 2.4.23 (use -lbsd and edit config.sh and "undef" d_locale or else
follow the advice of P.08, below)
* Ghostscript 2.3
* GNU Stuff (all are pretty much straight-forward and compile "right out
of the box")
* binutils 1.9
* bison 1.22
* diffutils 2.3
* emacs 19.[19-22] (diffs on jagubox in the emacs diffs
"collection" tarchive)
* fileutils 3.6
* find 3.8 (to allow 'find' to recognize user=nobody, compile with
'cc')
* flex 2.3.7
* gawk 2.1.5 (use '-traditional' with gcc)
* gdbm 1.7.1
* grep 2.0
* gzip 1.2.4
* indent 1.9.1
* make 3.71
* pgp 2.6/2.6.1 (from bitsy.mit.edu)
* ripem 1.2 (from ripem.msu.edu)
* sed 1.1.6, 2.0.3, 3.0.2
* shellutils 1.8
* Smalltalk 1.1.1
* tar 1.11.2 (requires '-lbsd -lposix')
* textutils 1.6
* gopher/gopherd 2.016 [from boombox.micro.umn.edu] (diffs available on
jagubox)
* Gwm 1.7h
* httpd 1.4.2/1.5 [from ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu] (compiles right outta the
book. Officially supports A/UX)
* INN 1.4 (get 'INN.config.data' files from jagubox) Please note that
INN is an extreme memory hog, esp. when compiled using gcc. If you use
it, be sure that you have enough memory and swap space. It helps a lot
if you don't run the Finder interface as well.
* less 177
* listproc 6.0c (was: listserv) (compile w/ -DDONT_GO_INTERACTIVE; and
use GNUmake)
* lynx 2.3 [from FTP2.cc.ukans.edu] (diffs available on jagubox)
* NetHack
* ngIRCd - officially supported, even with Apple's 'cc'
* mush 7.2.5 (Use either 'cc -DAUX' or 'gcc -traditional'; make sure
SIGRET=int; use INTERNAL_MALLOC; use makefile.sys.v)
* named (compiles right outta the book. Officially supports A/UX;
however, don't let it install itself. instead, install them by hand.
Specifically, copy the 'named' and 'named-xfer' files from './named'
to the correct location (usually /etc) on your system. There is no
need to install or use any of the header (*.h) or library (*.a) files
in the distribution!! Just replace the binaries, not the
include-files! (PS: There is also no need to recompile your programs
either.)
* nn 6.4.18, 6.5.0(b3) (A/UX configuration file available on jagubox)
* nntp 1.5.11
* perl 4.035 (use '-lm -lPW -ldbm -lbsd', get "fixed" dir.h to avoid
needing -lposix for rewinddir(), use gcc if possible, make sure
d_voidsig is correct ("define" if using ANSI, "undef" if not), and
undef d_ndbm while defining d_dbm in config.sh)
* perl 4.036 (Don't answer "aux" but instead let the configure script
work it's magic - hints for 4.035 also apply)
* perl 5.003
* portmap ("secure" version on ftp.win.tue.nl)
* rn 4.3.54, 4.4.1
* SB Prolog 3.1 (minor changes in the builtin directory)
* sendmail 8.6.12/8.7.? (compiles right outta the book. Officially
supports A/UX)
* smail 3.1.28 (get the AUXsmail.tar.gz file on jagubox for A/UX diffs
and patches)
* tcpd 6.3 [from ftp.win.tue.nl]
* tcsh (compiles out of the box)
* trn 3.0
* vim 4.00 (non-GUI, and add -D_POSIX_SOURCE and -lposix)
* xntpd (see above)
General Q&A
What is A/UX? Is it any good?
A/UX was Apple's first implementation of Unix (Apple's UniX) for various
Macintosh computers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was originally
ported by Unisoft. A/UX merges two computing environments, Unix and the
Macintosh Finder OS, and provides the full functionality of both. The
impetus for creating a Unix-based OS at that time was in large part due to
the United States federal government standard for computer purchases was
that the systems be POSIX compliant.
A/UX is based on AT&T Unix System V.2.2 with numerous extensions from V.3,
V.4 (such as streams) and BSD 4.2/4.3 (such as networking, the Fast File
System, job control, lpr, NFS with Yellow Pages, SCCS and sendmail 5.64).
It also provides full POSIX compliance. A/UX provides SYSV, BSD and POSIX
compatiblity switches and libraries. A/UX is fully compliant with the
System V Interface Definition (SVID).
A/UX provides all three shells that were standard at the time: sh, csh and
ksh. X Windows (X11R4) is also provided standard.
A/UX 3.x.x incorporates System 7 for the Macintosh allowing for the use of
the vast majority of Macintosh applications under A/UX. System7 and Unix
and fully integrated under A/UX 3.x.x with the Unix file system being seen
as a disk drive by the Finder.
There are quite a few people who feel that A/UX is a near-perfect
implementation of Unix. Of course, every operating system (even AIX!) has
it's share of devotees, so that's not a very valid scale of whether the
system is any good. A/UX is Unix...it's not some form of pseudo-Unix. It
insulates the user from Unix, if required, but the System Administrator
will need to become Unix-aware. Furthermore, if you want straight Unix,
you can get it...it's not a chore to bypass all the "gingerbread". People
may also complain that A/UX is based on an "obsolete" version of AT&T Unix
(V.2.2). In many ways, Apple's extensions make A/UX very V.3-like (V.3 is
in many ways an enhanced V.2 - it even uses the V.2 kernel). The list of
extensions to A/UX are impressive. Compare what you get standard with
other systems and you'll be shocked! On some, 'cc', 'f77', NFS, etc. are
costly options.
The main consideration (and opposition) to A/UX in it's day was the
platform it runs on: the Macintosh. Some consider this a boon, others a
bust. Apple's top-level A/UX workstation is the Quadra 800, a 33MHz 68040
based system. Some considered this obsolete; others considered it
overkill; others, like Goldilocks, considered it "just right".
If you needed super-fast state-of-the-art number crunching capability then
A/UX may not have been for you...the Q800 benchmarks at maybe 10-16
SPECmarks (depending on compiler used, external cache size, etc.) and you
could get lots faster with other platforms. Of course, you'd have to
"settle" for their operating systems, but if you needed it, then that's
how you'd get it. Of course, this doesn't mean that A/UX "crawls", and
hobbiests using it today are still pleasantly surprised with its
performance.
There are very few people who needed this type of performance though. If
you needed (or just wanted) a Unix workstation with the speed and power of
Unix and the user interface and application selection of the Macintosh
then A/UX was the way to go. In many, many ways, A/UX was the Unix "for
the rest of us"...even if we are long-time Unix junkies. If you love the
Mac, you'll love A/UX; if you love Unix, you'll love A/UX...and if you
want a near-perfect marriage of the two, then you'll love A/UX.
Yes, A/UX is good...very, very good. :-)
All that said, Apple stopped development on A/UX in the early 1990s and
dropped support (in favor of other efforts, such as MkLinux, Copland, then
Rhapsody, which became MacOS X) by 1996. The rumored OSF/1-based version
4.0 never materialized. It is an abandoned OS, and since Apple has not
released the source (nor can they, since they licensed from SCO), there is
no way for it to be kept updated. Hobbiests considering using A/UX should
be aware of this. Most remaining A/UX installations in the 21st century
are for nostalgia.
Who uses A/UX? What for?
As alluded to above, A/UX is used for anything a Unix or Mac workstation
was used for in the early 1990s. Many people did application development,
ran backup/storage software, and hosted MUDs and web servers. As of late
2006, only two public A/UX servers are known: wiskit.com, run by Herb
Weiner, and se30.it, run by Amedeo Mantica. Others are deployed on
intranets, but most remaining installations are now assumed to be hobbiest
systems.
What's the minimum system I need (CPU, disk and RAM) to run A/UX?
A/UX 3.0 works on the Mac II (with PMMU or 68030 upgrade with FDHD ROM's
installed), IIx, IIcx, IIci, IIfx, SE/30, IIsi (with 68882 chip) and the
Quadra 700/900/950 computers. A/UX 3.0.1 (and later) adds support for the
Q800 and Centris Machines (the Centrises must have the real 68040 w/FPU -
See below). A/UX will run on the Quadra 610 and 650s (recall that A/UX
requires the real 68040 chip!) with a little bit of work.
A/UX will not run on the PowerMacs, any AV machines, any PowerBooks (or
portables), the LCs, the Duos, the Classic II, the Q605 or on the Quadra
630. It is recommended that you not run A/UX 3.1.1 on the II, IIx, IIcx or
SE/30 machines, since their MacOS-compatibility is unreliable under 3.1.1.
Recall that A/UX is Unix and thus contains some very hardware specific
drivers. It's for this reason (and not Apple not doing things correctly)
that A/UX won't work on newly released platforms. To support a new
platform, at least some work (and possibly extensive work in some cases)
must be done.
If you really want to cut it close, 8MiB RAM and an entire 80MB hard disk
will just make it. You'll have little room for user files (unless you
clear out some space by removing /games and maybe /catman) and depending
on your workload, may suffer from low performance due to swapping...you
may even encounter the infamous swap messages :-).
A much better system would be 16MiB of RAM and about 200MB of disk space.
This would give you much more room to grow as well as sufficient RAM to
increase your performance (assuming that you tune some kernel parameters).
All in all, more RAM is preferred: 20MiB (or more) is ideal.
Take care that you don't use too large a disk, however. The fsck in A/UX
Startup that checks the root filesystem cannot scan a partition larger
than 2GB. A/UX's own fsck can check larger partitions just fine.
I don't have access to a supported machine. Can I run A/UX in emulation?
Short answer: no.
As alluded to above, A/UX talks directly to the hardware. It does not talk
to the Macintosh ROM, which is a key component that most Mac emulators use
to avoid having to write full emulation of all the hardware components
themselves. If someone were to write a 100% cycle-accurate emulator that
precisely duplicated the hardware of a supported model, then it would be
possible. However, all existing Mac emulators have taken the easy route
and used the ROM as an abstraction layer to the real hardware.
If you don't have one of the supported machines, you cannot run A/UX.
Which is a trifle sad, as it means A/UX will eventually fade out
completely as key hardware components inevitably fail, leaving us without
the requisite platform.
What's new about A/UX 3.x.x?
A/UX 3.x.x incorporates the full functionality of System7. It supports the
QuickTime multimedia extension and the new Mac Quadra computers (not the
AV machines, however). A/UX 3.x.x includes X11R4 in its distribution, as
well as MacX. Installation of A/UX is much easier that it was before and
can be installed on any 3rd party hard disk using the "new and improved"
HD Setup application (see Admin Q&A though).
3.0.2 is a later version of A/UX. 3.0.1 added support for the Q800 and the
Centris machines (650 and 610) as long as they have the real 68040 chip
(68RC040) installed. (Support for the C650 is official; support for the
C610, which requires the 040 be replaced since none have the required one
installed, is non-official but known and verified). A/UX 3.0.2 will also
run on the Quadra 610 and 650; see What's the minimum system I need
(above) to see how. To get 3.0.2, you'll need to install 3.0.1 and then
apply the AWS Tune-Up 1.0 to upgrade to 3.0.2. This upgrade is free.
3.1.1 is the latest version of A/UX. 3.1.1 greatly improves performance
and reliability as well as fixes some bugs. It does not, however, add
support for any other Macs. 3.1.1 is "tweaked" for the AWS95, but can be
run on other non-AWS95 Macs as well (see below). A/UX 3.1.1 is a
"tuned-up" version of A/UX 3.1, which is, itself, a improvement over
3.0.[1|2] (in fact, 3.1 contains all the fixes in 3.0.2). However, A/UX
3.1.1 will not run reliably on the Mac II, Mac IIx, Mac IIcx or SE/30
machines.
3.0.1, in addition to supporting newer Macs, provides performance boosts,
bug fixes, better Finder emulation and other enhancements over 3.0. 3.0.2
does the same for 3.0.1. The upgrade from older versions of A/UX to 3.0.2
really is worth the pretty small amount of money required. 3.0.2 is a
better and more solid performer, both Unix-wise and Finder-wise, than it's
predecessors. 3.1 requires 3.0.[1|2] and provides much better performance
and should be seriously considered!
What's the diff between 3.0.2 and 3.0.2(wgs)?
3.0.2 is an exact binary-copy of 3.0.2(wgs) (which is the version of A/UX
for the WGS 95 server) except for some minor cosmetics and the exclusion
of the server-related applications. This includes RetroSpect for A/UX (see
Errors Explained). Some of the major differences between 3.0.2 and
3.0.2(wgs) include:
* Buffer cacher size (default kconfig parameters)
* Packages installed during Easy Install
* Swap space size on Easy Install
* Autologin enabled in 3.0.2(wgs)
* lpr daemon on in 3.0.2, off in 3.0.2(wgs)
* Partition choices in HDSC SetUp
As you can see, they are all related to how the system is set up.
How can I order A/UX?
The latest shipping version of the complete A/UX distribution is 3.0.1.
Once you get that, you can either decide to upgrade (for free) to 3.0.2 or
upgrade even further by purchasing the A/UX 3.1 upgrade and then using
AWS-Tune-Up-2.0 (which is free) to go all the way up to 3.1.1.
A/UX is available preinstalled on Mac systems or on CD-ROM. To find the
nearest A/UX reseller, call 1-800-538-9696. You'll need access to a
compatible CD-ROM drive to install A/UX (or a friendly dealer if you go
that route). Please note that at the present, you can only order 3.0.1;
you'll then need to apply the AWS Tune-Up 1.0 (available on jagubox and
aux.support.apple.com) to upgrade up to 3.0.2. You could also, as
mentioned above, also decide to spend some extra money and get the 3.1
Upgrade CD-ROM, to bring you up to 3.1, and then apply the free
Tune-Up-2.0 disk to bring you up to A/UX 3.1.1.
The part numbers (and suggested retail price) for 3.0.1 are (US and
Canada):
M0598LL/C
A/UX 3.0.1 CD-ROM product (contains Essential Manuals) - $795
M0597LL/B
A/UX 3.0.1 Essential Manuals - $329
M0430LL/B
A/UX 3.0.1 Programmers Manuals - $329
M0431LL/B
A/UX 3.0.1 Administrators Manuals - $329
M0599LL/C
A/UX 3.0.1 Update (updates previous versions to 3.0.1) - $250
M0489LL/B
A/UX 3.0.1 Programmers Manual Update - $285
M0490LL/B
A/UX 3.0.1 Admin. Manual Update - $285
If you are interested in upgrading your Q950 to the Apple WGS-95 Server
(which uses A/UX 3.0.1) here are the part numbers (with SRP):
M6940Z/A
WGS 95 PDS Upgrade Kit - $2499
M6945Z/A
WGS 95 PDS + DAT Upgrade Kit - $4399
By the way, MacWarehouse is now selling the A/UX 3.0.1 CD-ROM package for
$619... Their phone number is 1-800-255-6227; ask for part#SYS0009.
To get 3.0.2, you need to snag the AWS Tune-Up 1.0 DiskCopy image files
from aux.support.apple.com or jagubox and apply the patches. Although the
Tune-Up is called AWS, it's really for all A/UX users. Note that you need
3.0.1 to upgrade to 3.0.2.
If you want to upgrade to 3.1.x, please see below.
There's no way Apple is going to sell you a copy of A/UX any more. It's
hard to find even on eBay. The editor can neither confirm nor deny the
existence of disk images on a German ftp site.
What's the upgrade path for A/UX 3.0.2?
You can upgrade to 3.0.2 (from any other version of A/UX) by purchasing
the A/UX 3.0.1 CD-ROM Product Upgrade (Apple part # MO599LL/C). The
suggested price is $250. You then need to snag the AWS Tune-Up 1.0 disks
to upgrade 3.0.1 to 3.0.2.
It's recommended that if you do upgrade, that you completely repartition
your disk via the Installer for two reasons:
1. The default (suggested) partition sizes have changed
2. You install 3.0.1 on a "clean" system.
If you want to upgrade to 3.1.x, please see below.
What are Right-To-Copy and Right-To-Upgrade licenses?
If you have bought at least one copy of A/UX 3.0.x and you have other Mac
CPUs that you would like to install A/UX on, you don't need to reorder the
entire product. You can order a Right-To-Copy license for each Mac you
want to install A/UX on and then copy your A/UX to that Mac. This is
cheaper than buying a whole new CD-ROM package. It's not right to copy
unless you have a Right-To-Copy.
If those other Macs are already running A/UX, but an older version, then
you need to order a Right-To-Upgrade license for each one you want to
upgrade. As above, you then copy your 3.0.x over to that Mac.
Note that in both cases, you must have purchased at least 1 copy of A/UX
3.0.x. The Right-To-* licenses just "authorize" you to then copy that over
to other Macs.
The A/UX Essential Manual Set (that comes with A/UX 3.0.x) is not provided
with either license. If you need more, you'll need to order them.
How can I report bugs that I find?
The official e-mail address is reports[v]aux.support.apple.com. If you
subscribe to the A/UX Technical AnswerLine, you can also use that method.
The former isn't acknowledged although the latter is.
For completeness, also post the report to comp.unix.aux.
There was also a HyperCard stack called "Apple Bug Reporter" that Apple
recommended using.
Don't hold your breath waiting for a fix, though. :-)
What's the word on A/UX 3.1 and 3.1.1?
The latest shipping version of A/UX is v3.1. 3.1 offers better performance
than 3.0.2, fixes for various bugs, better MacOS emulation and some
updated programs and applications. 3.1 requires 3.0.[1|2] and costs $199
(+ $5 for shipping, $10 for FedEx). You can order it directly by calling
1-800-769-2775, x7822. Ask for the A/UX 3.1 WGS Upgrade Kit. If that
doesn't work, try asking for part # M2885Z/A.
Once you get A/UX 3.1, you should then apply the AWS-Tune-Up-2.0 disk
which upgrades 3.1 to 3.1.1. 3.1.1 offers a bit better performance and
better MacOS emulation than 3.1 does. It's also very free.
3.1.x has only been fully tested on the AWS95 platform and not on all the
other platforms that A/UX runs on; however, nothing was done to it to
prevent it from working on other machines. 3.1.x is "only" for the AWS95s
in the same way that 3.0.2 was "only" for them. :-)
Anyway, here is a short and non-official list of some 3.1.x features:
* sendmail 8.6.4 now included (8.9 with 3.1.1)
* support for new Berkeley NEWDB-NDBM package
* Added support for "dynamic" use of removables, such as SyQuests
* NEC CD-ROMs now supported !!
* StyleWriter II supported
* Support for Unix file systems up to 4GB
* Enhanced I/O performance (big improvement for fast machines and/or
disks!)
* Interupting a NFS server now works
* Solaris clients no longer crash A/UX
* Heavy UFS and NFS I/O no longer causes 'panic: freeing free inode'
errors and deadlocks
* I/O no longer causes excessive dropped kernel clock interupts
* The size of .fs_cache no longer limited to 32MB
* Death of 'catsearchd' now detected and responded to (used to crash the
MacOS)
* Desktop rebuilds no longer cause the Finder to terminate when the
rebuild is done
* ThinkC runs under A/UX
* Much better MacOS compatibility
* 'Temporary Items' correctly handled
* Various "needed" programs (like /bin/sh) recompiled w/o shared libs so
that the system is still restorable after /shlib is munged
* Various bug fixes and improvements, including:
* cpio (new option -L to follow sym-links)
* df (handles longer bus names)
* fsck (ignores 'noauto' and '-p'&'-y' now work correctly)
* make (uses SHELL in makefile)
* passwd (MAXUID now 65534)
* restore (can now restore named pipes)
A/UX 3.1.1 will not run on the Mac II, Mac IIx, Mac IIcx or SE/30
machines.
How can I hack A/UX onto a Quadra 610/650?
You should make a copy of the A/UX Install Boot floppy and then copy the
Enabler for the Q610/650 onto this copy. You then boot up from this floppy
and install A/UX as usual. Finally, you'll need to copy the Q610/650
Enabler onto the A/UX MacPartition (or whatever MacOS disk you will use
when starting up your Mac and booting A/UX); do this by first booting off
a boot floppy or boot CD and then copy the Enabler over. You do not need
to make any changes to the A/UX System Folder (i.e. the System Folder used
under A/UX).
What's the future of A/UX with the PowerMacs?
Don't ask...really, don't ask!
Okay, if you insist. It ain't happy....
There is none. Apple has dropped A/UX totally. Apple chose to run AIX on
its early PowerPC-based servers, which couldn't be confused with A/UX by a
dead halibut. Early in the RISC transition planning Apple paid Unisoft to
port A/UX to the m88k processor, but the ultimate decision to use PowerPC
must have killed that project.
Apple, however, has provided great support in porting Linux to the
Nubus-based PowerMacs. This OS, MkLinux, was made available in "golden
release" form around September 1996. You can learn more by checking out
mklinux.apple.com. Apple ceased its dalliance with Linux not long after
this release, and MkLinux should not be seriously considered by anyone
wanting a Unix on a PowerMac.
Apple's recent direction has taken it to yet another processor family, the
x86. No, A/UX will not be ported to it, either. MacOS X runs quite well on
it, though. As a sort of "spiritual descendant" of A/UX, that's probably
more than we could hope for anyway.
I can't use A/UX. What Unix alternatives are there?
If you can't or *gasp* won't run A/UX on your 68k Mac, then you now (this
wasn't the case in the early 1990s!) have several options.
* NetBSD/mac68k. NetBSD was the first free Unix to support the Mac. It
is a favorite of many because the base install takes very little
space, which is an important consideration with older Macs.
* OpenBSD/mac68k. Originally derived from the NetBSD effort.
* Linux. Alan Cox did the initial work of porting the kernel and getting
a working boot procedure. Debian "potato" (2.2) supports mac68k.
* MachTen from Tenon. MachTen approaches Unix on a Mac from a different
viewpoint. Whereas A/UX is the MacOS running on-top of Unix, MachTen
is Unix running on top of the MacOS. This means that compatibilty
problems aren't an issue, since the MacOS isn't being "emulated" ala
A/UX. You also avoid needing to create separate Unix file systems
since MachTen uses the MacHFS file system. Also, MacOS programs run at
"top speed" although Unix processes are slower than on A/UX. However,
since it runs on-top of the MacOS, MachTen is limited to the inherent
limitations and constraints of the MacOS. For example, MachTen's
"kernel" isn't truly preemptive multitasking, although the Unix
processes are multitasked via MachTen. Also, local users can easily
bypass MachTen's file-level security. As the MacOS evolves, these
"short-comings" will no doubt be removed from the lower layer of the
OS. Finally, MachTen runs on the PowerMacs under emulation, with a
native version promised.
MachTen is based on the Mach kernel and the BSD-Reno/Net2 version of
BSD. It's a very good alternative to A/UX for those machines that
can't run A/UX or for those interested in having Unix run on their
Macs (say for learning Unix or doing some Unix development) but don't
want their Macs to run Unix. :-)
* Minix. The Mac version is stuck on version 1.5.10.7, though current
development is on the version 3.x line.
* Mac06.
If you are looking to use a GUI with your 68k Unix box, be aware that X11
applications are sloooow.
What is NouveAUX?
NouveAUX was an idea proposed on comp.unix.aux in early 2003 to resurrect
A/UX, in spirit, if not in fact. This would be done by integrating a MacOS
emulator (such as Basilisk II) tightly with an open-source Unix (such as
NetBSD). A Mac-like desktop environment would also be created, though for
the "full experience" to be realized, applications would need to be
rebuilt to (optionally) use a shared menubar. By doing this, "A/UX" could
run on newer machines, such as PowerMacs. The idea never got any further
than discussion, mostly because of a lack of clear direction and
programmers interested in doing the work. There are probably three major
concerns in such an effort:
1. No one has ever created a sufficiently Mac-like desktop
environment/window manager to use for a project like this. At best,
you can find one with Mac-lookalike window borders and UI widgets.
Though it seems unlikely, perhaps getting X11 apps to use a shared
menubar resource is too technically challenging. The Apple HIG pretty
much spell out how the look and feel ought to be.
2. Mac emulators still rely on having a copy of the Mac ROM. A
distributable system must be free of this encumbrance, requiring the
ROM to be reverse-engineered so that calls to its functions (say,
QuickDraw) can be implemented natively.
3. Apple would probably try to sue you for doing either of these. Such a
case might not have much legal merit, but threats of expensive
lawsuits are enough to stall good projects.
The name is a play on words: NouveAUX being a "new A/UX", "nouveau" being
"new" in French.
I like A/UX, but I'm stuck using some other Unix system. How can I make it
more Mac-like?
This question is reasonable, but outside the scope of this FAQ. The answer
lies elsewhere.
Installation
The installer panics that there is no root fs. Can I work around it?
You can try using a slower CD drive. If you are not using original media
(i.e. a backup burned to CD) make sure it is CD-R, not CD-RW.
Administration Q&A
How come my Login screen is gray, not color?
Because that's the way Apple wanted it. :-) Actually, the reason why is
because the 'scrn' resource is missing from 'System' in /mac/sys/Login
System Folder. If you're handy, you can copy 'scrn' from some other System
and paste it in Login's using ResEdit. Make sure the "Is Color" field in
'scrn' is "1".
How come my Login ScreenSaver doesn't see both my monitors?
This is also due to the fact (see above) that the System file in
/mac/sys/Login System Folder lacks a 'scrn' resource. If you copy this
resource from a System that knows about your monitor setup into Login's
System, then the screensaver will knows about all your monitors.
Even though I have lots of swap space and only a little bit is being used, I
still get a lot of messages saying that my swap space is running low. What's
the buzz?
Unix is justifiably concerned about having adequate swap space. A system
crash caused by this beast is a sight to behold. However, A/UX seems
extremely nervous about the amount needed before it starts getting
fidgety. If you do a "/etc/swap -l" and see that you're only using a small
portion of your swap space and have a "lot" left, then you can safely
ignore the messages. (Just how much is a "lot" is hard to say, but if you
have 25000 blocks and are only using 1000 or 2000, then you are probably
fine.) If you do need more swap space, then you have a few options:
1. Using 'kconfig', reduce the number and size of buffers. This isn't
really a good idea since it could really degrade performance as well
as possibly causing more panics.
2. Add more swap space. Fine, if you have it. You could either add
another disk as swap (nice) or repartition your present disk to create
a larger Swap partition (Ack!).
3. Add more memory. If you have more memory, then this will reduce the
need to augment it with swap space... RAM's cheap too! There is an old
rule of thumb that the size of Swap should be about 2 to 3 times the
amount of RAM, which would seem to contradict the above. The thing is
that if with the present workload you are swapping like crazy, then
adding RAM will reduce tha swapping. If, however, you start increasing
the workload, then swapping will start again, and you better have
enough of it! This was the original intent of the Rule-Of-Thumb. At
the very least, Swap should always be at least as big as the amount of
RAM you have.
How can I copy a complete file system from one disk/partition to another?
You have three options: dd, dump.bsd and cpio. pax may work but tar won't
since it won't handle special-type files. If the two partitions are the
same size, you can use 'dd' (to copy c0d0s0 to c5d0s3, e.g.): dd <
/dev/rdsk/c0d0s0 > /dev/rdsk/c5d0s3
To use dump.bsd, you can use the following command (this assumes that the
destination disk in mounted on /mnt and you want to copy the root file
system which is on SCSI 0... of course, you must be root and it would be
much better to do this in single-user mode): dump.bsd 0f -
/dev/rdsk/c0d0s0 | (cd /mnt; restore xf -)
To use cpio, you must use it in a pipe with find. For example, to copy
/usr (let's assume it's on it's own file system) to another disk/partition
(assume it's mounted on /mnt) then you can use (you can add the "-depth"
flag to 'find' if you want): cd /usr ; find . -print | cpio -pdmuva /mnt
The problem with this is that if the mount point of the destination disk
falls under the file system's directory you're trying to copy, you'll load
up your destination disk. For example, the following would not work: cd /
; find . -print | grep -v '^./mnt*' | cpio -pdmuva /mnt
If you have GNU find, then you can use it with it's '-xdev' option, which
prevents find from walking through other file systems: cd / ; find . -xdev
-print | cpio -pdmuva /mnt
dump.bsd creates a "truer" copy of your file system (the access and
modification dates aren't mucked with... with the find/cpio pipe, at the
least the directory dates are touched) but pre-3.1 versions of restore
couldn't restore named pipes. These are easy to create though using
'mknod'. The only named pipes included in the default A/UX distribution
are:
/usr/lib/cron/FIFO
prw------- 1 root sys 0 Oct 18 16:08
/usr/spool/lpd/AppleTalk/pipe
prw-rw---- 1 daemon daemon 0 Oct 19 06:11
What's with UUCP?
UUCP under 3.x.x is very improved over it's previous incarnation under
2.0.1. 3.x.x uses HDB (for HoneyDanBer) UUCP instead of standard UUCP.
Some nice things are bidirectional getty (also known as uugetty in other
Unixen) which allows both incoming and outgoing communication over serial
lines as well as better performance and reliability. It is reportedly much
easier to set up as well.
You may seriously consider getting Alexis Rosen's "sendmail.cf" file for
use under UUCP sendmail. This config file has been modified to allow UUCP
and sendmail to work beautifully together. You may also want to consider
simply installing smail to replace sendmail.
Under 3.0., be sure that you are running the latest version: 1.16. It can
be found on aux.support.apple.com in aux.patches/supported/3.0. Be sure
that you get the new dial.o on ftp.apple.com (pub/earlw/dial) to avoid
breaking syslog. Under 3.0.1 (and later) all is OK.
How can I log anonymous ftp entries? in.ftpd has a -l option, but it doesn't
work
Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov) has hacked in.ftpd to
enable logging via the syslogd daemon. It also pays extra close attention
to anonymous ftp logins. It's available (as well as other ports/hacks) on
jagubox. Also available on jagubox is a port of the latest version of
wuarchive's ftpd server for A/UX. wu-ftpd is a super-nice ftp server with
lots of extras and neat features!
The real reason why '-l' doesn't work with in.ftpd is that there's no real
way to send this option to the daemon. A/UX 'inetd' doesn't allow you to
add options to '/etc/servers'. John Coolidge (coolidge[v]apple.com)
has ported the BSD-reno version of 'inetd' to overcome this limitation.
Jim Jagielski has since been updating and maintaining 'inetd'. This
version of 'inetd' also has some nice features, such as rereading
/etc/servers when sent SIGHUP. It's available on jagubox. This version of
'inetd' has also been modified to log whenever it spawns a background
daemon as well as logging which host requested the daemon.
For more info, contact Jim.
How come when I do a 'df' as a regular user, it shows me a different number of
free blocks compared to when I run it as 'root'?
One of the details about the BSD Fast File System is that it sets aside
some amount of the available disk space (if the file system was created by
HD SC Setup, then 5% is set aside; if created by 'newfs' then 10% is set
aside... this value can be changed by using the 'tunefs' command) and
makes it unavailable to regular users. This prevents 2 things: filling up
a file system and destroying performance by having a "too full" file
system. 'root', however, does have access to this "extra" disk space,
hence the difference in the numbers reported by df between 'root' and
"regular joe".
As mentioned above, if you used HD Setup to create the partitions (or your
A/UX came preinstalled), then the "set aside" value for these file systems
is 5%, not the "default" of 10%... This was simply to give users more
space. Reducing this value beyond 5% is Not A Good Idea.
Does A/UX LocalTalk support IP?
Nope... not at all. You cannot send IP packets down the LocalTalk
(printer) port. IP communication must be through the ethernet port.
How do I get MPW 3.1 to work? It hangs my system...
MPW 3.1 doesn't work under A/UX although 3.2 does. In the meantime, you
can make 3.1 work by breaking into MacsBug when it's hung and entering:
pc=pc+2;g
See Mac-Emulation Questions for info about entering MacsBug...
Can I refer to a file on my Mac system from within A/UX?
A/UX's 'Finder' mode was the only way (for a long time) to access both
file systems. You could write a hybrid application that could attach to
the Finder world (a la, CommandShell and cmdo which can "see" both file
systems), but you can't access HFS volumes from the A/UX kernel directly.
In a similar vein, you can't 'mount' an HFS volume on an A/UX inode with
the standard tools.
More recently, a wonderful suite of tools (originally written for Linux)
called 'hfsutils' has been ported to A/UX. At its core it is a C library
that provides HFS access routines. It also includes command line and X11
interfaces. In A/UX, the entire disk is referred to as slice 31. So first
hmount /dev/dsk/c0d0s31 1 and then hls to see the Mac-side files. Other
programs in the 'hfsutils' package allow you to manipulate those files.
While not quite as nice as providing HFS support natively so that standard
utilities would understand those disks, 'hfsutils' does provide a workable
solution.
How can I adjust the amount of virtual memory Finder uses?
There are three ways to do this. The first is very easy: you simply use
the Memory cdev to adjust the "memory" size, logout and then log back in.
You must be 'root' to do it this way.
The second way is to use the 'TBMEMORY' environment variable. You can set
it's "value" equal to the amount of memory you wish to use. For example,
TBMEMORY=10m; export TBMEMORY (in .profile for ksh or sh or /etc/profile)
or setenv TBMEMORY 10m (in .login for csh) configures Finder for 10M.
You can also edit /mac/bin/mac[32|24] (or .mac32|.mac24 if you are using
this method) to call 'startmac' with the memory size you want using the
"-m" option. For example, /mac/bin/startmac -m 8m > $SMLOGFILE 2>&1 & in
(.)mac[32|24] will configure an 8M environment.
Please note that under the 24-bit mode (mac24), you can only access a
maximum of 8MiB of RAM. It won't complain if you try to setup more, it
just won't do it. Furthermore, if you actually have more than 8MiB (say
12), the "About This Macintosh" window will show "Built-in Memory: 12,288
K; Total Memory: 8,192K".
The default behavior of 3.0 (and earlier) was to allocate all the RAM to
the MacOS. Thus, if you had 20MiB, A/UX would, unless told otherwise,
allocate 20MiB for the MacOS-emulation. Under 3.0.1 (and later), this is
slightly changed: A/UX will usually not allocate all RAM to the MacOS but
will instead impose a 16MiB maximum (this can be changed via Memory or
TBMEMORY). Whatever version of A/UX you are running, it's a Good Idea not
to allocate all RAM for the Finder. This is because A/UX allocates itself
a chunk, so if you give the Finder "all" of it, you can cause swapping and
paging which can seriously degrade performance at times.
If the value set in 'Memory' and TBMEMORY disagree, the value determined
by TBMEMORY is used.
Is there an archive of comp.unix.aux out there somewhere?
There used to be one at www.support.apple.com/pub/usenet/comp.unix.aux/.
These days, just use Google.
How come I can't use color under X?
Apple's X (R4) supports color. However, you must start the server with the
"-screen 0 -depth 8" option (similar command with other screens if you
have them). You can add these options to the command line or to your
server's defaults file. You can also create a ".X11" file in your home
directory which includes the line X -screen 0 -depth 8 to get the same
effect. Make sure that ".X11" is executable for this to work (chmod 755
.X11).
Using the command shell interface, I'm trying to access some Mac files (that
have strange names) but I can't; the program returns an error and I can't
access the file. What's going on?
The problem is that sh and csh don't understand the Mac "special"
characters that are in the filenames. They don't expect filenames with
characters that are represented by 8-bits. ksh is "8-bit clean" and thus
would be able to access the file. For example, to remove Moire, just type:
$ ksh #this creates a Korn shell child
% rm M?ire #match the weird 'o' (o:)
% exit #get back in your old shell
You could also use emacs' DIRED or the Gnu File utilities to do this, but
ksh is right here on the system so it's a bit easier. Of course, another
very easy way is to use the MacOS interface and do the
deletion/rename/whatever the "Mac" way. Please note that if what you are
MacOS-deleting is a symbolic link to a directory, what gets Trashed is
actually the contents of the directory as well as the link! This is due to
the fact that to the Finder, the link looks like a folder, and the entire
thing gets deleted.
I heard the the Installer for 3.x.x works on "any" 3rd party hard disk. Well,
it doesn't on mine!
Well, the Installer will work with any 3rd party disk but there are a few
wrinkles... The HD Setup application in the 3.x.x Installer is unique in
that not only does it create A/UX partitions but it also creates the
actual file systems in those partitions (basically it runs 'newfs'). Now
if you have used some other HD utility program (such as SilverLining or
FWB HDT) to create the partitions and then attempt to install A/UX on that
disk, the Installer sees that the partitions are there and then assumes
that they were created by HD Setup and therefore have the file systems
already created. Of course, the file systems don't exist yet, just the
partitions, so the installation fails. You have a few options:
1. Run the Installer on a newly formatted disk. This means that HD Setup
will do all the partitioning (etc.) and the installation will proceed.
Note that this means you will be "stuck" with the Apple drivers
whenever you are in the real MacOS Finder.
2. If you want to use the drivers on your HD utility (for stuff like,
maybe, password protection of partitions) then you have two (maybe
three) additional options:
1. Use the first option above to install A/UX. Then use your HD
utility program to "take over" the disk, disabling (or even
removing) the Apple drivers and installing its own. Note that if
there isn't enough space to install it's drivers, most will
attempt to "shrink" the MacOS partition to make room. Most can do
this with no problem, but why take the risk? When you partition
the disk, leave about 64K available as free space.
2. Use your HD utility to create the partitions. Then, before you
run the Installer, run 'newfs' "by hand" to create the file
systems so that the installation can proceed.
3. Use your HD utility to format (etc.) your disk and create only
the MacOS partition. Now run the Installer. In most cases HD
Setup will work fine with the driver installed on the disk. You
can now use it to create the A/UX partitions. This is known to
work with FWB HDT
Please note that HD SC Setup will only create the file systems if run
under A/UX. If you run it under the MacOS, it can only partition...
Since RetroSpect will no longer be bundled with A/UX 3.0.2, how can I get it?
Very early reports indicated that RetroSpect for A/UX might be bundled
with A/UX 3.0.2 as it is with the AWS95 version of 3.0.2. This is no
longer the case (if it ever was). However, if you are a registered owner
of RetroSpect 2.0, you can order an upgrade to RetroSpect A/UX. The cost
is around $200 and to order (or more info) you can call 1-800-225-4880
(have your registration number handy). International customers should call
510-849-0293.
Please note that if you have the Pisces card installed (with the WGS95),
then only RetroSpect A/UX will work and only under the A/UX environment.
You will not be able to access your DAT under the real MacOS!
Finally, reports indicate that RetroSpect 3.0 fully supports A/UX all by
itself. If true, this is Good News!
How can I configure CAP under A/UX?
For the answer, snag a copy of CAP.txt which is available on jagubox (in
/pub/aux/Info for anon-ftp).
What are some good books about A/UX?
Except for Apple's complete manual set, there are no books specifically
about A/UX. (Well, there's one but it's most probably out of print. It is
most definitely out of date. It's called "The A/UX Handbook" by Jan
Harrington and it's written for A/UX 2.0).
There are some very good books about Unix in general however. The best of
the pack (IHMO) is "UNIX Administration Guide for System V" by Thomas and
Farrow. Another good book is the "UNIX System Administration Handbook" by
Nemeth, Snyder and Seebass. Since A/UX is a mix of SystemV and BSD both
books are worthwhile ("UNIX Sys. Ad. Handbook" deals "mostly" with BSD
systems). Another must-have is "UNIX Power Tools" from O'Reilly and
Associates.
For general information about shells and programming there's no better
book than "The UNIX Programming Environment" by Kernighan and Pike. For
the 'ksh' shell, a very good book is "Learning the Korn Shell" by Bill
Rosenblatt.
O'Reilly and Associates has a wide selection of Unix-based books. You're
bound to find what you're looking for from them. You can contact them
either via Email (nuts[v]ora.com) or Phone (1-800-998-9938).
There is also a list (with over 160 entries) of Unix books (and
mini-reviews) located on ftp.rahul.net in 'pub/mitch/YABL/yabl'.
When booting up, I get a "panic ialloc, dup alloc" (or other) error message
and A/UX won't boot. What can I do?
This is due to the fact that some file system damage exists on the Root
file system. By default, A/UX Startup will only run 'fsck' on the root
file system if the system is marked as "dirty." So even if damage exists,
as long as the disk was cleanly 'umount'ed, 'fsck' won't check it out and
fix it.
Jim recommends always having A/UX Startup fully check out the disk before
booting A/UX. It takes a while, but it's worth it. To do this, choose
Booting from the Preferences menu. Now change the command under
"AutoRecovery" to "fsck /dev/default" (it was "fsck -y -p /dev/default").
When you do this, you'll notice that the radio button changes from "Check
root file system" to "Custom command"... that's OK. After that, A/UX will
always run 'fsck' on Root. If you are doing this, you might as well have
A/UX run a full 'fsck' on all file-systems too. Check out fsck(1m) and
fstab(4) for how to do this... one way is to just edit /etc/bcheckrc and
remove the options to the "/etc/fsck" command.
If you don't want to do this but you do have some damage that prevents
A/UX from booting, then you can cancel the boot-up process by selecting
either "Exit" or hitting "Cmd-." (88-.). Then type fsck /dev/default and
then, when 'fsck' is done, type boot (or launch). Sometimes you must run
'fsck' several times to fully fix the file system if there was extensive
damage.
Is traceroute available for A/UX?
Yes it is... A complete 'traceroute' package for A/UX 3.1(.1) can be found
on jagubox. It includes the updated 'bnet' driver (required for
'traceroute' support) as well as 2 versions of traceroute, pre-compiled
and with complete source.
What is KEEPALIVE and how can I use it?
KEEPALIVE is a method implemented in Berkeley sockets and TCP/IP (and in
A/UX) that periodically polls a connected socket to determine if it's
still "alive" or whether the client on the other end has dropped off. If
the connected client doesn't respond, A/UX will consider the connection
broken and send SIGPIPE to all connected processes. For this feature to be
actually used, programs must set the SO_KEEPALIVE option on the socket.
One particular of A/UX is that although it supports KEEPALIVE, it doesn't
send the first probe for 2 hours! It's been suggested that it would be
much better to shorten this value to something more realistic to take
better advantage of this capability. However, to do this, you'll need to
use 'adb' and adjust the kernel.
You can either patch the kernel itself (which requires that the patch be
reapplied everytime the kernel is rebuilt) or patch
/etc/install.d/boot.d/bnet to keep the patches. To patch the kernel to
adjust to time to first probe, you need to use 'adb' to adjust the
'tcp_keepidle' parameter. To get the right value, multiply the number of
minutes you want A/UX to wait until the first probe by 120, then change
that value to hex. For example, to make A/UX sent the first probe every 5
minutes (5 * 120 = 600 = 0x258) do:
adb -w -k /unix << Foo
tcp_keepidle?D
tcp_keepidle?W 258
tcp_keepidle?D
$q
Foo
To patch the 'bnet' driver instead, do:
adb -w /etc/boot.d/bnet << Foo
tcp_keepidle?D
tcp_keepidle?W 258
tcp_keepidle?D
$q
Foo
Now run newconfig -v and reboot.
What does this 'panic' message mean...?
In general, most system panics are due to A/UX exhausting some kernel
resource; to prevent these, you need to know which resource was used up
and then use 'kconfig' to increase them:
console panic message kernel parameter to increase
panic: kmem_alloc MAXCORE
panic: getfreehdr MAXHEADER
timeout table overflow NCALL
file: table is full NFILE (NINODE as well, to same value)
inode: table is full NINODE (NFILE as well, to same value)
m_expand returning 0 NMBUFS
panic: out of mbufs NMBUFS
proc: table is full NPROC (NREGION as well, 3x NPROC)
Region table overflow NREGION (NPROC as well, NREGION/3)
sptreserve: no kernel virtual space NSPTMAP
allocbuf SBUFSIZE (and NBUF as well)
cannot allocate buffer cache NCLIST (and add RAM)
cannot allocate buffer headers NBUF (and add RAM)
getfreehdr NPBUF
You may also run up against the processes-per-user limit as well. This can
be increased by bumping up the MAXUP. Of course, you'll also need to
increase NPROC, NREGION, NFILE and NINODE (and maybe others) as well to
account for the increased number of processes...
How often does A/UX sync the file system?
A/UX 3.0 performs a sync every minute. It's done by 'init' and the
frequency can't be changed.
A/UX 3.0.[1|2] does one every 30 seconds; cached blocks older than 30
seconds are flushed, therefore a block can be resident for between 30 and
59 seconds. If you want, you can use 'adb' to change the value of
'syncdsleep' to the number of seconds to sleep between flushes. Blocks
older than that will be flushed.
A/UX 3.1.x peforms a sync every second and flushes blocks that are older
than 30 seconds (i.e. a block can be resident for 1 to 31 seconds). You
can alter this by using 'adb' to change 'syndperiod' to the timeout age
(how old the block can be before it's flushed) and 'syncdsample' to the
wakeup period; by default, 'syncdperiod' is 30 and 'syncdsample' is 1.
From A/UX 3.0.1 onward, the kernel process 'syncd' can be seen via 'ps'.
What is 'catsearchd'?
Under A/UX, 'catsearchd' is a Unix process that maintains a cache of MacOS
File System information. Having this cache available greatly increases the
performance of catalog searches made from the MacOS and an AppleShare
client.
For each file cached, 'catsearchd' requires 200 bytes of memory, so if
your File Systems are large, 'catsearchd' can be a real memory hog. One
way to avoid this is to use the 'nocats' option in 'fstab' for mounted
file systems.
Unless you are running A/UX as an AppleShare server, there's no need to
run 'catsearchd'; in fact, it's better not to run it due due to it's
memory and performance hits. (How does one disable it?)
Is there any way to make AppleDouble file formats the default, rather than
AppleSingle?
Sure is... All you need to do is set the 'TBFILEFORMAT' environment
variable to '1'. You can do this either in /etc/profile or /etc/cshrc to
make it system-wide or have each user add it to their .profile or .login
file.
For sh/ksh, the command is export TBFILEFORMAT=1 and for csh it's setenv
TBFILEFORMAT 1. You can also edit /mac/bin/mac32 as well if you want.
Is there a way to update the 'whatis' database?
Sure is. Check out the 'man-utils.tar.gz' file on jagubox (in Sys_stuff).
Does A/UX support Virtual Interfaces?
It does now... Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jaguNET.com) has created the 'vif'
kernel module that provides for true Virtual Interface support under A/UX.
This allows you to, for example, make use of the Virtual Host/Multihoming
capability of Apache.
'vif' can be found on jagubox in /pub/aux/Sys_stuff. 'apache' can be found
on ftp.apache.org.
Aaargh! I can't find a command I need!
A/UX puts commands in some directories not common with other Unix systems,
and the default command path in the shell is a bit lacking. Add the
following code to your /etc/profile and you should be able to use most
commands without having to type the full path to it.
LOCALWARE=/usr/local/bin
LOCALWARESU=/usr/local/sbin
GNUWARE=/usr/local/gnu/bin
MOREGNUWARE=/usr/local/gnu
if [ ${LOGNAME} = root ] ; then
PATH=${PATH}:${LOCALWARESU}
fi
for p in ${LOCALWARE} ${MOREGNUWARE} ${GNUWARE} /etc /usr/etc ; do
if ! echo ${PATH} | /usr/local/gnu/grep -q ${p} ; then
PATH=${PATH}:${p}
fi
done
export PATH
Note that this does require that you have GNU grep installed first. The
standard grep doesn't supply the necessary options. Alternatively, you
could just hard-code the paths into PATH.
Mac-Emulation Questions
What Mac applications are compatible with A/UX?
It would be much easier to list the applications that aren't compatible.
The list is much, much shorter...
The vast majority of applications that run under System 7 will run under
A/UX 3.x.x. In fact, before System 7 was released, A/UX 2.0.x was actually
a good litmus test whether the application was 32-bit clean and would run
under System 7. The only applications that are sure to fail are those that
try to access hardware directly, such as HD utilities or backup
applications. A/UX 3.x.x provides both 24 and 32-bit modes, so if the
application doesn't run under 32-bit mode, try it under 24-bit.
One key note: if the program uses a "complex" installation procedure (like
for Canvas, Word, Stuffit, etc.) then you should not try to do a fresh
install under A/UX. See the above Hints and Words Of Wisdom.
What screen-savers are compatible with A/UX?
AfterDark (2.0u and later) works well under A/UX but some displays may not
have enough memory under Login so the "low-memory" display will be used.
Moire and FMbackup seem a bit incompatible. They both function fine
together but the combination prevents FMbackup's "Finishing up..." window
from displaying, although FMbackup does, in fact, finish up. Furthermore,
Moire seems to screw-up Commando (both version 3.22 and 4.01 exhibit this
problem) so all in all, Moire can't be recommended if you desire using
Commando (the problem seems to be with all MacOS applications 'launch'ed
from the CommandShell window). Using Moire for the Login screen works well
however, since you can't access Commando or 'launch' applications from
there.
Darkside is also available. Unlike other screen savers, Darkside is an
application, not an INIT. This means it won't work under the Login screen.
The latest version of Darkside is 4.0 and will not work on Pre-System7
systems, so don't attempt to use this under A/UX 2.0.1 or later.
Moire is available on jagubox.
My MacOS partition mounts fine under MacOS but it doesn't show up under
A/UX... Why?
Whether or not a Mac partition mounts under A/UX depends on a number of
factors... Necessary conditions for a partition to mount are:
1. The disk must be partitioned using the "new" partitioning scheme
detailed in Inside Macintosh V. There is still plenty of disk software
out there that uses the "old" scheme and this drives will not mount
under A/UX. Generic disk formatters that use the "new" scheme include
SilverLining and FWB Hard Disk Toolkit. Most major disk vendors supply
A/UX compatible formatting s/w.
2. The partition must mount under MacOS before A/UX is booted. A/UX only
tries to mount partitions that were already when it was booted. So, if
you use an application to boot A/UX and this application runs before a
partition is mounted, A/UX won't mount it for you. If you have a
removable drive (such as SyQuest), you must insert the disk before you
boot A/UX... this means you can't swap cartridges under A/UX.
Sometimes, the partition map isn't correct for the MacOS partition; In
particular, the Logical size may be 0! You can use 'dp' to look at the
partition map to see if this is the case. Assuming that the disk us SCSI
#2, then:
$ dp /dev/dsk/c2d0s31
P
Will print out the partition map entries. You can then see if the
"Apple_HFS" partition type has the correct logical size.
I have MacsBug installed. How can I trigger it?
See next.
Sometimes my MultiFinder environment (and/or CommandShell) freezes up; how can
I unfreeze it? Should I hit the Interrupt switch?
The "Cmd-Ctrl-e" (88-^-e) keypress will kill the current MultiFinder
environment and "unfreeze" (and kill) your MultiFinder/CommandShell.
Depending on whether your session-type is Console Mode or 32/24-bit, you
will either get returned to the console or get returned to the Login
screen. You should not press the Interrupt switch since this puts you into
A/UX's kernel debugger. If you have MacsBug installed (which is
recommended) then you can press "Cmd-Ctrl-i" (88-^-i) to enter it. This
may enable you to clean some things up before the MultiFinder environment
is blasted (even just using 'rs' under MacsBug helps...). If MacsBug is
not installed, the "88-^-i" behaves almost like a "88-^-e" except that it
appears that A/UX doesn't need to "rebuild" your icon/Desktop
"environment" the next time Mac-mode is entered.
To make sure that MacsBug installs correctly, it's name must be 'MacsBug'.
A munged Debugger Prefs file can also prevent MacsBug from installing.
This happened to me when upgrading to 3.0.1... To be safe, make a solid
safe copy before upgrading.
My site is not upgraded to EtherTalk Phase 2 yet... can I use Phase 1 under
A/UX?
A/UX only supports EtherTalk Phase 2. Upgrading to Phase 2 is recommended
for a variety of reasons, but most importantly to ensure compatibility
with new products from Apple and developers. Of course, the added features
over Phase 1 are nice too. :-)
I'm having trouble transfering files between A/UX and my MacOS disk. Also,
sometimes things get transfered fine, othertimes not. What's going on?
If a file on the A/UX system has Type "TEXT", then when it is copied over
to a MacOS disk, all 'newline' characters will be replaced by 'carriage
returns'. Sometimes this is what you want (that is when the file is, in
fact, a TEXT file). Othertimes it's not. Say for example you download a
GIF file onto your A/UX disk. A/UX might think it's a TEXT file. If you
then copy it over to your MacOS disk and try to use Giffer on it, it won't
work. That's because the newlines were changed, which is not what you
want. The way to stop this is to convince A/UX that the file is of
non-TEXT type. There are many applications out there (including the A/UX
included 'setfile' program) that lets you modify this. Do this before you
copy the file over to your Mac OS disk and all will be Okay. If you aren't
sure what the Type and Creator should be, you can just specify "BIN " and
"A/UX" (note space in BIN) and the file won't be massaged during the
copy/transfer. You'll still need to eventually change them to the correct
ones for their particular application, but this way they'll be on your
MacOS disk "uncorrupted."
Of course, you could also use 'setfile' to set the Type/Creator fields
before you copy the file to the MacOS disk and avoid an additional step.
Please note that if you downloaded a BINHEX file, you do want to keep it
as a TEXT file if you transfer it over to the MacOS. Once there, you can
de-BINHEX it and unStuffIt (if it was a binhexed stuffit archive).
Please note that if you transfer Unix-type files (like tar archives or
compressed files) between the A/UX file system and a MacOS disk (esp. if
these files were "created" on a MacOS disk by a MacOS utility), the Unix
application may no longer work correctly with it. This is because the
MacOS resource information was attached to the file during the transfer
(the file is in Apple Single format). To "fix" this, use 'fcnvt' to change
the file to Apple Double format which will detach the resource fork and
place it into a "%..." file.
See Hints and Words Of Wisdom (above) for hints in using ftp file
transfers under A/UX.
Do I install CDEVs and Extensions in the System Folder on MacPartition or on
the "/" A/UX disk.
To install these additions to A/UX, you will need to drag-copy them over
to the A/UX System Folder. Usually, this is /mac/sys/System Folder on the
"/" disk but it will also "appear" in your "home folder" icon. If you have
a personal System Folder (i.e. $HOME/System Folder) then they should be
dragged there. To add a screensaver to the Login screen, it must be
dragged into the correct subfolder in /mac/sys/Login System Folder. That
is, if it's an cdev, drag it into /mac/sys/Login System Folder/Control
Panels.
I heard that A/UX requires a special version of System 7 to boot... Is this
true?
A lot of people believe this but this is not true. There is no difference
between the s/w on the MacPartition partition and the "real" System 7. The
only real need for MacPartition is that the disk where A/UX Startup lives
is where A/UX Startup looks for the A/UX Root partition. When A/UX Startup
launches, it looks at "it's" disk and then looks for A/UX partitions on
that disk. This means that you don't need to boot-up from the MacPartition
disk to boot A/UX. Start your Mac from your standard Startup disk and just
double-click on A/UX Startup on the MacPartition icon.
You can even do without the MacPartition disk but telling A/UX Startup the
exact SCSI number of the A/UX disk. You can do this a couple of ways:
1. Create a ROOT variable in A/UX Startup that points to the root
partition in this form: (SCSI-ID, 0, 0)
2. Under the General Preferences menu, change the Root Directory to
(SCSI-ID, 0, 0).
The "device" file /dev/default points to the SCSI-ID of whatever disk is
the MacPartition disk, so if you don't have one, you need to tell A/UX
Startup it's "real" name. This is kinda messy since you'll need to preface
a lot of stuff with this value, e.g. #startup cat (6,0,0)/etc/inittab
After the Mac environment crashes (or when I use MacsBug), the Desktop gets
all screwed up... Argg!!
Ron Flax of Apple (ron[v]afsg.apple.com) has written a very useful
System Extension called FMbackup that creates backup copies of "valuable"
Desktop files. When the MacOS-mode is entered, FMbackup restores these
files. Thus, when your MacOS "crashes", you no longer need to rebuild the
Desktop or reset all your Icons, window "types", etc. Please note that
there seems to be some incompatibilty between FMbackup and Moire and
QuickMail 2.5.1.
FMbackup (1.0.4) is available via anon-ftp on afsg.apple.com as well as
aux.support.apple.com (in "unsupported").
For more information about "FMbackup", please contact Ron via e-mail.
My MacOS partition(s) only show up on the Desktop when I login as root. Why?
Under the Preferences/General Menu of A/UX Startup, there is a radio-box
called "Password checking". This is intended to provide some security for
the A/UX Startup application. When enabled, two (default) things happen:
1. A/UX Startup requires a password to open.
2. MacOS partition(s) are only mounted for root login.
Thus, to enable MacOS partition(s) to be available for all users, you must
disable "Password checking". See auxstartuprc(4) for more info.
For some reason, my CommandShell only responds to a keyboard event after it
receives a second event. For example, typing "a" won't show until I type
something else or click the mouse. What gives?
This is caused almost 99% of the time by an Extension/CDEV conflict. The
way around this is to selectively disable each one at a time and see which
one causes the problem... then delete it. "Wild Magic" is prone to do this
as are older versions of CEToolbox.
Can A/UX 3.x.x run System 7.1?
A/UX 3.x.x's MacOS interface is based on System 7.0.1. You cannot install
Sys 7.1 on A/UX (meaning you can't make A/UX run Sys 7.1) since there are
a few system files that are fine-tuned and modified to work under A/UX.
These would get overwritten if you tried to install 7.1 and you'd be out
of luck. Please recall that this doesn't mean that you can't have 7.1
installed on your MacPartition, to be used when in MacOS-only mode. It
just means that you can't have A/UX run 7.1.
Just to let you all know, if you really want to, you can install 7.1 on
A/UX 3.x.x and the MacOS-stuff will work pretty well. However, all
hybrids, such as CommandShell or Commando, will die... not too useful...
What version of AppleTalk does A/UX run?
This one is tricky. First of all, the version of AppleTalk under A/UX was
designed specifically for A/UX... Don't try installing the Network
Software Installer (NSI) disk. Bad Things will happen.
With that out of the way, when polled by InterPol, A/UX will respond that
AppleTalk v56 is running. However, A/UX's version is really compatible
with version 58. This will cause trouble with those applications that rely
on version numbers rather than capability.
I've just installed MacTCP 2.0.[2|4|6] on A/UX and nothing works! What's going
on?
The copy of MacTCP that ships with A/UX is specifically written for A/UX.
You should not replace it with any MacOS version of MacTCP! Doing so will
cause mucho problems for A/UX. This is because A/UX's MacTCP simply
offloads all networking functions down to A/UX itself which handles them.
Although it's true that some MacOS programs, such as Mosaic, "require"
MacTCP 2.0.[2|4|6], the vast majority work just fine with A/UX's version.
In extreme cases, with programs that actually check the version number, a
little ResEdit hacking will fix things up. Basically, all you need to do
is copy the 'vers' resource of MacTCP 2.0.[2|4|6] and paste it into MacTCP
in your active A/UX System Folder (you want to 'Replace' the previous
'vers' resource). This will cause MacTCP to appear (via 'Get Info' and
similar ways) to be version 2.0.6.
Does the LaserWriter Bridge s/w work under A/UX?
No it doesn't... The reason is because the LaserWriter Bridge software
requires AppleTalk version 57 or higher but, due to the way AppleTalk is
implemented under A/UX, the software thinks and behaves as if A/UX is
running a version closer to v56.
A/UX, however, can print to a printer connected via the LaserWriter Bridge
on a different Mac.
My /etc/fidd processes refused to run and dumps core. Help!
Sounds like the /etc/FileIDs file is mangled. Rename /etc/FileIDs to
something like /etc/FileIDs.OLD and reboot. fidd will then create a new
/etc/FileIDs file and all should be well.
Devices and Peripherals
Storage
Can I use my Teac/DAT/etc tape drive under A/UX?
A/UX 3.x.x's 'tc' device driver (version 1.40) officially and "totally"
supports the following tape drives: Qualstar 9 track, Archive 4mm DAT,
Archive QIC, Teac DCAS 600, Exabyte 8500 (no go with the 8200s), DC2000.
Please note that all the devices except for the Qualstar 9-tracks require
8k-blocking when used through 'tc'. This means you will need to use 'tcb'
or 'tbb' as a filter ('dd' will also work during reading). You should also
specify 8k blocking (or a multiple thereof) when using dump.bsd.
Jim Jagielski has created a replacement for 'tc' called 'NEWtc'. It fixes
a lot of Apple's 1.4 bugs as well as to provide some nice new features. It
supports all the above drives in addition to: CIPHER drives; Exabyte 8200,
8205, and 8505; HP DATs; SONY SDT line; Teac DCAS 150 and 60; WangDAT 1300
and 2600 series; WankTEK series 6130 (FS/HF), 5525, and 5050ES.
It also has a "Generic" entry that will attempt to drive tapes it doesn't
know about. If you have a drive that isn't supported, let Jim know and
he'll try to add it.
NEWtc is up to version 3.34 and is available on jagubox. Included in the
package are replacement copies of 'mt', 'tc.7.Z' and 'mt.1.Z'.
Tony Cooper has written a very nice double-buffering copier that greatly
increases the speed of backups; it's called 'tbb.' It works quite nicely
with 'tc' (assuming the correct blocking factors)... It's included with
the 'NEWtc' package.
Craig Ruff (cruff[v]ncar.ucar.edu) has written a Teac device driver
also, which works with both the 150 MB and 60 MB drives. You get the
complete source so you may "adjust" the driver if you want for other
drives.
The Teac driver is available on jagubox.
For more information about 'tc', please contact Jim via e-mail.
For more information about 'teac', please contact Craig via e-mail.
I'm trying to use a SyQuest drive under A/UX but it refuses to work. I keep
on getting a "more data than device expected" error message. What's wrong?
The "problem" is with the generic SCSI disk driver under A/UX. For SCSI
drives, there are certain parameters that may be adjusted by the user;
these parameters are grouped in "pages." One such page concerns how the
disk responds to and recovers from errors: the Error Recovery Page. A/UX
expects the parameters in this page to have certain values. Now the vast
majority of SCSI disks have the values set as expected, but this isn't the
case with SyQuest drives. There is one parameter (PER) which is opposite
than expected by A/UX. When A/UX trys to set this value to what it wants,
however, the SyQuest drive reads this "request" wrong (the request is 16
bytes but the SyQuest only reads 4, so the SCSI Manager reports the error.
Tony Cooper (tony[v]marc.cri.nz) has written a Mac application which
sets the Error Page values correctly: Fix Error Page. This application
must be used under the MacOS. It can be found on jagubox as well as on
aux.support.apple.com (aux.patches/unsupported/2.0). You can also use the
FWB Hard Disk Toolkit - World Control Application to enable the PER bit in
the recovery page (Page #1).
This program may also be a help in getting some SCSI-2 devices, such as
disks and opticals, to work under A/UX. If A/UX sees that the Error Page
parameters are incorrect, it will attempt to send a Mode Select command to
fix them, however it will use the SCSI-1/CCS page length instead of the
SCSI-2 length, which, depending on the drive, will not work.
By the by, here is the /etc/disktab entry for SyQuest:
# SyQuest disk
#
Syquest|syquest|S45:\
:ty=winchester:ns#34:nt#2:nc#1275:
I'm trying to access my tape drive using 'tc' (with something like find .
-print | cpio -o > /dev/rmt/tc1) but it doesn't work...
Except for 9-track magtapes, all I/O to tape drives associated with the
'tc' device files must be blocked at 8k. The 'tcb' program does just that
so that should be included. For example, to write:
$ find . -print | cpio -o | tcb > /dev/rmt/tc1
And to read:
$ tcb < /dev/rmt/tc1 | cpio -i
You can get better performance if you increase the buffer size (just make
sure that it's a multiple of 8k). For example, you could use 'dd' as your
blocking filter with a 'bs=10x8k'.
Jim Jagielski's replacement for 'tc' allows for 'tc' to use the tape
drive's own physical block size as the logical block size for I/O. Doing
so results in a bit of a performance hit so it isn't recommended for
normal use. You should use the "mode" only if you need to read tapes
written by 'st' or by another platform. Please note you are still limited
to an I/O block size of at least the physical block size, which can be
anything for 512 to 1024 to 8192 bytes.
For more information about 'tc', please contact Jim via e-mail.
Can I use my Zip Drive under A/UX?
You certainly can. There are some tricks in getting it to work and be
usable under the MacOS environment, but they are pretty easy.
First of all, the device-files (slice31) for the Zip drive needs to be
readable and writable by the person using the MacOS. If you are the sole
user of the A/UX machine, then it's easy: chown yourname /dev/rdsk/cXd0s31
/dev/dsk/cXd0s31 where 'X' is the SCSI ID of the Zip. If your system is
multi-user, then you'll need to: chmod 666 /dev/rdsk/cXd0s31
/dev/dsk/cXd0s31
You need to have the Zip catridge in the drive while the MacOS-A/UX
environment is booting for the disk to be mounted.
If you will be using the Zip only as a Unix file system, here are some
hints:
* Use HD SC Setup (the A/UX version) to create the Partition and file
system. Don't bother with 'newfs' unless you need to alter the number
of inodes created; Use the 'Generic|other' entry in /etc/disktab
* You'll need to manually eject the disk when done with it and after
it's 'umount'ed
* Don't eject the disk if it's still mounted !!
Printing
I'm using a LaserWriter IIg with A/UX 3.x.x and whenever I print something
to it through 'lpr', the first line of the page is cut off. Why?
This only shows up on versions of the IIg (and IIf) with less than 5MiB
RAM. The reason is because this makes the LW default to PhotoGrade-mode.
You can do 2 things to fix this:
1. Using the LaserWriter Utility program, disable PhotoGrade. Since one
of the main advantages of these LW's is PhotoGrade, this option is
kinda unpalatable.
2. If you are only using "Letter" mode under 'lpr', then you can edit
/usr/lib/ps/pstext.pro to include the following line between "%
RCSID:..." and "/StartPage...":
%!PS-Adobe-1.0
% Z%Copyright Apple Computer 1987\tVersion 1.1 of pstext.pro on\
87/05/04 19:02:25
%%Creator: pstext
%%DocumentFonts: Courier
% RCSID: $Header: pstext.pro,v 2.1 85/11/24 12:19:55 shore Rel $
====>>>letter
/StartPage{/sv save def 48 760 moveto}def
This will fix the problem and make it usable again.
How can I add printers other than those available in Chooser?
From a post by Antonio Ordonez (antonio[v]apple.com)
If the printer is in another zone, it is necessary to define the zone in
which the printer is located with a full path name. You can then
"hardwire" a printer name including the zone for a particular printer
queue.
The best way to do this is to make a copy the /usr/spool/lpd/AppleTalk
directory and give it a name related to the printer we want to use. Modify
the file ifilter/ofilter/nfilter (it is the same file with 3 hard links)
in this directory. Also modify the /etc/printcap file to create a new
printer queue.
I will use my system as an example so please modify to reflect your
situation.
The first thing to do is to create the new directory and put the correct
files in it. Note that I am using mknod to create the pipe file.
mkdir Idaho
chown daemon Idaho
chgrp daemon Idaho
cp AppleTalk/ifilter Idaho/ifilter
cd Idaho
ln ifilter ofilter
ln ofilter nfilter
mknod pipe p
chown daemon *
chgrp daemon *
In my case I have a printer called "Idaho Spooler" in the zone "SCV CAM2
2nd W" while my system is on the zone "SCV CAM2 2nd E", so all I do is to
modify the /usr/spool/lpd/Idaho/ifilter file (you can use vi or
TextEditor) and change the line that defines the value for Printer from
Printer=`basename "cwd"` to Printer="Idaho Spooler:LaserWriter@SCV CAM2
2nd W".
In the /etc/printcap file I copy the entry for AppleTalk (all six lines)
and change any reference to AppleTalk to the name I used for my new
directory. Again, in my case I used "Idaho" as the directory name so my
/etc/printcap file looks like:
#
# pragma ident "@(#)lpr:printcap 5.4 90/03/27 "
#
# Copyright 1990 Apple Computer, Inc.
# All Rights Reserved.
##
# Remote AppleTalk printer (selected by Chooser)
# For an AppleTalk printer which doesn't support PostScript remove last 2 names.
lp|at|AppleTalk|postscript|PostScript:\
:lp=/dev/null:\
:if=/usr/spool/lpd/AppleTalk/ifilter:\
:of=/usr/spool/lpd/AppleTalk/ofilter:\
:nf=/usr/spool/lpd/AppleTalk/nfilter:\
:sd=/usr/spool/lpd/AppleTalk:
lp2|Idaho:\
:lp=/dev/null:\
:if=/usr/spool/lpd/Idaho/ifilter:\
:of=/usr/spool/lpd/Idaho/ofilter:\
:nf=/usr/spool/lpd/Idaho/nfilter:\
:sd=/usr/spool/lpd/Idaho:
After all these steps are completed restart the printer queue with the
command lpc restart all.
Now you should be able to send a print job to the printer in the other
zone with the command lpr -Plp2 /etc/passwd or lpr -PIdaho /etc/passwd.
Hope this helps.
Will the old serial HP DeskWriter work under A/UX?
No, it won't... You need to use AppleTalk to use it under A/UX.
How can I use a HP DeskWriter under A/UX?
For the answer, snag a copy of DeskWriter.txt which is available via
anon-ftp on jagubox in /pub/aux/Info.
I can't get my LaserJet 4M to work reliably. Help!
Bad news... for some reason, if the LaserJet is connected directly to a
Q700 running A/UX via AppleTalk then it won't work. If you have a router
or something similar between the two it'll work like a hose. It looks like
it's most probably a 4M ROM bug and supposedly HP was "working" on a fix.
Input
Can I use my scanner under A/UX?
A/UX 3.x.x fully supports the Apple OneScanner as well as providing better
support for SCSI devices. A/UX will still use its own SCSI driver,
however.
What 3-button mice work under A/UX (and X)? And 2-button mice?
The Gravis SuperMouse was a 3-button mechanical mouse that was completely
configurable and compatible with A/UX and was at the time your best bet.
At present, however, the Gravis SuperMouse is no longer manufactured or
supported at all by Gravis. ☹
Older versions of LogiTech's MouseMan are fully compatible with A/UX, as
some people have been using them with no problems. However, newer versions
aren't as nice, since you can't reconfigure the button binding.
Mouse System's A-3 mouse is "fully" compatible with A/UX, but is
hard-wired configured for A/UX as: left button = actual mouse button;
middle button = left arrow; right button = right arrow. (The "A-3" power
cdev doesn't work under A/UX, hence it is not programmable.) Since
Option-⇦ and Option-⇨ are the combinations used for emulating
the middle and right buttons (respectively) with a one-button mouse in
MacX (if configured that way) and in a true X11 session, pressing the
Option key while clicking buttons 2 and 3 should give the desired effect.
The A-3 mouse is an optical unit with a nice feel, but as was common with
earlier optical mice, requires a special mousepad.
Please note that A/UX 2 & 3 only support a subset of the ADB Manager. Thus
there are a few ADB devices that may not work under A/UX.
Information on 2-button mice?
Does the Apple Adjustable Keyboard work under A/UX?
No it doesn't... This is due to the way the Adjustable keyboard actually
works and the fact that A/UX doesn't fully support the ADB Manager.
☹
Output
Does A/UX support 24-bit color?
Yes.
There is one major caveat, that will hopefully be addressed in future
versions. On startup, A/UX reinitializes all hardware drivers, including
the video-drivers; as a result, most accelerated 24-bit cards (all
third-party cards known to date, as well as Apple's old 8*24 GC card) will
be reinitialized to run in non-accelerated mode. You'll still get 24-bit
video, but depending on your hardware, it may be painfully slow.
This could be solved by better driver support from the vendors of
accelerated video cards. Certain vendors have been promising such support
for awhile now.
The best hardware to run A/UX with 24-bit video enabled are currently the
Quadra 700, 900, and 950, whose internal video can be populated with
enough VRAM to support 24-bit color (note that the Q800 cannot do this !).
Performance is considered good under A/UX by many users.
The following is a list of 24-bit cards that readers have reported work
with A/UX from personal experience. It is not a complete list; there have
been no reports of cards that work under MacOS but not A/UX (excepting the
caveat detailed above): Apple 8*24, 8*24GC; Quadra 700, 900, 950 internal
video; PrecisionColor PRO 24xp; RasterOps 24STV, Paintboard li; Radius
24XP, 24XK.
Upgrades
Is it worth getting a cache card for the IIci?
Absolutely! The card makes an amazing difference in performance. However,
this performance increase is reduced when an external monitor is used. For
more information about extensive benchmarking with the IIci and cache
cards, you can snag the benchmarking results via anon-ftp on
redstar.dcs.qmw.ac.uk in archive/papers.
What 3rd party accelerators are compatible with A/UX?
For the most part, all DayStar Digital accelerators are compatible with
A/UX 3.0 even if their controlling CDEVs don't work under A/UX (the
accelerator must be enabled with the CDEV before booting A/UX). However,
their 040 accelerators do not work under A/UX. In fact, except for Apple's
own Quadra 700 Logic Board Upgrade, there are no 040 accelerators that
work (i.e. don't crash) under A/UX.
There has been at least 1 report of the DayStar-accelerated Mac II not
working under 3.0.2... it's possible that 3.0.2 is more sensitive to
timing than 3.0 was... If in doubt, be sure that you can return the
accelerator if you can't run it under A/UX.
According to Daystar Digital, the DayStar QuadraCache is not compatible
with A/UX. DayStar is working on a fix... Nonetheless, there are a number
of people (including people at Apple) who are using these cache cards with
no problems at all and with very nice (~25%) performance boosts.
This is kinda skimpy, but I'd thought I'd start it up. Email me your list
Disk
How can I figure out the /etc/disktab entry for my hard disk?
Many hard disk applications will reveal the disk drive geometry for you:
FWB Hard Disk ToolKit is very good (SilverLining is a bit wrong on the
number of tracks... it includes spares). What you are really looking for
are the total number of cylinders ('nc'), the number of sectors per track
('ns') and the number of tracks ('nt').
By far, the easiest (and cheapest) way is to use the SCSIProbe utility, by
Herb Weiner (herbw[v]wiskit.com), that runs under A/UX. This neat
little package automatically generates disktab entries for your disks.
Jim is maintaining a list of /etc/disktab entries. If you have any, send
it to him and he'll add them.
The file is available on jagubox. lots of entries needed
Just a note: the number of tracks ('nt') is equal to the number of heads.
What CD-ROM drives are compatible with A/UX 3.x.x?
The original Apple CD-ROM drive (CD SC) is 100% compatible with A/UX as is
the newer CD-150. Older versions of the CD-300 (those with pre 1.8f ROMs)
would cause problems with A/UX and would do little more than allow you to
install A/UX, making it almost useless for day-to-day use. One of the
fixes of 3.0.2 is much better support for all versions of the CD-300,
although Apple does suggest that you update the CD-ROM drive's ROMs with
the latest version if you have problems. Reportedly, you can get the
latest ROMs by calling 1-800-SOS-APPL or seeing your Apple dealer. The
following are also known to be 100% compatible (meaning you can use them
to install A/UX as well as when running A/UX): Toshiba XM3201, XM3301B
XM3401B, XM3501; DEC RRD42, RRD40 (LMSI CM-212); Denon DRD 253; Sun CD-ROM
(Sony CDU-8012?); CD-Technologies Porta-Drive CD-ROM; Chinon CDA-431.
3.1 adds support for NEC CD-ROMs; previous versions of A/UX weren't able
to work with these units due to their physical block size.
I've tried to install the CD Remote extension to A/UX so that I can play
audio CD's, but it doesn't work...
By itself, A/UX doesn't support audio CDs. However, there are 2 software
packages that add this capability:
The first package is xmcd/cda, which provides both a X-Motif (xmcd) and
generic command-line (cda) interface for playing audio CDs under A/UX. The
package requires that the 'devscsi' kernel package be installed, so it
will work under 3.x.x. xmcd/cda was written by Ti Kan
(ti[v]bazooka.amb.org). and can be found on
ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/applications/.
The second package is a MacOS-patch to enable you to use the CD Remote
application. Kelly King and Andrew Kass (at Apple), however, have written
the "AUX SCSI Toolbox" extensions that emulates the Mac SCSI Manager. With
this extension installed, you can run applications and drivers that talk
to the Mac SCSI Manager, including the Apple CD-ROM driver! With this
extension, you can listen to your audio CDs under A/UX! This is the latest
version of the extension: 1.0b4.
"AUX SCSI Toolbox" is available via ftp on jagubox under
/pub/aux/Apple.fixes/unsupported/3.0.x/SCSItlbx.tar.gz Please read the
included ReadMe before installing and using it.
What Unix CD-ROM formats does A/UX support?
Other than the "normal" A/UX SysV and UFS file system type, A/UX supports
ISO-9660 file system format CD-ROMs. However, you can only access these
CDs from the MacOS environment; you can't "mount" them in the normal
Unix-way. As distributed, A/UX doesn't include the needed Extensions that
allow the MacOS Environment from recognizing these CDs. To fix this, you
need to copy the following Extensions from the Apple CD-ROM Software disks
(version 3.2 or later) to the System Folder of the user(s) that need
access to these CDs: Foreign File Access, High Sierra File Access, ISO
9660 File Access.
The docs are a little blurry on this (even though it's specifically
mentioned in Chapter 5 of the "Setting Up Accounts and Peripherals for
A/UX") since they say that you don't need to add any kernel resources...
One of A/UX's quirks is that all files on ISO-9660 CDs are "seen" as TEXT
type files. This causes troubles with binary files since when you try to
drag them over to the "/" disk, A/UX will perform it's \r->\n translation.
To avoid this from happening, you can:
1. Drag the file(s) over to a MacOS HFS disk. Then use ResEdit (or
something similar) to change the file Creator to "A/UX" and Type to
"BIN " (note the space!). Now you can drag the file over to "/".
2. Use ResEdit to look at the NCOD resource in the "ISO 9660 File Access"
extension. Open the "Main" resource in NCOD. Now change the string
"TEXT" to "BIN " and "hscd" to "A/UX". Save, logout and login. This
changes things so that all files on the CD-ROM appear as non-Text,
CommandShell files, so that A/UX will not perform any translation.
Again, please note that A/UX will not recognize any of the audio
capability of CD-ROMs unless you add the "AUX SCSI Toolbox" extension
described in Devices and Peripherals.
How can I increase the number of inodes when creating a new file system?
There is a limit on the number of inodes per cylinder group (2048). Large
disks (2-4GB) are setup so that each cylinder group is quite large (>5MB)
so that when 'newfs' creates the file system, it hits the limit quickly
and you end up with a disk with a "small" amount of inodes.
The trick is to use the '-c' option to 'newfs' to make each cylinder
smaller by reducing the number of cylinders per group. In many cases,
'newfs -c 8' works well. Of course, you should use this in combination
with the '-i' option as well.
Interfaces
I have an EtherNet card that works fine under the Macintosh OS but not under
A/UX. Why?
The reason is because to access the card (which is seen as a device by
A/UX), you need an A/UX device driver for it. This is not the same as the
stuff you had to install under the MacOS for it to work. Now A/UX includes
drivers for the Apple EtherNet card (they aren't installed by default
though), but they don't work with most of the 3rd party cards except for
the 3Com "EtherLink NB", the Asante "MacCon" and the StarNet Networking
cards. They are 100% register compatible with their Apple counterparts, so
you can use Apple's 'ae' driver with them. Drivers for the EtherPort II
cards are available via anon-ftp on jagubox. However, the drivers for the
"old" EPII cards (full length) only support TCP/IP (they were written for
A/UX 1.1 but will work under 2.0.x). As far as other cards are concerned,
you will have to ask the vendor for A/UX drivers for it.
Please note that there have been numerous reports about problems with the
EtherPortII cards, A/UX and the IIfx and IIsi... you are warned. :-)
Which serial cards work under A/UX?
There are a number of serial cards that "work" with A/UX. The Apple serial
card is not one of them.
* There is the Digiboard Nu/Xi, which comes in 4 and 8 port versions.
Brand new drivers for the card have been coded and are available. This
version (3.3.0) however, doesn't currently work with CSlip but
otherwise works great. You can snag the drivers via anon-ftp from
digibd.com (which is 192.83.159.193) in drivers/mac.
Technical Support for DigiBoard is 612-943-9020. If you'd like to
contact the main engineer responsible for the drivers, contact Brian
Westley at the following Email addresses: merlyn[v]digibd.com,
...uunet!digibd!merlyn, AppleLink: merlin.
* There is also the Creative Solutions, INC (CSI) HQS/HDS v4.4/4.5
Hurdler Serial Nubus cards. These cards have both pure Unix and MacOS
device drivers (i.e. a 'newconfig' code module and a MacOS INIT/DRVR
module). The A/UX drivers support baud rates up to 57.6k and 115.2k
using the 'B50' and 'B75' flags, true hardware handshaking while
monitoring DCD for Dialup security, and full compatibility with CSlip
and PPP and their associated daemons. The A/UX-MacOS drivers are fully
compatible with all CommToolbox functions and serial drivers. These
are very nice cards. :-)
The recommended cable-pin out for these cards is:
Mac Modem
Male Mini-Din-8 DB-25
--------------------------------------------
1 (HskO) --- 4 (RTS)
2 (HskI) --- 5 (CTS)
3 (TxD-) --- 2 (TxD)
4 (GDN) --- 7 (SigGnd)
5 (RxD-) --- 3 (RxD)
6 (TxD+) --- 7 (SigGnd)or(NC)
7 (GPi) --- 8 (DCD)
8 (RxD+) --- 7 (SigGnd)
6 -- (DSR)
|
20 -- (DTR)
Also, for logins, you should be using the FLOW flag in the gettydefs
file as for example:
fl_38400#B38400 # B38400 SANE2 TAB3 # ~MODEM ~DTR FLOW #\r\nlogin: #fl_38400
For further info about the drivers, or for any help is using this
card, please contact Alan M. Friedman at Intelligent Interfaces, Inc:
alan[v]kether.intellint.com or AppleLink: D5620.
You can contact CSI at csi[v]applelink.apple.com (AppleLink: CSI).
* Another is Paul Campell's Taniwha CommCard. This card does indeed work
with all versions of A/UX including 3.x.x. It has special support for
UUCP. It has a few mysterious and not very important problems. It's an
excellent buy. The only problem is, it's not on the market anymore. If
you can get one used, though, it's worth getting. The one downside is
that, like Apple's ports, it won't simultaneously support modem and
hardware flow control. It is immune to many of the nasty bugs which
affect the built-in serial ports, including the two (at least) which
can crash the kernel.
* Yet another is the Applied Engineering QuadraLink serial card.
According to sources, the board was super easy to setup and use. It
also appears very solid as far as performance.
The AE QuadraLink card, like the CommCard and the Apple ports, can't
do both hardware handshaking and modem control at the same time. No
hardware patch kit will be developed for the AE card...
What's the specifics on the AWS95 PDS Card?
The AWS95 PDS Card (known as "Pisces") has two main functional additions
to the Q950. The first is that it includes an external level-2 cache for
the Quadra's 68040. The cache size is 128K, but this can be increased with
Apple provided SRAM upgrade kits. The use of a L2 cache increases the base
performance of the Q950.
The second capability that Pisces includes is the addition of two
additional upgraded SCSI buses. Pisces fully supports Direct Memory Access
(DMA) on these SCSI buses. This can greatly increase SCSI throughput by
offloading SCSI operations to the PDS card. The card supports active
termination and negation on the 2 SCSI DMA buses, improving signal quality
and integrity.
What are the specifics of SCSI under A/UX?
SCSI under A/UX is SCSI-1/CCS and not SCSI-2. However, A/UX can use most
SCSI-2 devices. Problems will arise on some SCSI-2 disks if their Error
Correction Mode Pages are incorrect (See above). A/UX supports SCSI
connect/disconnect which results in more efficient use of the SCSI bus.
Finally, A/UX provides asynchronous I/O as well.
Porting and Programming Q&A
How come rn/elm/less/etc... act weird concerning signals?
Well, it's not really them at all. Many people have found that more than a
few ports require the addition of the 'set42sig()' call to enable BSD 4.2
signal delivery. The best place to add this is as the first executable
statement under "main() {".
Another point about porting applications: A/UX's 'cc' does provide
"strict" BSD, SystemV and Posix libraries. If you are porting a BSD
program, you can enable BSD "emulation" by adding the "-ZB -lbsd" options
to your 'cc' command line. In fact, using just the '-lbsd' option
alleviates the need for adding the 'set42sig()' call mentioned above and
is, in many cases, the suggested option. Compiling with gcc also helps out
a great deal.
Is X11R5 available for A/UX? How about X11R6 or later?
Ask and ye shall receive! R5 can be found on the www.funet.fi site, and R6
is at ftp.geo.tu-freiberg.de and www.aux-penelope.com.
I've noticed that FSF GNU doesn't support A/UX. Does that mean I'll miss out
on all the neat GNU-stuff like gcc?
Although it's true that FSF is "boycotting" Apple and A/UX (FSF doesn't
like Apple's predisposition of suing to protect "look and feel"), ports of
most GNU applications are available.
GCC version 2.7.2 for A/UX has been ported (by Jim Jagielski, based on
previous ports by John Coolidge) and is available... Highly recommended!
As a nice complement to using GCC, gdb (4.9) is also available. For more
info about gcc for A/UX, please contact Jim via e-mail.
Sadly, the archive at wuarchive.wustl.edu has been removed, and now
contains only Linux-related material. However, the GNU goodies are still
available on ftp.geo.tu-freiberg.de and www.nleymann.de. Scott Kanne also
hosts some of these at aux-penelope.com.
I've ported Elm (or other mail reader) and it doesn't seem to work. Why?
It seems most likely that the reason is because they attempt to use a
different file locking scheme that /bin/mail does. Pre-3.0 versions of
mail used 'flock' style file locking. 3.x.x now uses the '.lock' scheme
for mail file locking. Elm 2.4.X requires that both flock and .lock be
enabled. Elm 2.3.X requires only .lock locking.
What languages are available for A/UX?
A/UX comes with a C compiler ('cc'), a FORTRAN-77 compiler ('f77') as well
as an assembler ('as'), SNOBOL ('sno') and a kinda-basic interpreter
('bs'). 'cc' is a nice, stable, if not-too-quick compiler. 'f77' is a true
FORTRAN-77 compiler and appears quite workable. Jim has not used 'sno'
(and couldn't recall how to program in SNOBOL if his life depended on it
:-)) or 'bs'.
If you are doing any work in C, then it would be well worth it to get a
copy of the GNU C compiler ('gcc') (see above). gcc is K&R and ANSI
compatible so if you are doing ANSI work you'll need it. Apple also has an
ANSI C compiler ('c89') that you can buy. It's available on the "A/UX
Developer's Toolkit CD" from APDA. There is also at least one other
3rd-party C compiler out there, but the name is unknown. gcc is free; c89
runs about $800. Both include C++ capabilities.
There are also 2 very good 3rd-party FORTRAN compilers: NKR FORTRAN and
Absoft MacFORTRAN II. In my opinion, MacFORTRAN II is the better
product... it has finer compiler control, a wide number of compatibility
options (such as VAX FORTRAN) and excellent speed. If you do order MFII,
be sure to get the A/UX version. They also sell an MPW version that will
work under A/UX but it's run under, you guessed it, MPW. The A/UX version
is a true "Unix" compiler and it's optimized for A/UX. Both MFII and NKR
FORTRAN run about $500-$600.
Oasys sells 3 compiler packages: C, C++ and FORTRAN. All the compilers are
based on the GreenHills compilers which are known to be robust and fast.
However, the Oasys packages are expensive, running about $2000 per
language (although you do get assemblers and linker/loaders with the
package). Unisoft used to distribute their "Optimizing Compilers" (FORTRAN
and C) for A/UX, but they are no longer available... Pity, because they
also were based on GreenHills and were quite nice.
At present, there are no known true Pascal compilers for A/UX.
Finally, if you are doing program development, then you'll need a good
debugger. As described above in "List of ports...", gdb has been ported if
you would prefer using something other than sdb or dbx, which are included
with A/UX. If you are using FORTRAN, then Absoft also makes an excellent
debugger which has been fine-tuned to work with MFII (it also does quite
well with C); it's called FX. It has two interfaces, character and Motif,
and is quite powerful.
Is OSF/Motif available for A/UX?
The only known source for OSF/Motif (1.1.4) for A/UX is:
Integrated Computer Solutions
201 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-547-0510
However, they have stopped producing this and have since stopped support
for A/UX OSF/Motif. They may still have a few copies of it available, so
if you don't mind using unsupported software, give them a call.
If you have, or can get, the actual source code for Motif then the
following will be of some help: 1.1.4 compiles with minimal changes to the
source using 'cc' and works "great." However, the source for 1.2.2 makes
calls to various XIM multi-character routines, leaving many unresolved
externals when linking. Now, if someone ported X11R5 and left the XIM
routines intact, then maybe compiling and linking 1.2.2 would go off
without a hitch... Any takers??
While trying to port some software, the Makefile looks for a program called
'ranlib' and dies when it can't find it. What is it and where can I get it.
'ranlib' is a program that increases the efficiency of accessing and using
archives (*.a files). A/UX's 'ar' already does this, so it isn't needed.
To get around this, do something like ln /bin/true /bin/ranlib.
You could also use '/bin/touch' but the above will (hopefully) take care
of cases when ranlib is called with options. If you want to put 'ranlib'
somewhere else, then that's OK. If the location is a different file
system, then you'll need to use a symbolic link: ln -s /bin/true
/usr2/local/bin/ranlib
When compiling, I get the message that 'setlocale' is an "undefined symbol"...
what's going on?
The 'locale' suite can be found in /lib/libposix.a. To avoid linking to
libposix.a you can do the following to create a separate locale library:
$ ar xv /lib/libposix.a locale.o
$ ar rv /usr/lib/liblocale.a locale.o
Now you can simply link to '-llocale' to add it in.
A better fix would be to grab and use libUTIL, a collection of useful and
needed functions for any serious porting effort (see Hints & WoW, above).
libUTIL is maintained by Jim Jagielski and can be found on jagubox.
How in the world do I use nlist()?
The nlist structure used by nlist() is a very weird beast. The structure
itself contains a union, which can cause problems with automatic
initialization of nlist. In particular, there are specific times when you
need to use "n_name" and other times when you must use "n_nptr". Here's
the deal:
* If the variable name is less than 8 characters in length (as defined
by strlen()), then the NULL-terminated string should be copied into
'n_name'. E.g.: var = "timbuf"; strcpy(nl.n_name, var);
* If the variable name is exactly 8 characters in length, only those 8
characters should be copied into the 'n_name' field; The '/0'
character should not be copied as well. E.g.: var = "longlook";
strncpy(nl.n_name, var, 8);
* If the variable name is greater than 8 characters in length, 'n_ptr'
should be set to the pointer to that string and 'n_zeroes' be set to
0. E.g.: var = "clock_offset"; nl.n_ptr = var;
Communication
I'm unable to start a getty process on a built-in serial port. When I use
'setport' to enable the port, I get a "no such device" error. Configuring
/etc/inittab to respawn getty on the port has no effect.
AppleTalk is probably enabled for the port. The getty process can be
started temporarily by turning off AppleTalk via A/UX's Finder Chooser and
then using the 'setport' command.
You can permanently disable AppleTalk by reconfiguring the kernel with
"newconfig noappletalk". If you wish to keep the drivers installed in the
kernel but still want to "permanently" disable AppleTalk, you can edit
/etc/startup to prevent AppleTalk from initializing and /etc/inittab can
be editted to start getty. (/etc/startup is regenerated by newconfig so
you'll have to redo this if you reconfigure the kernel.)
If you don't have an EtherTalk card installed, then you can also modify
/etc/appletalkrc to point to "ethertalk0" instead of "localtalk0". Doing
this stops AppleTalk from bothering the serial port because it tries to
use the non-existant card.
I am using and depending on /etc/hosts to do all my hostname resolving (i.e.
not using named or /etc/resolv.conf). How come I can't mail to other hosts,
but I can ping/ftp/etc... them?
Well, the problem is actually with sendmail (in /usr/lib). sendmail (under
A/UX 2.0 and later) assumes the use of a nameserver. Pre-2.0 versions were
"adjusted" to look in /etc/hosts if any nameserver call failed - which it
would if it wasn't running, of course. :-)
Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov) has hacked sendmail 5.65
for A/UX to have it also check /etc/hosts. The source code is available on
jagubox.
You may also want to upgrade to smail 3.1.28. smail is a very powerful yet
easy to configure (and maintain) replacement for sendmail. It can both
query the NameServer as well as look in /etc/hosts to "interpret"
hostnames. The required A/UX-related diffs and patches, which were written
by Bob Denny (denny[v]alisa.com) are available on jagubox.
For more info, contact Jim.
When I try to mail something, I get the following error message: "Cannot read
frozen config file: not a typewriter". What's wrong?
This message is produced by sendmail (/usr/lib/sendmail) when it's frozen
configuration file (/usr/lib/sendmail.fc) is unusable (as it is in the
A/UX distribution which has it as a 0-byte file). To create a "new" frozen
file of your present sendmail.cf file (assuming that it's good), type:
/usr/lib/sendmail -bz - the sendmail daemon, if it exists, must be killed
first.
How do I set up my Mac and A/UX to enable remote logins via a modem on tty0?
First of all, you must edit /etc/inittab to start getty on tty0 using
mo_2400 (or whatever speed you want, such as mo_9600):
00:2:respawn:/etc/getty -u -t 60 tty0 mo_2400
Make sure that your modem is set to be quiet, to not return result codes
and to not echo back. It must also reset on DTR being dropped ("atq1e0&d3"
will achieve this for most Hayes-compatible modems except certain (all)
USR modems). Your modem must also raise DCD on connection ("at&c1") in
order to have Dialup security (i.e. when the line is closed, HangUp the
process. This means that MODEM flow control must be specified in
gettydefs). You then save these changes using the "at&w" sequence.
Finally, to make it autoanswer, be sure to add "ats0=1&w".
Make sure that the modem cable is correctly configured (this is for Dialup
Security!):
Mac Modem
--------------------
1 (HskO) 20 (DTR)
4 (RTS) <- yep... it gets sent to Pin 20 & 4
2 (HskI) 8 (DCD)
3 (TxD-) 2 (TxD)
4 (GDN) 7 (Sgnd)
5 (RxD-) 3 (RxD)
6 NO CONNECT
7 NO CONNECT
8 (RxD+) 7 (Sgnd) <- this is right, it gets tied to Mac pin 4 too.
If you mess up pin 8 things can get so flaky that you'll never figure out
what's going on. You see, by grounding pin 8, you make the modem port
truly RS-232 compatible. If not grounded, the port will use the RS-422
standard, which can cause lots of problems. For more info about pinouts
and cable pinouts, check out "/usr/lib/uucp/README".
Please note that getty is the bidirectional version of getty, which is
sometimes known as uugetty. Thus, you can have dial in and dial out at the
same time on the same port. You should be using at least version 1.16 of
HDB (see above: known bugs and Administration Q&A)
As mentioned above, the cable described provides for Dialup Security and
prevents the use of hardware flow control... If, however, the exact same
baudrate is used throughout the phone link, the need for hardware flow
control is greatly reduced.
How come I can't use 'talk' with some of the other Unix boxes out there, and
they can't talk to me?
The reason why is because there are two versions of talk (and it's daemon
talkd) out there. A/UX uses the BSD 4.2 version. Others use the 4.3
version. The two aren't compatible and don't even talk on the same port.
If you try to talk to someone and all you get is a "Checking for
invitation..." message then it's because the machine you're trying to
access is using 4.3.
Steve Green (xrsbg[v]dirac.gsfc.nasa.gov) has ported the 4.3 versions
of talk and talkd (now renamed ntalk and ntalkd for A/UX) to overcome this
snag. You can have both versions available and running with no problems.
The port is available on jagubox.
How can I convince A/UX to forward IP packets?
You will need to use 'adb' to adjust the A/UX kernel to enable IP
forwarding. This is done by changing the value of the 'ipforwarding'
"variable" from 0 (no forwarding) to 1 (enable forwarding).
As root, and in single-user mode, apply this patch:
# Enable fowarding: just the kernel
adb -w -k /unix << Foo
ipforwarding?D
ipforwarding?W 1
$w
$q
Foo
And reboot.
You'll need to redo this whenever the kernel is rebuilt (like via
'newunix') unless you apply the patch to /etc/install.d/boot.d/bnet as
follows:
# Enable fowarding: keep it that way
adb -w /etc/install.d/boot.d/bnet << Foo
ipforwarding?D
ipforwarding?W 1
$w
$q
Foo
Is PPP available for A/UX?
Unfortunately, there is no known port of PPP for A/UX. ☹
How can I change the MTU value for CSlip?
You will need to use 'adb' to adjust either the kernel or the CSlip driver
to change this value (slip_mtu). As root, and in single-user mode, apply
this patch (please replace $THE_VALUE with the actual HEX value you want
MTU to be):
# Change SLIP MTU value to $THE_VALUE: just the kernel
adb -w -k /unix << Foo
slip_mtu?d
slip_mtu?w $THE_VALUE
$w
$q
Foo
And reboot.
You'll need to redo this whenever the kernel is rebuilt (like via
'newunix') unless you apply the patch to /etc/install.d/boot.d/cslip as
follows:
# Change SLIP MTU value to $THE_VALUE: keep it that way
adb -w /etc/install.d/boot.d/cslip << Foo
slip_mtu?d
slip_mtu?w $THE_VALUE
$w
$q
Foo
Now run 'newconfig -v' and reboot.
I'm having trouble having Solaris 2.4 NFS clients access my NFS server!
On your Solaris client, you need to add the 'rsize=1024 wsize=1024'
parameters to your mount option.
I'm running a busy web-server and clients are getting lots of 'Connection
Refused' messages... Why?
This may be due, most probably, by the small size of A/UX's listen()
backlog queue. This queue is basically the number of pending connections
listen will allow. Under A/UX, this value (known as SOMAXCONN) is a measly
5. Since Netscape, for example, send 4 connection-requests per connect,
you can see how you would over-reach the queue quickly if your server is
busy.
Jim Jagielski (jim[v]jaguNET.com) has written a small shell-script
that uses 'adb' to patch the kernel 'bnet' module to increase the queue
limit from 5 to 32. It's available on jagubox in /pub/aux/Sys_stuff
Errors Explained
How do I keep command lines that I edit with "backspace" from erasing the
prompt?
This behavior is due to the tty driver under A/UX. The BSD tty driver
(which A/UX doesn't use) handles this, whereas the SysV driver doesn't. If
you are running 'ksh' then you can "set -o viraw" to prevent this from
happening. There are no known work-arounds for 'sh' or 'csh'. ('tcsh' and
'bash' do not suffer from this problem... )
Whenever I try to run xinit (or startx) from the CommandShell I get a fatal
server error. Why?
The reason why is because both X and the CommandShell want complete
control over your Mac (display, keyboard and mouse). So, when you try to
start one while running the other, you'll get into trouble. You need to
start X either from the Console Emulator Mode or by choosing it as your
"session type" from the Login screen. This session type will be available
only if your installed Apple's X.
I keep on getting the following error message on the Console: "fcntl: local
lock manager not registered". What's going on?
This is printed out whenever your kernel is configured for NFS and a file-
lock is attempted (as when sending Email) but the NFS lock daemon
(rpc.lockd) isn't running. This is most probably due to the fact that it
wasn't started in /etc/inittab. The fix is simple: enable rpc.lockd (and
it's companion rpc.statd) in /etc/inittab as follows:
nfs5:2:wait:/etc/rpc.statd # set to "wait" for NFS status monitor
nfs6:2:once:/etc/rpc.lockd # set to "once" for NFS lock manager
and either Restart A/UX or simply type 'init q'.
When I try to startup 'xterm', I get the following error message: "xterm: no
available ptys"... What gives?
There are three possible solutions:
1. Make sure that there are ptys configured into the kernel... Use
'kconfig' to check that NPTY is non-0
2. For at least one user, copying the /usr/lib/X11/xterm*.tic files to
/usr/lib/terminfo/x/xterm(s) worked...
3. One final possible solution is to start 'xterm' from 'sh'.
'ps' and 'pstat' only seem to work for root. If anyone else tries these
commands, they get a "no mem" error message. What's wrong?
Both these commands require read access to /dev/kmem, which is not allowed
for regular users. Thus, the programs require that they be suid or sgid to
the user or group that can read /dev/kmem. See if this is true and fix if
not.
Copyright
This FAQ is "copyrighted" in the same sense that all other FAQs are
copyrighted: the FAQ may be freely redistributed as long as the
author's/editor's name and this notice is included. If contents of this
FAQ are to be published, then you should ask the author's/editor's
permission to do so.
Tim Larson - FAQ list maintainer