More 2¢ Tips!
Send Linux Tips and Tricks to [email protected]
More 2¢ Tips!
Linux kernel 2.1.102(3) error - patch!
Date: Sat, 23 May 1998 16:20:07 +0000
From: Yaroslav Rosomakho,
[email protected]
Hello. I have found that make menuconfig and lowlevel sound drivers
won't work in 2.1.102 & 2.1.103 (latest kernels). I have written a patch:
http://yaroslav.hypermart.net/linux
tell people about it!
Yaroslav Rosomakho.
Tip for using Windows 95 buttons in X
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 20:18:00 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Andreas Ehliar,
[email protected]
I am sure that I am not the only one using a keyboard with Windows 95 buttons. Most people I know tend to ignore them, since they are not very useful in Windows 95, and even less so in Linux. But they are supported in the Linux kernel. That is, they do generate key codes which applications could use, if they only know what to look for.
So, how do I get X to use the offending buttons? In the following example, I will show how I configured X and fvwm2 to allow me to move a window by pressing the left Windows 95 button, and the left mouse button anywhere in the window. I can also resize the window by pressing the left Windows 95 button and the right mousebutton anywhere in the window. This greatly simplifies things for me, since I don't have to locate the titlebar, or a border of the window to move it. So, how did I accomplish this? First, I created a file named .Xmodmap in my home directory with the following two lines:
keycode 115 = Hyper_L add mod4 = Hyper_LThis will map the left Windows 95 button to Hyper_L, and map Hyper_L to mod4.
I added the following line to .xsession to actually load the modified keymap:
xmodmap $HOME/.XmodmapNote that .xsession is usually executed if you use xdm to log on. If this is not the case, you need to find the relevant file on your computer system. Some likely candidates are .xinitrc, or .Xclients, however, YMMV.
To actually use mod4 I modified my .fvwm2rc by adding the following lines:
# I have bound my left win95 button to mod4, and by holding down it # I can move and resize my window without bothering to find a border or # titlebar Mouse 1 W 4 Move Mouse 3 W 4 ResizeWhat these lines does is to specify that if you press the left mouse button (1) in a window (W) while pressing mod4 (4) you will move the window. (Move) If you want to know more about these lines, you should study the fvwm2 man page.
So, read in your .Xmodmap, restart fvwm2, and enjoy the added functionality. Now all that is left is to replace that Windows logo with a penguin :)
Final notes:
* This is only an example, you will probably need to modify some paths to suit your system.
* It is also possible that you already have a button bound to mod4. In that case, you should probably think twice before binding another button to it.
* If you don't use fvwm2 as your window manager,you should read the documentation that comes with your window manager to figure out how to do the above mentioned configuration.
* If you want to bind the other two window 95 buttons, the scan codes for them are 116 respectively 117. This sort of information is by the way available using the xev program.
Andreas Ehliar
Re: Help Wanted (usershell on console without logging in)
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 09:38:03 -0700
From: Rick Bronson, [email protected]
I've read, with interest, the good ideas people have submitted about setting up Linux to be more stand alone. I've worked on this issue on and off for some time now and would like to share my ideas.
I've often thought that there needs to be a Linux distribution that has an automatic startup as the default. One of the reasons that MSDOS (as bad as it was) was popular was because it wasn't burdened with "security" items like logging in. Most of us that use Linux at home don't need to waist time logging in every day. If we had a distribution of Linux that booted up into X we would have a lot more users.
My goals are as follows (all done automatically from power up):
1. From power up, automatically login.
2. Bring up X Windows.
3. If I haven't been connected to my ISP (via PPP) in the last 4 hours then connect.
3.1 Start up Netscape, get mail from my ISP (via cron), and check it every minute.
3.2 If I haven't read USENET news today then fire up newsreader and automatically to thru and apply kill files to all articles and leave newsreader just showing what's left.
3.3 (I admit, this one is weird) Telnet into my local library and check to see if I have overdue books.
For the purposes of this 2 cent tip, I'm going to cover #1 & #2. (NOTE: replace every occurrence of "username" with your real login name).
1. Add this to the bottom of your /etc/inittab (for Debian), unless you have an rc.local file
rc:12345:wait:/etc/init.d/rc.local1a (if you don't have an rc.local file) Make an /etc/init.d/rc.local file with this in it:
#!/bin/bash echo "Auto login of user username" cd /home/username su - usernameSet permissions of rc.local to:
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 96 Jun 29 1997 rc.localBy doing:
chmod 755 rc.local1b (if you have an rc.local file) Add this to the bottom of your rc.local
echo "Auto login of user username" cd /home/username su - username2. Add the following to the bottom of your ~/.bash_profile:
if [ "`tty`" = "/dev/console" -o "`tty`" = "/dev/tty0" ] then startx fiThat's it! This has been tested under Slackware (a long time ago) and under Debian, recently. Please give me any feedback.
Thanks, Rick Bronson
IBM Lan Adapter for Ethernet
Date: Fri, 01 May 1998 00:23:21 +0000
From: Brian Hall,
[email protected]
I believe this is the same card I have. I have two on my home LAN, one in my Linux box and the other in a Win95 box. In Linux, use the ne2000 compatible network driver, found under "Other ISA" network cards in the kernel configuration. To configure the card itself, you will need to run a DOS program. The setup program is contained in an archive called "ETILAN.EXE".
Easy Access to Removable Media
Date: Fri, 1 May 1998 10:30:52 +0100 (BST)
From: Karsten Ballueder,
[email protected]
Here's a little tip that makes life much easier. I always found it annoying to manually mount and unmount floppies, CD-ROMs or my ZIP drive, so eventually I decided to use the amd automounter for that.
The configuration is somehow tricky, but once it's set up, it works like a charm.
For amd to work, you need to create a mountmap /etc/amd.direct= . Mine looks like this:
zip type:=3Dprogram;fs:=3D"/.amd/myhost/zip";mount:=3D"/bin/mount mount=
-tvfat -o user,rw,conv=3Dbinary,nosuid,uid=3D502,gid=3D100,umask=3D0000=
,quiet
/dev/sda4 ${fs} ";unmount:=3D"/bin/umount umount ${fs}"
cdrom type:=3Dprogram;fs:=3D"/.amd/myhost/cdrom";mount:=3D"/bin/mount m=
ount
-tiso9660 -o user,ro,conv=3Dbinary,nosuid,uid=3D502,gid=3D100,umask=3D0=
000
/dev/cdrom ${fs} ";unmount:=3D"/bin/umount umount ${fs}"
A type:=3Dprogram;fs:=3D"/.amd/myhost/A";mount:=3D"/bin/mount mount -tv=
fat -o user,rw,conv=3Dbinary,nosuid,uid=3D502,gid=3D100,umask=3D0000,qu=
iet /dev/fd0 ${fs} ";unmount:=3D"/bin/umount umount ${fs}"
Where you will need to replace "myhost" with your machine's
hostname. Like this it will automount the ZIPdrive, a CD-ROM and the
first floppy in a set of directories created under /.amd .
To start amd, you will usually use something like a script
/sbin/init.d/amd, which should contain a line like:
/usr/sbin/amd -l syslog -c 30 -w 30 -x all -a /.amd -- /tmpmnt /etc/amd=
.direct &=20
This will start amd and give it a 30 second timeout for unmounting directories. You also need to create a directory called /tmpmnt where you can access the devices. For easy access, I have create symbolic links /zip, /A and /cdrom pointing to /tmpmnt/zip, /tmpmnt/A and /tmpmnt/cdrom.
Now, when you try to access any of these directories, amd will automatically mount the device with the options specified in /etc/amd.direct. Once you no longer access it, it will get unmounted after 30 seconds.
Oh, if it doesn't unmount your device, you can use thefuser /dir command to check which of your processes uses it.
Karsten Ballueder
Re: bpp 16 Question
Date: Sun, 3 May 1998 14:07:55 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Roland Smith,
[email protected]
To: [email protected]
You asked in the Linux Gazette #28:
Hi, I'm tired of starting my X-session with 'startx -- -bpp 16' to get 16 biplanes instead of the default 8. How do I get xdm to run with 16 bpp? If I use it now, it starts X with 8bpp on my Red Hat 5 installation.Assuming you're using the XFree86 server:
Edit your XF86Config file.
Roland
Re: finite elements programs for Linux
Date: Sun, 3 May 1998 14:07:55 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Roland Smith,
[email protected]
To: [email protected]
In response to your query in the Linux Gazette #28:
I started talking to the ones buying it and my arguments stopped, when they said that one reason for using NT was that they should be running finite elements programs on them and that the frontier for those programs was now on the Windows platform. I don't know anything about that, so I am looking for info; should I accept their arguments or is it that he just does not know what can be gotten for Linux? Commercial Finite Element Method (FEM) programs are also in the searchlight!FEM has traditionally a UNIX domain. Most FE programs run on commercial unices. I only know of one free program for Linux: felt. You can find it at http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/users/atkinson/FElt/felt.html
Hope this helps.
Roland
Re: How to enable swapping
Date: Sun, 3 May 1998 13:51:21 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Roland Smith,
[email protected]
To: [email protected]
In the Linux Gazette you wrote:
My machine, which is a Pentium Pro with 64MB memory, reports no swap space being used. In procinfo, it always report 0K swap space. I did a fdisk on /dev/hda and verified that a 64MB partition of type Linux swap (83) is actually there. So why is the swap never being used ?Swapping needs to be started. This can be done with the `swapon' command.
Normally there should be something like `/sbin/swapon -a' in the system initialization scripts. On my Slackware system it is in /etc/rc.d/rc.S.
For this to work, you need to define the swap partition in /etc/fstab. Something like (on my box):
/dev/hda7 swap swap defaults 1 2Hope this helps.
Regards, Roland Re: cd rom
Re: Slackware
Date: Sun, 3 May 1998 14:30:59 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Roland Smith,
[email protected]
To: [email protected]
In the Linux Gazette #28 you asked:
Hello.I have the Linux Slackware 2.0.30 Walnut Creek.I installed it on a Pentium 200 MMX with a 24x CD-ROM. During the installation I had to write "ramdisk hdd=cdrom" for reading the CD-ROM, but after the installation Linux doesn't see the CD-ROM. I have an atapi CD-ROM, and when I tried to compile my kernel another time, I saw that atapi is the default !!! So I don't understand where is the problem . What can I do ?To use your CD-ROM, you must "mount" it, i.e. add it to your file-system.
You will have to make sure that the iso9660 filesystem is supported in the kernel.
Mounting is most conveniently done by first adding an entry into your /etc/fstab file like this:
/dev/hdb /mnt/cdrom iso9660 ro,user,noauto,unhide 1 2(Assuming your CD-ROM player is /dev/hdb) Create the directory /mnt/cdrom before mounting the CD! Put a CD-ROM in the drive and issue the command `mount /mnt/cdrom' to mount the CD.
You will have to unmount the CD (`umount /mnt/cdrom') before you can open the drive!
Hope this helps.
Roland
May 2Cent Tips--about:mozilla
Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 10:28:44 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Mc Anulty,
[email protected]
The tip of going to about:mozilla is incorrect. You do not have to click on Netscape's logo to get the new animation. The act of visiting about:mozilla does this.
It lasts until Netscape is restarted. So if you like him, set about:mozilla as your home page.
Dave
Re: Rebooting without logging in as root, 2c tips
Date: Wed, 06 May 1998 09:25:13 +0200
From: Hartmut Niemann,
[email protected]
An alternative I used once on a system that did *not* haveI had this shutdown login too. Normally it needs rood rights, i.e. UID 0. But then I found out that su shutdown does not execute the login shell, i.e. the shutdown script. So everybody can become 'shutdown', which is basically 'root' with a different startup shell. Bad if this 'shell' doesn't get executed ...enabled was to provide a special login that *just* did a shutdown. There is such a line in my /etc/passwd now that I didn't put there, so I guess it's from Red Hat two years ago.
For some time I have had 'shutdown' just SUID root, and now I'm back to Ctrl-Alt-Del performing a shutdown -h. (And then press Ctrl-Alt-Del again for a reboot.)
Hartmut.
Re: Running an ATAPI ZIP drive
Date: 05 May 1998 20:26:26 -0500
From: Omegaman, [email protected]
Steve Beach gives some interesting remarks and good advice for setting up an ATAPI ZIP drive. In it he says: First, the kernel:
![[ TABLE OF
CONTENTS ]](../gx/indexnew.gif)
![[ FRONT PAGE ]](../gx/homenew.gif)
