Computing with Unix

News as of March of 2007

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 01:31:00 +0000

Sorry for not updating for so long. There have been several reasons for this. One, millions of school competitions and projects. Second, Unix problems on my machine. Third, I have been working for a while now with my new Poqet PC Plus, a DOS palmtop. It is wonderful! I have so much at my fingertips with it. It is great as it is like a palmtop, but runs DOS and everything else that runs on DOS. I use VDE, WordStar, and VisiCalc, among other things, with it. As for Unix, I have had some trouble to get to work on my Gateway, so I have had more installation problems. However, again I am sorry for not writing for so long. Good luck with Unix.

Thanks,
xatapu

The Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 21:06:00 +0000

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I haven't been posting on the blog lately. There a couple reasons:

School!
School!
School!
I really don't know a lot about Unix to be truthful...
I have a new blog! It's called How2Mac (you can find it at http://how2mac.blogspot.com/ )

Cya Later,
Harry

Poqet PC Plus Blog and News

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 01:42:00 +0000

Oh, I have some good news. Apparently UPS actually shipped my Poqet PC Plus! And on January 14, 2007! But here's the other thing: I ordered the thing on December 22, 2006!!! This company was playing games, but hopefully they shaped up. Oh well. Anyway, I will speak of the Poqet when is supposed to arrive on Thursday. I plan to mention connecting it to an updated Linux machine in the future. In addition, my other blog, which was supposed to cover my Palm III, will now cover the Poqet, and the new address (in a week or so) will be something like http://poqetplus.blogspot.com. Use that as well as my website for information on the Poqet.

New digs: Gnoppix and Repartitioning - or NetBSD

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 01:25:00 +0000

Well, I decided to go ahead with Gnoppix. I am through with NetBSD for now. Gnoppix, if you do not know, is Knoppix with a GNOME desktop environment. Now it is basically a modified version of Ubuntu, but I am using an older distribution. My plan to repartition my hard drive will take several steps. First, I will partition the hard drive under DOS (oh, well.........) and quickly install a CD-ROM driver for booting of the Gateway's CD-ROM drive. It is a Mitsumi drive, so I easily fetched a driver. Second, I may or may not upgrade the hard drive. I think I will put in a 6 GB one, since 1 GB is certainly not enough. After all, 449 MB is compressed on the CD. Third, I will test to make sure the CD is good first. Last time with NetBSD I messed up on installation twice. That eliminated X. Overall, I am glad this is possible, but it is too bad that NetBSD is acting in a bad way. Still, I may just try working more with NetBSD. I would rather be persistent than conceding.

New digs: NetBSD 3 and X

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 21:02:00 +0000

Well, recently I tried to install NetBSD 3 (3.0.1) on my Gateway. I wanted to try X on it as I have not had X ever on my Linux box. Well, things have not gone swimmingly. First, the sysinst utility did not work properly near the end of installation. Then X, which was said to have been installed, did not start up properly due to bad configuration. Hmmm. I am really confused about this one. I think I will need to repartition the hard drive and install some other distribution. Currently I am thinking about using Gnoppix.

A Poqet!, Update on Unix

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:53:00 +0000

I have been busy with my website at http://guofu.freeshell.org for sometime know, so I haven't gotten much time to update the blog. However, I have some news. I just got a Poqet PC Plus! It is that little DOS palmtop I mentioned once or twice. It is only 5" x 9"! It did cost $159, which is pricey, but it was worth it. I am looking forward to programming it. I will update the blog sometime in the future as well, and I have been attempting to install NetBSD 3. However, I think I may switch to Gnoppix, though. I will tell you more in other posts.

Linux on a Compaq Contura Aero!

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:36:00 +0000

Left: HP 200LX

There have been many greats in the palmtop/subnotebook/ultralight world. The Toshiba Libretto, with its videocassette footprint, was one. The HP 200LX was another, with its extensive DOS compatibility and twenty-plus hour lifespan on two double AA batteries. The IBM Thinkpad X series, with their tiny size yet superior power, and, of course, OpenBSD compatibility, as the machines most compatible with this
operating system, was another. The svelte NEC Ultralite, the first of the "notebooks", also was one, as it was on the first of these tiny laptops. However, like the NEC, one of the first "notebooks," perhaps on of the first inexpensive, color, Windows ones, was the Compaq Contura Aero. Though a 25-33 MHz 486 :P, the Aero is very thin and light for a notebook. It has a teeny VGA screen that is usually color but may be grayscale. And, even better, it will run Linux! Slackware, Debian, and (early?) versions of RedHat, apparently. Also early versions of NetBSD (1.5.2, etc.) may work. I don't know exactly what the compatibility is, but I think NetBSD would likely run it. Here are some sites with more information:

http://www.alvestrand.no/linux/aero-faq.html#TOC

FAQ on Aero Linux (Slackware)

http://hamsterrepublic.com/james/linux/contura-aero.php

More stuff on installing Linux (Debian) on the Aero. Also some basic facts on the Contura Aero.
Here is a picture from the site comparing a Thinkpad 600, JetBook, and a Contura Aero:

http://www.xmission.com/~bgeer/laptop_aero.html
An experience of installing RedHat on an Aero.

The Return

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:12:00 +0000

I'll begin intensely (hopefully) blogging again tommorrow. I have gotten through four exams at school and have one to go, in Geometry. Things are going well, and I still working with my NetBSD machine. I think I may upgrade it 3.0.1. I am also continuing to use gcc. I also may get a Toshiba Libretto or HP 200LX for Christmas, so I will tell you about that if I get it. As for Harry, he is doing well, and, in fact, has installed iPodlinux on his 5G iPod. He is happily playing DOOM on it today. I still use SDF, although I have started to use it more recently. In fact, I am logged in as guofu right now. Overall, everything is well. I look forward to more posting. Maybe Harry will talk a little bit about his iPod, too.

xatapu

Notice

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 21:42:00 +0000

I am so sorry for not updating the blog in so long. But I will be able to soon. Unfortunately over the next week and a half, I will have to prepare for and take final semester exams at school. This will hamper my blogging and Harry's. I will have a couple of articles today, but probably not many until winter break. Just remember this when you see little updating on the blog. Hopefully I will find sometime later to keep posting.

Sincerely,
xatapu

Update

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 20:48:00 +0000

Sorry I never updated the blog last week. I was gone in Chicago, where it costs 10 dollars per IP address you visit with a hotel's ethernet connection ;) . So I couldn't update the blog there. I will cover what I wanted to last week and also will find some photos, finally, to put into a post. Expect fewer posts in the next three weeks because of final semester exams.

Regards,
xatapu

The 7th Edition, Updates

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 22:01:00 +0000

I am sorry that I haven't updated the blog for so long. I have been very sick with a high fever. I am getting over it now, fortunately. I will continue to work on it this week, hopefully on the road as well as I will be in Chicago for the rest of the week on a trip. I will go back to what I was posting about and will probably include more images. Harry pointed that out last Tuesday. Next, I will begin the 7th edition of the blog on Sundays instead of Wednesdays to align writing it with my schedule and make it more convenient to look through the archives. Wow. More than a month of posting :)

The 100th Post....finally!

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 22:15:00 +0000

Finally, after a month of writing, I have hit 100 posts. I remember when I hit 20 posts sometime ago. I have covered C to commands to ports and even to desktop environments. I am also glad that I have had such a great coauthor as Harry is to contribute to the blog as well. He has added numerous useful reviews and bits of information. Insmod, still, however, has not added a single post since he joined me. I look forward to more writing and learning and (with hope) more development of my Unix skills. Maybe some inetd, httpd, and dhclient experiences in the future.................

xatapu

The df command

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 22:11:00 +0000

Do you want to see how much stupid space you have chucked full of lard since you first partitioned your hard drive? Do you not like stat's strange responses? Then use the df command. Short for disk-free, this command shows how large your Unix partition is and how much space is left within it. This is one of the simplest Unix commands.

Cool UBUNTU Image

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 04:33:00 +0000

Haha, I feel like I'm becoming the multimedia person for this blog...

Well here is a cool ubuntu picture/poster thing I found on the 'net.

Very nice!

-Harry

Another new blog......

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 23:11:00 +0000

Today I will be founding a new blog about my Palm III. It will be update once a week at most. I look forward to writing it. When I have created it and started posting on it I will add its address to the sidebar or in a post. I will still keep updating this blog, though............

Distributions

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 22:57:00 +0000

Also over the next month I will talk about distributions. I have only talked about Knoppix and NetBSD, generally, but soon I will talk about others. The first I plan to discuss is Debian, which I believe I will today, if not tommorrow. I will also describe other types of Unix and Linux. Among these will be FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and Ubuntu. I will likely get to use Xfce with Xubuntu soon. I also might try out FreeBSD and/or OpenBSD. Stay tuned for more details.

Command posts

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 22:23:00 +0000

For sometime I will be focusing on particular commands and utilities that can be used at the shell prompt. I have already began an article on mt, and plan to add ones on tcopy, rndctl, wsconsctl (I think that's the right spelling), df, gzip, cron, inetd, motd, rmail, etc. Mt and tcopy, specifically, are very interesting because they are tape drive commands. Anyway, posts on those commands and others will come up soon.

xatapu

Almost to the 100th post......

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:10:00 +0000

Wow. It has been more than four weeks since I began this blog. You may remember the time I put up the 20th post. Now I am reaching to one hundred. Probably by this Friday I will reach that goal. I am looking forward to it. So far I believe we have 91 posts.

Cool packages: bb

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 21:40:00 +0000

bb is a library for creating very advanced ASCII-based graphics. I learned this from insmod. I have also done a bit more research about it, and apparently looks like a demo of the AA library. AA is an "ASCII-art" library, and it is portable to many different platforms. I don't know much about it, so hopefully insmod will get a chance to put something up about it. For more information go to: http://aa-project.sourceforge.net/aalib/. This is the library's project page and has lots of info about it. It, of course, also provides a source download and describes the library.

News

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 21:33:00 +0000

Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to post to the blog much this week. I will not have access to the Internet that often. I will try to continue next week.

Edition 6

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:46:00 +0000

Yes, the sixth edition of the blog. I have now decided to start on Sundays instead of Wednesdays, so today is the first day of the new edition. I also plan to have even more output each week than before. Also there will be more "hands-on" use coverage as I have started getting more time to use my Gateway machine and am getting a very cheap modem to login to SDF with my Palm Pilot.

A few Palm Photos

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 20:12:00 +0000

Okay, these are not mine, but they are of a Palm III.

The mt command

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 16:02:00 +0000

As I told you earlier, just yesterday I discovered the mt command. I know mv, but mt? Well, I then did a man on it. Mt........what the...........magnetic tape control?! I don't believe this! I can control a tape drive from a PC! I can send commands to it! The last time I did this was with a really old Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. Hmmm......I might explore this........

Anyway, let's get back to mt. Its syntax is mt [ -f tapename ] command [ count ]. Command and count will be explained shortly. The tape selecting option is -f, which selects the raw tape device. I believe /dev/rmt is the /dev folder for this. There are also a number of operands for mt. Here are some of them from http://bama.ua.edu/cgi-bin/man-cgi?mt+1, a online copy of the UNIX man pages:

count - The number of times that the requested operation is to be performed. By default, mt performs command once. Multiple operations of command may be performed by specifying count.

command - Available commands that can be sent to a magnetic tape drive. Only as many characters as are required to uniquely identify a command need be specified.

eof, weof - Write count EOF marks at the current position on the tape.

fsf - Forward space over count EOF marks. The tape is positioned on the first block of the file.

fsr - Forward space count records.

bsf - Back space over count EOF marks. The tape is positioned on the beginning-of-tape side of the EOF mark.

bsr - Back space count records.

nbsf - Back space count files. The tape is positioned on the first block of the file. This is equivalent to count+1. bsf's followed by one fsf.

asf - Absolute space to count file number. This is equivalent to a rewind followed by a fsf count.

(the next section is from http://www.computerhope.com/unix/umt.htm)

If count is specified with any of the following commands, the count is ignored and the command is performed only once.

eom - Space to the end of recorded media on the tape. This is useful for appending files onto previously written tapes.

rewind - Rewind the tape.

offline, rewoffl - Rewind the tape and, if appropriate, take the drive unit off-line by unloading the tape. It cycles through all four tapes.

status - Print status information about the tape unit.

retension - Rewind the cartridge tape completely, then wind it forward to the end of the reel and back to beginning-of-tape to smooth out tape tension.

reserve - Allow the tape drive to remain reserved after closing the device. The drive must then be explicitly released.

release - Re-establish the default behavior of releasing at close.

forcereserve - Break the reservation of the tape drive held by another host and then reserve the tape drive. This command can be executed only with super-user privileges.

erase - Erase the entire tape. Erasing a tape may take a long time depending on the device and/or tape. Refer to the device specific manual for time details.

Good, but a bit complicated and technical, as far as explanations. I guess an example (for those of you with tape drives out there) might be:

mt erase - erase the tape in the drive found at /dev/rmt0.

mt -f $RMT_NR eof 1 - Mark the end of the tape.

Very cool. Again, these are just probable examples of mt.

For more info, you can go to that man page I mentioned earlier. Another good place for learning about tapes and Unix is http://www.washington.edu/computing/unix/tapes.html. Also you can go to http://www.computerhope.com/unix/umt.htm for more info on use and syntax. That link also provides a link to a page on tcopy, a command I will be discussing soon. Enjoy!

Explorations in /bin and /sbin

noreply@blogger.com (xatapu) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 15:53:00 +0000

Well, after being bored at the # prompt for sometime, I decided to look through the /bin and /sbin folders and find out what some of the stuff in those places do. Well, hmmm....theres mt, rndctl, wsconsctl, echo, rmail, and lots of other stuff. Let's man mt...........WHAT? magnetic tape control? Cool.......Hey, maybe I'll describe mt in the next command post.