-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
/
Copy pathSLACKWARE_FAQ.txt
231 lines (166 loc) · 9.48 KB
/
SLACKWARE_FAQ.txt
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
Slackware FAQ, last revised: Sun Dec 12 18:45:09 CST 1993
These are questions people ask me quite often. Hopefully now that they're
answered here that won't be the case. :^)
-----
Q: Why do I get "network unreachable" under Slackware?
A: There are a couple of possibilities. For most users, things work right out
of the box. However, if you're running into this problem here are two
workarounds you can try:
1. Reverse the broadcast and netmask arguments (and their variables)
in the call to ifconfig in /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1. Make sure you are
not trying to route your own IP address - you shouldn't have to.
2. Make sure /etc/networks is properly configured.
[note for 1.1.1: There is a new script called 'netconfig' that should
help with the configuration process. You may have to do some light
editing of the files to get it going, but it will at least get you close.
This feature is still in development, and suggestions of other files that
should be set up (and how!) would be appreciated. ]
These suggestions should fix even the most stubborn systems.
-----
Q: Why the $%#@! isn't my UltraStor SCSI detected? It works under DOS!
A: Set the I/O address to 0x340 instead to 0x330.
For any hardware that doesn't work, a good rule is to try playing around
with the IRQ and I/O settings on it to see what happens. If your system
is up and running and you're having problems with a CD-ROM or tape or
something like this, you can always look around for the driver source in
/usr/src/linux/drivers... really, it won't bite! Often, the source
contains important documentation, such as the default IRQ settings for
that type of device, and the major number for the entry in /dev.
-----
Q: How can I install and remove software now that the Slackware Linux
distribution is installed on my machine?
A: To remove packages, type "pkgtool" and follow the prompts. Pkgtool will
also allow you to add packages that are in the current directory.
The preferred way to install software is with the "setup" script.
When you do your initial installation, setup puts a copy of itself in your
/sbin for future use. You can also add software to your machine using the
boot/install disk, if you really want to.
When adding software to a running system via NFS, it is preferable to
mount the partition yourself and then use the 'install from a mounted
directory' feature of setup.
-----
Q: I set my partitions to "Linux native" but Slackware still won't detect
them! What can I do?
A: This problem is rare and I still don't know what causes it. You're welcome
to send in any affected machines if you want me to get to the bottom of the
problem.
[ Note that this is not the same problem that usually affects the IBM PS/1,
Thinkpad, and similar machines that do not detect the harddrive. If you've
got one of these machines, and fdisk is giving you problems, your answer is
still ahead :^) ]
Here's a workaround you can use to install anyway:
1. Boot the bootdisk.
2. Make and format partitions for Linux.
3. Mount the target partitions under /mnt.
4. Type "setup -target_mounted"
5. Follow the rest of the instructions to install.
6. Type "vi /mnt/etc/fstab" and enter an appropriate fstab.
As an example, here's what mine contains:
/dev/hdb2 swap swap defaults
/dev/hda2 / ext2 defaults
/dev/hda3 /usr xiafs defaults
/dev/hda1 /dos msdos defaults
/dev/hdb1 /os2 msdos defaults
none /proc proc defaults
To give you some more info about this file, the first field is the
partition to be mounted, the second is where it should be mounted, the
third is the filesystem type, and the last field is the options to use.
Unless you're a Linux wizard, just set this to "defaults".
Other things to remember about this file:
- Make sure that you list the root partition before any other partitions
that are mounted beneath it.
- Add the /proc line, or "ps", "w", etc, won't work.
- It's a good idea to put a blank line at the end of the file, as I've
had reports that partitions listed on the last line might not be
mounted.
7. Once you've made and saved this file you can reboot with ctrl-alt-delete.
-----
Q: I have a (PS/1 || Valuepoint || Thinkpad), and can't install because fdisk
can't see my hard drive. How can I get around this?
A: First, you'll have to use "uniboot". Since this disk loads using LILO, you
can pass your drive parameters to the kernel at the LILO prompt and allow
your drive to be recognized.
Boot the disk while holding down the left shift key. You'll get a page of
information about how to pass your drive parameters to the kernel. Once you
do this, you should be able to install.
I don't know if it's possible to make the hard drive self boot. It would
probably require compiling in your drive parameters, at the very least.
Also, this is important - LILO will not be able to probe for your drive
successfully if you try to install it on your hard drive. Install LILO to
a floppy disk, and then use this disk whenever you boot Linux along with
the left-shift trick to pass your drive parameters to the kernel.
'linux hd=(whatever your parameters are)'.
If anyone out there knows exactly where to compile in the parameters in the
kernel to see the drive automatically, let me know and I'll include the
information here. Also, if a list of the parameters for all the different
sized IBM drives could be collected, custom kernels might be provided. :^)
-----
Q: Emacs dumps core, complains of a missing library, or lacks X11 support! Why?
A: As of Slackware 1.1.1, the included GNU Emacs series supports your choice
of a version with X11 support, or one without. Make sure you have the right
binary for your machine.
The binary supporting X11 is installed as part of a package on the first
disk that you'll need to install whether you want X11 support or not. If
you DO NOT want X11 support, install the package 'emac_nox.tgz' on the last
disk of the Emacs series.
If you just install all of the disks, you don't get X11 support. It had to
be one way or the other, so if you're not paying attention when you install
at least this way it will run no matter what.
-----
Q: How can I change (or get rid of) the color ls?
A: Read the man page, and check out the file /etc/DIR_COLORS. You can
configure the colors any way you like, or shut them off entirely. Also, you
can copy /etc/DIR_COLORS into your home directory as '.dir_colors' to
override the global defaults on a user by user basis.
-----
Q: I start X with "openwin" and it works OK, but I can't switch virtual
consoles. Why?
A: On a Linux text screen, you switch virtual consoles with Alt-F1 through
Alt-F8. Under XFree-86, you must use Ctrl-Alt-F1 through Ctrl-Alt-F8.
-----
Q: Why can't I use the new ghostscript with X?
A: Make sure you have gs_x11.tgz from disk XAP1 installed.
-----
Q: I can't get anything to work at all! What's the deal?
A: If you seem to suffer catastrophic failure (!), then check the file FILE_LIST
on ftp.cdrom.com in /pub/linux/slackware against the contents of your disks
and make sure you're not missing any files.
Also, I've noticed that most of the reports of kernel panics and system
hangs have come from people with 4MB. If you're running into these types
of problems I'd suggest forking over the $$$ for 4 more meg. I have 8 MB of
RAM and never have crashes. (well, only when I really push my luck)
If you don't want to do that, then go through your /etc/rc.d/rc.* files and
get rid of any daemons you don't use, like crond, lpd, or selection.
If you've got 4 MB and you're getting 'virtual memory exceeded in new'
warnings, make sure you set up and activate a swap partition before running
setup. If you're really hard up on memory, you can boot a rootdisk using
'editroot' instead of one of the usual boot kernels. This will mount the
floppy in the root drive, and you'll have to install from the other drive
or from the hard drive. You will also not be able to create any kind of boot
disk, so you'll have to install LILO and take your chances. I only suggest
using this approach if a swapfile will not work.
-----
Q: Why won't the kernel compile? I get an error about an incompatible
redeclaration (kernel.h and sched.h, having to do with 'panic')
A: 0.99pl13 won't compile under GCC 2.5.2 out-of-the-box. If you don't know
how to fix the source, use GCC 2.4.5 instead and you should be ok.
Also, I suggest people stick with GCC 2.4.5 unless they have some special
reason to use a newer compiler. Untill the new C libraries are officially
released the new compilers will not support C++ under Linux.
-----
Q: I get "bad directory components" when I use "mput *" in ftp. How can this
be fixed?
A: A workaround for this problem is to use "mput ./*" instead. Hopefully this
bug will be fixed in the next versions of the networking programs.
[Note for 1.1.1: It should be! Also, the fix is on ftp.cdrom.com, as
/pub/linux/slackware_source/n/tcpip/FTP_PATCH ]
-----
Also - at ftp.gwdg.de:/pub/linux/install-mount/slack-info are some more
networking hints.
In addition, the LDP people have put out an excellant set of manuals that I
may include in a future Slackware release. These are available on
sunsite.unc.edu in /pub/Linux/docs/LDP.
---
Patrick Volkerding