Add note for PAS users about co-exists PAS & OPL-3 devices
[unix-history] / contrib / FAQ / FreeBSD.FAQ
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2 FreeBSD
3 Frequently Asked Questions
4 For Version 1.1 and above
5Please mail all suggestions and additions to <FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com>
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7
0b834f39 8Revision: $Id: FreeBSD.FAQ,v 1.18 1994/04/23 11:35:22 jkh Exp $
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10
11Table of Contents
12-----------------
13
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140 Preface
151 Installation
162 Hardware Compatibility
173 Commercial applications
184 User Applications
097d4e7a 195 Miscellaneous Questions
58b988d7 206 Kernel Configuration
097d4e7a 217 System Administration
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228 Networking
239 Serial Communications
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25
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270 Preface
28---------
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29
30Welcome to the FreeBSD 1.1 FAQ! This document tries to answer some of
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31the most frequently asked questions about FreeBSD 1.1 (or later,
32unless specifically indicated). If there's something you're having
33trouble with and you just don't see it here, then please send mail to:
9be3e9fc 34
097d4e7a 35 <FreeBSD-questions@freefall.cdrom.com>
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36
37
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38Some of the instructions here will also refer to auxiliary utilities
39in the /usr/src/contrib/FAQ directory. CDROM purchasers and net folks
40who've grabbed the FreeBSD 1.1 `srcdist' will have these files. If
41you don't have the source distribution, then you can either grab the
42whole thing from:
9be3e9fc 43
097d4e7a 44 FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-1.1
9be3e9fc 45
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46Or you can grab only those files you're interested in straight out of
47the FreeBSD-current distribution in:
9be3e9fc 48
097d4e7a 49 FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/src
9be3e9fc 50
097d4e7a 510.1: What is FreeBSD?
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52
53FreeBSD is a UN*X type operating system based on William Jolitz's port
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54of U.C. Berkeley's Networking Release 2 to the i386, 386BSD. It is no
55longer correct to say that FreeBSD is only 386BSD with the patchkit
56applied! There have been many additions and bug fixes made throughout
57the entire system, some of the highlights of which are:
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58
59 More robust and extensive PC device support
097d4e7a 60 System V-style IPC, messaging and semaphores
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61 Shared Libraries
62 Much improved virtual memory code
63 Better console driver support
64 Network booting (diskless) support
65 /proc filesystem
66 Yellow Pages support
67 `LDT' support for WINE (primitive but developing Windows emulation)
68 Too many additional utilities and applications to mention
69
9be3e9fc 70
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710.2: My friends told me that FreeBSD was illegal and I shouldn't use it.
72 Is this really true?
008edb68 73
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74FreeBSD versions up to and including 1.1 have included code from
75Berkeley's Net/2 distribution. UNIX Systems Laboratories (now Novell)
76sued Berkeley claiming that Net/2 included some code that belonged to
77USL. In February of 1994, USL and Berkeley announced a settlement in
78which neither side admitted to doing anything wrong, but UCB agreed to
79stop distributing the disputed software.
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80
81Since Berkeley will no longer defend this code, we have been requested
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82to stop distributing it, and will be integrating all the improvements
83we have made in the VM system and i386-specific code into Berkeley's
844.4-Lite distribution; the result will form the basis of the next
85release of FreeBSD (we haven't decided whether to call it 1.2 or 2.0).
86We expect the integration to take place over a period of three to six
87months, during which time we will have to stop work on 1.1 and
88concentrate all our efforts on the merge.
89
90We expect to make more information available on the status of the
91merge effort as the situation progresses.
92
930.3: What are the FreeBSD mailing lists, and how can I get on them?
94
95The following mailing lists are provided for FreeBSD users and
96developers. For more information, send to
97<majordomo@freefall.cdrom.com> and include a single line saying
98``help'' in the body of your message.
99
100FreeBSD-hackers: Useful for persons wishing to work on the internals.
101FreeBSD-questions: General questions on FreeBSD.
102FreeBSD-bugs: Where bugs should be sent.
103FreeBSD-commit: This list carries the commit messages for freefall. Useful
9be3e9fc 104 for tracking ongoing work.
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105FreeBSD-SCSI: Mailing list for SCSI developers.
106FreeBSD-current: This list is for persons wishing to run FreeBSD-current
107 and carries announcements and discussions on current.
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108
109Please see also the FreeBSD mailing list FAQ in:
32e6aeb0 110
097d4e7a 111 /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.mailing-list.FAQ
9be3e9fc 112
097d4e7a 1130.4: What are the various FreeBSD news groups?
9be3e9fc 114
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115While there are no groups currently dedicated to FreeBSD, you may find
116the following groups useful.
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117
118comp.os.386bsd.announce: For announcements
6fa35152 119comp.os.386bsd.apps: For applications
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120comp.os.386bsd.questions: For questions
121comp.os.386bsd.development: For working on the internals
122comp.os.386bsd.bugs: About bugs
123comp.os.386bsd.misc: For items that don't fit anywhere else
124
32e6aeb0 125NOTE: These groups cover all the *BSDs (FreeBSD, NetBSD, 386BSD).
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126
127
097d4e7a 128\f
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1291 Installation
130--------------
9be3e9fc 131
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1321.1: I just installed my system and rebooted. Now I can't find the
133 extract or configure programs, where did they go?
9be3e9fc 134
28d2f186 135These two commands are just shell functions defined in /.profile. To
097d4e7a 136get these back, boot FreeBSD with a `-s' at the boot prompt.
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137
138
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1391.2: I want to install FreeBSD onto a SCSI disk that has more than
140 1024 cylinders. How do I do it?
9be3e9fc 141
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142This depends. If you don't have DOS (or another operating system) on
143the system, you can just keep the drive in native mode and simply make
144sure that your root partition is below 1024 so the BIOS can boot the
145kernel from it. It you also have DOS/some other OS on the drive then
146your best bet is to find out what parameters that it thinks you have
147before installing FreeBSD. When FreeBSD's installation procedure
148prompts you for these values, you should then enter them rather than
149simply going with the defaults.
9be3e9fc 150
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151There is a freely available utility distributed with FreeBSD called
152`pfdisk' (located in the tools/ subdirectory) which can be used for
153this purpose.
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154
155
097d4e7a 1561.3: When I boot FreeBSD it says ``Missing Operating System''.
9be3e9fc 157
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158See question 1.2. This is classically a case of FreeBSD and DOS or
159some other OS conflicting over their ideas of disk geometry. You will
160have to reinstall FreeBSD, but obeying the instructions given above
161will almost always get you going.
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162
163
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1641.4: I have an IDE drive with lots of bad blocks on it and FreeBSD doesn't
165 seem to install properly.
9be3e9fc 166
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167FreeBSD's bad block (bad144) handling is still not 100% (to put it
168charitably) and it must unfortunately be said that if you've got an
169IDE or ESDI drive with lots of bad blocks, then FreeBSD is probably
170not for you! That said, it does work on thousands of IDE based
171systems, so you'd do well to try it first before simply giving up.
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173IDE drives are *supposed* to come with built-in bad-block remapping;
174if you have documentation for your drive, you may want to see if this
175feature has been disabled on your drive. However, ESDI, RLL, and
176ST-506 drives normally do not do this.
177
9be3e9fc 178
097d4e7a 1791.5: I have 32MB of memory, should I expect any special problems?
9be3e9fc 180
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181If you have an IDE controller, no. Likewise, if you have a full EISA
182system with EISA disk controller or a working local bus controller
183(read further) you'll have no problems. If you have an ISA system, or
184an EISA system with an ISA disk controller then you will most
185certainly have problems with the upper 16MB of memory due to the ISA
18624 bit DMA limitation (which ISA cards in EISA systems will also
187exhibit). If you have a local bus disk controller, then you should be
188OK, UNLESS it's a Buslogic Bt445S with a revision less than `D' (BIOS
1893.36 or earlier). Never fear, however, as all is not lost.
190FreeBSD-current (and the upcoming FreeBSD 1.2) have bounce-buffer
191support that make all of the above scenarios work with a full 32MB of
192memory or more. You are therefore advised to simply pull 16MB of
193memory out, install, and then see about upgrading to FreeBSD-current
194or FreeBSD 1.2 (when it comes out) so that you can put it back.
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195
196
097d4e7a 1971.6: Do I need to install the complete sources?
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198
199In general, no. However, we would strongly recommend that you
200install, at a minimum, the `base' source kit, which includes several
201of the files mentioned here, and the `sys' (kernel) source kit, which
202includes sources for the kernel. There is nothing in the system which
203requires the presence of the sources to operate, however, except for
204the kernel-configuration program config(8). With the exception of the
205kernel sources, our build structure is set up so that you can
206read-only mount the sources from elsewhere via NFS and still be able
207to make new binaries. (Because of the kernel-source restriction, we
208recommend that you not mount this on /usr/src directly, but rather in
209some other location with appropriate symbolic links to duplicate the
210top-level structure of the source tree.)
211
212Having the sources on-line and knowing how to build a system with them
213will make it much easier for you to upgrade to future releases of
214FreeBSD.
215
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2161.7: DES encryption software can not be exported from the United
217 States. If I live outside the US, how can I encrypt passwords?
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218
219Since the DES encryption algorithm, which is used by passwd(1) and
220friends to encrypt passwords cannot legally be exported from the US,
097d4e7a 221non-US users should not download this software from US FTP sites.
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222
223There is however a replacement libcrypt available, based on sources
224written in Australia by David Burren. This code is now available on
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225some non-US FreeBSD mirror sites. Sources for the unencumbered
226libcrypt, and binaries of the programs which use it, can be obtained
227from the following FTP sites:
7fa46f7a 228
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229 South Africa: braae.ru.ac.za:/pub/FreeBSD/securedist/
230 owl.und.ac.za (currently uncertain)
231 Iceland: ftp.veda.is:/pub/crypt/FreeBSD/
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232
233The non-US securedist can be used as a direct replacement for the
234encumbered US securedist. This securedist package is installed the
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235same way as the US package (see installation notes for details). If
236you are going to install DES encryption, you should do so as soon as
237possible, before installing other software.
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238
239Non-US users should please not download any encryption software from
240the USA. This can get the maintainers of the sites from which the
241software is downloaded into severe legal difficulties.
242
243A non-US distribution of Kerberos is also being developed, and current
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244versions can generally be obtained by anonymous FTP from
245braae.ru.ac.za.
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246
247There is also a mailing list for the discussion of non-US encryption
7fa46f7a 248software. For more information, send an email message with a single
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249line saying ``help'' in the body of your message to
250<majordomo@braae.ru.ac.za>.
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251
252
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2542 Hardware compatibility
255------------------------
9be3e9fc 256
097d4e7a 2572.1: What kind of hard drives does FreeBSD run on?
9be3e9fc 258
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259FreeBSD supports ST-506 (sometimes called ``MFM''), RLL, and ESDI
260drives, which are usually connected to WD-1002, WD-1003, or WD-1006
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261controllers (although clones should also work). FreeBSD also supports
262IDE and SCSI hard drives.
9be3e9fc 263
097d4e7a 2642.2: What SCSI controllers are supported?
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265
266FreeBSD supports the following SCSI controllers:
267
28d2f186 268Adaptec AH-1542 Series <ISA>
9be3e9fc 269 AH-1742 Series <EISA>
58b988d7 270Buslogic BT-445 Series <VLB> (but see section 1.5)
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271 BT-545 Series <ISA>
272 BT-742 Series <EISA>
245b6898 273 BT-747 Series <EISA>
9be3e9fc 274UltraStor UH-14f Series <ISA>
4a219cbb 275 UH-34f Series <EISA/VLB>
9be3e9fc 276
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277There is supposed to be a UltraStor 24f driver floating around, but
278we're not sure where (could someone please point us at it?). Note
279that we do NOT support `Future Domain' or `IN2000' SCSI controllers,
280typically the little $50 specials you get with some CDROM drives. You
281will have to buy a more mainstream (and capable) SCSI controller. The
282Buslogic controllers are currently the easiest to get.
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283
284
097d4e7a 2852.3: What CD-ROM drives are supported by FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 286
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287Any SCSI drive connected to a supported controller. Mitsumi
288LU002(8bit), LU005(16bit) and FX001D(16bit 2x Speed).
9be3e9fc 289
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290FreeBSD does NOT support drives connected to a Sound Blaster or
291non-SCSI SONY or Panasonic drives. A general rule of thumb when
292selecting a CDROM drive for FreeBSD use is to buy a very standard SCSI
293model; they cost more, but deliver very solid performance in return.
294Do not be fooled by very cheap drives that, in turn, deliver VERY LOW
295performance! As always, you get what you pay for.
296
297The Mitsumi driver is known to be extremely slow compared to SCSI
298drives.
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299
300
097d4e7a 3012.4: What multi-port serial cards are supported by FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 302
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303AST/4 and BOCA 4/8 port cards. Some unnamed clone cards have also
304been known to work, especially those that claim to be AST compatible.
305Check the sio(4) man page to get more information on configuring such
306cards.
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307
308
097d4e7a 3092.5: Does FreeBSD support the AHA-2742 SCSI adapter from Adaptec?
9be3e9fc 310
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311No, FreeBSD does not. This is due to Adaptec's unwillingness to
312supply programming information under other than non-disclosure. This
313is unfortunate, but there's nothing we can do about it.
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314
315
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3162.6: I have a Mumbleco bus mouse. Is it supported and if so, how do I set
317 it up for XFree86?
9be3e9fc 318
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319FreeBSD supports the Logitech and ATI Inport bus mice. You need to
320add the following line to the kernel config file and recompile for the
321Logitech and ATI mice:
9be3e9fc 322
097d4e7a 323 device mse0 at isa? port 0x23c tty irq6 vector mseintr
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324
325
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3262.7: I have a PS/2 mouse (`keyboard' mouse) [Alternatively: I have a
327 laptop with a track-ball mouse]. How do I use it?
9be3e9fc 328
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329For the PS/2 mouse you need to look in
330/usr/src/contrib/FAQ/programs/psm, which is John Solhed's port of the
331Linux PS/2 mouse driver.
9be3e9fc 332
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333Follow the directions in the package. You will also need to change
334your Xconfig file to point to the mouse.
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335
336
097d4e7a 3372.8: What types of tape drives are supported under FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 338
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339FreeBSD supports SCSI, QIC-02 and QIC-40/80 (Floppy based) tape
340drives. This includes 8-mm (aka Exabyte) and DAT drives.
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341
342
097d4e7a 3432.9: What sound cards are supported by FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 344
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345FreeBSD supports the SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster Pro, Pro Audio
346Spectrum 16, AdLib and Gravis UltraSound sound cards. There is also
347limited support for MPU-401 and compatible MIDI cards. The
348SoundBlaster 16 and SoundBlaster 16 ASP cards are not yet supported.
349NOTE: This is only for sound! This driver does not support CD-ROMs,
350SCSI or joysticks on these cards.
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351
352
097d4e7a 3532.10: What network cards does FreeBSD support?
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354
355There is support for the following cards:
9be3e9fc 356
28d2f186 357`ed' driver:
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358 NE2000 and 1000
359 WD/SMC 8003,8013 and Elite Ultra (8216)
360 3Com 3c503
361 And clones of the above
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362
363`ie' driver:
097d4e7a 364 AT&T EN100/StarLAN 10
28d2f186 365
9a5e2769 366`is' driver:
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367 Isolan AT 4141-0
368 Isolink 4110
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369
370`ep' driver:
097d4e7a 371 3com 3c509 (*)
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372
373
374(*)The `ep' driver is known to have some problems; see the
375/usr/src/KNOWNBUGS file for more details.
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376
377
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3782.11: I have a 386/486sx/486SLC machine without a math co-processor.
379 Will this cause me any problems?
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380
381Generally no, but there are circumstances where you will take a hit,
382either in performance or accuracy of the math emulation code (see
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383section 4.1). In particular, drawing arcs in X will be VERY slow. It
384is highly recommended that you lay out the $50 or so for a math
385co-processor; it's well worth it. NOTE: Some math co-processors are
386better than others. It pains us to say it, but nobody ever got fired
387for buying Intel. Unless you're sure it works with FreeBSD, beware of
388clones.
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389
390
097d4e7a 391\f
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3923 Commercial Applications
393-------------------------
9be3e9fc 394
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395Note: This section is still very sparse, though we're hoping, of
396course, that companies will add to it! :) The FreeBSD group has no
397financial interest in any of the companies listed here but simply
398lists them as a public service (and feels that commercial interest in
399FreeBSD can have very positive effects on FreeBSD's long-term
400viability). We encourage commercial software vendors to send their
401entries here for inclusion.
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402
403
097d4e7a 4043.1: Where can I get Motif for FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 405
32e6aeb0 406Sequoia International provides commercial quality Motif 1.2.3
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407development kits for FreeBSD 1.1 (with full shared library support)
408under the product name of `SWiM'. Due to licensing restrictions from
409the OSF, and the fact that Sequoia needs to make a living, these are
410NOT FREE, but nonetheless quite reasonably priced in comparison to
411many other commercial Motif distributions. Send electronic mail to
412<info@seq.com> for further information.
9be3e9fc 413
097d4e7a 4143.2: What about other commercial quality development systems for FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 415
38b6cb21 416ParcPlace Systems, Inc., who currently provides their excellent
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417`Object Interface & Object Builder' GUI development environment free
418of charge to Linux users, is considering the the FreeBSD platform and
419will make their intentions known fairly shortly.
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420
421
097d4e7a 422\f
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4234 User Applications
424-------------------
9be3e9fc 425
097d4e7a 4264.1: I want to run X, how do I go about it?
9be3e9fc 427
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428First, get the XFree86 distribution of X11R5 from XFree86.cdrom.com.
429The version you want for FreeBSD 1.1 and later is XFree86 2.1. Follow
430the instructions for installation carefully. You may then wish to read
431the documentation for the ConfigXF86 tool, which assists you in
432configuring XFree86 for your particular graphics card/mouse/etc.
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433
434
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4354.1: I've been trying to run ghostscript on a 386 (or 486sx) with no
436 math co-processor and I keep getting errors. What's up?
9be3e9fc 437
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438The problem here is due to the current FreeBSD math-emulator. You
439need to pick up the sources to an alternate emulation package, which
440you may find in:
80df965c 441
28d7fa3d 442 /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/programs/fpu-emu
9be3e9fc 443
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444Follow the instructions supplied.
445
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446This is a port of an older Linux math-emulator. At some point,
447FreeBSD's default math emulator will be good enough that you can
448forget about having to do this.
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449
450
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4514.2: If I want something like seyon, term, Kermit, emacs or any one of
452 hundreds of popular freeware utilities, is there a good place to
453 search through first?
9be3e9fc 454
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455Yes, the FreeBSD `ports collection' was put together for just that
456purpose. It contains some of the most often requested languages,
457editors, mail and news reading programs, network software and many
458many megabytes of other types of useful goodies. CDROM people will
459probably have the ports collection already in /usr/ports, other folks
460can get at the latest snapshot of the entire collection in:
9be3e9fc 461
097d4e7a 462 FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/ports
9be3e9fc 463
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464Note that this FTP server permits getting entire directories as one
465(optionally gzipped or compressed) tar file. Read the FTP welcome
466banner carefully for details.
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467
468
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4694.3: I want all this neat software, but I haven't got the space or
470 CPU power to compile it all myself. Is there any way of getting
471 binaries?
9be3e9fc 472
28d2f186 473Yes. We support the concept of a `package', which is essentially a
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474gzipped binary distribution with a little extra intelligence embedded
475in it for doing any custom installation work required. Packages can
476also be installed or deinstalled again easily without having to know
477the gory details. CDROM people will have a packages/ directory on
478their CD, others can get the currently available packages from:
9be3e9fc 479
097d4e7a 480 FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/packages-1.1
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481
482Note that all ports may not be available as packages, and that new
483packages are constantly being added. It is always a good idea to
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484check periodically to see which packages are available. A README file
485in the packages directory provides more details on the care and
486feeding of the package software, so no explicit details will be given
487here.
9be3e9fc 488
7fa46f7a 489
097d4e7a 490\f
1f060cdf 4915 Miscellaneous Questions
58b988d7 492----------------
9be3e9fc 493
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4945.1: I've heard of something called FreeBSD-current. How do I run it, and
495 where can I get more information?
9be3e9fc 496
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497Read the file /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.current.policy,
498it will tell you all you need to know.
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499
500
097d4e7a 5015.2: What is this thing called `sup', and how do I use it?
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502
503SUP stands for Software Update Protocol, and was developed by CMU for
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504keeping their development trees in sync. We use it to keep remote
505sites in sync with our central development sources.
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506
507To use it, you need to have direct internet connectivity (not just
508mail or news). First, pick up the sup_bin.tgz package from:
509
097d4e7a 510 FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/packages
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511
512Second, read the file /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.sup.faq.
513
514This file describes how to setup sup on your machine. You may also
28d2f186 515want to look at /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.*.supfile,
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516which are a set of supfiles for supping from freefall.cdrom.com
517
518
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5195.3: How do I create customized installation disks that I can give
520 out to other people at my site?
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521
522The entire process of creating installation disks and source and
523binary archives is automated by various targets in
524/usr/src/etc/Makefile. The information there should be enough to get
525you started.
9be3e9fc 526
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5275.4: How do I re-build my system without clobbering the existing
528 installed binaries?
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529
530If you define the environment variable DESTDIR while running `make
531world' or `make install', the newly-created binaries will be deposited
532in a directory tree identical to the installed one, rooted at
533${DESTDIR}. Some random combination of shared libraries modifications
534and program rebuilds can cause this to fail in `make world', however.
535
536
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5375.5: When my system booted, it told me that ``(bus speed defaulted)''.
538 What does that mean?
539
540The Adaptec 1542 SCSI host adapters allow the user to configure their
541bus access speed in software. Previous versions of the 1542 driver tried
542to determine the fastest usable speed and set the adapter to that. We
543found that this breaks some users' systems, so you now have to define
544the ``TUNE_1542''' kernel configuration option in order to have this
545take place. Using it on those systems where it works may make your
546disks run faster, but on those systems where it doesn't, your data could
547be corrupted.
548
097d4e7a 549\f
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5506 Kernel Configuration
551----------------------
552
5536.1: When I compile a kernel with multi-port serial code, it tells me
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554 that only the first port is probed and the rest skipped due to
555 interrupt conflicts. How do I fix this?
9be3e9fc 556
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557The problem here is that FreeBSD has code built-in to keep the kernel
558from getting trashed due to hardware or software conflicts. The way
559to fix this is to leave out the IRQ settings on other ports besides
560the first. Here is a example:
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561
562#
563# Multiport high-speed serial line - 16550 UARTS
564#
565device sio2 at isa? port 0x2a0 tty irq 5 flags 0x501 vector siointr
566device sio3 at isa? port 0x2a8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
567device sio4 at isa? port 0x2b0 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
568device sio5 at isa? port 0x2b8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
569
570You may also want to look at the multi-port serial FAQ in
571/usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/multi-port.serial.FAQ.
572
573
58b988d7 5746.2: FreeBSD is supposed to come with support for QIC-40/80 drives but
7fa46f7a 575 when I look, I can't find it.
9be3e9fc 576
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577You need to uncomment the following line in the generic config file
578(or add it to your config file) and recompile.
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579
580controller fdc0 at isa? port "IO_FD1" bio irq 6 drq 2 vector fdintr
581disk fd0 at fdc0 drive 0
582disk fd1 at fdc0 drive 1
583#tape ft0 at fdc0 drive 2
584^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
585
586
58b988d7 5876.3: Does FreeBSD support IPC primitives like those in System V?
9be3e9fc 588
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589Yes, FreeBSD supports System V-style IPC. This includes shared
590memory, messages and semaphores. You need to add the following lines
591to your kernel config to enable them.
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592
593options SYSVSHM
594options "SHMMAXPGS=64" # 256Kb of sharable memory
595options SYSVSEM # enable for semaphores
596options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging
597
598Recompile and install.
599
600
097d4e7a 6016.4: Are there any utilities that make configuring a kernel easier?
4a219cbb 602
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603Well, yes and no. Look in /sys/i386/doc/options.doc (/sys/doc on post
6041.1 systems) for a list of kernel options you can set, and what they
605do. For a friendlier front-end to the process, see
606/usr/src/contrib/configit
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607
608
097d4e7a 6096.5: Will FreeBSD ever support other architectures?
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610
611Several different groups have expressed interest in working on
612multi-architecture support for FreeBSD. If you are interested in
613doing so, please contact the developers at
614<FreeBSD-hackers@freefall.cdrom.com> for more information on our
615strategy for porting.
616
58b988d7 617
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6186.6: I just wrote a device driver for a Foobar Systems, Inc.
619 Integrated Adaptive Gronkulator card. How do I get the
620 appropriate major numbers assigned?
621
622This depends on whether or not you plan on making the driver publicly
623available. If you do, then please send us a copy of the driver source
624code, plus the appropriate modifications to files.i386, a sample
625configuration file entry, and the appropriate MAKEDEV code to create
626any special files your device uses. If you do not, or are unable to
627because of licensing restrictions, then character major number 32 and
628block major number 8 have been reserved specifically for this purpose;
629please use them. In any case, we'd appreciate hearing about your
630driver on <FreeBSD-hackers@freefall.cdrom.com>.
9be3e9fc 631
9be3e9fc 632
097d4e7a 633\f
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6347 System Administration
635-----------------------
636
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6377.1: How do I add a user easily? I read the man page and am more confused
638 than ever! [Alternatively: I didn't read the man page, I never read
639 man pages! :-) ]
9be3e9fc 640
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641Look at Gary Clark's Perl package ``AddIt'', which may be found in
642/usr/src/contrib/adduser. This is a first attempt at solving the
643problem and may be replaced with a more complex but capable solution
644later.
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645
646
58b988d7 6477.2: I'm trying to use my printer and keep running into problems. I tried
7fa46f7a 648 looking at /etc/printcap, but it's close to useless. Any ideas?
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649
650Yes, you can pick up Andreas Klemm's apsfilter package from:
651
58b988d7 652ftp.germany.eu.net:pub/comp/i386/Linux/Local.EUnet/People/akl/apsfilter-1.11.gz
9be3e9fc 653
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654This is a complete package for printing text, PS and DVI files. It
655requires ghostscript and dvips.
80df965c 656
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657If you are looking for a simple printcap just for PS and text files,
658try picking up the printcap01 sources in:
80df965c 659
28d7fa3d 660 /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/programs/printcap01
9be3e9fc 661
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662NOTE: We're looking for printcap entries for all printers. If you
663have one, or a filter for one, please send it or mail us a pointer to
664<FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com>. Thanks!
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665
666
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6678 Networking
668------------
9be3e9fc 669
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6708.1: Where can I get information booting FreeBSD `diskless', that is
671 booting and running a FreeBSD box from a server rather than having
672 a local disk?
9be3e9fc 673
80df965c 674Please read /sys/i386/netboot/netboot.doc.
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675
676
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6778.2: I've heard that you can use a FreeBSD box as a dedicated network
678 router - is there any easy support for this?
9be3e9fc 679
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680Internet standards and good engineering practice prohibit us from
681providing packet forwarding by default in FreeBSD. You can enable
682this support by adding `options GATEWAY' to your kernel configuration
683file and recompiling. In most cases, you will also need to run a
684routing process to tell other systems on your network about your
685router; FreeBSD comes with the standard BSD routing daemon routed(8),
686or for more complex situations you may want to try GateD (available by
097d4e7a 687FTP from gated.Cornell.edu).
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688
689It is our duty to warn you that, even when FreeBSD is configured in
690this way, it does not completely comply with the Internet standard
691requirements for routers; however, it comes close enough for ordinary
692usage.
693
694There is a standard `router floppy' that you can boot on a FreeBSD
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695machine to configure it as a network router. Please look in:
696
097d4e7a 697 freefall.cdrom.com:pub/incoming/freertr
80df965c 698
58b988d7 699and follow the instructions.
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700
701
097d4e7a 7028.3: Does FreeBSD support SLIP and PPP?
9be3e9fc 703
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704Yes. See the man pages for slattach(8) and/or pppd(8) if you're using
705FreeBSD to connect to another site. If you're using FreeBSD as a
706server for other machines, look at the man page for sliplogin(8).
9be3e9fc 707
097d4e7a 7088.4: How do I set up NTP?
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709
710NTP configuration is so complex and widely variable from site to site
711that it would be impossible to make a blanket statement here. Your
712best bet is to ask whoever's in charge of NTP at your site or network
713provider; chances are that they are running a similar version of NTP
714to the one that we provide, and they can probably provide you with the
715right configuration files to get things going.
716
717If you can't find anyone in charge, you should examine the files in
718/usr/src/contrib/xntpd/doc and see if they help any. If not, you
719could ask on the comp.protocols.time.ntp newsgroup, or the
097d4e7a 720<ntp@ni.umd.edu> mailing-list.
28d2f186 721
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7228.5: How do I get my network set up? I don't see how to make my
723 /dev/ed0 device!
28d2f186 724
58b988d7 725In the Berkeley networking framework, network interfaces are only
097d4e7a 726directly accessible by kernel code. Please see the /etc/netstart file
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727and the manual pages for the various network programs mentioned there
728for more information. If this leaves you totally confused, then you
729should pick up a book describing network administration on another
730BSD-related operating system; with few significant exceptions,
731administering networking on FreeBSD is basically the same as on SunOS
7324.0 or Ultrix.
733
097d4e7a 7348.6: How do I get my 3C503 to use the other network port?
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735
736Use `ifconfig ed0' to see whether the ALTPHYS flag is set, and then
737use either `ifconfig ed0 altphys' if it was off, or `ifconfig ed0
738-altphys' if it was on.
739
740
7419 Serial Communications
742-----------------------
9be3e9fc 743
097d4e7a 7449.1: When I do a set line in Kermit it locks up, what's the problem?
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745
746The problem here is that FreeBSD thinks it's talking to a incoming
747modem connection, and is waiting for carrier to come up on it before
748completing the open. To disable modem control, do an:
749
097d4e7a 750 stty -f /dev/ttyXX clocal
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751
752(Where `ttyXX' is the tty port you're using). If you use a given port
753only for outgoing connections, you may wish to put this command in
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754your /etc/rc.local to avoid having to do it every time you reboot your
755system.
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756
757
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758NOTE: Anyone wishing to submit a FAQ entry on how to get tip and cu working
759 would have it much appreciated! We all use Kermit over here! :-)
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760
761-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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762If you see a problem with this FAQ, or wish to submit an entry, please
763mail us at <FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com>. We appreciate your
764feedback, and cannot make this a better FAQ without your help!
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765
766
767 FreeBSD Core Team
768
769-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
770
097d4e7a 771ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
9be3e9fc 772
097d4e7a 773Gary Clark II - Our head FreeBSD FAQ maintenance man
9be3e9fc 774Jordan Hubbard - Janitorial services (I don't do windows)
097d4e7a 775Garrett Wollman - Networking and formatting
0b834f39 776Robert Oliver, Jr. - Ideas and dumb questions (That made me think)
245b6898 777Ollivier Robert - Invaluable feedback and contributions
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778The FreeBSD Team - Kvetching, moaning, submitting data
779
780And to any others we've forgotten, apologies and heartfelt thanks!
781