Add mention of comp.os.386bsd.apps as per suggestion by
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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
6fa35152 8Revision: $Id: FreeBSD.FAQ,v 1.16 1994/04/21 22:25:10 wollman Exp $
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9
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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24
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.
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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
097d4e7a 253\f
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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>
273UltraStor UH-14f Series <ISA>
4a219cbb 274 UH-34f Series <EISA/VLB>
9be3e9fc 275
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276There is supposed to be a UltraStor 24f driver floating around, but
277we're not sure where (could someone please point us at it?). Note
278that we do NOT support `Future Domain' or `IN2000' SCSI controllers,
279typically the little $50 specials you get with some CDROM drives. You
280will have to buy a more mainstream (and capable) SCSI controller. The
281Buslogic controllers are currently the easiest to get.
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282
283
097d4e7a 2842.3: What CD-ROM drives are supported by FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 285
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286Any SCSI drive connected to a supported controller. Mitsumi
287LU002(8bit), LU005(16bit) and FX001D(16bit 2x Speed).
9be3e9fc 288
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289FreeBSD does NOT support drives connected to a Sound Blaster or
290non-SCSI SONY or Panasonic drives. A general rule of thumb when
291selecting a CDROM drive for FreeBSD use is to buy a very standard SCSI
292model; they cost more, but deliver very solid performance in return.
293Do not be fooled by very cheap drives that, in turn, deliver VERY LOW
294performance! As always, you get what you pay for.
295
296The Mitsumi driver is known to be extremely slow compared to SCSI
297drives.
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298
299
097d4e7a 3002.4: What multi-port serial cards are supported by FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 301
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302AST/4 and BOCA 4/8 port cards. Some unnamed clone cards have also
303been known to work, especially those that claim to be AST compatible.
304Check the sio(4) man page to get more information on configuring such
305cards.
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306
307
097d4e7a 3082.5: Does FreeBSD support the AHA-2742 SCSI adapter from Adaptec?
9be3e9fc 309
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310No, FreeBSD does not. This is due to Adaptec's unwillingness to
311supply programming information under other than non-disclosure. This
312is unfortunate, but there's nothing we can do about it.
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313
314
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3152.6: I have a Mumbleco bus mouse. Is it supported and if so, how do I set
316 it up for XFree86?
9be3e9fc 317
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318FreeBSD supports the Logitech and ATI Inport bus mice. You need to
319add the following line to the kernel config file and recompile for the
320Logitech and ATI mice:
9be3e9fc 321
097d4e7a 322 device mse0 at isa? port 0x23c tty irq6 vector mseintr
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323
324
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3252.7: I have a PS/2 mouse (`keyboard' mouse) [Alternatively: I have a
326 laptop with a track-ball mouse]. How do I use it?
9be3e9fc 327
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328For the PS/2 mouse you need to look in
329/usr/src/contrib/FAQ/programs/psm, which is John Solhed's port of the
330Linux PS/2 mouse driver.
9be3e9fc 331
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332Follow the directions in the package. You will also need to change
333your Xconfig file to point to the mouse.
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334
335
097d4e7a 3362.8: What types of tape drives are supported under FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 337
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338FreeBSD supports SCSI, QIC-02 and QIC-40/80 (Floppy based) tape
339drives. This includes 8-mm (aka Exabyte) and DAT drives.
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340
341
097d4e7a 3422.9: What sound cards are supported by FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 343
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344FreeBSD supports the SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster Pro, Pro Audio
345Spectrum 16, AdLib and Gravis UltraSound sound cards. There is also
346limited support for MPU-401 and compatible MIDI cards. The
347SoundBlaster 16 and SoundBlaster 16 ASP cards are not yet supported.
348NOTE: This is only for sound! This driver does not support CD-ROMs,
349SCSI or joysticks on these cards.
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350
351
097d4e7a 3522.10: What network cards does FreeBSD support?
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353
354There is support for the following cards:
9be3e9fc 355
28d2f186 356`ed' driver:
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357 NE2000 and 1000
358 WD/SMC 8003,8013 and Elite Ultra (8216)
359 3Com 3c503
360 And clones of the above
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361
362`ie' driver:
097d4e7a 363 AT&T EN100/StarLAN 10
28d2f186 364
9a5e2769 365`is' driver:
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366 Isolan AT 4141-0
367 Isolink 4110
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368
369`ep' driver:
097d4e7a 370 3com 3c509 (*)
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371
372
373(*)The `ep' driver is known to have some problems; see the
374/usr/src/KNOWNBUGS file for more details.
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375
376
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3772.11: I have a 386/486sx/486SLC machine without a math co-processor.
378 Will this cause me any problems?
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379
380Generally no, but there are circumstances where you will take a hit,
381either in performance or accuracy of the math emulation code (see
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382section 4.1). In particular, drawing arcs in X will be VERY slow. It
383is highly recommended that you lay out the $50 or so for a math
384co-processor; it's well worth it. NOTE: Some math co-processors are
385better than others. It pains us to say it, but nobody ever got fired
386for buying Intel. Unless you're sure it works with FreeBSD, beware of
387clones.
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388
389
097d4e7a 390\f
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3913 Commercial Applications
392-------------------------
9be3e9fc 393
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394Note: This section is still very sparse, though we're hoping, of
395course, that companies will add to it! :) The FreeBSD group has no
396financial interest in any of the companies listed here but simply
397lists them as a public service (and feels that commercial interest in
398FreeBSD can have very positive effects on FreeBSD's long-term
399viability). We encourage commercial software vendors to send their
400entries here for inclusion.
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401
402
097d4e7a 4033.1: Where can I get Motif for FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 404
32e6aeb0 405Sequoia International provides commercial quality Motif 1.2.3
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406development kits for FreeBSD 1.1 (with full shared library support)
407under the product name of `SWiM'. Due to licensing restrictions from
408the OSF, and the fact that Sequoia needs to make a living, these are
409NOT FREE, but nonetheless quite reasonably priced in comparison to
410many other commercial Motif distributions. Send electronic mail to
411<info@seq.com> for further information.
9be3e9fc 412
097d4e7a 4133.2: What about other commercial quality development systems for FreeBSD?
9be3e9fc 414
38b6cb21 415ParcPlace Systems, Inc., who currently provides their excellent
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416`Object Interface & Object Builder' GUI development environment free
417of charge to Linux users, is considering the the FreeBSD platform and
418will make their intentions known fairly shortly.
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419
420
097d4e7a 421\f
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4224 User Applications
423-------------------
9be3e9fc 424
097d4e7a 4254.1: I want to run X, how do I go about it?
9be3e9fc 426
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427First, get the XFree86 distribution of X11R5 from XFree86.cdrom.com.
428The version you want for FreeBSD 1.1 and later is XFree86 2.1. Follow
429the instructions for installation carefully. You may then wish to read
430the documentation for the ConfigXF86 tool, which assists you in
431configuring XFree86 for your particular graphics card/mouse/etc.
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432
433
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4344.1: I've been trying to run ghostscript on a 386 (or 486sx) with no
435 math co-processor and I keep getting errors. What's up?
9be3e9fc 436
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437The problem here is due to the current FreeBSD math-emulator. You
438need to pick up the sources to an alternate emulation package, which
439you may find in:
80df965c 440
28d7fa3d 441 /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/programs/fpu-emu
9be3e9fc 442
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443Follow the instructions supplied.
444
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445This is a port of an older Linux math-emulator. At some point,
446FreeBSD's default math emulator will be good enough that you can
447forget about having to do this.
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448
449
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4504.2: If I want something like seyon, term, Kermit, emacs or any one of
451 hundreds of popular freeware utilities, is there a good place to
452 search through first?
9be3e9fc 453
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454Yes, the FreeBSD `ports collection' was put together for just that
455purpose. It contains some of the most often requested languages,
456editors, mail and news reading programs, network software and many
457many megabytes of other types of useful goodies. CDROM people will
458probably have the ports collection already in /usr/ports, other folks
459can get at the latest snapshot of the entire collection in:
9be3e9fc 460
097d4e7a 461 FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/ports
9be3e9fc 462
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463Note that this FTP server permits getting entire directories as one
464(optionally gzipped or compressed) tar file. Read the FTP welcome
465banner carefully for details.
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466
467
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4684.3: I want all this neat software, but I haven't got the space or
469 CPU power to compile it all myself. Is there any way of getting
470 binaries?
9be3e9fc 471
28d2f186 472Yes. We support the concept of a `package', which is essentially a
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473gzipped binary distribution with a little extra intelligence embedded
474in it for doing any custom installation work required. Packages can
475also be installed or deinstalled again easily without having to know
476the gory details. CDROM people will have a packages/ directory on
477their CD, others can get the currently available packages from:
9be3e9fc 478
097d4e7a 479 FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/packages-1.1
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480
481Note that all ports may not be available as packages, and that new
482packages are constantly being added. It is always a good idea to
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483check periodically to see which packages are available. A README file
484in the packages directory provides more details on the care and
485feeding of the package software, so no explicit details will be given
486here.
9be3e9fc 487
7fa46f7a 488
097d4e7a 489\f
1f060cdf 4905 Miscellaneous Questions
58b988d7 491----------------
9be3e9fc 492
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4935.1: I've heard of something called FreeBSD-current. How do I run it, and
494 where can I get more information?
9be3e9fc 495
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496Read the file /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.current.policy,
497it will tell you all you need to know.
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498
499
097d4e7a 5005.2: What is this thing called `sup', and how do I use it?
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501
502SUP stands for Software Update Protocol, and was developed by CMU for
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503keeping their development trees in sync. We use it to keep remote
504sites in sync with our central development sources.
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505
506To use it, you need to have direct internet connectivity (not just
507mail or news). First, pick up the sup_bin.tgz package from:
508
097d4e7a 509 FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/packages
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510
511Second, read the file /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.sup.faq.
512
513This file describes how to setup sup on your machine. You may also
28d2f186 514want to look at /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.*.supfile,
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515which are a set of supfiles for supping from freefall.cdrom.com
516
517
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5185.3: How do I create customized installation disks that I can give
519 out to other people at my site?
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520
521The entire process of creating installation disks and source and
522binary archives is automated by various targets in
523/usr/src/etc/Makefile. The information there should be enough to get
524you started.
9be3e9fc 525
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5265.4: How do I re-build my system without clobbering the existing
527 installed binaries?
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528
529If you define the environment variable DESTDIR while running `make
530world' or `make install', the newly-created binaries will be deposited
531in a directory tree identical to the installed one, rooted at
532${DESTDIR}. Some random combination of shared libraries modifications
533and program rebuilds can cause this to fail in `make world', however.
534
535
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5365.5: When my system booted, it told me that ``(bus speed defaulted)''.
537 What does that mean?
538
539The Adaptec 1542 SCSI host adapters allow the user to configure their
540bus access speed in software. Previous versions of the 1542 driver tried
541to determine the fastest usable speed and set the adapter to that. We
542found that this breaks some users' systems, so you now have to define
543the ``TUNE_1542''' kernel configuration option in order to have this
544take place. Using it on those systems where it works may make your
545disks run faster, but on those systems where it doesn't, your data could
546be corrupted.
547
097d4e7a 548\f
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5496 Kernel Configuration
550----------------------
551
5526.1: When I compile a kernel with multi-port serial code, it tells me
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553 that only the first port is probed and the rest skipped due to
554 interrupt conflicts. How do I fix this?
9be3e9fc 555
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556The problem here is that FreeBSD has code built-in to keep the kernel
557from getting trashed due to hardware or software conflicts. The way
558to fix this is to leave out the IRQ settings on other ports besides
559the first. Here is a example:
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560
561#
562# Multiport high-speed serial line - 16550 UARTS
563#
564device sio2 at isa? port 0x2a0 tty irq 5 flags 0x501 vector siointr
565device sio3 at isa? port 0x2a8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
566device sio4 at isa? port 0x2b0 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
567device sio5 at isa? port 0x2b8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
568
569You may also want to look at the multi-port serial FAQ in
570/usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/multi-port.serial.FAQ.
571
572
58b988d7 5736.2: FreeBSD is supposed to come with support for QIC-40/80 drives but
7fa46f7a 574 when I look, I can't find it.
9be3e9fc 575
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576You need to uncomment the following line in the generic config file
577(or add it to your config file) and recompile.
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578
579controller fdc0 at isa? port "IO_FD1" bio irq 6 drq 2 vector fdintr
580disk fd0 at fdc0 drive 0
581disk fd1 at fdc0 drive 1
582#tape ft0 at fdc0 drive 2
583^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
584
585
58b988d7 5866.3: Does FreeBSD support IPC primitives like those in System V?
9be3e9fc 587
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588Yes, FreeBSD supports System V-style IPC. This includes shared
589memory, messages and semaphores. You need to add the following lines
590to your kernel config to enable them.
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591
592options SYSVSHM
593options "SHMMAXPGS=64" # 256Kb of sharable memory
594options SYSVSEM # enable for semaphores
595options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging
596
597Recompile and install.
598
599
097d4e7a 6006.4: Are there any utilities that make configuring a kernel easier?
4a219cbb 601
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602Well, yes and no. Look in /sys/i386/doc/options.doc (/sys/doc on post
6031.1 systems) for a list of kernel options you can set, and what they
604do. For a friendlier front-end to the process, see
605/usr/src/contrib/configit
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606
607
097d4e7a 6086.5: Will FreeBSD ever support other architectures?
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609
610Several different groups have expressed interest in working on
611multi-architecture support for FreeBSD. If you are interested in
612doing so, please contact the developers at
613<FreeBSD-hackers@freefall.cdrom.com> for more information on our
614strategy for porting.
615
58b988d7 616
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6176.6: I just wrote a device driver for a Foobar Systems, Inc.
618 Integrated Adaptive Gronkulator card. How do I get the
619 appropriate major numbers assigned?
620
621This depends on whether or not you plan on making the driver publicly
622available. If you do, then please send us a copy of the driver source
623code, plus the appropriate modifications to files.i386, a sample
624configuration file entry, and the appropriate MAKEDEV code to create
625any special files your device uses. If you do not, or are unable to
626because of licensing restrictions, then character major number 32 and
627block major number 8 have been reserved specifically for this purpose;
628please use them. In any case, we'd appreciate hearing about your
629driver on <FreeBSD-hackers@freefall.cdrom.com>.
9be3e9fc 630
9be3e9fc 631
097d4e7a 632\f
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6337 System Administration
634-----------------------
635
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6367.1: How do I add a user easily? I read the man page and am more confused
637 than ever! [Alternatively: I didn't read the man page, I never read
638 man pages! :-) ]
9be3e9fc 639
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640Look at Gary Clark's Perl package ``AddIt'', which may be found in
641/usr/src/contrib/adduser. This is a first attempt at solving the
642problem and may be replaced with a more complex but capable solution
643later.
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644
645
58b988d7 6467.2: I'm trying to use my printer and keep running into problems. I tried
7fa46f7a 647 looking at /etc/printcap, but it's close to useless. Any ideas?
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648
649Yes, you can pick up Andreas Klemm's apsfilter package from:
650
58b988d7 651ftp.germany.eu.net:pub/comp/i386/Linux/Local.EUnet/People/akl/apsfilter-1.11.gz
9be3e9fc 652
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653This is a complete package for printing text, PS and DVI files. It
654requires ghostscript and dvips.
80df965c 655
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656If you are looking for a simple printcap just for PS and text files,
657try picking up the printcap01 sources in:
80df965c 658
28d7fa3d 659 /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/programs/printcap01
9be3e9fc 660
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661NOTE: We're looking for printcap entries for all printers. If you
662have one, or a filter for one, please send it or mail us a pointer to
663<FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com>. Thanks!
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664
665
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6668 Networking
667------------
9be3e9fc 668
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6698.1: Where can I get information booting FreeBSD `diskless', that is
670 booting and running a FreeBSD box from a server rather than having
671 a local disk?
9be3e9fc 672
80df965c 673Please read /sys/i386/netboot/netboot.doc.
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674
675
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6768.2: I've heard that you can use a FreeBSD box as a dedicated network
677 router - is there any easy support for this?
9be3e9fc 678
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679Internet standards and good engineering practice prohibit us from
680providing packet forwarding by default in FreeBSD. You can enable
681this support by adding `options GATEWAY' to your kernel configuration
682file and recompiling. In most cases, you will also need to run a
683routing process to tell other systems on your network about your
684router; FreeBSD comes with the standard BSD routing daemon routed(8),
685or for more complex situations you may want to try GateD (available by
097d4e7a 686FTP from gated.Cornell.edu).
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687
688It is our duty to warn you that, even when FreeBSD is configured in
689this way, it does not completely comply with the Internet standard
690requirements for routers; however, it comes close enough for ordinary
691usage.
692
693There is a standard `router floppy' that you can boot on a FreeBSD
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694machine to configure it as a network router. Please look in:
695
097d4e7a 696 freefall.cdrom.com:pub/incoming/freertr
80df965c 697
58b988d7 698and follow the instructions.
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699
700
097d4e7a 7018.3: Does FreeBSD support SLIP and PPP?
9be3e9fc 702
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703Yes. See the man pages for slattach(8) and/or pppd(8) if you're using
704FreeBSD to connect to another site. If you're using FreeBSD as a
705server for other machines, look at the man page for sliplogin(8).
9be3e9fc 706
097d4e7a 7078.4: How do I set up NTP?
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708
709NTP configuration is so complex and widely variable from site to site
710that it would be impossible to make a blanket statement here. Your
711best bet is to ask whoever's in charge of NTP at your site or network
712provider; chances are that they are running a similar version of NTP
713to the one that we provide, and they can probably provide you with the
714right configuration files to get things going.
715
716If you can't find anyone in charge, you should examine the files in
717/usr/src/contrib/xntpd/doc and see if they help any. If not, you
718could ask on the comp.protocols.time.ntp newsgroup, or the
097d4e7a 719<ntp@ni.umd.edu> mailing-list.
28d2f186 720
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7218.5: How do I get my network set up? I don't see how to make my
722 /dev/ed0 device!
28d2f186 723
58b988d7 724In the Berkeley networking framework, network interfaces are only
097d4e7a 725directly accessible by kernel code. Please see the /etc/netstart file
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726and the manual pages for the various network programs mentioned there
727for more information. If this leaves you totally confused, then you
728should pick up a book describing network administration on another
729BSD-related operating system; with few significant exceptions,
730administering networking on FreeBSD is basically the same as on SunOS
7314.0 or Ultrix.
732
097d4e7a 7338.6: How do I get my 3C503 to use the other network port?
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734
735Use `ifconfig ed0' to see whether the ALTPHYS flag is set, and then
736use either `ifconfig ed0 altphys' if it was off, or `ifconfig ed0
737-altphys' if it was on.
738
739
7409 Serial Communications
741-----------------------
9be3e9fc 742
097d4e7a 7439.1: When I do a set line in Kermit it locks up, what's the problem?
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744
745The problem here is that FreeBSD thinks it's talking to a incoming
746modem connection, and is waiting for carrier to come up on it before
747completing the open. To disable modem control, do an:
748
097d4e7a 749 stty -f /dev/ttyXX clocal
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750
751(Where `ttyXX' is the tty port you're using). If you use a given port
752only for outgoing connections, you may wish to put this command in
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753your /etc/rc.local to avoid having to do it every time you reboot your
754system.
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755
756
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757NOTE: Anyone wishing to submit a FAQ entry on how to get tip and cu working
758 would have it much appreciated! We all use Kermit over here! :-)
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759
760-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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761If you see a problem with this FAQ, or wish to submit an entry, please
762mail us at <FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com>. We appreciate your
763feedback, and cannot make this a better FAQ without your help!
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764
765
766 FreeBSD Core Team
767
768-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
769
097d4e7a 770ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
9be3e9fc 771
097d4e7a 772Gary Clark II - Our head FreeBSD FAQ maintenance man
9be3e9fc 773Jordan Hubbard - Janitorial services (I don't do windows)
097d4e7a 774Garrett Wollman - Networking and formatting
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775Robert Oliver, Jr. - Invaluable feedback and contributions
776The FreeBSD Team - Kvetching, moaning, submitting data
777
778And to any others we've forgotten, apologies and heartfelt thanks!
779