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2 | FreeBSD |
3 | Frequently Asked Questions | |
4 | For Version 1.1 and above | |
5 | Please mail all suggestions and additions to <FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com> | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
6 | |
7 | ||
ac84735e | 8 | Revision: $Id: FreeBSD.FAQ,v 1.23 1994/05/07 11:54:38 gclarkii Exp $ |
4f3d904a GCI |
9 | |
10 | All entries marked <CURRENT> are for FreeBSD-current. All other entries | |
11 | are for both. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
12 | |
13 | ||
14 | Table of Contents | |
15 | ----------------- | |
16 | ||
58b988d7 GW |
17 | 0 Preface |
18 | 1 Installation | |
19 | 2 Hardware Compatibility | |
20 | 3 Commercial applications | |
21 | 4 User Applications | |
097d4e7a | 22 | 5 Miscellaneous Questions |
58b988d7 | 23 | 6 Kernel Configuration |
097d4e7a | 24 | 7 System Administration |
58b988d7 GW |
25 | 8 Networking |
26 | 9 Serial Communications | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
27 | |
28 | ||
097d4e7a | 29 | \f |
58b988d7 GW |
30 | 0 Preface |
31 | --------- | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
32 | |
33 | Welcome to the FreeBSD 1.1 FAQ! This document tries to answer some of | |
097d4e7a GW |
34 | the most frequently asked questions about FreeBSD 1.1 (or later, |
35 | unless specifically indicated). If there's something you're having | |
36 | trouble with and you just don't see it here, then please send mail to: | |
9be3e9fc | 37 | |
097d4e7a | 38 | <FreeBSD-questions@freefall.cdrom.com> |
9be3e9fc GCI |
39 | |
40 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
41 | Some of the instructions here will also refer to auxiliary utilities |
42 | in the /usr/src/contrib/FAQ directory. CDROM purchasers and net folks | |
43 | who've grabbed the FreeBSD 1.1 `srcdist' will have these files. If | |
44 | you don't have the source distribution, then you can either grab the | |
45 | whole thing from: | |
9be3e9fc | 46 | |
097d4e7a | 47 | FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-1.1 |
9be3e9fc | 48 | |
097d4e7a GW |
49 | Or you can grab only those files you're interested in straight out of |
50 | the FreeBSD-current distribution in: | |
9be3e9fc | 51 | |
097d4e7a | 52 | FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/src |
9be3e9fc | 53 | |
097d4e7a | 54 | 0.1: What is FreeBSD? |
9be3e9fc GCI |
55 | |
56 | FreeBSD is a UN*X type operating system based on William Jolitz's port | |
097d4e7a GW |
57 | of U.C. Berkeley's Networking Release 2 to the i386, 386BSD. It is no |
58 | longer correct to say that FreeBSD is only 386BSD with the patchkit | |
59 | applied! There have been many additions and bug fixes made throughout | |
60 | the entire system, some of the highlights of which are: | |
32e6aeb0 JH |
61 | |
62 | More robust and extensive PC device support | |
097d4e7a | 63 | System V-style IPC, messaging and semaphores |
32e6aeb0 JH |
64 | Shared Libraries |
65 | Much improved virtual memory code | |
66 | Better console driver support | |
67 | Network booting (diskless) support | |
68 | /proc filesystem | |
69 | Yellow Pages support | |
70 | `LDT' support for WINE (primitive but developing Windows emulation) | |
71 | Too many additional utilities and applications to mention | |
72 | ||
9be3e9fc | 73 | |
097d4e7a GW |
74 | 0.2: My friends told me that FreeBSD was illegal and I shouldn't use it. |
75 | Is this really true? | |
008edb68 | 76 | |
097d4e7a GW |
77 | FreeBSD versions up to and including 1.1 have included code from |
78 | Berkeley's Net/2 distribution. UNIX Systems Laboratories (now Novell) | |
79 | sued Berkeley claiming that Net/2 included some code that belonged to | |
80 | USL. In February of 1994, USL and Berkeley announced a settlement in | |
81 | which neither side admitted to doing anything wrong, but UCB agreed to | |
82 | stop distributing the disputed software. | |
008edb68 GW |
83 | |
84 | Since Berkeley will no longer defend this code, we have been requested | |
097d4e7a GW |
85 | to stop distributing it, and will be integrating all the improvements |
86 | we have made in the VM system and i386-specific code into Berkeley's | |
87 | 4.4-Lite distribution; the result will form the basis of the next | |
88 | release of FreeBSD (we haven't decided whether to call it 1.2 or 2.0). | |
89 | We expect the integration to take place over a period of three to six | |
90 | months, during which time we will have to stop work on 1.1 and | |
a4140fea JH |
91 | concentrate all our efforts on the merge, and we expect to make more |
92 | information available on the status of the merge effort as the situation | |
93 | progresses. | |
94 | ||
95 | However, to answer the question, "No. FreeBSD is not illegal." We | |
96 | have been allowed by USL to distribute 1.1 as the last Net/2 derived | |
97 | version, after which we have committed to move to 4.4 as previously | |
98 | stated. | |
097d4e7a GW |
99 | |
100 | We expect to make more information available on the status of the | |
101 | merge effort as the situation progresses. | |
102 | ||
103 | 0.3: What are the FreeBSD mailing lists, and how can I get on them? | |
104 | ||
105 | The following mailing lists are provided for FreeBSD users and | |
106 | developers. For more information, send to | |
107 | <majordomo@freefall.cdrom.com> and include a single line saying | |
108 | ``help'' in the body of your message. | |
109 | ||
4f3d904a | 110 | FreeBSD-announce: For announcements about or on FreeBSD. |
097d4e7a GW |
111 | FreeBSD-hackers: Useful for persons wishing to work on the internals. |
112 | FreeBSD-questions: General questions on FreeBSD. | |
113 | FreeBSD-bugs: Where bugs should be sent. | |
114 | FreeBSD-commit: This list carries the commit messages for freefall. Useful | |
9be3e9fc | 115 | for tracking ongoing work. |
097d4e7a GW |
116 | FreeBSD-SCSI: Mailing list for SCSI developers. |
117 | FreeBSD-current: This list is for persons wishing to run FreeBSD-current | |
118 | and carries announcements and discussions on current. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
119 | |
120 | Please see also the FreeBSD mailing list FAQ in: | |
32e6aeb0 | 121 | |
097d4e7a | 122 | /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.mailing-list.FAQ |
9be3e9fc | 123 | |
097d4e7a | 124 | 0.4: What are the various FreeBSD news groups? |
9be3e9fc | 125 | |
097d4e7a GW |
126 | While there are no groups currently dedicated to FreeBSD, you may find |
127 | the following groups useful. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
128 | |
129 | comp.os.386bsd.announce: For announcements | |
6fa35152 | 130 | comp.os.386bsd.apps: For applications |
9be3e9fc GCI |
131 | comp.os.386bsd.questions: For questions |
132 | comp.os.386bsd.development: For working on the internals | |
133 | comp.os.386bsd.bugs: About bugs | |
134 | comp.os.386bsd.misc: For items that don't fit anywhere else | |
135 | ||
32e6aeb0 | 136 | NOTE: These groups cover all the *BSDs (FreeBSD, NetBSD, 386BSD). |
9be3e9fc GCI |
137 | |
138 | ||
097d4e7a | 139 | \f |
58b988d7 GW |
140 | 1 Installation |
141 | -------------- | |
9be3e9fc | 142 | |
097d4e7a GW |
143 | 1.1: I just installed my system and rebooted. Now I can't find the |
144 | extract or configure programs, where did they go? | |
9be3e9fc | 145 | |
28d2f186 | 146 | These two commands are just shell functions defined in /.profile. To |
097d4e7a | 147 | get these back, boot FreeBSD with a `-s' at the boot prompt. |
9be3e9fc GCI |
148 | |
149 | ||
7fa46f7a JH |
150 | 1.2: I want to install FreeBSD onto a SCSI disk that has more than |
151 | 1024 cylinders. How do I do it? | |
9be3e9fc | 152 | |
097d4e7a GW |
153 | This depends. If you don't have DOS (or another operating system) on |
154 | the system, you can just keep the drive in native mode and simply make | |
155 | sure that your root partition is below 1024 so the BIOS can boot the | |
156 | kernel from it. It you also have DOS/some other OS on the drive then | |
157 | your best bet is to find out what parameters that it thinks you have | |
158 | before installing FreeBSD. When FreeBSD's installation procedure | |
159 | prompts you for these values, you should then enter them rather than | |
160 | simply going with the defaults. | |
9be3e9fc | 161 | |
097d4e7a GW |
162 | There is a freely available utility distributed with FreeBSD called |
163 | `pfdisk' (located in the tools/ subdirectory) which can be used for | |
164 | this purpose. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
165 | |
166 | ||
097d4e7a | 167 | 1.3: When I boot FreeBSD it says ``Missing Operating System''. |
9be3e9fc | 168 | |
097d4e7a GW |
169 | See question 1.2. This is classically a case of FreeBSD and DOS or |
170 | some other OS conflicting over their ideas of disk geometry. You will | |
171 | have to reinstall FreeBSD, but obeying the instructions given above | |
172 | will almost always get you going. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
173 | |
174 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
175 | 1.4: I have an IDE drive with lots of bad blocks on it and FreeBSD doesn't |
176 | seem to install properly. | |
9be3e9fc | 177 | |
097d4e7a GW |
178 | FreeBSD's bad block (bad144) handling is still not 100% (to put it |
179 | charitably) and it must unfortunately be said that if you've got an | |
180 | IDE or ESDI drive with lots of bad blocks, then FreeBSD is probably | |
181 | not for you! That said, it does work on thousands of IDE based | |
182 | systems, so you'd do well to try it first before simply giving up. | |
9be3e9fc | 183 | |
28d2f186 GW |
184 | IDE drives are *supposed* to come with built-in bad-block remapping; |
185 | if you have documentation for your drive, you may want to see if this | |
186 | feature has been disabled on your drive. However, ESDI, RLL, and | |
187 | ST-506 drives normally do not do this. | |
188 | ||
4f3d904a GCI |
189 | <CURRENT> |
190 | FreeBSD-current has better bad block handling due to improvments made | |
191 | to the wd driver. | |
9be3e9fc | 192 | |
097d4e7a | 193 | 1.5: I have 32MB of memory, should I expect any special problems? |
9be3e9fc | 194 | |
28d2f186 GW |
195 | If you have an IDE controller, no. Likewise, if you have a full EISA |
196 | system with EISA disk controller or a working local bus controller | |
197 | (read further) you'll have no problems. If you have an ISA system, or | |
198 | an EISA system with an ISA disk controller then you will most | |
199 | certainly have problems with the upper 16MB of memory due to the ISA | |
200 | 24 bit DMA limitation (which ISA cards in EISA systems will also | |
201 | exhibit). If you have a local bus disk controller, then you should be | |
202 | OK, UNLESS it's a Buslogic Bt445S with a revision less than `D' (BIOS | |
4f3d904a GCI |
203 | 3.36 or earlier). |
204 | ||
205 | <CURRENT> | |
28d2f186 GW |
206 | FreeBSD-current (and the upcoming FreeBSD 1.2) have bounce-buffer |
207 | support that make all of the above scenarios work with a full 32MB of | |
208 | memory or more. You are therefore advised to simply pull 16MB of | |
209 | memory out, install, and then see about upgrading to FreeBSD-current | |
210 | or FreeBSD 1.2 (when it comes out) so that you can put it back. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
211 | |
212 | ||
097d4e7a | 213 | 1.6: Do I need to install the complete sources? |
58b988d7 GW |
214 | |
215 | In general, no. However, we would strongly recommend that you | |
216 | install, at a minimum, the `base' source kit, which includes several | |
217 | of the files mentioned here, and the `sys' (kernel) source kit, which | |
218 | includes sources for the kernel. There is nothing in the system which | |
219 | requires the presence of the sources to operate, however, except for | |
220 | the kernel-configuration program config(8). With the exception of the | |
221 | kernel sources, our build structure is set up so that you can | |
222 | read-only mount the sources from elsewhere via NFS and still be able | |
223 | to make new binaries. (Because of the kernel-source restriction, we | |
224 | recommend that you not mount this on /usr/src directly, but rather in | |
225 | some other location with appropriate symbolic links to duplicate the | |
226 | top-level structure of the source tree.) | |
227 | ||
228 | Having the sources on-line and knowing how to build a system with them | |
229 | will make it much easier for you to upgrade to future releases of | |
230 | FreeBSD. | |
231 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
232 | 1.7: DES encryption software can not be exported from the United |
233 | States. If I live outside the US, how can I encrypt passwords? | |
875be44f GR |
234 | |
235 | Since the DES encryption algorithm, which is used by passwd(1) and | |
236 | friends to encrypt passwords cannot legally be exported from the US, | |
097d4e7a | 237 | non-US users should not download this software from US FTP sites. |
875be44f GR |
238 | |
239 | There is however a replacement libcrypt available, based on sources | |
240 | written in Australia by David Burren. This code is now available on | |
097d4e7a GW |
241 | some non-US FreeBSD mirror sites. Sources for the unencumbered |
242 | libcrypt, and binaries of the programs which use it, can be obtained | |
243 | from the following FTP sites: | |
7fa46f7a | 244 | |
097d4e7a GW |
245 | South Africa: braae.ru.ac.za:/pub/FreeBSD/securedist/ |
246 | owl.und.ac.za (currently uncertain) | |
247 | Iceland: ftp.veda.is:/pub/crypt/FreeBSD/ | |
875be44f GR |
248 | |
249 | The non-US securedist can be used as a direct replacement for the | |
250 | encumbered US securedist. This securedist package is installed the | |
097d4e7a GW |
251 | same way as the US package (see installation notes for details). If |
252 | you are going to install DES encryption, you should do so as soon as | |
253 | possible, before installing other software. | |
875be44f GR |
254 | |
255 | Non-US users should please not download any encryption software from | |
256 | the USA. This can get the maintainers of the sites from which the | |
257 | software is downloaded into severe legal difficulties. | |
258 | ||
259 | A non-US distribution of Kerberos is also being developed, and current | |
097d4e7a GW |
260 | versions can generally be obtained by anonymous FTP from |
261 | braae.ru.ac.za. | |
875be44f GR |
262 | |
263 | There is also a mailing list for the discussion of non-US encryption | |
7fa46f7a | 264 | software. For more information, send an email message with a single |
097d4e7a GW |
265 | line saying ``help'' in the body of your message to |
266 | <majordomo@braae.ru.ac.za>. | |
875be44f | 267 | |
3370122e JH |
268 | 1.8 HELP! My keyboard locked up during the install! |
269 | ||
270 | Some keyboard controllers are not a friend to FreeBSD. Among these are | |
271 | those on certain models of Gateway, IBM and AST machines. The most frequent | |
272 | symptom encountered in such cases is that the keyboard refuses to respond | |
273 | to input when at the `kcopy>' prompt in the second phase of bootstrapping | |
274 | FreeBSD. Fortunately, there is a work-around that may get you all the | |
275 | way home. Reset the machine and boot the kcopy floppy again, but this | |
276 | time, as the kernel is booting, tap periodically on the num-lock key | |
277 | until the kcopy prompt appears. Your keyboard should respond properly. | |
278 | ||
279 | Once your system is on the hard disk the problem generally goes away. | |
280 | Some folks for whom the problem persists even after this stage find | |
281 | relief in switching to the SYSCONS console driver (see /sys/i386/conf/SYSCONS), | |
282 | which is in any case far more featureful than pccons and a recommended | |
283 | upgrade. | |
284 | ||
875be44f | 285 | |
097d4e7a | 286 | \f |
58b988d7 GW |
287 | 2 Hardware compatibility |
288 | ------------------------ | |
9be3e9fc | 289 | |
097d4e7a | 290 | 2.1: What kind of hard drives does FreeBSD run on? |
9be3e9fc | 291 | |
28d2f186 GW |
292 | FreeBSD supports ST-506 (sometimes called ``MFM''), RLL, and ESDI |
293 | drives, which are usually connected to WD-1002, WD-1003, or WD-1006 | |
875be44f GR |
294 | controllers (although clones should also work). FreeBSD also supports |
295 | IDE and SCSI hard drives. | |
9be3e9fc | 296 | |
097d4e7a | 297 | 2.2: What SCSI controllers are supported? |
9be3e9fc GCI |
298 | |
299 | FreeBSD supports the following SCSI controllers: | |
300 | ||
28d2f186 | 301 | Adaptec AH-1542 Series <ISA> |
9be3e9fc | 302 | AH-1742 Series <EISA> |
58b988d7 | 303 | Buslogic BT-445 Series <VLB> (but see section 1.5) |
9be3e9fc GCI |
304 | BT-545 Series <ISA> |
305 | BT-742 Series <EISA> | |
245b6898 | 306 | BT-747 Series <EISA> |
9be3e9fc | 307 | UltraStor UH-14f Series <ISA> |
4a219cbb | 308 | UH-34f Series <EISA/VLB> |
9be3e9fc | 309 | |
097d4e7a GW |
310 | There is supposed to be a UltraStor 24f driver floating around, but |
311 | we're not sure where (could someone please point us at it?). Note | |
312 | that we do NOT support `Future Domain' or `IN2000' SCSI controllers, | |
313 | typically the little $50 specials you get with some CDROM drives. You | |
314 | will have to buy a more mainstream (and capable) SCSI controller. The | |
315 | Buslogic controllers are currently the easiest to get. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
316 | |
317 | ||
097d4e7a | 318 | 2.3: What CD-ROM drives are supported by FreeBSD? |
9be3e9fc | 319 | |
097d4e7a GW |
320 | Any SCSI drive connected to a supported controller. Mitsumi |
321 | LU002(8bit), LU005(16bit) and FX001D(16bit 2x Speed). | |
9be3e9fc | 322 | |
28d2f186 GW |
323 | FreeBSD does NOT support drives connected to a Sound Blaster or |
324 | non-SCSI SONY or Panasonic drives. A general rule of thumb when | |
325 | selecting a CDROM drive for FreeBSD use is to buy a very standard SCSI | |
326 | model; they cost more, but deliver very solid performance in return. | |
327 | Do not be fooled by very cheap drives that, in turn, deliver VERY LOW | |
328 | performance! As always, you get what you pay for. | |
329 | ||
330 | The Mitsumi driver is known to be extremely slow compared to SCSI | |
331 | drives. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
332 | |
333 | ||
097d4e7a | 334 | 2.4: What multi-port serial cards are supported by FreeBSD? |
9be3e9fc | 335 | |
a04ba5f8 | 336 | AST/4 and BOCA 4/8/16 port cards. Some unnamed clone cards have also |
097d4e7a GW |
337 | been known to work, especially those that claim to be AST compatible. |
338 | Check the sio(4) man page to get more information on configuring such | |
339 | cards. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
340 | |
341 | ||
097d4e7a | 342 | 2.5: Does FreeBSD support the AHA-2742 SCSI adapter from Adaptec? |
9be3e9fc | 343 | |
097d4e7a GW |
344 | No, FreeBSD does not. This is due to Adaptec's unwillingness to |
345 | supply programming information under other than non-disclosure. This | |
346 | is unfortunate, but there's nothing we can do about it. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
347 | |
348 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
349 | 2.6: I have a Mumbleco bus mouse. Is it supported and if so, how do I set |
350 | it up for XFree86? | |
9be3e9fc | 351 | |
28d2f186 GW |
352 | FreeBSD supports the Logitech and ATI Inport bus mice. You need to |
353 | add the following line to the kernel config file and recompile for the | |
354 | Logitech and ATI mice: | |
9be3e9fc | 355 | |
097d4e7a | 356 | device mse0 at isa? port 0x23c tty irq6 vector mseintr |
9be3e9fc GCI |
357 | |
358 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
359 | 2.7: I have a PS/2 mouse (`keyboard' mouse) [Alternatively: I have a |
360 | laptop with a track-ball mouse]. How do I use it? | |
9be3e9fc | 361 | |
097d4e7a GW |
362 | For the PS/2 mouse you need to look in |
363 | /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/programs/psm, which is John Solhed's port of the | |
364 | Linux PS/2 mouse driver. | |
9be3e9fc | 365 | |
097d4e7a GW |
366 | Follow the directions in the package. You will also need to change |
367 | your Xconfig file to point to the mouse. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
368 | |
369 | ||
097d4e7a | 370 | 2.8: What types of tape drives are supported under FreeBSD? |
9be3e9fc | 371 | |
097d4e7a GW |
372 | FreeBSD supports SCSI, QIC-02 and QIC-40/80 (Floppy based) tape |
373 | drives. This includes 8-mm (aka Exabyte) and DAT drives. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
374 | |
375 | ||
097d4e7a | 376 | 2.9: What sound cards are supported by FreeBSD? |
9be3e9fc | 377 | |
097d4e7a GW |
378 | FreeBSD supports the SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster Pro, Pro Audio |
379 | Spectrum 16, AdLib and Gravis UltraSound sound cards. There is also | |
380 | limited support for MPU-401 and compatible MIDI cards. The | |
381 | SoundBlaster 16 and SoundBlaster 16 ASP cards are not yet supported. | |
382 | NOTE: This is only for sound! This driver does not support CD-ROMs, | |
383 | SCSI or joysticks on these cards. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
384 | |
385 | ||
097d4e7a | 386 | 2.10: What network cards does FreeBSD support? |
9be3e9fc GCI |
387 | |
388 | There is support for the following cards: | |
9be3e9fc | 389 | |
28d2f186 | 390 | `ed' driver: |
097d4e7a | 391 | NE2000 and 1000 |
a04ba5f8 | 392 | WD/SMC 8003, 8013 and Elite Ultra (8216) |
097d4e7a GW |
393 | 3Com 3c503 |
394 | And clones of the above | |
28d2f186 GW |
395 | |
396 | `ie' driver: | |
097d4e7a | 397 | AT&T EN100/StarLAN 10 |
28d2f186 | 398 | |
9a5e2769 | 399 | `is' driver: |
097d4e7a GW |
400 | Isolan AT 4141-0 |
401 | Isolink 4110 | |
28d2f186 GW |
402 | |
403 | `ep' driver: | |
097d4e7a | 404 | 3com 3c509 (*) |
28d2f186 GW |
405 | |
406 | ||
407 | (*)The `ep' driver is known to have some problems; see the | |
408 | /usr/src/KNOWNBUGS file for more details. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
409 | |
410 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
411 | 2.11: I have a 386/486sx/486SLC machine without a math co-processor. |
412 | Will this cause me any problems? | |
d73430f6 JH |
413 | |
414 | Generally no, but there are circumstances where you will take a hit, | |
415 | either in performance or accuracy of the math emulation code (see | |
097d4e7a GW |
416 | section 4.1). In particular, drawing arcs in X will be VERY slow. It |
417 | is highly recommended that you lay out the $50 or so for a math | |
418 | co-processor; it's well worth it. NOTE: Some math co-processors are | |
419 | better than others. It pains us to say it, but nobody ever got fired | |
420 | for buying Intel. Unless you're sure it works with FreeBSD, beware of | |
421 | clones. | |
d73430f6 JH |
422 | |
423 | ||
097d4e7a | 424 | \f |
58b988d7 GW |
425 | 3 Commercial Applications |
426 | ------------------------- | |
9be3e9fc | 427 | |
28d2f186 GW |
428 | Note: This section is still very sparse, though we're hoping, of |
429 | course, that companies will add to it! :) The FreeBSD group has no | |
430 | financial interest in any of the companies listed here but simply | |
431 | lists them as a public service (and feels that commercial interest in | |
432 | FreeBSD can have very positive effects on FreeBSD's long-term | |
433 | viability). We encourage commercial software vendors to send their | |
434 | entries here for inclusion. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
435 | |
436 | ||
097d4e7a | 437 | 3.1: Where can I get Motif for FreeBSD? |
9be3e9fc | 438 | |
32e6aeb0 | 439 | Sequoia International provides commercial quality Motif 1.2.3 |
097d4e7a GW |
440 | development kits for FreeBSD 1.1 (with full shared library support) |
441 | under the product name of `SWiM'. Due to licensing restrictions from | |
442 | the OSF, and the fact that Sequoia needs to make a living, these are | |
443 | NOT FREE, but nonetheless quite reasonably priced in comparison to | |
444 | many other commercial Motif distributions. Send electronic mail to | |
445 | <info@seq.com> for further information. | |
9be3e9fc | 446 | |
097d4e7a | 447 | 3.2: What about other commercial quality development systems for FreeBSD? |
9be3e9fc | 448 | |
38b6cb21 | 449 | ParcPlace Systems, Inc., who currently provides their excellent |
097d4e7a GW |
450 | `Object Interface & Object Builder' GUI development environment free |
451 | of charge to Linux users, is considering the the FreeBSD platform and | |
452 | will make their intentions known fairly shortly. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
453 | |
454 | ||
097d4e7a | 455 | \f |
58b988d7 GW |
456 | 4 User Applications |
457 | ------------------- | |
9be3e9fc | 458 | |
097d4e7a | 459 | 4.1: I want to run X, how do I go about it? |
9be3e9fc | 460 | |
097d4e7a GW |
461 | First, get the XFree86 distribution of X11R5 from XFree86.cdrom.com. |
462 | The version you want for FreeBSD 1.1 and later is XFree86 2.1. Follow | |
463 | the instructions for installation carefully. You may then wish to read | |
464 | the documentation for the ConfigXF86 tool, which assists you in | |
465 | configuring XFree86 for your particular graphics card/mouse/etc. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
466 | |
467 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
468 | 4.1: I've been trying to run ghostscript on a 386 (or 486sx) with no |
469 | math co-processor and I keep getting errors. What's up? | |
9be3e9fc | 470 | |
097d4e7a GW |
471 | The problem here is due to the current FreeBSD math-emulator. You |
472 | need to pick up the sources to an alternate emulation package, which | |
473 | you may find in: | |
80df965c | 474 | |
28d7fa3d | 475 | /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/programs/fpu-emu |
9be3e9fc | 476 | |
80df965c JH |
477 | Follow the instructions supplied. |
478 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
479 | This is a port of an older Linux math-emulator. At some point, |
480 | FreeBSD's default math emulator will be good enough that you can | |
481 | forget about having to do this. | |
9be3e9fc | 482 | |
4f3d904a GCI |
483 | <CURRENT> |
484 | For current you may add the following to your kernel config file and | |
485 | it will be compiled in. | |
486 | options GPL_MATH_EMULATE | |
a04ba5f8 | 487 | NOTE: You will need to remove the MATH_EMULATE option when you do this. |
9be3e9fc | 488 | |
097d4e7a GW |
489 | 4.2: If I want something like seyon, term, Kermit, emacs or any one of |
490 | hundreds of popular freeware utilities, is there a good place to | |
491 | search through first? | |
9be3e9fc | 492 | |
097d4e7a GW |
493 | Yes, the FreeBSD `ports collection' was put together for just that |
494 | purpose. It contains some of the most often requested languages, | |
495 | editors, mail and news reading programs, network software and many | |
496 | many megabytes of other types of useful goodies. CDROM people will | |
497 | probably have the ports collection already in /usr/ports, other folks | |
498 | can get at the latest snapshot of the entire collection in: | |
9be3e9fc | 499 | |
097d4e7a | 500 | FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/ports |
9be3e9fc | 501 | |
097d4e7a GW |
502 | Note that this FTP server permits getting entire directories as one |
503 | (optionally gzipped or compressed) tar file. Read the FTP welcome | |
504 | banner carefully for details. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
505 | |
506 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
507 | 4.3: I want all this neat software, but I haven't got the space or |
508 | CPU power to compile it all myself. Is there any way of getting | |
509 | binaries? | |
9be3e9fc | 510 | |
28d2f186 | 511 | Yes. We support the concept of a `package', which is essentially a |
097d4e7a GW |
512 | gzipped binary distribution with a little extra intelligence embedded |
513 | in it for doing any custom installation work required. Packages can | |
514 | also be installed or deinstalled again easily without having to know | |
515 | the gory details. CDROM people will have a packages/ directory on | |
516 | their CD, others can get the currently available packages from: | |
9be3e9fc | 517 | |
097d4e7a | 518 | FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/packages-1.1 |
9be3e9fc GCI |
519 | |
520 | Note that all ports may not be available as packages, and that new | |
521 | packages are constantly being added. It is always a good idea to | |
097d4e7a GW |
522 | check periodically to see which packages are available. A README file |
523 | in the packages directory provides more details on the care and | |
524 | feeding of the package software, so no explicit details will be given | |
525 | here. | |
9be3e9fc | 526 | |
7fa46f7a | 527 | |
097d4e7a | 528 | \f |
1f060cdf | 529 | 5 Miscellaneous Questions |
58b988d7 | 530 | ---------------- |
9be3e9fc | 531 | |
097d4e7a GW |
532 | 5.1: I've heard of something called FreeBSD-current. How do I run it, and |
533 | where can I get more information? | |
9be3e9fc | 534 | |
097d4e7a GW |
535 | Read the file /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.current.policy, |
536 | it will tell you all you need to know. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
537 | |
538 | ||
097d4e7a | 539 | 5.2: What is this thing called `sup', and how do I use it? |
9be3e9fc GCI |
540 | |
541 | SUP stands for Software Update Protocol, and was developed by CMU for | |
097d4e7a GW |
542 | keeping their development trees in sync. We use it to keep remote |
543 | sites in sync with our central development sources. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
544 | |
545 | To use it, you need to have direct internet connectivity (not just | |
546 | mail or news). First, pick up the sup_bin.tgz package from: | |
547 | ||
097d4e7a | 548 | FreeBSD.cdrom.com:pub/FreeBSD/packages |
9be3e9fc GCI |
549 | |
550 | Second, read the file /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.sup.faq. | |
551 | ||
552 | This file describes how to setup sup on your machine. You may also | |
28d2f186 | 553 | want to look at /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.*.supfile, |
9be3e9fc GCI |
554 | which are a set of supfiles for supping from freefall.cdrom.com |
555 | ||
556 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
557 | 5.3: How do I create customized installation disks that I can give |
558 | out to other people at my site? | |
58b988d7 GW |
559 | |
560 | The entire process of creating installation disks and source and | |
561 | binary archives is automated by various targets in | |
562 | /usr/src/etc/Makefile. The information there should be enough to get | |
563 | you started. | |
9be3e9fc | 564 | |
097d4e7a GW |
565 | 5.4: How do I re-build my system without clobbering the existing |
566 | installed binaries? | |
58b988d7 GW |
567 | |
568 | If you define the environment variable DESTDIR while running `make | |
569 | world' or `make install', the newly-created binaries will be deposited | |
570 | in a directory tree identical to the installed one, rooted at | |
571 | ${DESTDIR}. Some random combination of shared libraries modifications | |
572 | and program rebuilds can cause this to fail in `make world', however. | |
573 | ||
574 | ||
1f060cdf GW |
575 | 5.5: When my system booted, it told me that ``(bus speed defaulted)''. |
576 | What does that mean? | |
577 | ||
578 | The Adaptec 1542 SCSI host adapters allow the user to configure their | |
579 | bus access speed in software. Previous versions of the 1542 driver tried | |
580 | to determine the fastest usable speed and set the adapter to that. We | |
581 | found that this breaks some users' systems, so you now have to define | |
582 | the ``TUNE_1542''' kernel configuration option in order to have this | |
583 | take place. Using it on those systems where it works may make your | |
584 | disks run faster, but on those systems where it doesn't, your data could | |
585 | be corrupted. | |
586 | ||
ac84735e GCI |
587 | 5.6: I would like to track changes to current. Is there any other way |
588 | besides downloading the whole tree? | |
589 | ||
590 | Yes, Poul-Henning has set up a source tracking list. Please email | |
591 | majordomo@ref.tfs.com with a body of "get ctm-src-cur README" for | |
592 | futher information. | |
593 | ||
594 | ||
097d4e7a | 595 | \f |
58b988d7 GW |
596 | 6 Kernel Configuration |
597 | ---------------------- | |
598 | ||
599 | 6.1: When I compile a kernel with multi-port serial code, it tells me | |
097d4e7a GW |
600 | that only the first port is probed and the rest skipped due to |
601 | interrupt conflicts. How do I fix this? | |
9be3e9fc | 602 | |
097d4e7a GW |
603 | The problem here is that FreeBSD has code built-in to keep the kernel |
604 | from getting trashed due to hardware or software conflicts. The way | |
605 | to fix this is to leave out the IRQ settings on other ports besides | |
606 | the first. Here is a example: | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
607 | |
608 | # | |
609 | # Multiport high-speed serial line - 16550 UARTS | |
610 | # | |
611 | device sio2 at isa? port 0x2a0 tty irq 5 flags 0x501 vector siointr | |
612 | device sio3 at isa? port 0x2a8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr | |
613 | device sio4 at isa? port 0x2b0 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr | |
614 | device sio5 at isa? port 0x2b8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr | |
615 | ||
9be3e9fc | 616 | |
58b988d7 | 617 | 6.2: FreeBSD is supposed to come with support for QIC-40/80 drives but |
7fa46f7a | 618 | when I look, I can't find it. |
9be3e9fc | 619 | |
097d4e7a GW |
620 | You need to uncomment the following line in the generic config file |
621 | (or add it to your config file) and recompile. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
622 | |
623 | controller fdc0 at isa? port "IO_FD1" bio irq 6 drq 2 vector fdintr | |
624 | disk fd0 at fdc0 drive 0 | |
625 | disk fd1 at fdc0 drive 1 | |
626 | #tape ft0 at fdc0 drive 2 | |
627 | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | |
628 | ||
629 | ||
58b988d7 | 630 | 6.3: Does FreeBSD support IPC primitives like those in System V? |
9be3e9fc | 631 | |
097d4e7a GW |
632 | Yes, FreeBSD supports System V-style IPC. This includes shared |
633 | memory, messages and semaphores. You need to add the following lines | |
634 | to your kernel config to enable them. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
635 | |
636 | options SYSVSHM | |
637 | options "SHMMAXPGS=64" # 256Kb of sharable memory | |
638 | options SYSVSEM # enable for semaphores | |
639 | options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging | |
640 | ||
641 | Recompile and install. | |
642 | ||
643 | ||
097d4e7a | 644 | 6.4: Are there any utilities that make configuring a kernel easier? |
4a219cbb | 645 | |
097d4e7a GW |
646 | Well, yes and no. Look in /sys/i386/doc/options.doc (/sys/doc on post |
647 | 1.1 systems) for a list of kernel options you can set, and what they | |
648 | do. For a friendlier front-end to the process, see | |
649 | /usr/src/contrib/configit | |
4a219cbb JH |
650 | |
651 | ||
097d4e7a | 652 | 6.5: Will FreeBSD ever support other architectures? |
58b988d7 GW |
653 | |
654 | Several different groups have expressed interest in working on | |
655 | multi-architecture support for FreeBSD. If you are interested in | |
656 | doing so, please contact the developers at | |
657 | <FreeBSD-hackers@freefall.cdrom.com> for more information on our | |
658 | strategy for porting. | |
659 | ||
58b988d7 | 660 | |
097d4e7a GW |
661 | 6.6: I just wrote a device driver for a Foobar Systems, Inc. |
662 | Integrated Adaptive Gronkulator card. How do I get the | |
663 | appropriate major numbers assigned? | |
664 | ||
665 | This depends on whether or not you plan on making the driver publicly | |
666 | available. If you do, then please send us a copy of the driver source | |
667 | code, plus the appropriate modifications to files.i386, a sample | |
668 | configuration file entry, and the appropriate MAKEDEV code to create | |
669 | any special files your device uses. If you do not, or are unable to | |
670 | because of licensing restrictions, then character major number 32 and | |
671 | block major number 8 have been reserved specifically for this purpose; | |
672 | please use them. In any case, we'd appreciate hearing about your | |
673 | driver on <FreeBSD-hackers@freefall.cdrom.com>. | |
9be3e9fc | 674 | |
9be3e9fc | 675 | |
097d4e7a | 676 | \f |
58b988d7 GW |
677 | 7 System Administration |
678 | ----------------------- | |
679 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
680 | 7.1: How do I add a user easily? I read the man page and am more confused |
681 | than ever! [Alternatively: I didn't read the man page, I never read | |
682 | man pages! :-) ] | |
9be3e9fc | 683 | |
097d4e7a GW |
684 | Look at Gary Clark's Perl package ``AddIt'', which may be found in |
685 | /usr/src/contrib/adduser. This is a first attempt at solving the | |
686 | problem and may be replaced with a more complex but capable solution | |
687 | later. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
688 | |
689 | ||
58b988d7 | 690 | 7.2: I'm trying to use my printer and keep running into problems. I tried |
7fa46f7a | 691 | looking at /etc/printcap, but it's close to useless. Any ideas? |
9be3e9fc GCI |
692 | |
693 | Yes, you can pick up Andreas Klemm's apsfilter package from: | |
694 | ||
58b988d7 | 695 | ftp.germany.eu.net:pub/comp/i386/Linux/Local.EUnet/People/akl/apsfilter-1.11.gz |
9be3e9fc | 696 | |
4a219cbb JH |
697 | This is a complete package for printing text, PS and DVI files. It |
698 | requires ghostscript and dvips. | |
80df965c | 699 | |
58b988d7 GW |
700 | If you are looking for a simple printcap just for PS and text files, |
701 | try picking up the printcap01 sources in: | |
80df965c | 702 | |
28d7fa3d | 703 | /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/programs/printcap01 |
9be3e9fc | 704 | |
097d4e7a GW |
705 | NOTE: We're looking for printcap entries for all printers. If you |
706 | have one, or a filter for one, please send it or mail us a pointer to | |
707 | <FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com>. Thanks! | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
708 | |
709 | ||
58b988d7 GW |
710 | 8 Networking |
711 | ------------ | |
9be3e9fc | 712 | |
097d4e7a GW |
713 | 8.1: Where can I get information booting FreeBSD `diskless', that is |
714 | booting and running a FreeBSD box from a server rather than having | |
715 | a local disk? | |
9be3e9fc | 716 | |
80df965c | 717 | Please read /sys/i386/netboot/netboot.doc. |
9be3e9fc GCI |
718 | |
719 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
720 | 8.2: I've heard that you can use a FreeBSD box as a dedicated network |
721 | router - is there any easy support for this? | |
9be3e9fc | 722 | |
28d2f186 GW |
723 | Internet standards and good engineering practice prohibit us from |
724 | providing packet forwarding by default in FreeBSD. You can enable | |
725 | this support by adding `options GATEWAY' to your kernel configuration | |
726 | file and recompiling. In most cases, you will also need to run a | |
727 | routing process to tell other systems on your network about your | |
728 | router; FreeBSD comes with the standard BSD routing daemon routed(8), | |
729 | or for more complex situations you may want to try GateD (available by | |
097d4e7a | 730 | FTP from gated.Cornell.edu). |
28d2f186 GW |
731 | |
732 | It is our duty to warn you that, even when FreeBSD is configured in | |
733 | this way, it does not completely comply with the Internet standard | |
734 | requirements for routers; however, it comes close enough for ordinary | |
735 | usage. | |
736 | ||
737 | There is a standard `router floppy' that you can boot on a FreeBSD | |
80df965c JH |
738 | machine to configure it as a network router. Please look in: |
739 | ||
097d4e7a | 740 | freefall.cdrom.com:pub/incoming/freertr |
80df965c | 741 | |
58b988d7 | 742 | and follow the instructions. |
9be3e9fc GCI |
743 | |
744 | ||
097d4e7a | 745 | 8.3: Does FreeBSD support SLIP and PPP? |
9be3e9fc | 746 | |
097d4e7a GW |
747 | Yes. See the man pages for slattach(8) and/or pppd(8) if you're using |
748 | FreeBSD to connect to another site. If you're using FreeBSD as a | |
749 | server for other machines, look at the man page for sliplogin(8). | |
9be3e9fc | 750 | |
097d4e7a | 751 | 8.4: How do I set up NTP? |
28d2f186 GW |
752 | |
753 | NTP configuration is so complex and widely variable from site to site | |
754 | that it would be impossible to make a blanket statement here. Your | |
755 | best bet is to ask whoever's in charge of NTP at your site or network | |
756 | provider; chances are that they are running a similar version of NTP | |
757 | to the one that we provide, and they can probably provide you with the | |
758 | right configuration files to get things going. | |
759 | ||
760 | If you can't find anyone in charge, you should examine the files in | |
761 | /usr/src/contrib/xntpd/doc and see if they help any. If not, you | |
762 | could ask on the comp.protocols.time.ntp newsgroup, or the | |
097d4e7a | 763 | <ntp@ni.umd.edu> mailing-list. |
28d2f186 | 764 | |
097d4e7a GW |
765 | 8.5: How do I get my network set up? I don't see how to make my |
766 | /dev/ed0 device! | |
28d2f186 | 767 | |
58b988d7 | 768 | In the Berkeley networking framework, network interfaces are only |
097d4e7a | 769 | directly accessible by kernel code. Please see the /etc/netstart file |
58b988d7 GW |
770 | and the manual pages for the various network programs mentioned there |
771 | for more information. If this leaves you totally confused, then you | |
772 | should pick up a book describing network administration on another | |
773 | BSD-related operating system; with few significant exceptions, | |
774 | administering networking on FreeBSD is basically the same as on SunOS | |
775 | 4.0 or Ultrix. | |
776 | ||
097d4e7a | 777 | 8.6: How do I get my 3C503 to use the other network port? |
58b988d7 GW |
778 | |
779 | Use `ifconfig ed0' to see whether the ALTPHYS flag is set, and then | |
780 | use either `ifconfig ed0 altphys' if it was off, or `ifconfig ed0 | |
781 | -altphys' if it was on. | |
782 | ||
783 | ||
784 | 9 Serial Communications | |
785 | ----------------------- | |
9be3e9fc | 786 | |
097d4e7a | 787 | 9.1: When I do a set line in Kermit it locks up, what's the problem? |
9be3e9fc GCI |
788 | |
789 | The problem here is that FreeBSD thinks it's talking to a incoming | |
790 | modem connection, and is waiting for carrier to come up on it before | |
791 | completing the open. To disable modem control, do an: | |
792 | ||
097d4e7a | 793 | stty -f /dev/ttyXX clocal |
9be3e9fc GCI |
794 | |
795 | (Where `ttyXX' is the tty port you're using). If you use a given port | |
796 | only for outgoing connections, you may wish to put this command in | |
097d4e7a GW |
797 | your /etc/rc.local to avoid having to do it every time you reboot your |
798 | system. | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
799 | |
800 | ||
097d4e7a GW |
801 | NOTE: Anyone wishing to submit a FAQ entry on how to get tip and cu working |
802 | would have it much appreciated! We all use Kermit over here! :-) | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
803 | |
804 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
097d4e7a GW |
805 | If you see a problem with this FAQ, or wish to submit an entry, please |
806 | mail us at <FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com>. We appreciate your | |
807 | feedback, and cannot make this a better FAQ without your help! | |
9be3e9fc GCI |
808 | |
809 | ||
810 | FreeBSD Core Team | |
811 | ||
812 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
813 | ||
097d4e7a | 814 | ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: |
9be3e9fc | 815 | |
097d4e7a | 816 | Gary Clark II - Our head FreeBSD FAQ maintenance man |
9be3e9fc | 817 | Jordan Hubbard - Janitorial services (I don't do windows) |
097d4e7a | 818 | Garrett Wollman - Networking and formatting |
0b834f39 | 819 | Robert Oliver, Jr. - Ideas and dumb questions (That made me think) |
245b6898 | 820 | Ollivier Robert - Invaluable feedback and contributions |
9be3e9fc GCI |
821 | The FreeBSD Team - Kvetching, moaning, submitting data |
822 | ||
823 | And to any others we've forgotten, apologies and heartfelt thanks! | |
824 |