| 1 | |
| 2 | FreeBSD |
| 3 | Freqently Asked Questions |
| 4 | For Version 1.1 and above |
| 5 | Please mail all suggestions and additions to FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com |
| 6 | |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Last updated: Fri Apr 15 11:25:20 GMT 1994 |
| 9 | |
| 10 | |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Table of Contents |
| 13 | ----------------- |
| 14 | |
| 15 | 0.0 Preface |
| 16 | 1.0 Installation |
| 17 | 2.0 Hardware Compatibility |
| 18 | 3.0 Commercial applications |
| 19 | 4.0 User Applications |
| 20 | 5.0 Misc Questions |
| 21 | 6.0 Kernel Configuration |
| 22 | 7.0 System Admin |
| 23 | 8.0 Networking |
| 24 | 9.0 Communications |
| 25 | |
| 26 | |
| 27 | 0.0 Preface |
| 28 | ----------- |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Welcome to the FreeBSD 1.1 FAQ! This document tries to answer some of |
| 31 | the most frequently asked questions about FreeBSD 1.1 (or later, unless |
| 32 | specifically indicated). If there's something you're having trouble |
| 33 | with and you just don't see it here, then please send mail to: |
| 34 | |
| 35 | freebsd-questions@freefall.cdrom.com |
| 36 | |
| 37 | Or, if it's a bug you wish to report, to: |
| 38 | |
| 39 | freebsd-bugs@freefall.cdrom.com |
| 40 | |
| 41 | Some of the instructions here will also refer to auxilliary utilities |
| 42 | in the /usr/src/share/FAQ directory. CDROM purchasers and net folks who've |
| 43 | grabbed the FreeBSD 1.1 `srcdist' will have these files. If you don't have |
| 44 | the source distribution, then you can either grab the whole thing from: |
| 45 | |
| 46 | freebsd.cdrom.com:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-1.1 |
| 47 | |
| 48 | Or you can grab only those files you're interested in straight out of the |
| 49 | FreeBSD-current distribution in: |
| 50 | |
| 51 | freebsd.cdrom.com:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/src |
| 52 | |
| 53 | Thanks! |
| 54 | |
| 55 | |
| 56 | |
| 57 | 1.0 Installation |
| 58 | ---------------- |
| 59 | |
| 60 | 1.0.1: I just installed my system and rebooted. Now I can't find the |
| 61 | extract or configure programs, where did they go? |
| 62 | |
| 63 | |
| 64 | These two commands are just shell builtins. To get these back, either |
| 65 | create a account [adding a user] with /.profile as its profile or |
| 66 | boot FreeBSD with a '-s' at the boot prompt. |
| 67 | |
| 68 | |
| 69 | 1.0.2: I want to install FreeBSD unto a SCSI disk that has more than |
| 70 | 1024 cylinders. How do I do it? |
| 71 | |
| 72 | This depends. If you don't have DOS (or another operating system) on the |
| 73 | system, you can just keep the drive in native mode and simply make sure that |
| 74 | your root partition is below 1024 so the bios can boot the kernel from it. |
| 75 | It you also have DOS/some other OS on the drive then your best bet is to find |
| 76 | out what parameters that it thinks you have before installing FreeBSD. When |
| 77 | FreeBSD's installation procedure prompts you for these values, you should then |
| 78 | enter them rather than simply going with the defaults. |
| 79 | |
| 80 | There is a freely available utility distributed with FreeBSD called `pfdisk' |
| 81 | (located in the tools/ subdirectory) which can be used for this purpose. |
| 82 | |
| 83 | |
| 84 | 1.0.3: When I boot FreeBSD it says "Missing Operating System". |
| 85 | |
| 86 | See above (1.0.2). This is classicaly a case of FreeBSD and DOS or some other |
| 87 | OS conflicting over their ideas of disk geometry. You will have to reinstall |
| 88 | FreeBSD, but obeying the instructions given above will almost always get you |
| 89 | going. |
| 90 | |
| 91 | |
| 92 | 1.0.4: I have an IDE drive with lots of bad blocks on it and FreeBSD doesn't |
| 93 | seem to install properly. |
| 94 | |
| 95 | FreeBSD's bad block (bad144) handling is still not 100% (to put it charitably) |
| 96 | and it must unfortunately be said that if you've got an IDE or ESDI drive |
| 97 | with lots of bad blocks, then FreeBSD is probably not for you! That said, it |
| 98 | does work on thousands of IDE based systems, so you'd do well to try it first |
| 99 | before simply iving up. |
| 100 | |
| 101 | |
| 102 | 1.0.5: I have 32MB of memory, should I expect any special problems? |
| 103 | |
| 104 | If you have an IDE controller, no. Likewise, if you have a full EISA system |
| 105 | with EISA disk controller or a working local bus controller (read further) |
| 106 | you'll have no problems. If you have an ISA system, or an EISA system with an |
| 107 | ISA disk controller then you will most certainly have problems with the upper |
| 108 | 16MB of memory due to the ISA 24 bit DMA limitation (which ISA cards in EISA |
| 109 | systems will also exhibit). If you have a local bus disk controller, and it's |
| 110 | NOT a Buslogic Bt445S with a revision less than `D' (BIOS 3.36 or earlier), |
| 111 | then you should be OK. Never fear, however, as all is not lost. |
| 112 | FreeBSD-current (and the upcoming FreeBSD 1.2) have bounce-buffer support that |
| 113 | make all of the above scenarios work with a full 32MB of memory or more. You |
| 114 | are therefore advised to simply pull 16MB of memory out, install, and then see |
| 115 | about upgrading to FreeBSD-current or FreeBSD 1.2 (when it comes out) so that |
| 116 | you can put it back. |
| 117 | |
| 118 | |
| 119 | |
| 120 | 2.0 Hardware compatibility |
| 121 | -------------------------- |
| 122 | |
| 123 | 2.0.1: What kind of hard drives does FreeBSD run on? |
| 124 | |
| 125 | FreeBSD supports MFM, RLL, ESDI, IDE and SCSI hard drives. |
| 126 | |
| 127 | |
| 128 | 2.0.2: What SCSI controllers are supported? |
| 129 | |
| 130 | FreeBSD supports the following SCSI controllers: |
| 131 | |
| 132 | Adaptec AH-1542 Series (ISA> |
| 133 | AH-1742 Series <EISA> |
| 134 | Buslogic BT-445 Series <VLB> (*) |
| 135 | BT-545 Series <ISA> |
| 136 | BT-742 Series <EISA> |
| 137 | UltraStor UH-14f Series <ISA> |
| 138 | UH-34f Series <EISA> |
| 139 | |
| 140 | There is supposed to be a UltraStor 24f driver floating around, but we're |
| 141 | not sure where (could someone please point us at it?). Note that we do |
| 142 | NOT support `Future Domain' or `IN2000' SCSI controllers, typically |
| 143 | the little $50 specials you get with some CDROM drives. You will have to |
| 144 | buy a more mainstream (and capable) SCSI controller. |
| 145 | |
| 146 | (*) See section 1.0.5. |
| 147 | |
| 148 | |
| 149 | 2.0.3: What CD-ROM drives are supported by FreeBSD? |
| 150 | |
| 151 | Any SCSI drive connected to a supported controller. |
| 152 | Mitsumi LU002(8bit), LU005(16bit) and FX001D(16bit 2x Speed). |
| 153 | |
| 154 | FreeBSD does NOT support drives connected to a Sound Blaster or non-SCSI |
| 155 | SONY or Panasonic drives. A general rule of thumb when selecting a CDROM |
| 156 | drive for FreeBSD use is to buy a very standard SCSI model; they cost more, |
| 157 | but deliver very solid performance in return. Do not be fooled by very cheap |
| 158 | Mitsumi solutions that, in turn, deliver VERY LOW performance! As always, |
| 159 | you get what you pay for. |
| 160 | |
| 161 | |
| 162 | 2.0.4: What multi-port serial cards are supported by FreeBSD? |
| 163 | |
| 164 | AST/4 and BOCA 4/8 port cards. Some unnamed clone cards have also been |
| 165 | known to work, especially those that claim to be AST compatible. Check |
| 166 | the man page for `sio' to get more information on configuring such cards. |
| 167 | |
| 168 | |
| 169 | 2.0.5: Does FreeBSD support the AHA-2742 SCSI adapter from Adaptec? |
| 170 | |
| 171 | No, FreeBSD does not. This is due to Adaptec's unwillingness to supply |
| 172 | programing information under other than non-disclosure. This is unfortunate. |
| 173 | |
| 174 | |
| 175 | 2.0.6: I have a XXXX bus mouse. Is it supported and if so, how do I set |
| 176 | it up for XFree86? |
| 177 | |
| 178 | FreeBSD supports the Logitech, ATI Inport and PS/2 bus mice. You need to add |
| 179 | the following line to the kernel config file and recompile for the Logitech |
| 180 | and ATI mice: |
| 181 | |
| 182 | device mse0 at isa? port 0x23c tty irq6 vector mseintr |
| 183 | |
| 184 | |
| 185 | 2.0.7: I have a PS/2 mouse (`keyboard' mouse) [Alternatively: I have a |
| 186 | laptop with a trackball mouse]. How do I use it? |
| 187 | |
| 188 | For the PS/2 mouse you need to look in /usr/src/share/FAQ/programs/psm.tar.z, |
| 189 | which is John Solhed's port of the Linux PS/2 mouse driver. |
| 190 | |
| 191 | Follow the directions in the package. You will also need to change your |
| 192 | Xconfig file to point to the mouse. |
| 193 | |
| 194 | |
| 195 | 2.0.8: What types of tape drives are supported under FreeBSD? |
| 196 | |
| 197 | FreeBSD supports SCSI, QIC-02 and QIC-40/80 (Floppy based) tape drives. |
| 198 | This includes Exabyte and DAT drives. |
| 199 | |
| 200 | |
| 201 | 2.0.9: What sound cards are supported by FreeBSD? |
| 202 | |
| 203 | FreeBSD supports the SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster Pro, Pro Audio Spectrum 16, |
| 204 | AdLib and Gravis UltraSound sound cards. There is also limited support |
| 205 | for MPU-401 and compatible midi cards. The SoundBlaster 16 and |
| 206 | SoundBlaster 16 ASP cards are not yet supported. |
| 207 | NOTE: This is only for sound! This driver does not support CD-ROMs, SCSI |
| 208 | or joysticks on these cards. |
| 209 | |
| 210 | |
| 211 | 2.0.10: What network cards does FreeBSD support? |
| 212 | |
| 213 | There is support for the following cards: |
| 214 | NE2000 and 1000 |
| 215 | WD/SMC 8003,8013 and Elite Ultra (8216) |
| 216 | 3Com 3c503 |
| 217 | And clones of the above |
| 218 | AT&T EN100/StarLAN 10 |
| 219 | Isolan AT 4141-0 |
| 220 | Isolink 4110 |
| 221 | 3com 3c509 (BETA) |
| 222 | |
| 223 | |
| 224 | |
| 225 | 3.0 Commercial Applications |
| 226 | --------------------------- |
| 227 | |
| 228 | Note: This section is still very sparse, though we're hoping, of course, |
| 229 | that companies will add to it! :) The FreeBSD group has no ties with any |
| 230 | of the companies listed here but simply lists them as a public service |
| 231 | (and feels that commercial interest in FreeBSD can have very positive |
| 232 | effects on FreeBSD's long-term viability). We encourage commercial software |
| 233 | vendors to send their entries here for inclusion. |
| 234 | |
| 235 | |
| 236 | 3.0.1 Where can I get Motif for FreeBSD? |
| 237 | |
| 238 | Sequoia Communications provides commercial quality Motif 1.2.3 |
| 239 | development kits for FreeBSD 1.1 (with full shared library support). |
| 240 | Due to licensing restrictions from the OSF, and the fact that Sequoia |
| 241 | needs to make a living, these are NOT FREE, but nonetheless quite reasonably |
| 242 | priced in comparison to many other commercial Motif distributions. Send |
| 243 | electronic mail to `info@seq.com' for further information. |
| 244 | >>>> please make sure this is correct! |
| 245 | |
| 246 | 3.0.8 What about other commercial quality development systems for FreeBSD? |
| 247 | |
| 248 | ParcPlace Systems, Inc. provides their excellent "Object Interface & Object |
| 249 | Builder" GUI development environment free of charge to FreeBSD users. Using |
| 250 | OI, you can develop Motif or OpenLook compliant applications in C++ with all |
| 251 | the benefits of a true GUI object hierarchy. This will be announced and |
| 252 | made available as part of the FreeBSD distribution very soon. |
| 253 | |
| 254 | |
| 255 | |
| 256 | 4.0 User Applications |
| 257 | --------------------- |
| 258 | |
| 259 | 4.0.1: I want to run X, how do I go about it? |
| 260 | |
| 261 | First, get the XFree86 distribution of X11R5 from XFree86.cdrom.com. The |
| 262 | version you want for FreeBSD 1.1 and later is XFree86 2.1. Follow the |
| 263 | instructions for installation carefully. You may then wish to read the |
| 264 | documentation for the ConfigXF86 tool, which assists you in configuring |
| 265 | XFree86 for your particular graphics card/mouse/etc. |
| 266 | |
| 267 | |
| 268 | 4.0.1: I've been trying to run ghostscript on a 386 with no math-co but |
| 269 | keep getting errors. Whats up? |
| 270 | |
| 271 | The problem here is due to the current FreeBSD math-emulator. You need to |
| 272 | pick up the package in /usr/src/share/FAQ/programs/math-emulator.tar.gz |
| 273 | |
| 274 | Run the install program, recompile your kernel and install the new kernel. |
| 275 | This is a port of an older Linux math-emulator. At some point, FreeBSD's |
| 276 | default math emulator will be good enough to enable you to forget about |
| 277 | having to do this. |
| 278 | |
| 279 | |
| 280 | 4.0.2: If I want something like seyon, term, kermit, emacs or any one of |
| 281 | hundreds of popular freeware utilities, is there a good place to |
| 282 | search through first? |
| 283 | |
| 284 | Yes, the FreeBSD `ports collection' was put together for just that purpose. |
| 285 | It contains some of the most often requested languages, editors, mail and |
| 286 | news reading programs, network software and many many megabytes of other |
| 287 | types of useful goodies. CDROM people will probably have the ports collection |
| 288 | already in /usr/ports, other folks can get at the latest snapshot of the |
| 289 | entire collection in: |
| 290 | |
| 291 | freebsd.cdrom.com:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/ports |
| 292 | |
| 293 | Note that freebsd's ftp server permits getting entire directories as one |
| 294 | (optionally gzip'd or compressed) tar file. Read the ftp welcome banner |
| 295 | carefully for details. |
| 296 | |
| 297 | |
| 298 | 4.0.3: I want all this neat software, but I haven't got the space or |
| 299 | CPU power to compile it all myself. Is there any way of getting |
| 300 | binaries? |
| 301 | |
| 302 | Yes. FreeBSD supports the concept of a `package', which is |
| 303 | essentially a gzip'd binary distribution with a little extra |
| 304 | intelligence imbeded in it for doing any custom installation work |
| 305 | required. Packages can also be installed or deinstalled again easily |
| 306 | without having to know the gory details. CDROM people will have a |
| 307 | packages/ directory on their CD, others can get the currently |
| 308 | available packages from: |
| 309 | |
| 310 | freebsd.cdrom.com:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/packages-1.1 |
| 311 | |
| 312 | Note that all ports may not be available as packages, and that new |
| 313 | packages are constantly being added. It is always a good idea to |
| 314 | check periodically to see which packages are available. A README |
| 315 | file in the packages directory provides more details on the care |
| 316 | and feeding of the package software, so no explicit details will |
| 317 | be given here. |
| 318 | |
| 319 | |
| 320 | 5.0 Misc Questions |
| 321 | ------------------ |
| 322 | |
| 323 | 5.0.1: I've heard of something called FreeBSD-current. How do I run it, and |
| 324 | where can I get more information? |
| 325 | |
| 326 | Read the file /usr/src/share/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.current.policy, it |
| 327 | will tell you all you need to know. |
| 328 | |
| 329 | |
| 330 | 5.0.2: What is this thing called `sup', and how do I use it? |
| 331 | |
| 332 | SUP stands for Software Update Protocol, and was developed by CMU for |
| 333 | keeping their development trees in sync. We use it to keep remote sites |
| 334 | in sync with our central development sources. |
| 335 | |
| 336 | To use it, you need to have direct internet connectivity (not just |
| 337 | mail or news). First, pick up the sup_bin.tgz package from: |
| 338 | |
| 339 | freebsd.cdrom.com:/pub/FreeBSD/packages |
| 340 | |
| 341 | Second, read the file /usr/src/share/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/FreeBSD.sup.faq. |
| 342 | |
| 343 | This file describes how to setup sup on your machine. You may also |
| 344 | want to look at `/usr/src/share/FAQ/other/FreeBSD.*.supfile', |
| 345 | which are a set of supfiles for supping from freefall.cdrom.com |
| 346 | |
| 347 | |
| 348 | |
| 349 | 6.0 Kernel Configuration |
| 350 | |
| 351 | 6.0.1: When I compile a kernel with multi-port serial code, it tells me |
| 352 | that only the first port is probed and the rest skiped due to |
| 353 | interupt conflicts. How do I fix this? |
| 354 | |
| 355 | The problem here is that FreeBSD has code built-in to keep the kernel from |
| 356 | getting trashed due to hardware or software conflicts. The way to fix this |
| 357 | is to leave out the irq settings on other ports besides the first. Here is |
| 358 | a example: |
| 359 | |
| 360 | # |
| 361 | # Multiport high-speed serial line - 16550 UARTS |
| 362 | # |
| 363 | device sio2 at isa? port 0x2a0 tty irq 5 flags 0x501 vector siointr |
| 364 | device sio3 at isa? port 0x2a8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr |
| 365 | device sio4 at isa? port 0x2b0 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr |
| 366 | device sio5 at isa? port 0x2b8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr |
| 367 | |
| 368 | You may also want to look at the multi-port serial FAQ in |
| 369 | /usr/src/share/FAQ/OTHER-FAQS/multi-port.serial.FAQ. |
| 370 | |
| 371 | |
| 372 | 6.0.2: FreeBSD is supposed to come with support for QIC-40/80 drives but |
| 373 | when I look, I can't find it. |
| 374 | |
| 375 | You need to uncomment the following line in the generic config file (or add |
| 376 | it to your config file) and recompile. |
| 377 | |
| 378 | controller fdc0 at isa? port "IO_FD1" bio irq 6 drq 2 vector fdintr |
| 379 | disk fd0 at fdc0 drive 0 |
| 380 | disk fd1 at fdc0 drive 1 |
| 381 | #tape ft0 at fdc0 drive 2 |
| 382 | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
| 383 | |
| 384 | |
| 385 | 6.0.3: Does FreeBSD support SYSV IPC, shared memory, etc? |
| 386 | |
| 387 | Yes, FreeBSD supports SYSV IPC. This includes shared memory, messages and |
| 388 | semaphores. You need to add the following lines to your kernel config to |
| 389 | enable them. |
| 390 | |
| 391 | options SYSVSHM |
| 392 | options "SHMMAXPGS=64" # 256Kb of sharable memory |
| 393 | options SYSVSEM # enable for semaphores |
| 394 | options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging |
| 395 | |
| 396 | Recompile and install. |
| 397 | |
| 398 | |
| 399 | |
| 400 | 7.0 System Administration |
| 401 | ------------------------- |
| 402 | |
| 403 | 7.0.1: How do I add a user easily? I read the man page and am more confused |
| 404 | than ever! [Alternatively: I didn't read the man page, I never read |
| 405 | man pages! :-) ] |
| 406 | |
| 407 | Look at Gary Clark's perl package "AddIt", which may be found in |
| 408 | /usr/src/contrib/adduser. |
| 409 | |
| 410 | |
| 411 | 7.0.2: I'm trying to use my printer and keep running into problems. I tried |
| 412 | looking at /etc/printcap, but it's close to useless. Any ideas? |
| 413 | |
| 414 | Yes, you can pick up Andreas Klemm's apsfilter package from: |
| 415 | |
| 416 | ftp.germany.eu.net:~ftp/pub/comp/i386/Linux/Local.EUnet/People/akl/apsfilter-1.11.gz |
| 417 | |
| 418 | This is a compleate package for printing text, PS and DVI files. It |
| 419 | requires ghostscript and dvips. For a smaller package where you just |
| 420 | want to print simple text files and postscript or just plain want a |
| 421 | simpler package, look in the file: /usr/src/share/FAQ/programs/printcap01.gz |
| 422 | |
| 423 | This includes a printcap for a epson printer and a filter for postscript. |
| 424 | |
| 425 | NOTE: We're looking for printcap entrys for all printers. If you have |
| 426 | one, or a filter for one, please send it or mail us a pointer to |
| 427 | FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com. Thanks! |
| 428 | |
| 429 | |
| 430 | |
| 431 | 8.0 Networking |
| 432 | -------------- |
| 433 | |
| 434 | 8.0.1: Where can I get information booting FreeBSD `diskless', that is |
| 435 | booting and running a FreeBSD box from a server rather than having |
| 436 | a local disk? |
| 437 | |
| 438 | Look in the directory /src/sys/i386/netboot for the file netboot.doc. |
| 439 | |
| 440 | |
| 441 | 8.0.2: I've heard that you can use a FreeBSD box as a dedicated network |
| 442 | router - is there any easy support for this? |
| 443 | |
| 444 | After a fashion, yes. There is a standard `router floppy' that you can |
| 445 | boot on a FreeBSD machine to configure it as a network router. [>>>> put |
| 446 | pointer to router floppy image here ] |
| 447 | |
| 448 | |
| 449 | 8.0.3: Does FreeBSD support SLIP and PPP? |
| 450 | |
| 451 | Yes. See the man pages for slattach and/or pppd if you're using FreeBSD |
| 452 | to connect to another site. If you're using FreeBSD as a server for other |
| 453 | machines, look at the man page for `sliplogin'. |
| 454 | |
| 455 | |
| 456 | |
| 457 | 9.0 Communications |
| 458 | ------------------ |
| 459 | |
| 460 | 9.0.1: When I do a set line in kermit it locks up, whats the problem? |
| 461 | |
| 462 | The problem here is that FreeBSD thinks it's talking to a incoming |
| 463 | modem connection, and is waiting for carrier to come up on it before |
| 464 | completing the open. To disable modem control, do an: |
| 465 | |
| 466 | stty -f /dev/ttyXX clocal |
| 467 | |
| 468 | (Where `ttyXX' is the tty port you're using). If you use a given port |
| 469 | only for outgoing connections, you may wish to put this command in |
| 470 | your /etc/rc.local to avoid having to do it every time you reboot |
| 471 | your system. |
| 472 | |
| 473 | |
| 474 | NOTE: Anyone wishing to submit a FAQ entry on how to get tip and cu working |
| 475 | would have it much appreciated! We all use kermit over here! :-) |
| 476 | |
| 477 | |
| 478 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 479 | If you see a problem with this FAQ, or wish to submit an entry, please mail |
| 480 | us at FreeBSD-FAQ@freefall.cdrom.com. We appreciate your feedback, and cannot |
| 481 | make this a better FAQ without your help! |
| 482 | |
| 483 | |
| 484 | FreeBSD Core Team |
| 485 | |
| 486 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 487 | |
| 488 | ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: |
| 489 | |
| 490 | Gary Clark II - Our head FreeBSD FAQ maintanance man |
| 491 | Jordan Hubbard - Janitorial services (I don't do windows) |
| 492 | Robert Oliver, Jr. - Invaluable feedback and contributions |
| 493 | The FreeBSD Team - Kvetching, moaning, submitting data |
| 494 | |
| 495 | And to any others we've forgotten, apologies and heartfelt thanks! |