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FreeBSD
Frequently Asked Questions
For Version 2.0
Please mail all suggestions and additions to <FAQ@FreeBSD.ORG>
Revision: $Id: FreeBSD.FAQ,v 1.23 1995/03/11 16:48:17 roberto Exp $
All entries are assumed to be relevant to FreeBSD 2.0.
Any entries with a <XXX> are under construction.
Table of Contents
-----------------
0 Preface
1 Installation
2 Hardware Compatibility
3 Commercial applications
4 User Applications
5 Miscellaneous Questions
6 Kernel Configuration
7 System Administration
8 Networking
9 Serial Communications
0 Preface
---------
Welcome to the FreeBSD 2.0 FAQ! This document tries to answer some of
the most frequently asked questions about FreeBSD 2.0.
If there's something you're having trouble with and you do not see it
here, please send email to:
<questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Some of the instructions here will also refer to auxiliary utilities
in the /usr/src/share/FAQ directory. CDROM purchasers and net folks
who've grabbed the FreeBSD 2.0 `srcdist' will have these files. If
you don't have the source distribution, then you can either grab the
whole thing from:
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current
Or you can grab only those files you're interested in straight out of
the FreeBSD-current distribution in:
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/src
0.1: What is FreeBSD?
FreeBSD 2.0 is a UN*X type operating system based on U.C. Berkeley's
4.4BSD-lite release for the i386 platform. It is also based indirectly
on William Jolitz's port of U.C. Berkeley's Net/2 to the i386, 386BSD.
There have been many additions and bug fixes made throughout
the entire system, some of the highlights of which are:
More robust and extensive PC device support
System V-style IPC, messaging and semaphores
Shared Libraries
Much improved virtual memory code
Better console driver support
Network booting (diskless) support
Yellow Pages support
Full support of the PCI bus
Loadable kernel modules
Too many additional utilities and applications to mention
<2.X-Current>
Serial Console Support
Merged VM/Buffer Cache
On demand PPP
Sync PPP
Improved SCSI support
0.2: What are the FreeBSD mailing lists, and how can I get on them?
The following mailing lists are provided for FreeBSD users and
developers. For more information, send to
<majordomo@FreeBSD.ORG> and include a single line saying
``help'' in the body of your message.
announce: For announcements about or on FreeBSD.
hackers: Useful for persons wishing to work on the internals.
questions: General questions on FreeBSD.
bugs: Where bugs should be sent.
SCSI: Mailing list for SCSI developers.
current: This list is for persons wishing to run FreeBSD-current
and carries announcements and discussions on current.
security: For issues dealing with system security.
platforms: Deals with ports to non-Intel platforms
ports: Discussion of /usr/ports/???
fs: Discussion of FreeBSD Filesystems
hardware: Discussion on hardware requirements for FreeBSD.
The FreeBSD-commit list has been broken up into groups dealing with different
areas of interest. Please see the FreeBSD mailing list FAQ in:
/usr/src/share/FAQ/mailing-list.FAQ
0.3: What are the various FreeBSD news groups?
While there are no groups currently dedicated to FreeBSD, you may find
the following groups useful.
comp.os.386bsd.announce: For announcements
comp.os.386bsd.apps: For applications
comp.os.386bsd.questions: For questions
comp.os.386bsd.development: For working on the internals
comp.os.386bsd.bugs: About bugs
comp.os.386bsd.misc: For items that don't fit anywhere else
NOTE: These groups cover all the *BSDs (FreeBSD, NetBSD, 386BSD).
comp.os.bsd: General BSD topics, maybe of intrest
NOTE: As of the date of this writing, there is has been a break up of
newsgroups into groups for each OS. These groups can be found under
``comp.unix.bsd''.
1 Installation
--------------
1.1: I want to install FreeBSD onto a SCSI disk that has more than
1024 cylinders. How do I do it?
This depends. If you don't have DOS (or another operating system) on
the system, you can just keep the drive in native mode and simply make
sure that your root partition is below 1024 so the BIOS can boot the
kernel from it. It you also have DOS/some other OS on the drive then
your best bet is to find out what parameters that it thinks you have
before installing FreeBSD. When FreeBSD's installation procedure
prompts you for these values, you should then enter them rather than
simply going with the defaults.
There is a freely available utility distributed with FreeBSD called
`pfdisk' (located in the tools/dos-tools subdirectory) which can be used for
this purpose.
1.2: When I boot FreeBSD it says ``Missing Operating System''.
See question 1.2. This is classically a case of FreeBSD and DOS or
some other OS conflicting over their ideas of disk geometry. You will
have to reinstall FreeBSD, but obeying the instructions given above
will almost always get you going.
1.3: When I install the boot manager and try to boot FreeBSD for the
first time, it just comes back with the boot manager prompt again.
This is another symptom of the problem described in 1.2. Your
BIOS geometry and FreeBSD geometry settings do not agree! If your
controller or BIOS supports cylinder translation (often marked
as ">1GB drive support"), try toggling its setting and reinstalling
FreeBSD.
1.4: I have an IDE drive with lots of bad blocks on it and FreeBSD doesn't
seem to install properly.
FreeBSD's bad block (bad144) handling is still not 100% (to put it
charitably) and it must unfortunately be said that if you've got an
IDE or ESDI drive with lots of bad blocks, then FreeBSD is probably
not for you! That said, it does work on thousands of IDE based
systems, so you'd do well to try it first before simply giving up.
IDE drives are *supposed* to come with built-in bad-block remapping;
if you have documentation for your drive, you may want to see if this
feature has been disabled on your drive. However, ESDI, RLL, and
ST-506 drives normally do not do this.
1.5: I have 32MB of memory, should I expect any special problems?
No. FreeBSD 2.0 comes with bounce buffers which allows your bus
mastering controller access to greater than 16MB.
1.6: Do I need to install the complete sources?
In general, no. However, we would strongly recommend that you
install, at a minimum, the `base' source kit, which includes several
of the files mentioned here, and the `sys' (kernel) source kit, which
includes sources for the kernel. There is nothing in the system which
requires the presence of the sources to operate, however, except for
the kernel-configuration program config(8). With the exception of the
kernel sources, our build structure is set up so that you can
read-only mount the sources from elsewhere via NFS and still be able
to make new binaries. (Because of the kernel-source restriction, we
recommend that you not mount this on /usr/src directly, but rather in
some other location with appropriate symbolic links to duplicate the
top-level structure of the source tree.)
Having the sources on-line and knowing how to build a system with them
will make it much easier for you to upgrade to future releases of
FreeBSD.
1.7: DES encryption software can not be exported from the United
States. If I live outside the US, how can I encrypt passwords?
If it is not absolutely imperative that you use DES style encryption,
you can use FreeBSD's default encryption for even _better_ security,
and with no export restrictions. FreeBSD 2.0's password default
scrambler is now MD5 based, and is more CPU-intensive to crack
with an automated password cracker than DES.
Since the DES encryption algorithm cannot legally be exported from the US,
non-US users should not download this software (as part of the secrdist)
from US FTP sites.
There is however a replacement libcrypt available, based on sources
written in Australia by David Burren. This code is now available on
some non-US FreeBSD mirror sites. Sources for the unencumbered
libcrypt, and binaries of the programs which use it, can be obtained
from the following FTP sites:
South Africa: braae.ru.ac.za:/pub/FreeBSD/securedist/
owl.und.ac.za (currently uncertain)
Iceland: ftp.veda.is:/pub/crypt/FreeBSD/
The non-US securedist can be used as a direct replacement for the
encumbered US securedist. This securedist package is installed the
same way as the US package (see installation notes for details). If
you are going to install DES encryption, you should do so as soon as
possible, before installing other software.
Non-US users should please not download any encryption software from
the USA. This can get the maintainers of the sites from which the
software is downloaded into severe legal difficulties.
A non-US distribution of Kerberos is also being developed, and current
versions can generally be obtained by anonymous FTP from
braae.ru.ac.za.
There is a mailing list for the discussion of non-US encryption
software. For more information, send an email message with a single
line saying ``help'' in the body of your message to
<majordomo@braae.ru.ac.za>.
2 Hardware compatibility
------------------------
2.1: What kind of hard drives does FreeBSD run on?
FreeBSD supports ST-506 (sometimes called ``MFM''), RLL, and ESDI
drives, which are usually connected to WD-1002, WD-1003, or WD-1006
controllers (although clones should also work).
FreeBSD also supports IDE and SCSI hard drives.
2.2: What SCSI controllers are supported?
FreeBSD supports the following SCSI controllers:
Adaptec AH-154x Series <ISA>
AH-174x Series <EISA>
AH-152x Series <ISA>
Sound Blaster SCSI (AH-152x compat) <ISA>
AH-2742/2842 Series <ISA/EISA>
AH-2820/2822/2825 Series <VLB>
Buslogic BT-445 Series <VLB> (but see section 1.5)
BT-545 Series <ISA>
BT-742 Series <EISA>
BT-747 Series <EISA>
BT-964 Series <PCI>
Future Domain TMC-950 Series <ISA>
PCI Generic NCR 53C810 based controllers <PCI>
ProAudioSpectrum Zilog 5380 based controllers <ISA>
Seagate ST-01/02 Series <ISA>
UltraStor UH-14f Series <ISA>
UH-34f Series <EISA/VLB>
<2.X-Current Only>
Western Digital WD7000 <ISA> <No scatter/gather>
Adaptec AH-294x and aic7870 MB controllers <PCI>
ProAudioSpectrum Trantor 130 based controllers <ISA>
2.3: What CD-ROM drives are supported by FreeBSD?
Any SCSI drive connected to a supported controller.
Mitsumi LU002(8bit), LU005(16bit) and FX001D(16bit 2x Speed).
<2.X-Current>
Sound Blaster Non-SCSI CD-ROM
FreeBSD does not support any of the ``IDE'' CD-ROM interfaces.
All non-SCSI cards are known to be extremely slow compared to SCSI
drives.
2.4: What multi-port serial cards are supported by FreeBSD?
AST/4
BOCA 4/8/16 port cards.
<2.X-Current>
Cyclades 8/16 port <Alpha>
Some unnamed clone cards have also been known to work,, especially those
that claim to be AST compatible.
Check the sio(4) man page to get more information on configuring such
cards.
2.5: Does FreeBSD support the AHA-2742/2842 SCSI adapters from Adaptec?
Yes, though portions of the sources are currently GPL'd (that is to say,
distributed under the GNU Public License), so be aware of the fact should
you wish to distribute kernel binaries compiled with it - you MUST also
provide the sources to the driver with the kernel image to stay legal
with the GPL! This is easily enough done by simply including the contents
of /usr/src/sys/gnu/{aic7770,misc} on whatever media you distribute the
kernel.
We are working to get the GPL restriction removed, but for now you should
at least be aware of it.
2.6: I have a Mumbleco bus mouse. Is it supported and if so, how do I set
it up for XFree86?
FreeBSD supports the Logitech and ATI Inport bus mice. You need to
add the following line to the kernel config file and recompile for the
Logitech and ATI mice:
device mse0 at isa? port 0x23c tty irq6 vector mseintr
2.7: I have a PS/2 mouse (`keyboard' mouse) [Alternatively: I have a
laptop with a track-ball mouse]. How do I use it?
2.8: What types of tape drives are supported under FreeBSD?
FreeBSD supports SCSI, QIC-02 and QIC-40/80 (Floppy based) tape
drives. This includes 8-mm (aka Exabyte) and DAT drives.
2.9: What sound cards are supported by FreeBSD?
FreeBSD supports the SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster Pro, Pro Audio
Spectrum 16, AdLib and Gravis UltraSound sound cards. There is also
limited support for MPU-401 and compatible MIDI cards. The
SoundBlaster 16 and SoundBlaster 16 ASP cards are not yet supported.
NOTE: This is only for sound! This driver does not support CD-ROMs,
SCSI or joysticks on these cards.
2.10: What network cards does FreeBSD support?
There is support for the following cards:
`ed' driver:
NE2000 and 1000
WD/SMC 8003, 8013 and Elite Ultra (8216)
3Com 3c503
And clones of the above
`de' driver:
DEC and compatible PCI controllers.
`le' driver:
DEC LANCE ethernet based controllers.
`ie' driver:
AT&T EN100/StarLAN 10
3Com 3c507
`is' driver:
Isolan AT 4141-0
Isolink 4110
`ep' driver:
3com 3c509 (*)
`el' driver:
3com 3c501 (*)
`ze' driver:
IBM PCMCIA credit card adapter
`lnc' driver:
Unknown Lance based (*)
<2.X-Current>
`cx' driver
Cronyx/Sigma multiport Sync/Async (Cisco and PPP framing)
`zp' driver
3Com PCMCIA Etherlink III
Note: Drivers marked with (*) are known to have problems.
Note: We also support TCP/IP over parallel lines. At this point we are
incompatiable with other versions, but we hope to correct this in
the near future.
2.11: I have a 386/486sx/486SLC machine without a math co-processor.
Will this cause me any problems?
Generally no, but there are circumstances where you will take a hit,
either in performance or accuracy of the math emulation code (see
section 4.1). In particular, drawing arcs in X will be VERY slow. It
is highly recommended that you lay out the $50 or so for a math
co-processor; it's well worth it. NOTE: Some math co-processors are
better than others. It pains us to say it, but nobody ever got fired
for buying Intel. Unless you're sure it works with FreeBSD, beware of
clones.
2.12: What other devices does 2.X support?
Here is a listing of drivers that do not fit into any of the above areas.
b004.c Driver for B004 compatiable Transputer boards
ctx.c Driver for CORTEX-I Frame grabber
gpib.c Driver for National Instruments AT-GPIB and AT-GPIB/TNT boards
pcaudio.c Driver for PC speakers to allow the playing of audio files
tw.c Driver for the X-10 POWERHOUSE
<2.X-Current>
spigot.c Driver for the Creative Labs Video Spigot
gsc.c Driver for the Genuis GS-4500 Hand scanner
joy.c Driver for a joystick
2.13: I am about to buy a new machine to run FreeBSD on and
want an idea of what other people are running. Is there list
of other systems anywhere?
Yes. Please look at the file Systems.FAQ. This file
is a listing of hardware that people are running in their machines.
Please note, this is a raw listing of equipment that other users
have sent in, and does not constitute any kind of endorsement by the
FreeBSD Project.
2.14: I have a lap-top with power management. Can FreeBSD take advantage
of this?
Yes it can on certain machines. Please look in the LINT kernel config
file under APM.
3 Commercial Applications
-------------------------
Note: This section is still very sparse, though we're hoping, of
course, that companies will add to it! :) The FreeBSD group has no
financial interest in any of the companies listed here but simply
lists them as a public service (and feels that commercial interest in
FreeBSD can have very positive effects on FreeBSD's long-term
viability). We encourage commercial software vendors to send their
entries here for inclusion.
3.1: Where can I get Motif for FreeBSD?
You can purchase Motif 1.2.3 for FreeBSD (SWiM) from the ACC Bookstore,
P.O. Box 3364, Westport CT. 06880. 1-800-546-7274 or FAX: 1-203-454-2582
This software works flawlessly for for FreeBSD 1.1.5 but has shown
one problem with 2.0 in that the "uil" program core dumps. This is
apparently because of the way uil is installed, and it's quite possible
that ACC will have a fixed version by the time you read this. No
other compatibility problems with the programs or libraries have been
found, and ACC can hardly be blamed for failing to work perfectly with
a brand-new release they haven't even seen yet! :)
3.2: Are there any commercial X servers for some of the high-end
graphics cards like the Matrox or #9 I-128, or offering 8/16/24
bit deep pallettes?
Yes, X Inside Incorporated sells their Accelerated-X product for
FreeBSD and other Intel based systems.
This high performance X Server offers easy configuration, support
for multiple concurrent video boards and is distributed in binary
form only.
Price is $99.50 (promotional price for Linux/FreeBSD version) for
the 1.1 version, which is available now.
This product is for FreeBSD 1.1 and runs under 2.0 with the FreeBSD 1.1
compatibility libs (`compat1xdist').
More info: URL http://www.xinside.com/
or URL ftp://ftp.xinside.com/accelx/1.1/prodinfo.txt
or email info@xinside.com
or phone +1(303)384-9999
3.3: Any other applications I might be interested in?
RenderMorphics, Ltd. sells a high-speed 3D rendering package for
FreeBSD called "Reality Lab" (tm). Send email to info@render.com
or call: +44(0)71-251-4411 / FAX: +44(0)71-251-0939
This package is also for FreeBSD 1.1.5 but has been tested and shown
to run under FreeBSD 2.0 with the compat1xdist installed.
Thanks must be extended to all of these companies for showing enough faith
in FreeBSD to port their products to it. While we get no direct benefit
from the sales of these products, the indirect benefits of FreeBSD
proving itself to be a successful platform for such commercial interests
will be immense! We wish these companies every measure of success, and
can only hope that others are encouraged to follow suit.
4 User Applications
-------------------
4.1: I want to run X, how do I go about it?
First, get the XFree86 distribution of X11R6 from XFree86.cdrom.com.
The version you want for FreeBSD 2.X and later is XFree86 3.1.1. Follow
the instructions for installation carefully. You may then wish to read
the documentation for the ConfigXF86 tool, which assists you in
configuring XFree86 for your particular graphics card/mouse/etc.
You may also wish to investigate the Xaccel server, which is available
at a very reasonable price. See section 3.2 for more details.
4.2: I've been trying to run ghostscript on a 386 (or 486sx) with no
math co-processor and I keep getting errors. What's up?
You will need to add the alternate math emulator to your kernel, you do this
by adding the following to your kernel config file and it will be compiled in.
options GPL_MATH_EMULATE
NOTE: You will need to remove the MATH_EMULATE option when you do this.
4.2: I want all this neat software, but I haven't got the space or
CPU power to compile it all myself. Is there any way of getting
binaries?
Yes. We support the concept of a `package', which is essentially a
gzipped binary distribution with a little extra intelligence embedded
in it for doing any custom installation work required. Packages can
also be installed or deinstalled again easily without having to know
the gory details. CDROM people will have a packages/ directory on
their CD, others can get the currently available packages from:
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/packages
Note that all ports may not be available as packages, and that new
packages are constantly being added. It is always a good idea to
check periodically to see which packages are available. A README file
in the packages directory provides more details on the care and
feeding of the package software, so no explicit details will be given
here.
5 Miscellaneous Questions
----------------
5.1: I've heard of something called FreeBSD-current. How do I run it, and
where can I get more information?
Read the file /usr/src/share/FAQ/current-policy.FAQ,
it will tell you all you need to know.
5.2: What is this thing called `sup', and how do I use it?
SUP stands for Software Update Protocol, and was developed by CMU for
keeping their development trees in sync. We use it to keep remote
sites in sync with our central development sources.
Unless you have direct internet connectivity, and don't care too much
about the cost/duration of the sessions, you shouldn't use sup. For
those "low/expensive-bandwidth" applications, we have developed CTM,
see 5.6 for more about that.
To use it, you need to have direct internet connectivity (not just
mail or news). First, pick up the sup.tgz package from:
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/packages/sup.tgz
Second, read the file /usr/src/share/FAQ/sup.FAQ.
This file describes how to setup sup on your machine. You may also
want to look at /usr/src/share/FAQ/extras/*.supfile, or you may grab updated
supfiles from:
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG//pub/FreeBSD/FAQ/extras
which are a set of supfiles for supping from FreeBSD.ORG.
5.3: How do I create customized installation disks that I can give
out to other people at my site?
The entire process of creating installation disks and source and
binary archives is automated by various targets in
/usr/src/etc/Makefile. The information there should be enough to get
you started.
5.4: How do I re-build my system without clobbering the existing
installed binaries?
If you define the environment variable DESTDIR while running `make
world' or `make install', the newly-created binaries will be deposited
in a directory tree identical to the installed one, rooted at
${DESTDIR}. Some random combination of shared libraries modifications
and program rebuilds can cause this to fail in `make world', however.
5.5: When my system booted, it told me that ``(bus speed defaulted)''.
What does that mean?
The Adaptec 1542 SCSI host adapters allow the user to configure their
bus access speed in software. Previous versions of the 1542 driver tried
to determine the fastest usable speed and set the adapter to that. We
found that this breaks some users' systems, so you now have to define
the ``TUNE_1542''' kernel configuration option in order to have this
take place. Using it on those systems where it works may make your
disks run faster, but on those systems where it doesn't, your data could
be corrupted.
5.6: I would like to track changes to current and do not have net access.
Is there any way besides downloading the whole tree?
Yes, you can use the CTM facility. Check out the ctm.FAQ file or
ftp://freefall.cdrom.com/pub/CTM/README
for more information.
5.7: How do I split up large binary files into smaller 240k files
like the distribution does?
Newer BSD based systems have a "-b" option to split that allows them to
split files on arbitary byte bondaries.
Here is an example from /usr/src/Makefile.
bin-tarball:
(cd ${DISTDIR}; \
tar cf - . \
gzip --no-name -9 -c | \
split -b 240640 - \
${RELEASEDIR}/tarballs/bindist/bin_tgz.)
<XXX> 5.8: I've had a couple of system panics and would like to be able
browse the system dumps. The normal kernel is stripped and
I don't want to run a bloated kernel. What can I do?
5.9: I just got a Perl application and it's bombing looking for
*.ph. Where is it?
There was a minor SNAFU in the 2.0-R bindist and they got left out.
If you have the source, you just have to do a "make install" from
/usr/src/gnu/usr.bin/perl/lib and everything will be fine. Or you
may ftp to phoenix-gw.gbdata.com and grab them from ~/pub/perl/libs.tar.gz.
5.10: I've got this neato kernel extension I just know everyone will
will want. How do I get it included into the distribution?
Please take a look at the FAQ for submiting code to FreeBSD at:
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/FAQ/submitters.FAQ
And thanks for the thought.
6 Kernel Configuration
----------------------
6.0: Ok, so how DO I compile my own kernel, anyway?
Before you can compile a kernel, you need either the complete srcdist
or, at the minimum, the kerndist loaded on your system. This provides
the necessary sources for building the kernel, as we have a policy of
NOT shipping our kernels in linkable object form as most commercial
UNIX vendors do. Shipping the source takes a bit more space, but it also
means that you can refer to the actual kernel sources in case of difficulty
or to further your understanding of what's *actually* happening.
Anyway, to answer the question, once you have the kerndist or srcdist
loaded, do this:
6.0.1: cd /usr/src/sys/i386/conf
6.0.2: cp GENERIC MYKERNEL
6.0.3: vi MYKERNEL
6.0.4: config MYKERNEL
6.0.5: cd ../../compile/MYKERNEL
6.0.6: make all
6.0.7: make install
6.0.8: reboot
Step 6.0.2 may not be necessary if you already have a kernel configuration
file from a previous release of FreeBSD 2.x. - simply bring your old one
over and check it carefully for any drivers that may have changed boot
syntax or been rendered obsolete.
A good kernel config file to look into is LINT, which contains entries for
*all* possible kernel options and documents them fairly well. The GENERIC
kernel config file is used to build the initial release you probably loaded
(unless you upgraded in-place) and contains entries for the most common
configurations. It's a pretty good place to start from.
If you don't need to make any changes to GENERIC, you can also skip step
6.0.3, where you customize the kernel for your configuration. Step 6.0.7
should only be undertaken if step 6.0.6 succeeds. This will copy
the new kernel image to /kernel and BACK UP YOUR OLD ONE IN /kernel.old!
It's very important to remember this in case the new kernel fails to work
for some reason - you can still select /kernel.old at the boot prompt to
boot the old one. When you reboot, the new kernel will boot by default.
If the compile in 6.0.6 falls over for some reason, then it's recommended
that you start from step 6.0.4 but substitute GENERIC for MYKERNEL. If you
can generate a GENERIC kernel, then it's likely something in your special
configuration file that's bad (or you've uncovered a bug!). If the build
of the GENERIC kernel does NOT succeed, then it's very likely that your
sources are somehow corrupted.
Finally, if you need to see your original boot messages again to compile
a new kernel that's better tailored to your hardware, try the `dmesg' command.
It should print out all the boot-time messages printed by your old kernel,
some of which may be quite helpful in configuring the new one.
6.1: When I compile a kernel with multi-port serial code, it tells me
that only the first port is probed and the rest skipped due to
interrupt conflicts. How do I fix this?
The problem here is that FreeBSD has code built-in to keep the kernel
from getting trashed due to hardware or software conflicts. The way
to fix this is to leave out the IRQ settings on other ports besides
the first. Here is a example:
#
# Multiport high-speed serial line - 16550 UARTS
#
device sio2 at isa? port 0x2a0 tty irq 5 flags 0x501 vector siointr
device sio3 at isa? port 0x2a8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
device sio4 at isa? port 0x2b0 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
device sio5 at isa? port 0x2b8 tty flags 0x501 vector siointr
6.2: FreeBSD is supposed to come with support for QIC-40/80 drives but
when I look, I can't find it.
You need to uncomment the following line in the generic config file
(or add it to your config file) and recompile.
controller fdc0 at isa? port "IO_FD1" bio irq 6 drq 2 vector fdintr
disk fd0 at fdc0 drive 0
disk fd1 at fdc0 drive 1
#tape ft0 at fdc0 drive 2
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You will have a device called /dev/ft0, which you can write to through
a special program to manage it called `ft' - see the man page on ft for
further details. Versions previous to -current also had some trouble dealing
wiht bad tape media; if you have trouble where ft seems to go back and forth
over the same spot, try grabbing the latest version of ft from /usr/src/sbin/ft
in current and try that.
6.3: Does FreeBSD support IPC primitives like those in System V?
Yes, FreeBSD supports System V-style IPC. This includes shared
memory, messages and semaphores. You need to add the following lines
to your kernel config to enable them.
options SYSVSHM
options "SHMMAXPGS=64" # 256Kb of sharable memory
options SYSVSEM # enable for semaphores
options SYSVMSG # enable for messaging
Recompile and install.
6.4: Will FreeBSD ever support other architectures?
Several different groups have expressed interest in working on
multi-architecture support for FreeBSD. If you are interested in
doing so, please contact the developers at
<FreeBSD-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG> for more information on our
strategy for porting.
6.5: I just wrote a device driver for a Foobar Systems, Inc.
Integrated Adaptive Gronkulator card. How do I get the
appropriate major numbers assigned?
This depends on whether or not you plan on making the driver publicly
available. If you do, then please send us a copy of the driver source
code, plus the appropriate modifications to files.i386, a sample
configuration file entry, and the appropriate MAKEDEV code to create
any special files your device uses. If you do not, or are unable to
because of licensing restrictions, then character major number 32 and
block major number 8 have been reserved specifically for this purpose;
please use them. In any case, we'd appreciate hearing about your
driver on <FreeBSD-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG>.
7 System Administration
-----------------------
7.1: How do I add a user easily? I read the man page and am more confused
than ever! [Alternatively: I didn't read the man page, I never read
man pages! :-) ]
Use the adduser command.
<XXX> 7.2: I'm trying to use my printer and keep running into problems. I tried
looking at /etc/printcap, but it's close to useless. Any ideas?
8 Networking
------------
8.2: I've heard that you can use a FreeBSD box as a dedicated network
router - is there any easy support for this?
Internet standards and good engineering practice prohibit us from
providing packet forwarding by default in FreeBSD. You can enable
this support by adding `options GATEWAY' to your kernel configuration
file and recompiling. In most cases, you will also need to run a
routing process to tell other systems on your network about your
router; FreeBSD comes with the standard BSD routing daemon routed(8),
or for more complex situations you may want to try GateD (available by
FTP from gated.Cornell.edu) which supports FreeBSD as of 3_5Alpha7.
It is our duty to warn you that, even when FreeBSD is configured in
this way, it does not completely comply with the Internet standard
requirements for routers; however, it comes close enough for ordinary
usage.
8.3: Does FreeBSD support SLIP and PPP?
Yes. See the man pages for slattach(8) and/or pppd(8) if you're using
FreeBSD to connect to another site. If you're using FreeBSD as a
server for other machines, look at the man page for sliplogin(8).
You may also want to take a look at the slip FAQ in:
/usr/src/share/FAQ/Slip.FAQ
8.4: How do I get my network set up? I don't see how to make my
/dev/ed0 device!
In the Berkeley networking framework, network interfaces are only
directly accessible by kernel code. Please see the /etc/netstart file
and the manual pages for the various network programs mentioned there
for more information. If this leaves you totally confused, then you
should pick up a book describing network administration on another
BSD-related operating system; with few significant exceptions,
administering networking on FreeBSD is basically the same as on SunOS
4.0 or Ultrix.
8.5: How do I get my 3C503 to use the other network port?
Use `ifconfig ed0' to see whether the ALTPHYS flag is set, and then
use either `ifconfig ed0 altphys' if it was off, or `ifconfig ed0
-altphys' if it was on.
8.6: I'm having problems with NFS to/from FreeBSD and my Wuffotronics
Workstation / generic NFS appliance, where should I look first?
Certain PC network cards are better than others (to put it mildly) and
can sometimes cause problems with network intensive applications like
NFS. See /usr/src/share/FAQ/NFS.FAQ for more information on this
topic.
8.8: I want to enable IP multicast support on my FreeBSD box, how do I do it?
[Alternatively: What the heck IS multicasting and what applications
make use of it?]
Multicast host operations are fully supported in FreeBSD 2.0 by default.
If you want your box to run as a multicast router, you will need to load
the ip_mroute_mod loadable kernel module and run mrouted.
For more information:
Product Description Where
--------------- ----------------------- ---------------------------------------
faq.txt Mbone FAQ ftp.isi.edu:/mbone/faq.txt
imm/immserv IMage Multicast ftp.hawaii.edu:/paccom/imm.src.tar.Z
for jpg/gif images.
nv Network Video. ftp.parc.xerox.com:
/pub/net-reseach/exp/nv3.3alpha.tar.Z
vat LBL Visual Audio Tool. ftp.ee.lbl.gov:
/conferencing/vat/i386-vat.tar.Z
wb LBL White Board. ftp.ee.lbl.gov:
/conferencing/wb/i386-wb.tar.Z
mmcc MultiMedia Conference ftp.isi.edu:
Control program /confctrl/mmcc/mmcc-intel.tar.Z
rtpqual Tools for testing the ftp.psc.edu:/pub/net_tools/rtpqual.c
quality of RTP packets.
vat_nv_record Recording tools for vat ftp.sics.se:archive/vat_nv_record.tar.Z
and nv.
9 Serial Communications
-----------------------
This section answers common questions about serial communications with
FreeBSD.
9.1: How do I tell if FreeBSD found my serial ports or modem cards?
As the FreeBSD kernel boots, it will probe for the serial ports in
your system for which the kernel was configured. You can either watch
your system closely for the messages it prints or run the command
dmesg | grep sio
after your system's up and running.
Here's some example output from the above command:
sio0 at 0x3f8-0x3ff irq 4 on isa
sio0: type 16550A
sio1 at 0x2f8-0x2ff irq 3 on isa
sio1: type 16550A
This shows two serial ports. The first is on irq 4, is using port
address 0x3f8, and has a 16550A-type UART chip. The second uses the
same kind of chip but is on irq 3 and is at port address 0x2f8.
Internal modem cards are treated just like serial ports---except that
they always have a modem ``attached'' to the port.
The GENERIC kernel includes support for two serial ports using the
same irq and port address settings in the above example. If these
settings aren't right for your system, or if you've added modem cards
or have more serial ports than your kernel is configured for, just
reconfigure your kernel. See section 7 of the FAQ for more details.
9.2: How do I access the serial ports once FreeBSD is running?
The third serial port, sio2 (known as COM3 in DOS), is on /dev/tty02
for directly-connected devices, on /dev/cuaa2 for dial-out devices,
and on /dev/ttyd2 for dial-in devices. What's the difference between
these three classes of devices?
You use ttyXX for directly-connected or hardwired devices, like
printers or terminals.
In place of ttyXX, you can use the pair of devices cuaaX and ttydX.
You use ttydX for dial-ins. The ttydX device acts like the ttyXX
device, but it also uses the modem control lines. When opening
/dev/ttydX in blocking mode, a process will wait for the corresponding
cuaaX device to become inactive, and then wait for the carrier detect
line to go active. When you open the cuaaX device, it makes sure the
serial port isn't already in use by the ttydX device. If the port's
available, it ``steals'' it from the ttydX device. Also, the cuaaX
device doesn't care about carrier detect. With this scheme and an
auto-answer modem, you can have remote users log in and you can still
dialout with the same modem and the system will take care of all the
conflicts.
9.3: How do I configure the kernel for my multiport serial card?
Again, the section on kernel configuration provides information about
configuring your kernel. For a multiport serial card, place an sio
line for each serial port on the card in the kernel configuration
file. But place the irq and vector specifiers on only one of the
entries. All of the ports on the card should share one irq. For
consistency, use the last serial port to specify the irq. Also,
specify the COM_MULTIPORT option.
The following example is for an AST 4-port serial card on irq 7:
options "COM_MULTIPORT"
device sio4 at isa? port 0x2a0 tty flags 0x781
device sio5 at isa? port 0x2a8 tty flags 0x781
device sio6 at isa? port 0x2b0 tty flags 0x781
device sio7 at isa? port 0x2b8 tty flags 0x781 irq 7 vector siointr
The flags indicate that the master port has minor number 7 (0x700),
diagnostics enabled during probe (0x080), and all the ports share an
irq (0x001).
9.4: I have two multiport serial cards that can share irqs. Can
FreeBSD handle this?
Not yet. You'll have to use a different irq for each card.
9.5: What's the difference between tty01, ttyi01, and ttyl01? Or,
how can I set the default serial parameters for a port?
The ttyXX (or cuaaX or ttydX) device is the regular device you'll want
to open for your applications. When a process opens the device, it'll
have a default set of terminal I/O settings. You can see these
settings with the command
stty -a -f /dev/tty01
When you change the settings to this device, the settings are in
effect until the device is closed. When it's reopened, it goes back
to the default set. To make changes to the default set, you can open
and adjust the settings of the ``initial state'' device. For example,
to turn on CLOCAL mode, 8 bits, and XON/XOFF flow control by default
for tty05, do:
stty -f /dev/ttyi05 clocal cs8 ixon ixoff
A good place to do this is in /etc/rc.serial. Now, an application
will have these settings by default when it opens tty05. It can still
change these settings to its liking, though.
You can also prevent certain settings from being changed by an
application by making adjustments to the ``lock state'' device. For
example, to lock the speed of tty05 to 57600 bps, do
stty -f /dev/ttyl05 57600
Now, an application that opens tty05 and tries to change the speed of
the port will be stuck with 57600 bps.
Naturally, you should make the initial state and lock state devices
writable only by root. The MAKEDEV script does NOT do this when it
creates the device entries.
9.6: How can I enable dialup logins on my modem?
So you want to become an Internet service provider, eh? First, you'll
need one or more modems that can autoanswer. Your modem will need to
assert carrier-detect when it detects a carrier and not assert it all
the time. It will need to hang up the phone and reset itself when the
data terminal ready (DTR) line goes from on to off. It should
probably use RTS/CTS flow control or no local flow control at all.
Finally, it must use a constant speed between the computer and itself,
but (to be nice to your callers) it should negotiate a speed between
itself and the remote modem.
For many Hayes command-set--compatible modems, this command will
make these settings and store them in nonvolatile memory:
AT &C1 &D3 &K3 &Q6 S0=1 &W
See 9.10 below for information on how to make these settings without
resorting to an MS-DOS terminal program.
Next, make an entry in /etc/ttys for the modem. This file lists all
the ports on which the operating system will await logins. Add a line
that looks something like this:
ttyd1 "/usr/libexec/getty std.57600" dialup on insecure
This line indicates that the second serial port (/dev/ttyd1) has a
modem connected running at 57600 bps and no parity (std.57600, which
comes from the file /etc/gettytab). The terminal type for this port
is ``dialup.'' The port is ``on'' and is ``insecure''---meaning root
logins on the port aren't allowed. For dialin ports like this one,
use the ttydX entry.
It's common practice to use ``dialup'' as the terminal type. Many
users set up in their .profile or .login files a prompt for the actual
terminal type if the starting type is dialup. The example shows the
port as insecure. To become root on this port, you have to login as a
regular user, then ``su'' to root. If you use ``secure'' then root
can login in directly.
After making modifications to /etc/ttys, you need to send a hangup or
HUP signal to the init process:
kill -1 1
This forces the init process to reread /etc/ttys. The init process
will then start getty processes on all ``on'' ports. You can find out
if logins are available for your port by typing
ps -ax | grep '[t]tyd1'
You should see something like:
747 ?? I 0:00.04 /usr/libexec/getty std.57600 ttyd1
9.7: How can I make my spare computer a dumb terminal connected to my
FreeBSD box?
If you're using another computer as a terminal into your FreeBSD
system, get a null modem cable to go between the two serial ports. If
you're using an actual terminal, see its accompanying instructions.
Then, modify /etc/ttys, like above. For example, if you're hooking up
a WYSE-50 terminal to the fifth serial port, use an entry like this:
tty04 "/usr/libexec/getty std.38400" wyse50 on secure
This example shows that the port on /dev/tty04 has a wyse50 terminal
connected at 38400 bps with no parity (std.38400 from /etc/gettytab)
and root logins are allowed (secure). For directly-connected
terminals, use the ttyXX entry.
9.8: Why can't I run tip or cu?
On your system, the programs tip and cu are probably executable only
by uucp and group dialer. You can use the group dialer to control who
has access to your modem or remote systems. Just add yourself to
group dialer.
Alternatively, you can let everyone on your system run tip and cu by
typing:
chmod 4511 /usr/bin/tip
You don't have to run this command for cu, since cu is just a hard
link to tip.
9.9: My stock Hayes modem isn't supported---what should I do?
Actually, the man page for tip is out of date. There is a generic
Hayes dialer already built in. Just use ``at=hayes'' in your
/etc/remote file.
The Hayes driver isn't smart enough to recognize some of the advanced
features of newer modems---messages like BUSY, NO DIALTONE, or CONNECT
115200 will just confuse it. You should turn those messages off when
you use tip (using ATX0&W).
Also, the dial timeout for tip is 60 seconds. Your modem should use
something less, or else tip will think there's a communication
problem. Try ATS7=45&W.
9.10: How am I expected to enter these AT commands without
resorting to some DOS-based terminal program?
Make what's called a ``direct'' entry in your /etc/remote file. For
example, if your modem's hooked up to the first serial port,
/dev/cuaa0, then put in the following line:
cuaa0:dv=/dev/cuaa0:br#19200:pa=none
Use the highest bps rate your modem supports in the br capability.
Then, type ``tip cuaa0'' and you'll be connected to your modem.
If there is no /dev/cuaa0 on your system, do this:
cd /dev
MAKEDEV cuaa0
9.11: Why doesn't the @ sign for the phone number capability work?
The @ sign in the pn capability tells tip to look in /etc/phones for a
phone number. But the @ sign is also a special character in
capability files like /etc/remote. Escape it with a backslash:
``pn=\@''.
9.12: How can I dial a phone number on the command line?
Put what's called a ``generic'' entry in your /etc/remote file. For
example:
tip115200|Dial any phone number at 115200 bps:\
:dv=/dev/cuaa0:br#115200:at=hayes:pa=none:du:
tip57600|Dial any phone number at 57600 bps:\
:dv=/dev/cuaa0:br#57600:at=hayes:pa=none:du:
Then you can things like ``tip -115200 5551234''. If you prefer cu
over tip, use a generic cu entry:
cu115200|Use cu to dial any number at 115200bps:\
:dv=/dev/cuaa1:br#57600:at=hayes:pa=none:du:
and type ``cu 5551234 -s 115200''.
9.13: Great---but how can I do that without having to specify the bps
rate on the command line?
Put in an entry for tip1200 or cu1200, but go ahead and use whatever
bps rate is appropriate with the br capability. tip thinks a good
default is 1200 bps which is why it looks for a ``tip1200'' entry.
You don't have to use 1200 bps, though.
9.14: I want separate entries for various hosts I access through a
terminal server, but I don't want to type ``CONNECT <host>''
each time once I'm connected. Can tip do that for me?
Yes. Use the cm capability. For example, these entries in
/etc/remote:
pain|pain.deep13.com|Forrester's machine:\
:cm=CONNECT pain\n:tc=deep13:
muffin|muffin.deep13.com|Frank's machine:\
:cm=CONNECT muffin\n:tc=deep13:
deep13:Gizmonics Institute terminal server:\
:dv=/dev/cuaa2:br#38400:at=hayes:du:pa=none:pn=5551234:
will let you type ``tip pain'' or ``tip muffin'' to connect to the
hosts pain or muffin; and ``tip deep13'' to get to the terminal
server.
9.15: My university has 42 billion students but only 4 modem lines.
Can tip automatically try each line?
Sure. Make an entry for your university in /etc/remote and use \@ for
the pn capability:
big-university:\
:pn=\@:tc=dialout
dialout:\
:dv=/dev/cuaa3:br#9600:at=courier:du:pa=none:
Then, list the phone numbers for the university in /etc/phones:
big-university 5551111
big-university 5551112
big-university 5551113
big-university 5551114
tip will try each one in the listed order, then give up. If you want
to keep retrying, run tip in a while loop.
9.16: How come I have to hit CTRL+P twice to send CTRL+P once?
CTRL+P is the default ``force'' character, used to tell tip that the
next character is literal data. You can set the force character to
any other character with the ~s escape, which means ``set a
variable.''
Type ``~sforce=<single-char>'' followed by a newline. <single-char>
is any single character. If you leave out <single-char>, then the
force character is the nul character, which you can get by typing
CTRL+2 or CTRL+SPACE. A pretty good value for <single-char> is
SHIFT+CTRL+6, which I've seen only used on some terminal servers.
You can have the force character be whatever you want by specifying
the following in your $HOME/.tiprc file:
force=<single-char>
9.17: Suddenly everything I type is all UPPER CASE. What gives?
You must've pressed CTRL+A, tip's ``raise character,'' specially
designed for people with broken caps-lock keys. Use ~s as above and
set the variable ``raisechar'' to something reasonable. In fact, you
can set it to the same as the force character, if you never expect to
use either of these features.
Here's a sample .tiprc file perfect for Emacs users who need to type
CTRL+2 and CTRL+A a lot:
force=^^
raisechar=^^
The ^^ is SHIFT+CTRL+6.
9.18: How can I do file transfers with tip?
If you're talking to another UNIX system, you can send and receive
files with ~p (put) and ~t (take). These commands run ``cat'' and
``echo'' on the remote system to accept and send files. The syntax
is:
~p <local-file> [<remote-file>]
~t <remote-file> [<local-file>]
There's no error checking, so you probably should use another
protocol, like zmodem.
9.19: Okay, how can I run zmodem with tip?
To receive files, start the sending program on the remote end. Then,
type ``~C rz'' to begin receiving them locally.
To send files, start the receiving program on the remote end. Then,
type ``~C sz <files>'' to send them to the remote system.
NOTE: Anyone wishing to submit a FAQ entry on how to get tip and cu working
would have it much appreciated! We all use Kermit over here! :-)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you see a problem with this FAQ, or wish to submit an entry, please
mail us at <FreeBSD-FAQ@FreeBSD.ORG>. We appreciate your
feedback, and cannot make this a better FAQ without your help!
FreeBSD Core Team
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
Ollivier Robert - FreeBSD FAQ maintenance man
Gary Clark II - Ex-FreeBSD FAQ maintenance man
Jordan Hubbard - Janitorial services (I don't do windows)
Garrett Wollman - Networking and formatting
Robert Oliver, Jr. - Ideas and dumb questions (That made me think)
Jim Lowe - Multicast information
The FreeBSD Team - Kvetching, moaning, submitting data
And to any others we've forgotten, apologies and heartfelt thanks!
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