Sun-Spots Digest, v6n79
William LeFebvre
Sun-Spots-Request at RICE.EDU
Thu May 12 05:24:45 AEST 1988
SUN-SPOTS DIGEST Tuesday, 10 May 1988 Volume 6 : Issue 79
Today's Topics:
Re: Symbolic Link Superceding Path Name
Re: Conference room sized color displays
Re: Bug in initgroups(3)
2 gigabyte tape drives (info requested)
more on optimixer
SLIP on Sun-OS 4.0 - don't hold your breath
mouse problems
Default route problem
rlogin problem
Printer types?
Hard disks for Suns?
Teletype 5620s, ATT 630s and Suns?
Ubackup utility for backing-up Suns?
Where to buy SMD drives?
Porting a graphics package, how hard?
IGES ==> Raster converter?
Raster ==> TeX (or LaTeX) for figures?
Wanted: used Sun hardware
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 3 May 88 22:17:08 GMT
From: Rick Lindsley <richl at penguin.uss.tek.com>
Subject: Re: Symbolic Link Superceding Path Name
Although it may have little bearing on the problem described, I'd like to
correct something our moderator mentioned with regards to this.
[[ Csh expands ~ to be whatever is in the home directory field in
the user's entry in the passwd file (similarly for ~user).
Not strictly true. ~ expands to whatever $home is. By default, yes, this
is the password entry, but I've seen users that do this in their .cshrc or
.login (unnecessarily):
set home=/u/uss/richl
setenv HOME /u/uss/richl
and then if their account ever moves, they may not even realize why they
are hosed. In fact, they may not be hosed at all if there is a symbolic
link at the old spot pointing to the new; but ~ will not be the same as
the entry in password.
"~user" *is* taken from the password file, though, as stated.
Rick
PS This trick of setting "home" is an easy way to set up group accounts
(using csh.) With judicious use of reply-to headers and environment
variables for news and mail, you can tailor several different
environments under one login.
[[ That means that for user "phil", "~" does not necessarily expand to the
same thing as "~phil". --wnl ]]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 88 10:01:52 PDT
From: ultra!shj at ames.arc.nasa.gov (Steve Jay)
Subject: Re: Conference room sized color displays
Cc: jim at boeing.com
Reference: v6n68
In v6n68, Jim Van Every (jim at boeing.com) says that he doesn't think the
Barco or electrohome video projectors have the bandwidth to support high
res monitors.
I have seen a Barco system display a 108 MHz (1280 x 1024) high resolution
image. It worked fine, even though it's only spec'd to go to 100 MHz. I
think this was a new model Barco unit that has just recently become
available.
I don't know about electrohome.
Steve Jay domain: shj at ultra.com
Ultra Network Technologies Internet: ultra!shj at ames.arc.nasa.gov
2140 Bering drive uucp: ...ames!ultra!shj
San Jose, CA 95131
408-922-0100
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 May 88 00:00:02 EDT
From: Rayan Zachariassen <rayan at ai.toronto.edu>
Subject: Re: Bug in initgroups(3)
Cc: Alexander Dupuy <dupuy at columbia.edu>
Interesting coincidence, I just ran into this ... I had installed a
modified /bin/su that only allows wheel's to become root, and one of the
wheels complained he couldn't su from within an xterm running on the
machine (i.e. started from a remote host using rsh host xterm ...).
If you look in the source to in.rshd.c, there are two lines like:
initgroups(pwd->pw_name, pwd->pw_gid);
(void) setgid(pwd->pw_gid);
If you switch them around, it'll work. Various other experiments I did
lead me to surmise that when root (at least) sets the real gid of a
process, the group access list is flushed. I can see why that might be
desirable from a security standpoint, but this behaviour is counter to
setgid() semantics. It should be done by a normal setgid() followed by a
null setgroups(). Oh well. You can also use setegid() instead of setgid()
if you don't want to switch the lines around, except then your shell is
likely to complain (for good reason). This behaviour observed under
Sys4-3.2-REV2.
rayan
------------------------------
Date: 4 May 88 00:09:55 GMT
From: alden at tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Dave Alden)
Subject: 2 gigabyte tape drives (info requested)
I've been reading about these "new" 2G (is G correct for gigabyte?) 8mm
tape drives and would like to get more information. Would anyone whose
had experience with one of these drives please send me the name of the
company that makes it and any other information they might have? I'm
trying to get an idea of the price, speed, your opinion of it, etc. If
there's interest I'll post a followup summary to sun-spots. ...thnx,
Dave Alden, alden at osupyr.mast.ohio-state.edu (128.146.7.2)
Systems Programmer
Department of Mathematics, The Ohio State University
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 88 15:22:13 EDT
From: schwartz at gondor.cs.psu.edu (Scott Schwartz)
Subject: more on optimixer
Mark Plotnick <mp at allegra.att.com> writes about possible causes for
nroff/troff's misbehavior:
One thing that I forgot to mention in my last posting was that if you
compile the 4.3BSD troff on a Sun4 with the -O0 option (i.e. no
optimization at all) it works fine. That's what convinced me that there
was a compiler problem.
Anyway, Sun tells me that nroff and troff are fixed in 4.0, so we can all
breathe a little easier.
-- Scott
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 88 10:31:24 EDT
From: rick at seismo.css.gov (Rick Adams)
Subject: SLIP on Sun-OS 4.0 - don't hold your breath
I have been getting a lot of questions asking me if I have a version of
SLIP for 4.0.
I don't.
I don't expect to have one in the immediate future. The OS has changed too
radically (mainly streams) to just "port" it. I might have one a few
months after we get our 4.0 tape. We won't run 4.0 here until I get/write
a SLIP driver, so there is at least some hope.
It's too bad that Sun insists on whining about how "bad" it is instead of
supplying what the customers want.
---rick
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 88 09:11:40 PDT
From: frame!stk at sun.com (Steve Kirsch)
Subject: mouse problems
Old style mice need to be "calibrated" when first plugged in by running
them in circles on the pad until it starts to work. The mouse will not
work until the red light comes on. Since the mouse never hears anything
from the workstation (the mouse only outputs info to the Sun), it is not
possible for the state of the workstation to influence the output (or LED
state) of the mouse.
If the eyelets for the mouse are at 45 degree angles to the sides of the
case you have an old-style mouse. These mice MUST be used on pads with
faint green lines, and blue lines. These mice will NOT calibrate
accurately on pads with black and blue lines.
You can also look at the serial number tag on the bottom of the mouse. M1
mice need calibration. Later series (M2, M3) do not. Old style mice
stopped being shipped about 3 years ago.
Steve Kirsch
(the inventor of the Mouse Systems mouse)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 88 17:23:37 EDT
From: Root Boy Jim <rbj at icst-cmr.arpa>
Subject: Default route problem
James F. Carter says:
A site has a second Ethernet board (ie1) which is connected to nowhere and
has not been activated with /etc/ifconfig. Its /etc/rc.local executes
"/usr/etc/route add default 128.97.64.16 3" (yes, 3 hops to the ARPAnet).
By matching the internet address on the board (0.0.0.0) with the address
on the destination (default = 0.0.0.0), /usr/etc/route finds a perfect
match and sends the default packets off to nowhere via ie1.
I don't see how you can predict the number of hops to a random
destination, since that includes any hops whithin the ARPAnet.
Around here we have a gateway, 129.6.48.1. Other machines (129.6.48.xxx)
just `route add 0 129.6.48.1 1', giving a hop count of one. Reading TFM, I
am somewhat confused about metric, except for the distinction between zero
(directly connected) and nonzero (forward to a gateway). We run class C.
A successful workaround was to do "/etc/ifconfig ie1 128.97.64.21 down".
Why this should matter I don't know.
First, the matching should be on the gateway address, not the final
destination. Second, we have at least one pair of machines (gateways)
that can communicate over two networks, and we care which is used, so it
would be best if /usr/etc/route could be told which interface to use.
Once the gateway has been picked, the address is (conceptually at least)
rescanned for a route to that gateway. When the hop count reaches zero, an
interface is picked.
We are not using route-daemon because other groups on our net have a
different definition of "default" (i.e. everything not on our net) and,
therefore, a lower hop count. They then offer to gateway our ARPA
traffic, which we don't need. The problem seems to be in the definition
of "default". A possible workaround is to agree on a fixed, large hop
count for "default", like 16, except for the gateway, so only the real
gateway will be used to "default". This requires a cooperative gateway;
ours doesn't even HAVE "routed".
Gee, isn't that what default means? If you use 16 as a metric, it is
possible that nothing will get routed at all, since 16 is the max hop
count and there isn't any point in trying.
My understanding of this stuff is all very fuzzy, so if anyone could point
out any misconceptions I have I would be grateful. Good luck.
(Root Boy) Jim Cottrell <rbj at icst-cmr.arpa>
National Bureau of Standards
Flamer's Hotline: (301) 975-5688
The opinions expressed are solely my own
and do not reflect NBS policy or agreement
Let's send the Russians defective lifestyle accessories!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 88 16:55:47 EST
From: lynxys!jim at ee.ecn.purdue.edu (Jim Wildman)
Subject: rlogin problem
I need some help with the following rlogin problem; I am currently merging
2 sets of machines on the Ethernet. One of the machines is a 3/160 and is
known as //lynxys and I am /usr/jim on that machine. The other set of
machines consists of various Compaq Deskpros running SCO Xenix. One of
the major users on that set of machines is //um/jim. This gentleman is
//lynxys/usr/brb on the Sun. I am //um/usr/wildman on the Compaqs.
The question. When the other jim rlogins to the Sun (//lynxys) he
executes rlogin as //um/jim and rlogin looks in //lynxys/etc/passwd and
logs him in as me without prompting for a password or anything else.
(It's fairly obvious when this happens because he uses sh and I use csh.)
How do we stop this? I tried putting lines like - at um in
//lynxys/etc/hosts.equiv but that did not do the trick. Any suggestions?
Did I miss something obvious?
Jim Wildman
317/497-0309
...{ucbvax|ihnp4|decvax|iuvax}!pur-ee!lynxys!jim
or
jim at lynxys.com
------------------------------
Date: 4-MAY-1988 16:07:30
From: ANDREWS%ge.bbk.ac.uk at nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk
Subject: Printer types?
Has anybody got any preferences about the type of printer thay attach to
the serial port on a Sun 4?
Vince. (Andrews @ uk.ac.bbk.ge)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 88 18:02 CDT
From: SEPTEMBRE at nuacc.acns.nwu.edu
Subject: Hard disks for Suns?
Please reply directly to me if you can comment on:
1.) a third party supplier of hard disks for the SUN 3/50.
2.) information on SUN's implimentation of SCSI bus.
3.) disk device handlers for non SUN hard disks.
Many Thanks .....................................Daryl Hess
------------------------------
Date: 4 May 88 15:58:45 GMT
From: arm at clyde.att.com (Andrew McGee)
Subject: Teletype 5620s, ATT 630s and Suns?
Does anyone know if software exists, and if so how one acquires it, that
will allow Teletype 5620 terminals and ATT 630 terminals to be connected
to Sun workstations and still maintain their windowing and graphics
capabilities?
Thanks,
Andrew McGee
(e-mail: moss!arm,
c-mail: WH14D-335)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 13:23:40 1988
From: lewisd at homxc.UUCP (David Lewis)
Subject: Ubackup utility for backing-up Suns?
Somebody here or in a related group recently posted some information about
Ubackup (?), which is a utility that allows a system administrator to
identify files which need to be backed up and then to have them backed-up
without having to take the system down. Does anybody have more
information on this package? Thanks very much for your email replies.
David B. Lewis {ihnp4,allegra,ulysses,rutgers!mtune}!homxc!lewisd
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 88 14:07:59 CDT
From: natinst!brian at cs.utexas.edu (Brian H. Powell)
Subject: Where to buy SMD drives?
We've got a Sun 3/160 with only 560Meg of disk space, and we're looking
for more. Any suggestions on where to buy more disks? Sun seems so
expensive. EMail replies preferred. Thanks.
Brian H. Powell National Instruments Corp.
brian at natinst.uucp 12109 Technology Blvd.
ut-sally!im4u!natinst!brian Austin, Texas 78727-6204
AppleLink:D0351 (512) 250-9119 x832
or if that doesn't work, you can use brian at sally.utexas.edu.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 4 May 88 15:31:36 PDT
From: dap at cgl.ucsf.edu (David A. Pearlman)
Subject: Porting a graphics package, how hard?
I've got this Sun 3/50 sitting on my desk, which hasn't gotten much use.
Anyway, I decided to try and port this graphics package I've written on to
the Sun.
At present, the package is written to be compatible with Tektronix
graphics (and to use the two planes--alphanumerics & graphics--of such a
terminal). Anyway, I'd like to figure out the easiest way of having my
program open a graphics window on the sun, and to send moves/draws to that
window. (That's all; all other manipulations are done in software).
How easy is this to do? Could someone send me pointers on where to look
for documentation (or the calls if there are few enough of them-- i.e. is
there an 'open window' call, 'move' call, 'clearscreen' call).
Thanks
David A. (DAP) Pearlman
BITNET: dap at ucsfcgl.BITNET
UUCP: ucbvax!ucsfcgl!dap
ARPA: dap at cgl.ucsf.edu
------------------------------
Date: 3 May 88 02:40:41 GMT
From: decvax!formtek!pen at ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Philip E. Nickerson, Jr.)
Subject: IGES ==> Raster converter?
We are in search of an IGES to raster converter. The raster format is not
too important, but Sun Rasterfile or a flat raster bitmap are prefered.
Public domain software or third party vendors are acceptable.
Please send replies to:
Philip E. Nickerson,Jr. |UUCP {pitt,psuvax1}!idis!formtek!pen
(412)937-4900|(800)FORMTEK| decvax!formtek!pen
Snail Formative Technologies, Inc., Foster Plaza VII
661 Andersen Dr., Pittsburgh PA 15220
------------------------------
Date: 3 May 88 02:48:24 GMT
From: decvax!formtek!pen at ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Philip E. Nickerson, Jr.)
Subject: Raster ==> TeX (or LaTeX) for figures?
In a news article several months ago, there was a rumor about a filter or
conversion program that would allow the inclusion of raster files in
either TeX or LaTeX documents. We would like to find such a program if
available.
The raster format is not too important as we support many types of raster
document types, but Sun Rasterfile, postscript, or flat bitmap formats are
preferred.
Public domain software is also preferred, but third party vendors are
welcome to respond.
Please send replies to:
Philip E. Nickerson,Jr. |UUCP {pitt,psuvax1}!idis!formtek!pen
(412)937-4900|(800)FORMTEK| decvax!formtek!pen
|Snail Formative Technologies, Inc., Foster Plaza VII
| 661 Andersen Dr., Pittsburgh PA 15220
[[ How do these rumors get started? There is no builtin support for
bitmaps in TeX. Any bitmap inclusing technique will depend on what
\special directives the DVI converter supports. For example, many
dvi->postscript converters support a \special that allows for the
inclusion of a postscript file in the final output. But there is no
standard way of accomplishing this. --wnl ]]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 04 May 88 12:27:22 PDT
From: Chris Paris <chris%reed at tektronix.tek.com>
Subject: Wanted: used Sun hardware
I understand that an announcement was made recently stating that forsale
postings violate ARPAnet rules. This is a wanted ad, so maybe it's legal.
If this indeed is legal and gets published, please respond via mail to
avoid offending the ARPAcops.
I am a student who is search of a cheap Sun. I don't have much money so
I'm probably looking for a 2/120 or something equally slow/useless to
*real* companies. I have no idea what they go for these days. Any input
in this area would be helpful even if you don't have anything to sell me.
Thanks in advance.
/chris
------------------------------
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