hanging telnets and ftps

[Graeme Moffat]

Well, I've solved my problems with a little help. The hangs were due to
trying to resolve names without a nameserver! (7 minutes is a ridiculously
excessive timeout - where is this configured?)  I had an empty resolv.conf
instead of no resolv.conf - I'm sure everyone knows the difference - and no
local nameserver. Earlier on I had filled in the nameserver entry of the
smit tcpip minimum configuration menu, then later removed it using 'further
configuration..name resolution..' when I realised I didn't want it, without
knowing that the file had been created. 
*Flame on*
This is another example of smit (I know, it's only a command interface)
doing unknown things behind my back. My previous unix administration
experience is zilch, and I have a lot to learn, but I can read manuals (if
we had any *B^(, and I don't want things hidden away in the bowels of some
festering object database, I want to know exactly what I have configured so
I can take it away again if it's not right. I have poked around in a
traditional BSD machine, and the config files seem fairly straightforward
(not counting sendmail *B^)  once I had an overview of the system (with
help from a SUN installation manual - some manufacturers know how to produce
readable material with examples, unlike infoexplorer, which is a dog)
*Flame off*
Please excuse my ramblings, but this alone has wasted two whole days of my
time, and I've had others like it.
-- 
Graeme Moffat                g.moffat at aukuni.ac.nz \ Time wastes us all, 
Computer Aided Design Centre,  Fax: +64-9-366-0702 /  our bodies & our wits
School of Engineering,    Ph: +64-9-737-999 x8384 /  But we waste time,
University of Auckland, Private Bag, Auckland, NZ \   so time & we are quits