Subject: Linux-Misc Digest #869
From: Digestifier <Linux-Misc-Request@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>
To: Linux-Misc@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: Linux-Misc@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Date:     Fri, 25 Mar 94 22:13:14 EST

Linux-Misc Digest #869, Volume #1                Fri, 25 Mar 94 22:13:14 EST

Contents:
  Pentium Optimized GCC (Homer the Humble)
  Re: ethernet transmit timeout (Peter Suetterlin)
  Re: eexpress under 1.0  (David MacRae)
  Seeking Recommendation for video card/monitor (Byron A Jeff)
  Xdvi bug.  Who's maintaining? (Mark Juric [MSAI])
  Re: PCI bus cards (graphics and SCSI) which work? (Jim Pitts)
  Re: Word processor for Linux??? (Tony Sumner)
  Re: Using compress/gzip with GNU-tar (Malcolm Beattie)
  JANA special CDROM set..... oh boy! (David Scholten)
  Re: NEW PRODUCT : 3 Linux (Buster S. Bunny)
  Re: PCI bus cards (graphics and SCSI) which work? (Michael L. VanLoon)
  Re: 3 CD jana offer-- Interesting feedback (Bill C. Riemers)
  Re: MEM vs. CPU power?? (Alexandra Griffin)
  Re: MEM vs. CPU power?? (Drew Eckhardt)
  Re: PCI bus cards (graphics and SCSI) which work? (Henry A Worth)
  Re: Stupid... Re: NEW PRODUCT : 3 Linux CD's and a T-Shirt for $29. ( Thorsten Bomberg)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: legauljm@craft.camp.clarkson.edu (Homer the Humble)
Subject: Pentium Optimized GCC
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 18:13:32 GMT


Does anyone know if the current GCC compliler for Linux supports
penitum specific optimization (ie, pipelining, branching). I
am planning to install Linux on my Gateway soon, and I was just wondering 
Thanks for the info in advance.
-Jacy Legault (legauljm@craft.camp.clarkson.edu) 

------------------------------

From: pit@lupo.kis.uni-freiburg.de (Peter Suetterlin)
Subject: Re: ethernet transmit timeout
Date: 25 Mar 1994 12:53:33 GMT

Clayton Haapala (clay@haapi.mn.org) wrote:
> Hmm.  My problem was also with the 3c503 card.  I'll try the fix below:
> In article <1994Mar23.100749.13400@nioz.nl>,
> >
> >     Edit line 156 in file /usr/src/linux/drivers/net/8390.c
> >     and comment out the line:
> >
> >         ei_local->interface_num ^= 1;       /*  Try a different xcvr. */
> >
> >     and recompile the kernel.
> >

 It  *WORKS* !!

  Peter

 ----------------------   Peter 'PIT' Suetterlin   -------------------
|   Kiepenheuer Institut   |   Sternfreunde    | Planetarium Freiburg |
|   fuer Sonnenphysik      |   Breisgau e.V    |                      |
|   0761/3198-210          |   0761/71571      |     0761/276099      |
 -pit@lupo.kis.uni-freiburg.de---!! Hey, this is my linux box !!------

------------------------------

From: dmacrae@hocomms.demon.co.uk (David MacRae)
Subject: Re: eexpress under 1.0 
Reply-To: Dmacrae@hocomms.demon.co.uk
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 12:54:30 +0000

In article <764426109snz@hocomms.demon.co.uk> Dmacrae@hocomms.demon.co.uk writes:

>In article <Cn2AJn.L17@hermes.hrz.uni-bielefeld.de>
> carsten@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de writes:
>
>>Hi
>>A week ago somebody had problems installing a etherexpress
>>card with pl15.
>>There was no reply, or I missed it. 
>>I have to install the eexpress driver by
>>myself and would like to know if there is a real problem
>>in 1.0 with that card.
>>    Thanks 
>>         carsten        carsten@phys1.uni-bielefeld.de
>>      
>>
>I have to install an eexpress card myself, (I assume that you mean
>the Intel EtherExpress card, Oh I hope you do).
>I've got version 1.0 but can't find the source file for this card. 
>Could soeone please point me in the right direction.
>
>Ta
Thanks to those who answered me. Its now been sussed. All I have to
do is test it now. :)
-- 
Dave MacRae                      |The views expressed here are mine and mine
John Menzies (UK) Ltd            |alone and do not reflect the views of my
Edinburgh                        |employers in any way.
Scotland                         |
dmacrae@hocomms.demon.co.uk      |

------------------------------

Crossposted-To: comp.windows.x.i386unix
From: byron@cc.gatech.edu (Byron A Jeff)
Subject: Seeking Recommendation for video card/monitor
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 04:20:57 GMT

Well my advisor is going to let me buy a PC to run Linux and do research on.
The video is the part about which I have the weakest understanding. So I'm 
looking for a recommendation for a video card / monitor pair.

The motherboard will be a 486DX2/66 with VLB. The specs I'm looking for are
as follows:

- 1280x1024x256 with 72 Hz refresh.
- 17" or larger monitor.

The 1280x1024 will probably be the only mode I run X under. Also I'll probably
run X all the time, so clarity and lack of flicker are very important.

Also I'm looking for a card for my home machine. I'm using a 1 Meg WD90C30
whose text scrolling sucks (everything else seems OK). I'm wondering about
the following card:


>Graphics-ENGINE 32VLplus
>Sandata Systems 1-800-998-1699
>Actix GE32+ VL $127.00

Sandy at Sandata has quoted the $127.00 price to a friend of mine.

Any comment about it's performance? 

Thanks for any help you can offer.

BAJ
---
Another random extraction from the mental bit stream of...
Byron A. Jeff - PhD student operating in parallel!
Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332   Internet: byron@cc.gatech.edu

------------------------------

From: mjuric@aisun4.ai.uga.edu (Mark Juric [MSAI])
Subject: Xdvi bug.  Who's maintaining?
Date: 25 Mar 1994 20:08:45 GMT

Hi all,
  I've found a peculiar little bug in xdvi, but when I sent a note to the
person the README says to, it got bounced.  Does anyone know how to get in
touch with xdvi's maintainers?
  To salve the curious, here's the bug:  When started with the geometry set to
720x650, and in shrink4 mode, it seg-faults (bus error on Sun machines) when
you turn pages.  At this geometry, the horizontal scroll bar disappears, and
from what I can tell, it's still trying to update the widget, causing it to
choke.   An easy fix anyone?

-mark

@===@                                                                     @===@
 ###  Mark Juric                               A.I. Programs               ###
 ###  mjuric@ai.uga.edu                    University of Georgia           ###
 ###  System Administrator                 Athens, Georgia 30602           ###
@===@                                                                     @===@


------------------------------

Crossposted-To: comp.os.os2.misc,comp.windows.x.i386unix,comp.os.linux.help,comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.386bsd.questions,comp.sys.next.software,comp.sys.next
From: pitts@mimosa.astro.indiana.edu (Jim Pitts)
Subject: Re: PCI bus cards (graphics and SCSI) which work?
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 19:44:50 GMT

In article <michaelv.764537928@ponderous.cc.iastate.edu>,
Michael L. VanLoon <michaelv@iastate.edu> wrote:
>In <2mslqq$1vl8@rs560.cl.msu.edu> evans@rs560.cl.msu.edu (jeffrey d evans) writes:
>
>
>>    Viper
>
>Do NOT buy ANY Diamond products!  They are not and will never be
>supported by XFree86 (although a few adventerous souls have gotten
>them to limp along at times).  Diamond will not allow their drivers to
>be public and doesn't care at all that this may cost them a sale
>because you run a free "unix".  They are quite indifferent to the
>pleas of free "unix" users.
>

True, many Diamond cards are not supported under XFree86, although they
-can- be made to work with a little hacking (I run a Diamond SpeedStar 24
at 1024x768 under XFree86 with -0- problems).  They are -very- nice cards
and I am very happy with mine.  As long as you don't expect instant support
for the card out-of-the-box from XFree86 you will be very happy with it.

These cards do not 'limp' along by any margin.  They are excellent products
which are very well build.  The trouble is not with the hardware of the
card, it is with the attitude of the company that makes them.

And even this attitude is changing with time.  I called Diamond about getting
information on their dot clock programming.  They FAXed me the information
the same day, no hassles.

In summary, don't rule out Diamond cards ... but don't expect them to work
about 640x480 out-of-the box without a little effort.  A program to set the
dot clock needs to be written (a trivial program) and from that point on
the card will work fine.  These cards are better than most and worse than few
of the cards currently out there.

Just to aviod a flame war, I would like to also add that I support the decision
of the XFree86 people to not include Diamond support in their software.  I
only hope (but an not holding my breath) that Diamond can change their
tune in time.




-- 
- pitts@mimosa.astro.indiana.edu             ^       | James J. Pitts        -
- Most people are sheep.                    /@\      | IU Physics Dept       -
- Only a select few are fit to rule.       /   \     | Voice:   812-855-8247 -
- We are The Bavarian Illuminati.         /_____\    | FAX  :   812-855-5533 -

------------------------------

From: suqsumnr@reading.ac.uk (Tony Sumner)
Subject: Re: Word processor for Linux???
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 13:48:42 GMT


Word Perfect market a Unix version of their
popular (!) word processor

Tony Sumner

------------------------------

From: mbeattie@black.ox.ac.uk (Malcolm Beattie)
Subject: Re: Using compress/gzip with GNU-tar
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 17:20:04 GMT

In article <CMxJ0u.CD4@hermes.hrz.uni-bielefeld.de> rabe@mathematik.uni-bielefeld.de (Matthias Rabe) writes:
>So simply type
>       tar czvf my_new_fancy_tar_archive.tar.gz *

There's a `gotcha' hiding in there: if you really want to tar up
everything in the current directory hierarchy, you should use
    tar czvf foo.tar.gz .
rather than
    tar czvf foo.tar.gz *

In the latter case the shell expands the wildcard and omits files
beginning with `.'. It's better to let tar handle the current
directory by using `.' and then, of course, it automatically does all
files in the directory anyway.

--Malcolm
-- 
Malcolm Beattie <mbeattie@black.ox.ac.uk>
Oxford University Computing Services
"Widget. It's got a widget. A lovely widget. A widget it has got." --Jack Dee

------------------------------

From: scholten@esseye.si.com (David Scholten)
Subject: JANA special CDROM set..... oh boy!
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 15:26:48 GMT

I sent christina@jana.com a question about my order since my
reference number was much larger than 500 and I didn't want to pay the
$20 more.  Well, I got my response back about the question:

=====
Your reference number is 4244
 
Thank you for ordering our special 3 CD set
for Linux! If you have any questions regarding
your order, please E-MAIL christina@jana.com or
for technical questions, E-MAIL support@jana.com
 
Christina
CD-ROM A MONTH
Sales/Administration
 
----

If they are doing this by hand, it is evident they are not
bothering to read the message contents.

Dave



------------------------------

From: protein@catt.ncsu.edu (Buster S. Bunny)
Subject: Re: NEW PRODUCT : 3 Linux
Date: 25 Mar 1994 22:28:33 GMT

OH GOOD GRIEF... If you don't want the stuff.. then don't buy them... 
otherwise... quit your bitching and pay the money.

If you don't like the price.. then bounce on over to another product... 
Who cares what they're charging for packaging or shipping.. maybe they have
a ways to go to get to a post office... maybe they don't ship US Mail.. maybe
they ship Po-dunck_carriers_R_us... it's still a great deal.

I'm looking forward to receiving the set.
Thanks for the offer, Jay... and even if ya'll been swamped... you've got
a good number of us who are just a little tolerant.  We realize that this
isn't a Fortune 500 company... that you've just gone through some 
reconstruction.... just get the stuff to us in a reasonably timely manner and
we'll be happy.  thanks.


--
Chris Blackmon, N4VGK           || This is the Great American Melting
protein@garfield.catt.ncsu.edu  || Pot, not the not-so-Great American 
Duj tlvoqtaH.   Stop Seperatism.|| Compartmentalized Shelving Unit.    
WARNING: REALITY.SYS has been corrupted.  Reboot universe?  (y/n/a)

------------------------------

From: michaelv@iastate.edu (Michael L. VanLoon)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.os2.misc,comp.windows.x.i386unix,comp.os.linux.help,comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.386bsd.questions,comp.sys.next.software,comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: PCI bus cards (graphics and SCSI) which work?
Date: 25 Mar 94 18:53:16 GMT

In <1994Mar25.175046.28527@ccc.amdahl.com> haw30@eng.amdahl.com (Henry A Worth) writes:

>In article <michaelv.764537928@ponderous.cc.iastate.edu>, michaelv@iastate.edu (Michael L. VanLoon) writes:

>|> Matrox is not supported in XFree86, and rumors are that it never will
>|> be (unless you write all the drivers).  I don't think Matrox wants
>|> their driver code public.

>|> Do NOT buy ANY Diamond products!  They are not and will never be
>|> supported by XFree86 (although a few adventerous souls have gotten
>|> them to limp along at times).  Diamond will not allow their drivers to
>|> be public and doesn't care at all that this may cost them a sale
>|> because you run a free "unix".  They are quite indifferent to the
>|> pleas of free "unix" users.

>A small point, none of the chip/board vendors provide driver code,
>the issue is whether they will provide hardware documentation, without
>non-disclosure agreements, that will allow a 3rd party, like the
>XFree86[TM] project, write X drivers that can be released to the
>public in source form.

Right.  I didn't mean to imply that any vendor supplied XFree86
drivers.  I meant it to read "Diamond won't let you see any source
code that contains low level drivers for their boards, whether the
source code is commercial or was free, unless you pay them for a
non-disclosure license."

-- 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 Michael L. VanLoon                 Iowa State University Computation Center
    michaelv@iastate.edu                    Project Vincent Systems Staff
  Free your mind and your machine -- NetBSD free Un*x for PC/Mac/Amiga/etc.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

------------------------------

From: bcr@k9.via-term114 (Bill C. Riemers)
Subject: Re: 3 CD jana offer-- Interesting feedback
Date: 25 Mar 94 02:18:27 GMT
Reply-To: bcr@physics.purdue.edu

In article <2mq8s3$rp4@dr-pepper.East.Sun.COM> bobp@missmarple.east.sun.com writes:

   ==================================================
   From @QUCDN.QUEENSU.CA:3JJN3@QUCDN.QUEENSU.CA Mon Mar 21 23:36 EST 1994

   A E-Mail to christina@jana.com should solved your question;. Any way
   the reson we charge 14.95 is because we have to ship UPS, plus
   the T-Shirt is free even if you send the CD back. Also there
   is lot of work in handeling the CD. Also one other reson is
   at 29.95 for 3 CD's we do not make much money so we have to make it
   some whare. Oh there is one more reson, about 50% of the people do not
   pay on time too.

   Jay

More likely, Jay losses 50% of his records, and forgets to mail 80% of
the T-Shirts...  Yo! Jay, guess what.  Yet again no CD!  This message
has reminded me to complain again about it.

                           Bill

------------------------------

From: acg@kzin.cen.ufl.edu (Alexandra Griffin)
Subject: Re: MEM vs. CPU power??
Date: 25 Mar 1994 02:55:29 GMT

In article <d1coma.764525064@dtek.chalmers.se>,
Robert Feldt <d1coma@dtek.chalmers.se> wrote:
>I'm looking for a PC-system for running Linux and Xfree86, but I don't know 
>on which part of the system to spend the money!
>
>Should I buy more memory or go for a faster CPU? The choice is between a
>DX-33 system with 16MB of memory and a DX/2-66 with 8MB. I've got a feeling
>the faster system will be the best but I heard X need lots of memory
>(swapping ain't that funny!).

I'd definitely go for the DX-33 machine w/16MB if you're going to be running
X windows full-time.  I've seen X running on 8MB machines, and it's rather
slow even on DX-50's and DX2-66's.  16MB gives you enough space to be running
several apps. at one time comfortably.

Also, a DX-33 can be later upgraded to a DX2-66 or DX4-100 by just swapping
CPUs, and the price of the upgrade chips will only decrease over time.
You might want to consider an AMD 486dx-40 instead of an Intel 33... they're
usually about the same price.

>Both systems come with Cirrus Logic 5428 Graphics Card with 1MB of memory.
>Anyone out there with experience from that one? Should I expand it with one
>more MB of memory?

Is this an accelerated-type video board?  You definitely want an accelerated
card for X unless funds are really tight... a local-bus accelerated board
is even better.  One meg should be fine if you don't need resolutions beyond
1024x768x256 (this is what I run, and it's quite speedy on my S3 board).
Extra VRAM will provide you with more backing-store space even if you don't
use the higher resolutions, resulting in faster screen updates when you
expose an obscured window or move around your virtual desktop.  If you have
a local bus video board and lots of system RAM, though, X bitmaps can be
cached in main memory and accessed almost as quickly...

-- 
______
\    / //////////////////////////////////////////////
 \  / / Alexandra Griffin /// acg@kzin.cen.ufl.edu /
  \/ //////////////////////////////////////////////

------------------------------

From: drew@kinglear.cs.colorado.edu (Drew Eckhardt)
Subject: Re: MEM vs. CPU power??
Date: 25 Mar 1994 05:45:50 GMT

In article <d1coma.764525064@dtek.chalmers.se>,
Robert Feldt <d1coma@dtek.chalmers.se> wrote:
>I'm looking for a PC-system for running Linux and Xfree86, but I don't know 
>on which part of the system to spend the money!
>
>Should I buy more memory or go for a faster CPU? The choice is between a
>DX-33 system with 16MB of memory and a DX/2-66 with 8MB. I've got a feeling
>the faster system will be the best but I heard X need lots of memory
>(swapping ain't that funny!).

It depends on what exactly you'll be doing.  If you plan on 
running X, a bloated window manager like olwm, and using 
emacs to read your news, mail, etc, by all means, get the
16M of memory and the slower processor.

If you plan on letting other users onto your system
via the net or your dialin/dialout, get the 16M.

If you run X with a more reasonable window manger (ie, 
twm), use vi instead of emacs, etc. you can do kernel
compiles with virtually no paging in 8M provided you've
built a kernel with the parts you don't need ripped 
out, etc.

>(BTW do you think it is worth approx. $60 USD to get 2 extra years of
>warranty?)

Probably not. 

The failure curve on computer hardware is bathtub shaped - ie, in
the begining, lots of hardware is DOA or dies shortly their after,
not much dies in the middle of the life span, and as the end of 
the life span is reached, the rate of failure increases.

Another two years will put you furthur into the middle of the flat
spot, where you have a low chance of failure.

Also, there's the question of weather or not the place will still
be arround in two years.


------------------------------

Crossposted-To: comp.os.os2.misc,comp.windows.x.i386unix,comp.os.linux.help,comp.os.386bsd.misc,comp.os.386bsd.questions,comp.sys.next.software,comp.sys.next
From: haw30@eng.amdahl.com (Henry A Worth)
Subject: Re: PCI bus cards (graphics and SCSI) which work?
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 17:50:46 GMT

In article <michaelv.764537928@ponderous.cc.iastate.edu>, michaelv@iastate.edu (Michael L. VanLoon) writes:
|> In <2mslqq$1vl8@rs560.cl.msu.edu> evans@rs560.cl.msu.edu (jeffrey d evans) writes:
|> 
|> 
[...]
|> 
|> Matrox is not supported in XFree86, and rumors are that it never will
|> be (unless you write all the drivers).  I don't think Matrox wants
|> their driver code public.
|> 
[...]
| 
|> Do NOT buy ANY Diamond products!  They are not and will never be
|> supported by XFree86 (although a few adventerous souls have gotten
|> them to limp along at times).  Diamond will not allow their drivers to
|> be public and doesn't care at all that this may cost them a sale
|> because you run a free "unix".  They are quite indifferent to the
|> pleas of free "unix" users.
 
A small point, none of the chip/board vendors provide driver code,
the issue is whether they will provide hardware documentation, without
non-disclosure agreements, that will allow a 3rd party, like the
XFree86[TM] project, write X drivers that can be released to the
public in source form. A few vendors go the extra mile and provide
some tech support, loaner boards, or bits of example code, but such
cooperation is not a pre-req to XFree86 support.      

-- 
Henry Worth - haw30@eng.amdahl.com
No, I don't speak for Amdahl... I'm not even sure I speak for myself.

------------------------------

From: tbomberg@hrz.uni-bielefeld.de ( Thorsten Bomberg)
Subject: Re: Stupid... Re: NEW PRODUCT : 3 Linux CD's and a T-Shirt for $29.
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 1994 20:26:08 GMT

In article <1994Mar24.141626.16874@sue.cc.uregina.ca> biegler@aristotle.cs.uregina.ca (Mark Biegler) writes:
>
>With regard to these Linux CD's, what kind of system do they have for
>handling requests!?!  It certainly isn't working.  Here's what's happened
>with me:
>
>I sent away for the 3 Linux CD's within half-an-hour of seeing the message.
>About 3 or 4 days later, I got the reply:
>
>>Your reference number is XXXX (deleted)
>>...
>
>I immediately sent Christina mail asking if I was one of the first 
>500 or not, since the reference number could have meant anything 
>and nothing else was mentioned.  I mean, how was I to know... their
>original message said that all orders which were subsequent to the 
>first 500 would bounce and notify us ... right?
>
>So, today, about 3 or 4 days later, I get a reply saying exactly
>the same thing as above, with a new reference number!

Hey, the same thing happened to me (with two different numbers I hope)
I wrote a second complaint to Christina and I'm waiting for a response now.

>
>So, what's going on?  Am I now receiving two copies of this
>Linux CD set?  I DID NOT send mail to orders... I sent it to 
>christina in the hopes she'd let me know what was what.  I obviously
>don't want to send another mail message in case I order a third copy!
>
>This product had better damn well be good if they're to make up for
>the administration of this product.  I certainly don't want two of
>those things.

OK, Christina, if you are listening WE DONT WANT THIS TWICE!!!!

Thorsten
---
-- 
<><>==============================================================<><>
<><> Thorsten Bomberg       email: tbomberg@hrz.uni-bielefeld.de  <><>
<><> +49 5232 68429                                               <><>
<><>==============================================================<><>

------------------------------


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