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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.165
%%% For more info, contact Jim %%%
===
17) I'm trying to use a SyQuest drive under A/UX but it refuses to work.
I keep on getting a "more data than device expected" error message.
What's wrong?
The "problem" is with the generic SCSI disk driver under A/UX. For SCSI drives,
there are certain parameters that may be adjusted by the user; these parameters
are grouped in "pages." One such page concerns how the disk responds to and
recovers from errors: the Error Recovery Page. A/UX expects the parameters in
this page to have certain values. Now the vast majority of SCSI disks have
the values set as expected, but this isn't the case with SyQuest drives. There
is one parameter (PER) which is opposite than expected by A/UX. When A/UX trys
to set this value to what it wants, however, the SyQuest drive reads this
"request" wrong (the request is 16 bytes but the SyQuest only reads 4) so
the SCSI Manager reports the error.
Tony Cooper (tony@marc.cri.nz) has written a Mac application
which sets the Error Page values correctly: Fix Error Page. This application
must be used under the MacOS. It can be found on rascal.ics.utexas.edu as well
as on aux.support.apple.com (aux.patches/unsupported/2.0). You can also use the
FWB Hard Disk Toolkit - World Control Application to enable the PER bit in
the recovery page (Page #1).
By the by, here is the /etc/disktab entry for SyQuest:
# SyQuest disk
#
Syquest|syquest|S45:\
:ty=winchester:ns#34:nt#2:nc#1275:
===
18) I'm unable to start a getty process on a built-in serial port. When
I use 'setport' to enable the port, I get a "no such device" error.
Configuring /etc/inittab to respawn getty on the port has no effect.
AppleTalk is probably enabled for the port. The getty process can be started
temporarily by turning off AppleTalk via A/UX's Finder Chooser and THEN
using the 'setport' command.
You can permanently disable AppleTalk by reconfiguring the kernel with
"newconfig noappletalk". If you wish to keep the drivers installed in the
kernel but still want to "permanently" disable AppleTalk, you can edit
/etc/startup to prevent AppleTalk from initializing and /etc/inittab can be
editted to start getty. (NOTE: /etc/startup is regenerated by newconfig so
you'll have to redo this if you reconfigure the kernel).
If you don't have an EtherTalk card installed, then you can also modify
/etc/appletalkrc to point to "ethertalk0" instead of "localtalk0". Doing this
stops AppleTalk from bothering the serial port because it tries to use
the non-existant card.
===
19) I am using and depending on /etc/hosts to do all my hostname resolving
(i.e. not using named or /etc/resolv.conf). How come I can't mail
to other hosts, but I can ping|ftp|etc... them?
Well, the problem is actually with sendmail (in /usr/lib). sendmail (under
A/UX 2.0 and later) assumes the use of a nameserver. Pre-2.0 versions were
"adjusted" to look in /etc/hosts if any nameserver call failed (which it would
if it wasn't running, of course :). Jim Jagielski (jim@jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov)
has hacked sendmail 5.65 for A/UX to allow it to also check /etc/hosts. The
source code is available via anon-ftp on jagubox.
%%% For more info, contact Jim %%%
////////////////////// END OF PART 1 OF 2 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
--
Jim Jagielski | "It is not I who am crazy...
jim@jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov | it is I who am MAD!"
NASA/GSFC, Code 734.4 |
Greenbelt, MD 20771 | - Ren
Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu comp.unix.aux:10161 news.answers:4737
Newsgroups: comp.unix.aux,news.answers
Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!ira.uka.de!gmd.de!jvnc.net!darwin.sura.net!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!ukma!nsisrv!jagubox!jim
From: jim@jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Jagielski)
Subject: Apple A/UX FAQ List (2/2)
Message-ID: <1336@jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Followup-To: comp.unix.aux
Summary: Latest posting of FAQ for A/UX
Keywords: FAQ A/UX
Lines: 829
Sender: usenet@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov (Usenet)
Supersedes: <1311@jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Nntp-Posting-Host: jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov
Reply-To: jim@jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Jagielski)
Organization: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
References: <1335@jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 16:31:28 GMT
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
Expires: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 00:00:00 GMT
Archive-name: aux-faq/part2
Last-modified: Mon Dec 21 11:29:16 EST 1992
This is the Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) list for A/UX 3.0
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ START OF PART 2 OF 2 //////////////////////
===
20) My MacOS partition mounts fine under MacOS but it doesn't show up
under A/UX... Why?
Whether or not a Mac partition mounts under A/UX depends on a number of
factors (possibly even including the phases of the moon and the color socks
you happen to be wearing)... Necessary conditions for a partition to mount are:
1. The disk MUST be partitioned using the "new" partitioning scheme
detailed in Inside Macintosh V. There is still plenty of disk
software out there that uses the "old" scheme and this drives will
not mount under A/UX. Generic disk formatters that use the "new"
scheme include SilverLining and FWB Hard Disk Toolkit. Most major
disk vendors supply A/UX compatible formatting s/w.
2. The partition must mount under MacOS BEFORE A/UX is booted. A/UX
only tries to mount partitions that were already when it was booted.
So, if you use an application to boot A/UX and this application runs
before a partition is mounted, A/UX won't mount it for you. If you
have a removable drive (such as SyQuest), you must insert the disk
before you boot A/UX... this means you can't swap cartridges under
A/UX.
It's possible that playing with 'pname' before starting the MacOS environment
may make more MacOS partitions readable...
===
21) I've ported Elm (or other mail reader) and it doesn't seem to work.
Why?
It seems most likely that the reason is because they attempt to use a different
file locking scheme that /bin/mail does. Pre-3.0 versions of mail used 'flock'
style file locking. 3.0 now uses the '.lock' scheme for mail file locking.
Elm 2.4.X requires that both flock and .lock be enabled. Elm 2.3.X requires
_only_ .lock locking.
===
22) What 3-button mice work under A/UX (and X)?
The Gravis SuperMouse is a 3-button mechanical mouse that is completely
configurable and compatible with A/UX. Mouse System's A-3 mouse is compatible
but is "hard-wired" configured for A/UX as: Left Button = Actual Mouse Button;
Middle Button = Left Arrow; Right Button = Right Arrow. There is also the
Logitech MouseMan. The general agreement is that the SuperMouse is your
best bet... At present, the Gravis SuperMouse, however, is not shipping
due to some technical problem.
Please note that A/UX 2 & 3 only support a subset of the ADB Manager. Thus
there are a few ADB devices that may not work under A/UX.
===
23) How come when I do a 'df' as a regular user, it shows me a different
number of free blocks compared to when I run it as 'root'?
One of the details about the BSD Fast File System is that it sets aside 10% of
the available disk space (by default... this value can be changed by using
the 'tunefs' command) and makes it unavailable to regular users. This
prevents 2 things: filling up a file system and destroying performance by
having a "too full" file system. 'root', however, does have access to this
"extra" disk space, hence the difference in the numbers reported by df between
'root' and "regular joe".
Please note that if you used HD Setup to create the partitions (or your
A/UX came preinstalled), then the "set aside" value for these file systems
is 5%, not the default of 10%... This was simply to give users more space.
Reducing this value beyond 5% is Not A Good Idea.
===
24) Does A/UX LocalTalk support IP?
Nope... not at all. Maybe 3.0.1...
===
25) How do I get MPW 3.1 to work? It hangs my system...
MPW 3.1 doesn't work under A|UX 2.0 although 3.2 does. In the meantime,
you can make 3.1 work by breaking into MacsBug when it's hung and entering:
pc=pc+2;g
See Q#31 for info about entering MacsBug...
===
26) Can I refer to a file on my Mac system from within A/UX?
A/UX's 'Finder' mode is the only way (currently) to access both file systems.
You could write a hybrid application that could attach to the Finder world (a
la, CommandShell and cmdo which can "see" both file systems), but you can't
access HFS volumes from the A/UX kernel directly. In a similar vein, you can't
'mount' an HFS volume on an A/UX inode.
===
27) How can I adjust the amount of virtual memory available Finder uses?
The default behavior under 3.0 is to set the amount of MacOS memory equal
to the total memory you have if possible (see below about 24-bit mode).
If you are low on swap, this can cause some strange behavior (although
you most probably won't get a panic message). To "fix" this, you may want
to decrease the memory size.
The easiest way is to use the 'TBMEMORY' environment variable. You can set
it's "value" equal to the amount of memory you wish to use. For example:
set TBMEMORY=10m (in .profile for ksh or sh or /etc/profile)
-or-
setenv TBMEMORY 10m (in .login for csh)
configures Finder for 10M.
You can also edit /mac/bin/mac32|mac24 (or .mac32|.mac24 if you are using this
method) to call 'startmac' with the memory size you want using the "-m" option.
For example:
/mac/bin/startmac -m 8m > $SMLOGFILE 2>&1 &
-------
in (.)mac32|(.)mac24 will configure an 8M environment.
Please note that under the 24-bit mode (mac24), you can only access a maximum
of 8MB of RAM. It won't complain if you try to setup more, it just won't
do it. Furthermore, if you actually have more than 8MB (say 12), the "About
This Macintosh" window will show "Built-in Memory: 12,288 L; Total Memory:
8,192 K".
===
28) Is it worth getting a cache card for the IIci?
Absolutely! The card makes an amazing difference in performance. However, this
performance increase is reduced when an external monitor is used. For more
information about extensive benchmarking with the IIci and cache cards, you
can snag the benchmarking results (which were generated by William Roberts)
via anon-ftp on redstar.dcs.qmw.ac.uk in archive/papers.
===
29) How do I keep command lines that I edit with "backspace" from erasing
the prompt?
This behavior is due to the tty driver under A/UX. The BSD tty driver (which
A/UX doesn't use) handles this, whereas the SysV driver doesn't. If you are
running 'ksh' then you can "set -o viraw" to prevent this from happening.
As far as I know, there are no work-arounds for 'sh' or 'csh'. ('tcsh' and
'bash' do not suffer from this problem... )
===
30) When I try to mail something, I get the following error message:
"Cannot read frozen config file: not a typewriter". What's wrong?
This message is produced by sendmail (/usr/lib/sendmail) when it's frozen
configuration file (/usr/lib/sendmail.fc) is unusable (as it is in the A/UX
distribution which has it as a 0-byte file). To create a "new" frozen file
of your present sendmail.cf file (assuming that it's good), type:
$ /usr/lib/sendmail -bz
(the sendmail daemon, if it exists, must be killed 1st).
===
31a) I have MacsBug installed. How can I trigger it?
-- or --
31b) Sometimes my MultiFinder environment (and/or CommandShell) freezes
up; how can I unfreeze it? Should I hit the Interrupt switch?
The "Command-Control-e" keypress will kill the current MultiFinder environment
and "unfreeze" (and kill) your MultiFinder|CommandShell. Depending on
whether your session-type is Console Mode or 32|24-Bit, you will either get
returned to the console or get returned to the Login screen. You should _NOT_
press the Interrupt switch since this puts you into A/UX's kernel debugger.
If you have MacsBug installed (which is recommended) then you can press
"Command-Control-i" to enter it. This may enable you to clean some things up
before the MultiFinder environment is blasted (even just using 'rs' under
MacsBug helps...). If MacsBug is _not_ installed, the "C-C-i" behaves almost
like a "C-C-e" except that it appears that A/UX doesn't need to "rebuild" your
icon/Desktop "environment" the next time Mac-mode is entered.
===
32) Is there an archive of comp.unix.aux out there somewhere?
Yes, it's located on aux.support.apple.com under archives/comp.unix.aux.
===
33) My site is not upgraded to EtherTalk Phase 2 yet... can I use Phase 1
under A/UX?
A/UX only supports EtherTalk Phase 2. Upgrading to Phase 2 is recommended for
a variety of reasons, but most importantly to ensure compatibility with
new products from Apple and developers (of course, the added features over
Phase 1 are nice too :).
===
34) What languages are available for A/UX?
A/UX comes with a C compiler ('cc'), a FORTRAN-77 compiler ('f77') as
well as an assembler ('as'), SNOBOL ('sno') and a kinda-basic interpreter
('bs'). 'cc' is a nice, stable, if not-too-quick compiler. 'f77' is a
true FORTRAN-77 compiler and appears quite workable. I've not used 'sno'
(I couldn't recall how to program in SNOBOL if my life depended on it :)
or 'bs'.
If you are doing any work in C, then it would be well worth it to get a
copy of the GNU C compiler ('gcc') (see Q&A #9). gcc is K&R and ANSI
compatible so if you are doing ANSI work you'll need it. Apple also has an
ANSI C compiler ('c89') that you can buy. It's available on the "A/UX
Developer's Toolkit CD" from APDA. There is also at least one other
3rd-party C compiler out there, but I can't recall it's name right
now. gcc is free; c89 runs about $800. Both include C++ capabilities.
There are also 2 very good 3rd-party FORTRAN compilers: NKR FORTRAN
and Absoft MacFORTRAN II. In my opinion, MacFORTRAN II is the better
product... it has finer compiler control, a wide number of compatibility
options (such as VAX FORTRAN) and excellent speed. If you do order
MFII, be _sure_ to get the A/UX version. They also sell an MPW version
that will work under A/UX but it's run under, you guessed it, MPW.
The A/UX version is a true "Unix" compiler and it's optimized for A/UX.
Both MFII and NKR FORTRAN run about $500-$600.
Oasys sells 3 compiler packages: C, C++ and FORTRAN. All the compilers
are based on the GreenHills compilers which are known to be robust and
fast. However, the Oasys packages are expensive, running about $2000
per language (although you do get assemblers and linker/loaders with
the package). Unisoft used to distribute their "Optimizing Compilers"
(FORTRAN and C) for A/UX, but they are no longer available... Pity,
because they also were based on GreenHills and were quite nice.
At present, I know of no true Pascal compilers for A/UX.
Finally, if you are doing program development, then you'll need a
good debugger. As described above in "List of ports...", Thomas Eberhardt
(thomas@mathematik.uni-Bremen.de) has ported gdb for A/UX, if you would
prefer using something other than sdb or dbx, which are included with
A/UX. If you are using FORTRAN, then Absoft also makes an excellent
debugger which has been fine-tuned to work with MFII (it also does quite
well with C); it's called FX. It has two interfaces, character and Motif,
and is quite powerful.
===
35) How can I figure out the /etc/disktab entry for my hard disk?
Many hard disk applications will reveal the disk drive geometry for you:
FWB Hard Disk ToolKit and SCSI Evaluator are very good (SilverLining is a bit
wrong on the number of tracks... it includes spares). What you are really
looking for are the total number of cylinders ('nc'), the number of sectors
per track ('ns') and the number of tracks ('nt'). Also, I'm maintaining
a list of /etc/disktab entries. If you have any, send it to me and I'll
add them.
The file will be available via anon-ftp on jagubox.
<<ED: I need _LOTS_ of entries>>
Just a note: the number of tracks ('nt') is equal to the number of heads.
===
36) How come I can't use color under X?
Apple's X (R4), and Thomas Eberhardt's X11R5 all support color. However,
you must start the server with the "-screen 0 -depth 8" option (similar
command with other screens if you have them). You can add these options to
the command line or to your server's defaults file. You can also create a
".X11" file in your home directory which includes the line:
X -screen 0 -depth 8
to get the same effect. Make sure that ".X11" is executable for this to
work ("chmod 755 .X11").
===
37) What are Right-To-Copy and Right-To-Upgrade licenses?
If you have bought at least one copy of A/UX 3.0 and you have other Mac CPUs
that you would like to install A/UX on, you don't need to reorder the entire
product. You can order a Right-To-Copy license for each Mac you want to
install A/UX on and then copy your A/UX to that Mac. This is cheaper than
buying a whole new CD-ROM package. It's not right to copy unless you have a
Right-To-Copy.
If those other Macs are already running A/UX, but an older version, then you
need to order a Right-To-Upgrade license for each one you want to upgrade.
As above, you then copy your 3.0 over to that Mac.
Note that in both cases, you must have purchased at least 1 copy of A/UX 3.0.
The Right-To-* licenses just "authorize" you to then copy that over to other
Macs.
The A/UX Essential Manual Set (that comes with A/UX 3.0) is not provided with
either license. If you need more, you'll need to order them
===
38) How do I set up my Mac and A/UX to enable remote logins via a modem
on tty0?
First of all, you must edit /etc/inittab to start getty on tty0 using mo_2400:
00:2:respawn:/etc/getty -u -t 60 tty0 mo_2400
Make sure that your modem is set to be quiet, to not return result codes and
to not echo back. It must also reset on DTR being dropped ("atq1e0&d3" will
achieve this for most Hayes-compatible modems except certain (all) USR modems).
Your modem must also raise DCD on connection ("at&c1") in order to have
Dialup security (i.e. when the line is closed, HangUp the process. This means
that MODEM flow control must be specified in gettydefs). You then save these
changes using the "at&w" sequence. Finally, to make it autoanswer, be sure to
add "ats0=1&w".
Make sure that the modem cable is correctly configured (NOTE: This is
for Dialup Security!):
Mac Modem
--------------------
1 (HskO) 20 (DTR)
4 (RTS) <- yep... it gets sent to Pin 20 & 4
2 (HskI) 8 (DCD)
3 (TxD-) 2 (TxD)
4 (GDN) 7 (Sgnd)
5 (RxD-) 3 (RxD)
6 NO CONNECT
7 NO CONNECT
8 (RxD+) 7 (Sgnd) <- this is right, it gets tied to Mac pin 4 too.
If you mess up pin 8 things can get so flaky that you'll never figure out
what's going on. You see, by grounding pin 8, you make the modem port
truly RS-232 compatible. If not grounded, the port will use the RS-422
standard, which can cause lots of problems.
Please note that getty is the bidirectional version of getty, which is
sometimes known as uugetty. Thus, you can have dial in and dial out
at the same time on the same port. You should be using at least version
1.16 of HDB (see above: "stuff that's broken" and Q&A 15)
%%% For more info concerning modem|serial problems for A/UX, you really
should contact Alexis Rosen (alexis@panix.com)... He's really worked
this area... %%%
===
39) How come I can't used 'talk' with some of the other Unix boxes out
there, and they can't talk to me?
The reason why is because there are two versions of talk (and it's daemon
talkd) out there. A/UX uses the BSD 4.2 version. Others use the 4.3 version.
The two aren't compatible and don't even talk on the same port. If you try
to talk to someone and all you get is a "Checking for invitation..." message
then it's because the machine you're trying to access is using 4.3.
Steve Green (xrsbg@dirac.gsfc.nasa.gov) has ported the 4.3 versions of talk
and talkd (now renamed ntalk and ntalkd for A/UX) to overcome this snag. You
can have both versions available and running with no problems. The port is
available via anon-ftp on jagubox.gsfc.nasa.gov.
===
40) I'm having trouble transfering files between A/UX and my MacOS disk...
Also, sometimes things get transfered fine, othertimes not. What's
going on?
If a file on the A/UX system has Type "TEXT", then when it is copied over to
a MacOS disk, all 'newline' characters will be replaced by 'carriage
returns'. Sometimes this is what you want (that is when the file is, in fact,
a TEXT file). Othertimes it's not. Say for example you download a GIF file
onto your A/UX disk. A/UX _might_ think it's a TEXT file. If you then copy
it over to your MacOS disk and try to use Giffer on it, it won't work. That's
because the 'nl's where changed, which is _not_ what you want. The way to
stop this is to convince A/UX that the file is of non-TEXT type. There are
many applications out there (including the A/UX included 'setfile' program)
that lets you modify this. Do this before you copy the file over to your Mac OS
disk and all will be Okay. If you aren't sure what the Type and Creator
should be, you can just specify "BIN " and "A/UX" (note space in BIN) and
the file won't be massaged during the copy|transfer. You'll still need
to eventually change them to the correct ones for their particular
application, but this way they'll be on your MacOS disk "uncorrupted."
Of course, you could also use 'setfile' to set the Type|Creator fields _before_
you copy the file to the MacOS disk and avoid an additional step.
Please note that if you downloaded a BINHEX file, you _do_ want to keep
it as a TEXT file if you transfer it over to the MacOS. Once there, you
can de-BINHEX it and unStuffIt (if it was a binhexed stuffit archive).
See "Hints and Words of Wisdom" (above) for hints in using ftp file transfers
under A/UX.
===
41) Using the command shell interface, I'm trying to access some Mac files
(that have strange names) but I can't; the program returns an error and
I can't access the file. What's going on?
The problem is that sh and csh don't understand the Mac "special" characters
that are in the filenames. They don't expect filenames with characters that
are represented by 8-bits. ksh is "8-bit clean" and thus would be able to
access the file. For example, to remove Moire, just type:
$ ksh #this creates a Korn shell child
% rm M?ire #match the weird 'o'
% exit #get back in your old shell
You could also use emacs' DIRED or the Gnu File utilities to do this, but ksh
is right here on the system so it's a bit easier. Of course, another very
easy way is to use the MacOS interface and do the deletion|rename|whatever
the "Mac" way. Please note that if what you are MacOS deleting is a
symbolic link to a directory, what gets Trashed is actually the contents
of the directory as well as the link! This is due to the fact that to
the Finder, the link looks like a folder, and the entire thing gets deleted.
===
42) How can I reports bugs that I find?
The official E-mail address is reports@aux.support.apple.com. If you
subscribe to the A/UX Technical AnswerLine, you can also use that method. The
former isn't acknowledged although the latter is.
For completeness, also post the report to comp.unix.aux.
There is also a HyperCard stack called "Apple Bug Reporter" that Apple
recommends using. I have a copy and can make it available via anon-ftp if
there is a demand.
===
43) Which serial cards work under A/UX?
<<ED: the following is a posting by Alexis Rosen (alexis@panix.com) on c.u.a>>
There are three cards that "work" with A/UX. The Apple serial card is NOT one
of them.
The first is Paul Campell's Taniwha CommCard. This card does indeed work with
all versions of A/UX including 3.0. It has special support for UUCP. It has
a few mysterious and not very important problems. It's an excellent buy. The
only problem is, it's not on the market anymore. If you can get one used,
though, it's worth getting. The one downside is that, like Apple's ports, it
won't SIMULTANEOUSLY support modem and hardware flow control. It is immune to
many of the nasty bugs which affect the built-in serial ports, including the
two (at least) which can crash the kernel.
The second is the Digiboard Nu/whatever, which comes in 4 and 8 port versions.
This card does not currently work well with A/UX, and has not since 2.0. It
is susceptible to a variety of problems which crash the kernel, although if
you use only one port, you can go for many days without dying. It can also
bring down streams without crashing the kernel. A separate problem with
throughput causes UUCP to fail at high (9600 or above) speeds. HOWEVER- the
story is not over. The author of the drivers has been working hard to correct
these problems, and I hope that they will be corrected sometime in the next
two months.
<<ED: Some very good news! Brian Westley, the author of the Nu/Xi drivers,
of DigiBoard has completely rewritten the A/UX drivers, which are now
in beta test. According to Brain, the betas seem rock solid and complete
and are "much better than the current released version." He's also
attempting to add CSlip support. He also now has _real_ work-time
available to work on the drivers. If you would like the latest betas
(or just need to contact him) he has a variety of E-mail addresses:
merlyn@digibd.com
...uunet!digibd!merlyn
AppleLink D1692
>>
The 3rd is the Applied Engineering QuadraLink serial card. I have the drivers
but have never had the chance to test them. However, I'm not too comfortable
with the idea of using them, for two reasons. First, the author of the drivers
knows fairly little about A/UX or unix in general. Second, the driver code is
based on Apple code. Apple has been (at least until 3.0 comes out) completely
incapable of writing serial drivers for their own hardware, so I'm not too
confident in usig their code as a base for someone else's drivers. BUT!!! -
as I said, I haven't used them. And at least one person who has, has not
reported trouble. So they're OK, at least for light use (which is sort of true
for the Apple ports as well). I just wouldn't bet a commercial project on
it.
The AE QuadraLink card, like the CommCard and the Apple ports, can't do both
hardware handshaking and modem control at the same time. No hardware patch
kit will be developed for the AE card...
The AE QuadraLink DMA isn't any better.
In short, there are no good serial-port solutions for A/UX. For a serious
project, buy a terminal server or buy a Sun. :-(
<<ED: the following is a followup to Alexis's posting. It's from Paul Sander>>
Actually, there are four.
The fourth is the MaraThon MultiComm card from Dove. It comes with three
serial ports and a parallel port. The first serial port is a DB-25, the
second is a DB-9 (AT compatible), and the third is configurable DB-25 or
RS-422. The parallel port is also AT-compatible. I haven't had trouble
with the serial ports, though I have had only terminals connected to them.
The parallel driver has an infuriating bug in which occasionally the end
of a printout is lost. (The workaround is to print a short dummy file after
anything important.) A/UX drivers come separately from the card, but they
are free.
Dove's technical support is pretty poor. When I got the card, I had them
send the A/UX drivers. When I discovered the bug, I reported it, and got
an "update," which contained the exact same software (proven using cmp to
compare the cpio archives on their media). Repeated calls were either
unanswered, or were not returned. I finally gave up after some 6 months
of frustration. To make the story complete, they used to have an 800
number for technical support, but it was discontinued 3 months into this
saga.
===
44) I heard the the Installer for 3.0 works on "any" 3rd party hard disk.
Well, it doesn't on mine!
Well, the Installer will work with any 3rd party disk but there are a few
wrinkles... The HD Setup application in the 3.0 Installer is unique in that
not only does it create A/UX partitions but it also creates the actual file
systems in those partitions (basically it runs 'newfs'). Now if you have
used some other HD utility program (such as SilverLining or FWB HDT) to
create the partitions and then attempt to install A/UX on that disk, the
Installer sees that the partitions are there and then _assumes_ that they
were created by HD Setup and therefore have the file systems already created.
Of course, the file systems don't exist yet, just the partitions, so the
installation fails.