Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

On Sun, 25 Dec 2005, Samual Acorn wrote:

> On 25/12/05, sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org> wrote:
> > (Slow connection, won't quote original while uploading a large file.  Why
> > is Earthlink transferring at 1500 cps?).
>
> dialup uploads are always slow (check the CS light)
> if not dialup then a fiber-seeking backhoe might be causing problems... ;)

I get these speeds or worse (lots of stalls).  I tried three ISPs.
So it might be the phoneline?  Sometimes downloads go as fast as 5K/sec 
and my connection speed is 50 kbits/sec.
I have problems at three phone numbers too.
Old phone lines.

> > I use MS DOS 7.1 standalone because FreeDOS did not do scsi (does it
> > now)?, did not recognize the hard drive on 2 or 3 of our computers, and I
> > think did not work with DOS usb-storage driver.  On two computers loadlin
> > only worked with DOS 7 (2.2.26 may have fixed this).
>
> this is why i use LILO to start linux.....

Loadlin is easier.  Can lilo let you boot into DOS?

> one computer for linux (only linux)
> one computer for the 'doze (and only the 'doze)
> and a third for DOS (and only dos)

Where do you find the space?  Why not put three drives on one computer?
I did put Win98 on the second drive of one computer and can change it to 
the active partition if I ever need to upgrade a modem to V90 with it.

> 2 for linux if you count the 'webserver'
>
> each system with a set of hardware specific to its use....
>
> btw, ive never done anything with DOS (or any other OS) and SCSI...
> too expensive... and i dont need the transfer rate it boasts...

I have three free SCSI cards, three free SCSI CD-ROM burners (external, 
but two behave internally), five SCSI scanners, a 9GB and several smaller 
SCSI drives found at the curb (Apple discards).  DOS scsi works fairly 
easily with the CD-ROM drives and hard drives.  I needed linux for the 
scanner (or Win31).

> > I use DOS rather than lilo because I still use DOS programs:
> > WP51/DOS because I don't like GUIs.  It does not work under Dosemu (4.1
> > does, somewhat better).
>
> bochs works good too.....
>
> http://bochs.sourceforge.net

Some day I will try it.

> > I tried VDE, which works well in DOS but under DOSEMU does not support
> > upper ASCII, and some of the Ctrl-key combinations don't work - Ctrl plus
> > arrow key for moving one word at a time, Find, End of File.
> > I am used to some DOS viewers and other programs.  Kermit works in DOS, as
> > does lynx, w3m (not links), netpbm....  You can power off DOS at any point
> > and access drives without mounting them.
> >
> > I have not found a way to directly print email from my shell account with
> > linux.
>
> i dont even use printers with linux so i cant help you on that one....
Do you print with something else?

> > Linux does not work properly on TTL monitor.  I can't see bold or
> > underline with lynx, or inverse with VDE.
>
> TTL monitor??? where in the world did you find a TTL monitor? where in
> the world did you find the card to drive it??

I have probably the largest collection in town, about 10 of each.  Friends 
give us monitors, or old computers, and I save the cards.  I even have two 
Hercules Plus cards but they don't cooperate with VGA cards like plain MGA 
do.

> better yet.... why are you using it? VGA cards can be found in
> trashcans and VGA monitors can be found cheap (or free) just about
> anywhere....

I prefer to see bold and underline at the same time (could not find a way 
to do that with VGA in text mode) and I like the smaller screen with amber 
on black, and besides linux lets me use MGA/TTL and VGA in the same 
computer so I have vt1 and vt2 run by mdacon (on TTL) and vt3 and vt4 on 
VGA and I can display text on one monitor (or svgalib graphics) and 
translate on the other.

I also use 84-key keyboards with accessible F keys.  I was able to 
customize the CLI and X keyboards.

> > Only one or maybe two of my 360K drives works in linux.
>
> non-standard? every PC floppy drive ive ever used works with linux...
> even the original belt-driven full-height XT drives....

Well, most of mine just give errors if I try reading fds with linux.
I had to add the /dev devices for 360K and 720K.

> > I have not found any need for a 'full' linux.  We put SW81 on one
> > computer for a while to see what it looked like, and ran SW91 live CD to
> > try out USB, but it is much quicker booting with BL.
> >
> > Every time I come up with something that BL can't do, someone compiles it
> > for me.  Mutt, netpbm, mplayer, USB storage kernel and boot disk, parport
> > zip drive floppy boot disk, chip-specific modelines.  Or works out a
> > script (sound, CD burning, mpg123 for streaming audio).
> >
> > What is it you can't do with BL and need a larger linux for?
>
> i dont have to wait for someone else to compile or strip something

So use something compiled for SW4.0 or SW7.1, or upgrade the library and 
use something compiled for a later slackware, or an RPM or DEB package. Or 
learn to compile.  I can do simple compilations with standard libraries.
Sometimes I need to add a utility.

> down.... boot time is fine for me.... how fast do you expect a machine
> to boot??  (30seconds not fast enough?.. for that matter i rarely turn
> my linux boxen off... so i dont see the boot process very often...)

I prefer not to heat with computers, or listen to them all the time.

i
> have an X server that was compiled specifically for my videochip
> (accelerated) installed right off the CD...

I find Xvesa works on most of my video cards.  I had to use X with special 
modelines on one laptop and xfbdev on ET6000. But you can install the full 
X from Slackware if you want.

> dont have to worry about that new NIC i install not being supported...
> dont have to worry about vidcard problems... i have the -real- set of
> gnu tools.... (busybox is awkward)

I doubt you would have any better luck with the S3 Trio3D, even with a 
newer linux and full X.  Xvesa works, xfbdev works, but X (Virge or SVGA) 
says 'signal out of range' no matter what frequencies I tell it to use.

One linux (Mandrake?) we tried to install on our newest computer refused 
because it did not like our video.  Slackware is better than most.
BL has worked on every video card, Xvesa on all but one (needed X with a 
special set of modelines) and it is unstable on my ET6000 cards.

> its not a matter of what cannot and what can be done... its a matter
> of everything being properly supported (large kernel)... not needing
> to deal with problems of booting one os from another...
You don't NEED to use loadlin, use lilo instead.

> and it also means i dont have to spend hours downloading 'extras' like
> the GNU GCC over a 5k/s connection since its already on a CD...
So buy some CDs and use them to add packages to BL.

> installs rather quickly off a 50X cdrom drive.... along with a whole
> bunch of other little utilities... like GNU 'screen'... everythings a
I found a version of 'screen' in SW81 that works with glibc 2.2.5 and
SW81 ncurses.

> mount /dev/cdrom away.... and its not broken or stripped down... like
> the broken telnet or the microcom serial client in baslin...

They are smaller and therefore work less than 100% of the time.  You don't 
need to replace them unless they don't work for you.  I replaced them.

Do you also buy 100 piece toolkits instead of just the tools you need?

> > Yes my camera has a memory card and I got a card reader for it, which now
> > works with the 2.4.31 USB boot disk (but not with DSL or un-updated XP).
> >
> > A Smartmedia to PCMCIA adaptor sold for $20 used on ebay, another for 16
> > pounds.  My card reader was $3 used.
> >
> > A floppy disk or CD-ROM burning camera is large and heavy as well as more
> > expensive.
>
> heavy? erm... ok... matter of preference there i guess... i dont like
> the tiny ones like the elf and similar sized cos they are just too
> damn small... (like cell phones that have to be dialed with
> toothpicks)

I would rather not lug around an extra couple of pounds in my backpack on 
my bike.  My camera would fit into a large pocket. 5" long, 1.5" deep?

So what are you using BL for, fun?

Sindi