Linux-Hardware Digest #270, Volume #10 Wed, 19 May 99 02:13:28 EDT
Contents:
Re: DDS-3 DAT drive (Chris Mauritz)
Re: Build or buy? ("David J. Owens")
Re: 4 port pci serial card recommendation ("Brian")
Re: Tiny Linux Boxes? (ellis)
Re: ISA Plug and Play (Pray) (ellis)
Re: HP 8100i IDE CDRW problems. (Brian L Rachford)
Need software for GVC NIC (Dave Campana)
Re: ESS ES1868 Plug and Play AudioDrive install question. ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: Proliant 1600 Dual 300 (Michael Kremer)
Re: KWINTV Problem: Operation not supported by device?? (blankreg)
SCSI tape problems - 4/5 backups then stops working (Greg Patten)
Re: <$500US Linux Box ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.misc
From: Chris Mauritz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: DDS-3 DAT drive
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 02:22:48 GMT
In comp.os.linux.misc Rod Roark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Chris Mauritz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>What's the secret to getting a DDS-3 DAT drive to work with linux?
>>I've tried reading/writing tapes with Redhat 5.2 and Redhat 6.0
>>using an HP and a Seagate drive without success.
>>
>>When I try to read/write tapes, I get:
>>
>>tape read error: Input/output error
>>
>>I've compiled SCSI tape support into the kernel (tried both 2.0.36 and
>>2.2.9) and made sure the device files (/dev/nst0 /dev/st0) exist.
> Check the boot time messages (dmesg); does anything acknowledge the
> existence of the tape drive? Is your SCSI controller recognized?
> Any chance of a cabling/termination error?
Yup, the drive is recognized. I can even do an mt -f /dev/st0 offline
to eject the tape. Termination seems fine. It seems like some sort of
driver issue, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. I
used a number of DDS-2 drives with Redhat 5.0 and 5.2 without incident
so this is rather confusing.
C
--
Christopher Mauritz
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: "David J. Owens" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Build or buy?
Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 19:57:08 GMT
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> So, my boss told me on Friday to go and get myself a new computer and
> send him the bill. He said, as long as it came in under $3000, it was
> okay by him.
>
> At first, I was all delirious and sweaty-palmed, figuring this was my
> chance to rig together one of those dual-Celeron systems I've been
> reading so much about. Not that I *need* two CPU's--it just sounds so
> damn cool, I've been itching to try it. Or build some other, monster
> 'dream system' of my own design.
Dual 500MHz PIIIs would be faster than dual-Celerons.
> My enthusiasm was somewhat abated when I started pricing out individual
> components and estimating the amount of *time* involved in setting up a
> custom system compared to just plunking down $3000 for a loaded Dell.
> What I am in fact *supposed* to be doing with this new box is writing a
> WinNT GUI for some simulation software, and I need to get started, like,
> NOW (which is why I was instructed to go out and buy a new machine).
> What if I bought a bunch of parts and it took me 2-3 weeks to get them
> all working right? Such a delay would be _EXPENSIVE_.
I can built a new computer in less than 3 hours once I get all
of the components. This time includes installing and configuring
the operating system. It usually takes less than one week to
get all of the components by UPS Ground.
> It appears I can get (marginally?) more bang for my buck by assembling a
> custom system, and be much more certain of being able to run Linux
> relatively trouble-free (a *requirement*, AFAIC), but does this really
> matter when it's not my dime anyway? If some piece of hardware doesn't
> work with Linux as supplied, I can probably just go buy a new one and
> *still* come in under $3K. I wonder what others would do in this
> situation. Do you take a risk and use the opportunity to build your
> dream system, or stick to something less exciting but, perhaps, more
> secure?
In my experience, I can build a server or workstation for over
$1000 less than a similar Dell PowerEdge Server or Dell Precision
Workstation. This is more than "marginally" less expensive than
a Dell and seems to make the 3 hours of building time more
than worth the effort.
> Any advice, cautionary tales, etc. much appreciated.
Use the best quality components you can find and make
sure they are all on the Hardware Compatibility List for
the operating system(s) you plan to run. Use name-brand
rather than generic memory.
> --
> *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
> Dave Wolfe
> gForce Technologies Inc.
>
> P.S. Here's a quote from Dell on a monster system priced at $2578 that
> got me thinking about whether I really want to bother building my
> own...
The Dell Dimension line are not Dell's best Workstation machines.
The Dell Precision Workstation line is better.
> Dell Dimension T Series:
> Dimension® XPS T550, Pentium® lll Processor
> at 550 MHz
I would suggest a dual 500MHz PIII system rather than a single
550MHz PIII due to the big jump in price between the #2 and
#1 fastest PIII processors.
> Memory:
> 128MB 100MHz SDRAM
I would only consider ECC SDRAMS.
>
> Keyboard:
> Microsoft® Natural® Keyboard Elite
> Monitor:
> 19" (18.0" viewable, .26dp) Trinitron®
> P990 Monitor
> Video Card:
> 16MB Diamond Viper TNT 3D AGP Graphics Card
> Hard Drive:
> NEW 13.6GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Ultra2 SCSI is the best choice for a high performance, expandable
Workstation.
> Floppy Drive:
> 1.44MB Floppy Drive
> Operating System:
> Microsoft® Windows® 98
If you plan to use NT, change this.
>
> Mouse:
> MS IntelliMouse®
> Modem:
> 3Com® USRobotics V.90* PCI Telephony WinModem
> for Sound
WinModems should be avoided due to lack of support
on Linux. A 3Com USRobotics external modem would
be better, assuming you need an analog phone modem.
> CD-ROM Drive:
> 40X Max Variable CD-ROM Drive
I would use Ultra2 SCSI hard drive(s) and a SCSI CD-ROM.
> Sound Card:
> Turtle Beach Montego II A3D320V Sound
> Card,FactoryInstall
> Speakers:
> Altec Lansing ACS-340 Speakers with Subwoofer
> TV TUNER:
> STB PCI TV/FM Tuner
>
> --== Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ ==--
> ---Share what you know. Learn what you don't.---
Here is an example workstation configuration with the URLs for
the vendors:
2*500MHz Pentium III $966 www.dynastyexpress.com
2*Pentium III Heatsink-Fan(FAP3X2B) $45 www.computernerd.com
Asus P2B-S Mainboard $300 www.dynastyexpress.com
128MB Samsung CAS2 ECC $249 www.mushkin.com
IBM 9.1GB Ultra2 SCSI(DDRS39130-LVD) $285 www.tjt.com
Toshiba 40X SCSI CD-ROM $83.75 www.dynastyexpress.com
Teac 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy drive $17 www.dynastyexpress.com
Diamond Viper V770 16MB AGP Graphics $107 www.dynastyexpress.com
Yamaha Waveforce PCI 192xg Sound Card $59.50 www.dynastryexpress.com
3COM/USR 5686 V.90 External Modem $127.50 www.dynastyexpress.com
Optiquest 19" V95 .26dp 1600x1280 $477.50 www.dynastyexpress.com
Microsoft Elite KBD + IntelliMouse Combo $68 www.dynastyexpress.com
Creative CSW100 Speaker + Subwoofer $55 www.dynastyexpress.com
In-Win Q500A Full Tower ATX Case(300W) $79.50 www.dynastyexpress.com
The total cost for this computer would be $2919.75. You
can expect to pay around $90 to have all of these components
shipped to you by UPS Ground. The above configuration is
about $400 more than the Dell, but has two processors, SCSI
drives, a bigger case, and other better quality components than
what Dell uses. You could beat the price of the Dell by using
a single processor and IDE drives.
I would also highly recommend getting an Uninterruptable Power
Supply(UPS) such as the APC Backup UPS 650 for $174 at
Dynasty Express.
------------------------------
From: "Brian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: 4 port pci serial card recommendation
Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 22:56:03 GMT
Hi Brian:
I have to go along with Bryan on this point.
RocketPort PCI Quad/DB25 4 ports with RS-232 fan-out cables;
DB25 male 95860-4 $445
I use an old BOCA IOAT66 six port ISA card that appears to
function nicely in Linux kernel 2.0.36 with a little
hand-holding from some nice folks on the Linux newsgroups. I
bought that at auction at eBay for $30 including 4
cable-sets (4 modem and 4 terminal).
By the way, what is your application?
And Bryan, what do you want for the 8-port?
Best regards Brian & Bryan,
Brian - not kidding
bryan wrote in message ...
>I have experience only with isa cards (the cyclades ones,
in
>particular). if you have some spare isa slots, I have some
8-port
>rs232 cards that I could unload.
>
>its almost a shame to waste a 'valuable' pci slot for
something as
>mundane as low-speed serial.
>
>Brian Servis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>: I am in need of more serial ports. What is a good,
cheap, pci based
>: 4 port serial card that works with the 2.2.x series of
kernels.
>
>: Thanks,
>
>: --
>: Brian
>: ---------------------------------------------------------
============
>: Mechanical Engineering
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>: Purdue University
http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/~servis
>: ---------------------------------------------------------
============
>
>--
>Bryan
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (ellis)
Subject: Re: Tiny Linux Boxes?
Date: 18 May 1999 23:03:48 GMT
In article <7hj6dc$j2n$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>How did you managed to get ride of the video board. The BIOS setup
>doesn't allow me to do it. How can you run an old 486 mother board
>without a video board. I'll like to know that. Thanks in advance.
It depends on the bios. We have a number of system that are running
without video or keyboards.
--
http://www.fnet.net/~ellis/photo/linux.html
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (ellis)
Subject: Re: ISA Plug and Play (Pray)
Date: 18 May 1999 23:06:22 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Chris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>It seems to be a common problem getting a PnP modem online with linux.
>I've narrowed the process down but cannot get completely online. Can
>anyone confirm this process:
> cd /etc
> pnpdump > isapnp.conf
> (I edit the isapnp.conf to match my modem, switching DEBUG on)
> isapnp isapnp.conf
>
> now, at this stage, if I've configured everything properly in
>isapnp.conf, will it show up when I type cat /proc/interrupts and cat
>/proc/ioports, indicating the new IO address and interrupt? Nothing new
>ever shows up there and my modem remains unrecognized. In the
>troubleshooting process I need to confirm that checking the interrupts
>is a valid test of whether or not the process was successful. Can anyone
>confirm this who has had to use isapnp tools?
I had to do a setserial after running isapnp:
setserial /dev/modem irq 5 autoconfig
--
http://www.fnet.net/~ellis/photo/linux.html
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Brian L Rachford)
Subject: Re: HP 8100i IDE CDRW problems.
Date: 19 May 1999 02:01:59 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Alex Waltrip wrote:
>I am having a heck of a time trying to get CD writing going on my RedHat 5.2 running
>a 2.0.36-3
>kernel. From reading various README's and HOWTO's, I have the following
>understanding:
>
<slightly incorrect understanding snipped>
>My questions:
>
> * Do I really need to get my hands dirty with "make config" and compile the driver
>'ide-scsi'
> (assuming I have it) into the kernel?
Yes; but you may find it easier to work with "make xconfig" if
you've never compiled a kernel before. The problem is that the
default 2.0.36 kernel that is shipped with RedHat 5.2 assumes
that all IDE devices should be treated as IDE devices (hmm...).
This is fine for CD-ROM's, but for writing CD's the system needs
to emulate some SCSI commands, and that emulation is not compiled
into the kernel. Worse yet, if both IDE CD-ROM support and SCSI
emulation are in the kernel, the IDE part overrides the SCSI
emulation. Thus, you have to recompile the kernel to get rid of
IDE CD-ROM support and to put in SCSI emulation. From "make
xconfig", you need to mark various features "Y" or "N" as indicated
in the CD-Writing HOW-TO. Once you save and exit from xconfig, type
"make dep", "make clean", "make boot", and follow the usual
instructions for installing a new kernel, including NOT DELETING
THE OLD KERNEL. This is the safety valve in the whole kernel
compilation process, if the new kernel doesn't work right, you
can always boot from the old kernel.
Before you reboot, make the appropriate changes to lilo.conf
(which includes making an entry for your new kernel), run
/sbin/lilo and then reboot with the new kernel.
This process worked for me in getting my IDE CD-RW drive
running under RedHat 5.2 and kernel 2.0.36.
Brian
==============
Brian Rachford
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Dave Campana)
Subject: Need software for GVC NIC
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 23:11:14 GMT
Hello,
I am trying to use a couple of mongrel 10 meg ISA ethernet cards in a new
linux box. The Mac address of the cards start with 00:c0:a8:34. This points to
a GVC corporation. Checking their web page shows only NIC with a realtek 8029
chip. This card has a DP83905 Chip on it. I need to turn off PnP and set the
card manually for irq and interrupt but can't get S/W to do this .....
Any Ideas or help ?
Thanks in advance
Dave
ImJustDave@_remove_this_mindspring_dot_com
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: ESS ES1868 Plug and Play AudioDrive install question.
Date: 18 May 1999 22:42:01 GMT
Mark Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Yes no real problems in getting the ESS1868 going under any of the kernel
I have used since sometime early in the 1.?? kernels.
The documentation that comes with the kernels suggests that the sound
drivers should be done as modules. I have never had alot of success with
that but by compiling directly in the kernel using the correct paramters
works fine.
I am presently running 2.2.5 using the same idea.
> Has anyone had luck getting a ESS ES1868 Plug and Play AudioDrive
> sound card running under Linux 5.2 kernal version 2.0.36 on a i586
> platform?
> --
> ---------------------------------------------------
> Mark Clark - [EMAIL PROTECTED] EVSX, Inc. 512-421-2112
> ---------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
From: Michael Kremer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Proliant 1600 Dual 300
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 06:56:06 +0200
VG9ueSB3cm90ZToNCg0KPiBIb3cgbWFueSB0aW1lcyB5b3UgZ29pbmcgdG8gYXNrIE1pY2hh
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X19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fDQpN
aWNoYWVsIEtyZW1lciAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAufi4NCiAgICAgICAg
ICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgIC9WXCAgICAgICAgIEwgICBJICAg
TiAgIFUgICBYDQptYWlsdG86a3JlbWVybUBhZGEuZGUgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgIC8v
IFxcDQogIGh0dHA6Ly9tYXZlcmljay5tYWdpYy1pbnRlcm5ldC5kZSAgICAgLyggICApXCAg
ICAgRG9uJ3QgRmVhciB0aGUgUGVuZ3Vpbg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAg
ICAgICAgICAgICAgICBeXi1eXg0KDQoNCg==
------------------------------
From: blankreg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux,alt.os.linux
Subject: Re: KWINTV Problem: Operation not supported by device??
Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 20:00:23 -0500
Roman Ronge wrote:
> Hi Dan,
>
> It looks like your bttv is not loaded when kwintv starts. Try to load
> it using insmod.
> BTW. I have the same card and running RH5.2.0.36. Dou have any problems
> with your sound chip not being properly recognized and strange colors (
> bright spots like if you are looking at negative picture ) when using
> overlay mode ?
>
> Roman
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> > I am having trouble running KWINTV with my Avermedia Tv Tuner.
> >
> > Here are the particulars:
> >
> > -The tuner works fine under windows.
> > -Kwintv Compiles and installs fine.
> > -MAKEDEV in kwintv Source tree is executed.
> > -Video4Linux is compiled into Kernel, bttv.o compiled as module.
> > -bttv.o module is loaded into Kernel.
> >
> > When I execute kwintv, I am told: /dev/video: Operation not supported
> > by device. /dev/video is symlinked to /dev/video0, which has a
> > major/minor number of 81, 0.
> >
> > As far as I've read, I'd done everything correct... why isn't this
> > working?!?!? If I can't watch TV under linux, I may have to quit
> > Linux altogether, and just return to watching TV.
> >
> > Any help appreciated,
> > Dan.
> >
> > --== Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ ==--
> > ---Share what you know. Learn what you don't.---
Did you download the latest bttv drivers?. I belive the latest tar version
is .063.
What I did to get my Hauppauge TV card to work with KDE was to set up my
bttv as a module in the kernel. Then I downloaded the bbtv drivers,
unarchived them and edited the makefile in the driver subdirectory to the
number that corresponds to my tv card. I ran "make" and "make ins" and it
installed the bttv drivers into my module directory and I was able to run
my kwintv after that.
Leave me an email for more information.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: Greg Patten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: SCSI tape problems - 4/5 backups then stops working
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 10:54:09 +1000
Hi all,
I've been poking 'round and have seen that others have had similar
problems but haven't found any resolution unfortunately. This may
well be a FAQ and if so, I'm really sorry but I've tried everything
from AltaVista to DejaNews.
I've got a Seagate STT8000N tape drive. It backs up (most of what's
on the box here) happily about four or five times and then basically
stops working. The only way to get it to work again is power the
whole machine down which is obviously not really an option.
The kernel reports (formatted to 80 cols for your enjoyment):
May 18 16:06:07 loose kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout :
pid 4009091, scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0 0x28 00 00 20 50 0c
00 00 02 00
May 18 16:06:07 loose kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout :
pid 4009092, scsi0, channel 0, id 6, lun 0 0x08 00 29 89 02 00
May 18 16:06:07 loose kernel: scsi : aborting command due to timeout :
pid 4009093, scsi0, channel 0, id 6, lun 0 0x08 11 04 d5 02 00
May 18 16:06:09 loose kernel: SCSI host 0 abort (pid 4009091)
timed out - resetting
May 18 16:06:09 loose kernel: SCSI bus is being reset for host 0
channel 0.
May 18 16:06:09 loose kernel: (scsi0:0:0:0) Synchronous at 10.0
Mbyte/sec, offset 15.
May 18 16:06:11 loose kernel: (scsi0:0:6:0) Synchronous at 10.0
Mbyte/sec, offset 8.
May 18 16:06:28 loose kernel: (scsi0:0:4:0) Synchronous at 10.0
Mbyte/sec, offset 15.
May 18 16:06:28 loose kernel: st0: Error with sense data: extra
data not valid Current error st09:00: sns = 70 2
May 18 16:06:28 loose kernel: ASC= 4 ASCQ= 1
May 18 16:06:28 loose kernel: Raw sense data:0x70 0x00 0x02 0x00
0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0a 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x04 0x01 0x00 0x00
May 18 16:06:28 loose kernel: st0: Error with sense data: extra
data not valid Current error st09:00: sns = 70 2
May 18 16:06:28 loose kernel: ASC= 4 ASCQ= 1
May 18 16:06:28 loose kernel: Raw sense data:0x70 0x00 0x02 0x00
0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0a 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x04 0x01 0x00 0x00
Other possilbly relevant information:
Adapter: AHA-2940W
Kernel: 2.0.36
Are there some options that need setting with mt? The manual that came
with the drive is dreadful so I can't really glean anything from that.
Many thanks in advance to anyone kind enough to shed some light on this
apparent weirdness for me.
Cheers,
Greg
------------------------------
Subject: Re: <$500US Linux Box
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 05:27:55 GMT
According to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> I'm a poor college student and a linux newbie interested in building a
> machine (w/o monitor) for *less than $500*. I am interested in any
> suggestions anyone would make regarding main boards, processors,
> sound/video/network cards, etc that they have had postive experiences
> with, running linux and XFree86. I am still undecided between a slot 1,
> socket 370, or socket 7 system, and I want to know how safe it is to
> overclock chips like the celeron 300a and the AMD K6-2 266, 300 or 350.
You can get an e-machines machine with a Celeron or AMD CPU for $500
*with* a monitor from pretty much any Staples or Office Depot. They
aren't the best machines in the world, but they do seem to run Linux
fairly well, or at least the ones that I've seen have. (I would
imagine they do change components occasionally to keep the prices
down.)
-p.
------------------------------
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End of Linux-Hardware Digest
******************************
