From owner-freebsd-doc Sun Jul 30 03:48:52 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id DAA03311 for doc-outgoing; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 03:48:52 -0700 Received: from time.cdrom.com (time.cdrom.com [192.216.222.226]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id DAA03292 ; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 03:48:43 -0700 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by time.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) with SMTP id DAA02542; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 03:45:31 -0700 To: roberto@blaise.ibp.fr (Ollivier Robert) cc: doc@FreeBSD.ORG (FreeBSD's documentation list), hackers@FreeBSD.ORG (Hackers' list FreeBSD), www@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG In-reply-to: Your message of "Sun, 30 Jul 1995 03:59:35 +0200." <199507300159.DAA06300@blaise.ibp.fr> Date: Sun, 30 Jul 1995 03:45:31 -0700 Message-ID: <2540.807101131@time.cdrom.com> From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" Sender: doc-owner@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk > As John Fieber is on the move, I've put the updated FAQ in HTML in > my home directory so everyone can check it at > > I've looked through this, and it looks pretty good! Congrats, Ollivier! Now for some feedback.. :-) 1. http://freefall.cdrom.com/%7Eroberto/FAQ/freebsd-faq-5.html#5 In this, the mailing list FAQ, there should also probably be some instructions on how to subscribe to any of the listed addresses at the bottom. There's no sense in telling them just to send a `help' to majordomo if we can answer 99% of the questions by simply saying words to the effect of: "If you want to, for example, join the hackers mailing list, you would do ..." And so forth. I know that some of our docs DO give this kind of info, so we should put it here too. 2. http://freefall.cdrom.com/%7Eroberto/FAQ/freebsd-faq-3.html#3 "What do I need to run FreeBSD" should be fleshed out, not just point the user to the hardware compat section. At the minimum, it should at least have a POINTER to that section! This is HTML, yes? :-) 3. http://freefall.cdrom.com/%7Eroberto/FAQ/freebsd-faq-6.html#6 As strange as it sounds, you should also probably put a pointer to the various newsreading (and server creation) tools in /usr/ports/news here. The more ways you have for getting from point A to point B, the more generally useful this info is. 4. http://freefall.cdrom.com/%7Eroberto/FAQ/freebsd-faq-7.html#7 The first paragraph should have a reference to the FreeBSD Doc Project when it says that "some people are supposedly working on some". The goal of the project isn't necessarily to write a book, but it's doing a lot of the same things and this page should at least attempt to recruit a little extra help if it can. I'd also put the link to www.ora.com in a little more of an obvious place and also have each volume in the 4.4 series have its own link, since each issue *does* have a picture associated with it! 5. http://freefall.cdrom.com/%7Eroberto/FAQ/freebsd-faq-8.html#8 Is pretty weak. It should contain more of the bibliographic information from the handbook, at least as links.. 6. http://freefall.cdrom.com/%7Eroberto/FAQ/freebsd-faq-10.html#10 I'm not sure if "Copyrights" should be the first paragraph in the list of FreeBSD goals, but I suppose for lack of more material.. :-) Still, I think this should be rephrased. Perhaps "Unrestricted Copyrights" would make a better heading under "Goals". We should also put some words in there about wanting to create a great OS, but then I expect you'll then want me to write those words too, so I'll shut up.. :-) 7. Installation section - need more stuff. Can we somehow get my "Tips for DOS users" section at the top of the Install guide SGML'd and in here? 8. Hardware section - missing pieces. We don't list the Sony drives (CDU 31/33A) as supported.. I think, in general, that this whole section could stand for someone to look through it with a copy of the 2.0.5 release notes in another window for comparison. I'm sure we're leaving more than this out! 9. The "where can I get Motif for FreeBSD?" section is out of date. It should list Lasermoon Ltd as the contact, with the address info of: Lasermoon Ltd 2a Beaconsfield Road Fareham, Hants England. PO16 0QB Phone: +44 (01) 329 834944 FAX: +44 (0) 329 825936 Email: There are lots of other things in there that need updating, but at this point I'm really not sure if it's just better for ME to go change them or to talk to Ollivier in personal email listing them in less detail. I know that this email would easily be twice as long as the proposed changes if I went into this kind of detail for everything needing a change! :-) Are you SURE you don't want me to take over the FAQ, Ollivier? There's a LOT OF WORK to be done in here and if you don't have the time, please don't be afraid to say so! Jordan From owner-freebsd-doc Sun Jul 30 04:03:33 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id EAA04056 for doc-outgoing; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 04:03:33 -0700 Received: from time.cdrom.com (time.cdrom.com [192.216.222.226]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id EAA04042 ; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 04:03:29 -0700 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by time.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) with SMTP id EAA02704; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 04:02:18 -0700 To: roberto@blaise.ibp.fr (Ollivier Robert) cc: jkh@violet.berkeley.edu (Jordan K. Hubbard), doc@FreeBSD.ORG, faq@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: I do not see that this ever made it in to the FAQ?? In-reply-to: Your message of "Sun, 30 Jul 1995 01:03:55 +0200." <199507292303.BAA05932@blaise.ibp.fr> Date: Sun, 30 Jul 1995 04:02:18 -0700 Message-ID: <2701.807102138@time.cdrom.com> From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" Sender: doc-owner@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk > > 5 Miscellaneous Questions > > ---------------- > > All of these along with Bruce Evans message on slices have been incorpor > ated in the FAQ (in SGML). John has said the Text version will go away > soon. Do I have to sync it up with the sgml one ? > -- > Ollivier ROBERT -=- The daemon is FREE! -=- roberto@FreeBSD.ORG > FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT #5: Fri Jul 14 12:28:04 MET DST 1995 No, you can leave the text versions alone if the changes have already been folded into the SGML version. In fact, I would go out of my way to try to completely obsolete a given file in Text/ and then *remove* the text version so that we don't have folks making changes to the wrong one! :( Jordan From owner-freebsd-doc Sun Jul 30 04:59:30 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id EAA05456 for doc-outgoing; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 04:59:30 -0700 Received: from grendel.csc.smith.edu (grendel.csc.smith.edu [131.229.222.23]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id EAA05436 ; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 04:59:23 -0700 Received: from localhost (jfieber@localhost) by grendel.csc.smith.edu (8.6.5/8.6.5) id IAA26459; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 08:01:17 -0400 From: jfieber@grendel.csc.smith.edu (John Fieber) Message-Id: <199507301201.IAA26459@grendel.csc.smith.edu> Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG To: roberto@blaise.ibp.fr (Ollivier Robert) Date: Sun, 30 Jul 1995 08:01:17 -0400 (EDT) Cc: doc@freebsd.org, hackers@freebsd.org, www@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <199507300159.DAA06300@blaise.ibp.fr> from "Ollivier Robert" at Jul 30, 95 03:59:35 am Content-Type: text Content-Length: 583 Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Ollivier Robert writes: > As John Fieber is on the move, I've put the updated FAQ in HTML in > my home directory so everyone can check it at > > > > It will be put at the usual place soon I hope. Well, I actually have not quite left yet. :) The FAQ on the WWW server is updated from the FAQ in -current every day at 4:00am freefall time. (so, make darn sure that sgmlfmt -html works before you commit or things will get messed up in the WWW server! :) -john === jfieber@cs.smith.edu ========== Come up and be a kite! --K. Bush === From owner-freebsd-doc Sun Jul 30 18:31:40 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id SAA00735 for doc-outgoing; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 18:31:40 -0700 Received: from silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU (silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU [136.152.64.181]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id SAA00728 ; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 18:31:38 -0700 Received: (from asami@localhost) by silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU (8.6.11/8.6.9) id SAA02472; Sun, 30 Jul 1995 18:31:35 -0700 Date: Sun, 30 Jul 1995 18:31:35 -0700 Message-Id: <199507310131.SAA02472@silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU> To: jfieber@freebsd.org CC: doc@freebsd.org Subject: SLIP client documentation From: asami@cs.berkeley.edu (Satoshi Asami) Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Hello. I have finally gotten to rewrite the "how to set up a SLIP client" section of the Handbook, that had rotten pretty badly (basically, it was for 1.1/1.1.5). The unified diff is almost as long as the new file, so I'll just put the new file (slipc.sgml) on my freefall home directory. Please pick it up and commit it. I know nothing about sgml, so I may have screwed it up pretty badly. A good long look is recommended. :) Satoshi From owner-freebsd-doc Mon Jul 31 05:47:50 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id FAA20490 for doc-outgoing; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 05:47:50 -0700 Received: from gateway.us.sidwell.edu (gateway.us.sidwell.edu [198.3.254.33]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id FAA20482 for ; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 05:47:43 -0700 Received: (from rwatson@localhost) by gateway.us.sidwell.edu (8.6.10/8.6.10) id IAA14313; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 08:47:00 -0400 Date: Mon, 31 Jul 1995 08:47:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Robert Watson X-Sender: rwatson@gateway.us.sidwell.edu To: "Jordan K. Hubbard" cc: doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Nik Clayton: Draft iijppp FAQ In-Reply-To: <3548.806890110@time.cdrom.com> Message-ID: Organization: The Sidwell Friends School MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Under DynamicPPP,thereis an "I reallydon'thave anyexperience here"message. Maybe we shouldinsert a line that essentially says "use the set iffaddr command to specify the ip addresses used. Specifying an IP address as 0 will cause it to be resolved by iijppp using ipcp. See the iijppp man page for more information; this area of the FAQ needs maintaining and updating by someone."por such. That way people can at least get dynamic ppp going.Include a sample command line like"set ifaddr 0 0" to have both theserver and client automatically resolved or such. No doubt theabove cvould use a lot of work and rephrasing (also my space bar doesn't work too well, excuse odd typing.) Robert Watson rwatson@sidwell.edu http://www.sidwell.edu/~rwatson/ The goal of science is to build better mousetraps. The goal of nature is to build better mice. From owner-freebsd-doc Mon Jul 31 12:14:51 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id MAA19869 for doc-outgoing; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 12:14:51 -0700 Received: from emory.mathcs.emory.edu (emory.mathcs.emory.edu [128.140.2.1]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with SMTP id MAA19850 ; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 12:14:48 -0700 Received: by emory.mathcs.emory.edu (5.65/Emory_mathcs.4.0.15) via UUCP id AA10402 ; Mon, 31 Jul 95 15:14:33 -0400 Received: (from jan@localhost) by bagend.atl.ga.us (8.6.11/8.6.9) id PAA08061; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 15:02:01 -0400 From: Jan Isley Message-Id: <199507311902.PAA08061@bagend.atl.ga.us> Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG To: jfieber@grendel.csc.smith.edu (John Fieber) Date: Mon, 31 Jul 1995 15:02:00 -0400 (EDT) Cc: roberto@blaise.ibp.fr, doc@freebsd.org, hackers@freebsd.org, www@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <199507301201.IAA26459@grendel.csc.smith.edu> from "John Fieber" at Jul 30, 95 08:01:17 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 1063 Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk I think making the "text" version go away is a mistake. In fact, I think a text form of the FAQ should be posted maybe once every two weeks. I feel so strongly about this need that I volunteered last week when Jordon suggested there was a problem. I still volunteer. Will posting a FAQ cut down on the simple, repetetive questions in the newsgroup? That is the 64 dollar question that no one can answer. Most people think the answer is yes. There is information there that a lot of people will need to know *before* their system is up and running to the point that they can run something through sgmlfmt, if they knew where to look for it to begin with, that is. That is a FAQ in itself, isn't it? If you guys still want to maintain the FAQ but do not want to bother with what I suggest, does anyone have any problems with me fetching whatever is current every couple of weeks and posting it? -- Jan Isley If you couldn't find any weirdness, maybe we'll just have to make some! -- Hobbes From owner-freebsd-doc Mon Jul 31 17:16:12 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id RAA16032 for doc-outgoing; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 17:16:12 -0700 Received: from aries.ibms.sinica.edu.tw ([140.109.40.248]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id RAA15985 ; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 17:15:55 -0700 Received: (from taob@localhost) by aries.ibms.sinica.edu.tw (8.6.11/8.6.9) id IAA03804; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 08:14:48 +0800 Date: Tue, 1 Aug 1995 08:14:48 +0800 (CST) From: Brian Tao To: Jan Isley cc: doc@freebsd.org, hackers@freebsd.org, www@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG In-Reply-To: <199507311902.PAA08061@bagend.atl.ga.us> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk On Mon, 31 Jul 1995, Jan Isley wrote: > > If you guys still want to maintain the FAQ but do not want to bother > with what I suggest, does anyone have any problems with me fetching > whatever is current every couple of weeks and posting it? Can't this be automated? -- Brian ("Though this be madness, yet there is method in't") Tao taob@gate.sinica.edu.tw <-- work ........ play --> taob@io.org From owner-freebsd-doc Mon Jul 31 17:44:08 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id RAA20549 for doc-outgoing; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 17:44:08 -0700 Received: from rover.village.org (rover.village.org [198.137.146.49]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id RAA20522 ; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 17:44:04 -0700 Received: from LOCALHOST (LOCALHOST [127.0.0.1]) by rover.village.org (8.6.11/8.6.6) with SMTP id SAA08990; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 18:43:27 -0600 Message-Id: <199508010043.SAA08990@rover.village.org> To: Brian Tao Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG Cc: Jan Isley , doc@FreeBSD.ORG, hackers@FreeBSD.ORG, www@FreeBSD.ORG In-reply-to: Your message of Tue, 01 Aug 1995 08:14:48 +0800 Date: Mon, 31 Jul 1995 18:43:27 -0600 From: Warner Losh Sender: doc-owner@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk : Can't this be automated? Something like: cat FreeBSD.FAQ.htmp | sed -e 's=<[^<]*>==g' should be an excellent start. It is what I use to clean up the HTML docs that I get that wrap the stock quotes for those shares in my portfolio. Warner From owner-freebsd-doc Mon Jul 31 18:23:22 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id SAA27230 for doc-outgoing; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 18:23:22 -0700 Received: from aries.ibms.sinica.edu.tw ([140.109.40.248]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id SAA27203 ; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 18:23:10 -0700 Received: (from taob@localhost) by aries.ibms.sinica.edu.tw (8.6.11/8.6.9) id JAA04412; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:19:43 +0800 Date: Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:19:42 +0800 (CST) From: Brian Tao To: Warner Losh cc: Jan Isley , doc@FreeBSD.ORG, hackers@FreeBSD.ORG, www@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG In-Reply-To: <199508010043.SAA08990@rover.village.org> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: doc-owner@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk On Mon, 31 Jul 1995, Warner Losh wrote: > > Something like: > cat FreeBSD.FAQ.htmp | sed -e 's=<[^<]*>==g' > should be an excellent start. `lynx -dump FreeBSD.FAQ.html > FreeBSD.FAQ.txt' would be even better. :) -- Brian ("Though this be madness, yet there is method in't") Tao taob@gate.sinica.edu.tw <-- work ........ play --> taob@io.org From owner-freebsd-doc Mon Jul 31 21:07:35 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id VAA07442 for doc-outgoing; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 21:07:35 -0700 Received: from genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au (genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au [129.127.96.120]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id VAA07434 for ; Mon, 31 Jul 1995 21:07:31 -0700 Received: from msmith@localhost by genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au (8.6.9/8.6.9) id NAA27937; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 13:59:52 +0930 From: Michael Smith Message-Id: <199508010429.NAA27937@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au> Subject: Re: 2.0.5-950622-SNAP on a big machine To: junkmail@pht.com (Brad Midgley) Date: Tue, 1 Aug 1995 13:59:52 +0930 (CST) Cc: doc@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: from "Brad Midgley" at Jul 31, 95 01:24:25 pm Content-Type: text Content-Length: 868 Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Brad Midgley stands accused of saying: > > Michael, you're right. > > perhaps the defaults changed in freebsd mount or I hadn't tried it since > upgrading the linux nfsd. I'd guess the latter. > Is this worth adding to the faq? Probably. cc'd to doc@freebsd with that in mind. > (networking) > q: Why can't I nfs-mount from a linux box? > > a: some versions of the Linux NFS code only accept mount requests from a > priveledged port; try > > mount -o -P linuxbox:/blah /mnt -- ]] Mike Smith, Software Engineer msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au [[ ]] Genesis Software genesis@atrad.adelaide.edu.au [[ ]] High-speed data acquisition and [[ ]] realtime instrument control (ph/fax) +61-8-267-3039 [[ ]] My car has "demand start" - Terry Lambert [[ From owner-freebsd-doc Tue Aug 1 01:44:15 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id BAA15472 for doc-outgoing; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 01:44:15 -0700 Received: from ibp.ibp.fr (ibp.ibp.fr [132.227.60.30]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id BAA15464 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 01:43:58 -0700 Received: from blaise.ibp.fr (blaise.ibp.fr [132.227.60.1]) by ibp.ibp.fr (8.6.12/jtpda-5.0) with ESMTP id KAA01629 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 10:43:25 +0200 Received: from (roberto@localhost) by blaise.ibp.fr (8.6.12/jtpda-5.0) id KAA13982 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 10:43:24 +0200 From: roberto@blaise.ibp.fr (Ollivier Robert) Message-Id: <199508010843.KAA13982@blaise.ibp.fr> Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG To: jan@bagend.atl.ga.us (Jan Isley) Date: Tue, 1 Aug 1995 10:43:24 +0200 (MET DST) Cc: jfieber@grendel.csc.smith.edu, doc@freebsd.org, hackers@freebsd.org, www@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <199507311902.PAA08061@bagend.atl.ga.us> from "Jan Isley" at Jul 31, 95 03:02:00 pm X-Operating-System: FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT ctm#880 X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 1064 Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > > I think making the "text" version go away is a mistake. In fact, I > think a text form of the FAQ should be posted maybe once every two > weeks. I feel so strongly about this need that I volunteered last > week when Jordon suggested there was a problem. I still volunteer. > > Will posting a FAQ cut down on the simple, repetetive questions in > the newsgroup? That is the 64 dollar question that no one can answer. > Most people think the answer is yes. There is information there that > a lot of people will need to know *before* their system is up and > running to the point that they can run something through sgmlfmt, if > they knew where to look for it to begin with, that is. That is a > FAQ in itself, isn't it? I'm in the process of officially posting the FAQ every month cross-posted to comp.answers and news.answers to get it archived. I've got post_faq and auto-faq (I'll probably use the latter). -- Ollivier ROBERT -=- The daemon is FREE! -=- roberto@FreeBSD.ORG FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT #5: Fri Jul 14 12:28:04 MET DST 1995 From owner-freebsd-doc Tue Aug 1 08:29:29 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id IAA27446 for doc-outgoing; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 08:29:29 -0700 Received: from hp.com (hp.com [15.255.152.4]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id IAA27419 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 08:29:14 -0700 Received: from srmail.sr.hp.com by hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA125520849; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 08:27:30 -0700 Received: from hpnmhjw.sr.hp.com by srmail.sr.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA177130844; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 08:27:25 -0700 Received: from mina.sr.hp.com by hpnmhjw.sr.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA182360844; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 08:27:24 -0700 Message-Id: <199508011527.AA182360844@hpnmhjw.sr.hp.com> To: Warner Losh Cc: Brian Tao , Jan Isley , doc@FreeBSD.ORG, hackers@FreeBSD.ORG, www@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG In-Reply-To: Your message of "Mon, 31 Jul 1995 18:43:27 MDT." <199508010043.SAA08990@rover.village.org> Date: Tue, 01 Aug 1995 08:27:23 -0700 From: Darryl Okahata Sender: doc-owner@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk > : Can't this be automated? > > Something like: > cat FreeBSD.FAQ.htmp | sed -e 's=<[^<]*>==g' > should be an excellent start. It is what I use to clean up the HTML Doesn't the .TXT formatting option of sgmlfmt work? -- Darryl Okahata Internet: darrylo@sr.hp.com DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not constitute the support, opinion or policy of Hewlett-Packard or of the little green men that have been following him all day. From owner-freebsd-doc Tue Aug 1 08:51:35 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id IAA28156 for doc-outgoing; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 08:51:35 -0700 Received: from ibp.ibp.fr (ibp.ibp.fr [132.227.60.30]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id IAA28149 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 08:51:21 -0700 Received: from blaise.ibp.fr (blaise.ibp.fr [132.227.60.1]) by ibp.ibp.fr (8.6.12/jtpda-5.0) with ESMTP id RAA06289 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 17:49:30 +0200 Received: from (roberto@localhost) by blaise.ibp.fr (8.6.12/jtpda-5.0) id RAA15939 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 17:49:29 +0200 From: roberto@blaise.ibp.fr (Ollivier Robert) Message-Id: <199508011549.RAA15939@blaise.ibp.fr> Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG To: darrylo@hpnmhjw.sr.hp.com (Darryl Okahata) Date: Tue, 1 Aug 1995 17:49:29 +0200 (MET DST) Cc: imp@village.org, taob@gate.sinica.edu.tw, jan@bagend.atl.ga.us, doc@FreeBSD.ORG, hackers@FreeBSD.ORG, www@FreeBSD.ORG In-Reply-To: <199508011527.AA182360844@hpnmhjw.sr.hp.com> from "Darryl Okahata" at Aug 1, 95 08:27:23 am X-Operating-System: FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT ctm#880 X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 419 Sender: doc-owner@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk > > Doesn't the .TXT formatting option of sgmlfmt work? It does and I'll use it to produce the soon-to-be-posted FAQ. I may have found a problem with it though. It apparently cut the quetion in two piece and put the second one before the second :-( I'll try to find why. -- Ollivier ROBERT -=- The daemon is FREE! -=- roberto@FreeBSD.ORG FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT #5: Fri Jul 14 12:28:04 MET DST 1995 From owner-freebsd-doc Tue Aug 1 09:01:13 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id JAA28514 for doc-outgoing; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:01:13 -0700 Received: from eldorado.net-tel.co.uk (eldorado.net-tel.co.uk [193.122.171.253]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id JAA28507 for ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:01:08 -0700 From: Andrew.Gordon@net-tel.co.uk Received: (from root@localhost) by eldorado.net-tel.co.uk (8.6.12/8.6.10) id QAA02830; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 16:59:46 +0100 X400-Received: by mta "eldorado" in "/PRMD=net-tel/ADMD=gold 400/C=gb/"; Relayed; Tue, 1 Aug 95 16:59:36 +0100 X400-Received: by mta "net-tel cambridge" in "/PRMD=net-tel/ADMD=gold 400/C=gb/"; Relayed; Tue, 1 Aug 95 15:59:33 +0000 X400-Received: by "/PRMD=NET-TEL/ADMD=Gold 400/C=GB/"; Relayed; Tue, 1 Aug 95 15:59:33 +0000 X400-MTS-Identifier: ["/PRMD=NET-TEL/ADMD=Gold 400/C=GB/";hst:388-950801155933-5B39] X400-Content-Type: P2-1984 (2) X400-Originator: Andrew.Gordon@net-tel.co.uk Original-Encoded-Information-Types: IA5-Text X400-Recipients: non-disclosure:; Date: Tue, 1 Aug 95 15:59:33 +0000 Content-Identifier: Re(2): Updated F Message-Id: <"MAC-950801165921-4DC8*/G=Andrew/S=Gordon/O=Net-Tel Computer Systems Ltd/PRMD=Net-Tel/ADMD=Gold 400/C=GB/"@MHS> To: jkh@time.cdrom.com, doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re(2): Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG Sender: doc-owner@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk Jordan wrote: > It should list Lasermoon Ltd as the contact, with the address info of: > Lasermoon Ltd > 2a Beaconsfield Road > Fareham, Hants > England. PO16 0QB > Phone: +44 (01) 329 834944 > FAX: +44 (0) 329 825936 > Email: Those telephone numbers can't be right! It should be Phone: +44 1329 834944 Fax: +44 1329 825936 Or if you really want to: Phone: +44 (0) 1329 834944 Fax: +44 (0) 1329 825936 ... either way, the recently-added '1' is definitely part of the number itself, not the UK long-distance prefix, and is also required on fax numbers (only non-geographic numbers such as mobiles and freefone avoided the new digit). From owner-freebsd-doc Tue Aug 1 09:02:31 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id JAA28577 for doc-outgoing; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:02:31 -0700 Received: from hp.com (hp.com [15.255.152.4]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id JAA28555 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:02:18 -0700 Received: from srmail.sr.hp.com by hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA157072925; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:02:05 -0700 Received: from hpnmhjw.sr.hp.com by srmail.sr.hp.com with ESMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA179692924; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:02:04 -0700 Received: from mina.sr.hp.com by hpnmhjw.sr.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.16/15.5+ECS 3.3) id AA002212919; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:01:59 -0700 Message-Id: <199508011601.AA002212919@hpnmhjw.sr.hp.com> To: Jan Isley Cc: jfieber@grendel.csc.smith.edu (John Fieber), roberto@blaise.ibp.fr, doc@freebsd.org, hackers@freebsd.org, www@freebsd.org, "Jordan K. Hubbard" Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG In-Reply-To: Your message of "Mon, 31 Jul 1995 15:02:00 EDT." <199507311902.PAA08061@bagend.atl.ga.us> Date: Tue, 01 Aug 1995 09:01:58 -0700 From: Darryl Okahata Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > I think making the "text" version go away is a mistake. In fact, I > think a text form of the FAQ should be posted maybe once every two > weeks. I feel so strongly about this need that I volunteered last > week when Jordon suggested there was a problem. I still volunteer. A plain vanilla ASCII text version needs to be made available. However, it "should" be possible to create one from the "SGML master" using sgmlfmt. Text versions need to exist, for readable postings to comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc and others. Having an easily printed and complete FAQ is very useful. Printing from WWW browsers is a pain, as it must be done page-by-page, and hyperlinks like the prev/next page and table of contents links look plain ugly when printed. I'm not saying that these links should not be there. They should/must be in the HTML FAQ, but they do not belong in an ASCII text version of the FAQ. Unfortunately, the SGML master file must be written with ASCII text conversion in mind; the current pre-FAQ (http://freefall.cdrom.com/%7Eroberto/FAQ/) is pretty useless if you convert it to plain text. For example, if you convert question 1.3 to text, you get: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.3. Where can I get FreeBSD? The distribution is available via anonymous ftp from: FreeBSD home directory For the current release, 2.0.5R, look in: FreeBSD 2.0.5-RELEASE FreeBSD is also available via CDROM, from the following place(s): Walnut Creek CDROM 4041 Pike Lane, Suite D-386 Concord, CA 94520 USA Orders: (800)-786-9907 Questions: (510)-674-0783 FAX: (510)-674-0821 email: WC Orders address WWW: WC Home page ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If a novice user looks at this, he's going to ask: What, pray tell, is: FreeBSD home directory FreeBSD 2.0.5-RELEASE email: WC Orders address WWW: WC Home page This is pretty useless. The above can be left as hyperlinks, but the hyperlink descriptions: FreeBSD home directory FreeBSD 2.0.5-RELEASE email: WC Orders address WWW: WC Home page should be changed (back!!!) to: ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/ ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/2.0.5-RELEASE/ email: orders@cdrom.com WWW: http://www.cdrom.com/ If the above was originally done because of severe limitations in SGML/sgmlfmt, then change the links to read: ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/ (FreeBSD home directory) ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/2.0.5-RELEASE/ (FreeBSD 2.0.5-RELEASE) email: orders@cdrom.com (WC Orders address) WWW: http://www.cdrom.com/ (WC Home page) [For that matter, isn't there a way to get indentation with SGML??? Having no indentation looks pretty ugly. ] -- Darryl Okahata Internet: darrylo@sr.hp.com DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not constitute the support, opinion or policy of Hewlett-Packard or of the little green men that have been following him all day. From owner-freebsd-doc Tue Aug 1 09:10:31 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id JAA28887 for doc-outgoing; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:10:31 -0700 Received: from ibp.ibp.fr (ibp.ibp.fr [132.227.60.30]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id JAA28873 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 09:10:15 -0700 Received: from blaise.ibp.fr (blaise.ibp.fr [132.227.60.1]) by ibp.ibp.fr (8.6.12/jtpda-5.0) with ESMTP id SAA06487 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 18:07:41 +0200 Received: from (roberto@localhost) by blaise.ibp.fr (8.6.12/jtpda-5.0) id SAA16068 ; Tue, 1 Aug 1995 18:07:40 +0200 From: roberto@blaise.ibp.fr (Ollivier Robert) Message-Id: <199508011607.SAA16068@blaise.ibp.fr> Subject: Re: Updated FAQ on WWW.FreeBSD.ORG To: darrylo@hpnmhjw.sr.hp.com (Darryl Okahata) Date: Tue, 1 Aug 1995 18:07:40 +0200 (MET DST) Cc: jan@bagend.atl.ga.us, jfieber@grendel.csc.smith.edu, doc@freebsd.org, hackers@freebsd.org, www@freebsd.org, jkh@time.cdrom.com In-Reply-To: <199508011601.AA002212919@hpnmhjw.sr.hp.com> from "Darryl Okahata" at Aug 1, 95 09:01:58 am X-Operating-System: FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT ctm#880 X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 581 Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > Orders: (800)-786-9907 > Questions: (510)-674-0783 > FAX: (510)-674-0821 > email: WC Orders address > WWW: WC Home page The LaTeX output does have both forms. It seems that the ASCII output does not. I'll look into it with John if he's not already gone. > > [For that matter, isn't there a way to get indentation with SGML??? > Having no indentation looks pretty ugly. ] The conversion in ASCII is probably guilty in that respect too. -- Ollivier ROBERT -=- The daemon is FREE! -=- roberto@FreeBSD.ORG FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT #5: Fri Jul 14 12:28:04 MET DST 1995 From owner-freebsd-doc Wed Aug 2 02:24:55 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id CAA25795 for doc-outgoing; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 02:24:55 -0700 Received: from silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU (silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU [136.152.64.181]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id CAA25788 for ; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 02:24:48 -0700 Received: (from asami@localhost) by silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU (8.6.11/8.6.9) id CAA10579; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 02:24:42 -0700 Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 02:24:42 -0700 Message-Id: <199508020924.CAA10579@silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU> To: doc@freebsd.org Subject: How to make a swapfile From: asami@cs.berkeley.edu (Satoshi Asami) Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Can we make a section about this in the handbook? It should be something like ======= If you want to make a 32MB swapfile, do this. (1) Find a partition on your disk that has enough free space to hold a 32MB file. Say that's /var. (2) Use the dd command: dd if=/dev/zero of=/var/swapfile bs=1024k count=32 to create a 32MB file. (3) cd to /dev and issue the command: sh ./MAKEDEV vn0 to create a virtual node. (4) Use the vnconfig command: vnconfig -e /dev/vn0c /var/swapfile swap to configure that file as a virtual node with swap enabled. (5) Add it to the system's swap pool by: swapon /var/swapfile (6) Check that it is working by: pstat -s ======= We might want something about doing this automatically at boot. Will this be enough? # cat >> /etc/vntab /dev/vn0c /var/swapfile ^D # cat >> /etc/fstab /dev/vn0c none swap sw 0 0 ^D Hmm, actually I don't know if /etc/vntab is scanned during reboot. Should the vnconfig -a and swapon go to rc.local? Satoshi P.S. What happened to my slip client section? :) From owner-freebsd-doc Wed Aug 2 07:03:45 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id HAA10114 for doc-outgoing; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 07:03:45 -0700 Received: from nomad.osmre.gov (nomad.osmre.gov [192.243.129.244]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id HAA10108 for ; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 07:03:35 -0700 Received: (from gfoster@localhost) by nomad.osmre.gov (8.6.11/8.6.9) id KAA16444; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 10:02:50 -0400 Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 10:02:50 -0400 From: Glen Foster Message-Id: <199508021402.KAA16444@nomad.osmre.gov> To: doc@freebsd.org In-reply-to: <199508020924.CAA10579@silvia.HIP.Berkeley.EDU> (asami@CS.Berkeley.EDU) Subject: Re: How to make a swapfile Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Of course the directives to configure and generate a kernel with the vnode code in it and to make the vn devices should be included in the directions (or a pointer to the info should be included). Also, perhaps, a short narrative about why one might want to do this rather than use traditional swap partitions (is this just a space/speed tradeoff or are there other considerations?) > Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 02:24:42 -0700 > From: asami@CS.Berkeley.EDU (Satoshi Asami) > Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org > Precedence: bulk > > Can we make a section about this in the handbook? It should be > something like > > ======= > If you want to make a 32MB swapfile, do this. > > (1) Find a partition on your disk that has enough free space to hold a > 32MB file. Say that's /var. > > (2) Use the dd command: > > dd if=/dev/zero of=/var/swapfile bs=1024k count=32 > > to create a 32MB file. > > (3) cd to /dev and issue the command: > > sh ./MAKEDEV vn0 > > to create a virtual node. > > (4) Use the vnconfig command: > > vnconfig -e /dev/vn0c /var/swapfile swap > > to configure that file as a virtual node with swap enabled. > > (5) Add it to the system's swap pool by: > > swapon /var/swapfile > > (6) Check that it is working by: > > pstat -s > > ======= > > We might want something about doing this automatically at boot. Will > this be enough? > > # cat >> /etc/vntab > /dev/vn0c /var/swapfile > ^D > # cat >> /etc/fstab > /dev/vn0c none swap sw 0 0 > ^D > > Hmm, actually I don't know if /etc/vntab is scanned during reboot. > Should the vnconfig -a and swapon go to rc.local? > > Satoshi > P.S. What happened to my slip client section? :) From owner-freebsd-doc Wed Aug 2 15:34:53 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id PAA03913 for doc-outgoing; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 15:34:53 -0700 Received: from tserv.lodgenet.com (dial4.iw.net [204.157.148.53]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id PAA03901 for ; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 15:33:29 -0700 Received: from jake.lodgenet.com (jake.lodgenet.com [204.124.120.30]) by tserv.lodgenet.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id RAA18343 for ; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 17:33:26 -0500 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by jake.lodgenet.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) with SMTP id RAA13169 for ; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 17:32:18 -0500 Message-Id: <199508022232.RAA13169@jake.lodgenet.com> X-Authentication-Warning: jake.lodgenet.com: Host localhost didn't use HELO protocol X-Mailer: exmh version 1.6 4/21/95 To: doc@freebsd.org Subject: device driver writers guide Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Wed, 02 Aug 1995 17:32:15 -0500 From: "Eric L. Hernes" Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Is anyone interested in this type of thing. I know that the kernel is a very sacred place (unlike linux). But there may be people who have (possibly proprietary) drivers for other platforms (SCO comes to mind) that would be interested in FreeBSD if they could get they're drivers ported. I've been toying with the idea of writing this for a while now. The scope would be more on how to build a driver for FreeBSD, not unix in general. Meaning BSD specific entry points, config-ing the kernel, device drivers as lkms, etc. I have more or less an outline which I intend to work from. If there is interest, I'll help round it out for the handbook. If not, I'll just write it up for my personal notes. eric. -- erich@lodgenet.com erich@rrnet.com From owner-freebsd-doc Wed Aug 2 17:54:22 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id RAA08644 for doc-outgoing; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 17:54:22 -0700 Received: from cs.weber.edu (cs.weber.edu [137.190.16.16]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with SMTP id RAA08338 for ; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 17:53:00 -0700 Received: by cs.weber.edu (4.1/SMI-4.1.1) id AA24117; Wed, 2 Aug 95 18:44:54 MDT From: terry@cs.weber.edu (Terry Lambert) Message-Id: <9508030044.AA24117@cs.weber.edu> Subject: Re: device driver writers guide To: erich@jake.lodgenet.com (Eric L. Hernes) Date: Wed, 2 Aug 95 18:44:53 MDT Cc: doc@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <199508022232.RAA13169@jake.lodgenet.com> from "Eric L. Hernes" at Aug 2, 95 05:32:15 pm X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4dev PL52] Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > Is anyone interested in this type of thing. I know that the > kernel is a very sacred place (unlike linux). But there may > be people who have (possibly proprietary) drivers for other > platforms (SCO comes to mind) that would be interested in > FreeBSD if they could get they're drivers ported. > > I've been toying with the idea of writing this for a while now. > The scope would be more on how to build a driver for FreeBSD, not > unix in general. Meaning BSD specific entry points, config-ing > the kernel, device drivers as lkms, etc. > > I have more or less an outline which I intend to work from. > If there is interest, I'll help round it out for the handbook. > If not, I'll just write it up for my personal notes. I would be *very* interested in one of these existing. One of the issues in BSD is lack of documentation for internal system interfaces. VM would be a good place to start, as would vn_ for kernel level file I/O and bXXX, the block I/O interface. Terry Lambert terry@cs.weber.edu --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers. From owner-freebsd-doc Wed Aug 2 23:30:09 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id XAA18075 for doc-outgoing; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 23:30:09 -0700 Received: from genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au (genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au [129.127.96.120]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id XAA18061 for ; Wed, 2 Aug 1995 23:28:46 -0700 Received: from msmith@localhost by genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au (8.6.9/8.6.9) id QAA02570; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 16:21:15 +0930 From: Michael Smith Message-Id: <199508030651.QAA02570@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au> Subject: Re: device driver writers guide To: erich@jake.lodgenet.com (Eric L. Hernes) Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 16:21:14 +0930 (CST) Cc: doc@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <199508022232.RAA13169@jake.lodgenet.com> from "Eric L. Hernes" at Aug 2, 95 05:32:15 pm Content-Type: text Content-Length: 629 Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Eric L. Hernes stands accused of saying: > I have more or less an outline which I intend to work from. > If there is interest, I'll help round it out for the handbook. > If not, I'll just write it up for my personal notes. _YES_PLEASE_ 8) > eric. -- ]] Mike Smith, Software Engineer msmith@atrad.adelaide.edu.au [[ ]] Genesis Software genesis@atrad.adelaide.edu.au [[ ]] High-speed data acquisition and [[ ]] realtime instrument control (ph/fax) +61-8-267-3039 [[ ]] My car has "demand start" - Terry Lambert [[ From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Aug 3 02:20:56 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id CAA23030 for doc-outgoing; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 02:20:56 -0700 Received: from ibp.ibp.fr (ibp.ibp.fr [132.227.60.30]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id CAA22972 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 02:18:36 -0700 Received: from blaise.ibp.fr (blaise.ibp.fr [132.227.60.1]) by ibp.ibp.fr (8.6.12/jtpda-5.0) with ESMTP id LAA23404 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 11:18:19 +0200 Received: from (roberto@localhost) by blaise.ibp.fr (8.6.12/jtpda-5.0) id LAA23642 ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 11:17:07 +0200 From: roberto@blaise.ibp.fr (Ollivier Robert) Message-Id: <199508030917.LAA23642@blaise.ibp.fr> Subject: Re: device driver writers guide To: erich@jake.lodgenet.com (Eric L. Hernes) Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 11:17:07 +0200 (MET DST) Cc: doc@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <199508022232.RAA13169@jake.lodgenet.com> from "Eric L. Hernes" at Aug 2, 95 05:32:15 pm X-Operating-System: FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT ctm#880 X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 502 Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > > Is anyone interested in this type of thing. I know that the > kernel is a very sacred place (unlike linux). But there may > be people who have (possibly proprietary) drivers for other > platforms (SCO comes to mind) that would be interested in > FreeBSD if they could get they're drivers ported. Yes, we are very interested by a manual like this. Thanks. -- Ollivier ROBERT -=- The daemon is FREE! -=- roberto@FreeBSD.ORG FreeBSD 2.2-CURRENT #5: Fri Jul 14 12:28:04 MET DST 1995 From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Aug 3 08:25:48 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id IAA02660 for doc-outgoing; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 08:25:48 -0700 Received: from tserv.lodgenet.com (dial4.iw.net [204.157.148.53]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id IAA02610 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 08:24:20 -0700 Received: from jake.lodgenet.com (jake.lodgenet.com [204.124.120.30]) by tserv.lodgenet.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id KAA20760; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 10:24:52 -0500 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by jake.lodgenet.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) with SMTP id KAA10229; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 10:23:39 -0500 Message-Id: <199508031523.KAA10229@jake.lodgenet.com> X-Authentication-Warning: jake.lodgenet.com: Host localhost didn't use HELO protocol X-Mailer: exmh version 1.6 4/21/95 To: terry@cs.weber.edu (Terry Lambert) cc: doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: device driver writers guide In-reply-to: Your message of "Wed, 02 Aug 1995 18:44:53 MDT." <9508030044.AA24117@cs.weber.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Thu, 03 Aug 1995 10:23:38 -0500 From: "Eric L. Hernes" Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > > I would be *very* interested in one of these existing. > > One of the issues in BSD is lack of documentation for internal > system interfaces. VM would be a good place to start, as would > vn_ for kernel level file I/O and bXXX, the block I/O interface. > Yea, but lack of documentation is a problem for all unixes. Sco, even though you can pay for a device driver class, and they have man pages for kernel support routines, still is about 80% of what I would have liked. (that is still much better than FreeBSD, though) I'm much more familiar with the drivers and entry points, and that type of stuff. The details VM has always been a big mystery for me. My outline is as follows: I. Linking a driver into the kernel A. Standard Device Driver B. Loadable Kernel Modules (LKM's) II. FreeBSD Entry Points A. Required Data Structures 1. isa_device 2. isa_driver 3. ... B. Required Entry Points 1. XXprobe() 2. XXattach() 3. XXopen() 4. XXclose() C. Optional Entry Points 1. Device Switch Entry Points a. XXread() b. XXwrite() c. XXioctl() d. XXdevtotty() e. XXstart() f. XXstop() g. XXreset() h. XXstrategy() D. Interrupt type Entry Points a. XXintr() b. XXpoll() III. Kernel Support Routines > > Terry Lambert > terry@cs.weber.edu > --- > Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present > or previous employers. > eric. -- erich@lodgenet.com erich@rrnet.com From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Aug 3 13:11:13 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id NAA01432 for doc-outgoing; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 13:11:13 -0700 Received: from who.cdrom.com (who.cdrom.com [192.216.222.3]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id NAA01194 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 13:08:34 -0700 Received: from eikon.regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de (eikon.regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de [129.187.42.3]) by who.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.11) with SMTP id MAA04337 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 12:23:49 -0700 Received: from vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de ([129.187.142.36]) by eikon.regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de with SMTP id <55310>; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 21:12:29 +0200 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de (8.6.11/8.6.9) with SMTP id UAA02089; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 20:27:54 +0200 Message-Id: <199508031827.UAA02089@vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de> X-Authentication-Warning: vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de: Host localhost didn't use HELO protocol To: "Eric L. Hernes" cc: doc@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: device driver writers guide In-reply-to: Your message of "Thu, 03 Aug 1995 00:32:15 +0200." <199508022232.RAA13169@jake.lodgenet.com> Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 20:27:53 +0200 From: "Julian Stacey " Sender: doc-owner@FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk > If not, I'll just write it up for my personal notes. I'd read it :-) Julian S From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Aug 3 16:25:53 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id QAA06893 for doc-outgoing; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 16:25:53 -0700 Received: from linux4nn.iaf.nl (linux4nn.iaf.nl [193.67.144.34]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id QAA06887 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 16:25:50 -0700 Received: from uni4nn.iaf.nl (root@uni4nn.iaf.nl [193.67.144.33]) by linux4nn.iaf.nl (8.6.9/8.6.9) with SMTP id BAA10862; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 01:33:11 +0200 Received: by uni4nn.iaf.nl with UUCP id AA16495 (5.67b/IDA-1.5); Fri, 4 Aug 1995 01:25:20 +0100 Received: by iafnl.iaf.nl with UUCP id AA05435 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4); Thu, 3 Aug 1995 22:59:20 +0200 Received: (from wilko@localhost) by yedi.iaf.nl (8.6.8/8.6.6) id WAA01172; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 22:11:25 +0200 From: Wilko Bulte Message-Id: <199508032011.WAA01172@yedi.iaf.nl> Subject: Re: device driver writers guide To: erich@lodgenet.com (Eric L. Hernes) Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 22:11:24 +0200 (MET DST) Cc: terry@cs.weber.edu, doc@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <199508031523.KAA10229@jake.lodgenet.com> from "Eric L. Hernes" at Aug 3, 95 10:23:38 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 1393 Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > > One of the issues in BSD is lack of documentation for internal > > system interfaces. VM would be a good place to start, as would > > vn_ for kernel level file I/O and bXXX, the block I/O interface. > > > > Yea, but lack of documentation is a problem for all unixes. > Sco, even though you can pay for a device driver class, and > they have man pages for kernel support routines, still > is about 80% of what I would have liked. (that is still > much better than FreeBSD, though) And they have a nice little booklet called the 'Device drivers writers guide' (if memory serves). I heavily used it when writing a striping package for SCO. Unfortunately, it is all but complete. We needed the SCO kernel sources to get things working. Luckily we had a src license.. The list you mention of things to be doc-ed looks reasonably like the index of the SCO book as I remember it. Another point of inspiration might be the 'Integrated software development guide' that came with SysV/386 rel 3.2 There is probably a newer one for SysV4 > > Terry Lambert > > erich@lodgenet.com Wilko _ __________________________________________________________________________ | / o / / _ Wilko Bulte email: wilko@yedi.iaf.nl |/|/ / / /( (_) Private FreeBSD site - Arnhem - The Netherlands -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Aug 3 16:48:19 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id QAA07961 for doc-outgoing; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 16:48:19 -0700 Received: from tserv.lodgenet.com (dial4.iw.net [204.157.148.53]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id QAA07926 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 16:46:53 -0700 Received: from jake.lodgenet.com (jake.lodgenet.com [204.124.120.30]) by tserv.lodgenet.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id SAA24353; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 18:47:26 -0500 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by jake.lodgenet.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) with SMTP id SAA13365; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 18:46:11 -0500 Message-Id: <199508032346.SAA13365@jake.lodgenet.com> X-Authentication-Warning: jake.lodgenet.com: Host localhost didn't use HELO protocol X-Mailer: exmh version 1.6 4/21/95 To: Wilko Bulte cc: doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: device driver writers guide In-reply-to: Your message of "Thu, 03 Aug 1995 22:11:24 +0200." <199508032011.WAA01172@yedi.iaf.nl> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Date: Thu, 03 Aug 1995 18:46:09 -0500 From: "Eric L. Hernes" Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > > > One of the issues in BSD is lack of documentation for internal > > > system interfaces. VM would be a good place to start, as would > > > vn_ for kernel level file I/O and bXXX, the block I/O interface. > > > > > > > Yea, but lack of documentation is a problem for all unixes. > > Sco, even though you can pay for a device driver class, and > > they have man pages for kernel support routines, still > > is about 80% of what I would have liked. (that is still > > much better than FreeBSD, though) > > And they have a nice little booklet called the 'Device > drivers writers guide' (if memory serves). I heavily used > it when writing a striping package for SCO. > Yup, the name is stolen. Sco has one, and I've seen linux has a doc by that name too. There are probably several others. > The list you mention of things to be doc-ed looks > reasonably like the index of the SCO book as I remember it. > Well, that may be just coincidence, or it may not be. I've got the book on my shelf here, but I didn't look at it when I scribbled that draft. Its mostly what I remembered from the class, and how I thought things should have been done. > Another point of inspiration might be the 'Integrated > software development guide' that came with SysV/386 rel 3.2 > There is probably a newer one for SysV4 > Never seen it, but I'd be interested. > > > Terry Lambert > > > > erich@lodgenet.com > > Wilko > > _ __________________________________________________________________________ > | / o / / _ Wilko Bulte email: wilko@yedi.iaf.nl > |/|/ / / /( (_) Private FreeBSD site - Arnhem - The Netherlands > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- erich@lodgenet.com erich@rrnet.com From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Aug 3 20:57:41 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id UAA14798 for doc-outgoing; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 20:57:41 -0700 Received: from hq.icb.chel.su (icb-rich-gw.icb.chel.su [193.125.10.34]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id UAA14791 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 20:57:36 -0700 Received: from localhost (babkin@localhost) by hq.icb.chel.su (8.6.5/8.6.5) id JAA16955; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 09:59:18 +0600 From: "Serge A. Babkin" Message-Id: <199508040359.JAA16955@hq.icb.chel.su> Subject: Re: device driver writers guide To: erich@lodgenet.com (Eric L. Hernes) Date: Fri, 4 Aug 1995 09:59:17 +0600 (GMT+0600) Cc: terry@cs.weber.edu, doc@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <199508031523.KAA10229@jake.lodgenet.com> from "Eric L. Hernes" at Aug 3, 95 10:23:38 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 2043 Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > > > > I would be *very* interested in one of these existing. > > > > One of the issues in BSD is lack of documentation for internal > > system interfaces. VM would be a good place to start, as would > > vn_ for kernel level file I/O and bXXX, the block I/O interface. > > > > Yea, but lack of documentation is a problem for all unixes. > Sco, even though you can pay for a device driver class, and > they have man pages for kernel support routines, still > is about 80% of what I would have liked. (that is still > much better than FreeBSD, though) > > I'm much more familiar with the drivers and entry points, and > that type of stuff. The details VM has always been a big > mystery for me. There is a good (but old :-( ) book by Egan and Texeira "Writing a Unix device driver" (if I have remembered it right). This is a book for beginners, but it's full and its skeleton can be used for the Device driver writer's guide. I think it can be used as an example "how it should be done and what it should content" too (but obviously the contents will be more modern, like your ouline). > > My outline is as follows: > > I. Linking a driver into the kernel > > A. Standard Device Driver > B. Loadable Kernel Modules (LKM's) > > II. FreeBSD Entry Points > > A. Required Data Structures > 1. isa_device > 2. isa_driver > 3. ... > > B. Required Entry Points > 1. XXprobe() > 2. XXattach() > 3. XXopen() > 4. XXclose() > > C. Optional Entry Points > > 1. Device Switch Entry Points > > a. XXread() > b. XXwrite() > c. XXioctl() > d. XXdevtotty() > e. XXstart() > f. XXstop() > g. XXreset() > h. XXstrategy() > > D. Interrupt type Entry Points > > a. XXintr() > b. XXpoll() > > III. Kernel Support Routines Serge Babkin ! (babkin@hq.icb.chel.su) ! Headquarter of Joint Stock Commercial Bank "Chelindbank" ! Chelyabinsk, Russia From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Aug 3 21:38:13 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id VAA17002 for doc-outgoing; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 21:38:13 -0700 Received: from clem.systemsix.com (clem.systemsix.com [198.99.86.131]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id VAA16936 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 21:37:50 -0700 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by clem.systemsix.com (8.6.8/8.6.6) with SMTP id WAA00156 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 22:38:03 -0600 Message-Id: <199508040438.WAA00156@clem.systemsix.com> X-Authentication-Warning: clem.systemsix.com: Host localhost didn't use HELO protocol To: doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: device driver writers guide In-reply-to: Your message of "Thu, 03 Aug 1995 22:11:24 +0200." <199508032011.WAA01172@yedi.iaf.nl> Date: Thu, 03 Aug 1995 22:37:41 -0600 From: Steve Passe Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Hello, > Another point of inspiration might be the 'Integrated > software development guide' that came with SysV/386 rel 3.2 > There is probably a newer one for SysV4 A more BSDish sample might be Sun Microsystem's 'Writing Device Drivers', my copy is marked part# 800-1780-10, rev A may 9, 1988. Steve Passe smp@clem.systemsix.com From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Aug 3 21:55:20 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id VAA18351 for doc-outgoing; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 21:55:20 -0700 Received: from clem.systemsix.com (clem.systemsix.com [198.99.86.131]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id VAA18330 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 21:54:43 -0700 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by clem.systemsix.com (8.6.8/8.6.6) with SMTP id WAA00301; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 22:54:50 -0600 Message-Id: <199508040454.WAA00301@clem.systemsix.com> X-Authentication-Warning: clem.systemsix.com: Host localhost didn't use HELO protocol To: doc@freebsd.org Cc: "Serge A. Babkin" Subject: Re: device driver writers guide In-reply-to: Your message of "Fri, 04 Aug 1995 09:59:17 +0600." <199508040359.JAA16955@hq.icb.chel.su> Date: Thu, 03 Aug 1995 22:54:28 -0600 From: Steve Passe Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk Hello, > There is a good (but old :-( ) book by Egan and Texeira "Writing > a Unix device driver" (if I have remembered it right). This is a book Writing a Unix Device Driver Janet I. Egan & Thomas J. Teixeira John Wiley & Sons ISBN 0 471-62859-X Steve Passe smp@clem.systemsix.com From owner-freebsd-doc Thu Aug 3 22:02:26 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id WAA18824 for doc-outgoing; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 22:02:26 -0700 Received: from pent.vnet.net (pent.vnet.net [166.82.194.3]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id WAA18817 for ; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 22:02:24 -0700 Received: (from root@localhost) by pent.vnet.net (8.6.11/8.6.9) id BAA00320; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 01:01:43 -0400 Date: Fri, 4 Aug 1995 01:01:43 -0400 (EDT) From: "Adam W. Hawks" To: doc@freebsd.org cc: babkin@hq.icb.chel.su Subject: Re: device driver writers guide Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk >> There is a good (but old :-( ) book by Egan and Texeira "Writing >> a Unix device driver" (if I have remembered it right). This is a book > >Writing a Unix Device Driver >Janet I. Egan & Thomas J. Teixeira >John Wiley & Sons >ISBN 0 471-62859-X > > Steve Passe > smp@clem.systemsix.com There is also a second edition of this book out. Which has more of the BSD specific info in it. ISBN 0-471-53574-5 ----------------------------------------------- Adam W. Hawks Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. _______________________________________________ From owner-freebsd-doc Fri Aug 4 06:45:31 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id GAA11929 for doc-outgoing; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 06:45:31 -0700 Received: from who.cdrom.com (who.cdrom.com [192.216.222.3]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with ESMTP id GAA11923 for ; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 06:45:30 -0700 Received: from eikon.regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de (eikon.regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de [129.187.42.3]) by who.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.11) with SMTP id GAA00549 for ; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 06:45:25 -0700 Received: from vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de ([129.187.142.36]) by eikon.regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de with SMTP id <55414>; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 15:41:25 +0200 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de (8.6.11/8.6.9) with SMTP id IAA00939; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 08:25:57 +0200 Message-Id: <199508040625.IAA00939@vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de> X-Authentication-Warning: vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de: Host localhost didn't use HELO protocol To: Wilko Bulte cc: erich@lodgenet.com (Eric L. Hernes), terry@cs.weber.edu, doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: device driver writers guide In-reply-to: Your message of "Thu, 03 Aug 1995 22:11:24 +0200." <199508032011.WAA01172@yedi.iaf.nl> Date: Fri, 4 Aug 1995 08:25:56 +0200 From: "Julian Stacey " Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > Another point of inspiration might be the 'Integrated > software development guide' that came with SysV/386 rel 3.2 If you want inspiration from the distant past, I have a Writing Zeus Device Drivers by Zilog/Exxon Computer Systems Advance Copy, Copyright 1982 ^ yup, that's an 8 not a 9 ;-) UK Tel no was 0628 39200, it may well have changed, its probably of no interest, but if it is, I'd probably scan it (when I buy a flatbed) & email it, surface mail here costs a fortune (blame the German Post Office). PS ZEUS was their name for Unix Julian S From owner-freebsd-doc Fri Aug 4 06:47:58 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id GAA12158 for doc-outgoing; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 06:47:58 -0700 Received: from eikon.regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de (eikon.regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de [129.187.42.3]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with SMTP id GAA11634 for ; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 06:42:03 -0700 Received: from vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de ([129.187.142.36]) by eikon.regent.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de with SMTP id <55412>; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 15:38:56 +0200 Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de (8.6.11/8.6.9) with SMTP id IAA00999; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 08:33:50 +0200 Message-Id: <199508040633.IAA00999@vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de> X-Authentication-Warning: vector.eikon.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de: Host localhost didn't use HELO protocol To: "Serge A. Babkin" cc: erich@lodgenet.com (Eric L. Hernes), terry@cs.weber.edu, doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: device driver writers guide In-reply-to: Your message of "Fri, 04 Aug 1995 05:59:17 +0200." <199508040359.JAA16955@hq.icb.chel.su> Date: Fri, 4 Aug 1995 08:33:50 +0200 From: "Julian Stacey " Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > There is a good (but old :-( ) book by Egan and Texeira "Writing > a Unix device driver" ISBN 0-471-62811-5 ISBN 0-471-62811-X (Pbk) Julian S From owner-freebsd-doc Fri Aug 4 23:41:10 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id XAA03345 for doc-outgoing; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 23:41:10 -0700 Received: from pancake.remcomp.fr (pancake.remcomp.fr [194.51.30.1]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with SMTP id XAA03236 for ; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 23:39:43 -0700 Received: (from didier@localhost) by aida (8.6.11/8.6.9) id XAA00385; Thu, 3 Aug 1995 23:36:24 +0200 Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 23:36:23 +0200 (MET DST) From: Didier Derny X-Sender: didier@aida To: "Eric L. Hernes" cc: doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: device driver writers guide In-Reply-To: <199508022232.RAA13169@jake.lodgenet.com> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk On Wed, 2 Aug 1995, Eric L. Hernes wrote: > > Is anyone interested in this type of thing. I know that the > kernel is a very sacred place (unlike linux). But there may > be people who have (possibly proprietary) drivers for other > platforms (SCO comes to mind) that would be interested in > FreeBSD if they could get they're drivers ported. > > I've been toying with the idea of writing this for a while now. > The scope would be more on how to build a driver for FreeBSD, not > unix in general. Meaning BSD specific entry points, config-ing > the kernel, device drivers as lkms, etc. > > I have more or less an outline which I intend to work from. > If there is interest, I'll help round it out for the handbook. > If not, I'll just write it up for my personal notes. > > eric. > -- > erich@lodgenet.com > erich@rrnet.com > > I'm very interested. -- Didier Derny didier@aida.org From owner-freebsd-doc Sat Aug 5 11:41:16 1995 Return-Path: doc-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) id LAA25240 for doc-outgoing; Sat, 5 Aug 1995 11:41:16 -0700 Received: from disperse.demon.co.uk (disperse.demon.co.uk [158.152.1.77]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.11/8.6.6) with SMTP id LAA25234 for ; Sat, 5 Aug 1995 11:41:13 -0700 Received: from post.demon.co.uk by disperse.demon.co.uk id aa13549; 5 Aug 95 19:31 +0100 Received: from bagpuss.demon.co.uk by post.demon.co.uk id aa15079; 5 Aug 95 19:28 +0100 Received: (karl@localhost) by bagpuss.demon.co.uk (3.1/3.1) id SAA01503; Sat, 5 Aug 1995 18:34:10 +0100 From: Karl Strickland Message-Id: <199508051734.SAA01503@bagpuss.demon.co.uk> Subject: Re: device driver writers guide To: "Eric L. Hernes" MMDF-Warning: Unable to confirm address in preceding line at disperse.demon.co.uk Date: Sat, 5 Aug 1995 18:34:09 +0100 (BST) Cc: terry@cs.weber.edu, doc@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <199508031523.KAA10229@jake.lodgenet.com> from "Eric L. Hernes" at Aug 3, 95 10:23:38 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] Content-Type: text Content-Length: 3898 Sender: doc-owner@freebsd.org Precedence: bulk > > > > > > I would be *very* interested in one of these existing. > > > > One of the issues in BSD is lack of documentation for internal > > system interfaces. VM would be a good place to start, as would > > vn_ for kernel level file I/O and bXXX, the block I/O interface. > > > > Yea, but lack of documentation is a problem for all unixes. > Sco, even though you can pay for a device driver class, and > they have man pages for kernel support routines, still > is about 80% of what I would have liked. (that is still > much better than FreeBSD, though) > > I'm much more familiar with the drivers and entry points, and > that type of stuff. The details VM has always been a big > mystery for me. i think there's two issues here: 1. strict device driver documentation (entry points etc) - this is what Eric is proposing to document. 2. documentation for other kernel subsystems - this is what Terry would like to see documented (probably in addition to #1?!) For most commercial UNIX's, #1 is fairly well documented and the information is available. Several device-driver books also exist (eg Pajari, Egan, Kettle etc), although these do tend to be SVR3 oriented. As has been mentioned in this thread, Egan does discuss VAX BSD drivers too. #2 is a different kettle of fish. The only commercial UNIX I've seen documented to this level (eg filesystem IO within the kernel etc) was AIX. The AIX docs seemed reasonable (and certainly more complete than anything else i've seen), but there were still many details ('gotchas' :) not documented. IMHO, either #1 or #2 would be a very valuable addition to the FreeBSD documentation. Currently, I think #1 can largely be pieced together by device driver writers, from looking at existing drivers and reading scanning the VAX-oriented BSD driver docs available (ie daemon book & Egan). For #2, its more difficult. We *really* need some kernel man pages for the subsystem interfaces. I guess the problem is that the only people who are able to write such documentation are far too busy working on fixing and improving the system itself. (John Dyson has hinted at a FreeBSD kernel manual once or twice!) The MACH man pages might be a reasonable starting point for the VM system (?). There is another (possibly important) issue - that is once an interface is documented, it has to be largely frozen, or at least some level of backward compatibility has to be provided. This may be a problem for a rapidly developing OS such as FreeBSD. Of course, at least we're lucky enough to have the source :) > My outline is as follows: > > I. Linking a driver into the kernel > > A. Standard Device Driver > B. Loadable Kernel Modules (LKM's) > > II. FreeBSD Entry Points > > A. Required Data Structures > 1. isa_device > 2. isa_driver > 3. ... > > B. Required Entry Points > 1. XXprobe() > 2. XXattach() > 3. XXopen() > 4. XXclose() > > C. Optional Entry Points > > 1. Device Switch Entry Points > > a. XXread() > b. XXwrite() > c. XXioctl() > d. XXdevtotty() > e. XXstart() > f. XXstop() > g. XXreset() > h. XXstrategy() > > D. Interrupt type Entry Points > > a. XXintr() > b. XXpoll() > > III. Kernel Support Routines ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ seems to 'overlap' with #2 depending on how far you take it :) Eric, the outline looks very useful, I'd be really interested to read whatever you write for this.. Cheers, Karl -- ------------------------------------------+----------------------------------- Mailed using ELM on FreeBSD | Karl Strickland PGP 2.3a Public Key Available. | Internet: karl@bagpuss.demon.co.uk |