From owner-freebsd-mobile@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Nov 29 08:55:48 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7778916A4CE for ; Sat, 29 Nov 2003 08:55:48 -0800 (PST) Received: from swan.mail.pas.earthlink.net (swan.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.123]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3995243FBF for ; Sat, 29 Nov 2003 08:55:45 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from welchsm@earthlink.net) Received: from beaker.psp.pas.earthlink.net ([207.217.78.247]) by swan.mail.pas.earthlink.net with esmtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1AQ8Nd-0004Cy-00; Sat, 29 Nov 2003 08:55:37 -0800 Message-ID: <19770497.1070124937368.JavaMail.root@beaker.psp.pas.earthlink.net> Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 08:55:37 -0800 (PST) From: Sean Welch To: brian@oqr.nl Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Earthlink Zoo Mail 1.0 cc: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Subject: RE: Unable to use flsh/q-time/mpeg/ports,etc X-BeenThere: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: Sean Welch List-Id: Mobile computing with FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 16:55:48 -0000 Hello, Brian. I also worked my way through a Physics major while playing with FreeBSD as a hobby on the side. Is this your first time dealing with a Unix-like system? If not, what other systems have you worked with? Have you tried to administer any others? I'm sorry you've had bad luck getting going to date -- it takes patience and some understanding of the Unix-type mindset. I'd like to see if I could help you gain a better understanding (and a working system in the process!) Why don't you post the hardware you are working with and what version of FreeBSD you are attempting to configure. We can work from there to get you up to speed. As a start I thought I might detail my partitioning scheme and the reason for it. I'm using a smallish root partition of 100M. This is just big enough to hold three kernels and two modules directories in 4.x versions of FreeBSD (I've actually got about 45M free). In 5.x things are a bit tighter (I run 4.8, 4.9, and 5.x on this disk with identical partition sizes) because there is more info to store. I have to keep it down to two kernels and two sets of modules. A third kernel will just barely fit (about 2 M free then, I think) so I typically just delete it. I've currently got 4G alotted to /usr -- that is where all your programs go. This is also where all user directories go (except for root -- that one is in the root partition so try not to store too much in that home directory!) In order to make sure I have the maximum size available for programs and compiling (source code for the kernel and the system are both under /usr/src) I have created another partition called /home to store user acounts under. This one is 5G because I store a lot there. /var is typically a separate partition because databases will chew up space pretty quickly and you don't want it to use up space in the root partition. Mine is 300M, but I don't run much in the way of databases at the moment. /tmp is also separate because that is generally scratch area. That is also 300M -- seems to be enough. I've mounted the left over portion of the disk under /data and that serves as my very large scratch area. I typically compile openoffice there as it takes at least 4G -- this area is about 14G. As a general rule you can gain extra compile space by actually moving the compile directory over to a larger partition and leaving a symlink in the original area pointing to the new location. If I have repeated anything you already know, just ignore it. ;-) Let me know what your questions are and we'll see what we can do, okay? Sean _________________________________________________ I apologize if I appeared to be condisending to anyone with my frustrated manor, in my prior email. I will be more basic, and emotionless in future emails. I am not saying that I am one of those guys who clusters. I am a physics major, and use UNIX as a hobby/only source of computer interface. I am new to the FreeBSD side, and have had extensive problems with turn-key answers such as "read-the-website" and "there-are-tons-of-things-to-read" . The problem is never finding something to read, or simply reading the websites such as FreeBSD.org. The problem comes when I have a current, practical, problem that require simply having the appropriate applications, or pkg-add/port information. Such as ports, half of the ports that I try to install, other than the hard-core server/hacker/"cluster" stuff, does not even finish the make process. People always seem to say that things are so straight-forward, even simple, on FreeBSD, but I ended up having to choose my own method of partitioning, via trial and error full installations, in lou of having three books, and the fbsdmall handbook, available, just to keep the system from thinking that its filesystem was full, when it actuallly had 150 gigs left everywhere other than the /root 's partition. Back to the simple answer of, "Well he just must not be very savy..." I have read enough to know that there is not a very good explanation of how to get simple things to work/play on Freebsd. I am unable to even download and install the port for some things, it always gives me an error 1, and refers to some error file, which is never mentioned in any book that I have ever read(3+freebsdmall handbook). The same with /port/net/openldap-server-etc... However, when I downloaded it from the site, and tar-ed it up, I have the full working software. I am still trying to find a way to install openoffice. There are several entries in the ports tree, however, the one that I need to work, never finished the "make" fetching process. I assume that the make file is refering to the wrong places, but I did not alter them, so why are they shipping with incorrect information in more than just that port tree???? I guess now one may at least understand the cause of my frustration. (I would hope) If you have a website that I can read and that will at least give me a usable port tree to download and install a working version of flash-enabled mozilla, then I will humbly bow down before your extensive knowledge-base. Otherwise, I am still unable to find out how to install the plugins for mozilla, or even figure out how to use linux software, since I have installed the compatibility for base 7.1,etc... I have just installed netscape 7.1 via the linux-installer version, but when I tried to install the flash-installer, it knew that it was not on linux, but freebsd. Why the difference if linux is supposed to run on freebsd? Those loop-holes in the turn-key explanations on such websites as the ones that you are probably talking about, are the ones that have been giving me a problem, for the last month, in between Classical Mechanics and Electromagnetism work/projects.