From owner-freebsd-questions Tue Nov 4 01:05:43 1997 Return-Path: Received: (from root@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.7/8.8.7) id BAA26048 for questions-outgoing; Tue, 4 Nov 1997 01:05:43 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-questions) Received: from freebie.lemis.com (gregl1.lnk.telstra.net [139.130.136.133]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id BAA26040 for ; Tue, 4 Nov 1997 01:05:34 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from grog@freebie.lemis.com) Received: (from grog@localhost) by freebie.lemis.com (8.8.7/8.8.5) id TAA13818; Tue, 4 Nov 1997 19:35:23 +1030 (CST) Message-ID: <19971104193523.36963@lemis.com> Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 19:35:23 +1030 From: Greg Lehey To: Mike Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Virtual Terminal snafu in 2.1.5 and 2.2.2 gripes References: <3.0.1.32.19971103214514.00b44100@mail.icorp.net> <199711032038.PAA17352@sumter.awod.com> <199711040105.BAA126634@out2.ibm.net> <3.0.1.32.19971103214514.00b44100@mail.icorp.net> <19971104181210.64257@lemis.com> <3.0.1.32.19971104025948.00a82d50@icorp.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.84e In-Reply-To: <3.0.1.32.19971104025948.00a82d50@icorp.net>; from Mike on Tue, Nov 04, 1997 at 02:59:48AM -0600 Organisation: LEMIS, PO Box 460, Echunga SA 5153, Australia Phone: +61-8-8388-8286 Fax: +61-8-8388-8725 Mobile: +61-41-739-7062 WWW-Home-Page: http://www.lemis.com/~grog Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk On Tue, Nov 04, 1997 at 02:59:48AM -0600, Mike wrote: > At 06:12 PM 11/04/97 +1030, Greg Lehey wrote: >> On Mon, Nov 03, 1997 at 09:45:14PM -0600, Mike (mlbsd) wrote: >>> >>> I'm running FreeBSD 2.1.5 on a PPro 200 Intel system. I have a little >>> problem in that during boot-up, if I don't repeatedly hit "ScrollLock", the >>> console will freeze and the only way to access the system is remotely. I >>> narrowed this down to some bug in the virtual terminal software - my >>> question is - is there a way to disable this "feature" from the >>> boot/start-up process? Is there an upgrade? Can I load the virtual >>> terminal process manually later? Is it configured in the Kernel? I'd >>> prefer to not have to re-compile the kernel since I haven't done that >>> before and I'm otherwise happy with the system's performance. >> >> The virtual terminals are what you talk to. Even if you only have one >> of them, you have them. By default, you have the sc driver, but you >> can change to vt if you think this would make a difference. Look in >> this part of the config file: > > I have not rebuilt the kernel, so I'm not sure what file you're talking > about. Pardon my ignorance of the nomenclature, but I'm referring to > whatever software handles the console (alt F1-F3). If I don't start > hammering scroll lock after the SCSI device check, the console locks up - > it's pretty darn weird. Are you telling me the kernel needs to be > recompiled to fix this? No, read what I said. If you *had* rebuilt the kernel, it could have been a possibility, but I thought it was a long shot. You should be able to imagine, though, that what you report isn't typical, or nobody would use the system. >> Personally, I suspect some latent hardware problem. If you have built >> your own kernel, this could conceivably be a kernel build problem, but >> I can't even hazard a guess where. > > I've never built my own kernel. I selected the hardware and software so I > could avoid having to mess around with those things. And my first > installation of FreeBSD was so painless that I've never had to - maybe I > was spoiled? The system has been incredibly reliable under major traffic > loads. Don't worry about the kernel. Sorry I mentioned it. >>> This is a pretty generic system set up (Intel VS-440 PPro system with 64MB >>> Ram, Adaptec 2940uw, Seagate Barricudas, 3Com 3c509). I recently purchased >>> FreeBSD 2.2.2 and was dismayed to find that the damn thing wouldn't >>> recognize my SCSI CD-ROM. I could boot to the CDROM but after >>> installation, the OS wouldn't recognize the drive!! I was in a critical >>> situation and needed to get the system back online so I threw 2.1.5 back >>> online. >> >> I think you're jumping to conclusions here. This is definitely not >> standard behaviour. You don't say what your CD-ROM is, but I haven't >> heard of any problems with any SCSI CD-ROM, and the Adaptec 2940 is >> also well-known and used. How do you determine that the OS doesn't >> recognize it? > > I'm not sure what the brand of the CDROM is, but it's name-brand, on the > SCSI interface. > > I wish it were as simple as a jumped conclusion, but to me it's pretty > simple - either the CDROM drive works or it doesn't. Funny thing: I > install 2.1.5 - it works perfectly; I install 2.2.2, it doesn't work - it > isn't recognized; it can't be mounted using any recognizeable device > identifiers; I went thru the entire hardware list and couldn't get anything > to work. Well, read my question: > How do you determine that the OS doesn't recognize it? I'm not denying that you have problems with the CD-ROM, but what you've told me now doesn't help. What did dmesg say? What did mount(8) say? What convinced you that the thing wasn't working? > At the time, I had my 2.1.5 system crash - the hard drive was bad. This > was an unforseen disaster so I didn't have the luxury of spending a day or > two to find out what was wrong - not when my web server was averaging about > 3M hits a day when it died. I had 2.2.2 so I thought this was an > opportunity to install it - unfortunately the installation was not as > smooth as 2.1.5. I tried three times, re-configured everything over and > over and still couldn't get it to work. I even replaced the 2940uw with a > newer version which supported the bootable CDROM - I could boot from the > damn CDROM and install 2.2.2, but when FreeBSD booted, it refused to > recognize the CDROM and I couldn't install any ports - and of course, > cdrom.com is so blazingly fast [sic] that it wasn't economical to download > what I needed. So I stuck the 2.1.5 CDROM back in, and without any > troubles, without any configuration problems or kernel rebuilding, it > installed flawlessly. How do you explain that? First, I ask more questions. Where did you get the CD-ROM from? BTW, cdrom.com *is* fast. It's probably your net connect that's the problem. I certainly always advise against net installations. > As a result.... > >>> From my perspective, 2.2.2 sucks > > The one time I needed to take advantage of the WONDERFUL ease of > installation of FreeBSD in a mission critical environment, it failed on me, > so that probably explains my cynacism - although I'm still a huge fan of > FreeBSD - but all I can recommend at this time is 2.1.5 - even with its > bugs, it's a workhorse. I think you're missing the point that, whatever has happened, it's only happened to you. You can stick with your attitude, or you can let people help you. >> I think that this says more about your perspective than 2.2.2. > > Maybe so. I use the OS to get work done and don't have time to figure out > why a newer version doesn't seem to support the same hardware configuration > as its predecessor. Maybe it is possible to get it working, but I couldn't > figure it out soon enough and I don't think it should have been that > difficult. Sure it shouldn't have been that difficult. Life's a bitch, and it looks like this time it's out to get you. Greg