Subject: Linux-Misc Digest #261
From: Digestifier <Linux-Misc-Request@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>
To: Linux-Misc@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: Linux-Misc@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Date:     Mon, 13 Jun 94 22:13:13 EDT

Linux-Misc Digest #261, Volume #2                Mon, 13 Jun 94 22:13:13 EDT

Contents:
  Re: TinyFugue for Linux? (Ian McCloghrie)
  HELP: Yggdrasil Linux CD on SONY CDU33A (Vasu Nori)
  PSCMenu on Linux? (George W. (Bill Pogue))
  IMSI Bus-Mouse, anybody ? (beaver)
  Re: Latest in PC WEEK (May 30 Editorial) (Dan Newcombe)
  Re: Latest in PC WEEK (May 30 Editorial) (Karl Keyte)
  Re: showmount in Linux (Karl Keyte)
  HELP: INTEL EtherExpress (Jay Vaughan)
  Re: One downsmanship (Was:Re: Linux vs *BSD (new twist)) (David Holland)
  Re: future of Unixware (Christian Henry)
  TEKRAM DC6x0 caching IDE Controller (randy hyde)
  Fast Ethernet Adapter (randy hyde)
  Re: Latest in PC WEEK (May 30 Editorial) (Brandon S. Allbery)
  Re: Multiport Bored and Linux (Was: future of Unixware) (Brandon S. Allbery)
  Re: future of Unixware (Evan Leibovitch)
  Re: octave & gnuplot (Carlos)
  Re: Fast Ethernet Adapter (Craig Metz)
  ASUS PCI Motherboard (Paul Quinn)
  Q: Where is fdformat? (Michael P. Jarreau)
  Suggestions: Tape drives? (Chun Hsu)
  Re: Help for Conner 250 and FTAPE? (Dennis Flaherty)
  Re: Help for Conner 250 and FTAPE? (Dennis Flaherty)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: imcclogh@cs.ucsd.edu (Ian McCloghrie)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
Subject: Re: TinyFugue for Linux?
Date: 13 Jun 94 19:13:32 GMT
Reply-To: ian@ucsd.edu

bradb@bronze.coil.com (Brad Block) writes:
>Is there a TinyFugue Linux client?

Sure.  The same tinyfugue you get for any unix system.  ftp it from
ftp.tcp.com, in pub/mud/Clients, untar, and type "make".  no changes
needed.

--
____
\bi/  Ian McCloghrie      | FLUG:  FurryMUCK Linux User's Group
 \/   email: ian@ucsd.edu | Card Carrying Member, UCSD Secret Islandia Club
GCS (!)d-(--) p c++ l++(+++) u+ e-(soon) m+ s+/+ n+(-) h- f+ !g w+ t+ r y*

------------------------------

Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux,comp.os.linux.help
From: vnori@gekko.us.oracle.com (Vasu Nori)
Subject: HELP: Yggdrasil Linux CD on SONY CDU33A
Reply-To: vnori@us.oracle.com
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 18:20:49 GMT


I recently added a sony cd-rom CDU33A (double speed) to my PC. Intention was
to install Linux using Yggdrasil Linux CD. 

Boot floppy (3.5") tries to install kernel from the CD and kernel panics
        'unable to mount root"
This probably is because This CD-ROM drive is not supported, according to
the documentation. Do I have one of the unsupported CD-ROMs or is there some
way to change the IRQ & address settings? I am pretty sure several people out 
there are using this CD_ROM drive. 

Help would be appreciated very much. Email replies are preferred.

Thanks

 
========================================================================
Vasu Nori                               vnori@us.oracle.com
Network Proucts Division                415 506.3666

------------------------------

Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
From: gwp@dithots.org (George W. (Bill) Pogue)
Subject: PSCMenu on Linux?
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 17:26:12 GMT

I ran across what appears to be an excellent menu system for user logins... 
PSCMenu. However, it doesn't compile directly under linux. My system has 
ncurses and not curses (which PSC expects). Has anyone ported this? Or 
does anyone know of a better product to control user access (not 
a bbs like mbox... just a menu system).

Email replies and I'll post a summary.

bill

------------------------------

From: beaver@indial1.io.com (beaver)
Subject: IMSI Bus-Mouse, anybody ?
Date: 13 Jun 1994 14:39:36 -0500

Anybody has an IMSI Bus-mouse working with Linux, please tell me
how to.


------------------------------

From: newcombe@aa.csc.peachnet.edu (Dan Newcombe)
Subject: Re: Latest in PC WEEK (May 30 Editorial)
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 14:47:13 UNDEFINED

In article <1994Jun13.103256.5063@uk.ac.swan.pyr> iiitac@uk.ac.swan.pyr (Alan Cox) writes:

>In article <2tau1r$n0h@news.u.washington.edu> tzs@u.washington.edu (Tim Smith) writes:
>>lilo [Dances With Geeks] <lilo@slip-5-16.ots.utexas.edu> wrote:
>>What do you mean "only among lawyers"?  I doubt that there are many lawyers
>>who think loadable modules are derivative works.

>A loadable module is simply a piece of kernel code that got linked slightly
>later rather than earlier. It depends totally on Linux and it's calling all
>sorts of internal routines. 

I thought this discussion went around a bit ago, and it was determined tht a 
module was not a derived work.  After all, it is just following an API.  Since 
the GNU C lib is GPL'ed, then any program that uses it's API should be a 
derived work (or does this fall under the GNU Library liscence?)

        -Dan



--
Dan Newcombe                    newcombe@aa.csc.peachnet.edu
Clayton State College           Morrow, Georgia
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"And the man in the mirror has sad eyes."       -Marillion

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 11:03:40 +0200
From: kkeyte@esoc.bitnet (Karl Keyte)
Reply-To: kkeyte@esoc.bitnet
Subject: Re: Latest in PC WEEK (May 30 Editorial)

In article 28494@KF8NH.WARIAT.ORG, bsa@kf8nh.wariat.org (Brandon S. Allbery) writes:
>In article <Za4tH5K.jbriscoe@delphi.com>, jbriscoe@delphi.com says:
>+---------------
>| Is there anything to prevent Torvalds or anyone else who's released a
>| program under the GPL from accepting bucks from Novell to write a commercial
>+------------->8
>
>Nothing at all.  Moreover, nothing's preventing said author from rereleasing
>the *same* code under a different copyright/license:  it's *his* code, he can
>do whatever he wants with it.

...but _IS_ it his code in full? Many parts have been written by many developers,
each using the GPL. The code therefore doesn't belong to one person but to many.
The GPL stands for all of it, but an attempt to make it commercial would surely
require permission from all contributors...???

Karl

=========================================================================
Vitrociset S.p.A.                               Tel   : +(49) 6151 902041
European Space Agency                           Fax   : +(49) 6151 904041
64293 Darmstadt, Germany                        e-Mail: KKEYTE@ESOC.BITNET

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 11:08:34 +0200
From: kkeyte@esoc.bitnet (Karl Keyte)
Reply-To: kkeyte@esoc.bitnet
Subject: Re: showmount in Linux

In article 4436@UXMAIL.UST.HK, ee_hflo@dma039.ust.hk (Michael Lo) writes:
>       
>       Any showmount like program in Linux ?
>

Yes, it's called 'showmount' and it normally lives in /usr/sbin. Slackware gives it
to you for free. If you haven't got it, you can from sunsite.unc.edu in directory
system/Network/sunacm/Programs/System/showmount

Karl

=========================================================================
Vitrociset S.p.A.                               Tel   : +(49) 6151 902041
European Space Agency                           Fax   : +(49) 6151 904041

------------------------------

Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help,comp.os.linux
From: jayv@wnsnews.com (Jay Vaughan)
Subject: HELP: INTEL EtherExpress
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 15:56:50 GMT


Has anyone gotten Linux up and running with an Intel EtherExpress network
card?  I want to use Linux on our network as a gateway to the Internet,
and all of our PC's have Intel EtherExpress cards in them.  Since I don't
want to be spending money on another card, I'd really like it if someone
that has already gotten this card working could send me e-mail as to how
they did it - or if an experienced Linux'er could direct me as to how I
should go about getting this card to work, generally speaking.

My timeframe is very short - if I don't get it up and running in the next
few days, the project might get nixed in favor of something else, so please
feel free to mail me directly.

Thanks in advance,

Jay 


------------------------------

Crossposted-To: comp.os.386bsd.misc
Subject: Re: One downsmanship (Was:Re: Linux vs *BSD (new twist))
From: dholland@scws9.harvard.edu (David Holland)
Date: 13 Jun 94 17:42:52


hasty@netcom.com's message of Mon, 13 Jun 1994 05:24:08 GMT said:

 > And no, I am not going to tell you stories about 11/04, rt-11, gt40's,
 > pdp-10s, etc...

rt-11 sucked. That's about all you can say...

--
   - David A. Holland          | "The right to be heard does not automatically
     dholland@husc.harvard.edu |  include the right to be taken seriously."

------------------------------

From: henryc@reality.UUCP (Christian Henry)
Crossposted-To: comp.unix.unixware
Subject: Re: future of Unixware
Date: 13 Jun 1994 18:15:28 -0400
Reply-To: henryc@io.org

In article <CrAHAG.JGx@cbnewsm.cb.att.com>,
william.c.brown <corey@cbnewsm.cb.att.com> wrote:

>> To tie this into Unixware, my grandmother was almost lured into buying
>> it the other day.  $250 she doesn't have. I'll be sure to install
>> Slackware for her when/if she gets a new machine. Nyah nyah nyah.. one
>> less Unixware user to count.  ;)
>
>       Well make sure your grandmother has a good internet provider
>       so she can get her kernel patches every 15 minutes just like
>       all the other Linux users...

Thank god you're _not_ speaking on behalf of AT&T.  If you were, your
implied "elitist" attitude would only hurt the company's reputation further
than it might already have done in the past.

>/* -----                                                       */
>/* Corey Brown  (WB0RXQ): 20m, 15m, 2m(146.82) 70cm(443.65)     */
>/* AT&T NSD                                                    */
>/* Alpharetta, Ga 30202                                                */
>/* (404)750-8071                                               */
>/*                     -----------------                       */
>/* att!hustler.att.com!corey                                   */
>/* attmail!wcbrown                                             */
>/*                                                       ----- */

P.S.:  Is your ignorance of etiquette typical of AT&T employees (read:
SHORTEN THE DAMN .SIG OR KEEP YOUR TRAP SHUT ABOUT MATTERS YOU OBVIOUSLY
HAVE NO COMPREHENSION OF!)?

-- 
 |  Christian Henry   //   North York, Ontario   |  e-mail:  henryc@io.org  |
 |     ``...And I raise my head and stare into the eyes of a stranger''     |

------------------------------

From: rhyde@mirage.ucr.edu (randy hyde)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
Subject: TEKRAM DC6x0 caching IDE Controller
Date: 13 Jun 1994 18:41:29 GMT

I have a caching IDE controller which merges two IDE drives and treats them
as a single drive unit.  My system has three 340MB drives - two merged running
DOS and Windows and the third 340 MB drive with Linux.  By recompiling the
kernel and allowing more than 16 heads (the drive controller makes the underlying
software think that the two drives are really one big drive with twice the heads)
I was able to boot without a naughty error message to the effect that I have
too many disk drive heads (more than 16).  However, I cannot mount the DOS
filesystem under Linux.  Anyone have any suggestions on how to do this?

------------------------------

From: rhyde@mirage.ucr.edu (randy hyde)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
Subject: Fast Ethernet Adapter
Date: 13 Jun 1994 18:54:45 GMT

Yes, I've read the FAQ.
Yes, I've read lots of recent posts.
Hell, I've even read the source code to the existing ethernet cards.
And, yes, I've read the BYTE article.

Now, is there anyone who can give me a definitive answer concerning:
"what is the fastest ethernet card I can buy for my system?"
I am willing to buy a new system to get better ethernet performance, btw.

Just so I don't get a bunch of followup posts stating the same thing that
has been said over and over again already, let me summarize what I already
know:

(1) The etherlink III is a very well rated card (tops in BYTE's list, e.g.)
    However, they only rated the ISA card.  I notice there is an EISA version.
    Is it any faster?  Are there any compatible PCI cards on the horizon which
    will be better?
(2) I've heard some noise about the SMC Elite16T Ultra being slightly better.
    Under what conditions?  How about the EISA version ($630, ug).

PLLLLLEASE do not start quoting the stupidity from the BYTE article where they
discovered about a 10% difference between all the typical high-end cards.
First, most network systems spend 80%-90% of their time in the network protocol
stack *above the device driver level*.  Therefore, if there is a 10% difference
between two cards, that means that one card is probably twice as fast as
the other.  Second, they were using Netware, not Linux-TCP/IP with Linux
drivers, so those comparisons are meaningless anyway.  Finally, I would point
out the little footnote on the comparison column which states "Scores are not
directly comparable among technology types." (whatever that means.)  I am
interested in distributed computing research and I need fast kernel<->kernel
communications ability.  I will call the driver directly, or settle for UDP, 
I will not go through the standard TCP/IP protocol layers.  So the speed of
the card can make a big difference to me.  I'd investigate other network
technologies (e.g., ATM) if I didn't have some Macs on the same network.
However, if you've heard about faster network technologies for the PC at
a reasonable price (under $700) please let me know.

------------------------------

From: bsa@kf8nh.wariat.org (Brandon S. Allbery)
Subject: Re: Latest in PC WEEK (May 30 Editorial)
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 21:45:16 GMT

In article <newcombe.284.0144D8F4@aa.csc.peachnet.edu>, newcombe@aa.csc.peachnet.edu (Dan Newcombe) says:
+---------------
| I thought this discussion went around a bit ago, and it was determined tht a 
| module was not a derived work.  After all, it is just following an API.  Since 
| the GNU C lib is GPL'ed, then any program that uses it's API should be a 
| derived work (or does this fall under the GNU Library liscence?)
+------------->8

But modules don't link to the GNU C library; they link to the kernel, which is
not LGPL'ed.  And the "API" is specific to the GPL'ed program in question (the
kernel!) (compare GNU libmp), so it's not exempt from the GPL.  Or such is my
understanding.

++Brandon
-- 
Brandon S. Allbery         kf8nh@kf8nh.ampr.org          bsa@kf8nh.wariat.org
The FUDs at Microsoft are shouting "Kill The Wabi!"

------------------------------

Crossposted-To: comp.unix.unixware
From: bsa@kf8nh.wariat.org (Brandon S. Allbery)
Subject: Re: Multiport Bored and Linux (Was: future of Unixware)
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 22:17:51 GMT

In article <1994Jun13.134758.13245@frmug.fr.net>, bernard@cpio1.frmug.fr.net (Bernard Fouche) says:
+---------------
| move to Linux is the lack of support from hardware manufacturers (like
| Digiboard) and major sofware house (that sells RDBMS).
+------------->8

Joe Portman has Oracle 6 running under iBCS2 emulation; I have Unify 2000
running; various others have Informix-SE running, and Informix-Online should
work once Linux IPC has been rewritten to fix various problems with the
message queue interface (among others).  Ironically, the biggest failure to
date is dBASE IV... which should also be fixed when the IPC code is fixed.

Native support seems almost redundant.  It also seems unlikely, especially
from the "first tier" RDBMS vendors.

++Brandon
-- 
Brandon S. Allbery         kf8nh@kf8nh.ampr.org          bsa@kf8nh.wariat.org
The FUDs at Microsoft are shouting "Kill The Wabi!"

------------------------------

Crossposted-To: comp.unix.unixware,comp.os.linux
From: evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch)
Subject: Re: future of Unixware
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 15:35:47 GMT

In article <2tbs2u$fu2@u.cc.utah.edu> terry@cs.weber.edu (Terry Lambert) writes:

>In article <Cr5zEF.Ltx@telly.on.ca> evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) writes:


>Generally, when 16 port cards are needed on a BSD system, Boca 16-port
>cards (model number BB2016) are the choice.  Unfortunately, you are at
>6 IRQs consumed with 96 ports.

As I understand it, wouldn't this setup have *significantly* more hosts
system load than the current crop of intelligent serial cards?

>The major advantage to smart cards would be bus-master DMA into clist
>structs -- the drivers involved would be nearly idenitcal to those
>in Xenix.

Um, haven't most R4 drivers dispensed with clists in favour of Streams?
Does this provide a performance boost, or just easier programming?

>Larger numbers of ports are generally attached using annex hardware, at
>about $30 per port where it it starts to be cost effective.

I'm not familiar with the term "annex" hardware.

>There
>is nearly no better soloution for a massive number of ports (like 256)
>than putting them on the other end of an ethernet; eventually you
>simply run out of IRQs.

That limitation applies *only* to Linux, since it doesn't have support
for the commecial cards. Most of the brands I've worked with don't use
IRQs at all. In fact, some vendors whose drivers once required a spare
IRQ now produce updated drivers which don't need it anymore (Corollary,
for one).

-- 
 Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software Ltd., located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario
         evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!utzoo!telly!evan / (905) 452-0504
"We're just not good committee people. Some of us don't have that long to live"

------------------------------

From: carlos@posseidon.if.usp.br (Carlos)
Crossposted-To: comp.graphics.gnuplot
Subject: Re: octave & gnuplot
Date: 13 Jun 1994 17:11:36 GMT

In article <2tcho5$h3o@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk> rda@eng.cam.ac.uk (R.D. Auchterlounie) writes:

   The latest gnuplot binary dist. _seems_ to fix the security problem, but
   now doesn't run with svgalib at all - which is fine for me since I only
   use it under X, but it also insists on trying to do a svga_init / 
   card-probe / whatever _even when running under X_. Frankly, having another
   program attempting a video-card probe while X is running (and visible and
   writing to the card at the time) scares me. 

Well, I just upgraded to the latest svgalib and now I can no longer run
gnuplot under x11!!! The problem does seem to be in the vga_init() /
cardprobe, which fails with the msg "Not running in graphics-capable virtual
console". HOW CAN I MAKE IT RUN UNDER X AGAIN??

   There's got to be a better way, I think the svgalib driver should be done
   as an off-board driver (like the X11 driver - could use much of it's code
   and be done very quickly). As a separate program the svga driver could 
   then address the security issues better and wouldn't probe for cards until
   you asked for it.

Could you explain why the X11 driver is different? This has intrigued me for
some time.

   There's probably also a more generic way to make all the drivers separate
   programs or dynamically loaded (at least under Linux - remembering that
   gnuplot has to run on things like DOS...)

I prefer a dynamically linked module, if possible.

Carlos

------------------------------

From: cmetz@thor.tjhsst.edu (Craig Metz)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.help
Subject: Re: Fast Ethernet Adapter
Date: 13 Jun 1994 19:00:25 -0400

In <2tia1l$520@galaxy.ucr.edu> rhyde@mirage.ucr.edu (randy hyde) writes:

>interested in distributed computing research and I need fast kernel<->kernel
>communications ability.  I will call the driver directly, or settle for UDP, 
>I will not go through the standard TCP/IP protocol layers.  So the speed of
>the card can make a big difference to me.  I'd investigate other network
>technologies (e.g., ATM) if I didn't have some Macs on the same network.
>However, if you've heard about faster network technologies for the PC at
>a reasonable price (under $700) please let me know.

        The best high-speed Ethernet adapters, IMO, come from Allied Telesis
and their AT1500T units. They run much less than $100 and are PC NET/ISA 
units. The cards are ISA board, however, for regular Ethernet, this is not
a serious limitation. They do ISA bus mastering, which is good for speed but
bad for compatibility (with other boards; we've had no system compatibility
problems with them). They do a very nice job, at a good price. If you're just
hooking two machines together, you can build a 10BaseT crossover cable and
connect them directly to each other. If not, buy the AT1500BT and use a
separate thinnet instead.

        Faster network technologies (100BaseT, ATM, SONET, FDDI) are still
best termed ``not ready for prime time''...

                                                                        -Craig

------------------------------

From: p_quinn@ECE.Concordia.CA (Paul Quinn)
Subject: ASUS PCI Motherboard
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 20:11:18 GMT


I need the address and phone number of ASUS to order a M/B

thanks
--
________
Paul Quinn
p_quinn@ece.concordia.ca
Computer Science: Systems Architecture
Concordia University
Montreal, QC, CANADA
========

------------------------------

From: jarreau@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Michael P. Jarreau)
Subject: Q: Where is fdformat?
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 20:39:41 GMT

I am running Slackware with Linux 0.99pl15 and I am trying to format a
floppy diskette but can't find fdformat!

Has it been replaced?

Michael


------------------------------

From: hsuc@msu.edu (Chun Hsu)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.os2.misc
Subject: Suggestions: Tape drives?
Date: 13 Jun 1994 20:39:04 GMT
Reply-To: hsuc@egr.msu.edu

Hello all,

I am looking for comments and suggestions on tape drives.
Right now I am running DOS/Windows, OS/2, and Linux, and
need a way to back up data on all of my disk partitions.
In addition, I am hoping I can use the tape drive to help
me when I am trying to repartition my drives.  I am constantly
running out of space in specific partitions (and OS'es) while
others have plenty.

Some questions:
1.) If I have 2 IDE drives and 2 floppies, can I still hook
up a tape drive through the floppy controller?

2.) Is it worth it to consider a SCSI tape drive?  I am afraid
that I may eventually need a third disk drive.  Using SCSI now
would give me that option later.

3.) Will a tape drive be able to back up everything?  Another
words, if I back up everything, can I redo the partitions and
restore the OS'es without problem?

If any one can answer these questions, that would be great.
I would also appreciate suggestions on tape drives and 
backup software for DOS, OS/2, and Linux.


Any help would be appreciated,
Chun Hsu


------------------------------

From: dennisf@denix.elk.miles.com (Dennis Flaherty)
Subject: Re: Help for Conner 250 and FTAPE?
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 1994 21:27:40 GMT

Ken Corey (exukenc@exu.ericsson.com) wrote:
> >: Hi all.
> >
> >: Yesterday I went out and bought a Conner 250MB floppy-tape backup
> >: unit.
> >
> >: Got it installed with no troubles, and proceeded to do some small
> >: backups to make sure it worked.  So far so good.
> >
> >: Then, once I figured it was working, I tried to do a full backup of
> >: my linux file system.  It started writing, but about 85% of the way
> >: through bombed because of a I/O Error.
> >...
> >: Any ideas whats wrong?

I'd like to see what error messages are in your debug logs, but a good
guess is that you're using tar with compression, but not block
compression.  Try making a backup without compression, and if that
works, try using tar with the options

tar --block-compress -czvvf  .... ....

This forces block compression, which in my experience works a lot better
with ftape.


In a previous article, rexx@netcom.com (Rick Narron) says:
> 
> >One more thing to try is to clean the tape drive recording/playback
> >head with a Q-tip and some 90% Isopropyl Alchohol (head cleaning
> >solution for ordinary cassette tape recorders).

Ooooh-- I'm not sure I'd be advising people to clean the tape heads at
this point.  Problems using ftape are still more likely due to software
than hardware.  ESPECIALLY since Ken said the tape drive was new!


In article <Cr5zor.DEn@freenet.carleton.ca>,
Ethan Henry <aj185@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote:
> 85% Hm. Better than me though... mine gets an I/O error every time.
> Even when doing 'mt -f /dev/ftape fst 0' or whatever the test is.
> 
> I'm using ftape 0.9.10, is this fixed in a newer version of ftape ?
> Otherwise, I'll be the only one who can't get a pretty normal tape drive
> to work under linux. :(

Ethan, do you also have a Conner?  If so, are you defining CONNER_BUG?
If you are using the new versions of Conner Backup Basics version 1.1
for DOS and 1.2 for MS-Windows to format your tapes, you might want to
try the patch I posted to the TAPE channel,

*** ftape-read.c.orig   Thu May 26 18:43:48 1994
--- ftape-read.c        Mon May 30 17:15:35 1994
***************
*** 357,364 ****
--- 357,374 ----
    if (header_segment != header_segment_1 && /* first header */
        header_segment != header_segment_2) { /* duplicate */
      TRACE( 1, "wrong segment nr");
+ #ifdef CONNER_BUG
+     if (header_segment != 0 || header_segment_1 != 1 || header_segment_2 != 2) {
+       TRACE ( 1, "CONNER_BUG:");
+       TRACEi( 1, "| header_segment:   ", header_segment);
+       TRACEi( 1, "| header_segment_1: ", header_segment_1);
+       TRACEi( 1, "| header_segment_2: ", header_segment_2);
+       TRACE ( 1,"\\_Please post to the TAPE channel.");
+     }
+ #else
      TRACE_EXIT;
      return -EIO;
+ #endif /* CONNER_BUG */
    }
    /*    Verify tape parameters...
     *    QIC-40/80 spec:                 tape_parameters:

and use "mt erase" before each time you write to the beginning of the
tape.

-- 
Dennis T. Flaherty              Home: dennisf@denix.elk.miles.com
Flaherty Nanobreweries          Work: dennisf@se01.elk.miles.com
     Oatmeal Stout: It's the Right Thing to Drink!

------------------------------

From: dennisf@denix.elk.miles.com (Dennis Flaherty)
Subject: Re: Help for Conner 250 and FTAPE?
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 11:35:12 GMT

In article <2t9vml$lme@news.uni-paderborn.de>,
Michael Klemme <klemme@uni-paderborn.de> wrote:
> Ken Corey (exukenc@exu.ericsson.com) wrote:
> > Hi all.
> 
> > Yesterday I went out and bought a Conner 250MB floppy-tape backup unit.
> 
> > Got it installed with no troubles, and proceeded to do some small backups to
> > make sure it worked.  So far so good.
> 
> ...
> > Hrm...okay, maybe the windows version of cbb formats better than the DOS version.
> 
> > I reformatted the tape under windows, and re-tried the backup under Linux.
> 
> > Again, no luck.
> 
> I believe the ftape-Howto is wrong saying that the Win version of the Conner
> backup software formats tapes right.

Not anymore.  Version 1.2 of the Windows CBB (and 1.1 of the DOS CBB)
are both broken.

> I still have to use the switch "-DCONNER_BUG" when compiling ftape.
> Don't forget to do a 'mt erase' on a newly formatted tape.

And try applying my patch,

*** ftape-read.c.orig   Thu May 26 18:43:48 1994
--- ftape-read.c        Mon May 30 17:15:35 1994
***************
*** 357,364 ****
--- 357,374 ----
    if (header_segment != header_segment_1 && /* first header */
        header_segment != header_segment_2) { /* duplicate */
      TRACE( 1, "wrong segment nr");
+ #ifdef CONNER_BUG
+     if (header_segment != 0 || header_segment_1 != 1 || header_segment_2 != 2) {
+       TRACE ( 1, "CONNER_BUG:");
+       TRACEi( 1, "| header_segment:   ", header_segment);
+       TRACEi( 1, "| header_segment_1: ", header_segment_1);
+       TRACEi( 1, "| header_segment_2: ", header_segment_2);
+       TRACE ( 1,"\\_Please post to the TAPE channel.");
+     }
+ #else
      TRACE_EXIT;
      return -EIO;
+ #endif /* CONNER_BUG */
    }
    /*    Verify tape parameters...
     *    QIC-40/80 spec:                 tape_parameters:


-- 
Dennis T. Flaherty              Home: dennisf@denix.elk.miles.com
Flaherty Nanobreweries          Work: dennisf@se01.elk.miles.com
     Oatmeal Stout: It's the Right Thing to Drink!

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