[comp.os.misc] Coherent Digest Vol. 90.4, No. 5

rose@galtee.cs.wisc.edu (Scott M. Rose) (12/28/90)

Coherent Digest Vol. 90.4, No. 5      Thu Dec 27 15:25:29 CST 1990

Today's Topics:

   /usr/spol/uucppublic/downloads/Contents
   Re: s..l..o..w serial ports
   misc questions
   dev entries
   downloads
   misc questions
   Site locked?
   RE: misc questions ( configurable at drive handler )
   Re: Moving to an Alt group
   device driver for SCSI
   SCSI support
   printers and modems

Administrivia:

  The Coherent Digest is a forum for discussion of the MWC Coherent 3.x 
  operating system.  Send submissions to "coherent@cs.wisc.edu" and 
  administrivia to "coherent-request@cs.wisc.edu".  Previous issues are 
  archived for anonymous FTP access on piggy.ucsb.edu in the directory
  "pub/coherent/mail-list".

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

Date: 22 Dec 90 17:03:02
From: mhm!root (Mohd H. Misnan)
To: coherent@uop.edu
Subject: /usr/spol/uucppublic/downloads/Contents

[This is a list of files that I just download from mwcbbs (12/22/90).
 There is a file that I can't locate in the listing. I don't know
 where they put dtree.tar.Z (it supposed to be in /usr/spool/uucppublic)
 as implied in the note below. Hope this can help you guys.

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 Hamid									]

----- CUT HERE --------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: Any fixes posted to mwcbbs are not guaranteed to be 100% bug free.
Before adding any improved versions of utilities, check the permissions on your
existing utilities and make the necessary corrections to the versions you pull
from mwcbbs. 

If you encounter any difficulties with newer versions of utilities posted to
mwcbbs, please contact us so that we may correct the problem and improve the
overall system for all COHERENT users.

All files can be found in /usr/spool/uucppublic/filename unless otherwise
specified.

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

   Bytes    Name	Description
-------------------------------------
	advent.tar.Z	A text adventure game. Download the following parts:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/advent/advent.Zaa
36428			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/advent/advent.Zab
			To rebuild, concatenate these file into advent.tar.Z,
			uncompress and untar the file.

38588	awk.310b	'Fixed' awk. Fixes a bug in split and assignment
			of expressions to variables. This replaces awk.310a
			and fixes other subtle bugs discovered recently since
			the 310a posting. This fixes a bug where lead spaces
			were not recognized in floating point numbers. It
			allows parenthesized versions of printf and print.

1369	bkup2.Z		Script file for producing a level 0 dump of /dev/root.

4340	cb.tar.Z	The popular utility for 'beautifying' your C code.

4140	cdiff.tar.Z     Used to produce Berkley 3.2 style diff files.

2941	cgrep.c.Z	An 'egrep' variant which understands C code. See the
			comments in the code for instructions and command
			line options.

	clam-133.tar.Z	C shell emulator for Coherent. Download these parts:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/clam/clam133.Zaa
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/clam/clam133.Zab
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/clam/clam133.Zac
42523			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/clam/clam133.Zad
			* (Concatenate these files to clam-133.tar.Z)
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/clam/cohclam.Zaa
20345			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/clam/cohclam.Zab
			* (Concatenate these to coh-clam.tar.Z)
			To rebuild, uncompress and untar each file.
		
			'coh-clam.tar.Z' contains the necessary instructions
			to build the Clam shell for Coherent. You will also
			need patch20.tar.Z.

26463	compress.tar.Z	NEW COMPRESS, fixes a bug in zcat.

14594	cut.sh.Z	Cut and paste utilities. This is a compressed and
			sharred file.

	deliver.tar.Z	Mail delivery utilities. Download the following files:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/deliver/deliver.Zaa
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/deliver/deliver.Zab
28657			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/deliver/deliver.Zac
			Concatenate these files into deliver.tar.Z

19668	dtree.tar.Z	Tree utility for COHERENT

21606	dos		A NEW dos command which can format floppies and
			understand extended dos partitions. Download as:
			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/updates/dos
			-also-
			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/updates/dos.manpage

924   dumpscreen.c.Z	Screen dump utility for COHERENT.

       elle41C.tar.Z    Emacs-like screen editor. Uses Emacs style commands
			and can handle large files. Download these parts:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elle/elle41C.Zaa
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elle/elle41C.Zab
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elle/elle41C.Zac
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elle/elle41C.Zad
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elle/elle41C.Zae
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elle/elle41C.Zaf
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elle/elle41C.Zag
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elle/elle41C.Zah
 6093			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elle/elle41C.Zai
			Rebuild by concatenating these files to elle41C.tar.Z,
			uncompressing and untarring the file.

	 Elvis14tar.Z	Source code and makefile for elvis1.4 screen editor.
       		    	This is split into 6 parts. Download the following:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elvis/elvis14tar.Zaa 
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elvis/elvis14tar.Zab
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elvis/elvis14tar.Zac
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elvis/elvis14tar.Zad
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elvis/elvis14tar.Zae
45474			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/elvis/elvis14tar.Zaf
			Rebuild by concatenating the files into Elvis14tar.Z
			then uncompress and untar the file.

12816	 emacs.tar.Z	Enhance to microEmacs to allow usage of keypad cursor
			control keys.

  	 gnutar.tar.Z	TAR utility for archiving files. Format can be read
			other Unix systems. Requires a libndir.a library. This
			can be found in the coh-clam.tar.Z file. Download the
			following parts:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/gnutar/gnutar.tar.Zaa
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/gnutar/gnutar.tar.Zab
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/gnutar/gnutar.tar.Zac
45935			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/gnutar/gnutar.tar.Zad
			Rebuild by concatenating these files to gnutar.tar.Z,
			uncompressing and untarring the file.

	kermit.tar.Z	Ckermit. A pd kermit which sports several enhanced
			features, too numerous to list here! Download as:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.ZaA
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zab
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zac
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zad
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zae
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zaf
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zag
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zah
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zai
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zaj
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zak
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zal
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zam
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zap
24931			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/ckermit/kermit.tar.Zao
			To rebuild, concatenate these files into kermit.tar.Z,
			uncompress and untar the archive.
			
	less.tar.Z	Popular less utility, similar to 'pg' and 'more'.
			Download these files:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/less/less.tar.Zaa
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/less/less.tar.Zab
41839			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/less/less.tar.Zac
			Concatenate these files into less.tar.Z

16308	lex.310a	Post 310 version of lex which corrects a bug which 
			misinterpretted a '#' in coloumn #1 inside a lex action.

	lharc.tar.Z	Archiver/unarchiver. Download as:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/lharc/lharc.tar/Zaa
3810			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/lharc/lharc.tar/Zab
			Reconcatenate these into lharc.tar.Z.

48345	libc.a.Z	New libc.a library. Corrects a bug with scanf. Download
			as :
			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/updates/libc.a.Z

7066	llesh.c.Z	Bourne shell overlay for command history

23430	mail.310a	Post 310 version of mail. When you add this to your 
			system, make the necessary permission changes to the
			.310a version and link it to rmail. Download as:
			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/updates/mail.310a

	make.tar.Z	New make utility ported from pd sources. Download as:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/make/make.tar.Zaa
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/make/make.tar.Zab
7084			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/make/make.tar.Zac

16420	menu.tar.Z	Menu utility produced by CCSH, a Bourne shell compiler.

	patch20.tar.Z	Patch utility, originally used with the Clam shell.
			Download the following parts:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/patch/patch20.Zaa
38565			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/patch/patch20.Zab

	shar.tar.Z	Archiving utilities for packing/unpacking shell
			archives. Download as:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/shar/shar.tar.Zaa
11114			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/shar/shar.tar.Zab

1964	shells.tar.Z	Various shell scripts to make formatting, mkfsing and
			copying diskettes easier tasks.

2492	screen.tar.Z	Utility for setting screen colors.

   	unzip.tar.Z	Unzips files compressed with zip. Download these 
			parts:
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/unzip/unzip.Zaa
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/unzip/unzip.Zab
50000			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/unzip/unzip.Zac
40927			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/unzip/unzip.Zad
			Rebuild by concatenating the files int unzip.tar.Z,
			then uncompress and untar the file.

828	uptime.c.Z	Utility which will print the last time COHERENT
			was booted.

47080   uucico.310      Revision of uucico that allows use of MYNAME in
			the file /usr/lib/uucp/Permissions.  This file
			belongs at /usr/lib/uucp/uucico with permissions
			of setuid and setgrp, owned by uucp, group uucp.

19186	uux.310b	Post 310 version of uux. Addresses subtle bugs
			relating to mail distribution and LCK.. files.
			Download as:
			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/updates/uux.310b

17054   uuxqt.310b	Revision of uuxqt with bug fix so that certain
			"Can't open log file" errors no longer cause incoming
			mail to get stuck in /usr/spool/uucp/<sitename>.
			This file belongs at /usr/lib/uucp/uuxqt with
			permissions of setuid and setgrp, owned by uucp,
			group uucp. .310b version addresses other subtle bugs.
			Download as: 
			/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/updates/uuxqt.310b

				


+---------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Mohd H. Misnan	    |  UUCP: mhm!{root|hamid}@uop.uop.edu |
| 810, West Stadium Dr #6   |  INET: hmisnan@madvax.uop.edu	  |
| Stockton, CA 95204.	    |  	     acs17111@uop.uop.edu	  |
+---------------------------+-------------------------------------+ 

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

Date: Sun, 23 Dec 90 01:05:41 PST
From: curt@cynic.wimsey.bc.ca (Curt Sampson)
To: coherent
Subject: Re: s..l..o..w serial ports

Larry Rachman <74066.2004@CompuServe.COM> writes:

> Someone else mentioned this, but I don't remember what (or if a) solution
> was posted.

I was the one that mentioned this problem.  No solution has been
posted to this point.

> When releasing a port from kermit, communication on that port (com2r)
> becomes very sluggish. The characters come at the appropriate data rate (in
> this case 19,200), but they trickle out at the equivalent of about 50 bps.

I seem to have eliminated this problem.  I've been very careful about
disabling the port (with /etc/disable) before I start up kermit and
reenabling it afterwards.  Since I started getting fussy about this
that problem seems to have gone away.

> When I wink DTR, the port resends the login message, as it should, but at
> the slow rate. If I wink DTR __while the login message is printing__, the
> port immediately reverts back to proper (full speed) operation.

How do you manage to "wink DTR" when calling up?  I take it you do
this from the Coherent end of things somehow.  I can't see how this
could make a difference, though, but if it works, it works.  Hell, in
my port of Berkeley more it breaks when I don't have a seemingly
useless printf in the right place....

cjs
                                 | "And if you fight and if you fail, don't
curt@cynic.wimsey.bc.ca          |  fall back into yourself.  You can fall
{uunet|ubc-cs}!van-bc!cynic!curt |  back on me."  --Camper Van Beethoven

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

Date: 26 Dec 90 05:31:05
From: citrus!root@csusac.ecs.csus.edu (Joel M. Baldwin    Superuser)
To: coherent@csusac.ecs.csus.edu%
Cc: root@csusac.ecs.csus.edu%
Subject: misc questions

I got my update to 3.10 last week and installed it over the weekend.  I've
been looking forward to the "configurable AT hard disk driver for unsupported
disks" since both of my drives aren't in the BIOS tables.

*BUT* the release notes don't say anything other than "COHERENT release 3.1
adds support for these drives during installation by 'patching' the disk
parameters into the bootstrap and the /coherent image on the hard disk."

Thats NOT enough for me to figure out what to do.  I assume that I use the
/conf/patch program to patch a /conf/*boot* file and the /coherent file.
But what symbols are patched with what?

Does anyone on the echo know what to do?  I wouldn't think that I'm the
only one interested in this, so I'm asking publicly on the echo.



While we're talking about symbols in the /coherent file, does anyone know
what some of them are?  Some of them looking awfully interesting.  Some of
the interesting ones follow from a run of "nm -an /coherent".

FFFFF354 SI altclk_rate_
FFFFF3DD SI altclk_in_
FFFFF402 SI altclk_out_
0094 PD MAXMEM
0096 PD CMOSmax_
009A PD gdtmap_
00A0 PD idtmap_
00A6 PD gdtsel_
00A8 PD idtsel_
0262 PD rootdev_
0264 PD pipedev_
0266 PD swapdev_
0268 PD swapbot_
026C PD swaptop_
0276 PD NCLIST_
0278 PD ALLSIZE_
027A PD NINODE_
027C PD NBUF_
042C PD DMALCK_
05B0 PD version_
05B8 PD copyright_
0720 PD NPOLL_
0A06 PD NSLOT_
0A08 PD slotsz_
0A0A PD ISTSIZE_
0A26 PD a0con_
0A40 PD C1BAUD_
0A42 PD C3BAUD_
0A44 PD A0CNT_
0A4A PD albaud_
0A72 PD alp_rate_
0A9A PD a1con_
0AB4 PD C2BAUD_
0AB6 PD C4BAUD_
0AB8 PD A1CNT_
0CB6 PD LP0_OK_
0CB8 PD LPTIME_
0CBA PD LPWAIT_
12BC PD mmcrtsav_
12BE PD mmvcnt_
12D6 PD VIDSLOW_
12D8 PD atcon_
12F2 PD atparm_		(* this looks like it might be it to me *)
1312 PD ATBSYW_
2379 BD poll_owner_
237B BD poll_rate_


On a related topic, how do you make a swapping kernel?  Or can you?
Should I, or shouldn't I believe the swap entry in the lexicon?  I only have
640K in my system and I sure could use swapping.



Next problem.  Where are these files on mwcbbs?

uucp mwcbbs!/usr/spool/uucppublic/awk.310b				~/
uucp mwcbbs!/usr/spool/uucppublic/compress.tar.Z			~/
uucp mwcbbs!/usr/spool/uucppublic/lex.310a				~/

I keep trying, and keep getting some message about "remote won't send".  If
there is a version of these programs that is newer than the 3.1 update I just
received, then I would rather have the newer program.



And now for the finale.  I want to get net-news into my coherent system 
and to read it.  Has c-news or b-news successfully been ported to coherent?
Which one would you recommend?  How about a news reader?  Are there any decent
ones that have been ported to coherent?

How about mail readers?  I'd love to get elm on coherent.  I got it to compile
on my coherent system but the resulting executeable was MUCH too LARGE.
What are some of you using on your coherent systems?


Well this is enough for now.  Thank you for your time and the bandwidth.

toots!

Joel M. Baldwin					H ( 916 ) 383-9470
N6NPL						W    "    452-1481
uunet!csusac.ecs.csus.edu!citrus!root		Sacramento CA.		/\../\

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

Date: 26 Dec 90 12:26:57
From: mwc!hal@uunet.UU.NET (Hal Snyder)
To: cohmail@uunet.UU.NET
Subject: dev entries

> ... when I attempt to 'restore' the 'file' /dev/com1 from release disk
> #2, using
>                cp /f0/dev/com1l /dev/com1l
>  
> the console hangs until I enter ^C.
>  
> ...Can someone come to my aid with an explaination of what's going on,
> and/or a way to recover com1l?

Entries in /dev for devices are nodes that simply connect a device name,
such as "com1l", with a major and minor number for that device (5 and 128,
respectively, for com1l).  The driver code must be present in the kernel,
or in a loadable driver, for an i/o request to one of these nodes to
succeed.  To restore com1l, you only need to fix the node, as the driver
code is still there.  As root, enter the command:

	/etc/mknod /dev/com1l c 5 128

Mark Williams Tech. Support		(708)-291-6700 (voice)
uunet!mwc!support			(708)-291-6750 (fax)

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

Date: 26 Dec 90 12:43:34
From: mwc!hal@uunet.UU.NET (Hal Snyder)
To: cohmail@uunet.UU.NET
Subject: downloads

A recent posting to this list included a list of downloads available on
the MWC node, mwcbbs.  Unfortunately, the path for these files was
incorrectly stated as /usr/spool/uucppublic/filename - it SHOULD be
/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads/filename.

Mark Williams Tech. Support		(708)-291-6700 (voice)
uunet!mwc!support			(708)-291-6750 (fax)

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

Date: 26 Dec 90 14:44:03
From: mwc!hal@uunet.UU.NET (Hal Snyder)
To: cohmail@uunet.UU.NET
Subject: misc questions

> ...the release notes don't say anything other than "COHERENT release 3.1
> adds support for these drives during installation by 'patching' the disk
> parameters into the bootstrap and the /coherent image on the hard disk."

The installation program in COHERENT 3.1.0 does the patching automatically.
Just before entering COHERENT fdisk, the program displays parameters as
determined by CMOS and BIOS, and asks if these values are correct.  If you
say no, it will prompt you for changes and make the necessary patches.

> ...symbols in the /coherent file

many of these are documented in the driver kit.  Here are a few explanations:

0262 PD rootdev_  major and minor numbers for root device
0A40 PD C1BAUD_  default speed for com1 (encoded as in /usr/include/v7sgtty.h)
0A42 PD C3BAUD_  default speed for com3
0A44 PD A0CNT_   2 if com1 AND com3 usable
0AB4 PD C2BAUD_  default speed for com2
0AB6 PD C4BAUD_  default speed for com4
0AB8 PD A1CNT_   2 if com2 AND com4 usable

Of course, casual patching of kernel variables is fraught with peril.
It is unbelievably easy to lose an entire file system.

> ... how do you make a swapping kernel?
> I only have 640K in my system and I sure could use swapping.

Swapping can be turned on if you get the driver kit.  We decided not to
allow swapping in the standard release because:
1.  Swapping kills performance, and RAM is real cheap these days.
    Anyway, since no process (including the kernel!) can exceed 128k bytes,
    even 640k is quite a bit of room.
2.  Swapping requires a defect-free region of the drive - and allocation of
    the swap area can be tricky.    

> Where are these files on mwcbbs?

/usr/spool/uucppublic/downloads (Sorry!)

Mark Williams Tech. Support		(708)-291-6700 (voice)
uunet!mwc!support			(708)-291-6750 (fax)

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

Date: 26 Dec 90 14:48:10
From: mwc!hal@uunet.UU.NET (Hal Snyder)
To: cohmail@uunet.UU.NET
Subject: Site locked?

> When I attempt a uucico connection to mwcbbs, nothing happens.
> The error message 'Site locked' is appended to the uulog. I can't seem to
> find it in the manual. Any guesses??

As user "root", try
	cd /usr/spool/uucp
	lc
Chances are, you will see some lock and/or temporary files.  Do
	rm /usr/spool/uucp/[LT]*	
 

Mark Williams Tech. Support		(708)-291-6700 (voice)
uunet!mwc!support			(708)-291-6750 (fax)

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

Date: 26 Dec 90 15:18:14
From: citrus!root@csusac.ecs.csus.edu (Joel M. Baldwin    Superuser)
To: coherent@csusac.ecs.csus.edu%
Cc: root@csusac.ecs.csus.edu%
Subject: RE: misc questions ( configurable at drive handler )

> From: csusac!uunet.UU.NET!mwc!hal (Hal Snyder)
> To: cohmail@uunet.UU.NET
> Subject: misc questions
> 
> > ...the release notes don't say anything other than "COHERENT release 3.1
> > adds support for these drives during installation by 'patching' the disk
> > parameters into the bootstrap and the /coherent image on the hard disk."
> 
> The installation program in COHERENT 3.1.0 does the patching automatically.
> Just before entering COHERENT fdisk, the program displays parameters as
> determined by CMOS and BIOS, and asks if these values are correct.  If you
> say no, it will prompt you for changes and make the necessary patches.

I don't remember seeing any questions like that when I installed the update.
Was that in BOTH the 3.1.0 install and the 3.1.0.U install?

Anyway its too late for the install.  Since I've already installed the system
what I'm going to have to do is to patch the kernel, do a backup of the system,
reformat and partition the disk ( I only have 60 of the 80megs on the disk
right now because of that being the closest entry in the BIOS table ), and then
restore the system back.

So the the question is the same.  How and What  do I do?

Thanks for the prompt help

happy new year!

Joel M. Baldwin					H ( 916 ) 383-9470
N6NPL						W    "    452-1481
uunet!csusac.ecs.csus.edu!citrus!root		Sacramento CA.		/\../\

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

Date: Thu, 20 Dec 90 16:02:00 GMT
From: Kevin Purcell <KPURCELL@liverpool.ac.uk>
To: curt@cynic.wimsey.bc.ca, Coherent distribution list <coherent>
Subject: Re: Moving to an Alt group

On Mon, 17 Dec 90 14:28:24 PST curt@ca.bc.wimsey.cynic said:

>Kevin Purcell <KPURCELL@liverpool.ac.uk> writes:
>
>> On Fri, 14 Dec 90 16:09:02 CST Scott Rose (rose@edu.wisc.cs) said:
>> [...]
>> >
>> >In any event, if and when a newsgroup is created, I will do my best to
>> >gateway traffic to and from it- I *think* I have the technology to do
>> >that in hand.  If a comp group follows an alt group, I would propose to
>> >drop gatewaying the alt traffic.
>>
>> This would give two distinct sites for Coherent info -- so to get the
>> whole readership you would have to post to both (if you can) and then
>> you have to read both.
>
>I think you misunderstood.  As tradition has it, if comp.whatever
>replaces alt.whatever, then alt.whatever is removed.

I think I'm being misunderstood!

The two sources are: the mailing list and alt.coherent|comp.os.coherent.
I was being pessimistic in thinking the two would not be gatewayed
together. If they are then that removes one of my objections.

The mailing list wouldn't disappear (too many non-netnews people), so
I'm unsure how much bandwidth you could plan on saving. There are a lot
more Usenet sites that take alt.* than readers of this list so it seems
that even when compressed the total bandwidth used will go up (perhaps
with a different groups of folks paying for this bandwidth :-). So I
think the "bandwidth saved" argument is spurious. Would many non-Coherent
owners/potential owners read this group?

>> I think splitting the community is a bad idea and USENET is notorious
>> for its noise and "flaming behaviour". I prefer the mailing list (which
>> would be almost as good if its advertise periodically on USENET): lower
>> noise and everybody can get to it.
>
>The mailing list results in much higher noise in my mailbox.  I've had
>about 20 bounce messages in the last week (and this post will generate
>at least two or three more).  As well, a mailing list uses up many
>times the bandwidth of a newsgroup.

I don't think of bounced messages or even subscribe/unsubcribe messages
as noise (though they can get tiresome after a while). They are easy to
get rid of (N, d, next, +, PF2 or whatever your mailer does!). The
messages I worry about contributing noise and wasting my time are the
ones that contain no information and take time to read so you can find
that out.

The coherent list has had almost no flames (except for the database "ad"
issue) with almost all the Q&A being of high quality. It would be a
shame to lose this. My experience of a lot of alt.groups (normally the ones
without a good "history") indicates a lot have appallingly bad S/N ratios.

I would have no problem supporting a comp.os.coherent group, but as we
stand I don't think we have the weight to get one, yet.

The bottom line is: will alt.coherent be a high S/N group (a couple of
good new group counter-examples would suffice :-) and will it speed the
arrival of comp.os.coherent (which other groups went this way?)?

>cjs
>curt@cynic.wimsey.bc.ca          |  Your breathing goes wrong the minute your

Kevin (who does read the news regularly!)
                                                      _   .
Kevin Purcell          | kpurcell@liverpool.ac.uk   _/ \ / \   kgp@cxa.dl.ac.uk
Surface Science,       |                           /----/^^^\
Liverpool University   | There is now a damm fine /TWIN PEAKS\ email discussion
Liverpool L69 3BX, UK  | list for TPers. Mail me /    /       \ for details.

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

Date: Thu, 27 Dec 90 15:20:06 +1100
From: s861019@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (George Seremetidis (Lips))
To: coherent
Subject: device driver for SCSI

 
   I have been looking around for a cheapish UNIX and Coherent seems to fit
the bill nicely. But before I committed myself I would like to know if it
can support a SCSI hard disk on a Future Domain Controller. Does anyone know
of this or could someone at MWC please comment on this.
 
   Thanks....

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

Date: 27 Dec 90 13:00:07
From: mwc!hal@uunet.UU.NET (Hal Snyder)
To: cohmail@uunet.UU.NET
Subject: SCSI support

COHERENT 3.1.0 now supports the Adaptec aha154x-series SCSI host adapter.
We plan to add support for Western Digital, Future Domain, and Seagate
adapters - probably in that order - in coming months.  Adaptec and
Western Digital adapters are intelligent, high-performance interfaces.
Future Domain and Seagate adapters are inexpensive, low-end interfaces
requiring considerably more support in software and offering less performance.

Mark Williams Tech. Support		(708)-291-6700 (voice)
uunet!mwc!support			(708)-291-6750 (fax)

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

Date: Thu, 27 Dec 90 16:17:09 EST
From: Tim buck <TIMBUCK@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU>
To: coherent
Subject: printers and modems

I'm sure this is a frequently-asked question, but I can't find the
answer anywhere, so please bear with me.  I am a Coherent/Unix neophyte,
and I can't get the @#%*! printer to work in Coherent!  Every command I
use that's supposed to write something to the printer responds with the
error message "cannot open /dev/lp".  What am I doing wrong?

Another question:  How do I initialize a modem for dial-in access?  I
can dial out using kermit, and it answers when I dial in, but it doesn't
respond once it answers.

FYI:  I have a standard Epson-compatible printer connected to lpt1:
      I have a standard Hayes-compatible internal modem configured as
      COM3:

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

End of Coherent Digest Vol. 90.4, No. 5
***************************************
-- 
	Scott Rose
	rose@cs.wisc.edu