dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) (05/10/87)
In article <218@ndmath.UUCP> milo@ndmath.UUCP (Greg Corson) writes: >If there are any releases of Unix V/BSD that run on 80286 based PC's I would >be interested in hearing about those too. I am running Microport System V/AT version 2.2L on an AT from PC's Limited. This is essentially a 100% port of AT&T's System V Release 2.0. I think the only exception is that it currently does not have the sxt driver needed to support the layered shell. It is expected to be added in the next release. However, Microport has added its own terminal driver that supports true virtual terminals. By typing Alt-F1 through Alt-F4, you can get any one of four separate completely independent consoles, each running its own shell and having its own complete screen image. This is my favorite feature of System V/AT. Support for the two standard serial ports is good. The serial driver allows the same port to be used for both outgoing and incoming calls. (I.e., cu and uucp can make outgoing calls; meanwhile, the getty process simply waits suspended until an incoming call activates the carrier detect on the modem.) According to the documentation, several commercially available serial boards with multiple serial ports are supported. The package somes with all the usual SVR2 utlities; these include sdb, f77, and a C compiler that supports small (64 K code & 64 K data) and large (1 M code, 1 M data, individual functions and data items limited to 64 K each). The C compiler is about half as fast as Microsoft C 3.0 under MS-DOS on the same hardware. Also included is the C-shell, which AT&T's SYSVR2 does not have. (About a 98% implementation of csh, actually; a few minor features, like directory stacks, and one major feature, job control, missing.). A version of the Korn shell is available from other sources (no job control though) but not included in this package. The usual Bourne shell is there. A 99% complete version of vi is there, the one significant feature missing being the ability to say ":n *.c" from within it -- this vi won't expand wildcards on a command line. The documentation says vi will handle tags, but there seems to be no facility that I could find to let you create a tags file. I don't know if AT&T's SVR2 supplies one. Sys V/AT handles MS-DOS disks very nicely. It can read and write IBM-format floppies (both 360 K and 1.2 M) and it can also read/write an MS-DOS partition, if you have one, on your hard disk. Other bonuses include: a nice script-driven phone dialler; a terminfo decompiler (alas, doesn't convert to direct termcap but output it can be hand edited to get that); and executable Kermit. There are occasional minor problems when you try to run sh scripts from within csh; these are supposed to be correctable by adding an appropriate line at the beginning of each script, but I was not always successful doing this. The package is not entirely bug-free, but Microport documents the known bugs and work-arounds so well (and so honestly) that I find it preferable to other packages that only document bugs *after* they are fixed. Of course, the usual bu--er--features inherent in any release of SVR2 are all there. The whole package was about $360 when I bought it, but the price has recently gone up to about $450. (You need an additional license to have more than one person logged in on serial ports. The version I'm talking about allows up to two simultaneous logins, with all virtual sessions on the console collectively counting as one login.) Support: My only encounter with Micoport support was caused by the fact that the distribution disks are not write protected, and the initial boot disk cannot be write-protected during installation. The boot disk self-destructed during installation. Microport offered me the choice of a new boot disk for $15 or a full upgrade to a later version (2.2) for $25. I took the upgrade -- once again, disks were not write-protected -- and the boot disk self-destructed again. This time they shipped me a replacement at no charge and it worked perfectly. Thus, I conclude that though the distribution technique is terrible, support is good. (Toll-free too, and available 24 hours per day -- quite unbelievably incredible in this business.) To summarize: Microport System V/AT is a good, accurate port of SYSVR2 and Microport has added additional features that make it *better* than anything AT&T directly supplies. It's a steal at its current price. P.S. Having said all this, I should also say that no version of SVR2 (or SVR3, for that matter) can hold a candle to 4.3BSD. But that's another story. -- Rahul Dhesi ARPA: bsu-cs!dhesi@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo}!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!dhesi
davidsen@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP (William E. Davidsen Jr) (05/12/87)
In article <570@bsu-cs.UUCP> dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes: %In article <218@ndmath.UUCP> milo@ndmath.UUCP (Greg Corson) writes: %>If there are any releases of Unix V/BSD that run on 80286 based PC's I would %>be interested in hearing about those too. % %I am running Microport System V/AT version 2.2L on an AT from PC's Limited. % %This is essentially a 100% port of AT&T's System V Release 2.0. I think %... lots of complements deleted ... % %Support for the two standard serial ports is good. The serial driver %allows the same port to be used for both outgoing and incoming calls. %(I.e., cu and uucp can make outgoing calls; meanwhile, the getty %process simply waits suspended until an incoming call activates the %carrier detect on the modem.) According to the documentation, several %commercially available serial boards with multiple serial ports are %supported. Mport is a nice package, but I would not call the serial support good without relating that there are problems using the ports at high speed. We have seen repeated "double panic" messages when running the ports to a Vax at 9600 baud. Mport suggested slowing the ports down as a fix. However, it will be fixed in a future release. All this on real IBM hardware, so it's not a compatibility problem. -- bill davidsen sixhub \ ARPA: wedu@ge-crd.arpa ihnp4!seismo!rochester!steinmetz -> crdos1!davidsen chinet / "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward"
dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (05/16/87)
In article <570@bsu-cs.UUCP> I wrote: I am running Microport System V/AT version 2.2L on an AT from PC's Limited. Support for the two standard serial ports is good.... In article <5976@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP> davidsen@kbsvax.steinmetz.UUCP (William E. Davidsen Jr) responded: Mport is a nice package, but I would not call the serial support good... [complaints deleted] ...All this on real IBM hardware, so it's not a compatibility problem. Yes, it COULD be a compatiblity problem. Perhaps you should be using an AT from PC's Limited. -- Rahul Dhesi UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo}!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!dhesi