Sun-Spots-Request@RICE.EDU (William LeFebvre) (06/11/88)
SUN-SPOTS DIGEST Friday, 10 June 1988 Volume 6 : Issue 109
Today's Topics:
Re: csh bug still in SunOS 4.0
Re: 68881 on a 3/50
To bundle or not to bundle
Telebit Wants to Know: new features in TrailBlazers
gammontool
Using Codex 2233 modems for dialing out?
How does one identify one of the problem monitors?
Postscript for Sun Manual Binder Labels
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for more information.
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Date: Sun, 5 Jun 88 13:17:44 CDT
From: drl%backup@uunet.uu.net (David R. Linn)
Subject: Re: csh bug still in SunOS 4.0
>>psune% echo !#:h
>>Segmentation fault (core dumped)
>
>-- Charlie Mills
>[[ I just checked and it still exists under version 3.2 and 3.5. Note
>that the "echo" is not necessary, only the argument "!#:h". It's a great
>way to log off (provided you have set "limit core 0")! --wnl ]]
And it still exists in 4.0. Here's the error it writes to the console
window.
A tty window has exited because its child exited.
Its child's process id was 1441 and it died due to signal 11 and left a
core dump.
Oh, well. Maybe in 4.1 ...
David Linn
System Manager, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering
INET: drl@vuse.vanderbilt.edu [129.59.100.1] (or root@vuse...)
UUCP: ...!uunet!vuse!drl CSNET: drl@vanderbilt.csnet
AT&T: (615)322-7924 BITNET: linndr@vuengvax
USPS: P.O. Box 1824, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA, 37235
------------------------------
Date: 6 Jun 88 02:13:52 GMT
From: roy%phri@uunet.uu.net (Roy Smith)
Subject: Re: 68881 on a 3/50
In v6n100, Jon Turner asks about putting his own 68881 in a 3/50 for $200
instead of being paying Sun $700 for one. Look in the Sun-Spots archives
from a couple of months ago; I detailed the procedure to do exactly that.
In a nutshell, you should be able to install an off-the-shelf 68881 in a
3/50 in about 15 minutes and get exactly the same functionality as you
would with the factory-installed option. We've done several of them.
Works like a charm.
Roy Smith, System Administrator
Public Health Research Institute
455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016
{allegra,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers}!phri!roy -or- phri!roy@uunet.uu.net
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 05 Jun 88 17:23:32 CST
From: Robert Coleman <COLEMAN@UREGINA1.BITNET>
Subject: To bundle or not to bundle
In recent issues of Sun-Spots, there has been more than a little groaning
concerning the forthcomming unbundling of Sun software. This new policy
is going to cause havock in the University context. We already have
enough trouble deciding how much each user should pay and how much the
university should pay. Once the software is unbundled, each user is going
to say "I do not need that package, I am not going to pay for it! If you
want it, you pay for it." Of course, if the package were there anyway, the
user might well find that it proved useful from time to time. In a
university environment, support for a Sun type of network comes from users
who have a wide variety of software needs. If the commonality of the
system is destroyed by unbundling the software, the rational for the
existence of the system is destroyed also. The users might just as well
get their own stand alone systems.
Sun has always had a different policy for universities than for private
concerns. I see no reason why Sun could not sell private businesses the
specific unbundled software each needs and bundle up for universities at a
decently discounted price.
Perhaps the members of Sun-Spots could send Sun an electronic petition in
which we collectively express our displeasure concerning this new policy.
Someone on a node with sufficient resources could publish a petition to
which the rest of us could mail our electronic signatures. Alas, our node
is not rich enough.
Robert Coleman
coleman@uregina2
------------------------------
Date: Mon Jun 6 10:33:03 1988
From: telebit!rls@ames.arc.nasa.gov
Subject: Telebit Wants to Know: new features in TrailBlazers
Pardon the wide posting, but since so many of you are using the Telebit
TrailBlazer Plus, this may be the best way to ensure that you see this.
Basically, Telebit is making some decisions about what new features to
incorporate into the TrailBlazer Plus (and future) modems. I would like
email describing (briefly!!!) what new features you'd like to see in our
modems.
To get you started, here are some ideas that other people have already
suggested. You may place votes for these, or add new features of your own.
NEW MODEM FEATURE IDEAS....
1. Fix Autobaud to work every time
2. Full Hayes command set (identical)
3. TCP/SLIP Support in the modem
4. V.32 compatability (along with PEP)
5. Higher Level MNP support (in slow speed modes), Level ?
6. 4-wire Leased line support
7. Group III Fax support
8. Synchronous to Async Conversion
Remember, we ARE listening, so this is your chance to help define the
modem of the future! Respond to me via email, please.
Regards,
Richard Siegel Phone: (415) 969-3800
Product Manager UUCP: {sun,uunet,ames,hoptoad}!telebit!rls
Telebit Corporation ARPA: telebit!rls@ames.ARPA
------------------------------
Date: 3 Jun 88 22:30:32 GMT
From: hpda!sun!megatest!djones@uunet.uu.net (Dave Jones)
Subject: gammontool
I put myself through graduate school playing backgammon, back during the
backgammon fad days of the late seventies. I play the gammontool program
every now and then to kill time. To keep things interesting, I try to see
how large a score I can run up before it wins a single point. So I always
double when I am behind in the race. (That's when gammontool will accept,
willy nilly.) Best to date: 694 - 0.
I don't think it cheats. Seems so sometimes, but that's just the nature
of dice. The extremely unlikely is certain to happen. My "customers"
used to think I was extremely lucky. But fellow "businessmen" used to
laugh about some of the disasterous tosses I had to endure. It just
depends on your point of view.
Somebody recommended "Backgammon for Blood" by Mike Brecker. It's true
that the strategy described there is just the thing for running up a score
against gammontool. However, if you play against a competent human the
way Becker wants you to, bring plenty "green transfusions" with you,
because you're going to find out what the title of the book translates to
in practical terms.
My alternate suggestion is "Backgammon" by Paul Magriel. Excellent
introductory text by a real nice guy.
Paul and somebody whose name I don't remember wrote a backgammon program
sometime around 1980 or so. It was purported to play rather well. I
wonder if anybody has a line on what happened to it.
Dave J.
------------------------------
Date: Mon Jun 6 08:00:53 1988
From: janus!ge1cbx!gerald@uunet.uu.net
Subject: Using Codex 2233 modems for dialing out?
We are trying to use a Codex 2233 modem for dialing out on our Sun 3/260
running beta 3.5. Supposedly, this modem is Hayes compatible. However,
we haven't had any luck in getting it to dial successfully. Everything is
set up correctly on our Sun because when we tried a borrowed Hayes modem
it worked like a charm. Has anyone else used a Codex modem before or does
anyone have any suggestions.
Thanks in advance,
Gerald Aden
Quotron Systems Inc. | Phone: (213)827-4600 x4254
5454 Beethoven Street | uucp: {cbosgd,ihnp4,trwrb}!scgvaxd!janus!ge1cbx!gerald
Post Office Box 66914 | uunet!janus!ge1cbx!gerald
Los Angeles, CA 90066 |
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 05 Jun 88 17:43:28 CST
From: Robert Coleman <COLEMAN@UREGINA1.BITNET>
Subject: How does one identify one of the problem monitors?
Recently, there have been disturbing reports of serious hardware problems
with some?? Sun monitors. Some of the comments seem to suggest that not
all of the monitors that Sun ships are involved, that there is a sort of
lottery and one might get lucky depending on when and from where one
orders. Is this the case?
How does one identify one of those monitors that are likely to be "bad"?
Where does one look for the lable, etc.?
In v6n90, it was suggested that one of the problems was that the flyback
transformer lead was not sufficiently insulated. Is this the only
problem?
Regarding the comment in v6n100 to the effect that Sun has doubled its
repair charges for its monitors, I think that it is fair to observe that
service charges are a measure of a companies confidence in the reliability
of its product. It would seem that Sun has just announced that its
monitors are shoddy goods. [[ Not necessarily. A service charge also
reflects the rarity of both the replacement parts and the talent needed to
diagnose and fix the item (in some ways that is a measure of the
obsolescence of the item). --wnl ]]
Robert Coleman
coleman@uregina2.bitnet
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 3 Jun 88 09:31:37 BST
From: Ida <ida%EAGLE.WARWICK.AC.UK@cunyvm.cuny.edu>
Subject: Postscript for Sun Manual Binder Labels
I recently posted to the digest asking for some postscript to print the
labels for our Sun Manuals. Several people have asked me for a copy, so I
thought I would post it here. (I have lost the name of the person that
sent it to me.. someone from Reading I think). I have made the label
slightly shorter because it didn't quite fit on our printer. If you don't
like Helvetica for the titles, it is easy to change. You will probably
have to redo the grouping of the manuals to suit your site.
Here it is:
[[ This is also the last article in this digest issue. You can skip
the rest of it if you are not interested. --wnl ]]
----------- cut here ------------------------------------------------
%!
/PS 25 def
/Boldfont
/Helvetica-Bold findfont def
/Romanfont
/Times-Roman findfont def
/inch $72 mul def
% SUN LOGO
% Written by Robert Harker
% Sun Microsystems
% June 19, 1984
/usun $
gsave
newpath
2 setlinejoin
2 12 moveto
85 12 lineto
85 26 14 270 90 arc
2 40 lineto
stroke
newpath
-14 0 moveto
-14 82 lineto
-28 82 14 0 180 arc
-42 0 lineto
stroke
0 0 moveto
grestore
def
/centre % x y width message
$
/message exch def
/width exch def
/y exch def
/x exch def
x width message stringwidth pop sub 2 div add
y
moveto
message show
def
/sunlogo % xcentre ycentre scale
$
/s exch def
gsave
translate
s s scale
24 setlinewidth
4 [ 45 135 225 315 ] $
gsave
rotate
110 0 translate
90 rotate
usun
grestore
forall
grestore
def
/Sunlogo $ % xcenter ycenter s = -
3 1 roll % s xcenter ycenter
matrix currentmatrix 4 1 roll % matrix s xcenter ycenter
translate % matrix s
16 dup mul 2 div sqrt div % s will now represent total height
dup scale % matrix
0 3 dup mul 2 mul sqrt neg translate % new starting point from center
45 rotate
/Uchar $
-.1 0 moveto
0 0 .1 180 360 arc
0 2.9 rlineto
.8 0 rlineto
0 -2.9 rlineto
0 0 .9 0 180 arcn
0 2.9 rlineto
.8 0 rlineto
closepath
def
/2Uchar $ Uchar matrix currentmatrix
4 4 translate Uchar setmatrix
def
4 $ 2Uchar 6 0 translate 90 rotate repeat
setmatrix % restore original CTM
def
% ------ do it --------
/ljustify % xpos height pointsize nlines linenum string
$
/message exch def
2 mul sub 0.5 add % nlines - 2*linenum + 2
mul % ((nlines-2*linenum+2) pointsize
add % height + (nlines-2*linenum+2) pointsize
2 div % (height + (nlines-2*linenum+2) pointsize ) / 2
moveto
message show
def
/sunlabel
$
Boldfont 18 scalefont setfont
/num exch def
0.5 inch 10.0 inch 18 add 2 inch num centre
0.5 inch 10.0 inch 2 inch (SunOS 3.4) centre
newpath 1.15 inch 54 40 Sunlogo 0 setgray fill
Boldfont 34 scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 46 moveto
(sun) show
Romanfont 9 scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 38 moveto
(microsystems) show
newpath % Specify the path for the border.
0.5 inch 10.8 inch moveto
0.5 inch 24 lineto
2.5 inch 24 lineto
2.5 inch 10.8 inch lineto
closepath
3 setlinewidth stroke % paint the border
% set landscape mode
0.5 inch 11.25 inch translate
90 neg rotate
def
%set manual feed on
%statusdict /manualfeed true put
gsave
(1) sunlabel
Boldfont PS scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 1 1 (Command Reference Manual -Parts 1,6,7&8) ljustify
grestore
2.5 inch 0 translate
gsave
(2) sunlabel
Boldfont PS scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 2 1 (UNIX Interface Overview) ljustify
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 2 2 (UNIX Interface Reference Manual - Parts 2,3,4 & 5) l
grestore
2.5 inch 0 translate
(3) sunlabel
Boldfont PS scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 2 1 (Formatting Documents on the Sun Workstation) ljustif
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 2 2 (Using nroff and troff on the Sun Workstation) ljusti
showpage
gsave
(4) sunlabel
Boldfont PS scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 4 1 (Using UNIX text Utilities on the Sun Workstation) lj
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 4 2 (Editing Text Files on the Sun Workstation) ljustify
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 4 3 (Debugging Tools for the Sun Workstation) ljustify
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 4 4 (Programming Utilities for the Sun Workstation) ljust
grestore
2.5 inch 0 translate
gsave
(5) sunlabel
Boldfont PS scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 2 1 (SunView User Reference Manual) ljustify
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 2 2 (SunView System Reference Manual) ljustify
grestore
2.5 inch 0 translate
(6) sunlabel
Boldfont PS scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 4 1 (Pixrect Reference Manual) ljustify
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 4 2 (SunCGI Reference Manual) ljustify
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 4 3 (SunCORE Reference Manual) ljustify
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 4 4 (Curses Programmers Reference Manual) ljustify
showpage
gsave
(7) sunlabel
Boldfont PS scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 3 1 (Fortran Programmer's Guide) ljustify
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 3 2 (Pascal Programmer's Guide) ljustify
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 3 3 (Assembly Language Programmer's Guide) ljustify
grestore
2.5 inch 0 translate
gsave
(8) sunlabel
Boldfont PS scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 2 1 (Writing Device Drivers for the Sun Workstation) ljus
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 2 2 (Networking on the Sun Workstation) ljustify
grestore
2.5 inch 0 translate
(9) sunlabel
Boldfont PS scalefont setfont
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 2 1 (System Administration for the Sun Workstation) ljust
1.5 inch 2 inch PS 2 2 (Installing UNIX on the Sun Workstation) ljustify
showpage
%turn off manual feed
%statusdict /manualfeed false put
-------- cut here ---------------------------------------------------
Russ Lomax. Department of Engineering
russ@uk.ac.warwick.eagle University of Warwick,
[+44|0]203 523523 ext 2115 Coventry, CV4 7AL, England
------------------------------
End of SUN-Spots Digest
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