lacsap@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Viet Anh) (02/19/91)
(since we updated a lot of it, I thought it would be best to post it
with the corrections. Next posting beginning of March - pasc)
FAQ 910218c: Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to the NeXT computer.
The information contained in this post is a compilation of answers
posted by participants in the comp.sys.next USENET group. No
guarantees are made regarding the correctness of these responses.
This will get posted to comp.sys.next about every other week.
There is currently no particular order to this list, items get
added and removed over time.
Note:
We are not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned in this
posting. If you have any corrections, additions, questions, or
answers to add to this list, please send email to
next-faq@media.mit.edu
0. Where can I find additional questions and answers regarding
the NeXT computer? (this question is really never asked but
really should be :-)
Readers of comp.sys.next should be aware that not everyone
has the complete on-line manuals on their systems. So responses
like RTFM are inappropriate.
Get NextAnswers for Digital Librarian from one of the many
ftp sites (see below) that have NeXT software. NextAnswers
is a series of questions and answers that the NeXT technical
support has compiled. They tend to clarify issues not covered
or poorly covered in the on-line documentation. If you have
a question that is not covered in NextAnswers you can submit
it to ask_next@next.com. They may not answer the question immediately.
Another good source of information is the archives of previously
posted notes from the comp.sys.next newsgroup. All articles sent
to comp.sys.next are archived on brownvm.brown.edu. Send a note
to listserv@brownvm.brown.edu containing the command "INFO ?"
on a single line (by itself). The list of articles is called
NEXT-L.
1. How may I contact NeXT Computer, Inc.?
NeXT Computer, Inc.
900 Chesapeake Drive
Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: 1-800-848-NeXT (Redwood City #)
1-408-437-0400 (BusinessLand)
1-800-800-NeXT (NeXT Connection-software and peripherals)
44-81-565-0005 (U.K. #)
44-81-565-0016 (U.K. fax #)
044-549-5295 (NeXT marketing div. of Canon - Japan)
044-549-5462 (NeXT Japan fax #)
+41-22-788-2890 (NeXT Europe - Geneva, Suisse)
2. Is there a mail order company that sells NeXT-related peripherals?
Yes, its called NeXTconnection. Address: 9 Mill Street, Marlow, NH 03456
Phone: 1-800-800-NeXT
3. Is there a NeXT specific magazine?
Yes. There are also many NeXT specific newsletters, many of which
are available via ftp from the NeXT specific ftp sites. The Boston
Computer Society NeXT User group also produces a NeXT newsletter
called "What's NeXT?". BCS may be reached at 1 Center Plaza,
Boston, MA 02108.
The first magazine is called NeXUS and is published bi-monthly for $36/year.
Contact Alfonso Guerra at {emory|gatech}!nanovx!nexus.
The second is called NeXTworld and is published six times a year ($23.95).
NeXTWORLD, 501 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
415 978 3182 (phone), 415 978 3196 (fax)
NeXTworld email address: nextwrld!ddinucci@uunet.uu.net
Letters to the Editor should be sent to the above address with:
attn: Letters to the Editor
Or electronically to: nextwrld!dlavin@uunet.uu.net, with a subject
field of "Letters to the Editor"
There is a third called NeXT on Campus which deals with NeXT
developments in academia. Call NeXT at 1-800-848-NeXT for
subscription info.
4a. What are the names of some of the ftp sites that have NeXT-related
files?
There are too many to list them all, so are here are just a few:
NeXT: cs.orst.edu, nova.cc.purdue.edu, sonata.cc.purdue.edu,
umd5.umd.edu, and eesun1.arl.utexas.edu
MIT GNU: aeneas.mit.edu
music: princeton.edu
See NextAnswers for more sitenames.
4b. If I am not on the internet, how can I get to the ftp sites via email?
nova.cc.purdue.edu is configured as an email archive server. This means
you can upload and download files via email. Send mail to:
archive-server@nova.cc.purdue with the subject line help and you
will get a complete description of this service.
If you submit material, you may want to send mail to lindley@cc.purdue.edu
with a description of the material you are submitting.
5. Why does my 030 NeXT system using Release 1.0 hang a few seconds
after attempting to boot from the optical disk?
Release 1.0 contains a bug that can corrupt the kernel /odmach
if a user attempts to launch /odmach from the browser. The
solution is to copy a clean /odmach from another NeXT system.
Be sure to change the permissions of the newly installed /odmach
to remove execute permissions to prevent future occurrences of
the same problem. Release 2.0 does not have this problem.
6. What is the claimed performance of the new 040 NeXT machines?
NeXT advertizes the new 040 machines at 15 MIPS and 2 MFLOPS.
[industry accepted benchmarks will be posted here... anyone?]
7. Where can I get the most recent version of Kermit?
The source for the latest version is available via ftp from
watsun.cc.columbia.edu in the directory named kermit/sw. Get the
file ckaaaa.hlp to get started and see what files are required.
Note that this version of Kermit does have a NeXT specific
compile option. A binary only version is available via ftp from
cs.orst.edu as kermit5a.tar.Z. This file is currently stored in
the /pub/next/sources directory but may be moved to /pub/next/binaries
at some point in the future.
8. How much free space is available on the NeXTstation and NeXTcube?
As shipped, the 105MB NeXTstation has approximately 25.2 MB free.
Note: The swap space is by default configured to 16MB with a low water
mark of 20MB (the system does not attempt to reduce the size of
the swapfile space until the swapfile grows past the low water
mark).
The extended release takes 179M, including a 16M swapfile, and not
including Mathematica or Sybase (this is from a virgin install of
2.0 extended from an optical).
9. What software is bundled with the new 040 NeXT machines?
Both the 105MB and 200MB systems come with Release 2.0 preinstalled.
The systems with larger hard disks have Release 2.0 Extended
preinstalled. The price of all of the new systems includes the cost
of the software license. Note that the price of the 040 upgrade for
030 machines does not include the cost of the software license.
RELEASE 2.0 includes
*End User Applications
Workspace Mgr(tm), NeXT Mail(tm), WriteNow(r) Word Processor,
Digital Webster(tm) (9th Collegiate Dictionary(r) and Collegiate
Thesaurus(r)), Digital Librarian(tm), Edit, Mathematica(r)-for
higher education customers only, DataViz/Bridge(tm), Installer,
FaxReader, Preferences, Preview for Post Script, PrintManager
*Developer Tools
VT100(tm) Terminal Emulator [based on Stuart]
*System Administration Applications
BuildDisk, InstallTablet, Mail Manager, NetInfo Manager, NetManager,
Printer Tester, User Manager, Installer
RELEASE 2.0 (extended) adds....
*End User Applications
Oxford(r) Dictionary of Quotations, William Shakespeare-The Complete
Works (for Digital Librarian), TEX(tm) Document Processing System
(Radical Eye Software), Improv (Improv is only free if 040 NeXT
machine or upgrade ordered before end of March 1991)
*Developer Tools
Interface Builder(tm), Objective-C(r) Language Compiler,
C++ Language Compiler, Objective-C Class Definitions,
56001 DSP Tools, GNU Emacs, GNU Debugger, BUG-56(tm) Debugger (Ariel),
Malloc Debugger, AppInspector(tm), PostScript Tools, Application Kit(tm),
Music Kit(tm), Sound Kit(tm), On-line technical documentation
You are allowed to copy software from the extended release from a
friend if you are licensed to run 2.0.
10. What type of microphones work with the NeXT?
Some NeXT owners use the RadioShack (Realistic) Tie Clip Microphone
($19.95) cat 33-1052. Others have successfully used WalMart (~ $6) and
Sony brands (~ $60). [please send us model numbers and more exact prices
for the Walmart and Sony brands...]
11. How do I connect a modem to the NeXT?
In short, for the 030 NeXT you need a Mac II serial modem cable.
Note that some Mac II cables will not allow successful dial-in
(because of incompatible pin wiring). Any Mac II cable should
work for dial-out. The Businessland part number for a NeXT modem
cable is reportedly 235739. Note that no Mac cable will allow
hardware flow control. For those 040 owners wishing flow-control,
you may buy a cable from NeXTconnection or NeXT or make one yourself
using the information in the zs(4) man page.
Most use tip or kermit to control the modem. SLIP and/or UUCP may
also be used (but are more complicated to set up and require the
remote machine to also have SLIP and/or UUCP (respectively)).
For more information, its highly recommended that you obtain and
read the documentation from NeXT in their TechSupportNotes series
called SerialPortDoc.wn. This document is available from most FTP
sites that carry NextAnswers. Also, try to obtain the comp.sys.next
note by Mark Adler entitled "How to connect a modem" (reposted 5 Jan 91)
[Adler's note does contain info on the changes required to connect
a modem to the 040 NeXTs]
12. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of X-Windows?
There is a X11R3 version named XNeXT developed by MIT. This version
is available in binary only and does not work under Release 2.0
of the NeXT OS. XNeXT is a 1-bit black and white server. XNeXT
is available from most ftp sites that have NeXT software.
McGill University (der Mouse) has produced a beta version of
an X11R4 server named mouse-X available via ftp from 132.206.1.1.
cd to X/XNeXT and fetch one of the files with names beginning
with "distribution". This version only uses NeXTstep for keyboard
and mouse events. This version does not work under 2.0
Pencom Software of Austin, TX has announced and has a working
beta version of X11R4 called "co-Xist". A release version is
scheduled for March 1991. Color is planned in a future release.
Cost has been announced at $149 educational, $249 commercial.
Co-Xist runs inside of a NeXTstep window. The Motif window
manager and libraries are also available from Pencom. Contact
Pam O'Neal at pensoft!pam@cs.utexas.edu.
13. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of SLIP?
There is no publically available version of SLIP for the NeXT;
however, versions are under development by several sources.
14. What type of memory may be installed in a NeXT?
Use Mac II-style SIMMS, 100ns or faster. SIMMS must be
installed in groups of four. The NeXT can use either 1MB or
4MB SIMMS. Most people are buying 80ns SIMMS in order to be
more sure of future compatibility. Also, note that the low-profile
vertically mounted 4MB SIMMS are easier to install than the
horizontally mounted 4MB SIMMS because of the small height clearance
above the SIMM slots. It is possible to install the horizontally
mounted 4MB SIMMS but you will be required to slide the CPU board
and the hard drive in simultaneously. Note that parity (9-bit)
RAMS can be used in both the 030 NeXT and the 040 NeXT. Parity
and non-parity SIMMS can be mixed in both the 030 and the 040
(however, the boot on 040 boxes will generate a warning). Only
the 040 NeXT can use the parity memory to detect parity errors
(parity and non-parity may not be mixed if you wish to have
parity errors detected).
Color NeXTstations, and the NeXTdimensions will be using a different
packaging for memory. They will be in a 72pin housing, are organized
256kx32 or 1Mx32 for non-parity systems, and 256kx36 and 1Mx36 for
parity. They must be 80ns or faster. We are presently not aware of
of other manufacturers that make such memory configuration [impediment,
clearpoint, and others have stated they are investigated the question]
Given how dynamic the prices are in the memory market we can not provide
an accurate compilation of suppliers and prices. [any volunteers?]
15. What can be done about older 030 NeXTs that have a fan that
turns in the "wrong" direction?
The fan on older 030 NeXTs sucks air out of the back of the cube
which means that it draws unfiltered air in through the optical
disk on the front of the cube. This causes optical disks to
succumb to dust must sooner than cubes with the new-style fan
which turns in the opposite direction.
NeXT has apparently reversed their decision regarding fan
reversal. It is now considered okay to reverse the direction
of fans on older cubes. If you have many third-party cards
installed in your cube, you may wish to consider not reversing
fan direction (overheating could become a problem). In any case,
do not reverse the fan's polarity, only reverse the fan assembly
itself. Perhaps the best solution is obtain the cleaning kit and OD
filter from NeXT.
16. Are there any alternative sources for the SCSI-II to SCSI-I cable
required to attach external SCSI devices to the 040 NeXTs?
Yes. This cable is the same as the one used by Sun SparcStations and
DecStation 5000's (but not DecStation 3100's which use 68-pin micro
rather than the 50pin micro connector used on NeXT 040, Suns and
DecStation 5000).
17. What disk drives will work with the NeXT?
Most scsi disk drives will work with 2.0 without modifying disktab.
You should read the Systems Adminstrator manual provided with all
new systems. There have been problems with the installation of boot
blocks and badly formed fstab generated by BuildDisk. [If someone
is keeping a list of drives that work with the NeXT we would like to
know about it. Also there was talk about Mac drives *not* working
on the NeXT due to their implementation of the SCSI standard.]
18. What fax modems will work with the NeXT?
There are many suppliers of fax modems for the NeXT. It is best to
call NeXT and ask for their Software and Peripherals catalog
that lists third party hardware and software suppliers. [Does anyone
know what features are needed for a fax modem to work on a NeXT 2.0?]
19. Can I run DOS software on the NeXT?
Yes, there is a product called Soft-PC that has been announced
for the NeXT and publicly demonstrated on the NeXT. Contact
Insignia Solutions Inc 408-522-7600
In addition NeXT machines equipped with 2.88Mbyte floppy drives
are able to read and write DOS diskettes (3-1/2" variety!) at
1.44Mb or 720Kb.
20. What comes with the 040 Upgrade?
An anti-static disposable bracelet, installation guide, new OD cable,
OD filter, 040 board, a simm extractor tool, Fed-Ex return slip
and registration card.
There are two mail back cards--one for Lotus Improv and
NeXTworld, and the other to get Mathematica 2.0 and Sybase (eventually).
This may change, of course, and may be different for non-educational
users. The 040 upgrade requires the 2.0 upgrade.
21. What comes with the 2.0 upgrade?
The 2.0 upgrade comes with an optical disk with 2.0 extended, a bunch of
manuals, and keyboard tilt feet.
22. What alternative printers (laser or otherwise) may be used with
the NeXT? Are there limitations or other considerations of which
I should I be aware.
23. How may I attach more than two serial ports to the NeXT?
Neil Gorsuch (neil@uninet.cpd.com) reports in comp.sys that his
company is working on a port of their SCSI-based serial/parallel box
to the NeXT. For more information call Uninet (800)433-6784.
24. Can I run MacIntosh Programs on my NeXT?
No. There is a third party company working on reading and writing of Mac
diskettes.
25. Can I run tcsh on my NeXT?
If you are simply looking for emacs-like command editing
you can do this with the csh distributed by NeXT by
typing:
set editmode=emacs
In addition it is possible to bind control keys to commands
with a .bindings file. Users should seek the csh(1) man page for
more information.
People have ported tcsh and bash to the NeXT. [Are they available
via anonymous ftp?]
26. What are some good references on Objective C?
27. What fonts can I use on my NeXT?
Properly packaged Type 1 or 3 postscript fonts will work on the NeXT,
certain conversions may be necessary to get them to work. Freeware
and shareware fonts are available on sonata.cc.purdue.edu. There
are utilities on the next to download fonts into postscript printers.
Purdue (nova and sonata) have freeware and shareware type 1 and 3
fonts in pub/next/misc
Each file unpacks into it's own directory. Within each directory is a
ReadMe.rtf and a Makefile. See the ReadMe.rtf for more font descriptions and
installation instructions. (You may also find comments in the Makefile of
interest.)
These packages were prepared by Doug Brenner <dbrenner@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu>
28. How much does the NeXT cost?
A retail price list may be obtained by contacting NeXT at the
number or address mentioned in a previous question. Educational
prices vary depending upon the university. The typical educational
discount is between twenty and thirty percent. NeXT offers
registered developers a significant discount.
29. Where can I buy a NeXT?
From NeXT, Businessland, Computer Attic (in California), and
possibly from your university if you are a student. If your
university does not offer the NeXT, you may be able to buy
from a "hub" university if the hub program is available in
your state (contact NeXT for more info).
30. How can I save my WriteNow [or other printable] documents to a
postscript file?
Its easy. Just select PRINT from the main WriteNow menu, then select
SAVE from the resulting print panel.
31. What is the best and/or cheapest way to connect a NeXT to a thick Ethernet?
[an answer is in the works for this]
Editors:
Pascal Chesnais lacsap@media.mit.edu
John Garnett garnett@cs.utexas.edu
Erik Kay erikkay@athena.mit.edu
--
Pascal Chesnais, Research Specialist, Electronic Publishing Group
Media Laboratory, E15-351, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge, Ma, 02139 (617) 253-0311
email: lacsap@plethora.media.mit.edu (NeXT)lacsap@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Pascal Chesnais) (04/16/91)
Not much new in this edition of the FAQ. We do welcome comments
about what to add, and what to omit. let us know how we can make
it better!
pasc
FAQ 910415: Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to the NeXT computer.
The information contained in this post is a compilation of answers to
questions posted by participants in the comp.sys.next USENET group.
No guarantees are made regarding the correctness of these responses.
This will get posted to comp.sys.next about every other week. There
is currently no particular order to this list, items get added and
removed over time.
Note:
We are not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned in this
posting. If you have any corrections, additions, questions, or
answers to add to this list, please send email to
next-faq@media-lab.media.mit.edu
A copy of the FAQ can be found on sonata.cc.purdue.edu in pub/next/FAQ
as well as other useful information (diskdrive and simm sources).
TOC (. after number means entry has not changed since last posting,
- means entry has changed,
* means new entry,
? means there is no answer right now):
General Information
0. Where can I find additional questions and answers regarding
the NeXT computer? (this question is really never asked but
really should be :-)
1. How may I contact NeXT Computer, Inc.?
2. Is there a mail order company that sells NeXT-related peripherals?
3. Is there a NeXT specific magazine?
4a. What are the names of some of the ftp sites that have NeXT-related
files?
4b. If I am not on the internet, how can I get to the ftp sites via email?
5. What is the claimed performance of the new 040 NeXT machines?
6. What are some good references on Objective C?
7. How much does the NeXT cost?
8. Where can I buy a NeXT?
9. How do i become a NeRD? What does it cost? What is involved? Who
do i contact if i am interested?
10. How do I start an official NeXT User Group?
Upgrades
1. What comes with the 040 Upgrade?
2. What comes with the 1.0 -> 2.0 software upgrade?
3. What has happened in release 2.0 with the versions of Franz Allegro
Common Lisp, the Sybase SQL Server, and Mathematica that were
distributed with OS1.0?
4. How do I get the 2.1 upgrade?
NeXT OS
1. Why does my 030 NeXT system using Release 1.0 hang a few seconds
after attempting to boot from the optical disk? (this problem
also happens with scsi disks as well)
2. How much free disk space is available on the NeXTstation and NeXTcube?
3. What software is bundled with the new 040 NeXT machines?
4. Can I delete /odmach or /sdmach (depending on whether i boot
from od or hard drive) and save 700K?
5. The 2.0 machines keep getting an error on the console that says
loginwindow: netinfo problem - No such directory. Is this a problem?
6. Under 2.0 running UUCP and other incoming connections hangs the
modem serial line, what can I do?
NeXT Hardware (internal):
1. What can be done about older 030 NeXT cubes that have a fan that
turns in the "wrong" direction?
2. What type of memory may be installed in a NeXT?
3. Can I connect SONY MPX-111N to my 030 cube?
4. Why OD continually spins up and spins down?
5* How many colors can NeXT machines display?
Peripherals
1. What type of microphones will work with the NeXT?
2. How do I connect a modem to the NeXT?
3. Are there any alternative sources for the SCSI-II to SCSI-I cable
required to attach external SCSI devices to the 040 NeXTs?
4. What fax modems will work with the NeXT?
5. How may I attach more than two serial ports to the NeXT?
6. What is the best and/or cheapest way to connect a NeXT to a thick Ethernet?
7. How can I connect my NeXT to the telephone line and use it like an answering
Machine?
Utilities
1. Where can I obtain the most recent version of Kermit?
2. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of SLIP or PPP?
3. Where can I obtain a version of Larry Wall's patch for the NeXT?
Compatibility:
1. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of X-Windows?
2. Can I run DOS software on the NeXT?
3. Can I run Macintosh Programs on my NeXT?
4. Can I run tcsh or bash on my NeXT?
5. Can sound files be used on the Suns and NeXT interchangeably?
Languages:
1. What Fortrans compilers are available for the NeXT?
2- What Lisps are there for the NeXT?
3. What Pascal compilers are available for the NeXT?
4. What should I know about c++ shipped with the NeXT?
Printing
1. What alternative printers (laser or otherwise) may be used with
the NeXT? Are there limitations or other considerations of which
I should I be aware.
2. What fonts can I use on my NeXT?
3. How can I save my WriteNow [or other printable] documents to a
postscript file?
4. How can I print only the even or odd pages of a document? I wish
print on both sides by feeding the paper through twice.
5. What can I do to prevent my NeXT printer from running all the time?
6. How do I get banner pages on my printer output?
7* How do I get [la]TeX files to print correctly on non-NeXT printers?
Disks:
1. What disk drives will work with the NeXT?
2. How do I customize BuildDisk to create a bootable disk of my own
configuration?
3. How much disk space is lost due to formatting and file system overhead?
4* Can I run my SCSI-2 disks in synchronous mode?
Misc:
1. Is there any way to change the text in the title bar of a terminal window?
2. Can I put both an 030 and an 040 system board in a single NeXT cube?
3. Where is libc.a under 2.0?
4. How do I get pictures of people from remote sites to appear in Mail.app?
General Information
-------------------
0. Where can I find additional questions and answers regarding
the NeXT computer? (this question is really never asked but
really should be :-)
Every NeXT machine owner has access to manuals to a degree. Network
and System Administration (NSA), for example contains answers to
many of the questions asked to comp.sys.next. Some of the important
man pages are reproduced in the NSA as appendices.
- User manuals are shipped with every NeXT. Additional copies
available from NeXT (N6002/N6003/N6014/N6026) $25.
- NeXT Technical documentation. (How to program in the NextStep
environment) Order from NeXT (N6007B) $95.
The "Extended" release contains online versions of the
"Reference" (but not "Concepts") chapters.
- man pages, included with "Extended" release.
- BSD unix documentation (MISC, PS1, PS2, SMM, USD).
Available from to USENIX site members. A lot of this has been
integrated into the NeXT documentation. Some of this is
sorely missing.
- Adobe documentation. Available machine-readable by e-mail
from ps-file-server@adobe.com. Hardcopy available from
Adobe Developer Support Line +1 415 961-4111 for a nominal
charge. NeXT last shipped these as part of the 1.0a release;
hardcopies appeared in 0.9 Technical Documentation.
- Get NeXT's Concepts and Tutorial sections electronically from
the ftp archives. These were not included in the 2.0 distribution
but are included in hardcopy form with the NeXT Technical Documentation.
This is perhaps the single most important reference for people
wishing to develop software for the NeXT.
- Get NextAnswers for Digital Librarian from one of the many
ftp sites (see below) that have NeXT software. NextAnswers
is a series of questions and answers that the NeXT technical
support staff has compiled. They tend to clarify issues not covered
or poorly covered in the on-line documentation. Anyone can send bugs
or suggestions to bug_next@next.com
- Another good source of information is the archives of previously
posted notes from the comp.sys.next newsgroup. All articles sent
to comp.sys.next are archived on brownvm.brown.edu. Send a note
to listserv@brownvm.brown.edu containing the command "INFO ?"
on a single line (by itself). The list of articles is called
NEXT-L.
It can not be overly emphasized that getting the on-line documentation
from 2.0 extended will help enormously in researching problems with
the aid of digital librarian.
1. How may I contact NeXT Computer, Inc.?
NeXT Computer, Inc.
900 Chesapeake Drive
Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: 1-800-848-NeXT (Redwood City #)
1-408-437-0400 (BusinessLand)
1-800-800-NeXT (NeXT Connection-software and peripherals)
44-81-565-0005 (U.K. #)
44-81-565-0016 (U.K. fax #)
81-44-549-5295 (NeXT marketing div. of Canon - Japan)
81-44-549-5462 (NeXT Japan fax #)
+41-22-788-2890 (NeXT Europe - Geneva, Suisse)
note: numbers abroad are listed with the country codes first. You will
need to dial the international access number of your long distance carrier
before proceeding to dialing the country code, area code and phone number.
2. Is there a mail order company that sells NeXT-related peripherals?
Yes, its called NeXTconnection. Address: 9 Mill Street, Marlow, NH 03456
Phone: 1-800-800-NeXT
3. Is there a NeXT specific magazine?
Yes. There are also many NeXT specific newsletters, many of which
are available via ftp from the NeXT specific ftp sites (look in
pub/next/newsletters on cs.orst.edu and pub/next/Newsletters
on sonata.cc.purdue.edu - purdue seems to carry more newsletters
on line than orst.). Some cost money, others don't.
Available from purdue:
SCaNeWS - Souther California NeXT Users Group Newsletter, first issue
came out January 1991. Edited by Mike Mahoney (manhoney@beach.csulb.edu)
BaNG - Bay Area NeXT Users Group, one item on-line on Purdue. Edited by
Robert Nielson (nielsen@everest.portal.com).
Tao - an irregular newsletter written by Robert Lin. It usually has
a good number of rumors, and is fun to read.
rmNUG - Rocky Mountain NeXT Users Group Newsletter, latest issue
February 1991. Edited by David Bowdish (73340.2146@compuserve.com).
NeXTVieW - Vancouver NeXT Users Group
NeXT Users' Journal, latest issue December/January 1990-1. Edited by
Erica Liebman (erica@kong.gatech.edu).
Hardcopy:
Baran's Tech Letter
Published once a month for $125/year
Contact: Nicholas Baran POBox 876, Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864-0876
email: nbaran@well.sf.ca.us
NeXT on Campus
NeXT developments in academia. Call NeXT at 1-800-848-NeXT for
free subscription info.
NeXTworld
Published six times a year ($23.95).
NeXTWORLD, 501 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
415 978 3182 (phone), 415 978 3196 (fax)
NeXTworld email address: ddinucci@nextworld.com
NeXUS
Published bi-monthly for $36/year.
Contact Alfonso Guerra at {emory|gatech}!nanovx!nexus.
What's NeXT?
The Boston Computer Society NeXT User group produces a NeXT newsletter
called "What's NeXT?". BCS may be reached at 1 Center Plaza,
Boston, MA 02108.
4a. What are the names of some of the ftp sites that have NeXT-related
files?
There are too many to list them all, so are here are just a few:
NeXT: cs.orst.edu, nova.cc.purdue.edu, sonata.cc.purdue.edu,
umd5.umd.edu, and eesun1.arl.utexas.edu
MIT GNU: aeneas.mit.edu
MIT X: expo.lcs.mit.edu
music: princeton.edu
See NextAnswers for more sitenames.
4b. If I am not on the internet, how can I get to the ftp sites via email?
cc.purdue.edu is configured as an email archive server. This means
you can upload and download files via email. Send mail to:
archive-server@cc.purdue.edu with the subject line help and you
will get a complete description of this service.
submissions:
Mail should be sent to archive-server@cc.purdue.edu with the
subject of 'submission' (no ticks) if a person is submitting
material to the archives. They need to include a 1-2 sentence
description of the submission, the OS release the product runs
on, and if it is source, binary, newsletter, etc.
5. What is the claimed performance of the new 040 NeXT machines?
NeXT advertises the new 040 machines at 15 MIPS and 2 MFLOPS.
[industry accepted benchmarks will be posted here... anyone?]
6. What are some good references on Objective C?
Object Oriented Programming - An Evolutionary Approach, Brad J. Cox,
Addison-Wesley, 1987 ISBN 0-201-10393-1 it describes pre-4.0 Objective-C,
and the NeXT uses 4.0 Objective-C (Stepstone's version numbers). However,
a new edition of the book should hit the shelves any day now. [Glenn Reid
mentions the existence of the book, but does not label it as
a "good reference", lacking other references it is noted here]
NextAnswers has a good reading list too long to include here.
7. How much does the NeXT cost?
A retail price list may be obtained by contacting NeXT at the
number or address mentioned in a previous question. Educational
prices vary depending upon the university. The typical educational
discount is between twenty and thirty percent. NeXT offers
registered developers a significant discount.
8. Where can I buy a NeXT?
From NeXT, Businessland, Computer Attic (in California), and
possibly from your university if you are a student, faculty or staff.
If your university does not offer the NeXT, you may be able to buy
from a "hub" university if the hub program is available in
your state (contact NeXT for more info).
9. How do i become a NeRD? What does it cost? What is involved? Who
do i contact if i am interested?
NeRD - NeXT Registered Developer
1- Call the 800 number to get a registration form, fill it out and
send it back to NeXT.
2- NeXT will assign an "advocate" from within the company to review your
needs.
3- Register to go to a 5 day developer's camp either in Pittsburgh or
or Redwood City. Cost is $995 They will teach you the essential
information needed for developing applications on the NeXT. [It is
excellent -pasc]
4- Once you have gone through the above, you will get technical support
directly from NeXT via email or phone (in urgent cases!). Their support
is quite comprehensive.
10. How do I start an official NeXT User Group?
To start a NeXT group, just send email to "user_groups@next.com".
Upgrades
--------
1. What comes with the 040 Upgrade?
An anti-static disposable bracelet, installation guide, new OD cable,
OD filter, 040 board, a SIMM extractor tool, Fed-Ex return slip
and registration card to get a free copy of Improv and NeXTWorld.
2. What comes with the 1.0 -> 2.0 software upgrade?
The 2.0 upgrade comes with an optical disk with 2.0 extended, a bunch of
manuals, and keyboard tilt feet.
There is a mail back cards to get Mathematica 2.0 and Sybase (eventually).
This may change, of course, and may be different for non-educational
users. The 040 upgrade requires the 2.0 upgrade.
3. What has happened in release 2.0 with the versions of Franz Allegro
Common Lisp, the Sybase SQL Server, and Mathematica that were
distributed with OS1.0?
These products are no longer bundled with the NeXT OS. Owners of old
cubes are, however, entitled to continue using them.
Allegro Common Lisp: When upgrading from 1.0 to 2.0, the upgrade
program offers the opportunity to save your copy of Common Lisp. You
can do this, and it will still run on the '030 cube except that the
Foreign Function Interface no longer works. The hardware upgrade from
the '030 to the '040, however, breaks this version of Common Lisp
completely and it will no longer run. With the OS2.0 upgrade, there is
a postcard to return to NeXT requesting an updated version of Common
Lisp which (when released) will run on the '040 under 2.0. Future
enhancements to Allegro Common Lisp (including the soon-to-be-released
version with CLOS support) will only be available directly from Franz
Inc. Owners of old cubes can obtain upgrade service as
"maintenance/support" at a lower cost than buying a new Allegro Common
Lisp license (which is what owners of new cubes and slabs must get).
Contact Franz Inc. for details and prices.
Sybase: The release 1.0 Sybase SQL Server is completely broken by
release 2.0, and the upgrade program will delete this from your disk
(without asking permission) in the course of upgrading. Release 2.0
contains an SQL client, which can be used to connect to SQL servers on
your network (perhaps older cubes still running 1.0, for example). A
new SQL server (with some modified features) will be sent to owners of
old cubes who request it by means of the same postcard that gets you a
new version of Common Lisp.
Mathematica: The upgrade program offers you the opportunity to save
your old version of this, and the old version still runs under 2.0
(on both '030 and '040 hardware). Sending in the postcard referred to
above from the OS2.0 upgrade kit will get you a new version of
Mathematica, too. This version will be available free to academic
users with new cubes and slabs as well.
All of the upgraded programs referred to above will be provided on
NeXT floppies, not OD's. You will need either to buy an external
floppy drive or to have someone else transfer them from floppy to OD
in order to make use of them. The release date is scheduled for
all the above is April.
4. How do I get the 2.1 upgrade?
All new machines are shipping with 2.1, as well as release 2
software products. People running 2.0 can order an upgrade
distribution from NeXT. The 2.1 upgrade distribution is only
available on floppies. 2.1 distribution does not have a 2.0->2.1
upgrade application shipped with it. There is currently no way of
getting it due to licensing issues.
2.1 Upgrade kit is part #n7022 on floppies costs $50 call the NeXT
800 number for it.
OS
--
1. Why does my 030 NeXT system using Release 1.0 hang a few seconds
after attempting to boot from the optical disk? (this problem
also happens with scsi disks as well)
Release 1.0 contains a bug that can corrupt the kernel /odmach
if a user attempts to launch /odmach from the browser. The
solution is to copy a clean /odmach from another NeXT system.
Be sure to change the permissions of the newly installed /odmach
to remove execute permissions to prevent future occurrences of
the same problem. Release 1.0a and 2.0 do not have this problem.
It is possible for the sdmach to get corrupted in the same way.
Boot from the OD, copy an uncorrupted version of the kernel
to the hard disk, and remove the execute bits from sdmach.
2. How much free disk space is available on the NeXTstation and NeXTcube?
As shipped, the 105MB NeXTstation has approximately 25.2 MB free.
Note: The swap space is by default configured to 16MB with a low water
mark of 20MB (the system does not attempt to reduce the size of
the swapfile space until the swapfile grows past the low water
mark).
The extended release takes 179M, including a 16M swapfile, and not
including Mathematica or Sybase (this is from a virgin install of
2.0 extended from an optical).
3. What software is bundled with the new 040 NeXT machines?
Both the 105MB and 200MB systems come with Release 2.0 preinstalled.
The systems with larger hard disks have Release 2.0 Extended
preinstalled. The price of all of the new systems includes the cost
of the software license. Note that the price of the 040 upgrade for
030 machines does not include the cost of the software license.
RELEASE 2.0 includes...
*End User Applications
Workspace Mgr(tm), NeXT Mail(tm), WriteNow(r) Word Processor,
Digital Webster(tm) (9th Collegiate Dictionary(r) and Collegiate
Thesaurus(r)), Digital Librarian(tm), Edit, Mathematica(r)-for
higher education customers only, DataViz/Bridge(tm), Installer,
FaxReader, Preferences, Preview for Post Script, PrintManager
*Developer Tools
VT100(tm) Terminal Emulator [based on Stuart]
*System Administration Applications
BuildDisk, InstallTablet, Mail Manager, NetInfo Manager, NetManager,
Printer Tester, User Manager, Installer
RELEASE 2.0 (extended) adds....
*End User Applications
Oxford(r) Dictionary of Quotations, William Shakespeare-The Complete
Works (for Digital Librarian), TEX(tm) Document Processing System
(Radical Eye Software), Improv (Improv is only free if 040 NeXT
machine or upgrade ordered before end of March 1991)
*Developer Tools
Interface Builder(tm), Objective-C(r) Language Compiler,
C++ Language Compiler, Objective-C Class Definitions,
56001 DSP Tools, GNU Emacs, GNU Debugger, BUG-56(tm) Debugger (Ariel),
Malloc Debugger, AppInspector(tm), PostScript Tools, Application Kit(tm),
Music Kit(tm), Sound Kit(tm), On-line technical documentation
You are allowed to copy software from the extended release from a
friend if you are licensed to run 2.0.
4. Can I delete /odmach or /sdmach (depending on whether i boot
from od or hard drive) and save 700K?
Go ahead and delete it if you want. However, you might as
well leave it there since sdmach and odmach are links to the same file
(i.e. you won't save much space by deleting it).
Better to look for random core files! Icon.app generates quite a lot
of core dumps.
5. The 2.0 machines keep getting an error on the console that says
loginwindow: netinfo problem - No such directory. Is this a problem?
The netinfo problem is because the /keyboard directory is missing.
It's benign.
"But annoying.
niutil -create . /keyboard" -=EPS=-
6. Under 2.0 running UUCP and other incoming connections hangs the modem
serial line, what can I do?
There is a bug in the serial driver which causes getty to get stuck.
The situation arises after a successful uucico connection, subsequent
connections via modem will get a connection with the modem, but no
login prompt. This is caused by getty hanging. A simple work around
is to have a process run in cron to reset the getty every 15 minutes:
#! /bin/sh -u
PIDS=`ps -ax | bm getty | grep -v bm | awk '{print $1}'`
kill -TERM $PIDS
Of course trying to connect when the script is running will not allow
you to connect, try again a minute later. This fix will not affect
on-going UUCP or interactive connections. This will probably be fixed
in the next kernel release.
This bug has been corrected in 2.1
NeXT Hardware
-------------
1. What can be done about older 030 NeXT cubes that have a fan that
turns in the "wrong" direction?
The fan on older 030 NeXTs cubes sucks air out of the back of the cube
which means that it draws unfiltered air in through the optical
disk on the front of the cube. This causes optical disks to
succumb to dust must sooner than cubes with the new-style fan
which turns in the opposite direction.
NeXT has apparently reversed their decision regarding fan
reversal in the case of machines that have been upgraded to 040
processor boards. It is now considered okay to reverse the direction
of fans in these machines. If you have many third-party cards
installed in your cube or an older processor board, you may wish
to consider not reversing fan direction (overheating could become
a problem). In any case, do not reverse the fan's polarity, only
reverse the fan assembly itself. Perhaps the best solution is
obtain the cleaning kit and OD filter from NeXT.
2. What type of memory may be installed in a NeXT?
Use Mac II-style SIMMS, 100ns or faster. SIMMS must be
installed in groups of four. The NeXT can use either 1MB or
4MB SIMMS. Most people are buying 80ns SIMMS in order to be
more sure of future compatibility. Also, note that the low-profile
vertically mounted 4MB SIMMS are easier to install in the NeXT cube than the
horizontally mounted 4MB SIMMS because of the small height clearance
above the SIMM slots. It is possible to install the horizontally
mounted 4MB SIMMS but you will be required to slide the CPU board
and the hard drive in simultaneously. Note that parity (9-bit)
RAMS can be used in both the 030 NeXT and the 040 NeXT. Parity
and non-parity SIMMS can be mixed in both the 030 and the 040
(however, the boot on 040 boxes will generate a warning). Only
the 040 NeXT can use the parity memory to detect parity errors
(parity and non-parity may not be mixed if you wish to have
parity errors detected). 2.2 (v63) ROM lets you disable parity
checking (NVRAM preference). 2.1 (v59) does not.
Color NeXTstations, and the NeXTdimensions will be using a different
packaging for memory. They will be in a 72pin housing, are organized
256kx32 or 1Mx32 for non-parity systems, and 256kx36 and 1Mx36 for
parity. They must be 80ns or faster. As of 2-28-91, we are aware
of only one supplier (other than NeXT) of this type of memory. Until
the number of vendors known to offer this type of memory increases, we
will list that one supplier here for the benefit of those on
constrained budgets: SouthCoast Electronics (213) 208-3260.
Given how dynamic the prices are in the memory market we can not provide
an accurate compilation of suppliers and prices.
3. Can I connect SONY MPX-111N to my 030 cube?
The SONY MPX-111N which is shipped with all the new 040 NeXT machines is
*not* a SCSI device, therefor there is no way of connecting that particular
drive internally on an 030 system.
4. Why OD continually spins up and spins down?
A big problem with the Cannon optical drives is that air flows through
the drive to cool it. Dust accumulates inside the drive causing it to
fail with the continuous spin-up spin-down syndrome. NeXT as part of
it's 040 upgrades provides a dust filter to prevent this. If your
drive has this problem it usually can be fixed simply by cleaning out
dust from the drive. NeXT sells a cleaning kit for both the drives and
the optical disks.
5. How many colors can NeXT machines display?
The monochrome machines can display 4 gray levels. You can use
color apps on a monochrome machine, they will converted into
monochrome images and dithered accordingly.
Color NeXTstations can combine 4 bits of red, green and blue
primaries for a total of 4096 "pure" colors. The imaging
functions dither the image to produce intermediate colors.
NeXTdimension can combine 8 bits of red, green and blue for
16,777,216. There are not 16 million points on the display
so all can not be displayed at once. Further display technology
limits the usable color space.
None of the NeXT products support color look up tables where the
user can define their own color palette on a per window basis.
This feature is useful for displaying images which have
adaptive lookup tables, and display pure grayscale images
on the color NeXTstation. On the NeXTdimension images can
be converted to full 24 bit representation.
Peripherals
-----------
1. What type of microphones will work with the NeXT?
Some NeXT owners use the RadioShack (Realistic) Tie Clip Microphone
($19.95) cat 33-1052. NeXT Computer, Inc. uses the "Sony Electret
Condenser Microphone ECM-K7" in-house (available for ~$60). Some use
Sony Tie-Clip microphone, #ECM-144, which costs around $40. Others
have successfully used a WalMart brand microphone (available for ~$6).
2. How do I connect a modem to the NeXT?
Previously, we suggested that people use Mac modem cables; however,
it has come to our attention that there is no one standard Mac
modem cable. Since correct modem operation on a NeXT depends upon
a correctly wired modem cable, buying a Mac cable is not a good
idea. Some Mac cables do not allow dial-in and no Mac cable allows
the use of hardware flow control. For these reasons, we are
recommending that only cables that meet NeXT specifications be
used. [however, if you have a Mac modem cable lying around and
don't care about dial-in or hardware flow control, then by all
means....]
These cables are available commercially from NextConnection, and from
Computer Cables and Devices, or can be custom built. Note that no off-
the-shelf Mac cable will allow hardware flow control. It is however
possible to make a such a cable from an Imagewriter II cable by replacing
one of the mini-8 ends with a DB-25 connector.
Most people use tip or kermit to control the modem. SLIP and/or UUCP may
also be used (but are more complicated to set up and require the
remote machine to also have SLIP and/or UUCP (respectively)).
The 2.0 Network and System Administration Manual, which is available
in hard-copy (shipped with each machine) contains an extensive
description of how to use modems with the NeXT machine. Additionally
NeXT in their TechSupportNotes series called SerialPortDoc.wn and UUCP
for 1.0/1.0a systems . This document is available from most FTP sites
that carry NextAnswers. Also, try to obtain the comp.sys.next note by
Mark Adler entitled "How to connect a modem" (reposted 5 Jan 91)
[Adler's note does contain info on the changes required to connect a
modem to the 040 NeXTs]
3. Are there any alternative sources for the SCSI-II to SCSI-I cable
required to attach external SCSI devices to the 040 NeXTs?
Yes. This cable is the same as the one used by Sun SparcStations and
DecStation 5000's (but not DecStation 3100's which use 68-pin micro
rather than the 50pin micro connector used on NeXT 040, Suns and
DecStation 5000).
4. What fax modems will work with the NeXT?
The following fax modems are currently available for the NeXT Computer:
Manufacturer/Model Supplier/Phone Avail. Type
------------------ -------------- ------ ----
Abaton Interfax 24/96 NX Abaton 800-444-5321 Now Class 2*
DoveFax for NeXT Dove Computer 800-622-7627 Now Class 1
Ricoh DX-1 VISUS 412-687-3800 Now Proprietary
In order to use a fax modem with the NeXT Computer, a NeXT compatible
fax driver must be available to operate the modem. Modem control
procedures may be proprietary or conform to one of the following
EIA/TIA standards:
Class 1: CCITT T.30 session management and CCITT T.4 image data
handling are controlled by the driver.
Class 2*: CCITT T.30 session management and image data transport are
handled by the modem. CCITT T.4 image data preparation and
interpretation are controlled by the driver.
Release 2.0 of the NeXT system software includes a Class 2 modem
driver which will work with any fax modem which meets the EIA/TIA
Asynchronous Facsimile Control standard. Other fax modems must supply
a NeXT compatible driver.
The following are notes by Alan Marcum of NeXT Tech Support
concerning the Class 2 modem driver:
---
Note that there's a small bug in 2.0: a symbolic
link is missing for the file Class2_Fax_Modem_Driver
in /usr/lib/NextPrinter.
The simple fix: create the link; it should reference
Interfax_Fax_Modem_Driver, also in the
/usr/lib/NextPrinter directory.
An alternative workaround for Class 2, especially useful for
novices: just use InterFax as the modem type in PrintManager,
rather than Class 2*.
Additionally Alan tells us:
- After installing a fax modem using PrintManager one must
repeat setting things in the Fax Options panel in order for them to be
stored correctly. In particular, these include the Rings to Answer
and Number of Times to Retry. This affects all fax modems being
installed.
- If one uses illegal characters in the Modems Number field in
the Fax Options when configuring an InterFax modem then the modem will
not answer the phone. Legal characters are digits, spaces, and plus
signs (+). This does not affect the Dove modem.
(*)Note that the Class 2 is not yet approved; it is still out for ballot,
after having failed in an October 1990 round. The Abaton InterFax
24/96 NX driver supports Class 2 as it was in that draft; there are
expected to be very few changes prior to approval.
5. How may I attach more than two serial ports to the NeXT?
Neil Gorsuch (neil@uninet.cpd.com) reports in comp.sys.next that his
company is working on a port of their SCSI-based serial/parallel box
to the NeXT. For more information call Uninet (800)433-6784.
Jacob Gore adds:
Also, one can use an IP terminal server. In a non-Internet
environment, inexpensive terminal servers, which don't control access
to the network securely, can be used. If your network is an Internet
subnet, you must use a terminal server that controls either: (1) who
can log into the terminal server, or (2) which machines the terminal
server will access. These tend to be more expensive (around
$250/port, but in 8-port increments), but it may be quite economical
means of sharing ports among many NeXTs (or other computers) on the
network.
Eric P. Scott adds:
Particularly if one has a NeXT network, an Ethernet terminal
server may be the way to go. One that supports Linemode Telnet
(such as the Xylogics Annex IIe) will offer the best performance.
6. What is the best and/or cheapest way to connect a NeXT to a thick Ethernet?
There are many possible solutions. For example, here are two:
A) The University of Waterloo [Audio Research Group] uses an old door-stop
PC XT clone with two Western Digital cards (WD8003E Ethercard Plus, $250 CDN
each; you should be able to get them for under $200 (US$)) running Vance
Morrison's PCRoute (available via ftp from accuvax.nwu.edu in pub/pcroute).
You will also need a thickwire transceiver and a drop cable (about $300).
In addition, you will need Internet addresses for the NeXT and both PC
Ethernet cards (and a subnet address). The documentation for PCRoute
contains quite a bit of information on the performance of this setup.
This solution requires two subnets. There is another program called PCbridge
that allows the machines on the thin and thick wires to be part of the
same subnet. This product also does packet filtering, so that packets
destined to machines on the same side of the net do not cross over.
B) Cabletron sells a MR-2000C Singleport Repeater for $695 that does
exactly what you need minus drop cable and transceiver. Their number
is (408) 441-9900.
7. How can I connect my NeXT to the telephone line and use it like an answering
Machine?
There is one company that is selling both hardware and software to allow
you to do this:
Software Engineering Solutions, 11160 Jollyville Road, Austin, Texas 78759
(512)343-2828, mbrown@math.utexas.edu
Pricing has been set at $695.00.
Utilities
---------
1. Where can I obtain the most recent version of Kermit?
The source for the latest version is available via ftp from
watsun.cc.columbia.edu in the directory named kermit/sw. Get the
file ckaaaa.hlp to get started and see what files are required.
Note that this version of Kermit does have a NeXT specific
compile option. A binary only version is available via ftp from
cs.orst.edu as kermit5a.tar.Z. This file is currently stored in
the /pub/next/sources directory but may be moved to /pub/next/binaries
at some point in the future.
2. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of SLIP or PPP?
There is no publically available version of SLIP or PPP for the NeXT;
however, versions are under development by several sources.
For example, Marble Associates has announced plans to produce
a commercial version of SLIP for the NeXT. For more information
send mail to slip@marble.com.
3. Where can I obtain a version of Larry Wall's patch for the NeXT?
A patch binary that will run on 1.x and 2.x systems is
available from sutro.sfsu.edu [130.212.15.230] as pub/patch.Z
Compatibility
-------------
1. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of X-Windows?
There is a X11R3 version named XNeXT developed by MIT. This version
is available in binary only, works only on monochrome machines and does
not work under Release 2.0 of the NeXT OS. XNeXT is a 1-bit black and
white server. XNeXT is available from most ftp sites that have
NeXT software.
McGill University (der Mouse) has produced a beta version of
an X11R4 server named mouse-X available via ftp from 132.206.1.1.
cd to X/XNeXT and fetch one of the files with names beginning
with "distribution". This version only uses NeXTstep for keyboard
and mouse events. This version will only work with monochrome
NeXT machines, it will not work with color products. This version
initially did not work under 2.0, however Howie Kaye fixed it
to work again, diffs will be incorporated soon on the McGill server
sources. In the meantime you can get binaries off of
cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (11.5Mbytes) in the Xnext directory.
Pencom Software of Austin, TX is distributing an X11R4 server
called "co-Xist". It is a monochrome two-bit server which
is displayed inside a NeXTstep window. This server will work
with 2.0 and higher, and will run on all of NeXT's current
hardware platforms and display options. A color server is in
the works. Cost for server $249/commercial $149/educational,
motif $100, digital librarian documentation $50. Contact
Pam O'Neal at pensoft!pam@cs.utexas.edu. Pencom will accept
orders for their product now.
MIT maintains a ftp server for X distribution: expo.lcs.mit.edu
It currently does not have any NeXT specific servers. If you
compile software make sure the libraries are install in the ld
path, and that you use the X provided C pre-processor.
2. Can I run DOS software on the NeXT?
Yes, there is a product called Soft-PC that has been announced
for the NeXT and publicly demonstrated on the NeXT. Contact
Insignia Solutions Inc 408-522-7600
In addition NeXT machines equipped with 2.88Mbyte floppy drives
are able to read and write DOS diskettes (3-1/2" variety!) at
1.44MB or 720Kb in addition to having UNIX filesystems. Consult
the User Manual on initializing disk for DOS or Unix applications.
3. Can I run Macintosh Programs on my NeXT?
No. However, there is a third party company working on reading
and writing of Mac diskettes.
4. Can I run tcsh or bash on my NeXT?
If you are simply looking for emacs-like command editing
you can do this with the csh distributed by NeXT by
typing:
set editmode=emacs
or
set editmode=vi
Note that file completion will conflict with vi's use of esc to
leave insert mode, so you may want to map file completion to tab by
adding the following to your ~/.bindings: bind-to-key
FilenameExpansion "\^I"
In addition it is possible to bind control keys to commands
with a .bindings file. Users should seek the csh(1) man page for
more information.
People have ported tcsh and bash to the NeXT. A patch for Bash 1.05
by Jacob Gore (jacob@gore.com) is in the archives, the rest can be ftp'ed
from prep.ai.mit.edu. tcsh binaries for all kinds of machines are
available on tesla.ee.cornell.edu , including binaries for NeXT.
If you install your own shell on a NeXT, you need to add it to
the file /etc/shells so that FTP will work.
5. Can sound files be used on the Suns and NeXT interchangeably?
Sun OS 4.0.3 stored only raw mulaw files without any extensions, this
format is obsolete, however to convert it to a NeXT snd format you can:
sndconvert -o nextified.snd -f 1 -s 8012.8210513 -c 1 -r sun-sound
Starting with Sun OS release 4.1 they adopted a file format like NeXT's:
A comparison of <multimedia/audio_filehdr.h> on the Sun and
<sound/soundstruct.h> on the NeXT shows the formats to be compatible--
just rename *.au to *.snd for the NeXT.
Sun only implements a subset of NeXT's sound file formats.
Currently these seven are interchangeable:
SND_FORMAT_MULAW_8
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_8
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_16
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_24
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_32
SND_FORMAT_FLOAT
SND_FORMAT_DOUBLE
While they are all _meaningful_ to the Sun, the standard
SPARCstation hardware only directly supports 8-bit mu-Law at
the CODEC sampling rate.
If you have raw soundfiles (e.g. from SunOS 4.0.3 systems, or
converted from the Macintosh), you can use raw2audio on the Sun
or sndconvert -r on the NeXT to add a sound header.
Languages
---------
1. What Fortrans compilers are available for the NeXT?
There is a fortran to c translator called f2c available via anonymous
ftp from research.att.com in dist/f2c
There is a guide to installing and using it on sonata.cc.purdue.edu in
pub/next/FAQ/how-to-install-f2c
2. What Lisps are there for the NeXT?
Scheme is available from altdorf.ai.mit.edu. A quick tutorial on how
to install it on the NeXTs is in the works.
3. What Pascal compilers are available for the NeXT?
There is a pascal to c translator called p2c available via anonymous
ftp from sonata.cc.purdue.edu
pub/next/2.0-release/source/p2c.tar.Z
4. What should I know about c++ shipped with the NeXT?
cc++ shipped with the NeXT 2.0 is actually:
NeXT Release 2.0 (v31.1) -- GNU version 1.36.4 (based on GCC 1.36)
libg++ is not provided, you need to compile it (GNU software is
available from prep.ai.mit.edu).
Two things to note about the cc++ on NeXT.
Any C include files have to be specified as below:
extern "C"
{
#include <libc.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>
}
This tells that the code is C++, so you won't have problems with the
standard libraries thinking your program is Objective C.
Also the /usr/include/stdio.h in line 75 has a variable "new"
that conflicts with a g++ keyword. You can redefine it
using
#define new __new__
#include "stdio.h"
#undef new
After the above two fixes, g++ programs that do not
use the g++ class library (and therefore do not need
libg++ to be available) work.
Printing
--------
1. What alternative printers (laser or otherwise) may be used with
the NeXT? Are there limitations or other considerations of which
I should I be aware.
Adding supported postscript printers is rather simple:
1- get a serial cable
2- configure using Print Manager
3- configure printer communication according to manufacturer's
recommendations. (9600baud software flow control).
[the above was from someone's experience connecting a Laserjet IIP with
2Mbyte memory]
[a more complete response is needed here] If you are using 2.0 and
you use remote non-next printers, there is a bug that can be simply
corrected by doing "dwrite system PrinterResolution 1" for each user
trying to access non-next printers on the network.
2. What fonts can I use on my NeXT?
Properly packaged Type 1 or 3 postscript fonts will work on the NeXT,
certain conversions may be necessary to get them to work. Freeware
and shareware fonts are available on sonata.cc.purdue.edu. There
are utilities on the next to download fonts into postscript printers.
Purdue (nova and sonata) have freeware and shareware type 1 and 3
fonts in pub/next/misc
Each file unpacks into it's own directory. Within each directory is a
ReadMe.rtf and a Makefile. See the ReadMe.rtf for more font descriptions and
installation instructions. (You may also find comments in the Makefile of
interest.)
These packages were prepared by Doug Brenner <dbrenner@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Fonts generated by Fontographer don't work in Display PostScript
immediately. They use a memory management trick that screws everything up
in a multitasking environment like DPS. However, there is a simple, though
kludgy, way to make them work, worked out by Glenn Reid. Contact Jacob
Gore <jacob@gore.com> for details. You will probably also want to modify
the .afm file headers to make the fonts fit better in the organization used
by the NextStep Font Panel (i.e., separate the weight and angle from the
title).
Fonts may be purchased from Adobe (800-USA-FONTS), RightBrain Software (800-
4-RBRAIN), and The Font Company (800-442-FONT).
3. How can I save my WriteNow [or other printable] documents to a
postscript file?
It's easy. Just select PRINT from the main WriteNow menu, then select
SAVE from the resulting print panel.
4. How can I print only the even or odd pages of a document? I wish
print on both sides by feeding the paper through twice.
We must recommend against re-using laser printed paper in your
printers. The reason is that the toner which is used is not very
robust, in that when heated again (which happens when you print) it
can come off the other side of the paper. This causes a mess to
accumulate in your printer, and probably some pretty rude things to
happen.
Now to address the even/odd stuff, essentially you need to write
a postscript filter which extracts every other page. So you
would save your WriteNow document to postscript file, run the filters, and
then print the two documents with lpr. There is no packaged filter
on the NeXT to do this. Corey Satten <corey@cac.washington.edu> wrote
a toolkit to deal with this issue. It is on ftphost.cac.washington.edu
ps-* in the local/bin-next{1.0,2.0} directories.
5. What can I do to prevent my NeXT printer from running all the time?
The NeXT 400dpi printer powers up every time you boot up when the
print daemon is started (/usr/lib/NextPrinter/npd in /etc/rc). Apart
from not running the daemon at boot time (commenting it out and having
to run it by hand later), you can add the following line to /etc/rc.local
/usr/etc/nppower off
to immediate turn off the printer. Once you queue a print job the printer
daemon will automatically power up the NeXT printer for you. The printer
daemon will not automatically power off the machine after a print job,
you will need to turn off the printer by typing /usr/etc/nppower off.
6. How do I get banner pages on my printer output?
There is a sample banner prologue file in /usr/lib/NextPrinter that is
sent to the printer before or after the print job depending on what
printer attributes are set in NetInfo. Sounds gross, but it isn't.
Start up NetInfo on your printer machine. Go to the printer
directory, and open up your local printer by double clicking it.
Select the append property from Directory menu. Replace the
name with BannerAfter (or BannerBefore if you want the banner page
printed first). The select the New Value option, and put in
the name of the banner prologue file. If you do not wish to do
fancy customization of the file, simply put the path to the NeXT
sample banner file: /usr/lib/NextPrinter/banner.pro
Save out the netinfo modifications.
7. How do I get [la]TeX files to print correctly on non-NeXT printers?
If you are printing to a non-NeXT printer from NeXT TeX using dvips,
make sure you specify the correct resolution (300 dpi, usually),
either on the command line with -D300, or in the
/usr/lib/tex/config.ps file with a line that looks like
D 300
If you are printing from within TeXView, you will have to choose
CustomResolution and enter the correct number (300, usually) because
of the way DefaultResolution defaults to 0.
Disks
-----
1. What disk drives will work with the NeXT?
First get a copy of NextAnswers and review hardware.586
Most scsi disk drives will work with 2.0 without modifying disktab.
You should read the Network and Systems Administrator manual provided
with all new systems and available on-line on 2.0 extended. There have
been problems with the installation of boot blocks and badly formed
fstab generated by BuildDisk. A disk connected to the NeXT will need
to have a NeXT specific label written to it before it can be properly
recognized by the system. If you get an error message "Invalid Label..."
this indicates that the drive was successfully seen by the NeXT machine
but it does not have the proper label, to install a label use the
/usr/etc/disk program on the raw disk device that the system assigned
to the device and use the label command to write the label onto the disk.
[how the NeXT assigns disk devices is explained in the N&SA manual]
NeXT provides a low level disk formatter with 2.0, most drives are
already formatted at the factory. The sdform program does not offer
much flexibility.
[If someone is keeping a list of drives that work with the NeXT we
would like to know about it. Also there was talk about Mac drives
*not* working on the NeXT due to their implementation of the
SCSI standard.]
2. How do I customize BuildDisk to create a bootable disk of my own
configuration?
The BuildDisk application is extremely limited in terms of the
types of disks configuration it knows how to build. Essentially it
"knows" about swapdisks, optical disks, 330 and 660 MB SCSI disks.
If you wish to do custom configurations you should look at existing
BLD script files in /etc/BLD.* There is a script which you can
use to specify which BLD script you are using, which disktab entry,
and other useful parameters in /usr/etc/builddisk
Some things to note:
- the fstab installed on the target disk is specified in the newclient
command in the BLD script. standard fstabs are extracted from
/usr/template/client/fstab.*
- the BLD scripts do not put down a new boot block on the scsi disk,
you may want to install one by hand using the /usr/etc/disk program.
- some disks boot fine but NeXTstep comes up with a blank window and
no login window. This is due sometimes to forgetting to install
an accessible /NextLibrary/{Fonts,Sounds} In general you need
quite a lot of things to make a bootable disk.
Mike Carlton adds - you can build a minimally usable bootable floppy
(for crash recovery purposes). There is a modified version of
builddisk (to make it support building floppies, a minimal change) and
a BLD script to build the boot floppy available at cs.orst.edu in
next/sources/Bootfloppy.tar.Z. (I put this together in response to
several requests.)
3. How much disk space is lost due to formatting and file system overhead?
Rex Pruess (rpruess@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu) offers the following explanation:
Let's assume you bought a disk drive advertised with 400 MB unformatted
capacity. Vendors are not consistent with the MB definition. You may
have much less space less than you think you have. Which of the following
did you buy?
400 * 1000 * 1000 = 400,000,000 bytes
400 * 1024 * 1000 = 409,600,000 bytes
400 * 1024 * 1024 = 419,430,400 bytes
The disk must be formatted. This is often done by the vendor, but
occasionally by the user. Formatting maps the disk into sectors. Space
is reserved for the disk geometry and bad sectors. Formatting can take
10-20% of the capacity depending on the sector size. Common sector sizes
are 512 and 1024. Generally, bigger sectors mean less waste.
Once formatted, the UNIX file system must be created. On the NeXT, this
is one of the steps performed by the BuildDisk application. It invokes
the mkfs command to make a file system. This reserves space for the UNIX
file system (e.g., superblocks, inode tables). This overhead can take
another 2-3% of the available disk space.
If you issue the df command, you may be surprised to see another 10% the
available disk space has disappeared. The df command shows the total,
used, and available disk space. The df units are in kbytes (1024 bytes).
The sum of the used and available numbers will generally be about 10%
less than the total kbytes. This space is reserved to allow the UNIX
file system to be efficient in its storage allocation. If your disk
fills up, only the superuser can store files in the remaining 10%.
To complete the picture, here's a snapshot of what may occur:
Capacity Lost/Used/Reserved Reason
(in bytes) (in bytes)
419,430,000 19,430,000 Marketing hype (~5%)
400,000,000 60,000,000 Formatting (~15%)
340,000,000 6,800,000 UNIX file system (~2%)
333,200,000 33,320,000 Efficiency & superuser (~10%)
299,880,000 - -
For more information, refer to the df and mkfs man pages.
4. Can I run my SCSI-2 disks in synchronous mode?
Quick answer is: No! Reason is that the NeXT does not support synchronous
transfers from the SCSI bus. It does support SCSI-2 disks running in
asynchronous mode, which all SCSI-2 disks must do.
Misc
----
1. Is there any way to change the text in the title bar of a terminal window?
No. Not even in Stuart 2.0... However Scott Hess may be working on this
in the future.
2. Can I put both an 030 and an 040 system board in a single NeXT cube?
[Note that we have no first hand experience with this problem, we
have compiled what we consider to be an accurate report. We acknowledge
conflicting reports where appropriate.]
In general Mach may be configured as a multiprocessor operating system;
however, the NeXT kernel is only configured to deal with one processor.
This configuration can not be changed without access to the kernel
sources. [hopefully NeXT will offer a multiprocessor version of the NeXT
operating system at some future date]
Some have asked about the possibility of installing the 030 board
for use as a printserver or other CPU-intensive task server. In this
hypothetical setup, each CPU would run its own copy of the operating
system (essentially two different computers sharing the same cube).
This might be workable except for the fact that even if the NBIC
(NextBus Interface Chip) chip is removed, the CPU board probes the
bus for slot ID [**a conflicting report comes from Richard Dib who
heard that someone ran a cube with the CPU in another slot].
You could do hardware modification to the 030 board which would
isolate it enough to use only the cube as a power supply, however
you can not run two monochrome monitor heads off the cube power supply.
In this case you would probably want to first boot the 030 with a
display head, set the boot prom to boot off ttya, and attach an
ascii terminal to that serial port.
3. Where is libc.a under 2.0?
From the developer's release notes concerning the 2.0 NeXT Operating System
Software available on-line with 2.0 extended:
/NextLibrary/Documentation/NextDev/ReleaseNotes/OperatingSystem.rtf
- libc.a is not shipped with release 2.0. All routines contained in
libc.a are also contained in the shared library libsys.a which
should be used instead of libc.a. libc.a is not shipped because
as a normal archive it is impossible for improvements and system
interface changes made to library routines to be applicable to
existing applications without those applications being relinked.
Applications referencing shared libraries, because they are bound
at runtime, always access the most recent release. Release 1.0
applications linked against libc.a may not be compatible with
release 2.0 until they are relinked with libsys.a.
4. How do I get pictures of people from remote sites to appear in Mail.app?
In /LocalLibrary/Images/People put a tiff (64x64) in the form of
person@remote.site.domain (all lowercase).
In /LocalLibrary/Images/People/passwd add an entry for the person:
person@remote.site.domain:*:-2:-2::/nodir:/noshell
(person and sitename need to be all lowercase as well)... In the future anytime
you get mail from the person their picture should appear.
Editors:
Pascal Chesnais lacsap@media.mit.edu
John Garnett garnett@cs.utexas.edu
Erik Kay erikkay@athena.mit.edu
Copyright 1991 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
This compilation is meant primarily as a service to the comp.sys.next
community. Newsletter editors wishing to excerpt from this work
for publication should consider using local electronic bulletin boards
to disseminate this information rather than preparing hardcopies.
This allows for readers to access the most recent information, and
perhaps save a couple of trees.
We do not collect any royalties, charge any fees, or compensate
anyone in connection with this endeavor.
--
Pascal Chesnais, Research Specialist, Electronic Publishing Group
Media Laboratory, E15-351, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge, Ma, 02139 (617) 253-0311
email: lacsap@plethora.media.mit.edu (NeXT)lacsap@media-lab.media.mit.edu.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Pascal Chesnais) (05/01/91)
I have added letter prefix to the FAQ items to allow people to search
quickly. I added some material, bound to be errors. Bugs, comments
are always welcomed! A reminder that the FAQ is "published" every
1 and 15th of the month. A copy is usually available on
sonata.cc.purdue.edu in pub/next/FAQ/FAQ
pasc
FAQ 910501: Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to the NeXT computer.
The information contained in this post is a compilation of answers to
questions posted by participants in the comp.sys.next USENET group.
No guarantees are made regarding the correctness of these responses.
This will get posted to comp.sys.next about every other week. There
is currently no particular order to this list, items get added and
removed over time.
Note:
We are not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned in this
posting. If you have any corrections, additions, questions, or
answers to add to this list, please send email to
next-faq@media-lab.media.mit.edu
A copy of the FAQ can be found on sonata.cc.purdue.edu in pub/next/FAQ
as well as other useful information (diskdrive and simm sources).
TOC (. after number means entry has not changed since last posting,
- means entry has changed,
* means new entry,
? means there is no answer right now):
General Information
G0. Where can I find additional questions and answers regarding
the NeXT computer? (this question is really never asked but
really should be :-)
G1. How may I contact NeXT Computer, Inc.?
G2. Is there a mail order company that sells NeXT-related peripherals?
G3. Is there a NeXT specific magazine?
G4a. What are the names of some of the ftp sites that have NeXT-related
files?
G4b. If I am not on the internet, how can I get to the ftp sites via email?
G5. What is the claimed performance of the new 040 NeXT machines?
G6. What are some good references on Objective C?
G7. How much does the NeXT cost?
G8- Where can I buy a NeXT?
G9. How do i become a NeRD? What does it cost? What is involved? Who
do i contact if i am interested?
G10. How do I start an official NeXT User Group?
G11* Why isn't comp.sys.next split into smaller groups?
Upgrades
U1. What comes with the 040 Upgrade?
U2- What comes with the 1.0 -> 2.1 software upgrade?
U3. What has happened in release 2.0 with the versions of Franz Allegro
Common Lisp, the Sybase SQL Server, and Mathematica that were
distributed with OS1.0?
U4- How do I get the 2.1 upgrade?
NeXT OS
O1. Why does my 030 NeXT system using Release 1.0 hang a few seconds
after attempting to boot from the optical disk? (this problem
also happens with scsi disks as well)
O2. How much free disk space is available on the NeXTstation and NeXTcube?
O3. What software is bundled with the new 040 NeXT machines?
O4. Can I delete /odmach or /sdmach (depending on whether i boot
from od or hard drive) and save 700K?
O5. The 2.0 machines keep getting an error on the console that says
loginwindow: netinfo problem - No such directory. Is this a problem?
O6. Under 2.0 running UUCP and other incoming connections hangs the
modem serial line, what can I do?
NeXT Hardware (internal):
I1. What can be done about older 030 NeXT cubes that have a fan that
turns in the "wrong" direction?
I2. What type of memory may be installed in a NeXT?
I3. Can I connect SONY MPX-111N to my 030 cube?
I4. Why OD continually spins up and spins down?
I5. How many colors can NeXT machines display?
Peripherals
P1. What type of microphones will work with the NeXT?
P2. How do I connect a modem to the NeXT?
P3. Are there any alternative sources for the SCSI-II to SCSI-I cable
required to attach external SCSI devices to the 040 NeXTs?
P4. What fax modems will work with the NeXT?
P5- How may I attach more than two serial ports to the NeXT?
P6- What is the best and/or cheapest way to connect a NeXT to a thick Ethernet?
P7. How can I connect my NeXT to the telephone line and use it like
an answering Machine?
P8* What color monitors can I use with the Color NeXT machines?
P9* Where can I get 13W3 to BNC adapters to connect third party color
monitors?
Utilities
T1- Where can I obtain the most recent version of Kermit?
T2. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of SLIP or PPP?
T3. Where can I obtain a version of Larry Wall's patch for the NeXT?
T4* Where can I get a NeXTstep netnews reader?
T5* Where can I get plotting software?
T6* Where can I get objective-c mode for emacs?
Compatibility:
C1- Where can I obtain a NeXT version of X-Windows?
C2. Can I run DOS software on the NeXT?
C3. Can I run Macintosh Programs on my NeXT?
C4. Can I run tcsh or bash on my NeXT?
C5. Can sound files be used on the Suns and NeXT interchangeably?
Languages:
L1. What Fortrans compilers are available for the NeXT?
L2. What Lisps are there for the NeXT?
L3. What Pascal compilers are available for the NeXT?
L4. What should I know about c++ shipped with the NeXT?
Printing
H1- What alternative printers (laser or otherwise) may be used with
the NeXT? Are there limitations or other considerations of which
I should I be aware.
H2. What fonts can I use on my NeXT?
H3. How can I save my WriteNow [or other printable] documents to a
postscript file?
H4. How can I print only the even or odd pages of a document? I wish
print on both sides by feeding the paper through twice.
H5- What can I do to prevent my NeXT printer from running all the time?
H6. How do I get banner pages on my printer output?
H7. How do I get [la]TeX files to print correctly on non-NeXT printers?
Disks:
D1. What disk drives will work with the NeXT?
D2. How do I customize BuildDisk to create a bootable disk of my own
configuration?
D3. How much disk space is lost due to formatting and file system overhead?
D4. Can I run my SCSI-2 disks in synchronous mode?
Misc:
M1. Is there any way to change the text in the title bar of a terminal window?
M2. Can I put both an 030 and an 040 system board in a single NeXT cube?
M3. Where is libc.a under 2.0?
M4. How do I get pictures of people from remote sites to appear in Mail.app?
General Information
-------------------
G0. Where can I find additional questions and answers regarding
the NeXT computer? (this question is really never asked but
really should be :-)
Every NeXT machine owner has access to manuals to a degree. Network
and System Administration (NSA), for example contains answers to
many of the questions asked to comp.sys.next. Some of the important
man pages are reproduced in the NSA as appendices.
- User manuals are shipped with every NeXT. Additional copies
available from NeXT (N6002/N6003/N6014/N6026) $25.
- NeXT Technical documentation. (How to program in the NextStep
environment) Order from NeXT (N6007B) $95.
These are packaged ten volumes in two slipcases; the whole stack is
8-1/2 inches high. They look just like the other documents that come
with the machine, 8.5x11", perfect-bound paperbacks.
Operating System Software
NeXTstep Concepts
NeXTstep Reference, v. 1
NeXTstep Reference, v. 2
Development Tools
Sound, Music, and Signal Processing: Concepts
Sound, Music, and Signal Processing: Reference
Writing Loadable Kernel Servers
Technical Summaries
Supplemental Documentation
The "Extended" OS release contains online versions of the
"Reference" (but not "Concepts") chapters.
- Get NeXT's Concepts and Tutorial sections electronically from
the ftp archives. These were not included in the 2.0 distribution
but are included in hardcopy form with the NeXT Technical Documentation.
This is perhaps the single most important reference for people
wishing to develop software for the NeXT.
- man pages, included with "Extended" release.
- BSD unix documentation (MISC, PS1, PS2, SMM, USD).
Available from to USENIX site members. A lot of this has been
integrated into the NeXT documentation. Some of this is
sorely missing.
- Adobe documentation. Available machine-readable by e-mail
from ps-file-server@adobe.com. Hardcopy available from
Adobe Developer Support Line +1 415 961-4111 for a nominal
charge. NeXT last shipped these as part of the 1.0a release;
hardcopies appeared in 0.9 Technical Documentation.
- Get NextAnswers for Digital Librarian from one of the many
ftp sites (see below) that have NeXT software. NextAnswers
is a series of questions and answers that the NeXT technical
support staff has compiled. They tend to clarify issues not covered
or poorly covered in the on-line documentation. Anyone can send bugs
or suggestions to bug_next@next.com
- Another good source of information is the archives of previously
posted notes from the comp.sys.next newsgroup. All articles sent
to comp.sys.next are archived on brownvm.brown.edu. Send a note
to listserv@brownvm.brown.edu containing the command "INFO ?"
on a single line (by itself). The list of articles is called
NEXT-L.
It can not be overly emphasized that getting the on-line documentation
from 2.0 extended will help enormously in researching problems with
the aid of digital librarian.
G1. How may I contact NeXT Computer, Inc.?
NeXT Computer, Inc.
900 Chesapeake Drive
Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: 1-800-848-NeXT (Redwood City #)
1-408-437-0400 (BusinessLand)
1-800-800-NeXT (NeXT Connection-software and peripherals)
44-81-565-0005 (U.K. #)
44-81-565-0016 (U.K. fax #)
81-44-549-5295 (NeXT marketing div. of Canon - Japan)
81-44-549-5462 (NeXT Japan fax #)
+41-22-788-2890 (NeXT Europe - Geneva, Suisse)
note: numbers abroad are listed with the country codes first. You will
need to dial the international access number of your long distance carrier
before proceeding to dialing the country code, area code and phone number.
G2. Is there a mail order company that sells NeXT-related peripherals?
Yes, its called NeXTconnection. Address: 9 Mill Street, Marlow, NH 03456
Phone: 1-800-800-NeXT
G3. Is there a NeXT specific magazine?
Yes. There are also many NeXT specific newsletters, many of which
are available via ftp from the NeXT specific ftp sites (look in
pub/next/newsletters on cs.orst.edu and pub/next/Newsletters
on sonata.cc.purdue.edu - purdue seems to carry more newsletters
on line than orst.). Some cost money, others don't.
Available from purdue:
SCaNeWS - Souther California NeXT Users Group Newsletter, first issue
came out January 1991. Edited by Mike Mahoney (manhoney@beach.csulb.edu)
BaNG - Bay Area NeXT Users Group, one item on-line on Purdue. Edited by
Robert Nielson (nielsen@everest.portal.com).
Tao - an irregular newsletter written by Robert Lin. It usually has
a good number of rumors, and is fun to read.
rmNUG NeWS - Rocky Mountain NeXT Users Group Newsletter, latest issue
May 1991 (monthly). Edited by David Bowdish (73340.2146@compuserve.com).
NeXTVieW - Vancouver NeXT Users Group
NeXT Users' Journal, latest issue December/January 1990-1. Edited by
Erica Liebman (erica@kong.gatech.edu).
Hardcopy:
Baran's Tech Letter
Published once a month for $125/year
Contact: Nicholas Baran POBox 876, Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864-0876
email: nbaran@well.sf.ca.us
NeXT on Campus
NeXT developments in academia. Call NeXT at 1-800-848-NeXT for
free subscription info.
NeXTworld
Published quarterly with monthly ad-free newsletters ($23.95).
NeXTWORLD, 501 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
415 978 3182 (phone), 415 978 3196 (fax)
NeXTworld email address: ddinucci@nextworld.com
NeXUS
Published bi-monthly for $36/year.
Contact Alfonso Guerra at {emory|gatech}!nanovx!nexus.
What's NeXT?
The Boston Computer Society NeXT User group produces a NeXT newsletter
called "What's NeXT?". BCS may be reached at 1 Center Plaza,
Boston, MA 02108.
G4a. What are the names of some of the ftp sites that have NeXT-related
files?
There are too many to list them all, so are here are just a few:
NeXT: cs.orst.edu, nova.cc.purdue.edu, sonata.cc.purdue.edu,
umd5.umd.edu, and eesun1.arl.utexas.edu
MIT GNU: aeneas.mit.edu
MIT X: expo.lcs.mit.edu
music: princeton.edu
See NextAnswers for more sitenames.
G4b. If I am not on the internet, how can I get to the ftp sites via email?
cc.purdue.edu is configured as an email archive server. This means
you can upload and download files via email. Send mail to:
archive-server@cc.purdue.edu with the subject line help and you
will get a complete description of this service.
submissions:
Mail should be sent to archive-server@cc.purdue.edu with the
subject of 'submission' (no ticks) if a person is submitting
material to the archives. They need to include a 1-2 sentence
description of the submission, the OS release the product runs
on, and if it is source, binary, newsletter, etc.
G5. What is the claimed performance of the new 040 NeXT machines?
NeXT advertises the new 040 machines at 15 MIPS and 2 MFLOPS.
[industry accepted benchmarks will be posted here... anyone?]
G6. What are some good references on Objective C?
Object Oriented Programming - An Evolutionary Approach, Brad J. Cox,
Addison-Wesley, 1987 ISBN 0-201-10393-1 it describes pre-4.0 Objective-C,
and the NeXT uses 4.0 Objective-C (Stepstone's version numbers). However,
a new edition of the book should hit the shelves any day now. [Glenn Reid
mentions the existence of the book, but does not label it as
a "good reference", lacking other references it is noted here]
NextAnswers has a good reading list too long to include here.
G7. How much does the NeXT cost?
A retail price list may be obtained by contacting NeXT at the
number or address mentioned in a previous question. Educational
prices vary depending upon the university. The typical educational
discount is between twenty and thirty percent. NeXT offers
registered developers a significant discount.
G8. Where can I buy a NeXT?
From NeXT, Businessland, Computer Attic (three locations in southern
San Francico Bay Area), Abacus Inc (San Francisco), Random Access
(Denver), Essex Computers (N.J.), and possibly from your university if
you are a student, faculty or staff. if your university does not
offer the NeXT, you may be able to buy from a "hub" university if the
hub program is available in your state (contact NeXT for more info).
G9. How do i become a NeRD? What does it cost? What is involved? Who
do i contact if i am interested?
NeRD - NeXT Registered Developer
1- Call the 800 number to get a registration form, fill it out and
send it back to NeXT.
2- NeXT will assign an "advocate" from within the company to review your
needs.
3- Register to go to a 5 day developer's camp either in Pittsburgh or
or Redwood City. Cost is $995 They will teach you the essential
information needed for developing applications on the NeXT. [It is
excellent -pasc]
4- Once you have gone through the above, you will get technical support
directly from NeXT via email or phone (in urgent cases!). Their support
is quite comprehensive.
G10. How do I start an official NeXT User Group?
To start a NeXT group, just send email to "user_groups@next.com".
G11* Why isn't comp.sys.next split into smaller groups?
Although the volume is relatively high, no one has volunteered
to go through the proper procedures for splitting the group.
It involves a lot of work, and the procedure takes at least
two months. The first part is a call for discussion by the
person who is volunteering to do all the dirty work of creating
a new newsgroup (which is what splitting the group entails),
then after about a month there is a a call for votes which
lasts for a month. None of the meta discussions should take
place in comp.sys.next, as this would needlessly increase the
volume that everyone is trying to remedy. Once the vote
has been taken, the major carriers of net news are notified
as to the result. If the outcome is in favor of the split
by a large number, then the net news carriers will send out
official notification that the new groups exist, and should
be carried. The complete guidelines are posted in
news.announce.newusers or can be obatined via anonymous
ftp from plethora.media.mit.edu (18.85.1.50) in
pub/next/FAQ/How_to_Create_a_New_Newsgroup
[any volunteers to write the "welcome to comp.sys.next" message?]
Upgrades
--------
U1. What comes with the 040 Upgrade?
An anti-static disposable bracelet, installation guide, new OD cable,
OD filter, 040 board, a SIMM extractor tool, Fed-Ex return slip
and registration card to get a free copy of Improv and NeXTWorld.
U2. What comes with the 1.0 -> 2.1 software upgrade?
The 2.0 upgrade comes with an optical disk with 2.0 extended, a bunch of
manuals, and keyboard tilt feet.
There is a mail back cards to get Mathematica 2.0 and Sybase (eventually).
This may change, of course, and may be different for non-educational
users. The 040 upgrade requires the 2.0 upgrade.
U3. What has happened in release 2.0 with the versions of Franz Allegro
Common Lisp, the Sybase SQL Server, and Mathematica that were
distributed with OS1.0?
These products are no longer bundled with the NeXT OS. Owners of old
cubes are, however, entitled to continue using them.
Allegro Common Lisp: When upgrading from 1.0 to 2.0, the upgrade
program offers the opportunity to save your copy of Common Lisp. You
can do this, and it will still run on the '030 cube except that the
Foreign Function Interface no longer works. The hardware upgrade from
the '030 to the '040, however, breaks this version of Common Lisp
completely and it will no longer run. With the OS2.0 upgrade, there is
a postcard to return to NeXT requesting an updated version of Common
Lisp which (when released) will run on the '040 under 2.0. Future
enhancements to Allegro Common Lisp (including the soon-to-be-released
version with CLOS support) will only be available directly from Franz
Inc. Owners of old cubes can obtain upgrade service as
"maintenance/support" at a lower cost than buying a new Allegro Common
Lisp license (which is what owners of new cubes and slabs must get).
Contact Franz Inc. for details and prices.
Sybase: The release 1.0 Sybase SQL Server is completely broken by
release 2.0, and the upgrade program will delete this from your disk
(without asking permission) in the course of upgrading. Release 2.0
contains an SQL client, which can be used to connect to SQL servers on
your network (perhaps older cubes still running 1.0, for example). A
new SQL server (with some modified features) will be sent to owners of
old cubes who request it by means of the same postcard that gets you a
new version of Common Lisp.
Mathematica: The upgrade program offers you the opportunity to save
your old version of this, and the old version still runs under 2.0
(on both '030 and '040 hardware). Sending in the postcard referred to
above from the OS2.0 upgrade kit will get you a new version of
Mathematica, too. This version will be available free to academic
users with new cubes and slabs as well.
All of the upgraded programs referred to above will be provided on
NeXT floppies, not OD's. You will need either to buy an external
floppy drive or to have someone else transfer them from floppy to OD
in order to make use of them. The release date is scheduled for
all the above is April.
U4. How do I get the 2.1 upgrade?
All new machines are shipping with 2.1, as well as release 2
software products. People running 2.0 can order an upgrade
distribution from NeXT. The 2.1 upgrade distribution is only
available on floppies. 2.1 distribution does not have a 2.0->2.1
upgrade application shipped with it. There is currently no way of
getting it due to licensing issues.
2.1 Upgrade kit is part #n7022 on floppies costs $50 call the NeXT
800 number for it.
If you have purchased 2.0, you may upgrade to 2.1 with somebody else's
upgrade. Only major upgrades need to be purchased (1.0,2.0,3.0). NeXT
considers your 2.0 purchase to include the rights to all 2.x releases.
Their $50 charge is to cover cost's only, not to purchase "rights".
OS
--
O1. Why does my 030 NeXT system using Release 1.0 hang a few seconds
after attempting to boot from the optical disk? (this problem
also happens with scsi disks as well)
Release 1.0 contains a bug that can corrupt the kernel /odmach
if a user attempts to launch /odmach from the browser. The
solution is to copy a clean /odmach from another NeXT system.
Be sure to change the permissions of the newly installed /odmach
to remove execute permissions to prevent future occurrences of
the same problem. Release 1.0a and 2.0 do not have this problem.
It is possible for the sdmach to get corrupted in the same way.
Boot from the OD, copy an uncorrupted version of the kernel
to the hard disk, and remove the execute bits from sdmach.
O2. How much free disk space is available on the NeXTstation and NeXTcube?
As shipped, the 105MB NeXTstation has less than 25 MB free.
Note: The swap space is by default configured to 16MB with a low water
mark of 20MB (the system does not attempt to reduce the size of
the swapfile space until the swapfile grows past the low water
mark).
The extended release takes 179M, including a 16M swapfile, and not
including Mathematica or Sybase (this is from a virgin install of
2.0 extended from an optical).
O3. What software is bundled with the new 040 NeXT machines?
Both the 105MB and 200MB systems come with Release 2.0 preinstalled.
The systems with larger hard disks have Release 2.0 Extended
preinstalled. The price of all of the new systems includes the cost
of the software license. Note that the price of the 040 upgrade for
030 machines does not include the cost of the software license.
RELEASE 2.0 includes...
*End User Applications
Workspace Mgr(tm), NeXT Mail(tm), WriteNow(r) Word Processor,
Digital Webster(tm) (9th Collegiate Dictionary(r) and Collegiate
Thesaurus(r)), Digital Librarian(tm), Edit, Mathematica(r)-for
higher education customers only, DataViz/Bridge(tm), Installer,
FaxReader, Preferences, Preview for Post Script, PrintManager
*Developer Tools
VT100(tm) Terminal Emulator [based on Stuart]
*System Administration Applications
BuildDisk, InstallTablet, Mail Manager, NetInfo Manager, NetManager,
Printer Tester, User Manager, Installer
RELEASE 2.0 (extended) adds....
*End User Applications
Oxford(r) Dictionary of Quotations, William Shakespeare-The Complete
Works (for Digital Librarian), TEX(tm) Document Processing System
(Radical Eye Software), Improv (Improv is only free if 040 NeXT
machine or upgrade ordered before end of March 1991)
*Developer Tools
Interface Builder(tm), Objective-C(r) Language Compiler,
C++ Language Compiler, Objective-C Class Definitions,
56001 DSP Tools, GNU Emacs, GNU Debugger, BUG-56(tm) Debugger (Ariel),
Malloc Debugger, AppInspector(tm), PostScript Tools, Application Kit(tm),
Music Kit(tm), Sound Kit(tm), On-line technical documentation
You are allowed to copy software from the extended release from a
friend if you are licensed to run 2.0.
O4. Can I delete /odmach or /sdmach (depending on whether i boot
from od or hard drive) and save 700K?
Go ahead and delete it if you want. However, you might as
well leave it there since sdmach and odmach are links to the same file
(i.e. you won't save much space by deleting it).
Better to look for random core files! Icon.app generates quite a lot
of core dumps.
O5. The 2.0 machines keep getting an error on the console that says
loginwindow: netinfo problem - No such directory. Is this a problem?
The netinfo problem is because the /keyboard directory is missing.
It's benign.
"But annoying.
niutil -create . /keyboard" -=EPS=-
O6. Under 2.0 running UUCP and other incoming connections hangs the modem
serial line, what can I do?
There is a bug in the serial driver which causes getty to get stuck.
The situation arises after a successful uucico connection, subsequent
connections via modem will get a connection with the modem, but no
login prompt. This is caused by getty hanging. A simple work around
is to have a process run in cron to reset the getty every 15 minutes:
#! /bin/sh -u
PIDS=`ps -ax | bm getty | grep -v bm | awk '{print $1}'`
kill -TERM $PIDS
Of course trying to connect when the script is running will not allow
you to connect, try again a minute later. This fix will not affect
on-going UUCP or interactive connections. This will probably be fixed
in the next kernel release.
This bug has been corrected in 2.1
NeXT Hardware
-------------
I1. What can be done about older 030 NeXT cubes that have a fan that
turns in the "wrong" direction?
The fan on older 030 NeXTs cubes sucks air out of the back of the cube
which means that it draws unfiltered air in through the optical
disk on the front of the cube. This causes optical disks to
succumb to dust must sooner than cubes with the new-style fan
which turns in the opposite direction.
NeXT has apparently reversed their decision regarding fan
reversal in the case of machines that have been upgraded to 040
processor boards. It is now considered okay to reverse the direction
of fans in these machines. If you have many third-party cards
installed in your cube or an older processor board, you may wish
to consider not reversing fan direction (overheating could become
a problem). In any case, do not reverse the fan's polarity, only
reverse the fan assembly itself. Perhaps the best solution is
obtain the cleaning kit and OD filter from NeXT.
I2. What type of memory may be installed in a NeXT?
Use Mac II-style SIMMS, 100ns or faster. SIMMS must be
installed in groups of four. The NeXT can use either 1MB or
4MB SIMMS. Most people are buying 80ns SIMMS in order to be
more sure of future compatibility. Also, note that the low-profile
vertically mounted 4MB SIMMS are easier to install in the NeXT cube than the
horizontally mounted 4MB SIMMS because of the small height clearance
above the SIMM slots. It is possible to install the horizontally
mounted 4MB SIMMS but you will be required to slide the CPU board
and the hard drive in simultaneously. Note that parity (9-bit)
RAMS can be used in both the 030 NeXT and the 040 NeXT. Parity
and non-parity SIMMS can be mixed in both the 030 and the 040
(however, the boot on 040 boxes will generate a warning). Only
the 040 NeXT can use the parity memory to detect parity errors
(parity and non-parity may not be mixed if you wish to have
parity errors detected). 2.2 (v63) ROM lets you disable parity
checking (NVRAM preference). 2.1 (v59) does not.
Color NeXTstations, and the NeXTdimensions will be using a different
packaging for memory. They will be in a 72pin housing, are organized
256kx32 or 1Mx32 for non-parity systems, and 256kx36 and 1Mx36 for
parity. They must be 80ns or faster. As of 2-28-91, we are aware
of only one supplier (other than NeXT) of this type of memory. Until
the number of vendors known to offer this type of memory increases, we
will list that one supplier here for the benefit of those on
constrained budgets: SouthCoast Electronics (213) 208-3260.
Given how dynamic the prices are in the memory market we can not provide
an accurate compilation of suppliers and prices.
I3. Can I connect SONY MPX-111N to my 030 cube?
The SONY MPX-111N which is shipped with all the new 040 NeXT machines is
*not* a SCSI device, therefor there is no way of connecting that particular
drive internally on an 030 system.
I4. Why OD continually spins up and spins down?
A big problem with the Cannon optical drives is that air flows through
the drive to cool it. Dust accumulates inside the drive causing it to
fail with the continuous spin-up spin-down syndrome. NeXT as part of
it's 040 upgrades provides a dust filter to prevent this. If your
drive has this problem it usually can be fixed simply by cleaning out
dust from the drive. NeXT sells a cleaning kit for both the drives and
the optical disks.
I5. How many colors can NeXT machines display?
The monochrome machines can display 4 gray levels. You can use
color apps on a monochrome machine, they will converted into
monochrome images and dithered accordingly.
Color NeXTstations can combine 4 bits of red, green and blue
primaries for a total of 4096 "pure" colors. The imaging
functions dither the image to produce intermediate colors.
NeXTdimension can combine 8 bits of red, green and blue for
16,777,216. There are not 16 million points on the display
so all can not be displayed at once. Further display technology
limits the usable color space.
None of the NeXT products support color look up tables where the
user can define their own color palette on a per window basis.
This feature is useful for displaying images which have
adaptive lookup tables, and display pure grayscale images
on the color NeXTstation. On the NeXTdimension images can
be converted to full 24 bit representation.
Peripherals
-----------
P1. What type of microphones will work with the NeXT?
Some NeXT owners use the RadioShack (Realistic) Tie Clip Microphone
($19.95) cat 33-1052. NeXT Computer, Inc. uses the "Sony Electret
Condenser Microphone ECM-K7" in-house (available for ~$60). Some use
Sony Tie-Clip microphone, #ECM-144, which costs around $40. Others
have successfully used a WalMart brand microphone (available for ~$6).
P2. How do I connect a modem to the NeXT?
Previously, we suggested that people use Mac modem cables; however,
it has come to our attention that there is no one standard Mac
modem cable. Since correct modem operation on a NeXT depends upon
a correctly wired modem cable, buying a Mac cable is not a good
idea. Some Mac cables do not allow dial-in and no Mac cable allows
the use of hardware flow control. For these reasons, we are
recommending that only cables that meet NeXT specifications be
used. [however, if you have a Mac modem cable lying around and
don't care about dial-in or hardware flow control, then by all
means....]
These cables are available commercially from NextConnection, and from
Computer Cables and Devices, or can be custom built. Note that no off-
the-shelf Mac cable will allow hardware flow control. It is however
possible to make a such a cable from an Imagewriter II cable by replacing
one of the mini-8 ends with a DB-25 connector.
Most people use tip or kermit to control the modem. SLIP and/or UUCP may
also be used (but are more complicated to set up and require the
remote machine to also have SLIP and/or UUCP (respectively)).
The 2.0 Network and System Administration Manual, which is available
in hard-copy (shipped with each machine) contains an extensive
description of how to use modems with the NeXT machine. Additionally
NeXT in their TechSupportNotes series called SerialPortDoc.wn and UUCP
for 1.0/1.0a systems . This document is available from most FTP sites
that carry NextAnswers. Also, try to obtain the comp.sys.next note by
Mark Adler entitled "How to connect a modem" (reposted 5 Jan 91)
[Adler's note does contain info on the changes required to connect a
modem to the 040 NeXTs]
P3. Are there any alternative sources for the SCSI-II to SCSI-I cable
required to attach external SCSI devices to the 040 NeXTs?
Yes. This cable is the same as the one used by Sun SparcStations and
DecStation 5000's (but not DecStation 3100's which use 68-pin micro
rather than the 50pin micro connector used on NeXT 040, Suns and
DecStation 5000).
P4. What fax modems will work with the NeXT?
The following fax modems are currently available for the NeXT Computer:
Manufacturer/Model Supplier/Phone Avail. Type
------------------ -------------- ------ ----
Abaton Interfax 24/96 NX Abaton 800-444-5321 Now Class 2*
DoveFax for NeXT Dove Computer 800-622-7627 Now Class 1
Ricoh DX-1 VISUS 412-687-3800 Now Proprietary
In order to use a fax modem with the NeXT Computer, a NeXT compatible
fax driver must be available to operate the modem. Modem control
procedures may be proprietary or conform to one of the following
EIA/TIA standards:
Class 1: CCITT T.30 session management and CCITT T.4 image data
handling are controlled by the driver.
Class 2*: CCITT T.30 session management and image data transport are
handled by the modem. CCITT T.4 image data preparation and
interpretation are controlled by the driver.
Release 2.0 of the NeXT system software includes a Class 2 modem
driver which will work with any fax modem which meets the EIA/TIA
Asynchronous Facsimile Control standard. Other fax modems must supply
a NeXT compatible driver.
The following are notes by Alan Marcum of NeXT Tech Support
concerning the Class 2 modem driver:
---
Note that there's a small bug in 2.0 (fixed in 2.1): a symbolic
link is missing for the file Class2_Fax_Modem_Driver
in /usr/lib/NextPrinter.
The simple fix: create the link; it should reference
Interfax_Fax_Modem_Driver, also in the
/usr/lib/NextPrinter directory.
An alternative workaround for Class 2, especially useful for
novices: just use InterFax as the modem type in PrintManager,
rather than Class 2*.
Additionally Alan tells us:
- After installing a fax modem using PrintManager one must
repeat setting things in the Fax Options panel in order for them to be
stored correctly. In particular, these include the Rings to Answer
and Number of Times to Retry. This affects all fax modems being
installed.
- If one uses illegal characters in the Modems Number field in
the Fax Options when configuring an InterFax modem then the modem will
not answer the phone. Legal characters are digits, spaces, and plus
signs (+). This does not affect the Dove modem.
(*)Note that the Class 2 is not yet approved; it is still out for ballot,
after having failed in an October 1990 round. The Abaton InterFax
24/96 NX driver supports Class 2 as it was in that draft; there are
expected to be very few changes prior to approval.
P5. How may I attach more than two serial ports to the NeXT?
Unitnet has a device that will connect to the scsi bus. For
more information email sales@cpd.com or call 714 546 1100
Jacob Gore adds:
Also, one can use an IP terminal server. In a non-Internet
environment, inexpensive terminal servers, which don't control access
to the network securely, can be used. If your network is an Internet
subnet, you must use a terminal server that controls either: (1) who
can log into the terminal server, or (2) which machines the terminal
server will access. These tend to be more expensive (around
$250/port, but in 8-port increments), but it may be quite economical
means of sharing ports among many NeXTs (or other computers) on the
network.
Eric P. Scott adds:
Particularly if one has a NeXT network, an Ethernet terminal
server may be the way to go. One that supports Linemode Telnet
(such as the Xylogics Annex III) will offer the best performance.
P6. What is the best and/or cheapest way to connect a NeXT to a thick Ethernet?
There are many possible solutions. For example, here are two:
A) The University of Waterloo [Audio Research Group] uses an old door-stop
PC XT clone with two Western Digital cards (WD8003E Ethercard Plus, $250 CDN
each; you should be able to get them for under $200 (US$)) running Vance
Morrison's PCRoute (available from accuvax.nwu.edu).
You will also need a thickwire transceiver and a drop cable (about $300).
In addition, you will need Internet addresses for the NeXT and both PC
Ethernet cards (and a subnet address). The documentation for PCRoute
contains quite a bit of information on the performance of this setup.
This solution requires two subnets. There is another program called PCbridge
that allows the machines on the thin and thick wires to be part of the
same subnet. This product also does packet filtering, so that packets
destined to machines on the same side of the net do not cross over.
B) Cabletron sells a MR-2000C Singleport Repeater for $695 that does
exactly what you need minus drop cable and transceiver. Their number
is (408) 441-9900.
P7. How can I connect my NeXT to the telephone line and use it like an
answering Machine?
There is one company that is selling both hardware and software to allow
you to do this:
Software Engineering Solutions, 11160 Jollyville Road, Austin, Texas 78759
(512)343-2828, mbrown@math.utexas.edu
Pricing has been set at $695.00.
P8. What color monitors can I use with the Color NeXT machines?
Sony GDM-1601 were demonstrated with the NeXT color products.
NeXT is not shipping these monitors. Sony no longer makes them,
however there is a replacement GDM-1606 which has a long
lead time on delivery [2-3 week delivery on a sample point of
one monitor:-)] It does require alignment to adjust for the
different scan rate...
The important specs for the color monitor are:
Horz Scan Rate: 61 KHz
Vertical Scan Rate: 68 Hz
NON-INTERLACED
P9. Where can I get 13W3 to BNC adapters to connect third party color
monitors?
NuData in New Jersey carries 13W3 female to 4 BNC male connectors.
908-842-5757, the price is about $100 call for details.
Utilities
---------
T1. Where can I obtain the most recent version of Kermit?
The source for the latest version is available via ftp from
watsun.cc.columbia.edu in the directory named kermit/sw. Get the
file ckaaaa.hlp to get started and see what files are required.
Note that this version of Kermit does have a NeXT specific
compile option. A binary only version is available via ftp from
cs.orst.edu as kermit5a.165.bin20.tar.Z, source is kermit5a.165.tar.Z
T2. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of SLIP or PPP?
There is no publically available version of SLIP or PPP for the NeXT;
however, versions are under development by several sources.
For example, Marble Associates has announced plans to produce
a commercial version of SLIP for the NeXT. For more information
send mail to slip@marble.com.
T3. Where can I obtain a version of Larry Wall's patch for the NeXT?
A patch binary that will run on 1.x and 2.x systems is
available from sutro.sfsu.edu [130.212.15.230] as pub/patch.Z
T4. Where can I get a NeXTstep netnews reader?
By far the most versitile newsreader for the NeXT is NeXTgrazer
by Jayson Adams of NeXT. It is on the archive servers and is
extremely useful for coping with volume of news we are faced with.
T5. Where can I get plotting software?
nxyplot by Tom Pulliam is available from cs.orst.edu
graph is availble in source form from 4.3BSD systems. It is useful
for dealing with pairs of numbers that need to be viewed.
psplot comes with the NeXT, it takes the output of the graph program
and generates a .ps file that can be previewed with Preview or Yap.
gnuplot is availabel from prep.ai.mit.edu
jsplot clone of graph that generates ps files directly.
plplot is a library of c routines that generate 2D, 3D and
contour plots. It is available on purdue archive, plplot.tar.Z
contains the source, and NXplplot.tar.Z contains the library,
example programs and documentation.
Mathematica The ReadList command will bring in files containing
sample values and produces a plot on the fly.
T6. Where can I get objective-c mode for emacs?
You can get ObjC mode for Emacs, by Douglas Worthington and Kenneth
Persson from cs.orst.edu
Compatibility
-------------
C1. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of X-Windows?
There is a X11R3 version named XNeXT developed by MIT. This version
is available in binary only, works only on monochrome machines and does
not work under Release 2.0 of the NeXT OS. XNeXT is a 1-bit black and
white server. XNeXT is available from most ftp sites that have
NeXT software.
McGill University (der Mouse) has produced a beta version of
an X11R4 server named mouse-X available via ftp from 132.206.1.1.
cd to X/XNeXT and fetch one of the files with names beginning
with "distribution". This version only uses NeXTstep for keyboard
and mouse events. This version will only work with monochrome
NeXT machines, it will not work with color products. This version
initially did not work under 2.0, however Howie Kaye fixed it
to work again, diffs will be incorporated soon on the McGill server
sources. In the meantime you can get binaries off of
cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (11.5Mbytes) in the Xnext directory.
A color server is available from: mfriedel@consult2.mines.colorado.edu
it should work on color NeXTstations.
Pencom Software of Austin, TX is distributing an X11R4 server
called "co-Xist". It is a monochrome two-bit server which
is displayed inside a NeXTstep window. This server will work
with 2.0 and higher, and will run on all of NeXT's current
hardware platforms and display options. A color server is in
the works. Cost for server $249/commercial $149/educational,
motif $100, digital librarian documentation $50. Contact
Pam O'Neal at pensoft!pam@cs.utexas.edu. Pencom will accept
orders for their product now.
MIT maintains a ftp server for X distribution: expo.lcs.mit.edu
It currently does not have any NeXT specific servers. If you
compile software make sure the libraries are install in the ld
path, and that you use the X provided C pre-processor.
C2. Can I run DOS software on the NeXT?
Yes, there is a product called Soft-PC that has been announced
for the NeXT and publicly demonstrated on the NeXT. Contact
Insignia Solutions Inc 408-522-7600
In addition NeXT machines equipped with 2.88Mbyte floppy drives
are able to read and write DOS diskettes (3-1/2" variety!) at
1.44MB or 720Kb in addition to having UNIX filesystems. Consult
the User Manual on initializing disk for DOS or Unix applications.
C3. Can I run Macintosh Programs on my NeXT?
No. However, there is a third party company working on reading
and writing of Mac diskettes.
C4. Can I run tcsh or bash on my NeXT?
If you are simply looking for emacs-like command editing
you can do this with the csh distributed by NeXT by
typing:
set editmode=emacs
or
set editmode=vi
Note that file completion will conflict with vi's use of esc to
leave insert mode, so you may want to map file completion to tab by
adding the following to your ~/.bindings: bind-to-key
FilenameExpansion "\^I"
In addition it is possible to bind control keys to commands
with a .bindings file. Users should seek the csh(1) man page for
more information.
People have ported tcsh and bash to the NeXT. A patch for Bash 1.05
by Jacob Gore (jacob@gore.com) is in the archives, the rest can be ftp'ed
from prep.ai.mit.edu. tcsh binaries for all kinds of machines are
available on tesla.ee.cornell.edu , including binaries for NeXT.
If you install your own shell on a NeXT, you need to add it to
the file /etc/shells so that FTP will work.
C5. Can sound files be used on the Suns and NeXT interchangeably?
Sun OS 4.0.3 stored only raw mulaw files without any extensions, this
format is obsolete, however to convert it to a NeXT snd format you can:
sndconvert -o nextified.snd -f 1 -s 8012.8210513 -c 1 -r sun-sound
Starting with Sun OS release 4.1 they adopted a file format like NeXT's:
A comparison of <multimedia/audio_filehdr.h> on the Sun and
<sound/soundstruct.h> on the NeXT shows the formats to be compatible--
just rename *.au to *.snd for the NeXT.
Sun only implements a subset of NeXT's sound file formats.
Currently these seven are interchangeable:
SND_FORMAT_MULAW_8
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_8
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_16
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_24
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_32
SND_FORMAT_FLOAT
SND_FORMAT_DOUBLE
While they are all _meaningful_ to the Sun, the standard
SPARCstation hardware only directly supports 8-bit mu-Law at
the CODEC sampling rate.
If you have raw soundfiles (e.g. from SunOS 4.0.3 systems, or
converted from the Macintosh), you can use raw2audio on the Sun
or sndconvert -r on the NeXT to add a sound header.
Languages
---------
L1. What Fortrans compilers are available for the NeXT?
There is a fortran to c translator called f2c available via anonymous
ftp from research.att.com in dist/f2c
There is a guide to installing and using it on sonata.cc.purdue.edu in
pub/next/FAQ/how-to-install-f2c
L2. What Lisps are there for the NeXT?
Scheme is available from altdorf.ai.mit.edu. A quick tutorial on how
to install it on the NeXTs is in the works.
L3. What Pascal compilers are available for the NeXT?
There is a pascal to c translator called p2c available via anonymous
ftp from sonata.cc.purdue.edu
pub/next/2.0-release/source/p2c.tar.Z
L4. What should I know about c++ shipped with the NeXT?
cc++ shipped with the NeXT 2.0 is actually:
NeXT Release 2.0 (v31.1) -- GNU version 1.36.4 (based on GCC 1.36)
libg++ is not provided, you need to compile it (GNU software is
available from prep.ai.mit.edu).
Two things to note about the cc++ on NeXT.
Any C include files have to be specified as below:
extern "C"
{
#include <libc.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>
}
This tells that the code is C++, so you won't have problems with the
standard libraries thinking your program is Objective C.
Also the /usr/include/stdio.h in line 75 has a variable "new"
that conflicts with a g++ keyword. You can redefine it
using
#define new __new__
#include "stdio.h"
#undef new
After the above two fixes, g++ programs that do not
use the g++ class library (and therefore do not need
libg++ to be available) work.
Printing
--------
H1. What alternative printers (laser or otherwise) may be used with
the NeXT? Are there limitations or other considerations of which
I should I be aware.
Adding supported postscript printers is rather simple:
1- get a serial cable
2- configure using Print Manager
3- configure printer communication according to manufacturer's
recommendations. (9600baud software flow control).
[the above was from someone's experience connecting a Laserjet IIP with
2Mbyte memory]
Refer to Chapter 13 in Network and System Administration. If you
are using 2.0 and you use remote non-next printers, there is a bug
that can be simply corrected by doing "dwrite system PrinterResolution
1" for each user trying to access non-next printers on the network.
This not a problem in 2.1.
If you plan to connect an HP LaserJet III, you need to make a special
cable in order for the NeXT 040 and HP to get the hardware handshaking
correct. This is true for whatever version of the OS you are running.
NeXT 68040 to HP LaserJet III Cable (not a Null-modem cable):
Mini-Din HP DB-25
1 (DTR) nc
2 (DCD) 4 (RTS)
3 (TXD) 3 (RXD)
4 (GND) 7 (GND)
5 (RXD) 2 (TXD)
6 (RTS) 5 (CTS)
7 (RTXC) nc
8 (CTS) 20 (DTR)
Then you want to use hardware flow control for reliability (ie /dev/ttyfa)
printcap entry needs to be loaded into the netinfo database.
LaserJet_III: \
:note=LaserJet_III:ty=HP LaserJet III PostScript: \
:sd=/usr/spool/NeXT/LaserJet_III:lp=/dev/ttyfa: \
:lf=/usr/adm/lpd-errs:af=/usr/adm/lp.acct:br=19200:rw:fc#0000374: \
:fs#0000003:xc#0:xs#0040040:mx#0:sf:sb:if=/usr/lib/transcript/psif: \
:of=/usr/lib/transcript/psof:gf=/usr/lib/transcript/psgf: \
:nf=/usr/lib/transcript/psnf:tf=/usr/lib/transcript/pstf: \
:rf=/usr/lib/transcript/psrf:vf=/usr/lib/transcript/psvf: \
:cf=/usr/lib/transcript/pscf:df=/usr/lib/transcript/psdf:
and HP printer configuration:
auto cont = off (doesn't matter)
I/O = serial
serial=rs-232
baud rate = 19200 (same as in ni database/ printcap)
robust xon = on (doesn't matter)
dtr polarity = hi
startpage = off (doesn't matter)
language=english
ret = med (you choose)
H2. What fonts can I use on my NeXT?
Properly packaged Type 1 or 3 postscript fonts will work on the NeXT,
certain conversions may be necessary to get them to work. Freeware
and shareware fonts are available on sonata.cc.purdue.edu. There
are utilities on the next to download fonts into postscript printers.
Purdue (nova and sonata) have freeware and shareware type 1 and 3
fonts in pub/next/misc
Each file unpacks into it's own directory. Within each directory is a
ReadMe.rtf and a Makefile. See the ReadMe.rtf for more font descriptions and
installation instructions. (You may also find comments in the Makefile of
interest.)
These packages were prepared by Doug Brenner <dbrenner@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Fonts generated by Fontographer don't work in Display PostScript
immediately. They use a memory management trick that screws everything up
in a multitasking environment like DPS. However, there is a simple, though
kludgy, way to make them work, worked out by Glenn Reid. Contact Jacob
Gore <jacob@gore.com> for details. You will probably also want to modify
the .afm file headers to make the fonts fit better in the organization used
by the NextStep Font Panel (i.e., separate the weight and angle from the
title).
Fonts may be purchased from Adobe (800-USA-FONTS), RightBrain Software (800-
4-RBRAIN), and The Font Company (800-442-FONT).
H3. How can I save my WriteNow [or other printable] documents to a
postscript file?
It's easy. Just select PRINT from the main WriteNow menu, then select
SAVE from the resulting print panel.
H4. How can I print only the even or odd pages of a document? I wish
print on both sides by feeding the paper through twice.
We must recommend against re-using laser printed paper in your
printers. The reason is that the toner which is used is not very
robust, in that when heated again (which happens when you print) it
can come off the other side of the paper. This causes a mess to
accumulate in your printer, and probably some pretty rude things to
happen.
Now to address the even/odd stuff, essentially you need to write
a postscript filter which extracts every other page. So you
would save your WriteNow document to postscript file, run the filters, and
then print the two documents with lpr. There is no packaged filter
on the NeXT to do this. Corey Satten <corey@cac.washington.edu> wrote
a toolkit to deal with this issue. It is on ftphost.cac.washington.edu
ps-* in the local/bin-next{1.0,2.0} directories.
H5. What can I do to prevent my NeXT printer from running all the time?
The NeXT 400dpi printer powers up every time you boot up when the
print daemon is started (/usr/lib/NextPrinter/npd in /etc/rc). Apart
from not running the daemon at boot time (commenting it out and having
to run it by hand later), you can add the following lines to /etc/rc.local
if [ -f /usr/etc/nppower ]; then
sleep 3
/usr/etc/nppower off
(echo 'powering off NeXTprinter') >/dev/console
fi
to immediate turn off the printer. Once you queue a print job the printer
daemon will automatically power up the NeXT printer for you. The printer
daemon will not automatically power off the machine after a print job,
you will need to turn off the printer by typing /usr/etc/nppower off.
H6. How do I get banner pages on my printer output?
There is a sample banner prologue file in /usr/lib/NextPrinter that is
sent to the printer before or after the print job depending on what
printer attributes are set in NetInfo. Sounds gross, but it isn't.
Start up NetInfo on your printer machine. Go to the printer
directory, and open up your local printer by double clicking it.
Select the append property from Directory menu. Replace the
name with BannerAfter (or BannerBefore if you want the banner page
printed first). The select the New Value option, and put in
the name of the banner prologue file. If you do not wish to do
fancy customization of the file, simply put the path to the NeXT
sample banner file: /usr/lib/NextPrinter/banner.pro
Save out the netinfo modifications.
H7. How do I get [la]TeX files to print correctly on non-NeXT printers?
If you are printing to a non-NeXT printer from NeXT TeX using dvips,
make sure you specify the correct resolution (300 dpi, usually),
either on the command line with -D300, or in the
/usr/lib/tex/config.ps file with a line that looks like
D 300
If you are printing from within TeXView, you will have to choose
CustomResolution and enter the correct number (300, usually) because
of the way DefaultResolution defaults to 0.
Disks
-----
D1. What disk drives will work with the NeXT?
First get a copy of NextAnswers and review hardware.586
Most scsi disk drives will work with 2.0 without modifying disktab.
You should read the Network and Systems Administrator manual provided
with all new systems and available on-line on 2.0 extended. There have
been problems with the installation of boot blocks and badly formed
fstab generated by BuildDisk. A disk connected to the NeXT will need
to have a NeXT specific label written to it before it can be properly
recognized by the system. If you get an error message "Invalid Label..."
this indicates that the drive was successfully seen by the NeXT machine
but it does not have the proper label, to install a label use the
/usr/etc/disk program on the raw disk device that the system assigned
to the device and use the label command to write the label onto the disk.
[how the NeXT assigns disk devices is explained in the N&SA manual]
NeXT provides a low level disk formatter with 2.0, most drives are
already formatted at the factory. The sdform program does not offer
much flexibility.
[If someone is keeping a list of drives that work with the NeXT we
would like to know about it. Also there was talk about Mac drives
*not* working on the NeXT due to their implementation of the
SCSI standard.]
D2. How do I customize BuildDisk to create a bootable disk of my own
configuration?
The BuildDisk application is extremely limited in terms of the
types of disks configuration it knows how to build. Essentially it
"knows" about swapdisks, optical disks, 330 and 660 MB SCSI disks.
If you wish to do custom configurations you should look at existing
BLD script files in /etc/BLD.* There is a script which you can
use to specify which BLD script you are using, which disktab entry,
and other useful parameters in /usr/etc/builddisk
Some things to note:
- the fstab installed on the target disk is specified in the newclient
command in the BLD script. standard fstabs are extracted from
/usr/template/client/fstab.*
- the BLD scripts do not put down a new boot block on the scsi disk,
you may want to install one by hand using the /usr/etc/disk program.
- some disks boot fine but NeXTstep comes up with a blank window and
no login window. This is due sometimes to forgetting to install
an accessible /NextLibrary/{Fonts,Sounds} In general you need
quite a lot of things to make a bootable disk.
Mike Carlton adds - you can build a minimally usable bootable floppy
(for crash recovery purposes). There is a modified version of
builddisk (to make it support building floppies, a minimal change) and
a BLD script to build the boot floppy available at cs.orst.edu in
next/sources/Bootfloppy.tar.Z. (I put this together in response to
several requests.)
D3. How much disk space is lost due to formatting and file system overhead?
Rex Pruess (rpruess@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu) offers the following explanation:
Let's assume you bought a disk drive advertised with 400 MB unformatted
capacity. Vendors are not consistent with the MB definition. You may
have much less space less than you think you have. Which of the following
did you buy?
400 * 1000 * 1000 = 400,000,000 bytes
400 * 1024 * 1000 = 409,600,000 bytes
400 * 1024 * 1024 = 419,430,400 bytes
The disk must be formatted. This is often done by the vendor, but
occasionally by the user. Formatting maps the disk into sectors. Space
is reserved for the disk geometry and bad sectors. Formatting can take
10-20% of the capacity depending on the sector size. Common sector sizes
are 512 and 1024. Generally, bigger sectors mean less waste.
Once formatted, the UNIX file system must be created. On the NeXT, this
is one of the steps performed by the BuildDisk application. It invokes
the mkfs command to make a file system. This reserves space for the UNIX
file system (e.g., superblocks, inode tables). This overhead can take
another 2-3% of the available disk space.
If you issue the df command, you may be surprised to see another 10% the
available disk space has disappeared. The df command shows the total,
used, and available disk space. The df units are in kbytes (1024 bytes).
The sum of the used and available numbers will generally be about 10%
less than the total kbytes. This space is reserved to allow the UNIX
file system to be efficient in its storage allocation. If your disk
fills up, only the superuser can store files in the remaining 10%.
To complete the picture, here's a snapshot of what may occur:
Capacity Lost/Used/Reserved Reason
(in bytes) (in bytes)
419,430,000 19,430,000 Marketing hype (~5%)
400,000,000 60,000,000 Formatting (~15%)
340,000,000 6,800,000 UNIX file system (~2%)
333,200,000 33,320,000 Efficiency & superuser (~10%)
299,880,000 - -
For more information, refer to the df and mkfs man pages.
D4. Can I run my SCSI-2 disks in synchronous mode?
Quick answer is: No! Reason is that the NeXT does not support synchronous
transfers from the SCSI bus. It does support SCSI-2 disks running in
asynchronous mode, which all SCSI-2 disks must do.
Misc
----
M1. Is there any way to change the text in the title bar of a terminal window?
No. Not even in Stuart 2.0... However Scott Hess may be working on this
in the future.
M2. Can I put both an 030 and an 040 system board in a single NeXT cube?
[Note that we have no first hand experience with this problem, we
have compiled what we consider to be an accurate report. We acknowledge
conflicting reports where appropriate.]
In general Mach may be configured as a multiprocessor operating system;
however, the NeXT kernel is only configured to deal with one processor.
This configuration can not be changed without access to the kernel
sources. [hopefully NeXT will offer a multiprocessor version of the NeXT
operating system at some future date]
Some have asked about the possibility of installing the 030 board
for use as a printserver or other CPU-intensive task server. In this
hypothetical setup, each CPU would run its own copy of the operating
system (essentially two different computers sharing the same cube).
This might be workable except for the fact that even if the NBIC
(NextBus Interface Chip) chip is removed, the CPU board probes the
bus for slot ID [**a conflicting report comes from Richard Dib who
heard that someone ran a cube with the CPU in another slot].
You could do hardware modification to the 030 board which would
isolate it enough to use only the cube as a power supply, however
you can not run two monochrome monitor heads off the cube power supply.
In this case you would probably want to first boot the 030 with a
display head, set the boot prom to boot off ttya, and attach an
ascii terminal to that serial port.
M3. Where is libc.a under 2.0?
From the developer's release notes concerning the 2.0 NeXT Operating System
Software available on-line with 2.0 extended:
/NextLibrary/Documentation/NextDev/ReleaseNotes/OperatingSystem.rtf
- libc.a is not shipped with release 2.0. All routines contained in
libc.a are also contained in the shared library libsys.a which
should be used instead of libc.a. libc.a is not shipped because
as a normal archive it is impossible for improvements and system
interface changes made to library routines to be applicable to
existing applications without those applications being relinked.
Applications referencing shared libraries, because they are bound
at runtime, always access the most recent release. Release 1.0
applications linked against libc.a may not be compatible with
release 2.0 until they are relinked with libsys.a.
M4. How do I get pictures of people from remote sites to appear in Mail.app?
In /LocalLibrary/Images/People put a tiff (64x64) in the form of
person@remote.site.domain (all lowercase).
In /LocalLibrary/Images/People/passwd add an entry for the person:
person@remote.site.domain:*:-2:-2::/nodir:/noshell
(person and sitename need to be all lowercase as well)...
In the future anytime you get mail from the person their
picture should appear.
Editors:
Pascal Chesnais lacsap@media.mit.edu
John Garnett garnett@cs.utexas.edu
Erik Kay erikkay@athena.mit.edu
Copyright 1991 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
This compilation is meant primarily as a service to the comp.sys.next
community. Newsletter editors wishing to excerpt from this work
for publication should consider using local electronic bulletin boards
to disseminate this information rather than preparing hardcopies.
This allows for readers to access the most recent information, and
perhaps save a couple of trees.
We do not collect any royalties, charge any fees, or compensate
anyone in connection with this endeavor.
--
Pascal Chesnais, Research Specialist, Electronic Publishing Group
Media Laboratory, E15-351, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge, Ma, 02139 (617) 253-0311
email: lacsap@plethora.media.mit.edu (NeXT)lacsap@media-lab.media.mit.edu.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Pascal Chesnais) (05/15/91)
[mind was asleep in preparing this one, expect some errors - pasc]
FAQ 910515: Frequently Asked Questions pertaining to the NeXT computer.
The information contained in this post is a compilation of answers to
questions posted by participants in the comp.sys.next USENET group.
No guarantees are made regarding the correctness of these responses.
This will get posted to comp.sys.next about every other week. There
is currently no particular order to this list, items get added and
removed over time.
Note:
We are not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned in this
posting. If you have any corrections, additions, questions, or
answers to add to this list, please send email to
next-faq@media-lab.media.mit.edu
A copy of the FAQ can be found on sonata.cc.purdue.edu in pub/next/FAQ
as well as other useful information (diskdrive and simm sources).
TOC (. after number means entry has not changed since last posting,
- means entry has changed,
* means new entry,
? means there is no answer right now):
General Information
G0. Where can I find additional questions and answers regarding
the NeXT computer? (this question is really never asked but
really should be :-)
G1. How may I contact NeXT Computer, Inc.?
G2. Is there a mail order company that sells NeXT-related peripherals?
G3. Is there a NeXT specific magazine?
G4a. What are the names of some of the ftp sites that have NeXT-related
files?
G4b. If I am not on the internet, how can I get to the ftp sites via email?
G5. What is the claimed performance of the new 040 NeXT machines?
G6. What are some good references on Objective C?
G7. How much does the NeXT cost?
G8. Where can I buy a NeXT?
G9. How do i become a NeRD? What does it cost? What is involved? Who
do i contact if i am interested?
G10. How do I start an official NeXT User Group?
G11- Why isn't comp.sys.next split into smaller groups?
G12* How do I file a complaint with NeXT?
G13* Where can I communicate to others interested in doing music on the NeXT?
Upgrades
U1. What comes with the 040 Upgrade?
U2. What comes with the 1.0 -> 2.1 software upgrade?
U3. What has happened in release 2.0 with the versions of Franz Allegro
Common Lisp, the Sybase SQL Server, and Mathematica that were
distributed with OS1.0?
U4. How do I get the 2.1 upgrade?
NeXT OS
O1. Why does my 030 NeXT system using Release 1.0 hang a few seconds
after attempting to boot from the optical disk? (this problem
also happens with scsi disks as well)
O2. How much free disk space is available on the NeXTstation and NeXTcube?
O3. What software is bundled with the new 040 NeXT machines?
O4. Can I delete /odmach or /sdmach (depending on whether i boot
from od or hard drive) and save 700K?
O5. The 2.0 machines keep getting an error on the console that says
loginwindow: netinfo problem - No such directory. Is this a problem?
O6. Under 2.0 running UUCP and other incoming connections hangs the
modem serial line, what can I do?
O7* Applications installed in /LocalApps are not being found on my 2.0 system.
NeXT Hardware (internal):
I1. What can be done about older 030 NeXT cubes that have a fan that
turns in the "wrong" direction?
I2. What type of memory may be installed in a NeXT?
I3. Can I connect SONY MPX-111N to my 030 cube?
I4. Why OD continually spins up and spins down?
I5. How many colors can NeXT machines display?
Peripherals
P1. What type of microphones will work with the NeXT?
P2. How do I connect a modem to the NeXT?
P3. Are there any alternative sources for the SCSI-II to SCSI-I cable
required to attach external SCSI devices to the 040 NeXTs?
P4. What fax modems will work with the NeXT?
P5. How may I attach more than two serial ports to the NeXT?
P6. What is the best and/or cheapest way to connect a NeXT to a thick Ethernet?
P7. How can I connect my NeXT to the telephone line and use it like
an answering Machine?
P8. What color monitors can I use with the Color NeXT machines?
P9. Where can I get 13W3 to BNC adapters to connect third party color
monitors?
Utilities
T1. Where can I obtain the most recent version of Kermit?
T2. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of SLIP or PPP?
T3. Where can I obtain a version of Larry Wall's patch for the NeXT?
T4. Where can I get a NeXTstep netnews reader?
T5. Where can I get plotting software?
T6. Where can I get objective-c mode for emacs?
Compatibility:
C1. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of X-Windows?
C2. Can I run DOS software on the NeXT?
C3. Can I run Macintosh Programs on my NeXT?
C4. Can I run tcsh or bash on my NeXT?
C5. Can sound files be used on the Suns and NeXT interchangeably?
Languages:
L1. What Fortrans compilers are available for the NeXT?
L2. What Lisps are there for the NeXT?
L3. What Pascal compilers are available for the NeXT?
L4. What should I know about c++ shipped with the NeXT?
Printing
H1- What alternative printers (laser or otherwise) may be used with
the NeXT? Are there limitations or other considerations of which
I should I be aware.
H2- What fonts can I use on my NeXT?
H3. How can I save my WriteNow [or other printable] documents to a
postscript file?
H4. How can I print only the even or odd pages of a document? I wish
print on both sides by feeding the paper through twice.
H5. What can I do to prevent my NeXT printer from running all the time?
H6. How do I get banner pages on my printer output?
H7. How do I get [la]TeX files to print correctly on non-NeXT printers?
Disks:
D1. What disk drives will work with the NeXT?
D2. How do I customize BuildDisk to create a bootable disk of my own
configuration?
D3. How much disk space is lost due to formatting and file system overhead?
D4. Can I run my SCSI-2 disks in synchronous mode?
D5* How do I configure my HP 660 to boot properly?
Misc:
M1. Is there any way to change the text in the title bar of a terminal window?
M2. Can I put both an 030 and an 040 system board in a single NeXT cube?
M3. Where is libc.a under 2.0?
M4. How do I get pictures of people from remote sites to appear in Mail.app?
M5* How do I access the "help" facilities in Mathematica? I am running a 1.0
binary on a 2.0/1 system!
General Information
-------------------
G0. Where can I find additional questions and answers regarding
the NeXT computer? (this question is really never asked but
really should be :-)
Every NeXT machine owner has access to manuals to a degree. Network
and System Administration (NSA), for example contains answers to
many of the questions asked to comp.sys.next. Some of the important
man pages are reproduced in the NSA as appendices.
- User manuals are shipped with every NeXT. Additional copies
available from NeXT (N6002/N6003/N6014/N6026) $25.
- NeXT Technical documentation. (How to program in the NextStep
environment) Order from NeXT (N6007B) $95.
These are packaged ten volumes in two slipcases; the whole stack is
8-1/2 inches high. They look just like the other documents that come
with the machine, 8.5x11", perfect-bound paperbacks.
Operating System Software
NeXTstep Concepts
NeXTstep Reference, v. 1
NeXTstep Reference, v. 2
Development Tools
Sound, Music, and Signal Processing: Concepts
Sound, Music, and Signal Processing: Reference
Writing Loadable Kernel Servers
Technical Summaries
Supplemental Documentation
The "Extended" OS release contains online versions of the
"Reference" (but not "Concepts") chapters.
- Get NeXT's Concepts and Tutorial sections electronically from
the ftp archives. These were not included in the 2.0 distribution
but are included in hardcopy form with the NeXT Technical Documentation.
This is perhaps the single most important reference for people
wishing to develop software for the NeXT.
- man pages, included with "Extended" release.
- BSD unix documentation (MISC, PS1, PS2, SMM, USD).
Available from to USENIX site members. A lot of this has been
integrated into the NeXT documentation. Some of this is
sorely missing.
- Adobe documentation. Available machine-readable by e-mail
from ps-file-server@adobe.com. Hardcopy available from
Adobe Developer Support Line +1 415 961-4111 for a nominal
charge. NeXT last shipped these as part of the 1.0a release;
hardcopies appeared in 0.9 Technical Documentation.
- Get NextAnswers for Digital Librarian from one of the many
ftp sites (see below) that have NeXT software. NextAnswers
is a series of questions and answers that the NeXT technical
support staff has compiled. They tend to clarify issues not covered
or poorly covered in the on-line documentation. Anyone can send bugs
or suggestions to bug_next@next.com
- Another good source of information is the archives of previously
posted notes from the comp.sys.next newsgroup. All articles sent
to comp.sys.next are archived on brownvm.brown.edu. Send a note
to listserv@brownvm.brown.edu containing the command "INFO ?"
on a single line (by itself). The list of articles is called
NEXT-L.
It can not be overly emphasized that getting the on-line documentation
from 2.0 extended will help enormously in researching problems with
the aid of digital librarian.
G1. How may I contact NeXT Computer, Inc.?
NeXT Computer, Inc.
900 Chesapeake Drive
Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: 1-800-848-NeXT (Redwood City #)
1-408-437-0400 (BusinessLand)
1-800-800-NeXT (NeXT Connection-software and peripherals)
44-81-565-0005 (U.K. #)
44-81-565-0016 (U.K. fax #)
81-44-549-5295 (NeXT marketing div. of Canon - Japan)
81-44-549-5462 (NeXT Japan fax #)
+41-22-788-2890 (NeXT Europe - Geneva, Suisse)
note: numbers abroad are listed with the country codes first. You will
need to dial the international access number of your long distance carrier
before proceeding to dialing the country code, area code and phone number.
G2. Is there a mail order company that sells NeXT-related peripherals?
Yes, its called NeXTconnection. Address: 9 Mill Street, Marlow, NH 03456
Phone: 1-800-800-NeXT
G3. Is there a NeXT specific magazine?
Yes. There are also many NeXT specific newsletters, many of which
are available via ftp from the NeXT specific ftp sites (look in
pub/next/newsletters on cs.orst.edu and pub/next/Newsletters
on sonata.cc.purdue.edu - purdue seems to carry more newsletters
on line than orst.). Some cost money, others don't.
Available from purdue:
SCaNeWS - Souther California NeXT Users Group Newsletter, first issue
came out January 1991. Edited by Mike Mahoney (manhoney@beach.csulb.edu)
BaNG - Bay Area NeXT Users Group, one item on-line on Purdue. Edited by
Robert Nielson (nielsen@everest.portal.com).
Tao - an irregular newsletter written by Robert Lin. It usually has
a good number of rumors, and is fun to read.
rmNUG NeWS - Rocky Mountain NeXT Users Group Newsletter, latest issue
May 1991 (monthly). Edited by David Bowdish (73340.2146@compuserve.com).
NeXTVieW - Vancouver NeXT Users Group
NeXT Users' Journal, latest issue December/January 1990-1. Edited by
Erica Liebman (erica@kong.gatech.edu).
Hardcopy:
Baran's Tech Letter
Published once a month for $125/year
Contact: Nicholas Baran POBox 876, Sandpoint, Idaho, 83864-0876
email: nbaran@well.sf.ca.us
NeXT on Campus
NeXT developments in academia. Call NeXT at 1-800-848-NeXT for
free subscription info.
NeXTworld
Published quarterly with monthly ad-free newsletters ($23.95).
NeXTWORLD, 501 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
415 978 3182 (phone), 415 978 3196 (fax)
NeXTworld email address: ddinucci@nextworld.com
NeXUS
Published bi-monthly for $36/year.
Contact Alfonso Guerra at {emory|gatech}!nanovx!nexus.
What's NeXT?
The Boston Computer Society NeXT User group produces a NeXT newsletter
called "What's NeXT?". BCS may be reached at 1 Center Plaza,
Boston, MA 02108.
G4a. What are the names of some of the ftp sites that have NeXT-related
files?
There are too many to list them all, so are here are just a few:
NeXT: cs.orst.edu, nova.cc.purdue.edu, sonata.cc.purdue.edu,
umd5.umd.edu, and eesun1.arl.utexas.edu
MIT GNU: aeneas.mit.edu
MIT X: expo.lcs.mit.edu
music: princeton.edu
See NextAnswers for more sitenames.
G4b. If I am not on the internet, how can I get to the ftp sites via email?
cc.purdue.edu is configured as an email archive server. This means
you can upload and download files via email. Send mail to:
archive-server@cc.purdue.edu with the subject line help and you
will get a complete description of this service.
submissions:
Mail should be sent to archive-server@cc.purdue.edu with the
subject of 'submission' (no ticks) if a person is submitting
material to the archives. They need to include a 1-2 sentence
description of the submission, the OS release the product runs
on, and if it is source, binary, newsletter, etc.
G5. What is the claimed performance of the new 040 NeXT machines?
NeXT advertises the new 040 machines at 15 MIPS and 2 MFLOPS.
[industry accepted benchmarks will be posted here... anyone?]
G6. What are some good references on Objective C?
Object Oriented Programming - An Evolutionary Approach, Brad J. Cox,
Addison-Wesley, 1987 ISBN 0-201-10393-1 it describes pre-4.0 Objective-C,
and the NeXT uses 4.0 Objective-C (Stepstone's version numbers). However,
a new edition of the book should hit the shelves any day now. [Glenn Reid
mentions the existence of the book, but does not label it as
a "good reference", lacking other references it is noted here]
NextAnswers has a good reading list too long to include here.
G7. How much does the NeXT cost?
A retail price list may be obtained by contacting NeXT at the
number or address mentioned in a previous question. Educational
prices vary depending upon the university. The typical educational
discount is between twenty and thirty percent. NeXT offers
registered developers a significant discount.
G8. Where can I buy a NeXT?
From NeXT, Businessland, Computer Attic (three locations in southern
San Francico Bay Area), Abacus Inc (San Francisco), Random Access
(Denver), Essex Computers (N.J.), and possibly from your university if
you are a student, faculty or staff. if your university does not
offer the NeXT, you may be able to buy from a "hub" university if the
hub program is available in your state (contact NeXT for more info).
G9. How do i become a NeRD? What does it cost? What is involved? Who
do i contact if i am interested?
NeRD - NeXT Registered Developer
1- Call the 800 number to get a registration form, fill it out and
send it back to NeXT.
2- NeXT will assign an "advocate" from within the company to review your
needs.
3- Register to go to a 5 day developer's camp either in Pittsburgh or
or Redwood City. Cost is $995 They will teach you the essential
information needed for developing applications on the NeXT. [It is
excellent -pasc]
4- Once you have gone through the above, you will get technical support
directly from NeXT via email or phone (in urgent cases!). Their support
is quite comprehensive.
G10. How do I start an official NeXT User Group?
To start a NeXT group, just send email to "user_groups@next.com".
G11. Why isn't comp.sys.next split into smaller groups?
A discussion is in progress in news.groups about a proposed split of
comp.sys.next. The initial proposal call for four new groups
comp.sys.next.announce (moderated)
comp.sys.next.developer
comp.sys.next.discussion
comp.sys.next.sysadmin
with comp.sys.next remaining as a place to initiate new discussion.
Comments so far seem to favor a split, with reservations about
specific names (.devoper should .programmer, c.s.n. should be renamed
c.s.n.misc...) Counter proposals call for instituting a keyword
scheme, another calls for moderating the single group. Amiga
folks are asking that an advocacy subgroup be created.
You can help by participating in the on-going discussion
in news.groups, and by voting when the time comes.
G12. How do I file a complaint with NeXT?
A number of postings to comp.sys.next indicates that NeXT really
should have a formal channel for complaints. Complaints are about
machines not arriving, and about the company. The current mechanism
for doing this is to call the 800 number and be directed to the
correct support center. This seems a bit backwards, as it seems a lot
easier to post a gripe to comp.sys.next. However posting complaints
to comp.sys.next does little other than make you look like a whiner.
So be PATIENT and hang in their while being channeled to the proper
authority.
G13. Where can I communicate to others interested in doing music on the NeXT?
There is a newsgroup called comp.music that would love to hear what you
are doing with the NeXT and will share their knowledge on the subject with
you!
Upgrades
--------
U1. What comes with the 040 Upgrade?
An anti-static disposable bracelet, installation guide, new OD cable,
OD filter, 040 board, a SIMM extractor tool, Fed-Ex return slip
and registration card to get a free copy of Improv and NeXTWorld.
U2. What comes with the 1.0 -> 2.1 software upgrade?
The 2.0 upgrade comes with an optical disk with 2.0 extended, a bunch of
manuals, and keyboard tilt feet.
There is a mail back cards to get Mathematica 2.0 and Sybase (eventually).
This may change, of course, and may be different for non-educational
users. The 040 upgrade requires the 2.0 upgrade.
U3. What has happened in release 2.0 with the versions of Franz Allegro
Common Lisp, the Sybase SQL Server, and Mathematica that were
distributed with OS1.0?
These products are no longer bundled with the NeXT OS. Owners of old
cubes are, however, entitled to continue using them.
Allegro Common Lisp: When upgrading from 1.0 to 2.0, the upgrade
program offers the opportunity to save your copy of Common Lisp. You
can do this, and it will still run on the '030 cube except that the
Foreign Function Interface no longer works. The hardware upgrade from
the '030 to the '040, however, breaks this version of Common Lisp
completely and it will no longer run. With the OS2.0 upgrade, there is
a postcard to return to NeXT requesting an updated version of Common
Lisp which (when released) will run on the '040 under 2.0. Future
enhancements to Allegro Common Lisp (including the soon-to-be-released
version with CLOS support) will only be available directly from Franz
Inc. Owners of old cubes can obtain upgrade service as
"maintenance/support" at a lower cost than buying a new Allegro Common
Lisp license (which is what owners of new cubes and slabs must get).
Contact Franz Inc. for details and prices.
Sybase: The release 1.0 Sybase SQL Server is completely broken by
release 2.0, and the upgrade program will delete this from your disk
(without asking permission) in the course of upgrading. Release 2.0
contains an SQL client, which can be used to connect to SQL servers on
your network (perhaps older cubes still running 1.0, for example). A
new SQL server (with some modified features) will be sent to owners of
old cubes who request it by means of the same postcard that gets you a
new version of Common Lisp.
Mathematica: The upgrade program offers you the opportunity to save
your old version of this, and the old version still runs under 2.0
(on both '030 and '040 hardware). Sending in the postcard referred to
above from the OS2.0 upgrade kit will get you a new version of
Mathematica, too. This version will be available free to academic
users with new cubes and slabs as well.
All of the upgraded programs referred to above will be provided on
NeXT floppies, not OD's. You will need either to buy an external
floppy drive or to have someone else transfer them from floppy to OD
in order to make use of them. The release date is scheduled for
all the above is April.
U4. How do I get the 2.1 upgrade?
All new machines are shipping with 2.1, as well as release 2
software products. People running 2.0 can order an upgrade
distribution from NeXT. The 2.1 upgrade distribution is only
available on floppies. 2.1 distribution does not have a 2.0->2.1
upgrade application shipped with it. There is currently no way of
getting it due to licensing issues.
2.1 Upgrade kit is part #n7022 on floppies costs $50 call the NeXT
800 number for it.
If you have purchased 2.0, you may upgrade to 2.1 with somebody else's
upgrade. Only major upgrades need to be purchased (1.0,2.0,3.0). NeXT
considers your 2.0 purchase to include the rights to all 2.x releases.
Their $50 charge is to cover cost's only, not to purchase "rights".
OS
--
O1. Why does my 030 NeXT system using Release 1.0 hang a few seconds
after attempting to boot from the optical disk? (this problem
also happens with scsi disks as well)
Release 1.0 contains a bug that can corrupt the kernel /odmach
if a user attempts to launch /odmach from the browser. The
solution is to copy a clean /odmach from another NeXT system.
Be sure to change the permissions of the newly installed /odmach
to remove execute permissions to prevent future occurrences of
the same problem. Release 1.0a and 2.0 do not have this problem.
It is possible for the sdmach to get corrupted in the same way.
Boot from the OD, copy an uncorrupted version of the kernel
to the hard disk, and remove the execute bits from sdmach.
O2. How much free disk space is available on the NeXTstation and NeXTcube?
As shipped, the 105MB NeXTstation has less than 25 MB free.
Note: The swap space is by default configured to 16MB with a low water
mark of 20MB (the system does not attempt to reduce the size of
the swapfile space until the swapfile grows past the low water
mark).
The extended release takes 179M, including a 16M swapfile, and not
including Mathematica or Sybase (this is from a virgin install of
2.0 extended from an optical).
O3. What software is bundled with the new 040 NeXT machines?
Both the 105MB and 200MB systems come with Release 2.0 preinstalled.
The systems with larger hard disks have Release 2.0 Extended
preinstalled. The price of all of the new systems includes the cost
of the software license. Note that the price of the 040 upgrade for
030 machines does not include the cost of the software license.
RELEASE 2.0 includes...
*End User Applications
Workspace Mgr(tm), NeXT Mail(tm), WriteNow(r) Word Processor,
Digital Webster(tm) (9th Collegiate Dictionary(r) and Collegiate
Thesaurus(r)), Digital Librarian(tm), Edit, Mathematica(r)-for
higher education customers only, DataViz/Bridge(tm), Installer,
FaxReader, Preferences, Preview for Post Script, PrintManager
*Developer Tools
VT100(tm) Terminal Emulator [based on Stuart]
*System Administration Applications
BuildDisk, InstallTablet, Mail Manager, NetInfo Manager, NetManager,
Printer Tester, User Manager, Installer
RELEASE 2.0 (extended) adds....
*End User Applications
Oxford(r) Dictionary of Quotations, William Shakespeare-The Complete
Works (for Digital Librarian), TEX(tm) Document Processing System
(Radical Eye Software), Improv (Improv is only free if 040 NeXT
machine or upgrade ordered before end of March 1991)
*Developer Tools
Interface Builder(tm), Objective-C(r) Language Compiler,
C++ Language Compiler, Objective-C Class Definitions,
56001 DSP Tools, GNU Emacs, GNU Debugger, BUG-56(tm) Debugger (Ariel),
Malloc Debugger, AppInspector(tm), PostScript Tools, Application Kit(tm),
Music Kit(tm), Sound Kit(tm), On-line technical documentation
You are allowed to copy software from the extended release from a
friend if you are licensed to run 2.0.
O4. Can I delete /odmach or /sdmach (depending on whether i boot
from od or hard drive) and save 700K?
Go ahead and delete it if you want. However, you might as
well leave it there since sdmach and odmach are links to the same file
(i.e. you won't save much space by deleting it).
Better to look for random core files! Icon.app generates quite a lot
of core dumps.
O5. The 2.0 machines keep getting an error on the console that says
loginwindow: netinfo problem - No such directory. Is this a problem?
The netinfo problem is because the /keyboard directory is missing.
It's benign.
"But annoying.
niutil -create . /keyboard" -=EPS=-
O6. Under 2.0 running UUCP and other incoming connections hangs the modem
serial line, what can I do?
There is a bug in the serial driver which causes getty to get stuck.
The situation arises after a successful uucico connection, subsequent
connections via modem will get a connection with the modem, but no
login prompt. This is caused by getty hanging. A simple work around
is to have a process run in cron to reset the getty every 15 minutes:
#! /bin/sh -u
PIDS=`ps -ax | bm getty | grep -v bm | awk '{print $1}'`
kill -TERM $PIDS
Of course trying to connect when the script is running will not allow
you to connect, try again a minute later. This fix will not affect
on-going UUCP or interactive connections. This will probably be fixed
in the next kernel release.
This bug is corrected in 2.1
O7. Applications installed in /LocalApps are not being found on my 2.0 system.
[someone send me the details... I lost them - pasc]
This bug is corrected in 2.1
NeXT Hardware
-------------
I1. What can be done about older 030 NeXT cubes that have a fan that
turns in the "wrong" direction?
The fan on older 030 NeXTs cubes sucks air out of the back of the cube
which means that it draws unfiltered air in through the optical
disk on the front of the cube. This causes optical disks to
succumb to dust must sooner than cubes with the new-style fan
which turns in the opposite direction.
NeXT has apparently reversed their decision regarding fan
reversal in the case of machines that have been upgraded to 040
processor boards. It is now considered okay to reverse the direction
of fans in these machines. If you have many third-party cards
installed in your cube or an older processor board, you may wish
to consider not reversing fan direction (overheating could become
a problem). In any case, do not reverse the fan's polarity, only
reverse the fan assembly itself. Perhaps the best solution is
obtain the cleaning kit and OD filter from NeXT.
I2. What type of memory may be installed in a NeXT?
Use Mac II-style SIMMS, 100ns or faster. SIMMS must be
installed in groups of four. The NeXT can use either 1MB or
4MB SIMMS. Most people are buying 80ns SIMMS in order to be
more sure of future compatibility. Also, note that the low-profile
vertically mounted 4MB SIMMS are easier to install in the NeXT cube than the
horizontally mounted 4MB SIMMS because of the small height clearance
above the SIMM slots. It is possible to install the horizontally
mounted 4MB SIMMS but you will be required to slide the CPU board
and the hard drive in simultaneously. Note that parity (9-bit)
RAMS can be used in both the 030 NeXT and the 040 NeXT. Parity
and non-parity SIMMS can be mixed in both the 030 and the 040
(however, the boot on 040 boxes will generate a warning). Only
the 040 NeXT can use the parity memory to detect parity errors
(parity and non-parity may not be mixed if you wish to have
parity errors detected). 2.2 (v63) ROM lets you disable parity
checking (NVRAM preference). 2.1 (v59) does not.
Color NeXTstations, and the NeXTdimensions will be using a different
packaging for memory. They will be in a 72pin housing, are organized
256kx32 or 1Mx32 for non-parity systems, and 256kx36 and 1Mx36 for
parity. They must be 80ns or faster. As of 2-28-91, we are aware
of only one supplier (other than NeXT) of this type of memory. Until
the number of vendors known to offer this type of memory increases, we
will list that one supplier here for the benefit of those on
constrained budgets: SouthCoast Electronics (213) 208-3260.
Given how dynamic the prices are in the memory market we can not provide
an accurate compilation of suppliers and prices.
I3. Can I connect SONY MPX-111N to my 030 cube?
The SONY MPX-111N which is shipped with all the new 040 NeXT machines is
*not* a SCSI device, therefor there is no way of connecting that particular
drive internally on an 030 system.
I4. Why OD continually spins up and spins down?
A big problem with the Cannon optical drives is that air flows through
the drive to cool it. Dust accumulates inside the drive causing it to
fail with the continuous spin-up spin-down syndrome. NeXT as part of
it's 040 upgrades provides a dust filter to prevent this. If your
drive has this problem it usually can be fixed simply by cleaning out
dust from the drive. NeXT sells a cleaning kit for both the drives and
the optical disks.
I5. How many colors can NeXT machines display?
The monochrome machines can display 4 gray levels. You can use
color apps on a monochrome machine, they will converted into
monochrome images and dithered accordingly.
Color NeXTstations can combine 4 bits of red, green and blue
primaries for a total of 4096 "pure" colors. The imaging
functions dither the image to produce intermediate colors.
NeXTdimension can combine 8 bits of red, green and blue for
16,777,216. There are not 16 million points on the display
so all can not be displayed at once. Further display technology
limits the usable color space.
None of the NeXT products support color look up tables where the
user can define their own color palette on a per window basis.
This feature is useful for displaying images which have
adaptive lookup tables, and display pure grayscale images
on the color NeXTstation. On the NeXTdimension images can
be converted to full 24 bit representation.
Peripherals
-----------
P1. What type of microphones will work with the NeXT?
Some NeXT owners use the RadioShack (Realistic) Tie Clip Microphone
($19.95) cat 33-1052. NeXT Computer, Inc. uses the "Sony Electret
Condenser Microphone ECM-K7" in-house (available for ~$60). Some use
Sony Tie-Clip microphone, #ECM-144, which costs around $40. Others
have successfully used a WalMart brand microphone (available for ~$6).
P2. How do I connect a modem to the NeXT?
Previously, we suggested that people use Mac modem cables; however,
it has come to our attention that there is no one standard Mac
modem cable. Since correct modem operation on a NeXT depends upon
a correctly wired modem cable, buying a Mac cable is not a good
idea. Some Mac cables do not allow dial-in and no Mac cable allows
the use of hardware flow control. For these reasons, we are
recommending that only cables that meet NeXT specifications be
used. [however, if you have a Mac modem cable lying around and
don't care about dial-in or hardware flow control, then by all
means....]
These cables are available commercially from NextConnection, and from
Computer Cables and Devices, or can be custom built. Note that no off-
the-shelf Mac cable will allow hardware flow control. It is however
possible to make a such a cable from an Imagewriter II cable by replacing
one of the mini-8 ends with a DB-25 connector.
Most people use tip or kermit to control the modem. SLIP and/or UUCP may
also be used (but are more complicated to set up and require the
remote machine to also have SLIP and/or UUCP (respectively)).
The 2.0 Network and System Administration Manual, which is available
in hard-copy (shipped with each machine) contains an extensive
description of how to use modems with the NeXT machine. Additionally
NeXT in their TechSupportNotes series called SerialPortDoc.wn and UUCP
for 1.0/1.0a systems . This document is available from most FTP sites
that carry NextAnswers. Also, try to obtain the comp.sys.next note by
Mark Adler entitled "How to connect a modem" (reposted 5 Jan 91)
[Adler's note does contain info on the changes required to connect a
modem to the 040 NeXTs]
P3. Are there any alternative sources for the SCSI-II to SCSI-I cable
required to attach external SCSI devices to the 040 NeXTs?
Yes. This cable is the same as the one used by Sun SparcStations and
DecStation 5000's (but not DecStation 3100's which use 68-pin micro
rather than the 50pin micro connector used on NeXT 040, Suns and
DecStation 5000).
P4. What fax modems will work with the NeXT?
The following fax modems are currently available for the NeXT Computer:
Manufacturer/Model Supplier/Phone Avail. Type
------------------ -------------- ------ ----
Abaton Interfax 24/96 NX Abaton 800-444-5321 Now Class 2*
DoveFax for NeXT Dove Computer 800-622-7627 Now Class 1
Ricoh DX-1 VISUS 412-687-3800 Now Proprietary
In order to use a fax modem with the NeXT Computer, a NeXT compatible
fax driver must be available to operate the modem. Modem control
procedures may be proprietary or conform to one of the following
EIA/TIA standards:
Class 1: CCITT T.30 session management and CCITT T.4 image data
handling are controlled by the driver.
Class 2*: CCITT T.30 session management and image data transport are
handled by the modem. CCITT T.4 image data preparation and
interpretation are controlled by the driver.
Release 2.0 of the NeXT system software includes a Class 2 modem
driver which will work with any fax modem which meets the EIA/TIA
Asynchronous Facsimile Control standard. Other fax modems must supply
a NeXT compatible driver.
The following are notes by Alan Marcum of NeXT Tech Support
concerning the Class 2 modem driver:
---
Note that there's a small bug in 2.0 (fixed in 2.1): a symbolic
link is missing for the file Class2_Fax_Modem_Driver
in /usr/lib/NextPrinter.
The simple fix: create the link; it should reference
Interfax_Fax_Modem_Driver, also in the
/usr/lib/NextPrinter directory.
An alternative workaround for Class 2, especially useful for
novices: just use InterFax as the modem type in PrintManager,
rather than Class 2*.
Additionally Alan tells us:
- After installing a fax modem using PrintManager one must
repeat setting things in the Fax Options panel in order for them to be
stored correctly. In particular, these include the Rings to Answer
and Number of Times to Retry. This affects all fax modems being
installed.
- If one uses illegal characters in the Modems Number field in
the Fax Options when configuring an InterFax modem then the modem will
not answer the phone. Legal characters are digits, spaces, and plus
signs (+). This does not affect the Dove modem.
(*)Note that the Class 2 is not yet approved; it is still out for ballot,
after having failed in an October 1990 round. The Abaton InterFax
24/96 NX driver supports Class 2 as it was in that draft; there are
expected to be very few changes prior to approval.
P5. How may I attach more than two serial ports to the NeXT?
Unitnet has a device that will connect to the scsi bus. For
more information email sales@cpd.com or call 714 546 1100
Jacob Gore adds:
Also, one can use an IP terminal server. In a non-Internet
environment, inexpensive terminal servers, which don't control access
to the network securely, can be used. If your network is an Internet
subnet, you must use a terminal server that controls either: (1) who
can log into the terminal server, or (2) which machines the terminal
server will access. These tend to be more expensive (around
$250/port, but in 8-port increments), but it may be quite economical
means of sharing ports among many NeXTs (or other computers) on the
network.
Eric P. Scott adds:
Particularly if one has a NeXT network, an Ethernet terminal
server may be the way to go. One that supports Linemode Telnet
(such as the Xylogics Annex III) will offer the best performance.
P6. What is the best and/or cheapest way to connect a NeXT to a thick Ethernet?
There are many possible solutions. For example, here are two:
A) The University of Waterloo [Audio Research Group] uses an old door-stop
PC XT clone with two Western Digital cards (WD8003E Ethercard Plus, $250 CDN
each; you should be able to get them for under $200 (US$)) running Vance
Morrison's PCRoute (available from accuvax.nwu.edu).
You will also need a thickwire transceiver and a drop cable (about $300).
In addition, you will need Internet addresses for the NeXT and both PC
Ethernet cards (and a subnet address). The documentation for PCRoute
contains quite a bit of information on the performance of this setup.
This solution requires two subnets. There is another program called PCbridge
that allows the machines on the thin and thick wires to be part of the
same subnet. This product also does packet filtering, so that packets
destined to machines on the same side of the net do not cross over.
B) Cabletron sells a MR-2000C Singleport Repeater for $695 that does
exactly what you need minus drop cable and transceiver. Their number
is (408) 441-9900.
P7. How can I connect my NeXT to the telephone line and use it like an
answering Machine?
There is one company that is selling both hardware and software to allow
you to do this:
Software Engineering Solutions, 11160 Jollyville Road, Austin, Texas 78759
(512)343-2828, mbrown@math.utexas.edu
Pricing has been set at $695.00.
P8. What color monitors can I use with the Color NeXT machines?
Sony GDM-1601 were demonstrated with the NeXT color products.
NeXT is not shipping these monitors. Sony no longer makes them,
however there is a replacement GDM-1606 which has a long
lead time on delivery [2-3 week delivery on a sample point of
one monitor:-)] It does require alignment to adjust for the
different scan rate...
The important specs for the color monitor are:
Horz Scan Rate: 61 KHz
Vertical Scan Rate: 68 Hz
NON-INTERLACED
P9. Where can I get 13W3 to BNC adapters to connect third party color
monitors?
NuData in New Jersey carries 13W3 female to 4 BNC male connectors.
908-842-5757, the price is about $100 call for details.
Utilities
---------
T1. Where can I obtain the most recent version of Kermit?
The source for the latest version is available via ftp from
watsun.cc.columbia.edu in the directory named kermit/sw. Get the
file ckaaaa.hlp to get started and see what files are required.
Note that this version of Kermit does have a NeXT specific
compile option. A binary only version is available via ftp from
cs.orst.edu as kermit5a.165.bin20.tar.Z, source is kermit5a.165.tar.Z
T2. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of SLIP or PPP?
There is no publically available version of SLIP or PPP for the NeXT;
however, versions are under development by several sources.
For example, Marble Associates has announced plans to produce
a commercial version of SLIP for the NeXT. For more information
send mail to slip@marble.com.
T3. Where can I obtain a version of Larry Wall's patch for the NeXT?
A patch binary that will run on 1.x and 2.x systems is
available from sutro.sfsu.edu [130.212.15.230] as pub/patch.Z
T4. Where can I get a NeXTstep netnews reader?
By far the most versitile newsreader for the NeXT is NeXTgrazer
by Jayson Adams of NeXT. It is on the archive servers and is
extremely useful for coping with volume of news we are faced with.
T5. Where can I get plotting software?
nxyplot by Tom Pulliam is available from cs.orst.edu
graph is availble in source form from 4.3BSD systems. It is useful
for dealing with pairs of numbers that need to be viewed.
psplot comes with the NeXT, it takes the output of the graph program
and generates a .ps file that can be previewed with Preview or Yap.
gnuplot is availabel from prep.ai.mit.edu
jsplot clone of graph that generates ps files directly.
plplot is a library of c routines that generate 2D, 3D and
contour plots. It is available on purdue archive, plplot.tar.Z
contains the source, and NXplplot.tar.Z contains the library,
example programs and documentation.
Mathematica The ReadList command will bring in files containing
sample values and produces a plot on the fly.
T6. Where can I get objective-c mode for emacs?
You can get ObjC mode for Emacs, by Douglas Worthington and Kenneth
Persson from cs.orst.edu
Compatibility
-------------
C1. Where can I obtain a NeXT version of X-Windows?
There is a X11R3 version named XNeXT developed by MIT. This version
is available in binary only, works only on monochrome machines and does
not work under Release 2.0 of the NeXT OS. XNeXT is a 1-bit black and
white server. XNeXT is available from most ftp sites that have
NeXT software.
McGill University (der Mouse) has produced a beta version of
an X11R4 server named mouse-X available via ftp from 132.206.1.1.
cd to X/XNeXT and fetch one of the files with names beginning
with "distribution". This version only uses NeXTstep for keyboard
and mouse events. This version will only work with monochrome
NeXT machines, it will not work with color products. This version
initially did not work under 2.0, however Howie Kaye fixed it
to work again, diffs will be incorporated soon on the McGill server
sources. In the meantime you can get binaries off of
cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (11.5Mbytes) in the Xnext directory.
A color server is available from: mfriedel@consult2.mines.colorado.edu
it should work on color NeXTstations.
Pencom Software of Austin, TX is distributing an X11R4 server
called "co-Xist". It is a monochrome two-bit server which
is displayed inside a NeXTstep window. This server will work
with 2.0 and higher, and will run on all of NeXT's current
hardware platforms and display options. A color server is in
the works. Cost for server $249/commercial $149/educational,
motif $100, digital librarian documentation $50. Contact
Pam O'Neal at pensoft!pam@cs.utexas.edu. Pencom will accept
orders for their product now.
MIT maintains a ftp server for X distribution: expo.lcs.mit.edu
It currently does not have any NeXT specific servers. If you
compile software make sure the libraries are install in the ld
path, and that you use the X provided C pre-processor.
C2. Can I run DOS software on the NeXT?
Yes, there is a product called Soft-PC that has been announced
for the NeXT and publicly demonstrated on the NeXT. Contact
Insignia Solutions Inc 408-522-7600
In addition NeXT machines equipped with 2.88Mbyte floppy drives
are able to read and write DOS diskettes (3-1/2" variety!) at
1.44MB or 720Kb in addition to having UNIX filesystems. Consult
the User Manual on initializing disk for DOS or Unix applications.
C3. Can I run Macintosh Programs on my NeXT?
No. However, there is a third party company working on reading
and writing of Mac diskettes.
C4. Can I run tcsh or bash on my NeXT?
If you are simply looking for emacs-like command editing
you can do this with the csh distributed by NeXT by
typing:
set editmode=emacs
or
set editmode=vi
Note that file completion will conflict with vi's use of esc to
leave insert mode, so you may want to map file completion to tab by
adding the following to your ~/.bindings: bind-to-key
FilenameExpansion "\^I"
In addition it is possible to bind control keys to commands
with a .bindings file. Users should seek the csh(1) man page for
more information.
People have ported tcsh and bash to the NeXT. A patch for Bash 1.05
by Jacob Gore (jacob@gore.com) is in the archives, the rest can be ftp'ed
from prep.ai.mit.edu. tcsh binaries for all kinds of machines are
available on tesla.ee.cornell.edu , including binaries for NeXT.
If you install your own shell on a NeXT, you need to add it to
the file /etc/shells so that FTP will work.
C5. Can sound files be used on the Suns and NeXT interchangeably?
Sun OS 4.0.3 stored only raw mulaw files without any extensions, this
format is obsolete, however to convert it to a NeXT snd format you can:
sndconvert -o nextified.snd -f 1 -s 8012.8210513 -c 1 -r sun-sound
Starting with Sun OS release 4.1 they adopted a file format like NeXT's:
A comparison of <multimedia/audio_filehdr.h> on the Sun and
<sound/soundstruct.h> on the NeXT shows the formats to be compatible--
just rename *.au to *.snd for the NeXT.
Sun only implements a subset of NeXT's sound file formats.
Currently these seven are interchangeable:
SND_FORMAT_MULAW_8
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_8
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_16
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_24
SND_FORMAT_LINEAR_32
SND_FORMAT_FLOAT
SND_FORMAT_DOUBLE
While they are all _meaningful_ to the Sun, the standard
SPARCstation hardware only directly supports 8-bit mu-Law at
the CODEC sampling rate.
If you have raw soundfiles (e.g. from SunOS 4.0.3 systems, or
converted from the Macintosh), you can use raw2audio on the Sun
or sndconvert -r on the NeXT to add a sound header.
Languages
---------
L1. What Fortrans compilers are available for the NeXT?
There is a fortran to c translator called f2c available via anonymous
ftp from research.att.com in dist/f2c
There is a guide to installing and using it on sonata.cc.purdue.edu in
pub/next/FAQ/how-to-install-f2c
L2. What Lisps are there for the NeXT?
Scheme is available from altdorf.ai.mit.edu. A quick tutorial on how
to install it on the NeXTs is in the works.
L3. What Pascal compilers are available for the NeXT?
There is a pascal to c translator called p2c available via anonymous
ftp from sonata.cc.purdue.edu
pub/next/2.0-release/source/p2c.tar.Z
L4. What should I know about c++ shipped with the NeXT?
cc++ shipped with the NeXT 2.0 is actually:
NeXT Release 2.0 (v31.1) -- GNU version 1.36.4 (based on GCC 1.36)
libg++ is not provided, you need to compile it (GNU software is
available from prep.ai.mit.edu).
Two things to note about the cc++ on NeXT.
Any C include files have to be specified as below:
extern "C"
{
#include <libc.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>
}
This tells that the code is C++, so you won't have problems with the
standard libraries thinking your program is Objective C.
Also the /usr/include/stdio.h in line 75 has a variable "new"
that conflicts with a g++ keyword. You can redefine it
using
#define new __new__
#include "stdio.h"
#undef new
After the above two fixes, g++ programs that do not
use the g++ class library (and therefore do not need
libg++ to be available) work.
Printing
--------
H1. What alternative printers (laser or otherwise) may be used with
the NeXT? Are there limitations or other considerations of which
I should I be aware.
Adding supported postscript printers is rather simple:
1- get a serial cable (e.g., Macintosh to LaserWriter Plus), but
check whether that works with your printer
(see below for HP-printers)!
2- configure using Print Manager
3- configure printer communication according to manufacturer's
recommendations. (9600 baud software flow control).
If you plan to connect an HP LaserJet (II, IIP, III, etc.) you need to make a special
cable in order for the NeXT 040 and HP to get the hardware handshaking
correct. This is true for whatever version of the OS you are running.
NeXT 68040 to HP LaserJet III Cable (not a Null-modem cable):
Mini-Din HP DB-25
1 (DTR) nc
2 (DCD) 4 (RTS)
3 (TXD) 3 (RXD)
4 (GND) 7 (GND)
5 (RXD) 2 (TXD)
6 (RTS) 5 (CTS)
7 (RTXC) nc
8 (CTS) 20 (DTR)
Then you may want to use hardware flow control for reliability (ie /dev/ttyfa)
Sample printcap entry needs to be loaded into the netinfo database
(you can use either niload printcap . <myprintcap, or use
NetInfoManager to change the br and lp properties of your LaserJet.
Using the default baud rate and /dev/ttya will also work, for most print jobs.)
LaserJet_III: \
:note=LaserJet_III:ty=HP LaserJet III PostScript: \
:sd=/usr/spool/NeXT/LaserJet_III:lp=/dev/ttyfa: \
:lf=/usr/adm/lpd-errs:af=/usr/adm/lp.acct:br=19200:rw:fc#0000374: \
:fs#0000003:xc#0:xs#0040040:mx#0:sf:sb:if=/usr/lib/transcript/psif: \
:of=/usr/lib/transcript/psof:gf=/usr/lib/transcript/psgf: \
:nf=/usr/lib/transcript/psnf:tf=/usr/lib/transcript/pstf: \
:rf=/usr/lib/transcript/psrf:vf=/usr/lib/transcript/psvf: \
:cf=/usr/lib/transcript/pscf:df=/usr/lib/transcript/psdf:
and HP printer configuration:
auto cont = off (doesn't matter)
I/O = serial
serial=rs-232 (for LJ III only)
baud rate = 19200 (or whatever baud rate yo have
in ni database/ printcap)
robust xon = on (doesn't matter)
dtr polarity = hi
startpage = off (doesn't matter)
language=english
ret = med (you choose for LJ III only)
Note that if you modify the printcap this way you cannot reconfigure
this particular printer entry with PrintManager.
If you have problems with other printers, check the cable pinouts in
the printer's manual against the one recommended in the zs man-page!
Refer to Chapter 13 in Network and System Administration. If you
are using 2.0 and you use remote non-next printers, there is a bug
that can be simply corrected by doing "dwrite system PrinterResolution
1" for each user trying to access non-next printers on the network.
This not a problem in 2.1.
H2. What fonts can I use on my NeXT?
Properly packaged Type 1 or 3 postscript fonts will work on the NeXT,
certain conversions may be necessary to get them to work. Freeware
and shareware fonts are available on sonata.cc.purdue.edu. There
are utilities on the next to download fonts into postscript printers.
Purdue (nova and sonata) have freeware and shareware type 1 and 3
fonts in pub/next/misc
Each file unpacks into it's own directory. Within each directory is a
ReadMe.rtf and a Makefile. See the ReadMe.rtf for more font descriptions and
installation instructions. (You may also find comments in the Makefile of
interest.)
These packages were prepared by Doug Brenner <dbrenner@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu>
Fonts generated by Fontographer don't work in Display PostScript
immediately. They use a memory management trick that screws everything up
in a multitasking environment like DPS. However, there is a simple, though
kludgy, way to make them work, worked out by Glenn Reid. Contact Jacob
Gore <jacob@gore.com> for details. You will probably also want to modify
the .afm file headers to make the fonts fit better in the organization used
by the NextStep Font Panel (i.e., separate the weight and angle from the
title).
Fonts may be purchased from Adobe (800-USA-FONTS), RightBrain Software (800-
4-RBRAIN), and The Font Company (800-442-FONT).
For those interested in doing Russian documents, there is a
CyrillicGothic.pkg file at archive sites. (right now in the
submissions directory, it may be moved elsewhere.)
H3. How can I save my WriteNow [or other printable] documents to a
postscript file?
It's easy. Just select PRINT from the main WriteNow menu, then select
SAVE from the resulting print panel.
H4. How can I print only the even or odd pages of a document? I wish
print on both sides by feeding the paper through twice.
We must recommend against re-using laser printed paper in your
printers. The reason is that the toner which is used is not very
robust, in that when heated again (which happens when you print) it
can come off the other side of the paper. This causes a mess to
accumulate in your printer, and probably some pretty rude things to
happen.
Now to address the even/odd stuff, essentially you need to write
a postscript filter which extracts every other page. So you
would save your WriteNow document to postscript file, run the filters, and
then print the two documents with lpr. There is no packaged filter
on the NeXT to do this. Corey Satten <corey@cac.washington.edu> wrote
a toolkit to deal with this issue. It is on ftphost.cac.washington.edu
ps-* in the local/bin-next{1.0,2.0} directories.
H5. What can I do to prevent my NeXT printer from running all the time?
The NeXT 400dpi printer powers up every time you boot up when the
print daemon is started (/usr/lib/NextPrinter/npd in /etc/rc). Apart
from not running the daemon at boot time (commenting it out and having
to run it by hand later), you can add the following lines to /etc/rc.local
if [ -f /usr/etc/nppower ]; then
sleep 3
/usr/etc/nppower off
(echo 'powering off NeXTprinter') >/dev/console
fi
to immediate turn off the printer. Once you queue a print job the printer
daemon will automatically power up the NeXT printer for you. The printer
daemon will not automatically power off the machine after a print job,
you will need to turn off the printer by typing /usr/etc/nppower off.
H6. How do I get banner pages on my printer output?
There is a sample banner prologue file in /usr/lib/NextPrinter that is
sent to the printer before or after the print job depending on what
printer attributes are set in NetInfo. Sounds gross, but it isn't.
Start up NetInfo on your printer machine. Go to the printer
directory, and open up your local printer by double clicking it.
Select the append property from Directory menu. Replace the
name with BannerAfter (or BannerBefore if you want the banner page
printed first). The select the New Value option, and put in
the name of the banner prologue file. If you do not wish to do
fancy customization of the file, simply put the path to the NeXT
sample banner file: /usr/lib/NextPrinter/banner.pro
Save out the netinfo modifications.
H7. How do I get [la]TeX files to print correctly on non-NeXT printers?
If you are printing to a non-NeXT printer from NeXT TeX using dvips,
make sure you specify the correct resolution (300 dpi, usually),
either on the command line with -D300, or in the
/usr/lib/tex/config.ps file with a line that looks like
D 300
If you are printing from within TeXView, you will have to choose
CustomResolution and enter the correct number (300, usually) because
of the way DefaultResolution defaults to 0.
Disks
-----
D1. What disk drives will work with the NeXT?
First get a copy of NextAnswers and review hardware.586
Most scsi disk drives will work with 2.0 without modifying disktab.
You should read the Network and Systems Administrator manual provided
with all new systems and available on-line on 2.0 extended. There have
been problems with the installation of boot blocks and badly formed
fstab generated by BuildDisk. A disk connected to the NeXT will need
to have a NeXT specific label written to it before it can be properly
recognized by the system. If you get an error message "Invalid Label..."
this indicates that the drive was successfully seen by the NeXT machine
but it does not have the proper label, to install a label use the
/usr/etc/disk program on the raw disk device that the system assigned
to the device and use the label command to write the label onto the disk.
[how the NeXT assigns disk devices is explained in the N&SA manual]
NeXT provides a low level disk formatter with 2.0, most drives are
already formatted at the factory. The sdform program does not offer
much flexibility.
[If someone is keeping a list of drives that work with the NeXT we
would like to know about it. Also there was talk about Mac drives
*not* working on the NeXT due to their implementation of the
SCSI standard.]
D2. How do I customize BuildDisk to create a bootable disk of my own
configuration?
The BuildDisk application is extremely limited in terms of the
types of disks configuration it knows how to build. Essentially it
"knows" about swapdisks, optical disks, 330 and 660 MB SCSI disks.
If you wish to do custom configurations you should look at existing
BLD script files in /etc/BLD.* There is a script which you can
use to specify which BLD script you are using, which disktab entry,
and other useful parameters in /usr/etc/builddisk
Some things to note:
- the fstab installed on the target disk is specified in the newclient
command in the BLD script. standard fstabs are extracted from
/usr/template/client/fstab.*
- the BLD scripts do not put down a new boot block on the scsi disk,
you may want to install one by hand using the /usr/etc/disk program.
- some disks boot fine but NeXTstep comes up with a blank window and
no login window. This is due sometimes to forgetting to install
an accessible /NextLibrary/{Fonts,Sounds} In general you need
quite a lot of things to make a bootable disk.
Mike Carlton adds - you can build a minimally usable bootable floppy
(for crash recovery purposes). There is a modified version of
builddisk (to make it support building floppies, a minimal change) and
a BLD script to build the boot floppy available at cs.orst.edu in
next/sources/Bootfloppy.tar.Z. (I put this together in response to
several requests.)
D3. How much disk space is lost due to formatting and file system overhead?
Rex Pruess (rpruess@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu) offers the following explanation:
Let's assume you bought a disk drive advertised with 400 MB unformatted
capacity. Vendors are not consistent with the MB definition. You may
have much less space less than you think you have. Which of the following
did you buy?
400 * 1000 * 1000 = 400,000,000 bytes
400 * 1024 * 1000 = 409,600,000 bytes
400 * 1024 * 1024 = 419,430,400 bytes
The disk must be formatted. This is often done by the vendor, but
occasionally by the user. Formatting maps the disk into sectors. Space
is reserved for the disk geometry and bad sectors. Formatting can take
10-20% of the capacity depending on the sector size. Common sector sizes
are 512 and 1024. Generally, bigger sectors mean less waste.
Once formatted, the UNIX file system must be created. On the NeXT, this
is one of the steps performed by the BuildDisk application. It invokes
the mkfs command to make a file system. This reserves space for the UNIX
file system (e.g., superblocks, inode tables). This overhead can take
another 2-3% of the available disk space.
If you issue the df command, you may be surprised to see another 10% the
available disk space has disappeared. The df command shows the total,
used, and available disk space. The df units are in kbytes (1024 bytes).
The sum of the used and available numbers will generally be about 10%
less than the total kbytes. This space is reserved to allow the UNIX
file system to be efficient in its storage allocation. If your disk
fills up, only the superuser can store files in the remaining 10%.
To complete the picture, here's a snapshot of what may occur:
Capacity Lost/Used/Reserved Reason
(in bytes) (in bytes)
419,430,000 19,430,000 Marketing hype (~5%)
400,000,000 60,000,000 Formatting (~15%)
340,000,000 6,800,000 UNIX file system (~2%)
333,200,000 33,320,000 Efficiency & superuser (~10%)
299,880,000 - -
For more information, refer to the df and mkfs man pages.
D4. Can I run my SCSI-2 disks in synchronous mode?
Quick answer is: No! Reason is that the NeXT does not support synchronous
transfers from the SCSI bus. It does support SCSI-2 disks running in
asynchronous mode, which all SCSI-2 disks must do.
D5. How do I configure my HP 660 to boot properly?
It has been reported that HP drives fail to autoboot on power on or while
other devices are on the scsi bus. The problem seems to be with drives
configured to spin-up automatically on power on do not get recognized at
boot time. To remedy this problem reliably with HP 660Mb [model number anyone?
is this the HP97544?] and 1Gbyte (HP 97549) drives remove the auto spinup
jumper on the back of the drive. Looking at the disk from the back
with the power connector on the lower left, it is the sixth jumper.
Misc
----
M1. Is there any way to change the text in the title bar of a terminal window?
No. Not even in Stuart 2.0... However Scott Hess may be working on this
in the future.
M2. Can I put both an 030 and an 040 system board in a single NeXT cube?
[Note that we have no first hand experience with this problem, we
have compiled what we consider to be an accurate report. We acknowledge
conflicting reports where appropriate.]
In general Mach may be configured as a multiprocessor operating system;
however, the NeXT kernel is only configured to deal with one processor.
This configuration can not be changed without access to the kernel
sources. [hopefully NeXT will offer a multiprocessor version of the NeXT
operating system at some future date]
Some have asked about the possibility of installing the 030 board
for use as a printserver or other CPU-intensive task server. In this
hypothetical setup, each CPU would run its own copy of the operating
system (essentially two different computers sharing the same cube).
This might be workable except for the fact that even if the NBIC
(NextBus Interface Chip) chip is removed, the CPU board probes the
bus for slot ID [**a conflicting report comes from Richard Dib who
heard that someone ran a cube with the CPU in another slot].
You could do hardware modification to the 030 board which would
isolate it enough to use only the cube as a power supply, however
you can not run two monochrome monitor heads off the cube power supply.
In this case you would probably want to first boot the 030 with a
display head, set the boot prom to boot off ttya, and attach an
ascii terminal to that serial port.
M3. Where is libc.a under 2.0?
From the developer's release notes concerning the 2.0 NeXT Operating System
Software available on-line with 2.0 extended:
/NextLibrary/Documentation/NextDev/ReleaseNotes/OperatingSystem.rtf
- libc.a is not shipped with release 2.0. All routines contained in
libc.a are also contained in the shared library libsys.a which
should be used instead of libc.a. libc.a is not shipped because
as a normal archive it is impossible for improvements and system
interface changes made to library routines to be applicable to
existing applications without those applications being relinked.
Applications referencing shared libraries, because they are bound
at runtime, always access the most recent release. Release 1.0
applications linked against libc.a may not be compatible with
release 2.0 until they are relinked with libsys.a.
M4. How do I get pictures of people from remote sites to appear in Mail.app?
In /LocalLibrary/Images/People put a tiff (64x64) in the form of
person@remote.site.domain (all lowercase).
In /LocalLibrary/Images/People/passwd add an entry for the person:
person@remote.site.domain:*:-2:-2::/nodir:/noshell
(person and sitename need to be all lowercase as well)...
In the future anytime you get mail from the person their
picture should appear.
M5. How do I access the "help" facilities in Mathematica? I am running a 1.0
binary on a 2.0/1 system!
While the help dialog doesn't show anything, you can get
the help info by clicking on the place where the slider
bar should be. This tidbit doesn't seem to work on all
systems though, and will be irrelevant once the new version
of Mathematica comes out (WHY IS IT SO LATE!!!).
Editors:
Pascal Chesnais lacsap@media.mit.edu
John Garnett garnett@cs.utexas.edu
Erik Kay erikkay@athena.mit.edu
Copyright 1991 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
This compilation is meant primarily as a service to the comp.sys.next
community. Newsletter editors wishing to excerpt from this work
for publication should consider using local electronic bulletin boards
to disseminate this information rather than preparing hardcopies.
This allows for readers to access the most recent information, and
perhaps save a couple of trees.
We do not collect any royalties, charge any fees, or compensate
anyone in connection with this endeavor.
--
Pascal Chesnais, Research Specialist, Electronic Publishing Group
Media Laboratory, E15-351, 20 Ames Street, Cambridge, Ma, 02139 (617) 253-0311
email: lacsap@plethora.media.mit.edu (NeXT)