[comp.sys.3b1] date & time at top of screen

scott@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Scott Hazen Mueller) (02/06/91)

Lately on my 3B-1 with 3.51 software the part of the line of text at the very
top of the screen where the date and time are usually displayed, there instead
will be a strip of stippled background pattern.  When this happens, logging
out and back in again doesn't help, but rebooting does bring the date and time
back, for a while at least, but eventually (like on the order of several hours)
the date and time will disappear and are replaced by the stippled background
pattern again.

In addition to the date and time disappearing, when that area of the display
turns into a stippled pattern, the envelope icon doesn't come up when I have
e-mail.

Can anyone shed some light on what may be going on here?

Is there something I can do to bring the date and time back when it disappears
that is less drastic than rebooting?

-Michael Aramini
 3B-1 at home:  ...!apollo!mja!aramini
 work:  aramini@apollo.com  -or-  ...!apollo!aramini

brankin@cbnewsk.att.com (william.t.rankin) (02/06/91)

In article <9102060058.AA11602@xuucp.ch.apollo.hp.com> mja!aramini writes:
>Lately on my 3B-1 with 3.51 software the part of the line of text at the very
>top of the screen where the date and time are usually displayed, there instead
>will be a strip of stippled background pattern.  When this happens, logging
>out and back in again doesn't help, but rebooting does bring the date and time
>back, for a while at least, but eventually (like on the order of several
>hours)
>the date and time will disappear and are replaced by the stippled background
>pattern again.

>Can anyone shed some light on what may be going on here?

Sounds like your screen manager (smgr) is dying.
Do a "ps -fe" and see if 'smgr' is one on the processes.

>Is there something I can do to bring the date and time back when it disappears
>that is less drastic than rebooting?

login as root and run smgr again.  this should bring it back.
when this happened to me, my fix was to reload smgr from the
distribution disks.  it seems that it somehow had gotten itself
corrupted.

>-Michael Aramini
> 3B-1 at home:  ...!apollo!mja!aramini
> work:  aramini@apollo.com  -or-  ...!apollo!aramini

-bill rankin
wtr@bromo.att.com

bruce@balilly.UUCP (Bruce Lilly) (02/07/91)

In article <9102060058.AA11602@xuucp.ch.apollo.hp.com> mja!aramini writes:
>Lately on my 3B-1 with 3.51 software the part of the line of text at the very
>top of the screen where the date and time are usually displayed, there instead
>will be a strip of stippled background pattern.  [ ... ]

smgr's window...

>In addition to the date and time disappearing, when that area of the display
>turns into a stippled pattern, the envelope icon doesn't come up when I have
>e-mail.

Also an smgr function...

>Can anyone shed some light on what may be going on here?

smgr died.

>Is there something I can do to bring the date and time back when it disappears
>that is less drastic than rebooting?

Type:
/bin/su root -c /etc/smgr
and type in the root password at the prompt.

Next step is to figure out what is killing smgr...

	Bruce Lilly		blilly!balilly!bruce@sonyd1.Broadcast.Sony.COM
--
	Bruce Lilly		blilly!balilly!bruce@sonyd1.Broadcast.Sony.COM

donlash@uncle.uucp (Donald Lashomb) (02/08/91)

In article <9102060058.AA11602@xuucp.ch.apollo.hp.com> mja!aramini writes:
=Lately on my 3B-1 with 3.51 software the part of the line of text at the very
=top of the screen where the date and time are usually displayed, there instead
=will be a strip of stippled background pattern.  When this happens, logging
[...]
=In addition to the date and time disappearing, when that area of the display
=turns into a stippled pattern, the envelope icon doesn't come up when I have
=e-mail.
=
=Can anyone shed some light on what may be going on here?

etc/smgr is getting killed (or hung) somehow.  A ps -elf may let you know.

=Is there something I can do to bring the date and time back when it disappears
=that is less drastic than rebooting?

You could restart smgr "by hand" as root.  Look in /etc/rc to see how it is
called.

Maybe someone more knowlegable than me will also reply to your post.  The
real question is what's killing smgr.

Don		donlash@uncle.UUCP