[SPARCbook] Help

[sparcbook at sunhelp.org]

- I did try to run 'bash' but it was unknown to the machine. I assumed
that it would be there since it took forever to install Solaris 2.6!  With
the command 'echo $SHELL' I discovered that I was running sh. Thanks for
the help; I will try to find bash at the URL suggested.

- I am curious to know what browser most of the SparcBook owners use.
Solaris 2.6 has a browser and StarOffice 5.2, which I installed but have
not tried yet, seems to have a browser as well.  I downloaded Netscape
4.72 (the version for Solaris 2.5.1; I did not find a version for Solaris
2.6) and installed it easily, but (!), it does not want to run! it
complains that it cannot access the screen!  How do you allow it to access
the screen?

- I discovered still another problem when I tried to use the internal
modem!  I issued the command "tip modem", the machine did a "file synch
operation" and informed me that I needed to run "fsck" which I did; I had
to correct some number that had to be 1 and was 2.
After rebooting the machine, I was able to run the sequence 'tip modem
atdtxxxxxxx';  when the machine connected, I could not read the response;
I believe, the number of bits and parity may have been set incorrectly.
But I could not determine how to set these.  There was a mention of some
config files in "man tip" but no indication of the format required to
enter the data in these files that must be created because they do not
exist.
Subsequently, I issued the command "~." to supposedly disconnect.  But I
could not get the prompt back ... so I killed the console.  WHEN I TRIED
TO RUN "tip" AGAIN THE MACHINE DECIDED TO RESYNCH THE FILES AGAIN; I again
had to run fsck  and reboot!

- I went to the MicroCenter store and tried to find a book that would
explain some of the subtleties of UNIX.  After looking at a dozen or so
books, I came to the conclusion that UNIX instruction books were written
for people who already know UNIX and not for those who want to learn UNIX
without the help of a third party.  Can any one suggest a book that
contains instruction on how to do things rather than talk profusely about
them without showing how to use them!

Oscar Farah



Oscar.G.Farah at census.gov wrote:
>
> HELP!
>
> 1.  When using Linux or Windows 2000, I can press the up button and
recall
> previous commands; this is very useful to me since I am a lousy typist.
> Can you do that with UNIX on a 3XP??

Keep in mind Solaris isn't Linux.  A lot of GNU utilities come
preinstalled with Linux.  These don't come with Solaris, but you can
download them.

What you're looking for is bash or tcsh.  Go download and install these
from www.sunfreeware.com, and get them for the correct
version of Solaris that you're running.

They'll be in compressed Sun Package format, so you'll have to have gzip
first.

For example if you have  downloaded bash-2.0-Sol26-sparc.pkg.gz
type in gzip -d downloaded bash-2.0-Sol26-sparc.pkg.gz  Which will
uncompress the package to bash-2.0-Sol26-sparc.pkg

You can then install it with pkgadd -d bash-2.0-Sol7-sparc.pkg

It should show up as /usr/local/bin/bash

You'll have to edit /etc/passwd to switch your default shell to bash, but
be careful when you type in the path or you won't be able
to log in.  Also you shouldn't switch the root account to use bash. Switch
your user account.  (You should only login as root to
fix problems.  It's a huge security risk if you run the wrong program,
etc.)


> 2.  With Linux I can use the alias command to replace a long command
with
> a short string; viz. if I issue the command dir='ls -aFl ' then to get
"ls
> -aFl" all I need to do is issue the command "dir".  This does not seem
to
> work with the 3XP; when I issue the command dir='ls -aFl', the machine
> accepts it but when I type "dir" I get a "dir - not recognized"
response?

Once you install bash, you can type in alias BLAH='ls'
Now when you type in BLAH it will give you a directory listing.


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  /|\  :masked killer, but  |don't email them, or put them on a web  \|/
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