XFree86 5.0 on YDL (was: special caracters on german keyboard)

[Alexander Holst]

Hi Lukas,

Am Freitag, 03.10.03, um 09:20 Uhr (Europe/Berlin) schrieb Lukas M=FCller:=


> Hi Alexander,
>
>
> thanks very much again for your help. everything works fine and have=20=

> finally all my caracters to start writing my c++ prgramms:-)
>
> stubid me had a german keyboard layout selected "de", so i tabbed and=20=

> tabbed=85 now with de_ch its fine.
>
> well, just two more questions, would be cool if you could answer them=20=

> too ;-)
>
> 1. i have created an additional HFS partition on my HD for sharing=20
> files between YLD and OSX, but i cant find this partition running YDL.=20=

> now, can YDL read a HFS partitions at all?

Yes, it can - depending on the support from the kernel. If you are=20
using the standard kernel supplied by YDL, HFS support (notably *not*=20
HFS+ support!! - so make sure the partition is HFS and not HFS+) is=20
compliled as a module. If you are running on a custom compiled kernel,=20=

you have to make sure that HFS support is at least enabled in form of a=20=

module and then compile. By default, kudzu will not make any entries in=20=

/etc/fstab for partitions that contain a HFS filesystem, nor can you do=20=

so during installation like you could through the 2.3 installer. So you=20=

are left with creating them yourself if you want to be able to access=20
these partitions all the time. Otherwise, "mount -t hfs /dev/hdXX=20
/mnt/NameForHFS" will do, if you only have to do this every now and=20
then.

In case you want your HFS partition to be mounted at boot time, edit=20
/etc/fstab to contain a line like:

/dev/sda6               /mnt/Boot_Linux         hfs     defaults       =20=

0 0

Replace /dev/sda6 for the partition of the desired drive that holds the=20=

HFS data (hdXX for IDE drives and sdXX for SCSII drives). In case you=20
don't know the partition number, use either "parted" or "pdisk" to list=20=

the contents of the partition tables of your drives - read the man=20
pages of both tools before playing around with them!! - incorrect usage=20=

of both of them can cause permanent loss of [all] data, be warned.

Relpace /mnt/Boot_Linux with a directory under which the HFS file=20
system should be mounted. The directory has to exist and should be=20
empty (or otherwise you won't see it's contents, untill you unmount the=20=

file system again).

Also be aware, that the above line will mount the partition read/write,=20=

but writing to HFS is still considered experimental. Do not mount any=20
HFS partitions under Linux that hold crucial/important data. Frequent=20
writes to HFS from within Linux can cause the HFS filesystem to go=20
"kaputt" and a tool like "FirstAid" or "Norton-Utilities" is needed for=20=

recovery on the Mac OS side. A good advice is to frequently check the=20
transfer partition with "FirstAid" when booted back into any sort of=20
Mac OS (at least that's what I experienced when I had one machine=20
running both OSes). Read the man pages for "mount" and "fstab" to get=20
behind other features.

Another way to accomplish safe transfers between Linux and Mac OS would=20=

be the use of mol (Mac On Linux - a virtual machine for running Mac OS=20=

as a process under Linux - it is extensively documented, start by=20
reading the man page for mol). Once you get mol running, you can enable=20=

an AFP server (the package is called netatalk) on the Linux side and=20
mount it under Mac OS through the chooser. This way, you can work=20
simultaniously under Linux and Mac OS and transfer data between the two=20=

OSes. *Never* attempt to mount a partiton under Mac OS and Linux at the=20=

same time through the use of mol! AFAIK, mol prevents this by default,=20=

or at least warns you about that, but you can force it to happen and=20
create all sorts of havoc this way.

> 2. since YDL runs XFree86 4.3, i cant install libraries using at least=20=

> version 5.0 (for example less-TIF). do you know a secure way to=20
> upgrade to 5.0 or higher without trashing my hole linux??? ( already=20=

> messed around with XFree86 quite a lot when i tried first to install=20=

> debain on my g4)

No, sorry I can't comment on that, as I do not have the need to run any=20=

other version of X on my machines other than the ones that got=20
installed by YDL :(

I changed the subject and CCed this to the YDL list, so maybe someone=20
from the list can comment on this issue.

Greetings,
Alex

Alexander Holst
Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences
<holst@fh-pforzheim.de>
ph: +49 [0]7231 28-6837
fx: +49 [0]7231 28-6040