Dear SCO Customer: Enclosed is Support Level Supplement (SLS) xnx296, the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN. It is essential to read this entire letter before beginning to install this update in order to insure proper configuration of your particular system. The SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN contains various modifications for the SCO XENIX 386 Operating System Releases 2.3.2 or 2.3.3. However, there are some release specific issues that should be taken into account. When considering the release of your operating system, there are two sources to check. First check the release of the kernel that is running, and then check the release of the files and utilities of the operating system. These two releases are usually, but not necessarily, the same. The release of the kernel may be obtained with the uname(C) command. To determine the kernel release, type the following command (note that the '#' character is the superuser's shell prompt; do not type it): # uname -r To determine the release of the operating system files and utilities, type the following command: # grep rel= /etc/perms/inst The enclosed SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN only updates the kernel release to 2.3.3, and does not update all files and utilities to the latest release. It does update some files and utilities, however, which are noted below. SLS xnx296 can only be applied to systems running SCO XENIX 386 Operating System Release 2.3.2 or 2.3.3. SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN is the fourth supplement which updates the kernel to release 2.3.3. The others are: UFJ shipped with SCO VP/ix Update A and SCO Xsight Release 2.2 UFM 2.0 (SLS xnx155) formerly available from SCO Support UFM 2.1 (SLS xnx155b) formerly available from SCO Support UFN 1.0 (SLS xnx296) replaces and supercedes these earlier supplements. UFN contains all the enhancements of these earlier supplements including support for SCO VP/ix and SCO Xsight, as well as new enhancements, including support for SCO Portfolio Release 2.0. 1 IMPORTANT NOTES FOR UFN RELEASE 1.0 ----------------------------------- Before installing UFN please read the following notes. When you are ready to proceed with the installation follow the instructions in the section entitled "Installation". Updating From UFJ ----------------- If you installed the Maintenance Disk UFJ prior to installing the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN, you should remove the perms file "/etc/perms/xos.UFJ" from the system. This file is no longer required, since the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN is a superset of the Maintenance Disk UFJ. Removing this file will prevent custom(ADM) from needlessly asking you for the UFJ volumes if you ever reinstall the LINK kit. To remove this file, type the following command at the root prompt: # rm /etc/perms/xos.UFJ Updating From UFM 2.0 and 2.1 ----------------------------- If you are updating from SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFM Release 2.0 or 2.1 (SLS xnx155 or xnx155b) you will need to first remove the file /etc/perms/xos.UFM before installing the new SLS. This file is no longer required, since the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN is a superset of the Maintenance Disk UFM. Removing this file will prevent custom(ADM) from needlessly asking you for the UFM volumes if you ever reinstall the LINK kit. To remove this file, type the following command at the next root prompt: # rm /etc/perms/xos.UFM Color Console SLS xnx263 ------------------------ The color console SLS xnx263 is included in UFN. Because of this, the color console SLS should NOT be applied after UFN. SunRiver Technical Support Note ------------------------------- If SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN is installed on SCO XENIX Operating System Release 2.3.2, the SunRiver driver (release 1.0.5 or earlier) will not install correctly. The result will be that the system will panic the first time a key is pressed on a SunRiver station. To correct this problem, follow these steps: Note: The following instructions assume that release 1.0.5 of the SunRiver driver is used. If release 1.0.5 is not available, please contact SunRiver technical support. (1) Remove the SunRiver driver (if it is installed). (2) Install the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN supplement (if it is not already installed). 2 (3) Install SunRiver driver release 1.0.5. Do not turn on any stations (to avoid system panic). (4) Insert the SunRiver driver diskette and execute the following commands (you must be root): cd /usr/sys/conf tar -xv2 ./tmp/libsr3.a mv ./tmp/libsr3.a libsr.a rmdir ./tmp ./link_xenix ./hdinstall (5) Shutdown the system and reboot. The stations should work now. The next release of the SunRiver driver (1.0.6) will correct the problem. Please note that no matter which release of the SunRiver driver is used (1.0.5 or above), the SunRiver driver must be reinstalled after SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN is installed. Parity Error Panics After Installing UFN ---------------------------------------- If your system PANICS with a "parity error" when rebooting, after having installed SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN Release 1.0, this may be the result of incorrect video adapter settings on your EGA or VGA card. To eliminate this problem, you must disable the autoswitch feature on the card. See your video card's documentation for information on how to disable the autoswitch feature. Parity errors may also result from actual defective RAM chips. SCO XENIX 2.3.2 does not detect these errors. When SLS UFN is installed, the system may begin to panic due to a pre-existing memory problem which was not being detected. If Your Kernel Relink Fails --------------------------- If your installation of SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN Release 1.0 fails, it may be necessary to remove and reinstall your LINK kit package before you will be able to achieve a proper installation. The following is the recommended procedure for removing and re-installing the operating system LINK kit package: This procedure will remove all the object modules that comprise the LINK package, as well as any that have been added by the installation of any device drivers from third party vendors. You will have to reinstall third party device drivers after reinstalling the LINK kit. This will also remove any changes you have made to tunable kernel parameters via the configure(C) command. You may want to write down the current value of any tunable parameters that you have changed. 3 Log in as root and bring the machine into single user mode. Run any de-installation scripts or procedures provided by any third party vendors to remove their drivers. In addition, if you know that the third party software provides an "initialization" or "startup" program that is run upon going into multi-user mode you may want to check the /etc/rc file or the files in the directory /etc/rc.d/8 for any such program and remove or comment it out if necessary; some de-installation scripts may fail to do this. Also, third party multi-port board drivers add entries to the /etc/ttys file. You may need to disable these ttys if you relink a new kernel after removing and reinstalling the LINK kit without reinstalling these drivers. Otherwise, the following message may appear on the console: getty: cannot open "tty..". errno: 6 Next, type in the following command: # mv /usr/sys /usr/sys.bak This will make a backup copy of your existing /usr/sys directory and everything below it. Next, run custom. From the first custom menu, choose "The Operating System." Next choose the option "Remove one or more packages," indicating the package 'LINK' as the package to remove. Custom will now remove all files associated with the package LINK on the filesystem. The reason you need to perform the first step of removing the entire /usr/sys directory is to remove files that custom does not show as part of the LINK kit, such as third party device driver modules. The third step is to choose the option "Install one or more packages," and then type in 'LINK' as the package to install. Custom will then prompt you for various floppies from the operating system diskettes. After extracting the appropriate files, it will perform the LINK Kit serialization and ask you for the serial number and activation key. Use the operating system serial number and activation key. You have now reinstalled the LINK kit. If you choose "List the available packages," you should see a "Yes" under the 'Inst' column, indicating that the LINK kit is entirely installed. You should now proceed with the installation of UFN after which you will need to re-install your tape driver and other device drivers. You may also need to run "configure" and make changes to tunable kernel parameters which will have been reset to defaults in the new LINK kit. If you wish to free up the disk space occupied by the backup copy of the /usr/sys directory, issue these commands: # cd /usr # rm -rf sys.bak 4 Mouse Support ------------- o A keyboard mouse on a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) machine is not supported with this Maintenance Supplement UFN. o The following procedure should be performed if you intend to use the Logitech C9 serial mouse with SCO XENIX Operating System Release 2.3: To use the Logitech C9 serial mouse you must run the mouse in mode #4. To do this, you need to modify the file /usr/lib/event/devices. The file /usr/lib/event/devices contains entries for the supported mouse devices. Search for the line starting with "mousel4". Note that the character is the letter 'l', not the number '1'. Uncomment this line and the two lines following it by removing the "#" character from the beginning of each line. A before and after example follow: Before ------ # Logitech serial mouse: Mouse Systems Corp. PC Mouse Emulation mode # mousel4 /dev/tty1a RELb lt4_serial \ # NAME="Logitech serial mouse" \ # INIT="*nNU" STTY="CS8 1200 -IXOFF" SENSITIVITY=2000 # After ----- # Logitech serial mouse: Mouse Systems Corp. PC Mouse Emulation mode mousel4 /dev/tty1a RELb lt4_serial \ NAME="Logitech serial mouse" \ INIT="*nNU" STTY="CS8 1200 -IXOFF" SENSITIVITY=2000 # If you have previously installed a mouse on your system, you should run mkdev mouse and choose to "Remove a mouse from the system" using option 3. Also choose to "Remove the mouse drivers from the kernel" using option 6. While running option 6, you may be asked: "Do you want to remove the mouse devices from the /dev directory? (y/n)". Answer 'y' to this question. To save time, do not relink the kernel at this point. Next, "Add a mouse to the system" using option 2. Use the mouse called "Logitech serial mouse: Mouse Systems emulation mode(4)" as the mouse to install. You must relink the kernel, make it the default kernel, reboot and enter multi-user mode. cd /usr/sys/conf ./link_xenix ./hdinstall /etc/shutdown You can test the mouse with the following command: # usemouse -t vi -c "view /etc/termcap" 5 The cursor should move as the mouse moves, the left button should take you to the top of the file, the middle button should delete the current character and the right button should take you to the bottom of the file. This will allow the Logitech C9 serial mouse to work correctly. INSTALLATION ------------ In order to install properly, you will need at least 4400 (512-byte) blocks free on the root filesystem. The installation will automatically abort if there is not sufficient disk space. You may determine the number of free blocks on the root filesystem beforehand by typing the command: # df -v /dev/root To begin the installation of the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN, bring the system into single user mode and issue the command: # /etc/custom If you are installing from a secondary floppy disk drive instead of the primary (boot) drive, you must enter the command below. Note the presence of the numeral '1' after the word "install" in the device name: # /etc/custom -m /dev/install1 You will see a menu similar to the following: 1. Operating System 2. Development System 3. Text Processing System 4. Add a Supported Product Choose selection 4, "Add a Supported Product". You will then be prompted to insert distribution volume 1. At this point, insert the diskette labeled UFN1 and press . If you are running SCO XENIX 386 Operating System Release 2.3.0 or 2.3.1, a warning will be printed and you will be asked if you wish to continue. Answer "No". UFN can only be installed on SCO XENIX 386 Operating System Release 2.3.2. You will be asked if you have a tape drive installed on your machine. If you answer y(es) you will be prompted to remove it. It is strongly recommended that you do remove your tape driver; failure to do so is likely to result in problems with creating a new kernel during the installation of UFN. Since the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN contains a new termcap(M) file, the current /etc/termcap will be backed up to /etc/termcap.N where N is a two digit number. If you have made any special modifications to the existing /etc/termcap file, you may extract them from /etc/termcap.N and merge them into the new /etc/termcap upon completion of the installation of UFN. It will then ask you for distribution volume UFN1. Since this is already in the drive, press . 6 It will then ask you for distribution volume UFN2. Remove volume UFN1, insert volume UFN2 and press . After all files are extracted from volumes UFN1 and UFN2, you will be asked if you wish to relink the kernel. Answer 'y'. You will then be asked if you wish this kernel to boot by default. Answer 'y' to this question also. If you are installing the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN on a computer based on Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), you will next be asked if you are installing on an IBM PS/2 model P70 Portable with a Plasma screen display. If you are installing the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN on this machine, answer 'y'. Upon completion, you will be returned to the following menu from custom(ADM): 1. Install one or more packages 2. Remove one or more packages 3. List the available packages 4. List the files in a package 5. Install a single file 6. Select a new set to customize 7. Display current disk usage 8. Help You have completed the update and you may now exit out of custom(ADM). Type 'q' to quit. At this point you need to reinstall any tape driver that you removed in the first part of the installation of UFN. See the following sections on reinstalling IBM 6157 and Irwin Tape Drivers. For other types of tape drives, simply execute "mkdev tape" as you did when first installing the drive. After this tape reinstallation you will need to reboot your system to activate the new kernel. To do this execute the command: # /etc/shutdown To Reinstall an IBM 6157 Tape Driver ------------------------------------ After installing the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN Release 1.0, you may reinstall your 6157 tape driver by invoking the "mkdev tape" command at the next shell prompt. At the menu, select option "1" to "Install a Tape Driver". Now select option "1" again to "Install a Cartridge Tape Driver". You will then be asked if you are installing a 6157 tape drive. Answer "y". You will then see a Tape configuration menu. Quit out of this menu and your 6157 tape driver will be automatically configured. 7 Next you will be asked: You must create a new kernel to effect the driver change you specified. Do you wish to create a new kernel now? (y/n) Answer "y". You will then be asked: Do you want this kernel to boot by default? (y/n) Answer "y". To Reinstall an IRWIN Mini-Cartridge Tape Driver ------------------------------------------------ Use the following procedures to install the mini-cartridge tape driver. To install the Irwin driver, invoke the command: # mkdev irwin At the menu pick the option to: Install Tape Driver Next you will be asked: You must create a new kernel to effect the driver change you specified. Do you wish to create a new kernel now? (y/n) Answer "y". You will then be asked: Do you want this kernel to boot by default? (y/n) Again, answer "y". You will be asked: Do you wish to update your emergency Boot/Root floppy? (y/n) You should answer "y" so that an emergency Boot/Root floppy with the appropriate tape device on it can be created for you. This is vital in the case of a system crash where you need to boot from your emergency Boot/Root floppy and restore data from your backup tape. At the menu, pick the appropriate option for the type of floppy you are using. At the next menu, pick the option for: Root and Boot (for 96ds15 and 135ds18 floppies only) unless you have 48ds9, or 135ds9 floppies, in which case you need to first pick the option for: Bootable only 8 followed by the option for: Root filesystem only This is because 48ds9 and 135ds9 floppies cannot fit the amount of data needed for a single Root/Boot floppy. In either case, you will be asked: Would you like to format the floppy first? (y/n) in case your floppy is unformatted. When this process is complete, remove the floppy from the drive and store it in a safe place. FEATURES OF UFN RELEASE 1.0 --------------------------- Below is a description of the features the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN Release 1.0 provides. Kernel Modifications: --------------------- o Modifications that allow the kernel to identify parity errors in memory on industry standard architecture (AT) machines. Upon detection of this type of hardware problem, the kernel will panic and print the message: kernel: PANIC: memory failure - parity error The most common cause of this message is defective or slow memory (RAM) chips on the motherboard or add-on system memory. o Support for the select(S) system call on pipes. This obsoletes SLS xnx129. o Serial driver modifications to support internal modems which cause the system to print the message "Garbage or loose cable on dev " when the modem rings. The SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN should be used in place of SLS xnx128 to correct this problem for SCO XENIX 386 Operating System Release 2.3. SLS xnx128 is still valid for SCO XENIX 386 Operating Systems Release 2.2.3 and SCO XENIX 286 Operating Systems Releases 2.2.3 and 2.3.2. o Serial driver modifications that allow the last 8 ports on a Digiboard PS-COM 16 Port Board to work correctly on MCA machines. o A modification that prevents the system from causing a panic and generating the message: "dfalloc: PANIC: frame not free at exit". o Properly identifies occurrence of DMA channel timeouts and memory parity errors on computers based on MCA. o Corrects a problem that caused the 6157 tape drive to fail to write the last 32K of data to tape on MCA computers which run at speeds greater than 16 Mhz. 9 o A new utility /etc/scopatch was added to the system. This command invokes scripts in the directory /usr/lib/scopatch and maintains a log of the application of patches in /usr/lib/scopatch/patch.log. These scripts apply adb patches to the system, usually to the /xenix kernel. o Corrects a screen flicker problem with the IBM PS/2 Model P70 Portable computer using the Plasma screen display. In order for the video driver to work correctly with the Plasma screen display, it is necessary to put the video adapter in EGA mode. Since the video driver normally puts the video adapter in VGA mode by default, a patch is supplied which will make the driver put the adapter in EGA mode by default. This allows the modifications that correct the screen flicker problem to take affect. As mentioned above, during installation on MCA machines, you will be prompted as to whether or not you have an IBM PS/2 Model P70 Portable system with the Plasma screen display. If you answer 'y', then the patch will be automatically applied for you. If you are not running on an IBM PS/2 Model P70 with the Plasma screen display, you should answer 'n'. The command "scopatch p70" is automatically placed in the "hdinstall" script if you install your system on an IBM PS/2 Model P70 Portable. This will insure that the patch is applied each time you link a new kernel. o A problem which caused peculiarities in the FIFO behavior of message queues during periods of heavy swapping was corrected. o A problem which caused disk activity to cease when using a WD1007A, Adaptec 2322B, or compatible ESDI hard disk controller card is resolved by installing SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN Release 1.0. This support obsoletes SLS xnx133. o SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN Release 1.0 provides full support for monochrome VGA graphics modes. In addition, support has been added to allow the simulation of color modes through gray shading on a monochrome VGA console. Many applications are not designed to support monochrome VGA graphics. These applications can still be used on the system by invoking the command: $ vidi v80x25 before running the applications. o A problem that caused the COMPAQ VDU video display adapters to come up in low resolution mode, after SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFM Release 2.0 or 2.1 (SLS xnx155 or xnx155b) was installed, has been fixed. o COFF binaries that utilize cxenix() system calls are now supported by the kernel. o A new cartridge tape driver has been added to the system. The new driver fixes problems with multi-volume tape backups and the ARCHIVE QIC 02 series tape controllers (VP402/409). In addition, support is now provided for the WANGTEC and TECMAR single chip QIC 02 tape controllers. 10 o A problem which resulted in dashed lines when line drawing characters were used with VGA and EGA monitors under SCO XENIX 386 Operating System Release 2.3 has been fixed. o The Logitech C9 Bus mouse is now supported. This can be added as a standard Logitech Busmouse through the "mkdev mouse" command. This support obsoletes SLS unx204. o An option for the installation of QIC 80 tape drives has been added to mkdev tape. The following QIC-40 and QIC-80 tape drives are now supported by SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN Release 1.0: Vendor Qic-40 Qic-80 ------ ------ ------ Alloy APT-40/Q -- Archive --- XL5580 Mountain TD44-40 TD8000 Tecmar QT-40i -- Wangtek FAD 3500 3080F Support for these drives is now included for the MCA version of the operating system as well. This support obsoletes SLS xnx118. o A problem with properly recognizing some MFM, RLL, and IDE style hard disk controllers was resolved. o A new Irwin mini-cartridge tape driver is supplied with this supplement. Detailed documentation for this new driver is included at the end of this document. o A new pseudo-tty driver was included that supports up to 256 pseudo ttys and the mice associated with them. o A new configure that provides the ability to modify the value of NSPTTYS (up to 256). NSPTTYS reflects the number of pseudo ttys supported. o /usr/sys/conf/master and /usr/sys/conf/space.asm were modified and a new /usr/sys/conf/sizeof.inc was included. These were necessary for compatibility with the new configure which was included in UFN. o Additional ttys were included in /usr/lib/event/ttys. o The color console SLS xnx263 is included in UFN. Because of this, the color console SLS should NOT be applied after UFN. o MS Windows 3 can now be run under SCO VP/ix. Utility Modifications --------------------- o New version of cron(C), derived from SLS xnx080. o New version of cpio(C), from SCO UNIX System V/386 Release 3.2 Operating System. This version of cpio(C) supports the use of the -K option to specify the size of the volume to which it is writing. Multiple volume archives can now be easily created with the -I and -O options. 11 The manual page entry is included in the file /usr/man/cat.C/cpio.C.z. This file has been packed with the pack(C) utility. To unpack it, issue the following command: # unpack /usr/man/cat.C/cpio.C.z o New version of badtrk(ADM), engineered especially to handle large disks. This corrects problems where badtrk(ADM) aborts with the message: "can't malloc". o New version of boot(HW), engineered to boot larger kernels; derived from SLS xnx126. o Version of uusched(ADM) that corrects occasional core dumping. o The uucico(C) from SCO XENIX 386 Operating System Release 2.3.2. o New version of uudemon.clean that does not inadvertently remove UUCP users' home directories from /usr/spool/uucp. o Useful shell scripts that allow multiple file transfers to and from MS-DOS, and allow conversion of filenames from upper-case to lower-case. These scripts are located in /usr/bin and are named fromdos, todos, lcase, ucase. o New version of tic(C) that understands new capabilities, such as color. o New versions of /bin/tar and /usr/bin/compress (linked to /usr/bin/uncompress and /usr/bin/zcat), to enable the uncompression of compressed files as they are extracted from floppies. o New /usr/lib/mkdev/mouse and /usr/lib/event/devices to provide mouse support while running on pseudo ttys. File Modifications ------------------ o An entry in /usr/lib/uucp/Systems for the SCO Online Support System (SOS). The entry is commented out, but may be made available by removing the leading '#' and space. o The latest termcap(M) in /etc/termcap, including the latest dosansi entry which corrects problems with SNA connections. o A new ansi terminfo(M) entry, including the characteristics rmacs, smacs and function key definitions. This entry is located in the file /usr/lib/terminfo/ansi.src, but is not compiled. To compile it, log in as root and issue the following commands: # cd /usr/lib/terminfo # tic ansi.src Note that the SCO XENIX System V Operating System package TERMINF must be installed in order to compile ansi.src with the tic(C) command. 12 NEW IRWIN MINI-CARTRIDGE TAPE DRIVER DOCUMENTATION -------------------------------------------------- The following Irwin Tape Drives and controllers are supported by the SCO XENIX Maintenance Supplement UFN Release 1.0 (SLS xnx 296). Supported Tape Drives --------------------- 110 225 2020 125 245 2040 145 285 2080 787 2120 Supported Controllers --------------------- Primary floppy disk controller Irwin 4251 drive multiplexor board Irwin 4100 bus controller card (For use with the 787 and 2120 drives; xnx298 required on MCA) Supported IRWIN and QIC40/80 Tapes ---------------------------------- The following is a chart of supported pre-formatted tapes available from Irwin Magnetics and 3M Corporation for use with your Irwin Mini-cartridge or QIC 40/80 Tape Drive and SCO XENIX Operating Systems. Irwin 3M Tape Megs Format ----- -- ---- ---- ------ Accutrack 10 Deltamat DC1000 10 Irwin Accutrack 20 Alphamat DC1000 20 Irwin Gammamat DC2000 40 QIC100 Accutrack 40 Kappamat DC2000 40 Irwin Thetamat DC2000 40 QIC40 Accutrack 80 Rhomat(2080) DC2000 80 Irwin In the Event of a System Crash on a System with an IRWIN Mini-Cartridge Tape Drive -------------------------------------------------------- The emergency Boot/Root floppy that has been prepared for you contains all you will need to boot up and issue a restore command after a system crash. When you boot up using your emergency floppy, you will be put in System Maintenance mode at a root prompt. You can then restore your backup using the following two commands: # /etc/mcdaemon # /bin/restore rf /dev/rctmini /dev/hd0root The "/etc/mcdaemon" command starts a daemon process which is necessary to the operation of the Irwin tape drive. When you boot up from the hard disk this daemon is automatically started for you, but when you boot up from your Boot/Root floppy, you need to issue the "/etc/mcdaemon" command before your restore command. The restore command itself restores a root filesystem backup from the Irwin tape device. This command is used for tape backups that are made with the "backup", or "sysadmin" utilities. 13 New MCART Utility for IRWIN Drives ---------------------------------- The new Irwin utility "/bin/mcart" has also been added to your system. It enables you to perform a number of useful functions on your Irwin tape drive. They are summarized below: h This is a help command which allows you to view a list of available "mcart" commands. drive This command provides information about drive type, controller type and unit select. info This command provides information about cartridge state, format and write protect slider position. capacity This command shows the total cartridge capacity in 512 byte blocks after formatting. kapacity This command shows the total cartridge capacity in 1024 byte blocks after formatting. format This command enables you to prepare unformatted tape cartridges for use with your Irwin tape drive. If you are using Accutrack pre-formatted tape cartridges, you will not need to use this command. To use the "format" command, you need to make sure you are using either brand new, unformatted tapes, or bulk (magnetically) erased tapes. Due to problems that arise while formatting tapes, SCO Technical Support is not able to fully support the "format" option. Keeping this in mind, for data integrity reasons, SCO highly recommends that pre-formatted tapes are used with Irwin tape drives. The format option is provided for use at your own risk! rewind This command is used to rewind a tape after a backup or restore has been interrupted. Normally, the tape is rewound automatically. reten This command is used to align a tape that has not been used for a long time, or has been exposed to temperature extremes. The command syntax is: $ mcart command For example, using the "format" option, the command would be: $ mcart format Additional Notes on New IRWIN Support o It is highly recommended that you use Accutrack (or equivalent) pre-formatted tapes. With these tapes, it is unnecessary to bulk erase or format. 14 o The device you write to should be "/dev/rctmini". This device needs to be specified regardless of whether you are writing to the drive with "tar", "backup", "cpio", or some other utility. o Also, regardless of which utility you use to write to the drive, you MUST specify a blocking factor. The recommended blocking factor is "20". o If you do not have pre-formatted tapes, which SCO highly reccomends, you must format your tapes with the "mcart format" command. Before you issue this command, you MUST BULK ERASE the tape to be formatted. If you do not bulk erase your tape, you will not be able to format it. Proper bulk erasing procedures must be followed. Consult the documentation for your bulk eraser. o This supplement replaces SLS xnx146c. IRWIN Mini-Cartridge Wait-For-Index Feature A condition exists in some computers based on MCA that causes errors reading the first sector of each tape block. Included are the IBM PS/2 models 50, 60, and 80, and the Olivetti P-500. On these machines, the wait-for-index feature may need to be enabled in order for the driver to function properly. To enable wait-for-index at the root prompt, enter the following commands: # echo iropt=I >> /etc/default/mcconfig # shutdown Using the wait-for-index algorithm has the following drawback: All user system task time processing is stopped until index polling is complete. This means the user will see sluggish system performance at certain times. Typically, this means a 3 or 4 second dead period at tape track switch time. New IRWIN Mini-Cartridge Driver Error Messages o Block not found: IE_BLKNOTFND(5) A "block not found" error occurs when the driver cannot locate a physical tape block during a read or write operation. Insure the tape head is clean (see the tape drive hardware manual for cleaning instructions). When this message is displayed during a data restore operation, try retensioning the tape; then repeat the restore operation. If this fails, try restoring the data using a different tape drive. When this message is displayed during data backup operation, try another tape, discard or bulk erase and reformat the original tape. o Data CRC error IE_CRC(12) o ID CRC error IE_IDCRC(13) An "ID CRC error", or "Data CRC error" message is displayed during a tape read operation when a tape block cannot be recovered by ECC. If this message appears, retension the tape and try again. 15 If this fails, the data might be recovered by using a different tape drive. Causes of persistent CRC errors are: poor quality tapes, worn tape head, a defect in the drive's record circuitry, or an incompatible or otherwise defective data separator circuit on the controller. CRC errors might be stopped by using new tapes, or installing a data compensator circuit on the drive. o Record not found IE_RECNOTFND(14) A "Record not found" error occurs when some sector within a tape block cannot be located. This error typically occurs on, or during, a tape read operation when there are too many erroneous sectors to recover data using ECC. (See Data CRC Error) o Drive not found IE_DRVNOTFND(23) When /etc/mcdaemon is run (usually by an "rc" script) for the first time after system boot, a drive searching algorithm is executed by the driver. If this algorithm fails to detect the presence of a tape drive, " Drive not found" is displayed. Subsequently, the same message is displayed on any read or write access to an opened MC device file for which no drive is present. When this message appears, hardware should be checked. o Servo failure IE_SERVO(24) "Servo failure" is a tape formatting error message. The servo writing function is a part of the tape drive's firmware. The driver issues a command to the drive to servo write and awaits tape drive completion status. Usually the drive's LED will be flashing on servo writing failure. Try bulk erasing the cartridge and restart the format. If this fails, try another cartridge. o Insufficient memory IE_NOMEM(42) "Insufficient memory" messages are given when the driver fails to allocate at least three tape block buffers. In some systems sufficient memory may be available when single user mode is entered immediately after system boot. Usually adding memory to the system will stop this message. o Block 0 missing servo header IE_SERVOBLK0(43) Too many sequential missing servo headers IE_SERVOSE Q(44) Too many missing servo headers on track IE_SERVOTRK(45) Too many missing servo headers IE_SERVOTOT(46) Too many sequential bad blocks IE_CYLSEQ(47) Too many bad blocks on a track IE_CYLTRK(48) Too many bad blocks IE_CYLTOT(49) These messages occur during formatting. When formatting fails for one of these reasons, try bulk erasing the cartridge and re-formatting. If this fails, try another cartridge. o Block 0 medium error IE_BLK0DEFECT(52) A "Block 0 medium error" results when, during tape state determination, the first tape block has medium error which is not recoverable by either redundant correction or ECC. Normally the cartridge should be reformatted or discarded. If the cartridge has a backup, try using a different drive to read the tape. 16 If this message persists for multiple cartridges, the tape drive's read circuitry may be out of adjustment, or there may be an incompatibility between the floppy controller's data separator circuit and the tape drive. When running on an MCA based machine, the problem may be overcome; see section on wait-for-index in this documentation. o Defect list has unrecoverable error IE_DLISTDEFECT(54) This message is displayed when both copies of the relocation table (kept in the second and third good tape blocks) have unrecoverable medium errors or are otherwise corrupt. When this message is displayed on the first backup after drive installation in an MCA machine, the wait-for-index patch may be needed. o Defect list corrupt IE_DLISTCORRUPT(55) This message is displayed if an error is found in the primary defect list kept in block 0. Reformat tape. o Daemon not started IE_NODAEMON(67) The tape driver uses a single daemon process to encode ECC during tape write operations and recovers data with ECC during tape reads. When the "Daemon not started" message occurs, execute /etc/mcdaemon and retry the tape operation. If you have any questions, please call our SCO Customer Services Department at (800) 347-4381. SCO Customer Service is available Monday through Friday, 6:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Pacific Time. We appreciate your business. SCO Support Services dw:wph/6-91 xnx296-03CA 17