============================================================================
Vector-Linux Version v0.4 February-27th-2000


This version of 'Linux' is a direct decendant of the popular Vector-Linux.
Although the install routine (which was originally found in Kent Robotti's
Doslinux now looplynux) is essentially the same the character of distro has
changed a bit. Vector-linux aims to be a user friendly desktop system with
lots of nice apps games etc with all the latest libs and software.
The aim of Vector-linux is to provide the user with a complete developement
enviroment and still maintain a very usable X window desktop system that doesn't
hog a huge amount of system or disk resources. With this in mind the author
chose to install only one widget library GTK as many very functional apps have
been written around this library. In this light a combination of GTK apps were
used to make up the desktop system all being run by the very capable Icewm.
The KDE and GNOME systems were avoided to save on ram and disk space.
	This system can be run as a dos loop program but I feel this is counter
productive as those systems run very slow and there are enough 'Dos loop'
linux's out there if you really think that is the way you want to go. Therefore
there will be no instructions for setting this up on a Dos partition as this
distro is intended to be run as a native linux system.Vector-Linux is a 100%
Libc6 Glibc2.1.3 system.

This Vector-Linux HOWTO gives a overview of the system and configurating
your hardware with it.

============================================================================
About 62 mbytes compressed.
============================================================================

Vector-Linux home site ...

http://metalab.unc.edu/vectorlinux

============================================================================

The complete system...

veclinux.bz2   <The complete linux system ext2 62mb>

vmlinuz     <Kernel v2.2.14, the kernel supports IDE and SCSI hard drives>
                  
The kernel has math-coprocessor support for CPU'S 386sx and
above, that don't have a built in coprocessor.

You need at least a 386 CPU to run linux.
 
[GCC Compiler]
egcs ver 1.1.2 (was chosen over the newer 2.9.5.2 gcc and c++ for stability)
you need to have at least 8mb of ram = memory to run Vector-Linux. Although a
minimum of 16 mb's is suggested if you want to use the X window system.
            
If you have less than 32mb of ram you should create a swap file,
even if you have more than 32 it's not bad idea to create at 
least a 8mb swap file.

The swap file will be used in place of ram when needed.

For example if you have 24mb of ram and you create a 8mb swap file,
if will be as if you had 32mb of ram etc.

=============================================================================
Some common Console commands in Vector-Linux for for DOS/WIN9x Users.
# XF86Setup <- setup X-Windows, xf86config <-Alternative to XF86Setup, startx
ls, l, dir, d, mc, top, format, fdformat, cd /, cd .., mkdir, md, df, du, free,
mem, copy, cp, mv, ping, rm, telnet, ftp, mount, umount, cdset, dhcpcd, e2fsck,
dosfsck, fdisk, halt, shutdown, CTRL+ALT+DEL, pnpdump, isapnp, mkdosfs, mke2fs,
liloconfig <- for ext2, pppsetup <- for ppp dialup, etherset <- for cable 
modems etc, find, finger, gpm <- for mouse, irc, lynx, minicom, passwd, 
password, play, w, whoami, adduser, deluser, ppp-off, pppd, pppstats.

All commands are in the /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, directory's. You'll
know by there color GREEN*)
The /etc/ directory and subs are equivelant to MS-DOS C:\autoexec.bat & 
Config.sys in an MS-DOS or Windows-9x type Operating System.

=============================================================================

@echo off
rem  This file is ram.bat.
rem ==========================================================================+
loadlin vmlinuz initrd=Vector.gz root=/dev/ram rw
rem                                                                           |
rem Common Command after logging in if your not sure about Partitions,        |
rem type: fdisk -l <enter> You should see a list of all detected Partition(s).|
rem Then you can type  'mc' for file manager (editing so on...)               |
rem                                                                           |
rem HOW TO MAKE A TWO 1.44 FLOPPY BOOT/ROOT/RESCUE DISK SET   (recommended!)  |
rem Bootup with the Ram.bat and Login as 'root' and type the 2 lines below:   |
rem # mount -o user /dev/hda1 /DOS                                            |
rem # floppy                                                                  |
rem NOTE: if  /dev/hda1 is not where your x:\veclinux  directory is,supplement  |
rem for the real location eg. /dev/hda2, /dev/hdb1, /dev/hdc1 /dev/sda1 etc.  |
rem TIP: if -o user dont work, use '-t msdos' in place of '-o user'           |
rem To mount Vector.img for repairs etc. Boot the 'ram.bat'then login as root.|
rem # mount -o user /dev/hda1 /DOS                                            |
rem # mount -t ext2 -o loop /DOS/veclinux/Vector.img  /mnt/loop                 |
rem Now you can access Vector.img through the /mnt/loop  directory.           |
rem Then type >>> mc <<< for Midnight Commander & go nuts.                    |
rem ==========================================================================+
rem



@echo off 
rem This file is Linux.bat. Linux install.
rem =====================================================================+
loadlin vmlinuz root=$dev ro
rem                                                                      |
rem HOW TO MAKE A TWO 1.44 FLOPPY BOOT/ROOT/RESCUE DISK SET(recommended!)|
rem Boot with the Ram.bat and Login as 'root' and type the 2 lines below |
rem # mount -o user /dev/hda1 /DOS                                       |
rem # floppy                                                             |
rem NOTE: if  /dev/hda1 is not where your x:\veclinux directory is,supple|
rem ment for the real location eg. /dev/hda2, /dev/hdb1, /dev/hdc1  etc. |
rem TIP: if -o user dont work, use '-t msdos' in place of '-o user'      |
rem                                                                      |
rem If you have a SCSI hard disk than put /dev/sdxx in place of /hdxx.To | 
rem find out where your Linux Partition is, boot with the C:\veclinux >  |
rem Ram.bat and type after login:                                        |
rem # fdisk -l                                                           |
rem You should see something similar to this below.                      |
rem                                                                      |
rem VectorLinux:/# fdisk -l                                              |
rem                                                                      |
rem Disk /dev/hda: 64 heads, 63 sectors, 528 cylinders                   |
rem Units = cylinders of 4032 * 512 bytes                                |
rem                                                                      |
rem  Device    Boot    Start      End    Blocks   Id  System             |
rem /dev/hda1   *         1       250    503968+  83  Linux              |
rem /dev/hda2           251       528    560448    6  FAT16              |
rem                                                                      |
rem Disk /dev/hdc: 15 heads, 22 sectors, 1011 cylinders                  |
rem Units = cylinders of 330 * 512 bytes                                 |
rem                                                                      |
rem Device     Boot     Start     End    Blocks   Id  System             |
rem /dev/hdc1   *         1      1011    166804    6  FAT32              |
rem Vector-Linux:/                                                       |
rem                                                                      |
rem To mount other ext2 Partitions in Vector-Linux type this below:.     |
rem                                                                      |
rem # mount /dev/hda2 /mnt <you can access '/dev/hda2' through '/mnt'>   |
rem # mc <-- for Midnight Commander                                      |
rem =====================================================================+
rem

This is a brief list of hardware that Vector-Linux supports, 
either in the kernel or as module.

1. ISA, EISA, PCI, motherboards...
2. IDE hard drives and IDE/ATAPI cdrom drives... 
3. SCSI hard drives and cdrom drives... 
4. MCA (M)icro (C)hannel Bus Support...
5. PS/2 ESDI hard drives Support...
6. Non Atapi/Scsi cdrom drive support...
7. Standard + LS-120 floppy drives...
8. Parallel port printers...
9. Serial, BUS, & PS/2 mice...
10. PNP support...
11. FULL PCMCIA support v2.1.121 pcmcia.tgz = v3.1.9
12. FULL SUPPORT FOR ETHERNET cards and dhcpd server for Automatic
    configuration upon bootup of Ethernet Cards attached to Cable modems 
    that configure via dhcpcd or or maybe BOOTP if ISP supports it.  
13. 2.2.14 Kernel supports all major Joysticks and all Soundcards that
    Kernel 2.2.14 currently can including all OSS drivers. The drivers
    are located in /lib/modules/2.2.14/misc/ directory, and are to be loaded/
    initialized from /etc/rc.d/rc.soundcard  <--edit for similar info below.
    Look in /usr/doc/soundcard for more info.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Tested with 2 $40 Soundblaster Pro Compatible Cards and worked excellent 
with the the settings below for (Acer MagicFX-3D & Opti 9810xx pnp cards).
My friend suggest going into WinXX control panel and looking for your
cards settings there, then come back to Linux and enter them below. If like
me you don't have Windows then give this a try as it's only geared towards
pnp cards. Type this below after login:
# pnpdump -c > /etc/isapnp.conf #Goto /etc/isapnp.conf and look for your 
soundcards io, dma, irq settings than try a "isapnp /etc/isapnp.conf" OR 
if you know your cards settings either from looking in WinXX control
panel prior than just enter the settings in place of the e.g  below in
/etc/rc.d/rc.souncard file.

For Soundblaster Pro Compatible soundcards change the io, irq, dma for your 
card below or load the exact /2.2.14/misc/ sound module for your soundcard
and remove the '#' from the line beneath this line for auto-detection/loading
in /etc/rc.d/rc.soundcard. Settings vary with different soundcards. Examples
below should give you a good start.

# modprobe -k sb io=0x220 irq=5 dma=1 dma16=10 mpu_io=0x330

For Pro Audio Spectrum or Soundman 16 or Media Vision Pro Audio 16 below.

# modprobe -k pas2 io=0x388 irq=7 dma=1 dma16=10

There are a ton more soundcards that Linux supports but i just list the above
ones i have and have configured with above settings, so most soundcards should
be about the same looking as configured above and this i hope might help you
get yours setup. The 'sb' is for Soundblaster PRO type soundcards, and the 
'pas2' is for Pro Audio Spectrum type soundcards. 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

There's Firewall & IP masquerading support in the kernel.
There's also Token Ring support in the kernel.

Any IP masquerading modules are in the /lib/modules/2.2.14/ipv4 /ipv6
directory.


If you have a CABLE modem there's a module that supports your
Ethernet card, in the /lib/modules/2.2.14/net directory.

If you want to use the DHCP server 'dhcpcd' you can do this after:
# modprobe 3c509
Substitute the above '3c509' 3Com ehternet card module with your  cards module.
# dhcpcd eth0
Some cable modem service providers support DHCP.

Remove the '#' from the 'dhcpcd' lines in the /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 file
to start /usr/sbin/dhcpcd server daemon at boot time.
 
The /dev/modem link is set to /dev/ttyS1 = com2, the /dev/mouse link is 
set to /dev/psaux = ps2, these can be changed. For example if you have
a serial mouse type this after you login as 'root' (User name is root):

# ln -sf /dev/ttyS0  /dev/mouse     <note: /dev/ttyS0 = com1>
Goto /etc/rc.d/rc.M   <-- edit and change the line you'll see with:
                       '-t ps2'         to: '-t ms'>

ttyS0 = com1 ttyS1 = com2 ttyS2 = com3 ttyS3 = com4


Gpm v.1.14 is a mouse driver, it allows you to cut and paste with a 
mouse in a console or editor.

# man gpm

To see if your getting any output from the mouse start gpm. 
 
~# gpm -t help        <To see mouse type options>
 # gpm -t ms          <Tell gpm you have a Microsoft serial mouse>
 # gpm -t ps2         <Tell gpm you have a ps2 mouse type>
 # gpm -k             <To kill gpm>


A lot of programs that use the modem and mouse look for /dev/modem and
/dev/mouse, so run comset to create these links or create them by hand.

~# comset   <Run comset to create the symbolic links /dev/modem
             and /dev/mouse that point to the actual devices>

Comset will also create a /etc/rc.d/rc.serial file to configure your modem 
at boot time by setserial.

If you have a PNP modem you may need to use pnpdump and isapnp to get
it setup.

# pnpdump -c > /etc/isapnp.conf   <Create /etc/isapnp.conf file>
# isapnp /etc/isapnp.conf

Read the docs in /usr/doc/isapnptools.
==========================================================================
If you have a PCMCIA modem or any PCMCIA device it should be detected
during bootup from /ect/rc.d/rc.pcmcia. First remove the three '#'s below
in  /etc/rc.d/rc.S file. Than reboot.

---Start of /etc/rc.d/rc.s-----------------------------
#if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.pcmcia ] && [ -s /lib/modules/`uname -r`/pcmcia/pcmcia_core.o ]; then
#/etc/rc.d/rc.pcmcia start
#fi
--------- End of-/etc/rc.d/rc.S------------------------
 The /etc/rc.d/rc.pcmcia script will be run at boot 
time, it should detect any pcmcia devices you have.

READ: /usr/doc/pcmcia/PCMCIA-HOWTO
===========================================================================

~# pico   <Editor v.3.5>

Ctrl-K = Cut. Ctrl-U = Paste.

~# mcedit 

You can also cut & paste in 'mc' using these keys... 

[Shift]-[Down]-arrow-key to highlight text. 
[Shift]-[Delete] to cut highlighted text. 
[Shift]-[Insert] to paste.

These are the file systems Vector-Linux supports in the kernel.

1. ext2            <Standard Linux OS file system> 
2. Ms-DOS          <DOS file system, Ms-DOS, PC-DOS, Dr-DOS, etc>
3. fat16 + FAT32   <Win95/98 file systems, fat16 & FAT32>
4. iso9660         <Standard cdrom file system + Joliet extensions>
5. devpts          <Unix98 pty support>
6. minix           <Minix OS file system>
7. nfs             <Network file system, you can use this with slip/ppp>
8. WinNT           <Windows NT file system>
9. few others

These are some file systems Vector-Linux supports through modules.
10.UMSDOS          <The old buggy way of running Linux on top of DOS>
11.few others

To start the 'nfs' server do this.

# rpc.portmap    <Start portmap daemon>

Mount nfs_server directory under /mnt/nfs directory.

# mount -t nfs nfs_server:/fooboo /mnt/nfs 



The link /dev/cdrom is set to device /dev/hdb, if your cdrom drive
is detected on another device at bootup time e.g. hdc, hdd, scd0, 
etc. you can run 'cdset' to change the link.

~# cdset         <Setup CDROM drive>
 Or manually type:
 # ln -sf /dev/hdd /dev/cdrom
Do this to mount your cdrom drive...

~# mount /mnt/cdrom
 # cd /mnt/cdrom
 
/mnt/cdrom# ls                  <List contents of directory>
          # cd /root            <You can't unmount something from the
                                 directory it's mounted>

~# umount /mnt/cdrom            <Now unmount and change cd's if you wish>
 # eject                        <Eject cd>

Do this to mount a 1.44 formatted floppy in drive a.

~# mount /dev/fd0u1440 /mnt/floppy
 # mount /mnt/floppy                       <This also does the above>
 # cd /mnt/floppy
 
/mnt/floppy# ls
           # cp file /root                 <Copy file from floppy to /root>
           # cp /root/file /dev/fd0u1440   <Copy /root/file to floppy>
           # cd /root
           
~# umount /mnt/floppy                      <Unmount floppy drive>

Do this to format a floppy.

~# fdformat /dev/fd0u1440   <To format floppy to 1.44M in drive a>
 # fdformat /dev/fd0u1722   <To format floppy to 1.722M in drive a>

Fdformat just formats a floppy, it doesn't put a file system on it.

To put a DOS fat file system on a 1.44 floppy disk in drive a.

~# mkdosfs -v /dev/fd0u1440        <Default FAT12>
 # mkdosfs -v -F32 /dev/fd0u1440   <Make a FAT32 file system>
 # mkdosfs -v -F16 /dev/fd0u1440   <Make a FAT16 file system>
 # man mkdosfs

~# dmesg | less       <To see bootup messages of the system,
<Press 'q' to quit>    and the hardware that was detected>

==============================================================================
Vector-Linux has SLIP/PPP networking support...PPP.v.2.3.8...
==============================================================================

This is some of the console software Vector-Linux contains. 

# vim            <Program & Text editor>
# bash           <Shell...v.2.03>
# irc            <Internet Relay Chat...v.EPIC4pre2.004>
# lynx           <Lynx WWW Browser with slang color...v.2.8.2pre2>  
# mc             <Midnight Commander file manager, also does excellent 
                  ftp...a classic...v.4.5.41>
# minicom        <Modem terminal program, with X, Y, Zmodem...v.1.82.1>
# mutt           <Mail client-reader...v.0.95.6 with 'POP3' & 'IMAP'>
# fetchmail      <Pop2, Pop3, APOP, IMAP, RPOP, ETRN, mail client.v.5.0.4>
# metamail       <Mail filter...v.2.7>
# ncftp          <Ftp client...v.3.0beta19>
# procmail       <Mail processing program...v.3.13.1>
# sendmail       <Mail delivery program...v.8.9.3>
# telnet rlogin finger nslookup ping host vrfy whois
# tin            <Classic News-reader with color support...v.pre-1.4-990517>
# rtin           <Remote tin = tin -radnq>    
# wget           <WWW URL & FTP retrieval program...v.1.5.3>
# zgv            <Image viewer...jpeg, gif, bmp, png, xpm, etc. "zgv v3.2">
# wu-ftp         <ftp server for home-page or buisness etc..>

# [X-Window Applications below]
# X11R6 3.3.5    <X-Window System (Graphic User Interface for /base system>
# Sound Players  <Xmms- cd's mp3's etc>
# Gftp           <FTP Client for X for browsing ftp'z >
# pppsetup       <dialer & setup configuration utility for ppp dialup users>
# Netscape v4.7  <WWW & FTP proxy Gopher browser with Java & Plugins>
# gtkicq v.60    <FULL featured ICQ (i seek you) Client for use on X>
# XV             <good image manipulating and view program>
# Perl 5         <Perl is used by alot of new programs and games>
# GTK v1.27      <very popular Library's used for graphics etc.>
# Xchat v1.40    <Awsome X or text based IRC client>
# Spruce v0.5.17 < excellent GTK based email client>
# Arrow          <another excellent email client you decide I like um both>
# Nedit          < wonderful text editor with many options>
# Gnotepad v1.20 < small windows like notepad clone >          
=============================================================================

You can use 'zmodem' over 'telnet' in minicom, for example.

~# mtelnet              <Use minicom for telnet connection>
                         
atdt"bbs.foo.com        <The BBS you want to connect to, use name or
atdt"205.190.185.15      IP numbers>

Connected...

BBS zmodem ready to send...

Zmodem will start automatically when called, zmodem can resume an 
interrupted download i.e. pick up where it left-off.
                          
To upload using X, Y, or Zmodem, press [ALT] S keys.

Logoff BBS...
NO CARRIER...

Press Alt-Q to quit minicom.  Leave Without Reset? = Yes

~# man minicom 
       modemu
       rz
       sz

If you connect to a BBS through 'telnet' while in or outside of 'lynx', 
you can use 'zmodem'.

Connected to BBS...

BBS zmodem ready to send...

Press Ctrl ]

ztelnet> set binary     <Set to binary mode>
ztelnet> rz -v          <Use builtin zmodem>
ztelnet> close   <You can 'close' here or press [Enter] & return to BBS>

Ztelnet also has a pipe command |, so you don't have to use the builtin
zmodem, you can call a external zmodem program etc.

ztelnet> set binary     <Set to binary mode>
ztelnet> | rz -b -y     <Use | external zmodem program>
ztelnet> close   <You can 'close' here or press [Enter] & return to BBS>

If you do 'settrans U' it will probably improve the ansi color when 
you're connecting to a BBS over telnet etc. 

~# settrans U
 # ztelnet     
ztelnet> open bbs.foo.com   <Ctrl-Backspace = Backspace>

~# zgv /usr/temp/logo.gif   <Gif to test zgv image viewer>

If you want to use another keyboard key map other than the default
one in the kernel = vmlinuz, you can load another one from the 
/usr/lib/kbd/keymaps/i386 directory.

gr = greek it = italian se-lat1 = swedish de = german etc.

~# loadkeys fr       <Load french keymap etc.>

~# kmapset           <Run kmapset and chose a keymap> 

You can put the line below in the /etc/rc.d/rc.keymap file, to have
your chosen keymap loaded at boot time.

loadkeys fr

Vector-Linux includes /lib/libvga.so.1.3.1, this is used to support various
programs that require a graphics capable console e.g. screen savers, video
games, jpeg-gif-mpeg viewers, etc. there are compiled elf versions of
these programs that can be dropped into the system.

Libvga.so.1.3.1 supports quite a few different graphic cards.

Modutils.v.2.1.121   <Some other programs on Vector-Linux>
patch.v.2.5
diffutils.v.2.7.2
sysvinit.v.2.76
procps.v.2.0.2
gawk.v.3.0.3
sed.v.3.0.2
============================================================================

Read the docs in /usr/doc, there's also man pages for most of the programs 
& commands installed...

If you're new to Linux = UNIX you should read the 'DOS-to-Linux-HOWTO.gz' 
in the /usr/doc/HOWTO directory.

Try the script 'pppsetup' to connect to your service provider and
establish a PPP connection.

~# pppsetup    <Answer the questions>  
 # ppp-go -c   <Make the ppp connection>
 # ppp-off     <To end the ppp connection>

The 'pppsetup' script above should be enough to get your ppp
connected to your service provider. 

If your service provider is using 'PAP' or 'CHAP' for authentication, 
when you run 'pppsetup' you have to answer "PAP/CHAP" and give your 
user-name and password. 

Read the ppp docs in the /usr/doc/ppp directory.

~# ifconfig  <To see if you're PPP connected, you should see this below>

ppp0      Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol  
          inet addr:105.207.127.86  P-t-P:205.252.116.61  Mask:255.0.0.0

If you want to make a SLIP or CSLIP connection, you can use the program
dip "v.3.3.7p" for this, read the dip scripts in /usr/doc/dip.

~# dipsetup   <Run this and answer the questions to create a dip script>

~# modprobe slip   <Load the slip module>

~# dip-go     <To make the slip connection>
 # dip -k     <To kill dip and the slip connection>
 # man dip    

Use the script 'fetch-setup' to setup 'fetchmail', the pop2, pop3, etc. 
mail client, just answer the questions user-name, password, etc.

~# fetchsetup

Instead of using 'fetchsetup' above, use 'mnsetup' to setup fetchmail, 
mutt, and tin.

~# mnsetup     <Setup fetchmail, mutt, and tin>

 # fetchmail   <After your slip/ppp connected, retrieve your mail>

 # mutt        <You can use mutt to read, send, & respond to mail, 
                mutt can also connect to a pop3 or imap mail box 
                and do what fetchmail does above> 

If you get this message from fetchmail "Another foreground fetchmail 
is running at ?" do this to kill it.

~# killall fetchmail 
 # fetchmail

If you want fetchmail to run in the background = daemon mode, put
this in your $HOME/.fetchmailrc file.

set daemon 300      <For example, check for mail every 5 minutes etc>
                     # fetchmail -d 300   <Or from the command line>

~# fetchmail -q     <To kill the fetchmail daemon>

If fetchmail or any program just hangs after you start it, do this.

~# fetchmail
Hanging...
Press Ctrl C
~# fetchmail

The mail that 'fetchmail' retrieves, will be processed = sorted by 
'procmail', based on guidelines it finds in the $HOME/.procmailrc 
file.

$HOME is whatever you login as, if you login as root then $HOME is /root.
# echo $HOME
/root

Sendmail is configured in the /etc/mail/sendmail.cf file, to pass incoming
mail to '/usr/bin/procmail' for local delivery.

To learn about the program procmail, read the docs in the /usr/doc/procmail
directory.

~# man procmail   <Some manual pages for Vector-Linux programs
       tin         and commands>
       rm           
       ls
       lynx
       fetchmail
       irc
       etc.

The bash shell has command recall, so you don't have to type in a command 
again, just press the [Up] or [Down]-arrow-key to recall a command.

If you have any 'zombie' processes, do this to remove them.

~# ps x
koo <zombie>

~# pstree -p
foo(346)-+-boo(350)---koo(357)

~# kill -9 350

You don't have to go all the way back unless you want to, 
just kill the parent of the zombie process, not the parent 
of the parent.

If the terminal gets messed up for whatever reason, do this to
restore it.

~# reset

Even if you can't see what you're typing in, you can still type in
reset and press enter.

You can change consoles by pressing left-[Alt] and [Up]-arrow-key,
then left-[Alt] F1 - F12 to go back.

There are 12 consoles on Vector-Linux, you can download something 
in one and do something else in another etc.
 
~# less file.txt    <To read a text file, press 'q' to exit>
 # less file.gz     <To read a compressed text file>
 # lynx file.html   <To read a file with a .html extension>
 # mc               <You can also press [F3] in mc on the above 
                     files to read them>
                 
                                                   (To get help> [F1]
      (Extract Menu: zip deb rpm slp tar.gz tar.bz2 lha rar arj> [F2]    
                                                (To read a file> [F3] 
     (The builtin editor "mcedit" will be used> (To edit a file> [F4]
                                                (To copy a file> [F5]
                                      (To move or rename a file> [F6]
                                                     (To delete> [F8]
                                                    (To quit mc> [F10]
[Glibc2.1.3]
You can install pre-compiled Debian.deb, Redhat.i386.rpm,  
Stampede.slp, Mandrake & S.u.S.E etc.. packages in Vector-Linux.

You can't presently "6-17-99" run slackware tgz packages on Vector-Linux, 
because they're compiled for a libc5 system, when slackware becomes 
libc6 you'll be able to.

Read the /usr/doc/mc.menu/README file.

[F3]
You can see the contents of these archives in 'mc' by pressing [ENTER] on them.
 
?.rpm ?.deb ?.slp ?.tar.gz ?.tgz ?.tar.Z ?.tar.bz2 ?.bz2 ?.gz ?.Z ?.zip 
?.arj ?.lha ?.rar 

~# free    <To see memory usage>
 # top     <Press q to quit>
 # df      <To see disk space>                    
~# tar xzvf package.tar.gz    <To unpack 'tar.gz' 'tgz' 'tar.Z' packages>
 # tar xIvf package.tar.bz2   <If it's a tar.bz2 package>
 # tar xvf package.tar        <If it's a tar package>
 # unzip package.zip          <If it's a zip package>
 # unarj x package.arj        <If it's a arj package> 
 # unrar x package.rar        <If it's a rar package>
 # lha x package.lha          <If it's a lha package>
 # gzip -d package.gz         <If it's a gz package>
 # rpm -uhf package.gz        <If it's a rpm package>
 # undeb package.gz           <If it's a deb package>
 
~# file /bin/bash   <To see if a program is compiled elf, use the (file)
                     command, it should say (ELF) somewhere in the little
                     description>

/bin/bash: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1, dynamically 
linked, stripped

~# ldd /bin/bash    <To see what libraries a program is linked with>

        libncurses.so.4 => /lib/libncurses.so.4 (0x4000e000)
        libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0x40013000)
        libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x40018000)
        /lib/ld-linux.so.2 => /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x40000000)

Bash is linked with the above libraries, this means bash won't run without 
these libraries on the system.

If you download a program and try to run it and it says "can't find
lib.something?", this means you don't have a library required to run
this program, you can forget about it or get that library and put
it in /lib/lib.something?.

After you put it in /lib, run 'ldconfig -v' to link it up.

Most unix programs you download will include a man page.

Man pages usually have a .1-9 extension, for example: fooboo.1

You can put any man pages in the /usr/man/man1 - man9 directories.
If it has a .1 extension it would go in man1 etc.

You can read man pages like this.

# man fooboo

To unpack x.rpm, x.deb, and x.slp packages.

~# mc   "Start the mc file-manager"

Go to the directory that has the package.
Have the package you want to extract highlighted.

Press the [F2] key.

Chose one of these options from the menu.

deb Extract (x.deb) package
rpm Extract (x.rpm) package
slp Extract (x.slp) package

package.i386.rpm   <i386.rpm = Compiled not Source>
package.src.rpm    <src.rpm = Source not Compiled>
package.deb        <deb = Compiled not Source>        
package.slp        <slp = Compiled not source>

You can also extract these archive formats.

# uudeview file                    <Decode base64 or uuencoded file>                   
# unshar file.shar                 <Unpack shar archive>       
# gzip -dc file.shar.gz | unshar   <Unpack compressed shar archive>


.
==============================================================================
LILO Configuration. See  /usr/doc/lilo.

LiLo is a reliable good boot-loader that will bootup Win9x, OS2, Linux etc..
To use the lilo boot-loader, first edit '/etc/lilo.conf' and i have a few 
example settings there already to help you understand the way lilo reads
the 'lilo.conf' file to boot various OS's. Just remove the '#'s from the
partition you want lilo to know about. You can change the /dev/xxxx and the
name to use eg. DOS to whatever you need and/or like.

# liloconfig   <-- Excellent script for setting up lilo the (Linux Loader).

You can use Linux's "exec activate /dev/xxxx" to make the Linux Partition 
active. Of course put the Partition you want active in place of /dev/'xxxx'
Running 'liloconfig' should make the partition(s) active automaticaly, but
to make sure... e.g  exec activate device  [Partition]
 /dev/hda1  - /dev/hda2  - /dev/hdb1  - /dev/hdc1  - /dev/sda1  etc..
 
 You can also use  /dev/'hda' or /'hdb' if all you're gonna use is Linux with
 no DOS/WIN Partitions but if you ever wanna UN-install Linux I'd stick to just 
 using the /dev/'hda1' or /dev/hdc1 as it will make life easier in the next
 transition back to Win-9x etc.. if there is one.?.

WHY?
If you use  /dev/hda   <-- writes to the MBR of your hardrive and DOS fdisk
cannot remove the lilo image from there, which means just use a boot floppy and 
run Linux fdisk and remove with fdisk -U.

If you use /dev/hda1   <--- writes to the master boot sector making it simpler 
to remove if you should ever need to. Plus you can use DOS's fdisk.exe and make
what Partitions you want active for that week or so :o).

If you're not sure, than i wouldn't recommend using lilo. Stick with the safe
loadlin.exe or the linux floppy boot disk to get into Vector-Linux.

IF you did use lilo and for some reason you cannot boot into Linux through the
hard drive than use the Vector-Linux boot floppy and type at the 'boot' prompt:

# linux root=/dev/hda1 ro
Then correct what needs to be fixed and run '/sbin/lilo' again. If you have no
clue to what's wrong it's probably just the /etc/lilo.conf file needs to be
configured correctly.

If you get a 'Sorry, cannot access device 0x0010' or similar to that, it means
lilo cannot get the hard disks geometry settings. It's usually caused from
large disks 10gb or more with DOS or Windows Partitions interphering with Linux.
I'm still investigating this:
==============================================================================
Agetty Consoles/Terminals
How to open other consoles is with the left [ALT] and the [UP] Arrow keys.
Were using nice new program called 'open' that performs these tasks. If you
prefer the old way: edit /etc/inittab scroll to bottom of file and remove the
'#'s from the 4 other agetty lines.

==============================================================================
Boot into X without the text mode screen is possible if you wanna
fool around with it. Edit /etc/inittab  you'll see a line near the top like:

# Default run level.
 id:3:initdefault:

Change it to this:
 id:4:initdefault:
This will give you a nice little graphical logon screen.
=============================================================================
About  /dev/xxxx and what they mean for former Windows Users & Alike's.
+==================================================+
|(hd(a)= Device 1) Usually your C:\ Hard Disk    |
|(hd(b)= Device 2) Usually the CD-ROM Drive or is  |
|the next seperate Hard Disk.                      |  
|(hda(1)= Device 1)and is the very first Partition |
|on the very first Hard Disk. e.g C:\              |
|(hda(3)= Device 1)and is the third Partition on   |
|the very first Hard Disk.    e.g E:\              |
|(hdb(1)= Device 2)and is the first Partition on   |
|on the second Hard Disk.(Or might be CD-ROM drive)|   
|(hdb(2)= Device 2)and is the second Partition on  |
|the second seperate Hard Disk.(Or might be CD-ROM)|
+==================================================+

==============================================================================
Thats all folks have fun.............