[9fans] Re: (Newbie) Problems with Riva TNT

[9fans] Re: (Newbie) Problems with Riva TNT

[Richard Hunt]

Uhm, some mistakes in the last message that I noticed
right away:

The actual file I used was called Sources Snapshot,
plan9-new.iso.bz2, then I burned the iso to a cd. I
only have internet access through university computers,
not on my own, so I can't install from the net.

Also, it might not be clear in the last message, but
what I am really asking for is pointers to how to
recompile the kernel first, and then if I still have
problems then advice about that.

The suggested change to the source from "> 0x20" to
">= 0x20" is already made in my copy of vganvidia.c,
and my /lib/vgadb section for nvidia is the abbreviated did=* version, but I think that this is correct.

By the way, I have been doing all of this with ed as my
text editor/pager. Am I being stupid and missing obvious
commands, or is this the only non-rio editor installed?

Thanks again,
Richard Hunt, 0102806h@student.gla.ac.uk

Re: [9fans] Re: (Newbie) Problems with Riva TNT

[mirtchov]

Ed is the standard editor when no rio is present. When you get
the nvidia problem fixed you'll find that you don't need another
one. Sorry, no vi (check the emacs man page for more info :)

So, assuming this is a standalone installation, the easiest way to
compile a kernel is to:

	% cd /sys/src/9/pc
	% mk 'CONF=pcf'

Where pcf is the name of the configuration file (where all hardware
and subsystems are listed) for your particular installation.
Different types of configurations there pertain to different types of
systems -- pccpu is for cpu servers, pcdisk is for kfs machines
(outdated, afaik) and pcf is for fossil-enabled installations, which
is what the installation defaults to nowadays.

This should work as a first step. If it doesn't we can look at the error
message from mk and work from there.

If, as you say, your cd is operational (and it should be able to boot in
1024x768x8 and even higher) then you can use its contents to make
a new kernel, or just copy one from the already existing /386 directory
on the cd:

	- boot from the cd
	- run '9fat:' to mount the hard drive's fat partition (where the kernel
	and plan9.ini reside)
	- copy /386/9xxxxxx to /n/9fat, you can see which kernel to copy
	by looking at /n/9fat/plan9.ini

you can also use the cd's contents to compile a new kernel or to do
a replica/pull from sources at bell-labs, in case your disk is outdated.
just apply 'ramfs' generously whenever something complains:

compiling a new kernel when booted from the cd (use ram as a storage
device):

	% ramfs
	% cd /sys/src/9/pc
	% bind -cb /tmp .
	% mk 'CONF=pcf'
	...

hth,  andrey