[FAQ autopost] gnuwin32 mini FAQ and resource pointer

[Michael Weiser <michael at weiser dot saale-net dot de>]

gnuwin32 mini FAQ and resource pointer

$Id: gnuwin32-mini-faq.txt,v 1.9 1998/11/03 18:41:49 michael Exp $

[this document might be slightly out of date]

Contents:

0. Introduction
1. Cygwin32
 1.1. Cygwin32 most frequently asked questions
  1.1.1. Binary mounts
  1.1.2. Long pauses occuring randomly in bash
  1.1.3. Windows 95 freezing up
  1.1.4. Options for the CYGWIN32 environment variable
 1.2. Cygwin32 resources
  1.2.1. Web sites
  1.2.2. FTP archives
2. Mingw32
 2.1. Mingw32 resources
  2.1.1. Web sites
  2.1.2. FTP archives
3. FTP Upload
4. Acknowledgements
5. Legal stuff

0. Introduction

  This document tries to answer the gnuwin32 mailing list's most
frequently asked questions. It is not intended to replace any other
document you should have read before mailing a question to the list
but tries to give a comprehensive list of such resources. It also
tries to collect all related, interesting and up-to-date download
locations.

1. Cygwin32

  Before doing anything else you should make sure that you have
updated your cygwinb19 package with the latest patches and
enhancements, even and especially if you just downloaded and
installed it:

- Sergey Okhapkin's coolview package contains an updated cygwinb19.dll
  that reflects the latest developments and fixes a lot of known
  problems. It is the latest resource and even newer than the b19.1
  update found on Cygnus' site.

- Mumit Khan's compilation of egcs for the cygwinb19.dll fixes lots of
  problems with the tools that come with the environment, especially
  if you're using the C++ compiler. This is a drop-in replacement for
  the gcc toolset.

URL's are listed below.

1.1. Cygwin32 most frequently asked questions

  If your problem doesn't go away after the above mentioned updates,
perhaps the following QA's help solving it:

1.1.1. Binary mounts

[ text goes here. any volunteers? ]

1.1.2. Long pauses occuring randomly in bash

[ text goes here. any volunteers? ]

1.1.3. Windows 95 Freezing Up (and related problems)

Symptoms to be treated

     Trying to stop a program (e.g. by ctrl-C) hangs up W95

     Errors in typing in a command often hang up W95

     bash.exe won't work in the role of /bin/sh.exe

     can't lstat or find files involving a specified drive

Steps to take 

     Install USB support

     Use better version of cygwinb19.dll

     Use disk data/directory/registry maintenance software

     replace /bin/sh.exe with a copy of bash.exe

USB

     The "Universal Serial Bus" scheme not only supports a scheme of
installation which is preferred for many devices, often including
video and sound cards.  It also includes a more workable scheme for
trapping program faults.  While USB support is integral to W98, it is
an optional patch for W95 which is to be added to the standard
installation.  After installation, USB appears in the list of
removable software under the Settings/Control Panel/Add/Remove
Programs.  It must be removed while performing OS repairs.

     OSR2 versions of Windows 95 include an optional usb patch on the
CD, in \other\updates\usb. Instructions are in a README file there.
This is a 2-step process involving yet another reboot.  For earlier
versions of W95, there are hot fix patches which may be found by
checking the leads in the gnu/cygwin32 FAQ.

cygwinb19.dll

The B19.1 version of cygwinb19.dll is better than the original, and
the Okhapkin version from http://www.lexa.ru is better yet.  lexa.ru
is quite difficult to connect properly here on the other side of the
world; the best time probably is around 7 am Sunday morning in Russia.

You can't install cygwinb19 while the older copy is running; just use
a plain DOS window or My Computer to copy the new one over the old,
after which you can open a bash window again.

Disk data maintenance

     gnu-win32 increases the importance of standard measures to keep
registry and directory structures clean, and disk data well organized.

bash

     Many users of NT have recommended dispensing with the ash shell
which is installed in the cygwin32 /bin/sh.exe.  This is not
recommended under W95 until you have installed USB.

     Undo whatever you have done with /bin (blow it away).  The
following works after USB is installed:
cd /
mkdir bin
cd bin
cp $CYGFS/H-i386-cygwin32/bin/bash.exe sh.exe

If you like, you can build bash-2.02 from source, or install
Okhapkin's souped up version of it.

1.1.4. Options for the CYGWIN32 environment variable

[no]title	- display command line of currently running process in
                  console title. (default: disabled)
[no]strip_title - works in conjunction with 'title'.  Strips the path
		  spec from what is displayed in the console title bar
		  when the program is run. (default: disabled)
[no]tty		- makes consoles more UN*X-like which improves
                  compatibility with UN*X apps but may cause problems
                  with non-cygwin32 apps. (default: disabled)
[no]binmode     - use 'binmode' as the default open mode when the mode
		  is not otherwise specified in the open or by mount.
                  Does not affect pipes and path specs like //c/foo.
                  (default: disabled)
[no]glob        - do not perform globbing operations on the command
		  line when a cygwin process is being invoked from a
		  non-cygwin shell. (default: disabled ?)
strace          - a cygwinb19.dll debugging aid.  Setting mask to '1'
		  will cause reams of information about the operation
		  of cygwin to be written to 'file' as cygwin
		  operates. The rest of the bits control the display
		  various cygwin subsystems. For a complete list check
		  out /usr/include/sys/strace.h. The cache setting
		  controls how much strace output will be held in
		  memory before being output to disk.

If you run Sergey Okhapkin's patched cygwinb19.dll (coolview), more
options are available:

[no]ntea	- use extended file attributes on Windows NT.
                  (default: disabled)
[no]mixed	- create case-sensitive filenames on ntfs partitions.
                  (default: disabled)

1.2. Cygwin32 resources

  If the above doesn't answer your question you should read the
cygwin32 FAQ at http://www.cygnus.com/misc/gnu-win32/faq.html
before posting any question to the list.

  Please also research your question via the Searchable Mail Archives
at http://www.cygnus.com/ml/gnu-win32. Most problems have already been
discussed and solved on the list.

  If you are searching for a port of a specific program or further
information on a certain topic, you should check out the following
cygwin32 related sites:

1.2.1. Web sites

http://www.cygnus.com/misc/gnu-win32/                   (project page)
http://www.cygnus.com/pubs/gnupro/                    (comercial page)
http://www.cygnus.com/misc/gnu-win32/faq.html           (cygwin32 faq)
http://www.cygnus.com/ml/gnu-win32   (searchable mailing list archive)
http://www.eGroups.com/list/gnu-win32/   (mailing list archive mirror)

http://aquarius.franken.de/docs/develop/gnuwin32/GNUWin32.txt
                              (Michael Hirmke - package porting notes)
http://dao.gsfc.nasa.gov/software/grads/win32/X11R6.3/
                                 (Arlindo da Silva - X11R6.3 binaries)
http://gnu-win32.paranoia.ru  (Chuck Bogorad - ports - sometimes down)
http://www.alank.net/                   (GNU-Win32 Bash Configuration)
http://www.dol.ru/users/valtul               (Valery Tulnikov - ports)
http://www.freeyellow.com/members5/gw32/
                                      (Earnie Boyd - resource pointer)
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Garage/8516/gimp/gimpw32.html
                                                 (Craig Setera - gimp)
http://www.itribe.net/virtunix/             (more tools and man pages)
http://www.kedemel.demon.co.uk/                       (Darren - ports)
http://www.lexa.ru/sos           (Sergey Okhapkin - updates and ports)
http://www.multione.capgemini.fr/tools/pack_ipc/
                                         (Ludovic Lange - ipc package)
http://www.parallax.co.uk/~andyp/index_text.html  (Andy Piper - ports)
http://www.tiac.net/users/cgf             (Christopher Faylor - ports)
http://www.xraylith.wisc.edu/~khan/software/gnu-win32/
                                      (Mumit Khan - updates and ports)

1.2.2. FTP archives

ftp://go.cygnus.com/pub/ftp.cygnus.com/gnu-win32   (cygwin32 FTP site)
ftp://dao.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/uwm_coads/X11R6.3
                                 (Arlindo da Silva - X11R6.3 binaries)
ftp://ftp.cs.nyu.edu/pub/local/fox/cygwin32
ftp://pipeline.ucsd.edu/pub/dsf/cygwin32
                                   (David Fox - RPM port and packages)
ftp://ftp.franken.de/pub/win32/develop/gnuwin32/cygwin32/
                 (Michael Hirmke - German mirror and ports collection)
ftp://www.lexa.ru/pub/domestic/sos/
                                   (Sergey Okhapkin - fixes and ports)
ftp://ftp.parallax.co.uk/pub/andyp      (Andy Piper - fixes and ports)
ftp://ftp.xraylith.wisc.edu/pub/khan/gnu-win32/cygwin32/
                                          (Mumit Khan - egcs binaries)

2. Mingw32

2.1. Mingw32 resources

2.1.1. Web sites

http://agnes.dida.physik.uni-essen.de/~janjaap/mingw32/
                             (Jan Jaap van der Heijden - gcc binaries)
http://www.freeyellow.com/members5/gw32/
                                      (Earnie Boyd - resource pointer)
http://www.fu.is.saga-u.ac.jp/~colin/gcc.html
                                         (Colin Peters - project page)
http://www.xraylith.wisc.edu/~khan/software/gnu-win32/
                                      (Mumit Khan - updates and ports)

2.1.2. FTP archives

ftp://agnes.dida.physik.uni-essen.de/home/janjaap/mingw32
                             (Jan Jaap van der Heijden - gcc binaries)
ftp://ftp.franken.de/pub/win32/develop/gnuwin32/mingw32/
                 (Michael Hirmke - German mirror and ports collection)
ftp://ftp.xraylith.wisc.edu/pub/khan/gnu-win32/mingw32/
                                          (Mumit Khan - egcs binaries)

3. FTP Upload

  Thanks to Michael Hirmke it is possible to host your port at the
German gnuwin32 mirror ftp.franken.de. If you upload a port, Michael
will create a seperate directory for your package and also include
it in his package report.

  The report gives the following instructions on uploading:

   *How to upload to German GNUWIN32 site*
   -------------------------------------

   - how to upload to our German GNUWIN32 site:

         site: ftp.franken.de
         user: ftp/anonymous
     password: <email address>

     To get directly to the GNUWIN32 upload/incoming directory type
     "cd gnuwin32:" (note the colon following "gnuwin32") and then
     "cd incoming"

     Please always add a short readme on what you've uploaded.
     I'd like best, if the description would follow this format:

     ----------------------< snip snip snip >-------------------------
     *<package name>*
     --------------

     - what is it?
       - <short package description>

     - system
       - <system type, i.e. Windows NT4, Windows 95, ...>

     - preliminaries
       - <which arrangements to make>

     - configure
       - <which changes and parameters are necessary for configure>

     - make
       - <which changes and parameters are necessary for make>

     - make install
       - <which changes and parameters are necessary for make install>

     - notes
       - <what else might be interesting to know>

     - package availability
       - on <site name>
       - in <path>
       - as <package name>

     - contributed by
       - <email address> (<your name>)
     ----------------------< snip snip snip >-------------------------

     There is no need to tell me, that you have uploaded something,
     because I'll get informed automatically.

     Please note:
     *I will delete anything, which does not look like a useful*
     *GNUWIN32 package !*
     *So please don't upload any warez, spam or similar garbage !*


4. Acknowledgements

  Special thanks go to Earnie Boyd who kindly gave me his signature to
create an FAQ out of it and contributed many great ideas. Also I want
to thank Christopher Faylor, Michael Hirmke, Goeffrey Noer, Timothy
Prince and Sergey Okhapkin, who allowed me to include their huge
knowledge on Cygwin32 in this document. And of course I want to thank
all the developers at Cygnus and all over the net for developing such
a great environment.

5. Legal stuff

I disclaim everything. :)
Copyright (c) 1998 by Michael Weiser, all rights reserved.

# end of file
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