Re: [linuxdc-dev] New to this list, many questions

[M. R. B. <mr...@0x...>]

* Starman <st...@ma...> on Fri, Sep 06, 2002:

> =20
> Some questions:
> I downloaded an iso and it boots almost perfectly. I got it from
> dcemulation.com. It has X and it works fine with my kb and mouse.
> However, ps doesn't work. I've been using UNIX for over 15 years and ps
> has always been the one and only program to check the process list. This
> version of Linux (kernel 2.4.something) has something else as ps.
> Something about symlinking I belive (I could be wrong). Anyone know why?
>=20

This was a leaked image from over 2 years ago and it was never
endorsed/supported by this group.  I had asked dcemulation to take it down
long ago, but there you have it ... let's just say you're severely limited
by what you can do.

The same folks who developed that image developed another (good) one that c=
an
be found at ftp://ftp.m17n.org/pub/linux-sh/dreamcast/.  You can use this a=
s a
base distribution (it's Debian) and upgrade it to "current" by following
the instructions at http://debian.dodes.org/.

> Is the BBA supported in the one I downloaded, or in the latest snapsot?
> =20

The BBA is fully supported in code found in CVS at linuxsh.org.

> Anyone get Apache to run? The folks at the NetBSD DC project have Apache
> running.
> =20

Linux/Dreamcast userland has been stable for years (it feels funny saying
that :P), while the NetBSD/DC team was finally able to stabilize their
kernel and userland in the last few months.  So yes, Apache works just
fine.

> The documentation/article gives no details about a development
> environment, just the tools to use. Is Cygwin OK? Anyone using Windows
> as their development platform? I don't use Linux on a regular basis, and
> making a Linux box would be a serious pain in the neck right now the way
> I have my machines set up. How out of date is that article? Is there a
> diff/update for it in CVS?
> =20

The usual caveats for doing cross-development under Cygwin apply.  Search
for docs on building Cygwin to Linux cross-compilers from Mumit Khan, also
search the ps2dev resources for more updated instructions.

The article is out of date in terms of the compilers used, and a few other
minor points - all the rules should still apply.  Also, we're currently
trying to move up to the new GCC 3.2 toolchain, and we aren't having a lot
of success with it atm.  It's slowly being worked on though.  The main
problem is library support, we've been using glibc and it's been stable
forever, but we're trying to switch to uClibc and it's been giving us some
problems.

> Why no iso bootable images?
> =20

We've never gotten around to it.  It is *planned*, one of our developers is
working on getting Gentoo[.org] bootstrapped, and of course you already
have a sizeable unstable debian distro to play with.

> Why is the CVS repository dusty? I see items that look important that
> haven't been updated in over a year, yet the mailing list is active.
> =20

We currently have only one active hacker working on the kernel, userland is
pretty much ignored save for the paragraph above.  A couple of other kernel
hackers have been doing other things but haven't abandoned the project yet,
unfortunately I can't give you a time frame of when they'll become more
active again :P.

> Is it possible to save settings in the VMU? Not secure, but this isn't
> server farm material now, is it? :)
> =20

What type of settings?  Adrian just added VMU read/write support in the
last couple of days, so grab CVS and you should be good to go.  He needs
testers anyway.  Note that there isn't VMUfs support yet, so backup your
gamesaves before playing with the VMU support.

> Thanks. I hope to start fiddling with this more.
> =20

Sounds great!

M. R.