Re: trn-4.0-test77

[Patrick V. <pat...@pe...>]

On Mon, 19 Oct 2015, N.M. Maclaren wrote:

> I have had to change news server, so needed to upgrade from trn 3.6 and use
> authentication.  I have managed to get it going, but can't resolve the
> following problems:

Did you compile trn yourself, or did you install a default package from 
your Unix/Linux distribution? Or more generic, what are you running trn 
on?

>    1) No matter what I do, it will not start in rn mode, whereas it used
> to. I have to remember to type Q, ESC, + or whatever initially. That's a
> pain. I do not want threading, curses or termcap, ever.
>
> [ It starts like:
>    < various lines of output, and some blank lines >
>    -- Select a newsgroup (natural order) -- All [Z>] --
> ]

What happens when you start trn using the 'rn' shortcut? If you installed 
trn using the regular install repository of you Linux/Unix distribution, 
all kinds of shortcuts should have been installed.

trn when started called as rn starts up in rn mode.

If you already tried that, it seems there's no command line option to 
force this (see man trn) but I could have overlooked it when scanning 
through it.

>    2) Sometimes, it hangs loading the overview (or possibly just takes 
> so long that I give up).  The next attempt usually works.  I might not 
> have selected the optimal parameters, of course.  I do not want any 
> features beyond pure line-mode rn.

You can set defaults via the environment variable TRN_INIT. Mine contains:

TRNINIT=-S -B -p +a -f -K

but that probably mostly affects trn-features.

If the trn you're using was built with debugging support on, you can 
enable this using the -D<number> option. The higher the number, the more 
debugging output is sent to stdout. Log this (using 'tee' for instance) 
and perhaps you can detect what (t)rn is doing when it it seems to be 
hanging to you.

> Any ideas on these?

See above for some hints.

Finally, something you more or less excluded above, but I cannnot help 
hinting towards it: it is worth considering using trn in trn-mode; it adds 
a lot of extra features which provide more control over how you read your 
news.

> Regards,
> Nick Maclaren.

Good luck, regards, Patrick.