Well, after several attempt and false starts, reading the net3 how-to and as
many doc's re: X-Terminals as I could find, I have finally made some progress
today!!!!!!!!!!!!
I started by configuring the network between the two PC's using ifconfig and
route. I used 192.168.1.1 &192.168.1.2 for the two PC's, as at the moment
they're not on the net. I added these commands to my PII, so that it
automatically sets up the route to the 486. I was then able to ftp from the 486
to the PII and fetch the X window software and install it by hand using dpkg. I
had to get a few other packages as well, but I finally got the system to run
XF86Setup and claim that there was a valid X server running. After several
failed attempts to connect to my PC in X, I realised I had the wrong monitor
type selected. Fixing this, I used the following command:
X -quiet -query 192.168.1.1
Within moments, I had an X login prompt from my PII on the 486!!!! When I use
the quit fvwm2 icon, the system re-starts with the login. At the moment, the X
session must be started manually, but I want to set-up a script to do it
automatically, but only when the PII is up and running linux. There is no point
in attempting to connect with out it. I tried running X on the PC alone, it took
5 minutes just to start, and of course there are no app's loaded locally. Not
much point or room. The response isn't brilliant, but the 486 only has 8M of
memory at the moment.
! ! ! ! ! Anyone got any 4M 30pin SIMMs going cheap????
The video card is a 1M trident 8900. I can only get 8bit colour at the moment.
Is this the limit? I was hoping for at least 16 bit:<
I've got the shareware version of mpegtv on my system. I can play mpegs on my
daughter PC, but it pops up a warning about not being able to share video
memory. If I zoom the picture, the video becomes jumpy. Is this because of the
video card limit, or the main memory? will increasing the main memory to 32M
improve this at all?
I still need to refine the networking some. I've only set up two IP addresses
for the PC's. I haven't ever tried to fiddle with host names, DNS setting etc. I
still want to connect the PII to Oceanfree, but I don't know how to ensure that
my local IP addresses don't conflict with the web and I want to be sure that my
PC's are secure from the web before I do this. I am also hoping to put a second
hard drive into the 486 and use it for more storage space, but I don't know how
to mount over the network either.
I still don't know the first thing for configuring either PC for sound. I had
oss installed and running on the PII for a while, but only in shareware mode.
I'm sure it is a trivial thing to compile it in by hand, but I'm new to this and
my many attempts never seemed to work out.
! ! ! ! ! I also am in the market for an ISA sound card for the 486.
Can X also pass sound offer the network? I sort-of told my daughter the I could
put a sound card into her PC and she can have sound. I hope I was right.
As you can see, I'm pretty excited over my progress, but I've still got a long
way to go before the systems are running the way I want. SO, , ,
I am looking for some help/assistance/ pointers in getting the networking
configured properly and ensuring it can co-exist with Oceanfree. I would also
like to be able to shunt some of the slower processes to the 486, where the
processor speed doesn't matter. I hope to get several more PC's networked in in
the future for more power.
I am also looking for help/assistance etc for my sound problems. I've read most
of the doc's I could find, but I can't seem to get my head around this.
Food/Guinness is on offer for any assistance.
Lastly, I'd like to thank all the people on this list that have already given
help with my many issues. I don't get to Dublin often, so I can't join in the
POTD, but thanks for all the help.
Cheers,
John Gay
