On Mon, 17 Jan 2000, dkphoto wrote:

> I just installed netbsd and after finally getting it to start up, I 
> noticed this line among the other startup feedback:
> 
> 1dev/sd1a: file system not clean (fs_flags=0); please fsck(8)
> 
> 
> What the heck does that mean, and what if anything should I do about it?

There is a problem with a file system. See the man page for fsck by
typing "man 8 fsck". That will give you more information on the command.
Basically, you will just want to unmount the file system with the problem
and run fsk on it. For example:

  unmount /users
  fsck /users


> I finally figured out how to edit rc.conf (why not just have it set 
> properly to begin with, rather than forcing new users on the very first 
> startup to figure out how to edit a system file???)

Because (virtually) every system is different. What you may think are
reasonable values for a default configuration may not be reasonable for
someone else.


> According to the installation instructions, after changing rc.conf, I 
> should be able to login as "root." But when I do, the system gives me 
> this message:
> 
> Don't login as root, use the su commands.
> 
> Now, which is it? The instructions tell me to login as root, the system 
> won't let me. Are the instructions out of date, or have I somehow fouled 
> up my system?

This message is there to discourage excessive use of the root account.
Sometimes there is a need to login as root (for example, during initial
configuration), but most of the time you do not need to be root to do what
you want (during normal operation).

> command to restart in the shutdown sequence, it doesn't do it. It just 
> sits there and does nothing.

If you do a "shutdown -r" it should reboot the machine. If you do a
"shutdown -h" it should bring the system down so that you can manually
reboot or power off the machine.

> Is there any documentation/book that doesn't assume that I've been using 

Go to your favorite local bookstore and look for some of the books
published by O'Reilly & Associates. "UNIX in a Nutshell" is a good book,
as are "Managing NFS and NIS" and "Essential System Administration". I'm
sure there are other good books, but those are the ones I use regularly.

> Unix for years and just "forgot" how some things are done? I mean really! 
> Instructions that read like, "well, if that happens, it means your 
> asret9[p8h2R.agd file needs to be edited, so just go edit it," are 
> completely useless. Even if as a new user I can figure out that I need to 
> open the asret9[p8h2R.agd file with a text editor, how in the world am I 
> supposed to know what and how to edit? 

UNIX systems are powerful and complex. You learn how to use these systems 
over time, and not over night.

> I mean for crying out loud folks, would the installation manual for a new 
> Windows user say something like: "If you have problem x, just go edit the 
> auto.exec.bat file"?

Apparently you haven't seen some of the earlier DOS documentation
books. :-)

If you think the documenation can be improved, then do something about
it instead of complaining about it. Re-write what you think needs to
be improved. You can use the the send-pr command to submit a problem
report for the documenation and also include a copy of your new
version. The man page for send-pr describes the operation of command in
more detail.


Brian

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