2. General System Setup

2.1 Keyboard

First of all, how to configure the keyboard. If you missed this step during installation or have changed your keyboard, you'll have to:

• choose a suitable key table from /usr/lib/kbd/keytables/; for example, it.map selects the Italian keyboard;
• edit the file /etc/sysconfig/keyboard so as it reads: KEYTABLE="/usr/lib/kbd/keytables/it.map";
• to set up the keyboard repeat rate and delay time, add this line to /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit (Red Hat) or /etc/rc.d/rc.boot (Caldera) or /etc/rc.d/boot (S.u.S.E.):

  /sbin/kbdrate -s -r 16 -d 500  # or whatever you like
  

To load the key table, issue /etc/rc.d/init.d/keytable start (AT2YD). Other special keys will be considered in the following sections.

To enable NumLock on by default, add these lines to /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit (AT2YD):

for tty in /dev/tty[1-9]*; do
  setleds -D +num < $tty
done

2.2 Kernel Matters

IMHO, the first thing to do next is build a kernel that best suits your system. It's very simple to do but, in any case, refer to the README file in /usr/src/linux/ or the Kernel HOWTO. Hints:

• consider carefully your needs. Choosing a kernel configuration, applying the patches, and compiling it once and for all is more productive than reconfiguring and recompiling each month; this is especially true if your Linux box is a server. Don't forget to include support for all the hardware you might likely add in the future (e.g. SCSI, Zip, network cards, etc);
• if your PC is based on a Cyrix CPU that is not properly recognised as such by the kernel, apply appropriate patches to improve its performance. Information on http://www.linuxhq.com/patch/20-p0591.html ;
• notebook users will want to improve their LCD screen legibility. I used to suggest that a kernel patch should be applied, but SVGATextMode (see Section SVGATextMode) is probably the best solution. Anyway, the Big Cursor kernel patch is on http://www.linuxhq.com/patch/20-p0239.html ;
• again for notebook users, if you plan to use a PCMCIA modem/fax don't compile serial support as a module; compile it in the kernel, otherwise your PCMCIA modem won't work;
• if you use PCMCIA cards, remember to compile those modules as well; also, don't forget to edit /etc/pcmcia/network.opts if you use a PCMCIA network card;
• if you get those pesky messages from modprobe indicating that some modules can't be located, that means that your /etc/conf.modules needs mending. For instance, if you don't use the ipx and appletalk modules, add these lines:

  alias net-pf-4 off
  alias net-pf-5 off
  

• to save time the next time you reconfigure and recompile the kernel, it's a good idea to save your configuration on a file and keep it in a safe place. Beware: if you upgrade your kernel this config file is bound to be useless, because it doesn't contain the features of the new kernel.

2.3 Sendmail Lock

On some systems, sendmail hangs the machine for a couple of minutes at boot time. There are two cases: 1) the machine is not directly connected to the Internet, 2) the machine is connected, and has a permanent IP address.

Quick fix for the first case: make sure your /etc/hosts contains a line that reads

127.0.0.1   localhost

For the second case: the lock is caused by /etc/hosts containing a line like

127.0.0.1   localhost   your_host_name

which you will split this way:

127.0.0.1    localhost   
w.x.y.z      your_host_name

See also Section Hostname.

2.4 Hard Disk Performance

Your (E)IDE hard disk's performance can be greatly enhanced by carefully using hdparm(8). If your Linux distribution doesn't include it, you'll find on ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/hardware ; look for a file called hdparm-X.Y.tar.gz.

Since many details depend on your hard disk and HD controller, I can't give you a general recipe. As you risk to toast your filesystem, please read the man page carefully before using some of the options. At its simplest, you could add the following line to /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit:

/sbin/hdparm -c1 /dev/hda  # first IDE drive assumed

which enables (E)IDE 32-bit I/O support. As for the `-m' option, this is what hdparm author Mark Lord emailed me:

(...) if your system uses components from the past couple of years [< 1997], it will be fine. Older than that, there *may* be a problem (unlikely). The really buggy chips were the CMD0646 and RZ1000 chips, used *extensively* on 486 and (early) 586 motherboards about 2-3 years ago.

2.5 Parallel Port Zip Drive

To use the parallel port version of the Zip drive you can use the default driver that comes with recent (2.x.x) kernels. During kernel configuration, make sure that SCSI support and SCSI disk support are enabled. Remember, there can be conflicts between the printer and the Zip drive on the same parallel port, so you will want to use kernel modules.

Zip disks are sold preformatted on partition /dev/sda4. To enable the Zip, all you have to do is issue

#~ chmod 666 /dev/sda4  # everyone can access the Zip Drive
#~ insmod ppa

and the Zip can now be mounted as usual (better write the last line in /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit). You also access the Zip drive via mtools adding this line to your /etc/mtools.conf:

drive z: file="/dev/sda4" exclusive

There's a better ppa driver than the standard one, though: have a look at http://www.torque.net/~campbell .

2.6 Device Drivers

Devices in /dev (or better, links to the actual device drivers) may be missing. Check what devices your mouse, modem, and CD--ROM drive correspond to, then do what follows:

~# cd /dev
/dev# ln -s ttyS0 mouse
/dev# ln -s ttyS1 modem
/dev# ln -s hdb cdrom

Tip: in some notebooks the mouse device is /dev/psaux: take this into account when configuring X11.

If you want, do chmod 666 to such devices as /dev/cdrom, /dev/floppy, /dev/modem, etc. to make them fully accessible by every user. Security problems ahead! Alternatively, create the ``cdrom'' group, make /dev/cdrom owned by root.cdrom, then add users to this group. A similar procedure applies to other devices.

2.7 Login Messages

If you want to customise the login messages, check whether your /etc/rc.d/rc.local overwrites /etc/issue and /etc/motd. (RedHat does.) If so, get on with your editor.

2.8 Hostname

Issuing the command hostname new_host_name may not be enough. To avoid the dreaded sendmail lock, follow these steps (only valid for a stand--alone machine):

• edit /etc/sysconfig/network and change the hostname therein (e.g. new_host_name.localdomain);
• edit /etc/HOSTNAME appropriately;
• append the new hostname in the line in /etc/hosts:

  127.0.0.1       localhost  new_host_name.locadomain
  

2.9 Mouse

gpm mouse services are useful to perform cut and paste in tty mode, and to use the mouse in some applications. For Red Hat, check that you have a file called /etc/sysconfig/mouse and that it reads:

MOUSETYPE="Microsoft"
XEMU3=yes

Moreover, you must have a file /etc/rc.d/init.d/gpm, where you'll put additional command line parameters. Mine reads:

...
       daemon gpm -t $MOUSETYPE -d 2 -a 5 -B 132 # two-button mouse
...

Obviously, make sure this configuration is right for your mouse type. In most notebooks, MOUSETYPE is ``PS/2''.

For Caldera, all you have to do is append this line to /etc/rc.d/rc.boot:

/usr/bin/gpm

On S.u.S.E., gpm options go in /etc/rc.config; on Debian, you'll edit /etc/gpm.conf.

If you like to use menus in console with Ctrl-button, then configure gpm-root. Edit the default menu in /etc/gpm-root.conf , then launch gpm-root from /etc/rc.d/rc.local (AT2YD).

2.10 Mount Points

It's handy to have mount points for the floppy, other devices and NFS-exported directories. For example, you can do the following:

~# cd /mnt
/mnt# mkdir floppy; mkdir cdrom; mkdir win; mkdir zip ; mkdir server

This creates mount points for a DOS/Win floppy, an ext2 floppy, the CD--ROM, the Windows partition, the parallel port Zip drive, and a NFS directory.

Now edit the file /etc/fstab and add the following entries:

/dev/fd0        /mnt/floppy     vfat            user,noauto 0 1
/dev/cdrom      /mnt/cdrom      iso9660         ro,user,noauto 0 1
/dev/sda4       /mnt/zip        vfat            user,noauto,exec 0 1
/dev/hda1       /mnt/win        vfat            user,noauto 0 1
server:/export  /mnt/server     nfs             defaults

Obviously, you must use the correct device in the first field. Recent kernels support fat32 partitions natively; for older ones, there's a kernel patch on http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/people/chaffee/fat32.html . man mount for further information.

You're strongly advised to install mtools for accessing DOS/Windows floppies!

2.11 lilo(8) and LOADLIN.EXE

Many users run both Linux and DOS/Windows on their PC, and want to choose at boot time which os to use; this should be done at install time, but in case, do what follows. Let's suppose that /dev/hda1 contains DOS/Windows and that /dev/hda2 contains Linux.

~# fdisk
Using /dev/hda as default device!

Command (m for help):a
Partition number (1-4): 2

Command (m for help):w
~#

This makes the Linux partition bootable. Then write this basic /etc/lilo.conf file:

boot = /dev/hda2
compact
delay = 50
# message = /boot/bootmesg.txt  # write your own, if you will
root = current
image = /boot/vmlinuz  # boot linux by default as this entry comes first
  label = linux
  read-only
other = /dev/hda1
  table = /dev/hda
  label = dos

Now issue /sbin/lilo and you're done. Being lilo a crucial part of your installation, you're strongly advised to read its documentation anyway.

To boot Linux from DOS/Windows without resetting, put LOADLIN.EXE in a directory (in the DOS partition!) included in the DOS path; then copy your kernel to, say, C:\TEMP\VMLINUZ. The following simple .BAT file will boot Linux:

rem   linux.bat
smartdrv /C
loadlin c:\temp\vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro

If you use Windows 9x, set the properties of this .BAT so as it starts in MS--DOS mode.

Security Tip

Making a backup copy of your MBR before installing Linux is a safe move. Use restorrb (included in the FIPS package) before installation, or a Linux rescue floppy to issue this command:

rescue:~# dd if=/dev/hda of=MBR bs=512 count=1

then make at least two copies of the file MBR on floppies. Should disaster strike, you'll be able to restore your old MBR by issuing:

rescue:~# dd if=/mnt/MBR of=/dev/hda bs=446 count=1

assuming that a floppy containing MBR is mounted under /mnt. Alternatively, use a DOS rescue floppy to issue FDISK /MBR.

2.12 Mail Capabilities

You will want to be able to read mail messages written in HTML or containing exotic file formats. Make sure you have two files: /etc/mime.types and /etc/mailcap. The first one lists file types and related extensions, like:

application/postscript          ps eps
image/jpeg                      jpe jpeg jpg
text/html                       html

while the second one tells the mail client how to display that file type.

You may receive mail from people who use Microsoft Outlook, whose messages are in multi--part MIME format. These two lines, put in etc/mailcap, should let you read those messages:

text/plain; less %s; needsterminal
text/html; lynx -force_html %s; needsterminal

2.13 Printer Configuration

All distributions I know have a configuration tool for setting up the printer (printtool, yast, or magicfilter); if you don't have it, this is a basic manual configuration.

Let's suppose you have a non--PostScript (non ``Windows-only'' too!) printer you want to use to print raw text (e.g., C source files) and PostScript files via Ghostscript, which is assumed to be already installed.

Setting up the printer involves a few steps:

• find out which one the parallel print device is: try

  ~# echo "hello, world" > /dev/lp0
  ~# echo "hello, world" > /dev/lp1
  

  and take note which one works.
• make two spool directories:

  ~# cd /var/spool/lpd
  /var/spool/lpd/# mkdir raw ; mkdir postscript
  

• if your printer exibits the ``staircase effect'' (most inkjets do), you'll need a filter. Try to print two lines with

  ~# echo "first line" > /dev/lp1 ; echo "second line" > /dev/lp1
  

  if the output is like this:

  first line
            second line
  

  then save this script as /var/spool/lpd/raw/filter:

  #!/bin/sh
  # This filter does away with the "staircase effect"
  awk '{print $0, "\r"}'
  

  and make it executable with chmod 755 /var/spool/lpd/raw/filter.
• make a filter for PostScript emulation. Write the following filter as /var/spool/lpd/postscript/filter:

  #!/bin/sh
  
  DEVICE=djet500
  RESOLUTION=300x300
  PAPERSIZE=a4
  SENDEOF=
  
  nenscript -TUS -ZB -p- |
  if [ "$DEVICE" = "PostScript" ]; then
          cat -
  else
          gs -q -sDEVICE=$DEVICE \
                  -r$RESOLUTION \
                  -sPAPERSIZE=$PAPERSIZE \
                  -dNOPAUSE \
                  -dSAFER \
                  -sOutputFile=- -
  fi
  
  if [ "$SENDEOF" != "" ]; then
          printf "\004"
  fi
  

  (in this example an HP DeskJet printer is assumed. Fix it to suit your printer).
• finally, add the following entries in /etc/printcap:

  # /etc/printcap
  lp|ps|PS|PostScript|djps:\
          :sd=/var/spool/lpd/postscript:\
          :mx#0:\
          :lp=/dev/lp1:\
          :if=/var/spool/lpd/postscript/filter:\
          :sh:
  raw:\
          :sd=/var/spool/lpd/raw:\
          :mx#0:\
          :lp=/dev/lp1:\
          :if=/var/spool/lpd/raw/filter:\
          :sh:
  

For more complex or exotic printing configurations, the Printing-HOWTO awaits you.

If you use printtool, be aware that the GSDEVICE chosen by Printtool will work, but not necessarily at its best for your printer. You may consider fiddling a bit with the file postscript.cfg; for instance, I changed GSDEVICE from cdj500 to djet500 and now my prints come out much quicker.

2.14 SVGATextMode

This utility, available on ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/sources/sbin , can be used to change the console screen resolution, font, and cursor shape. Users whose language include accented characters will be able to use them in console applications, while notebook users may change the cursor shape to make it more visible.

Edit /etc/TextConfig or /etc/TextMode, starting with the default VGA definition. Europeans should be happy with this ``LoadFont'' section:

Option "LoadFont"
FontProg "/usr/bin/setfont"
FontPath "/usr/lib/kbd/consolefonts"
FontSelect "lat1u-16.psf"   8x16 9x16 8x15 9x15
FontSelect "lat1u-14.psf"   8x14 9x14 8x13 9x13
FontSelect "lat1u-12.psf"   8x12 9x12 8x11 9x11
FontSelect "lat1u-08.psf"   8x8  9x8  8x7  9x7

Once you're done, try your configuration with a command like

~# SVGATextMode "80x34x9"

and if everything appears to be working fine, remove the warnings from /etc/TextMode and include this line in etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit (AT2YD):

# SVGATextMode
/usr/sbin/SVGATextMode "80x34x9"

Please note that the block cursor only works with some modes; on one of my machines, "80x32x9".