mirror of https://github.com/tLDP/LDP
683 lines
25 KiB
Plaintext
683 lines
25 KiB
Plaintext
<!doctype linuxdoc system>
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************************** begin comment *****************************
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The following is the HOW-TO for recovering from linux crash, if
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linux fails to boot, LILO is destroyed and to rescue the system.
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This document is in the SGML format. You must use sgml package to
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process this document
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************************* end of comment *****************************
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-->
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************************** SGML USER GUIDE *****************************
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The SGML user guide on linux is located at /usr/doc/sgml-tools
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Read the example.sgml and guide.html documents.
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HTML sgml2html foo (Do not give extension .sgml here!!)
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-->
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<article>
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<!-- Title information -->
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<title>LILO, Linux Crash Rescue HOW-TO
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<!-- chapt change
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LILO, Linux Crash Rescue HOW-TO
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-->
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<author>Al Dev (Alavoor Vasudevan)
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<htmlurl url="mailto:alavoor[AT]yahoo.com"
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name="alavoor[AT]yahoo.com">
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<date>v10.8, 25 Jan 2003
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<abstract>
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This document discusses methods to recover from Linux system failures.
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Various reasons for linux system failures can be -
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LILO is destroyed, or linux fails to boot, or Master Boot Record (MBR)
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is damaged or linux fails to boot when another
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operating system like Windows NT is installed which erases LILO or MBR.
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</abstract>
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<!-- Table of contents -->
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<toc>
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<!-- Begin the document -->
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<sect>Introduction
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<p>
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<bf>
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(The latest version of this document is
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at <url url="http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com">. You may
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want to check there for changes).
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</bf>
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You cannot avoid accidents and if it happens to linux systems then it
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may damage the
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master boot record (MBR) or LILO (Linux boot Loader).
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There may be cases where linux will not boot due to hard disk
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failures. The LILO may also fail if you accidentally re-partition the
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hard disk or you install another additional operating system like
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Windows 98/NT on the linux computer.
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This document gives you some ideas, tips and quick guide to recover
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fast without wading through hundreds of pages of documentation on
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LILO or Linux.
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<sect1> Tiny Floppy Linux <label id="tiny">
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<p>
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To recover any Windows 95/NT/2000, OS/2, BeOS or Linux box you may need the
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tiny linux which fits on a single floppy disk.
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See the list of tiny floppy linux given below -
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<itemize>
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<item> The best <url name="Tomsrtbt" url="http://www.toms.net/~toehser/rb">
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<item> Second best floppy linux <url name="MuLinux" url="http://sunsite.dk/mulinux">
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<item> <url name="Trinux" url="http://www.trinux.org">
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<item> <url name="DLX" url="http://www.wu-wien.ac.at/usr/h93/h9301726/dlx.html">
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<item> <url name="FloppyFW" url="http://www.zelow.no/floppyfw">
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<item> <url name="Linux Router Proejct floppy" url="http://www.psychosis.com/linux-router">
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<item> <url name="Tiny Linux distributions" url="http://www.txdirect.net/users/mdfranz/tinux.html">
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<item> <url name="TINYLinux" url="http://tiny.seul.org/en">
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</itemize>
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<sect1> Tiny Pocket CDROM Linux <label id="tinycdrom">
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<p>
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<itemize>
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<item> Linuxcare Bootable Toolbox <url url="http://lbt.linuxcare.com">
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<item> LNX-BBC <url url="http://lnxbbc.org">
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<item> Tom's Root and Boot "the most GNU/Linux on one floppy disk"
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<url url="http://www.toms.net/rb">
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<item> "Innominate-Linux-Rescue-System" - a CD-based rescue system
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<url url="http://innominate.org/projects/rescueCD">
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<item> Irish Linux Users Group (ILUG) BBC: A bootable CD ISO
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<url url="ftp://ftp.blackstar.co.uk/pub/ILUG/">
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<item> Lubbock: Meant to be the "Tom's Root Boot" of CDs <url url="http://lubbock.sourceforge.net">
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<item> Repairlix: a networked Linux distribution/bootable system intended to
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fit in 12MB of media. <url url="http://repairlix.sourceforge.net">
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<item> SuperRescue: a Red Hat-based bootable CD
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<url url="http://www.kernel.org/pub/dist/superrescue">
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<item> Timo's Rescue CD Set: an easy way of generating el Torito Boot Cd's
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<url url="http://rescuecd.sourceforge.net">
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</itemize>
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<sect> Crash Recovery<label id="crash">
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<p>
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<sect1> Preparation Tips <label id="tips">
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<p>
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It is a good idea to backup the important system files like /etc/fstab, /etc/lilo.conf
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after you login using Tomsrtbt floppy or RedHat Linux CDROM (Rescue option)
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in following sections. This can be very handy during
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crash situation or something happens to system files.
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<code>
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bash# cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.orig
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bash# cp /etc/lilo.conf /etc/lilo.conf.orig
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bash# cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.orig
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bash# cp /etc/hosts.allow /etc/hosts.allow.orig
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bash# cp /etc/hosts.deny /etc/hosts.deny.orig
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bash# cp /etc/inetd.conf /etc/inetd.conf.orig
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bash# cp /etc/inittab /etc/inittab.orig
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bash# cp /etc/networks /etc/networks.orig
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</code>
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<sect1> Using Linux CDROM In Rescue Mode
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<p>
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Most of the distributions like RedHat, SUSE, Debian provide CDROM which have "Rescue"
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option. For this, you have should set the BIOS of your computer to boot first from
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IDE CDROM drive. Usually you set the BIOS (using F8 key during boot) to boot
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first from CDROM drive, second from Floppy drive and third from hard disk.
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Load the Linux cdrom into the CD drive and reboot the system.
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The Linux distribution will load and at the prompt select "Rescue Operation".
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In the resuce operation mount the hard disks and try to repair.
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<code>
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# chroot /mnt/SYSIMAGE
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# df
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</code>
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After doing chroot, the system will look as if you had booted the system
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from hard disk.
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You can see all the partitions and you can repair or recover the files.
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<sect1> Quick Steps to recovery
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<p>
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Follow these steps to recover from LILO or system failures.
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<enum>
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<item> <bf>SCENE 1:</bf> If your system does not boot -
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<p>
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Get the tomsrtbt floppy <url url="http://www.toms.net/rb"> or MuLinux floppy
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(see also <ref name="Tiny Linux" id="tiny">).
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Boot with tomsrtbt floppy
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Use fdisk to find the partitions. Try to recognise the
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root and boot partition. Watch out, you may be having the /boot files on
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the root partition itself.
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The Linux's root partition has the following directories
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<bf>bin</bf>,
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<bf>boot</bf>,
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<bf>etc</bf>,
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<bf>usr</bf>.
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And the Linux's boot partition has these directories:
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<bf>vmlinuz</bf>,
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<bf>boot.b</bf>,
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<bf>chain.b</bf>,
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<bf>map</bf>.
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To find out root partition do this :
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<code>
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bash# fdisk /dev/hda
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Command (m for help): m (Gives you help on commands)
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Command (m for help): p (Gives you list of partitons)
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Command (m for help): q
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bash# mkdir /test
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bash# mount /dev/hda1 /test
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bash# ls /test
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You should see root-partition list like this -
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bin fd lib mnt proc sbin usr
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boot dev etc home lost+found opt root tmp var
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</code>
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If this is not a root partition, then try the next partition /dev/hda2.
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Keep trying hda3, hda4, hda5, etc.. untill you find the root partition.
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If you do not find root partition in <bf>hda</bf> device then repeat the above
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steps for other hard disk devices like <bf>hdb</bf>, <bf>hdc</bf>, <bf>hdd</bf> etc..
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Next, you should find the /boot, /usr and /var partitions.
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The disk locations of these partitions are needed to create the new lilo configuration.
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In my case the root partition is /dev/hda4 which is used in the examples below:
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<code>
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bash# mkdir /rootpart
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bash# mount /dev/hda4 /rootpart
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bash# cat /rootpart/etc/fstab
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Read the output of fstab and mount partitions as per fstab file, see below -
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bash# mount /dev/hda5 /rootpart/boot
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bash# mount /dev/hda6 /rootpart/usr
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bash# mount /dev/hda7 /rootpart/var
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bash# mount /dev/hda8 /rootpart/opt
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bash# mount /dev/hda9 /rootpart/root
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bash# mount /dev/hda10 /rootpart/home
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</code>
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In my case, as per fstab file hda5 was <bf>boot</bf>, hda6 was <bf>usr</bf>,
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hda7 was <bf>var</bf>, hda8 was <bf>opt</bf>,
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hda9 was <bf>root</bf>, hda10 was <bf>home</bf> and hda11 was windows95 (FAT16 partition).
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Edit /etc/fstab (not /rootpart/etc/fstab) and put (sample code given here) -
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<code>
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/dev/hda4 /rootpart ext2 defaults 1 1
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/dev/hda5 /rootpart/boot ext2 defaults 1 1
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/dev/hda6 /rootpart/usr ext2 defaults 1 1
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/dev/hda7 /rootpart/var ext2 defaults 1 1
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/dev/hda8 /rootpart/opt ext2 defaults 1 1
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/dev/hda9 /rootpart/root ext2 defaults 1 1
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/dev/hda10 /rootpart/home ext2 defaults 1 1
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/dev/hda11 /rootpart/win95part vfat defaults 1 1
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On my computer hda4 contains the linux root partition, hda5 had boot partition and
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hda11 has windows 95 vfat system.
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bash# mkdir /rootpart/win95part
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bash# mount /rootpart/win95part
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And repair the problem partitions using fsck or e2fsck commands.
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bash# man fsck
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bash# man e2fsck
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</code>
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<p>
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<item> <bf>SCENE 2:</bf> If LILO is not working..
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<p>
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Follow scene 1 above, if that fails then follow these steps.
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After executing steps in scene 1 above, you should have
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already mounted /rootpart and have created /etc/fstab file.
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Note: It is very important to note how chroot command works below. The <bf>/sbin/lilo</bf>
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file which chroot uses is actually located in <bf>/rootpart/sbin/lilo</bf> and
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NOT in /sbin!! Hence, do not get confused.
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<code>
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bash# mount -a
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bash# chroot /rootpart /sbin/lilo -q
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bash# man chroot
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bash# chroot /rootpart /sbin/lilo
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</code>
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Note: New users of chroot will be confused. If chroot command complains that
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it cannot find /boot/map file then it actually
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means it that it cannot find /rootpart/boot/map. Because you gave /rootpart as the
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first argument to chroot and all references are with respect to /rootpart.
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Alternatively, you can directly use /sbin/lilo instead of chroot. The
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-r option of lilo actually does chroot.
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It is very <bf>strongly recommended</bf> that you use chroot, instead of lilo -r,
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as it is more convenient and can catch errors more easily.
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<code>
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bash# man lilo
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bash# /sbin/lilo -r /rootpart
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</code>
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<p>
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<item> <bf>SCENE 3:</bf> If LILO is not working..
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<p>
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If scene 1 and 2 failes, then
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if you made the boot disk with 'mkbootdisk' (during install or
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by using 'man mkbootdisk'), boot with it and repair your partitions.
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The mkbootdisk is in mkbootdisk*.rpm package, you must install this.
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Or get boot disks for Linux/NT/Windows/DOS/Mac are at <url url="http://www.bootdisk.com">
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Other option is - get a hold of installation Linux-CDROM. Just about every Linux distribution
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provides a image of a rescue disk on their CD. Under Linux use
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"dd if=/cdrom/disks/rescue of=/dev/fd0" to create a rescue floppy disk. Under DOS
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use rawrite.exe (included on Linux CD) and then do "rawrite image-name a:".
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<p>
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<item> <bf>SCENE 4:</bf> If 1, 2 and 3 above fails and you do not have boot disk
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<p>
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If you have another computer running linux, then
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login as root and do -
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Note: If you compile your own kernel as a bzImage (for instance, bzImage-2.4.4),
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then you should create a hard link to vmlinuz-2.4.4 as follows (note the
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the z in name vmlinuz and it is not vmlinux). If you do not do this then
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mkbootdisk command may fail.
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<code>
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bash# cd /boot
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bash# ls -l vmlinuz*
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bash# ln /boot/bzImage-2.4.4 /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.4
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</code>
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Now that you have bzImage and vmlinuz, give these commands -
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<code>
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bash$ man mkbootdisk
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bash# cp /etc/lilo.conf /etc/lilo-original.conf
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</code>
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Edit the /etc/lilo.conf and put the root partition name as you
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obtained in 'scene 1' above and insert a blank floppy and give -
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<code>
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bash$ mkbootdisk --device /dev/fd0 2.2.12-20
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</code>
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The mkbootdisk is in mkbootdisk*.rpm package, you must install this.
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Make sure you move the /etc/lilo-original.conf back to /etc/lilo.conf!!
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And then take this floppy and goto scene 3
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<p>
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<item> <bf>SCENE 5: </bf> This is the worst scenerio and hopefully you will never come to this
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stage. Scenes from 1 to 4 will take care of majority of cases. But just in case, all the above
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scenes 1, 2, 3 and 4 fail then -
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<p>
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<it><bf>Step 1: </bf></it>
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Boot tomsrtbt
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(see <ref name="Tiny Linux" id="tiny">)
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and mount the partitions and backup the root
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partition to another partition having disk space with comamnds -
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<code>
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Edit /etc/fstab and put (sample code given here, you may have to
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change as per your disk layout) -
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/dev/hda4 /rootpart ext2 defaults 1 1
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/dev/hda11 /b1 vfat defaults 1 1
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bash$ mkdir /rootpart; mount /rootpart
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bash$ mkdir /b1; mount /b1
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bash$ cd /
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bash$ df
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And see that there is enough disk space in /b1 to tar up the root partition
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bash$ tar cvf /b1/root-hda4.tar /rootpart
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</code>
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<p>
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<it><bf>Step 2: </bf></it>
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Insert Linux cdrom, reboot and install the redhat linux
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on /dev/hda4 (but DO NOT install any extra packages, you just
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need to install only the root, boot systems and LILO manager that is, a very
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bare minimum). This will also install the LILO on hard disk.
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Boot linux now and login as root and do -
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<code>
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bash$ man mkbootdisk
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bash# cp /etc/lilo.conf /etc/lilo-original.conf
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</code>
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Note: You MUST remember to copy back lilo-original.conf to lilo.conf!!
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Edit the /etc/lilo.conf and put the root partition name as you
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obtained in 'scene 1' above and insert a blank floppy and give -
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<code>
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bash$ mkbootdisk --device /dev/fd0 2.2.12-20
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bash# cp /etc/lilo-original.conf /etc/lilo.conf
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</code>
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Test this boot floppy to see that this works and then
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restore back the all the files which you backedup using tar on
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/b1/root-hda4.tar as in step 1 above.
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</enum>
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<sect1> Precautionary measures
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<p>
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You should take the following pre-cautionary measures to tackle the
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problems in future.
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<itemize>
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<item> You MUST make emergency boot disk from time to time and whenever you
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make changes to the partition. Insert a blank floppy and do this -
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<code>
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bash$ man mkbootdisk
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The mkbootdisk is in mkbootdisk*.rpm package, you must install this.
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bash$ mkbootdisk --help
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bash$ mkbootdisk --device /dev/fd0 2.2.12-20
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</code>
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<p>
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<item> You MUST backup the partition tables setup to a floppy and to a hard disk.
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You should also print this out and paste it on the computer box.
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<code>
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bash$ su - root
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bash# man fdisk
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bash# fdisk -l /dev/sda > partition_table_backup.txt
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</code>
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Very helpful if you need to repartition the hard disk.
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From the printout, you would know where your partition starts.
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During recovery, after repatitioning and formating you can restore data from the backup.
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<p>
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<item>
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You must keep the tomsrtbt boot floppy handy. Visit
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<url url="http://www.toms.net/rb">
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(see also <ref name="Tiny Linux" id="tiny">)
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<p>
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<item>
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You must keep the Yard rescue and boot floppy disk handy. Visit
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<url url="http://www.linuxlots.com/~fawcett/yard">
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<p>
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<item> Backup /root and /boot directories. Boot the Tomsrtbt
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floppy
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(see also <ref name="Tiny Linux" id="tiny">)
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and then
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<code>
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bash# vi /etc/fstab
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And put these lines -
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/dev/hda1 /a1 vfat defaults 1 1
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/dev/hdb1 /b1 vfat defaults 1 1
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In my case hda1 had the linux root partition '/'
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bash# cd /
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bash# tar cvf /b1/linux-root-partition-hda1.tar a1
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bash# tar cvf /b1/linux-boot-partition-hda1.tar a1/boot
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</code>
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</itemize>
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<sect1> Removing LILO
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<p>
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You can replace the boot sector with the DOS boot loader by issuing the DOS
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command at MS DOS prompt:
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<code>
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FDISK /MBR
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</code>
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where MBR stands for "Master Boot Record".
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See also LILO documentation on linux at /usr/doc/lilo* for other methods of
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uninstalling the LILO. And see also 'man lilo'.
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<sect1> Common mistakes
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<p>
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After making changes to /etc/lilo.conf you <bf>MUST run lilo</bf> to make changes
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to go in effect. It is a very common mistake committed by newusers. Type -
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<code>
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bash# lilo -v -v -v
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</code>
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<sect> Related URLs
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<p>
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Visit following locators which are related to LILO, Rescue Linux, crash recovery -
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<itemize>
|
|
<item> Mini Lilo HOWTO at <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/LILO.html">
|
|
<item> Bootdisk-HOWTO at <url url="http://www.metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Bootdisk-HOWTO/index.html">
|
|
<p>
|
|
<item> Pre-made boot disks at <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Bootdisk-HOWTO">
|
|
<item> Boot disks for Linux/NT/Windows/DOS/Mac at <url url="http://www.bootdisk.com">
|
|
<item> Tomsrtbt boot floppy disk <url url="http://www.toms.net/rb">
|
|
and (see also <ref name="Tiny Linux" id="tiny">)
|
|
<item> Yard rescue and boot floppy disk
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxlots.com/~fawcett/yard">
|
|
<p>
|
|
<item> BootPrompt-HOWTO at <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/BootPrompt-HOWTO.html">
|
|
<item> Multiboot with LILO mini HOWTO at <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Multiboot-with-LILO.html">
|
|
<item> Linux+WinNT mini HOWTO at <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/mini/Linux+WinNT.html">
|
|
<p>
|
|
<item> Linux goodies main site <url url="http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com">
|
|
Mirror sites are at -
|
|
<url url="http://aldev0.webjump.com">,
|
|
<url name="angelfire" url="http://www.angelfire.com/country/aldev0">,
|
|
<url name="geocities" url="http://www.geocities.com/alavoor/index.html">,
|
|
<url name="virtualave" url="http://aldev0.virtualave.net">,
|
|
<url name="50megs" url="http://aldev0.50megs.com">,
|
|
<url name="theglobe" url="http://members.theglobe.com/aldev1/index.html">,
|
|
<url name="NBCi" url="http://members.nbci.com/alavoor">,
|
|
<url name="Terrashare" url="http://aldev.terrashare.com">,
|
|
<url name="Fortunecity" url="http://members.fortunecity.com/aldev">,
|
|
<url name="Freewebsites" url="http://aldev.freewebsites.com">,
|
|
<url name="Tripod" url="http://members.tripod.lycos.com/aldev">,
|
|
<url name="Spree" url="http://members.spree.com/technology/aldev">,
|
|
<url name="Escalix" url="http://www.escalix.com/freepage/aldev">,
|
|
<url name="Httpcity" url="http://www.httpcity.com/aldev/index.html">,
|
|
<url name="Freeservers" url="http://aldev.freeservers.com">.
|
|
|
|
<item> Vim color text editor for C++, C <url url="http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Vim-HOWTO.html">
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect> Other Formats of this Document
|
|
<p>
|
|
This document is published in 14 different formats namely - DVI, Postscript,
|
|
Latex, Adobe Acrobat PDF,
|
|
LyX, GNU-info, HTML, RTF(Rich Text Format), Plain-text, Unix man pages, single
|
|
HTML file, SGML (Linuxdoc format), SGML (Docbook format), MS WinHelp format.
|
|
|
|
This howto document is located at -
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org"> and click on HOWTOs and search
|
|
for howto document name using CTRL+f or ALT+f within the web-browser.
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
You can also find this document at the following mirrors sites -
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> <url url="http://www.caldera.com/LDP/HOWTO">
|
|
<item> <url url="http://www.linux.ucla.edu/LDP">
|
|
<item> <url url="http://www.cc.gatech.edu/linux/LDP">
|
|
<item> <url url="http://www.redhat.com/mirrors/LDP">
|
|
|
|
<item> Other mirror sites near you (network-address-wise) can be found at
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/mirrors.html">
|
|
select a site and go to directory /LDP/HOWTO/xxxxx-HOWTO.html
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item>
|
|
You can get this HOWTO document as a single file tar ball in HTML, DVI,
|
|
Postscript or SGML formats from -
|
|
<url url="ftp://www.linuxdoc.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/">
|
|
and <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto">
|
|
<p>
|
|
<item>Plain text format is in: <url url="ftp://www.linuxdoc.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO">
|
|
and <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto">
|
|
<p>
|
|
<item>Single HTML file format is in:
|
|
<url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto">
|
|
<p> Single HTML file can be created with command (see man sgml2html) -
|
|
sgml2html -split 0 xxxxhowto.sgml
|
|
<p>
|
|
<item>Translations to other languages like French, German, Spanish,
|
|
Chinese, Japanese are in
|
|
<url url="ftp://www.linuxdoc.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO">
|
|
and <url url="http://www.linuxdoc.org/docs.html#howto">
|
|
Any help from you to translate to other languages is welcome.
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
The document is written using a tool called "SGML-Tools" which can be got from -
|
|
<url url="http://www.sgmltools.org">
|
|
Compiling the source you will get the following commands like
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item>sgml2html xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate html file)
|
|
<item>sgml2html -split 0 xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate a single page html file)
|
|
<item>sgml2rtf xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate RTF file)
|
|
<item>sgml2latex xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate latex file)
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect1> Acrobat PDF format <label id="acrobatpdf">
|
|
<p>
|
|
PDF file can be generated from postscript file using
|
|
either acrobat <bf>distill</bf> or <bf>Ghostscript</bf>.
|
|
And postscript file is generated
|
|
from DVI which in turn is generated from LaTex file.
|
|
You can download distill software from <url url="http://www.adobe.com">. Given below
|
|
is a sample session:
|
|
<code>
|
|
bash$ man sgml2latex
|
|
bash$ sgml2latex filename.sgml
|
|
bash$ man dvips
|
|
bash$ dvips -o filename.ps filename.dvi
|
|
bash$ distill filename.ps
|
|
bash$ man ghostscript
|
|
bash$ man ps2pdf
|
|
bash$ ps2pdf input.ps output.pdf
|
|
bash$ acroread output.pdf &
|
|
</code>
|
|
Or you can use Ghostscript command <bf>ps2pdf</bf>.
|
|
ps2pdf is a work-alike for nearly all the functionality of
|
|
Adobe's Acrobat Distiller product: it
|
|
converts PostScript files to Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
|
|
<bf>ps2pdf</bf> is implemented as a very small command script
|
|
(batch file) that invokes Ghostscript, selecting a special "output device"
|
|
called <bf>pdfwrite</bf>. In order to use ps2pdf, the pdfwrite
|
|
device must be included in the makefile when Ghostscript was compiled;
|
|
see the documentation on building Ghostscript for details.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect1> Convert Linuxdoc to Docbook format <label id="linuxdoc2docbook">
|
|
<p>
|
|
This document is written in linuxdoc SGML format. The Docbook SGML format
|
|
supercedes the linuxdoc format and has lot more features than linuxdoc.
|
|
The linuxdoc is very simple and is easy to use. To convert linuxdoc SGML
|
|
file to Docbook SGML use the program <bf>ld2db.sh</bf> and some perl scripts.
|
|
The ld2db output is not 100% clean and you need to use the <bf>clean_ld2db.pl</bf>
|
|
perl script. You may need to manually correct few lines in the document.
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item> Download ld2db program from <url url="http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~rrt/docbook.html">
|
|
or from <url name="Milkyway Galaxy site" url="http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com">
|
|
<item> Download the cleanup_ld2db.pl perl script from
|
|
from <url name="Milkyway Galaxy site" url="http://www.milkywaygalaxy.freeservers.com">
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
The ld2db.sh is not 100% clean, you will get lots of errors when you run
|
|
<code>
|
|
bash$ ld2db.sh file-linuxdoc.sgml db.sgml
|
|
bash$ cleanup.pl db.sgml > db_clean.sgml
|
|
bash$ gvim db_clean.sgml
|
|
bash$ docbook2html db.sgml
|
|
</code>
|
|
And you may have to manually edit some of the minor errors after
|
|
running the perl script. For e.g. you may need to put closing tag <
|
|
/Para> for each <
|
|
Listitem>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect1> Convert to MS WinHelp format <label id="mswinhelp">
|
|
<p>
|
|
You can convert the SGML howto document to Microsoft Windows Help file,
|
|
first convert the sgml to html using:
|
|
<code>
|
|
bash$ sgml2html xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate html file)
|
|
bash$ sgml2html -split 0 xxxxhowto.sgml (to generate a single page html file)
|
|
</code>
|
|
Then use the tool <url name="HtmlToHlp" url="http://javadocs.planetmirror.com/htmltohlpe.html">.
|
|
You can also use sgml2rtf and then use the RTF files for generating winhelp files.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect1> Reading various formats <label id="readformats">
|
|
<p>
|
|
In order to view the document in dvi format, use the xdvi program. The xdvi
|
|
program is located in tetex-xdvi*.rpm package in Redhat Linux which can be
|
|
located through ControlPanel | Applications | Publishing | TeX menu buttons.
|
|
To read dvi document give the command -
|
|
<tscreen><verb>
|
|
xdvi -geometry 80x90 howto.dvi
|
|
man xdvi
|
|
</verb></tscreen>
|
|
And resize the window with mouse.
|
|
To navigate use Arrow keys, Page Up, Page Down keys, also
|
|
you can use 'f', 'd', 'u', 'c', 'l', 'r', 'p', 'n' letter
|
|
keys to move up, down, center, next page, previous page etc.
|
|
To turn off expert menu press 'x'.
|
|
|
|
You can read postscript file using the program 'gv' (ghostview) or
|
|
'ghostscript'.
|
|
The ghostscript program is in ghostscript*.rpm package and gv
|
|
program is in gv*.rpm package in Redhat Linux
|
|
which can be located through ControlPanel | Applications | Graphics menu
|
|
buttons. The gv program is much more user friendly than ghostscript.
|
|
Also ghostscript and gv are available on other platforms like OS/2,
|
|
Windows 95 and NT, you view this document even on those platforms.
|
|
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item>Get ghostscript for Windows 95, OS/2, and for
|
|
all OSes from <url url="http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost">
|
|
</itemize>
|
|
|
|
To read postscript document give the command -
|
|
<tscreen><verb>
|
|
gv howto.ps
|
|
ghostscript howto.ps
|
|
</verb></tscreen>
|
|
|
|
You can read HTML format document using Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet
|
|
explorer, Redhat Baron Web browser or any of the 10 other web browsers.
|
|
|
|
You can read the latex, LyX output using LyX a X-Windows front end to latex.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<sect> Copyright
|
|
<p>
|
|
Copyright policy is GNU/GPL as per LDP (Linux Documentation project).
|
|
LDP is a GNU/GPL project.
|
|
Additional requests are that you retain the author's name, email address
|
|
and this copyright notice on all the copies. If you make any changes
|
|
or additions to this document then you please
|
|
intimate all the authors of this document.
|
|
Brand names mentioned in this document are property of their respective
|
|
owners.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</article>
|