Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!ucsd!pacbell.com!att!cbnewsm!cbnewsk!cbnewsj!dwex
From: dwex@cbnewsj.att.com (david.e.wexelblat)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.3b1
Subject: Re: Replacement for wind.o
Keywords: MGR
Message-ID: <1991May6.150820.9227@cbnewsj.att.com>
Date: 6 May 91 15:08:20 GMT
References: <1991May3.163220.24448@cbnewsj.att.com> <1991May4.062447.7923@yenta.alb.nm.us>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 50

In article <1991May4.062447.7923@yenta.alb.nm.us> dt@yenta.alb.nm.us (David B. Thomas) writes:
> dwex@cbnewsj.att.com (david.e.wexelblat) writes:
> 
> >I am planning to put together a small replacement for wind.o for 3B1
> >systems that have pitched UA/wind.o.
> 
> I think you would do better to concentrate on building the features you want
> into mgr.  For one thing, mgr writes directly to the video RAM, so if you
> were running a clock program (say) then a separate screen blanker wouldn't
> help.  The next time something is drawn to the screen, it shows up.
> 
	[ stuff deleted]
> 
> 					little david
> -- 
> Unix is not your mother.

There are a couple of reasons I want to do this:

	1) I don't want MGR running except when I am logged (my
	   personal preference).  Given that, I need screen
	   blanking outside MGR.
	2) There are times when MGR doesn't work (e.g. you hack
	   on MGR, and it breaks).  If that is the only way
	   to get into the system, you're dead.
	3) MGR has a lot of overhead in terms of disk use.  If
	   your disk swallows a file (e.g. grows a bad block),
	   you may lose a critical file, and you can't log in.
	   Either you keep a spare on disk, and copy it over
	   after booting off the floppy, or you restore a backup.
	   With lots of possible files to get nuked, I want
	   another way in.  If a bad block eats my driver,
	   the console will still work as it does now.  And I
	   just have to keep one spare file on the hard disk.
	4) With a small driver, you can build a floppy unix
	   with it already loaded in, like Lenny did for
	   the tape driver.  That way, if your hard disk
	   gets badly trashed, you can get more and vi working
	   with very little restoring actually done (you can
	   put them on your floppy file system, if you have room.

Anyhow, that's how I want to do it :->.  If you want to use the
result, that's fine.  If not, that's fine too.


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