>I am new to the Linux world. I have been trying to get PCMCIA working (on a
>single board computer) and not having much luck. I don't know a lot about
>the internals of Linux (slowly but surely I am learning though).
PCMCIA is not part of the standard kernel. The pcmcia list (if
there is one) is likely the best place for help related to
pcmcia.
>I have been having a hard time figuring out what is being executed, when
>and where errors are happening etc. Something that would help a lot would
>be to have all the messages generated by scripts or programs preceded by
>the name of the file generating the message.
>
>For example when rc.sysinit generates the message:
>
> Activating Swap Partitions
>
>It would be so much easier for a new user to know that is coming from
>rc.sysinit if the message read:
>
> rc.sysinit:> Activating Swap Partitions
Init scripts are distribution specific, and thus it would vary
from distribution to distribution, and from release to release.
Also, it would end up indenting the display significantly and
messing up the output.
Assuming you're using RedHat, you shouldn't be editing the
initscripts in init.d anyways. If they are broken for some
reason, then report it to redhat and they'll fix it. Also, be
sure you're running the latest updates from their server.
The bootup stuff is not something that should be touched on most
systems at all, except in custom situations that the scripts
don't handle. Site specific stuff goes in rc.local et al. If
you don't know how to find the script that is the source of an
error message, then it is likely that you shouldn't be looking
for it anyways. This type of question, etc. is best handled on a
distribution specific mailing list like redhat-list. It has
nothing to do with kernel development. What happens after the
kernel boots has nothing to do with this mailing list.
>If all scripts and programs followed this simple convention it would be so
>much easier to figure out where to look for problems (or where to look to
>make changes).
If all users would read the documentation, and HOWTO's, they'd
learn the proper way to solve problems in the first place.
Pointing out that swap didn't load from rc.sysinit doesn't change
anything. rc.sysinit is set to setup swap, and I would presume
that it assumes the sysadmin knew what he was doing when he
created swap. If not, any errors are likely not the fault of
that script. Editing those scripts typically is a sign of
improper system configuration and poor system administration
IMHO.
>This suggestion may seem useless to the people who already know Linux like
>the back of their hand but I think it would help those people who are new
>to the Linux world get up to speed faster.
I can see why you think that, because you're looking for a
solution to a problem you're having at boot time. However, it is
unlikely that there is a problem with any of the scripts, and
more likely that your system isn't configured properly.
If you want to see why something is failing, and what script the
failure is occuring in, read the (assuming you're using RedHat)
online HTML documentation that installed with the OS. Read the
RedHat Installation guide, the Linux installation guide, then the
Users Guide, Sysadmin Guide, Netadmin Guide. They're all on the
default page in both Netscape and Lynx, and IMHO, the wealth of
info there describes the RedHat bootup sequence, SysVinit
sequence, and init scripts very well, as well as runlevels, etc..
If you read the manuals first, then you'd realize that you don't
really need what you propose.
-- Mike A. Harris - Computer Consultant - Linux advocateLinux software galore: http://freshmeat.net
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