6. Frequently Asked Questions about Linux UUCP

6.1 Why is all the info here for UUCPs configured in "Taylor" rather than "HDB" mode?

(religious mode on - I know some people are just as religious about "ease of use" as I am about "being standard". That's why they make source code you can build your own from :-) )

Because IMHO it's the de-facto standard UUCP implementation at this time. There are thousands of sites with experienced admins & there are many places you can get incredibly good information concerning the HDB setup.

Moreover, if you know what HDB is, you shouldn't be reading this HOWTO :-)

Use the uuconv utility in /usr/sbin to convert config files from one mode to another.

6.2 Why do I get "timeout" on connections when I upgraded to uucp-1.04?

• from Ed Carp - erc at apple.com

  If you use a "Direct" device in the Devices file, there's now a 10 second timeout compiled in. Make the name of the Device anything other than "Direct". If you tweak the example /etc/uucp files provided, you won't have problems with this one.

• from Greg Naber - greg at squally.halcyon.com

  If you get chat script timeouts, you can tweak the sources by editing at line 323 in uuconf/syssub.c & changing the default timeouts from 10 seconds to something larger.

• from Ed Rodda - ed at orca.wimsey.bc.ca

  If you get chat script timeouts, typically connecting to other Taylor sites, a pause after login can fix this.

  feed Any ACU,ag 38400 5551212 ogin: \c\d "" yourname word: passwd
  

• from Dr. Eberhard W. Lisse - el at lisse.NA

  Some kernels experience modems hanging up after a couple of seconds. The following patch sent by Ian Taylor might help.

  *** conn.c.orig Mon Feb 22 20:25:24 1993
  --- conn.c      Mon Feb 22 20:33:10 1993
  ***************
  *** 204,209 ****
  --- 204,212 ----
  
       /* Make sure any signal reporting has been done before we set
         fLog_sighup back to TRUE.  */
  +   /* SMR: it seems to me if we don't care about SIGHUPS, we should clear
  +      the flag before we return  */
  +   afSignal[INDEXSIG_SIGHUP] = FALSE;
      ulog (LOG_ERROR, (const char *) NULL);
      fLog_sighup = TRUE;
  

6.3 Why doesn't HDB anonymous uucp seem to work?

Taylor in HDB mode seems to be sensitive to white space & blank lines. To be safe, make sure that there are no blank lines or trailing spaces in the Permissions file.

Lastly, make sure that you have a file called remote.unknown in /usr/lib/uucp or /etc/uucp & that it's *NOT* executable.

See the O'Reilly & Associates book "Managing UUCP & USENET" for details regarding this file.

6.4 What does "no matching ports found" mean?

In all probability, you are attempting to use a dialer that doesn't exist, or the dialer you've specified in the port files doesn't match up with any valid devices in the dial file.

6.5 What are known good config files for HDB mode?

The following are "known-good" config files for Taylor 1.05 under Linux in HoneyDanBer mode. They work on kernels of 0.99-8 or later. All files should be in /usr/lib/uucp or /etc/uucp unless you've tweaked the sources to put the uucp library elsewhere.

If you *HAVE* put things in non-standard places, be aware that things like sendmail might get very confused. You need to ensure that all communications-related programs agree on your idea of "standard" paths.

#------------- Devices -------------
# make sure the device (cua1 here) matches your system
# cua N = COM N+1 
#
# here "scout" is the Digicom Scout Plus 19.2 modem I use
# tbfast etc. is for a Telebit Trailblazer Plus modem's various speeds
#
ACU cua1 - 19200 scout
ACU cua1 - 9600 tbfast
ACU cua1 - 1200 tbslow
ACU cua1 - 2400 tbmed

#------------- dialers --------------
# note the setting of the Trailblazer registers "on the fly"
# "scout" is a Digicom Scout Plus (Hayes-like) modem I use here
#
scout   =W-,    "" ATM0DT\T CONNECT
tbfast  =W-,    "" A\pA\pA\pT OK ATS50=255DT\T CONNECT\sFAST
tbslow  =W-,    "" A\pA\pA\pT OK ATS50=2DT\T CONNECT\s1200
tbmed   =W-,    "" A\pA\pA\pT OK ATS50=3DT\T CONNECT\s2400

#-------------- Systems -------------
# this is a very generic entry that will work for most systems
#
# the Any;1 means that you can call once per minute with using -f (force)
# the ACU,g means force "g" protocol rather than Taylor's default "i"
#
fredsys Any;1 ACU,g 19200 scout5555555 "" \r ogin:--ogin: uanon word: uanon 

#-------------------------------- Permissions -------------------------

# Taylor UUCP in HDB mode appears to be sensitive to blank lines.
# Make sure all Permissions lines are real or commented out.
#       
# this is a anonymous uucp entry
#
LOGNAME=nuucp MACHINE=OTHER \
READ=/var/spool/uucp/nuucp \
WRITE=/var/spool/uucp/nuucp \
SENDFILES=yes REQUEST=yes \
COMMANDS=/bin/rmail
# # this is a normal setup for a remote system that talks to us
# note the absolute path to rnews since this site puts things
# in locations that aren't "standard"
#
LOGNAME=fredsys MACHINE=fredsys \
READ=/var/spool/uucp/fredsys:/var/spool/uucp/uucppublic:/files \
WRITE=/var/spool/uucp/fredsys:/var/spool/uucppublic \
SENDFILES=yes REQUEST=yes \
COMMANDS=/bin/rmail:/usr/bin/rnews
#----------------------------------------------------------------------

6.6 Getting uucico to call alternate numbers

The new v1.05 has an added '-z' switch to uucico that will try alternate numbers for a remote system.

You can else use Taylor mode & "systemyouarecalling-2" (see "sys" in config. files section for more details)