Hints / Tips for Linux on IBM NetVista thin clients:
-
Client does not boot with Linux kernel
-
You may have old boot code. Update the thin client with boot code dated (3/10/00 or later). This is downloadable from
the Web site. Instructions for updating the boot code are included in this package.
-
During login, X server does not come up
-
On the server, check file /nstation/linux/etc/inittab:
The line containing initdefault (usually the 1st uncommented line)
should be
-
X server does not come up:
-
Check if you have installed the XF86_FBDev package
On the server, you should have a file /nstation/linux/usr/X11R6/bin/XF86_FBDev
-
Problems with login:
-
Check if you are using initial root password as "ibmncd"
-
On the server, check if the client boot directory is exported with the correct attributes, as follows:
The boot directory entry in the file /etc/exports on the server should look like:
- /nstation/linux *(rw,no_root_squash)
You may want to restrict access to your server by replacing "*" in the above entry line, to appropriate domain name (example: *.austin.ibm.com). In fact, some Linux distribution (example, Caldera) do not like unresticted access and has problems running NFS with unrestricted access.
-
Check for errors during installation process (running rh61_create_bootdir_from_rpm.sh)
You can take a log of the installation as follows:
./rh61_create_bootdir_from_rpm.sh <server-ip-address> <optional BOOT_DIR> 2>&1 | tee install.log
This will create a log file, called install.log. View the file to see if there is any error in installing RPMs. The error associated with MAKEDEV rpm is OK. See if there are other errors where some of the RPMs are not present on your Redhat 6.1 distribution. To our surprise, we have had customers who have seen some RPM differences in Redhat 6.1 distributions. We have made the RPM install list to be version free, as much as possible.
-
/etc/hosts overrides (how to maintain your own copy):
Currently, the /etc/hosts file is linked to /tmp/hosts (created during client boot). If you would like to maintian your own copy of /etc/hosts, so that every client booting from the server gets the same copy, here's what to do on the server:
- cd $BOOT_DIR/etc
- rm hosts
- Create new hosts file with your copy
Now that the link to /tmp/hosts is broken, the client will always pick you new hosts file
(Last update: 05/24/00)