| carmen_ambrose 2006-01-20, 7:27 pm |
| Hello all
Until two w s ago I was completely unfamiliar with any Linux/Unix based systems. I have now become my father's business partner and have inherited a program he helped to write almost 20 years ago in SCO Xenix V. The system was running fine, albeit slightly unstable, until he closed his main office in September and took the computer home. Unstable: he usually ran it 24/7 for backup purposes and end-of-day records ...and if he turned it off, sometimes it would take 10 tries to boot up again. Makes me nervous, and one of my questions is what my options might be for transferring the program and all of its data into something more stable. It would help if the computer techs of this age understood it, unlike Xenix which raises blank stares everywhere I turn :)
Another problem I have with this system is trying to set up remote access. A bit more history, if only for a smile: my father was ready to retire but his business went down the tubes when he sold it to a schmuck a few years ago. We are reopening under a new name with no employees as yet. He cleaned out his old offices in September (before I signed on with him) and brought home only what he thought he needed, such as the computer and a few extra backup tapes. He unplugged the functional old 9600 baud modems and left them behind, along with the original program software install disks and the huge Xenix manuals. I have nothing to work with, in other words!
Back to the remote access: I know modems have been configured and functional on this machine in the past. I cannot get one to work now, and neither can the local computer "whiz." I even went so far as to purchase a refurb Hayes 9600 external. Didn't work - so that's another problem I would really appreciate some help with.
Finally, my most immediate issue at hand. The local guy had my box for a couple days this w, trying to configure the modem. He left town yesterday and will not return until Tuesday. I booted up, logged in, and proceeded to the company files, I think we use FilePro. Then a horrible error message began painting over my screen:
/etc/getty tty1a1 (more here)
Unknown terminal type
or
Cannot open line tty1a1: No such device or address (error 6)
or
Unknown line discipline
The PID continually increases, so I know I have to find a parent process and kill it somehow. However, as mentioned already I had never encountered this OS until 2 ws ago. Local computer guy that probably can't fix the other issues will not return until Tuesday, and I have many irate clients waiting for me to get into their files and get back to them.
I would wholeheartedly appreciate any advice or leads that could be provided. I have already searched the web and found www.aperion.com, which boasts of servicing SCO and I have sent a message to them. I'm located in the Northeast, and willing to travel if anyone knows of a literate Xenix person that hasn't yet retired.
Thank you! |