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diff --git a/ext2ed/README b/ext2ed/README new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f473cf --- /dev/null +++ b/ext2ed/README @@ -0,0 +1,160 @@ +ext2ed - The extended-2 filesystem editor, version e2fsprogs + + +This version of ext2ed has been modified and updated by Theodore Ts'o +for inclusion with the e2fsprogs package. It now builds with modern +ncurses and I've fixed various small bugs, particular in the redrawing +and resizing functions. + +It is currently not built by default -- the top-level e2fsprogs +Makefile doesn't recurse into this directory. This is because ext2ed +has a number of VERY SERIOUS shortcomings: + +1) It doesn't work on filesystems bigger than 2GB + +2) It assumes that all's the world an Intel, and assumes that + everything is in Intel (little-endian) byte order. + +Fixing either of these problems would be non-trivial, and so I at this +point DO NOT RECOMMEND that distributions try to include this program, +even as modified and updated in e2fsprogs. This especially goes for +Debian, where the Debian maintainer for e2fsprogs has a history of +making authorized changes to e2fsprogs to include programs that aren't +supported, and then starts bugging me with bug reports. YES I KNOW. +THIS PROGRAM HAS HORRIBLE SHORTCOMINGS. IT IS INCLUDED HERE ONLY +BECAUSE IT'S A CONVENIENT WAY FOR (FOR E2FSPROGS DEVELOPERS ON INTEL +MACHINES) TO GENERATE TEST CASES BY SELECTIVELY CORRUPTING +FILESYSTEMS. I WILL NOT SUPPORT THIS PROGRAM FOR USE BY GENERAL USERS +SO PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE IT IN A DISTRIBUTION. + +I have currently disabled the use of GNU Readline in this program, +because readline and ncurses really don't play well together at all. +Readline assumes that it can write arbitrary text to the screen +(especially when it tries to print out a completion list), which just +doesn't work with ncurses. Fixing this so they would work together +would require wholesale changes to readline. + + Theodore Ts'o + tytso@MIT.EDU + May 12, 2001 + +---------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +ext2ed - The extended-2 filesystem editor, version 0.2 +------------------------------------------------------ + +This is version 0.2 of ext2ed - The extended-2 filesystem editor. + +Modifications on Apr 5 2001 +This is minor bug fixes to ext2ed, as of April 2001. +It supports modern ext2 version that has file type in directory structure +and fixes the misunderstanding between ncurses and +readline. + +I first applied patches from Red Hat except the one for readline that +rewrote a readline behavior. + +Globals diffs between version 0.1 and 0.2 is stored in file : + diff-ext2ed.1.2 + +Christian Bac <Christian.Bac@nt-evry.fr> + +---------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Documentation +------------- + +ext2ed's documentation consists of three documents: + +1. The user's guide. +2. Technical overview of the ext2 filesystem. +3. The EXT2ED design and implementation document. + +Those documents are available in the doc directory, in linuxdoc-sgml and +postscript formats. + +The documentation is also available online at: + +http://tochnapc2.technion.ac.il + +under the ext2ed section. + +Installation +------------ + +ext2ed requires the kernel sources and the readline and ncurses packages. +Please edit the makefile if you are using an "old" version of ncurses (See the +details below) or if gcc can't find the various header files and libraries. + +To install, simply issue a 'make' command to compile and a 'make install' +command to install. I have also included an already compiled linux a.out +binary. + +ext2ed and ncurses +------------------ + +ext2ed uses the ncurses library for terminal output. It is very important +that ncurses will be properly installed on your system: + +1. Old versions of ncurses (around 1.8.5) need the OLD_NCURSES compile + time option in EXT2ED. + + At least from 1.9.2c, this flag should not be used. I would recommend + upgrading the ncurses library to the newer versions. + +2. ncurses uses its own terminfo database rather then the termcap file. + It is important that the terminfo database will be found by ncurses. + If this is not the case, you will see on startup some lines which + refer to /etc/termcap. This will mean that there is a problem with + the terminfo database. + +3. Newer versions of ncurses (and the 1.3 series of the kernel) describe + the linux console in the entry 'linux' and not 'console', as it was + before. If you run ext2ed in the linux console, you should either + set your TERM environment variable to 'linux' or link + l/linux to c/console in the terminfo database. + +4. The precompiled binary was linked with ncurses 1.9.4 and will search + for the terminfo database on /usr/local/lib/terminfo. If you are + using it, and your 1.9.4 compatible terminfo database is not on the + directory above, use the TERMINFO environment variable to specify + an alternate location. + +Running ext2ed +-------------- + +For those of you who don't like reading lengthy articles, here are a few +basic guidelines: + +1. Don't use ext2ed to change a mounted filesystem ! + + Using ext2ed in read-only mode on a mounted filesystem can be allowed + by using the configuration file option 'AllowMountedRead on'. However, + note that the displayed data will be unreliable. + +2. ext2ed currently can't handle filesystems bigger than 2 GB. I am + sorry for the inconvenience. This will hopefully be fixed in future + releases. + +3. Before running ext2ed, edit the configuration file + /var/lib/ext2ed/ext2ed.conf to suit your needs. The various + configuration options are documented there. + +4. Use the 'setdevice' command to open an ext2 filesystem. + e.g. 'setdevice /dev/hda1'. + +5. If the filesystem is an ext2 filesystem and ext2ed fails to + autodetect this, use the 'ForceExt2 on' configuration file option. + +6. The filesystem will always be opened in read-only mode. Feel free to + experiment, but take care with the 'enablewrite' command. + +----------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Feel free to send me feedback with anything regarding to ext2ed. + +Enjoy, + +Gadi Oxman <tgud@tochnapc2.technion.ac.il> +Haifa, August 23 1995 + |