Hey, Emacs, we're -*-Text-*- mode!

Contents
========
  0. Quick installation
  I. Reading the html version of the manual
 II. Reading the info version of the manual
III. Making a hardcopy of the manual
 IV. Rebuilding the documentation from source
  V. RTFM and problem reports, questions, contacts

0.   Quick installation
=======================
   (-4)  DON'T use the following  instructions when trying to compile
         ftape with an 1.2.13 (or older) kernel. Instead read the
         installation instructions in the manual!
         
   (-3)  DON'T try to move the ftape source to the kernel source tree.
         They WON'T fit in there without a lot of hacking.

   (-2)  Make sure that you are running a kernel WITHOUT support for ftape
         compiled into the kernel image (no kidding: WITHOUT).

   (-1)  Read the file `RELEASE-NOTES' to get all the news.

   (0)   There is more detailed documentation available in the `Doc'
         subdirectory. Refer to point I., II. and III. of this file.

   (i)   Edit the file `MCONFIG' to reflect your hardware settings (have a
         good look at the `FDC_OPT' variable!)

   (ii)  Type `make'

   (iii) Type `make install'. You have to be root to do that.

   (iv)  Note that `make install' will install html and dvi version of
         the documentation under `/usr/doc/ftape/' and the info
         version under `/usr/info/'. See below for a short description.

   (iv)  Read at least through the `Testing ftape' chapter of the manual. 

   (v)   If something went wrong or you didn't understand a word of the
         above, read the documentation contained in the `Doc' directory. 

   The documentation is contained in the `Doc' directory. It is
   written in TeXinfo format. The `Doc' directory contains
   pre-formatted version of the documentation in GNU Info format, in
   HTML and in DVI format (the latter to make hard-copies) in the
   respective subdirectories (`info', `html', `dvi'). The TeXinfo
   source code is provided as well. 

   There is also a `Quick Installation' chapter with hyper links that
   point to more thorough information in the manual.

I.   Reading the html version of the manual
===========================================
   There should be a file `Index.html' contained in the `Doc/html'
   subdirectory. Load this file with your favorite html viewer.

   Examples (to be typed in at the shell prompt):

   (i)  netscape:

        netscape file://localhost/`pwd`/Doc/html/Index.html

   (ii) lynx:
 
        lynx Doc/html/Index.html

   You can also view the html version of the manual at my home page location:

   http://samuel.math.rwth-aachen.de/~LBFM/claus/ftape

II.  Reading the info version of the manual
===========================================
   There are two ways to do that:

   (i)  type in the following at the shell prompt:

                INFOPATH=`pwd`/Doc/info:$INFOPATH emacs

        and then type `<CTRL>-h i' to start the emacs info mode. There
        will be a menu topic "* Ftape" somewhere in emacs' info menu.

   (ii) run the command `info -f Doc/info/ftape.info'

   Once you have made `make install' the info file will be properly
   installed under `/usr/info/' so that you can access the
   documentation from your normal info browsing programs (e.g. `emacs'
   or `info').

III. Making a hardcopy of the manual
====================================
   There should be a file `ftape.dvi' contained in the `./Doc/dvi'
   directory that can be printed in the same way as the dvi files
   produced by TeX or LaTeX.

IV.  Rebuilding the documentation from source
=============================================
   The `Doc/texi' directory contains the TeXinfo source files of the
   documentation (these are the files that end with `.texi'). You can
   rebuild either of the info, the html and the dvi version of the
   manual simply be changing to the `Doc' directory

   cd info

   and then typing 

   make <something>

   where <something> is either `info', `html' or `dvi' to build either
   the info, the html or the dvi version of the manual. You need to
   have the texinfo-3.9 package installed for the info and dvi version
   (get it from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub or one of its mirrors). A
   texi-2-html converter is contained under `./contrib/scripts/texi2www'
   I am using `texi2www' by Tim Singletary
   (tsingle@sunland.gsfc.nasa.gov). I've modified it a bit so that it
   can parse TeXinfo `@macro' commands and knows about the
   `texinfo-3.9' `@url' and `@email' macros. `texi2www' is under the
   GPL (Gnu Public License) copyright, as is ftape.

V.   RTFM and problem reports, questions, contacts
==================================================
   `RTFM' is a shortcut for `Read those fine manuals'. Impatient and
   intolerant people sometimes translate it wrongly with `Read the
   f*cking manuals'.

   Feel free to contact me if something goes wrong, but first try to
   read the manual. Please post your questions to the `linux-tape'
   mailing list:

   linux-tape@vger.rutgers.edu

   I read the list regularly. And you can benefit from the experiences
   of other people that share your problems. 

   This mailing list has a newsgroup mirror: linux.dev.tape

   If you want to subscribe to the mailing list, send mail to 

                   majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu

   with the text

                   subscribe linux-tape 

   in the message body.

   NOTE: PLEASE DON'T POST LARGE MESSAGES TO THE MAILING LIST (for
   example large excerpts of your kernel log files). I'm not talking
   about 5 kilobyte mails. But if your message exceeds 10kb or so,
   then think a moment about whether this mail is really of general
   interest. If you find it necessary to send large emails to me,
   then send them directly to 

             claus@momo.math.rwth-aachen.de

   Please keep in mind that quite a lot of people might read the Linux
   tape mailing list, and some of them might have to pay for their
   Internet connection. Don't waste the mailing list bandwidth. 

   Please try to describe your problem as exact as possible. I can't
   help if you simply send me messages like `ftape doesn't work'. SO
   WHAT! Please include the version of the kernel you are running, the
   version of ftape you are using and (of course) tell me what kind of
   floppy tape you are using.

   If you encountered errors during tape operation, try to provide an
   exact command sequence that reproduces the error if ever
   possible. Please don't send me messages like `ftape sometimes
   doesn't skip to the next file'. Instead, give me the exact sequence
   of commands that you typed in when the unexpected behavior or error
   occurred, if ever possible.

   Please don't feel annoyed if it takes some days before you get a
   reply to your email (or don't get any reply at all). I get quite a
   lot of messages, and I'm doing the ftape support in my spare
   time. Simply resend your message if you have the impression that
   you don't get an answer (gimme a break: please wait a couple of
   days before resending your email)

Good luck

Claus-Justus Heine <claus@momo.math.rwth-aachen.de>

--
LocalWords: html RTFM ftp dvi momo math rwth aachen TeX TeXinfo kb contrib
LocalWords: texinfo MCONFIG LocalWords FDC netscape http localhost pwd
LocalWords: samuel LBFM claus ftape cd HTMLDIR usr doc INFOPATH CTRL
LocalWords: INFODIR dir texi ai mit edu www Singletary tsingle sunland
LocalWords: gsfc nasa gov url GPL cking dev linux vger rutgers
LocalWords: majordomo gimme Justus
