HPUX 10.20 and CDE

[Joseph Botto]

Hello all,

I recently acquired an HP 712/60 with a fresh install of HPUX 10.20. The os and patches were installed from an Ignite server (on my friend's companie's network), and the box IP and hostname were configured for that network.
Now, I currently do not have it plugged into any network: it's sitting stand-alone.

When I try to boot it up, it boots fine (except for the failing LAN config, because there's no net connected). The CDE login screen appears fine, and allows me to log in. But, as the desktop is loading, it says:
"Unable to initialize or connect to the desktop messaging system. Check your $HOME/.dt/errorlog for more information.
Press Ok and your session will exit. "

It'll completely load-up the desktop, but will only allow me to click that OK button, in which it returns me back to the CDE login screen.

I guess my questions are this:
1) Does this box NEED net access to run? Meaning, will the DMS fail if no net connectivity is detected, hence the forced logout?

2) How do I go about to properly change this box's hostname across the board, and set it for DHCP? It's currently set for a static IP.

All you help is GREATLY appreciated!!

-Joe
botto@eng.usf.edu

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Joseph:

A very easy way to change the hostname, IPAddress and other networking parameters is to run:

# /sbin/set_parms initial

This will allow you to walk through each "menu", to change your hostname, IPaddress, network gateway and submask, and DNS and NIS settings.

...JRF...

[PC_7 · Accepted solution]

Hi Joe,

For CDE to work, the 712 needs to be connected to network. I have some suggestions:

1) Hook up the 712 to network
2) Bootup to single user mode (detailed steps are provided by Technical Knowledge Base doc id KNC050796015)
3) Configure hostname, ip address, gateway, subnet mask by executing /sbin/set_parms command. If you would like to setup DHCP, please refer to TKB doc id S3100000446.

Really hope this help 8)

Regards,
PauCen

[Joseph Botto]

James and PauCen,

Thanks a BUNCH you guys! You fix-ed my problem! That /sbin/set_parms inital
worked like a charm, James! Post a reply to this, so I can give you some more points! =)

Again though, I appreciate ALL your help!

-Joe
botto@eng.usf.edu

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Joseph:

Glad you found the information helpful. For more details on /sbin/set_parms see the man pages (man 1M set_parms). You will need to look in the 11i (or later) manuals:

http://docs.hp.com/hpux/onlinedocs/B2355-90692/B2355-90692.html

Regards!

...JRF...

[Joseph Botto]

Ok, here's another question for ya. I took this same box and plugged some net into it. I then went through the

/sbin/set_parms initial

again, and set it to talk to the network. It seems as though everything is fine (in bootup, the lan doesn't FAIL anymore). But now, when I log into CDE, it starts loading the desktop, flashes it real quick, then drops me back to a CDE login prompt. There's no error messages or anything. Then, when logged in using fail-safe mode, i can't talk to the network. It even hangs when trying to ping something, and ctrl-c won't get outta it. Help!! =)

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Hi,

It appears you now have name resolution problems. The first thing to try is a ping by IP address. If that works you definitely have name resolution problems. You need to check the settings of your /etc/nsswitch.conf file. To start with, I would just use files. Make sure you have an /etc/hosts file with at least your host defined as well as a loopback and at least one other remote host.

Once that works you can modify nsswitch.conf to include DNS or NIS and start the NIS client if necessary and make your /etc/resolv.conf entries.

Clay

[Joseph Botto]

Ok... First off, the box is named Jaco.

On this box, there's no /etc/nsswitch.conf file at all. In the /etc/hosts file, I put:

127.0.0.1 jaco
{REALIPHERE} jaco
{otherhostip} blah

...but still doesn't work, to no avail. Something I DID notice, is that when Jaco booted up into CDE fine, it'd say:
"Starting Desktop on jaco:0"
but now, it just says:
"Starting Desktop on :0"

Me thinks this is a problem. Now, how to fix it is a good one. I tried placing an "export DISPLAY=jaco:0" into the /etc/profile, but it didn't work.

Again, I REALLY appreciate ALL the help from you guys thus far!

[Patrick Wallek]

Your hosts file should look something like:

127.0.0.1 localhost
ip_of_machine jaco
other_ips machine_names

[Joseph Botto]

Ok... I changed the /etc/hosts to this:

127.0.0.1 localhost loopback
ip_addy jaco
othr_addy othr_machines

It does appear to be a name resolution problem, though. This is because I can ping the box, and telnet/ftp into it. But, again, it says this when loading the desktop:

"Starting Desktop Login on display :0..."

and before, it said "display jaco:0..."

I hope this really helps someone else out too!
You guys are an invaluable resource!!

[Sundar_7]

Exactly..

This is a Name Resolution problem..

This could have been solved by just renaming

/etc/resolv.conf to some other name till the

time U connect the box in the network

Sundar