hosed up man pages

SteveDallas · 10-07-2002, 12:54 PM

Anybody got any thoughts on this one? The man pages on my linux box at work are hosed up. They are stored as .gz files. Well, for some reason, they are no longer decoded when I type "man <something>". The raw binary gz files are piped straight out in all their confusion. It didn't always happen like this!

10-07-2002, 12:57 PM

Hehe.

That, my friend, is what we call FM. No reason, no explanation. Fucking Magic.

Happens with Linux a lot. I installed Windows XP Professional to get rid of that problem (and have been very happy with it).

Cam · 10-07-2002, 02:13 PM

Yes but the loss of FM is part of the reason I went to Linux, the frustration and agravation that I got from all the FM in windows 98 was gone in XP.

10-07-2002, 03:03 PM

Ja. I don't consider anything before Windows 2000 "usable". W2K and XP (Professional on both counts) are pretty damn decent.

MaggieL · 10-07-2002, 09:00 PM

OK, now that we're done with the unhelpful responses...

What's in your /etc/man.config? Sounds like yours may have been damaged or deleted.

Mine looks like this; might be close enough to get yours back on the air: Note especially the last dozen or so lines.

<code>
#
# Generated automatically from man.conf.in by the
# configure script.
#
# man.conf from man-1.5h
#
# This file is read by man to configure the default manpath (also used
# when MANPATH contains an empty substring), to find out where the cat
# pages corresponding to given man pages should be stored,
# and to map each PATH element to a manpath element.
# It may also record the pathname of the man binary. [This is unused.]
# The format is:
#
# MANBIN pathname
# MANPATH manpath_element [corresponding_catdir]
# MANPATH_MAP path_element manpath_element
#
# If no catdir is given, it is assumed to be equal to the mandir
# (so that this dir has both man1 etc. and cat1 etc. subdirs).
# This is the traditional Unix setup.
# Certain versions of the FSSTND recommend putting formatted versions
# of /usr/.../man/manx/page.x into /var/catman/.../catx/page.x.
# The keyword FSSTND will cause this behaviour.
# Certain versions of the FHS recommend putting formatted versions of
# /usr/.../share/man/[locale/]manx/page.x into
# /var/cache/man/.../[locale/]catx/page.x.
# The keyword FHS will cause this behaviour (and overrides FSSTND).
# Explicitly given catdirs override.
#
# FSSTND
FHS
#
# This file is also read by man in order to find how to call nroff, less, etc.,
# and to determine the correspondence between extensions and decompressors.
#
# MANBIN /usr/local/bin/man
#
# Every automatically generated MANPATH includes these fields
#

MANPATH /usr/share/man
MANPATH /usr/man
MANPATH /usr/X11R6/man
MANPATH /usr/lib/perl5/man
MANPATH /usr/kerberos/man
MANPATH /usr/local/man
#
# Set up PATH to MANPATH mapping
#
# (these mappings are superfluous when the right hand side is
# in the mandatory manpath already, but will keep man from statting
# lots of other nearby files and directories)
#
MANPATH_MAP /bin /usr/share/man
MANPATH_MAP /sbin /usr/share/man
MANPATH_MAP /usr/bin /usr/share/man
MANPATH_MAP /usr/sbin /usr/share/man
MANPATH_MAP /usr/local/bin /usr/local/man
MANPATH_MAP /usr/local/sbin /usr/local/man
MANPATH_MAP /usr/X11R6/bin /usr/X11R6/man
MANPATH_MAP /usr/bin/X11 /usr/X11R6/man
MANPATH_MAP /usr/bin/mh /usr/share/man
MANPATH_MAP /usr/kerberos/bin /usr/kerberos/man
MANPATH_MAP /usr/kerberos/sbin /usr/kerberos/man
#
# Useful paths - note that COL should not be defined when
# NROFF is defined as "groff -Tascii" or "groff -Tlatin1";
# not only is it superfluous, but it actually damages the output.
#
TROFF /usr/bin/groff -Tps -mandoc
NROFF /usr/bin/groff -Tlatin1 -mandoc
JNROFF /usr/bin/groff -Tnippon -mandocj
EQN /usr/bin/geqn -Tps
NEQN /usr/bin/geqn -Tlatin1
JNEQN /usr/bin/geqn -Tnippon
TBL /usr/bin/gtbl
# COL /usr/bin/col
REFER /usr/bin/grefer
PIC /usr/bin/gpic
VGRIND
GRAP
PAGER /usr/bin/less -isr
CAT /bin/cat
#
# The command "man -a xyzzy" will show all man pages for xyzzy.
# When CMP is defined man will try to avoid showing the same
# text twice. (But compressed pages compare unequal.)
#
CMP /usr/bin/cmp -s
#
# Compress cat pages
#
COMPRESS /bin/gzip
COMPRESS_EXT .gz
#
# Default manual sections (and order) to search if -S is not specified
# and the MANSECT environment variable is not set.
#
MANSECT 1:8:2:3:4:5:6:7:9:tcl:n:l

o
#
# Default options to use when man is invoked without options
# This is mainly for the benefit of those that think -a should be the default
# Note that some systems have /usr/man/allman, causing pages to be shown twice.
#
# @noall@MANDEFOPTIONS -a
#
# Decompress with given decompressor when input file has given extension
# The command given must act as a filter.
#
.gz /bin/gunzip -c
.bz2 /usr/bin/bzip2 -c -d
.z
.Z /bin/zcat
.F
.Y
</code>

jaguar · 10-08-2002, 02:30 AM

You went to XP to avoid FM? Seems counterproductive, i've seen XP do some mighty wierd things. My friend's machine was the best, kept insisting there were two firewire cards and a USB mouse attached. Which was interesting becase none ever had been. 2K is far better than XP.

10-08-2002, 09:23 AM

XP's System Restone alone makes it worth the price of upgrade.

As far as hardware support, all of mine has been perfect (and I've installed it on probably 10 systems now, 5 of which are mine, over a very diverse group of hardwares).

You just don't know enough about XP to make it work the way you want it to.

(Which is not to say that I do! But I have a sysadmin friend who's really into it and I bought a pretty decent book on it as well.)

perth · 10-08-2002, 11:02 AM

Quote:

(Which is not to say that I do! But I have a sysadmin friend who's really into it and I bought a pretty decent book on it as well.)

which book? ive been looking for a decent book on xp that isnt written the way i talk about computers to my grandmother.

~james

10-08-2002, 11:03 AM

I got the Windows XP Professional Little Black Book from Que. I use it as a reference, mostly, as I'm not one to sit down and read something. And so far, it's been helpful a number of times.

Nic Name · 10-08-2002, 11:05 AM

Find out more about System Restone.

Actually, there is no FM about computers. Just careless programming.

It's amazing that computers work at all when code is written by people who can't type simple words without making careless errors.

See this, too.

SteveDallas · 10-08-2002, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MaggieL
OK, now that we're done with the unhelpful responses...

What's in your /etc/man.config? Sounds like yours may have been damaged or deleted.

DingDingDing!!! Congratulations. (I swear, I figured this out yesterday before I read your post, after I manually de-zipped the man man page and read it.) Sure enough, man.config got wiped out. (Why is another story, but I pulled it off the previous night's backup and everything's happy now.)

MaggieL · 10-08-2002, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kbarger

DingDingDing!!! Congratulations. (I swear, I figured this out yesterday before I read your post, after I manually de-zipped the man man page and read it.) Sure enough, man.config got wiped out.

I believe it. I just had the luxury of a working "man" system. T'was interesting to see how this stuff is put togther; "man" is probably one of the older parts of Unix. I knew "troff" is involved at one point, and clearly it uses "less" too, just by looking at it. It makes perfect sense to compress the text, as well.

As Lisa was saying to me the other day (after we'd shot a bug in "Why did phpinfo quit working after a KRUD upgrade?" ), "When you get to the end of fixing a Linux problem, you've learned stuff that might actually be useful in the future."

With Windows often you only learn how to burn it down and start over.

10-07-2002, 12:54 PM	#1
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	hosed up man pages Anybody got any thoughts on this one? The man pages on my linux box at work are hosed up. They are stored as .gz files. Well, for some reason, they are no longer decoded when I type "man <something>". The raw binary gz files are piped straight out in all their confusion. It didn't always happen like this!

10-07-2002, 02:13 PM	#3
Cam dripping with ignorance Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Grand Forks ND Posts: 642	Yes but the loss of FM is part of the reason I went to Linux, the frustration and agravation that I got from all the FM in windows 98 was gone in XP. __________________ After the seventh beer I generally try and stay away from the keyboard, I apologize for what happens when I fail.

10-07-2002, 09:00 PM	#5
MaggieL in the Hour of Scampering Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Jeffersonville PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia) Posts: 4,060	OK, now that we're done with the unhelpful responses... What's in your /etc/man.config? Sounds like yours may have been damaged or deleted. Mine looks like this; might be close enough to get yours back on the air: Note especially the last dozen or so lines. <code> # # Generated automatically from man.conf.in by the # configure script. # # man.conf from man-1.5h # # This file is read by man to configure the default manpath (also used # when MANPATH contains an empty substring), to find out where the cat # pages corresponding to given man pages should be stored, # and to map each PATH element to a manpath element. # It may also record the pathname of the man binary. [This is unused.] # The format is: # # MANBIN pathname # MANPATH manpath_element [corresponding_catdir] # MANPATH_MAP path_element manpath_element # # If no catdir is given, it is assumed to be equal to the mandir # (so that this dir has both man1 etc. and cat1 etc. subdirs). # This is the traditional Unix setup. # Certain versions of the FSSTND recommend putting formatted versions # of /usr/.../man/manx/page.x into /var/catman/.../catx/page.x. # The keyword FSSTND will cause this behaviour. # Certain versions of the FHS recommend putting formatted versions of # /usr/.../share/man/[locale/]manx/page.x into # /var/cache/man/.../[locale/]catx/page.x. # The keyword FHS will cause this behaviour (and overrides FSSTND). # Explicitly given catdirs override. # # FSSTND FHS # # This file is also read by man in order to find how to call nroff, less, etc., # and to determine the correspondence between extensions and decompressors. # # MANBIN /usr/local/bin/man # # Every automatically generated MANPATH includes these fields # MANPATH /usr/share/man MANPATH /usr/man MANPATH /usr/X11R6/man MANPATH /usr/lib/perl5/man MANPATH /usr/kerberos/man MANPATH /usr/local/man # # Set up PATH to MANPATH mapping # # (these mappings are superfluous when the right hand side is # in the mandatory manpath already, but will keep man from statting # lots of other nearby files and directories) # MANPATH_MAP /bin /usr/share/man MANPATH_MAP /sbin /usr/share/man MANPATH_MAP /usr/bin /usr/share/man MANPATH_MAP /usr/sbin /usr/share/man MANPATH_MAP /usr/local/bin /usr/local/man MANPATH_MAP /usr/local/sbin /usr/local/man MANPATH_MAP /usr/X11R6/bin /usr/X11R6/man MANPATH_MAP /usr/bin/X11 /usr/X11R6/man MANPATH_MAP /usr/bin/mh /usr/share/man MANPATH_MAP /usr/kerberos/bin /usr/kerberos/man MANPATH_MAP /usr/kerberos/sbin /usr/kerberos/man # # Useful paths - note that COL should not be defined when # NROFF is defined as "groff -Tascii" or "groff -Tlatin1"; # not only is it superfluous, but it actually damages the output. # TROFF /usr/bin/groff -Tps -mandoc NROFF /usr/bin/groff -Tlatin1 -mandoc JNROFF /usr/bin/groff -Tnippon -mandocj EQN /usr/bin/geqn -Tps NEQN /usr/bin/geqn -Tlatin1 JNEQN /usr/bin/geqn -Tnippon TBL /usr/bin/gtbl # COL /usr/bin/col REFER /usr/bin/grefer PIC /usr/bin/gpic VGRIND GRAP PAGER /usr/bin/less -isr CAT /bin/cat # # The command "man -a xyzzy" will show all man pages for xyzzy. # When CMP is defined man will try to avoid showing the same # text twice. (But compressed pages compare unequal.) # CMP /usr/bin/cmp -s # # Compress cat pages # COMPRESS /bin/gzip COMPRESS_EXT .gz # # Default manual sections (and order) to search if -S is not specified # and the MANSECT environment variable is not set. # MANSECT 1:8:2:3:4:5:6:7:9:tcl:n:lo # # Default options to use when man is invoked without options # This is mainly for the benefit of those that think -a should be the default # Note that some systems have /usr/man/allman, causing pages to be shown twice. # # @noall@MANDEFOPTIONS -a # # Decompress with given decompressor when input file has given extension # The command given must act as a filter. # .gz /bin/gunzip -c .bz2 /usr/bin/bzip2 -c -d .z .Z /bin/zcat .F .Y </code> __________________ "Neither can his Mind be thought to be in Tune,whose words do jarre; nor his reason In frame, whose sentence is preposterous..."

10-08-2002, 02:30 AM	#6
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	You went to XP to avoid FM? Seems counterproductive, i've seen XP do some mighty wierd things. My friend's machine was the best, kept insisting there were two firewire cards and a USB mouse attached. Which was interesting becase none ever had been. 2K is far better than XP. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

10-08-2002, 11:05 AM	#10
Nic Name retired Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,930	Find out more about System Restone. Actually, there is no FM about computers. Just careless programming. It's amazing that computers work at all when code is written by people who can't type simple words without making careless errors. See this, too. Last edited by Nic Name; 10-08-2002 at 11:26 AM.

10-07-2002, 12:57 PM	#2
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Hehe. That, my friend, is what we call FM. No reason, no explanation. Fucking Magic. Happens with Linux a lot. I installed Windows XP Professional to get rid of that problem (and have been very happy with it).

10-07-2002, 03:03 PM	#4
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Ja. I don't consider anything before Windows 2000 "usable". W2K and XP (Professional on both counts) are pretty damn decent.

10-08-2002, 09:23 AM	#7
dave Guest Posts: n/a	XP's System Restone alone makes it worth the price of upgrade. As far as hardware support, all of mine has been perfect (and I've installed it on probably 10 systems now, 5 of which are mine, over a very diverse group of hardwares). You just don't know enough about XP to make it work the way you want it to. (Which is not to say that I do! But I have a sysadmin friend who's really into it and I bought a pretty decent book on it as well.)

10-08-2002, 11:03 AM	#9
dave Guest Posts: n/a	I got the Windows XP Professional Little Black Book from Que. I use it as a reference, mostly, as I'm not one to sit down and read something. And so far, it's been helpful a number of times.

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