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NEWS

• After all we've got 2.0.1.
  

• Changes in old snapshots (up to 2.0pre01 Edition 15).
  • Edition 14 -> 15:
    • New hidden option -M/+M to enable/disable `Morse' (or `Professor Dog') mode.

      If -M is specified, the `Morse' mode is turned on when the load average exceeds the bigload switch (default 8.5: may be too big ? See option -b in the manual). In the `Morse' mode, current load average is displayed with the number of short blinks of LED between which long turn-off period is inserted. Of course -M/+M is just gracefully ignored by floyd in packet load mode.

      The `Morse' mode is conceived to reduce the %CPU of floyd in load average mode. I still don't know if it is really effective for that purpose (not well tested in the field), but you may read current (heavy)load directly from the blinking LED at least, and it may make point.

    • patches directory added in the source. It includes just one patch 00bonzo.diff.gz (the Bonzo patch), to blink LED in response to the chages in the text lines fed from its standard input. I don't know if this patch still applies allright (maybe Edition 13 or 14 should be used), and forgot how to use it (Maybe the patch includes some documents...).

      With this version, I tried to display SCSI HDD traffic read from /proc/scsi/BusLogic/0, and make the keyboard LED act like HDD LED, but it didn't work well. Maybe I should have written /proc/scsi/BusLogic/0 reading part in C, or kernel just sabotage to update the proc file when the HDD is busily accessed.

  • Edition 13 -> 14:
    • The `job' related options are relocated for the integrity of the versions:

      versions	Edition 13	Edition 14
      with PTHREAD	-V/-- -D	-D/-- -F
      without PTHREAD	-D -F(alias of -D)	-D -F not supported

    • The Changes are:
      • The voodoo option -V to define a `thread job' in PTHREAD version is renamed to -D, since I gave up to implement the same -D behavior as in version 1.3.x or non-PTHREAD version of 2.0pre.
      • Now option -D `D'efines a floyd `job' in both of floyd 1.3 and 2.0pre0 (with or without PTHREAD support). The job is run as a child process in floyd 1.3 and 2.0pre0 without PTHREAD support, or as a thread in 2.0pre0 with PTHREAD support.
      • The facility of the old -D in Edition 13 or older is relocated to -F. To fork one child in PTHREAD version, use option -F (now supported officially, but only for PTHREAD version).
      • With the integration on `job' related options above, now floyd.1 (TEXT) is shared by 1.3.x and 2.0.x.
      • The option -V is still supported awkwardly as an alias of -D (or --) in the current edition, but may be dropped in future.
  • Edition 12 -> 13:
    • non-PTHREAD version in Edition 12 didn't work. Fixed.
    • rc.floyd.pthread added.
    • Renamed VOODOO.README to README.PTHREAD.
    • More minor fixes. Refer to ChangeLog.
  • Edition 11 -> 12: Fixes and cleanups. floyd.1 is updated, but it is still the same as that of 1.3.x.
  • Edition 10 -> 11:
    • Shredded /proc/loadavg access into an independent thread as well.
    • Don't be alarmed. Number of processes shown via ps/top makes SIX if invoked as:

      	  floyd -v -CV -SEV -Npi ul0 -D
      		  

    • Not well tested. Handle with care.
  • Edition 9 -> 10
    • Cleaned up ugly codes in main().
    • More robust control on pload_getproc_loop (/proc/net/dev reading thread), LED init, and exiting on signal/errors, etc.
    • Perhaps "-p +p" (enabled, but changed your mind, and disabled) sort of command line can be handled correctly (it did not work in Edition 9).
    • Option -v reports some extra info to identify which process is which, and which minite's load average is displayed.
    • -- is alias for -V (better than -V ?), and - stands for explicit stdin expression.
    • Shredding /proc/loadavg access to a thread is not yet.
  • Edition 8 -> 9
    • Load average over 1, 5, or 15 minutes can be selected to be displayed with option -a, which is not an alias for -t anymore. Example:

      	  floyd -dv   -Na1 -V   -Ca2 -V   -Sa3 -V
      		  

      displays
      load average of 1 min by NumLock LED,
      load average of 5 min by CapsLock LED, and
      load average of 15 min by ScrollLock LED.
      Option -a 5 or -a15 is accepted to specify loadaverage of 5min or 15min each.
    • Threading on /proc/loadavg accessing is not yet implemented.
  • Edition 7 -> 8: floyd -E worked but floyd -CV -SE won't work in Edition 7. Fixed.
  • Edition 6 -> 7
    • Now make pthread makes pthread version, and the binary name is also floyd.
    • /proc/net/dev reading job runs as a thread, and its output is shared by all the packetload mode threads. This feature corresponds to a cpp conditional PROCTHREAD, which is enabled by default in make pthread.
    • /proc/loadavg accessing does not runs as a thread yet. I think that users don't want two or more load average mode LEDs at the same time, since current edition displays only load average of 1min.
  • Edition 5 -> 6: Edition5 can't make non-PTHREAD version. Fixed.
  • Edition 4 -> 5: Cleanup. No change in feature.
  • Exits normally on LED ioctl() error. The IGNOREERROR feature is enabled with undocumented option -f.
  • Now floyd can be compiled/installed without PTHREAD support by make all ; make install. The non-PTHREAD version is exactly the same as 1.3.x in performance and in user interface, but it requires a little bit more memory.
  • The non-PTHREAD version: -D option works as `fork-right-now' command, as in 1.3.x. In the PTHREAD version, the option -D is still just a `fork-child-then-exit' flag.

• The keyboard BLACKLIST added. Send your BLACKLIST if you have any.
  • MICROSOFT `Natural' Elite ® found to be floyd-incompatible in combination with a certain motherboard or Chipset. Spurious characters are input while floyd is working, and the %CPU of floyd process goes up high. Kernel 2.2.10 generates warning "keyboard: Too many NACKs -- noisy kbd cable?" (/usr/src/linux-2.2.10/drivers/char/pc_keyb.c).
  • The BLACKLIST mentions this program howmanymoretimes.c, and I found that it is not included anywhere. Sorry. Try
    cc howmanymoretimes.c;./a.out
    to test your keyboard. It loops 4 seconds, and dumps some debugging messages. If it does not raise any ^G nor warning message, probably your keyboard is floyd-compatible. The a.out may take one arg [N|C|S], to specify an LED to use in the test. The howmanymoretimes.c is conceived to provide a is-keyboard-connected-error check in floyd, but not yet implanted in it. The source is not well cleaned up.

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STABLE VERSION

2.0.1 release version.

Now PTHREAD support is default, and "make all" makes PTHREAD version.

In the PTHREAD version, you can define a floyd jobs with -D:

floyd -v -C -D -ES -D -pi ppp0 -N

On parsing each -D, all the current option/parameter status at that point are copied to a struct floyd_param, whose pointer is then registered in a struct floyd_job. The floyd_job is all launched after whole command line arguments are parsed. In the PTHREAD version, option -F just determines whether a child process should be forked or not, and can be put anywhere in the command line.

One still-undocumented option -o is present (I don't remember if I really didn't write about it in ChangeLog, nor when I implemented it, though), with which you can specify the `o'perating mode: -op: `p'acket load mode, or -ol: `l'oad average mode. I think I should implement some option -L<n|c|s> (a generic expression of the LEDs) too...