The University of Sydney COMP2129 Operating Systems and Machine Principles
Semester 1, 2009

School of Information Technologies 

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Q: Is the exam open book?
The exam for COMP2129 is NOT open book. However, you may bring a single A4 sheet into the exam with anything written on it, using both sides, handwritten or typed, any font size, any colour.....

All aspects of the exam will be discussed in the final lecture.

Q: I mailed comp2129 and did not get a reply.
A: There are several possible explanations. We get SPAM email and we attempt to filter this out. Sometimes non-university email addresses are filtered out. Please use your School of IT or MyUni account to send email. It is School of IT policy to only reply to marks enquiries from university email addresses.

We normally answer mail by the next working day. If you do not get a reply within two working days, please mail again.

Q: I want to change my Information Technologies timetable.
A: Most people get their personal timetable from MyUni, or are given it by their Faculty before semester begins. You can no longer change tutorial timetables.

The course lecturers or tutors are unable to change your timetable.

Q: Can I use ftp to transfer files between home and my ugrad account?
A: Yes. Use your favourite ftp client (we recommend FileZilla) and connect to ftp.ug.it.usyd.edu.au. For faster transfers connect using 'SFTP' rather than FTP (note that this is not supported by all FTP clients).
Q: When I log on, it says I am over disk quota. What do I do?
A:
  1. Please don't mail comp2129. Unfortunately, resources are limited and it is not possible to give you more quota.
  2. Make sure that you only have course-related stuff on your account.
  3. Here is the nice solution to your problem:
    • Telnet or SSH into black. Type "telnet black" or "ssh black"
    • Type "search-and-destroy"
    • Whenever it asks you if you wish to delete a file, say yes.
  4. If the above don't work, then go and see your friendly Help Desk guru.
Q: Why does the compiler make strange complaints about "carriage returns"?
A: It may be considered rude to answer a question with a question... but just this once...

 Did you write your code on a Windows O/S?

The answer is probably "YES", which prompts two responses:

  1. The problem may be addressed by using the dos2unix command. Read the man page entry for that command to find out more.

  2. There is a wider issue. You should be careful about using Windows applications in a unit explicitly cast in a UNIX programming environment. The existence of the tool, dos2unix, should not be regarded as legitimising that practice. UNIX is examinable content. You need to develop an operational familiarity with it. Using Windows (especially IDEs such as Visual Studio) will eventually cause major headaches from which recovery may be quite difficult.
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