[GRASSLIST:1469] Problems starting GRASS-5

[Rich Shepard]

  While 4.3 ran just fine for me, I cannot get 5.0-beta-11.2 off the ground.
Here is where everything is, perhaps someone will be kind enough to tell me
what I've overlooked.

  /opt/grass5/grass5-beta-11.2/ has all the source code. After running
./configure, make, and make install, there's also /usr/local/grass5/.

  For the project I want to develop now, I created the directory
/mnt/usr4/coeur-rochester/. Under this, I created two new directories,
PERMANENT/ and data/. Ownership of /mnt/usr4/coeur-rochester/ (and all
subdirectories below it) is root.users, so any user in the group ('users')
can work with these data.

  When I try to start GRASS from within /mnt/usr4/coeur-rochester/, I see a
small, empty window. When I kill that, I read:

[rshepard at salmo coeur-rochester]$ grass5
Starting GRASS ...
/usr/local/grass5/etc/Init.sh: GISDBASE: parameter null or not set

  I do not see where I set GISDBASE in the Init.sh script. I also have
initial data (in the form of MapInfo .mif/.mid files) that ought to
translate correctly into GRASS format. Where do I specify the coordinate
system, projection, datum, bounds of the coverage, etc? What do I specify
for location (/mnt/usr4/coeur-rochester/?), $GISDBASE and mapset?

  My playing with 4.3 was with the spearfish data set, so these questions
never came up: I just followed the tutorials and became familiar with
different modules. Now, however, playtime is over and I need to transition
to 5.0 for production (i.e., paying) work.

  Is there documentation I've missed that answers my questions? If so, just
pass me a pointer and I'll go read it for myself. Despite my
somewhat-limited experience, and my extensive reading, I'm totally stymied.

  Jump starts solicited. :-)

Thanks,

Rich

Dr. Richard B. Shepard, President

                       Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM)
              Making environmentally-responsible mining happen. (SM)
                       --------------------------------
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