when i put in the comand
cp -R include/asm-i386 /tools/include/asm
i get
cp: cannot stat `include/asm-i386': No such file or directory
so what do i need to do to fix that?

Are you sure you're in the right directory? This works for me (assuming your tarball is located in ${TARBALLS}):

never mind i found out what the problem was when i read what you posted and after a some time away from working on this. i was untaring and unzipping the wrong file.
sorry but thanks for the help

where should TCLPATH point?

because i keep geting the message

checking for Tcl private headers... checking for tclInt.h... no
configure: error: Can't find Tcl private headers

when i put in

./configure --prefix=/tools --with-tcl=/tools/lib \ --with-tclinclude=$TCLPATH --with-x=no

Which section/package are you working on?

Ok... I'm assuming you're working on Expect-5.43.0 (section 5.9).

$TCLPATH is supposed to be replaced with the path to the tcl source extracted earlier. So, you can either set an environment variable and use the command as written, or just replace $TCLPATH manually.

The configure script is looking to locate the file named tclInt.h. It looks for it in the directory specified by $TCLPATH and it also looks at $TCLPATH/generic

It needs to find that header file in one of those locations, or it will bomb out. So check your untar'ed TCL source directory for that file, and give the appropriate path to let the configure script find that file.

OK i a'm now on the second pass of gcc. i am being told to make a new directory called gcc-build but i still have the first one. do i delete the first one? do i make it in a different directory ?

i want to thank you for all the help Dark_Helmet

You can safely assume that a directory can be deleted when the instructions tell you to reuse that directory.

If you don't feel comfortable deleting the directory without the book explicitly telling you to, the scan back over the sections. There is likely to be a footnote or a short sentence that tells you the gcc-build directory is no longer needed. If you can't find it and are still hesitant to delete the directory, you have two options:

1. Create a different directory. Instead of gcc-build, name it gcc-build2, gcc-build-second-pass, or whatever you like. Just adjust the command in the book appropriately (which amounts to little more than the mkdir and cd command)

2. Rename the old directory. Just do a "mv gcc-build gcc-build-first-pass" or something similar. Then you can use the book's commands exactly as written.

And you are more than welcome for the help

just to be sure in section 6.9.1. Installation of Linux-Libc-Headers i need to copy and install Linux-Libc-Headers-2.6.11.2 in the /usr/include/asm directory before i cp -R include/asm-i386 /usr/include/asm corect?

I'm not entirely sure if I understand your question.

At that point in the book, you've chrooted into a new, empty environment. The first command the book gives in that section is:
That's saying to copy the include/asm-i386 directory to /usr/include, but rename it to "asm". In other words, there should not be any "asm" directory inside /usr/include at this point. The command above creates that directory.

when i intered the cp -R include/asm-i386 /usr/include/asm command i got
cp: cannot stat `include/asm-i386': No such file or directory. so i am wondering what to do about that. and that is my question

Well, this command sequence works for me:
Have you double-checked you're in the right directory? The right tarball extracted?

ok i copyed my tools/libc-headers-build/linux-libc-headers-2.6.11.2/include/asm-i386/ to /usr/include/asm and want to know if that will work? and befor i get to far into building my perminat system i would like to know if there any "offical placses" i should be instaling to? i don't know the linux file system as well as i should. just enough to get where i want to go. and i would like to apolige for taking so long getting back to you this week has just been busy.