Is it just my downloads or is Puppy 2.15CE buggy as hell?

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thegoldenstrand · #1 Post by **thegoldenstrand** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 19:59

Slow as hell.. buggy.. downloaded a couple times now... couple wasted dvd-r's later.. finally one.. but none have passed test yet.. and when I try anyway.. they don't work.. boots, but then buggy.. and where are the desktop backgrounds of real live puppies, all this color and NO dogs is very dissapointing..

reading up on things, but .. really having trouble with 2.15CE so far, so sticking with 2.14.. as it works ok.. was looking forward to a chubby puppy... but NO Go.

wuff, wuff, wuff.. bad puppy

octobclrnts · #2 Post by **octobclrnts** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 20:19

Just curious, but since the 2.15CE version of puppy is about 131MB, why are you using DVD-Rs?

More on topic, I had a full HD install of 2.14 and used the upgrade option to go to 2.15 and haven't seen any problems. But it's also not quite the same situation.

#3 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 20:46

Just wonder why überhaupt CD-R or DVD-R is used.
As prices are about the same, I use CD-RW or DVD-RW, depending on the size of the ISO needed. When a distro don't interest me anymore, I just overwrite.

Braden · #4 Post by **Braden** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 22:19

There's been considerable trouble getting a solid download of 215, make sure you check the MD5 carefully before burning. Use a download manager that can resume a download. Often a download that fails appears to have completed, but the size won't match.

octobclrnts · #5 Post by **octobclrnts** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 23:23

Oh yeah, I remember now that mine kept failing at different points during the download. I just resumed about 5 times and all was fine in the end.

J_Rey · #6 Post by **J_Rey** » Sun 15 Apr 2007, 23:43

Check to make sure you don't have the original release of 2.15CE final cuz there was an updated one released a few days later with multiple bugfixes. See http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Puppy215Downloads for more. If you are using the latest then you're experiencing what happens when too many things are changed without enough testing to fix the newly introduced bugs. Search around for each bug/problem and see if there are patches/workarounds yet, as well.

Lobster · #7 Post by **Lobster** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 01:17

Well said J_rey

I find 2.15 (second final release) as stable as hell. Mind you hell has changed a lot since its creation . . .

So
1. Make sure you have the second final
2. Use wget or xwget to download
3. Make sure you have the required hardware or ramdisk set up
4. Check for any new patches
5. Report any bugs so they can be fixed
6. Have fun

And of course do not be surprised if 2.15 is used as the basis for other puplets . . .
(anyone working on that?)

Looking forward to a chubby puppy..

Funny you should say that an experimental (and potentially very buggy) Chubby has just been released by Barry . . .
Sunday 15 April 2007

http://www.puppyos.net/news/

Bruce B · #8 Post by **Bruce B** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 08:17

Lobster,

I stopped using CE for right now. Here's my story.

Sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, my ISP stops service. I suppose it is deliberate - that they use this time to do occasional maintenance.

So the condition during these occasions is: There actually is no Internet connection or working DHCP services.

CE stopped at the 60 second delay trying to establish the connection and never got past it. I tried it a couple more times and still no go.

I would think a better approach would be to count for so many seconds and then background the process and continue booting.

But if a 60 delay is what we are looking for - fine. Then continue the boot process after 60 seconds, but do not refuse to boot!

There are also some other minor things with CE that need fixed. Rather than report these things in the bugs section, I decided to sign on the developers forum and do my what I could to help improve things.

I signed on the forum as Bruce B and Bruce_B, but I never got the passwords emailed to me.

==================

Two questions:

1. I think I need some assistance signing on to the developers forum, hopefully with one of the names I already used up. How do I get help?

2. Is anyone who is using DHCP with the CE edition willing to unplug their cable modem or router and see if they can get past the 60 delay. The reason being - validation that there actually is a problem - not just something peculiar on my end.

Cheers,

Bruce

PS: I got lots of compliments on the looks of CE

WhoDo · #9 Post by **WhoDo** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 08:33

Bruce B wrote:2. Is anyone who is using DHCP with the CE edition willing to unplug their cable modem or router and see if they can get past the 60 delay. The reason being - validation that there actually is a problem - not just something peculiar on my end.

CTRL+Z will break out of the script and give you a prompt. Typing xwin at that prompt will start your desktop WM.

Hope that helps.

Lobster · #10 Post by **Lobster** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 09:56

Bruce B wrote:
Two questions:

1. I think I need some assistance signing on to the developers forum, hopefully with one of the names I already used up. How do I get help?

2. Is anyone who is using DHCP with the CE edition willing to unplug their cable modem or router and see if they can get past the 60 delay. The reason being - validation that there actually is a problem - not just something peculiar on my end.

Cheers,
Bruce

. . . a pre rant

First of all I am sorry to hear problems related to 2.15
It is quite possible (I am not sure) that 2.15 requires 256MB of Ram (I have 512MB - though some of that is shared with the video). I have always run with at least 128MB.

I do tend to stay on the Puppy bleeding edge and some things are known about xmms, Seamonkey and Firefox are not as reliable as they once were. There was a lot of upgrades in 2.15. If you have the second final (138MB) then it should include all the known patches, apart from the sound problem which now also has a patch

The most useful thing is identifying where the problems are and how to sort them

For example missing libraries and codec. That is not always easy to do but statements such as 2.15 is 'buggy as hell' really means, 'It does not work for me - and I am really angry and frustrated and someone is to blame'. Mepis does not work for me. For a lot of people it does and very well [shrug]

I have found that people and developers, especially on Puppy are very helful to those people who are courteous. Nobody likes to deal with angry and rude people (even if they do not mean to be) This is a general point Bruce, not meant at you as you are a polite person but is hopefully helpful to those who think if they shout loudly enough, someone will come running . . . (only works for babies)

The important thing is can we get it working well on your hardware. The chances are yes.

Developers forum . . . m m m . . . well I do know that Barry just recently had probs with his server people. So I would suggest registering again with a new name "Barry_BB" maybe . . .
http://www.puppyos.net/forum/

Now as for unplugging from my router . . . I can not do it [sob] I might die. I need to be pliugged in at all times

Maybe I am a new breed of cyber-cructacean? Hopefully someone else will help out

Bruce B · #11 Post by **Bruce B** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 10:50

. . . a pre rant

First of all I am sorry to hear problems related to 2.15
It is quite possible (I am not sure) that 2.15 requires 256MB of Ram (I have 512MB - though some of that is shared with the video). I have always run with at least 128MB.

Fortunately, 2.15 is fully compatible with my hardware(s).

I do tend to stay on the Puppy bleeding edge and some things are known about xmms, Seamonkey and Firefox are not as reliable as they once were. There was a lot of upgrades in 2.15. If you have the second final (138MB) then it should include all the known patches, apart from the sound problem which now also has a patch.

For right now I'll be using 2.14 as my primary OS. After I finish setting up all the addons and such, I'll start working on setting up 2.15CE.

It only takes a few minutes to install, but lots of time is spent customizing it with additional packages, configuration and etc.

The most useful thing is identifying where the problems are and how to sort them [Smile] For example missing libraries and codec. That is not always easy to do but statements such as 2.15 is 'buggy as hell' really means, 'It does not work for me - and I am really angry and frustrated and someone is to blame'. Mepis does not work for me. For a lot of people it does and very well [shrug]

I think the parent post was a rant due to dvd burning problems. It implied the problem was 2.15, which is was not.

I have found that people and developers, especially on Puppy are very helful to those people who are courteous. Nobody likes to deal with angry and rude people (even if they do not mean to be) This is a general point Bruce, not meant at you as you are a polite person but is hopefully helpful to those who think if they shout loudly enough, someone will come running . . . (only works for babies)

Some people have low frustration threshold for working with computers.

As earlier stated, its apparent to me that thegoldenstrand had disc burning problems.

If thegoldenstrand was having any problems with 2.15 at all, which I doubt, there is no way of knowing what they might have been, due to the lack of any specificity in the description of the problem.

Notice, I didn't offer my help. Moreover, help was not even requested.

The important thing is can we get it working well on your hardware. The chances are yes.

That part is not a problem. It works swell on my various hardware.

Developers forum . . . m m m . . . well I do know that Barry just recently had probs with his server people. So I would suggest registering again with a new name "Barry_BB" maybe . . .
http://www.puppyos.net/forum/

I'll try registering and let you know if I have problems with not getting the email with the password.

Now as for unplugging from my router . . . I can not do it [sob] I might die. I need to be pliugged in at all times Confused Maybe I am a new breed of cyber-cructacean? Hopefully someone else will help out [Smile]

If nobody validates it as a bug here, I'll post it in the bug sections.

Bruce B · #12 Post by **Bruce B** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 10:53

WhoDo wrote:
Bruce B wrote:2. Is anyone who is using DHCP with the CE edition willing to unplug their cable modem or router and see if they can get past the 60 delay. The reason being - validation that there actually is a problem - not just something peculiar on my end.
CTRL+Z will break out of the script and give you a prompt. Typing xwin at that prompt will start your desktop WM.

Hope that helps.

Yes, actually it might very help in the future, and thank you.

metre9dmt · #13 Post by **metre9dmt** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 13:04

I have run 2.15CE without any hitch. It automatically recognizes my hardware. Unfortunately, when I try to load and use .sfs files I can't use them. I followed the following instructions to the letter but to no avail:
- After booting 2.15 downloading the .sfs files and verifying the md5sum matches
- copy the .sfs files of your choice to /mnt/home and then reboot.
- Make sure to save the pup_save file.
- After rebooting and loading the pup_save file (don't use the pfix=ram boot option)
- You will need to run the fixmenus command from a terminal, then restart the windowmanager. Otherwise it will be installed, but the menu entries won't show.

I repeated the last instruction several times and still won't work. Please help!

Regards.

metre9dmt 8-)

#14 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Mon 16 Apr 2007, 13:43

Bruce B wrote: I signed on the forum as Bruce B and Bruce_B, but I never got the passwords emailed to me.

Just to share my experience in signing up with e-mail confirmation.
I am not sure if it was with the develop forum, but recently I signed up and in fact the e-mail was sent, but capturered by antispam and not visible in the inbox, but in the 'antispam' folder.
Could retrieve it and apply the confirmation action.

thegoldenstrand · #15 Post by **thegoldenstrand** » Tue 17 Apr 2007, 02:41

I was really surprised with the problems.. miss pictures of puppies as screen savers.. and.. could not figure out why everything was so slow..

I used the DVD-R because of advice I read here on these forums.. for booting from live CD or DVD... and yep... I will be buying DVD-RW next time.

I will endeavor to get a decent download and then proceed to try to do the add ons.. which I also had trouble with.. either due to download problems, operator problems... (me) or something else that caused Puppy 2.15CE to not be as stable as hell as I would like.

Thanks for all the feedback.. it does confirm problem might have been in the download, so will try, try again.

Bruce B · #16 Post by **Bruce B** » Tue 17 Apr 2007, 04:20

Downloads can be verified against the .md5 file, if available, which I believe it is if you download from ibiblio

I usually burn to cd not dvd. And I burn closed sessions. And quality discs. And write once discs. And I have almost no problems.

Verify the download with md5sum check, then you know it is not a problem with the .iso file.

It is easy to get bad burns, much easier than getting bad downloads. There are so many factors involved in getting good burns, I couldn't troubleshoot easily for you.

The general agreement among most of us seem to be at least:

1) burn slow
2) use quality discs

Puppy's burniso2cd program allows you to verify the burn. That can be a very helpful feature.

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Is it just my downloads or is Puppy 2.15CE buggy as hell?

Is it just my downloads or is Puppy 2.15CE buggy as hell?

Installing/Using .sfs files

Was just trying to find out why my puppy was misbehaving