Special features of Quirky 5.4.91

Under development: PCMCIA, wireless, etc.
Message
Author
User avatar
BarryK
Puppy Master
Posts: 9392
Joined: Mon 09 May 2005, 09:23
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Contact:

Special features of Quirky 5.4.91

#1 Post by BarryK »

Yesterday I announced a new release of Quirky, our Puppy that explores new ideas.

The original intro page for Quirky:
http://bkhome.org/quirky/

Announcement for Quirky 5.4.91:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky ... readme.htm

My blog post, with download link:
http://bkhome.org/blog2/?viewDetailed=00152

This forum thread is for anyone who wants to discuss the concepts, and implementation-of in Quirky.
Any other issues, such as video incompatibility, an application not working right, etc., is not a Quirky issue -- as Quirky is built from Racy packages, so post such feedback to the Wary/Racy forum thread:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=84618
[url]https://bkhome.org/news/[/url]

User avatar
ally
Posts: 1957
Joined: Sat 19 May 2012, 19:29
Location: lincoln, uk
Contact:

#2 Post by ally »

have given the kernel quirky a whirl on a lenovo t61 using your grub instructions (thank you)

loaded correctly configuring display/sound and lan without complaints

unfortunately I did not notice any boot load improvements (1800mHz with 7.2k drives) but certainly not worse

clever me thinks....

:)

User avatar
BarryK
Puppy Master
Posts: 9392
Joined: Mon 09 May 2005, 09:23
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Contact:

#3 Post by BarryK »

The point was made on my blog that, like Tinycore Linux, this "one file" technique requires a lot of RAM.

Yes and no. The comparison with Tinycore is not appropriate. It has been a very long time since I looked at Tinycore, so correct me if I am wrong, but I seem to recall that Tinycore has the entire filesystem in the "initramfs", full expanded, and runs it from there. No switch_root is involved.

Quirky does it totally differently. Quirky has the usual Puppy files, 'vmlinuz', 'initrd.gz', 'racy_5.4.91.sfs', it is just that the latter two are embedded inside the former.

Or, more correctly, initrd.gz, which is the cpio initramfs, is embedded inside vmlinuz, and racy_5.4.91.sfs is embedded inside initrd.gz.

Now, racy_5.4.91.sfs is our usual xz-compressed squashfs filesystem, so is very small, and it stays that way.

At bootup, a tmpfs is created and racy_5.4.91.sfs is placed in it, then moved into a aufs layered filesystem (which also has a save-file on subsequent boots), then a switch_root takes place and the initramfs is discarded.

In other words, only the original kernel is left (totally) in RAM.

puppy_5.4.91.sfs, which has all of the Puppy files, is in a tmpfs, which is also in RAM, but the operating system is able to use a swap file/partition.

Which means, that the Quirky approach does not need a "lot of RAM". Not necessarily, anyway. I mentioned in the Quirky release notes that there should be at least 512MB RAM, however Quirky would probably work in 256MB RAM if there is a swap file/partition -- but, I wouldn't recommend it, it would likely be slow.
[url]https://bkhome.org/news/[/url]

User avatar
BarryK
Puppy Master
Posts: 9392
Joined: Mon 09 May 2005, 09:23
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Contact:

#4 Post by BarryK »

It has been suggested that the name 'kernel.qky' needs a rethink.

Yes, I have been thinking that for sometime. I left it at that name for now, to get the ball rolling.

As any Puppy can be built as a "one file" Puppy, I suggest that the name include the name of the Puppy.

As far as the "qky" extension, I suggest "pup". We did have .pup package files a long time ago, but that extension should now be available for a new use.

So, a one-file pup built from Racy could be 'racy.pup'.

But, should the version number be included?

In that case, it would be 'racy-5.4.91.pup'

We can reserve .pup to always mean these one-file puppies. Furthermore, we can get ROX-Filer to recognise .pup mime-type to have this new meaning, and offer to open up and edit the contents -- for those who would like to hack the contents.

We already do this for 'initrd.gz' files. Awhile back I added mime-type handling, so if you click on a 'initrd.gz' file, you get an offer to open it up, then you can edit the contents, then put it together again. Which is great for hacking your pup's bootup.
[url]https://bkhome.org/news/[/url]

p310don
Posts: 1492
Joined: Tue 19 May 2009, 23:11
Location: Brisbane, Australia

#5 Post by p310don »

I tried to get it running last night, but had no luck booting via grub4dos.

It started to boot, then the computer just hung for a LOOONNNGGGG time, no progress.

Any tips??

User avatar
ally
Posts: 1957
Joined: Sat 19 May 2012, 19:29
Location: lincoln, uk
Contact:

#6 Post by ally »

I had the same problem on an old IBM t21 laptop which had insufficient memory

:)

p310don
Posts: 1492
Joined: Tue 19 May 2009, 23:11
Location: Brisbane, Australia

#7 Post by p310don »

8gig of ram should be enough tho right..?

User avatar
Ray MK
Posts: 774
Joined: Tue 05 Feb 2008, 09:10
Location: UK

#8 Post by Ray MK »

Hi p310don

8gig ram is more than adequate - works in 2gig ram here. (1gig ram is plenty)

Tips ? - A possible potential reason -
grub4dos is fussy aboat “order
[b]Asus[/b] 701SD. 2gig ram. 8gb SSD. [b]IBM A21m[/b] laptop. 192mb ram. PIII Coppermine proc. [b]X60[/b] T2400 1.8Ghz proc. 2gig ram. 80gb hdd. [b]T41[/b] Pentium M 1400Mhz. 512mb ram.

nooby
Posts: 10369
Joined: Sun 29 Jun 2008, 19:05
Location: SwedenEurope

#9 Post by nooby »

Oh it is explained here.
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky ... readme.htm

Barry write
"I created a directory '/quirky5.4.91' in one of the hd ext3 partitions. I then created an entry in the grub4dos 'menu.lst' file:

title Quirky 5.4.91 (sda7/quirky5.4.91)
uuid f547d8df-78f1-44db-a84a-600d9e9185cb
kernel /quirky5.4.91/kernel.qky pmedia=atahd psubdir=quirky5.4.91

Faster to download here
http://ftp.nluug.nl/ibiblio/distributio ... ky-5.4.91/

Ray I fail to get what your refer to here
"So logically Q (folders) are positioned after P folders (dir)’s and
before R. If one just dumps one’s Q (qky) folder (dir) anywhere -
grub4dos gets the hump."

How can one decide on such things? The computer place it where it does?

Okay I download and see if it loads :)
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

User avatar
Ray MK
Posts: 774
Joined: Tue 05 Feb 2008, 09:10
Location: UK

#10 Post by Ray MK »

Hi nooby

Normally when one installs and runs grub4dos - it will search your drives and automatically produce a menu.lst.

However as BK explains - with kernel.qky - one needs to manually edit menu.lst - because grub4dos won’t automatically work with “kernel.qky
[b]Asus[/b] 701SD. 2gig ram. 8gb SSD. [b]IBM A21m[/b] laptop. 192mb ram. PIII Coppermine proc. [b]X60[/b] T2400 1.8Ghz proc. 2gig ram. 80gb hdd. [b]T41[/b] Pentium M 1400Mhz. 512mb ram.

User avatar
ETP
Posts: 1193
Joined: Tue 19 Oct 2010, 19:55
Location: UK

Testing the “litter

#11 Post by ETP »

Hi Barry,

I tested Racy 5.4.91 and Quirky 5.4.91 yesterday both with a manual frugal install to a Fat32 USB2 stick. (Syslinux 4.04 boot - Nvidia GeForce 210)

The old Nouveau problem has definitely reared its ugly head again. Both booted to a distorted frozen desktop which seemed to be a frame-buffer echo of the vesamenu.c32 splash screen.
Using nouveau.modeset=0, I was however able to get vesa displays and then to switch to NV. Having done that however the show stopper was that the boot time extended to 180 seconds compared to 40 seconds with Precise 5.4.93 k3.8.0 on the same stick!
In order to eliminate syslinux as a possible cause, I also booted from CDs with the same result.

Precise 5.4.93 has been the best experience to date on my particular hardware and I have made some progress with the dual partition approach (fat/f2fs) which I have written up in this thread:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 182#687182
Regards ETP
[url=http://tinyurl.com/pxzq8o9][img]https://s17.postimg.cc/tl19y14y7/You_Tube_signature80px.png[/img][/url]
[url=http://tinyurl.com/kennels2/]Kennels[/url]

nooby
Posts: 10369
Joined: Sun 29 Jun 2008, 19:05
Location: SwedenEurope

#12 Post by nooby »

Thanks. it fail to show a normal screen it only has some -----
on it in different colors way up on the screen one need to
hard reboot. Exact same on both.
so same problem as ETP reports on.

I have HP Desktop with Athlon Dual core 3GB RAM 250MB HD
resolution 1366x768 LCD screen
Gallium 0.4 on NV8

So most likely it this code ? nouveau.modeset=0
So hope next Racy find ways to
fix this nouveau thing?
I tested racy and it booted fine with that code.

I test quirky now that one booted just fine into vesa too
if one use that code and then it suggest one test with
proper driver so please fix that |smile|
Last edited by nooby on Thu 28 Feb 2013, 13:11, edited 2 times in total.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

p310don
Posts: 1492
Joined: Tue 19 May 2009, 23:11
Location: Brisbane, Australia

#13 Post by p310don »

Ok, got it to boot, after about 3-4 mins of waiting, I get garbled screen like two above.

Crtl Alt Bkspace gives me a blinking cursor, only solution for me is hard poweroff.

User avatar
peebee
Posts: 4370
Joined: Sun 21 Sep 2008, 12:31
Location: Worcestershire, UK
Contact:

#14 Post by peebee »

Booted fine but unable to create a savefile - don't get asked for either the "Are You Ready" screen or savefile size on 1st reboot and even if location is set by Barry's instruction in his blog the size does not get set - see screenie

This is a "frugal" install on an NTFS drive inside subdirectory test-quirky

Cheers
peebee
Attachments
capture13832.png
(16.87 KiB) Downloaded 1474 times
Last edited by peebee on Thu 28 Feb 2013, 18:21, edited 1 time in total.
ImageLxPup = Puppy + LXDE
Main version used daily: LxPupSc; Assembler of UPups, ScPup & ScPup64, LxPup, LxPupSc & LxPupSc64

User avatar
ally
Posts: 1957
Joined: Sat 19 May 2012, 19:29
Location: lincoln, uk
Contact:

#15 Post by ally »

hey peebee

there is a note at the bottom of the announcement on barry's blog

you have to select change folder, it's a known bug

it worked ok for me

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky ... readme.htm

:)

User avatar
peebee
Posts: 4370
Joined: Sun 21 Sep 2008, 12:31
Location: Worcestershire, UK
Contact:

#16 Post by peebee »

ally wrote:hey peebee

there is a note at the bottom of the announcement on barry's blog

you have to select change folder, it's a known bug

it worked ok for me

http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky ... readme.htm

:)
Hi Ally

Yep - saw that note - I'm reporting a further problem on top of the one identified by Barry - I think!

Cheers
peebee
ImageLxPup = Puppy + LXDE
Main version used daily: LxPupSc; Assembler of UPups, ScPup & ScPup64, LxPup, LxPupSc & LxPupSc64

User avatar
Billtoo
Posts: 3720
Joined: Tue 07 Apr 2009, 13:47
Location: Ontario Canada

Special features of Quirky 5.4.91

#17 Post by Billtoo »

I made a quirky5491 directory on my 8gb SDHC card that has a slacko
5404 install on it as well.
I added to my menu.lst:
title Quirky 5.4.91 (sdb1/quirky5491)
uuid 1911d73f-91f4-48c7-98f5-a4f11ab9b216
kernel /quirky5491/kernel.qky pmedia=usbflash psubdir=quirky5491

It booted as normal and graphics,sound,network all good.
I rebooted creating a 512mb savefile (after changing to the proper
directory) and it's working fine I think.

# uname -ra
Linux puppypc13896 3.8.0 #1 SMP Wed Feb 27 09:46:01 WST 2013 i686 GNU/Linux

Report Video 1.3 - Thu 28 Feb 2013 on Racy Puppy 5.4.91 - Linux 3.8.0 i686
Chip description:
5.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
oem: ATI ATOMBIOS
product: RS780 01.00
X Server: Xorg Driver used: radeon
X.Org version: 1.11.0
dimensions: 1440x900 pixels (380x238 millimeters)
depth of root window: 24 planes

I did a test of kernel.qky on a pc with nvidia graphics and that
didn't go so well, got to the desktop but not a proper resolution and
trying to change it didn't work.

I installed the f2fs-tools-20130213-i486-static.pet and
f2fs-tools_DOC-20130213-i486-static.pet then stuck another SDHC card
in a usb adaptor and I was able to format it f2fs (I saw the command
elsewhere in a message by ETP), I created a quirky5491 directory and
then copied kernel.qky into the directory.
When I ran grub4dos it didn't see the flashdrive so that was the end
of that.
I'm afraid this is beyond me, going to need lots of hand holding for
this one.
Maybe it'll be easier to accomplish in the next quirky release :)
Attachments
capture13493.png
(13.49 KiB) Downloaded 1505 times

User avatar
Keef
Posts: 987
Joined: Thu 20 Dec 2007, 22:12
Location: Staffordshire

#18 Post by Keef »

Manual frugal install on a Compaq Armada M700 PIII 850mhz and 576mb ram.
Takes about 2min 20 seconds until the Quick Setup window pops up.
Using about 300mb of ram.
Sound detected and wifi setup was no problem. Downloaded flashplayer and was able to watch a Youtube video at low quality (240p).
Not been able to to get a savefile after a couple of tries - even at 32mb.
[CORRECTION] - savefiles had been created outside the directory (got a lot of stuff on that partition and missed them...)
Copied original 128mb savefile into the Quirky directory and it has loaded without problem.


Had to use this to boot with grub4dos:

Code: Select all

title Quirky 5.4.91 (sda3/quirky5.4.91)
  find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /quirky5.4.91/kernel.qky
  kernel /quirky5.4.91/kernel.qky  pmedia=atahd psubdir=quirky5.4.91
Attachments
sys-info-130228.gz
(12.8 KiB) Downloaded 419 times

User avatar
Geoffrey
Posts: 2355
Joined: Sun 30 May 2010, 08:42
Location: Queensland

#19 Post by Geoffrey »

Booted from a flash drive, the drive was already bootable, so I copied kernel.qky to / of the flash drive and edited the syslinux.cfg to read

Code: Select all

default kernel.qky  pmedia=usbflash pfix=nox
I needed the pfix=nox as without it the display was corrupted and locked up, I ran xorgwizard which fixed the problem, I'm running a Nvidia Geforce 8600 GT, created a 4fs save, rebooted, everything runs fine.

Very slow loading the kernel though, takes well over a minute.
[b]Carolina:[/b] [url=http://smokey01.com/carolina/pages/recent-repo.html]Recent Repository Additions[/url]
[img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ahfade8q4def1lq/signbot.gif[/img]

User avatar
Ted Dog
Posts: 3965
Joined: Wed 14 Sep 2005, 02:35
Location: Heart of Texas

System Halted msg

#20 Post by Ted Dog »

:cry: did not even get past decompression md5sum checked ok.

On my Acer aspire one.... 1G ram

Booting 'Quirky 5.4.91'

[linux-bzImage, setup=0x3800, size=0x7d77c10]


uncompression error

-- System halted

Post Reply