Fatdog64-620beta2

[kirk]

WillM,

I wouldn't call that a Lxpanel bug. They probably never envisioned the filesystem be modified in that way. I'll try to fix that for the next release.

Edit: Fixed for next release.

[gcmartin]

This may have been alluded to before:

Scenario:
Booted Live selecting LVM2 option. Tailored desktop and added a dozen PPM items to system.

At Shutdown, selected the save-session path. Selected to have it save to the multi-session DVD (it indicated 209MB) and system proceeded normally to conclusion without any error messages.

On reboot, the system shows

• loading base sfs ... then,
• an error message of "loading savefile from unsupported type device - ignored"

AT desktop, there is no savefile apparent on the Live media.

Ideas???

[gcmartin]

Questions on FATDOG's LAN operations

1. When network adapter changes need to be made for current session use, is the /etc/network/interfaces file ever updated or used?
2. Can the interfaces file be used for any LAN adapter managment?

Thanks in advance.

[WillM]

WillM,

I wouldn't call that a Lxpanel bug. They probably never envisioned the filesystem be modified in that way. I'll try to fix that for the next release.

Edit: Fixed for next release.

Thanks kirk. Lxpanel-0.5.12 is really cool.

[Billtoo]

I installed Fatdog 620 beta2 on the hard drive of an older HP desktop.

video-info-glx 1.5.2 Sat 16 Mar 2013 on Fatdog64 620 Linux 3.7.10 x86_64
0.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
nee ATI RV530 [Radeon X1600]
oem: ATI ATOMBIOS
product: RV530 01.00
X Server: Xorg Driver: radeon
X.Org version: 1.11.4
dimensions: 1440x900 pixels (381x238 millimeters)
depth of root window: 24 planes
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.4
OpenGL vendor string: X.Org R300 Project
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on ATI RV530
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 9.0.3
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3300+
Core 0: @1800 MHz
Audio Devices
Audio Adapter CX2341[56] - IVTV-0
Audio Adapter USB-Audio - Sound Blaster X-Fi Go! Pro

I was using a usb keyboard but on first bootup after installing to the
hard drive it gave a choice of two savefiles, one a 520 savefile and
the new one but the keyboard wasn't working when I tried to enter a
number.
I plugged in a ps2 keyboard and rebooted, it worked.
Fatdog is working well so far.

[Billtoo]

I installed 620 beta2 on a 16gb SDHC card with the fatdog installer.

video-info-glx 1.5.3 Sat 16 Mar 2013 on Fatdog64 620 Linux 3.7.10 x86_64
0.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8600 GT (rev a1)
oem: NVIDIA
product: G84 Board - p402h00 Chip Rev
X Server: Xorg Driver: nouveau
X.Org version: 1.11.4
dimensions: 1440x900 pixels (381x238 millimeters)
depth of root window: 24 planes
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.4
OpenGL vendor string: nouveau
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on NV84
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 9.0.3
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Core 0: @1603 1: @1603 2: @1603 3: @1603 MHz

It takes a long time to load from the SDHC (class 10) card but it's working
okay otherwise so far.

EDIT:The NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-310.40.run proprietary driver installed
okay:
X Server: Xorg Driver: nvidia
X.Org version: 1.11.4
dimensions: 1440x900 pixels (373x231 millimeters)
depth of root window: 24 planes

direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
server glx version string: 1.4
OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce 8600 GT/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL version string: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 310.40

EDIT:I did another install to a SDHC card but used the small initrd
this time, much better.

[jamesbond]

Thanks Billtoo.

I was using a usb keyboard but on first bootup after installing to the
hard drive it gave a choice of two savefiles, one a 520 savefile and
the new one but the keyboard wasn't working when I tried to enter a
number.
I plugged in a ps2 keyboard and rebooted, it worked.
Fatdog is working well so far.

This should not happen. Fatdog's kernel comes with built-in support for all know usb mouse and keyboards. What's your keyboard brand? Do you have any idea of what module is required to use that keyboard (lsmod after the system is booting probably helps).

It takes a long time to load from the SDHC (class 10) card but it's working
okay otherwise so far.

Yes, this is a known issue, for certain BIOS-es. If you plan to use this for daily usage, I'd recommend that you run the "fatdog-split-initrd.sh" script from the command line; this will split the humongous initrd into small initrd with fatdog.sfs outside (just like standard puppies) - which should improve your boot times.

This may have been alluded to before:

Scenario:
Booted Live selecting LVM2 option. Tailored desktop and added a dozen PPM items to system.

At Shutdown, selected the save-session path. Selected to have it save to the multi-session DVD (it indicated 209MB) and system proceeded normally to conclusion without any error messages.

On reboot, the system shows

loading base sfs ... then,
an error message of "loading savefile from unsupported type device - ignored"

AT desktop, there is no savefile apparent on the Live media.

Ideas???

I will see if I can reproduce this issue.
EDIT: On next version we will migrate from cdrkit (genisoimage and friends) to cdrtools (the real mkisofs), so things may resolve itself. My tests will be based on the cdrtools tools instead of the old cdrkit.
EDIT2: Works. I burned a fresh DVD+RW from ISO, boot it "withlvm" on a VM that has LVM partitions in it, but choose not to load any of the savefile. I create some test files, then I choose reboot from menu. I choose /dev/sr0 as my save device and tick the "save as multisession". Upon reboot, I choose "fatdog multisession", and the system boots normally, and I can see the test files I created before. So everything works normally here.

Questions on FATDOG's LAN operations

When network adapter changes need to be made for current session use, is the /etc/network/interfaces file ever updated or used?
Can the interfaces file be used for any LAN adapter managment?

Thanks in advance.

Can you please elaborate? I don't understand the question.

cheers!

[jamesbond]

I have tried this on my computer and it works great. None of the problems I had with 610/611.

One question though: I tried the VirtualBox .sfs. It doesn't work and gives some weird errors related to the VirtualBox kernel. I supposed it's meant to work only on 610(?)

Yes, the kernel is different. I don't know how the VirtualBox SFS is built, but when I install a different kernel, all I need to do (assuming I have devx loaded) is to run "/etc/rc.d/rc.vboxdrv setup" from command line to compile a new set of kernel modules for Virtualbox. Virtualbox should work afterwards.

[Billtoo]

This should not happen. Fatdog's kernel comes with built-in support for all know usb mouse and keyboards. What's your keyboard brand? Do you have any idea of what module is required to use that keyboard (lsmod after the system is booting probably helps).

It's an Acer keyboard, I don't see any model number on the back of it,
just says "Acer wired keyboard made in China".
I just tried it again and got the same result, during boot it doesn't
respond when I try to enter a number for the savefile to use,plugging
in my Dell ps2 keyboard (both in a same time) worked and continued the
bootup successfully, the Acer keyboard works fine once bootup is
completed.
The Acer keyboard is a decent keyboard (when it works) but I'll just
stick with the Dell in Fatdog.

[jamesbond]

It's an Acer keyboard, I don't see any model number on the back of it,
just says "Acer wired keyboard made in China".
I just tried it again and got the same result, during boot it doesn't
respond when I try to enter a number for the savefile to use,plugging
in my Dell ps2 keyboard (both in a same time) worked and continued the
bootup successfully, the Acer keyboard works fine once bootup is
completed.
The Acer keyboard is a decent keyboard (when it works) but I'll just
stick with the Dell in Fatdog.

That's odd. Do you mind posting "lsmod" here? As an alternative, you can boot with "coldplug" parameter, see if the acer works. If it does, then it is definitely a missing module (probably a new kernel module we haven't gotten it built-in yet).

cheers!

[Billtoo]

It's an Acer keyboard, I don't see any model number on the back of it,
just says "Acer wired keyboard made in China".
I just tried it again and got the same result, during boot it doesn't
respond when I try to enter a number for the savefile to use,plugging
in my Dell ps2 keyboard (both in a same time) worked and continued the
bootup successfully, the Acer keyboard works fine once bootup is
completed.
The Acer keyboard is a decent keyboard (when it works) but I'll just
stick with the Dell in Fatdog.

That's odd. Do you mind posting "lsmod" here? As an alternative, you can boot with "coldplug" parameter, see if the acer works. If it does, then it is definitely a missing module (probably a new kernel module we haven't gotten it built-in yet).

cheers!

Doing Fatdog coldplug worked, it accepted the savefile number.
I'll attach the lsmod output.

[jamesbond]

Thanks,

Just had a chat with kirk, your lsmod confirms that we miss one of the (new) module that needs to be compiled built-in - that's the hid_generic. It should be fixed in next release. For now if you don't want to load the full "coldplug", you can use "loadmodules=hid_generic" instead (in fact, I'd be grateful if you can test this parameter and see if the keyboard works, if it does, it helps to confirm that module is the one we need to build into the kernel).

cheers!

[Billtoo]

Thanks,

Just had a chat with kirk, your lsmod confirms that we miss one of the (new) module that needs to be compiled built-in - that's the hid_generic. It should be fixed in next release. For now if you don't want to load the full "coldplug", you can use "loadmodules=hid_generic" instead (in fact, I'd be grateful if you can test this parameter and see if the keyboard works, if it does, it helps to confirm that module is the one we need to build into the kernel).

cheers!

"loadmodules=hid_generic" worked.

Thanks

[Billtoo]

It takes a long time to load from the SDHC (class 10) card but it's working
okay otherwise so far.

Yes, this is a known issue, for certain BIOS-es. If you plan to use this for daily usage, I'd recommend that you run the "fatdog-split-initrd.sh" script from the command line; this will split the humongous initrd into small initrd with fatdog.sfs outside (just like standard puppies) - which should improve your boot times.

I made a /mnt/home/tmp directory and then entered the following:

# sh fatdog-split-initrd.sh /mnt/home/initrd /mnt/home/tmp

When it finished I copied the contents of /mnt/home/tmp to /mnt/home,
then deleted /mnt/home/tmp when it finished copying.
Next bootup took 1 minute, big improvement.
Thanks.

[jamesbond]

Billtoo, thanks for testing.

cheers!

[prehistoric]

It takes a long time to load from the SDHC (class 10) card but it's working
okay otherwise so far.

Yes, this is a known issue, for certain BIOS-es. If you plan to use this for daily usage, I'd recommend that you run the "fatdog-split-initrd.sh" script from the command line; this will split the humongous initrd into small initrd with fatdog.sfs outside (just like standard puppies) - which should improve your boot times.

I made a /mnt/home/tmp directory and then entered the following:

# sh fatdog-split-initrd.sh /mnt/home/initrd /mnt/home/tmp

When it finished I copied the contents of /mnt/home/tmp to /mnt/home,
then deleted /mnt/home/tmp when it finished copying.
Next bootup took 1 minute, big improvement.
Thanks.

This has also been a problem with some BIOSes when booting from SATA DVDs. If the small initrd option is not already available as a separate ISO image these instructions should be readily available for those who use this as a live-DVD. I've had people tell me the DVD I gave them to try didn't work because they couldn't believe it would take so long to boot.

This also defeats one of the ways I've addressed fears about messing with bootloaders. (NTbootloader is constructed so that any change is likely to cause failure. It has been known to reduce users to tears. I don't even mention lilo, GRUB, GRUB2 or GRUB4DOS.) I leave them alone, and set the BIOS parameters to try to boot from CD/DVD first. Then, when the user wants to run Windoze they can boot without a problem, when they want to run some flavor of Puppy they simply insert the CD/DVD, which finds the appropriate savefile. This procedure has enough concreteness to reassure people they are not going to accidentally upset the sleeping Windoze dragon. I need to do something simple and reliable to offset copious FUD.

Myself, I use the GRUB bootloader with multiple Puppies, no Windoze at all, and Fatdog with the humongous initrd, but I've learned caution about advising others to do the same.

[jamesbond]

Thanks prehistoric, that's a valid concern.

Based on (inconclusive) experience, slow-loading of huge initrd usually happens on older machines (I have one of those). On newer machines, it is usually not a problem - but again, it really depends on the BIOS.

There won't be a small-initrd ISO, but it can easily be created. The official way to do that is to use the remaster tool and tick "use small initrd" when asked. Behind the scene, this tool will call the fatdog-split-initrd.sh to do the job. Of course, if one is already running frugal install, there is no need to do remaster and just run the script directly, like Billtoo has done.

cheers!

[Billtoo]

I installed 620beta2 to an 8gb SDHC card (class 10 30MB/s) with the
small initrd option checked.
video-info-glx 1.5.3 Tue 19 Mar 2013 on Fatdog64 620 Linux 3.7.10 x86_64
0.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
nee ATI Manhattan [Mobility Radeon HD 5400 Series]
oem: ATI ATOMBIOS
product: PARK 01.00
X Server: Xorg Driver: fglrx
X.Org version: 1.11.4
dimensions: 1600x900 pixels (423x238 millimeters)
depth of root window: 24 planes
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: ATI
server glx version string: 1.4
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5400 Series
OpenGL version string: 4.2.12002 Compatibility Profile Context 9.012
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M 430 @ 2.27GHz
Core 0: @1199 1: @1199 2: @1199 3: @1199 MHz
Atheros CommunicationsInc.AR928X Wireless Network Adapter(PCI-Express) (rev 01)
Linksys WUSB54GC 802.11g Adapter [ralink rt73]

I installed the ati driver pet from the fatdog package manager.
The builtin wireless adapter wasn't working well (wouldn't connect)
so I plugged in a linksys usb wireless adapter and it's working okay.
This install boots up fast, about 20 seconds to get to the desktop.

[Billtoo]

I made a pet of a small utility named grun which is an application
launcher.
It creates a menu enter in the accessories section but I also dragged
/usr/bin/grun to the desktop and gave it the
/usr/local/lib/X11/pixmaps/ok.xpm icon.
I find it to be a useful program.

[aragon]

billtoo,

you might also want to look at

http://sourceforge.net/projects/gmrun/

which is also a nice launcher with some advanced features.

aragon