My report on Quirky 6.0

[James C]

Forgot this.

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# report-video
VIDEO REPORT: Quirky Unicorn, version 6.2.1.91

Chip description:
VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82865G Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)

Requested by /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
  Resolution (widthxheight, in pixels): 1024x768
  Depth (bits, or planes):              24
  Modules requested to be loaded:       dbe 

Probing Xorg startup log file (/var/log/Xorg.0.log):
  Driver loaded (and currently in use): intel
  Loaded modules: dbe dri2 dri3 extmod glx kbd mouse present

Actual rendering on monitor:
  Resolution:  1024x768 pixels (270x203 millimeters)
  Depth:       24 planes

...the above also recorded in /tmp/report-video

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# glxgears
libGL error: Version 4 or later of flush extension not found
libGL error: failed to load driver: i915
Running synchronized to the vertical refresh.  The framerate should be
approximately the same as the monitor refresh rate.
379 frames in 5.0 seconds = 75.785 FPS
376 frames in 5.0 seconds = 75.142 FPS
376 frames in 5.0 seconds = 75.143 FPS
376 frames in 5.0 seconds = 75.144 FPS

[James C]

Not exactly sure what I'm going to do with it but I made a snapshot.More to experiment with.

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# free
             total         used         free       shared      buffers
Mem:       3373188      2077652      1295536            0        12228
-/+ buffers:            2065424      1307764
Swap:      8294396            0      8294396
# 

[gcmartin]

QU comes with 2 utilities saved in its download location. Here are some Item that I wonder if they would simplify things a little.

• The utility to create a bootable partition AND the utility to create a bootable drive are 2 separate utilities. Can they be combined into a single utility where the user directs it to either a partition or to a drive? Maybe even as a GUI offering selectable options.
• Can these utilities be made more universal where any "xz" compressed PUP distro could be written to a partition/drive? This way, these ability to write xz compression could be added to WOOF/WOOFCE/future PUP builders for inclusion in the ISO or to accompany the xz system(s) created in the future.

Could make it simpler for new/experienced users at QU installation time for it would address both community of users.

[Sage]

There is now an experimental live-CD:

Smart move. There are many reasons to prefer an .iso live-CD. I frequently use various Puppies for diagnosis and repair of misbehaving machines. It would, therefore, be helpful to have a non-PAE live-CD also, especially if a more basic version capable of 256Mb running. Yes! there are still legions of HW running on 256 and even less.
Furthermore, unless there's a live-CD/.iso Quirky and whatever else the maestro dreams up, it isn't going to reach the great unwashed masses - which it/they deserve to do - as witnessed by the sluggish advancement up the DW charts compared to the recent Tahr release. Love 'em or hate them, these charts maybe the first/only initial point of reference for busy, working aficionados.
Add to that, there is a very large body of folks who refuse to approach the command line, however well written are the instructions. Admonishment of/ignoring them isn't going to achieve the greater educational advantages of the genre.

[Sage]

First attempt to start up QUexptl 6.2.1.91 on XP2400/1.5Gb/Radeon9200:
plenty of strange messages, but halted at prompt with 'run xorgwizard'
xorgwizard 'not found'
xwin - back to 'run xorgwizard'
CLI active and working - back to poweroff!

Attempted with nV card - same result.
FWIW - cited:
/usr/bin/xwin l.181 write error: No space left
ditto l.189

Is this the lack of main mem? Not sure I've enough compat. sticks to raise it to 2Gb on this board.
Don't do Intel HW, so no icard to try.

[raffy]

From the readme:

to run this live-CD does require a computer with at least 1.5GB RAM, I would recommend 2GB

[ETP]

Quick Test

1. Installed to class 10 SD after conversion to hybrid ISO.

2. The boot was slow as high lighted but no slower than Cinnamon Mint17 64 Bit
running off the SSD on the same box. No complaints!

3. Noted creation of 894MB ext2 zram whilst booting.
(Would f2fs be possible & would it be any quicker? - It is designed for solid state memory.)

4. Live running very quick as is to be expected when an O/S runs entirely in ram.

5. Installed flash & engaged fontwizard which gave a huge improvement in Seamonkey.

6. No serious errors found in any of the log files.


OOTB in this ISO form it makes a great banking or kiosk distro.

[Sage]

to run this live-CD does require a computer with at least 1.5GB RAM, I would recommend 2GB

Yes, I know, but there was a suggestion from BK to try 1.5. I did that and reported.


Update: Negotiated short-term loan of extra mem from a client's machine! Yes - 2Gb seems to be a minimum as surmised by BK. 1.5Gb just doesn''t cut it.
Running OK until client's new SSD arrives...

To guarantee Brits can run BBC iPlayer, be sure to run a v.10 Flashplayer (unless, perhaps, running an Intel video card).
First USB insertion superimposes icon over FD0; move, remove then subsequently appears in new position.

[don570]

unicorn-6.2.1.91.iso

to run this live-CD does require a computer with at least 1.5GB RAM, I would recommend 2GB

I can confirm as well that more than 1.5 GB is needed on an IBM desktop
with 1.5 GB exactly.

console warning:

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/usr/bin/xwin line 189  write error : No space left on device

e3 text editor will launch however it can't save due to 'no space left'.

__________________________________________________________

[raffy]

On AMD E350 laptop with around 1.7GB available RAM, X is not working and there were too many errors on bootup.

Will see if I can somehow increase available RAM, as this is a 2-GB-RAM laptop.

[Sage]

1.7GB available RAM

Oh, dear! This is so serious a limitation as to be unacceptable for all those guys using shared-memory boards where an add-in video card is impossible (laptops) or difficult where the slot-availability or mem slots are limited. One of my best testing boards - gifted! - has two mem slots but one doesn't work. Only takes DDR1 which is an hen's-teeth option in 2Gb strips. Let's hope genius is busy at the bench een as we speak...

[ETP]

ZRAM/F2FS

In my previous post I raised this possibility. The patch to do this is out but seems to have not yet made it into the kernel.
Patch:
https://lkml.org/lkml/2014/9/15/115 (15th Sept 2014)

Kernel info:
https://www.kernel.org

Edit: - Patch will be in k 3.18
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=n ... px=MTgwNzk
Pull request-
http://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kern ... 00024.html

[peebee]

The pets to add LXDE to Quirky-Unicorn to make LxPupQuirky14.10 can be found at:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 210#807210

[ETP]

Hi Barry,

I can't say that I am happy. I am trying to use syslinux 6.03 and a USB stick to boot on a "win8.1" laptop with 64-bit UEFI firmware, Secure Boot turned off, and "legacy boot" disabled.

...............................

I will have to think about this. A side-reason, not the main one, that I retired from Puppy development, was I did not like the way things were heading, the changes. UEFI was one of them. Even GPT, I developed a dislike for. Systemd another. Then there is the bloatware such as LLVM and libicu.
...don't mind me, I'm in a grumpy mood.

Strange but a new Pc with Win 8 and a UEFI BIOS that I bought earlier this year had exactly the same effect upon me.
It took me a while to get the better of it considering that I only ever boot from a USB stick or SD card.
In the QT thread above I mentioned converting the 6.2.1.91 live ISO into a hybrid ISO.
That boots fine on a traditional (difficult) BIOS and also on the UEFI PC.

CSM mode must be enabled but there is no need to disable fast boot or secure boot.
The hybrid ISO can be written to a card or stick. You may need to adjust the legacy boot order. If the card is left plugged in, the box will boot straight to QU.

If you wanted to boot instead to 8.1 to err “maintain it

[tatemono]

My laptop computer is acer v3-371-50BW. Its touchpad does not work under Quirky Unicorn 6.2.1.91 while it works under Puppy Linux 6.0 "Tahrpup."

Is there any suggestion?

[Sage]

Try switching it on and configuring it in setup?

[Billtoo]

Still no problems after using this flash drive install of Quirky 6.2.1
for a week.

EDIT: Updated proprietary nvidia driver.

video-info-glx 1.5.3 Sun 9 Nov 2014 on Quirky Unicorn 6.2.1 Linux 3.16.6 i686
0.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF110 [GeForce GTX 560 Ti OEM] (rev a1)
oem: NVIDIA
product: GF110 Board - 12630002 Chip Rev

X Server: Xorg Driver: nvidia
X.Org version: 1.16.0
dimensions: 3840x1080 pixels (1204x343 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 GTX 560 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.4.0 NVIDIA 340.58

[ETP]

@ BarryK,

I have validated this very simple boot method with Blue Pup (QT 6.0.5) installed on f2fs partitions on my old XP box which has a swine of a BIOS and on my recent UEFI Win 8.1 box. It should work with QU 6.2.1,

The ploy is to create a 4meg hybrid ISO to boot from which can be placed on any old stick or card using dd or win32diskimager. Given the small size, the speed of the media is unimportant as the bulk of the data will be loading from the HDD or SSD.

A series of such images containing the 6.0.5 kernel can be found below. They cover sda2 to sda7 inclusive.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id= ... sp=sharing

Isolinux.cfg contains a single line of code there being no menu or splash screen:

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default /vmlinuz root=/dev/sdaX rw

That raises the issue of boot codes. ('qfix=bak', 'qfix=nox' and 'qfix=fsck')
The third one could be included in isolinux.cfg by default and a separate ISO could be created containing the first.

Possibly the install-quirky-to-partition script which currently ends with a suggested entry for GRUB4DOS, could be modified to offer the option of creating such an ISO on the fly. A further option of creating a recovery ISO on another stick with ‘qfix=bak’ could also be offered.
Anyone wanting to boot with ‘qfix=nox’ could create their own hybrid ISO with that code.

With this method CSM mode must be enabled but there is no need to disable fast boot or secure boot. (See previous post dated 6th November)

[OyyO]

Hi, is it possible to make install to ssd parition already formatted f2fs, from live CD usb flash drive? I don't have grub in it.

[BarryK]

[quote="With this method CSM mode must be enabled but there is no need to disable fast boot or secure boot. (See previous post dated 6th November)[/quote]

Yeah, Compatibility Support Mode will allow booting of any of our pups on a "win8" machine.

What I am investigating is booting on a UEFI machine, with CSM disabled.
Which I have had progress in doing, just have to build a 64-bit QU, so that the 64-bit kernel has something to pass control to.
Or maybe I will hit more snags.