EasyOS version 2.3.2, June 22, 2020

[BarryK]

So, Easy does not run in RAM.

I also stated that this will be implemented properly in version 0.6, which means NOT YET.

In 0.5, the entire .session folder is wiped with "qfix=bak", which takes you back to a first-bootup situation.

So, no, you cannot bootup and then unplug the usb stick.

I could implement such a thing, but have no compelling reason to do so.

Rethinking this, it would probably be quite easy to implement. There are two possible ways:

1.
If "qfix=ram", copy working-partition into zram, and unmount working partition.
This has the advantage that do not have to remaster. At first bootup, set everything how you want, then add "qfix=ram" to kernel boot params, then reboot.

2.
Working partition is created in zram. So, will have a pristine new system at every bootup. You would have to remaster, to configure networking etc.

[lp-dolittle]

@ L18L

just for information .... don't feel obliged to provide additional help to a layman!

could not resist trying; however without succeeding

typing: insmod gma500_gfx && rmmod i915 in the urxvt-console resulted in an error message (could not load module gma500_gfx; no such file or directory)

Trying to 'extra' load gma500_gfx via the BootManager seems to work at first glance, as well as blacklisting i915, but after rebooting, i915 remains the active module.

The attempt at giving preference to gma500_gfx over i915 also did not show any obvious effect.

All these manipulations did not influence the behaviour of the XKB Configuration Manager

after all, many thanks again!!

[BarryK]

More progress with XkbConfigurationManager:

http://bkhome.org/news/201710/xkbconfig ... tched.html

[musher0]

Hello people.

More progress with XkbConfigurationManager:

http://bkhome.org/news/201710/xkbconfig ... tched.html

Sorry if it's a bit out of thread, but I just tried npierce's edited xkeyboard
package in DPupStretch-7, and his scripts work like a charm for the Quebec
keyboard (a variant of the French-Canadian keyboard).

Thanks, BarryK, for the re-discovery!

BFN.

[BarryK]

Not familiar with the meaning of 'Sango',

Me. too.
For me (and for Fatdog), sg means swiss german.

Tried now, but this variant also needs additional fine tuning via the XKB configuration manager

That means it is faulty.
Fatdog's sg keyboard layout seems to work.
but it is you who can definitively say Fatdog's is OK or not.

How did that happen?! "Sango" is a language spoken in central Africa:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sango

I have changed the text in QuickSetup from "Sango" to "Swiss-German".

Also fixed the fall-back to "us". It now defaults to "ch" layout for X. See:

/etc/X11/xkb/symbols/ch

And if required, XkbConfigurationManager can fine-tune that.

[technosaurus]

So, Easy does not run in RAM.

I also stated that this will be implemented properly in version 0.6, which means NOT YET.

In 0.5, the entire .session folder is wiped with "qfix=bak", which takes you back to a first-bootup situation.

So, no, you cannot bootup and then unplug the usb stick.

I could implement such a thing, but have no compelling reason to do so.

Rethinking this, it would probably be quite easy to implement. There are two possible ways:

1.
If "qfix=ram", copy working-partition into zram, and unmount working partition.
This has the advantage that do not have to remaster. At first bootup, set everything how you want, then add "qfix=ram" to kernel boot params, then reboot.

2.
Working partition is created in zram. So, will have a pristine new system at every bootup. You would have to remaster, to configure networking etc.

Or store various sized bz2'ed ext2 filesystems in the initramfs (they are really tiny when bz2 compressed) and bunzip the appropriately sized one to zram... This would give the option to save the session later - great for guest users. I don't know what happened to my patches that did this 'bunzip a compressed ext2 filesystem' trick went, but originally it went into the sfs directory so that settings established on first run were saved. It can always be resized or converted to ext3/4 later.

[BarryK]

So, Easy does not run in RAM.

I also stated that this will be implemented properly in version 0.6, which means NOT YET.

In 0.5, the entire .session folder is wiped with "qfix=bak", which takes you back to a first-bootup situation.

So, no, you cannot bootup and then unplug the usb stick.

I could implement such a thing, but have no compelling reason to do so.

Rethinking this, it would probably be quite easy to implement. There are two possible ways:

1.
If "qfix=ram", copy working-partition into zram, and unmount working partition.
This has the advantage that do not have to remaster. At first bootup, set everything how you want, then add "qfix=ram" to kernel boot params, then reboot.

2.
Working partition is created in zram. So, will have a pristine new system at every bootup. You would have to remaster, to configure networking etc.

Well, I have implemented no.2:

http://bkhome.org/news/201710/running-easy-in-ram.html

[belham2]

So, Easy does not run in RAM.

I also stated that this will be implemented properly in version 0.6, which means NOT YET.

In 0.5, the entire .session folder is wiped with "qfix=bak", which takes you back to a first-bootup situation.

So, no, you cannot bootup and then unplug the usb stick.

I could implement such a thing, but have no compelling reason to do so.

Rethinking this, it would probably be quite easy to implement. There are two possible ways:

1.
If "qfix=ram", copy working-partition into zram, and unmount working partition.
This has the advantage that do not have to remaster. At first bootup, set everything how you want, then add "qfix=ram" to kernel boot params, then reboot.

2.
Working partition is created in zram. So, will have a pristine new system at every bootup. You would have to remaster, to configure networking etc.

Well, I have implemented no.2:

http://bkhome.org/news/201710/running-easy-in-ram.html

Will give this a try today.....thanks, Barry. Seriously though, if it makes it too hard and/or messes things up, just let it go. It's just I have ingrained in my head from using Precise all those years (when I did banking, etc online) that I always did it fully in RAM from a remastered Precise. Became 2nd nature, sort of.

[lp-dolittle]

Barry, are you sure you are on the right scent with the xkbconfigmanager-1.2.pet?

When I install this PET in Easy OS 0.5 - or in quirky xerus64-8.3 - the XKB Configuration Manager no longer is usable (see attached screenshot).
At the same time (still on the Dell Latitude E6500 Laptop), the XKB Configuration Manager settings for the Swiss German Layout need some fine tuning, but remarkably SURVIVE restarts of X when I use an 'old' (2013) Puppy Precise 5.7.1 live CD!
On the Dell Latitude E6500 laptop the 'heavy' keyboard setting issue (spontaneous resets) only occurs in Quirky and Easy OS!

moreover:
The choice between the kernel modules i915 and gma500_cfx (as recommended by L18L) does not seem to influence the issue. I'm puzzled as to how manipulations of these kernel modules take effect. After I first believed that my changes had no effect, despite I had restarted X and rebooted,..... some restarts later - and after the laptop hang while booting (reporting: Intel 800/900 Series VBIOS HACK: version 0.5.3) - i915 was replaced by gma500_cfx.

could these symptoms indicate mutual interactions between several issues?

[Rodney Byne]

Hi all,
instead of struggling to make complex Easy run in ram,
those of us with a longer memory shouldl just simply run
Quirky Werewolf compiled specifically for that purpose.

Suitable for online banking if needed and a smaller iso
than Easy to download as well.

Best regards.

[belham2]

Hi all,
instead of struggling to make complex Easy run in ram,
those of us with a longer memory shouldl just simply run
Quirky Werewolf compiled specifically for that purpose.

Suitable for online banking if needed and a smaller iso
than Easy to download as well.

Best regards.

Hi Rodney,

Most likely my memory and use goes back way before yours, lol. Also, you are missing the forest for the trees Barry has created something unique here with Containers. Having that, and running fully in RAM with an unplugged device that loaded everything???---you're talking about an unparalleled level of security and safety posture on the Net. That is the point here, not that we all---which most f us did and still do--- ran regular RAM for the past decade and a half, Quirky and all pups included.

[technosaurus]

Well, I have implemented no.2:

http://bkhome.org/news/201710/running-easy-in-ram.html

I am envisioning incognito mode: copy existing save file to (z)RAM ... keeps your settings but doesn't store anything permanently ... maybe call it guest mode

[scsijon]

Interesting problem.

I was loaned a brand new laptop to test for a full retail plus shipping I ocassionally work with and help.

It's basically a tablet with halo keyboard/graphics pad, something similar to Lenovo's Yoga Book https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/a ... ZITZTWYB2F, except it has a 'bit of grunt', a lot more memory (had 16gig with a second empty socket) and 2 sockets for ssd storage with a sandisk installed in one, 4096 units of pen touch pressure (by my linux-mangaka test), and a 16" touch/graphics screen and hailo keyboard/tabet. Only thing it had that peeved me was to have any standard usb sockets (they were all micro 'c's). But the "halo" unit does seem to be heavy enough against the screen part that I suspect it's mostly battery as well as for ballance. Perfect for the professional graphics/animation market it's trying to enter. Won't be cheap of course, but portability for onsite 'changes' has a very big value in that creation market.

Thought it was just the thing to try with easy 0.5! If it couldn't fly there .....

It was supplied with a clean system (empty hard drive, etc), and to give me a referance I used my external usb cdrom drive and a old puppy 5.51 'somewhat modified and expanded' self booting cd I often use to play with.pf12 and it came up nicely and told me a lot of nice figures, etc. , looked ok and hooked to the net, etc. without problems. Good!

So shut it down and plugged in my external powered hub and an easy memory stick (when will they start to make these with micro-usb!), and that was when things gave problems.

Easy 0.5 started up ok,
but then dropped out at initrd to it's shell with the usual warnings.
The main one was that it couldn't actually ?find q.sfs,
doing a few initrd commands (from my old referance book) showed me it could list it as being there and seem to have the right permissions, it just couldn't or didn't know how to do anything with a .sfs file!

I tried an easy 0.4 and had the same result!

Changed tactics and went over to linuxmangaka (another linux, but specifically designed for graphics work and built by some very smart people) and tried one of their's I installed onto a memory stick with uefi a year or so ago and tried that.
Bingo, it went through and started and run ok. In fact it worked beautifully.

Doing a bit of investigation, the main thing that stood out was the number of files in the efi directory and it's structure.

with easy it is efi/boot/ and 5 files including the .efi, the config file and 2 c32 and one c64;
with linuxmangaka it was /efi64/ and 58 c32's, the other two are in there but who knows where,

all I know it starts the linuxmangaka.squashfs without fail, but if I rename it .sfs it bombs.

I was wondering if others have problems with .sfs and if the problem is actually with the extension to the name.

I'm also wondering if that's the same problem that started to appear when the bios/**** changed format.

Unfortunately the machine has had to be given back. I have asked for another loan if possible at a later time, but having the first use was a pretty rare thing that I don't expect to be repeated any time soon.

and no, don't ask for further machine details etc., it was loaned on very tight conditions!

[BarryK]

Barry, are you sure you are on the right scent with the xkbconfigmanager-1.2.pet?

When I install this PET in Easy OS 0.5 - or in quirky xerus64-8.3 - the XKB Configuration Manager no longer is usable (see attached screenshot).
At the same time (still on the Dell Latitude E6500 Laptop), the XKB Configuration Manager settings for the Swiss German Layout need some fine tuning, but remarkably SURVIVE restarts of X when I use an 'old' (2013) Puppy Precise 5.7.1 live CD!
On the Dell Latitude E6500 laptop the 'heavy' keyboard setting issue (spontaneous resets) only occurs in Quirky and Easy OS!

Do not use any xkbconfigmanager PET, it will not work. Nor will those files from npierce. They are designed to use /etc/X11/xorg.conf, whereas Easy uses /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev-puppy.conf.

In Quirky and Easy, xkbconfigurationmanager is builtin to woofQ, it is not a PET. It is different from the others out there.

Test it when 0.6 comes out.

[BarryK]

I have solved the problem of eth0 not connecting at first bootup.

0.5 did solve the problem of eth0 reconnecting after a reboot, but the first bootup remained unresolved.

I have fixed it, but puzzled. The fix was to insert "sleep 6" at the top of this script:

/etc/rc.d/rc.network_eth

This gets called, indirectly, from rc.sysinit at first bootup, and runs as a separate process, so bootup can continue.

What I found is that $INTERFACES was empty. "ifconfig -a" was only finding interface "lo". Putting in a sleep fixed it, and I was surprised just how much sleep was needed -- on my Mele mini-PC, it needs at least 4 seconds. I made it 6 to be on the safe side.

Then, the "ifplugstatus" tests are still required. Even with that prior "sleep 6", ifplug status has to run three times, that is another 2 seconds delay, before it reports an active network.

I don't know what has changed to require this sleep. Change in the kernel? Ethernet driver?

[BarryK]

Normally, before a new release, I update the DEB database, with the latest from Ubuntu "updates" repository.

In woof, this is done by running the "0setup" utility. This is the same thing that you can do in a running PKGget Package Manager.

I did this, then did a build, 0.5.90, a precursor to 0.6. Tested it on my Mele PCG35 mini-PC, but was getting awfully corrupted screen rendering. Artifacts left behind, parts of the screen not redrawing, or redrawing garbage, or redrawing parts of the screen in the wrong place.

This is most likely a problem with xorg and/or the intel driver.

It is disappointing to be going backwards. Over the years, have had rendering problems with the intel driver, but things have been pretty good for the last couple of years.

I think that screen rendering is pretty good with 0.5, though most of my usage has been with 0.4 and earlier.
So, am building Easy 0.6 with the Ubuntu DEBs as used in 0.5.

[BarryK]

Details of the Dell LatitudeE6500 graphics controller can be seen from the attached screenshot

The built in Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M HD or a twice as fast and electrical power hungry dedicated NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M graphic card takes care of graphic needs. The customer must again choose between low priced basic equipment and an upgrade, more efficient but for a surcharge . The built in 4500M HD graphic chip fulfills all daily demands, such as classic office usage, internet and video (even HD).

and

Intel GM45/GE45/GS45 Integrated Graphics Driver
This package provides the Intel GM45/GE45/GS45 Integrated Graphics Driver and is supported on Latitude E5400/E6400/E4200/XFR E6400/E6400 ATG/E6500/E4300/E5500 that are running the following Windows Operating Systems: Vista and Windows 7.

tell me that you should try to use kernel driver module gma500_gfx instead of i915.
Something like

Code: Select all

insmod gma500_gfx && rmmod i915

and restartx.

Good luck!

Have you tried blacklisting each of these kernel modules?

Menu System -> Boot Manager

Then choose the button to blacklist modules.

Requires a reboot.

[BarryK]

Moreover, the Swiss German layout obviously is only one among others that cannot be set easily. As reported by forum member ottod (Quirky Xerus 8.3 blog from 01.08.2017), the latam layout also does not work.

The post from ottod:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 726#962726

For a long time Quirky has been lacking latam keyboard so initially I have to do with es keyboard, which is close enough. Afterwards, I select latam keyboard from the advanced Xorg keyboard configuration and everything works ok.
Right now in Quirky 8.3, this procedure works erratically. Some times it does execute the requested configuration and some times it stays setup to some variant of english, I suppose us or en-gb. I have not been able to identify the successful sequence. When I finally get the latam keyboard to work, it does not survive a reboot.
I'm using Quirky Xerus 8.3, USB flash stick image.

Yes, the keyboard selection in QuickSetup is for the terminal keyboard layouts. These are in /lib/keymapps, and there doesn't seem to be one corresponding to "latam".

So choosing "es", then "latam" in the Xkb Config Manager, does the trick. And that should be working ok for 0.6.

[BarryK]

Moreover, the Swiss German layout obviously is only one among others that cannot be set easily. As reported by forum member ottod (Quirky Xerus 8.3 blog from 01.08.2017), the latam layout also does not work.

The post from ottod:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 726#962726

For a long time Quirky has been lacking latam keyboard so initially I have to do with es keyboard, which is close enough. Afterwards, I select latam keyboard from the advanced Xorg keyboard configuration and everything works ok.
Right now in Quirky 8.3, this procedure works erratically. Some times it does execute the requested configuration and some times it stays setup to some variant of english, I suppose us or en-gb. I have not been able to identify the successful sequence. When I finally get the latam keyboard to work, it does not survive a reboot.
I'm using Quirky Xerus 8.3, USB flash stick image.

Yes, the keyboard selection in QuickSetup is for the terminal keyboard layouts. These are in /lib/keymapps, and there doesn't seem to be one corresponding to "latam".

So choosing "es", then "latam" in the Xkb Config Manager, does the trick. And that should be working ok for 0.6.

Have fixed Latin-American layout properly:

http://bkhome.org/news/201710/kmap-layo ... rican.html

[lp-dolittle]

@ Belham2 and technosaurus

running an OS totally in RAM certainly provides advantages, not least in view of secure browsing. However, I cannot help questioning the limits of this enhanced security.
Please, try to reenact the following reasoning, and correct potential misapprehensions:

Running an OS totally in RAM, on a PC without internal hard-disk, can be considered save after the boot-medium (CD; DVD, SD-card, pen drive, etc) is removed, or maybe it preferably should be called 'as save as possible'? For sure, the original OS is in a safe place, but what about the currently running RAM version? How far is this transient installation vulnerable to malware attacks, while browsing the Internet? Is it conceivable that malware during this mode of operation - via invading the RAM - alters the functionality of the OS or simply settles down, in order to go viral in case a storage medium is attached and mounted? In fact, running an OS totally in RAM cannot spare users the necessity of, sooner or later, transferring data to a storage medium. Well, this storage medium, for good measure, next time can be mounted only after the OS again has been booted into RAM, but data may be corrupted! I don't think the 'cloud storage option' can be an alternative.
Finally, I also could imagine an additional security risk. What about the 'theoretical' storage options in the firmware of the computer's hardware components (EPROMs)? Can this kind of security risk be neglected/excluded?

Where is the line between absolute and maximum security?
Feel free to comment on the above-mentioned ideas and to criticise ... keeping in mind that it is absolutely not my intention to doubt the advantages of the 'running totally in RAM' option!

kind regards