(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

O.K. Here's what I found by forum member dancytron at http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 2&start=94 in a discussion about Chromium on Quirky 8.1.4 for Raspberry pi 2 and 3.

dancytron said:

Try

Code:
/usr/bin/chromium-browser --no-sandbox


or
Code:

/usr/bin/chromium-browser --user-data-dir=/root/chrome/user --disk-cache-dir=/root/chrome/cache --no-sandbox

So in Menu -> Setup -> Default Applications Chooser -> Browser I entered and clicked on 'apply'.

Then clicking on Desktop Browser icon, Chromium boots.and so far seems to be working OK...I am posting from it now.

If one enters from the command line, Chromium also boots, but gives you a whole page of errors/warnings for the process, but so far I don't see any malfunctions of the browser..

As Chromium starts up, it adds a 'Protest Bar' at the top of the page, informing you that this arrangement (running as root) is sub-optimal.

Does anyone see any problems continuing with this arrangement?

@eowens2

Hi,

I updated QPM and then installed chromium-browser, then reran QuickSetup first-run settings and chose to run it as spot.
It starts up with no errors, I added the ublock extension.

Hi all,

I know that having a full install of Quirky on its own paritition, the .pet package (service-pack_8.0_TO_8.1.5-xerus64.pet) works with no problems, at least for me. It updates, goes to 8.1.5 version, and all is ok (as long as it is a 'full' install to Quirky on its own partition/SD card/USB drive that this is happening on). I also know (and have tested), using Billtoo's method & tips, getting a fresh Quirky 8.1.5 installation installed and up & running using the now-deleted 8.1.5 ISO (which I idiotically deleted off my saved ISOs & no longer have, which would solve all the following problems below).

But my question concerns frugal installs/running only. One one of my old Seagate 180GB IDE USB enclosure drives, I've grub4dos installed. There's about ~10 pups along with Quirky 8.0 'furgal' on there. All are used during the week and all are kept up to date as much as possible (usually means compiling some things). So, one of the 'furgal' installs on this Seagate external is a beloved Quirky (64-bit) 8.0 "furgal" install. This install, many months ago, has been modded quite extensively in terms of icons, themes, add'l programs, shortcuts, rotating backgrounds, redshiift, etc, etc and such.

I made a backup copy of this Quirky 8.0 "frugal" install. Then I again ran the Quirky Package Manager, which always throws up that popup of "Service Pack Available, The current version of Quirky: 8.0, The highest available upgrade version: 8.1.5..click OK to download & install the Service Pack". I've avoided this message like the plague, for fear it would decimate my frugal install.

Well, since I made a backup, I took the plunge. For the past two frustrating days I have struggled to get this QPM 8.0-to-8.1.5.pet update to not only install, but also not decimate my system. Applying the update via the .pet is just absolute destruction. I even downloaded the update .pet separately, unpakced, and studied the script, and I can follow nearly all of it until you get to the part where there is a command to completely wipe the current /home contents and directory as part of the upgrade. I am not expert enough to understand what Barry was trying to do at this juncture, but all I know is the update completely wipes everything, won't even apply the 8.1.5 upgrades, and sends my frugal install back to a pristine 8.0 frugal setup.

Does or has anyone here run a "frugal" Quirky setup (Stemsee, you still around??) and have had success going from a 8.0 Quirky "frugal" install to a 8.1.5 Quirky updated version of the very same frugal install using this .pet service-pack Barry K made up and is available on ibiblio??

Thanks for any replies.

(as a side note, I hated/hate BTRFS and the snapshot function in OpenSUSE, and is recently why I finally gave up with it & left the distro for good...BTRFS is still crap, in my experience, as it just wrecks havoc on older system resources plus, the worse, it is still unstable as a drunk wallaby but yet lethal as a inland taipan. Why? Developers continually write script workarounds for their implementation of BTRFS' shortcomings and problems. The SUSE team is notorious for this; just read their forum and look at what the most talked about topic is. For Quirky 8.1.5 here, is the update in the 8.1.5 only this BTRFS stuff as implemented by Barry, or are there important, regular security updates too it? If there are important updates, and would it be possible to just apply those security updates (via copying them from a working 8.1.5 full partition install) to my current 8.0 frugal install??)

@belham2

Hi,

I used the alternative install method to a 32GB SDHC card which is
plugged into a Verbatim usb card reader.
It's a fairly fast card but not too pricey.

Anyway, it's working pretty well.

GMIC plugins 1.7.9 for GIMP app will work in
Quirky Xerus 8.1.5 for x86_64
REQUIREMENT: fftw compiled for multiple threads

http://gmic.eu/files/linux/gmic_gimp_linux64.zip
_________________________________________________

@Billtoo

THANKS! You rescued me from trying to re-invent the wheel!

I re-ran first-run settings, chose to run as spot, rewrote Default Applications Chooser for Browser, and suddenly running Chromium became a lot easier!

Hi all,

I've got a good report on networking in Quirky Xerus 8.1.5, with a minor deficiency.

Background:

The basic problem I faced is not Quirky's at all. My ISP is a mess, and is going through a hardware upgrade and a change in ownership. Months ago I got a combination cable modem and wireless router which met the DOCIS 3.0 standard from the ISP, and did a self installation. (This was easier than waiting an entire day for a technician to show up.)

This had been working for months when I noticed that someone had gone into the router portion and changed the settings. Since no one had come to my house, and I had disabled remote administration as a security measure, this told me the device had a backdoor. If the ISP can do this it is quite likely someone else who knows there is a backdoor can also find this.

I then bought a DOCIS 3.0 cable modem on the ISP list of supported modems. This did not have wireless or router functions. This is fine with me because a combined device at the point where the cable enters my home is poorly placed for either wired or wireless connections. Instead I send the signal upstairs over an encrypted 1 Gb/s powerline link.

(Depending on how your neighborhood utilities are wired you may be able to get by with an unencrypted link over powerlines, but those who live in apartments or condos may find they are providing a free service for people they don't even know. I've even seen separate houses where a WiFi connection would be unreliable with powerline connections. They were sharing a transformer tap even though their meters were separate, and their houses were some distance apart.)

Having been through other episodes with this ISP, I took a laptop downstairs and connected directly to the cable modem. It happened that this laptop has a built-in SD card reader with an SD card on which I had installed Quirky Xerus 8.1.5 for testing.

When I called the ISP, and read them the HFC MAC ID on the old modem+router, then the HFC MAC ID on the new router, it was easy to get the new device registered. A reset on the line then allowed me to confirm that I could set up networking on the laptop using BarryK's SNS.

This went quite smoothly, which is different from a typical exchange with the ISP. I normally unplug the cable modem, and leave it off for 10 minutes, to reset both the modem and the equipment at the hub run by the ISP. This is faster than working through support channels to reach someone who knows what they are doing.

My next step is to set up the powerline link, which now involves pressing a button on one device, then running upstairs to press a button on the other while it is searching for the connection. I then connect the laptop directly to the upstairs powerline adapter to confirm that I can still connect to the modem and Internet.

At this point it is possible to set up a wireless router upstairs where my desktop machine is, and most computer activity takes place. Because my routers are not set up to accept remote administration, the laptop also gives me a way to change settings on the router.

Finally, once all that is done, I can set up networking on my desktop machines.

You can count a fair number of networking set-up operations in this description, even without finding any faults or mistakes. (My rule of thumb: no network has ever been completely debugged. They always operate in some error-recovery mode.) This endeavor was not free from detours to fix unexpected problems. I'll spare you the blow-by-blow account.

End of Background

Quirky, with SNS, did almost exactly what I wanted. I particularly appreciate the ability to conveniently delete previous set-ups and start from scratch without going to the command line. I particularly liked being told the problem was a failure of DHCP without having to read all the output of low-level commands. I could also see that this was failing by checking that the router did not get new data about domain and DNS, but it was nice to have a simple statement.

My only minor problem is that there is no simple way to turn the firewall on and off without effectively doing low-level operations or going to a console.

For comparison, I did have Fatdog 710 available, and I have debugged a networking problem with those tools -- once. The problem is not that this is impossible, it is that it involves complications beyond those already present in the network itself. I get pushed beyond my mental stack depth.

I ended up booting Quirky Xerus 8.1.5 on my desktop to confirm that networking was working before I got Fatdog 710 to connect. I'm now using Fatdog as my primary system, but if Quirky were a little more stable I think I would switch.

I was able to run the red notebook program thanks to software
supplied by

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 058738f2a8

rednotebook-1.14.pet --> plus python extras are needed.

____________________________________________

Hi Barry,

Thanks for your latest version which seems to be a swift return to form.
In your blog you asked for feedback on the "best" and hopefully small, video player for inclusion in the next minor-point release.

Without hesitation or reservation I would suggest mpv-0.1.4.0
Everything required is available via QPM once updated and I have just tested it with this release.

I have been a fan of it for several months and have yet to find an audio or video format that it cannot handle & play smoothly.
It even handles .ts files and problematic mkv files that later versions of vlc can struggle with.

It can be used in a drag and drop fashion which should appeal to Windows users. (That includes multiple items in different formats)
Its audio abilities are also impressive including opus, ogg & oga.

Attached is a list of deps/libs. Note that the last 2 items on the list need to be installed seperately before first launching.

ETP,
Thanks for the feedback on a media player.

Yes, 8.1.6 is out!

Announcement here:

http://barryk.org/news/?viewDetailed=00496

Please note the security and keyboard setup notes.

And, as ETP has already done, recommendation on the "best", hopefully small video player is welcome.

Need to find an online site with a collection of test videos.

Manual frugal install absolutely OK.
Starting evaluation and bugging.
Thanks Barry!

Hi Barry,
which one has to be tested in priority : slaq or xerus ?
I prefer xine as the best mediaplayer.
Cheers

I am running Xerus 8.1.6 on an Asus laptop hard drive partition, and trying to get my Brother HL-2170W printer installed under CUPS.

Brother does not provide 64-bit drivers for its printers, only 32-bit drivers, so the user has to 'create' a driver using some files Brother provides and 32-bit libraries for the operating system.

I have updated the Quirky Package Manager and entered '32-bit' in the PM search field, and it seems the repositories have 50 or so 32-bit libraries!

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to narrow down the group to a few relevant libraries?

Using Xenialpup64 with a Brother 1210w printer, 32bit libs I needed were as per attached pic. May be helpful.

Quirky Xerus 8.1.6 for x86_64

- at PC boot up , after switch_root : - in bootsysinit.log - in xerrs.log - quicksetup : - jwmrc not correct : That's why retrovol, network-tray , etc. are not displayed in tray.

My remastered Quirky Xerus 8.1.6 DVD won't boot. The BIOS simply passes it by and says it can't find anything to boot.

I can clearly see that about a quarter inch of stuff was burned to the DVD. The disk can be mounted and shows these contents in Rox:

There is one funny error about the keyboard. Using the .ISO to boot up 8.1.6 :

As soon as you change the keyboard language you are loosing: the cursor keys, the Up and Down keys, Pos1 and End Keys ... As soon as you do a X-server reboot this problem disappears. The language you pick does not matter. Changing your keyboard layout after a x server restart via: QuickSetup first run settings will break the keyboard again.

Add up: The keyboard works fine in Xerus 8.0 final. Used the .ISO to boot up 8.0

FeodorF wrote:There is one funny error about the keyboard.

Using the .ISO to boot up 8.1.6 :

As soon as you change the keyboard language you are loosing: the cursor keys,
the Up and Down keys, Pos1 and End Keys ...
As soon as you do a X-server reboot this problem disappears.
The language you pick does not matter.

I also noticed this, but it doesn't matter since restart X is always done

The Galculator scientific calculator does not work. xerrs.log shows:
galculator: error while loading shared libraries: libquadmath.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Add up: Galculator works well in the Quirky SlaQ 8.1.6 x86_64 release; works fine in Xerus 8.0 final too. Used the .ISO for testing.

pMusic 5.2.4 does not play any audio. Tried /root/puppy-reference/audio/....au/ ...wav xerrs.log shows:

diff: /root/.pmusic/storage_playlist/playlist1: No such file or directory
/usr/local/pmusic/func_player: line 146: /root/.pmusic/tmp/ffmpeg_filter_NORMALIZE: No such file or directory
/usr/local/pmusic/func_player: line 26: 2702 Killed $APPDIR/func_player -playing "$2"

Next to the play button there is a speaker symbol button. If you click on this one the next pop up will show you: Sound processing - pEqualizer is not installed. Same Puppy audio files ...au/...wav/...ogg play very well with: mhWaveEdit

Add up: pMusic 5.2.4 works well in the Quirky SlaQ 8.1.6 x86_64 release; works fine in Xerus 8.0 final too. Used the .ISO for testing.