(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Just to record this somewhere:

On the Asus 1000HE, setting the BIOS booting priority to USB drive followed by hard drive produces the following behavior:

Every alternate boot switches back and forth between HD and USB.

Workaround is to press ESC once or twice after pressing start button. This produces a list of HD followed by USB. Use keyboard to move to USB and press Enter.

Recently, I had a chance to review some of the Firefox problems recently encountered. Two problems stand out, and are sometimes used together.

The first is 'workers' that fetch data among other things. These have historically been a nuisance, but with the recent Meltdown/Spectre problems, their usefullness has ended on these older builds like FF27.

The second is 'indexed DB (database)', Again, its been a nuisance that is now in need of an off button.

So, about:config needs a few changes.

Disconnect from internet and open FF27.
In the address bar type about:config and be careful.
In the search bar type worker
Four entries will appear in FF27,
'FALSE' three of them, and change the numeric entry to 1.

OK, in the search bar type index
There will be numerous entries, but two of them are important right now...

dom.indexedDB.enabled
dom.indexedDB.experimental

Both of these two must be set to false (experimental 'should be' false by default)

Now that these are done, close the browser, wait 5-10 seconds and Goto MENU --> Shutdown --> Restart Graphical Server and click. (This step prevents a hang on normal re-starts of the browser).

Other things related to Meltdown/Spectre usually involve autocomplete, or autofill (because they involve caching predicted data). I have already (for a long time) mitigated these in about:config. Consider resetting them to false if you have enabled these 'conveniences'.

At this point, reconnect to internet as usual.

Regards
8Geee

Curl and Slackware have posted an update for curl -->7.58

Users of curl may wish to read this announcement for a better understanding of the redirection ploy.

The patch is located at slackware.com or in MENU --> Setup --> Slackware Updates

There are no symlinks needed, and usr/DOCS/curl can be removed if not needed. Also, /root/.packages should have the new 7.58 version moved to builtin files with the older file removed.

Regards
8Geee

Just found the update for curl --> 7.59
Control Character can write out of bounds.

Also rsync --> 3.13 has been updated to fix security issues. Users of Samba should take special note of this. General Puppy Slacko5.7 users take note that this has NOT been updated since inception.

These are available at Slackware --> Security advisories --> 2018. The usual save the .package file to built-in, and remove the doc file (users of curl may wish to save, ditto for Samba)

Regards
8Geee

Found this today...

Security patch for vorbis and related.
vorbis has not been updated since inception.

Users of audio software/codecs might want to keep doc files... none provided in original slacko5.7, otherwise toss. The root.packages file should be moved to built-in.

Three Symlinks are needed on this update in usr/lib. Look for duplicate file names, A relative link from old to new needs to be made after removing old file.

After all this is done, shutdown/restart.

Regards
8Geee

I have found that the wget 1.19.4 update borqs connections with Puppy Package Manager and the slackware update mechanisms in Puppy Slacko5.7 and the EOnS spins.

DO NOT UPDATE wget past 1.19.2

The 1.19.4 is a rebuild, and theres the rub, its not really a security update.

The personal version I have of Slacko5.7-2018A is the honey-pot for such things, and I have a redo to perform.

I am also getting an Oh Dear warning (wget 1.19.2) using the Update from Slacko app, (can't read the file size, so aborting the D/L).

That is fixed by using the link (Slackware openssl) in the default Bookmarks, clicking on such update, then highlight Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V into a new window. Answer YES to install as a Puppy Package. Remember its Slackware 14.0 for all things except Openssl which is 14.2 and BASH that is 13.37.

Regards
8Geee

An update here that the 2018A versions of Slacko and EONS use wget 1.18. They will not be updated in the next release.

Halfway way through the redo of both, just a remaster, burn and load.

Regards
8Geee

Uncle Slacky has just released a minor security update to Openssl. Though the vunerabilities target 'mainly' RISC ops, the update is provided. For this one go to Slackware and D/L the 14.2 i586 solibs first, then D/L the main. DOCS may removed, and the two root/.packages files should be moved to built-in.

Regards
8Geee

Slackware has published an update to libidn -->1.34
One symlink needs to be made in usr/lib
remove libidn.so.11.6.16 and make a link back to it from the new version libidn.so.11.6.18

DOCS may be tossed, and the new .package text file moved into /root/.packages/built_in with removal of the 1.33 version.

Note: if you get an error that the file is ISO8859-1, go to Slackware security advisories 2018 and D/L there.

Regards
8Geee

Folks that use EONS or the mini version (Office removed) have an Intel Atom CPU that is effectively immune from Meltdown/Spectre, and does not contain the nefarious Intel Management Engine and its siblings. We are very fortunate in that respect... the 1%.

As announced in the Slacko5.7-2018 thread, THAT spin will be retired. This spin will still be maintained as is, but with a new name to avoid confusion with the other two (Slacko5.7 and Slacko5.7.1-woofCE). For now, its firmly implanted in brain, and when the new update comes out, I will change the name. The "ANNOUNCEMENTS" section will indicate with link. As for now I percieve this change will occur in early May.

Regards
8Geee

This is the beginning for the re-named AtomicPup-18
as of May 2, 2018. The first post reflects the changes (mostly in name only).

Thanks and Regards
8Geee

A personal screeny from 65 years ago, not included in distro.
Cheesy, low-tech, way too blue screeny (included)

Testing this right now. After D/L and reboot, the Puppy Package Manager ran and updated properly.

It appears that this version is OK.
If you install, remove the doc files is you wish, and move the root/.package file to built_in.

EDIT*** 5/14/2018 Slackware updates from the Menu --> system works OK. D/L openSSL 1.0.1u with solibs (depricated) as test. correct and installed OK. ***

This version of wget 1.19.5 OK
Carry on...

Regards
8Geee

Hi.

Had a few questions but saw them answered on first posts:

ISO size 150MB

Which FreeOffice is included? 6.97

Is Transmission included or available for this puppy spin?

Can I install this to the harddisk with LICK? (LICK is the method to install Linux distributions from inside Windows born on the forum)

Transmission can be found in Puppy Package Manager
Menu --> Setup

AFAIK Lick can work in this distro.

Regards
8Geee

I have checked out wget 1.19.5, and it works as intended.
Also checked out Pup-Sys Info 2.8 and so far nothing unusual.
It does check the CPU/MPU for meltdown, and spectre 1&2. This test is located Mainboard --> CPU. As one might expect "No kernel mitigation" for all three using an early Atom CPU.

Both of these apps will be in the next update of AtomicPup.

For now Pup-Sys Info 2.8 (PSI) is here.

Regards
8Geee

Slackware updates now has a security update to curl. This fixes a condition using FTP in PASV mode. Its rather important. The updater or slackware com has the patch. The doc files can be removed, and the dot package file moved to builtin.

Regards
8Geee

AtomicPup-18 uses a configured Firefox27. There are some changes need in about: config that alters the sizes of all non-zero caches. This is due to concerns about the side-channel attacks by Meltdown/spectre upon the CPU's caches. Keeping the browser = CPU helps, but does not solve the problem. In Atom CPU's the computer is not vunerable, but the browser is. In its supplied configuration, this browser does not "look ahead" or auto-complete, and does not use workers or an indexed database. This is the actual mitigation, but this new 'version' of M/S goes after the browser's cache. Thus, the browser cache must be made equal to the CPU size, else a racing condition exists. The next update of AtomicPup will include this in the browser. I have tested this patching with no harm/no foul so far (about a week).

For now if you wish, you can try these settings on your Atom CPU based AtomicPup-18.

1.) Disconnect from the internet
2.) Open Firefox and type about:config in the address bar
3.) Be Careful, and type cache in the search-bar
4.) A list of items will appear
5.) These items that are numeric AND not zero are changed to 512 for single-core Atoms, or 1024 for dual-core.

a.) browser.cache.memory.max_entry_size
b.) browser.cache.memory_limit
c.) image.cache.size
d.) image.mem.surfacecache.max_size_kb
e.) media.cache_size

6.) Close the browser
7.) Select MENU --> Shutdown --> Restart Graphical Server.
8.) When the desktop reappears, you can reconnect to the internet.

Regards
8Geee

Oh, this is nice! Feels pretty quick on my eee900a. Can't wait to get near some Wi-Fi with it.

Thanks, 8Geee et al.

This must be a good choice for me. I use artful pup but it's too much for the small machine. I think this will be quicker for the atom n455. I'm excited to download this operating system.

There is new security update to curl --> 7.61. All that is needed is to remove the DOC files and move the new root dot package file to built-in.

Regards
8Geee