Tahr 6.0.5 behaving erratically

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linux_noob
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Tahr 6.0.5 behaving erratically

#1 Post by linux_noob »

hey guys, I 'm having some weird issues with my puppy tahr 6.0.5.

the OS is going haywire! settings I have changed keep reverting back and things keep changing. it's like it's under external control.

for one, I set the mouse to left handed. one at least 1 occasion it had changed back to right hand after a reboot. I also have it set to tap to click with my touch pad and this feature seems to intermittently disappear?
I will be moving about on screen with the mouse and tap something and it repeatedly fails to recognize a click. I have to physically click with the button before it goes back to recognizing taps. Also, used to when I plugged in my headphones, the sound would switch from notebook speakers to headphones, now both of them play. I must de-select Speaker in ALSA mixer to toggle the speakers off. Websites like You tube are acting weird like I have adblock enabled and it still plays adverts. when I tell it to skip ad, it goes into a loop of the stupid advert I can't make go away without refreshing the page.. my puppy is acting like it's been hacked or has a virus!?

can someone help me ?

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Flash
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#2 Post by Flash »

It might help if you told us how you're using Tahr. Did you make a full install to a hard disk, a frugal install, run from CD with a Save file or what?

linux_noob
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#3 Post by linux_noob »

Flash wrote:It might help if you told us how you're using Tahr. Did you make a full install to a hard disk, a frugal install, run from CD with a Save file or what?
I'm using it on a 1gb flash drive with a save file.
I told the personal save file to fill the whole partition, which says it's 725mb

used unetbootin to make the flash drive with the tahrpup.iso

linux_noob
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#4 Post by linux_noob »

the computer in question in a 2007 Toshiba Satellite L305D

AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60, 4GB RAM
hard drive is DOA

Peterm321
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#5 Post by Peterm321 »

Unfortunately I do not use a safefile. You may wish to check the startup messages to see if the savefile is being detected and loaded at startup. I would read the guidance of your version about using a savefile.

Meanwhile, as a workaround, a lot of settings could be saved and restored by keeping a copy of the /root folder. The command line command "alsactl " e.g alsactl save and alsactl restore can save and restore soundcards settings.

Anyhow saving a copy of the /root folder on a writable medium and copying it back would tend to restore a lot of settings.

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bigpup
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#6 Post by bigpup »

What format is the USB flash drive?

What browser are you using?

Have you updated it?

Sound issues.
Right click on the tray icon that looks like a speaker.
Select full window.
Here is where you can turn stuff off/on and adjust volume.

If this is a laptop computer those things have all kinds of special buttons to do stuff.
Sure you are not hitting one by mistake?

I assume you setup the touchpad using the Mouse/keyboard Wizard.

Should have a save icon on the desktop.
After making a setting change.
Click on the save icon to make sure it got into the save.

If you have save set to auto save after say 30 minutes.
Doing things while it is saving, can cause problems.

In Puppy Event Manager->Save session
This auto save time can be adjusted.
If you make it 0.
It will only write to the save when you shutdown or click on the desktop save icon.
It will also give option to ask when you shutdown if you want to save.
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

linux_noob
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#7 Post by linux_noob »

bigpup wrote:What format is the USB flash drive?

What browser are you using?

Have you updated it?
the flash drive is formatted fat16, and I'm using Pale Moon browser.
I updated it once, not sure what version it is.

the thing that worries me is it seems like the OS is being controlled by someone else. just the random and erratic behavior.

linux_noob
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#8 Post by linux_noob »

as for the sound, the only button I have on mine is a volume roller on the front bezel. no mute buttons or anything.

when I first installed puppy, the sound would automatically switch between speakers and headphones when plugged in to the 3.5mm jack. now it just plays through both speakers and headphones.
I've tried muting the speakers in mixer but they will not come back after disconnecting headset. I must manually mute and unmute them to toggle between headset and speakers

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mikeslr
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#9 Post by mikeslr »

Just some things to note:

"I'm using it on a 1gb flash drive with a save file.
I told the personal save file to fill the whole partition, which says it's 725mb...

the flash drive is formatted fat16, and I'm using Pale Moon browser.
I updated it once, not sure what version it is."

If and when Puppies have less than 150+/- Mbs unused space in its SaveFile it should give a warning. With less than 120+/- Mbs, things you try to Save may not be, or may only partially be written to the SaveFile --and the latter is worse. A partially installed application has used space, doesn't function, and Puppy may not know it's there.

I'm not sure how reliable fat16 is as a file system. The update of Palemoon, itself, has likely used 75+ Mbs of the SaveFile. Palemoon (all browsers) cache webpages as you open/refresh them. If the Automatic Save hasn't been removed, every 30 minutes whatever is then in RAM, including what's in cache, is written to the SaveFile. And, of course, any time you've done a Manual Save, the same thing happens. Whatever was in RAM, including cache, is written to the SaveFile. Even when you delete cache the amount of space previously used by cache may not be fully recovered.

I'd suggest a new USB-Key. Recently picked a 3 pack of 8 Gbs for under $10. Then ask on the forum the best way to install Puppies to it.

mikesLr

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Flash
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#10 Post by Flash »

I'm surprised that even a 32-bit Puppy will run at all from a FAT16-formatted partition. :?

Why not use FAT32 or ext3?

linux_noob
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#11 Post by linux_noob »

honestly I didn't know it mattered. haha

I used Windows to format the drive and chose quick format which automatically made it fat16. I could try to format again in fat32 or an ext file system.
the save disk isn't really full, it's at 325mb remaining, right now and showing yellow/ close empty. It was only half full a couple of days ago so it's clearly storing chunks of data during it's continued use, even though I haven't downloaded anything.

when it saves the ram, does it save any streaming media or anything like that?
or just apps/ updates, browser cache and preferences? can having a web video stream or a HD movie playing from a flashdrive while it's saving RAM cause this problem? I'm thinking that might be it because it is indeed set to automatically save to disk every few minutes. Often when it does this I'll have YouTube playing or some other CPU heavy task.

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bigpup
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#12 Post by bigpup »

when it saves the ram, does it save any streaming media or anything like that?
It should not be saving any of it.

Well, if the CPU is close to 100% usage by other stuff and it tries to save, that could have issues.
However, the save process should just take longer.

The big issue is you using fat 16 for the format.
With the limits it has on all kinds of things, it is just not made to work with modern operating systems.
At first, sure it will work OK, but you will quickly be running into the limits it has on doing stuff.

The answer you probably did not want to get is to start over fresh with a format not fat16.
No fat16.!!!!

Do not do anything that says quick format.
You want to use the normal format procedure.

Fat 32 is OK.
Some very old computers expect to see that on a USB flash drive and have trouble booting from USB if fat32 is not used.

A Linux format ext2, 3, or 4 will give you the option to make a save folder. Does not need a set size like a save file.
Also, it will be a Linux OPS running in a Linux file system.
I suggest ext3.

Their is a chance the USB flash drive is going bad.
They do not last forever.

The same goes for the computer and it's hardware.
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

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