Slacko-5.4 feedback and bug reports

Please post any bugs you have found
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ally
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#166 Post by ally »

hey tallboy

there have been quite a few threads about 5.4 hanging, the experience on my own machines caused be to revert to 5.3.3

if left for (quite) a while normal service normally resumes, the hanging duration does seem to be random, it may not be the same fault but worth investigating

I have converted a couple of peeps to slacko and burnt them the then latest version which I think was 5.3.90 and they haven't reported any hanging issues but I only see them periodically so haven't had a chance to delve further

:)

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01micko
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#167 Post by 01micko »

@ ally and SFR ..I still can't reproduce these errors!..

BUT.. I just noticed something.. both of you are using ext2 savefiles.. I always use ext4... I wonder if this is the common denominator?

I'll do some tests soon.

@ tallboy, I'll look into dvd session saving issues too
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peebee
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#168 Post by peebee »

01micko wrote:BUT.. I just noticed something.. both of you are using ext2 savefiles.. I always use ext4... I wonder if this is the common denominator?
Hi mick

Had it happen to me today for first time - also an ext2 savefile (1G) - disk thrashes constantly - had to do ctrl-alt-backspace to console - xwin and all was OK again....

It is hard to get you diagnostics when the system freezes - but if we can get something from the console??

Cheers
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01micko
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#169 Post by 01micko »

The only thing I can suggest is if a drop to prompt stops it then you should be able to capture /tmp/xerrs.log BEFORE restarting X.

Code: Select all

cp /tmp/xerrs.log ~
Shouldn't be hard to remember :)

I wish puppy had a log of AUFS activity. But I guess debug needs to be turned on.

EDIT: just made 10 of SFR's "bigfiles" in a row to a pristine ext2 save, no issue :? . It may well be a hard drive driver issue. What else do we have in common? Laptops?

EDIT: ok.. I needs some figures off you guys.. SFR, ally, 8-bit, peebee. What RAM do you have? What swap if any, and type, swapfile or swap partition?

Some reading.
Things have changed in the kernel and there seemed to be significant changes between 3.1x and 3.2x. I wonder if anyone using slacko-5.3.3.2 (an unreleased beta for 5.3.4) has experienced these issues? It's still available at my smokey01 repo, and was very close to being a release, except slackware 14.0 kicked into gear, nullifying that effort. IIRC, it shipped with k3.2.2.
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#170 Post by 01micko »

Status of work on next beta so far:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL 20121202 SLACKO-540

bugfix xchat menu entry from Network to Internet
bugfix guvcview
bugfix Spanish locale jwm

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PENDING BETA 201301?? FOR SLACKO-541

update jwm-661 (numerous changes and bugfixes see http://joewing.net/projects/jwm/snapshots/ChangeLog)
-note JWM looks a bit different now, this is by design from Joe Wing (still work to be done)
update gtkdialog-0.8.4 (actually 0.8.3-stable) -Thunor
update pmusic-3.1.1 -zigbert
update pburn-2.9.13 ""
update pschedule-1.1.2 ""
update ghostscript-9.0.5 -rcrsn51


bugfix and enhancements jwmconfig2 -add i18n, rodin.s, -fix panel-buttons gui and keyboard help file, npierce
bugfix rox-filer -npierce
bugfix perms on /tmp were 777 not 1777, SFR, master_wrong
bugfix /sbin/probepart -audio CD not showing on desktop, Brown Mouse, tlchost, JustGreg -fix by rcrsn51 and 01micko
bugfix inkscape deps (PPM) -zigbert
bugfix rox trash -SFR
bugfix pending /usr/local/apps/ROX-Filer/Templates.ui file -SFR

BUGS PENDING (in order of importance)
"blank page bug" --symptom, slow saving, copying of files, can cause severe system slowdowns, even lockups (SFR, ally, 8-bit, peebee, consistent and others), STATUS -- no clue at this stage
"dvd coaster bug" --symptom, saving to DVD/CD is a total fail (tallboy). STATUS -- no clue just yet
"lack-lustre perl bug" --symptom, pplog fails, --cause, lack of perl modules in main sfs (SFR, 666philb), STATUS -- on to it
"marcel marceau bug" --symptom, failure in a vanilla install to update mime database, --cause /usr/bin/update-mime-database is in devx (MHHP), STATUS -- on to it
"intel pseudo video driver bug" --symptom, poulsbo (aka gma-500) "intel" graphics don't work (JustGreg, tempestuous), STATUS -- getting there

THIS IS A SHORTLIST
Please add what I have missed. My eyes can't be everywhere.
Last edited by 01micko on Sat 26 Jan 2013, 14:26, edited 2 times in total.
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ally
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#171 Post by ally »

hey micko

I had 5.4 ff installed on a lenovo t61 and a dell gx620, it happened on both machines

I can't remember why but I resorted to ext2 on the dell (I think I read about a conflict but of what and why I can't remember)

**EDIT - there was a bug that involved ext4 and hdd mount errors, I THINK I may have tried to use ext2 to see if it made a difference and just stuck with it

the lock-up occurred when trying to access hdd's, I always run separate partitions for the OS and data, the system would hang whilst trying to access a drive or partition, my t61 has 2 partitions on 2 drives each (ie 4 in total)

I would be able to start another ram based app but would hang like crazy on occasions opening a drive, once it finished feckin about it would be ok again, the reason and duration of the hang and interval appeared random

my knowledge to be able to trap errors is lacking and I did query a how to

I have a spreadsheet of the builds I collect and I mark those than I burn and play, the version I passed on to friends was slacko-5.3.9.5-firefox-4g, I know that it is installed on a desktop pc and a laptop (machine specs unknown) but neither has reported any issues so I suspect the issue is a change between the two

am happy to give it some more testing if I can help track errors but I will need some hand holding on what to look for

:)

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#172 Post by 01micko »

Between 5.3.9.5 and 5.4 the changes were as above...
FINAL 20121202 SLACKO-540

bugfix xchat menu entry from Network to Internet
bugfix guvcview
bugfix Spanish locale jwm
.. which equates to negligible.

The problem is how the kernel handles pages. SFR is onto it.

Shame none of this showed up in testing, but then real testing begins when you release ... :lol: (@ disciple, can you add that to your "quotes" thread?)
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ally
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#173 Post by ally »

micko

I've put a request into the users I mentioned for details, they are brand new puppy/linux users so suspect that they will be running ntfs file systems

I'll put a clean 5.4 install onto the dell again and have a bash around again to see if I can induce the error

I did run the 5.3.9.5 opera for a (short) while and didn't have any issues but did in the 5.4, can try both if you think it will help

will keep you posted

:)

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01micko
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#174 Post by 01micko »

ally wrote:micko

I've put a request into the users I mentioned for details, they are brand new puppy/linux users so suspect that they will be running ntfs file systems

I'll put a clean 5.4 install onto the dell again and have a bash around again to see if I can induce the error

I did run the 5.3.9.5 opera for a (short) while and didn't have any issues but did in the 5.4, can try both if you think it will help

will keep you posted

:)
Appreciate your effort :)
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#175 Post by peebee »

01micko wrote:EDIT: ok.. I needs some figures off you guys.. SFR, ally, 8-bit, peebee. What RAM do you have? What swap if any, and type, swapfile or swap partition?
T'was my desktop - 4GB ram, no swap

Savefile 1GB ext2 - about 90% empty

Hard disk ntfs
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#176 Post by 01micko »

peebee wrote:Hard disk ntfs
I notice SFR mentioned NTFS.. is that the common factor? (laptops are now out, and probably hdd drivers)

There has been reported trouble with NTFS on LQ-Slackware forum, I have been following it for awhile..
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ally
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#177 Post by ally »

EDIT: ok.. I needs some figures off you guys.. SFR, ally, 8-bit, peebee. What RAM do you have? What swap if any, and type, swapfile or swap partition?
dell gx620 512kb ram, 2Gb swap (partition)
lenovo t61 4Gb ram, 4Gb swap (partition)

:)

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#178 Post by 01micko »

ally wrote:
EDIT: ok.. I needs some figures off you guys.. SFR, ally, 8-bit, peebee. What RAM do you have? What swap if any, and type, swapfile or swap partition?
dell gx620 512kb ram, 2Gb swap (partition)
lenovo t61 4Gb ram, 4Gb swap (partition)

:)
Ok, safe to say you use native Linux filesystems 8) (discounting NTFS.. lucky.. microsoft, law suit was pending..[joke] [does that cover my arse?])
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#179 Post by ally »

^^^^^^

there my machines, sorry for confusion

my dell is a headless system so just loading 5.4 onto an ibm t21 for a bash

:)

** EDIT - the 'friends' machInes have 5.3.9.5 ff running on a laptop with ntfs and a desktop running ext2, he has commented that the desktop 'once threw a wobbly' but couldn't be more specific as it only happened once and a long while ago

the t21 has been been running an hour or so, frugal install ext2 without problems so far......
Last edited by ally on Sat 26 Jan 2013, 17:46, edited 1 time in total.

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SFR
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HDD deadlock, hangs, etc...

#180 Post by SFR »

01micko wrote:ok.. I needs some figures off you guys.. SFR, ally, 8-bit, peebee. What RAM do you have? What swap if any, and type, swapfile or swap partition?
4GB on Toshiba laptop, 2GB on Acer laptop, no swap at all.

Other things (that didn't work), I blindly tried before:
- flushing the cache before saving the session: sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches
- disabling all cores but one in Toshiba (i3 CPU)

But...
01micko wrote:I notice SFR mentioned NTFS.. is that the common factor?
I just ran several new tests in VirtualBox and it seems, that NTFS indeed can be the real source of the problem (apparently in my previous tests I mixed things and only tried 'Slacko-5.3.3 + ext? as home', but omitted 'Slacko-5.4 + ext? as home' combination :oops: )

Anyway, maybe this will shed more light...

Each puppy frugally installed on home partition with pmedia=ataflash.
Each savefile's size - 2GB.
Method of testing - repeated cat /dev/zero > /initrd/pup_ro1/root/bigfileX

Results:

Slacko-5.3.3-4g:
- slackosave.2fs on NTFS partition [ ok ]

Slacko-5.3.3.2:
- slackosave.2fs on NTFS partition [ fail on the first try ]

Slacko-5.3.95 PAE:
- slackosave.2fs on NTFS parition [ fail on the first try ]

Slacko-5.4 PAE:
- slackosave.2fs on NTFS partition [ fail on the first try ]
- slackosave.4fs on NTFS partition [ fail on the first try ]
- slackosave.2fs on ext3 partition [ many tries - only one seemed to fail...unsure ]
- slackosave.4fs on ext3 partition [ many tries - no issue! ]
- slackosave.2fs on ext4 partition [ many tries - no issue! ]
- slackosave.2fs on fat32 partition [ many tries - no issue! ]
(many tries = ~10)

Although tests were done in VBox, they're showing the issue and differences between various Slackos, so I hope they're reliable enough.

Going further I tried to replace ntfs-3g (with libs) with the one taken directly from Slacko-5.3.3, as well as installing this package, but no difference after reboot, unfortunately...

Slacko-5.4 PAE + ntfs-3g from 5.3.3:
- slackosave.2fs on NTFS partition [ fail on the first try ]
- slackosave.4fs on NTFS partition [ fail on the first try ]

IIRC I tried it once also in my real environment (slackosave.2fs on defragmented NTFS home part.), but it didn't fix anything too, though Slacko-5.3.3 + slackosave.2fs on the very same, and even fragmented, partition was fine.
Is there anything else related to NTFS what has been changed since 5.3.3?

And still don't know how/why echo 1 > dirty_stuff supresses the sympthoms; I don't catch the connection... :?

But there's a glimmer of hope at last, so I keep my fingers crossed. :D

EDIT: Out of curiosity I just checked also Presice-5.4.2 (k3.2.29) on NTFS - same problem there...

Greetings!
Last edited by SFR on Sat 26 Jan 2013, 23:31, edited 1 time in total.
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James C
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#181 Post by James C »

For what it's worth, Zero problems here on a couple of 540 frugal installs as well as a couple of older frugals I'm still running. Always ext3 or ext4 savefiles...... on ext3 or ext4 partitions....never on NTFS......all desktops.

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ETP
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NTFS issue

#182 Post by ETP »

01micko

This may be totally wrong but I think worth considering. By implication if someone is using a NTFS volume they are probably running XP or more likely Windows 7.

A couple of years back I accidentally defragged a FAT32 USB stick containing IIRC an ext2 save-file. This resulted in a totally unstable pup prone to freezes and I had to restore a good copy of the save-file in order to rectify matters.

Some time later I took to keeping my sfs and save files on my XP NTFS volume but booting from USB or SD (what I term a mixed frugal install). Back then I always used AUSLOGICS to manually defrag my NTFS volume but always excluded the directories holding the Puppy files from the process. (An option within that tool). Subsequently I changed the hard disc for an SSD so no longer defrag anything!

This experience leads me to suspect that the Windows 7 automatic defrag process might be a possible culprit. By default it is set up as a scheduled weekly task for 01am. If your PC is switched off when you retire it will silently kick in when the system is next powered up and reasonably idle. I don’t have Windows 7 but understand that there is no option to exclude particular directories from the MS defrag process.

This may or may not be a common factor. If anyone agrees they can simply disable it before creating a save-file and instead use AUSLOGICS to defrag with suitable exclusions. It is also possible that an ext4 save file may be more resilient to a defrag than ext2 or ext3.
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#183 Post by Sage »

Is it worth repeating? This Forum desperately needs a decent index, fully collated database, to retain the enormous wealth of IPR, suggestions, solutions. and comments.
Not only that, I personally recall advising against mixing any Linux with the devil's OS. Just what is the problem? Too many worthless laptops? HD s are cheap as chips. Swap 'em around - I use caddies, but neither IDE nor SATA connectors take more than seconds to detach and re-attach. Use one (old) disc per distro with it's own swap partition. Puppy is a compact distro - a 40Gb drive is overkill, they're so cheap they don't even give them away with cornflakes any longer.
Slacko 's have always worked for me on FULL installs to ext2,3, & sometimes 4. There is no problem, mick has done his work very well. Come in James C, perhaps these guys will listen to you...

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#184 Post by don570 »

01micko wrote:Please add what I have missed. My eyes can't be everywhere.
Don't forget to compile mhwaveedit correctly.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=82367
... and use version 1.4.21 rather than 1.4.22 which is buggy!

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#185 Post by kevin bowers »

Have found a minor bug, probably in Adobe Reader rather than Slacko, but annoying anyway. Running Slacko 5.4-Opera-PAE, using Adobe Reader 9 from the SFS on Smokey01's site. I was attempting front-to-back printing manually, just a single sheet, but the second invocation of the print command crashed Adobe Reader. Doesn't matter if the file>print menu is used or the <cntrl-P> hotkey combo, and it's very repeatable. Any suggestions? This isn't a game-killer by any means, I even got my Fed taxes done & printed, but if there's an easy fix I'd sure like to know about it. Thanks for any help!

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