Fatdog64-620beta2

[Billtoo]

It's an Acer keyboard, I don't see any model number on the back of it,
just says "Acer wired keyboard made in China".
I just tried it again and got the same result, during boot it doesn't
respond when I try to enter a number for the savefile to use,plugging
in my Dell ps2 keyboard (both in a same time) worked and continued the
bootup successfully, the Acer keyboard works fine once bootup is
completed.
The Acer keyboard is a decent keyboard (when it works) but I'll just
stick with the Dell in Fatdog.

That's odd. Do you mind posting "lsmod" here? As an alternative, you can boot with "coldplug" parameter, see if the acer works. If it does, then it is definitely a missing module (probably a new kernel module we haven't gotten it built-in yet).

cheers!

Doing Fatdog coldplug worked, it accepted the savefile number.
I'll attach the lsmod output.

[jamesbond]

Thanks,

Just had a chat with kirk, your lsmod confirms that we miss one of the (new) module that needs to be compiled built-in - that's the hid_generic. It should be fixed in next release. For now if you don't want to load the full "coldplug", you can use "loadmodules=hid_generic" instead (in fact, I'd be grateful if you can test this parameter and see if the keyboard works, if it does, it helps to confirm that module is the one we need to build into the kernel).

cheers!

[Billtoo]

Thanks,

Just had a chat with kirk, your lsmod confirms that we miss one of the (new) module that needs to be compiled built-in - that's the hid_generic. It should be fixed in next release. For now if you don't want to load the full "coldplug", you can use "loadmodules=hid_generic" instead (in fact, I'd be grateful if you can test this parameter and see if the keyboard works, if it does, it helps to confirm that module is the one we need to build into the kernel).

cheers!

"loadmodules=hid_generic" worked.

Thanks

[Billtoo]

It takes a long time to load from the SDHC (class 10) card but it's working
okay otherwise so far.

Yes, this is a known issue, for certain BIOS-es. If you plan to use this for daily usage, I'd recommend that you run the "fatdog-split-initrd.sh" script from the command line; this will split the humongous initrd into small initrd with fatdog.sfs outside (just like standard puppies) - which should improve your boot times.

I made a /mnt/home/tmp directory and then entered the following:

# sh fatdog-split-initrd.sh /mnt/home/initrd /mnt/home/tmp

When it finished I copied the contents of /mnt/home/tmp to /mnt/home,
then deleted /mnt/home/tmp when it finished copying.
Next bootup took 1 minute, big improvement.
Thanks.

[jamesbond]

Billtoo, thanks for testing.

cheers!

[prehistoric]

It takes a long time to load from the SDHC (class 10) card but it's working
okay otherwise so far.

Yes, this is a known issue, for certain BIOS-es. If you plan to use this for daily usage, I'd recommend that you run the "fatdog-split-initrd.sh" script from the command line; this will split the humongous initrd into small initrd with fatdog.sfs outside (just like standard puppies) - which should improve your boot times.

I made a /mnt/home/tmp directory and then entered the following:

# sh fatdog-split-initrd.sh /mnt/home/initrd /mnt/home/tmp

When it finished I copied the contents of /mnt/home/tmp to /mnt/home,
then deleted /mnt/home/tmp when it finished copying.
Next bootup took 1 minute, big improvement.
Thanks.

This has also been a problem with some BIOSes when booting from SATA DVDs. If the small initrd option is not already available as a separate ISO image these instructions should be readily available for those who use this as a live-DVD. I've had people tell me the DVD I gave them to try didn't work because they couldn't believe it would take so long to boot.

This also defeats one of the ways I've addressed fears about messing with bootloaders. (NTbootloader is constructed so that any change is likely to cause failure. It has been known to reduce users to tears. I don't even mention lilo, GRUB, GRUB2 or GRUB4DOS.) I leave them alone, and set the BIOS parameters to try to boot from CD/DVD first. Then, when the user wants to run Windoze they can boot without a problem, when they want to run some flavor of Puppy they simply insert the CD/DVD, which finds the appropriate savefile. This procedure has enough concreteness to reassure people they are not going to accidentally upset the sleeping Windoze dragon. I need to do something simple and reliable to offset copious FUD.

Myself, I use the GRUB bootloader with multiple Puppies, no Windoze at all, and Fatdog with the humongous initrd, but I've learned caution about advising others to do the same.

[jamesbond]

Thanks prehistoric, that's a valid concern.

Based on (inconclusive) experience, slow-loading of huge initrd usually happens on older machines (I have one of those). On newer machines, it is usually not a problem - but again, it really depends on the BIOS.

There won't be a small-initrd ISO, but it can easily be created. The official way to do that is to use the remaster tool and tick "use small initrd" when asked. Behind the scene, this tool will call the fatdog-split-initrd.sh to do the job. Of course, if one is already running frugal install, there is no need to do remaster and just run the script directly, like Billtoo has done.

cheers!

[Billtoo]

I installed 620beta2 to an 8gb SDHC card (class 10 30MB/s) with the
small initrd option checked.
video-info-glx 1.5.3 Tue 19 Mar 2013 on Fatdog64 620 Linux 3.7.10 x86_64
0.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD]
nee ATI Manhattan [Mobility Radeon HD 5400 Series]
oem: ATI ATOMBIOS
product: PARK 01.00
X Server: Xorg Driver: fglrx
X.Org version: 1.11.4
dimensions: 1600x900 pixels (423x238 millimeters)
depth of root window: 24 planes
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: ATI
server glx version string: 1.4
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5400 Series
OpenGL version string: 4.2.12002 Compatibility Profile Context 9.012
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M 430 @ 2.27GHz
Core 0: @1199 1: @1199 2: @1199 3: @1199 MHz
Atheros CommunicationsInc.AR928X Wireless Network Adapter(PCI-Express) (rev 01)
Linksys WUSB54GC 802.11g Adapter [ralink rt73]

I installed the ati driver pet from the fatdog package manager.
The builtin wireless adapter wasn't working well (wouldn't connect)
so I plugged in a linksys usb wireless adapter and it's working okay.
This install boots up fast, about 20 seconds to get to the desktop.

[Billtoo]

I made a pet of a small utility named grun which is an application
launcher.
It creates a menu enter in the accessories section but I also dragged
/usr/bin/grun to the desktop and gave it the
/usr/local/lib/X11/pixmaps/ok.xpm icon.
I find it to be a useful program.

[aragon]

billtoo,

you might also want to look at

http://sourceforge.net/projects/gmrun/

which is also a nice launcher with some advanced features.

aragon

[Billtoo]

I made pets of Deadbeef-0.5.6 music player, both pets are needed.

The download link for deadbeef-0.5.6-x86_64.pet is:

http://www.datafilehost.com/download-c5463355.html

The download link for deadbeef_DEV-0.5.6-x86_64.pet is:

http://www.datafilehost.com/download-de158943.html

[gcmartin]

Removed .... Investigating this problem

[jamesbond]

Billtoo, thanks for the pets.

Actually Fatdog already comes with launcher like gmrun:
1. "lxpanelctl run" - this will open lxpanel's built-in launcher
2. "gexec" - quite similar to gmrun.

You can launch both of them from terminal (or create a symlink to the desktop), alternatively, "gexec" can be launched by pressing Alt-F2. This hotkey can be changed, in 620beta2 it is configured in sven (the little keyboard icon on the tray icon at bottom right of the screen). In earlier releases it can be configured by editing /etc/xdg/openbox/rc.xml.

cheers!

[Billtoo]

I installed 620b2 to an 8gb SDHC card while running the fatdog
installer from the live dvd.
video-info-glx 1.5.3 Sat 23 Mar 2013 on Fatdog64 620 Linux 3.7.10 x86_64
5.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS690M
[Radeon X1200 Series]
oem: ATI ATOMBIOS
product: RS690 01.00
X Server: Xorg Driver: radeon
X.Org version: 1.11.4
dimensions: 1280x800 pixels (338x211 millimeters)
depth of root window: 24 planes
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.4
OpenGL vendor string: X.Org R300 Project
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on ATI RS690
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 9.0.3
AMD Athlon(tm) Processor 2650e
Core 0: @800 MHz
Network controller Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)

I found that if installing to a SDHC card which is plugged into a usb
adapter the small initrd option is available, this laptop has no card
reader, but if installed to a card reader the small initrd option
isn't available.
Anyhow, this is working well, 620b2 is working really well on my
single core amd64 3300+ desktop as well.

EDIT: I did another install for this laptop but used a fast 60mb/s SDHC card this time, it is amazing, works great.

[aragon]

Billtoo, thanks for the pets.

Actually Fatdog already comes with launcher like gmrun:
1. "lxpanelctl run" - this will open lxpanel's built-in launcher
2. "gexec" - quite similar to gmrun.

You can launch both of them from terminal (or create a symlink to the desktop), alternatively, "gexec" can be launched by pressing Alt-F2. This hotkey can be changed, in 620beta2 it is configured in sven (the little keyboard icon on the tray icon at bottom right of the screen). In earlier releases it can be configured by editing /etc/xdg/openbox/rc.xml.

cheers!

i think gmrun has some nice features, the others are missing. If you're interested, please look here for a nice 'intro': https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Gmrun

aragon

[Billtoo]

Billtoo, thanks for the pets.

Here's a JWM-707 pet that I made, seems to work okay.

[Billtoo]

I made a pet of a small memory game named lpairs, it doesn't have a
high scores feature so you'll have to remember your high score

It should create a menu entry in the fun section of the menu but it
can be started with grun or alt-f2 which brings up gexec.

[Hans]

Need some help here, I'm stuck.

I used the fatdog64-620b2-cd to make an install on a sdcard, with bootloader syslinux. All works fine but I can not use a dm-crypt save file.

At first boot I made an encrypted save file, and rebooted.
I booted without boot parameters, choose the new savefile on the sdcard and this is the error after typing my passphrase:

device mapper: reload ioctl on temporary-cryptsetup-1900 failed, etc.
failed to setup dm-crypt key mapping for devices /aufs/devsave/fd64save_dmcrypt_.ext4 , etc.

I checked and the dm-crypt module is not loaded, so I tried the boot parameter

boot: fatdog loadmodules=dm-crypt

But no change so I tried this addition to extlinux.conf next:

append loadmodules=dm-crypt

I can load the module with modprobe dm-crypt, so it exists.

Am I on the wrong track here?

[gcmartin]

Using FATDOG, I started Pburn>Menu>Help>Dependency check.

I saw this and thought it might be of note. (I dont consider this a bug.) I don't use or make vCDs, but, others may. Would the missing item affect use?

Code: Select all

  R E Q U I R E D                            
    bash                                      [OK]
    coreutils, awk, sed                       [OK]
    gtkdialog                        >= 0.8.3 [OK]
    cdrtools                                  [OK]
    dvd+rw-tools                              [OK]
    cddetect                                  [OK]

  O T H E R S                              
    ffmpeg      (audio/video)                 [OK]
    pFilesearch (filesearch)                  [OK]
    dvdauthor   (burning video-DVD)           [OK]
    vobcopy     (copy video-DVD)              [OK]
    vamps       (shrinking video-DVD)         [OK]
    vcdimager   (burning video-CD)            [MISSING]
    normalize   (volume-setting on Audio-CD)  [OK]
    nrg2iso     (burn Nero images)            [OK]

Here to help

[jamesbond]

@Hans,

Let's try to narrow the problems.
1. How does the machine access the SD card? Is it via in-built reader, or do you use external card reader connected via USB?

2. In any case, once you booted Fatdog, what is the name of the device - do you see it just as a disk ("sdb1", or "sdc2" etc) or do you see if as "mmcblk0p1" or something like that?

3. Boot your Fatdog as usual, mount your SD card and then open terminal, and check what's the type of the savefile by typing "file fd64save_dmcrypt_.ext4". You should get something like this:
fd64save_dmcrypt_.ext4: LUKS encrypted file, ver 1 [aes, xts-plain64, sha1] UUID: 7a6d815c-8454-4ca3-abf6-600aa470350c
Anything else means somehow the savefile is corrupt.

4. Try booting with the original Fatdog ISO with the SD-card in it, but during boot, when the menu shows, press "tab" to show the boot command line (near the bottom of the screen), and append "waitdev=5" so that the boot process will wait for the SD card to be recognised. Then press Enter. Watch carefully, see what "drives" that it scans for. Hopefully your SD card is also scanned.
And then see whether it gets used.

I just tested creating and booting with encrypted savefile (boot with original ISO with savefile on USB flash drive), and all works as expected, with dm-crypt loaded automatically. No extra loadmodules is needed.

@gcmartin,
This is a known issue - smokey01 reported this to me late last year, but I decided not to do anything because:
a) it is optional (ie pburn works fine without it)
b) nobody makes or use vcd anymore - everyone has switched to dvd by now.

cheers!