EasyOS Kirkstone-series version 5.8.4

[Tahrbaby]

I am finding Firefox too annoying to use, going back to Chromium builtin:

https://bkhome.org/news/202405/easyos-g ... iltin.html

I'm seeing a lot of browser tab crashing in both the latest versions of Firefox and Chromium.
Does anyone else see this issue?

[BarryK]

I am finding Firefox too annoying to use, going back to Chromium builtin:

https://bkhome.org/news/202405/easyos-g ... iltin.html

I'm seeing a lot of browser tab crashing in both the latest versions of Firefox and Chromium.
Does anyone else see this issue?

Both are rock solid for me.

Open a terminal and run "report-video" and post the result here.
I'm curious what GPU you have and what driver Xorg is using.

On my Lenovo desktop PC, with Intel CPU/GPU, with Xorg using the "intel" driver, I did have some stability issues, and had to run xorgwizard (after existing from X) and change from "sna" to "uxa" video acceleration.

[Tahrbaby]

I am finding Firefox too annoying to use, going back to Chromium builtin:

https://bkhome.org/news/202405/easyos-g ... iltin.html

I'm seeing a lot of browser tab crashing in both the latest versions of Firefox and Chromium.
Does anyone else see this issue?

Both are rock solid for me.

Open a terminal and run "report-video" and post the result here.
I'm curious what GPU you have and what driver Xorg is using.

On my Lenovo desktop PC, with Intel CPU/GPU, with Xorg using the "intel" driver, I did have some stability issues, and had to run xorgwizard (after existing from X) and change from "sna" to "uxa" video acceleration.

Result of 'report-video'.

# report-video
VIDEO REPORT: EasyOS Kirkstone64, version 5.8.1

Chip description:
VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)

Requested by /etc/X11/xorg.conf:
Resolution (widthxheight, in pixels): 1366x768
Depth (bits, or planes): 24
Modules requested to be loaded: dbe

Probing Xorg startup log file (/var/log/Xorg.0.log):
Driver loaded (and currently in use): modesetting
Loaded modules: dbe extmod fb fbdevhw glamoregl glx

Actual rendering on monitor:
Resolution: 1366x768 pixels (361x203 millimeters)
Depth: 24 planes

...the above also recorded in /tmp/report-video

[CF-DKS]

I am running 5.8.1 from the hard drive. I had a very strange glitch trying to record from vinyl. (have not done this before with EasyOs). After several attempts I was finally able to get the rear port input recognized, using pulse audio and alsa mixer (not sure what actually worked) and I captured the input with Audacity. Since I was just testing to see how to do this, I only recorded a short clip. I saved this as .MP3, but for some reason was unable to rename it and had to settle for the generic output name. After saving I wanted to try playing it, but I was unable to open files (clicked on it, it greyed out but didn't open). I tried a couple of different ways to access files, no access, so I shut down and rebooted, and files opened fine. I found my clip and played it, all O.K. Then I attempted to rename the file, but again it wouldn't accept it, and when I clicked on it again it disappeared! And files refused to open again. No idea why. I will try again tomorrow to see if I can reproduce the problem.

[bugnaw333]

I am finding Firefox too annoying to use, going back to Chromium builtin:

https://bkhome.org/news/202405/easyos-g ... iltin.html

I'm seeing a lot of browser tab crashing in both the latest versions of Firefox and Chromium.
Does anyone else see this issue?

I`m also seeing these;

[bugnaw333]

My video-result:

[williwaw]

I'm seeing a lot of browser tab crashing in both the latest versions of Firefox and Chromium.
Does anyone else see this issue?

I have been running ungoogled-chromium for a few years now and tabs crashing have become increasing worse.
I have updated my ungoogled-chromium to see if it would help and it didnt seem to.
I have the same problem running ungoogled-chromium in freebsd.
I cannot associate the behavior to any thing I do or do not do
when tabs are crashing, the crashes are frequent in a browser session

starting a new browser session does not help either my profile is static and nothing including the cache is persistent. ungoogled -chromium reloads the same profile on each startup.

some days, never a problem

[scsijon]

I updated one of my spare boxes with 5.8 and had no problems with firefox. After an hour of playing around i decided to upgrade it to 5.8.1 and the firefox "black screened" a few minutes later. Looking at the monitor settings seemed ok until i checked the screens video status, it said it was in screensave mode and after a couple of retries (shutdown and restart) it was doing the same thing but with the status indicator light as orange, which does mean screensaver on. Turning the screensaver off in the ssc configuration settings and this stopped happening for Firefox for me.
I don't use chronium in any form due to the information gathering it does and exports to it's site so if you want to play and see if it's the same problem with that i'll leave it up to you.

[BarryK]

I am finding Firefox too annoying to use, going back to Chromium builtin:

https://bkhome.org/news/202405/easyos-g ... iltin.html

I'm seeing a lot of browser tab crashing in both the latest versions of Firefox and Chromium.
Does anyone else see this issue?

I`m also seeing these;

Regarding the message about missing Google API keys, edit /usr/bin/chromium.bin0 like this:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/ash
export GOOGLE_API_KEY=no
export GOOGLE_DEFAULT_CLIENT_ID=no
export GOOGLE_DEFAULT_CLIENT_SECRET=no
exec /usr/lib/chromium/chrome-wrapper --simulate-outdated-no-au="Tue, 31 Dec 2099 23:59:59 GMT" --user-data-dir=${HOME}/.config/chromium --disk-cache-size=10000000 --media-cache-size=10000000 $@

...that is, insert those 3 lines.

This is fixed in 5.8.2, but not for pre-existing /usr/bin/chromium.bin0 script.

[BarryK]

I am running 5.8.1 from the hard drive. I had a very strange glitch trying to record from vinyl. (have not done this before with EasyOs). After several attempts I was finally able to get the rear port input recognized, using pulse audio and alsa mixer (not sure what actually worked) and I captured the input with Audacity. Since I was just testing to see how to do this, I only recorded a short clip. I saved this as .MP3, but for some reason was unable to rename it and had to settle for the generic output name. After saving I wanted to try playing it, but I was unable to open files (clicked on it, it greyed out but didn't open). I tried a couple of different ways to access files, no access, so I shut down and rebooted, and files opened fine. I found my clip and played it, all O.K. Then I attempted to rename the file, but again it wouldn't accept it, and when I clicked on it again it disappeared! And files refused to open again. No idea why. I will try again tomorrow to see if I can reproduce the problem.

You seem to be having a problem with file permissions and ownership.

In ROX-Filer, you can right-click on the file and choose "Properties"

The most common problem is a file with owner:group of "root:root" and the "Write" permission checkbox not ticked for other users (World).

If Audacity is being run as user "audacity", one fix is to change ownership of the file, like this, in a terminal:

Code: Select all

# chown audacity:audacity name-of-file

Another fix, not as secure, is to tick the World permission checkbox.

[BarryK]

I updated one of my spare boxes with 5.8 and had no problems with firefox. After an hour of playing around i decided to upgrade it to 5.8.1 and the firefox "black screened" a few minutes later. Looking at the monitor settings seemed ok until i checked the screens video status, it said it was in screensave mode and after a couple of retries (shutdown and restart) it was doing the same thing but with the status indicator light as orange, which does mean screensaver on. Turning the screensaver off in the ssc configuration settings and this stopped happening for Firefox for me.
I don't use chronium in any form due to the information gathering it does and exports to it's site so if you want to play and see if it's the same problem with that i'll leave it up to you.

That is default behaviour, the screen goes black after a certain number of minutes inactivity. Jiggle the mouse, and the screen comes back.

[BarryK]

Regarding Easy 5.8.2, yes it is out, but 5.8.3 is expected to be released very soon.

Still haven't fixed rollback to previous version, from the initrd menu. Thought had it fixed, but hit another problem.
Maybe tomorrow.

[CF-DKS]

I am running 5.8.1 from the hard drive. I had a very strange glitch trying to record from vinyl. (have not done this before with EasyOs). After several attempts I was finally able to get the rear port input recognized, using pulse audio and alsa mixer (not sure what actually worked) and I captured the input with Audacity. Since I was just testing to see how to do this, I only recorded a short clip. I saved this as .MP3, but for some reason was unable to rename it and had to settle for the generic output name. After saving I wanted to try playing it, but I was unable to open files (clicked on it, it greyed out but didn't open). I tried a couple of different ways to access files, no access, so I shut down and rebooted, and files opened fine. I found my clip and played it, all O.K. Then I attempted to rename the file, but again it wouldn't accept it, and when I clicked on it again it disappeared! And files refused to open again. No idea why. I will try again tomorrow to see if I can reproduce the problem.

You seem to be having a problem with file permissions and ownership.

In ROX-Filer, you can right-click on the file and choose "Properties"

The most common problem is a file with owner:group of "root:root" and the "Write" permission checkbox not ticked for other users (World).

If Audacity is being run as user "audacity", one fix is to change ownership of the file, like this, in a terminal:

Code: Select all

# chown audacity:audacity name-of-file

Another fix, not as secure, is to tick the World permission checkbox.

O.K. changing the properties works for renaming, but when I initially export the file I can't access "files" at all, if I click on it, it greys out, same with "console". If I reboot, I have access and can change the file properties and rename it. I also tried importing an audio file into Audacity and exporting it, no problem with access. Only when I record from "line in" is this happening. BTW, I had rolled back to 7.9.1 to see if that made any difference.

[esos]

I think the last time I use ez v5.5 the rest just kernel panic.
Now I have v5.8.1, but the problem is cpu usage very high and cpu temperature some times over 70 degrees.
Maybe only me?

[BarryK]

Here is the blog announcement:

https://bkhome.org/news/202405/easyos-k ... eased.html

The delta file 5.8.2 to 5.8.3 is a more sane size, 33MB.
Main reason for that size is change of kernel, bumped from 5.15.149 to 5.15.158.

There was some feedback that Chromium is a bit odd.
I tested it in 5.8.3, seems ok. Played a youtube video, no problems.

Choosing "Download latest Chromium" will download the latest developer build, and that's where the gamble comes in.
Suggest, if you do that, test it, then if you don't like it, just shutdown without saving.

[tammi806]

Okay I did an upgrade from 5.8.1 to 5.8.3

I've lost my Firefox desktop icon and menu icon Firefox opens in the terminal but it's a new version.
There's no Chromium anywhere in the menu but the www desktop icon opens Chromium.

I think I'm going to try and roll it back and hopefully all will return.

I don't know what else I may have lost.

What a bummer but what the hell I knew there may be a risk.

Nobody's fault but mine.

[tammi806]

Okay was able to roll it back to 5.8.1 it did take a couple of restarts said something about having to change the kernel from the newer kernel back to the 5.8.1 kernel.

I'm still missing Chromium in the menu so I don't know what happened to it.

I'll be honest in my whole time of using Linux upgrades have always been problems and sometimes a disastrous experience.

OH well I'll give it a look over and see how it all is.

[BarryK]

Okay was able to roll it back to 5.8.1 it did take a couple of restarts said something about having to change the kernel from the newer kernel back to the 5.8.1 kernel.

That's good news, as I hadn't actually tested it!

Rolling back to an earlier version, if done from the menu in the initrd, has a major problem, as the Linux kernel of the current version has already loaded.
That's why you got a message about restarting.

There is a utility named 'kexec' that allows on-the-fly changing of kernel, without rebooting.
I put it into the initrd, thinking I would use it; however, as I have no experience with it, decided instead to just ask the user to reboot.

Now that you have rolled back to 5.8.1, rollback and roll-forward to a different version is broken.
You can still update though, when a new version is uploaded.

[BarryK]

Okay I did an upgrade from 5.8.1 to 5.8.3

I've lost my Firefox desktop icon and menu icon Firefox opens in the terminal but it's a new version.
There's no Chromium anywhere in the menu but the www desktop icon opens Chromium.

I think I'm going to try and roll it back and hopefully all will return.

I don't know what else I may have lost.

What a bummer but what the hell I knew there may be a risk.

Nobody's fault but mine.

Changing the inbuilt browser is the cause of some issues.
Now that I have gone back to chromium, had better stay with it.

I think that I know what went wrong when you updated to 5.8.3 and installed firefox but all the bookmarks etc got lost.
Before updating, make a backup of /home/firefox:

Code: Select all

# cp -a /home/firefox /home/firefoxBAK

Then reboot, saving session.

Then update to latest EasyOS, then before installing firefox or running it, copy back:

Code: Select all

# mv -f /home/firefox /home/firefoxOLD
# mv -f /home/firefoxBAK /home/firefox

Then install firefox, via "Download latest firefox"

If you want to try that now, delete this:

Code: Select all

# rm -rf /mnt/wkg/releases/easy-5.8.3

Then click on the "update" icon.

After updating, run the above to restore firefoxBAK to firefox, then install firefox, from "Download latest firefox"

Note, I think you mentioned in an earlier post, you got a firefox tarball from somewhere else. Don't do that.

[tammi806]

Hello Barry K,

Okay I'll give that try and see what happens.

I'll scratch the tarball.

Thanks and I know I'm a mess and my worst enemy sometimes.

[Federico]

Just updated to the 5.8.3 from the 5.8.1.

Firefox not working, but I've never used it. The new included version of Ungoogled Chromium (125) is much faster to launch than the AppImage which I was previously using. I was also able to fully transfer my profile (including all extensions) from the AppImage of Ungoogled Chromium 117 to the normal installation of Ungoogled Chromium 125. The way to do that is as follows:

1) Install Ungoogled Chromium from the link on the Menu and check that it can be launched and close it
2) Using a file manager, go to /usr/lib and rename the ungoogled folder to whatever (ungoogled_BAK) [ do this only if you have your extensions on /usr/lib ]
3) Copy the chromium subfolder and paste it here, naming the copy ungoogled (in this way all the extensions will be available to the newly installed version) [ do this only if you have your extensions on /usr/lib ]
4) Go to /home/ungoogledchromium/.config, select all its contents and copy them all in ram (do not paste anything jet)
5) Go to /home/ungoogled/.config, rename the chromium subfolder to whatever (chromium_BAK)
6) Paste all the files and folders you have copied in step 4, overwriting everything
7) Rename the chromium subfolder you just pasted to ungoogled
8) Rename the chromium_BAK subfolder back to just chromium
9) Close the file manager and open a Sakura shell
10) To correct permissions of files and folders (necessary step), execute the following:

Code: Select all

# cd /home/ungoogled/.config
# chown -R ungoogled:ungoogled .
# chown -R ungoogled:ungoogled *

If this all has been done correctly, everything should be working fine. I'm not reporting any problems. It is now possible to uninstall the old Ungoogled Chromium AppImage and delete the folder /usr/lib/ungoogled_BAK.

Could not test on AMD video chip (but at this point there should be no more problems). Thanks again Barry!

[BarryK]

Note, I think you mentioned in an earlier post, you got a firefox tarball from somewhere else. Don't do that.

@tammi806
You asked why, then deleted the question!

The answer is, it depends. There is the potential that it can "throw a spanner in the works".

If you already have /home/firefox, /usr/bin/firefox script, /usr/bin/firefox.bin script and /usr/bin/firefox.bin0 from earlier firefox install, and if the tarball is just installed to /usr/lib/firefox, then it should be ok.

If the tarball, or deb or whatever, when installed, replaces /usr/bin/firefox, that will cause firefox to run as the root user, and /home/firefox will not be used, and you will lose all bookmarks, history, etc.

If /usr/bin/firefox script gets replaced, that also will upset any future attempt to use the "Download latest firefox" from the menu.
Updating from the menu also writes to /etc/firefox-current-version, so it knows which version is already installed.

[tammi806]

Note, I think you mentioned in an earlier post, you got a firefox tarball from somewhere else. Don't do that.

@tammi806
You asked why, then deleted the question!

The answer is, it depends. There is the potential that it can "throw a spanner in the works".

If you already have /home/firefox, /usr/bin/firefox script, /usr/bin/firefox.bin script and /usr/bin/firefox.bin0 from earlier firefox install, and if the tarball is just installed to /usr/lib/firefox, then it should be ok.

If the tarball, or deb or whatever, when installed, replaces /usr/bin/firefox, that will cause firefox to run as the root user, and /home/firefox will not be used, and you will lose all bookmarks, history, etc.

If /usr/bin/firefox script gets replaced, that also will upset any future attempt to use the "Download latest firefox" from the menu.
Updating from the menu also writes to /etc/firefox-current-version, so it knows which version is already installed.

Thank You.

[BarryK]

Chromium in Easy 5.8.3 is a disappointment, as it doesn't support "proprietary codecs" such as h264, which means it cannot play many YouTube videos, especially older ones.

I am using official x86_64 binrary packages from Google, also "Download latest Chromium" gets them from the same place.
Google has compiled them without h264 etc support, I guess to make their Chrome browser more attractive.

For future Easy's, I will be going back to Chromium compiled myself, which does have h264 etc support.

[nevarmaor]

I have been using firefox in previous versions of Easy up to 5.8.1 no issues. I upgraded to 5.8.3 and firefox executable could not be found. I updated firefox and still the same. Downgraded back to 5.8.1 and firefox works fine.

I personally have no interest or desire to use chromium.

When I get some free time I will try the copy home/firefox trick but the issue seems to be more that /usr/bin/firefox goes missing after the upgrade. /home/fireox/firefox/AppRun is there but cannot find anything to execute.

[BarryK]

August 14, 2024, Kirkstone-series 5.8.4 released.

Minor fixes. Kernel bumped to 5.15.164. Limine bumped to 7.12.0. Changed from Chromium to Firefox builtin.

Download:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64 ... 024/5.8.4/

NOTICE:
The latest EasyOS is the Scarthap-series, version numbers 6.x. Minor fixes of the Kirkstone-series will be continued in 2024 and maybe into 2025.

If you have Kirkstone-series installed, it can be transitioned to the Scarthgap-series as explained here:

https://bkhome.org/news/202406/how-to-u ... ap-60.html

The latest version in Scarthgap-series is 6.1.1:
https://bkhome.org/news/202407/easyos-s ... eased.html
Monitor Barry's blog for announcements of later 6.x releases.

Questions about 5.8.4 may be posted to the forum here; however, as this is a superceded series, there may or may not be any support.

[thinkpadfreak]

Hello.

I have created a Japanese language pack for the version 5.8.4.
It includes a Japanese input system (scim-anthy), some Japanese fonts, and translations of apps.

The topic in the Japanese forum
https://sakurapup.com/forum1/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=3708

[thinkpadfreak]

There doesn't seem to exist an intel vaapi driver in the repo. (Scarthgap already has one.)
So I compiled one for kirkstone.

intel-vaapi-driver-2.4.1-amd64.pet
https://sakurapup.com/forum1/viewtopic. ... 376#p29376

Somehow, it doesn't function with the Firefox included in the iso.
I updated Firefox to 131.0.2. Hardware decoding works with this version of Firefox.

I tested with movies in the h.264 format.
It is necessary that hardware acceleration should be enabled in the settings of Firefox.