EasyOS Scarthgap-series version 6.3.1

[BarryK]

I am wondering if there is a physical problem with the usb socket, causing intermittency.

How old is the laptop?

[Federico]

The laptop has been purchased on the 21st of June 2021. It's an Asus Zenbook UX325EA with Intel Tiger Lake (11th gen.) architechture and Intel Iris Xe video chip. It should be quite common nowadays.

As far as my modest opinion may matter, I think that what's important is that there are no differences regarding the file systems between Kirkstone and Scarthgap. Because I wouldn't like that the Linux Kernel 6 uses file system features which are not well tolerated by USB flash drives. If this would turn out to be the case, I think that the best thing to do would be to try to let the Kernel 6 work with the older / previous file system type.

If the kernel itself is somehow problematic on slower drives (or problematic in general) I honestly cannot guess what the best way to proceed may be at the moment.

[Flash]

For what it's worth at this point, the 64 GB flash stick probably came from the factory formatted with exFAT, which Linux used to not recognize. I don't know if that's changed.

I once used Gparted to reformat a flash drive, changing the filesystem from exFAT to NTFS so I could use the flash drive in both Windows and Linux. It worked fine.

[BarryK]

As I don't know what to do about the problem Federico has with usb drives, there is nothing else holding up release of 6.0.

Here are recent blog posts:

https://bkhome.org/news/202406/scarthga ... nding.html

https://bkhome.org/news/202406/chosen-t ... ap-60.html

https://bkhome.org/news/202406/various- ... 0-rc1.html

https://bkhome.org/news/202406/flatpak- ... in-oe.html

I just have to test that updating from Kirkstone works, as well as rollback, then should be good to go for 6.0.

Oh yes, the update of flatpak from 1.12.8 to 1.15.6 is ok, it works.

[BarryK]

If the kernel itself is somehow problematic on slower drives (or problematic in general) I honestly cannot guess what's the best way to proceed at the moment.

There is no problem with the 6.6.32 kernel and old slow usb flash drives.

Today I tested, put Scarthgap 6.0 on a 16GB SanDisk Ultra and also a very old and slow 8GB Emtec flash drive.

I booted them each about 6 times on two different laptops, no problem.

Both are Acer Aspire laptops, one is AMD chips, the other is Intel N3450 CPU -- so older than your chips.

I bought that Emtec drive from a Dick Smith store, and they closed down in 2016.
Have used that drive a lot, surprisingly reliable.

[BarryK]

This is useful information, it mentions Tiger Lake:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/intel_graphics

[williwaw]

OK, your test running "lsblk" shows that the Linux kernel does not recognise the existence of the usb partitions.

As you have reported Kirkstone running, which has the 5.15.x kernel, it seems the problem is with the 6.6 kernel.

It would seem that one possible solution would be to run Scarthgap with the 5.15.x kernel.

I don't know why the 6.6 kernel has this problem, and it is especially strange that it worked the first few bootups.

You will probably find that if you install Scarthgap to the internal drive, it will work, as lsblk shows that it recognises it.

I am confused, Federico is having problems with booting 5.93?

[BarryK]

I have posted how to update a Kirkstone or earlier installation to Scarthgap 6.0:

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

This is only to be done after 6.0 is released. Which should, hopefully, be this evening (right now it is just after 3am).

[Federico]

I'm having problems with both Scarthgap and Quantum Vis: all EasyOS versions based on Kernel 6.x. And the problem is a very sneaky one: the system boots up, but it does not continue to boot: it can boot only twice. At the 3rd boot the X server does not launch (it does not matter what I do) and does not recover. You know: it's like a car which can be used, but can only be started twice. I've tried with several sticks and I've also bought a new one thinking that mine was broken or defective. No way to solve the issue / no idea about what causes it. It only happens with kernel 6.x. It does NOT happen with kernel 5.x.

This is all I could report at the moment.

[williwaw]

I'm having problems with both Scarthgap and Quantum Vis: all EasyOS versions based on Kernel 6.x. And the problem is a very sneaky one: the system boots up, but it does not continue to boot: it can boot only twice. At the 3rd boot the X server does not launch (it does not matter what I do) and does not recover. You know: it's like a car which can be used, but can only be started twice. I've tried with several sticks and I've also bought a new one thinking that mine was broken or defective. No way to solve the issue / no idea about what causes it. It only happens with kernel 6.x. It does NOT happen with kernel 5.x.

This is all I could report at the moment.

maybe your problems booting and your problem with the x server are unrelated? or 2 different problems with the 6.x kernel? Sometines a dedicated thread helps others with the same problems or anwsers find solutions

[Federico]

The X server is part of the booting process.
I cannot be 100% sure that it's related to the kernel version. But:

- it happens only when using either Scarthgap or Quantum Vis (which uses Void packages), and they both have kernel 6.x

- I can repeat the experiment as many times as needed, and every time the outcome is disconcertingly the same (at the third boot the X server stops working. It even stops detecting the resolution of the screen)

[Amol]

Hello easyos fans !
I'm testing this easyos version.No problem to put it on a usb key 3.0.I've used MX Linux to do that.I've installed deadbeef 1.9.5 with a pet package, palemoon with a deb package ,vlc with the link in the menu, and tixati ( torrent client ) with tar.gz.Only an annoying thing : vlc can't open a file stored on a usb hdd formated with ntfs but it's ok with ext4.
Amol

[BarryK]

Hello easyos fans !
I'm testing this easyos version.No problem to put it on a usb key 3.0.I've used MX Linux to do that.I've installed deadbeef 1.9.5 with a pet package, palemoon with a deb package ,vlc with the link in the menu, and tixati ( torrent client ) with tar.gz.Only an annoying thing : vlc can't open a file stored on a usb hdd formated with ntfs but it's ok with ext4.

Amol,
Thanks for the feedback, I'll checkout why there is a problem reading from ntfs.

[BarryK]

I'm having problems with both Scarthgap and Quantum Vis: all EasyOS versions based on Kernel 6.x. And the problem is a very sneaky one: the system boots up, but it does not continue to boot: it can boot only twice. At the 3rd boot the X server does not launch (it does not matter what I do) and does not recover. You know: it's like a car which can be used, but can only be started twice. I've tried with several sticks and I've also bought a new one thinking that mine was broken or defective. No way to solve the issue / no idea about what causes it. It only happens with kernel 6.x. It does NOT happen with kernel 5.x.

This is all I could report at the moment.

Federico,
We need to find out whether the kernel or xorg/mesa is to blame.
Both QV and Scarthgap have much later versions of xorg, mesa and other packages than Kirkstone.

As williwaw stated, the failing of x to start and the failure to boot may be two different problems.

Firstly, I'll upload a Scarthgap .img file built with the 5.15.x kernel.
Try that, it should narrow down the cause, or causes, considerably.
I'll let you know when it is uploaded.

[BarryK]

I'm having problems with both Scarthgap and Quantum Vis: all EasyOS versions based on Kernel 6.x. And the problem is a very sneaky one: the system boots up, but it does not continue to boot: it can boot only twice. At the 3rd boot the X server does not launch (it does not matter what I do) and does not recover. You know: it's like a car which can be used, but can only be started twice. I've tried with several sticks and I've also bought a new one thinking that mine was broken or defective. No way to solve the issue / no idea about what causes it. It only happens with kernel 6.x. It does NOT happen with kernel 5.x.

This is all I could report at the moment.

Federico,
We need to find out whether the kernel or xorg/mesa is to blame.
Both QV and Scarthgap have much later versions of xorg, mesa and other packages than Kirkstone.

As williwaw stated, the failing of x to start and the failure to boot may be two different problems.

Firstly, I'll upload a Scarthgap .img file built with the 5.15.x kernel.
Try that, it should narrow down the cause, or causes, considerably.
I'll let you know when it is uploaded.

@Federico
Here is version 5.98 with 5.15.159 kernel:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64 ... scarthgap/

Give it a go!

[Vverve]

Surface scratching scarthgap ,frugal install on ssd test only, it's fast .
Main keyboard on tablet , xvkbd ,
as said for kirkstone , i suggest reviewing xvkbd-wrapper ,
which were nice efforts to get it to integrated in default layout options on first install .
Having it included in image , say you need to adapt ,modify some layout is problematic ,the wrapper does .
Not much have changed since 3.8 , fixes , but 4.1 is out since 2020 .
My two cents... about xvkbd wrapper ,for sure i can workaround somehow this os as is .
Another stable success i'm sure it will be !!!

[ETP]

@ETP

Startup_ Welcome_ Alert_ for_ EasyOS-2023MK3 is not working on Scarthgap version.

Hi @bugnaw333

The above pet is the correct one for 5.9.3 Kernel 6.6.32 x86-64. For the benefit of readers
it can be found here: viewtopic.php?p=83851#p83851

Can you detail what is not working ? e.g.
A. No panel appearing containing translated text.
B. Panel appearing but translated text is not spoken.
C. No panel or sound

If the only issue is sound, hover your mouse over the speaker icon on the task bar to make certain
that it is set to say 35 or 40 and is not stuck on the first boot default of 5 which is inaudible.
Cross check with the PulseAudio Control on the Multimedia menu. These 2 methods of volume
control should mimic each other.

[Federico]

Federico,
We need to find out whether the kernel or xorg/mesa is to blame.
Both QV and Scarthgap have much later versions of xorg, mesa and other packages than Kirkstone.

As williwaw stated, the failing of x to start and the failure to boot may be two different problems.

Firstly, I'll upload a Scarthgap .img file built with the 5.15.x kernel.
Try that, it should narrow down the cause, or causes, considerably.
I'll let you know when it is uploaded.

Dear Barry,
thank you very much and I'm glad to be furtherly helpful. I have tried the version 5.98 with 5.15.159 kernel on the brand new SanDisk Ultra 64 GB. I liked very much the new wallpaper (is it Australia?):

Screenshot 17.jpg (226.95 KiB) Viewed 1132 times

Basically, this time the network was also not working (no networks detected). So I had to save this picture onto my SSD (and get it back from my Kirkstone system).

And once again, the system only booted twice. At he 3rd boot I got a completely black screen. So this must be related to xorg, mesa and other packages. Not to the kernel itself.
What I do exactly every time is powering off the system, press the Save Session button and then turning the laptop on again. I never use the Reboot computer option (so this may also have to do with the saving of the session).

Cheers

[BarryK]

Federico,
Maybe the problem has something to do with the Xe GPU.
Don't know how it could prevent bootup though.

Yes, the photo was taken by me, south of Perth in Western Australia.

[Federico]

If I choose the Fix broken video option at the Limine bootloader screen, and choose the Intel video driver and the Vesa 1280x1024 video mode options after the automatic reboot, I get this:

Screenshot 18.jpg (49.62 KiB) Viewed 1110 times

Then, if I type xwin I get a completely black screen once again. Hence, I can only type the CTRL+ALT+F2 combination, log in and poweroff to power off the system.

Yes it must presumably be a problem with the Intel i915 video driver, but this can only be verified if other people with Intel Iris Xe have the same issue and no one else.

You're a good photographer, congratulations (that picture makes me want to dive into water and reach Australia swimming)!

[BarryK]

I have added to the post, how to update an installation to 6.0:

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

I'm still chasing down some little bugs when updating.
Another day delay expected.

[FeodorF]

Black screen Problem too.

If you ignore to enter a root password at the setup you are running into a problem afterwards.

As long as you run EasyOS 5.98 without touching the root password message everything looks good and works well,
regardless how many times you saved and rebooted the system.

But as soon as you enter the root password later EasyOS will boot into a black screen at the next boot.

[Federico]

I re-restored the image onto the flash drive and tried to follow the suggested directions for Intel Iris Xe on this page:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/intel_graphics

so I added the file 20-intel.conf to the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d folder, containing the following:

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
  Identifier "Intel Graphics"
  Driver "intel"
EndSection 

and added some options to the xorg.conf file on /etc/X11:

Code: Select all

#barry Kauler 2011
#pre-constructed xorg.conf, for use by /usr/sbin/xorgwizard-automatic
#110627 working on mageia1 build, this needs fixing.
#111029 Terryphi reported 1cm screen displacement, changed vert freq range from 56-76 to 59-76.
#120329 more placemarkers for xorgwizard-automatic script.
#121013 change depth from 16 to 24. note, some arm boards need 16.
#20220406 commented-out "HorizSync    35-81" line in "Monitor" section. ref:
# https://bkhome.org/news/202204/attempting-fix-xorg-horiz-and-vert-sync-limits.html
#20230415 VertRefresh  59-76 increase range to 56-96  ref:
# https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?p=86417#p86417

# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this  section  is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load.
# **********************************************************************
#
Section "Module"
#	Load "synaptics" #loadsynaptics

# This loads the DBE extension module.

    Load        "dbe"  	# Double buffer extension

# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables
# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
    SubSection  "extmod"
      Option    "omit xfree86-dga"   # don't initialise the DGA extension
      Option      "AccelMethod"  "uxa"
	  Option      "DRI"  "iris"
    EndSubSection

# This loads the font modules
#    Load        "type1"
#    Load        "freetype"

# This loads xtrap extension, used by xrandr
#    Load       "xtrap"

# This loads the GLX module (if present). xorg 7.4/5, need explicit disable to disable... change "Disable" to "Load" if reqd...
#    Disable       "glx" #LOADGLX

# This loads dri module (if present). 7.4 loads it by default, have to disable... change "Disable" to "Load" if reqd...
#    Disable       "dri" #LOADDRI

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Files section.  This allows default font paths to be set
# **********************************************************************

Section "Files"

# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),
# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath
# command (or a combination of both methods)

    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/Type1/"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/TTF/"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerFlags"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><Fn> VT switch sequence
# (where n is 1 through 12).  This allows clients to receive these key
# events.

#    Option "DontVTSwitch"

# Enables mode switching with xrandr
# There is a report that this can cause Xorg not to work on some
# video hardware, so default is commented-out...
# but i want to use it in xorgwizard so leave on...

    Option "RandR" "on"

# With this, Xorg won't talk to HAL to add evdev devices and you'll be back
# with the old Xorg behavior (pre-7.4)...

#    Option "AutoAddDevices" "false"

# For no-Hal, kirk also suggests this...

#    Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "true"

# Xorg 7.4, Ubuntu Jaunty, CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE is disabled by default...

    Option "DontZap" "false"

EndSection


Section "ServerLayout"
#	InputDevice "Synaptics Mouse" "AlwaysCore" #serverlayoutsynaptics
	Identifier     "X.org Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
#	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
#	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

#160914 removed, now using /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.conf
#Section "InputDevice"
#	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
#	Driver      "kbd"
#	Option      "XkbRules" "xorg"
#	Option      "XkbModel" "pc102" #xkbmodel0
#	Option      "XkbLayout" "us" #xkeymap0
#	#Option      "XkbVariant" "" #xkbvariant0
#EndSection

#160914 removed, now using /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.conf
#Section "InputDevice"
#	Identifier  "Mouse0"
#	Driver      "mouse"
#	Option	    "Protocol" "IMPS/2" #mouse0protocol
#	Option	    "Device" "/dev/mouse"
#	#Option      "Emulate3Buttons"
#	#Option      "Emulate3Timeout" "50"
#	Option      "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" #scrollwheel
#EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Monitor0"
	VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
	ModelName    "Monitor Model"
	#HorizSync    35-81 #monitor0horizsync
	#VertRefresh  56-96 #monitor0vertrefresh
	#UseModes     "Modes0" #monitor0usemodes
	Option      "PreferredMode" "1920x1080" #monitor0prefmode
EndSection
	
Section "Modes"
	Identifier "Modes0"
	#modes0modeline0
EndSection

#110627 remove...
##server can find BusID automatically, comment out...
#Section "Device"
#	Identifier  "Card0"
#	Driver      "vesa" #card0driver
#	VendorName  "Unknown Vendor"
#	BoardName   "Unknown Board"
##	BusID       "PCI:0:2:0" #card0busid
#EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
#	Device     "Card0"
	Monitor    "Monitor0"
	DefaultDepth 24
	#Option         "metamodes" "1280x800_60 +0+0" #METAMODES_0
	Option      "TearFree"        "false"
    Option      "TripleBuffer"    "false"
    Option      "SwapbuffersWait" "false" 
	Subsection "Display"
		Depth       24
		Modes       "1920x1080" #screen0modes
	EndSubsection
EndSection
#PuppyHardwareProfile='8086:9a49_'

That did not make any difference: the system booted only twice, and exactly twice. At the 3rd boot --> black screen. Not one only time did it boot just once or 3 times: it always boots up correctly just 2 times before ending up in a totally black screen.

[Federico]

Black screen Problem too.

If you ignore to enter a root password at the setup you are running into a problem afterwards.

As long as you run EasyOS 5.98 without touching the root password message everything looks good and works well,
regardless how many times you saved and rebooted the system.

But as soon as you enter the root password later EasyOS will boot into a black screen at the next boot.

Do you mean the data encryption password? Which is also the password for the root user on EasyOS? I always enter one. I've never left it blank, just to be precise. I honestly don't think it makes any difference: if you have the problem, the X server will only function two times.

[FeodorF]

Chromium problem: https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/am ... x/download

Download doesn't work with chromium.

Vivaldi - no problem.

[Federico]

Chromium problem: https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/am ... x/download

Download doesn't work with chromium.

Vivaldi - no problem.

What do you mean exactly? Using Ungoogled Chromium 126.0.6478.55 and it works perfectly.

Screenshot.png (41.2 KiB) Viewed 1043 times

You just have to right click one of the links on the right column and choose Save link as.... Afterwards you have to click on the small arrow in the upper right corner labeled Downloads and choose the Keep option for the file you just downloaded.

[Federico]

Just to make sure that:

- I'm not doing anything wrong
- the new flash drive which I purchased 2 days ago (SanDisk Ultra 64 GB) still works correctly

I downloaded the fresh new empty image of EasyOS Kirkstone 5.8.3 (file named easy-5.8.3-amd64.img) and restored it onto the new drive. As expected it works 100% fine and I can reboot the system as many times as needed. Now posting from EasyOS Kirkstone 5.8.3 running on the stick purchased 2 days ago. I just set it up and installed Ungoogled Chromium and a couple of other programs just to make sure that everything works and I can reboot as many times as needed without running into trouble.

[tammi806]

Where is the scarthgap 6.0 iso download.

All I can find is 5.98
https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64 ... scarthgap/

I did the how to upgrade but mine says 5.98 and shows kirstone in certain places as the splash screen and then the desktop container.
https://bkhome.org/news/tag_easy.html

Don't see know 6.0 anywhere.

Confused.

Code: Select all

# inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: EASYPC19805 Kernel: 5.15.159 x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: JWM 2.4.2 Distro: EasyOS 5.98 scarthgap64
Machine:   Device: desktop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Compaq Elite 8300 SFF
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 3397 UEFI: Hewlett-Packard v: K01 v02.05 date: 05/07/2012
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i5-3470 (-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3) bmips: 25548
           clock speeds: max: 3201 MHz 1: 1613 MHz 2: 1600 MHz 3: 1800 MHz 4: 1800 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: X.org 1.21.1.11 drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           tty size: 124x36 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Audio:     Card Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k5.15.159
Network:   Card: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (Lewisville) driver: e1000e port: f080 bus-ID: 00:19.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 265.6GB (2.7% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: SAMSUNG_SP2504C size: 250.1GB
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: USB_2.0_FD size: 15.5GB
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info:      Processes: 142 Uptime: 7 min Memory: 649.6/7842.4MB Init: SysVinit runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: N/A
           Client: Shell (bash 5.2.211) inxi: 2.3.8 
# 

I'm also not able to post a screenshot as it tells me file is to large.

Confused.

I may just wipe my hard drive and reinstall or wait until a finished working release is available.

[Caramel]

The X server is part of the booting process.
I cannot be 100% sure that it's related to the kernel version. But:

- it happens only when using either Scarthgap or Quantum Vis (which uses Void packages), and they both have kernel 6.x

- I can repeat the experiment as many times as needed, and every time the outcome is disconcertingly the same (at the third boot the X server stops working. It even stops detecting the resolution of the screen)

I tried with easy-5.98 with saving session when poweroff. No problem . I just noted the message mount: mounting aufs on / failed: resource busy but it's probably normal.

If X starts at the first and second boot but not in he third il's maybe a problem with the save directory /mnt/wkg/.session. Could you make copies of /mnt/wkg/.session/etc after the fist boot and the second boot (to compare) via another OS ? (/mnt/wkg is the wkg_dir on the installation partition)

A thing to test is to save session before poweroff and then after clicking poweroff do not save.

[CF-DKS]

Where is the scarthgap 6.0 iso download.

All I can find is 5.98
https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64 ... scarthgap/

I don't think Barry has released 6.0 yet. https://bkhome.org/news/202406/how-to-u ... ap-60.html "This information is for after EasyOS Scarthga-series 6.0 is released. Don't try it with 5.93 (6.0-RC1)."