KLV-Airedale-alpha Released for Experimentation and Improvement by the Puppy community

[mikewalsh]

@mikewalsh Did the fix work?

Uh-uh, Erik.

It re-opened on those same 4 items again, despite deleting those 4 lines. They haven't been re-created, though.

I suspect this may have been my own fault. I deleted all that stuff in /var/cache/fontconfig from outside KLV, followed by manually adding all the new fontconfig stuff you put in that tarball. Of course, like this, the fc-cache never got updated by the system did it? I probably deleted summat important. Trying to re-start XFCE4, I got tons of stuff about "libupower", "Glib-GObject", "GDBus" (dbus seems as though it simply couldn't start, period).....

Self-inflicted, methinks.

I'm currently attempting a restore from the most recent backup I made. Let's see what happens. I'll report back tomorrow; it'll take a while to restore, 'cos it's got to copy back all those excess fontconfig files. I'll see if she'll get to desktop, THEN I'll see about clearing stuff from inside KLV, so the system knows what I'm doing.....

Never rains but it pours, eh?

Mike.

[mikewalsh]

@rockedge :-

Heh. Oh, dearie me; I'm definitely showing my age, I think. It's always the silly little things, ain't it?

What d'you reckon was chucking the spanner in the works, hm? One single line of code, that's all it was. One of the swap entries I made in /etc/fstab...

After restoring from the most recent backup, it still wouldn't get to desktop.....but at least the boot sequence WAS looking more like it was supposed to. I had a squizz at the messages'n'stuff - especially a section about UUIDs and "swap" - and suddenly the light dawned..!

-------------------------------------------------------------

The original swap entries I'd made in /etc/fstab were from several days ago. The day before yesterday, I'd replaced the original Toshie primary drive with the new Crucial MX500 SSD.....and, of course, the partition UUIDs had all changed, hadn't they? So, KLV was looking for a swap partition on /dev/sda that no longer existed.....and, I guess because computers are serial beasties, and tend to execute one instruction after another (so long as each preceding instruction holds true!), because that particular condition was flagging up as false, it was putting the brakes on everything....

Wakey, wakey, Walsh!

Having edited /etc/fstab from outside KLV, everything's as smooth as so much oiled silk again.....and KLV is once more behaving itself. So at least that's sorted. D'oh!!

Posting from Chrome-portable in KLV now.

Tomorrow, I'll sort out /var/cache/fontconfig properly. I'll use Fred's .xbps package this time, and run the fc-cache command, etc, etc. I tell ya, if I didn't have bolts holding my head on my shoulders - - I swear I'd forget where it was half the time..!!

As it turns out, it wasn't XFCE's 'fault' this time around, so I'll reserve judgement on its reliability issues.....for now. Onwards & upwards....

I think it's time you & I had a chat on Jitsi, y'know.....if we can find a time that'll suit us both. Yes?

Mike.

[esos]

Alpha8 missing panel.
I see the panel after press CTRL-ALT-F2.
/root/.initrc looks the same like what you posted.
After CTRL-ALT-F1 or reboot still no panel.

[mikewalsh]

Upgraded the 'restored' back up to 'alpha9'. Ran

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fc-cache -v -r

.....and after quite a bit of stuff happening in the terminal, we end up with:-

"fc-cache: succeeded". YES...!!

Thanks to all involved with figuring this one out. Looks like we're back on track, guys & gals...

Mike.

[rockedge]

@mikewalsh That is good news! It's sometimes just one little bad command and game over.

You might need to go to /var/cache/fontconfig and delete everything in it manually one last time, in case there are residual files from before the fix. There should be 10-14 files around 1.5 M in it from now on. (I think)

I was trying out different desktop settings and somewhere I selected something that made the inactive windows transparent, but the opacity was set really low. It took me awhile to find where I made that change to set it back. So here I am thinking I am supposed to be finishing up the polish on a complete distro and I can't turn up the opacity on the desktop window manager when I need to.

[rockedge]

@esos Can you post a screenshot of what you see? I have not seen any problems with the panel and tray, but I have seen at times ROX throwing a stray panel on to the desktop for some reason.

[bigpup]

Alpha 9

Just to confirm the fix.
In /var/cache/fontconfig, all I keep seeing is 13 files.
I have been checking it, a few times, as I use Alpha 9.
Have rebooted several times.
So, the fix seems to be working.

[bigpup]

Alpha 9

Take a Shot program is working OK to take a image.
But two items are not working.
When the result window pops up.
edit and view buttons do nothing.

Edit should open the image in usually Mtpaint program.

View should open the image in whatever program there is for viewing images.

This is probably the same issue, looking to use what is the default image editor and default image viewer.
The same issue that we had with Pfind and show location.

[rockedge]

@bigpup

Those will be simple fixes. What is missing is in Puppy Linux there is a set of scripts in /usr/local/bin that are called something like "defaultimage", defaultimageeditor, defaultterminal, defaulttexteditor, and so on and so forth. These simple scripts then launch the chosen default program for that type of operation.

So if you create /usr/local/bin/defaultimage and a symlink to it called /usr/local/bin/defaultimageeditor
with this in it:

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#!/bin/sh
mtpaint "$@"

The next time you press "edit" mtpaint will open up. Same thing with /usr/local/bin/defaultimageviewer

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#!/bin/sh
ristretto "$@"

pFind also needs the defaultXXXXX scripts for it's buttons to work, /usr/local/bin/defaultfilemanager

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#!/bin/sh
rox "$@"

What we will need is a script tool GUI that manages these "defaultXXXXXX" scripts for easy adjustments. These are part of Puppy Linux's scheme mixed into the KLV so there is no existing bridge between the default application chooser supplied by XFCE4 and the Puppy Linux methods.

[mikewalsh]

Hm. Slight issue with /var/cache/fontconfig, still.

I realised I hadn't cleared it, so I had a quick look. A grand total of 95090 files, totalling some 362 MB altogether. Tried Fred's delete command, but

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rm -f /var/cache/fontconfig/*

.....wouldn't even touch it. After a couple of seconds, up pops

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# /sbin/rm: Argument list too long

So I tried

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rm -rf /var/cache/fontconfig

Still wouldn't have it.....something about not being to move files across boundaries; did I want to delete it? (I thought that's what I WAS trying to do!) "Yes".....and a couple of seconds later, again

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 /sbin/rm: Argument list too long

I'd had enough of that by now. I re-booted into Quirky - where I am ATM - and just deleted the whole directory from outside KLV. Bingo! And then re-created /var/cache/fontconfig. But I'm curious; surely ROX uses 'rm' as the 'backend' for file deletion, no? So why does it work directly in ROX, but not via the terminal?

I'll see if it'll boot again in a bit; I'm in the middle of printing a bunch of stuff (can't get printing working in KLV, no matter what I do....."Filter failed"). And then I'll keep an eye on it for a few days, as bigpup is doing.....see what happens, like.

We'll get there eventually..!

Mike.

[fredx181]

I realised I hadn't cleared it, so I had a quick look. A grand total of 95090 files, totalling some 362 MB altogether. Tried Fred's delete command, but

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rm -f /var/cache/fontconfig/*

Yes, seen that before, so many files "rm" cannot handle, so removing from file-manager is the solution then (but may take very long) apparently a file manager handles it differently .

EDIT: Anyone has seen that the fonts are not looking "smooth" in firefox ? (edit, in alpha9):
First thing I thought was OMG ! is it because of the new fontconfig ? But I think not, tested also with the old fontconfig and looks the same.

Screenshot.png (9.49 KiB) Viewed 1783 times

EDIT2: Mmm... the fonts on the screenshot look a bit better than in reality, strange...

[fredx181]

I realised I hadn't cleared it, so I had a quick look. A grand total of 95090 files, totalling some 362 MB altogether. Tried Fred's delete command, but

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rm -f /var/cache/fontconfig/*

Hi again Mike, for info, the solution for to remove so many files from command line is to use 'xargs', like so:
cd /var/cache/fontconfig; echo * | xargs rm

See also MochiMoppel's post:
viewtopic.php?p=11772#p11772
Should work, even if there are millions of files to remove.

EDIT; This should be better in general as it works also when filenames containing spaces.
cd /var/cache/fontconfig; ls | xargs -d '\n' rm

[mikewalsh]

@fredx181 :-

Hi again Mike, for info, the solution for to remove so many files from command line is to use 'xargs', like so:
cd /var/cache/fontconfig; echo * | xargs rm
Should work, even if there are millions of files to remove.

A-ha. Thanks, Fred; useful info. I'll have to remember that for future use....

Cheers.

Mike.

[rockedge]

I am adding in some of the collection of default<some_program_name> scripts from Puppy Linux into /usr/local/bin so view, edit ,show buttons in some of the utility programs borrowed from Puppy Linux will work as intended. I will modify the rootfs to include the default app indicator scripts directly in the next build alpha9.5

Also added chrony and a small super simple script to sync the clocks. There is a lot of room for improvement with the script using chrony, which is one line starting chronyd
Some more info on commands with chronyc

[rockedge]

Tip: To run the Dropbear SSH server, create some keys (in /etc/dropbear) with ->

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set_dropbear_keys

then start the server and you're ready for remote connections with X11 forwarding ->

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dropbear

Tip: To set the timezone on the desktop create this symlink:

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ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/<timezone> /etc/localtime

This example is from one of my testing machines:

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ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/America/New_York /etc/localtime

Tip: Change the host name ->

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echo klv-airedale > /etc/hostname

also the timezone and hostname can be set in /etc/rc.conf but will require reboot. The other methods are immediate.

[wiak]

Just woke up a short while ago from general anaesthetic so might still be in a dream but I think I'm awake again. Lost touch with latest forum post dev updates so nice to read all the new ideas even if a dream. Was small operation so not dangerous tho I've never had a gen anaesthetic before so hesitated to sign the consent form - typical me really. Anyway, op went well so home to my computer (oh yeah, and the family) tomorrow. Only issue is that I can't remember anything about Linux or scripting... goodness I hope that proves to be a joke...

[fredx181]

Here's a little program "tzupdate" for testing.
What it does is:
- Detect your timezone, (e.g. Europe/Madrid) and set it automatically.
- Set the time by using ntpdate (to sync through internet)
Required is a working internet connection.
Inspired by tzupdate.py https://github.com/cdown/tzupdate that won't work anymore with python3.
Instead of python I made it a bash script using "curl" (to get your timezone from ipinfo.io) and ntpdate.
Package tzupdate .xbps:

tzupdate-1.0_0.noarch.xbps

Detect Timezone and set Time

(8.73 KiB) Downloaded 52 times

Dependencies: curl and ntp (includes "ntpdate") (will auto-install)

A runit service is included, default is auto-detection timezone enabled, but can be disabled/enabled from Menu > System > "Enable/Disable Auto Timezone"
May take some time (a minute or less) after install, until the Xfce panel clock will be updated.

[rockedge]

@fredx181 Wow! Thanks Fred! Now I am thinking of removing Chrony from the rootfs but for now I will include tzupdate-1.0_0.noarch.xbps into the rootfs and let chrony remain. What are your thoughts on removing chrony?

The move to use BASH instead of PYTHON is genius.

[fredx181]

I've got pup-volume-monitor working on KLV, any interest ? I could possibly make a xbps package for it, but not sure yet how.

The good thing (compared to gvfs, which is default now) is that it shows the device names e.g. sda1 sdb1 and that it's more light on resources.
On the other hand, gvfs has more possibilities, e.g. network shares, like ftp or samba.

Screenshot_2022-01-14_17-00-34.png (120.58 KiB) Viewed 1531 times

[fredx181]

@fredx181 Wow! Thanks Fred! Now I am thinking of removing Chrony from the rootfs but for now I will include tzupdate-1.0_0.noarch.xbps into the rootfs and let chrony remain. What are your thoughts on removing chrony?

The move to use BASH instead of PYTHON is genius.

Well, I don't know anything about chrony, so can't advice.
The good thing IMO about "tzupdate' is, if included in the ISO, the timezone will be detected and correct time set (what ever your location is on earth).
But, as I said, requires working internet connection.
edit: if no internet connection, I'm not sure, from the top of my head, it will wait for it, but not sure, maybe needs improvement if that's the case.

[rockedge]

@fredx181 Excellent! Now I am torn on what to do about keeping gvfs and going to the pup volume in Airedale....BUT I could use it in the KLV-X and remove gvfs in that build and go with the pup volume manager.

Important question.....before I squash the rootfs can I safely remove the contents of /tmp? I could save about 100 M in the rootfs size if I could do it.

In Airedale I like gvfs for all the other functions it provides, especially the SAMBA shares.

I have included the the time sync script in the rootfs and left chrony installed.

[fredx181]

Important question.....before I squash the rootfs can I safely remove the contents of /tmp? I could save about 100 M in the rootfs size if I could do it.

Yes, from what I know, /tmp should be empty at initial boot.

[rockedge]

@fredx181 I double checked /tmp and it's empty before squashing.

Alpha9.5 can be downloaded, link in the first post. OR replace the 07KLV-airedale_rootfs.sfs in your installation with the one in alpha9.5

Adds fredx181's auto time sync scripts and some other refinements.

[wiak]

EDIT: Anyone has seen that the fonts are not looking "smooth" in firefox ? (edit, in alpha9):

The fonts are fine I recall if you tick or maybe untick checkbox in Firefox preferences advanced related to which fonts to use. You want to use local fonts, not these suggested by webpages

[rockedge]

@wiak un-ticking the box really improves the look.

[fredx181]

pup-volume-monitor .xbps package:

pup-volume-monitor-1.15_0.x86_64.xbps

Disk Volume Monitor

(415.14 KiB) Downloaded 74 times

If this is installed, there will be a double display of drive icons on the the Desktop and /or in Thunar.
To have only the disk icons displayed from pup-volume-monitor (see pic below), remove gvfs:
xbps-remove -F gvfs gvfs-cdda gvfs-mtp gvfs-smb
To apply the changes, restart X or reboot.

Screenshot_2022-01-14_17-00-34.png (91.4 KiB) Viewed 1695 times

[Clarity]

@fredx181, THANKS for that simple utility addition.

@Rockedge, there is another utility that may be a 'plus' to KLV...@ETP's utility that announces (verbally) the presence of the internet on desktop start.

If that utility is here, then Fred's time set could spring automatically for both pristine as well as normal user use. Should be a simple one-line addition of Fred's utility on behalf of the user.

Just a thought as this project advances.

[fredx181]

EDIT: Anyone has seen that the fonts are not looking "smooth" in firefox ? (edit, in alpha9):

The fonts are fine I recall if you tick or maybe untick checkbox in Firefox preferences advanced related to which fonts to use. You want to use local fonts, not these suggested by webpages

Yes, thanks, now looks OK after unticking that checkbox.

[fredx181]

Some observations:
@rockedge You were very quick, sharing alpha9.5, perhaps too quick, as the ownership in /home is all "root" again

- Tas (take a shot) is missing dependency "xrectsel" needed for to select a region.
Also the icon is missing (in the Menu as well as the GUI).
This package should fix these problems (added dep. xrectsel and icon) :

tas-1.15_1.noarch.xbps

Take a Shot

(8.23 KiB) Downloaded 61 times

- Another thing related : when selecting a region with take-a-shot (and also with take-a-gif (e.g. PNG screenshot)) it draws extra lines (randomly, it seems), see pic below.
No idea why, but can be fixed by disabling composite (Settings > Window manager tweaks > tab "Compositor" > untick "Enable display compositing")

Screenshot(3).png (78.6 KiB) Viewed 1611 times

[rockedge]

@fredx181 Thanks for the info! I was going in 3 directions at once. I have fixed the ownership in /home and installed the TAS fix. I will replace the alpha9.5 ISO with this improved one.

On one machine the xfce4-screensaver and the built in compositor will "lock" the screen and I can't return to the desktop with out dropping to console on tty2, logging in, and killing xfce4-screensaver then exiting tty2 back to tty1. Disabling the built in compositor and starting picom -b sometimes works better.