X fails to load Bionic Pup 8.0 64 bit

[nashtrik]

Hi...
I have installed it on a 32 GB Flash drive as a complete installation and run it on (Old Core i3-2330, 2 Gigs of RAM),working OK for one month. Yesterday the GUI (X) failed to load. It shows the following messages:
/usr/bin/xwin: line180: 5518 Bus error
/usr/bin/xinit/root/.xinitrc -- -br -nolisten tcp > $LOGFILE_X 2 > &1


no option , reboot, xwin{jwm], works.
How can this be repaired ?
Can this be repaired at all or do I have to have a fresh install ?
Do Full installs on a Flash Drive often pose such problems ?
Thanks.

[8Geee]

Hmmm... this might be a Windows File System problem. If the USB is formatted as w32, breakage of file structure can occur using the FAT file system. IIRC GParted is installed in your distro. Using a second 32GB USB stick/stub format that drive as ext3, and try again using that second USB. Hope this helps.

Just thought of also re-creating the Partition Table itself... the default is msdos, and is automatically selected. Make sure there's nothing in that 2nd drive, Select "device" and click "Create partition Table", then OK. When done, format that drive as ext3. Dotting i's and crossing t's sometimes helps. (I would not use any generic-Chinese USB stick/stub without doing this Partition Table reload!)

Regards
8Geee

[nashtrik]

I had formatted is as ext3 while installing...also created a 4 gb swap partition(I don't know if that was necessary...).I am not sure whether it is Hardware related (bad sectors on Pen drive) or just some file getting corrupt,because the console gets displayed, I can run commands..just that GUI is not starting.Please consider the fact that I am a non-(tech/computer/engineering/math) guy. I solve my problems just by Googling 'How to....' and getting lucky sometimes ,unlucky most of the times, which ultimately leads to Format and reinstall.

[taersh]

Do Full installs on a Flash Drive often pose such problems ?

Do a frugal install! It won't miss anything compared to full install, but gives advantages and benefits.

[bigpup]

How exactly did you do the install of Bionicpup on the flash drive?
Give details???

Did you do anything to Bionicpup just before this issue happened?

[cobaka]

Hi everybody:

A brief word about the words 'frugal' and 'full'. This is my own idea - if I'm wrong pls tell me and I'll delete this post.
I get the idea that people see the word 'full' installation and assume it has some extra feature (or features) not found in a 'frugal' installation.

On the contrary - the word 'full' and 'frugal' refers to disk use. A frugal installation allows the puppy OS to co-exist (on the same drive) with Windows (and even other Puppy operating systems in their own first level folder).

In contrast, a 'full' installation snavels the entire disk for the puppy. There may be other advantages available for a frugal installation and (if so) perhaps others will mention them here. One thing: I always separate the boot drive (and working OS) and work drive. I don't put them on different partitions on the same drive. This practice allows easy maintenance. If a drive fails - just replace it with your pre-prepared back-up. Easy-peasy! Always keep a backup - both of your OS software and work. Puppy is low maintenance!

СОБАКА

[nashtrik]

[ by bigpup » Wed Sep 09, 2020 1:46 am

How exactly did you do the install of Bionicpup on the flash drive?
Give details???/quote]
First I made a Live USB on another 16 GB flash drive ( I still have that intact..),and did a full install on this 32 GB stick(ext3 file system,25 Gib diskspace,4Gib Swap partition). No...I did not do anything to the installation,it was just a normal shut down, though for the past three or four sessions,it was taking 2-3 attempts to boot up to GUI. First it would reach upto /etc/X11/xorg.conf and /root/xinitrc..and then refused to boot to GUI. I had to 'Reboot' or Power off/on again. But this time even these options didn't work.
And maybe..... my daughter just closed the Laptop screen without logout/shutdown few times, I'm not sure.
PS:- I had installed Linux Lite 5.0 earlier to this,but it was also posing problems on this flash drive. Did 3 unistalls/reinstalls before shifting to Puppy.

[bigpup]

did a full install on this 32 GB stick

It would help if we know exactly how you did that and what boot loader is being used?

However, you can do a test of the file system on the USB stick and make sure file system is not messed up.

If you can boot with the other USB stick you say still boots OK.

Plug in the bad USB stick.
Do not mount it just have it plugged in. Must be UN-mounted to check.

Figure out what the bad USB stick is identified as and the partition the bad install is on.
sdb, sdc, sdd, etc.....
In Puppy all drive partitions are shown as icons on lower left desktop.

Example first partition or single partition on sdb would be sdb1.

In a terminal
Example:
To check filesystem on partition sdb1

Code: Select all

e2fsck /dev/sdb1

If it finds errors this will run and auto fix any errors it finds.

Code: Select all

e2fsck -p /dev/sdb1

Get any errors??

[nashtrik]

It would help if we know exactly how you did that and what boot loader is being used?

OK...so on my Office PC running Win7, I downloaded the bionicpup64-8.0-uefi file on my hard drive. Then I plugged in the 16 GB usb to PC and made a live USB of Bionicpup64-8.0, took The Live USB (16GB, call it good usb)to my home and put it on my Laptop, changed boot sequence from BIOS,booted from it,put another 32 gb pendrive on other port and did a full install on to it.When I booted from, it showed as sdb1. Now when I boot from Good usb,IT shows up as sdb1 and the Corrupt 32 GB (call it Bad usb) shows as sdc1. With the ROX file manager , I can see all the files on bad usb sdc1 , even copied two saved documents from it . I will post the result of the commands later today.Thanks.
This time it loaded as sdd1.here's the screenshot

[nashtrik]

[It would help if we know exactly how you did that and what boot loader is being used]
Sorry...Nothing happened. The GUI still doesn't load.The f2sck results are in front of you. I wonder why it showed as sdd1 this time..Coz it was showing up as sdc1 before.Even after this screenshot,I unplugged/replugged the usb on the same port and it again showed up as sdc1.
I think the grub also runs this f2sck command prior to mounting usb and it shows up clean. I have the installation medium (the 16gib good usb) with me. Can I copy-paste/replace something from it to the bad usb filesystem which may make it load gui? Also, the bad usb still has console running..Any commands to fix the filesystem?

[vtpup]

Are you unmounting USB sticks before removing?

Usually when USB drives increment unexpectedly it means that the last drive was never unmounted.

Now if you always unmounted the drives properly, another possibility is that the usb connector on the computer or drive is intermittent. So jiggling it causes the drive to electrically disconnect and then re-mount as the next available drivespec (number). Not good for the filesystem onboard, however.

To unmount a drive properly, one easy way is to click on the desktop's drive "light" (or dot or X) on the mounted drive icon, and then wait until the "light" goes out and the drive is written to. Give it some extra time, actually, as after the light goes out, there can sometimes be a delay in fully writing to and unmounting the drive.

[bigpup]

The e2fsck tells us there is nothing wrong with the filesystem.

I reread your first post.

no option , reboot, xwin{jwm], works.

Are you saying you rebooted.
Got as far as a prompt.
Entered xwin jwm.
And it booted to a working desktop?

Now it does this each time you boot?

[nashtrik]

The e2fsck tells us there is nothing wrong with the filesystem.

No...none of the given options load the GUI... 'reboot' / 'poweroff'/ xwin[]/ xwin[jwm]/ xwin -default ... none of them.It keeps on displaying same message to do either one of these repeatedly but to no avail. Means the command prompt which is '#' keeps on showing... if I command ls -a, it will show the directory structure, I can change directory by 'cd',but not once the GUI loads up.
EACHTIME I power it on ...it would load syslinux....vmlinuz..> bionicpup64.sfs..> zdrv.sfs...> load the swap partition as sdc2...> making file system usable...>> loading xorg.conf...> starting apps /.xinitrc.... > reach upto ttty....> but does not load gui...>> gives message" if you have reached to this screen,you are running console without gui X. to start gui type xwin[]/ xwin[jwm]/ xwin -default[jwm] ....>but none of these will start the gui...> I would poweroff the machine by typing 'poweroff' at the command prompt '#'...> same story on next restart .
I hope I am able to explain clearly.
PS:- If I type only 'X' and hit the 'Enter' key without any option,it displays something which is impossible to read sthe screen stays only for a microsecond, and then It HANGS. I have to power it off from the powerbutton.

[bigpup]

Were you using JWM or did you have some other Window Manager being used?
Does anything happen when you enter xwin jwm?



If this really is a full install of Bionicpup64 8.0 on the USB stick.

Full installs can be fixed by simply doing a new full install to the exact location of the bad full install.
Do this with the Puppy Universal Installer.
It simply writes over (replaces) all the Puppy files and programs and should (key word should) still keep anything you added.

This also works with a frugal installs for making sure the Puppy files and programs are good.
But with frugal installs the save changes stuff.
So a bad save, can only be replaced by a good backup save, that we know everyone makes, when they get a Puppy frugal install the way they want it.

[nashtrik]

[Were you using JWM or did you have some other Window Manager being used?]
I was using the default window manager wich comes with Bionicpup...must have been jwm[If THAT is the default..],I did not change anything from my side.
No...nothing happened upon entering xwin jwm...it simply returned to command prompt again.
Ok...I will reinstall it on the same partition. Some more questions regarding this. From what I have gathered from my limited use of Puppy[Pls feel free to correct me wherever wrong], if I am using a full partition for it, there will be a pupsave folder wchich can be of the size of entire partition. Suppose my old pupsave has many installed softwares...Zoom Client , Telegram client, Wine, browsers, many PDF's, Pics from camera etc. During reinstallation will the partition be formatted again? If so, how to take backup of pupsave. Can I use the empty swap partition for it ? Or the installation USB which still has lot of space ?
I can afford to lose data this time, but please guide me 1)to how to take a backup pf pupsave everytime I shutdown 2) Is a Swap partition necessary in puppy or shd I remove it this time ?3) Is it Ok to install multiple softwares Wine ..other repositories /heavy stuff ? 4) Why does puppy boot up as root#..why not as username as in Ubuntu ? 5) Why are commands such as 'sudo','apt', 'whereis' etc absent in puppy ? There are more questions but only these much for now . Thanks

[bigpup]

if I am using a full partition for it, there will be a pupsave folder wchich can be of the size of entire partition.

If Puppy is installed as a frugal install. (still the complete OS, just a special way to install).
It uses a save to store any changes/add ons, etc......
If partition is a Linux format (ext2,3,or4), the save can be a save folder. If Windows format (fat, ntfs) a save file.
The save folder can auto adjust and use all of the free space on the partition. A save file is made a set size and it stays that size until you resize it.
The main Puppy files and programs are read only.
The save is read/write and can have modifications to the main Puppy files and programs.

A full install does not use a save.
It is an open file system that is added to as you do whatever. (add programs, change settings, delete, etc....)
Limited by the free space in the partition.
Everything is read/write.

During reinstallation will the partition be formatted again?

Not if you use a Puppy installer program.
It could make an offer to let you partition, but you decide yes/ no and have to manually do it.

how to take backup of pupsave

Again, if Puppy is a frugal install, and using a save.
menu->Utility->Pupsave Backup will make a backup of the save.
Use this anytime you want to make a backup.
Make first backup when you get everything setup and installed the way you want it.
After that it only needs to be done if you do some major change.
Small changes are not that hard to just redo if you use a backup save.

A swap partition can do nothing but be swap.
It is specifically made to be a place the memory can use as a place to cache stuff if memory runs too low.
If you have 2GB or more of memory, may not need swap, but it is good to have if ever needed.
General rule is swap should be twice the size of memory. So 2GB RAM. 4GB swap.

It is OK to install anything you like.
But make sure Puppy does not already have a program installed that can do what you want.
You may find the Puppy program is all you need.

Why does Puppy run as root?

Basic answer it is a one person OS.
To do anything but simple stuff you need to be root, so why not start out that way as root.
Read this:
file:///usr/share/doc/root.htm

Why are commands such as 'sudo','apt', 'whereis' etc absent in puppy ?

Sudo is in Puppy but not needed because you are root. Sudo just lets you do a command as root if you are not root.
Apt --> because Puppy uses a completely different way to install software.
whereis -->it is a command in my Bionicpup64 8.0 ,but may not be in other Puppies.
Puppy does not have all possible Linux commands. Just the ones it needs to have.

[Sky Aisling]

Hi @nashtrik
@vtpup gave me an idea.

vtpup writes:

Now if you always unmounted the drives properly, another possibility is that the usb connector on the computer or drive is intermittent. So jiggling it causes the drive to electrically disconnect and then re-mount as the next available drivespec (number). Not good for the filesystem onboard, however.

If I may insert a totally different suggestion...

Have you tried inserting a dab of Di-electric grease into the USB port(s)?

Sometimes there simply isn't a consistent electronic connection on the exterior ports as they wear with usage.

Sky

[nashtrik]

If I may insert a totally different suggestion...

No....I haven't done so but will definitely give it a shot. Thanks