Racy Resurrector

[amethyst]

Removed

[BarryK]

You are not the only one with a fondness for the old Racy!
Good to see the upgrade.

[greengeek]

Now running with glibc2.30 libraries. Should run the very latest 32-bit Palemoon browser (version 31.2 tested). See first post for download link of new bdrv (5MB download).

I am seeing a "file does not exist" message. Should I be able to download this or is it builtin now? cheers!

[keniv]

The kernels of Tahr Puppy (3.14.56) and Xenial Puppy (4.4.95) has been tested and works well with this Puppy. Can be downloaded from here: http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/huge_kernels/

.
I was a big fan of the old racy and indeed still have a previously updated version (5.5.1) on this machine. I downloaded the files from your first post. I also downloaded your alternative bdrv .sfs. I chose to use the Xenial Puppy (4.4.95). After downloading this I checked the md5 checksum for this which was correct. I extracted this and got the two files shown in image 1. I chose to use vmlinuz-4.4.95-xenial which I renamed as vmlinuz. I placed the files in a directory which I named 22racyextra on sda2 the contents of which are shown in image2. I am booting using grub4dos as shown below.

Code: Select all

title RacyExtra (32bit) (sda2/22racyextra)
  find --set-root uuid () 60e6917a-e1db-44f9-8d58-6f0df737eeb5
  kernel /22racyextra/vmlinuz pdrv=60e6917a-e1db-44f9-8d58-6f0df737eeb5  psubdir=/22racyextra pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck
  initrd /22racyextra/initrd.gz

When I attempt to boot the process starts then fails with a "kernel panic". I wondered if this had something to do with the way I used the huge kernel as I have only done this once before and now can't remember what I should do particularly in terms of naming it. The spec of the machine I'm using is as follows.
Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5400 @ 2.70GHz and 4GB of ram. Any help in getting this to boot would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Ken.

[amethyst]

@keniv
bdrv must be renamed to bdrv_racy_extra.sfs and the kernel to zdrv_racy_extra.sfs and add the kernel (zdrv) to the folder with the Puppy files.

[keniv]

@keniv
bdrv must be renamed to bdrv_racy_extra.sfs and the kernel to zdrv_racy_extra.sfs and add the kernel (zdrv) to the folder with the Puppy files.

Thanks for that. I'm now able to boot to a desktop. I have found a number of problems the greatest of which is that the sound does not appear to work in that it shows as muted though the sound wizard plays the "woof woof" OK. I have tried disabling auto-mute but this has no effect.

Should run the very latest 32-bit Palemoon browser (version 31.2 tested). See first post for download link of new bdrv (5MB download).

The browser will not launch. bdrv_racy_extra.sfs is seen to load when booting. The above quote seems to to suggest that the bdvr contains Palemoon 31.2. Is this the case? If not can you provide a link to allow me to download it?

Regards,

Ken.

[amethyst]

No, a browser is not included. Please read the opening post thoroughly. If you hear the woof sound, your sound seems to work. Right-click the sound volume icon in the tray and select "full window" to check the sliders. Please note as mentioned in the opening post that the adrv contains some of my personal settings (hardware settings of my machine) which you may have to change. I have not removed all of my personal settings so some stuff may not work correctly on your machine. As a last resort (if you can't get things to work), try a classic remaster. So you boot it up, do a remaster and choose not to save hardware settings. After the remaster you will have a new base sfs which replaces the previous base sfs , the adrv, the bdrv and the cdrive (which contents will then be included in the new base sfs).

[keniv]

@amethyst

Please read the opening post thoroughly.

Yes I have done this several times and I did find this.

and this offering does not include a browser

However in a later post I found

Now running with glibc2.30 libraries. Should run the very latest 32-bit Palemoon browser (version 31.2 tested). See first post for download link of new bdrv (5MB download).

I found these two statements confusing particularly as there were no links to the different versions of Palemoon mentioned.

Right-click the sound volume icon in the tray and select "full window" to check the sliders.

Yes I have tried this but making changes here makes no difference.Volume is always shown as "muted" though apparently it is not as the woof woof sound can be heard.

Please note as mentioned in the opening post that the adrv contains some of my personal settings (hardware settings of my machine) which you may have to change.

I have no experience of editing these files and so cannot alter these settings. I think perhaps getting this version of Racy working at even a basic level will take greater knowledge than I have. Thank you for your time.

Regards,

Ken

[greengeek]

bdrv must be renamed to bdrv_racy_extra.sfs and the kernel to zdrv_racy_extra.sfs and add the kernel (zdrv) to the folder with the Puppy files.

I downloaded the xenial kernel you mentioned and when unzipped I ended up with these files:
kernel-modules.sfs-4.4.95-xenial
vmlinuz-4.4.95-xenial

Which of these needs to be renamed to zdrv_racy_extra.sfs?

I assume kernel-modules.sfs-4.4.95-xenial should be renamed to zdrv_racy_extra.sfs and vmlinuz-4.4.95-xenial should be renamed to vnlinuz - is that correct?

[amethyst]

Yes, I assume so too. I just use the kernels of the Tahr or Xenial Puppys I alread have and rename the zdrv. BTW - Let me know when/if you get the system running. As this was not a remaster and contains some personal settings there may be some unforeseeable issues when using on another machine (also see my suggestions a few posts up to maybe consider a remaster if you encounter issues). I may decide to do a remaster myself, clean up some personal system settings and post a new base sfs but I'm not going to do that if there's not really a demand for it (lots of work).

[greengeek]

Let me know when/if you get the system running.

Yes i did get it running - but i had no mouse functionality which makes things very difficult. Also the desktop display was not a match for the screen resolution so the tray was mostly offscreen. Used F12 to navigate menu but could not find a way to get mouse working.
Tried CtrlAltBackspace to run xorgwizard but whatever I tried just made things steadily worse. Will park it for now as I need to learn more about what my native display res is etc so I can make a better stab with xorgwizard next time.
(Using Toshiba Satellite Pro S500)

[amethyst]

Let me know when/if you get the system running.

Yes i did get it running - but i had no mouse functionality which makes things very difficult. Also the desktop display was not a match for the screen resolution so the tray was mostly offscreen. Used F12 to navigate menu but could not find a way to get mouse working.
Tried CtrlAltBackspace to run xorgwizard but whatever I tried just made things steadily worse. Will park it for now as I need to learn more about what my native display res is etc so I can make a better stab with xorgwizard next time.
(Using Toshiba Satellite Pro S500)

Try to boot with pfix=nox and then run xorgwizard at the prompt. If that does not work you can try a remaster as suggested (disregard machine settings) since you at least have keyboard functionality. BTW - I've also encountered dead mouse issues when trying different kernels. Perhaps try the tahr kernel first. Once you get the mouse going just save the settings.

[amethyst]

Made a new adrv to replace the previous (rename it correctly). Old hardware settings removed so may be easier to get going on a different machine. See first post for download link.

[keniv]

@amethyst

Update:I've been able to get the newest Palemoon going. Here is a download link for a new bdrv (containing glibc2.30) to replace the previous. Rename it correctly: https://mega.nz/#!RDQ3lIaZ!QvTBNlFmLpsk ... pjXePEx844
Update 2022-10-10: Download link for new adrv (4MB) to replace the previous. I've cleaned up old hardware settings so it should be easier to get going on a different machine: https://mega.nz/#!xCYyDQQY!rGcje6JkCeLQ ... nyX7lY4bBE

Thanks for the above this has helped a lot. I now have working sound. Before seeing the above downloads I did try the Tahr kernel but this did not even find my soundcard. I am also currently posting from RacyExtra but I'm using a portable version of 32bit palemoon by @mikewalsh This has it's own glibc update so presumably does not test the one in the new bdrv. You mention being able to use the newest palemoon going. I have tried searching for this but I can't find it. Could you put up a link to the version you are using.
You might be aware of this site.
https://racypup.netlify.app/index.html.
I've downloaded and installed firewallstate and pwidgets because I used to like them. The site is quite a good source of .pets for Racy and the two I've mentioned both work in RacyExtra.

Regards,

Ken.

[amethyst]

I'm using Palemoon32.2.0.1 with all my Puppys, tested with Racy. That's about a month old. I see the next version is out. The developer does not seem to keep a repository of previous versions. Try this download link for the very latest: https://download.opensuse.org/repositor ... 2_i386.deb Yes, I'm aware of that Racy site, I've mentioned it on another thread recently (for the download of SMPlayer).

[keniv]

@amethyst

Try this download link for the very latest: https://download.opensuse.org/repositor ... 2_i386.deb

I downloaded and tried to install the above but got the error shown in the image below. Am I right in thinking that I should have been able to install the .deb by left clicking on it?

Regards,

Ken.

[mikewalsh]

@keniv :-

I usually find, Ken, that when that happens the quickest course of action is to unpack the .deb and re-pack it as a .pet. It'll then install, no problem.

32-bit versions are always going to be a pain from hereon in. Since Moonchild doesn't supply OR even support them OOTB any more, they no longer have the built-in updater. Which means constantly keeping on top of the manual re-installs, I'm afraid.

Since I now mostly run either 64-bit Pups, or up-to-date 32-bit Pups that will run my favourite Chromium-based browsers, Palemoon is no longer of such importance to me. 2 months ago, ye anciente Dell lappie finally turned up its toes and died on me; at just shy of 20 yrs old, the P4-powered "beast" had a really remarkable run, but has finally gone to the great scrapyard in the sky. The Dell Latitude that's replaced it - several years younger! - is dual-core, and 64-bit capable.....

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

Palemoon was a necessity while I had very slow, elderly hardware, but that need has gone. Hence, why I'm not keeping up with the 32-bit portables these days. Sorry 'bout that!

I shall still produce them, just not quite so regularly.....perhaps every third or fourth release. It's only the 32-bit builds that need it; the 64-bitzers look after themselves.

Mike.

[mikeslr]

Edit: first the bad news. I downloaded the 32-bit deb from opensuse via amethyst's post, https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 147#p69147 and extracted it using UExtract. Yes, it should have installed. But there's sometimes a big gap between 'theory' and 'reality'. In the Extracted folder palemoon's binary was located at /path-to-folder/FOLDER/usr/lib/palemoon.

Trying to start it via 'run-in-terminal generated this report:

XPCOMGlueLoad error for file /initrd/mnt/dev_save/my-stuff/Downloads/palemoon_31.3.0.1-1.gtk2_i386.deb.extracted/usr/lib/palemoon/libnspr4.so:

/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.28' not found (required by /initrd/mnt/dev_save/my-stuff/Downloads/palemoon_31.3.0.1-1.gtk2_i386.deb.extracted/usr/lib/palemoon/libnspr4.so)

Couldn't load XPCOM

But I'm not running Racy Extra, only Bionic64 with 32-bit compatibility SFS loaded. As I understand it, Racy Extra has GLIBC 2.27. Perhaps an older opensuse 32-bit will work. But I couldn't find it.

MikeWalsh's portable 32-bit, https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 4251#p4251 is likely to present the same issue.

-=--=-=----=--=----The Really Bad News-=-=-=--
You can find archived versions of prior releases of Palemoon here, https://archive.palemoon.org/palemoon/. I see they've skipped the troublesome 30 version.

More later. The wife just yelled that 'food is ready.'

Third-party builds are also available; click the Download button on the Main Webpage.

But it looks as if they only provide Source files, no binaries. So you'd have to compile your own.

firefox and seamonkey are more use-friendly. Their archives can provide 'old-versions' which with a little manual fixing can be transformed into portables. https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=6310

You'll find a palemoon-28.0.0-i686.pet here, https://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/p ... pupjj%2Bd/

walterdnes's older palemoon 27.9 can be downloaded from here, https://archive.palemoon.org/contrib/wa ... ble-Linux/

[mikewalsh]

@mikeslr :-

I think you'll find my 32-bit portable WILL work, Mike. It now uses an included glibc-2.28 (which I extracted from radky's DPup 'Buster'), along with its libstdc++.so.6.....and included are libX11-xcb & libxcb.shm, both of which seem to be required for these more recent builds to work.

The other main difference here is that everybody's talking about Steve Pusser's Debian 10 build.....whereas I'm using his Xubuntu 18.04 build. I had one or two problems trying to "portabilize" the Debian package, but the Xubuntu build gave no problems. Perhaps something to do with the way Debian's "social contract" prohibits installation of certain things, so it compiles slightly differently? No idea...

I can only suggest you try it. You'll find the latest package - v31.3.0.1 - here:-

https://mega.nz/folder/OeYkyahK#6bn1dGeQ5utf99JxNbJxpg

Mike.

[amethyst]

@amethyst

Try this download link for the very latest: https://download.opensuse.org/repositor ... 2_i386.deb

I downloaded and tried to install the above but got the error shown in the image below. Am I right in thinking that I should have been able to install the .deb by left clicking on it?

Regards,

Ken.

Extract it with UEXtract and re-package it as a .pet or sfs file. If you make it a .pet, you install it. If you make it an sfs you can load it as an extra drive at bootup (eg. ddrv_racy_extra.sfs) or load it on the fly during a session as an extra sfs file.

[keniv]

@mikeslr

MikeWalsh's portable 32-bit, https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 4251#p4251 is likely to present the same issue.

@mikewalsh

I think you'll find my 32-bit portable WILL work, Mike. It now uses an included glibc-2.28 (which I extracted from radky's DPup 'Buster'), along with its libstdc++.so.6.....and included are libX11-xcb & libxcb.shm, both of which seem to be required for these more recent builds to

I can confirm that Mike's portable version does work as I am posting from it though mine is the earlier version 28.17.0. I will update to 31.3.0.1and try and see how that goes.
@amethyst
I found deb2pet-0.0.3.pet on the forum. I installed it and it did appear to convert the .deb to a .pet, however the pet did not appear to install though I got no errors.

Extract it with UEXtract and re-package it as a .pet or sfs file.

I know how to extract it but I don't know how to repackage it. Can Tell me how this is done.

Regards,

Ken.

[amethyst]

I know how to extract it but I don't know how to repackage it. Can Tell me how this is done.

Once you have extracted it, right-click the usr folder that had been extracted (only that) and use Packit from the right-click menu to create the sfs.

[keniv]

I will update to 31.3.0.1and try and see how that goes.

Have just updated to Mike's portable 32bit Palemoon 31.3.0.1 and can confirm that it works in RacyExtra. I'm posting from it now.

Regards,

Ken.

[amethyst]

I will update to 31.3.0.1and try and see how that goes.

Have just updated to Mike's portable 32bit Palemoon 31.3.0.1 and can confirm that it works in RacyExtra. I'm posting from it now.

Regards,

Ken.

It's fine that you want to use Mike's portable but note that you already have the necessary stuff to make Palemoon work without having to use the included glibc and other stuff in Mike's portable version to make it work. What I did was to make the glibc upgrade (FOR THE WHOLE SYSTEM) very easy by including it in a bdrv which can be upgraded in future (so you don't need a specially created concoction of Palemoon to get it working). Also quite important - the old glibc of Racy has completely been removed and the new glibc packaged as a bdrv. The advantage is that you will only have one glibc version on your machine which adds to the stability of the system and may avoid any unforeseen hickups in comparison to running more than one version of glibc.

[keniv]

@amethyst

It's fine that you want to use Mike's portable but note that you already have the necessary stuff to make Palemoon work without having to use the included glibc and other stuff in Mike's portable version to make it work.

Yes I use Mike's portables, both 64 and32bit, quite a lot. In the case of 32bit OS they let me run an up to date browser which is getting harder and harder to do. Although this machine is a 64bit I have a 32bit which I use in my shed and I'd like to keep it going so I have a vested interest in this. As there was no browser in RacyExtra the only way I could post from it was to use Mike's portable. As mention was made of the update I thought I'd try it and report back whether it worked or not in RacyExtra which I did.

Once you have extracted it, right-click the usr folder that had been extracted (only that) and use Packit from the right-click menu to create the sfs.

I followed your instructions, however, UEXtract in RacyExtra did not work. It ended claiming it had failed. I used Fossapup64 version to extract it. I then used Packit fron RacyExtra to re-pack it as an .sfs. I named it as palemoon-31.3.0.1.sfs. I was not sure if I should use this name. I then loaded it which seemed to be successful. Please see image below. However, nothing is installed in the menu. I tried fixmenus but nothing appeared. I then tried rebooting but again nothing. I also looked for a .desktop entry in /usr/share/applications but there was nothing so I assumed there was no menu entries in the .deb package which seemed strange to me. I have looked through the file system but I cannot find a way to launch it. Can you tell me how you launch it? Or have I done something wrong?

Regards,

Ken.

[amethyst]

@keniv
Racy's Uextract did not work because I think that version was too old. It may be that the menu was not updated automatically (these old Puppys are clunky with things like that). Since desktop entry is not in /usr/share/applications, it makes me wonder whether the sfs has been built correctly. Left-click the Palemoon sfs file you have built and choose view contents. There should only be a usr folder in there and if you click that folder and go to its /share/application directory the Palemoon.desktop entry should be there....

[keniv]

I think I've found it. The palemoon.desktop is in /share/applications and not /usr/share/applications! It shows

Code: Select all

Exec=palemoon -private-window

What is a private window?

Ken.

[amethyst]

I think I've found it. The palemoon.desktop is in /share/applications and not /usr/share/applications! It shows

Code: Select all

Exec=palemoon -private-window

What is a private window?

Ken.

Okay, the path of the desktop entry has been changed with this version, this is also the reason why it is not showing in the Racy menu. Copy the desktop entry to /usr/share/applications. Does palemoon run when you click the desktop entry? Private window is just a special mode of browsing. You can start palemoon without that switch.

[keniv]

Yes it runs and shows as the correct version when I click on the .desktop file. I think I can make a new file by looking at other puppy browser .desktop files and place it in
/usr/share/applications. I'll have a fiddle with this.

Ken.

[amethyst]

Yes it runs and shows as the correct version when I click on the .desktop file. I think I can make a new file by looking at other puppy browser .desktop files and place it in
/usr/share/applications. I'll have a fiddle with this.

Ken.

Just edit that desktop file (right-click open as text).