F96-CE_4 Latest Stable Release

[rockedge]

F96-CE_4 is released! The Team has further fine tuned the boot capabilities and other details to improve overall performance. Resulting in this well balanced general purpose Puppy Linux distribution.

F96-CE_4 Changelog:

• Update devx and kernel 6.0.12 for compile-time compatibility (thanks retiredt00 and ozsouth)
• Adjust F96 compatibility with iso9660 format programs such as Balena Etcher (thanks wizard)
• Shorten 60-sec timeout to 8 seconds in /etc/rc.d/rc.shutdown to minimize the inconvenience reported by some users who experience an unresponsive 'Save/No Save' dialog box when saving to USB (thanks fredx181)
• Remove Firefox-maximized setting from /root/.jwm/jwmrc-personal (thanks MochiMoppel)
• For those who have issues with audio settings in F96, please note the following:

Pulseaudio will automatically detect your audio output devices, including standard hardware devices and virtual devices such as pulseaudio-equalizer-ladspa. When there are multiple output devices (including virtual devices), pulseaudio will have no knowledge of your preferred (default) output device unless you select and save that information to the pulseaudio configuration file (/root/.config/pulse/default.pa).

Specifically, when booting or rebooting in an environment with multiple audio devices, pulseaudio reads the configuration file (if available) and restores the prior saved audio settings. If the configuration file does not stipulate a default audio device and volume level, then your preferred audio device and sound volume may not restore to your expectations.

For pulseaudio guidelines, please see the following:

viewtopic.php?p=84478#p84478

F96-CE_3 Changelog:

• Update init to Woof-CE commit 4a23874 for improved support of CD/USB boot modes (thanks dimkr and wizard)
• Update Firefox-ESR to v102.9
• Update PKG package manager to v2.10 (thanks mistfire)
• Adjust loginmanager environment error and add support for recent modern browsers when configured to run-as-spot (thanks mow9902 and MochiMoppel). Note: the loginmanager run-as-spot option is not recommended for the typical portable browsers configured for Puppy Linux (such as Firefox-ESR in F96-CE), and in fact this option may break the normal launch scripts of the selected browser.
• Adjust timing (5-sec delay) of ALSA sound restoration when booting/rebooting (thanks thinkpadfreak)
• Adjust builtin_files of ydrv to improve compatibility with the 'Remove builtin packages' utility (thanks fr-ke). Note: for those who choose to remaster the default F96-CE ISO, it is now possible to remove the portable Firefox-ESR browser via the 'Remove builtin packages' utility but you must do so before the first run of the Firefox browser, i.e. before the unique browser profile folder is created inside the portable browser folder. However, if you prefer to manually remove Firefox-ESR (/opt/FirefoxESR-portable64 folder, /usr/bin/firefox symlink, and /usr/share/applications/firefox-portable.desktop), you can easily do so at any time prior to remastering your custom ISO.

ipv6 support has been compiled into the kernel and F96-CE_2 can now resolve IPv6.

F96-CE is outfitted with kernel 6.0.12-FP and is AUFS layered. Built from a base foundation Fossapup64-9.6 generated by woof-CE, F96-CE uses Pkg2 and PPM for package management and has many of the usual Fossapup64 applications and features.

F96-CE_2 Changelog:

• Adjust failed CD/USB boot modes. F96-CE now supports UEFI and Legacy MBR boot modes when installed to (1) CD optical media or (2) USB media formatted by Rufus or Unetbootin. (thanks wizard)
• Adjust 6.0.12-FP kernel support of IPv6 - which also precludes prior firewall ip6tables activation errors
• Adjust firewall_ng to fully support IPv6 extended packet matching (thanks dimkr)
• Adjust implementation of Apply/Cancel functions in firewall_ng. Note: Using the firewall tray icon to turn the firewall OFF does so in a non-persistent manner. However, stopping the firewall via the 'Firewall Setup' dialog persists after rebooting. (thanks Overdrive5 and dimkr)
• Adjust MIME-type handler for matroska (mkv) video files (thanks Jinx)
• Adjust save/restore functions of ALSA audio volume when booting/rebooting (thanks thinkpadfreak)
• Add F96-compatible components of 666philb's original F95 bugfix update of fossa quickpet applications (thanks oldaolgeezer)
• Add dummy apulse file which enables audio for some older ALSA-dependent applications in the pulseaudio/pipewire environment (thanks dimkr)
• F96-CE includes the CPU Frequency Scaling application (wcpufreq) with an important caveat. Specifically, Intel resources may no longer provide all cpu frequency data, in which case the frequency comboboxes of wcpufreq are empty and the application may be of limited usefulness.

Changelog:
• Add Qualcomm Atheros firmware to fdrv (thanks dimkr)
• Add Bluetooth tutorial to Puppy Help Resources (thanks wizard)
• Add EFI directory and puppy.cer file to the root of the ISO to support the Unetbootin USB installer (thanks wizard)
• Add editable configuration file for pulseaudio (/root/.config/pulse/default.pa) to optionally set or override the default pulseaudio parameters.
• Adjust Bluetooth connectivity (thanks dimkr)
• Adjust Fossa Quickpet to exclude applications not supported by F96-CE (thanks bigpup)
• Adjust play of audio CDs by DeadBeef Music Player (thanks peebee)
• Adjust PPM support of puppy-fossa64-official package repository (thanks peebee)
• Disable Connman automatic updates of Time and Timezone. For users who prefer the original default auto-updates, go to /var/lib/connman/settings and delete the lines pertaining to TimeUpdates and TimezoneUpdates. (thanks thinkpadfreak)
• Update Connman Internet Connection Manger (as generated by the Woof-CE build of fossapup64 on 1 Feb 2023)
• Update 6.0.12 kernel to gcc 9.4.0 (thanks Rockedge)
• Update YASSM Samba Share Mounter to v4.5 (thanks rcrsn51)
• Update nicOS Package Extractor (thanks amethyst)
• Upgrade MPV Multimedia Player with feature and stability enhancements, and add the user-friendly Celluloid GUI (thanks Marv)
• Replace controversial Pale Moon Browser with Firefox-ESR Portable for improved internet access including compatibility with github, YouTube, Netflix, etc. (thanks mikewalsh) Note: For those who prefer a different browser, the Firefox-ESR portable application is self-contained and easily removed.
• The above updates and upgrades (mostly Firefox, MPV, extra firmware, and requisites for Unetbootin) add slightly to the ISO size.

Changelog:
• New Woof-CE build of F96 with multiple infrastructure adjustments (thanks dimkr)
- Improve amdgpu video support in fdrv firmware
- Prioritize SFSs and copy to RAM only while free ramdisk space is >= 64 MB
- Adjust init stack-order of xdrvs (FDRV -> ZDRV -> BDRV -> YDRV -> ADRV)
- Fix IME integration with Chrome browser
- Prevent setup-spot from copying /home/spot to pup_rw
• New build of kernel 6.0.12 with matching gcc for the kernel and devx (compiler friendly)
• Remove browser-bdrv and add portable-Palemoon browser to /opt. After a savefile is created, you may (optionally) move the portable-Palemoon folder to /mnt/home and symlink back to /opt. This arrangement will protect your savefile from the burden of an ever-increasing browser cache. Alternatively, if you prefer a different browser, simply remove the self-contained portable-Palemoon folder and install your preferred browser. (thanks mikewalsh)
• The iso contains no default adrv or bdrv (advanced users may create and customize xdrvs for personal use)
• The optional applications-ydrv remains in the iso, but 'essential' apps are now moved to the main Puppy-SFS. The ydrv contains almost 30 supplemental apps (/var/packages/ydrv) that many users may find useful. However, if the included ydrv is of no value to you, simply rename or delete the ydrv - then reboot.
• Fix CUP-PDF printing
• Adjust compatibility with qemu and qemu_gui
• Update PKG package manager to v2.0.9 and adjust the gpkgdialog GUI for improved user interaction
• Update Openssl to the following securtiy release: openssl 1.1.1f-1ubuntu2.16
• Update Puppy Help resources
• And many additional adjustments to improve the desktop experience

F96-CE Web Page

The download links ->

F96-CE_4.iso
SHA1-MD5_F96-CE_4-ISO.txt

devx_fossapup64_9.6.sfs
SHA1-MD5_devx_fossapup64-9.6.txt

kernel_sources_fossapup64_9.6.sfs
SHA1-MD5_kernel_sources_fossapup64_9.6.txt

32bit-compatibility-F96CE-r4.sfs

[pp4mnklinux]

Hi:

Do you think we must use this F96 New version or do you think there are so "small" improvements and modifications that is better not to change fron F96CE3 if you are satisfied with the way it works?

I think there are more dissadvantages in changing that in continue with F96-CE_3.

Do you agree with me??

~~~~~~~~~~~
F96-CE_4 Changelog:

• Update devx and kernel 6.0.12 for compile-time compatibility (thanks retiredt00 and ozsouth)
• Adjust F96 compatibility with iso9660 format programs such as Balena Etcher (thanks wizard)
• Shorten 60-sec timeout to 8 seconds in /etc/rc.d/rc.shutdown to minimize the inconvenience reported by some users who experience an unresponsive 'Save/No Save' dialog box when saving to USB (thanks fredx181)
• Remove Firefox-maximized setting from /root/.jwm/jwmrc-personal (thanks MochiMoppel)
• For those who have issues with audio settings in F96, please note the following...

~~~~~~~~~~

viewtopic.php?t=8264#p84409

~~~~~~~~~~~

[mikeslr]

Hi:

Do you think we must use this F96 New version or do you think there are so "small" improvements and modifications that is better not to change from F96CE3 if you are satisfied with the way it works?
~~~~~~~~~~~

Good question. If you've already setup F96CE3, the major improvement is the handling of pulse-audio. But I seem to have that working in F96CE3. So while I've downloaded F96CE4, that's for use on another computer and if I find a need to 'start from scratch' on my desktop.

I think that if F96CE3 --or earlier-- is/are still available they should be withdraw; with a link to F96CE4's OP provided. Just to avoid any confusion.

My regret is that we weren't able to establish a repository accessible via F96's Quickpet. Most changes since the initial F96CE could have been handled via a Quickpet upgrade, bugfix or the downloading of a revised ydrv.

[retiredt00]

SHA1-MD5_F96-CE_3-iso.txt

SHA1-MD5_devx_fossapup64-9.6.txt

Thank you for the new build.
There are typos in the hash links above.
Should be
SHA1-MD5_F96-CE_4-ISO.txt
and
SHA1-MD5_devx_fossapup64_9.6.txt

[ozsouth]

@pp4mnklinux - the kernel in f96ce-3 doesn't like out-of-tree drivers, so if you should need one in future, would be a big problem.

[pp4mnklinux]

@ozsouth , please, I don't know what has been modified, but when reading the modifications I thought all of them are only "graphic" modifications..

My friend , @nilsonmorales ; is interested... really interested about a driver for Broadcom BCM43228 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4359] , do you know if this new mod satisfy his demands??

Please, if someone can answer this question, we will be really thankful for your help, because he need it to use in our derivative (f96ce-xfce-fusilli).

I consider this an interesting addition, but ...

Thanks a lot for your help.

[ozsouth]

@pp4mnklinux - I must have read some minds - as part of my F96CE-4 testing, I made out-of-tree drivers rtl8821ce, & wl - which services that broadcom chip. They load (unlike in f96ce-3), but I haven't fired up my machines that have those to fully test. I've packaged wl driver - should be fine for nilson . Use at own risk. UPDATE: issues, so new .pet is on page 3, even though old one worked for me.
(Note: F96CE-3 can have those drivers working if you change kernel to 6.0.13ao as I suggested in forum topic viewtopic.php?p=85623#p85623, but may be other issues.)

@rockedge - This looks good. I note that wget & curl versions are about 3 years old. I've compiled mid 2022 versions against gnutls (this version is 3.6.13, 3 years old). Have also compiled against openssl, as you updated that. Wget still wants gnutls too, but we do what we can without going down too many dependency rabbit-holes. Curl is more important than wget. Busybox is recent, so no worries there. Confirm wl & rtl8821ce compile & load.

[pp4mnklinux]

Thanks a lot @ozsouth , this is what makes puppy fantastic.

Good work. I tell Nilson that her driver is ready for him.-

Thanks again.- CHEERS.-

[keniv]

@rockedge
I'm getting the following error when trying to download the checksum for the .iso and the devx.
Not Found
The requested URL was not found on this server.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

The checksum for Kernel_sources is working.

Have downloaded and installed F96-CE_4. I was slightly worried about the effect of this

Pulseaudio will automatically detect your audio output devices, including standard hardware devices and virtual devices such as pulseaudio-equalizer-ladspa. When there are multiple output devices (including virtual devices), pulseaudio will have no knowledge of your preferred (default) output device unless you select and save that information to the pulseaudio configuration file (/root/.config/pulse/default.pa).

on my software defined radio apps but all still appears to be working.

Regards,

Ken.

[rockedge]

I fixed the URL's in the first post!

[gychang]

Hi:

Do you think we must use this F96 New version or do you think there are so "small" improvements and modifications that is better not to change fron F96CE3 if you are satisfied with the way it works?

For me I update to the latest iso and use the same save folder (after the initial save) and have no problems as long as is on the same computer, so minimal work when frugalpup installer is used.

[mikeslr]

Hi:

Do you think we must use this F96 New version or do you think there are so "small" improvements and modifications that is better not to change fron F96CE3 if you are satisfied with the way it works?

For me I update to the latest iso and use the same save folder (after the initial save) and have no problems as long as is on the same computer, so minimal work when frugalpup installer is used.

For me updating could be more complicated as I add a lot of old applications some requiring libs no longer supported --e.g. masterpdfeditor4-- or where what's included in the ISO would conflict with my preference --e.g. conky vs. pwidgets. What I do is rename ydrv to bdrv, then install stuff and use Save2SFS to create a ydrv. [ydrv's application settings have priority over bdrv's].

I use a SaveFolder for testing and/or things which I expect to eventually update, e.g LibreOffice.sfs or choice of default web-browser.

The catch is that both bdrv and ydrv are READ-ONLY; and as Save2SFS doesn't work with bdrvs, modifying either of them can be a PITA. Moreover, Save2SFS --unlike Remasters-- doesn't handle remove builtins or deletions of files from the core-SFS or READ-ONLY SFSes well. Rather it captures white-outs rather than removing the unwanted applications/files.

But I just renamed F96CE4's ydrv to bdrv copied over the ydrv I built under F96CE3 and booted up without any issues. I had expected to have a problem with the conky-pwidget conflict. That would occur because both have triggers in /root/Startup; and to eliminate the conflict IIRC under F96CE3 I had to unpack one of the SFSes, delete conky's entry in Startup and repack.

F96CE4 seems to be working well. I'm happy the pwidget-conky conflict didn't appear. But I'll have to investigate as to why.

EdIt: Investigation revealed my memory was flaky. I had taken the easy-road. Deleted the conky file in /root/Startup; then preserved the change in the ydrv. Examining it showed a .wh file. The easy-road would be a problem if I ever want conky to start on bootup.

[keniv]

I fixed the URL's in the first post!

Tried the above. The devx now works but the .iso is still giving me the same error as I reported in my previous post. I have tried with two different browsers but I get the same result.

Regards,

Ken.

[rockedge]

@keniv there still was a missing slash! Fixed it.........maybe this time

[pp4mnklinux]

Aha, @mikeslr , that is what happens to me and the situación that makes me think two times before update, becaus although I save the previous save file, what usually happens is that after 2 weeks of hard work, when I thought everything works well, an error with the new edition appears and usually this error appears just 5 minutes after I deleted this savefile that worked ok for me (Murphy's law) .

So I habe dozens of save files and full backups (AOMEI) just in case... but organice them make bump my head,

THANKS U ALL.

Hi:

Do you think we must use this F96 New version or do you think there are so "small" improvements and modifications that is better not to change fron F96CE3 if you are satisfied with the way it works?

For me I update to the latest iso and use the same save folder (after the initial save) and have no problems as long as is on the same computer, so minimal work when frugalpup installer is used.

For me updating could be more complicated as I add a lot of old applications some requiring libs no longer supported --e.g. masterpdfeditor4-- or where what's included in the ISO would conflict with my preference --e.g. conky vs. pwidgets. What I do is rename ydrv to bdrv, then install stuff and use Save2SFS to create a ydrv. [ydrv's application settings have priority over bdrv's].

I use a SaveFolder for testing and/or things which I expect to eventually update, e.g LibreOffice.sfs or choice of default web-browser.

The catch is that both bdrv and ydrv are READ-ONLY; and as Save2SFS doesn't work with bdrvs, modifying either of them can be a PITA. Moreover, Save2SFS --unlike Remasters-- doesn't handle remove builtins or deletions of files from the core-SFS or READ-ONLY SFSes well. Rather it captures white-outs rather than removing the unwanted applications/files.

But I just renamed F96CE4's ydrv to bdrv copied over the ydrv I built under F96CE3 and booted up without any issues. I had expected to have a problem with the conky-pwidget conflict. That would occur because both have triggers in /root/Startup; and to eliminate the conflict IIRC under F96CE3 I had to unpack one of the SFSes, delete conky's entry in Startup and repack.

F96CE4 seems to be working well. I'm happy the pwidget-conky conflict didn't appear. But I'll have to investigate as to why.

[keniv]

@keniv there still was a missing slash! Fixed it.........maybe this time

Yep working now at this end and checks out . Thanks for that.

Ken.

[wizard]

@ozsouth
F96-CE_4
Have a Dell E6430 laptop with the Broadcom BCM43228 wifi. I've installed your wl-64-updt-k6.0.12-FP-F96CE-4.pet, but none of the network tools recognize the card. Fossapup64 9.5 does find it, if that helps.

Did I miss something?

Thanks
wizard

[Clarity]

Today, testing F96CEv4 ISO file booting into a VM. Here's the stanza

Code: Select all

qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -vga std -m 2G -smp 2 -device AC97 -name "F96CE v4 via QEMU" -cdrom F96-CE_4.iso

No issues to report as all seems well. Thanks to EVERYONE for this system. The following shows a screen shot of how to access the HOST system's share (assuming you have set it up).

F96CE-v4 in QEMU.jpg (72.24 KiB) Viewed 15254 times

Hope the screenshot info is helpful. This distro is stable and fast in my use thus far.

[Jasper]

@rockedge

Congratulations to you and the Dev team in your continued work ................ how you guys/girls find the time I don't know

I am not a user of this OS, but would just like to know what changes you have made to the DevX?

Does it have different/updated applications that are not available in FP64-95?

[ozsouth]

@wizard - I guess I should have fully tested first. This may be a blacklisting issue. Please look at lsmod to see if b43, bcma, ssb & wl are present.

LATER: I"m posting from my laptop with bcm4360, one of the 10 chips (including yours) that allegedly can use wl driver, so it works for me. I did use the tray icon to connect. As well as trying the above, what happens if you boot a fresh f96ce-4 & DON'T load the .pet?

[wizard]

@ozsouth

Please look at lsmod to see if b43, bcma, ssb & wl are present.

All present

Thanks
wizard

[wizard]

@ozsouth

LATER: I"m posting from my laptop with bcm4360, one of the 10 chips (including yours) that allegedly can use wl driver, so it works for me. As well as trying the above, what happens if you boot a fresh f96ce-4 & DON'T load the .pet?

Card is not found

Thanks
wizard

[ozsouth]

@wizard - as I thought, blacklisting is not working for you. If you use a savefile/folder, you can do the following steps manually (with the .pet installed), then save.
In a terminal, run:
rmmod b43
rmmod bcma
rmmod brcmsmac
rmmod ssb

If any fails, it may be the order is wrong.

The source site has this order, which you could try:

rmmod ssb
rmmod bcma
rmmod b43
rmmod brcmsmac

If one of those succeeds, run rmmod wl, then a few seconds later modprobe wl & it should work.

Could also be a timing issue, as the laptop I test on, despite being 10 years old, has an i5 cpu.

[wizard]

@ozsouth

If one of those succeeds, run rmmod wl, then a few seconds later modprobe wl & it should work.

Worked, but does not survive reboot. Install is frugal on internal hd

Also found that if I uninstall the .pet, reboot and reinstall, it works until I reboot

Could also be a timing issue, as the laptop Itest on, despite being 10 years old, has an i5 cpu.

This Dell E6430 has an i7, would a script in Startup work, or is there a better solution?

Thanks
wizard

[ozsouth]

@wizard - this seems peculiar to F96CE, user newpet has similar issues with the rtl8821ce driver. Same result - not holding change after save. Hence a startup script might be all we can do. Please check /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf to see it b43 etc is at end of file.
We could try another blacklisting method - edit /etc/rc.d/MODULESCONFIG & at about line 13, add the 4 modules ( b43 bcma brcmsmac ssb ) in the SKIPLIST statement (with a space in between, as you will see other modules listed). That may work, after the .pet is installed, & may survive reboot.

[wizard]

@ozsouth

Please check /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf to see it b43 etc is at end of file.

Not there

Thanks
wizard

[ozsouth]

@wizard - try the manual SKIPLISTING as in my previous post, after installing the .pet, then reboot & see if wl works.

[wizard]

@ozsouth

try the manual SKIPLISTING as in my previous post, after installing the .pet, then reboot & see if wl works.

That worked.

Put on your hero hat

Thanks
wizard

[ozsouth]

@wizard - Great! I'll modify my .pet.

LATER: wizard please check your pm's.

[ozsouth]

F96CE-4 seems to not like my standard blacklisting, nor via command line. The very old method of skiplisting works, so linked is a Broadcom wl driver .pet, tested ok by wizard and myself. Is here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/axjuoixz ... p.pet/file