Fatdog64-901 Final [10 Oct 2023]

[fatdoguser]

Libreoffice Calc. When entering a formula in the formula bar tips pops up and obscures what you are typing. Tried disabling tips everywhere that I could see within the Options, including under the Expert section within which I searched for 'tip' and set all occurrences to FALSE. Pretty much makes Calc unusable and I really only use Fatdog infrequently for Libre Office (with Chrome running alongside that)

Might be because I'm using a Radeon based laptop, with the UI tweaks script in the /etc/profile.d folder set to have Libre use qt instead of gtk. Last time I used Libre calc in the 900 alpha/beta? I didn't notice that tip annoyance effect.

[don570]

@ fatdoguser
Perhaps clicking 'Reset' in keyboard shortcuts

Screenshot 2023-09-22 16.07.27.png (50.01 KiB) Viewed 1462 times

________________________________

[fatdoguser]

Thanks for offering help @don570 .

Turning off

Tools > Autoinput

was all that was required

[step]

@fatdoguser, I'm lucky that it doesn't happen on my PC. It's good to know that you found a work-around that may help other users.
My video card: built-in intel. My /etc/profile.d/ui_tweaks.sh:

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export SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=qt5   # gtk3, qt5, or gen. Default is gtk3. gtk3 can be slow on radeon.
export SAL_VCL_QT5_USE_CAIRO=1 # prevent UI text corruption when using qt5 interface

With Tools>Autoinput enabled:

LOcalc-20230923.png (24.52 KiB) Viewed 1411 times

[rcrsn51]

PS: PLEASE, Please, please post ANY shortcomings or issues you find in booting using this technology. This helps all of us.

How much RAM did your client machines have when booting Fatdog over PXE?

[fatdoguser]

@fatdoguser, I'm lucky that it doesn't happen on my PC. It's good to know that you found a work-around that may help other users.
My video card: built-in intel. My /etc/profile.d/ui_tweaks.sh:

Code: Select all

export SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=qt5   # gtk3, qt5, or gen. Default is gtk3. gtk3 can be slow on radeon.
export SAL_VCL_QT5_USE_CAIRO=1 # prevent UI text corruption when using qt5 interface

With Tools>Autoinput enabled:

LOcalc-20230923.png

My tip⇩presents as more of a rectangle that near totally obscures the formula entry bar, whilst yours⇧is more a 'speech oval'

Perhaps a different theme might eliminate the issue, I'm happy to just leave auto input turned off

[JakeSFR]

RE: Calc tooltip

Yeah, it's annoying, I suffer it, too.
However, I just found that:
- if I open an .ods file by clicking it, the tooltip obscures everything to the right of the cursor, but
- if I open Calc and _then_ load an .ods file, the tooltip appears somewhere around, not obscuring the formula.

Anyone can confim?

EDIT: Hmm, it worked yesterday, but today - not really.
It's very unpredictable and inconsistent.

Greetings!

[Clarity]

How much RAM did your client machines have when booting Fatdog over PXE?

All of my test PCs have min 4GB. Largest one has 8GB. PC ages range from DDR2 days to DDR3 days with the youngest of those tested at 2015.

I dont have anything smaller. These are all PCs dumped on me over the years.

[step]

@fatdoguser, now that I can see a screenshot of your issue I notice a huge difference in toolbar icons and many other details. I had completely forgotten that I load an extra theme engine for Qt. I am not sure if this is why I don't see the problem. Perhaps you and @JakeSFR could load the extra style engine and confirm that it solves the problem?

As JakeSFS made me notice, the two interfaces look so different because I use the gtk3 interface for LibreOffice, not the Qt one

[JakeSFR]

export QT_STYLE_OVERRIDE=kvantum

Tried that, but no difference, except for the looks.

Besides, are you sure that you're actually using QT5 frontend in LO, because the tooltip on your screenshot looks like the one I see with GTK3 frontend?
Help -> About should tell it: User Interface: UI render: default; VCL: qt5 (cairo+xcb).

Greetings!

[step]

@JakeSFR, you're right, I'm not using Qt, my LO Help about dialog shows gtk3. And since kvantum doesn't make a difference for you it probably won't make a difference for others. I'll move my previous post to the software sub-forum.

edit: moved here

[fatdoguser]

Kvantum

YMMV, please confirm if it solves your issue. Thank you.

Seeing your bubble tooltip I did install other themes - Tools, Options, View and clicked the + next to the Theme, so that is why my image looks different. But the tooltip remained the same rectangle over the mouse position rather than a 'speech bubble' raised above the mouse position (and formula bar).

The Kvantum themes look good, but doesn't resolve the tooltip issue for me. I still have a rectangular block that obscures the formula bar. The shading and option for ovals etc. look very nice, thanks for the very clear instructions for that. I have however reverted to as it was before as I prefer the simpler/older (galaxy theme) look.

[fatdoguser]

With a Radeon I either can have Libre Calc being slow to scroll/move around if there are charts (graphics) when the interface is gtk3; Or if qt5 is used the AutoInput text covers the formula bar whilst typing (that if AutoInput is turned off resolves that issue); Or I can use X11 as the interface, that whilst some consider that to be ugly I personally find it to be OK, is very snappy. The X11 interface will also apply to the likes of VLC music player however so that looks bland rather than cool.

Make /etc/profile.d/ui_tweaks.sh executable and edit it to use X11 (gen) instead of either gtk3 or qt5

Code: Select all

export SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gen SAL_FORCEDPI=200

The default DPI was too small for my liking, setting a value of 200 works for me

Moving around worksheets with charts/graphics is quick, and AutoInput doesn't have to be turned off

[fatdoguser]

Another option is to just launch from the command line

Start calc with X11 interface

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SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gen SAL_FORCEDPI=200 /usr/bin/soffice --calc

Start writerr with gtk3 interface

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SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=gtk3 SAL_FORCEDPI=96 /usr/bin/soffice --writer

If you want qt5 interface also to be available you might set SAL_USE_VCLPLUGIN=qt5 and SAL_VCL_QT5_USE_CAIRO=1 in /etc/profile.d/ui_tweaks so that is the default

So you could, for example, have Libre Calc running using X11 (gen), and Libre Writer running using qt5 (or gtk3) within the same session

[stemsee]

Code: Select all

Error connecting to Touchégg daemon: Could not connect: Connection refused
Reconnecting in 5 seconds...

1) touchegg appears to be a daemon. Maybe it could be included in fatdog64 Service Manager at some point?

2) xpra browser seems to do nothing, should a gui open? In my tests, between two fatdog laptops on lan and wan, xpra didn't work.

3) .....erm...there was a three!?! unrelated pipewire on slackware....

Good Job on 900 though

[fatdoguser]

When I search the Fatdog help and enter a help search word and submit that I see mostly just underscore titles for each found item, no section titles. Is that correct or a bug?

[don570]

I describe a simple fix to VLC media player to make it work correctly with video files.
For Nvidia card users only.!!
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic. ... 772#p99772
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[step]

@fatdoguser thanks for your report. It is most certainly a bug. The link jumps are working but the link text is replaced by an underscore, which makes clicking the jump a dexterity challenge For Fatdog64 900 series we have moved from a manual method to generate the local help files - like we did for 800 series - to an automatic method. It's all new and there could be other bugs waiting to be discovered.

edit: hot fix available in the second post of this thread

[don570]

@step

Is it possible to re-write 'xorgwizard' so when the 'nvidia proprietary' option is chosen
the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-gpudriver.conf
isn't created, since it is incompatible with xorg.
____________________________________

[don570]

I found a video file from YouTube that won't open in fatdog64 900. It will open in fatdog64 812 and my chromebook.
I had problems downloading the file originally so I suspect that there is some damage to file.
I thought I should report this even though it isn't very important.

File is available for download. Size 30mb
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HowwZx ... sp=sharing
_______________________________________________________________

[fatdoguser]

I found a video file from YouTube that won't open in fatdog64 900. It will open in fatdog64 812 and my chromebook.
I had problems downloading the file originally so I suspect that there is some damage to file.
I thought I should report this even though it isn't very important.

File is available for download. Size 30mb
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HowwZx ... sp=sharing
_______________________________________________________________

Plays ok here with Fatdog 900. If opened directly within chrome, or if downloaded and played with VLC.

[step]

@fatdoguser, thank for checking. @don570, same for me: it plays OK in vlc, although with some decoder warnings in the terminal, and in mpv, no warnings.
I couldn't download the link with vivaldi browser (chrome based) but I could with firefox. md5 checksum 26a8fd05691d19326dd773128a0b0083.
I have an integrated Intel video card.
If you have _executable_ file /etc/profile.d/vdpau-va-gl.sh, does it look like this?

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#!/bin/sh
if ! lsmod | grep -q i915; then
	export VDPAU_DRIVER=va_gl
	#export VDPAU_QUIRKS="XCloseDisplay,ShowWatermark,AvoidVA"
	export VDPAU_QUIRKS="AvoidVA"
else
	export VDPAU_DRIVER=
fi

[don570]

I investigated further and have concluded that the media player is not involved.
The basic problem is the file is not recognized by system (but it is listed when I do 'ls' command).
For instance copy 'cp' command and renaming can't be done.

Checking further I noticed that when the uploading is done from my Chromebook to fatdog server there is a change
in two characters. (see image)
The quotation characters have changed to question character.

Screenshot-video-bug.png (21.44 KiB) Viewed 953 times

Here is another example of a file that causes problems
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUgAtUDc8VY&pp= ... 91a3JhaW5l
when I download it to my Chromebook using yt5s.com the file is named
yt5s.com-��GEOPOLITICS LIVE _ Ukraine _ Russia _ China _ USA w_ Brian Berletic _ Daniel Dumbrill-(144p).mp4

but when I upload the file to my fatdog SAMBA server the �� characters turn to ?? characters and I can't play the file.

However when I boot up my computer a few minutes later with fatdog 812 and I try playing the fatdog 900 file, there is no problem
and the characters have turned back to original (see first image)

I did a check with Barry's Easy OS 5.5.2 and uploaded to SAMBA server from my Chromebook again.
There was no problem with characters and the file played.(see image)

screenshot-easyos.png (8.39 KiB) Viewed 953 times

___________________________________________________________________

Maybe this version of SAMBA server has problems specifically with Chromebooks.
I noticed that the repository has two versions available.

Looking on internet for other users with SAMBA problems
I came across a MAC OS user...

4
Adding "mangled names = no" to smb.conf solved this (thanks, Dennis Williamson). –
Matti
Mar 23, 2010 at 0:25

=> In my case, what solved this issue was adding the following lines to the [global] section inside the smb.conf file on my Linux machine:

mangled names = no
dos charset = CP850
unix charset = UTF-8
After that, I opened a shell terminal window and restarted the Linux Samba server with this command:

sudo service smbd restart

______________________________________________________________

I'll continue to investigate.
______________

[step]

I suspect there is nothing broken. I think you're facing an example of "interoperability" between networked systems. Let me explain. The quotation characters in your screenshot look like "smart" quotes (or left- and right-double quotation marks, U+201C “ and U+201D ”). A system that encodes characters in UTF-8, like Linux, can use and display those characters as intended. A system that encodes characters differently, like many Windows systems, can't, so it displays a question mark instead. When you copy a file with those characters in its name to a network server, you're implicitly assuming that the server encodes its characters in UTF-8. But if the server uses a different character encoding, and it isn't told to use your encoding (there are many different encodings), the server displays a question mark for the characters it doesn't understand. When you tried to open the file through the remote server, the server couldn't find the file due to the unresolved smart quotes. The solution you found configures the server so that it knows to convert foreign names in a way that is interoperable (compatible) between your PC and the server.

edit: @don570: To view a character-by-character analysis of file names you can use mm_view (pre-installed).

Maybe this version of SAMBA server has problems specifically with Chromebooks.

I don't view them as problems. All the systems involved in this game need to agree on what to do when a foreign character is presented. In other words, all systems involved need to be correctly configured for this intended use. Apparently they weren't, and you found a configuration that works for your case. You might ask, so why does it work with Fatdog64 812 without this extra configuration step? Possibly because the samba server in 812 is older than the one in 900, and the samba developers have changed the server's default configuration in a way that is less compatible with your home servers - but probably more compatible with newer technology out there.

Thank you for showing the configuration that worked for you. Other users may find it useful.

By the way, when I read your post I couldn't tell if "SAMBA server", "fatdog server" and "Linux server" are the same server, and if it's a Fatdog 900 server, and if there aren't other samba servers involved.

[don570]

The solution you found configures the server so that it knows to convert foreign names in a way that is interoperable (compatible) between your PC and the server.

I still haven't tested the suggestions I found. I'll try tonite but I doubt it will solve problem.
By the way right clicking on blue Network icon has a 'utf-8 option' which may be related to 'mangle' option
---------------------------------------------------------
I call it the fatdog 900 server because I don't want to confuse it with a Chromebook which can be used as a server in theory at least . I haven't done it.

_____________________________
I try a different version of Samba at the repository.

[don570]

re: chromebook to samba server --> the oddball characters in filename aren't recognized by fatdog64
I tried samba4-4.17.5-x86_64-1.txz and even tried an installation on a different formated partition.
Same problem, however I found that from the chromebook side I still have access to the files and can
open them and can change their names. Once name is changed fatdog64 can then open the file.
___________________________________________________________________________

[proebler]

Running FatDog64-900 on a Intel(R) Celeron(R) 2955U @ 1.40GHz, I notice that boot time is approx. 1min 35sec and thus much longer than with FatDog64-813 . (approx. 40sec).
Boot times for BionicPup64 or LxPupSc64 on the same machine are very similar to that of FatDog64-813.
I am puzzled by this and wonder why with FatDog64-900 it is so slow.

Menu entry for grub4dos:
title FatDog-900 NEW INSTALL
uuid=3a4f57a9-44b0-4a75-9566-56e6f55dcdec
kernel /.900/vmlinuz savefile=ram:uuid:3a4f57a9-44b0-4a75-9566-56e6f55dcdec:/.900/fd64save_NEW.ext4
initrd /.900/initrd

regards
proebler

[step]

boot time is approx. 1min 35sec and thus much longer than with FatDog64-813 . (approx. 40sec).

Yes, approx. 135% increase.
On what visible events does your stopwatch start and stop? Knowing this can help us exclude some potential causes.

I am puzzled by this and wonder why with FatDog64-900 it is so slow.

Without more details I can think of several, possibly compounding, factors:
- booting 900 and 813 from different media, one slower than the other;
- are you booting either with savefile? Then different savefile contents;
- slow BIOS and huge initrd - the new initrd is ~25% larger;
- different kernel and drivers (modules);
- different microcode.

If you suspect that the kernel is slower to "boot", you could inspect the kernel log right after booting. Open a terminal window and enter command dmesg > /tmp/k.log then open file k.log with geany (or other text editor) and look for a big gap between two successive entries in the first column (time). For example, below, the difference between 50 and 523 qualifies as a big gap.

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[   50.417831] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/100
[  523.228515] loop12: detected capacity change from 0 to 221816

If you find such big gaps in k.log, they can be signs that the kernel or some module paused on an error or a timeout. Usually, at the end of the boot log there is a big gap due to the network card coming alive. We aren't interested in that particular event, unless it's marked by unexpected error messages.
While you're reading the boot log file, look for sign of missing modules, missing firmware, and so on.

Menu entry for grub4dos:
title FatDog-900 NEW INSTALL
uuid=3a4f57a9-44b0-4a75-9566-56e6f55dcdec
kernel /.900/vmlinuz savefile=ram:uuid:3a4f57a9-44b0-4a75-9566-56e6f55dcdec:/.900/fd64save_NEW.ext4
initrd /.900/initrd

It looks good to me. Have you also tried booting with grub?

[don570]

fatdog64 900 boots fast for my Dell 990 desktop
partition is formated ext4
frugal install
grub4dos menu.lst

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## start section Fatdog64-900
title Fatdog64 900 save file
find --set-root --ignore-floppies /fatdog900/vmlinuz
kernel /fatdog900/vmlinuz pfix=fsck psubdir=fatdog900  savefile=direct:device:sda3:/fatdog900
initrd /fatdog900/initrd

__________________________________________________

[Clarity]

Hello @proebler

I have ONLY EVER used GRUB2 for all FD uses since 2019. Reason: Simple to use and Worldwide updating for efficient use.

Curious: Would kernel line "loglevel=7" provide information that would be useful. If so, then he can run if for v814 and then do the same for v900. This allows one to compare the 2 outputs on the same PC.

Questions

• What is the age of this PC that this problem exist?

• And do you have any other PCs that he can compare boot timing on at your location?

• Is this a laptop/desktop?

• Is the savefile you show used on each FD version?

======================

I have been a user of FD for many years. Althought I appreciate the swiftness I reported few weeks back, the boot times were ONLY relevant for the preliminary testings that I was doing.

For normal, productive use, the boot times are really irrelevant to me as once-booted the PC is run, if not for hours, it is run for days/weeks or from recent time....years (unless prolonged power outages).

I have always found that system performance is the MOST IMPORTANT METRIC for use of any of the forum's distros. This is followed closely by stability; then ease of operation and navigation.