DingoPlus

[drbongo]

DingoPlus is a straight-forward remaster of Dingo customised for the Asus Eeepc!

Original DingoPlus
Iso: http://www.rnc.ac.uk/mct/linux/dingoplus/dingoplus.zip (255mb)
MD5SUM: 93d547675a6f699b2f4c31b5a5753220 dingoplus.iso

Wesnoth Special Edition*
Iso: http://www.rnc.ac.uk/mct/linux/dingoplu ... esnoth.zip (321mb)
md5sum: 04a3c2eeaf465c7f327bff067cd3767f dingoplus-wesnoth.iso

It includes plenty of extra packages as well as all of the required Eeepc drivers. The wireless works straight out of the box, although you will have to load the Atl2 module if you want to use the wired ethernet. The brightness and wireless function keys work, but the volume and mute functions keys don't, but you can control the volume using the icon on the taskbar and I have installed xbindkeys if you want to set them up. Significant additions include Open Office, Remote Desktop Client and Python/PyGtk programming facilities. For a full list of packages see the list below. I have not changed the look of Dingo as I think it looks great already and I do not want to take credit away from the original developers by rebranding it. It contains all of the applications I need at work and home, it will run in the RAM comfortably on any computer with 512Mb RAM and it will boot from USB flash drives, SD cards and hard drives.

It has to be downloaded as a ZIP file as the file server I am using does not allow the transfer of .iso images. Inside the ZIP file you will find the .iso image, the md5sum, a package list and a screenshot. The md5sum is for the .iso image not the ZIP file! I do not have any way of tracking how many times DingoPlus is downloaded as yet - so I would appreciate it is you could send an e-mail to tony.sales@rncb.ac.uk with the word 'dingoplus ' as the subject along with any positive and/or negative feedback if you download it.

update:

I have just uploaded a special edition of DingoPlus featuring the Battle of Wesnoth turn based strategy game. This has exactly the same applications as the original DingoPlus with the addition of SDL and The Battle of Wesnoth. I have modified the Battle of Wesnoth so that it starts in windowed mode because it cannot handle the 800x480 resolution on the Asus Eeepc. However you can navigate the start screens by enlarging it to 1024x768 by pressing alt and left mouse in the bottom left corner, dragging it to the top right corner and dragging the corner of the window.

Once you have started the game you can then maximise the window again and navigate by using the cursor keys to scroll around the map and hotkeys to play the game, and you can use Ctrl+Z/X to zoom in and out if you want.

Extra Packages Included:

Puppy 3 packages: (http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dis ... uppylinux/)

Gnocl (needed by RemoteDesktopClient)
Gtk+12 (needed by Linneighborhood)
OpenOffice Cutdown
OpenOffice Dictionary
OpenOffice Help
OpenOffice Missing
Linneighborhood
PawdioConverter
PupDVDtool
RemoteDesktopClient

Puppy 4 packages: (http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dis ... uppylinux/)

DotPupHandler
Gimp
Grabc
FlashPlayer9 Plugins
FullXorgDrivers
Hpijs
Gutenprint
NTFS3g
Xine Plugins

Dotpups.de packages: (http://dotpups.de/dotpups/)

MUwizardmaker
Glade
GTKbasic3
GTK Reference Docs (found in /usr/docs)
GTK Tutorial Docs (found in /usr/docs)
Puppy Software Installer
PyGtk
PyGtkdemo
Python 2.5
RealPlayer
Xbindkeys
ZynSubFX (no menu entry)
SDL*
BatttleFor Wesnoth* (windowed)

Pupeee b4 packages: (http://waltonpond.com/eeepc/)

Madwifi-ng
Asus_acpi
Atl2
Uvcvideo
Xbindkeys

updates:

I have just uploaded a new version with a fix for the ipw3945 bug, which has the same URL but a different md5sum. If you have already downloaded DingoPlus and have problems with a wireless driver you can download the two corrected config files and simply overwrite the ones in the /etc directory. These can be found at: http://www.rnc.ac.uk/mct/linux/dingoplu ... pw3945.zip

I have discovered a small bug in the Puppy Package Manager in the latest version of DingoPlus. I had eliminated this bug in the first version, but stupidly forgot to fix it when I fixed the ipw3945 bug.

Basically when you open the Puppy Package Manager, there is no listing for Puppy 2 and 3 packages. This is not the end of the world as you can still install them from the Puppy Software Installer.

I will upload a new iso with this bug fixed tomorrow (9:00am 28/07/08) but in the meantime there is a simple fix. Download this very small file (15kb) from:

http://www.rnc.ac.uk/mct/linux/dingoplu ... ckages.zip

Unzip it and place the two text files in the (hidden) .packages folder in your /root folder. Click on the eye icon on the toolbar to reveal the hidden folders.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

drbongo 22/07/08

[ICPUG]

I've been waiting for this since you announced it a week or so ago.

What is the download link?

[Lobster]

dingoplus
255mb.iso

Download: http://www.rnc.ac.uk/mct/linux/dingoplus/dingoplus.zip
MD5 Checksum: 7fad1e86f4858de0598c2e1918fb9ebf

[drbongo]

Thanks for posting the URL, I forgot to include it on the forum post! I have now added it to the first post.

drbongo

[mdisaster2]

Downloading

Is that a 701 screen ? Because that's what I have at the moment...

[drbongo]

Yes the screenshot is from an Asus Eeepc with a 7inch screen - the 701.

drbongo

[drbongo]

It seems that the Madwifi package installed to make DingoPlus work on the Asus Eeepc can cause problems for other wireless modules that normally work with Puppy 4. I have not removed anything so I assume it must be the Madwifi package.

I have confirmed this bug on two laptops which use the ipw3945 module, but it works fine on the Asus Eeepc, with various ethernet cards and on a laptop which uses the orinoco_cs module.

If anyone has any suggestions I would be very grateful. If not I will just have to create a seperate version without the Madwifi package for other wireless cards etc.

drbongo

[drbongo]

On one of the laptops running the 'autoprobe' option after selecting 'load module' then 'more' fixed the problem (toshiba satellite). But not on the other (sony vaio) the ipw3945 module is loaded though but for some reason it is not detecting the wireless device.

[jakfish]

Congratulations on your release!

Re: the EEE--I think DingoPlus will run into the same sound problems that Pupeee has on the 900. Tempestuous clued me in that current snd-hda-intel ALSA module can't yet cope with the ALSA 1.0.17 driver needed to drive sound in the 900 series.

Jake

[drbongo]

I haven't noticed any problems with the sound yet - the sound works but I haven't listened to any music or assessed the sound quality on the Asus Eeepc (701) with DingoPlus yet! I don't have access to a 900 so I can't help you there.

Some people have found problems with wireless connections when using DingoPlus on computers other than the Asus Eeepc. I have been able to reproduce the problem on two laptops that use the ipw3945 module and find the cause of this problem. I accidently overwrote the original /etc/modprobe.conf file with the one from Pupeee b4, instead of manually inserting the Atl2 module.

I will remaster the .iso tomorrow incorporating the original file, in the meantime you can use your wireless connection by typing /sbin/ipw3945d at the console (insert the name of the missing module) or by simply replacing the provided /etc/modprobe.conf file with the original from Puppy 4 and rebooting.

drbongo

[drbongo]

I am happy to report that I have now remastered DingoPlus with the correct /etc/modprobe.conf and /etc/networkmodules files. I will not be able to upload it until tomorrow morning (24/07/08 9:00 GMT), but I will upload the two files with instructions as well incase you have already downloaded it once and do not want to do it again.

With any other distro this would have been a major job involving a complete remastering from scratch. Fortunately with puppy it was just a case of booting from DingoPlus and then replacing the files during the remastering process - it took about 10 minutes from start to burning a new CD.

[BHINTZ]

I have been trying to get RemoteDesktop working on puppy 4 since it first came out without this option. I have failed every time. When I saw you had included it and found that it actually worked, I was very pleased.

Just wanted to say thanks as I can now move forward into the 4.x's

bob

[jakfish]

Downloaded it to play on my 900. I'll give a better report, but can't yetm since I'm booting from USB (XP on SSD), and I can't find a way to make a save file.

I've searched this out to find that Puppy 4 has a hard time saving to USB drive. Any advice?

Also, the wireless toggle (Fn-2) doesn't yet work in the 900. Any other command I need?

On the other hand, DingoPlus picks up the 900's resolution from xorg setup right away--no need to doctor the mod*.conf file. Excellent work.

Jake

[drbongo]

I have just uploaded a new version with a fix for the ipw3945 bug, which has the same URL but a different md5sum. If you have already downloaded DingoPlus and have problems with a wireless driver you can download the two corrected config files and simply overwrite the ones in the /etc directory. These can be found at: http://www.rnc.ac.uk/mct/linux/dingoplu ... pw3945.zip

Iso Download: http://www.rnc.ac.uk/mct/linux/dingoplus/dingoplus.zip
MD5 Checksum: 790473d4ac776a7cf4e81630796775cc dingoplus.iso

[drbongo]

I am afraid I don't have access to an Asus 900 so I can't help you on that one. If I get my hands on one (which is unlikely at the moment) I will try to remaster a version specifically for that model.

There is no reason why you cannot save your changes onto the ssd card unless you have run out of space. Another option would be to save the changes onto the USB stick you booted it from etc.

The reason Remote desktop Client fails to work on Puppy 4 is because it requires Gnocl to run, but it will not tell you this unless you try to launch it from a console.

A good tip is to try to launch any app with is problematic from a console and 9 times out of 10 it will tell you what is missing. You can then search the puppy repositories and/or the dotpups.de repository to see if the package is available. Both Remote Desktop Client and Gnocl are available from Puppy 3 packages. My package list givs the URL of where I got them all from.

drbongo

[jakfish]

Many thanks for your help. I've poked around in DingoPlus but can't find a way/command in DP to save the puppy save file to the USB stick from which I've booted. Can you point me in the right direction?

Jake

[drbongo]

In order to save from a USB boot you have to shutdown and then it will ask you if you want to save your changes or not. You can then choose where to save them - hard drive, usb pen etc. I would recommend you save the changes on the pen you boot it from. Then you choose the save file size, I would recommend using up available space on the pen unless you want to use it to transfer windoze files.

The next time you boot it will reload all of your changes and save them to the same file automatically at next shutdown.

drbongo

[jakfish]

That's the rub--unlike Pupeee (3.01), Puppy 4 apparently does not prompt to make a puppy file when running off a usb stick (I think it will prompt when running from hd or cd). In USB, it simply says "session not saved" and adios go your changes.

Jake

[drbongo]

That is strange, I have not had a problem with my USB installs from Memory Sticks and or SD cards, but I will investigate tonight and let you know what happens. I presume you are booting on an Asus Eeepc. It would help if you could let me know whether this happens with the original Puppy 4 as well or is it specific to DingoPlus?

drbongo

[jakfish]

Using the EEE 900, I am booting from usb stick (choosing that in ASUS BIOS). I have not played with Puppy 4, except in your distro, so I can't help there (I've only been using linux for five days, Windows for sixteen years )

But in Pupeee, upon exit, it automatically prompts to make a save file and then incorporates that in the next boot. Obviously, that's not happening here.

But since I've read many threads about this, my amateur opinion is that this is generic to P4, not your distro.

Jake