Carolina - 1.3

For talk and support relating specifically to Puppy derivatives
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pchan
Posts: 130
Joined: Fri 12 Oct 2012, 12:17
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

#301 Post by pchan »

Elroy and geofrey,

Please don't stop this wonderful project of developing carolina.

I am also a big fan of saluki 023.

It cannot be denied that Jejy69 is doing a very wonderful project with lxde multipup. And there is great potentials in precise_lxde multi.

But carolina, like saluki is based on Racy.
Racy has many pets and sfs that works well.

Precise puppy lx and carolina/saluki are my favourite puppy linux.

Precise has a lot of hopes because of ubuntu. Carolina useful because of racy power and well integrated xfce4.

(i also used to like macpup and its e17 implementation. But i need to know that i can have the ability to use compiz if needed. Compiz has 1 feature that i need from time to time. And that is its 'enhanced desktop zooming.' Racy and precise based puppies appears to have the abilities to run compiz well. Yes, macpup is also based on precise but at the moment my favourite precised based puppy is the one that allows mate, lxde, cinnamon, kde.)


Keep it up! I am happy when i see what BK is doing as well as people like you, Jejy69, micko and others. This is a nice community and it helps to know that without having to use bloated microsoft windows or bloated linux, one have to chance to do useful things on a not expensive laptop/desktop. Hopefully, in future, on arms tablets. Thanks!

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yumatu
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#302 Post by yumatu »

Wery nice puppy with XFCE!Thanks!

elroy

#303 Post by elroy »

pchan wrote:Elroy and geofrey,

Please don't stop this wonderful project of developing carolina
We're not going anywhere soon. We've been busy with development. And it certainly helps when other forum members can answer questions that others have posted. More than you know. Together we're not as talented as jemimah, and perhaps we're certainly slower concerning the end result, but perhaps together we're more thorough. We've been doing our best to move this thing forward. We're fast approaching a time when we'll be incompatible with Saluki due to various additions.

We're a very modified puppy...a niche distro, and we're well aware of that fact. We're not out to win any popularity contests. We're here to provide those that find Carolina useful with a great experience, and hopefully a solid intro to Puppy Linux. If a said user finds a more useful Puppy distro down the road, or becomes more confident in their linux journey, then that would be satisfactory. Our sole aim is to be an effective bridge between Windows/Mac and Puppy Linux. We have no illusions as to being the next "official" puppy linux, nor do we think we should be.

You're right, Jejy69 is doing some good things concerning puppy. All puppy distros are related, and by no means are we offended if someone chooses to use a different puppy distro. We're all for choice and user preference; if it works for you, and if you like it, then that's a good thing.

Currently, Geoffrey has been working on a home-brew web-cam app, and I've been working on migrating carolina to a totally xfce04.10 base, plugins and all. I've accomplished that, and carolina 003 will reflect that. Also, it will include the latest version of the pup-volume-manager, ene sdcard reader support, the latest Grub4Dos, and the latest pup-shutdown. As of 003, xfce4-4.8.0 will be history.. Look for 003 within the next week.

That said, I have no bone to pick with mufeed2012 or anikin - again, my sole purpose is to advance Puppy-Linux. That said, so long as you can add to the conversation in a respectful manner, I'm all for hearing your voice. I welcome differing opinions. It helps to visualize what's needed.

Sage
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Location: GB

#304 Post by Sage »

we're not as talented as jemimah
Frankly, your tolerance and persistence easily outweighs raw talent and engenders loyalty and responsiveness!
Geoff should beware of the webcam grave judging by the plethora of devices and legions of hopefuls that've passed through this Forum. Whatever happened to 'biker' ? He seemed to have a handle on the most obscure units but his website was immobile last time I looked a year or so back.
No need to parrot Windydoze, though. Xfce seems to be the first choice of some of the most respected gurus in the game according to my private correspondence.
Just one issue to consider: please 'Trim the Fat'. Everything Puppy is getting far too big. The project started ~30Mb .iso and was intended to be a compact distro. All the dogs in town can consume a liveCD-RW , many want to spill well into DVD-RW territory. It's not a question of cost or availability of discs, shiny new HW capability, etc., more a matter of time for testing and deployment. Crafty coding, clever SW selection is the more skilled: worth revisiting John's MeanPup every so-often to appreciate the art of the possible.

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jpup
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Carolina 002 Feedback

#305 Post by jpup »

Thanks for this wonderful release...
This version is special to me since it shares the same name with my girlfriend. I hope you guys will continue to develop it.

Works pretty good although I have encountered some minor problems.

I did a frugal install to a 1 Gb mini SD card on my Asus 1215B (AMD E 450)

really amazing how it could run on such a small storage device.

CPU scaling works, selected the K8, and on demand, I can switch via the notification panel, just like the asus super hybrid engine on windows, I wish I could set middle clock speeds for the performance mode (I want it to max to just 1.3GHz on performance not all the way to 1.6, and 1.6 when on turbo)

It feels a bit slower than precise, but I haven't really tinkered with the graphics drivers, and maybe the transparency effect I've added eats up more resources (just xfce settings, no compiz added yet, I really love xfce)

Wireless works, but there are a few issues. I'm also using an external USB card (RTL8187), it works well but, cant seem to use it with frisbee, since I cant select it as the active interface, it seems like frisbee sees both cards active and the tab for changing interfaces is greyed out.
You can still scan and try to connect but you get the cant set ssid error.
I'm currently just using the SNS, and it woks fine, but sometimes I get weird network behavior, I can stream radio, even video via umplayer, but surfing on the web browsers is really slow, and usually end up in time out errors. This happens occasionally. Also, it is best to boot up with the usb wifi card already connected, seems that wireless works better when it's set as wlan0 by the system, and the panel icon works better, you get the cross on the icon when you right click to select the disconnect from network, which should be how it works, this doesn't happen if you connect the usb card only after boot. Reconnect also works. I also experience some trouble with that icon after applying transparency effects. Now I need to right click and hold to select the options, otherwise, it will select whatever if you release it.


I love umplayer by the way, although its kind of slow, probably because of the graphics drivers, and umplayer still needs some functions sorted out.

There is this annoying issue with the mouse pointer, if you click on a window's title bar (or edges, any place related to moving or resizing a window) while it is behind another window, you lose control of the mouse, it becomes a cross, you can move the pointer but you can't click anything, and the only remedy is to do an ALT+TAB to regain the control.

Also I think some things should not be able to have multiple instances, because it will cause trouble.

PPM works good, but I think the single click to select should be changed to double click for easier navigation and to avoid accidents.

Pupsave issues... system keeps saving even if the auto save function is disabled.

Can't seem to load a savefile from the HDD when booting from the sd card install, works with the live CD.

wine works, got some of my windows apps running, but mostly portable versions.

weather plugin works

vlc seems to have issues with gst-ffmpeg, keeps saying its missing eventhough its been installed.

sensors seem to work, but I cant get conky to show cpu temps, or I just don't know how,

I've been using mostly buntu based distros in the past. I think the concept of the puppy running on RAM is great idea, really responsive system and such a small fingerprint. And I hope you guys keep up the good work.

thank you very much. looking forward to new updates and releases.





sorry for typos/errors/whatever, if there are any, the touchpad is annoying when typing, cant seem to disable it.

mcewanw
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#306 Post by mcewanw »

Interesting distribution. Tried it on my Pentium D 3.4GHz desktop.

I like some of the provided apps as slick alternatives to many of the usual Puppy gtkdialog-based creations. I've always felt that gtkdialog has its limitations though it is good for quickly putting a frontend together for some underlying utility or utilities. That said, I was wanting to try pavrecord in this to see if it functioned, but there being no ffmpeg supplied it obviously doesn't. No bit deal; you provide UCview anyway though I do miss ffmpeg (and ffplay) for other reasons and couldn't find a version in your repo. Having said that, ffmpeg is not something users coming directly over from Windoze or Mac are likely to be looking for... but nice to have the option, I think, rather than having to boot up different Puppy versions for different features.

A very nice desktop experience though, definitely fills a niche.
github mcewanw

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Geoffrey
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#307 Post by Geoffrey »

mcewanw wrote:Interesting distribution. Tried it on my Pentium D 3.4GHz desktop.

I like some of the provided apps as slick alternatives to many of the usual Puppy gtkdialog-based creations. I've always felt that gtkdialog has its limitations though it is good for quickly putting a frontend together for some underlying utility or utilities. That said, I was wanting to try pavrecord in this to see if it functioned, but there being no ffmpeg supplied it obviously doesn't. No bit deal; you provide UCview anyway though I do miss ffmpeg (and ffplay) for other reasons and couldn't find a version in your repo. Having said that, ffmpeg is not something users coming directly over from Windoze or Mac are likely to be looking for... but nice to have the option, I think, rather than having to boot up different Puppy versions for different features.

A very nice desktop experience though, definitely fills a niche.
There is a ffmpeg in the PPM, select "puppy-wary5" and type in the search entry ffmpeg and click Find Pets, you will find ffmpeg-20111002-w5c.pet
[b]Carolina:[/b] [url=http://smokey01.com/carolina/pages/recent-repo.html]Recent Repository Additions[/url]
[img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ahfade8q4def1lq/signbot.gif[/img]

mcewanw
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getting pavrecord video/webcam recorder to work on Carolina

#308 Post by mcewanw »

Geoffrey wrote: There is a ffmpeg in the PPM, select "puppy-wary5" and type in the search entry ffmpeg and click Find Pets, you will find ffmpeg-20111002-w5c.pet
Yes that Wary ffmpeg works fine but unfortunately it doesn't include ffplay, which is a dependency of pavrecord to allow video previewing.

As an alternative, I discovered, however, that I can run pavrecord version pup4x-0.9.2 on Carolina if I first download and install the quirky ffmpeg and associated ffplay and x264 pets below, and execute the attached fix_pavrecord_for_Carolina shell script (which modifies one line in pavrecord such that Thunar work with it instead of rox). Note that I uploaded the shell script with .tar extension to get it accepted by the forum but it is just a simple shell script so rename it without the .tar before use. Also, bear in mind that these are quirky compiled versions of ffmpeg so, as I state again below, their use is experimental and at your own risk...
I just ignored the install error messages including that about the mini-record icon already existing and about alsautils. The quirky ffmpeg didn't overwrite any existing files on my Carolina system, so was fine for me.

The attached fix_pavrecord_for_Carolina shell script contains the following lines of code only:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh
sed -i 's/rox -d/rox/' /usr/bin/pavrecord

That is, to get pavrecord working on Carolina (pretty much all pavrecord facilities except for x11grab mode I believe) installing the following on Carolina worked for me:

ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/pet_pac ... -20-q1.pet

ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/pet_pac ... -20-q1.pet

ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/pet_pac ... 619-q1.pet

along with the special pavrecord_pup4x-0.9.2.pet, which you can download here (make sure you use that version with this quirky ffmpeg):

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=81332

Once that is all installed, I just executed the attached fix_pavrecord_for_Carolins shell script and then pavrecord worked with my usb webcam, recording videos with sound, or making webcam JPEGS. Alas x11grab mode doesn't work with that quirky ffmpeg (I tried using x11grab with ffmpeg at the commandline): if you want x11grab functionality you would therefore need to recompile an uptodate ffmpeg and make sure you enable x11grab and include ffplay etc...

Like I say, use only entirely at your own risk since the above ffmpeg pets were compiled on or for quirky, which may or may not cause unforeseen problems. Worked fine for me though and providing this info in case it is useful for somebody.

A more permanent, safer, and complete solution would be for you to provide a version of ffmpeg plus ffplay etc specially compiled for and on Carolina.

As things stand, I haven't time to test this much, but I'll keep an eye on this column for any feedback of success or otherwise in using pavrecord on Carolina, assuming there is any...
Attachments
fix_pavrecord_for_carolina.tar
remove the .tar extension before use
(52 Bytes) Downloaded 461 times
github mcewanw

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jpup
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Caromlina custom builder

#309 Post by jpup »

tried the custom builder tool just now... says some packages could not be found in the repos

elroy

Re: Caromlina custom builder

#310 Post by elroy »

jpup wrote:tried the custom builder tool just now... says some packages could not be found in the repos
Hi jpup. If you could provide which packages the custom builder says it couldn't find, and which version of Carolina you ran the custom builder on when you experienced this, it would be helpful in finding the issue.

Montchalin
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Re: xfce4-panel-plugin-mount

#311 Post by Montchalin »

Marv wrote:Does anyone else not see inserted USB drives in the panel-plugin-mount unless they are mounted?
...
They show up both on the desktop and in thunar and mount and unmount fine.
Of course pmount works from the panel just fine but the interface of the xfce4 plugin is just enough better to make me wish it worked.
I am using the Carolina-non-pae-light and really like it...., A Lot!

For me, plugging in a USB does not show up on the desktop, nor within Thunar.

"Of course pmount works from the panel"

Where is the panel?

- I don't see pmount anywhere. Is there a work-around, e.g. can I find and mount a usb drive from within the terminal?

***
What I like about the lite version is that things I don't use are not in it.

What I liked about Saluki & Puppeee was that I was exposed to things I would have never discovered on my own, like Midori.

Do I get enough exposure with Carolina? Yes, by scrolling through Smokey01's Carolina repository I have discovered QuiteRSS.

I'm not rich, but where's the 'donate' button?

linux
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#312 Post by linux »

elroy wrote:Currently, Geoffrey has been working on a home-brew web-cam app, and I've been working on migrating carolina to a totally xfce04.10 base, plugins and all. I've accomplished that, and carolina 003 will reflect that. Also, it will include the latest version of the pup-volume-manager, ene sdcard reader support, the latest Grub4Dos, and the latest pup-shutdown. As of 003, xfce4-4.8.0 will be history.. Look for 003 within the next week.
Looking forward to the new version. I think Carolina concept of including the larger user friendly applications is the best way to attract Windows users to puppy Linux. After the bloat of Windows even a 500mb iso is small in comparison.

Keep up the great work

elroy

Re: xfce4-panel-plugin-mount

#313 Post by elroy »

Montchalin wrote:I am using the Carolina-non-pae-light and really like it...., A Lot!
That's great that you enjoy it, Montchalin. I'm glad you find it useful.
Montchalin wrote:For me, plugging in a USB does not show up on the desktop, nor within Thunar.
It should show up on both the desktop (if you have desktop icons turned on in the xfce desktop settings in the control panel) and in the thunar file manager.
Montchalin wrote:Where is the panel?
The panel is the transparent bar at the bottom of the screen that has the icons on it.
Montchalin wrote:I don't see pmount anywhere. Is there a work-around, e.g. can I find and mount a usb drive from within the terminal?
pmount is there. It was removed from the menu in 002 so there wouldn't be multiple apps doing the same thing. You can use the panel to enable it by right clicking on the panel, then from the pop-up menu go to Panel-->Panel Preferences and select the 'Items' tab. Click the '+' icon to add a new item, choose 'Launcher', and choose the 'Add' button and then the 'Close' button. Find the launcher in the 'Items' list, click it to select it and choose the 'Edit the currently selected item' icon from the right. It'll pop a dialog up that you can add custom commands to. Click the 'add new empty item' icon. This'll bring up another dialog where you create the custom command. Most of it is self-explanatory, but in the 'Command' field, type 'pmount' (without quotes), You now have a custom pmount launcher.

Another way is to add pmount to the main menu-->File System sub-menu. You can do that by opening Thunar and going to /usr/share/applications and editing the 'Pmount mount/unmount drives' file as a text file. At the very bottom of the file you'll see a line that has 'NoDisplay=true'. Remove that line, save the file, and pmount will now be in the main menu under 'File System'. This can also be accomplished using the xmenumaker utility located in the Control Panel-->Desktop section.
Montchalin wrote:I'm not rich, but where's the 'donate' button?
Helping us test carolina is enough payback. We appreciate it.

pchan
Posts: 130
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Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

#314 Post by pchan »

elroy ,

I really like the watermark of the cute puppy on the desktop!

I did notice that thunar file manager does take a bit of time to launch on the first time when I log in to the desktop. After that it is OK. In the case of saluki, the moment i i log in Thunar will launch in split seconds the moment I click on it.

Not a big problem but It will make it look as if something is slower.

Just reporting because I don't want someone who use carolina the first time to think that something is slow. The speed becomes ok, almost everything works and it doesn't crash when you get pass the initial lag after logging to the desktop.

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jpup
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custom builder

#315 Post by jpup »

Hi elroy thanks for the reply

I tried it again just now, the process took around an hour and a half to complete. And the product is a 263.1 MB ISO file.

I'm just running the standard lina 002 live iso, with a loaded save file from an NTFS hard drive.

Linux kernel 3.2.13-ski(i686)

I uninstalled a few default packages (libre office, dvd/cd rippers, clementine, thunderbird, etc. since I don't need them right now) from my running system before I started the process. I also have some customizations loaded from the save file (desktop configs, etc).

Todays session...

I didn't remove extra packages with the first dialogs.

The process started...

then I got "carolina-updater could not be located in any repo"

(then your only choice is continue or quit?)

the process went smooth after that and I was given a chance to manually add packages to the a_drive folder which is a very nice option. So, could I just add the lina patcher 1.2? Right?

Anyways, I didn't add anything and just continued...

then it checked for missing items... libs, etc.

I guess I was successfull this time... but I haven't tried loading the finished iso yet, maybe later.

But yesterday it was different, and it couldn't find carolina-updater, xfce4, clementine, atleast thats what I can remember.

Probably network related? But my internet connection is quite good and I actually stream radio during the process.

I think being able to customize the iso is really great.

My understanding is that you can add all your customizations to the iso, right?

So that would mean an installation with all your setup already loaded...

And the ability to have all your setup even with pfix=ram?

And not having to deal with savefiles. I have trouble with pupsave saving auto.

I'm going to find out later when I try my iso :D

A few comments...

The only option is to continue or quit... when you continue it skips with the missing, and when you quit it just quits.
A bit troublesome if you make mistakes.

Like in the latter parts... you have an option to change the splash... if you choose continue and you changed your mind... you have no choice but to quit... and it literally quits, you cannot go back.

Also, it says that you need a drive with a linux file system... does that mean you can't do this with an NTFS drive for saving your project?

Thank you again for all your efforts... I really appreciate what you guys are doing.

By the way, is there any xfce cpu freq plugin pet for carolina, I tried a pet I found from other sources but it failed. And regarding my last comment about the touchpad, you can actually have it auto off when you are typing :D pretty cool!

Thanks again.

Later.

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jpup
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carolina custom builder

#316 Post by jpup »

I tried my custom ISO...

Aw! I failed again! :(

Don't actually know what went wrong...

It boots... but I get a blank/black?/empty desktop after the boot menu.

During the build process I opted to include my configurations and settings...

I also opted to boot straight to desktop.

I guess I have to try again... If I get this right, and if I understood the concept correctly, then I'll have my own custom express gate with all my settings preloaded :D

By the way, I remember, the broadcom wl delta package was also one of the things it couldn't find when I was doing my previous build.

good thing I'm not burning things to disk right away, otherwise, what a waste :D

Thanks

I'll just keep on trying :D

excited about carolina 003



p.s. How do I unmount an ISO with Thunar? I get write errors when copying the files from the finished ISO because it's mounted, and I have to reboot so I could do my thing...

Thanks again

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peebee
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Re: carolina custom builder

#317 Post by peebee »

jpup wrote:By the way, I remember, the broadcom wl delta package was also one of the things it couldn't find when I was doing my previous build
Hi jpup

I don't much about the Carolina custom builder having never tried to use it :?

but I am wondering whether my Broadcom wl delta mechanism is compatible with it following your post.....

The delta pet is only used once - when the Broadcom-STA wl multi-kernel driver pet is loaded. It can actually be removed once the driver pet has been loaded and the pinstall.sh has run to dynamically create the driver for the particular kernel.

So I guess the question I don't know the answer to is - when is the pinstall.sh in a pet run in the custom builder? and how are things sequenced if one pet has a dependency on another being loaded first?

Cheers
peebee
ImageLxPup = Puppy + LXDE
Main version used daily: LxPupSc; Assembler of UPups, ScPup & ScPup64, LxPup, LxPupSc & LxPupSc64

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jpup
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Re: carolina custom builder

#318 Post by jpup »

peebee wrote:
jpup wrote:By the way, I remember, the broadcom wl delta package was also one of the things it couldn't find when I was doing my previous build
Hi jpup

I don't much about the Carolina custom builder having never tried to use it :?

but I am wondering whether my Broadcom wl delta mechanism is compatible with it following your post.....

The delta pet is only used once - when the Broadcom-STA wl multi-kernel driver pet is loaded. It can actually be removed once the driver pet has been loaded and the pinstall.sh has run to dynamically create the driver for the particular kernel.

So I guess the question I don't know the answer to is - when is the pinstall.sh in a pet run in the custom builder? and how are things sequenced if one pet has a dependency on another being loaded first?

Cheers
peebee
Hi! there peebee

I tried building one again, just now... And the only thing it couldn't locate was the carolina-updater...

It seems that what it looks for depends on what you still have on your existing setup, well that's what I think it does. I remember in my previous builds when I didn't remove anything... It looks for everything.

Actually, a lot of things are unclear right now, especially after my series of failed attempts to build a custom ISO.

Based on the sequence of the process, it first tries to download the packages that it sees on your running system that came originally with the ISO. Meaning, packages you haven't removed yet.

After all packages have been downloaded, then it checks for dependencies, libs etc. And I don't really know if it will actually look for the missing elements (and how), but I remember in the past that it did detect something missing, and it attempted to search for it, and even prompted me for a retry...
But once a failure happens... I guess you cannot revert.

If you compare that to puppy precise's way of handling packages, precise really tries to find what's missing, and you can always retry on a failed attempt to download a package.

The process can actually be confusing, especially with the lack of options, and some parts of the process dont even give a clear visual clue of what its actually doing, like when the gtk dialogs would suddenly disappear, would pop up again after a minute or two.

I failed again, same issue, got past the boot process but my desktop was all black. And I was hoping to hear the dog bark.

I guess in reality, I don't actually know what I'm doing.
Like in the part where you could add packages to the a_drive folder... It is unclear to me whether you still need to add the package of an app you've installed already in your system. Like in my case... I installed midori... but it didn'nt seem to have downloaded the midori package during the process, and so I thought I should add It myself.


Anyway, I really hope I can manage this, and successfully create my custom buid.

My goal is to have my settings and customizations preloaded so I will have someting I can boot or shutdown without having to deal with save files, and other drives. something that's like read only but already has my setup by default.

I'll just try again :D

Thanks

Montchalin
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Re: xfce4-panel-plugin-mount

#319 Post by Montchalin »

Thanks Elroy! I've got my desktop icons back. I had minimized them.

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jpup
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desktop screenshot

#320 Post by jpup »

here's a screenshot of my carolina setup :D

xfce transparency effects, no compiz

what do you guys think? :D

merry christmas :D

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