New PC Project

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Haplo
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue 20 Nov 2012, 16:15

New PC Project

#1 Post by Haplo »

Hi all,

Well I started out creating a utility stick using my favorite latest distro which would be Puppy Precise.

Along the road I've found myself not only finding a lot of clients requesting a nice recovery / utility stick, but more and more people these days that just cannot afford the latest or even recent tech stuffs.

So I've been looking into alternate options and have come up with some nice x86 architecture tech. Nothing awesome or anything, but using laptop or mini-pc type stuffs that I think I can put together for at or under about $200 bucks.

I am definitely using Puppy. So I would like input on how YOU would go about configuring for the masses.

Obviously it is pretty easy to do a little 'window dressing' just in JWM so it is a little bit prettier, I would imagine removing some of the more intimidating items from the menu would be a good idea ( moving them to an 'advanced' folder structure.

Perhpas using Bacon to create a nice lightweight 'HI!' launchpad for basic stoofs. I don't know I'm just trying to throw things against the wall to see if they stick.

I have a lot more information I'd like to share but for the first post this is already becoming a novel.

Basically, any preferences or betterments people think regarding window managers, layouts, packages to add / remove, etc. keeping the average Joe in mind. Keeping the idea of an entirely running on a stick remaster of Puppy in mind. Will be backed up to their PC, but I want them to take it anywhere with them as well.

Thanks all!!
- Hap

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darkcity
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#2 Post by darkcity »

Sounds like an interesting project. One of the more confusing aspects of Puppy is how the savefile works on frugal installations. Are you going to set the savefile up for people?

Also on that topic, I would recommend people saving personal/data files outside the savefile. So you could have a link on the desktop to a folder in /mnt/home say /mnt/home/Documents. This folder could be linked to the save dialog ready for the user just to click.

I also find PupControl is useful for having lots of things in one place.
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/PupControl

You can edit the menu with one of the menu utilities-
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Pmenu

Have you tried dpup exprimo squeeze - this has lots of nice little features beginners might appreciate ; -)

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8-bit
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Location: Oregon

#3 Post by 8-bit »

One thing I have never really understood is why in every Puppy version I have used that we have a /root/My_Applications directory that no PET packages ever get installed to.
And applications one makes usually do not get installed there either.
Or is it for creating links to most used applications to have them handy and the links in one place?
Others have talked about using the /OPT directory for installs of applications also.
But I have never seen that standardized either.

So just to throw out a question, do many users of Puppy actually use the /root/My_Applications directory?

I have for a few of the backup utilities that I have used to back up the pupsave file to an external device and also a pupsave restore utility I have used on occasion to restore a backup of the pupsave file.

And here is another question.
If I put an updated application in that directory that has the same name as an application that is in the normal Puppy directory tree, which one does Puppy default to when the application is a supporting one like gtkdialog?

Haplo
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue 20 Nov 2012, 16:15

#4 Post by Haplo »

darkcity wrote:Sounds like an interesting project. One of the more confusing aspects of Puppy is how the savefile works on frugal installations. Are you going to set the savefile up for people?

...
This is one of the things I was unsure of myself. Basically the way I used the 'remaster' tool I just had my own setup of Puppy Precise all nice and tidy the way I wanted... which saved to the stick every so often and during shutdown / restart. I'm writing a shell script that also updates the save file on the HDD so there is a failsafe if one needs to boot from a fresh CD or USB.

I hadn't thought of the obvious 'external' documents/files folder. I'll look into getting that setup.

I will also look into the squeeze distro you linked to. As long as it is Debian based (I assume so by the squeeze) I'm ok. I may have used linux since the 90's but I'm still what I would consider an 'armchair user' compared to most people that contribute to forums such as these :D

I can do some scripting and such, but I've never gotten into the innards like I should have. So now is the time methinks.

Thank you for the input. I'm going to grab the distro now and take a look.

Haplo
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Joined: Tue 20 Nov 2012, 16:15

#5 Post by Haplo »

8-bit wrote:One thing I have never really understood is why in every Puppy version I have used that we have a /root/My_Applications directory that no PET packages ever get installed to. ...
I can't say I've ever seen it used much for automated installs myself either, but I've used it in the past for any compiled items that I've downloaded and such.

i.e. I've used it for a 'Progam Files' folder for any non-pet / packaged programs I want to hold onto and keep them nice and neat. Or if I write up a script for tasks, etc. or download a useful one someone was nice enough to post - I drop them in there.

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darkcity
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#6 Post by darkcity »

Puppy is great for learning how linux works, because you are root by default you can "change, break, learn" more easily
; -)

I'd recommend reading this page, especially about the layered file system-
http://puppylinux.com/development/howpuppyworks.html

@8-bit
Never used or noted
/root/My_Applications

Is it for multiple users to have different apps installed?

I've sometimes used /opt for extra apps, like java programs.

:twisted:

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sunburnt
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#7 Post by sunburnt »

I`ve always used /root/my-applications for stuff I`ve made and gathered.
Same as /root/my-documents has all my wallpaper, tutorials, and docs.
# See the suggestions below as to how I have them setup.

### SUGGESTIONS:

# The problem with /root is that it has so much crap in it that users shouldn`t ever touch.
This is just a damn poor setup is all it amounts to...
I prefix all the links I make in /root with "0_". So: /root/0_sda1, etc.
This puts all the "user" links at the start of the ROX-Filer, easy to find.

Make links of: /root/my-applications and /root/my-documents
Make them point to a HD or USB partition so they`ll be safe from crashes.
( This is in line with darkcity`s suggestion. )
# Examples:
/root/0_my-applications => /mnt/sda3/apps
/root/0_my-documents => /mnt/sda3/docs
/root/0_my-downloads => /mnt/sda3/dnld

Make more links to dirs. on the "system" partition: /root/my-downloads
Make the browsers download path point to this link.

Open a file in many Puppy apps. and it opens to /root.
So I also put links to the partitions in /root so they`re easier to access.
For M$ Weeners converts, make links: /root/C and /root/D
# Examples:
/root/0_C => /mnt/sda1
/root/0_D => /mnt/sda3
/root/0_Home => /mnt/sda1
/root/0_sda1 => /mnt/sda1
/root/0_sda3 => /mnt/sda3

# These are the most critical things to fix about Puppy, there are others.

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Monsie
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New PC Project

#8 Post by Monsie »

Hi all,

I use my-applications directory for all of my standalone applications. These programs require no installation as such, and most are cross-platform... so they don't belong in the usual directories that are part in parcel with the Unix layout. So, it's where I keep a few Java based apps, and others such as: Checksums Calculator found here which is already compiled in Pascal.

Monsie
My [u]username[/u] is pronounced: "mun-see". Derived from my surname, it was my nickname throughout high school.

Haplo
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue 20 Nov 2012, 16:15

#9 Post by Haplo »

Nice idea with the '0_XXX' directory links. I'll dink around with that today. I never even considered making a C / D reference for Windoze peops... now that's an interesting idea!

Messed around with dpup... I like it. Latest kernel doesn't work with the current package listed nvidia stoofs so I'm gonna have to lookup the sources for those (just for my machine).

Anyone have any ideas on getting Vesa driver to support larger screen resolutions? Or somehow stretch to fit? One thing I'm not a guru in is graphics. I'd like to get whatever I package together to have the most universal video support possible. (People can customize drivers if they want -> but it would be nice if they could at least have fullscreen)

Currently when I load any version of Puppy, I have a 21" acer and it loads 1280 x 1024 I believe and won't show any higher resolution options. Leaves a huge black border around everything. I think native rez is 1920 x 1080...

I don't know if this is a limitation of the Vesa driver or a limitation of my video card to interpret and stretch the displayed resolution?

Thanks for all the great suggestions so far!

- Hap

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darkcity
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#10 Post by darkcity »

have you tried running xorgwizard to set resolution?

You can access it via
PuppyMenu > Setup > Xorg Video Wizard

Haplo
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Joined: Tue 20 Nov 2012, 16:15

#11 Post by Haplo »

darkcity wrote:have you tried running xorgwizard to set resolution?

You can access it via
PuppyMenu > Setup > Xorg Video Wizard
Yep I sure have. I've run from shell, manually chosen vesa and various resolutions... nothing above 1280 x 1024 works. I have a feeling it is probably just due to a picky video card. GeForce 550 Ti - It works great in Precise, but I can't get it to work at all in dpup. There is a mismatch between kernel version and nvidia drivers in the package manager. I've tried downloading the best working driver (works well in Mint anyway) and building it under Puppy dpup, but I'm just having no luck at all getting all my dependencies together.
Not to mention I'm just making it HUGE by doing so grabbing all the headers, etc. I need and I don't have the experience to safely remove everything when I do get it all figured out. Just have to wait on an updated .pet for new kernel for nvidia drivers.

Anyway - long winded version of I think that the fact my video card will not work even fullscreen without the nvidia package, and has to use the acpi=off to even load x at all without them (vesa mode) tells me it's probably just my setup. I have no problems with my netbook, laptop, Dell server, etc. (they all have standard onboard video cards and it stretches fullscreen on them when I think about it)

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darkcity
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#12 Post by darkcity »

Thats frustrating, it might be worth asking on the dpup thread, or asking pemasu.

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sunburnt
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#13 Post by sunburnt »

Linus Torvalds did put up the middle finger to nVidia...
They responded that they will have better Linux support in the future.
Has anyone seen anything improve about nVidia`s driver support?

Haplo; Like M$ and most Puppies I`ve tried, the new one is the focus.
Just download a different Puppy derivative and see if it works properly.

I had great hopes for PrecisePup5.4, but it`s been an odd rash of failures.

Haplo
Posts: 10
Joined: Tue 20 Nov 2012, 16:15

#14 Post by Haplo »

Yeah I have had the best success with compatibility so far using Precise... Also I have the benefit of all these last few years being a Mint, Ubuntu, Debian user (going backward in time...)

To think I started out on SuSe 4.3... sheesh you had to recompile just to add some module or other! I don't know how many times I had to start completely over after adding something. LOL

Anyway, I agree. There are so many variants of Puppy it is hard to know where to begin. I am going to grab several tonight and start wading through the maze. I'll just have to find out which ones 'take to' the features I'm looking for the most :D

Thanks all,
Hap

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