The Debian-Stretch-Live Starter Kit

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rcrsn51
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The Debian-Stretch-Live Starter Kit

#1 Post by rcrsn51 »

Update: The Starter Kit project has been upgraded to Debian Buster here. If you are building a system from scratch, this is the better choice. Your best bet for booting off an eMMC drive is Buster with a "live-boot" install.

Introduction: This project is a light-weight Linux built on a layered filesystem with a frugal install, loadable modules and access to a mainstream repo. It follows the same principles as Puppy Linux, but uses the Debian Stretch code base. The hardware support for audio/video/network/print/scan is comprehensive. It runs equally well on ancient Pentium 4's and bleeding-edge cloudbooks.

1. Download

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602669cd30f8b195a43b2609e00b7d8b  DebLive_Stretch-4.19.0-6-amd64.iso
This is a barebones 64bit ISO with a k4.19.0-6-amd64 kernel. It does NOT contain any application software, but gives you full access to the Debian repos through apt-get or synaptic. Fred's repo here has many locally-developed packages.


2. Go here and get the stretch-live-frugal-install tool. It can do frugal installs of the ISO onto hard drives or USB devices. This system is designed to use save folders, NOT save files. Your install must be on an ext partition.


3. Open the System Tools menu. Make desktop shortcuts for the Sakura terminal and the PCManFM file manager.

4. You will need a web browser. Here are two choices to get you started:

a. Get the Palemoon squashfs module here. For older hardware, read here.

Go into your frugal install and locate the "live" folder. Copy the module here. It will automatically load at bootup and appear in the Internet menu.

b. Get the latest Firefox.

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wget --no-check-cert https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/73.0.1/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-73.0.1.tar.bz2
Use Right-click > Open With > Accessories > Unzipper (For now, ignore the message about helper apps. Repeat.)
Extract the file to /opt
Run Firefox-apulse from the Internet menu.

Recent Firefoxes should play most Youtube content without any modifications. But read here for more info about streaming content.

5a. Chromium users can build their own squashfs module. See below.

5b. For the Google Chrome browser, read here.

5c. For Opera/Slimjet/Iron browsers , read here.
5d. To update the Palemoon squashfs module, read here.


6. For an office suite, read here.


7. For a basic media player, use

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apt-get update
apt-get install peasymp3
Get VLChere. Get DeaDBeeF here.
Get SMPlayer here. For an audio conversion tool, go here.

8. For print/scan, use

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apt-get update #if needed
apt-get install cups sane-utils peasyscan
Then read here for info about drivers.

9a. Get a PDF viewer. Note:here for a patch.

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 apt-get update #if needed
apt-get install evince
9b. For PDF editing tools, read here, here or here.


10a. For a graphics/paint app, use

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apt-get update #if needed
apt-get install azpainter
10b. For more graphics tools, get peasyscale or peasyglue from Fred's repo via apt-get.

11. For file extracting, use Unzipper from the Accessories menu.

12. For a temperature monitor, get CPUtemp. For a battery monitor, get Batterup. For a screen snapshot tool, get Snappie or Xscreenshot.

13. Users who prefer a desktop launch bar/dock should read here.

14. For a CD/DVD burning tool, read here.

15a. Here are some network-related tools: easyPort, CamPhoneTab, Samba, SimplePythonHTTPServer, BT4Stretch, WlanMaker, vnstat.

15b. For a modem connection app (analog and cellular), get PeasyDial.

16. To manage your squashfs modules on-the-fly, get my-squash-loader.

17. For additional WiFi drivers, read here. For info about network driver firmware, read here.

18. Information about the nVidia graphics driver can be found here, here and here.

19. If you have an app that needs mesa accelerated graphics, read here.


For more details, read here. There are links to other useful info.

------------------
Last edited by rcrsn51 on Wed 29 Apr 2020, 17:06, edited 99 times in total.

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ally
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#2 Post by ally »

neat

'installation' went well, copied the generated grub entry and manually added to my grub4dos menu1st entry

booted easily, snappy and clean

sadly I need chrome, I just don't get on with firefox derivatives, no chrome so tried chromium but run as root not supported, no iron or opera either

:)

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rcrsn51
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#3 Post by rcrsn51 »

Thanks for testing.

I have a separate set of instructions for building your own Chromium squash module.

But before going down that road, it would be nice if someone would at least confirm that the other browsers work.

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#4 Post by ally »

brb...

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ally
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#5 Post by ally »

ok, posting from palemoon 27.7.2 using sfs load gui from Ddog special menu

:)

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rcrsn51
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#6 Post by rcrsn51 »

How to make your own Chromium squashfs module

You will need the repo2sfs tool attached below. It is a general-purpose script that pulls an app and its dependencies from the Debian repo and converts it into a squash module.

Extract the script and copy it to /usr/local/bin.

Before trying Chromium, do a test run.
Start in an empty folder. Open a terminal (F4) and run the script: repo2sfs
Select the app "asunder" with extra package "lame".
Build and test the squash module. It appears in the Audio/Video menu.

Now for Chromium - the latest versions prefer a non-root user:

In the System Tools menu, run Add New User
Create a user named "guest" with password "guest"
Accept the default list of groups.

Extract the chromium-guest-setup script attached below. Copy it to your work folder.

Run repo2sfs and select "chromium"
Update: Include the Extra package: chromium-sandbox
Stop at Pause B for "fix anything in /tmp/repo2sfs".
Open another terminal and run the chromium-guest-setup script.

Finish the build.
Load the module and run Chromium from the Internet menu.
Attachments
chromium-guest-setup.tar.gz
Extract this. It is NOT a fake .gz file.
Updated for Buster Starter Kit
(526 Bytes) Downloaded 277 times
repo2sfs.tar.gz
Extract this. It is NOT a fake .gz file.
(1.03 KiB) Downloaded 300 times
Last edited by rcrsn51 on Tue 19 Nov 2019, 09:47, edited 25 times in total.

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#7 Post by ally »

now posting from firefox 58.0.2

:)

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#8 Post by ally »

asunder created ok, didn't understand much of what the script was doing however, trying chromium now...

:)

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#9 Post by ally »

chromium buit and I'm posting from it now, however it appears faulty, I am unable to sign in

I tried uploading to the archive but it failed with error decoding json file, it gets scanned during upload

I've put it on my gdrive here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1PexyC ... _AYSZuwxda

also how to install flashplayer? and how to set country code?

:)
Last edited by ally on Wed 21 Feb 2018, 17:19, edited 1 time in total.

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Keef
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#10 Post by Keef »

Palemoon squashfs working fine for me.

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rcrsn51
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#11 Post by rcrsn51 »

ally wrote:chromium buit and I'm posting from it now, however it appears faulty, I am unable to sign in
Please explain. I can run Chromium-guest from the Internet menu and sign into this forum.
also how to install flashplayer?
At the moment, you would have to do it manually from https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/. I will put up some instructions.
and how to set country code?
From the System menu, run PeasyClock.
Last edited by rcrsn51 on Mon 19 Mar 2018, 16:37, edited 1 time in total.

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fredx181
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#12 Post by fredx181 »

Hi Bill, nice initiative !
Good to see different continuation of Stretch-Live.

Posting from Firefox according to your instruction in first post, only thing: no audio yet.
Maybe add info (or link to) about how to make audio work with apulse ?
also how to install flashplayer?

At the moment, you would have to do it manually from https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/. I will put up some instructions.
This works OK from what I tested;
https://fredx181.github.io/StretchDog/i ... .3_all.deb
Appears as "Flashplayer Choice" in category Internet

Fred
Last edited by fredx181 on Wed 21 Feb 2018, 18:26, edited 2 times in total.

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#13 Post by ally »

sorry, I wasn't very explicit, I am unable to sign into chromium itself to import my account specs

thanks for the peasyclock info

@fred - thanks

:)

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rcrsn51
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#14 Post by rcrsn51 »

Thanks Fred.

I updated the Firefox instructions above to include the latest security.sandbox modifications for Youtube audio.

Also, how do you set a different locale? I know that you can do it in your Dogs, but there is nothing in the System menu that comes out of my mklive build.

Bill
Last edited by rcrsn51 on Wed 21 Feb 2018, 21:00, edited 1 time in total.

dancytron
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#15 Post by dancytron »

rcrsn51 wrote:Thanks Fred.

I am looking for a recent post that has the about:config settings for Firefox audio. Do you have one?

Also, how do you set a different locale? I know that you can do it in your Dogs, but there is nothing in the System menu that comes out of my mklive build.

Bill
You can put it in a user.js file in the directory that has the Firefox profile. 32 bit and 64 bit are different. This is what I have for 64 bit.

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// for using apulse with latest firefox 64 bit
user_pref("security.sandbox.content.level", 2);
user_pref("security.sandbox.content.write_path_whitelist", "/dev/snd/");
user_pref("security.sandbox.content.syscall_whitelist", "16");
user_pref("security.sandbox.content.read_path_whitelist", "/dev/snd/");
edit: See this post for Fred's 32 bit version.

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 503#982503

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#16 Post by fredx181 »

rcrsn51 wrote:how do you set a different locale? I know that you can do it in your Dogs, but there is nothing in the System menu that comes out of my mklive build.
By installing locale-conf and running from System > Set Locale/Language
It will install first the "locales" package and then gives choice for different locales and to set the default locale.
Works for me, but haven't seen any test reports from anyone.
https://fredx181.github.io/StretchDog/i ... -s_all.deb

EDIT: Below screenshot menu locale set to dutch
EDIT2: And screenshot en Francais :wink:

Fred
Attachments
2018-02-21-232155_595x369_scrot.png
Menu Francais :)
(68.37 KiB) Downloaded 3056 times
2018-02-21-223705_537x336_scrot.png
Menu in dutch
(57.29 KiB) Downloaded 3097 times
Last edited by fredx181 on Wed 21 Feb 2018, 22:28, edited 2 times in total.

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#17 Post by rcrsn51 »

Thanks Fred. I tested the locales package and it looks good.

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#18 Post by rcrsn51 »

How to install the Plank desktop dock

1. Run: apt-get install plank

2a. Start Plank from the Accessories menu.
2b. To make Plank auto-start at bootup, run: ln -sf /usr/bin/plank /root/Startup/plank

3. To add items to the dock, go to /usr/share/applications. Drag the .desktop files onto the dock.

4. To configure Plank, ctrl-right-click the dock and select Preferences.

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Attachments
plank.png
(15.42 KiB) Downloaded 1965 times
Last edited by rcrsn51 on Wed 09 May 2018, 11:46, edited 1 time in total.

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petihar
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#19 Post by petihar »

Good ! Excellent initiative, I'm quick to test Debian-Stretch-Live Starter Kit .
Regards petihar

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rcrsn51
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#20 Post by rcrsn51 »

How to install the VLC media player

You have two choices:

1. Install directly from the Debian repo.

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apt-get update #if needed
apt-get install vlc
However, VLC needs a patch to run-as-root.
Run the command: sed -i 's/geteuid/getppid/' /usr/bin/vlc

2. Make a squash module using repo2sfs. Read here for details. Ignore the non-root stuff.

To enable run-as-root:
a. Stop at Pause B: "fix anything in /tmp/repo2sfs".
b. Open a terminal (F4) and run: sed -i 's/geteuid/getppid/' /tmp/repo2sfs/usr/bin/vlc
c. Finish the build.
d. Load the module and run it from the Audio/Video menu.

Update: Repo2sfs will now automatically build VLC 3.0.3.

-------------------
Last edited by rcrsn51 on Thu 20 Dec 2018, 12:38, edited 7 times in total.

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