Pussy: potentially a Puppy with a perfect package manager

[aarf]

the contents of the compressed save file are not always going into the cow

[sickgut]

the contents of the compressed save file are not always going into the cow

thanks for bringing this to my attention. Once a save file if first saved its ok, but when the update-savefile script is run. its deleted and the new file is made but it doesnt always contain everything the previous one contained.

you can have a limmited number of squashfs files but in the meantime you can rename the 99save-file.squashfs to say 98 or 97save-file.squahfs then use the compressed save file script again and so a new one is made the usual 99save-file.squashfs. This way you can get atleast a few accurate saves.

I need to figure out a way a round this. Maybe we are using the wrong dir to dump into the squashfs file. There must be a way to fix this, i think we need to add to the update script a way of extracting the old save file onto the live media in a dir then adding the /live/cow to the dir the old save is extracted to, then delete the old savefile then make a new squashfs save file out of the new dir that now contains the old savefile data as well as the updated data. This will work fine but requires you to have alot of free space.
This is fine for HDD installs but for smaller USB sticks it may run out of room.

i will post here a new script and make a patch for the current version of pussy and make it downloadable from the website.

this is temporarily my highest priority bug fix, non functioning compressed save file is a major problem for a frugal installed OS, this will be sorted quickly.

[aarf]

you can have a limmited number of squashfs files but in the meantime you can rename the 99save-file.squashfs to say 98 or 97save-file.squahfs then use the compressed save file script again and so a new one is made the usual 99save-file.squashfs. This way you can get atleast a few accurate saves.

this is a good solution. if you also get the mount bit so that they can be edited and/or merged. it would be enough, but also need a warning when no more saves are going to be made to the current 99save-file. else it is manually saving a backup each time the update script is run to be sure not to erase the stuff you already have.

[sickgut]

http://www.thepussycatforest.info/linux/patch2.zip

The above url is the patch that fixes the compressed save file issue. Here is the code from the update-savefile:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#!/bin/sh
xmessage PUSSY is about to meow your data into a save file.
xterm -e sh -c "unsquashfs -d /live/image/live/squashfs-root /live/image/live/99save-file.squashfs"
xterm -e sh -c "cp -rf /live/cow/* /live/image/live/squashfs-root/"
rm -f /live/image/live/99save-file.squashfs
xterm -e sh -c "mksquashfs /live/image/live/squashfs-root /live/image/live/99save-file.squashfs"
rm -fr /live/image/live/squashfs-root
xmessage PUSSY has remeowed your old data and new data together in a new save file.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i hope this gives you guys some insight of how it all works. There are 3 compressed save file options now: create save file, update save file and delete save file. the old update-savefile also doubled up as the create save file, but now its change you must first use create save file, then for subsequent saves just use the update-savefile.

also please note: for the patch to work on the next boot then please create a save file after applying the patch (that is if you dont already have a live-rw one, if you are using the compressed method only then you will have to create a save file for the patch to be saved). Another thing, if using the HDD install then the script only works if pussy is installed to the default /live dir. if you have renamed it to something else (as well as updated the media-path= boot tag) then you will need to rename the dir to /live or to edit the update-savefile script so it saves into your custom dir.

enjoy and let me know if there is any trouble with the new compressed save file setup.

Ok enjoy and report back if there is any issues

[aarf]

initial test confirm patch.zip is working.


with this code

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 <!-- Virtual Desktops -->
    <!-- Desktop tags can be contained within Desktops for desktop names. -->
    <Desktops count="4">
 
       <!-- Default background. Note that a Background tag can be
            contained within a Desktop tag to give a specific background
            for that desktop.
        -->
 <!-- #DEBIAN change. Was bg.xpm -->
       <Background type="image">/root/rox.png</Background> 
 
 
    </Desktops>

in /etc/jwm/jwmrc
rox.png gets loaded into the first boot startx screen, while rox.jpg gets loaded into the the screen with all the desktop icons. this is fine by me as i can have two different images.

have done apt-get install wmbattery to monitor my battery.

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#!/bin/sh
exec wmbattery -g +618+405  

puts it close to where it is convenient for my screen size.
how can i make it start on boot ? something like a start folder in puppy?
also using lxtask to monitor running processes.

need to customise the Send To for mtpaint etc.

edit. background image and patch zip not completely solved. which jwmrc that is actually loaded seems a random event. i am still using two save files so that may be part of the issue.

[sickgut]

initial test confirm patch.zip is working.


with this code

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 <!-- Virtual Desktops -->
    <!-- Desktop tags can be contained within Desktops for desktop names. -->
    <Desktops count="4">
 
       <!-- Default background. Note that a Background tag can be
            contained within a Desktop tag to give a specific background
            for that desktop.
        -->
 <!-- #DEBIAN change. Was bg.xpm -->
       <Background type="image">/root/rox.png</Background> 
 
 
    </Desktops>

in /etc/jwm/jwmrc
rox.png gets loaded into the first boot startx screen, while rox.jpg gets loaded into the the screen with all the desktop icons. this is fine by me as i can have two different images.

have done apt-get install wmbattery to monitor my battery.

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#!/bin/sh
exec wmbattery -g +618+405  

puts it close to where it is convenient for my screen size.
how can i make it start on boot ? something like a start folder in puppy?
also using lxtask to monitor running processes.

need to customise the Send To for mtpaint etc.

edit. background image and patch zip not completely solved. which jwmrc that is actually loaded seems a random event. i am still using two save files so that may be part of the issue.

The wmbattery program could be loaded when JWM loads as there is a setting somewhere in the JWM settings that can made JWM load a program and also add it to the JWM taskbar at the bottom of the screen/... i found out how to do this but ive forgotten. I would like to have the alsa mixer program load on the JWM taskbar as well as the wmbattery program. I dont know how to autodetect if Pussy is running on a laptop and if so then display the wmbattery program, and if not then dont load the wmbattery program, ill have to research how to do this.

Im confused about your jwmrc stuff, we no longer need to use the old patch.zip from the alpha version as the jwmrc fix is already in this new current version, i dont quite follow what you are saying about "which jwmrc gets loaded".

there are 2 jwm files that you usually have to edit if you want to add entries and keep the same entries when you install stuff and everything is refreshed:

/etc/menu-methods/jwm <---- this is the master menu file it is a template that creates the /etc/jwm/jwmrc, when you apt-get anything with a menu entry, apt adds a entry to this file and then update-menus is executed and this in turn creates the /etc/jwm/jwmrc

/etc/jwm/jwmrc <----- this is the config file that contains all the current menu entries. Editing this file does work to customize things but everything you change here is lost when update-menus is executed or you apt-get install something that has a menu entry as then this file is overwritten by a new version that is created by the /etc/menu=methods/jwm template.

In short: editing jwmrc does work but the effects are only temporary, to make menu changes that are permanent you must edit /etc/menu-methods/jwm and then run update-menus to apply the changes which creates a new /etc/jwm/jwmrc

I know that you probably know all this im just posting the info here for the benefit of those that dont yet know how JWM handles menu entries.

[aarf]

No i didnt know all the things about jwmc and it was contributing to my problems. Another contribution came from my defective sdcard writer when the save file got over about 30mb which then causes my card reader to act defectively. Will pause this compressed save file investigation for now.

[aarf]

The editor in the catroll panel edits just the temporary jwmc so that is the one i thought was permanent. I was using leaf pad to edit it because i didnt like the catroll panel editor for jwmc. I didnt know the other jwmc existed although i did unsuccessfully look for something else that was contributing to the backgrounds problem.

[sickgut]

No i didnt know all the things about jwmc and it was contributing to my problems. Another contribution came from my defective sdcard writer when the save file got over about 30mb which then causes my card reader to act defectively. Will pause this compressed save file investigation for now.

The compressed savefile thing, in my opinion is more of an occasional remaster of the OS for like USB stick to be used on other computers, maybe to add a program or 2, rather than to be used as your main of save file. its more about only saving when you want to make a change rather than clogging your system up with lots of internet cache files etc.

given the fact that the the compressed save file thing is actually quite efficient, i personally use it when i need to add another program to the OS or make a permanent change, but i use the live-rw method for every day use, and when its full of unwanted crap, i just start a new live-rw. Or if i have a live-rw that i like and want to keep the changes permanently then i do a quick scan through it, delete whatever junk i dont need, then turn this into a compressed save file, then start a new live-rw.

to turn your existing live-rw file to a compressed one:

mount -o loop live-rw /xxx
mksquashfs /xxx 7-old-live-rw.squashfs

then mv the new created squashfs to /live/image/live/ but make sure there is a number at the start of the name of the file so that it loads after the Pussy OS squashfs files but before the 99save-file.squashfs so if you decide to make a normal compressed save file, this will be loaded last. I know 99save-file.squashfs is a bit of a silly name for the default compressed save file but the 99 is very practical as this will make it almost certain to load last.

To turn a live-rw partition into a compressed save file you would use the same commands as above but change the first one to:

mount /dev/sda2 /xxx (where /dev/sda2 is the partition labeled as live-rw)

Then you could delete everything from your live-rw partition and start it afresh

[sickgut]

The editor in the catroll panel edits just the temporary jwmc so that is the one i thought was permanent. I was using leaf pad to edit it because i didnt like the catroll panel editor for jwmc.

aaaaah yes. I was editing jwm the same way to make the alpha versions menus, but then i realized the change wasnt permanent and had to release a patch for it. I should have deleted the jwm menu edit catroll-panel options then.

thanks for telling me about this, i will remove the jwm menu edit section in the next release.
I could add a new jwm menu edit option that edits the master template but its extreemly hard for a newbie to code correctly as any misplaced space or not putting a \ before the " can make the menus disappear altogether, whereas the editing of the jwmrc was much more forgiving.

I should have removed the jwm menu edit option from the catroll panel earlier but i kinda forgot to do it.

[aarf]

click on desktop> attached >is what is overriding the jwmc background entry. dont know where it is written to.

[aarf]

/etc/menu-methods/jwm contains no mention of the debian entries that are in the menu it only has puppy. something else is contributing

[aarf]

using the scripts in the fix patch2.zip can now manually modify/merge save-squashfs and repack them again in a console/terminal.

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#unsquashfs -d /live/image/live/squashfs-root /live/image/live/99save-file.squashfs 
#mksquashfs /live/image/live/squashfs-root /live/image/live/99save-file.squashfs"

while doing this discovered all sorts of good things:
if write wlan0 into /etc/wicd/manager-settings.conf there will be no need to do that for new isos.
begins as

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[Settings]
wireless_interface = wlan0
pref_width = 446
prefer_wired = False

if you have /root/.bash_history containing

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startx

there is no need to type startx after log in instead use the arrow key to go back in history as in a console, then startx will appear, then hit <enter>

a lot of extraneous junk is saved in the save-squashfs that can be removed.
can make squashfs without using the cow and thus save space.

so just about have the environment i want. just need to pretty the meow menus. still need more directions there.

[aarf]

pussyhas the highlight-focus bug which we fixed initially in gposels dpup484 also fixed it in puppeee. cant find the links to the fix for now.

initial tests show trailing blanks on file names need to be removed. this is done automatically in puppy but pussy sees it as a new file.
eg test.fs and test.fs(blank) can both exist. this causes problems when trying to reference test.fs(blank), more investigation needed to be sure.

[aarf]

this

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" 
postoutput="\n  \

is causing

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install-menu: Warning: Unknown identifier `229' on line /etc/menu-methods/jwm in file . Ignoring.
Setting up lxtask (0.1.3-2) ...
Processing triggers for menu ...
install-menu: Warning: Unknown identifier `229' on line /etc/menu-methods/jwm in file . Ignoring.

when doing apt-get install
get there with

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# leafpad  /etc/menu-methods/jwm  --jump=229

not absolutely sure about this. goes past what i know.

[sickgut]

pussyhas the highlight-focus bug which we fixed initially in gposels dpup484 also fixed it in puppeee. cant find the links to the fix for now.

initial tests show trailing blanks on file names need to be removed. this is done automatically in puppy but pussy sees it as a new file.
eg test.fs and test.fs(blank) can both exist. this causes problems when trying to reference test.fs(blank), more investigation needed to be sure.

Is this highlight-focus bug that thing that happends when you want to type in an xterm but if the mouse cursor moves off the xterm window, you end up tying in to thin air? This is kinda annoying with debian but i kinda got used to it.

Yes, the bank at the end of a file name has screwed me up 2 or 3 times now. Wondering why some scripts dont work or when one script executes another but it cant find its, i had to resave the files and make sure i had no blank at the end of the file name...

I will add the blank filename bug to the known-issues.txt on the http://www.thepussycatforest.info website. The highlight-focus bug, is that correct how i explained it at the begining of the post? if so ill also add that to the known-issues on the site, if not then can you please explain to me what the highlight-focus bug actually is?

[sickgut]

this

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" 
postoutput="\n  \

is causing

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install-menu: Warning: Unknown identifier `229' on line /etc/menu-methods/jwm in file . Ignoring.
Setting up lxtask (0.1.3-2) ...
Processing triggers for menu ...
install-menu: Warning: Unknown identifier `229' on line /etc/menu-methods/jwm in file . Ignoring.

when doing apt-get install
get there with

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# leafpad  /etc/menu-methods/jwm  --jump=229

not absolutely sure about this. goes past what i know.

yes that is a bit of very curious code. I have tried removing it but it screws everything up. The first " that is on a line by itself is actually meant to be there as it closes a previous statement (i think thats the correct programming jargon) or closes the command that was open with a " previously (even tho it is more than 200 lines previously. I noticed that this line will always be quoted as an error but most likely the real cause is a missing " or an extra " or even more likely no \ before the ". In the jwm template, every new line needs a \n\ and every " needs a \ before it like \ "
when there is a missing \ from a " then it always errors out on the line with the final ", because it no longer ends the statement correctly.

long story short: even tho its complaining about that line, the real error is before that line. The reason its complaining about that line is because of the error before it, this ending line no longer makes sense. Note also that this line does not use a \ before the " and this is not a mistake. Even tho that code looks messed up it is actually meant to be there, as yo u can still see it there when you access the jwm menu methods file from other debians or the jwm .deb package if you extract it and look at the jwm file inside it.

The rest looks like its screwed up but its all meant to be there for some reason or another. When i was adding custom menu entries and then had jwm staring issues, this is the first bit of code that caught my eye, but no matter how i modified it or deleted it, it didnt ever solve my problem. It turned out that i had forgot a / in the </Program> of one of the menu entries instead, after i fixed it then it all worked fine. It is extreemly difficult to add multiple entries into the jwm menu methods file and often the only warning that you get that something is wrong is that jwm doesnt start at all and there is not even a hint of an error that lets you know where the mistake is. Sometime you do get a warning like you have quoted in your code but other times you dont even get a warning.

when did your apt-get start erroring out and complaining about the menu stuff? if its due to a modification or some other program not updating it correctly or something then you can grab the original one from the 4-pussy-xtra.squashfs like this:

mount -o loop /live/image/live/4-pussy-xtra.squashfs /xxx
cp -f /xxx/etc/menu-methods/jwm /etc/menu-methods/jwm
update-menus

then exit the X session and then startx or click Meow? --> Refresh Menus.

If this fails to work then there may be a problem with the default pussy-xtra /etc/menu-methods/jwm template config file, but ive been using the new pussy-xtra and using apt-get all the time and not having any jwm menu problems or error spam. Even if you backup your jwm template from the original 4-pussy-xtra.squashfs file, you wont loose your current menu entries for stuff you have apt-getted as when you run update-menus, these will be re added to the jwm file.

Note: There are 2 sections in the JWM menus. FIrst we have the Pussy section and then the Debian section. (Im about to try to tell you its a feature but really its a bug that happens because i cant seem to repress the Debian menu entry, it seems to be hard coded somewhere )

The Pussy section contains all the custom menu entries that where added manually before the final remaster. This had to be done because the debian default menu entries sometimes dont work (mplayer for one) or debian doesnt add entries for programs that really should have entries also when custom entries are manually added to the debian section, they get wiped the next time debian enters a menu entry. It seems impossible to get debian to add stuff to the pussy entry when you apt-get, so every thing you apt-get will end up added to the debian menu section.

The Debian section contains all the default menu entries, but also anything new that you apt-get, if it have a menu entry, it will get entered here, in the debian section and not the Pussy section. Even when deleting every single reference to the debian section in the jwm menu methods file, it magically reappears and adds itself to the template. JWM is the best window manager but it is very odd in its menu updating.

[aarf]

also called the ROX-Filer focus problemhttp://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=02595mabye he is talking about something different. but probably not, easiest way to duplicate it is to copy a text file into the same directory then mouse over the new file and open it in leaf pad (by right clicking and select Open as Text) and you will see that you have opened the old file not the new file that you moused over. big problem is when you mouse over and do a delete you then delete the wrong file.
about jwm, ok will ignore the missing debian entries and continue. thanks for the explanations

[sickgut]

also called the ROX-Filer focus problemhttp://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=02595mabye he is talking about something different. but probably not, easiest way to duplicate it is to copy a text file into the same directory then mouse over the new file and open it in leaf pad (by right clicking and select Open as Text) and you will see that you have opened the old file not the new file that you moused over. big problem is when you mouse over and do a delete you then delete the wrong file.
about jwm, ok will ignore the missing debian entries and continue. thanks for the explanations

aaaah yes, i accidently deleted a dir that contained things that took me a week to download because of that problem. the old file is still highlighted when you select a new file and its the highlighted file that gets activated not the new one you clicked on.

ill have tp research a solution for this

[aarf]

also called the ROX-Filer focus problemhttp://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=02595mabye he is talking about something different. but probably not, easiest way to duplicate it is to copy a text file into the same directory then mouse over the new file and open it in leaf pad (by right clicking and select Open as Text) and you will see that you have opened the old file not the new file that you moused over. big problem is when you mouse over and do a delete you then delete the wrong file.
about jwm, ok will ignore the missing debian entries and continue. thanks for the explanations

aaaah yes, i accidently deleted a dir that contained things that took me a week to download because of that problem. the old file is still highlighted when you select a new file and its the highlighted file that gets activated not the new one you clicked on.

ill have tp research a solution for this

when i am not using my phone browser to connect i can find things.
this one fix we used http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy//viewt ... 305#390305
havent tried it in pussy. taking a break now.
also see
.http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 956#376956http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 841#376841http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy//viewt ... 941#387941
jemimah had a different solution if i recall.