Xenialpup CE 7.5 / 25 Nov 2017

Message

bigpup · #721 Post by **bigpup** » Sat 08 Sep 2018, 18:43

TwoPuppies,

I think this is what you want for the Quickpet desktop icon.

In the puppy_xenialpup_7.5.sfs /root/startup
There is a Quickpet file.
This file script runs on first initial boot of Xenialpup 7.5.
It fixes the missing Quickpet icon on the desktop.
After the script runs it deletes this Quickpet file from the /root/startup directory.
So, the installed Xenialpup 7.5 no longer has this Quickpet file in /root/startup.

What you will probably need to do is remove this Quickpet file from the puppy_xenialpup_7.5.sfs /root/startup when you remaster.

TwoPuppies · #722 Post by **TwoPuppies** » Sun 09 Sep 2018, 05:52

bigpup wrote:TwoPuppies,

I think this is what you want for the Quickpet desktop icon.

In the puppy_xenialpup_7.5.sfs /root/startup
There is a Quickpet file.
This file script runs on first initial boot of Xenialpup 7.5.
It fixes the missing Quickpet icon on the desktop.
After the script runs it deletes this Quickpet file from the /root/startup directory.
So, the installed Xenialpup 7.5 no longer has this Quickpet file in /root/startup.

What you will probably need to do is remove this Quickpet file from the puppy_xenialpup_7.5.sfs /root/startup when you remaster.

Yep, that does the trick. Excellent!

I suspected that such a script must exist somewhere, and I had already searched the file system trying to find it. I now realize that my mistake was to carry out the search after the new icon had been applied, by which time the script had already deleted itself. I guess you live and learn.

Thanks very much for your help.

EDIT: I guess it would probably not be a bad idea if the script /root/startup/quickpet had a couple of new lines added at the beginning so that it first checked /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin for the presence of the word "quickpet" and, if found, the script did not run.

bigpup · #723 Post by **bigpup** » Mon 10 Sep 2018, 01:20

EDIT: I guess it would probably not be a bad idea if the script /root/startup/quickpet had a couple of new lines added at the beginning so that it first checked /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin for the presence of the word "quickpet" and, if found, the script did not run.

That Quickpet script was a quick bug fix, because the needed entries got left off in the release Xenialpup 7.5 main sfs.

dcung · #724 Post by **dcung** » Mon 10 Sep 2018, 02:02

I have a Dell Vostro 1510.

There's a pause before X starting when booting XenPup64_75.
Please see links for background/history.

I have same issue with Debian Stretch Starter Kit and Bill (rcrsn51) helped me there (resolved).
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... &start=170
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... &start=172

I suspect this is same issue.... (?)
Note- spec details in the link.

My apology for cross-linking threads.

bigpup · #725 Post by **bigpup** » Mon 10 Sep 2018, 22:08

dcung,

There's a pause before X starting

How long a pause?

This probably is an Intel graphics driver issue.

If it does actually boot to the desktop.

Try using the Puppy Package Manager(PPM)
In PPM first update the database by going to configure>Update database.
In PPM do a search for intel-microcode
Download and install that.
Reboot.

Any help?

dcung · #726 Post by **dcung** » Tue 11 Sep 2018, 03:21

bigpup wrote:How long a pause?
This probably is an Intel graphics driver issue.
In PPM do a search for intel-microcode
Download and install that.
Reboot.

Any help?

Hi Bigpup,

Pause approx 15 seconds or so (long enough for me to know that this is not 'normal').
Yes, already established that it is graphic driver issue.
intel-microcode didn't help.
I saw that Vesa driver already installed, so it's probably fallback to Vesa driver already.

Never mind, just have to put up with it....

Thanks Bigpup.

infromthepound · #727 Post by **infromthepound** » Tue 11 Sep 2018, 06:15

A geat distro.
The only problem I have found with it is shutdown.
Very quick on startup but terribly s l o w when I want to turn off the computer.
It's installed on a USB stick and it does not matter which computer I use, it's always slow.
Is this normal? thanks,
JB

a_salty_dogg · #728 Post by **a_salty_dogg** » Tue 11 Sep 2018, 18:32

Yes, normal, afaik. Think you'll find it's all down to the installation/save medium used.

Example from my comp when shutting down Xenial 7.06:
Booted from and saving to usb 2.0 flash drive, shutdown takes 4 mins 25 secs,
Using the identical installation and save folder on internal hard drive, shutdown takes about 4 seconds!

Of course, saving to internal drive doesn't give the same instant portability to other machines, so it's a question of what you need from your Puppy.

Btw, I do find Xenial by far the slowest to shutdown saving to flash drive of all the Puppies I know.

bigpup · #729 Post by **bigpup** » Tue 11 Sep 2018, 20:34

infromthepound,

Write speed of the USB is what controls this, as stuff is written to the save, at shutdown.

You can do some setting changes to how the save is used. This can speed things up.

menu>System>Puppy Event Manager>Save Session

If you set the save interval to zero (0)

Check ask at shutdown whether to save or not.

You can control when anything is saved.

Use the save icon on the desktop to write to the save, when you feel something needs to go into the save.
Installed a program, setting changes, anything you want to keep, etc......
or
Say save or not save, when asked at shutdown.

Also, check in the browser history and cache settings.
If you have it set to keep everything.
All of that has to go into the save.

mikeslr · #730 Post by **mikeslr** » Wed 12 Sep 2018, 00:48

My Xenialpup64 on a USB-Stick takes 15 Seconds to shut down. That's because I've Menu>System>Puppy Event Manager, Save Sessions Tab & set the Save interval to 0(Zero) but put a check-mark in the "Ask at Shutdown" box. I use those 15 seconds to try to remember if I have a reason to reboot in order to install some new application or SFS-Load (or unload) an Application.

But with Save Interval set to Zero, I can literally 'pull the plug' or the Stick and press the power button.

When a Save takes place (manually or automatically as when the Save Session is NOT set to Zero) what is written to your SaveFile or Folder is not only what you want to Save, but everything then in Random Access Memory -- the junk you picked up surfing the internet, the files you forgot to delete, the pets which didn't work and you meant to uninstall, everything (with the exception of files in /tmp). Once a file is written to a SaveFile/Folder, deleting it doesn't recover all the space it took. Why do you want your system operating that way?

On recent Puppies, in order to remove the Automatic Save, you have to change the Save Interval as explained above and, if your Puppy is not on a USB-Key you have to trick Puppy into thinking it is. That is done by changing the kernel line in Grub4Dos' menu.lst from

kernel /xen64/vmlinuz psubdir=xen64 pmedia=atahd
to
kernel /xen64/vmlinuz psubdir=xen64 pmedia=ataflash.

Ask if you're using a different bootloader, or you have any other questions.

See this post for further changes you may want to make after doing that: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 066#974066. Which changes you make are your choice.

Billtoo · #731 Post by **Billtoo** » Wed 12 Sep 2018, 12:48

I installed to the hard drive of my Acer Revo nettop pc:

System: Host: puppypc20074 Kernel: 4.9.126-pae i686 (32 bit) Desktop: JWM 2.3.7 Distro: xenialpup 7.5
Machine: System: Acer product: Aspire R3610 serial: PTSCX0205302001AC12700
Mobo: Acer model: FMCP7A-ION-LE serial: U020102009703
Bios: American Megatrends v: P01-A4 date: 11/03/2009
CPU: Dual core Intel Atom 330 (-HT-MCP-) speed/max: 1599/1600 MHz
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA ION VGA
Display Server: X.org 1.18.4 driver: nvidia tty size: 153x26 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Network: Card-1: NVIDIA MCP79 Ethernet driver: forcedeth
Card-2: Ralink RT3090 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe driver: rt2800pci
Drives: HDD Total Size: 160.0GB (2.5% used)
Weather: Conditions: 63 F (17 C) - Overcast Time: September 12, 8:37 AM EDT
Info: Processes: 174 Uptime: 15 min Memory: 194.0/1505.5MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.2.35

Changed kernel, added usual applications, installed proprietary Nvidia
driver.

Connected to a 32" TV via HDMI cable, audio via HDMI also.

Dual booting with xenialpup64 7.5 - both work well with this atom
processor.

infromthepound · #732 Post by **infromthepound** » Thu 13 Sep 2018, 11:08

bigpup wrote:infromthepound,

Write speed of the USB is what controls this, as stuff is written to the save, at shutdown.

You can do some setting changes to how the save is used. This can speed things up.

menu>System>Puppy Event Manager>Save Session

If you set the save interval to zero (0)

Check ask at shutdown whether to save or not.

You can control when anything is saved.
Use the save icon on the desktop to write to the save, when you feel something needs to go into the save.
Installed a program, setting changes, anything you want to keep, etc......
or
Say save or not save, when asked at shutdown.

Also, check in the browser history and cache settings.
If you have it set to keep everything.
All of that has to go into the save.

Thanks for that. I will alter my settings now.
JB

RetroTechGuy · #733 Post by **RetroTechGuy** » Thu 13 Sep 2018, 13:39

bigpup wrote:infromthepound,

Write speed of the USB is what controls this, as stuff is written to the save, at shutdown.

And, of course, the size of the save file. The whole save file needs to be written on shutdown, so help it by keeping the size small (e.g. 256M or 512M for example).

You'll run out of space internally -- but you can drag those offenders outside onto the flash drive, then symlink them back in (I find that my browser cache, email cache and files, and so forth are big offenders -- outside they go). Then your save file just contains your specialized personal settings, and needn't be that large.

RetroTechGuy · #734 Post by **RetroTechGuy** » Thu 13 Sep 2018, 13:49

'File transfer rates vary considerably among devices; typical fast drives from this generation claim to read at up to 30 MB/s and write at about half that rate,"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive

"Half that rate" would be 15 MB/sec for a FAST USB-2 drive (some are substantially slower).

At 15 MB/sec, it takes 10 seconds for a 150 MB write, or about 30 seconds for your 512MB save file. If the drive is slower, or has sectors that don't respond well, your write speed will be slower yet.

How big is the save file that takes 4 minutes? (there could also be some issues in the manner by which that version of Puppy writes it out -- I've noticed that some are faster than others).

This shutdown speed issue is why I typically make my external USB drive a hard drive, rather than flash memory (keep a flash version for rescue/backup operations)

I have one old laptop that has a USB1.1, you can bet that when I boot flash on it, that I keep the file size down small...

bigpup · #735 Post by **bigpup** » Thu 13 Sep 2018, 13:59

And, or course, the size of the save file. The whole save file needs to be written on shutdown

Not sure where you are getting this idea, but it is wrong.

After you first make the original save.
The only thing that gets written to the save, is anything that is not already in the save.
Stuff is just added to the save that is already there.

RetroTechGuy · #736 Post by **RetroTechGuy** » Thu 13 Sep 2018, 14:07

bigpup wrote:
And, or course, the size of the save file. The whole save file needs to be written on shutdown
Not sure where you are getting this idea, but it is wrong.

After you first make the original save.
The only thing that gets written to the save, is anything that is not already in the save.
Stuff is just added to the save that is already there.

Hmmm... That's interesting. Then the slow shutdown write issue makes no sense at all.... I assumed that since the SFS had been changed, that the system didn't bother to try figuring out which compressed bits to save, and just rewrote the whole thing. What magic is it doing to keep track of which parts of the SFS need to be updated?

bigpup · #737 Post by **bigpup** » Thu 13 Sep 2018, 14:56

How Puppy works:
http://bkhome.org/archive/puppylinux/de ... works.html
Look at pupmode 13 operation.

Then the slow shutdown write issue makes no sense at all.

The format of the USB flash drive could be an issue.
If it is fat 32 format and that file system is corrupted or probably fragmented.
Can happen with fat 32.

That would slow things down.

RetroTechGuy · #738 Post by **RetroTechGuy** » Thu 13 Sep 2018, 17:13

bigpup wrote:How Puppy works:
http://bkhome.org/archive/puppylinux/de ... works.html
Look at pupmode 13 operation.

So, the compromise is that the contents of the top layer is copied down to the next layer -- that is officially supported by unionfs.

If it's really doing a copy, that perhaps still needs to push the entire contents (or rewrite the entire contents) of the save file.

I don't know enough about the guts of this. But my observation is that the write time is consistent with writing the entire save file, through whatever port speed limitations you suffer.

6502coder · #739 Post by **6502coder** » Thu 13 Sep 2018, 18:18

bigpup wrote:The only thing that gets written to the save, is anything that is not already in the save.
Stuff is just added to the save that is already there.

I'm confused about this too. I understand that only new changes are added to the save file, but while the save file contains an entire file system internally, the save file ITSELF is just an ordinary file, as far as the OS is concerned. So doesn't the entire save file have to be written afresh to the storage medium if any part of it gets modified? It's not like the old days when we used to use a floppy disk "hex" editor to do direct read/writes to specific sectors on the disk. Can Linux actually update in-place only PART of a file on a storage medium?

rcrsn51 · #740 Post by **rcrsn51** » Thu 13 Sep 2018, 18:37

6502coder wrote:Can Linux actually update in-place only PART of a file on a storage medium?

Yes. This is how random-access databases work.

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Xenialpup CE 7.5 / 25 Nov 2017

Xenialpup CE 7.5 / 25 Nov 2017