eBoxPup-2.13-0.1alpha released

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cthisbear
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#46 Post by cthisbear »

(Bert, you're running a faster machine so you'll find Seamonkey reasonably fast. On the eBox-2300, there is a noticeable delay in Seamonkey when typing e.g. a URL - it takes about a second before the character appears on screen :!: Opera, on the other hand, runs much faster and has no noticeable delay.)

pakt..This might interest you..on Barrys' developer forum

http://www.puppyos.net/forum/?1170794341

I commented about Seamonkey's slow page rendering on Barry's blog so I decided to do a bit more investigation.
It turns out the "--enable-pango option in the build config is the culprit. Note: you can see the build options by typing about:buildconfig in the address bar. The official Seamonkey binary does not have pango enabled by default.

(Billcnz

I tested disabling pango by adding:
export MOZ_DISABLE_PANGO=1
to the mozilla-bin file before it calls the seamonkey-bin. It makes a huge difference on older pc's with slow cpu's. My load time for rendering Barry's blog page went from 35 seconds down to 7 seconds.) Bill

Regards Chris

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pakt
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#47 Post by pakt »

cthisbear wrote:I tested disabling pango by adding:
export MOZ_DISABLE_PANGO=1
to the mozilla-bin file before it calls the seamonkey-bin. It makes a huge difference on older pc's with slow cpu's. My load time for rendering Barry's blog page went from 35 seconds down to 7 seconds.
Thanks for the link, Chris. I just tried the mod on the eBox and it makes a big difference :)

Still not as fast as Opera, but it's a lot closer in performance.

Paul
Methinks Raspberry Pi were ideal for runnin' Puppy Linux

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sintot
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Location: Madrid

#48 Post by sintot »

I've got a brand new epatec e3800 with puppy 2.13 (I'm posting from it). Everything works out of the box with the regular puppy, except playing videos: both, gxine and mplayer die, with errors like:

Code: Select all

The program 'gxine' received an X Window System error.
This probably reflects a bug in the program.
The error was 'BadAlloc'.
  (Details: serial 375 error_code 11 request_code 140 minor_code 19)
  (Note to programmers: normally, X errors are reported asynchronously;
   that is, you will receive the error a while after causing it.
   To debug your program, run it with the --sync command line
   option to change this behavior. You can then get a meaningful
   backtrace from your debugger if you break on the gdk_x_error() function.)
Do you know if it's necessary to install some module for the graphic card to work for videos?

Thanks in advance

jac1d
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Joined: Thu 16 Nov 2006, 05:08

#49 Post by jac1d »

Congrats on putting this together for the ebox/tu-40. I am writing this via Opera on a box that I flash booted.

The only thing I don't have working so far is audio output?

I tried running alsaconf but it says it fails to find any devices.

How do I load the driver for the onboard ac97 audio?

As this build is meant for the ebox, perhaps auto-configuring the network for DHCP and auto-configuring the sound is a luxury we can enjoy since the hardware config won't change?

Your assistance is appreciated.

-Jeff

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pakt
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#50 Post by pakt »

jac1d wrote:The only thing I don't have working so far is audio output?
Jeff, you didn't forget to put zdrv_213.sfs on the CF card? That file contains almost all of the Puppy driver modules. It is also needed if you want to run Xorg (recommended, instead of Xvesa) on the eBox/TU-40. Xorg uses a video driver specifically for the SiS graphics chip giving you best performance - Xvesa is a general video driver, not optimised for any graphics chip.
jac1d wrote:As this build is meant for the ebox, perhaps auto-configuring the network for DHCP and auto-configuring the sound is a luxury we can enjoy since the hardware config won't change?
Sound works out of the 'box' (no pun intended) with zdrv_213.sfs. You may need to raise the volume.

The eBox can also be used with dial-up networking, so auto-configuring the network is not such a good idea. It so simple to set up so it doesn't really matter anyway ;)

Welcome to the 'Puppy on a thin client' club :)

Paul
Methinks Raspberry Pi were ideal for runnin' Puppy Linux

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lvds
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#51 Post by lvds »

I have a 4GB microdrive in a CF/IDE adapter mounted in the 2.5" drive tray an there´s no noise from the unit. Now I just have to figure out how to do a convention hard drive install so I can use the whole drive and get a swap partition setup. Any pointers here would be greatly appreciated.
I can give you mine simple how-to, as i had really hard time with others. After reading the how-to forum or other people test i was simply not able to have it running, and i really don't know why. But i finally found ONE way really working very good.

The need i had was to install puppy on a USB hard disk or on a USB key and to have it also read/write able for windows. So i could download puppy distros and test them without burning cd, and erase and do it again with another distro. It works the same on IDE hard disk, or compact flash cards with adapter.

How-to install PUPPY distribution on hard disk (USB or IDE/SATA) or USB key

1. format disk to FAT32, or format USB key using the HP tools (download here:
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/support/files ... 23839.html )

2. download a distro and extract every file from the ISO to the newly formatted disk.
3. take your text editor and create a text file contaning the following line inside (uncomment the line for your context) and save it to SYSLINUX.CFG

Code: Select all

#default vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 initrd=initrd.gz PMEDIA=idecd
#default vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 initrd=initrd.gz PMEDIA=usbflash
#default vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 initrd=initrd.gz PMEDIA=usbhd
append QPM=true
4. use syslinux.exe to make your disk bootable. You might need to use the -f switch to force it, it's ok.

exemple if your disk is seen as e: use the command:
syslinux e: -f

5. reboot your computer and ensure your bios is ok to boot on usb device if you are installing on usb.

*****

This simple method works great. If you want to change and test another distro all you have to do is download another distro and extract all files from ISO and copy them on your usb device. It works the same for IDE hard disks, just select the fine PMEDIA parameter.

Another real good thing is someone using windows and loading your usb device is not able to read your own files saved in puppy ! Though the sfs are not encrypted windows users can't read them.

Perhaps someone may also give us a tip on how-to encrypt the files ?
You can use your puppy linux distro with complete usability and even store your work and increase the storage puppy space. But by formatting in FAT32 you will not be able to use very large store files, the limit is around 4Go i think (?) Perhaps you can use ext3 or reiserfs if it suits best your needs.

Best regards,
Laurent.
Last edited by lvds on Sun 11 Feb 2007, 07:40, edited 2 times in total.

raffy
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Location: Manila

very useful

#52 Post by raffy »

That's a very useful new procedure in installing Puppy, Laurent. Thanks a lot!
Puppy user since Oct 2004. Want FreeOffice? [url=http://puppylinux.info/topic/freeoffice-2012-sfs]Get the sfs (English only)[/url].

dittaeva
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun 11 Feb 2007, 11:33

Questions about the ebox 38xx, and much more

#53 Post by dittaeva »

Before I buy an ebox 38xx I'd just like to be certain that these devices has high speed USB (480 Mb/s) support, and that they can boot from the USB-port (so you can choose USB as 1st, CF-slot as 2nd and IDE as 3rd boot device f.ex.). Could some of you confirm this? I suppose its pretty mandatory these days, but I'd like to be certain :)

Also, for those of you in Norway or Sweden, it will probably be cheaper (and easier) to shop through http://www.wdlsystems.com and forward with http://jetcarrier.no . I only have positive experiences with them.

Thirdly, could someone recommend a suitable miniPCI WLAN card or USB-adapter for my ebox-puppy? I'd be very happy if you could point me to a good cheap american online shop at the same time :-)

Additionaly, those looking for more power saving boxes, should check these out:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yuge92
made by these guys:
http://www.dt-research.com/
I'll be happy to do some translating for those who need, but I suppose Google language tools will take you just as far.

And lastly, keep up the good work! I love it!

raffy
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Location: Manila

Boots from USB

#54 Post by raffy »

Thanks for the links.

Yes, it boots from USB. The speed of transfer depends on whether it is USB type 1 or 2, and you can check the specifications (see the sites for the specifications).
Puppy user since Oct 2004. Want FreeOffice? [url=http://puppylinux.info/topic/freeoffice-2012-sfs]Get the sfs (English only)[/url].

dittaeva
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun 11 Feb 2007, 11:33

More about the DT Research boxen

#55 Post by dittaeva »

Well, it is supposed to have USB 2.0 so I suppose that's correct then :-)

Anyway, for those interested, the processor in the DT research boxes is a AMD Geode LX 800. According to a white paper I found on ZDNet, even though it is 500 Mhz it should equal an 800 Mhz processor. I've attached the paper.

My understanding is also that they have a miniPCI slot or can be equipped with one ("optionales WLAN (miniPCI)"), that they have a 44 pin IDE slot ("Notebook-Festplatte oder FlashROM (DOM)"), and possibly that the DDR ram is "modular", not fixed ("gestecktes RAM Modul"). See:

http://www.dt-research.com/dt166_set.htm

They also seem to be nicer to foreigners, as you don't have to pay German VAT if its shipped outside Germany.

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lvds
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Re: very useful

#56 Post by lvds »

raffy wrote:That's a very useful new procedure in installing Puppy, Laurent. Thanks a lot!
Is there a way to export my message to the HOW-TO forum section so others can benefit from it too ?

Best regards,
Laurent.

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lvds
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#57 Post by lvds »

Hi Pakt,

I have been using it since a while and i noticed the following problems:

1. the locale script does not work and abort after a download so users can never choose from the locale list...

2. the mkisofs is missing

i will keep on testing it and will report if i find something :-)

Best regards,
Laurent.

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pakt
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#58 Post by pakt »

Thanks, Laurent, I'll look into those issues and put them on my list to fix.

Paul
Methinks Raspberry Pi were ideal for runnin' Puppy Linux

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MorganP
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#59 Post by MorganP »

Hey! Just got my emb2300 today from WDL Systems, but the eBoxPup is not found at the link in first post. :(

Can I get it somewhere else??

raffy
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Location: Manila

bexa.org

#60 Post by raffy »

Puppy user since Oct 2004. Want FreeOffice? [url=http://puppylinux.info/topic/freeoffice-2012-sfs]Get the sfs (English only)[/url].

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MorganP
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#61 Post by MorganP »

Thanks! I was able to get it running fine from a USB Flash. Cool. However, I ran the Puppy Universal Installer to install it to the CF card using the default install options, and it does not want to boot from it. I see it as the Primary Slave in the BIOS setup and I set the 1st bood device as IDE-0, but the box acts as if there is not a bootable device.

Do I need to select a specific boot type option when creating the CF with the Universal Installer?

raffy
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Location: Manila

hdb1

#62 Post by raffy »

I guess the compact flash is a slave, so it should be IDE1 in the BIOS.

Installing to "CF in USB adapter, later move to IDE" will actually write the correct syslinux.cfg, like:

Code: Select all

default vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 initrd=initrd.gz ide=nodma PMEDIA=ideflash
Puppy user since Oct 2004. Want FreeOffice? [url=http://puppylinux.info/topic/freeoffice-2012-sfs]Get the sfs (English only)[/url].

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MorganP
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#63 Post by MorganP »

Got it to boot off of the inserted CF (BIOS said Primary slave, IDE-0 was only option for boot device order when it was inserted)

In the Puppy Universal Installer, the option I chose on selecting the destination was:
IDE Flash Drive (CF card in IDE adapter)

Instead of the default MBR option I selected the SuperFloppy with ext3 format. That worked fine. Tried a few times with the default format options without success.


I'm dissapointed that this ebox2300 only successfuly drives my KDS LCD at 8 bit color (1024X768). I'll have to see if I have better luck on a different monitor.

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pakt
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#64 Post by pakt »

MorganP wrote:I'm dissapointed that this ebox2300 only successfuly drives my KDS LCD at 8 bit color (1024X768). I'll have to see if I have better luck on a different monitor.
Sounds like you're running Xvesa. When I run Xvesa, I can only get 800x600 on my LCD monitor. But using Xorg, I get the full 1024x768@16 that I want (note that according to specs, the eBox-2300 is capable of 1280x1024). So you might give Xorg a try ;)

Paul
Methinks Raspberry Pi were ideal for runnin' Puppy Linux

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MorganP
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#65 Post by MorganP »

Thanks Paul. I thought I had tried both, but I went through it again and it spent alot of time on Probing Video Hardware (or something like that) that I know I hadn't seen before. Looks great now.

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