I have downloaded Puppy4.1 alpha1 seamonkey iso and tried both an upgrade frugal installation and a clean installation to an ext2 file system partition. Test system was Intel Celeron 2.3 GHz with 1 Gigabyte of memory.
Here is what I found with either installation:
aplay with either 2barks. wav or 2barks.au only plays a bark and half. The first bark is incomplete. Sound does work properly for other wav and mpg (ivy.mpg) files.
WIFI Network connections do not work even for an open network using the new rt73usb module. Command iwconfig sees wlan0, but, ifconfig does not know about wlan0, so one can not bring the network interface up. This was tested on an open (no encryption) network. The ifconfig command reports; "ifconfig: SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory". Checking with iwconfig, one finds that the scan or scanning command is not available. This why the program Pwireless does not work. The network wizard also does not work. Checking dmesg after unsuccessful wireless commands, one finds "rt2x00lib_request_firmware: Error failed to request firmware.
I hope this helps.
Puppy 4.1 Alpha1 Test Reports, Issues, and possible bugs
Puppy 4.1 Alpha1 Test Reports, Issues, and possible bugs
Enjoy life, Just Greg
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
External Modem
Burned iso to cd Normal mode.
Then booted up and tried pupdial modem dialup.
The modem was found and started to activate but the lights seemed wrong on the modem and it failed to work with seamonkey.
Then it stopped-timed out I suppose.
I dont know whats wrong - perhaps I should have burnt it in multisession mode or installed it to hard disk first. But I must have tried this in previous dingos and it usually works ok.
Then booted up and tried pupdial modem dialup.
The modem was found and started to activate but the lights seemed wrong on the modem and it failed to work with seamonkey.
Then it stopped-timed out I suppose.
I dont know whats wrong - perhaps I should have burnt it in multisession mode or installed it to hard disk first. But I must have tried this in previous dingos and it usually works ok.
zd1211rw firmware error
I get an error too. Dmesg shows "can't load firmware - error -2. I have a usb wireless adapter that has worked since 2.17 through 4.0 2.6.25
I also put this in the developer page, but not everyone goes there and they may read this and know they have the same problem JustGreg has along with myself.
I also put this in the developer page, but not everyone goes there and they may read this and know they have the same problem JustGreg has along with myself.
I copied this over from the other thread, which will be deleted, just to keep the bug reports in one place.
I did a boot from CD updating a copy of my encrypted 2.16.1 pupsave. The hardware is my old Thinkpad with 320MB ram. I used the big version, 91.5MB I think.
1) The pupsave encryption password still shows on the screen when typing it in. This really ought to be fixed or at least explained; probably just a bad switch on losetup or something?
2) After the switch root it complained about missing dependencies or stuff that needs to be removed from my Puppy 2 pupsave; however I had previously deleted all packages in 2.16.1 before upgrading to 4.0.1 so the latter can't have been right. There was a whole long list of stuff I needed that I can report if you are interested (gtk1, tcl, etc.)
3) Just to check the above I went into the petget manager after the boot to be sure all packages were gone, but it reported something called "gspcav1-20070508-i586" as installed anyway, don't know where that came from (never saw it in 2.16.1). When I clicked on it (which should have removed it according to the verbiage there), nothing happened.
4) Neither Seamonkey nor Calendar starts from the icon. Seamonkey loads from the menu though, don't know about Calendar.
5) The wireless wizard did not pick up any of my profiles from 2.16.1. In addition it decided I needed ath5k_pci rather than ath_pci as in 2.16.1, and called it wlan0 rather than ath0, and said it does not support WPA as it had in 2.16.1. Kind of a step backward for me.
I vaguely recall reading something about this driver in a recent thread but can't recall details...
6) Gnumeric does not load from the icon nor the menu. Abiword does load though.
7) When I was selecting a file to play in gxine, from that generic file selector window that all the apps use, I noticed that no vertical scroll bar was visible although I could grab where it would have been and scroll with it.
I notice some confusion in naming; the iso is called "4.1" while the devx is "401".
That's about all for now. Like the crisp icons, although that's probably a carry-over from 4.00.
I did a boot from CD updating a copy of my encrypted 2.16.1 pupsave. The hardware is my old Thinkpad with 320MB ram. I used the big version, 91.5MB I think.
1) The pupsave encryption password still shows on the screen when typing it in. This really ought to be fixed or at least explained; probably just a bad switch on losetup or something?
2) After the switch root it complained about missing dependencies or stuff that needs to be removed from my Puppy 2 pupsave; however I had previously deleted all packages in 2.16.1 before upgrading to 4.0.1 so the latter can't have been right. There was a whole long list of stuff I needed that I can report if you are interested (gtk1, tcl, etc.)
3) Just to check the above I went into the petget manager after the boot to be sure all packages were gone, but it reported something called "gspcav1-20070508-i586" as installed anyway, don't know where that came from (never saw it in 2.16.1). When I clicked on it (which should have removed it according to the verbiage there), nothing happened.
4) Neither Seamonkey nor Calendar starts from the icon. Seamonkey loads from the menu though, don't know about Calendar.
5) The wireless wizard did not pick up any of my profiles from 2.16.1. In addition it decided I needed ath5k_pci rather than ath_pci as in 2.16.1, and called it wlan0 rather than ath0, and said it does not support WPA as it had in 2.16.1. Kind of a step backward for me.
I vaguely recall reading something about this driver in a recent thread but can't recall details...6) Gnumeric does not load from the icon nor the menu. Abiword does load though.
7) When I was selecting a file to play in gxine, from that generic file selector window that all the apps use, I noticed that no vertical scroll bar was visible although I could grab where it would have been and scroll with it.
I notice some confusion in naming; the iso is called "4.1" while the devx is "401".
That's about all for now. Like the crisp icons, although that's probably a carry-over from 4.00.
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BarryK
- Puppy Master
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- Location: Perth, Western Australia
- Contact:
Reproducing this message from my blog:
It is not to be tested for upgrading an earlier pup_save, etc. Well, you can do, but I won't be reading such posts. It is only for a small group of developers interested in the new module loading and event management ideas. Also, for investigation of the new 2.6.25.4 kernel -- but only from developer perspective for now.Please note that this 4.1alpha is just a snapshot for developers, it is not a bugfix release for 4.00. I cannot emphasize this enough. If you have 4.00, do not treat 4.1alpha as an upgrade. If you are not a developer who is specifically interested in the new features as announced recently in the blog, please stay away from this iso.
[url]https://bkhome.org/news/[/url]
Well, that comment can be interpreted different ways. I was not looking at it as an upgrade of my running 4.00 Puppy (or in my case, 2.16.1) - I certainly did not intend to run with it. But (in my mind anyway) it did not mean I was not even to test the upgrade process. The presence of an existing pupsave might have some effect on the new module loading and pup_event code; that was my thinking.
Well anyway, I finally get your point. I will leave that part alone until later cuts. I read your explanation of the new code; sounds very useful and flexible, from what I understand of it. It will be great to plug in devices without having the OS getting confused. I may have to get my USB drives lined up for a plug-in/pull-out test to see if I can trip it up.
BTW, an idea for you about those tray icons that show up when a device is plugged in. Might it make sense for mountable devices to have two versions of icons, one that shows when it is mounted and the other when unmounted? Maybe make it red when mounted? Might help people avoid pulling mounted devices...
Well anyway, I finally get your point. I will leave that part alone until later cuts. I read your explanation of the new code; sounds very useful and flexible, from what I understand of it. It will be great to plug in devices without having the OS getting confused. I may have to get my USB drives lined up for a plug-in/pull-out test to see if I can trip it up.
BTW, an idea for you about those tray icons that show up when a device is plugged in. Might it make sense for mountable devices to have two versions of icons, one that shows when it is mounted and the other when unmounted? Maybe make it red when mounted? Might help people avoid pulling mounted devices...
Well, I played with it some more and found my idea would not work since you only get one USB icon no matter how many USB devices are plugged in (unless you made the icon red if ANY devices were mounted, which might not make sense).
I did notice a couple of peculiarities (I had not added those fixes you found, perhaps they are involved here):
1) If I had two drives plugged in, and then removed one, the icon disappeared.
2) I plugged in a USB hard drive with a single partition and it was called sdd5 rather than what I expected, sdd1.
3) My 128MB flash drive was called "122M" in pmount, and the 256MB drive was called "244M".
However I started with only the standard single USB1.1 port, then after booting plugged in my 4-port USB card, and was impressed that Puppy just picked this up (albeit with no indication other than in dmesg) and the ports were immediately usable. Moving devices around, the names were retained. Everything was very smooth!
I did notice a couple of peculiarities (I had not added those fixes you found, perhaps they are involved here):
1) If I had two drives plugged in, and then removed one, the icon disappeared.
2) I plugged in a USB hard drive with a single partition and it was called sdd5 rather than what I expected, sdd1.
3) My 128MB flash drive was called "122M" in pmount, and the 256MB drive was called "244M".
However I started with only the standard single USB1.1 port, then after booting plugged in my 4-port USB card, and was impressed that Puppy just picked this up (albeit with no indication other than in dmesg) and the ports were immediately usable. Moving devices around, the names were retained. Everything was very smooth!
Dingo 4.1alpha1, does not work with my lucent modem. When connecting the computer freezes, but ive found some other drivers for the lucent modem:
http://linmodems.technion.ac.il/packages/ltmodem/kernel-2.6/
http://linmodems.technion.ac.il/packages/ltmodem/kernel-2.6/
[img]http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/8595/ubd6467dp2.png[/img]
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BarryK
- Puppy Master
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Yes, an alternative to the 'ltmodem' driver is the 'martian' driver.Wolf Pup wrote:Dingo 4.1alpha1, does not work with my lucent modem. When connecting the computer freezes, but ive found some other drivers for the lucent modem:
http://linmodems.technion.ac.il/packages/ltmodem/kernel-2.6/
[url]https://bkhome.org/news/[/url]
Hi Barry,
Um, how about not calling things 'alpha' when its a developer testing ideas edition.
You may know what alpha implies, but a lot of users have no idea.
I'd suggest that you use a much more meaningful tag for such distributions, so as to inspire doubt in the minds of people who are unsure of what alpha means.
How about "new-buggy-concepts-test", or "wipes-your-drive", or "pees-on-carpet", or "vicious-terrier-destroyer", or "destroys-all-save-files", or "breaks-in-new-wondrous-ways".
I'm not saying those are appropriate, but they certainly inspire doubt, especially if its a file you download one day, and then months later burn it and have a go with it... Ka-Boomb-SaveFiles!
For some people 'alpha' means "first choice" or "top dog" or "pack leader", which really isn't the right idea for which the word was chosen. Chaos ensues! and some unlucky peoples hopes and saved files get dashed to shreds!
Lets make it fun and simple for all
Regards
Jesse
Um, how about not calling things 'alpha' when its a developer testing ideas edition.
You may know what alpha implies, but a lot of users have no idea.
I'd suggest that you use a much more meaningful tag for such distributions, so as to inspire doubt in the minds of people who are unsure of what alpha means.
How about "new-buggy-concepts-test", or "wipes-your-drive", or "pees-on-carpet", or "vicious-terrier-destroyer", or "destroys-all-save-files", or "breaks-in-new-wondrous-ways".
I'm not saying those are appropriate, but they certainly inspire doubt, especially if its a file you download one day, and then months later burn it and have a go with it... Ka-Boomb-SaveFiles!
For some people 'alpha' means "first choice" or "top dog" or "pack leader", which really isn't the right idea for which the word was chosen. Chaos ensues! and some unlucky peoples hopes and saved files get dashed to shreds!
Lets make it fun and simple for all
Regards
Jesse
No dia outl on RS-232 dialup modem
Dear Barry,
The current Puppy 4.1 Alpha 1 test CD-ROM will not dial my external serial RS-232 dialup modem. It has been a very long time since any release of Puppy Linux would not dial my RS-232 dialup modem. In fact, I cannot remember if any version of Puppy failed to do so until Puppy 4.1 Alpha 1, and I go back to at least Puppy 0.3, or some such.
The RS-232 modem is shown to be present, to "work", but when I try to dial, the error message states that the return response from the modem after initialization is incorrent while trying to dial out. So I have had to return to Puppy 4.0 in order to use my RS-232 modem.
Hail Puppy!
Raman
The current Puppy 4.1 Alpha 1 test CD-ROM will not dial my external serial RS-232 dialup modem. It has been a very long time since any release of Puppy Linux would not dial my RS-232 dialup modem. In fact, I cannot remember if any version of Puppy failed to do so until Puppy 4.1 Alpha 1, and I go back to at least Puppy 0.3, or some such.
The RS-232 modem is shown to be present, to "work", but when I try to dial, the error message states that the return response from the modem after initialization is incorrent while trying to dial out. So I have had to return to Puppy 4.0 in order to use my RS-232 modem.
Hail Puppy!
Raman
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tempestuous
- Posts: 5464
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After a full HD installation (not frugal) the /lib/modules/2.6.25.4 directory is missing. The installation will then boot up OK, but you can't do anything more which requires modules.
It appears that this directory is not extracted from the initrd and copied into place. I was able to perform the necessary extraction myself, but this is not something the average user could do.
Update: another problem with HD install - /tmp is read-only. X fails to launch when it cannot create /tmp/xorgwizard-errors. I did a rough workaround by booting to the liveCD and copying everything in /tmp to the corresponding directory on the hard drive, but clearly this is not a solution.
Update2: Sorry, it appears that the mechanism to handle modules is about to change in Puppy 4.1 alpha2 anyway -
http://puppylinux.com/blog/?viewDetailed=00122
When the method for storing and retrieving modules is settled, I suggest that the Universal Installer should copy into place all modules for full HD installs. As we discussed in the past, full HD installations achieve no real benefit from being "trim" since the filesystem is not held in RAM.
It appears that this directory is not extracted from the initrd and copied into place. I was able to perform the necessary extraction myself, but this is not something the average user could do.
Update: another problem with HD install - /tmp is read-only. X fails to launch when it cannot create /tmp/xorgwizard-errors. I did a rough workaround by booting to the liveCD and copying everything in /tmp to the corresponding directory on the hard drive, but clearly this is not a solution.
Update2: Sorry, it appears that the mechanism to handle modules is about to change in Puppy 4.1 alpha2 anyway -
http://puppylinux.com/blog/?viewDetailed=00122
When the method for storing and retrieving modules is settled, I suggest that the Universal Installer should copy into place all modules for full HD installs. As we discussed in the past, full HD installations achieve no real benefit from being "trim" since the filesystem is not held in RAM.
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tempestuous
- Posts: 5464
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A further refinement to Puppy's wifi firmware:
I see in 4.1alpha1 in /all-firmware/prism54_firmware/lib/firmware several firmware files. The firmware files for the "prism54" (fullmac) module are still correct -
isl3877
isl3890
isl3880 (symlink to isl3890)
But the other 3 firmware files there need to be renamed -
2.5.6.0.arm should be renamed "isl3890usb"
2.5.8.0.arm should be renamed "isl3887usb_bare"
These are both for the "p54usb" (softmac) module. The module should automatically choose the correct one depending on the hardware.
2.7.0.0.arm should be renamed "isl3886"
This is for the "p54pci" (softmac) module.
Once this has been fixed, forum member fleamour's Zoom 4412 wifi adaptor should be supported -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=29313
and maybe also forum member jonscrut's Sweex LW141 -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=29677
The (somewhat confusing) information comes from
http://www.prism54.org/newdrivers.html
http://jbnote.free.fr/prism54usb/
http://daemonizer.de/prism54/prism54-fw/
Actually there are many more variations of Prism54 fullmac/softmac firmware. The module will attempt to load whatever version you have downloaded as long as you rename it to the filename the module expects; for example "isl3890usb".
Update - I just noticed that "p54pci" and "p54usb" are both absent from /etc/networkmodules
I see in 4.1alpha1 in /all-firmware/prism54_firmware/lib/firmware several firmware files. The firmware files for the "prism54" (fullmac) module are still correct -
isl3877
isl3890
isl3880 (symlink to isl3890)
But the other 3 firmware files there need to be renamed -
2.5.6.0.arm should be renamed "isl3890usb"
2.5.8.0.arm should be renamed "isl3887usb_bare"
These are both for the "p54usb" (softmac) module. The module should automatically choose the correct one depending on the hardware.
2.7.0.0.arm should be renamed "isl3886"
This is for the "p54pci" (softmac) module.
Once this has been fixed, forum member fleamour's Zoom 4412 wifi adaptor should be supported -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=29313
and maybe also forum member jonscrut's Sweex LW141 -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=29677
The (somewhat confusing) information comes from
http://www.prism54.org/newdrivers.html
http://jbnote.free.fr/prism54usb/
http://daemonizer.de/prism54/prism54-fw/
Actually there are many more variations of Prism54 fullmac/softmac firmware. The module will attempt to load whatever version you have downloaded as long as you rename it to the filename the module expects; for example "isl3890usb".
Update - I just noticed that "p54pci" and "p54usb" are both absent from /etc/networkmodules
Last edited by tempestuous on Tue 03 Jun 2008, 09:43, edited 2 times in total.
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nic2109
- Posts: 405
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- Location: Hayslope, near Middlemarch, Midlands, England
My experience with 4.1 a1 is "interesting" re my wireless card (details in message footer).
The reduced modules version didn't recognise the connection at all - the network wizard only offered eth0 - even though iwl3945 was loaded OK.
The full modules version did find wlan0 but didn't activate it.
In both cases the WiFi light on the laptop stayed resolutely off without so much as a flicker.
Is there anything by way of diagnostics I could usefully provide?
The reduced modules version didn't recognise the connection at all - the network wizard only offered eth0 - even though iwl3945 was loaded OK.
The full modules version did find wlan0 but didn't activate it.
In both cases the WiFi light on the laptop stayed resolutely off without so much as a flicker.
Is there anything by way of diagnostics I could usefully provide?
[color=darkblue][b][size=150]Nick[/size][/b][/color]
Barry mentioned on the blog that he was putting /tmp back in ram. I was unable to comment there because I forgot my password and Seamonkey did not seem to store it.
Barry, imagine I am a Windows refugee trying out Puppy. I start watching a long youtube and halfway through it causes Puppy to hang. Every time I use it, it dies again at the same place. Will I chase this bug down, or will I go find another linux distro?
This example actually happened to me, and it took John Murga and myself some amount of time to figure it out. Most people won't bother and just will conclude Puppy is flakey.
It does not fix the problem to make /tmp take a larger piece of ram, it just makes it somewhat less likely - while consuming even more ram better used for applications. It also leaves small ram PC's in the lurch, if I'm not mistaken.
Speed demons with lots of ram can already modify Puppy to have /tmp in ram if they want. Most users I'd bet prefer reliability to the tiny performance boost they might see.
Another tactic might be to make this a configurable option with the default of having /tmp on the hard drive. Or another would be to use a small piece of ram for /tmp, and then mount more disk-based storage on top of that to ensure /tmp does not fill up and hang the system (we already tried this - it works).
Barry, imagine I am a Windows refugee trying out Puppy. I start watching a long youtube and halfway through it causes Puppy to hang. Every time I use it, it dies again at the same place. Will I chase this bug down, or will I go find another linux distro?
This example actually happened to me, and it took John Murga and myself some amount of time to figure it out. Most people won't bother and just will conclude Puppy is flakey.
It does not fix the problem to make /tmp take a larger piece of ram, it just makes it somewhat less likely - while consuming even more ram better used for applications. It also leaves small ram PC's in the lurch, if I'm not mistaken.
Speed demons with lots of ram can already modify Puppy to have /tmp in ram if they want. Most users I'd bet prefer reliability to the tiny performance boost they might see.
Another tactic might be to make this a configurable option with the default of having /tmp on the hard drive. Or another would be to use a small piece of ram for /tmp, and then mount more disk-based storage on top of that to ensure /tmp does not fill up and hang the system (we already tried this - it works).
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nic2109
- Posts: 405
- Joined: Mon 01 Jan 2007, 20:24
- Location: Hayslope, near Middlemarch, Midlands, England
Bad news on this front. Alpha 2 downloaded and tried but it's just the same. The network module is loaded OK (see screenshot) but the card isn't active - not so much as a single flicker on the indicator light.nic2109 wrote:Thanks for the reponse. I'll give it a try when it's out and report back.BarryK wrote:t
nic2109,
Firmware loading is broken in 4.1apha1, please wait for alpha2, due out before end of this week.
[color=darkblue][b][size=150]Nick[/size][/b][/color]
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tempestuous
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Indicator lights don't ultimately determine success. What happens when you click the "wlan0" button and set up the network?nic2109 wrote:the card isn't active - not so much as a single flicker on the indicator light.
Yes, run dmesg and report anything relating to iwl3945. If you're unsure about this, give us the complete dmesg output, like this -nic2109 wrote:Is there anything by way of diagnostics I could usefully provide?
Code: Select all
cd /root
dmesg > dmesg.txt
gzip dmesg.txtOn first boot (no pup_save) with a frugal install and pfix=noram, the desktop was blank, no pinboard. Restarting X fixed it. Only happens with no pup_save file. Maybe just me since no one else has reported it.
Hardware detection seems VERY good. Lots of new modules loaded, some of the new ones are button, pcspkr and more. Also the kernel seems to have many new processes running. Maybe not such a good thing, but top doesn't show them using any resources. My ipw2200 firmware loaded at boot. I kind of miss some of the convenience of Hotpup. But I can install that.
Looks like more than a alpha to me.
EDIT: Wrong thread, should have posted in alpha2 thread.
Hardware detection seems VERY good. Lots of new modules loaded, some of the new ones are button, pcspkr and more. Also the kernel seems to have many new processes running. Maybe not such a good thing, but top doesn't show them using any resources. My ipw2200 firmware loaded at boot. I kind of miss some of the convenience of Hotpup. But I can install that.
Looks like more than a alpha to me.
EDIT: Wrong thread, should have posted in alpha2 thread.
Last edited by kirk on Tue 10 Jun 2008, 03:14, edited 1 time in total.