Lucid Puppy Revitalized as 5.2.8.7 - Nov., 2017 - Final

[Snail]

As Skype is a very commonly used application, serving an obsolete version is VERY user-unfriendly. This is a great pity because the polished user environment is the reason that Lucid Puppy was so great. If it isn't possible to put a later version in the quickpet sfs repository, the unworkable old version should at least be deleted from there.

Thanks for your help mavrothal. I downloaded oscartalks's sfs and loaded it. Everything works except the sound. The Skype options menu gives no option for a sound device other than "virtualdevice".

I'm trying this on a Lenovo T400 Thinkpad laptop. lspci -nnk shows the following:

Code: Select all

00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:293e] (rev 03)
	Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
	Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

pfind shows that there are a lot of "pulse" files, so pulseaudio seems to be installed. Perhaps I need to configure it. At the moment, Alsawizard test sound is working, not sure if that is good or not.

[bigpup]

If I run resize personal storage file I do not get a message that says you are using a save directory (folder) and this is not needed.

Man... and was me that added this change originally
Anyway, is now fixed in version 6 of the pet. Also added the resizepfile patch in the patches file.

BTW version 6 of the pet works even if the savefile and the initrd.gz/puppy.sfs are in different directories as long as they are on an ext2-4 partition.

Using version 6.
All seems to be working OK.

Thanks again for adding this feature to Lucid.

[OscarTalks]

I downloaded oscartalks's sfs and loaded it. Everything works except the sound. The Skype options menu gives no option for a sound device other than "virtualdevice".

With the lucid skype 4.3 .sfs you will still also need to install the pulseaudio-2.1-lucid.pet and you may need to edit the /etc/pulse/default.pa config file to select your audio device.
http://smokey01.com/OscarTalks
With the packages for some other Pups I did combine everything and offered them as pulseaudio or apulse options.
I think there may be another version for Lucid which uses apulse by poster watchdog but you need to have a look through that thread for all the details.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... &start=152

[rerwin]

Eight months after the last release of Lucid Pup 5.2.8.6, I have now uploaded new beta versions of the standard "lupu" and "lupusuper2". I hope many will try them and report any regressions or omissions of appropriate updates to the packages that constitute the "528" series.
EDIT 12/4/2014: Betas now replaced by the "final" versions for this cycle (unless a significant bug appears) -- 20141203.

My goal is to provide current versions of programs/packages already in Lucid Pup, to keep it as useful as possible given the evolution of linux since Ubuntu Lucid Lynx was released. The primary upgrades relate to networking, specifically dhcpcd, network wizard and frisbee, plus current versions of zigberts "P" tools and radky's PupMates. The details of the changes to make "5.2.8.7" are in the history posting here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 108#726108

Although I prefer to avoid extending the capabilities of Lucid Pup, I have added a faxing utility, efax, to facilitate using the support of analog modems beyond just connecting to the internet. Since faxing may be used only occasionally, I want it to be easy to try. (Oops, I see that with an existing pupsave file, the menu may not contain the efax entry -- For now, to see efax in the Document submenu, please run fixmenus in a console.)

I have started a new folder in my MediaFire account for 5.2.8.7 disk image ISO files:
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/y3rkzh ... es-5.2.8.7

Once the beta test period is over, I plan to transition the initial posting in this thread to 5.2.8.7. In the meantime, please try 5.2.8.7 for your usual activities to verify that it works at least as well as 5.2.8.6. Thanks for all help in "getting it ready for prime time". And thanks to radky for the updated logo splash screens for the disks.
Richard

[bigpup]

I hope, for saving, you added the save to folder (directory) option that mavrothal worked so hard on!!!

It does add a feature, but it is a very good one to add.

This is standard option now in the newest versions of Puppy.
save to folder(directory).

[mavrothal]

I hope, for saving, you added the save to folder (directory) option

It is not and rightly so I believe.
Updating a 4-year old code base with a feature tested briefly by 3 people (as far as we know) may not be prudent.

Having said that let me point out that if you already have the previous luci/sulu/lupu version running with savefolder then swap the old sfs with the new one, leave the modified initrd.gz in place and you have updated to Richard's new vesrion with a savefolder
If you make a fresh install then after you have created the savefile and rebooted with it, download and install the Luci_SaveDir-6.pet. Works just fine with the new versions.
Maybe if there are enough reports of trouble free use in complex settings and uses will make it into the next update

[sheldonisaac]

(in part)
.. if you already have the previous luci/sulu/lupu version running with savefolder then swap the old sfs with the new one, leave the modified initrd.gz in place and you have updated to Richard's new vesrion with a savefolder

I did, and it works.
But I have a question: isn't my initrd.gz different than the one contained in the new iso?
Why does it work OK?

[mavrothal]

(in part)
.. if you already have the previous luci/sulu/lupu version running with savefolder then swap the old sfs with the new one, leave the modified initrd.gz in place and you have updated to Richard's new vesrion with a savefolder

I did, and it works.
But I have a question: isn't my initrd.gz different than the one contained in the new iso?

I believe it is not.
This is a remaster with no kernel changes that affects only the puppy.sfs AFAICT.
Even the IDSTRINGs are the same.
rerwin hopefully can verify this.

So the init can "see" the savefolder and all the other needed changes are already in the savefolder and will work just fine.
Since the version numbers are the same the puppy update mechanism does not kick in so none of the files in the save-folder/file are overwritten by the ones in the SFS.

[gyro]

I hope, for saving, you added the save to folder (directory) option

It is not and rightly so I believe.
Updating a 4-year old code base with a feature tested briefly by 3 people (as far as we know) may not be prudent.

I tend to agree.
I would particularly like to see more testing of pupmode=13 in older puppies.

On the other hand, 'savefolder' is an additional facility, not a replacement. So, if there are problems with 'savefolder', just go back to using a 'savefile' and puppy should work the way it did before.

gyro

[wboz]

Hi - I've been testing out 5.2.8.7 because I noticed you just added a Realtek 8188eu driver ... which I am hoping would get my wireless dongle working. Unfortunately the dongle doesn't seem to be recognized and I can't find a 8188eu module in the modules list. I'm probably doing something wrong, but any help is of course appreciated. Thanks!

[bigpup]

I hope, for saving, you added the save to folder (directory) option

It is not and rightly so I believe.
Updating a 4-year old code base with a feature tested briefly by 3 people (as far as we know) may not be prudent.

What do you feel still needs tested?

[rerwin]

Hi - I've been testing out 5.2.8.7 because I noticed you just added a Realtek 8188eu driver ... which I am hoping would get my wireless dongle working. Unfortunately the dongle doesn't seem to be recognized and I can't find a 8188eu module in the modules list. I'm probably doing something wrong, but any help is of course appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for reporting your problem. Maybe I need to do something more to ensure that it works OOTB. The driver is only in the lupu and lupuplus ISOs, not in the lupusupers. If you are using one of the "lupus", verify that "8188eu" is in the file, /lib/modules/modules.alias. If it is not, run in a console the command, depmod. Then see if "8188eu is in that file. If it shows up, rebooting should detect the dongle. If still "no joy", run "pdiag" in a console and PM to me the generated pdiag...tar.gz file.

After further research: There are at least 2 versions of your dongle, V1 - hardware ID 0bda:8176 and V2 & V3 - ID 0bda:8179. The driver supports only version 2 and later! But version 1 should be supported by module 8192cu. They are both in the lupus. In lupsuper2, only version 1 is handled, by rtl8192cu.
Richard

[wboz]

Got it!! Yes, I used a lupusuper. Oops! So that's the issue.

My version needs the 8188eu.

It IS working in Tahrpup, I'm playing with this for a bit but may then wipe the USB and try the regular lupu. Tahrpup is great too but I'm having problems with palemoon, plus boot times are a bit long (2x).

Thanks a lot!

[wboz]

Update --
Tahrpup had an unexpected problem, which was, when I reflashed the same USB with the same ISO, the OS that had previously run perfectly OOTB couldn't run X no matter what I tried. I'm really not sure what's going on there, probably user error but I'll figure that out later. I liked the look & feel so that made me sad, but that gave me an opportunity to try ...
Basic 5.2.8.7! Without the Super, and crucially with the inclusion of the module, things are working swell. Two minor issues, if they help:

The network connection doesn't persist past reboots. The profile does, but it's not successful; instead I have to reselect the dongle and enter pswd. This is fine for this application, not really a huge issue.
Firefox v24 is shown as available in the repos, but can't be found when you try. V19 works, which is fine in this case. It isn't fully supported by some websites (like Google Drive) but I tried updating in-browser and that works. I didn't choose to keep the update (yay non-persistent changes!)

[rerwin]

wboz,
That's very good news! Thanks for trying it. Now, you've got me "going".

When I discovered that precise pup and lupusuper2 do not support your V2, I just had to find out whether I could compile a driver for it. I found a source tarball in this tutorial:
http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1344
where this link got me the source:
https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu/a ... master.zip

I compiled it cleanly! Then I made a pet package for lupusuper2 modeled after the one for lupu. Someone considered it "experimental", but others have had success. However, they, too, encountered the lack of persistence across boots. That is near the limit of my networking competence, but I am not ruling out digging into it sometime. Maybe some experts can advise me on this (npierce?).

If you are ready for an experiment, I have uploaded to my repo the pet I built with lupusuper2:
EDIT: Replaced by patched version, to reconnect after reboot:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/u4r4b ... d-i686.pet
BTW, experiment succeeded!

Good luck.
Richard

[rerwin]

wboz,
I would like to look into the problem of persistence across reboots. I need to see what happens during bootup. Could you boot into your lupu 5.2.8.7 and after about a minute obtain a pdiag file (as I explained above)? Don't try any workarounds, which would confound the issue. If it is only a problem of determining which driver to load, I can probably resolve that. But I need the info to work with. Thanks.
Richard

[keniv]

rerwin,

Thanks for the new updated isos. Can I ask if there will be a lupumini update. I have an old Toshiba Satellite 4100 XCD laptop which does not have much memory and I have been using the 5286 lupumini with it. BTW I tried the luci_SaveDir-6.pet with the 5286 lupumini but it did not work properly. It did produce a patched initrd.gz file and a backup of the original as well as a save directory with contents, but when I rebooted it loaded the original savefile. Deleting this savefile and rebooting produced a first time boot as in pfix=ram.

Regards,

Ken.

[wboz]

rerwin, I can try to do what you are looking for. I assume you'd like to see the log file before I go and connect to internet, right? IE, boot, wait, take log, then connect and post?

edit: PM'd. Hope it helps!

Do keep in mind that for this application I really don't mind the reconnection process. So definitely don't bend yourself out of shape trying to solve this solely on my account. However, happy to help!

[rerwin]

Can I ask if there will be a lupumini update. I have an old Toshiba Satellite 4100 XCD laptop which does not have much memory and I have been using the 5286 lupumini with it.

I think so. My concern is that the lupu_528.sfs file might have grown too large for the mini to be any better than the regular lupu. I checked that on my 1999-model Thinkpad i1720, 256M, 266 MHz laptop.

Although I am not certain that the values I used are valid, I found that the RAM size is obtained from the "free" command "Mem:" line Total value. I took half of that, to get 127628 as the maximum size that would be loaded into RAM at bootup. With the "df" command, I found a line:
/dev/loop0 127104 127104 0 100% /initrd/pup_ro2
and took that value as the size of the lupu_528.sfs file. I assume both commands report values as units of "1K", which should mean 1024-byte blocks.

It appears, then, that the sfs file barely fits. In comparing the operation of the 5.2.8.6 mini and a 5.2.8.7 mini I created for the test, they seemed to run similarly, as to the amount of disk activity. So, it seems that a useful mini can still be built. For the betas, though, I did not build all of the variants. You might try the regular lupu 5.2.8.7 to see how it behaves, unless you already know from past experience with 5.2.8.6.

I gave you more detail than you probably want, in hopes that someone who knows the actual limit value for 256M RAM will correct me with it, since the size is so close to the limit.
Richard

[keniv]

rerwin,

thanks for the detailed reply on the building of a lupu mini. I will try the lupu 5287 as you suggest and report back.

Regards,

Ken.