DebianDog - Jessie - Continued

[fredx181]

Included gnome-player doesn't play CD's
It's because of mplayer not compiled with cdda support, fixed now by recompiling (with CD and DVD support), to upgrade gnome-mplayer-1.0.7 :

Code: Select all

apt-get update
apt-get install gnome-mplayer-1.0.7 # will upgrade to newer version 1:1.0.6.2

Added to Changes and Fixes Info

@William
Hello

EDIT: two more fixes, for ffmpeg and youtube-get2, see also on Changes and Fixes Info page

Fred

[mjaksen]

Hi all,

Does anyone know how to hibernate in DD? My laptop hibernates/wakes properly in Porteus (which is primarily why I use Porteus).

My laptop has a 2GB swap partition in /dev/sda7. I used the cheatcode "resume=/dev/sda7" and ran pm-hibernate, which shuts down properly. However, upon reboot I am at a clean desktop and no apps are running.

htop reports me having 2GB swap, so I assume the swap is not recognized as a hibernate swap?

Thanks
Marc

[rufwoof]

I use a desktop PC and Menu, Logout, Suspend works fine. Closes down leaving just the power button flashing, press ENTER and the session reopens up again. I am however running systemD style i.e. menu.lst (grub4dos) of

title DD V2 (32 bit) only saves if run save2flash
find --set-root /DD/live/jessie-i486.sgn
kernel /DD/live/vmlinuz1 init=/bin/systemd from=/DD noauto changes=EXIT:/DD/live
initrd /DD/live/initrd1.xz

[mjaksen]

Hi ruf,

Suspend works fine. But if you're on the road or stuck in an airport for 10 hours, suspend doesn't cut it. Because suspend does use battery charge. Before, I used TahrPup and Porteus, since Tahr is easy to use and add software to, but doesn't hibernate. But I'm thinking of moving to DD, and I know Debian hibernates, so I'm asking. Thanks for your input.

Truth be told, I suppose I could just symlink whatever I'm using into /root/Startup and just do a normal reboot, but I would lose anything I have running in xterm. I guess I'm just being picky. When I'm plugged in though, I just close the lid and suspend.

BTW, what are the advantages you get running systemd?

Marc

[rufwoof]

See what you mean. My main boot is Debian Jessie LiveCD frugally installed and menu, logout shows both hibernate and suspend choices (I've never actually run the hibernate choice).

i.e. I copied the /live folder out of the livecd to hdd and then setup frugal boot of that.

I use systemd style boot as that caters for having a partition as the 'save folder'. i.e. give the partition a name of 'persistence' and add 'persistence' as a frugal boot parameter and provided that partition has a persistence.conf file containing / union then all changes are saved to that partition as per a save file (on demand in my case i.e. I also have persistence-read-only boot parameter so changes are only actually saved if I run a script to copy the memory recorded changes to disk).

I use the same partition for grub4dos and /live ... as though the save file/folder also contained those files/folders. I also extracted all of the main filesystem.squashfs to that partition, so the main filesystem sfs can be left empty (everything is in effect in the save folder).

A benefit of that is that you can also boot as though a fully installed boot (I chain menu.lst to the main Debian bootloader to boot that way), where all changes are written immediately to disk as and when they occur. That was handy prior to Fred adding the update kernel script, as it meant I could boot as though a full install, apply updates that included kernel updates and then reboot back into frugal boot mode again.

I like systemd style being the same common code that everyone boots from, more eyes looking at the same code rather than different/modified initrd's. Together with a common kernel the two work well IME. But appreciate that many have different opinions (I'm more of a end user than a techie so the arguments for/against the two choices largely go over my head).

[rufwoof]

Just tried the hibernate choice and the screen faded, but the PC fan kept running (unlike suspend where everything goes dead quiet). Might be because I don't have BIOS set up correctly for hibernation, but indicative that it works (for Debian Jessie LiveCD). Pressing ENTER and it prompted me to login.

[rufwoof]

Just learned a trick that I can put my PC into suspend mode from the command like by running

echo mem > /sys/power/state

Or

echo disk > /sys/power/state

Puts it into hibernate mode

[rufwoof]

Found some references that suggest for hibernate you have to

apt-get update
apt-get install pm-utils

and can you then hibernate from the command line using

pm-hibernate

But that still leaves the fan running etc. in my case

pm-suspend puts it into fans off etc mode.

[belham2]

Hi Fred (or anyone),

Have a question:

In the first post of this thread, it says:

"Only 2 boot methods now: 'Porteus style boot' and 'Live Boot 3' (standard Debian Live)"

Now I know this sounds silly, but can DebianDog Jessie withstand, or endure----after it has completely booted up into "Live Boot 3"---having the USB unplugged & yet DebianDog Jessie be fully functional and operational on your, say for example, laptop?

I tried it, and it cannot withstand it. Browser doesn't open correctly, or if I hit some program, the OS inside the ram eventually locks up and becomes unusable.

The reason i am asking this is that over the past few years, I've noticed nearly all pups and pup-related distros can no longer withstand having the USB completely and yet still be fully functional (of course this assume any save function is turned off) while operating in RAM.

I am looking for an OS (besides gjuhasz's Puli 6.0.5---which I will not use or install since he won't provide an ISO and instead provides a zipped file, which I cannot first see what is completely in it without unzipping it on one of my machines---a security no-no)...so I am looking for a modern (not old edition) pup and/or pup-related OS that can boot fully into RAM and stay completely functional for days, if necessary, without having the USB plugged in. When I go to a friend's house and/or a hotel, I want to be able to leave my laptop on the table, and not have to worry (the laptop has no hard drive) and can leave it on all-the-time and thus when I leave, just turn it off with everything on it being deleted as the machine shuts down (since everything is only in RAM).

I thought DebianDeog Jessie would be able to run fully in RAM....am I possibly doing something wrong that it cannot survive fully in RAM after pulling out the USB stick?

Thanks for any help and/or hints.



P.S. Does anyone know of a modern pup and/or pup-related OS that can withstand this test?? ...even Barry's Quirky cannot, nor can Fatdog, Peebee's creations, Micko's creations, etc....I've tested probably 8-10 in the past week, disabled all save setups and routines, and each OS eventually, after hours and/or a day, becomes locked up and unsuable if it does not have the USB always plugged in. Even tried a few from running a CD, yet weirdly many of the OSes kept trying to access the CD---despite the fact that they were supposed to be fully loaded into RAM! This is so different from the olden days when stuff ran in RAM completely without the USB in it....unless I am doing something very wrong here in testing these modern pups.

[greengeek]

I am looking for an OS (besides gjuhasz's Puli 6.0.5---which I will not use or install since he won't provide an ISO and instead provides a zipped file, which I cannot first see what is completely in it without unzipping it on one of my machines---a security no-no)...so I am looking for a modern (not old edition) pup and/or pup-related OS that can boot fully into RAM and stay completely functional for days, if necessary, without having the USB plugged in. .

Do you have a swap file or swap partition available after you have pulled out the usb stick? How much RAM do you have?

Can you post the output of the following command after you have booted your preferred puppy please:

free

and also if you don't mind sharing some potentially more private info, the output of the following command too:

blkid

cheers

[fredx181]

I thought DebianDeog Jessie would be able to run fully in RAM....am I possibly doing something wrong that it cannot survive fully in RAM after pulling out the USB stick?

Sure it can with "copy2ram" parameter, if you have enough RAM, e.g. using porteus-boot:

Code: Select all

title Debian-Dog  -  Copy to RAM sysvinit
 root (hd0,0)
 kernel /live/vmlinuz1 noauto from=/ copy2ram
 initrd /live/initrd1.xz

Or with changes from harddrive, if exist folder "debdogchanges" on root of HDD partition

Code: Select all

title Debian-Dog  -  Copy to RAM changes to HDD sysvinit
 root (hd0,0)
 kernel /live/vmlinuz1 noauto from=/ copy2ram changes=EXIT:/debdogchanges/
 initrd /live/initrd1.xz

Btw, posting from it now, everything fully functional after usb stick pulled out, no HDD mounted.

EDIT: With live-boot it should be possible also, but you need to specify it using 'toram' parameter:

Code: Select all

toram=01-filesystem.squashfs

Fred

[rufwoof]

Now I know this sounds silly, but can DebianDog Jessie withstand, or endure----after it has completely booted up into "Live Boot 3"---having the USB unplugged & yet DebianDog Jessie be fully functional and operational on your, say for example, laptop?

For Live Boot 3 you add toram boot parameter. Extract from man live-boot

Code: Select all

   toram
           Adding  this  parameter,  live-boot  will  try  to  copy  the whole
           read-only media to the computer's  RAM  before  mounting  the  root
           filesystem.  This  could  need a lot of ram, according to the space
           used by the read-only media.

[belham2]

Fred and Rufwoof,

I swear I am blaming YOU BOTH! I started playing around with this today, and I've screwed up my grub4dos menu.lst and now I can't get my all-set-up, super-redshift-pretty Debian Dog Jessie 32 to boot back up. Thank the heavens that the DD64 still boots...just gotta copy some of its magic back to the 32-bit.


Every time I read your guys posts on something, I get to thinking I know what I am doing and BLAMMMM---I am again staring in the abyss of my own stupidity.....hahahhahahha. Like why was I such an idiot and did not back up my menu-lst before I started making changes all over the place? Grrrrrr........

Oh well, family is calling right now, but I'm gonna get it right, though, come he!! or high water, process of elimination of stuff on the boot line. Come on, Belham, you can do it, you can do it, you can do it.....

....and note to self: quit reading Fred's and Rufwoof's posts on anything they might post about Debian Dogs. More important: quit asking them what-if questions when everything on your system is working great

[mikeslr]

Hi belham2,

The nice thing about DebianDogs, if your hard-drives have the room, and you're not employing rufwoof's method of booting DebianLive Frugal or fredx181's variation applied to Debiandog [neither of which frankly I've yet gotten my head around] is that, like Puppies, they can be run from a folder. So rather than messing with a system which does what you want, you can:

1. Create a folder named, for example, Test,
2. Copy your "live" or "casper" folder into it,
3. Add another listing to your boot menu which specifically points to it;
4. Boot into it, and experiment to your heart's content.

or, sometime, just add an additional boot menu listing to try out different boot parameters.

No offense meant. I'm astigmatic and recently misplaced my glasses. I can read text on the screen pretty well without them, except that sometimes letters blur together and I have to guess. Thought your moniker was bedlam2 -- which didn't bode well for ever getting things organized.

mikesLr

[fredx181]

@belham
Ooff, I feel very ashamed and guilty, my deepest apologies
so better don't read the below advice or you're gonna screw up more again maybe

Watch out using the 'toram' option for live-boot, I once used it without =.... (just toram only) and it tried to copy my whole (almost full) 16GB usb-stick to RAM, which failed of course.
So use: "toram=01-filesystem.squashfs"

Fred

[labbe5]

Hi,

I read your article about WattOS; i even got to the point that I now use it with a flash drive.

But I never came across an article about Debiandog, and from the same family : Mintpup and Xenialdog.

One would object that they are from the same family as Puppy distro; but no. Far from it.

Puppy has been an inspiration, but after years of testings and fixings, Debiandog became a distro of its own, first as 32-bit and now for 64-bit as well.

Mintpup has Mint as a base, and Xenialdog has Ubuntu 16.04.

System tools are plenty. And you can use Synaptic to download and install apps. And the remastering is one of the easiest.

I don’t have to say more at this point. For a lightweight distro, you don’t need to look elsewhere.


I look forward to see a review of Debiandog in LinuxInsider Reviews

Good work.

[fredx181]

*** Experimental ***

Script 'new-kernel' attached, to install new kernel from (downloaded) deb.
It's modified 'upgrade-kernel' script, I used it to experiment with different kernels Same as 'upgrade-kernel' it will generate new initrd and copy vmlinuz (in frugal installed directory), no new "pinning" will be done
Because DebianDog depends on aufs module included in the kernel, there's not much choice. (most newer kernels found on the web are compiled without aufs)
Here's modified (aufs added) kernel 4.7 package from Stretch
https://github.com/DebianDog/Jessie/rel ... 1_i386.deb
Btw, the fact that this kernel works (using aufs) is good news for the future of DebianDog (for DebianDog-Stretch release, when Stretch becomes stable)

The liquorix kernel from here works also for me:
https://liquorix.net/debian/pool/past/l/linux-liquorix/
Direct link to PAE version:
https://liquorix.net/debian/pool/past/l ... 9_i386.deb
There's also a liquorix 4.8 version but it gave me problems (extreme slow boot).

Fred

[belham2]

@belham
Ooff, I feel very ashamed and guilty, my deepest apologies
so better don't read the below advice or you're gonna screw up more again maybe

Watch out using the 'toram' option for live-boot, I once used it without =.... (just toram only) and it tried to copy my whole (almost full) 16GB usb-stick to RAM, which failed of course.
So use: "toram=01-filesystem.squashfs"

Fred

Fred,

It was all good. Know way was it your fault (or Rufwoof's). I was just joking ya both. Sometimes I can be too hasty in not backing up stuff first. Anyhow, I just made myself go back and re-read a lot of your posts about understanding what my grub4dos entries should be, and once I did that, everything booted up great.

Also, I used your new remaster script (on my fully setup DebDog32), and that script is absolutely great. I remastered, then loaded it on another USB by itself (with grub4dos on the USB) and put only one menu.lst entry so that it booted fully to RAM. Everything worked great! I got in the hotel room, powered up my latop, booted my remastered DebianDog32 up, then unmounted the USB, and DebianDog32 Jessie ran for three straight days and nights fully in RAM, on laptop that has no hard drive nor any kind of storage (other than its RAM).

It was great! Thanks again!



P.S. I also wanted to tell you, that while it all was in RAM, one of the nights it got late and the family was asleep, so I was looking around on Murga as I am usually doing in my free time, and I came across this:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=79911

I downloaded this qtWeb browser, and my Gooood, it is the fastest browser I've ever come across and yet it handles stuff like https, html5, etc with ease. And its only 12.5MB. Geoffrey and Mike had talked about it before, but I finally gave it a go. It is something else. the DebianDogs easily accepted it for installation (after converting the .pet to a .deb), put a shortcut on the desktop, and the thing makes Firefox/Chrome/Chromium/etc look like Grandma-applications. I am sure there are some shortcomings I haven't come across yet, but so far, I really cannot see any.

[greengeek]

I downloaded this qtWeb browser, and my Gooood, it is the fastest browser I've ever come across and yet it handles stuff like https, html5, etc with ease.

Did you have any trouble with Certificate authentication?

[belham2]

I downloaded this qtWeb browser, and my Gooood, it is the fastest browser I've ever come across and yet it handles stuff like https, html5, etc with ease.

Did you have any trouble with Certificate authentication?

Hi Greengeek,

Ugh...well, had some more time tonight to play with Qtweb browser, and sure enough, these problems (per what you asked about and is shown below in the pic) started popping up all over the place with sites that are "agglomeration 3rd party aggregator sites", like Yahoo, News sites, Sports sites, etc, etc. Such a shame, as this browser seemed to have such fantastic promise..... ....but this constant hassle is a deal-breaker (unless Geoffrey, Mike or any other knows a way around this without compromising normal security of a user browsing)...