My desktop (pinboard) is blank, empty and black

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Troken · #1 Post by **Troken** » Mon 26 Apr 2010, 20:10

I revived an old PIII laptop (128 ram) with Puppy Linux the other day. I really like it, but after a reboot, my pinboard has become blank (no icons, no wallpaper and a black background). I still have my tray (but the network icon is missing) and the mouse pointer. The menu lets me start some applications, but not all, i.e. I can start the terminal and Top view running processes. What has happened, and what can I do? Thanks for any help.

smokey01 · #2 Post by **smokey01** » Mon 26 Apr 2010, 20:45

Troken wrote:I revived an old PIII laptop (128 ram) with Puppy Linux the other day. I really like it, but after a reboot, my pinboard has become blank (no icons, no wallpaper and a black background). I still have my tray (but the network icon is missing) and the mouse pointer. The menu lets me start some applications, but not all, i.e. I can start the terminal and Top view running processes. What has happened, and what can I do? Thanks for any help.

Troken you will probably need to provide some more detail before anyone is able to help.

puppy version?
frugal, full or live (from CD)

Minimatter · #3 Post by **Minimatter** » Tue 27 Apr 2010, 00:20

This isn't a complete answer, because I cannot tell why, but what has happened is that ROX, the file manager, has failed to start or has stopped. ROX is the program that maintains the desktop background picture and pinboard icons. It is normally started by the X-window system from the hidden file /root/.xinitrc by a line: rox -p /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin . The menu and tray is still there because jwm, the window manager, is running. It is normally started by another line in the same /root/.xinitrc. Things to try include:

From the menu, restart the X server.

Exit to the command line with ctl-alt-backspace and run xorgwizard, then xwin.

If you have a frugal install, reboot from CD with the bootup code puppy pfix=ram, to bypass loading the pup_save file. Then create a new save file. Click on the old save file to mount it, and look for /root/.xinitrc, /root/Choices/ROX-filer/PuppyPin, and (I'm not sure what else). At leisure, copy anything you need off the old save file to the new one; then delete it.

Troken · #4 Post by **Troken** » Tue 27 Apr 2010, 06:29

During my Puppy Linux-week, I've had a crash and a power failure. Therefore, the boot is a little funny: When I boot, the startup halts after "Recognising media devices... optical". A prompt is shown, where is write "reboot". Not the boot sequence starts normally again and Puppy starts.

Smokey01
Of course. I have a full install of the current stable version Puppy Linux 4.3.2. The computer has no CD-rom or USB-boot, therefore I had to put the hard disk into another computer where Puppy was installed. After installation, I put it back to this and it has worked well for about a week

Minimatter
When I run Xorgwizard, the standard monitor resolution is gone, left are the other options like 640x480 and 1200x1024 (I should use 1024x768). I can use 640x480, but its not pretty. Anyway, when doing this, its just as before. Blank background.

Since I have not any personal files on this computer yet, my question is if maybe I should just make a new fresh install or is it worth trying figuring out the problem?

8-bit · #5 Post by **8-bit** » Tue 27 Apr 2010, 07:37

I had that type of problem with an old compaq laptop.
I wanted 1024x768 and it showed that selection in xorgwizard.
But even though the graphics chip supported that resolution, the LCD screen did not.
So I was stuck at 800x600.
I never tried hooking up an external monitor to see if that would work.

looseSCREWorTWO · #6 Post by **looseSCREWorTWO** » Tue 27 Apr 2010, 12:46

G'day Troken,
with your hardware, I would setup a "dual partition" system. You would have two ext3 partitions, both loaded with Puppy and both bootable via a Grub bootloader. If you're using Partition A and have a power-failure you can re-boot into partition B, reformat A and copy everything back across from B. This way you leave yourself with a way to boot up again after power failures corrupt the filesystem of one of the partitions.

Steve

Troken · #7 Post by **Troken** » Tue 27 Apr 2010, 19:41

looseSCREWorTWO wrote:G'day Troken,
with your hardware, I would setup a "dual partition" system. ...

Interesting, I could try that, thank you!

smokey01 · #8 Post by **smokey01** » Tue 27 Apr 2010, 21:00

Troken are you able to boot off the live CD?

If that works then you will know the power failure has done some damage and it may be better to reinstall.

Were you able to get higher resolution when you first installed?

What has worked for me in the past is to delete the /usr/x11/xorg.conf file. When you reboot your computer you will have to setup your video settings again just like your first install.

Smokey

looseSCREWorTWO · #9 Post by **looseSCREWorTWO** » Wed 28 Apr 2010, 06:54

@smokey01,

Troken said the computer doesn't have a CD Drive.

Hence my suggestion for a dual-partition set-up.

smokey01 · #10 Post by **smokey01** » Wed 28 Apr 2010, 10:12

looseSCREWorTWO wrote:@smokey01,

Troken said the computer doesn't have a CD Drive.

Hence my suggestion for a dual-partition set-up.

Oops, missed that.

I agree your idea would work but If it was me I would spend $40 or $50 for a DVD burner, worth every cent.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/BLACK-LG-GH22NP2 ... 19bbaf91c5

or about $10 for a USB hub.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/5-Ports-VIA-USB- ... 414efc28f0
Regards

Smokey

looseSCREWorTWO · #11 Post by **looseSCREWorTWO** » Wed 28 Apr 2010, 14:10

@smokey01,
Agreed, a DVD Burner is a good idea, but Troken's PC is a laptop. So Troken would be looking at spending a minimum of $65 for an External DVD Burner that plugs into the USB. This raises the question: is it worth spending that sort of money on an ancient laptop?

@Troken
Old laptops usually have 1 or 2 Expansion Slots and for $15 you can buy a Card that plugs in there and provides two USB 2.0 Ports. You still won't be able to boot from them, but they're much faster than the old USB 1.0 ports and well worth the $15. But you have to be careful to get the right type - PCMCIA, PC Card and CardBus all look the same but they are different.. For an explanation, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Card

Old PCs usually cannot Boot direct from a USB Stick, however if your laptop has a Floppy Disk Drive you could use a WakePup2 Floppy, in conjunction with a USB Stick, as another way to Boot if something went wrong with the Hard Disk. For info about WakePup2 click here:-
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=7979

Troken · #12 Post by **Troken** » Wed 28 Apr 2010, 20:49

Hi guys, thank you for all suggestions!

Graphics resolution
I was successful with Xorgwizard and can now change the resolution to the proper one.

DVD/CD
Well, I do have a modern "normal" computer with DVD, USB-boot and whatnot, but the old computer (Toshiba Portégé 3490CT) I'd like to revive is without the above. Very annoying when something's not working properly and quite troublesome to install anything.

Boot via floppy
You must think that I'm kidding, but the laptop don't even have a floppy.

PCMCIA
Actually I've already bought a USB 2.0 expansion. Have been able to use a 3G modem with it, I am very impressed by Puppy in that sense.

Latest news
I changed to a spare HD and installed Puppy from scratch. Worked well until I started to install additional software (.pet). The Gimp-installation did not seem to finish. Afterwards no programs could be started. So I rebooted and now the black screen is back. When thinking about it, I think it was the same procedure with the other HD, but this time no power-failure, so it has probably not to do with that.

However, I can start rxvt via the Menu. When I try to start any program I get the following message:

symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0: undefined symbol: g_dgettext

Does that help? I might install a second Puppy on a partition as previously mentioned.

looseSCREWorTWO · #13 Post by **looseSCREWorTWO** » Thu 29 Apr 2010, 02:08

G'day Troken,
I'm ancient enough to remember when PC manufacturers began to phase out Floppy Disk Drives. The main purpose of the Floppy Drive was as an "emergency boot" in case of Hard Drive failure and when Floppy Drives were phased-out, usually they gave you in it's place:
- a bootable CD Drive
- a bootable USB Port, or
- the ability to boot from an external Floppy Drive, or an external CD, plugged into the USB. Often these bits of hardware had to be PLUGGED IN AT BOOTUP to appear as a Boot Option. Also they will need to have bootable media sitting inside them, such as a Puppy Live CD or WakePup2 floppy.

Some Internet Cafes will, if asked, lend you an external Floppy Drive (or an external CD Drive) to use while you're on their premises, so that might be a way to see if the laptop can boot from them. With the external Drive plugged-in to the USB, boot up the laptop and either go into Boot Order (to see if external CD or FDD appears as an option) or else you might have to go into BIOS Setup to enable it.

I've seen external Floppy Drives advertised new on eBay for $5. I think to do a BIOS update (even on some new PCs) you need an external Floppy. So this prehistoric piece of hardware is still with us.

looseSCREWorTWO · #14 Post by **looseSCREWorTWO** » Thu 29 Apr 2010, 03:09

Re-reading this Post, I'm wondering if Puppy is detecting your Hard Drive properly. If probs persist, try a Retro Puppy on your old PC. If you do Frugal Installs you could have your existing Puppy plus each of these ones installed to the HDD at the same time. Each would sit in it's own folder and you'd have a Grub bootloader giving you a choice of which to use at Bootup Then you can test them and see which one runs best on your PC.

http://ftp.nluug.nl/os/Linux/distr/pupp ... monkey.iso

http://ftp.nluug.nl/os/Linux/distr/pupp ... modems.iso

Troken · #15 Post by **Troken** » Thu 29 Apr 2010, 11:24

looseSCREWorTWO wrote:Re-reading this Post, I'm wondering if Puppy is detecting your Hard Drive properly.

Hm... im thinking: could it be due to the fact that I installed on another computer, then moving the freshly installed HD to this one? Might that cause trouble?

All hardware has been working nicely so far, Puppy detects USB ports, everything I insert, LAN etc. But if I summarize all posts above, I recon that something happens to ROX?

looseSCREWorTWO · #16 Post by **looseSCREWorTWO** » Thu 29 Apr 2010, 14:14

G'day,
Installing on another PC then transferring the HD across shouldn't cause probs, as long as that version of Puppy is compatible with that particular HD. Some older HDs need a Retro Puppy, because the Retro has the older 2.6.21.7 Linux Kernel which has the right Drivers for old hardware. It's as much Art as Science though, cos with brand-new Toshiba laptops the reverse is true. They won;t even Boot with a new Puppy but they go like the Clappers on a Retro Puppy.

If everything's working OK, then leave it. But with 128mb RAM you'll want a Swap Partition (acts as extra "virtual RAM") of about 384mb. That should speed things up a bit.

Troken · #17 Post by **Troken** » Thu 29 Apr 2010, 21:12

So, now I have two partitions with a Puppy on each, see if that helps. And I updated to 4.3.1, I thought that it was what I already had, but I discovered I was running 4.3.0.

babaguy · #18 Post by **babaguy** » Fri 30 Apr 2010, 12:59

Dear All -
Good posts here - thanks! I've just had a(nother) power failure with my old HP Omnibook (which was all shiny and newly Retro-Puppy-fied only a couple of days ago...sigh...) - I see from your advice Loose Screw & Trocken, that I'll have to go back and re-install (for the third of fourth time !)
The reason the power failures keep happening is because the battery is defunct and any jiggle to the power cable cuts the machine off immediately...!
I've ordered a replacement battery, but it hasn't arrived yet...
On this particular (broken down) old warhorse, there is ONE USB port, and I bought a four port USB "Thumbhub" which has a little extension cable/lead with it so it won't crowd anything else plugged in next to the USB port - This was about £10 here in the not-so-U.K.
On my machine, the BIOS does not have a possibility of booting from a USB drive -I suppose I would need to update the BIOS for this to be included in the boot options - but there are lots of warnings about messing with your BIOS, so I haven't even attempted it...
*Just as a (cheeky) extra question:
Do any of you know how I can download 'cabextract' ? I was trying to install the Micro$oft True Type fonts and managed to get them into my /usr/share/fonts/default/ttf file but they wouldn't show up in Abiword, presumably because this dependency 'cabextract' wasn't on my machine... Thanks again, youse guys!

babaguy · #19 Post by **babaguy** » Fri 30 Apr 2010, 13:14

Just stating the obvious here, but there may be even NEWER newbies than I lurking around, but this USB thumbhub is useful for attaching a mouse to this laptop, and MAINLY for connecting to my ADSL modem via its one USB port - Puppy recognises this no problem, and internet access is smooth...

looseSCREWorTWO · #20 Post by **looseSCREWorTWO** » Fri 30 Apr 2010, 13:46

@babaguy,
if you have a Floppy Drive or CD Drive, you can start the Boot process from them, then Puppy will scan USB Ports, find the USB Stick with Puppy installed and use it. Some old laptops will also Boot from an External USB Floppy or CD.

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