Barrys News

EasyOS Excalibur-series version 7.5 released

October 29, 2026 — BarryK

Bumped from 7.4.92 which was announced here:

EasyOS Excalibur-series version 7.4.92 — October 15, 2026

Here are the highlights since 7.4.92:

Switch to an older kernel — October 28, 2026
Kernel 7.2.12 compiled — October 27, 2026
Checkbox share mounted partitions in container — October 27, 2026
Ext234 patch for Limine v12 — October 26, 2026
Select alternative kernel version — October 26, 2026
Improvement for SFSget UI — October 26, 2026
Apple filesystem linux driver — October 22, 2026
Chromium 156.0.8078.47

Slight changes to the theme:

...the wallpaper is a photo taken at Four Mile Campground, on the south coast of Western Australia, near Hopetoun. Late afternoon, overcast.

Download:

https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/excalibur/2026/7.5/

Found one bug so far:

The desktop icon theme is "treepata-darkgrey", but the "devx" icon is missing. There is a workaround; copy /usr/local/lib/X11/themes/treepata-yellow-blue/devx.sfs to the treepata-darkgrey folder.

Feedback welcome at the forum:

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=17649

Have fun!

Tags: easy

DJI mic 2 versus mic mini 2

October 29, 2026 — BarryK

I posted about purchasing a DJI Osmo Pocket 3, then an Action 4:

https://bkhome.org/news/202610/seduced-by-the-camera-hype.html

In that post, commented that can use the external microphone from the Pocket 3 combo, with the Action 4. Hmmm, Google AI reports:

How Noise Cancellation Works on the DJI Mic 2

• Standalone or Receiver Mode:
You can toggle intelligent noise cancellation directly on the transmitter by pressing the power button once (the status indicator LED will turn yellow), or adjust it via the receiver.

• Bluetooth Limitation:
According to DJI Support, connecting the transmitter straight to a smartphone via Bluetooth disables intelligent noise-cancelling and internal recording.

• Workaround:
To use noise cancellation with a camera or phone, you generally need to connect the DJI Mic 2 transmitter through its dedicated receiver rather than a direct Bluetooth pairing.

...so, connecting the Mic 2 to the Action 4, via bluetooth, there is no noise cancelling!!!

But there is! Noise-cancelled audio is recorded internally in the Mic 2, and this audio file has to be downloaded to a computer via usb and merged with the video file. Which is what some people do. This video explains how:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kG4INpMam8

...what a lot of trouble, but many people do post-processing anyway, so perhaps merging an audio file isn't a big deal. Not something that I want to do. Notice in that video, he used the mic 2 receiver to program the mic 2 transmitter (microphone); however, I think the the DJI Mimo phone app will do the same thing.

The mic mini 2, on the other hand, does support noise-canceled video recording transmitted via bluetooth directly to the Action 4. Apparently, have not yet verified. Anyway, DJI documentation confirms, as does Google:

Noise cancellation works on the DJI Mic Mini 2 when using a direct Bluetooth connection, though you can toggle or control it directly on the hardware.

What a run-around I'm having with this gear. Anyway, seem to now have suitable vlogging gear for overseas travel.

Tags: nomad

Switch to an older kernel

October 28, 2026 — BarryK

Right now I'm running EasyOS version 7.5 (still testing it, not yet uploaded). I have already got 'linux-kernel_6.12.109_amd64.sfs', placed in /mnt/wkg/sfs/easyos/devuan/excalibur; but once 7.5 is uploaded, you will be able to run SFSget (via the desktop "pkg" icon) and download to that location.

SFSget will also offer to install it, and it will only install to the main filesystem, not in a container. In my case, as it is already downloaded, I launched BootManager, via the menu "System -> BootManager configure bootup":

...clicked on the "Load extra SFS files:" button, then:

...ticked the checkbox, clicked "Commit", then rebooted.

Hey presto, EasyOS is now running the 6.12.109 kernel, complete with appropriate modules and firmware for that kernel.

Easy 7.5 has the 7.2.12 kernel, and to revert to it, just untick the checkbox in above image, and reboot.

The kernel switch mechanism was introduced in an earlier blog post:

https://bkhome.org/news/202610/select-alternative-kernel-version.html

It's so simple. Works great.

Tags: easy

Kernel 7.2.12 compiled

October 27, 2026 — BarryK

The main reason to bump the kernel version is it now compiles the apfs module:

https://bkhome.org/news/202610/apple-filesystem-linux-driver.html

This will be in the next release of EasyOS.

Tags: easy

Checkbox share mounted partitions in container

October 27, 2026 — BarryK

I posted about this feature in July 2025:

https://bkhome.org/news/202507/easy-containers-has-gone-to-the-next-level.html

The "devx" container has this variable set:

EC_ACCESS_MOUNTED='true'

Having a mounted partition accessible inside a container is very useful, but what was missing is a GUI checkbox to set it for any other container. That checkbox has now been added:

The help window:

I have ShotCut video editor installed in the "x3" container, running as "crippled root". From inside the container, I want the convenience of reading and writing files in a outside partition, not just in /files

You can still do it manually, for example, open /mnt/wkg/containers/x3/configuration and edit EC_ACCESS_MOUNTED='true', or insert that line if it doesn't exist.

Tags: easy

Ext234 patch for Limine v12

October 26, 2026 — BarryK

EasyOS is currently using Limine v11, as the ext2/3/4 patch doesn't work with v12.

Forum member zepto has investigated and created a patch to fix v12:

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=17629

That's really great. I hope to compile Limine v12 for the next release of EasyOS.

Tags: easy

Select alternative kernel version

October 26, 2026 — BarryK

EasyOS is now being built with the 7.2.x kernel; however, some people might prefer an older kernel. There is now a mechanism to switch kernels.

I have created 'linux-kernel_6.12.109_amd64.sfs', that SFSget will be able to download and install. It will install to the main filesystem only, not in a container. After install, reboot, and the 6.12.109 kernel will be automatically used. Ditto, in the BootManager, untick it (uninstall) and at next bootup there will be an automatic revert to the default kernel.

There is a new script in the initrd, /inc/05kernel-change:

#!/bin/sh
#if a "linux-kernel" sfs is to be loaded, switch to use its kernel.

#find vmlinuz have booted from...
#if BOOT_* passed on kernel cmdline and vmlinuz there...
if [ -n "$BOOT_DEV" ];then
 mkdir -p /mnt/${BOOT_DEV}
 if [ ! -f /mnt/${BOOT_DEV}/${BOOT_DIR}vmlinuz ];then
  mount -t ${BOOT_FS} /dev/${BOOT_DEV} /mnt/${BOOT_DEV}
 fi
 VM_DEV="${BOOT_DEV}"; VM_DIR="${BOOT_DIR}"
else
 VM_DEV="${WKG_DEV}"; VM_DIR="${WKG_DIR}"
fi
if [ ! -f /mnt/${VM_DEV}/${VM_DIR}vmlinuz ];then
 err_exit_func "${Lm}${LINENO} Failed to find vmlinuz"
fi

#find linux-kernel sfs...
LK="$(grep '^EASY_LAYER_RO.*linux-kernel' /mnt/${WKG_DEV}/${WKG_DIR}releases/easy-${INIT_DISTRO_VERSION}/configuration)"

KV2="$(uname -r)"
if [ -z "$LK" ];then
 #make sure boot default kernel...
 KV1="$(strings /mnt/${WKG_DEV}/${WKG_DIR}releases/easy-${INIT_DISTRO_VERSION}/vmlinuz | grep -E '^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+' | cut -f 1 -d ' ')"
 if [ "${KV1}" != "${KV2}" ];then
  #restore default kernel...
  cp -f /mnt/${WKG_DEV}/${WKG_DIR}releases/easy-${INIT_DISTRO_VERSION}/vmlinuz /mnt/${VM_DEV}/${VM_DIR}
  sync
  #reboot...
  echo -e "\\033[1;31m ${S560:-Kernel version change:} ${KV2} ${KV1}\\033[0;39m" #red.
  echo -e "\\033[1;31m ${S503:-Counting down to restart...}\\033[0;39m" #red.
  KPARAMS="$(cat /proc/cmdline)"
  countdown_func 10
  /bin/kexec --load /mnt/${VM_DEV}/${VM_DIR}vmlinuz --initrd=/mnt/${VM_DEV}/${VM_DIR}initrd --command-line="${KPARAMS}"
  /bin/kexec -e
 fi
else
 #read the kernel version in sfs...
 #full readlink...
 #note, if broken link, later code will delete it...
 readlink -q -e /mnt/${WKG_DEV}/${WKG_DIR}releases/easy-${INIT_DISTRO_VERSION}/linux-kernel.sfs
 if [ $? -eq 0 ];then
  K3="$(readlink -e /mnt/${WKG_DEV}/${WKG_DIR}releases/easy-${INIT_DISTRO_VERSION}/linux-kernel.sfs)"
  KV3="$(echo -n "${K3}" | -cut -f 2 -d '_')"
  if [ "${KV2}" != "${KV3}" ];then
   #extract vmlinuz out of the sfs...
   mkdir -p /mnt/sfs
   mount -t squashfs ${K3} /mnt/sfs
   cp -f /mnt/sfs/boot/vmlinuz /mnt/${VM_DEV}/${VM_DIR}
   sync
   umount /mnt/sfs
   #reboot...
   echo -e "\\033[1;31m ${S560:-Kernel version change:} ${KV2} ${KV3}\\033[0;39m" #red.
   echo -e "\\033[1;31m ${S503:-Counting down to restart...}\\033[0;39m" #red.
   KPARAMS="$(cat /proc/cmdline)"
   countdown_func 10
   /bin/kexec --load /mnt/${VM_DEV}/${VM_DIR}vmlinuz --initrd=/mnt/${VM_DEV}/${VM_DIR}initrd --command-line="${KPARAMS}"
   /bin/kexec -e
  fi
 fi
fi

The logic seems OK, yet to be tested.

Tags: easy

Improvement for SFSget UI

October 26, 2026 — BarryK

SFSget is the SFS (squashfs files) manager, launched via the desktop "pkg" icon, or in the "Setup" category of the menu.

It is not intuitive when want to manage already-downloaded SFS files, say one that you have used SFSget to install, but then you want to uninstall it. Install and uninstall can be managed via the BootManager (in the "System" category on the menu). This split-up does make SFS management a bit un-intuitive.

To help link them, I have added a frame at the bottom of the first window that SFSget displays:

Clicking that bottom button will launch the BootManager:

...which has "SFS" button to manage install and uninstall on main filesystem and in containers.

Tags: easy

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