/usr/local/share/locale

There is discussion here about a Xdialog PET that has translations in /usr/local/share/locale, whereas MoManager only looks in /usr/share/locale:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=86364&start=15

L18L has suggested that /usr/local/share/locale could be a symlink to /usr/share/locale.

Yes, I don't see why not. I have done that in Woof:
http://bkhome.org/fossil/woof2.cgi/info/71f76ee672

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Partition fixes for probepart and puppyinstaller

A couple of problems were identified with recognising partitions, and npierce and Karl Godt have both posted fixes:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=85965

I have implemented both of those fixes. That's great, thanks!

Woof commit:
http://bkhome.org/fossil/woof2.cgi/info/c4c40a95c6

Tags: woof

Planning Precise 5.6.1

This morning I started to look at the very interesting work done by akash_rawal and Iguleder:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=78881
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=86386

But then I paused. So far, since the release of Precise 5.6, I have been fixing little bugs, no major changes, thinking in terms of bringing out a Service Pack for 5.6 and/or a new version 5.6.1.

So, I had better not "spoil" that, keep going for a little bit longer just fixing and tweaking things, then get 5.6.1 released. That Woof will then be a very solid foundation for other Woof-builders.

It may only be a couple more days before 5.6.1 is released, we shall see.

Tags: woof

shutdownconfig: windows improved

At the first shutdown, when creating a save-file, I already removed the 'OK' button from the "please wait" window, I think I announced that yesterday.

However, that "please wait" window goes away too soon, leaving nothing on the desktop and the user wondering what is going to happen next, if anything. I have extended the duration of that window.

There is another "please wait" window when copying .sfs files from CD to HD, which also had a OK button. Now removed.

Woof commit:
http://bkhome.org/fossil/woof2.cgi/info/da24b32f4e

Tags: woof

Fix for "partial black screen"?

This is a problem that we have had for a very long time. At very first bootup, the tray is there, and applications can be launched, but the desktop icons and wallpaper are missing -- only a black screen.

The cause of this is ROX-Filer failing to start. ROX-Filer is not just a file manager, it also handles the desktop icons, including the drive icons, and the background wallpaper. So, ROX is almost a complete desktop environment on it's own, but we use JWM window manager to handle the tray-bar.

I have many times tried to understand why ROX fails to startup, and have implemented various attempts to fix it.

This morning I was getting some PCs out of the garage and setting them up. One of them gave this "partial black screen" problem, booting Precise 5.6.
So, this was an opportunity to rethink the problem.

I think that the cause of the crash is /sbin/pup_event_frontend_d attempting to "talk" to ROX before it is fully running. I have reasoned about this before, and put in a delay before pup_event_frontend_d "talks" to ROX -- which did work with some PCs.

Still, however, the problem sometimes does occur, as in my case today.
I have experimented with another fix, launching pup_event_frontend_d later from the /root/.xinitrd script.
I built a CD, booted up the PC that had exhibited the problem, got a normal desktop. Booted four more times (twice a warm reboot, twice a cold start), all pristine first-boots, consistently got the full desktop.

I am not saying that this is finally, definitely, fixed, but it is looking good.

Woof commit:
http://bkhome.org/fossil/woof2.cgi/info/cb90a2adde

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xorgwizard: view xorg.conf files

This is a useful tweak for the new Xorg Wizard...

You can bring up a window to choose an earlier, working, xorg.conf file, which is a feature that has been requested many times. This feature already exists in Precise 5.6.

However, there was no way to see the content of those files, so you would have to remember the name of a backed-up xorg.conf that you might have created earlier. If you have created a few of them (and also the Wizard creates a backup everytime you run it), then it is confusing which one to choose.

In the window that lists the backup files and asks you to choose one, I have now added a <View> button, so any of the files can be viewed in a text editor (mp), prior to selecting one for use.

Woof commit:
http://bkhome.org/fossil/woof2.cgi/info/acfd630477

Tags: woof

nouveau and nvidia

Users of Precise 5.6 have been reporting a bit of an issue after installing the proprietary NVIDIA Xorg driver.

It works ok, but the Xorg Wizard doesn't handle it very gracefully. There are a couple of problems:

1.
The Wizard only offered nouveau, vesa and modesetting after the proprietary NVIDIA driver had been installed (under certain circumstances).

2.
The proprietary installer offers to create /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-installer-disable-nouveau.conf, but this can conflict with the pre-existing /etc/modprobe.d/nouveau.conf.

Number 1 is fixed, Woof commit:
http://bkhome.org/fossil/woof2.cgi/info/a0bd2bce27

Number 2 is fixed, Woof commit:
http://bkhome.org/fossil/woof2.cgi/info/5b350906e7

The second commit actually deletes /etc/modprobe.d/nvidia-installer-disable-nouveau.conf.

If anyone wantS to test the latest /usr/sbin/xorgwizard-cli, grab it from here (there is a download button after anonymous login):
http://bkhome.org/fossil/woof2.cgi/artifact/ebc28c25ebeab738a9b600a296b7ff6c46dc06a0

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Full-HD install: devx bug

Forum member eps reported missing desktop drive icons for a Precise 5.6 full hard drive installation.

So, I did a test install, but my drive icons are OK.

However, I discovered something else. When I installed the 'devx' SFS file, by opening it then copying it's contents to '/', I found some scripts became broken, 'quicksetup' for example.

This is because the Precise devx has the 'dash' package, with /bin/sh a symlink to /bin/dash.
For a frugal installation, this is no problem, as the devx SFS is underneath the main Puppy SFS.
However, in a full installation there are no SFS layers, and /bin/sh is a symlink to dash, whereas it should be a symlink to bash.

dash breaks some of our scripts!

I have put a fix into Woof for this, however for anyone with the current, and earlier versions, of Precise, maybe Raring also, if you have a full-HD installation, after installing the devx SFS, do this:

# ln -snf bash /bin/sh

Woof commit:
http://bkhome.org/fossil/woof2.cgi/info/7b1b274bfc

Read more...