DSL v3.2 RC1Forum: Release Candidates Topic: DSL v3.2 RC1 started by: roberts Posted by roberts on Dec. 12 2006,05:35
The first release candidate of DSL v3.2 RC1 is now ready for < testing >Change Log: * Updated madwifi-ng modules. * Updated busybox with >2GB file support. * New Cron - A perl cron, with new boot option 'cron' and toggle from control panel. * New boot option "checkfs". Usage: dsl 2 checkfs - for frugals: dsl 2 toram checkfs * Simplified MyDSL structure using the level 1 default autoscanned /mydsl directory or user specified level one directory which contains extensions, and optionally the 'optional' subdirectory and/or a 'modules' subdirectory. Dropped now unneeded 'modules' boot time option and support for extensions at level 1. * New mkmydsl - Simplified Custom iso maker now even easier than before and supports new MyDSL layout and works for both isolinux and syslinux CD versions. Also supports booting with toram or not. On low resource machines boot with: dsl base norestore mydsl{=hdXY{/dirname}} * Updated MyDSL to support direct downloading to all supported and mounted drives/directories. * Added volume setting to persist via .umix * Added default Netscape to call Firefox * Added a default .desktop to /etc/skel for better hard drive support. * Updated xsetup.sh to add .xserverrc to /etc/skel for better hard drive support. * Fixed bad default X & Y for Aterm.lnk * Fixed hard drive install permmision problem on /opt/.mydsl_dir * For hard drive installs, perform regenerate ld.so.cache and modules.dep only upon first boot. * Updated "Getting Started" with the new MyDSL simplified directory structure. * Updated Qemu to 0.8.2 - dropped 60MB virtual hard drive - read the new readme.txt! Robert Posted by roberts on Dec. 12 2006,05:37
Only one file in your backup that needs to be updated this time..xinitrc Posted by roberts on Dec. 12 2006,06:37
Developer Notes & CommentsAs you can see I have been very busy improving DSL. The updated madwifi-ng modules are thanks to JB4x4. This means much improved support for atheros chip based wifi. I have tested this on the very inexpensive Airlink 101 Super G AWLC4030. I also tested this on the built in atheros wifi of the Sharp MM10 Ultralight. I updated busybox to v 1.2.2 with the much asked for larger file support. Thanks to Ray Tracy for his perl cron script. It is small, simple, and works great. I setup a link from /etc/crontab to /opt/crontab so that even legacy users can use it. I made a simple test entry so that when you start it you can see how easy it is. Just comment out the line or delete it. Watching the forums lead me to make the checkfs boot option. Using it will file system check all unmounted ext2 filesystems, so with frugal use the toram option. I spent alot of time to simplify the mydsl system. I chose to use the /mydsl directory as the foundation. The other related directories should be placed below the mydsl dir, i.e., mydsl/optional and or mydsl/modules As you can imagine this changed alot of programs and docs. The mydsl GUI used for downloads can now use /mnt/hda2/mydsl or for pendrive /cdrom/mydsl or even /cdrom/mydsl/optional. The default remains /tmp. But now if you can mount it, you can directly download to it! I heavily modified the mkmydsl script. Now you can setup your live CD system using the new mydsl directory and then very easily create a new iso with your extensions. So if you can boot from CD with your extensions working just the way you like, you can have an iso of this setup super easy. The new mydsl layout also applies to Qemu. I updated Qemu to the latest. Gone is the virtual 60MB hard drive. Instead of trying to force the native boot to use the virtual drive, I have it setup the other way around. The Qemu booted DSL can now access the backup and mydsl directory on the pendrive, as used by native! I also did some small tweaks to try to improve the traditional hard drive installations. But as you all know, my interest shall remain with the live CD and frugals. Hope you enjoy it. Robert Posted by cmanb on Dec. 12 2006,14:53
I'm excited about having some cron included. That's great news.And I like the QEMU news. Looks like I'll have to download it and play around. I'm impressed, roberts, at the frenzied, break-neck pace at which you're working on releases here lately. Keep up the good job, but take a coffee break every once in a while, okay? Don't over exert yourself! Posted by ke4nt1 on Dec. 12 2006,17:44
Thank you very much for the detailed notes on all of the items mentioned in the changelog, roberts. Nice additions.. good work! 73 ke4nt Posted by meo on Dec. 12 2006,17:47
Hi Robert!I've been thinking about some posts mentioning troubles with playing cdroms with xmms. I suspected that it was something with the menu file and really it was. As of now the files of the cdrom doesn't load automatically as they used to when choosing "Xmmms Play CD". The only thing that has to be done is to delete the /dev before /cdrom. The correct line would be like this [exec] (Xmms Play CD) {xmms /cdrom} in the .fluxbox/menu file. Thanks for a very promising new version of DSL. As always have fun with DSL, meo Posted by clivesay on Dec. 12 2006,19:53
Lots of goodies, RS. I'll d/l tonight and give a spin. Great job!Chris Posted by bokaroseani on Dec. 12 2006,19:57
Wow...quite a few additions. But I have a long way to catch up with you guys. I wish someone can keep adding materials to the wiki for linux noobs like me to make use of all the new additions. For example, I dont know why and how to use Cron as cheatcode and how will the updated busybox with >2GB file support help me in my day-to-day work. Thanks to Robert and others who contributed. Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on Dec. 12 2006,20:06
bokaroseani: You can use them by passing them onto the kernel with your bootloader ie by modifying lilo/grub config. See wiki page on cheatcodes for more info.Also, if you use large files that are 2gb+, and you use busybox (ie if you don't load gnu-utils) you will now have no problems. Posted by mikshaw on Dec. 12 2006,20:26
That may work in some situations, but in a typical setup (liveCD, frugal, maybe embedded?) /cdrom is the KNOPPIX filesystem mountpoint, and I think in a traditional harddrive install it may be just an empty directory. I'm not sure how it is pointing to a device on your system...maybe it's a symlink? In any case, when playing a standard audio cd (not mp3/ogg) the device is read directly, which means it's a file in /dev rather than a mountpoint Posted by bokaroseani on Dec. 12 2006,21:26
Thanks for the clarification on the busybox thing. I do understand why and how cheatcodes work. I meant if the wiki had some info on what are the benefits of using the cheatcode CRON during booting, that would make folks like us feel better that we are not missing out on something that might be very useful to us. Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on Dec. 12 2006,21:40
well, I suppose an wiki entry may be created for cron when the final version does get released - remember that this is a RC.
Posted by meo on Dec. 12 2006,21:43
Hi mikshaw!I made the change in DSL-embedded. I just unzipped the DSL v3.2 RC1 on an usb pendrive without making any other changes. Later I did the same thing in a DSL 3.1 environment and it worked just the same. I put in the cd and clicked on the option "Xmms Play CD" and the files on the CD loaded automatically. That's the way it used to work and I'm quite satisfied with it. Have fun, meo Posted by desnotes on Dec. 13 2006,14:39
I like the way that -hdb is set for the USB so that it works as embedded or to boot from the USB drive. I saw where the user has to manually set drive letter in order for it to work properly. If a user carries around the USB and uses it on other computers, one would have to adjust this each time. I did some research and found a batch file that determines the path where 'dsl-windows.bat' originates from adds it to the Qemu start command.
Posted by roberts on Dec. 13 2006,15:29
Hi desnotes,Very nice. Thanks for sharing. I will update for RC2 Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on Dec. 13 2006,17:23
Question on dsl-embedded and qemu: is linux qemu support going to be permanently dropped?(from the default package that is) Posted by meo on Dec. 13 2006,19:31
Hi Robert!I have a puzzling matter that I want to set before you. I have unzipped DSL v3.2 RC1 directly to a newly formatted usb pendrive and just added a mydsl directory with: gcc1-with-libs.unc and gnu-utils.unc to be able to compile some small programs (zlib and bcrypt). But it fails reporting an error involving Busybox 1.2.2 I think it was. Might it be so that gnu-utils needs an update as Busybox is of a newer date? It's just a speculation on my part but compiling these programs newer failed with DSL v3.1 under the same circumstanses. Well I don't know but perhaps you have the answer. As always have fun with DSL, meo Posted by roberts on Dec. 14 2006,01:25
When I went to look at Qemu v0.8.2 for linux, it seemed to want to install off of / with multiple directores. No longer a single self-contained relocatable directory. Maybe, I am off with this assesment. Perhaps this would imply a Qemu extension for DSL may be needed? The windows version is still a no install relocatable self-contained directory. I am open if you find that a smiliar generic Linux setup supporing a nomadic pendrive with native access. Posted by roberts on Dec. 14 2006,01:28
I think your issue may be related to a new gnu-utils that I am in the process of creating. I will post here when I am ready. RSN Posted by Juanito on Dec. 14 2006,04:47
Hi Meo - it would be nice to get hold of a copy of the gcc1-with-libs.unc you mention. The dsl2unc script does not seem to work on the copy of gcc1-with-libs.dsl posted in the repository.
Posted by meo on Dec. 14 2006,09:45
Hi Juanito!It's found in the mydsl repository in the "Testing" section. Have fun out there, meo Posted by cmanb on Dec. 14 2006,17:36
So qemu now recognizes my entire flashdrive as hdb, which I think is really cool because that makes the 60mb 'harddrive' file a thing of the past.Now, my flashdrive is the G: drive on my computer, so qemu sees G: as hdb1, which dsl then mounts under /cdrom. If I chose to backup to hdb1, it writes backup.tar.gz to /cdrom. I see it under dsl, but when I look at the G: drive in Windows, it's not there. When I shut down and unmount and halt dsl, it writes to backup.tar.gz and thinks it's writing to disk, but again, there is no actual backup file in real life. Is this a unionfs thing? The only clue I can offer is this snippet I get each time I shutdown.
I have emailed backup.tar.gz to myself from dsl, downloaded it in Windows to the G: drive so I have all my config files and what not, but I lack the ability to save anything new without going through that bally hoo. Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on Dec. 14 2006,19:26
Using the prebuilt i386 tarball off the qemu page works for me even if you don't install it to root (being /). Afaik the changelog didn't say anything otherwise - so the behaviour should still be the same. (packaging it for dsl-embedded should just be a simple renaming thing) If that's a new file structure, then I can only guess it was made for easier installation (you could probably even mydsl-load it) Posted by Cobrazzi on Dec. 16 2006,00:36
Perdón no se inglés la distro es excelente y he podido recuperar varias maquinas obsoletas para los S.O. de hoy en dia.El problema es que no se como castellanizarla o pasarla al español, ya que varios usuarios son de una escuela, y les resulta muy dificil poder utilizarla en un idioma distinto. gracias Posted by roberts on Dec. 16 2006,01:15
cmanb, According to the Qemu-Windows site r/w to vvfat was added 11/25/06. If it is still read-only/shadowed then your choice is smbclient, Linneighborhood, or as you have done, email. Perhaps someone can verify and/or monitor the Qemu Windows site. Either way, apparently it is comming.
Posted by meo on Dec. 16 2006,11:28
Hi Robert!First of all thank you for all your hard work with this wonderful distro. I have tried to compile zlib-1.2.3 using the updated gnu-utils.unc but unfortunately I get the same error. It still complains about Busybox 1.2.2 as being a multicall binary and it won't compile. I'll se if I can get around it somehow. The 3.2 version of DSL really seems interesting so keep up the good work! As always have fun with DSL, meo Posted by meo on Dec. 16 2006,13:09
Hi again Robert!I tried a pretty dramatical approach to the problem and removed busybox. After that I compiled my programs and all went well so far. Now im posting this from the resulting remaster with Dillo as Firefox will not work. So it was not the correct solution I guess. But nevertheless i tried. As always have fun, meo Posted by roberts on Dec. 16 2006,15:31
Meo, It would help greatly if the offending busybox applet could be identified. I can't imagine one that would only affect compilations. When the make process aborts, can you identify where in the Makefile this is? And what was the command issued?
Posted by meo on Dec. 16 2006,21:04
Hi again Robert!It seems to be a kind of inkompatibility issue with zlib. I thought that bcrypt needed that program in order to work but then I tried to compile bcrypt directly instead and it all went well. So it seems that the updated version of gnu-utils is OK. I can't explain it any other way. So many thanks for your work. I'm posting this from a remaster that has bcrypt working but without firefox that I removed. So I'm using Dillo to make this post. Have fun and thanks a lot for your good work, meo Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on Dec. 17 2006,05:52
I'm wondering what and why the gnu-utils have to be changed (seemingly due to busybox? - but I thought it was just an alternative/replacement), if someone can offer an explanation.
Posted by roberts on Dec. 17 2006,15:24
Whenever I add to DSL, I must also find something to cut. The 50MB limit is always a challenge. The madwfi-ng modules added some bulk. I compensated by replacing a few more gnu utilities such as, eject, last, nice, nohup, printenv, run-parts, and stat. These are now in the latest gnu-utils.unc.
Posted by cmanb on Dec. 18 2006,17:49
Thanks, Roberts. Good to know it's a Qemu problem and that I wasn't doing something silly or wrong. On the Qemu-Windows site, as you said, r/w for vvfat was added as a feature 11/2006, but on the Qemu site, the latest release (0.8.2) was 07/2006, so I guess we're waiting on the new release (0.8.3 ?) for support on that feature. Frustrating. I very much look forward to r/w on the vvfat mount so that backup.tar.gz is more easily accessable and not "embedded" within the harddisk file. In the meantime, what is everbody else doing with their backups? email? smbclient? Just not using the vvfat mount for the time being and defaulting to the old 'harddisk' method of previous versions? I haven't looked too closely at the webdata backup/restore script because I don't have an ftp account anywhere, but that may be a temporary solution I look into now for the moment. Above all, sorry for talkin' Qemu on the DSL forums! Posted by roberts on Dec. 18 2006,19:02
cmanb, no problem talking Qemu. I guess I get easily frustrated because running DSL in a virtual environment is not easy. Yet many new users have that as their first exposure to DSL. Plus the fact that I have little interest in Windows and can barely run such environment on my test machines. So, I am hoping that a much simpilied direct r/w to vat is released soon. I would really rather leave the creation and support of virtual drives up to the Qemu user and the Qemu support site.
Posted by roberts on Dec. 27 2006,02:59
Moving on to RC2
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