I neglected to make an announcement, but the beowulf version of refracta is no longer in beta. Refracta10 is here! Some bugs mentioned in this thread have been fixed or workarounds are in place.
That was discussed here: https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=3520

Isos are here:
https://get.refracta.org/files/stable/

WARNING: Device /dev/loop0 not initialized in udev database even after waiting 10000000 microseconds.
WARNING: Device /dev/sda not initialized in udev database even after waiting 10000000 microseconds.

I got it once today when booting the amd64 iso in qemu. Can't repeat it, so I can try what I wanted to test.

Please try adding rootdelay=5 to the boot command. Meanwhile, I'm trying to track down the bug. Seems to be in udev and fixed in version 240 according to debian bug reports.

For frozen mouse and keyboard, unplug and replug one of them.

1st attempt
===========

Version: refracta10-beta2_xfce_amd64-20200425_1600.iso

Error messages:

WARNING: Device /dev/loop0 not initialized in udev database even after waiting 10000000 microseconds.
WARNING: Device /dev/sda not initialized in udev database even after waiting 10000000 microseconds.
WARNING: Device /dev/sda1 not initialized in udev database even after waiting 10000000 microseconds.
WARNING: Device /dev/sda2 not initialized in udev database even after waiting 10000000 microseconds.

...and so on.

I didn't know what to do about it, so I just waited to see what would happen. After a long wait, the boot process eventually "died" and I thought the system had frozen. I pressed the "Enter" key to see if anything would happen, and I was presented with a working command prompt.

2nd attempt
===========

Version: refracta10-beta2_xfce_i386-20200425_1631.iso

As before, error messages:

WARNING: Device /dev/loop0 not initialized in udev database even after waiting 10000000 microseconds.
WARNING: Device /dev/sda not initialized in udev database even after waiting 10000000 microseconds.

I pressed Ctrl-C and the boot process continued. Eventually I was presented with an Xfce desktop. The mouse was unresponsive, so I tried pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete and Ctrl-Alt-Backspace. Nothing happened. However, the system wasn't totally locked up because the clock was working.

Phil

I also uploaded new isos - beta2 xfce. Added some missing packages and updated the software.

^^^ This didn't work.

Result:

$ gpg --recv-keys 094c5620
gpg: keyserver receive failed: No name

However, this appeared to work:

$ gpg --keyserver hkp://keys.gnupg.net --recv-keys 094c5620
gpg: key A73823D3094C5620: 1 signature not checked due to a missing key
gpg: key A73823D3094C5620: public key "fsmithred (aka fsr) <fsmithred@gmail.com>" imported
gpg: no ultimately trusted keys found
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1

Phil

I looked around quite a bit and didn't see any instructions anywhere on how to verify the downloads using the SHA256SUMS.txt.asc file. Such instructions (or a pointer to where they are located) would be very helpful.

Phil

Download SHA256SUMS.txt and SHA256SUMS.txt.asc

Get my key if you don't already have it.

$ gpg --recv-keys 094c5620

Verify the signature file:

$ gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.txt.asc 
gpg: assuming signed data in 'SHA256SUMS.txt'
gpg: Signature made Tue 31 Dec 2019 06:22:14 AM EST
gpg:                using RSA key A73823D3094C5620
gpg: Good signature from "fsmithred (aka fsr) <fsmithred@gmail.com>" [unknown]
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg:          There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
Primary key fingerprint: 67F5 0132 1627 1E85 C251  E480 A738 23D3 094C 5620

The warning occurs because my key is not in the web of trust of the user who ran this. (It's an account I use for testing.) When I run it from my real account, the output ends with the Good signature line, because this key is signed by a key that I trust.

Note: If you normally use a different method for verifying official Devuan isos, you can do it that way. I use the same key for both.

Note 2: If you get a message saying that my key is EXPIRED then you need to refresh your keys (or at least my key).

gpg --refresh-keys 094c5620

This is current:

$ gpg --list-keys 094c5620
pub   rsa4096 2017-10-07 [SC] [expires: 2021-09-20]
      67F5013216271E85C251E480A73823D3094C5620
uid           [ultimate] fsmithred (aka fsr) <fsmithred@gmail.com>

Phil

I started with the no-X isos I made with live-sdk, installed onto virtual disks, added software and customized some stuff and then made a snapshot. Until ascii, these things fit on a CD.

And can I steal your firemenu? That's a brilliant idea

You can find it here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/refracta/files/Extras/

How do you make the images so small? I use live-build for my images and they're twice the size, even for just an openbox desktop.

And can I steal your firemenu? That's a brilliant idea

Might be better to use a case statement for the find_editor function though, it will be parsed quicker than the elifs.

I know there are a couple of issues with the high contrast theme. (wrong icon set, one wrong launcher.)

What else? (other than missing documentation. Don't worry, you'll figure it out. Release notes will come later, but they won't be much different from the last notes.)