Posts by kjpetrie

kjpetrie · Hardware & System Configuration

This is an annoying flicker which started when I upgraded to Chimaera. I suspect I need to tweak X configuration somewhere for this older hardware, but can't find a configuration file. Any clues would be welcome. Inxi output below.

System:
  Host: master7 Kernel: 5.10.0-13-686 i686 bits: 32 
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.20.5 Distro: Devuan GNU/Linux 4 (chimaera) 
Machine:
  Type: Portable System: Dell product: MP061 v: N/A 
  serial: <superuser required> 
  Mobo: Dell model: 0FF049 serial: <superuser required> BIOS: Dell 
  v: A01 date: 03/17/2006 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 44.6 Wh condition: 44.6/79.9 Wh (56%) 
CPU:
  Info: Dual Core model: Intel T2300 bits: 32 type: MCP L2 cache: 2 MiB 
  Speed: 1455 MHz min/max: 1000/1667 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1455 
  2: 1451 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Mobile 945GM/GMS 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: loaded: intel 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1920x1200~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 945GM x86/MMX/SSE2 v: 1.4 Mesa 20.3.5 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio 
  driver: snd_hda_intel 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.10.0-13-686 
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX driver: b44 
  Device-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network driver: iwl3945 
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: 00:13:02:xx:xx:xx 
  Device-3: Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb 
  IF-ID-1: eth0 state: down mac: 00:14:22:xx:xx:xx 
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb 
  Report: ID: hci0 state: up running bt-v: 1.2 
  address: 00:16:41:xx:xx:xx 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 91.76 GiB used: 7.63 GiB (8.3%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Fujitsu model: MHV2100BH size: 91.76 GiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 27.37 GiB used: 6.72 GiB (24.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
  ID-2: /home size: 61.62 GiB used: 925.3 MiB (1.5%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/sda6 
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 976 MiB used: 3.8 MiB (0.4%) 
  dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 39.0 C mobo: N/A sodimm: SODIMM C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 fan-2: 0 
Info:
  Processes: 156 Uptime: 4h 17m Memory: 1.96 GiB used: 1.13 GiB (57.5%) 
  Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.01

kjpetrie · Desktop and Multimedia

I get this message every few seconds spamming .xsession-errors. What does it mean and how can I satisfy it?

kjpetrie · Other Issues

I see. Thank you. I get that, and I've now find if I click on the console part of the dialogue it will then accept keyboard input. I'm more used to rpm than dpkg, which can mark files as configuration files and then treat them specially depending on whether they've been altered or not, allowing users to examine the files afterwards and merge them as necessary. I don't know whether dpkg has similar functionality, but maybe people don't feel it's trustworthy or just prefer to do it this way.

Anyway, my initial assessment that the questions couldn't be answered was incorrect, so the question doesn't really need answering now. It just shows there can be just enough difference between different uses of the same program (Synaptic/apt and Synaptic/apt4rpm in this case) to trip up those used to the other one.

kjpetrie · Other Issues

man iptables-legacy

for more information.

What do

ls /etc/*tables*

and

/etc/init.d/*tables*

show?

kjpetrie · Off-topic

If you use Plasma and find the Cube one of the most useful features and a major motivation for choosing it over other desktops, you will be shocked to learn KDE plan to abolish it at the next release (5.23.x).

Now, of course, that won't affect Devuan users immediately because the Plasma here is many versions back, so presumably will not be upgraded to 5.23 in the immediate future, but it may well bite when the next version of Devuan comes out. By then the cube will be long gone and any chance of persuading KDE to put it back will be long behind us.

I have opened a wishlist bug report at https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=443410 and a topic on the KDE forum at https://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=172850 and would welcome support there.

KDE have invited those who care enough to rewrite the effect using QML, but I imagine that's not a trivial thing to do unless you know both QML and the internal workings of Plasma well.

kjpetrie · Off-topic

I use PCLinuxOS on my main PC, and have done so happily since early 2007. I like the rolling release strategy as I have only needed to reinstall twice and can "remaster" the system and create a new ISO to put back exactly what I have with all my configuration if I ever need to do so. Thanks to the skill and dedication of its lead developer it's pretty solid and problems get put right quickly. Like Devuan, it's systemd free.

However, my 64-bit laptop has been broken for about a year, so I needed to reuse an old 32-bit Dell Inspiron 9400 I inherited from my brother. It dates from the days when desktops were built like tanks with clips to hold the lid shut but it's a high spec machine for its day with a massive 1920 x 1200 display and 2GB RAM, so I'd pay quite a lot to get something similar now. So rather than look for a new one I decided it would do for backup and portable device. It does need a new battery though, and I doubt they are made now. Still, it works if I can plug it in.

Anyway, I chose Devuan as it's still compiled for the architecture and I can see the two machines from each other. It works well on this old machine designed for Win XP! It lacks the desktop cube but I can live without that.

On my server I run FreeBSD for stability and security. Of course, that's not a distro since it's not even Linux, but it's a great OS for a server. I'd hate to think what hoops I'd have to jump through to get that working on a laptop. I know people do, but I haven't got time for the challenge.

I'm happy with Devuan and it's familiar enough on the front end for a migrant from PCLinuxOS to adapt to fairly easily. There are some terminal commands I'm used to using which aren't there by default, though I could doubtless install them if I really need them.

kjpetrie · Other Issues

This is really a question rather than a help request. Why do some packages, like task-kde-desktop, contain pre-install text dialogue boxes? In Synaptic they just cause the program to hang indefinitely with the user having no clue why unless they click "details". This caught me out last night when I waited 75 minutes to install KDE before I realised there was a problem.

It doesn't seem to be possible to interact with theses boxes although I eventually discovered I could dismiss them with Esc, so I'm not sure what the point is, given Synaptic can't access them. If options need to be chosen, doesn't the packager need to ensure the package knows the environment and can adapt to display questions in an appropriate way?

The officially official Devuan Forum!

#1 Hardware & System Configuration » Plasma crashes and restarts every few minutes on Dell Inspiron 9400 » 2022-04-06 14:12:12

#2 Desktop and Multimedia » What does "qml: temp unit: 0" mean? » 2022-04-06 13:29:41

#3 Re: Other Issues » [SOLVED] Text dialogues asking pre-install questions in packages » 2021-10-12 22:24:40

#4 Re: Other Issues » How should I open up another port / set up extra firewall rules? » 2021-10-12 11:09:30

#5 Off-topic » Fight for the Plasma Desktop Cube » 2021-10-07 18:32:30

#6 Re: Off-topic » What other distro are you using (besides devuan)? » 2021-10-04 14:24:00

#7 Other Issues » [SOLVED] Text dialogues asking pre-install questions in packages » 2021-10-04 13:54:52

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