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#1 Re: Other Issues » Stardict - possibly problematic application? » 2025-08-18 23:27:35
may be just try goldendict-ng (next generation)
#2 Freedom Hacks » Is the binary WebTunnel safe to use? » 2025-07-21 21:43:01
- Devarch
- Replies: 0
Is it safe to use the WebTunnel installed by 'torctl-bridged' from
https://github.com/JohnMcLaren/torctl-bridged
#3 Re: Installation » Fresh install vs dist-upgrade for next release » 2025-07-21 21:24:24
@fsmithred, I mean that I've tried 'devuan_excalibur_6.0-preview-2025-05-24_1235_amd64_desktop-live.iso', and refractainstaller was unhelpful, even after installing refracta on the live system. Perhaps refractainstaller works with an already-installed Excalibur, but I haven't tested it. However, I'm pretty sure it doesn't work with the original ISO.
#4 Re: Installation » Fresh install vs dist-upgrade for next release » 2025-07-21 18:57:21
I want to use tune2fs to tune an encrypted ext4 home partition that was created by refractainstaller. Can I decrypt the partition without mounting it? If so, how would I do that?
cryptsetup open /dev/nvme0n... and you can tune2fs your ext4, or what do you mean?
#5 Re: Installation » Fresh install vs dist-upgrade for next release » 2025-07-21 17:16:32
@fsmithred thanks
but it seems refractainstaller is not yet ready for excalibur 
#6 Re: Installation » Fresh install vs dist-upgrade for next release » 2025-07-20 22:36:57
@pcalvert, interesting. Does this ISO support encrypted install?
#7 Re: DIY » New Project, a simple music player. And now a video player!! » 2025-07-20 22:34:15
Will it support ReplayGain?
#8 Freedom Hacks » A couple of useful solutions » 2025-07-20 09:39:42
- Devarch
- Replies: 1
"AM"/"AppMan" is a collection of scripts and modules for installing, updating, and managing AppImage packages and other portable formats. Here’s the link: https://github.com/ivan-hc/AM
Yes, it handles more than just AppImages. You can install, remove, and update them automatically, both systemwide and locally.
Linked project: VirtualBox KVM appimage https://github.com/ivan-hc/VirtualBox-appimage
This is a portable version of VirtualBox that uses KVM as the hypervisor instead of vboxdrv.
Original project: https://github.com/cyberus-technology/virtualbox-kvm
Unfortunately, it's a bit outdated as of February 7, 2025, but it combines the best features from both KVM and VirtualBox worlds.
Another great project is Conty https://github.com/Kron4ek/Conty.
It’s an easy-to-use compressed unprivileged Linux container packed into a single executable. In other words, it's a portable ArchLinux that contains various applications such as Wine, Bottles, PlayOnLinux, Lutris, etc., along with all necessary libraries. The apps can also be run sandboxed using bubblewrap.
The image includes systemd as a dependency, but not as the init system. It can be recreated manually with a different set of software.
#9 Re: News & Announcements » Chrome based browsers and uBlock Origin » 2025-07-16 20:06:19
@rrq, more referencing librewolf, also just found this:
librewolf fom Sparky Linux repo also works well. Just to inform.
#10 Re: Off-topic » GNOME is taking the scum bag approach still... » 2025-06-27 13:39:57
The GNOME blog article going off about "fascist maggots" was taken down (out of shame), but you can read the latest archived version here.
You all need mandatory supervised access to the Internet from now on. - for me it's like and end signal to stop reading 
#11 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » Canon LBP6020 » 2025-06-26 20:50:46
I've slightly different model of Canon and I gave up. I'm printing from virtual machine.
#12 Re: Freedom Hacks » Automounting USB Drives (NTFS, exFAT) with dmask=022,fmask=133 » 2025-06-26 20:45:49
Nobody complains, and nobody is trying to fix the problem.
This seems to be a symptom of dementia caused by pulseaudio and pipewire.
It is important to note that consideration should be given when using exFAT or NTFS file systems on Linux systems. These file systems (M$) are not natively supported by Linux, and their usage carries risks due to potential compatibility issues.
In other words, micro$ FS should remain on your desk next to the window — like a broken vase. Though I find exFAT extremely useful for file exchange.
#13 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » Where to view system requirements Devuan » 2025-06-23 22:46:21
They are the same as for debian.
They are like
RAM: 2 GB or more.
CPU: Dual-core processor of minimum 1GHz clock speed.
Storage: At least 20GB of disk space.
USB drive: 8 GB or above.
But it depends on use case. For example, to browse thhe web you cannot live with 2 Gb of RAM. The modern web is broken and resource hungry.
So, it depends.
#14 Re: Other Issues » [SOLVED] Could not write to external drives after update » 2025-06-22 20:01:40
hardware.
Hardware: Yep, right now I'm fighting with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. All firmware is up to date. Turbo boost is disabled, the governor is set to conservative while on battery, and energy_performance_preference is set to power. The kernel is new and allows AMD control.
However, the system constantly ramps up from 600 MHz to 2 GHz even when in idle state (0-2% load on some but not all cores). At least turbo boost is disabled; otherwise, while running tasks on battery, it would reach up to 5 GHz.
This machine is compact and lightweight, so I can take it with me. This is the reason to have it. On Intel hardware, I don't have such issues except for sometimes very long wake-up times (~1 minute) from sleep mode. I suspect this is because ME (Management Engine) is disabled. Starting from the 11th generation, disabling ME can make machines unbootable at times. It might take 1 or 3 minutes to power on; if it doesn't want to power on, I have to switch it off and then back on again. So, I prefer not to shut down too often.
Unfortunately, the corporations have won. Now these hardware backdoors like Intel ME and AMD PSP (I don't know the names of hardware backdoors for Mac and Huawei) are becoming mandatory. Unfortunately, there weren't enough people who cared or small businesses that cared about this issue. Pity.
Now, if you have old hardware like Intel 10th generation or earlier, keep it carefully as all new hardware comes with permanent backdoors.
I'm not sure whether eliminating software cancers like systemd will win the war when there are hardware backdoors and proprietary BIOSes.
#15 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » [SOLVED] No audio through Pipewire » 2025-06-22 16:40:24
Maybe try to reinstall and reconfigure it from the beginning. It's much quicker than to find where the problem comes from.
Below are my notes (synthesis from different sources, including this forum) to troubleshoot PipeWire and to force it to work as it should.
apt-get install --upgrade pipewire*apt-get install wireplumber pipewire-alsacheck
/etc/pulse/client.confit should have
autospawn = yesas well as
/etc/pulse/client.conf.d/01-enable-autospawn.confif you still have pulseaudio-enable-autospawn service, then eliminate it
you can also try to
touch /etc/pipewire/media-session.d/with-pulseaudioif there are no such folders then create them
touch /etc/pipewire/media-session.d/with-alsa
cp /usr/share/doc/pipewire/examples/alsa.conf.d/99-pipewire-default.conf /etc/alsa/conf.d/for bluetooth with piewire
apt-get install libspa-0.2-bluetooth
apt-get remove pulseaudio-module-bluetoothThan pipewire will attempt to choose the best possible codec by default
Finally, create pipewire_start.sh with the following content
#!/bin/bash
# Added to start pipewire on login to desktop
# https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=5867
# was the ~/.xsessionrc -rw-rw-r-- permissions
# now ~/bin/pipewire_start.sh executable permissions
# as bash script loaded from KDE autostart in System Settings
# kill any existing pipewire instance to restore sound
pkill -u "$USER" -fx /usr/bin/pipewire-pulse 1>/dev/null 2>&1
pkill -u "$USER" -fx /usr/bin/wireplumber 1>/dev/null 2>&1
pkill -u "$USER" -fx /usr/bin/pipewire 1>/dev/null 2>&1
exec /usr/bin/pipewire &
# wait for pipewire to start before attempting to start related daemons
while [ "$(pgrep -f /usr/bin/pipewire)" = "" ] ; do
sleep 1
done
# start wireplumber
exec /usr/bin/wireplumber &
# start pipewire-pulse
exec /usr/bin/pipewire-pulse &make it executable and add to session autorun
#16 Re: Other Issues » [SOLVED] Could not write to external drives after update » 2025-06-22 16:17:51
So, the culprit was the USB drive, not the system
I have another machine running devuan. No problems there. After the second attempt on the first machine, I mounted the filesystem using 'mount -o remount,rw exfat' and rebooted it. It worked fine. I've realized for a while now that computer science isn't an exact science. :lol
/usr/share/polkit-1/actions/org.freedesktop.UDisks2.policy is where the permissions for devices are, this is most likely culprit in my experience.
- noted for the future, thanks.
Solved itself.
#17 Re: Other Issues » [SOLVED] Could not write to external drives after update » 2025-06-21 22:18:52
is this the same install as what you were referring to in this previous post?
No. It's pure devuan.
Maybe the file system needs to be checked?
I've checked it using virtual windows.
Perhaps a change in rules in whatever polkit is used in KDE? Just a guess, I know zilch about KDE.
I'm also new to KDE.
#18 Other Issues » [SOLVED] Could not write to external drives after update » 2025-06-21 09:30:52
- Devarch
- Replies: 9
Devuan Excalibur, KDE - updated as of today.
I encountered an error message: "Could not write to external drives."
Just yesterday everything was working fine. The system is updated today. Now, my USB drives are only mounting read-only in /media/user/exfat_drive with permissions drwxr-xr-x for user:user.
A windows virtual machine check did not reveal any issues.
Why has this occurred? How can I restore the ability to auto-mount all external drives as read-write without having to manually add each new drive to fstab, apply masks, and reboot?
#19 Re: Off-topic » Debian removed multi-init support from the latest shipped grub » 2025-06-19 20:45:00
Debian removed multi-init support from the latest shipped grub
This explains why I was unsuccessful in converting Trixie to Excalibur by eliminating systemd (the process was challenging as well).
#20 Re: Installation » [SOLVED] Prevent Update from Overwriting EFI » 2025-06-19 20:38:46
fsmithred, thank you. I'll check what can be done. You are right; it prefers debian. I've updated the first install (grub, linux-image etc) and it did not destroy the second one named devuan. However, it changed the EFI boot order, making debian the first one and refind the last one. It also completely eliminated "the second partition on the SD card" (which is Ventoy with .iso files). This strange behavior might be linked to the motherboard.
This is why I want to keep two similar systems for a while to test different configurations and approaches. There are too many things to resolve: find the right values for nbfc, make ryzenadjdJ understand ryzen_smu (it doesn't currently), etc.
I'll mark this topic as solved.
#21 Installation » [SOLVED] Prevent Update from Overwriting EFI » 2025-06-19 12:17:49
- Devarch
- Replies: 2
Case 1: I had an Excalibur installation done in the following way: Debian Bookworm -> OpenRC -> Devuan Daedalus -> Devuan Excalibur.
Disk layout: EFI, boot-1, boot-2, root-1, root-2.
The installation created a folder "debian" on the EFI partition.
Then I made another install from the Excalibur net install ISO. Using the same EFI partition (no format), boot-2 and root-2. I've got two folders: debian and devuan on the EFI partition.
Problem: No matter if I choose Debian or Devuan from the F7 Boot menu, only the second installation is loaded.
I restored the EFI from a backup, added the second folder and reconfigured through efibootmgr to point at the corresponding files. So, I was able to choose again which of the two installs to boot.
Question: How can I prevent the second install from modifying the first install?
Case 2: I've made some installations and updates on the second Devuan and lost the ability to boot the first installation. Both entries (Debian and Devuan) only boot the second install.
Question: How can I prevent this behavior?
#22 Re: Installation » No live devuan or refracta will boot on a new AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX370 » 2025-06-18 22:57:54
What I'm trying to say is that many applications are impossible to install because they depend on something else. Almost all these packages are present in Ceres or Daedalus. In other words, Excalibur has the fewest number of packages. What's unclear to me is why a package can exist both in Daedalus and Ceres but not be available in Excalibur?
#23 Re: Off-topic » GNOME is taking the scum bag approach still... » 2025-06-18 12:30:38
Most of the accessibility stuff is waaaaay behind. Screen readers, on screen keyboards, etc. That said I have been using Wayland on my gaming machine because.....shiny.
Yes. Screen keyboard, correct scaling, different scaling factors for different displays connected simultaneously.
Interesting.
#24 Re: Installation » No live devuan or refracta will boot on a new AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX370 » 2025-06-18 12:23:32
I'm not sure why the installer would not use the driver you provided, I'll take a look at that part. Could you tell me the steps you took so I can reproduce it?
rbit, if I remember correctly, I've downloaded the .deb file as the driver, unpacked it, and placed the firmware folder on a USB flash drive.
I see that there is a new . iso to download.
What about this Debian bug https://github.com/mattermost/desktop/issues/2853?
Will Devuan follow Debian's package policy?
Some packages that are present in Daedalus (Bookworm) are missing in Excalibur (Trixie). Some of them, like gconf2 and gconf-service, are only available in Daedalus/Bookworm. Others are in Ceres/Sid. This produces a bit of a 'Frankendevuan' situation."
#25 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » Android in a VM - recommendations? » 2025-06-17 11:59:07
dDepending on your needs, Genymotion (https://www.genymotion.com/product-desktop/download/) may work
It's spyware. They track you. Otherwise, yes it's the best but requires virtualbox.
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