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#751 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] How to daemonize Timeshift so it can be run as a service? » 2023-09-07 20:39:48
Hello:
Thanks ...
... was wondering exactly this.
You're welcome.
If so, please mark the thread as [solved].
Best,
A.
#752 Re: Other Issues » [SOLVED] Messed up keyboard characters » 2023-09-07 13:32:34
Hello:
... characters on the keyboard changed places.
... when it comes to any symbols like a dot ...
First we need to know what your exact keyboard layout is.
I take it that it is an English language layout, yes?
Does it have an identifying sticker label somewhere?
---
Most Dell-branded devices such as keyboard, mouse, external hard drive, speakers, do not have a Service Tag or Express Service Code. Such devices must be identified using the model number or name of the device. The label containing the device name and model number is usually located on the bottom of the device.
---
Please post a photo of the sticker label.
Best,
A.
#753 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] How to daemonize Timeshift so it can be run as a service? » 2023-09-06 20:28:08
Hello:
Tnanks ...
You're welcome.
Be sure to check the different targets that Timeshift and BackInTime have.
Timeshift is better suited for system file backups and BackInTime for data file backups.
Timeshift is similar to applications like rsnapshot, BackInTime ... ... but with different goals. It is designed to protect only system files and settings. User files such as documents, pictures and music are excluded. This ensures that your files remains unchanged when you restore your system to an earlier date.
Best,
A.
#754 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] How to daemonize Timeshift so it can be run as a service? » 2023-09-06 02:02:17
Hello:
... clues on to run timeshift as a system daemon.
As a system daemon?
I have been using timeshift for many years now.
But it is not set up as a daemon (at least not since I started using it).
It runs cron jobs which you set up when you configure it to do what you want.
ie: schedule the [hourly, daily, weekly, monthly] snapshots.
And if you need to take one manually, you just do it directly from the UI.
Bear in mind that the original developer/maintainer (teejee) closed shop and it is now maintained by the people at Linux Mint.
HTH.
Best,
A.
#755 Re: Devuan » Question for devs... Debian 12 can be installed without systemd » 2023-09-05 20:56:48
Hello:
AntiX & MX Linux developers have been ...
... so, yes, it can be done.
I beg to differ.
If it could be done, Devuan would not exist as an OS, it would be a (maybe) complex script or collection of linked scripts.
You and I are referring to two very different things:
1. installing Debian (as it comes out of the box) without systemd.
2. installing Devuan or AntiX/MX via what their respective developers/maintainers do.
If you are installing Debian you do not have a choice of inits.
And if you want to weed it out after installing Debian, you cannot.
Please read the post at the provided link and the ensuing thread, it is explained albeit I don't know if correctly / thoroughly enough.
Once I realised what it was about, I stopped reading.
I don't know exactly what AntiX/MX developers/maintainers do, so I cannot compare.
But I more or less know what Devuan developers/maintainers do*:
Devuan developers/maintainers use sysvinit and then sanitize any Debian packages that need systemd so that they will work without it.
And if they cannot be sanitized, they are blacklisted/banned from the Devuan repositories which, to all extent and purposes, are exactly the same as the Debian repositories albeit without the banned packages.
In short: Devuan is Debian without systemd.
That's about it, so my contribution to this thread (useful or not) ends here. 8^)
Best,
A.
* corrections encouraged and welcomed.
#756 Re: Devuan » Question for devs... Debian 12 can be installed without systemd » 2023-09-05 11:10:34
Hello:
When Debian 12 was released, I read through the release notes/wiki and saw it's possible to install a different init system.
In my opinion, it was just pour la galerie, so to speak. ie: an effort to, in the early stages of the systemd takeover, appease those who voiced their dissent.
But ...
Debian with another init?
Please ...
There was some more smoke and mirrors FUD from a self described Debian insider sometime ago but it was just that.
Sorry to be the one to break the news to you but that is definitely *not* in Debian's plans.
Deprecating SystemV support was the last step in that direction.
"Support for System V service scripts is now deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Please make sure to update your software
*now* [1] to include a native systemd unit file instead of a legacy System V script to retain compatibility with future systemd releases."
[1] the asterisks are not mine, they are in the original.
The inevitable result will be that in a very short time there will be no SystemV compatible packages in the Debian repositories as devs/maintainers will not include init scripts for a deprecated init in their packages, something that will inevitably extend to all Debian based distributions using systemd.
I've said it many times before: there is a lot of moolah behind making systemd the de-facto init for the Linux ecosystem.
systemd is nothing but a MS registry for Linux and the main purpose is to turn Linux into a MS type OS, with all that such a thing implies.
Like a poster at The Register once said with respect to systemd:
"... it is nothing but a developer sanctioned virus running inside the OS, constantly changing and going deeper and deeper into the host with every iteration and as a result, progressively putting an end to the possibility of knowing/controlling what is going on inside your box as it becomes more and more obscure."
But there's nothing new at hand: it is the old MS embrace, extend, and extinguish that has been going on for decades, only that now there's active and quite visible participation from IBM/RH and last but not least Microsoft, corporation that that went from labelling Linux a cancer to wanting to become best friends with it while everyone smiled and said "how nice of them to do so".
Devuan (and derivatives) is still holding on but who knows for how long this will be so.
Best,
A.
#757 News & Announcements » New version of sudo in Rust » 2023-09-02 19:11:59
- Altoid
- Replies: 1
Hello:
Came across this today.
The sudo command-line tool has been implemented in the Rust programming language
to hopefully rid it of any exploitable memory-safety bugs.
Prossimo, a project overseen by the non-profit Internet Security Research Group (ISRG),
announced the first stable release of sudo-rs this week. That open source codebase
includes the related su command-line program, again in Rust.
https://github.com/memorysafety/sudo-rs
Best,
A.
#758 News & Announcements » The Register's OS desk writes about Devuan Daedalus » 2023-08-21 21:19:39
- Altoid
- Replies: 4
Hello:
The Register's Liam Proven and his article on Devuan5:
---
Version 5 of systemd-free Debian remix Devuan is here
Debian Bookworm without the controversial init – or the platform support, or the polish
Liam Proven - Mon 21 Aug 2023 // 10:00 UTC
---
https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/21/ … ee_debian/
I am of those that think that itis better to be talked about than ignored, but ...
Devuan is a hard distro to summarize.
On the one hand, the sort of xNix graybeard who favours Debian is also exactly the sort of curmudgeon who harbors grave concern about systemd, so it's good that there's an option.On the other hand, it's bad that it split the already understaffed Debian developer community.
I'll just hold my thoughts and go make me a cuppa.
Best,
A.
#759 Re: Devuan Derivatives » Refracta problems on Ideapad laptop » 2023-08-08 01:17:49
Hello:
Thank-you.
You're welcome.
#1:
# dmesg | grep -i keyboard [ 13.000115] input: AT Translated Set 2 keyboard as /devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input8 [ 22.030425] ideapad_acpi VPC2004:00: Keyboard backlight control not available
Right, there is the working kb, as seen by SystemRescue.
#2:
# xinput list ⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)] ⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)] ⎜ ↳ PixArt USB Optical Mouse id=10 [slave pointer (2)] ⎜ ↳ ELAN Touchscreen id=11 [slave pointer (2)] ⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)] ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)] ↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)] ↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)] ↳ Power Button id=8 [slave keyboard (3)] ↳ Sleep Button id=9 [slave keyboard (3)] ↳ Lenovo EasyCamera : Lenovo Easy id=12 [slave keyboard (3)] ↳ Ideapad extra buttons id=13 [slave keyboard (3)] ↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=14 [slave keyboard (3)]
There is the PixArt USB Optical Mouse and what SystemRescue sees as a touch screen.
I assume that there's no such thing, just a touchpad.
Right?
I've had a quick look around and it seems that the Elan touchpads are a rather troublesome thingy for Linux.
Please do this:
sudo dmesg | grep -i elan to see *if* dmesg has something to say about the touchpad.
and
cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep -i "input driver" to see what driver SystemRescue uses for the kb and post the results.
Best,
A.
#760 Re: Devuan Derivatives » Refracta problems on Ideapad laptop » 2023-08-07 19:35:32
Hello:
... Refracta 11.2 on a Lenovo Ideapad 210 Touch ...
... touchpad and keyboard do not work ...
... With SystemRescue, the touchpad is also nonfunctional, but the keyboard works just fine.
Seeing that System Rescue actuallu finds the keyboard, look at what its logs have to say about it:
~$ sudo dmesg | grep -i keyboard
As to the touchpad, see what x11 has to say:
xinput list #if you don't have it you need to install it:
sudo apt install xinput
Please post your findings.
Best,
A.
#761 Re: Other Issues » [SOLVED] Is it possible to install czkawka? » 2023-08-05 11:04:05
Hello:
... czkawka hangs with a missing dependency libgtk-4-dev which is apparently not installable.
What version of Devuan are you attempting to install it in?
That package does not seem to be in the Debian repositories.
And as you surely know, not in the Debian repositories => not in the Devuan repositories.
That said, libgtk-4-dev is only available ceres:
https://pkginfo.devuan.org/cgi-bin/pack … .10.4+ds-2
and daedalus:
https://pkginfo.devuan.org/cgi-bin/pack … 4.8.3+ds-2
Best,
A.
#762 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » Browser for netbook running Devuan » 2023-08-01 11:11:44
Hello:
... worth using free and vmstat to see how much your swap file is being used.
Yes, but it will have to wait till I have some time to do that.
For now, I seem to have solved the problem by installing 91.9.1esr.
... firefox must have something else wrong with it.
I do not use the 1000HE much, just roast coffee with it one a fortnight and keep it updated.
As I have not had to do any local travel since a couple of years before the pandemic hit, browser usage has been limited to accessing the web to check on something while/if my box was off-line which is not frequent so I cannot really say at which point this started happening.
Although I suspect it is this last (available) version
But something is amiss: either a bug or FF code now does things it did not do in previous versions.
Would not be at all surprised.
Thanks in advance.
Best,
A.
#763 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » Browser for netbook running Devuan » 2023-07-31 14:38:54
Hello:
... they have i386 for 78, 102 and 115, but they skipped 91.
... might find a suitable version somewhere else.
Found it here.
apt/synaptic won't be aware of it as this was not a .deb file.
The extracted folder is in /opt and symlinked the executable to /user/bin/firefox.
As expected, it loads with no problems and does not stress the CPU: I was able to untick all the boxes as I have always done.
No response delays whatsoever.
So whatever is going on with FF 102.13.0esr, it is poison for the 1000HE.
If by design (ie: not a bug) it is a rather dumb move for a i686 version.
Thanks for your input.
Best,
A.
#764 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » Browser for netbook running Devuan » 2023-07-31 00:24:36
Hello:
Yes, the 91.13esr-1~deb10u1 would be suitable enough to test but I've been there.
Maybe I don't know what I am looking for?
ie: I don't see a "esr-1~deb10u1 i386" version.
Thanks in advance.
Best,
A.
#765 Re: Installation » Strange netinstall.iso behaviour » 2023-07-30 23:31:26
Hello:
... installer has been picking up swap files from any ...
I don't think that should happen.
You have seen it in other (Debian based?) distributions because the installer code is common to all of them.
... put the swap on a separate HDD and really noticed ...
Yes, I also did that (another life, many years ago) when I could get my hand on another HDD.
When memory prices dropped, things changed a bit.
Thanks for your input.
Best,
A.
#766 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » Browser for netbook running Devuan » 2023-07-30 23:21:55
Hello fsr:
... playing with an ASUS EEE ...
... what software to use on it.
... old Refracta Jessie on it that runs fine ...
Mine runs on 5.10.0-0.deb10.16-686-pae (5.10.127-2~bpo10+1).
I have resized the almost never used XP partition to get space for a larger swap file, now set at a ridiculous 12GB for testing purposes.
I reinstalled firefox-esr from the repository but it is practically unusable.
First thing I have always done when installing FF and other similar browsesr is go to the settings page and untick the default settings.
In this version of FF the UI has an absurd reponse time: between two or three sec. to see the box unticked.
Scrolling with the 1000HE's infamous touchpad is another problem, it takes almost two sec. to respond.
I have also noticed the CPU fan starting to blow after a while of doing nothing but what I describe above.
ie: no web related activity whatsoever, just FF open and changing the settings.
A consequence of this is that with the 1000HE plugged in, the battery charging light came on.
I have never seen this happen, not even when running the coffee roasting program.
... the cpu is the limiting issue.
I'm sure of it, but I do not recall this happening with previous versions of FF.
Curiously enough (or not) the usually sluggish (but not unusable) coffee roasting sofware I use on the 1000HE has acquired a snappiness it did not have when the swap file was set at its previous value of 8GB, so one for the good guys.
I have been looking all over but cannot find an older version of firefox-esr to try, ideally two or three behind the acual one.
Know where I can download it to test on the 1000HE?
Thanks in advance.
Best,
A.
#767 Re: Installation » Howto install dual-boot Windows Linux best method » 2023-07-30 13:15:01
Hello:
One operating system per physical drive is a clear approach.
+1
Fully agree with that.
Provided it is not a netbook/laptop with a single HDD but then that also has the possibility of a fast SD card.
Not sure that can be done for a windows system.
Best,
A.
#768 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » Browser for netbook running Devuan » 2023-07-30 13:04:37
Hello:
... links2 for lightweight graphical browsing. It makes the internet look like 1995, which I find very soothing.
I'll have a look.
To test, I fired up the devuan_chimaera_4.0.3_i386_desktop-live.iso using a 4GB SD card and although Firefox behaved a bit better but still unusable.
Maybe I should try an older version and pin it or resize the swapfile.
Thanks for your input.
Best,
A.
#769 Re: Installation » Strange netinstall.iso behaviour » 2023-07-30 12:11:54
Hello:
... comes out Like this,
--- snip ---
... did the partitioning before the installation ...
Yes, I used to do it like that.
Every time I moved from one distribution to the next one in line.
I then settled on Devuan ~6 years ago.
I was very much used to /dev/sdx notation but eventually started using UUIDs.
... every time you format a partition it get a new UUID.
Indeed ...
And your fstab gets ... fstabbed.
Resulting in a warning about the system not finding a UUID, usually happens when you resize the /swap partition.
... used to have more separate system partitions ...
The benefit of separate partitions for /home, /var and /swap are important.
I also use primary partitions, easier/faster to work with than primary+extended if you don't need more than four partitions.
My box has 8.0GB RAM and the 4.0GB swap partition (in my case) practically gets no use as I have priority set to -2 (it is a small SSD).
Should I need more disk space I will see about a tmpfs for swap, have been puting it off for the longest time.
With respect to the reason for this thread, I think the installer is not working properly.
ie:
Once a specific drive is selected for the installation, the default behaviour should be that no partition on any other drive be used for anything.
More yet, the installer should warn that a partition outside the selected installation drive will be used before continuing with the process.
Thanks for your input.
Best,
A.
#770 Desktop and Multimedia » Browser for netbook running Devuan » 2023-07-29 19:14:39
- Altoid
- Replies: 14
Hello:
I have run Devuan Linux on an Asus 1000HE (1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU + 2GB RAM) for a few years now.
These days, 5.10.0 with a backported kernel.
I run my coffee roasting software and serves as a access websites when I'm doing maintenance on my box and need to read up on something specific.
I also take with me when I am out of town. Limited but quite useful for a 14 year old netbook.
Now, the thing is that with the last two or three upgrades to firefox-esr, the browser has become incredibly slow/sluggish: practically unusable.
Is there another, lighter on resources (ie:'netbook friendly') that can be used with Devuan instead of Firefox-esr?
Thanks in advance.
Best,
A.
#771 Re: Installation » Strange netinstall.iso behaviour » 2023-07-29 14:00:41
Hello:
Apparently the partitioner picks up all swap partitions ...
Apparently so, would have to delve further into that.
But ...
Remember my first post: the installer wanted to format a partiton that did not exist.
Now, having 1) chosen to do an expert install, 2) selected specific drive to use and 3) having opted to partition it manually, I think that this should not be happening.
I did what you suggested and made sure that "don't use this partition" was used on every partition I could find that did not belong to the drive I selected for the installation and that worked.
As the other ie: /, /var and /home partitions were already established, the installer only formatted the /swap partition.
That said, why isn't every partition set up as "don't use this partition" by default?
Why does the installer pick up a /swap partition from a previously unselected drive?
I don't understand what is going on, maybe a glitch or a bug? Quite worrisome, at least to me.
In any case, I stopped the installation at 32% as it had been there for well over 15'.
I guess that installing on a 64GB USB2.0 will do that and as the damn things no longer come with the luxury of an activity LED, you really don't know if it is being written to or the install process went awry for whatever reason.
I'll try again this weekend.
Thanks for your input.
Best,
A.
#772 Re: Installation » Strange netinstall.iso behaviour » 2023-07-28 15:39:39
Hello fsr:
... seen the disk order change when booting with usb ...
Yes, I think that happens always.
But it does not matter here as the installation drive is easy to identify.
Unless I am not paying attention, the right drive will be formatted and receive the installation.
The problem (as I see it) is that the installer wants to muck around with other drives and in ways that don't make sense.
eg: formatting an inexistent partition. (?)
Thanks for your input.
Best,
A.
#773 Re: Installation » Strange netinstall.iso behaviour » 2023-07-28 15:34:52
Hello:
How does the dialog before that one look?
Here it is:
The installation drive (USB stick) is correctly identified (VendorCo ProductCode), is the correct size (62.9GB) and is where it should be (SCSI9 /dev/sdd).
Thanks for your input.
Best,
A.
#774 Re: Installation » Strange netinstall.iso behaviour » 2023-07-28 14:10:41
Hello:
Partition your disk manually ...
That is exactly what I am doing.
Thanks for your input.
Best,
A.
#775 Re: Installation » Strange netinstall.iso behaviour » 2023-07-28 11:52:06
Hello:
Having come to my senses, I went ahead and did it right way. 8^°
I burned the netinstall.iso to a 2.0Gb MicroSD card to install to the previously used 64Gb USB2.0 stick.
During the installation I chose to delete everything on the stick so it would start anew.
But I got the same behaviour from the installer:
eg: the installer informing me that ...
- it would format partitions in drives that don't belong to the drive previously selected for the installation.
ie: drive selected is /dev/sdc but it informs that it will format partition #3 in /dev/sdb- it would format an inexistent partition.
ie: drive /dev/sdf does not have a partition #3
Any idea as to what is happening?
Why would the installer want to muck around with a drive not selcted for installation?
Thanks in advance.
Best,
A.
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