antiX-14-a3.2 mini-release -- Testers Needed!

BitJam · 15 Nov 2014, 19:58 #1 2014-11-15 19:58

Here is another (perhaps the last) mini release before the next iso file comes out. This contains changes from both BitJam and Dave. I will post a text version of the"What's New" documentation below.

Downloads
The following files are available from
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: an xdelta3 patch for antiX-14-a3-RV_x64-full.iso
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: A new initrd.gz file for LiveUSBs
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: text file explaining what is new and should be checked/tested
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: a tarball the contains changes to the file system.

Instructions
The instructions are the same as before. For a LiveUSB:

copy over initrd.gz to the /antiX/ directory on the LiveUSB, replacing the initrd.gz file that is already there
Unpack the xtra tarball in that same directory, creating an xtra/ subdirectory under /antiX.

Note: the bootloader will get automatically updated on your first boot. On the 2nd and subsequent boots the bootloader should have a resolution of 1024x768 (or 640x480 if your hardware can't handle the higher resolution).

To create a new iso file, suitable for booting in Virtual Box:

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xdelta3 -d -s antiX-14-a3-RV_x64-full.iso antiX-14-a3.1-RV-x64.xd3 new.iso

It is possible that the you will be able to use such an iso file to make a LiveUSB without ill effects but this would be a fluke and not a supported feature. Please contact me if you want to test on a fat32 LiveUSB.

BitJam · posted: 2014-11-15 20:01

Text Version of"What's New" file

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  What's New in antiX-14-a3.2

   This lists what is new and is a place-holder for the mythical docs to
   come.  The menu above is not fully functional.

Desktop Session

   new min-xxxx desktop codes
   In addition to Rox-xxxx and Space-xxxx desktop codes we offer min-
   xxxx desktop codes which  disable desktop icons and system tray
   icons and conky.  These allow you to boot directly into a small
   memory footprint GUI.  The difference between min-xxxx and just
   xxxx is that the min version disables system tray icons and conky.

   New startup-dialog.py
   Toggled via"STARTUP_DIALOG=" in desktop-session.conf

   Customize"Paint drying" text
   Accepts either text or programs that return text:

       NOTIFICATION_TEXT="This is my notification"

       NOTIFICATION_TEXT="/usr/games/fortune"

   move most programs to /usr/local/lib/desktop-session
   This should not affect users.  If it does, Please let us know.  We
   are trying to clear out programs from /usr/local/bin that aren't
   normally called from the command line.

   Fix Alternative Desktops menus
   Add back Rox-fluxbox.

   Add min-xxxx options.

Live Initrd
   Start up and shutdown init scripts
   Almost all of the live startup and shutdown init scripts have been
   moved into the initrd.  This means the final persist-save will be
   run in the command line.  The only exception was live-restore-
   services which must be run after all other normal services start so
   it is called from inside / etc/rc.local.

   Systemd
   These changes should make live startup on systemd work much better
   but I have not tested it.  There is still a problem with the live
   shutdown with systemd.  For now, you will have to run persist-save
   manually on live systemd systems.

Bootloader

   On a LiveUSB, the bootloader will get updated automatically on the
   first boot so you won't see the new bootloader until the second boot.
   This is only for this testing mini-release.

   Default 1024 x 768 resolution
   We will probably still with our standard 800 x 600 for the final
   release but I wanted our testers to have a chance to see this
   higher resolution.

   You can change the default resolution but commenting and
   uncommenting the layout=xxx lines in gfxboot.cfg.  The comment
   character is semi-colon.

   Fallback to 640 x 480 resolution
   If your hardware does not support the default resolution (via BIOS
   which is usually rather limited) then we fall back to  640 x 480
   resolution.    We can also fall back further to letting you enter in
   codes to select the main boot option but I have not figured out how
   to add help that explains what these options are.  The codes are
   the in the new LABEL lines in syslinux.cfg and isolinux.cfg.

   Fn Menus
   Which Fn menus are included changes with the resolution.  This is
   to help make sure all the menus fit even with different languages
   are used.  Most notably, the"F1 Help" entry has been dropped at
   800 x 600 and at 640 x 480 even though F1 will still open up the
   help screen.

   Help Screen
   The size of the help screen has been slightly enlarged.  The size
   should be the same for both 800 x 600 and 640 x 480.     It is even
   larger at 1024 x 768.

   Desktop menu
   The Desktop menu is no longer replaced by the Save menu even though
   we still remember your the last desktop you used on the liveUSB.
   This may be too confusing though because the default choice in the
  "F6 Desktop" menu is no longer respected.  I don't know what to do
   about this.    Even if we don't explicitly save the desktop choice,
   it will be saved with root persistence or home persistence or even
   remastering.

   Maybe the best thing would be to add a"default" entry and let
   people be surprised by what desktop it selects.  This is the
   default that will get changed with persistence.  If a user wants to
   select a particular desktop then they can do it by selecting a non-
   default entry.  This is more honest in a way.  The only thing we
   lose is there is no immediate indication of what the default
   default selection is but we could just move that to the top of the
   list. I might just go ahead and do this.

   Console Menu
   The console menu has changed.  The default choice enables
   fbcondecor (console decoration) but does not enable any vga= boot
   parameter.  The safe option disables console decoration on boot.
   The remaining choices leave console decoration enabled and just set
   the vga boot parameter.  These options are only for older systems
   or systems that must use"nomodeset".  The vga boot parameter has
   been deprecated.  It is not consistent across machines.  Use
  "vga=ask" to get a list of vga modes supported on your machine.
Console Decoration

   Three new console decorations resolutions have been added:

   1440 x 900
   1600 x 900
   1920 x 1080

   I don't have a machine that supports these modes so they will need to
   be tested and the configurations may need to be adjusted before we
   include them in the final release.  Sometimes you can get these
   resolutions using the"video" boot parameter, such as:

   video=1440x900
Miscellaneous

   htop
   Default to hiding userland threads.

   splash-term
   Splash-term should tell you about the help option now.

   .bashrc
   /sbin and /usr/sbin are added to the user's path

   urxvt-style should be fixed
   It is an very easy way to customize the urxvt terminal emulator.

   search-bar-icon is enabled by default
   It allows you to search for highlighted text via a system try icon.
   Left click will do a (default) StartPage search.  Right click will
   open up a menu with other search options.  It's easy to use yad to
   make system tray icons like this.  Any suggestions?

   Graphical Conky is enabled by default
   We are now using the same conkyrc for all the window managers.  The
   ghost window problem in IceWM seems to have been fixed upstream.
   Please let us know if it is still a problem for you.

   The search applications have changed slightly.
   Google search is now"gg" instead of"g".  All search applications
   require an argument of"--" or"--clipboard" to do a search for the
   clipboard contents.

Version 2.0.0              2014-11-15

dolphin_oracle · posted: 2014-11-16 01:27

I got the new boot screen stuff, and remembering the desktop in liveUSB is pretty cool.

I did not get the new conky, although I did in the last one we looked at. My only comment to that is that the network stuff doesn't show up unless the interfaces are xxx0. ie: eth0, wlan0. once I switched machines,my interfaces became wlan1 and eth1 and the conky monitors did not show up.

I cannot test those video modes you needed tested either. my max resoultion is 1366x768. The boot screen looked perfectly fine at 1024x768 and the console decoration carried through.

I could not get a network connection going with either wicd or ceni on the a.3. I get a dbus error that used to go away when I put in my root password, but now it persists. In fact, I get an incorrect root password, even though the password is right.

I also didn't get the search-bar in the tray if we were supposed to.

there needs to be an option to totally disable the"paint dry" notification. Its unnecessary outside the test environment when you might want folks to know things are different.

I'm currently using a 32 gb sandisk cruzer divided into two partitions. the first and boot partition is formated ext4 and is 8gb. the second is fat32 and is the remainder (around 23 gb). This allows me to put the device in both windows and linux without issues, as windows ignores the ext partition and linux is quite happy to mount them both. and gives me a partition to store things on while I wipe the boot partition before setting up new liveUSB environments.

BitJam · posted: 2014-11-16 02:27

Thanks D.O.! You're a champ!

dolphin_oracle wrote:I did not get the new conky, although I did in the last one we looked at.

The new one (which is pretty much the same as the previous new one) is in / etc/skel/.conkyrc and / etc/skel/.conky/icewm-conkyrc. They only get copied over if the /home/demo directory does not already exist. If it did exist (via remaster or persistence) then you would have to copy them manually.

My only comment to that is that the network stuff doesn't show up unless the interfaces are xxx0. ie: eth0, wlan0. once I switched machines,my interfaces became wlan1 and eth1 and the conky monitors did not show up.

I forgot about this! Isn't there a file under / etc/udev/rules.d/ that we need to erase? I could easily erase it on every live boot. That would mean you would lose persistent network device naming between reboots on the live system. I think this is reasonable. If you agree, I can upload a new initrd.gz for you very soon.

I could not get a network connection going with either wicd or ceni on the a.3. I get a dbus error that used to go away when I put in my root password, but now it persists. In fact, I get an incorrect root password, even though the password is right.

Ceni fails here too on both my laptops. Run in a virtual terminal as root it says it needs the p80211 module. Wicd works on both OOTB. It asks for my root password and then I select the network and enter the password, etc.

I think your problem is related to the antiX= boot parameter. I can replicate your problem if I add an"M" back into the value of that parameter. When I moved the live startup scripts into the initrd, they run earlier (of course) and the M (for"mean") really does disable networking. The first time you boot with the new initrd, it should give you a new syslinux.cfg file with the"M" removed from antiX=. You should also get a 1024x768 bootloader screen which gives you more room for typing in parameters. So the second time you boot the"M" should be gone and you should have the higher resolution bootloader screen. I will post screen shots in a separate thread so I don't ruin this thread for people with low resolution screens.

I also didn't get the search-bar in the tray if we were supposed to.

Very strange. I wonder if you unpacked the new xtra tarball correctly. Here, the file / etc/desktop-session/startup contains the final line:

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search-bar-icon &

There is a small"eye" icon next to the larger volume control icon. The eye icon reminds me of the old CBS logo.

there needs to be an option to totally disable the"paint dry" notification. Its unnecessary outside the test environment when you might want folks to know things are different.

Please discuss this with Dave. But that message should have changed to something more innocuous about starting the session. Now there should also be a button in the middle of the screen that gives you options to"View Docs" and"Close Docs". An explanation of how to remove and alter the notification is in the docs linked to.

I suggest you rm -rf /antiX/xtra and unpack the xtra-2014-11-15b.tgz tarball again.

Thanks again!

BitJam · posted: 2014-11-16 03:07

dolphin_oracle wrote: My only comment to that is that the network stuff doesn't show up unless the interfaces are xxx0. ie: eth0, wlan0. once I switched machines,my interfaces became wlan1 and eth1 and the conky monitors did not show up.

Try adding the line:

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    etc/udev/rules.d/*-persistent-net.rules

to the BASIC_EXCLUDES section of /usr/local/lib/antiX/antiX-excludes.sh so the file looks like:

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BASIC_EXCLUDES="
    lost+found
    run/acpid.socket
    run/dbus/system_bus_socket
    tmp
    var/cache/apt/*.bin
    var/cache/apt/archives/*.deb
    var/cache/debconf/*-old
    var/lib/apt/lists/*
    var/lib/dpkg/*-old
    etc/udev/rules.d/*-persistent-net.rules
"

PERSIST_EXCLUDES="
    etc/live/protect/remaster
"

REMASTER_EXCLUDES="
    dev
    etc/live/protect/persist
    proc
    root/.bash_history
    sys
    var/log/*.log
    var/log/apt/*.log
    var/tmp
"

I think this is much better than always deleting it on startup. For example, if a person wants to maintain persistent device naming across reboots then they only need to edit the excludes file.

I am posting separately about making it easier for users to edit the excludes.

dolphin_oracle · posted: 2014-11-16 03:28

I suggest you rm -rf /antiX/xtra and unpack the xtra-2014-11-15b.tgz tarball again.

That was the problem. I don't exactly know what happened with the extraction, but the second time worked fine. So I got all the new notifications, the searhbar, and the such.

the one thing that didn't change was the antix=MLX. I got the high resolution boot, and the different console res. choices, but the MLX remained. I removed them by hand and that solved the wicd problem. I'm posting from it live as a matter of fact.

Dave · posted: 2014-11-16 04:26

Is it just the text in the notification for the session change that is annoying or is the whole notification of change / start / end of the change annoying?
The new one should read" Session is Loading, Please wait....." and configurable via / etc/desktop-session/desktop-session.conf (or ~/.desktop-session/desktop-session.conf). If it is the whole window than it should not be to difficult to make an"off switch" in the config file.

BitJam · posted: 2014-11-16 04:48

I *like*"session is loading, please wait ...". I don't like the"View Docs" button. I also don't like that when I close the button it keeps showing up when I select an alternative desktop. I wonder what others think? I know Roky didn't like"paint drying". I wonder if he will like"session is loading" any better.

Very minor suggestion: I think it should be:

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Session is loading, please wait ...

Lowercase"l". Lowercase"p". Only 3 dots. BTW, sometimes I don't see this message. Maybe the change happens so fast it gets removed before it shows, which is fine. Anyway, I like it and don't want it to go away. But I'm just one vote. I think the"alternate desktop" menu is very cool. Very antiX.

Dave · posted: 2014-11-16 04:56

BitJam wrote:I don't like the"View Docs" button. I also don't like that when I close the button it keeps showing up when I select an alternative desktop.

This is a bug, it is only supposed to show up on clean login.
So boot -> slim -> desktop should show the button
similarily
desktop-logout - > slim -> desktop should show

Switching alternative desktops should not, so I will need to look into that.

To turn it off permanently needs the variable set to false in the config. I did not make the close button permanently close the button otherwise you might not be able to find it later (will add a menu item for it though... under help is a good place I think __{{emoticon}}__ )

BitJam wrote:
Very minor suggestion: I think it should be:
Code: Select all
Session is loading, please wait ...
Lowercase"l". Lowercase"p". Only 3 dots. BTW, sometimes I don't see this message. Maybe the change happens so fast it gets removed before it shows, which is fine.

OK the change is easy just need to change the default desktop-session.conf file.
It is highly probably that the window goes to quick to see. It does for me when I change the session delay time to"0" and load minimal things in startup (volumeicon).

BitJam · posted: 2014-11-16 05:17

Dave wrote:This is a bug, it is only supposed to show up on clean login.

That would be a big improvement IMO. Still not a fan but I may put away the torches and pitchforks.

skidoo · posted: 2014-11-16 07:50

Three new console decorations resolutions have been added:
1440 x 900
1600 x 900
1920 x 1080

Did you ship the larger background images?
I'm seeing a stretched-to-fit bgimage (globe is an egg) when I test at @1600x1200...

...and those new resolutions are not offered in the colsole options selectbox.
Above, I read vga= is deprecated, so I tried video=1920x1080 in the bootline.
grumble error message:"pick a card, any card, wait NO not that card..."
the mode represented by lowercase L is the highest resolution / colordepth is highest it will allow.

I haven't yet tried vga=ask but I expect that will produce the same screen where I wound up with lowercase L as a forced (max) choice

edit:
In desktop session, res is correct (1920x1080) but background image is stretched there as well.
Ctrl+Alt+F3 etc consoles sure look crisp, and the globe is displayed round, not egg-shaped.
and each numbered console displays a different theme. Nice!

skidoo · posted: 2014-11-16 08:16

ControlCentre:
The earlier (mouse accel, etc dialogs display hard-coded rather than current value each time opened) bugs are still present.
New entry to select kb layout, yeah, it displays 'british' each time opened regardless the actual current setting.

Bug? Oversight? Regression? Within the GUI dialogs accessed via ControlCentre, I cannot find a way to set/change persistence mode.

For semi-automatic mode, prompt is appearing (redundantly) both upon clicking session"shutdown" button, and again during the final cli shudown.
(FWIW: All along, because no prompt is raised upon clicking the"logout" button, I had added a persist-save launcher into my desktop menu.)
The final prompt is (IMO) the welcome/necessary one.
What to do about the prompt scripted into the"shutdown button"? (unsure whether I should ask you to remove it, or just nix it myself)

persist-save GUI:
(seems like a regression, I surely would have noticed this previously)
"persist device total 30503 meg"
"persist device free 29322 meg"
No,"persist device" isn't relevant.
dev/sdb (the"persist device", a 32Gb pendrive) contains multiple partitions.
I need to see total/free for sdb1
edit:
see antix-persistence-options-t5177.html
Compared to the June screencap attachment, this does seem to be a regression.

- - - - -

The newly-added min-yourdesktop entries in the menu:
would be preferable if they were grouped together (all the min- entries) at the bottom of the list.
As is, user is forced to trip over/around 'em, gotta be careful where to click

- - - - -

Something wierd is, indeed, happening with the browser when switching desktops.
(testing this b/c someone else reported problem)
It might only happen when switching away from a certain (iceWM) desktop
and might only be triggered if the browser is minimized when the switch occurs.
I haven't found a consistently repeatable way to reproduce, but the browser window sometimes disappears
(process still shows in pstree, but can't find a window nor panel/tray application icon for it)

skidoo · posted: 2014-11-16 09:01

search-bar-icon is enabled by default
It allows you to search for highlighted text via a system try icon.
Left click will do a (default) StartPage search. Right click will
open up a menu with other search options.

Try this:
iceweasel with multiple tabs open.
Select some text.
Switch to a different browser tab and... lalala, select some text in this new tab.
Click the cyclops eye tray icon.

Inexplicably, instead of the text most recently selected in the active browser tab...
...cyclops is searching for the earlier-selected text.
In my testing, this is consistently repeatable (and was a bit of head-scratcher to figure out)

BitJam · posted: 2014-11-16 09:16

skidoo wrote:
Three new console decorations resolutions have been added:
1440 x 900
1600 x 900
1920 x 1080
Did you ship the larger background images?

Yes. I used the ones you sent me.

I'm seeing a stretched-to-fit bgimage (globe is an egg) when I test at @1600x1200...

The globe is perfectly circular in the 1600x1200 image. The problem is that your hardware creates rectangular pixels which makes the globe elliptical.

...and those new resolutions are not offered in the colsole options selectbox.
Above, I read vga= is deprecated, so I tried video=1920x1080 in the bootline.
grumble error message:"pick a card, any card, wait NO not that card..."
the mode represented by lowercase L is the highest resolution / colordepth is highest it will allow.

We have no control over what vga= options are available. But there seems to be some confusion here. Using video= should not trigger the dialog to pick a resolution. That should only happen if vga= is given. Use F12 in the bootloader to see what the boot options will be. If you have been switched to the 1024x768 bootloader screen then the vga= option should be off by default. Leave it off. The video= option should only kick in if you have a modeset graphics driver (nouveau, i915, or radeon, (I think)). It tells the graphics driver which resolution to use for the virtual consoles. It doesn't always work.

I haven't yet tried vga=ask but I expect that will produce the same screen where I wound up with lowercase L as a forced (max) choice

I agree.

In desktop session, res is correct (1920x1080) but background image is stretched there as well.

That's because the image is 4:3 and your screen is 16:9 so the image gets stretched. Same effect, but for a slightly different reason.

Ctrl+Alt+F3 etc consoles sure look crisp, and the globe is displayed round, not egg-shaped.

Excellent!! Is the size of the text area okay? It is very easy to edit the config file to change the size and placement of the text area. The changes should happen instantly. If you tweak the config for one theme, send it to me and I will make all the other themes have the same geometry.

If you want to get really fancy, you can install the fbgrab package and take screenshots of the virtual consoles.

It would be great if video=1440x900 and video=1600x900 worked for you so you could test these resolutions in the console as well. Make sure there is no vga= boot parameter when you try this.

BitJam · posted: 2014-11-16 09:35

skidoo wrote:Inexplicably, instead of the text most recently selected in the active browser tab...
...cyclops is searching for the earlier-selected text.

This has to do with the X-windows clipboard and not our stuff. It does seem peculiar sometimes. Thanks for testing.

BTW: there are several ways to enabled clipit. One of the simplest is to add it to / etc/desktop-session/startup. I chose not to enable it by default because it pops up a window asking me some question. The screen got plastered with these [stupid] questions (from clipit and other programs) and I felt like I was Alice in Windows-Land. So my new rule is that anything that opens up a window by default on the first boot gets turned off by default. The policy for the iso releases is up to anticapitalista (of course).

The HTTPS Everywhere pop up is very annoying. But I have not yet taken an icepick to my monitor in order to remove it.
========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/5300"
linktext was:"I am not alone."
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Edit:
I was able to get rid of the HTTPS Everywhere popup by editing the file / etc/iceweasel/profile/prefs.js and adding the line:

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user_pref("extensions.https_everywhere._observatory.popup_shown", true);