Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

AmigaOne X5000 platform specific issues related to Linux only.
Tijatjj
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Re: Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

Post by Tijatjj »

Thanks . dd if=/dev/Desktop/fienix-soar_3.0.img of=/dev/sda
And just dev/desktop ,also combination of fienix-soar_3.0-20200.img because that is the
Name of the actual image.
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xeno74
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Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:58 am

Re: Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

Post by xeno74 »

Tijatjj wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 1:03 am Thanks . dd if=/dev/Desktop/fienix-soar_3.0.img of=/dev/sda
And just dev/desktop ,also combination of fienix-soar_3.0-20200.img because that is the
Name of the actual image.
Hi Tijatjj,

Please check your dd command. "/dev/Desktop" doesn't exist.

Thanks,
Christian
http://www.amigalinux.org
http://www.supertuxkart-amiga.de

Running Linux on AmigaONEs can require some tinkering.
Roland
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Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 7:23 am

Re: Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

Post by Roland »

xeno74 wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 12:59 pm
Tijatjj wrote: Tue May 26, 2020 1:03 am Thanks . dd if=/dev/Desktop/fienix-soar_3.0.img of=/dev/sda
And just dev/desktop ,also combination of fienix-soar_3.0-20200.img because that is the
Name of the actual image.
Hi Tijatjj,

Please check your dd command. "/dev/Desktop" doesn't exist.
The simplest way to get the correct path of .img files for dd is to open first the Terminal window and then drag/drop the .img file icon to the window. You can then move the cursor with arrow keys and add around the path string the needed commands and parameters.
- Roland -
Roland
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Re: Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

Post by Roland »

Hmmm... This new Fienix 'Soar' distro seems to be badly confused. When I created a new account, the 'home' directory did not have the usual subdirs Linux always has (Desktop, Documents, Downloads etc). When I tried to create them manually, they appeared directly on the desktop! It seems that the 'home' and 'desktop' are in some wired way combined in the new account.

I tried also to delete the account, and recreated a new one, but the problem was still present. Caseycullen, could you please have a look on these problems reported here? As Soar is now the primary distro for NG-Amigas, it should be in working condition. Thank you!
- Roland -
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kilaueabart
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Re: Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

Post by kilaueabart »

Successfully back to a "fienix," "fienixPW" logon. Surprised that after making changes in User Settings that supposedly require a reboot to take effect, shutdown proceeded rapidly with no stop jobs called. But my first logon today lost its internet connection after looking at a couple of pages in this forum, and Restart stopped with shutdown programs running for "Avahi mDNS/DNS-SD stack" and "session c2 of user fienix."

Now it looks like I have lost internet again, after a reboot. It is reading a steady "36 B/s." For a while I couldn't even type here, but I will finish this up, copy to Desktop/DEAD, reboot to Ubuntu and see if Ubuntu works better.

Two small annoyances to add to the inability to type Japanese and Korean with fienix: When I log on I always get this "Failed to run Redshift," whatever that is (can't google anything right now--I did later from Ubuntu, and apparently it adjusts screen color?). How do I get rid of that? And every time I run InterWeb it asks me if I want it as my Default Browser. No answer satisfies it.

Interesting Shutdown back in fienix (in Ubuntu now). Two more Stop Jobs in addition to the two named above: "Hostname Service User Manager for UID 1000" and "WPA Supplicant." I let them run while I did some housework and when I came back there were about 30 long lines of fascinating text. I grabbed my camera to record them but they vanished just as I found the button.

My first attempt to boot Ubuntu ended up with the phony desktop I have reported in the past. This time I took a look at the messages running at Ctrl^Alt^F1. Start jobs for "Hostname Service" and "RealtimeKit Scheduling Policy Service." I clicked the restart button on the machine and here I am.

I took a look at FIENIX-DISK/Var/Log. Almost no modifications since yesterday. Possibly significant exceptions are the files in var/log/journal/eo6foe*/, but I don't know how to read them.

Enough for today.
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xeno74
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Re: Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

Post by xeno74 »

Casey,

What do you think about a script for installing Fienix to a partition?

For example the script for installing the ubuntu MATE 16.04 Live DVD to a HDD: Link

Thanks,
Christian
http://www.amigalinux.org
http://www.supertuxkart-amiga.de

Running Linux on AmigaONEs can require some tinkering.
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kilaueabart
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Re: Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

Post by kilaueabart »

My new soar has been running beautifully for two or three hours.

But...

Installed LibreOffice so I could print a .docx file I got in email. Fienix knows my printer's name but stalls at "Getting printer information..."

It looks like I haven't got my Control Center > Administration stuff quite back to normal yet. When I launched Synaptic and tried to Authorize with "rootAdminPW" it told me that was the wrong password. "fienixPW" did the trick! I can't figure out how to change it back to rootAdminPW. Is it important to do so?
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caseycullen
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Location: Madison, WI USA
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Re: Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

Post by caseycullen »

Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your recent reports on bugs and issues. Unfortunately life and my "real job" has been taking up most of my time lately and left me with little time to spend on Fienix. Hopefully I'll have more time to spend on Fienix soon. In the meantime, there are a few things I may be able to help out with...
kilaueabart wrote: Two small annoyances to add to the inability to type Japanese and Korean with fienix: When I log on I always get this "Failed to run Redshift," whatever that is (can't google anything right now--I did later from Ubuntu, and apparently it adjusts screen color?). How do I get rid of that? And every time I run InterWeb it asks me if I want it as my Default Browser. No answer satisfies it.
Have you determined the programs and fonts that you need in order to type Japanese and Korean? I remember that I added a few in the past but it didn't seem to fix the issue completely. If you've identified the missing piece(s) I'm happy to add them.

I recently found out that fbdev doesn't allow for Redshift. My plan is to create a more elegant way to run fbdev, which will also disable Redshift. For now, please go to Menu > Control Center > Startup Applications and uncheck Redshift.

I'll look into the Interweb "default browser" issue. I seem to remember seeing this a few times myself but it stopped appearing so I forgot about it - I think I clicked "don't check to see..." and clicked the "No" button.
xeno74 wrote: What do you think about a script for installing Fienix to a partition?
This is a good idea. If you have time to work on it I'd be happy to add it to the next image. Otherwise I'll add it to the list.
Roland wrote: Some problems arose, however:

- trying to open 'users settings' (as root) does not work, the pointer just locks to the 'loading' animation.

- VLC does not open (no error messages). Tried to install also vlc-bin and vlc-Fienix, no help (the first one was installed, the latter not - an error message saying it tried to overwrite something which already existed).

- Firefox, Arctic Fox and Pale Moon are missing from the Soar depots. The new default browser is neat, but it cannot do some things the others can. (e.g. Pale Moon is the only one which can reach Gmail settings after a "severe security alert" - all the other PPC browsers are considered outdated and the access is denied!!)

- Isn't there really any way to transfer all the settings etc. from the old installation to the new one? If not, then I'm afraid I will still have to stay in my everyday use at the old one.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say you tried opening Users Settings as root. Users Settings should be opened as a normal user (e.g. fienix), and it will ask you to authenticate if you try to perform a root task.

For VLC, could you please make sure to apt-get update and try to install vlc-fienix again? I just made a fresh Fienix disk and installed vlc-fienix on it successfully.

Browsers: Interweb and SpiderWeb - available in the Fienix repositories right now. Arctic Fox - the plan is to add it back in again. New Moon / Pale Moon - wicknix indicated that this was an experiment and he would not be continuing builds or updates. Firefox - the last version for PowerPC depends on old libevent and libvpx libraries that I could not hold back any longer due to newer applications depending on newer versions. I'll see if wicknix may be able to work this out in one of his browsers.

Most settings are saved in hidden directories/files in your home directory. If you copy your old home directory including the hidden directories/files to the new home directory these settings would move over as well. Are there settings you want to transfer that are not saved in your home directory?
Roland wrote: Hmmm... This new Fienix 'Soar' distro seems to be badly confused. When I created a new account, the 'home' directory did not have the usual subdirs Linux always has (Desktop, Documents, Downloads etc). When I tried to create them manually, they appeared directly on the desktop! It seems that the 'home' and 'desktop' are in some wired way combined in the new account.

I tried also to delete the account, and recreated a new one, but the problem was still present. Caseycullen, could you please have a look on these problems reported here? As Soar is now the primary distro for NG-Amigas, it should be in working condition. Thank you!
It sounds like you probably added a user from the command line, in which case this is the normal, expected result. Adding users from the command line does not automatically configure home sub-directories, permissions, etc. Are you able to open Users Settings from the Control Center as a normal user?
kilaueabart wrote: I was looking forward to using fienix again but this one falls short so far. The original one came with a browser that could handle email properly. Interweb doesn't. One of the greatest delights of the original fienix was that I could print properly with it although I had never set up any printing services in it. With Ubuntu I had installed some HP stuff, but printing anything more than a text file brought some degree of false color smearing.

Fienix finds my printer, and tells me it is "getting printer information..." But it never does. I have to go through my Raspberry Pi after all.
See previous comments on web browsers.

I'll look into the printer issue. You have an HP printer then? Is it wireless?

Ok. Thanks everybody.
-Casey
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xeno74
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Re: Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

Post by xeno74 »

caseycullen wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 10:28 pm
xeno74 wrote: What do you think about a script for installing Fienix to a partition?
This is a good idea. If you have time to work on it I'd be happy to add it to the next image. Otherwise I'll add it to the list.
Fantastic! I will work on it. I think I need some help from our beta testers for testing the script.
http://www.amigalinux.org
http://www.supertuxkart-amiga.de

Running Linux on AmigaONEs can require some tinkering.
Roland
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Joined: Tue May 02, 2017 7:23 am

Re: Fienix - New PowerPC Distro

Post by Roland »

caseycullen wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 10:28 pm I'm not sure what you mean when you say you tried opening Users Settings as root. Users Settings should be opened as a normal user (e.g. fienix), and it will ask you to authenticate if you try to perform a root task.
I mean was logged in as 'root'. It is the simplest way to do maintenance operations as you can use all graphical tools without having to play with su/sudo and complicated paths to tools. Why cannot you open the Users Settings from root account? (How can the administrators do their job if the 'root' account has such unlogical limitations?!)

For VLC, could you please make sure to apt-get update and try to install vlc-fienix again? I just made a fresh Fienix disk and installed vlc-fienix on it successfully.
I updated the program list and tried again, but get still the same error message. Here is the full listing from Synaptic:

Code: Select all

debconf: delaying package configuration, since apt-utils is not installed
(Reading database ... 217279 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../vlc-fienix_3.0.4.20200404fienixbuild_powerpc.deb ...
Unpacking vlc-fienix (3.0.4.20200404fienixbuild) ...
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-fienix_3.0.4.20200404fienixbuild_powerpc.deb (--unpack):
 trying to overwrite '/usr/local/bin/cvlc', which is also in package vlc 3.0.4.20200404fienixbuild
dpkg-deb: error: paste subprocess was killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/vlc-fienix_3.0.4.20200404fienixbuild_powerpc.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
A package failed to install.  Trying to recover: 
What is also peculiar, Synaptic lists 'vlc-fienix' in the 'not installed' section, but the 'quick find' selection cannot see it at all!

Browsers: Interweb and SpiderWeb - available in the Fienix repositories right now. Arctic Fox - the plan is to add it back in again. New Moon / Pale Moon - wicknix indicated that this was an experiment and he would not be continuing builds or updates. Firefox - the last version for PowerPC depends on old libevent and libvpx libraries that I could not hold back any longer due to newer applications depending on newer versions. I'll see if wicknix may be able to work this out in one of his browsers.
This is really annoying... It was already complicated that you have to use different browser for ech task, but if they now start to dissapper totally. I hope you will not yet remove the depots of the old Fienix version?

I have tested all these Wicknix browsers, but have not been able to get any of them to play the audio recordings of the national broadcast company (let me know if you can get these to run work with some trick: https://areena.yle.fi/audio/1-2016102 ). Only way to listen them is to use the old Firefox versions.

Most settings are saved in hidden directories/files in your home directory. If you copy your old home directory including the hidden directories/files to the new home directory these settings would move over as well. Are there settings you want to transfer that are not saved in your home directory?
Thanks, I will give a try. There are probably also some system level customizations but I cannot now remember them all.

It sounds like you probably added a user from the command line, in which case this is the normal, expected result. Adding users from the command line does not automatically configure home sub-directories, permissions, etc. Are you able to open Users Settings from the Control Center as a normal user?
Nope, I used Users Settings! (from Fienix account) I just tested once more and created a third account, and it has the very same problem with mixed home and desktop dirs. There were also serious problems when I tried to change the desktop properties of the first self-created account (which I had to delete totally and recreate), but I suppose this cannot have effect on creating other accounts?

Thank you for your answer!
- Roland -
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