QV version 240506 pre-alpha released
This is basically the same as the previous release, 240425:
https://bkhome.org/news/202404/qv-version-240425-pre-alpha-released.html
Except have reverted the pam/shadow change, as it caused some
breakage, reported by Caramel:
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?p=117978#p117978
Download from here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/void/
Note, as I am typing this blog post, 'qv-240506-amd64.img' is
still uploading. The Internet connection has become very slow.
Tags: quirky
QV version 240425 pre-alpha released
See 240423 announcement:
https://bkhome.org/news/202404/qv-version-20240423-pre-alpha-released.html
I was hoping to get onto implementing an update mechanism, but we keep finding bugs.
Download:
https://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/amd64/releases/void/
One change made, and I have my fingers crossed that it is ok, is
have now included the Void 'shadow' package. I had previously told
XBPS to ignore 'shadow' if it is a dependency of any package, as
it requires 'pam'.
'pam' causes trouble, but I think now have managed to disable it. We want the 'shadow' pkg, as any package that wants to create entries in /etc/passwd (etc.) needs it.
Forum discussion welcome here:
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?p=117896#p117896
...first post in that thread explains about 'qv-installer', for
direct install to internal drive.
I did some basic testing of 240425, very basic. Installed the
'devx' PET via PKGget, and it worked ok, took awhile. At the end
PKGget reported a lot of missing dependencies still not installed.
I don't know what to make of that, as XBPS did the installing, and
it would have installed all required deps. So probably PKGget has
got it wrong.
Tags: quirky
QV readme on github
The readme file on github was previously empty. I have inserted a basic explanation about QV:
https://github.com/bkauler/woof-quantum-vis
Tags: quirky
Fix bluetoothd endless restarting
In 2020 I posted about using the 'restarter' utility in /etc/init.d/bluetooth, to immediately restart 'bluetoothd' if it crashes:
https://bkhome.org/news/202011/xf86-input-wacom-and-restarter-compiled-in-oe.html
Yes, well, the worst has happened. Testing the latest QV, I observed /tmp/bootsysinit.log being endlessly appended, like this:
...
restarter[8300]: Executing [79]: (/usr/sbin/bluetoothd)
restarter[8604]: Starting [/usr/sbin/bluetoothd] with pid:8604
D-Bus setup failed: Name already in use
restarter[8603]: [8603]:sigchildhdl_GetExitStatus SIGCHLD handler, child_pid:8604, waitpid returned:8604, exit_reason:process exited, exit status=1, child exit status:256, signal:17, nchildren now:0
exit_valid:(), cmd_exitstatus2:1
[8603]: Exiting
restarter[8300]: Executing [80]: (/usr/sbin/bluetoothd)
restarter[8606]: Starting [/usr/sbin/bluetoothd] with pid:8606
D-Bus setup failed: Name already in use
restarter[8605]: [8605]:sigchildhdl_GetExitStatus SIGCHLD handler, child_pid:8606, waitpid returned:8606, exit_reason:process exited, exit status=1, child exit status:256, signal:17, nchildren now:0
exit_valid:(), cmd_exitstatus2:1
[8605]: Exiting
...
I do not know of a fix for this. 'bluetoothd' is still flakey and can crash. Just restarting it causes that dbus problem and it immediately crashes. I didn't have this problem with EasyOS, or perhaps I just didn't notice it.
So, have taken out 'restarter':
https://github.com/bkauler/woof-quantum-vis/commit/ac472ff697184ffaf3d48e6c6ff432b8d03f0577
However, 'restarter' does work, at least sometimes, without going into that endless loop. Now, if it crashes, that's it, you will have to manually restart it, by "/etc/init.d/bluetoothd start" -- and I hope that it doesn't hit that dbus problem.
It would be good if 'restarter' could set a limit on how many
restarts. Oh, and it is not just a QV problem; do a search on
"bluetoothd d-bus setup failed: name already in use" will return a
lot of hits.
Tags: quirky
QV version 20240423 pre-alpha released
Please read the 20240419 announcement:
https://bkhome.org/news/202404/qv-version-20240419-pre-alpha-released.html
Since then, there have been bug fixes, see the forum:
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=11292
Also enhancements, see:
https://bkhome.org/news/202404/shell-wrapper-for-sudo.html
https://bkhome.org/news/202404/qv-snapshot-information-on-desktop.html
Bluetooth and samba fixed, among other fixes.
Still no update mechanism. Hope to do that for the next release.
Thereafter, no more need to download the huge .img file, just
install a small update PET.
Tags: quirky
Shell wrapper for sudo
I posted about sudo here:
https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?p=117577#p117577
Which has brought this issue back to my attention. I really don't know why sudo was working and then it wasn't.
Anyway, I developed a simple alternative, named 'sudo-sh', see these blog posts mid-2023:
https://bkhome.org/news/202306/goodbye-sudo-package.html
https://bkhome.org/news/202306/light-weight-replacement-for-sudo.html
But what about an app that calls the sudo executable? EasyOS doesn't have sudo, QV does but it doesn't work.
To fix this, I created a shell script named 'sudo'. I don't know if an app will refuse to run it, if it sees it isn't a binary executable, or doesn't have suid bit set. Also, it ignores all commandline options. Anyway, here it is, /usr/bin/sudo:
#!/bin/ash
C=''
while [ -n "$1" ];do
case "$1" in
-*)
case "$1" in
-g|-p|-U|-u|-C|-r|-t)
shift
;;
esac
;;
*)
C="$@"
;;
esac
shift
done
if [ -n "$C" ];then
exec sudo-sh ${PPID} ${C}
fi
This will only work in EasyOS and QV, that have sudo-sh. A simple test:
# su spot
# sudo urxvt
...a window pops up asking for the root password, then the urxvt terminal runs.
That sudo script is very simple, could be written in C.
Tags: quirky
QV snapshot information on desktop
Users of QV are likely to make heavy use of the btrfs snapshot feature. I have posted about QV's support for snapshots, see here:
https://bkhome.org/news/202404/qv-snapshot-deletion.html
What seems to be needed is "at a glance" information about what snapshot is currently running. I have implemented that information, written to the wallpaper, in format snapshot-number: creation-date: description.
At the first bootup, I have set the decription as "Original Snapshot", though it is not a snapshot as such, but the originator of snapshots. This description will also be translated if the user selects a non-English language.
Here is what it looks like, along the top of the desktop:
Here is the github commit:
https://github.com/bkauler/woof-quantum-vis/commit/f13a1f913fbd1409b34e03def05d33c8bfc50bc1
...using GraphicsMagick to write the text on the
image.
Tags: quirky