Odd...

No, this isn't about the Manjaro write-up.  That will come eventually.  Honest...

Yes, this is about me throwing a fit.  But I threw it about 2 hours ago.  I've fixed everything since then.

I've been trying to get all the distros I'm running updated on their individual systems.  And I've been trying to get some time in with all the USB installed systems, seeing if I need to do reinstalls, etc.  Today, it was MacPup's turn.

I had been thinking that the version I had was 5.2.8.  Don't know how I got that in my head, but I was making mental notes to download a new .iso, etc.  However, a quick check of my "hard" copy (ie, on CD) showed that I had 5.2.9, so, OK then...

Did a quick boot-up on my T61, which was the test computer for the day.  (I'd already done all the updates on Ubuntu 12.04 on the HD.)  So, I inserted the USB stick, fired the system up, and booted into MacPup.

Everything seemed copacetic, till I got interrupted and had to shut the system down.  When I came back later, I noticed the clock, which had been right on the last reboot was waaay off.  OK, not overly surprising.  A quick jump into the desktop menu, a reset, and off we go.

Then I tried to hit YouTube, and noticed no sound.  OK, not overly unusual.  I went for the ALSA board... 

My nose really hurt after hitting that wall...  The system seemed to be telling me that it didn't recognize the sound board...  Huh?  Well...  Uhm...  Several minutes of fiddling got me nowhere.  Option after option got me nowhere.  It wasn't working...

(It was, strangely, as this moment that I realized that I'd never installed the "systray" module in the MacPup IBar.  I was never a heavy MP user, and the system had always worked so well that I never really needed it...)

I shut down the T61, and grabbed the T400, which I'd used MP more than most of my systems, and rebooted.

Nada.  Different set of oddities, but same outcome:  No sound.

OK, on to brute force tactic no.1.  I went in and deleted my Save file.  Extreme, yes, but I really had nothing stored in it, so...

That seemed to work. MP was forced to do recognize hardware on its first bootup.  Everything seemed to be back to normal.

And then I bolluxed up the Save file.  Instead of creating a new file, I hit the "save to..." feature which uses the whole partition rather than setting up a specific Save file.  I've accidentally done this before, and it really didn't bother me that bad.  Yeah, it makes backups a pain, but I use MP so infrequently, and usually not for anything major...

At least the thing was booting properly, and had sound on both the T400 and T61.

Then, just to check, I booted onto my X60s, the "Mikey" of my computer line up (it works with everything).

Kaboom.  No sound.  ALSA not working.  No way to get sound.

Which brought me, reluctantly, to brute force method no. 2:  A complete redo of the USB stick.  Completely erased, repartitioned, and reinstalled.  I'm on my "first" boot on the T61, and all is going well.  When I shut it down, I will create an actual Save file, too.

In all truth, I'm sort of suspecting problems with the USB stick.  It's an older one which has seen heavy usage, so it might be trying to tell me something...  Like, "LOOK OUT BELOW!!!"

And, by the way, I enabled the "systray" module in the IBar.  Do you know strange those standard Puppy icons look next to those cool Enlightenment icons in the 'bar?

Now, on to my next hat trick...