Well, I'm slacking. In more ways than one.
Rather than belabor the fact that work is making me a blog slacker, let me focus on my other bit of Slack. I finally got round to installing Salix on my long-suffering T410s.
For whatever reason, I've been rather obsessed with fiddling with something Slackware-ish. However, Slackware proper is a bit on the intimidating side for a less-than-dedicated yutz like myself. So I had to work my way up. From baby steps, like playing with Puppy Slacko (yeah, I know it's not really Slack, but it uses the repositories, so don't you start nuthin'), to dipping my foot in with a copy of Slax on a USB (even with it's kind of toyish, but clever, package system)...
I didn't have the T410s with me on the road, so I just waited till I got back home for a weekend. (I did have the X60s, still proudly running Saluki, in all its cool glory, and backed up by a case-full of Puppy USBs.) I used the already installed Kubuntu (which just never really tripped my trigger) to do the download and burn.
Being slightly gun shy, I only downloaded the 32-bit Xfce version. I'm still a knuckle-dragging .ISO burner, and I just didn't want to waste a DVD-R on a system that might not work properly with my hardware. (And, I also had some delusions about testing it on a lower spec machine later.)
However... it worked perfectly. Hardware was all recognized out of the box. Trackpad, sound, everything. Even scrolling. There was a slight blip when setting up the wifi, but a reboot took care of that. I have even been impressed with the included version of Midori, a web browser that has never been on my favorites list. I may actually eschew installing Firefox, at least for a bit.
The only thing I have not tried doing is hibernating the system, which can be a pain in some version of Puppy. (Later Thinkpads tend to sometimes be a bit finicky about sleeping.) So, we shall see... (Does Salix have a suspend feature? Would you believe, I haven't even looked...)
So, all in all, if you're in the market for a lightweight implementation of Slackware, which has some lazy-slacker features (Dependency checking! Yes!), Salix might be the thing for you. I've obviously only used it a very short time, but I have to say I do like it. It might compete with Crunchbang as a clean, daily work version of Linux for me. I might even take this out on the road with me, and see how it goes.
Slackware for the Lazy Slacker. I can dig it.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Monday, March 3, 2014
WOW!
Well, the junker T43 I got a few days ago just will NOT work right. Tried it with Wary Puppy, which is about as basic as it gets, and it still froze up in the interface. When I just tried to boot into the copy of Windows on the hard drive, it of course demands you "activate" Windows. And then freezes.
On a lark, I dragged out the poor little X41 Tablet and pulled the extra memory stick out and stuck it in the T43 (which only had 512 MB). No go. Same problems. Same outcome.
Disgusted, I put the memory stick back in the X41. And then I got a wild hair... The X41 is missing it's hard drive, and is also missing keys off the keyboard, and one Trackpoint button. But...
But...
I went in and dug out an old thumb drive with Puppy Slacko 5.5 on it, plugged it in, hooked up the power brick, and hit the power button...
Damn.
The fan in the X41 kicked on and screamed... Then settled down. I hit F12 for boot devices. Took it just a second, but... There was the menu, and there was the USB drive. Select that...
It booted. Long story short, it booted. Even in the savage shape that little notebook was in, it booted. The lost 'G' slot still worked fine. And the seemingly stuck right Trackpoint button worked. (I didn't try the missing scroll button.)
When I'd had the back memory door open, I noticed a wireless card installed. So...
It did. It went online flawlessly. I browsed the web for just a second. (Didn't fiddle with YouTube, as I hadn't adjusted the sound, but I have no doubt the system would've dealt with it quite well.)
A check of the system showed a PentiumM running at 1.6 Ghz, with a gig of memory. Nicely appointed little system. Granted, it has it's problems, as I noted above. The screen latch is busted, too. And no hard drive.
But, I just might put a little work into it. Maybe see if I can find those missing keys. And maybe a new HD. This little computer deserves a second chance.
It's a fighter. And it's pretty darn cool for it.
On a lark, I dragged out the poor little X41 Tablet and pulled the extra memory stick out and stuck it in the T43 (which only had 512 MB). No go. Same problems. Same outcome.
Disgusted, I put the memory stick back in the X41. And then I got a wild hair... The X41 is missing it's hard drive, and is also missing keys off the keyboard, and one Trackpoint button. But...
But...
I went in and dug out an old thumb drive with Puppy Slacko 5.5 on it, plugged it in, hooked up the power brick, and hit the power button...
Damn.
The fan in the X41 kicked on and screamed... Then settled down. I hit F12 for boot devices. Took it just a second, but... There was the menu, and there was the USB drive. Select that...
It booted. Long story short, it booted. Even in the savage shape that little notebook was in, it booted. The lost 'G' slot still worked fine. And the seemingly stuck right Trackpoint button worked. (I didn't try the missing scroll button.)
When I'd had the back memory door open, I noticed a wireless card installed. So...
It did. It went online flawlessly. I browsed the web for just a second. (Didn't fiddle with YouTube, as I hadn't adjusted the sound, but I have no doubt the system would've dealt with it quite well.)
A check of the system showed a PentiumM running at 1.6 Ghz, with a gig of memory. Nicely appointed little system. Granted, it has it's problems, as I noted above. The screen latch is busted, too. And no hard drive.
But, I just might put a little work into it. Maybe see if I can find those missing keys. And maybe a new HD. This little computer deserves a second chance.
It's a fighter. And it's pretty darn cool for it.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Still Fluffing
One of those evenings again. Just fiddling about, waiting for the big snowstorm to hit. Fun.
Did a bit of Linux stuff this evening. Burned and tested the latest versions of LXPup and Simplicity Linux. Both seem quite decent. Of the two, LXPup seems a bit less buggy, but saying that's being a bit rough on Simplicity. The only major problem I had with the latter was that it wouldn't recognize the hardware volume control on my T430. I somewhat suspect that might not be a problem on other systems. I didn't try the "suspend" feature on either system, as I think the later Thinkpads are bit wonky in this regard. I've got LXPup set up on a thumb drive, and will try it on my X60s later on. I think it'll work flawlessly there.
I was actually looking for some other systems to try on the junker T43 that I mentioned a couple entries ago. I have yet to give Wary Puppy a try. On one of those oddball larks for which I'm famous, I grabbed an .ISO for Legacy OS 4 Mini. The name "mini" seems a bit of a misnomer, as the image file is nearly half a gig in size. However, it's supposed to be decent for older systems, so...
(I had thought about getting Legacy OS 2, but the only version I could find in my very quick check was the current "Gamer" release, which comes loaded with older games. To be honest, I'm not a gamer, and right now I'm only interested in this as a test option, so...)
Kind of wondering about the T43. Not sure what's causing the freeze-ups after booting. Possible bad memory? Something deeper? I don't know. Not sure if I'll have time to really look into it till I'm next in.
Too much stuff to do. and not enough time...
Did a bit of Linux stuff this evening. Burned and tested the latest versions of LXPup and Simplicity Linux. Both seem quite decent. Of the two, LXPup seems a bit less buggy, but saying that's being a bit rough on Simplicity. The only major problem I had with the latter was that it wouldn't recognize the hardware volume control on my T430. I somewhat suspect that might not be a problem on other systems. I didn't try the "suspend" feature on either system, as I think the later Thinkpads are bit wonky in this regard. I've got LXPup set up on a thumb drive, and will try it on my X60s later on. I think it'll work flawlessly there.
I was actually looking for some other systems to try on the junker T43 that I mentioned a couple entries ago. I have yet to give Wary Puppy a try. On one of those oddball larks for which I'm famous, I grabbed an .ISO for Legacy OS 4 Mini. The name "mini" seems a bit of a misnomer, as the image file is nearly half a gig in size. However, it's supposed to be decent for older systems, so...
(I had thought about getting Legacy OS 2, but the only version I could find in my very quick check was the current "Gamer" release, which comes loaded with older games. To be honest, I'm not a gamer, and right now I'm only interested in this as a test option, so...)
Kind of wondering about the T43. Not sure what's causing the freeze-ups after booting. Possible bad memory? Something deeper? I don't know. Not sure if I'll have time to really look into it till I'm next in.
Too much stuff to do. and not enough time...
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Continuing the Fun
After my last post, I found myself cruising around some of my old YouTube haunts, ending up at PuppyLinuxWorld. The good IcyOS was one of my online mentors when I first started delving into the deep, dark Linux world. His videos are well-done, and he has just the right off-beat sense of humor to appeal to someone as...well, off-beat as me.
While cruising through his older stuff, I got a bit nostalgic. (Me? Noooo....) Ended up plugged & charging my old Thinkpad X60s, which still has the ever-marvelous Saluki Linux installed. of all the Puppy Linux descendents, Saluki is probably my favorite. Of all the variants I've tried, Saluki always struck me as by far the best version to use for full-scale daily productive work.
Alas, of course, Saluki is no longer being developed, and the last time I checked, it's repositories were getting a little long in the tooth. I was able, some time back, to snag a newer version of Firefox to install, keeping the browser up to date, but... Still, I haven't found anything that can replace it yet. I've tried Lighthouse, which is nice, but is 64-bit, and won't run on older systems like the X60s. (I also had some problems with the touchpad support when I installed it on my T410s.) I've also tried Simplicity, which is quite nice, but just didn't quite click with me. And, yes, I've been half-keeping an eye on Saluki's "annointed" successor, Carolina. (In fact, I have the latest version stuck on a thumb drive to test on the X60s, but just haven't gotten 'round to it. I did run it on my T430, and it ran OK, but I still have some issues...) Still, none of these really "do it" for me the way Saluki does.
So, in my nostalgic mood, I dragged out the X60s, and fired it up. Kicked up the copy of FireFox, and was quite happy when it did its upgrade to v.27. That's cool. And Flash still works, as I spent too much time watching the new Godzilla trailer on YouTube... (I know... But my Inner-9-Year-Old was quite insistent.) I'd even forgotten I'd installed a conky showing all my system settings. In short... Well, it was like rekindling a romance with an old fling...
And I still have 51% left on the battery...
I did use Saluki to do a mass reset on my fleet of Puppy USB boot drives. (Basically I just went in and erased all the "save" files. I'll set up new ones when I next boot each of those thumb drives.) However, I did not touch my 32 GB "monster" drive, which has (you guessed it) another copy of Saluki on it. I'd set it up ages ago to do some Virtual Box testing, which I never really got around to doing.
In any event, it's been kind of fun to spend some time with an old friend. I may actually take the X60s with me when I go back out on the road, along with that thumb drive collection, and see if I can get some more quality time in.
We shall see...
While cruising through his older stuff, I got a bit nostalgic. (Me? Noooo....) Ended up plugged & charging my old Thinkpad X60s, which still has the ever-marvelous Saluki Linux installed. of all the Puppy Linux descendents, Saluki is probably my favorite. Of all the variants I've tried, Saluki always struck me as by far the best version to use for full-scale daily productive work.
Alas, of course, Saluki is no longer being developed, and the last time I checked, it's repositories were getting a little long in the tooth. I was able, some time back, to snag a newer version of Firefox to install, keeping the browser up to date, but... Still, I haven't found anything that can replace it yet. I've tried Lighthouse, which is nice, but is 64-bit, and won't run on older systems like the X60s. (I also had some problems with the touchpad support when I installed it on my T410s.) I've also tried Simplicity, which is quite nice, but just didn't quite click with me. And, yes, I've been half-keeping an eye on Saluki's "annointed" successor, Carolina. (In fact, I have the latest version stuck on a thumb drive to test on the X60s, but just haven't gotten 'round to it. I did run it on my T430, and it ran OK, but I still have some issues...) Still, none of these really "do it" for me the way Saluki does.
So, in my nostalgic mood, I dragged out the X60s, and fired it up. Kicked up the copy of FireFox, and was quite happy when it did its upgrade to v.27. That's cool. And Flash still works, as I spent too much time watching the new Godzilla trailer on YouTube... (I know... But my Inner-9-Year-Old was quite insistent.) I'd even forgotten I'd installed a conky showing all my system settings. In short... Well, it was like rekindling a romance with an old fling...
And I still have 51% left on the battery...
I did use Saluki to do a mass reset on my fleet of Puppy USB boot drives. (Basically I just went in and erased all the "save" files. I'll set up new ones when I next boot each of those thumb drives.) However, I did not touch my 32 GB "monster" drive, which has (you guessed it) another copy of Saluki on it. I'd set it up ages ago to do some Virtual Box testing, which I never really got around to doing.
In any event, it's been kind of fun to spend some time with an old friend. I may actually take the X60s with me when I go back out on the road, along with that thumb drive collection, and see if I can get some more quality time in.
We shall see...
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