raymac46 Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 Not a lot of time to discuss today as I have a doctor appointment, but yes installing the Sparky kernel fixed the issue of the slow boot in VBox. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 Back from the doc - all OK. The release announcement for Sparky 5.5 references the long load time and the substitution of Sparky Kernel 4.18.8 as default in the ISO. So it does look as if the Sparky developers are on top of things. It might be a good choice for an HJ respin if you are satisfied with how they handle the Testing to Stable interim when Buster becomes stable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted September 20, 2018 Author Share Posted September 20, 2018 Back from the doc - all OK. The release announcement for Sparky 5.5 references the long load time and the substitution of Sparky Kernel 4.18.8 as default in the ISO. So it does look as if the Sparky developers are on top of things. It might be a good choice for an HJ respin if you are satisfied with how they handle the Testing to Stable interim when Buster becomes stable. Yep. They scored major points with quick diagnosis and response on the forum. I think Sparky might be "the one", but I've got time to keep putting it through its paces. Ideally, I'd like to pass through that cycle before I make a final determination. I'm perfectly willing to stick with Lubuntu...don't want to, but willing. Lack of "rolling release" is the only knock against it, IMO...but that's become an important one. It's kind of interesting...I was a distro farmer before I even made the switch to Linux. Back then, I farmed to find out which was the right distro for me. I bounced around between several distros in a VM before Ubuntu 9.10 became the clear cut choice. And I was happy with that decision and continued to use it (even through the Unity brouhahaha) until around 14.04, when it started to just get too resource hungry. Coming from Windows, that's kinda funny, but after 5 years of being spoiled, that was no longer acceptable. Lubuntu was an easy choice after that. I could make it look exactly like Unity, but still with underlying Ubuntu under-pinnings (say THAT 3x fast!). This will be the first time that I'm looking to make a switch because I was the one who moved the target, so to speak. Even the initial Windows>Linux migration was because of Windows-initiated issues, IMO. This one is definitely on me though...and thankfully, there are options. Out of the hundreds available, and the approximately 10+ that I've recently sorted through and distro-farmed, we may have ONE ideal distro. I love that we have those choices available! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 I think I'll probably keep at least three distros on the go: Linux Mint Cinnamon - my wife and grandkids find it easy to use and most converts to Linux like it. Debian - I like GNOME 3 (finally) and Debian is very stable (if you choose stable.) Flexible enough to choose different desktops if you don't like GNOME. Arch - love pacman and the geeky way you install, plus you can roll it any way you want. As a rolling release, you can't beat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted September 28, 2018 Share Posted September 28, 2018 More Sparky LXQt Issues. After the last update when I start the VM I get a black screen and the display jumps back and forth between full screen and a much smaller one that I assume is 1024X768 from the look of it. The display manager never shows up. I just deleted the VM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted September 28, 2018 Author Share Posted September 28, 2018 i've been updating also, and just updated yesterday. no issues for me...so far(!). knock on wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted September 28, 2018 Share Posted September 28, 2018 Nuke and repave. I just downloaded and installed the Sparky 5.5 ISO of LXQt and everything is back to normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Well, Sparky Linux LXQt is still chugging away and I haven't had any systems issues with instance #2 so far in VBox. What troubles me though is the huge number of updates since it's based on Debian Testing. It should pose no problem to a veteran user of Linux - it's no more problematic than Arch in this regard - but I personally would not install it for a new user. The stable version now based on Stretch might be better, although at present it is an LXDE based distro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 Well, Sparky Linux LXQt is still chugging away and I haven't had any systems issues with instance #2 so far in VBox. What troubles me though is the huge number of updates since it's based on Debian Testing. It should pose no problem to a veteran user of Linux - it's no more problematic than Arch in this regard - but I personally would not install it for a new user. The stable version now based on Stretch might be better, although at present it is an LXDE based distro. I've got to be honest and say that thought has crossed my mind also. I've got users who repeatedly ignore the "updates available" notification until their systems get buggy/quirky and THEN tell me they're "having problems." I check it out and there are 136 updates available and I'm waiting for all 136 to install before I verify everything is working fine again. A huge waste of my time. I've told folks to "keep their system updated....if there's updates, INSTALL THEM!" I've shown them what the notification icon looks like and where it's located...they have ONE JOB, and continuously fail at that. Now that I see how often Sparky updates, I'm questioning whether a rolling distro is right for them. If they wait months to notify me, it may be too late to resolve. OTOH, I am LOVING Sparky...depending on how it handles the freeze for Buster (coming soon). If it's a smooth ride, I think I'll have a new distro! As for my users that I support, I'm giving serious consideration to cutting them loose and leaving them to fend for themselves. I don't expect everyone (or even ANYONE) to become a computer guru, or even proficient, but when they continue to ignore my advice over and over and over again...that's taking advantage of my generosity, IMO. I install their systems for them; I provide instruction; I provide written "cheat sheets"; I provide free tech support; and all I ask is that they keep their systems updated, as nearly 75% of linux problems are fixed with updates. I get furious when their response to the accumulated updates is that they "didn't have the time", so they put it off; but apparently it's okay to waste MY time for THEIR computer. They have ONE JOB, and can't even be bothered to do that one thing. I'm not sure I can continue to help people who won't even help themselves. Maybe they SHOULD be using Windows and Macs? Perhaps they'll learn better when they're paying MS and Apple for tech support? I don't know the answer yet, as I don't make long-term decisions based on short-term circumstances, but that option is certainly on the table now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 I hear ya. Right now I am putting off dealing with one guy who is using Linux Mint 14 and I know I'll have to back up all his data before a total reinstall. This guy insists on using an obsolete genealogy program that won't even run with Windows 7 and newer. Of course, he discovered it works fine with Wine so he installed it with Linux. I'm not sure how to even back that program up. I assume some sort of GEDCOM file will work. But that shouldn't be my job either. On the other hand I have a 95 year old lady client who handles updates with aplomb. She can't remember her Facebook password but she can update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 I hear ya. Right now I am putting off dealing with one guy who is using Linux Mint 14 and I know I'll have to back up all his data before a total reinstall. This guy insists on using an obsolete genealogy program that won't even run with Windows 7 and newer. Of course, he discovered it works fine with Wine so he installed it with Linux. I'm not sure how to even back that program up. I assume some sort of GEDCOM file will work. But that shouldn't be my job either. On the other hand I have a 95 year old lady client who handles updates with aplomb. She can't remember her Facebook password but she can update. It's been forever since I used any Windows programs in WINE. If I remember correctly, WINE installs programs in a prefix setting (bottle) within the WINE directory. If you backup the WINE directory, I think you've got it. At least, that's how it used to be...I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Yes I think you are right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burninbush Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Hi all ... I have a recent version of Sparky installed, full. But I have a couple questions: 1) I see from some screenshots that there must be some way of putting an icon for some app into the taskbar (quick-launch?), but I can't find it. How to do that? 2) How can I get it to recognize a usb flashdisk? Without moving anything the disk is perfectly readable in Win7 and Porteus (and others). It's a 32gb on vfat. Similar results on any other flashdisk on Sparky. I see a mustard-colored box near the clock readout called "Removable Media/Devices Manager" -- but it doesn't do anything. Flash media doesn't appear in fdisk -l, pretends it isn't there. TIA for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 Hi all ... I have a recent version of Sparky installed, full. But I have a couple questions: 1) I see from some screenshots that there must be some way of putting an icon for some app into the taskbar (quick-launch?), but I can't find it. How to do that? 2) How can I get it to recognize a usb flashdisk? Without moving anything the disk is perfectly readable in Win7 and Porteus (and others). It's a 32gb on vfat. Similar results on any other flashdisk on Sparky. I see a mustard-colored box near the clock readout called "Removable Media/Devices Manager" -- but it doesn't do anything. Flash media doesn't appear in fdisk -l, pretends it isn't there. TIA for any help. I'm assuming Sparky LXQT? If so, you're on the right track. Right click on the panel and choose "configure panel" then select the quick-launch widget. From there, you can click on your desired application and drag to the quick-launch area. you can also click on individual app icons and choose "move left/right" to re-arrange the sequence. With respect to the usb thumbdrive, it sounds like Sparky isn't recognizing it and therefore isn't auto-mounting. I'd suspect a bad drive, but you said it works in Win and Porteus, so something else must be happening there. Does it work in a different port? sometimes a port causes problems with usb drives. I'm hoping someone else chimes in with thoughts on that one. Once mounted, it should be accessible in that "mustard-colored box" you found. That "box" is a shortcut to the mounted drive within PCManFM-QT (file manager). Once it's recognized, you can also set how pcmanfm-qt handles external media by selecting edit>preferences>volume and checking/unchecking the boxes for the behavior you prefer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Well, I still have Sparky running in VirtualBox without any further problems although it is pretty hi maintenance for an on-the-rails distro. Last update was close to 450 packages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrat Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Well, I still have Sparky running in VirtualBox without any further problems although it is pretty hi maintenance for an on-the-rails distro. Last update was close to 450 packages. That seems normal for a Debian Testing system. Testing is in freeze phase now so the updates should slow a little for the next few months. When current Testing becomes the new stable Buster, the flood will start again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 When I first installed Debian on my Thinkpad I was running Testing, but this was during the final freeze before Stretch so things got a bit weird. I switched over to Sid but then I seemed to be updating like a madman. After Stretch was the new stable. I reinstalled and pointed my sources.list to Stretch. I'll change to Buster when it is stable. Call me boring but I'd rather update 10 packages than 450. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 Agreed on the number of updates. I don't really have a wide base of experience to draw upon with rolling releases, but Sparky seems to have a LOT of updates, especially compared to Arch and Manjaro. Siduction has a lot too, but I'd expect that in a "still in development" repo. Perhaps this is a Debian family thing? With complaints registered regarding the number of updates, and frequency, both Sparky and Siduction seem remarkably stable. As stable as my LTS Lubuntu, FWIW! But even though I've often expressed my desire for a rolling release distro, I'm finding that the frequency and number of updates is a bit of a turn off. Maybe I'm not realistic, but wishing there was a middle road option. Rolling release, but to a lesser degree. Perhaps I've just described Arch and Manjaro? LOL! Or maybe just sticking with Lubuntu LTS, as long as the root OS and the /home partitions are installed separately, even on separate drives (which is actually what I do) is the right fit for me. I'm just gonna keep maintaining Sparky, Arch and Manjaro as guest VMs on my Lubuntu host, until the correct path reveals itself to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrat Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 Agreed on the number of updates. I don't really have a wide base of experience to draw upon with rolling releases, but Sparky seems to have a LOT of updates, especially compared to Arch and Manjaro. Siduction has a lot too, but I'd expect that in a "still in development" repo. Perhaps this is a Debian family thing? It's the way Debian development works. Package upgrades hit Sid first often after a stint in experimental. I think the main criteria for Sid is that they actually build. After a short time in Sid to allow some use to determine if there are major bugs they get pushed to Testing. So Testing actually gets a similar number of upgrades as Sid. Personally I prefer to use Sid as problem packages get fixed much more quickly than Testing. If a bad package makes it through to Testing it can take many days or even weeks before it gets fixed. Of course there's the other side to that argument that some buggy packages won't make it through Sid but they often get fixed in days or even hours. With both much care is needed to read the list of packages proposed to be upgraded and abort if many are to be removed. It's usually just a transitional phase and will sort itself out if you wait and try again later. Sometimes this takes only hours but very occasionally it may take weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 ^ good info sunrat! makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 I agree that Sparky does seem quite stable in spite of the updates. And I'm running in a VM where my experience has been that updates can be problematic. I run Arch on the rails and it's been stable for a year or more. Arch has lots of updates too but more like 100 or so, not 450. I'm on the leading edge with VBox too. I'm using 6.0 right now without incident. Since the guest additions were baked into the kernel, a VBox update isn't nearly as big a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 I just updated my rolling release VMs and Sparky had zero updates for the month! I'm guessing because testing repo is in freeze now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrat Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 I just updated my rolling release VMs and Sparky had zero updates for the month! I'm guessing because testing repo is in freeze now? I have no idea as I don't run Testing. Usually there will still be bugfix and security updates afaik. My search-fu failed trying to find somewhere that lists upgraded packages for Buster. These pages may interest you: https://release.debian.org/buster/freeze_policy.html https://udd.debian.org/bugs/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 I just did a Sparky update. About 90 packages upgraded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 Uh oh...I've been checking in on Sparky 1-2x per month, to perform updates/upgrades on my Sparky VM. As discussed above ^, Sparky has a LOT of updates in comparison to my frame of reference for Ubuntu/Lubuntu LTS versions (obviously?!) and Manjaro VM. Suddenly, the updates stopped. Coincidentally, this was very near the time for announcements regarding freeze of testing repos. No alarm bells whatsoever...I don't know any better...business as usual right? I continued to check on Sparky and continued to get the message in AptUS that my system was up-to-date. But I've been reading announcements in the Sparky forum from devs that would suggest the testing repos are in motion again. So I check on my SparkyVM, but still up to date. Okay, maybe it takes a few days for the updated packages to filter across repo mirrors. So I check again in about a week or so, and still up to date. Now my radar is up. Seems like there should be some sort of movement within my SparkyVM. To heck with the Sparky Upgrade tool, and AptUS...I go to the terminal for a CLI 'sudo apt update' and see the dreaded message regarding a "lock file" and asking if another process is using it. I've got nothing running, and top indicates I've got nothing running, so I kill all apt processes, which the terminal indicates none were found. It appears the Sparky Upgrade tool has been failing quietly for some time now, but tricking me into thinking it was checking, but finding nothing during feature freeze! I seem to remember dealing with lock files before, so I google the CLI incantations and remove the lock files, followed by 'sudo apt update'. And BOOM! There they are...1060 files to be updated, totaling over 990MB of additional disk space! So here we go...upgrading as we speak, and hoping that such a large incremental upgrade doesn't break something, as it's been approximately 2 months since SparkyVM was upgraded. On one hand, this is the first moment my confidence in Sparky has been shaken. How can something be failing so spectacularly for so long, with no clues of a problem? On the other hand, if Sparky handles this monstrous upgrade without incident, after a 2 month hiatus, I will be supremely impressed! But still wondering how to handle future updates/upgrades...apparently the Sparky Upgrade tool/AptUS is not to be trusted. But was it induced by me? Or is the lesson to stick with CLI updates/upgrades, as I normally perform? Or should I notify the developer with a suggestion to provide some kind of internal check that might prevent the quiet failure that allows me to believe that the "system is up to date". I'll be interested to see how Sparky fares after this is over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted March 8, 2019 Author Share Posted March 8, 2019 Phewww...monster upgrade...reboot...everything seems fine, with no apparent issues. Impressive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrat Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Upgrades to Testing should be the same as Sid - generally safe unless it flags lots of packages to remove. Then it's "Danger Will Robinson!" Abort! And try again later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted March 9, 2019 Author Share Posted March 9, 2019 Upgrades to Testing should be the same as Sid - generally safe unless it flags lots of packages to remove. Then it's "Danger Will Robinson!" Abort! And try again later. I knew that, which is why I proceeded with the upgrade. But it's been suggested to keep rolling releases updated with lots of smaller updates as they're available, rather than infrequent large updates. I've seen recommendations to update weekly, or bi-weekly, but no less than 1x per month. I was over the 2 month threshold! Feel like I dodged a bullet on that one, but it was a VM and I have a backup of it. But I'm still kinda impressed I could stress it out like that, and yet it still didn't break! That's what I call "robustly stable"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrat Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 It does amaze me sometimes how masses of upgrades go through without issue. I've been overseas for months in the past and just update siduction on return which pretty much pulls in a whole new system but it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted March 10, 2019 Share Posted March 10, 2019 Much as I dislike massive upgrades I can think of only one time that one really borked my system, and that was with PCLOS years ago. I had the prospect of a screwup one time with Debian but I already knew about sunrat's warning. One thing that I HATE is Ubuntu's GUI for software updates. I am always waiting, waiting, waiting for something called unattended-upgr to exit. The best GUI by a mile for updates is the one Linux Mint features. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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