| My Puppy Linux Wishlist |
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Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011 07:38:02 GMT |
Here's a list of what I want in my custom version of Puppy Linux.
Things that I still need to find (or figure out how to install) are bold.
Things that I've found, or figured out how to install or do, which were formerly bold, are italicized.
I might add to this list in the future. (Updated 3/20/2011 around 7:43 PM. Probably won't add much from now on, though, since I'd rather create things that are more polished and organized, and these updates make this post even messier-looking than it was to begin with).
Software
- Firefox with all my favorite add-ons - NoScript, Stylish,
File Title(Edit, 3/20/2011: Use Page Title As File Name + Change Unusual Chars To Dashes, Greasemonkey), Web Developer, Firebug, CHM Reader, EPUBReader. - Opera - probably an earlier version than the newest one, because I find Opera 10 comfortable and familiar. Though, maybe I'll upgrade if a newer Opera is actually smaller.
- Something smaller than XAMPP to run Astroblahhh Desktop, the Astrosorting Music Organization Database (AMODB), etc. LHMP might work, I just have to figure out how to configure it.
(Haven't even tried that yet - I've had a pretty unproductive day overall, wasn't even on my computer that much).
(Edit, 3/20/2011, 7:31 PM. LHMP works great!)
- TrueCrypt
- Wine
- Java. I don't really need to be able to develop Java programs - just run them. The only Java programs I really want to run are Freeplane and VUE.
- A text editor which is a lot like NoteTab Light, with customizable colors, and some scripting capability similar to NoteTab's clip programming.
I still need to check out Emacs. However, Emacs seems like a pretty big software package, like over 70 MB (if I recall correctly). At that size, it will have to be pretty amazing for me to stick with it.
- A nice, tabbed code editor, similar to Notepad++, with customizable fonts and colors, bookmarks, etc.
- I want a small PDF reader with customizable background and text colors. Document text and background colors can be customized in Adobe Reader in Windows (and hopefully in Linux too), but Adobe Reader is very large.
- Skype, so I can talk to one of my relatives. I tried Skype in Lucid Puppy 5.2, and it worked mostly fine (after some problems in the beginning), and even my webcam worked with it.
The problems I had were hopefully just temporary glitches - maybe the Skype server (?) itself was down, or something. (It took forever to log in, and numerous of my calls to the sound test service failed before one finally got picked up.)
- Really good MIDI software - both for playing and editing MIDIs. I wish I could find a MIDI sequencer program as good as MIDIGraphy 1.4.3 for the Macintosh. That's the best MIDI sequencer I've ever used. WinJammer Shareware for Windows was decent, but I still prefer MIDIGraphy.
Both when sequencing or just playing MIDIs, I would like to be able to use SoundFonts.
- A way to add fancy reverb effects, pitch changes, etc. to all audio that is played - similar to the Environmental Audio controls I have in Windows. (That was software that came with my SBLive card.)
- An audio player that can play every format I want it to play - MP3s, MIDIs, SPCs, and other video game music formats. (Though I would be OK with having to use separate players for MIDIs and obscure video game music formats).
I was very pleased to find that at least two audio players available via Lucid Puppy 5.2's Puppy Package Manager can play SPCs - the DeaDBeeF player, and Audacious. They can also handle MP3s, among other many formats - but I couldn't get them to play MIDIs.
However, Wikipedia says that Audacious can play MIDIs, so, maybe with effort I'll be able to figure out how to make it play MIDIs.
- A floating volume bar that I can position anywhere I want, similar to PKVolume in Windows.
- Whatever nVidia graphics card driver I need. Fortunately, recent Puppies (like Lucid Puppy 5.2) make it pretty easy to find and install that, and there's even a test utility (in one of the tabs in Quickpet, if I recall correctly) that tells you which driver you should probably get.
So, if I ever need really fancy graphics for something, it will probably be easiest for me to just customize a recent Puppy.
- Some astrology software. I'm interested in checking out whatever astrology software exists for Linux that I was never able to use before (due to using Windows).
However, ideally, I'd like to be able to keep using Astrolog 5.40. I like it, it's familiar, I'm comfortable with it. I hope it's as nice in Linux as it is in Windows. In Windows, it has a nice interface with menus. Astrolog opens in Wine, but it doesn't seem to be reading the default preferences file, and the font makes the text a bit hard to read.
(At least, that's the case in BrunoPup 2.0, which is what I'm using at the moment. I can't remember which other Puppy I tested it in, maybe Lucid Puppy 5.2. Astrolog 5.40 in Wine in the other Puppy had the same problems, if I recall correctly.)
I'm also interested in seeing if it's easier to get started writing astrology software in Linux than it is in Windows.In 2009 or 2010, I had a heck of a time trying to get the Swiss Ephemeris to work with anything in Windows - PHP, Perl, Python, and I would have tried C, the language the Swiss Ephemeris software uses (unless I'm mistaken) - but I couldn't even figure out how to get a C compiler installed.
Things were also complicated by the fact that I only had a 10 GB hard drive, at least on that computer. (Meanwhile, my other computer, which I was avoiding using - which is now my current computer since the old one broke - has a hard drive which frequently overheats, which is why I was avoiding using it). Plus, I was too preoccupied with other things to have the patience to keep struggling with trying to make it work, and also rather depressed.
So, I never got it to work, and whatever free astrology software I might have written if I had been able to get it work still doesn't exist, and perhaps never will.
I wonder how differently my life might have gone had I been rich, or at least had enough money.
If you'd like to encourage me to write free astrology software, or any other kind of software, or even if you would just like to help me feel less depressed, you're welcome to send me donations and/or software requests.
Other things
- There should be a way to remove pre-installed programs that I'm likely not ever going to use. Maybe there's a way to do that, but, I haven't figured it out yet.
- Things should open via double-clicking rather than single-clicking.
- When clicking on folders, new windows should open, instead of everything being opened in the same window. (Or, it should be really easy to optionally open a new window).
- When dragging and dropping files from one folder to another, files should be copied by default, and the file manager should never give you a menu where it asks you what you want it to do. (It gives you four options - Copy, Move, and two others I forgot).
I hate the "Move" option - that could lead to catastrophic data loss. You could accidentally move something from your hard drive into Puppy that you thought was only being copied - then, if you don't save your Puppy session, that file would be gone forever.
- The file browser should display hidden files by default.
- All windows, title bars, menus, text, etc. need to be in dark or otherwise pleasant, easy-on-the-eyes colors. I really dislike having to look at anything very bright on a computer screen for long.
I wonder if it would be possible to make software that will dim, or otherwise change, all obnoxiously bright colors on your screen, but leave non-obnoxious colors alone? Well, probably. In fact, maybe some already exists somewhere. I must find it! Or maybe write it!
- I want a taskbar and menu at the
topbottom of the screen, (Edit, 3/20/2011, 7:36 PM. Tried having the taskbar at the top of the screen; it was nostalgic and reminded me of my old Macintosh, but, I think most wallpapers look better with the taskbar at the bottom.) which will display the time and optionally the date in whatever format I want, volume controller, firewall and network connection status, remaining RAM/personal storage space, and additional desktops. It needs to be capable of having AutoHotkey taskbar icons added to it when I run a Windows AHK script .exe using Wine. I know that's possible - Puppy Studio 3.3's taskbar does all that. I just don't know how to install all that from scratch. (Edit, 3/20/2011. 7:38 PM. Now I do. Puppy Studio 3.3 uses IceWM for its taskbar.) - The screensaver shouldn't shut down my monitor and make its power light blink - it should just blank the screen or maybe put up some simple but cool animations.
- Pressing the Windows key and D at the same time should do the same thing it does in Windows - minimize all windows and reveal the desktop. Some versions of Puppy already do this (if I recall correctly, Lucid Puppy 5.2 does), so I know it's possible.
- I want to have only the icons I want on the desktop, or maybe none at all. Actually, I think I'd like to have it the way I had it set up in Windows - nothing on the desktop, and just left and right panels containing lots of shortcuts which appear when I move my cursor to the edges of the screen.
Of course, it would be nice to know how to put permanent shortcuts on the desktop (even though in the end I might use side panels instead).
- I want to find out what are my favorite, most readable fonts, and use them throughout my system windows, menus, etc.
- It shouldn't automatically connect to the internet at start-up, but it should be quite easy to connect after the initial configuration. I want to be able to click a taskbar icon, and then just click "Connect" to have it connect. (I wouldn't want to be able to just click the taskbar icon and have it instantly connect, because I wouldn't want it to be easy to accidentally connect).
- I want to be able to use my HPNA internet adapter, instead of only being able to use a wireless internet adapter. I worry that wireless internet connections aren't secure.
(HPNA is a fast internet connection that goes through your phone line, somehow without interfering with voice calls. I don't know how fast it is exactly, but, fast enough to use Second Life).
By the way, here's the USB wireless internet adapter I use with Puppy Linux: SMC Networks SMC SMCWUSB-G IEEE 802.11b/g USB 2.0 EZ Connect 2.4GHz Wireless Adapter
I found it in the process of looking up the adapters listed on the following helpful web page: List: Linux Compatible USB Wireless Adapter (WUSB) I actually got a different adapter than the SMC-brand adapter actually mentioned on that page, but, that page was helpful to me, so I'm linking to it.
Every version of Puppy Linux I've used has had no trouble detecting and using that adapter. I prefer having a USB device for wireless internet access rather than a wireless PCI card inside my computer, because I prefer being able to physically disconnect my computer from the internet, rather than having to adjust some software settings and just trust that my computer really is disconnected from the internet.
I tried that adapter with Live CDs (or DVDs) of Linux Mint (Linux Mint 10, I think) and Ubuntu (probably Ubuntu 10.10), but unfortunately kept getting disconnected from the internet every couple of minutes. I couldn't reconnect unless I physically unplugged the adapter and plugged it in again - whereupon the internet connection simply died again a couple minutes later.
Stuff I'd like to have but probably can't
- Native Linux versions of Notepad++ and NoteTab Light.
Or else, versions of those that run less glitchily in Wine. I want Notepad++ to not freeze up and crash when I use a different text editor to save a document that I also am working on in Notepad++, and I want NoteTab Light to not flicker every few seconds as I type.
- More RAM for my computer. That would probably make it possible for me to install a lot more stuff in Puppy.
More RAM for my computer isn't going to happen, though, because even if I could afford to buy any, I'd be afraid to install it, and reluctant to even have someone else install it. So, the only way for me to get more RAM is by getting a whole new computer - which I also can't afford to do.
Again, donations and/or requests for open source, public domain software are welcome.
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Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 08:33:46 GMT |
I was about to post a kind of thorough update about what I've been doing with Puppy Linux, but then Firefox abruptly crashed, and I lost some unsaved work, which was very disheartening.
Anyhow, I wasn't altogether happy with that post anyway - I prefer writing things that are more polished and detailed. But, I'm very impatient to finish setting up Puppy Linux, so, it's difficult for me to focus on writing.
I guess I'll just post an abbreviated version of that post.
Here's my current Lucid Puppy 5.2 desktop:
As you can see, I still need to perfect it.
And, here's a screenshot I managed to take while I was using Second Life in Lucid Puppy 5.2:
Yep, Second Life works in Lucid Puppy 5.2. It crashes a lot, but, it works.
There's plenty else to say, but, I really hate data loss, and I no longer feel like working on this post.
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| My Lucid Puppy 5.2 cosmetic customizations |
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Saturday, March 12th, 2011 20:21:13 GMT |
I finally mostly finished my cosmetic customizations of my copy of Lucid Puppy 5.2.
My desktop and menus: (Edit, 3/25/2011, 6:43 PM: Removed the screenshot of my Puppy desktop. Instead, here's a link to the stunningly lovely picture I've been using for wallpaper: 11-8-04 Aurora )
And here's what my Firefox home page looks like, and what one of my Rox-Filer windows looks like:
I'll probably upload my custom dark GTK+ 2.0 theme someday, after I get the messy source code comments I put in it cleaned up.
I'd like to also upload the IceWM theme I slightly modified. (The IceWM theme is the thing that styles the window title bars, taskbar, and menus). But, first, I have to figure out if I have the right to share my modified version.
The IceWM theme I slightly modified was the lovely "Velvet Azul" theme by WhoDo. I got it from this Puppy Linux Forum thread: IceWM Themes Exchange, page 4
Throughout these past few weeks of learning how to do things in Linux, I've been taking lots of notes.
So, hopefully, I'll eventually write and release some helpful web pages of tips for Puppy Linux, Lucid Puppy 5.2, and Linux in general.
Also, hopefully, once I get Astroblahhh Desktop up and running, I'll be able to tell you all where I got that incredible aurora wallpaper, and the cute custom icons. (By comparing the dates on those files to the dates of web links in my Astroblahhh Desktop web links database, I'll probably be able to figure out where I got those files.)
(Edit, 3/25/2011, 6:44 PM. I found the wallpaper picture: 11-8-04 Aurora I think the icons I used are probably from IconArchive.com.)
I haven't even really tried very hard yet to get Astroblahhh Desktop working, since I've been so busy doing other things with Puppy.
Some highlights:
- I got Java working, and was able to open the concept-mapping software VUE with it, as well as Freeplane.
- As I mentioned previously, I got Second Life working. It crashes a lot - but, it crashed much less after I installed an official nVidia driver .pet rather than the nVidia driver I downloaded through Quickpet.
- I figured out I could copy some of my preferences from Windows and have them work in Linux - my Freeplane, Firefox, and Opera preferences.
- I learned how to use SFS files.
- I learned how to compile software from source code using the compilers in lupu_devx_520.sfs. I was able to compile Astrolog 5.40, Inform 7, Geany 0.20, and the horribly addictive game Gumband. I even managed to modify Gumband and remove one of the least fun things about the game - lethal mutations.
I'm thinking a good way to learn and practice C programming would be to try to add some new features to the game. Like a new Lord of Chaos character type, which can shapeshift, use the powers of any character type, and also has a lot of random crazy things happen to them.
- I got MIDIs to play in Audacious and Timidity. I was able to use SoundFonts with Audacious.
However, in Audacious, the tempo fluctuated weirdly in at least one MIDI - the MIDI featured in this YouTube video, to be precise: Chromatische Phantasie - Battle Vs. Soleiyu Belmont - Castlevania Adventure II. (The original MIDI is available somewhere on Vgmusic.com.) Meanwhile, Timidity played that MIDI just fine.
I tried compiling Notepad++ (since it's open source), but it wouldn't compile, and I know too little about C, C++, or whatever it's written in to make it work. But, it's nice to know that it's theoretically possible to make a native Linux version of Notepad++.
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| Sort of able to use Astroblahhh Desktop in Puppy Linux |
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Wednesday, March 16th, 2011 17:40:24 GMT |
I finally tried to get Astroblahhh Desktop running in Lucid Puppy 5.2 using LHMP.
In some ways, that task has been much easier than I feared it would be. Actually, all I had to do to get Astroblahhh Desktop running in a rudimentary way was install the LHMP-7.3-5.1.47-5.3.3.pet, copy the "abdesk" folder into /root/Web-Server/, open up a web browser, and go to http://localhost/abdesk.
(The .pet file, when installed, automatically makes the Hiawatha web server and MariaDB variant of MySQL run, which is why I didn't have to do anything special to start them.)
To browse one of my databases, I had to copy one of my existing database folders to the default location for databases (/usr/local/var/). Then, I had to slightly change the Astroblahhh Desktop PHP script that lists the contents of databases of that type - I had to change the database table names from CamelCase to lowercase. Then, all I had to do to browse my database was go to the lister script in my web browser.
However, I won't be able to do much else besides browse my databases until I make all of the database table names in all of my Astroblahhh Desktop scripts lowercase. Something I'm using in Linux (not sure what) is case sensitive, whereas Windows conveniently didn't care.
If I didn't mind storing my source code and databases in RAM, this would be an acceptable, useable set-up. (In fact, if I all I want to do is read my databases, this is fine).
But, since I don't want my changes to my databases or source code possibly vanishing into thin air if the power goes off or if Linux crashes, I need to be able to make the Hiawatha web server and MariaDB work with files on either my Flash drive or my hard drive.
That has been trickier than I hoped it would be. I still haven't figured out how to set everything up the way I want it yet.
I figured out how to make Hiawatha use symlinks. (I put FollowSymlinks = yes in the /etc/hiawatha/hiawatha.conf file.)
Symlinks also seem to work when I put them in LHMP's default database folder (/usr/local/var/). I haven't tested them with Astroblahhh Desktop yet, but PhpMyAdmin can definitely read database folders that a symlink points to.
So far, so good. But, unfortunately, I found that symlinks only work if they're pointing at things in Puppy, or my Flash drive, but, not if they're pointing at things on my hard drive (with one exception I know of, which I'll explain below).
If I have a symlink named "abdesk" in /root/Web-Server which points at my Astroblahhh Desktop folder located on my D partition (/mnt/sda3/abdesk), and I browse to http://localhost/abdesk, I get a 403 Forbidden error. Also, there's an error in the Hiawatha log file located at /var/log/hiawatha/error.log which says "access denied via filesystem".
I'm guessing - partly because of this Puppy Linux Forum thread, Hiawatha server configuration question (Solved) - that this probably has something to do with the fact that my hard drive is in NTFS format. (Woe is me!)
(Edit, 5/13/2011, 5:29 AM. Fortunately, I was finally able to find a solution to this, which you can read below. Edit, 5/15/2011, 12:09 AM. Unfortunately, I recently found out that the solution can possibly create other, much worse problems. More details are below.)
I might be able to reformat my D partition of my hard drive as something else, but it would be a major nuisance.
Reformatting my C partition is scarcely feasible at all for me because I'm not sure I'll be able to use my Acer "recovery" discs to reinstall Windows XP. (Why couldn't my computer just come with a normal Windows installation CD?) Also, I don't even know where all of my software installers are, and having to reinstall things like OpenSim (which I recall was rather complicated) would be awful.
I don't know if there's a way for me to just copy everything on the C partition onto something else and copy it back later after I reformatted the drive (and I'm also not sure I have room on my backup disks to do that). In any case, that would probably be way too complicated, and I don't want to possibly destroy my existing, still-working system.
Fortunately, it occurred to me that TrueCrypt volumes can have a different file system format than their host volume - so maybe I could get away with not reformatting my hard drive, and yet still be able to make Hiawatha and MariaDB work with files on my hard drive, if those files were simply in a TrueCrypt encrypted file container on my hard drive.
And, in fact, that works - at least if I make a new TrueCrypt encrypted file container on my hard drive in a file system format that Linux likes, such as ext2.
Then, all I have to do is put Astroblahhh Desktop in the encrypted file container, put a symlink to Astroblahhh Desktop in my Hiawatha web server folder (/root/Web-Server/), put a database folder in the encrypted file container, put a symlink to that database folder in the default database folder (usr/local/var), and, if necessary, change the permissions on the files in Astroblahhh Desktop and my database folder, if they don't already have enough permissions.
Then, Hiawatha can access Astroblahhh Desktop, and Hiawatha and PhpMyAdmin can both access my database folder. (Edit, 5/13/2011, 5:16 AM. And Astroblahhh Desktop itself can also access the database.)
I changed the permissions on all of my Astroblahhh Desktop files (located in the "abdesk" folder) by going to my TrueCrypt volume (/mnt/truecrypt2), right-clicking on the ROX-Filer window, going to the Window menu, and choosing Terminal Here. Then, I typed:
chmod 777 abdesk -R
Gawwwwwd, Linux can be so frustratingly unintuitive. Ugh!! But at least that changed the permissions on everything in the entire folder. At least that was faster than right-clicking on everything in the folder, going to Properties, and ticking checkboxes.
By the way, I'm guessing granting full permissions like that is probably not the best idea from a security perspective. There might be some less drastically permissive permissions that achieve the same effect.
Unfortunately, though, in the TrueCrypt volumes which I created in Windows (which seem to be in the "vfat" file system format, according to the output of the command blkid in a terminal window) - it seems to be impossible to change the permissions on the files either through the clicking-checkboxes method, or chmod.
If only I knew how to make it so when I mount any TrueCrypt volumes which don't use a Linux file system format, they'll automatically have full permissions for every user (not just root).
I'm kind of a shy person, so I really don't want to have to post to forums asking for help. But, in the end, I might have to.
(Edit, 3/29/2011, 6:40 PM. I found a solution to this a while back. Here's how to make it so when TrueCrypt mounts volumes that are in the "vfat" file system format, all the files on those volumes will have full permissions:
In TrueCrypt, go to the Settings menu, choose Preferences, then go to the Mount Options tab. In the "Mount options:" text field, put:
umask=000
Then, when you mount a "vfat" volume, all the files will have full permissions.
However, if you want to mount a volume which is in a different format than "vfat", like "ext2", you'll have to delete the "umask=000" text from that field, or else you'll get an error when you try to mount such a volume.)
In the process of all this messing around with symlinks, I discovered I can't create symlinks on my Flash drive, and I also can't copy existing symlinks onto my Flash drive. Quite annoying, and I still haven't figured out how to fix that. I can only have symlinks (or make them) on my NTFS hard drive or amongst Puppy's files.
Edit, 3/17/2011, 11:26 AM. Or in TrueCrypt volumes in a Linux format like "ext2" - even if those TrueCrypt volumes are hosted on my Flash drive.
Anyhow, I figured out the reason why my Flash drive can't handle symlinks. This mailing list thread clued me in: Can't Create SymLinks on CF Card
My Flash drive is in the vfat file system format, which I guess just can't handle symlinks. Most of my TrueCrypt volumes are "vfat" as well, and with them, even if they're hosted on my NTFS hard drive (which has no problems with symlinks), I get the same errors I get when trying to do things with symlinks on my Flash drive.
So, if I want to put symlinks on my Flash drive, I can either reformat my Flash drive with a file system format that can handle symlinks (probably a Linux file system format like ext2), or I can just put a TrueCrypt encrypted file container using a Linux file system format on my Flash drive.
I'll probably do the latter, since it's less trouble than having to wipe out my entire Flash drive and copy everything back to it.
Edit, 5/13/2011, 5:20 AM. I finally figured out the reason why symlinks pointing at things on my NTFS hard drive partitions weren't working in the Hiawatha web server.
Unless I'm mistaken, it's because, by default, Lucid Puppy 5.2 mounts NTFS drives or partitions in a way that makes it so only the root user can access things on NTFS drives or partitions - and Hiawatha doesn't run as the root user.
I don't know if there's a way to run Hiawatha as the root user, but, here's how to make your NTFS drives or partitions accessible by any user, not just root.
| Edit, 5/15/2011, 12:10 AM (with later changes and additions).
Warning: I recently found out that the below might cause some nasty problems.
Yesterday, I mounted my C: and D: partitions with the commands
I did very little with C: that day - I didn't save any new files to C:, just edited some stuff within TrueCrypt volumes on C:. I saved a bunch of new files to D:, though. At shutdown, it didn't even occur to me that I might have to manually unmount my partitions. I never had to deal with that sort of thing in Windows, nor in Puppy Linux prior to this. Nothing weird happened at shutdown or while I was using my partitions, and I thought nothing was amiss. I shut my computer down sometime in the afternoon and and didn't do anything else with it until almost the end of the day.
So, I booted into Windows, and, as it was booting, it automatically recommended that I let it check D:, so I did. Fortunately, it seems like my files and D: partition are fine - the most worrying message while it was checking the disk was "Deleting an index entry from index $0 of file 25.", a message which was repeated 4 times in a row. No idea what that means.
I'm not absolutely sure that the problem was related to mounting my partitions with the
I'm not sure why I didn't have problems until 5/14/2011, rather than days before. I think 5/11/2011 was when I first tried the
The following quote from that page is by the contributors to the Ubuntu Documentation Wiki, and is under this license.
Before disconnecting devices, you must unmount them first. This is similar to "Safely Remove" in Windows in that the device won't unmount until data is finished being written to the device, or until other programs are finished using it. This applies to all types of storage devices, including flash drives, flash cards, external hard drives, ipods and other media players, and even remote storage like Samba or NFS shares. :-( I'm really shocked that something as simple as disconnecting a drive before unmounting it can actually lead to a corrupted file system. I wonder if that's just a result of poor design.
I now regret ever having posted anything about the
Fortunately, as of 5/16/2011, 2:20 AM, my computer still seems fine - I haven't noticed any problems since letting Windows check the disk yesterday. (Edit, 5/16/2011, 3:25 AM. By the way, I haven't even tried using
I don't know why the ntfsmount manual page doesn't tell you how to unmount things. But, this rather old forum thread from the Puppy Linux Forums has some ideas on what commands to use: ntfs-3g mount and unmount
Next time I use the
However, before I attempt to use
I wasn't able to unmount any partition using the command
I've used the
Warning: Please be very careful with these instructions and use them only at your own risk, and preferably after backing up your files so you won't possibly lose anything if anything goes wrong. These instructions assume you're using Lucid Puppy 5.2, so if you're using something else, you might have to do things differently.
Warning: Please be very careful with the above instructions and use them only at your own risk, and preferably after backing up your files so you won't possibly lose anything if anything goes wrong. |
Here's a "manpage" (manual page) about the ntfsmount command: http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/hardy/man8/ntfsmount.8.html
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Thursday, March 31st, 2011 01:52:31 GMT |
A while back, using Astroblahhh Desktop, I figured out where I found that lovely aurora wallpaper I had in the screenshot I previously featured in a previous journal post. Here's where I found it: 11-8-04 Aurora
I also figured out that IconArchive.com is probably where I got most or all of the custom icons I've been using in Puppy Linux.
Also, I figured out how to make it so when make it so when TrueCrypt mounts volumes that are in the "vfat" file system format, all the files on those volumes will have full permissions.
For instructions on how to do that, go to my previous journal post 3/16/2011 - Sort of able to use Astroblahhh Desktop in Puppy Linux, which I updated recently.
Someday, I hope I'll get around to making my site more organized and up to date. I really shouldn't keep useful info buried in journal posts, but instead (or also) put it in more organized pages in the non-blog sections of my site. But, I guess messy updates are better than no updates.
I recently updated the old Site Map page for the first time in maybe 3 years. Maybe I should just get rid of it, since I'll probably end up neglecting it again.
After various small, not particularly rigorous or thorough tests, I finally feel ready to start really using two out of the three main organizers of Astroblahhh Desktop in Lucid Puppy 5.2, using the conveniently small LHMP web server/database/PHP package instead of the huge XAMPP.
Astroblahhh Desktop's web links organizer and idea organizer seem to work fine. All I had to do was change the database table names in the source code to lowercase, and other than that, I didn't really have to change anything for them to work. (However, I made some optional changes to get rid of some warning messages I kept getting due to using a deprecated function (ereg_replace), and not having set a time zone.)
The file organizer is partly functional - I can read, search, and in some ways edit file databases. I just can't add new file records to them, simply because the file organizer assumes that all file paths should look like Windows file paths (example: C:/Program Files/Inform 7), and Linux doesn't even have drive letters.
So, my next main goal is to get the file organizer fully-functional in Linux. Then, hopefully, I'll get around to releasing an update of Astroblahhh Desktop. I've added quite a bit to it since the last release in Dec. 2009.
The databases I created in Windows using MySQL in XAMPP and the databases I created in Puppy Linux using MariaDB (a variant of MySQL) in LHMP seem so far to work fine in both XAMPP and LHMP. (Though I haven't tested things out really extensively yet, so, sorry if I'm mistaken.)
So, I'm just going to keep adding to and using my same old MySQL databases that I originally created in XAMPP in Windows. Naturally, just in case something is going wrong that I'm not yet aware of, I'm going to keep backup copies of my databases as they were before I ever used them with LHMP. I'll let you all know if I run into any problems.
I'm feeling a lot more free of Windows and more at home in Linux now that I'm so close to having Astroblahhh Desktop be fully functional.
i'm so glad I made most of the software I ever wrote cross-platform, and never tried very hard to figure out how to make native Windows applications, or native Mac applications.
I always have preferred writing software which is as cross-platform as I know how to make it, and that has definitely paid off. I'm so happy that a lot of Astroblahhh Desktop works so well in Puppy Linux with only a few changes. I also get a kick out of the fact that I can even still use Inform 6 programs I wrote on a Macintosh in the 1990's on just about any computer I want. :-)
Some of my Perl scripts I originally wrote in Windows have turned out to be useful in Linux with just slight changes. Conveniently, Perl is pre-installed in Lucid Puppy 5.2.
I have Perl scripts that can create a lot of symlinks all at once, move things around, copy things, and delete things, and I can use those scripts just by double-clicking on them. I'll upload them in some form someday, once I feel less beleaguered with the need to get Astroblahhh Desktop fully functional.
Here's how to make it possible to execute Perl scripts in Lucid Puppy 5.2 (and possibly other forms of Linux or Puppy Linux) just by double-clicking on them. In Lucid Puppy 5.2, the first line of the script file has to be this:
#!/usr/bin/perlIt has to be the very first line of the file - there can't be any blank lines or anything else before it.
Next, you have to change the permissions of the script file to make it executable. In Rox-Filer (the file manager pre-installed in Lucid Puppy), right-click the file, and either type Ctrl-P, or, from the "File '[name of your file]'" sub-menu, choose Properties. In the Permissions section of the window that appears, click the checkbox that will grant Owner "Exec" permissions.
Now, you should be able to run your Perl script just by double-clicking it (or single-clicking, if you didn't change Rox-Filer's default setting for how many clicks it takes to open something). Very convenient.
And that's yet another tip that ought to go on a nice, organized page instead of being buried in my journal blog posts. But if I try to make myself go to all the trouble of making a new page and uploading it with FTP software, I probably just won't do it. It's much easier to just post a blog post.
I've been thinking maybe I ought to extend my blog software (or Astroblahhh Desktop, or some hybrid of the two) and make it into a full-fledged (but probably pretty simple) content management system (CMS), since then I'll stop being obstructed as much by my lazy tendency to not want to even open any other software besides my web browser and a text editor to update my website.
But, that's just another one of quite a lot of ideas I've thought of that I might or might not ever actually implement.