First Slack install in VirtualBox

manwithaplan · 03-27-2009, 10:30 PM

Hello fellow Slackers... I am trying Slackware for the first time, and I wanted to get it working with VirtualBox before I installed into another drive.

I like the install process, just wish Gnome was an option. Kde will suffice. I am having issues with configuring X. I have no scroll mouse (note: I am using a usb KVM), and I cannot get a res above 1024x768. I have edited the modlines etc.. with no luck.

First, has there been any issue's with installing the VirtualBox guest additions into Slackware?

Second, is there a way to get a KDE minimal install without using expert or menu mode?

Third, is there a way I can build my own packages with specific use flags and arch support.

Forth, is there a list of third party repo's or a tool I can use too add additional repo's. Any gui's for package management. Just don't know where to start to add other repo's (example would be like adding overlays in Gentoo)

I must stress total n00b when it comes to Slackware. And not too familiar with binary based distro's except Debian in the past.

Also for some reason whenever I use xfce4-terminal my entire OS locks with no response.

vinegaroon · 03-27-2009, 11:00 PM

For the X problems, just try running without an xorg.conf.

Not sure about your first problem.
For number 2, I assume you just mean kdelibs and kdebase. You can just use removepkg or slackpkg to remove all the additional kde packages after install, ie removepkg kdenetwork kdemultimedia etc...

Number 3, sure, just check the source directory on a slackware disk/ftp site. You can get the slackbuilds that were used to build the packages, edit them to your needs and rebuild.

Number 4, slackware doesn't really have 'repos'. However www.slackbuilds.org is a great collection of build scripts for packages not included in the default slackware. Also there are many other collections of packages around the net.

Good luck.

brianL · 03-28-2009, 05:45 AM

Another good source (no pun intended) of packages:
http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slackbuilds/

Didier Spaier · 03-28-2009, 06:26 AM

To get your mouse scrolling add following line in the Section "InputDevice":
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

I had few issue installing the VirtualBox guest additions into Slackware. Only this message at end of start up:

Code:

/etc/rc.d/rc.vboxadd-timesync: line 226: begin: command not found
... done

Doesn't seem to hurt.

For KDE minimum install: in any case I recommend to make a full install unless you really haven't enough space on your HD. Otherwise sooner or later you will miss something. There is no obligation to use all the useless applications you get for free, anyway.

Yes you can build your own packages with specific use flags and arch support, just edit the SlackBuilds used to compile the appplication, as stated.

For the third party repos, use only Alien BOB's or Robby Workman's or make yourself a package with a SlackBuild available @ http://slackbuilds.org.

Would you still miss something you can use a SlackBuild (not a package) available @ http://slacky.eu but review it carefully first.

For package management, no GUI. But the Slackware commands pkgtool, installpkg, removepkg, upgradepkg and above all slackpkg are all very handy and well documented. See man <command>.

Well there is sbpokg too, available at http://sbopkg.org/, which has a ncurses menu. It's still in the testing phase but works pretty well already.

manwithaplan · 03-28-2009, 01:36 PM

All great reply's... I wasn't all dependent on the gui tool. I do come from a Gentoo world of emerge. And have became dependent on cli. I just thought it would be handy to start with a gui too get a feel of what Slackware was about.

I have been really interested in using this flavor. And I like the install process, and how I can edit the system services at start.

Thanks all for your responses.

brianL · 03-29-2009, 08:58 AM

Oh, I forgot to mention Robby Workman's packages. Sorry, Robby!
http://rlworkman.net/pkgs/

Erik_FL · 03-29-2009, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manwithaplan

Hello fellow Slackers... I am trying Slackware for the first time, and I wanted to get it working with VirtualBox before I installed into another drive.

I like the install process, just wish Gnome was an option. Kde will suffice. I am having issues with configuring X. I have no scroll mouse (note: I am using a usb KVM), and I cannot get a res above 1024x768. I have edited the modlines etc.. with no luck.

First, has there been any issue's with installing the VirtualBox guest additions into Slackware?

Second, is there a way to get a KDE minimal install without using expert or menu mode?

Third, is there a way I can build my own packages with specific use flags and arch support.

Forth, is there a list of third party repo's or a tool I can use too add additional repo's. Any gui's for package management. Just don't know where to start to add other repo's (example would be like adding overlays in Gentoo)

I must stress total n00b when it comes to Slackware. And not too familiar with binary based distro's except Debian in the past.

Also for some reason whenever I use xfce4-terminal my entire OS locks with no response.

I use Slackware in VirtualBox. The Guest Additions have some scripts that don't work with Slackware unless one edits them. What has to be edited depends on the version of VirtualBox.

The only thing affected by the problem is the time synchronization so you can ignore the error for now and it won't keep the rest of the Guest Additions from working.

For version 2.1.4 of the VirtualBox Guest Additions, edit the "/etc/rc.d/rc.vboxadd-timesync" file. Here is a listing of my edited section of the file. Add the "begin" function shown in bold.

Code:

if [ "$system" = "slackware" ]; then
    daemon() {
        $1 $2
    }

    killproc() {
        killall $1
        rm -f $PIDFILE
    }

    fail_msg() {
        echo " ...fail!"
    }

    succ_msg() {
        echo " ...done."
    }

    begin() {
        echo -n "$1"
    }

    status() {
        echo -n "Checking for vboxadd-timesync"
        if [ -f /var/run/$1 ]; then
            echo " ...running"
        else
            echo " ...not running"
        fi
    }

fi

If you can't use the latest version of VirtualBox then post a copy of your "vboxadd-timesync" and I will tell you what has to be changed. Older versions of VirtualBox require even more changes to work but it can be done.

ppr:kut · 03-30-2009, 01:03 AM

Quote:

The only thing affected by the problem is the time synchronization so you can ignore the error for now and it won't keep the rest of the Guest Additions from working.

FWIW, this has already been fixed in latest VirtualBox (2.2.0beta2)

Erik_FL · 03-30-2009, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppr:kut

FWIW, this has already been fixed in latest VirtualBox (2.2.0beta2)

That's good to hear. I was pleased to see that Sun added Slackware to the distros that the script supports.

I generally like VirtualBox better than other VM software that I've tried but lately there have been some bugs that caused problems for me. I would actually prefer Sun to make fewer releases and then divide them into "stable" and "beta" releases. It's hard to know which versions are the most stable. Still it's not an unreasonable price to pay for progress. VirtualBox keeps getting better.

Stroker · 03-30-2009, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by manwithaplan

I just thought it would be handy to start with a gui too get a feel of what Slackware was about.

Kmenu > System > KPackage