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Wanna watch a movie?
Another thing you might want to do with your ATI video card is add the ability to do video overlays. If you've gotten your ATI card working properly and doing DRI and glxgears gives you the following:
Code:
perry@slackware:~$ glxgears
14334 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2866.772 FPS
19152 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3829.684 FPS
22077 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4415.354 FPS
perry@slackware:~$ fglrxinfo
display: :0.0 screen: 0
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI RADEON 9600 Series
OpenGL version string: 2.0.6747 (8.40.4)
perry@slackware:~$ glxinfo
name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_hyperpipe,
GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer
client glx vendor string: ATI
client glx version string: 1.3
client glx extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_ARB_multisample,
GLX_ATI_pixel_format_float, GLX_ATI_render_texture
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_ARB_multisample
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: ATI RADEON 9600 Series
OpenGL version string: 2.0.6747 (8.40.4)
OpenGL extensions:
Then you can do the following to activate your Video Overlay which is not activated by default: (if you cut & paste the following you get a very interesting effect!)
Code:
su
cd /etc/X11
cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.ati
init 3
aticonfig --overlay-type=Xv
init 4
The init 4 will restart your X server and you should go play a video or something with flash player. If you want to see a difference in video performance, play a video before and after and watch the cpu usage!
If your still getting this result:
Code:
root@slackware:/home/perry# xvinfo
Xlib: extension "XVideo" missing on display ":0.0".
xvinfo: No X-Video Extension on :0.0
Something didn't work right...!
- Perry
ps.
If anything goes wrong you have a copy of your xorg.conf saved xorg.conf.ati simply:
Code:
cd /etc/X11
init 3
copy xorg.conf.ati xorg.conf
init 4
What is the date on that update you linked to in the posting above? I thought I was signed up to receive notice about updates but have only received one in the past 2 weeks and just wanted to make sure I was not missing one.
What is the date on that update you linked to in the posting above? I thought I was signed up to receive notice about updates but have only received one in the past 2 weeks and just wanted to make sure I was not missing one.
In message #61 above you asked if the latest kernel update had been applied. I was just asking to see if there were updates I had not received and applied yet. I am trying not to get too far out of date because I know from experience that once you get too far behind you can run into a lot of problems with other changes.
Getting the Latest Distribution Kernels for Slackware 12
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhomp2002
In message #61 above you asked if the latest kernel update had been applied. I was just asking to see if there were updates I had not received and applied yet. I am trying not to get too far out of date because I know from experience that once you get too far behind you can run into a lot of problems with other changes.
With anything *new* there are bound to be updates. I think with the delivery of Slackware 12 and the rush to use the 2.6.x series of kernels it was inevitable that mistakes were going to be made. Such as leaving out vesa support in the bootup process. Minor little things like that that make a huge difference to new users of Linux, not to mention Slackware. On the Slackware.com website you'll find the latest updates to their distribution kernel. You simply download and install them as packages. It's important to pick the update for the distribution kernel your using.
No sooner you have the latest distribution kernel on your system, you have to nonetheless compile yet another kernel but one that's taylored for things like your processor type and so on. While it's possible to make it thru with just the generic-smp kernel, there could be advanced options like cpu cooling and frequency control that is best activated by dropping a few hints to the kernel. Just because AMD supports the 686 chipset does not mean that it will be able to activate special features that the designers of 686 technology had no clue about. Further, if you want 64 bit support, you need to compile your own kernel.
As a fallback position, you can't go wrong with the latest distribution kernels that come straight off their website. Just find one that works for you and install as appropriate:
The selections above are all for the generic smp version of the kernel, the most typical that you'll find working on most Slackware installations. Other options are huge and no-smp based.
After a fresh install, be sure to copy whatever worked to get you booted up to another directory. Typically, I copy /boot to /test and have an entry called slackware.test in lilo.conf. I leave that directory untouched after that, so long as I know it is always there should there be a screw up in the /boot directory or a bad kernel compile.
Pre Custom Kernel Compile preparations
Nine chances out of ten, when you compile your kernel your going to be going for a later model processor type. As soon as you do that your modules are also compiled and the generic smp distribution kernel is no longer any good to you! This is due to the fact that when the generic kernel starts loading things on bootup it looks for them using the processor type as a parameter. In my case it's a matter of using K8 instead of 686. To deal with this, you really have only one option; use the huge kernel!
The safest way to get ready to compile your own custom kernel is as follows:
Assuming you've just made a brand new install of Slackware and the kernel in /boot up to this point has been untouched!
Todo:
1. copy the entire contents of /boot to /test
2. make an entry in lilo.conf as follows:
Code:
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /test/vmlinuz
root = /dev/hda3
label = slackware.test
read-only # Partitions should be mounted read-only for checking
# Linux bootable partition config ends
3. run lilo, reboot and make sure 'slackware.test' works!
At this point you have at least two lilo entries. one for /boot the other for /test. You now have 1 fallback position in light of a bad kernel compile. However, wouldn't it be good to have the latest distribution kernel as an option in lilo just in case things like the Internet are important in recovering from a bad kernel compile (of course):
if everything booted up ok!
1. copy the contents of /boot to /boot/huge
2. add another entry to lilo.conf under /boot/huge called slackware.huge
Code:
# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/huge/vmlinuz
root = /dev/hda3
label = slackware.huge
read-only # Partitions should be mounted read-only for checking
vga=773
# Linux bootable partition config ends
3. run lilo
4. reboot under the new entry
At this point you have two fallback positions in light of a bad kernel compile, one that has the very same kernel you used to install Slackware, the second that has the latest updates from Slackware.com. You are now in a position to compile your custom kernel because of your fallback positions!
"Your system is ready for all sorts of inexplicable events!" - Alien Bob
Now when you compile your kernel and run lilo, by default your latest kernel will go into /boot and the default entry in lilo.conf will be your custom kernel. Your all set for whatever comes out of those gates...!
Hope this helps
- Perry
ps.
New users: Make sure to change the /dev/hda3 to what ever is already specified in your lilo.conf! If you have installed your / to the first partition on hard disk a, then it'll say "root = /dev/hda1" as opposed to the "root = /dev/hda3" you see in my configuration!
With anything *new* there are bound to be updates. I think with the delivery of Slackware 12 and the rush to use the 2.6.x series of kernels it was inevitable that mistakes were going to be made. Such as leaving out vesa support in the bootup process.
There is VESA support in the Slackware 12.0 kernels. Where did you get the idea that there is not?
Quote:
Minor little things like that that make a huge difference to new users of Linux, not to mention Slackware. On the Slackware.com website you'll find the latest updates to their distribution kernel. You simply download and install them as packages. It's important to pick the update for the distribution kernel your using.
A Slackware release never has updates to the kernel it ships with.
In the /patches directory you will find fixes for bugs that were discovered in software packages that Slackware shipped with, but no new kernels.
Quote:
Further, if you want 64 bit support, you need to compile your own kernel.
If you want 64 bit support you need to recompile all of Slackware and do a whole lot more. In that case it becomes more attractive to switch to an offspring of Slackware called slamd64 which is compiled for 64bit.
Quote:
As a fallback position, you can't go wrong with the latest distribution kernels that come straight off their website. Just find one that works for you and install as appropriate:
You are now referring to the slackware-current packages. It is always best not to mix an already installed stable Slackware release with individual packages from slackware-current.
I think the exception would be the kernel sources, because you can use those to compile a new kernel, but the advise would be to never upgrade your kernel-headers package unless you are very very sure of what you are doing. Replacing your kernel headers may lead to your system refusing to build reliable system sofware.
Also, never install a kernel from Slackware -current on a stable Slackware - it is better to use the sources and it's pre-generated .config file and build a kernel with your own compiler and your own glibc libraries. Otherwise, your system is ready for all sorts of inexplicable events.
Also, never install a kernel from Slackware -current on a stable Slackware - it is better to use the sources and it's pre-generated .config file and build a kernel with your own compiler and your own glibc libraries. Otherwise, your system is ready for all sorts of inexplicable events.
Creating a custom Rescue CD for your Slackware installation!
Problem Description You've installed your Slackware and you just got everything setup when all of the sudden, something you did, knocked out it's ability to boot up properly. Could have been the lilo, could have been a kernel config issue, could have been something in /etc, your not exactly sure. What you are sure of however is that if you can only get back into your setup you would be able to undo whatever it was an get the system running again. Sometimes the problem is a bit more complicated than that, sometimes you need all the help you can get outside of your Slackware install!
This is where taking the time to do up a custom build rescue cd can help. True, you could use Slackware's installation disk #1 to let you do a quick and dirty but wouldn't it be good to have all the available tools rather than just a text screen! Sometimes it makes a really big difference! And as a side benefit, you'll have a cd that you can take with you to use where ever you go. With all your favourite goodies on it!
Step #2: Mount VL5.8-std-LIVE-RC1.iso /mnt/burn
Once downloaded you can peek inside the contents by using isomount
Code:
mount -o loop -t iso9660 $1 $2
Code:
isomount VL5.8-std-LIVE-RC1.iso /mnt/burn
Assuming you have a /mnt/burn directory already setup.
Step #3: Create an editable image of the iso
You can only read mounted iso images, so to make changes to it, you'll have to copy the contents of it to an empty partition. Setting up a 1 gig partition is perfectly fine even though it really only needs 700 MB as that's all a CDRW can normally handle.
(K3b suggests I can get 850 out of a CDR, but you'll want to use CDRWs until your satisfied with the end result)
Further, inside the iso there are two scripts of particular interest to you: make_disk.sh and make_iso.sh. You'll need both to make your custom rescue cd!
Use make_disk.sh to copy the contents of the iso to your partition. Be sure that the partition your going to use can be completely erased and is not currently mounted! My 1 gig /dev/hda10 partition is set aside for just such a purpose! * BE CAREFUL : MAKE SURE YOUR TYPING IS CORRECT *
Code:
./make_disk.sh /dev/hda10
Mounting /dev/hda10 to /mnt/makedisk_mount4734...
Copying files...
Setting up boot sector in /dev/hda...
Fatal: open /mnt/makedisk_mount4734/boot/initrd.gz: No such file or directory
Successfully installed in /dev/hda10
Ignore the 'Fatal: open /mnt/makedisk_mount4734/boot/initrd.gz: No such file or directory message. Now mount your partition. In /etc/fstab I had this setup for my 'extra' partition:
Code:
/dev/hda10 /mnt/extra ext2 noauto,owner,users 1 2
Now if you'll look inside /mnt/extra you should see an exact replicate of /mnt/burn. The only difference now is that you can make additions and/or changes!
Step #4: Copy over any custom wireless support
As you know, my system depends on Windows drivers to make use of the wireless hardware (for shame, but thats life). Turns out, Vector makes heavy use of ndiswrapper so you don't have to install that in order to add your wireless support.
Code:
root@slackware:/mnt/vl# mount /mnt/extra
root@slackware:/mnt/vl# cd /mnt/extra
(...copy your wireless scripts & drivers to the /optional/ directory...)
root@slackware:/mnt/vl/optional/WUSB54Gv4# cd /mnt/extra/optional
root@slackware:/mnt/extra/optional# ls -la
total 16
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 16 2007-09-13 13:55 ./
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 2007-09-13 13:43 ../
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 24 2007-09-13 13:55 WUSB54Gv4/
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 353 2007-09-13 13:55 rc.wlan0*
root@slackware:/mnt/extra/optional#
Because I'm not making any changes to Vector's usr.mo or other files, I'll have to customize rc.wlan0 to install the drivers when called:
Code:
root@slackware:/mnt/extra/optional# cat rc.wlan0
#!/bin/sh
if [ "$1" == "start" ]; then
cd WUSB54Gv4
ndiswrapper -i rt2500usb.inf
ndiswrapper -l
modprobe ndiswrapper
dhcpcd wlan0 -h slack12.0 &
ifconfig wlan0 up &
iwconfig wlan0 nick slackware &
iwconfig wlan0 essid any &
fi
if [ "$1" == "stop" ]; then
ifconfig wlan0 down
dhcpcd -k
modprobe -r ndiswrapper
fi
Step #5: Add some custom packages
Vector documentation recommends you try to use /boot/optional for all your optional packages. Because you now have a complete image made, you should be able to add things anywhere much the same way you would setup a 'normal' Slackware installation. Talking specifically about the '/usr/local' area!
Here's a script to add themes and plugins for Vector's gkrellm. /boot/optional/install_gkrellm: (be sure to 'chmod +x' it)
Doing it this way, I conserve space as this Slackware iso leaves only about 17 meg for optional packages!
Step #6: Customize Vector's bootup / splash screen
By default, the VectorLinux CD will come up with a very animated splash screen (thats cool) but those of us that need to see diagnostics on boot will be annoyed. To fix this change it's grub cfg file:
Where ever you see a 'splash=silent' remove it! There is at least one in the above code section. If you want a more informative spash bootup, you'll have to remove it!
Step #7: Create your custom Rescue CD iso!
Assuming you've added the packages you wanted and made any changes you needed, your now ready to create an iso. One small change to the make_iso.sh script might be helpful and thats to name your RescueCD as RescueCD!
Code:
#!/bin/bash
# ---------------------------------------------------
# Script to create bootable ISO in Linux
# usage: make_iso.sh [ /tmp/slax.iso ]
# author: Tomas M. <http://www.linux-live.org>
# ---------------------------------------------------
if [ "$1" = "--help" -o "$1" = "-h" ]; then
echo "This script will create bootable ISO from files in curent directory."
echo "Current directory must be writable."
echo "example: $0 /mnt/hda5/slax.iso"
exit
fi
CDLABEL="RescueCD"
ISONAME="$1"
if [ "$ISONAME" = "" ]; then
SUGGEST="../`basename \`pwd\``.iso"
echo -ne "Target ISO file name [ Hit enter for $SUGGEST ]: "
read ISONAME
if [ "$ISONAME" = "" ]; then ISONAME="$SUGGEST"; fi
fi
# isolinux.bin is changed during the ISO creation,
# so we need to restore it from backup.
cp -f boot/isolinux.bi_ boot/isolinux.bin
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Can't recreate isolinux.bin, make sure your current directory is writable!"
exit 1
fi
mkisofs -o "$ISONAME" -v -J -R -D -A "$CDLABEL" -V "$CDLABEL" \
-no-emul-boot -boot-info-table -boot-load-size 4 \
-b boot/isolinux.bin -c boot/isolinux.boot .
Once that is in place your free to create your iso file that you can use to create your cd via your favourite cd writer program (aka k3b, cdrecord, etc)! Just be sure to name a file inside a folder with enough space for the iso image (it cannot be the same folder for obvious reasons!)
Code:
cd /mnt/extra
sh ./make_iso.sh /mnt/xcraft6/images/rescuecd.iso
Create and test your cdrw and if that works good, re-write the iso to a cdr!
Going to be needing this made part of Slackware... anybody got any ideas?
Do your research - it is documented all over the place. And by the way, VMWare server is free too, and you can create VM's with that one.
Now, if you want to use Open Source software instead of closed-source (but free) I suggest you look at QEMU. Not as slick as VMWare products (which are the result of many paid man years) but free in the true spirit of the word.
QEMU is able to create VM images for you in the format that you can use in VMware Player btw.
Do your research - it is documented all over the place. And by the way, VMWare server is free too, and you can create VM's with that one.
Now, if you want to use Open Source software instead of closed-source (but free) I suggest you look at QEMU. Not as slick as VMWare products (which are the result of many paid man years) but free in the true spirit of the word.
QEMU is able to create VM images for you in the format that you can use in VMware Player btw.
Eric
Out of all the handy tools and neat things to do with Slackware, I've always seemed to manage to shy away from the VMware product line. The QEMU package looks pretty good. My previous look at vmware was that it had to be installed before everything else. Is it very hard to get that up and running?
My previous look at vmware was that it had to be installed before everything else. Is it very hard to get that up and running?
Only VMware GSX server (or was it ESX server) should be installed on the hardware as the first OS. But this program is not free.
The free VMWare server can be installed in Slackware with a few tweaks.
Only VMware GSX server (or was it ESX server) should be installed on the hardware as the first OS. But this program is not free.
The free VMWare server can be installed in Slackware with a few tweaks.
Eric
Vmware player 2.0 on Ubuntu 7.04
This looks good! It's an emulator. As in it gets your main processor to emulate other processors! This technique is actually old-school, Microsoft built it's first Basic language processor on this idea. Now they are using it to run multiple operating systems under one roof! My Internet connection today is terribly slow so I'm just going to make a note of it. The idea is that (if all goes to plan) you should be able to run Windows applications inside a window in Slackware! It would be so cool to have an gaming application thinking that it has full control of the system and screen whereas what's really going on is that OpenGL is doing all the magic allowing you to use other applications on your desktop with ease. With today's high end processors, and some of you now have dual core or dual processors (i even hear of quad based systems soon to be in the market place), it's about time we had control of our hardware rather than our hardware having control of us!
VMware Introduces Free VMware Server
Check this out! Except for the fact I have other things to deal with today (like something called life) I'd certainly take a look at what would be required to get this setup. As you can see from the video, Compiz or Beryl or something similar is being used in conjunction to effectively give you properly utilization of all that graphical firepower that your card can provide!
Create virtual machines for VMware Player
"EasyVMX! is the simple and failsafe way to create complete virtual machines for VMware Player on the web. You can install any Windows, Linux, BSD or Solaris, and test LiveCDs in a safe environment."
How to install VMServer on (Ubuntu) Linux
Placed here for future reference, we need to figure out the Slackware way of doing this! As you can see, it's an easy 52-step process!
BR-Linux.org
Another site mentioned in the video for future reference! You'll need Altavista's Babel Fish translation capability for that one... it's written in Spanish!
Basic Maintenance Morning
So I thought I'd get up this morning and do a couple things with the computer like move & resize the root partition... (did he say "move & resize the root partition"), that is correct! Something that's really not possible if your currently running off that particular root. But if you got a RescueCD that comes with some really cool graphical partitioning software like gparted it's not a problem. So that's what happened this morning...
What's wrong with this picture?
Just in case your wondering and just in case you run into this problem yourself in the future (as resizing partitions can be so much fun!). Here's a "Gotcha!": Turns out resizing and/or moving the root partition wrecks havoc on the lilo/mbr that now no longer knows where to find the root partition to boot from!
Don't Panic!
These things happen and it's the #1 reason why you now have a RescueCD. It was just a simple matter of rebooting off the RescueCD and then doing a man lilo to figure out how to set the lilo back. Turns out that by using chroot you can set any partition (containing /dev/) as root. So this is how the Slackware installation cd does it during your install. (My root partition is /mnt/hda3)
Code:
chroot /mnt/hda3
cd /etc
lilo
reboot
Doing this from inside a terminal window thanks to the fantastic work they did at VectorLinux (a distribution based on Slackware) and wella! Back in business!
You just gotta have a RescueCD and have one in style!
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Tweaking ATI Video Overlay settings
Getting the Latest Distribution Kernels for Slackware 12
