LinuxQuestions.org - [SOLVED] My Slackware still broken

- Slackware (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/)

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The last time I built xfce was 4.8 but there was an option to disable gnome support (OR enable it, which is what I think was added to the Slackware xfce).

in Slackware 14.0 in the /XFCE series, only one slackbuild mentions gnome, it is (output of 'grep -r gnome <root directory>/source/xfce')

Code:

xfce4-session/xfce4-session.SlackBuild: --enable-libgnome-keyring \

As for Slackware being dependent on gnome:

Code:

bash-4.2$ ls -1 /var/log/packages | grep gnome

gnome-icon-theme-3.4.0-i486-1

gnome-keyring-3.4.1-i486-2

libgnome-keyring-3.4.1-i486-1

polkit-gnome-0.102-i486-1

Is that much?

There's a lot more than just packages that have the name "gnome" in them. gnome-icon-theme isn't even gnome-dependent because it's just an icon theme.

The NetworkManager in Slackware 14.0(+?) uses network-manager-applet which has dependencies for some of the packages with "gnome" in their name but also for other packages like GConf (which is the GNOME Configuration Library but notice the name doesn't have "gnome" in it):

Code:

NetworkManager/

├── ModemManager

│  └── mobile-broadband-provider-info

└── network-manager-applet

    └── gnome-keyring

        └── libgnome-keyring

            ├── GConf

            │  └── ORBit2

            └── libtasn1

So Slackovado could just remove and/or blacklist the above packages (I can't think of any program that relies on those other than NetworkManager at the moment, but one could always check with ldd).

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrogeek (Post 4979183)

Way back during the KDE 3-to-4 transition/debacle I came face to face with my own dependency on KDE - not a package dependency but it had much the same effect. At the time I was using Slackware myself but installing and maintaining Mandriva for family and some other projects, but all KDE centric.

I researched the problem and concluded that I had to break the whole desktop dependency thing.

That's about where I am right now. I'm sick of fighting against and putting up with the enormous painful resource drain of KDE, but I acknowledge that I've grown dependent on it and all of its many fine tools and utilities. I'm in the stage of questioning what I can live without, and assessing my tolerance for starting fresh with a simpler desktop environment like XFCE, or an even leaner window manager like Fluxbox.

follow up questions and comments to help me with my problem

Quote:

I researched the problem and concluded that I had to break the whole desktop dependency thing.

My own solution was to shift everything and everyone to Slackware and Fluxbox.
Looking back I now view those old tools as a cage that I was unwittingly trapped in, and see that the new methods broke the cell door off its hinges!

For one example, I now view my earlier konsole usage as a set of leg shackles, and the transition to urxvt-tmux-on-flux was my liberation! I now run free of the desktop cage and all its shackles, much more than metaphorically!

Don't be reluctant to make the change - good luck!

Astrogeek, i'm going to make bold and respond to your inspiring post with some comments about my (very limited) experience, followed by a couple of questions seeking help to fix my broken slack 14 install.

Comments:
1. I had slackware 14 64-bit running beautifully under xfce until my system crashed one day (i was actually using an archbang install on same computer, different partition) with what appeared to be some malicious attack: beeping noise, menus items suddenly melting into incomprehensible code etc.
2. I raced out and got a new computer that very day (one I had sized up weeks earlier): 4 core, hybrid HDD, 8GB mem with a new bios that I'd never experienced: seems it supports both bios and uefi, came home, installed mint, slack 14 with kde selected during install as default DE (i wanted to try out the big new screen and greater grunt) and salix (latest version)

3. I have not had a moment's pleasure from slackware ever since: the main problem:
- gui is patchy, sketchy, unreadable menu items: as if one were reading an ancient papyrus fragment

4. even when i configure wmconfig to start in *any other DE* the symptoms are the same!

5. another -possibly- diagnostic observation: terminal emulator exhibits same patchy/sketchy quality as described above;
while konsole DOES NOT! it is perfect: entirely readable and configurable and responsive.

6. Some output from my machine:
when i cfdisk the slackware partition from my mint install, with:
cfdisk /dev/sda1 -u

Code:

Device contains neither a valid DOS partition table, nor Sun, SGI or OSF disklabel

Building a new DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0xe6fee37e.

Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.

After that, of course, the previous content won't be recoverable.



Warning: invalid flag 0x0000 of partition table 4 will be corrected by w(rite)



The device presents a logical sector size that is smaller than

the physical sector size. Aligning to a physical sector (or optimal

I/O) size boundary is recommended, or performance may be impacted.

Question:
1. Having done several re-installs, I am loathe to do another one with little or no prospect of improvement.
However, do you think it might be worth my while trying something I have not tried before (and this brings me to the substance of your post): ie: go for flux as default in a fresh install?

Sorry for this overly-long post and thanks in advance if you can suggest something to help.

@Tex:

please start a new thread for your issue as it's not this one's topic
please give us more precise information, as screenshots and the full layout or your hard disk (output of 'fdisk -l')
your cfdisk command is not correct. It should be 'cfdisk /dev/sda', not 'cfdisk /dev/sda1'). If you have GPT partitions type 'cgdisk' or 'gdisk' instead of 'cfdisk' or 'fdisk'.

Quote:

Originally Posted by textillis (Post 4980607)

Thanks for the kind coments, but I am afraid I do not know how to respond to your issues.

I have no UEFI systems so cannot comment on that, although I suspect that your problems are neither UEFI nor Slackware related.

Other than enabling unicode support and adding a few font packages, my Slackware/Fluxbox had no issues that presented any particular difficulty.

I would suggest that you follow Didier's suggestion and post to a new thread with a few more details about your problems - I bet they can be sorted out!

I'll keep an eye out for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by textillis (Post 4980607)

1. I had slackware 14 64-bit running beautifully under xfce until my system crashed one day (i was actually using an archbang install on same computer, different partition) with what appeared to be some malicious attack: beeping noise, menus items suddenly melting into incomprehensible code etc.

Bearing in mind that I know nothing about UEFI, is it possible that you are actually booting the archbang kernel instead of the Slackware kernel?

I have messed up a lilo install in the past and booted a different kernel with strange results. That is the only thing that comes to mind from your description of the problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrogeek (Post 4980979)

Thanks Astro.
No, I have since removed Archbang.
And besides: Slack boots okay: i can see all the menus and i can run konsole effectively; just can't open anything from gui without system crashing.

Cheers,