mozes and Exaga thanks for sharing, all good to hear about.

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I think it's cool that Fred still keeps himself involved with open-source projects. I have a friend who's a java guru and works for Microsoft. I don't think he knows what Linux is and if he does it's not what he uses for an OS. He knows jack about computer hardware. He's a very admirable character and his job, techie knowledge, or software choices doesn't stop me from speaking with him.

It's wasn't about Fred or his career choices. The speculation in my question was not whether Fred is doing the right thing by working for Facebook. The question was whether working for Facebook is considered 'bigger and better things' in comparison to working with Slackware, or on Slamd-64. I know what I'd consider to be 'bigger and better'.

If money and standard of living is what's most important in life then I'll take a guess on your answer to that one.

Big thanks to Exaga for all you have done, and to drmozes for all you continue to do.

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My attempts to install updated kernels have come to nought! Not surprising, bearing in mind the somewhat "hybrid" nature of my system! (The boot partition is Sarpi64 and the root partition slarm64)

I tried putting installing the 5.10.4 kernel from slarm64, making an initrd (as described in the readme file in the sarpi64 boot partition), pointing the config.txt file at the new kernel, but it didn't work! Next up I tried replacing the contents of the boot partition with the ones from the slarm64 base image file. I re-pointed it to look for root on mmcblk0p3 (sarpi uses p2 as a swap file, slarm64 doesn't), but it kept complaining about being unable to mount p2 as root! I then tried using the new 5.10.4 kernel with the initrd I had created, which also pointed at p3 as the root partition, but it still kept trying to load p2 as root! At this point I gave up and restored the original sarpi64 boot partition, which I had copied beforehand. All is now working again.

I think I need to wait until slackwareaarch64 becomes available to get any further (I'm getting black looks from She Who Must Be Obeyed for the amount of time I've spent fiddling with this!). I also need to learn a lot more about how the boot system works on the Pi.

The other issue I have, on which I have drawn a blank, is that setting init to 4 in the inittab file doesn't start Plasma! The last message is "starting X11" (or similar - its not in front of me right now) before throwing up a command prompt login instead of the expected sddm. The sddm user exists, as does the /var/lib/sddm folder. It also has the correct permissions. I can't find any errors in the various log files, it just doesn't start!

Ah, well! I always knew it would be a learning curve!

In the meantime, I have another project (not computer related!) that is falling behind and demanding my attention.....

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Pete

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The SARPi installer only contains one partition and that's '/boot'. Any other partitions should be created by the end-user as required. Rather than include the '/swap' and '/' partitions within the disk image (like I believe other ARM-based OS do) it purposely forces users to DIY their own, in-line with the "Slackware way" - but I can't get away without the vfat '/boot' partition, or I would. Even so, the '/swap' partition doesn't have to be specifically partition #2.

The SARPi installation guide is there for those who might not have much experience with installing Slackware ARM and those that have greater knowledge and experience perhaps don't need to follow it as closely. It's a good reference guide. Even I refer to it occasionally because I forget things.

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Thanks Brian. As long as MoZes continues to do what he does, I will follow his work.

Happy New Year!

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Thanks for the update, Exaga! I do appreciate that the sarpi recommendations are just a guide, but as a newcomer to ARM, I find it best to follow the recommendations!

Yes, I could repartition and put the swap file at the end. But since the slarm4 approach seems to be different from the sarpi approach - not only to partitioning, but also boot processes - I am sticking to what "seems" right! I am still very much a beginner here!

What I don't understand is why - having told slarm64 everywhere where I can find a reference - it still tries to use p2 as the root system, when all the config files tell it to use p3. Similarly, I did have problems getting slarm64 to boot successfully, and when I did, getting it to install the rest of the system. Sarpi64 did the install perfectly, once I had renamed the source folders, but left me with a hybrid system - sarpi boot, slarm64 system - and no idea how to integrate the two! But it IS working!

Another issue is that - unlike Lilo, elilo or grub - there seems to be no way to select the kernel to use at boot. This means that any failed attempt means "tweaking" the boot procedure on an intel/amd machine, rather than just selecting an older kernel at boot.

Hopefully, when we get the (much anticipated!) slackwareaarch64 system, a lot of these issues will resolve themselves. At the moment, I feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark, trying this and that, and occasionally being lucky!

No criticism is intended of any of you working on this! I'm just commenting on my experiences as an outsider! Sometimes, when you have been working on something closely for some time, it is difficult to appreciate the "tricks of the trade" that you have accumulated that are invisible to outsiders!

I well remember, when I was at college (many decades ago!), our electronics tutors going into long mathematical discourses on the functions of inductors and capacitors in electronic circuits. When I found myself "working in the field" with an experienced engineer, he said to me "Inductors pass DC and block AC, capacitors block DC and pass AC"! Six months of mathematics tutoring summed up in one simple sentence! It was like a Damascene revelation!

Hope my ramblings don't upset anyone, but perhaps point out the difficulties faced by newcomers to ARM!



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Pete

Sure thing. The way I constructed the Slackware ARM installation guide was to go back to having the mentality of a Slackware novice. I'm not joking or being frivolous. I found that by reading a lot of documentation, forums, blogs, and/or asking questions, it often overlooked the fundamentals and little things. Some of which are taken for granted. Such as, what to do leading up to the instructions/answer(s) in order to achieve success. In the beginning I was "the noobest noob who ever noobed" with Slackware ARM, even though I'd been using Slackware for approx. 8 (EIGHT) years. [OMG I've just realised how long it was!:O] I already knew how to build kernels as I'd been doing that since the first week of using Slackware x86, and ARM wasn't a whole new ball-game in that respect but it did have its own specific nuances and idiosyncrasies. For the first year of using Slackware ARM I was feeling my way, trying to gain knowledge and understanding, and (like you) there was much perturbation and disquietude about the whole ARM thing. It becomes easier with time and understanding. Trust me on this.

I have to admit that, in the beginning, Slackware ARM was an unparalleled baptism of fire. A very close friend of mine (the owner of fatdog.nl) and me had many lengthy discussions about running Slackware ARM on the RPi device and both agreed that unless it was possible to run Slackware ARM on it, we weren't interested. By mid-2012 I saw how public interest in the Raspberry Pi device was unprecedented, personally having to wait months for delivery of the devices I'd ordered back in April of that same year, and during that time nobody was doing much with Slackware. Those who were doing anything had only pre-built disk images to offer, and I mean no disrespect to them or their efforts, but that was not my idea of what Slackware is or should be. Then I found Dave's Collective and that, quite literally, changed everything. As much as SARPi is entirely dependent on Stuart developing and maintaining Slackware ARM proper, it would not exist had it not been for Dave Spencer's work on the aforementioned website - which I amicably term as 'the mecca of Slackware ARM on a Raspberry Pi'. If you ever wanted to build your own installer for slarm64 then I would suggest no other resource than this to get you started - NB: also available from https://github.com/idlemoor/raspi-slackbuild

I've learned a hell of a lot from Dave's work, but much more from Patrick's Slackware scripts, and SlackBuild.org scripts (plus you can include the entire Slackware Team's work/efforts in there too - especially Stuart's [ARM specific] mastery and adroitness) than by any other means or methods. Sometimes being given the answer to any question(s) just doesn't cut it, but it's a stepping-stone to realising achievement(s) and understanding. When you look (for example) as I did at Eric's VLC build scripts it holds key information and answers to more questions than one may have initially. This is just one reason why Slackware has so much more to offer than any other OS I know. By design it is the greatest Linux 'school' you could attend and it makes one realise that the best teacher is ultimately 'yourself'.

I maintain the premise that, "Slackware is peerless. Slackware ARM is sexy and peerless."

I have little or no qualms about Slackers doing their own thing, or helping or advising any Slackware [ARM] user(s) to achieve their own intimate goals. It's usually how people learn and grow. Personally, I've broken quite a few Slackware [Linux] traditions, conventions, principles, and ethics, in my time but it's always been a 'behind closed doors' affair that's my business, usually for my own edification and enlightenment. I would never release any software that contradicted, or wasn't totally in-line with what I understand to be the, "Slackware way". I much prefer users to do the right thing, for the right reason(s), in the right way and that's why SARPi is designed like it is. I want end-users to be able to install Slackware ARM using official pkgs in the only way that Slackware intends, as much as is physically possible. So, where that isn't possible (because the Raspberry Pi devices are not officially supported by Slackware ARM) I still try to maintain the standards and principles laid out by Patrick. Which is somewhat paradoxical but true, and forgive the oxymoron in that statement.

Allow me to indulge you and share some of my antinomical Slackware ARM experience(s)...

In 2016 I started working on an Aarch64 cross-compiler that was [impressively] successful in building 64-bit pkgs for Slackware ARM. It wasn't long after that time when I started bugging Stuart about building a "Slackware ARM64" OS. My problem there is that I can build anything (so it seems) given enough time and effort on Slackware ARM (as the ability to do so has always existed with this wonderful OS but just needs discovering, like buried treasure) but I do not know or have the first clue about putting an OS together like Stuart does, and has done for more years than I have used Slackware itself. In 2019 I took Stuart's 'Slackkit' and [in what was the worst anti-Slackware hack-job I'd ever conceived!] somehow managed to force it into building official Slackware ARM pkgs for Aarch64 architecture. I discussed with Stuart some of my methods and build-script code and his response was "Well... Errr... It looks like you're going to build something but I don't know what... Errr..." which told me what I was doing wasn't right. He's a respectful and empathetic guy, and I would have said, "NO! NO! NO! STOP! STOP! STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!!" because that's how I interpreted his gracious response and it's exactly what I did! I quit trying to do the wrong thing in the wrong way for what I believed to be the right reason(s). I went back to it quite a few times since and tried to gain knowledge from him about what I was trying to do. Ultimately, it boils down to this; Without having the knowledge, skill, and experience, to do it how the Slackware [ARM] dev's would, my plight was more than possible but I'd end up with something that didn't adhere to or follow any Slackware philosophy or ethics. I waited. I kept annoying him with requests to build a Slackware ARM 64-bit port. That time eventually arrived. Now Slackware Aarch64 will be done in the right way, by the Slackware Team, and I know it will be more than acceptable compared to my own traducing efforts.

I can't speak for anyone else but my personal opinion is that users do not upset anyone by doing their own private thing, and that's the same for everyone on any OS. When it arrives in the public domain that's another matter, but still in my opinion it needs to be done correctly and in the right way - in this case, with complete recognition and total respect to Patrick's Slackware brand. When it comes to using SARPi, I have managed and controlled its path over +8 years up to this point and the only reason it exists is to support the installation of official Slackware ARM proper on the Raspberry Pi device(s). Except for the RPi Zero - BUT if the right person(s) was willing to undertake that task I would have no reservations about them using my build-scripts in order to achieve it (Yes, there's someone who I'm sure will be reading this who knows I'm referring to them, and I am laughing too while writing it. They know why!). HAHAH!

I can assure you that Slackware on ARM still is a baptism of fire!



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Pete

Then laugh at me, and with me, when I tell you that I have lost count of the number of times that I've rebooted my Slackware64 system believing it was one of my Raspberry Pi systems running Slackware ARM. LMAO!

Unlike other distributions, there is little or no disparity between Slackware and Slackware ARM. It's seamless in operation. Until one looks "under the hood" one might not notice any differences. Brilliantly built.

Yes, the Pi 400 is so small that it sits in front of my x86_64 keyboard, and shares the same monitor.

Guess how many times I've been typing on the wrong keyboard?



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Pete

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And so the learning curve continues! I've been a bit quiet on here, but I have been playing around quite a bit!

My sarpi64/slarm64 hybrid system worked, but had a few annoyances. I couldn't get it to boot into runlevel 4. The messages said "starting Xll" but then dropped me back to a command prompt for some unknown reason. It refused to start any of the graphical login screens, but "startx" worked fine.

In the end I installed sndwvs xfce image - the one from the 29th Dec, which seems to have overcome the problems I was having the first time I tried with earlier versions. I then installed kde5, and a lot of the necessary support libraries (you always miss some, if you don't use the slackware installer!) and now it all runs fine. It boots into the sddm login screen fine, I've managed to compile xvidcore and x264, but not x265 or ffmpeg! ffmpeg complains about a missing gnutls, but it IS installed!

The big remaining problem is that it refuses to recognise the built-in bluetooth or wifi! Both come up immediately on the supplied Raspbian OS, but refuse to work under slarm64. If I plug a bluetooth dongle in, it works fine - but not the onboard bluetooth or wifi!

The kernel seems to know the hardware is there:
but I cannot connect my headphones. Nor can I use wifi.

Any pointers gratefully received!

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Pete

Missing firmware and/or misconfiguration.

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I haven’t been reading this thread, but today decided to have a look, and see there’s some great reading to be done in the back and forth.

But with all that, a special +1 for this!
lol!

TKS

Hm! OK, on x86 systems the firmware resides in /lib/firmware, but on arm, a lot of the proprietary stuff seems to live in /boot. Or is that just the stuff to get it up and running?

Give me a clue! What am I looking for here?

And if it is in /boot, how does it get called? I presume there needs to be a statement in config.txt or one of the other .txt files to load it?

BTW, neither bluetooth nor wifi worked under sarpi either (32 or 64). The only time they've worked is under raspbian. Something odd about the pi-400?

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Pete