Knoppix V6.7.0

**kl522** · 08-05-2011, 03:59 AM

Originally Posted by utu

@ kl522

I don't know of a changelog, but this DstroWatch table lets you compare 6.7 with previous versions:
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=knoppix

Better than none but they are not the kind of information which interest me in.

This table indicates Firefox 5 to be an option with 6.7.
I was unable to verify Firefox 5 as an option with my CD version of 6.7, even opening up all possible repositories.

I am amused.

The way things are classified, we may as well also list Opera and M$ Window Explorer as options too ! True enough, if you willing dig up everything and put in new things ....

**Capricorny** · 08-05-2011, 01:28 PM

From the documentation I have seen so far, this is mostly a kernel upgrade/bugfix/driver update release. Plus quite a bit of reworked Adriane stuff. I'm most curious about any changes to the innards, can't wait to take a diff of the minirt init

(But I don't think so much has changed there recently.

As for Firefox 5.0.1, at least in 64 bits it looks promising.

**utu** · 08-06-2011, 09:11 PM

.
I am embarrased to admit that I've got Chromium working with flash, after all.
Not being familiar with its symbology, I missed the clue that 'some plug-ins are blocked'.
Look for a little icon with a red 'x' in the address bar at the top.

Even so, I prefer Firefox-5 1st, IceWeasel-3.6 2nd and Chromium 3rd.

My bad. I don't know why the default is to block the built-in capability.

**kl522** · 08-07-2011, 05:33 AM

Is knoppix V6.7.0 more usable inside virtualbox compared to 6.4.4 ? Does it still need the 'noudev', after that mouse is not working ?

**jm1944** · 09-05-2011, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by utu

.
I am embarrased to admit that I've got Chromium working with flash, after all.
Not being familiar with its symbology, I missed the clue that 'some plug-ins are blocked'.
Look for a little icon with a red 'x' in the address bar at the top.

Even so, I prefer Firefox-5 1st, IceWeasel-3.6 2nd and Chromium 3rd.

My bad. I don't know why the default is to block the built-in capability.

utu:

I read your post with interest because I would like to get flash working with Chromium on my Knoppix 6.7 as well. I am new to Linux.

Had no problem with the red x "unblocking" and after being led to a number of adobe sites, downloading flash_player_10_linux.tar.gz and extracting it (libflashplayer.so) in the download folder, following some instructions I found about going to "about

lugins" and enabling chrome Nacl and Default Plugin - version 1 (IceTea v. 1.8.7 was already enabled). For good measure I went to the Contents settings and set Javascript to allow all sites, and Plugins to run automatically. I even added CNBC.com to the exceptions in both Javascript and Plugins, so I though I was all set.

But when I go to view one of the videos on a CNBC.com site, instead of getting a playing video, I'm told I need to install flash player. I can only think that I haven't installed the extracted flash linux.tar.gz file into the proper place.

Do I have to close chromium and/or reboot? I haven't done this yet because I don't want to loose all my bookmarks and preferences. Can you help me? (I also downloaded Firefox and have same problem with installing flash into it, although I could install Download YouTube Videos + 3.3.51.)

If I can get flash working on both browsers, I'd like to try and set up my chromium browser to keep all my setting (preferences and bookmarks) intact, so that when I boot up I don't loose everything. In reading through the postings that follow your message, I understand that this can be accomplished with Knoppix using "overlayering" (on the thumb drive I have Knoppix installed), but this sounds a bit complicated. Is it?

Thanks for any input.

John

**utu** · 08-04-2011, 11:56 PM

Well, here's an update on Firefox 5 for Knoppix 6.7:

After you've used 6.7 for a little while with IceWeasel as your
browser, Firefox 5 will invite you to download & install Firefox 5.0.1
from a tar.bz2 file. I did so. My downloaded Firefox 5.0.1 does
not have the Ubuntu Unity problem of holding the preferences.
Has its own flash, already. Only initial problem I see is figuring how
to integrate this on the LXDE desktop. At first, it is started via a
command line.

I moved my download to /usr/local and unzipped it with tar -xjf there.
To start it, make sure IceWeasel's not running and enter the command
/usr/local/firefox/firefox.

So, I guess the DistroWatch table is correct as it stands.

I'll run with both browsers for a while to see if FF5 is worth changing
from IceWeasel.

**utu** · 08-05-2011, 01:19 AM

Firefox suggests you download libstdc++5 to install an icon on
the desktop to start FF5. That costs 1 Mb, and doesn't work for me.
Luckily just add a 'new blank file' to the LXDE desktop, for example
a file called ff.sh, executable, contents you guessed:
/etc/local/firefox/firefox. Acts like a click-on icon.
Pretty plain, but it works, costs only a few bytes.

FF5 is pretty snappy; I think I might switch.

**Capricorny** · 08-05-2011, 02:25 PM

Here's the init changes (ADRIANE 6.7). Among other things, ext4 mounting is now in place.
Also, the kernels, both 32 and 64 bits, have grown a lot - probably heaps of extra modules included as deemed necessary.

Code:

";;
4c4
< # (C) 2011 by Klaus Knopper <knoppix@knopper.net>
---
> # (C) 2010 by Klaus Knopper <knoppix@knopper.net>
140,141d139
<  local rc="1"
<  # Try to be quick, and probe the "most likely" file systems first
146,161c144,146
<      mount -t ext4 -o "$RW" "$1" "$2" || \
<       mount -t ext3 -o "$RW" "$1" "$2" || \
<        mount -t ext2 -o "$RW" "$1" "$2"
<  rc="$?"
<  # Still no luck? Try everything else that the (static) kernel supports
<  if [ "$rc" != 0 ]; then
<   local fs
<   for fs in `awk '!/^nodev/{print $1}' /proc/filesystems 2>&1`; do
<    case "$fs" in
<     ext[234]|reiserfs|ntfs|fuse*|*fat|iso9660) ;; # Already did that
<     *) mount -t "$fs" -o "$RW" "$1" "$2"; rc="$?";;
<    esac
<    [ "$rc" = "0" ] && break
<   done
<  fi
<  return "$rc"
---
>      mount -t ext3 -o "$RW" "$1" "$2" || \
>       mount -t ext2 -o "$RW" "$1" "$2"
>  return "$?"
303c288
<   [ -r "$mod" -a ! -d /sys/module/"${mod%.ko}" ] && insmod "$mod" >/dev/null 2>&1
---
>   [ -r "$mod" -a ! -d /sys/module/"${mod%.ko}" ] && insmod "$mod"
338c323
<  *\ vga=[0-9]*|*debug*|*\ splash*) true;; *) echo -n "[0;0H[J";;
---
>  *\ vga=[0-9]*|*debug*|*\ splash*) true;; *) echo -n "[6;0H[J";;
341,347d325
< message \
< '     _    __  __    __  _____    _____    _____    __  _  __      ___   _______
<     / /  / / /  |  / / / ___ \  / __  \  / __  \  / / | |/ /    / ___/  \___  /
<    / /__/ / /   | / / / /  / / / /__/ / / /__/ / / /  \   /    / /_      __/ /
<   / / _ -  / /| |/ / / /  / / / _____/ / _____/ / /   /  |    / __ \    /_  _\
<  / /  \ \ / / |   / / /__/ / / /      / /      / /   / /\ \  / /_/ / _   / /
< /_/   |_|/_/  |__/  \_____/ /_/      /_/      /_/   /_/ |_|  \____/ /_/ /_/'
447,455c425
< #@@@GvR
<     # Try using other (SMB) mounts
<     [ -z "$MOUNTED" ] && [ -x /static/mount.cifs ] && { if [ -n "$NFSDIR" ]; then
<         message -n "${CRE}${BLUE}Trying to SMB mount CD on ${MAGENTA}$NFSDIR${BLUE}...${NORMAL}"
<         message   /static/mount.cifs "${NFSDIR}" /mnt-system -r -o guest,noserverino,nounix
<                   /static/mount.cifs "${NFSDIR}" /mnt-system -r -o guest,noserverino,nounix > /dev/null 2>&1  && MOUNTED="yes"
<         [ -z "$MOUNTED" ] && umount /mnt-system > /dev/null 2>&1
<     fi; }
< #@@GvR
---
> 
482c452
<   checkbootparam "bootfrom" || debugshell
---
>   debugshell
488,580d457
< # Return existing device names listed as regular expressions
< listpartitions(){
<  local pattern file
<  for pattern in "$@"; do
<   for file in $(find /sys/class/block -maxdepth 2 -name "$pattern"); do
<    file="${file##*/}"
<     [ -b "/dev/$file" ] && echo "/dev/$file"
<   done
<  done
< # awk 'BEGIN{old="__start"}/'"$1"'/{if($0==old){exit}else{old=$0;if($4&&$4!="name"){print "/dev/"$4}}}' /proc/partitions # Insufficient, does not find CD-Roms
< }
< 
< #@@@GvR Bootfrom Section start
< BOOTSYS="/mnt-system"   
< if [ ! -r "$BOOTSYS/$knoppix_dir/KNOPPIX" ]; then
<  # find BOOTFROM variable (/dev/sda1/boot/k620/*.iso)
<  BOOTFROM=""; bootfrom="";
<  for i in $CMDLINE; do case "$i" in [Bb][Oo][Oo][Tt][Ff][Rr][Oo][Mm]=*) eval $i;; esac; done
<  [ -n "$bootfrom" ] && BOOTFROM="$bootfrom"
<  if [ -n "$BOOTFROM" ]; then
<   # we may have an ISO file, try mounting it
<   BOOTISO="/mnt-iso"; BOOTDEV=""; BOOTFILE=""
<   mkdir -p $BOOTISO $BOOTSYS
<   [ -b /dev/loop1 ] || mknod -m 755 /dev/loop1 b 7 1
<   if [ -n "$NFSDIR" ]; then
<    umount $BOOTSYS; MOUNTED=""
<    message nfs remount "${NFSDIR}" "${BOOTISO}" -o ro,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,hard,nolock,intr$SECUREOPTIONS 
<    mount "${NFSDIR}" "${BOOTISO}" -o ro,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,hard,nolock,intr$SECUREOPTIONS > /dev/null 2>&1 && MOUNTED="yes"
<    if [ -z "$MOUNTED" ]; then
<     umount $BOOTISO >/dev/null 2>&1
<     if [ -x /static/mount.cifs ]; then
<      message cifs remount "${NFSDIR}" "${BOOTISO}" -r  -o guest,noserverino,nounix
<      /static/mount.cifs   "${NFSDIR}" "${BOOTISO}" -r  -o guest,noserverino,nounix > /dev/null 2>&1  && MOUNTED="yes"
<      [ -z "$MOUNTED" ] && umount $BOOTISO > /dev/null 2>&1
<     fi
<    fi
<    BOOTFILE=$BOOTFROM
<   else
<    BOOTDEV=$(echo "$BOOTFROM" | awk -F/ '{print $1"/"$2"/"$3}')
<    BOOTFILE="${BOOTFROM#*/}"; BOOTFILE="${BOOTFILE#*/}"; BOOTFILE="${BOOTFILE#*/}"
<    message -n "${CRE}${BLUE}Trying to mount the ISO partition ${MAGENTA}$BOOTDEV${BLUE}...${NORMAL}"
<    trymount "$BOOTDEV" "$BOOTISO" >/dev/null 2>&1
<   fi
<   if [ ! -r "$BOOTISO/$BOOTFILE" ]; then umount $BOOTISO >/dev/null 2>&1
<    message "${CRE}${RED}Cannot mount the partition ${MAGENTA}$BOOTDEV${NORMAL} (cannot find: ${RED}${BOOTISO}/${BOOTFILE}${NORMAL})"
<    ls -al "$BOOTISO"
<   else
<    message -n "${CRE}${BLUE}Trying to mount CD image on ${MAGENTA}${BOOTFILE}${BLUE}...${NORMAL}"
<    losetup /dev/loop1 "$BOOTISO/$BOOTFILE" && mount -r /dev/loop1 $BOOTSYS >/dev/null 2>&1
<    if [ ! -r "$BOOTSYS/$knoppix_dir/KNOPPIX" ]; then umount $BOOTSYS >/dev/null 2>&1
<     message -n "${CRE}${RED}Cannot mount CD image on ${MAGENTA}${BOOTFILE}${NORMAL}"
<     umount "$BOOTSYS" >/dev/null 2>&1
<     losetup -d /dev/loop1 >/dev/null 2>&1
<    else
<     message -e "\r${CRE}${GREEN}$DISTRO ${FOUNDAT}: ${MAGENTA}${BOOTDEV}/$(cd $BOOTISO; ls -a $BOOTFILE)${NORMAL}       "
<    fi 
<   fi
<   # try to find ISO in an alternate locations using the same path
<   if [ ! -r "$BOOTSYS/$knoppix_dir/KNOPPIX" ]; then
<    message -n "${CRE}${MAGENTA}Trying to find the ISO image in an other partition...${NORMAL}"
<    # If USB storage device, wait for USB...
<    if [ -d /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb-storage ]; then WUSB="1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20"; else WUSB="1"; fi
<    for i in $WUSB ; do
<     for BOOTDEV in $(listpartitions 'hd[a-z]' 'hd[a-z][0-9]*' 'scd[0-9]*' 'sr[0-9]*' 'sd[a-z]' 'sd[a-z][0-9]*'); do
<      if [ -b "$BOOTDEV" ]; then
<       message -n -e "\r${CRE}${BLUE}Searching for ISO in: ${MAGENTA}${BOOTDEV}${NORMAL}   "
<       trymount "$BOOTDEV" "$BOOTISO" > /dev/null 2>&1
<       if [ ! -r "$BOOTISO/$BOOTFILE" ]; then umount $BOOTISO >/dev/null 2>&1; else
<        message -n "${CRE}${BLUE}Trying to mount CD image on ${MAGENTA}${BOOTFILE}${BLUE}...${NORMAL}"
<        losetup /dev/loop1 "$BOOTISO/$BOOTFILE" && mount -r /dev/loop1 $BOOTSYS >/dev/null 2>&1
<        if [ ! -r "$BOOTSYS/$knoppix_dir/KNOPPIX" ]; then
<         umount $BOOTSYS >/dev/null 2>&1
<         losetup -d /dev/loop1 >/dev/null 2>&1
<        else
<         message -e "\r${CRE}${GREEN}$DISTRO ${FOUNDAT}: ${MAGENTA}${BOOTDEV}/$(cd $BOOTISO; ls -a $BOOTFILE)${NORMAL}       "
<        fi
<       fi
<      fi
<     done
<     if [ -r "$BOOTSYS/$knoppix_dir/KNOPPIX" ]; then
<      break
<     else
<      message -n -e "\r${CRE}${BLUE}${WAITFORUSB}${NORMAL} $i ";
<      sleep 1
<     fi
<    done
<   fi
<  fi
< fi
< if [ -r "$BOOTSYS/$knoppix_dir/KNOPPIX" ]; then MOUNTED="yes"; FOUND_KNOPPIX="true"; fi
< #@@@GvR Bootfrom Section end
< 
< 
582c459
< amount=$(awk -F: '/^MemTotal/{printf "%d",int($2); exit 0}' /proc/meminfo 2>/dev/null); #'
---
> amount=$(awk -F: '/^MemTotal/{printf "%d",int($2); exit 0}' /proc/meminfo 2>/dev/null)
594,607c471,481
< #@@@GvR add "ramdisk" parameter to allow specifying ramdisk size, otherwise just use max(ram*4/5,2000)M
< for i in $CMDLINE; do case "$i" in [Rr][Aa][Mm][Dd][Ii][Ss][Kk]=*) eval $i;; esac; done
< case "$ramdisk" in
<  [0-9]*[KMG]) RAMDISK="$ramdisk" ;;
< esac
< if [ -z "$RAMDISK" ]; then
<  if [ "$TOTALMEM" -ge 2000 ] >/dev/null 2>&1; then
<    RAMDISK="$(expr $TOTALMEM / 5)"; RAMDISK="$(expr $RAMDISK \* 4)M"
<  else
<    # Too large, but we can still use swapspace
<    RAMDISK="2G"
<  fi
< fi
< #@@@GvR
---
> # Return existing device names listed as regular expressions
> listpartitions(){
>  local pattern file
>  for pattern in "$@"; do
>   for file in $(find /sys/class/block -maxdepth 2 -name "$pattern"); do
>    file="${file##*/}"
>     [ -b "/dev/$file" ] && echo "/dev/$file"
>   done
>  done
> # awk 'BEGIN{old="__start"}/'"$1"'/{if($0==old){exit}else{old=$0;if($4&&$4!="name"){print "/dev/"$4}}}' /proc/partitions # Insufficient, does not find CD-Roms
> }
609c483
< if [ -z "$FOUND_KNOPPIX" -a -z "$TSCLIENT" ]; then
---
> if [ -z "$TSCLIENT" ]; then
650c524
< mount -t tmpfs -o size="$RAMDISK",dev,suid,exec tmpfs /ramdisk
---
> mount -t tmpfs -o size=2G,dev,suid,exec tmpfs /ramdisk
671c545
<  [ -r /KNOPPIX/lib/ld-linux.so.2 -a -x /KNOPPIX/"$cmd" ] && /KNOPPIX/lib/ld-linux.so.2 --library-path "/KNOPPIX/lib:/KNOPPPIX/usr/lib:/KNOPPIX/lib/i386-linux-gnu" /KNOPPIX/"$cmd" "$@"
---
>  [ -r /KNOPPIX/lib/ld-linux.so.2 -a -x /KNOPPIX/"$cmd" ] && /KNOPPIX/lib/ld-linux.so.2 --library-path "/KNOPPIX/lib:/KNOPPPIX/usr/lib" /KNOPPIX/"$cmd" "$@"
739c613
<  for base in $home /mnt-system/"$knoppix_dir"/knoppix-data /mnt-system/knoppix; do
---
>  for base in /mnt-system/"$knoppix_dir"/knoppix-data /mnt-system/knoppix; do

**utu** · 08-05-2011, 04:50 PM

Since I find 6.7 pretty solid for my meager needs, I'll complain about
something else.

Looking at the new minirt init reminds me that there's been no revision
of the Knoppix cheatcodes in a long time.

The last time I checked I thought there were some omissions and some
ambiguities that ought to get corrected.

Anyone else have this feeling?

**Capricorny** · 08-06-2011, 10:55 AM

I think the cheatcode list could get an overhaul, yes. I'm not so sure about the need for new codes, generally. They should only be introduced with new functionality, when needed.

New functionality may be introduced without the need for new cheatcodes. With the latest init modification, Knoppix has, in fact, become completely file system-agnostic wrt what kind of system carries the Knoppix files.

Now, init goes through the usual list (ext4 now included, that inclusion possibly prompting Klaus to take it further). When no mount is achieved, init goes through the kernel's file system capabilities, and tries anything not already tried. This means, that for a new application using some odd-type fs, (think Knoppix on your espresso machine or some other embedded device), it is enough to compile the odd-type fs module into the kernel, and copy the ordinary files over. From there on, things are, in principle, handled just like they resided on FAT32, ext3, etc.

The most significant new cheatcode I can think of now, is squashfs. Knoppix should absolutely support squashfs out of the box, but the init modifications needed are rather small, almost trivial. (I've uploaded a patch against 6.4.4 init to handle cloop and squashfs transparently for the end user..)

We have been talking about several kinds of new functionality, and the best way to proceed, I think, is to make an example implementation that could be directly included and publish it, like I have done with squashfs.

Right now, the basic system I run is remastered 6.4.4 pure 64-bits, with custom compiled kernel 2.6.39.2 and squashfs image. This is written in iceweasel 5 running off the 6.7.0 DVD iso image under qemu-kvm, 1GB RAM (System RAM 8GB). I just synaptic-installed and test ran R in this vm, so I think I can say things are working right off the shelf here.