knoppix -> debian-like -> debian

[macherb]

Hi, greetings to all!

Thanks to Mr. Knopper for his distri.
After a crash I installed Knoppix3.3 from thge Linux-intern dvd as debian-like system (This was really simple and fast). And I could adapt most things is I want or need. There are some issues remaining: I installed german as system language but would prefer english. I tried to change the locale in knoppix-sysvinit by replacing "de" with "*" for en_US. This had no effect at all.
Another annoying thing is this shadowed cursor.
Which configuration files do I have to edit? Is there a tutorial or guid to change the debian-like behaviour to real debian? Which knoppix-packages may be removed without corrupting the system? (There is a conflict when dselect tries to install sysvinit-rc)

Thanks for helping
macherb

[m_yates]

Here is how to change the cursor:

Go to http://www.kde-look.org/ and select "X11 Mouse Themes". Even though it is KDE-look, it will change the mouse for all window managers. I like the RedHat Linux 9 cursor theme. It has a shadow, but it is understated. Extract the theme of your choice. It will create a directory called "cursors". From the directory holding the "cursors" directory you just created:

su
(enter root password)
mkdir /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/icons/mytheme
cp -R cursors /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/icons/mytheme/
kwrite /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/icons/default/index.theme

Now edit the index.theme file to read "inherits=mytheme" instead of "inherits=whiteglass".

Save your changes and the next time you restart X, you will have a new mouse theme for all users.

[m_yates]

Here is how to replace sysvinit:

First, download the sysvinit deb file from the Debian unstable (or testing) branch and save it. Then use apt to replace sysvinit:


su
(enter root password)
apt-get remove sysvinit

make note of packages removed, you will want to re-install some.

apt-get update
apt-get -t unstable install sysvinit

This can also be for testing version instead of unstable. It will likely fail because of update-rc.d. To fix this:

dpkg -x sysvinit<version you downloaded>.deb /tmp
cp /tmp/usr/share/sysvinit/update-rc.d /usr/sbin

Now it should install:

apt-get -t unstable install sysvinit

When it asks you about configuration files for initscripts, select "I" to use the standard initscripts from Debian.

Reinstall packages that were removed along with sysvinit when you typed "apt-get remove sysvinit". To do that, just type "apt-get install packagename"

[gowator]

Hmm I was a bit worried about doing this...
So far Ive had to write all the SYS V stuff by hand...

I think this topic and this http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8211
are really the same

Is there really no documentation anywhere on how to Finish the Debianisation process without wrecking the HD install.....

[m_yates]

I have replaced or removed just about every Knoppix-specific package, and I have had no problems. The replacement of sysvinit is tricky, but it can be easily done. It doesn't wreck the hard drive install if you are careful.

[tr]

I have replaced or removed just about every Knoppix-specific package, and I have had no problems.

I was encouraged to replace sysvinit-knoppix with Debian's sysvinit because of your good instructions and I succeeded. But it was not easily done.

Now everything works but I can't login to any window manager but as a root. It doesn't help if I make a new user name with adduser - no permission to login to KDE or any other wm. I have tried this with 2004-02-16 version and new CeBIT version of KNoppix with same results.

I get some error messages as

Xlib: No protocol specified

I think that I got also some message of 'update-rc.d in not
configured yet'. How can it be configured?

What went wrong and how to login as a normal user to KDE?

[m_yates]

Sorry, I haven't had the problem that you describe. I have updated sysvinit and all other packages to the latest Debian-unstable. I did not receive an error about update-rc except during installation of sysvinit, and I fixed it as described above.

Are you sure the login problem is related to sysvinit? There is often a problem with the "default" login selection. If you try to login as a normal user, try manually selecting KDE3 before entering your password.

[tr]

I did not receive an error about update-rc except during installation of sysvinit, and I fixed it as described above.

This worked with CeBIT version:
dpkg -x sysvinit<version you downloaded>.deb /tmp
cp /tmp/usr/share/sysvinit/update-rc.d /usr/sbin

...but not with latest Knoppix 3.3 version. I couldn't even install sysvinit with apt-get. So I had to install it with 'dpkg -i sysvinit<version_nr>.deb'.

This didn't work:

root@TeraeNet:/home/tapsa# apt-get install sysvinit
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
Note, selecting sysvinit-knoppix instead of sysvinit
Package sysvinit-knoppix is a virtual package provided by:
You should explicitly select one to install.
E: Package sysvinit-knoppix has no installation candidate
root@TeraeNet:/home/tapsa#
This is what I first got with dpkg:

root@TeraeNet:/var/cache/apt/archives# dpkg -i sysvinit*
dpkg: regarding sysvinit_2.85-15_i386.deb containing sysvinit, pre-dependency
problem: sysvinit pre-depends on sysv-rc (>= 2.85-2) | file-rc (>> 0.7.0)
dpkg: error processing sysvinit_2.85-15_i386.deb (--install):
pre-dependency problem - not installing sysvinit
Errors were encountered while processing:
sysvinit_2.85-15_i386.deb
...and I had to download and install sysv-rc manually with dpkg. That perhaps caused the problem. Now I could install sysvinit with dpkg:

root@TeraeNet:/home/tapsa# dpkg -i sysvinit*
dpkg-deb: `sysvinit_removing.txt' is not a debian format archive
dpkg: error processing sysvinit_removing.txt (--install):
subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2
dpkg-deb: `sysvinit.txt' is not a debian format archive
dpkg: error processing sysvinit.txt (--install):
subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2
(Reading database ... 112935 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace sysvinit 2.85-15 (using sysvinit_2.85-15_i386.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement sysvinit ...
Setting up sysvinit (2.85-15) ...

Errors were encountered while processing:
sysvinit_removing.txt
sysvinit.txt
root@TeraeNet:/home/tapsa#
I had to re-install some extra packages that was removed with Knoppix's sysvinit.

This is what was removed:

root@TeraeNet:/home/tapsa# apt-get remove sysvinit
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
root@TeraeNet:/home/tapsa# apt-get remove sysvinit
Reading Package Lists... Done
Building Dependency Tree... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
atmelwlandriver-tools console-tools ftape-util kbd-compat
knoppix-terminalserver linux-wlan-ng linux-wlan-ng-modules-2.4.24-xfs
lvm-common lvm10 modconf modutils nfs-common nfs-kernel-server nis sysvinit
WARNING: The following essential packages will be removed
This should NOT be done unless you know exactly what you are doing!
sysvinit
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 15 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives.
After unpacking 15,9MB disk space will be freed.
You are about to do something potentially harmful
To continue type in the phrase 'Yes, do as I say!'
?] Yes, do as I say!
(Reading database ... 113535 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing atmelwlandriver-tools ...
Removing kbd-compat ...
Removing console-tools ...
Removing ftape-util ...
Removing knoppix-terminalserver ...
Removing linux-wlan-ng-modules-2.4.24-xfs ...
Removing linux-wlan-ng ...
Removing lvm10 ...
vgcfgbackup -- no volume groups found
Removing lvm-common ...
Removing modconf ...
Removing modutils ...
Removing nfs-kernel-server ...
Stopping NFS kernel daemon: mountd nfsd.
Unexporting directories for NFS kernel daemon...done.
Removing nfs-common ...
Stopping NFS common utilities: statd.
Removing nis ...
dpkg - warning, overriding problem because --force enabled:
This is an essential package - it should not be removed.
Removing sysvinit ...
root@TeraeNet:/home/tapsa#

Notice that dpkg warning.


I don't remember but because of some reason I also had to install initscripts with dpkg:

root@TeraeNet:/var/cache/apt/archives# dpkg -i initscripts*
(Reading database ... 112897 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace initscripts 2.85-15 (using initscripts_2.85-15_i386.deb)
...Unpacking replacement initscripts ...
Setting up initscripts (2.85-15) ...

Configuration file `/etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh'
==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:
Y or I : install the package maintainer's version
N or O : keep your currently-installed version
D : show the differences between the versions
Z : background this process to examine the situation
The default action is to keep your current version.
*** bootmisc.sh (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ? Y
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/bootmisc.sh ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/checkfs.sh ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/checkroot.sh ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/halt ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/hostname.sh ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/mountall.sh ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/mountnfs.sh ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/rmnologin ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/sendsigs ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/single ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/umountfs ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/urandom ...
.. and now I'm convinced that this was the problem. Now I should configure something afresh but what. I have tried every window manager as a normal user but nothing works (no authority to login?). No problem as a root. Kdm starts and I get graphical login window.

Thank you for your help and I'm going to do this process again with new Knoppix installation after I'm convinced what caused my problems with sysvinit. Hope this helps some other, too.

[tonyleake]

I have reinstalled sysvinit and have exactly the same problem.I can only login as root.

Did you find anything out about it?

regards
tony

[m_yates]

Can you try to do this:

choose console from kdm

login from the console as a normal user

type the command "startx".

If X fails to start, can you post the error messages you see?

[tonyleake]

When I log into the console I get the message "ttys0 LSR safety check engaged!" on the screen whcih repeats every second.

However I am able to log on as a normal user and startx. I get a screen that looks like twm but with no menus, after a couple of minutes it dies. Before It dies I switched to a different virtual terminal and saw the following message

This is approximate as it was scrolling to fast and I'm not sure where it logged to

AUDIT <date information> Client 1 refused from localhost
XLIB connection to :0.0 refused by server
XLIB no protocol specifed

This sequence was repeated over and over until it gave the message "giving up" and went back to the LSR safety check message

I don't really have any idea about how X starts or the relationship between X and kde so I will do some reading see what I can figure out. In the meantime thansk for any help.

[tr]

AUDIT <date information> Client 1 refused from localhost
XLIB connection to :0.0 refused by server
XLIB no protocol specifed


This is exactly the same message I get. I'm also planning to learn more of the init process and check permissions. For some reason a normal user don't have permission to log in X.

Could this be the same login problem as was in 2004-02-09 version? How was that fixed?

[m_yates]

Can you try one other thing? Login as root, and do the following:
cd /tmp
chmod 1777 .X11-unix
There is sometimes a problem with permissions changing on this directory. I do not know why. That may be the cause of your problems.

[tonyleake]

Thanks, tired that and it didn't make any diference.

I am currently working through some XFree docs to see what I can find out, but if you have any more ideas thay are all greatfully received .

[m_yates]

OK, try the following as root:
cd /tmp
chmod -R a+rwx .X11-unix
chmod 1777 .X11-unix
chmod 1777 /tmp
Then as regular user try
xinitThis should open an xterm window. Type "exit" and go back to the console. Now try
startxand see if KDE loads up.

Something is messed up with permissions, but I think the above will fix permissions and create a .Xauthority file for the user. Please write back and let me know if it worked. Sorry that my instructions on sysvinit has given you problems.

[tr]

OK, try the following as root:
cd /tmp
chmod -R a+rwx .X11-unix
chmod 1777 .X11-unix
chmod 1777 /tmp


Thanks! That was it!

I just changed permissions as you instructed before and logged out of X with 'Ctrl-Alt-Backspace'. Then I logged in as normal user. Everything is now fine :)

What was exactly done? Permissions in /tmp was
drwxr-xr-x
and now they are
drwxrwxrwxt

[m_yates]

Glad that it worked. To be honest, I don't know exactly why the problem crops up. Perhaps someone more knowledgable than me will read this thread. The chmod command gives everyone the ability to read, write, and execute files in /tmp/.X11-unix. Before changing it, only root could write there. The regular user needs to write there to run X.

I also need to learn about chmod. The chmod 1777 makes a "sticky" directory or append-only. Everyone can read and write files, but deletion or renaming of files is restricted. /tmp is supposed to be set at 1777, but for some reason it or .X11-unix or both changes doing the sysvinit upgrade.

[tonyleake]

Worked for me too, thanks :D

[Durand Hicks]

I just successfully attempted to replace sysvinit-knoppix with the debian sysvinit. But the process I used was very different. First of all, I used aptitude to do this conversion, and alternated it with the commandline.
1) As root, start aptitude.
2) Click / then enter sysvinit, and hit enter twice.
3) Scroll to the bottom and choose the 2.85 version (which will make it seem like it will downgrade, but that's what you want.), press shift and +.
4) You will need the following packages: initscripts, sysv-rc, mount. Make sure all are selected.
5) Press g once to see what will be downloaded and replaced. There should be at least 3 packages that will be removed. Those packages need to be marked with a shift and - to purge them from the system. Mount-aes will give you the most trouble, and it will make you enter a confirmation by typing 'Yes, I know it is a very bad idea', before letting you replace it with mount.
6) Press q then press g again, to make sure your choices are clear. If it all looks okay without adding addtional packages other than the ones I mentioned above, then you are good to go. Press g to download and install.
7) You'll need to press enter once the downloads are finished to install the packages. It will remove and replace mount-aes with mount successfully and then break at initscripts.
8) Quit aptitude. In a root console, cd to /var/cache/apt/archives and dpkg -i --force-overwrite initscripts sysv-rc. These 2 packages complain about a script that was supplied by sysvinit, so this needs to be done.
9) When both are successfully installed, run aptitude again and select the same packages as before (as well as the same packages you wanted removed) and press g twice. It will finish the process resulting in replacing the knoppix sysvinit with debian's sysvinit and you do not have to worry about other packages being removed or broken by sysvinit's removal.

AFAICT, it works great on my system. I've even tested update-rc.d to see if that needed to be copied or moved back to /usr/sbin, but apparently I didn't need to. Nor did I need to mess with permissions either, but I can't guarantee that this will work for everybody.

Btw, this was done on a hd-install from knoppix v3.3 2-9-2004 and upgraded to the latest testing packages. Don't know about 3.4, so use this at your own risk.

HTH,

Durand