Knoppix 7.0.1-EN DVD notes & comments
.
Background:
These notes apply to a LiveDVD made from an iso d/l-ed on 5/29/12 that passed
testcd. I d/l-ed my iso from one of the sites at:
http://knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html
I used for convenience a LiveUSB made from this LiveDVD, but expect that
most of the observations reported here may be confirmed to exist as well in
a valid LiveDVD. My LiveUSB uses an 8 Gb Class 10 SanDisk with
1.4 Gb persistence and 2.4 Gb free in /mnt-system.
My computer has 4 Gb ram and uses a Broadcom wifi.
General Observations:
Klaus K has just presented his latest 'download version' of Knoppix 7 with
significant improvements over the CeBIT version released in March 2012.
These differences include faster booting; a very late kernel; a greatly
improved installation technique for Broadcom wifi drivers; and a new
experimental capability, zram. Klaus K has also included numerous bug fixes
identified by Gilles.
Detailed Observations:
1 The new Knoppix LiveDVD is a real feast of material: it includes
incredible numbers of fonts, screen-savers, games and educational programs;
IceWeasel 10.0.4 and LibreOffice 3.5.3.2 are included. It has a 3.3.7 Linux
kernel, CeBIT's was 3.2.4.
2. My DVD-size LiveUSB boots to wifi online in 42 seconds; this compared
to 50-to-60 seconds for my 6.7.1 CD-size LiveUSB.
3a The usual extraordinary hardware discovery and installation for keyboard,
video, and peripheral devices was made even better by a wholesale improvement
in adapting the Broadcom catalog of wifi devices designed for Windows to
a useful afterlife in Linux. Now virtually all Broadcom wifis may now use
b43 drivers with the same ease & simplicity as wl, which worked for some
Broadcom owner/users, but not all.
3b. The following references provide a lot of pertinent detail concerning
both the b43 and wl Broadcom driver approaches:
linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#Supported_devices; and
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php
4a. Unlike the CeBIT version, the download version of Knoppix 7's Iceweasel
does not initially include Flash. Apt, Synaptic or Install Components may
be used to install a flashplugin-nonfree package. License restrictions make
this necessary.
4b. LibreOffice 3.5.3.2 now has Liberation-fonts by default. There is thus
less reason to use Knoppix-Install-Components or Synaptic to bring in
ttf-mscorefonts-installer(3.4), but this option is still available.
5a. Keyboard handling may have changed recently. I used-to disable the
touchpad because of extraneous text and display interference while editing,
and use instead a wireless mouse as a pointing device. Disabling my
touchpad no longer seems necessary with Knoppix 7.
5b. Knoppix 6.7.1 included a package xserver-xorg-input-synaptics version
1.4.1-1 +b1; 7.0.1 uses version 1.6.1-1. Each of these contains a program,
syndaemon, one purpose of which is to disable some touchpad gesture functions
while typing. See man syndaemon for details. Perhaps the default value
choices are just better now. See also Synaptic (dpkg mgr gui) description
found at package>properties>description.
6. Both lxpanel and LibreOffice have been upgraded in Knoppix 7.
The Mandriva LXPanelX 0.5.6 fork adapted by Klaus K to debian-knoppix.alioth
0.5.8-3 lxpanel used by some Knoppix 6 users to overcome an LO/lxpanel bug
may no longer be necessary. However, if the 0.5.9-4 upgrade fails to serve,
0.5.8-3 is still availabele via Synaptic or apt.
7a. Compressed swap in RAM, zram is an experimental linux innovation that
provides swap performance improvement in systems that might otherwise swap
to other media, such as hard drives or SDDs, for examples: older computers,
netbooks or any computer 'low on ram' considering the random access memory
demands of all its program(s) being used concurrently.
7b. This new capability configures and installs itself behind the scenes,
without need for user intervention. It may effectively nearly triple the
apparently available ram, under ideal circumstances, without nearly the
performance penalty associated with swapping to hdds. Enjoy.
A more comprehensive summary
.
Klaus K ha posted his own summary of 7.0.1 contents at:
http://knopper.net/knoppix/knoppix701-en.html
Enjoy.
Root Password Problem in 7.0.1
Hi,
First I've set root password using Menu/Knoppix/Set password for root.
Then I try to customize active services using Menu/Preferences/Services but every changes is impossible to do. To enable or disable the services you need to enter a password, but the root password is not accepted.
Only when I run services-admin in Root Terminal I can able to activate or not the services
For now is what was found on first use.
Bye
automatic persistent image in v. 7.0.1?
When I installed Knoppix 7.0.1 EN to an 8GB thumbdrive today I was surprised to get no persistent image dialogue. In fact, I can't remember how I got the persistent image, but I must have it, since I'm able to save items to the desktop, and I no longer get the 'must have a persistent image' message when saving the firewall configuration.
Yet I've noted at least one post here describing the choice of the persistent image file size, which I was definitely not prompted for, as in previous versions.
I was asked whether I wanted to format and use the entire drive, and said "no". Does this mean that the Knoppix file is dynamic, and simply grows to fill the available free space on the drive, or is there a limited amount of free space available within the Knoppix folder?
If the latter is the case, what happens when it's filled? Will I be able to remove applications before Knoppix locks up, or can I just copy the usb drive or the knoppix folder and boot folder to a larger flash drive and carry on?
The only proof I have of persistence is that I was able to save a jpeg file to the desktop which persists after rebooting.
Am I missing something?
NB: as one who's been playing with Knoppix since version 3.xx, and is probably still using Linux mainly because Knopper's efforts to popularize the LiveCD, I would add that this is the fastest and most trouble-free version I have yet experienced.
Several recent attempts refused to work on one or more of my PCs, but this one managed to boot into the desktop and run off a single USB thumbdrive on two desktops after being created on a laptop, the only apparent issue being the need to change the display resolution on one desktop in order to see the left half of the desktop.(Note to Klaus: the display configuration window should always be available via mouse click from anywhere on the display - I had to hook up a second monitor to get access to it in Knoppix7.0.1)
Purging without remastering
#29 Karibu
Issue #6a/b:
Here is a way (cut from my posting on remastering) to purge all the games in one swoop. But you will of course not have any space saving until you eventually remaster
Code:
sudo aptitude purge `dpkg-query -W --showformat='${Section} ${Package}\n' | grep ^games | cut -d' ' -f2`
Also from the post, how you can get actual the package list sorted by categories:
Code:
dpkg-query -W --showformat='${Section} ${Package} ${Installed-Size}\n' | sort -n > knx702_DVDpack_sect2.txt
Example of selective purging, from same post:
Code:
sudo aptitude purge `dpkg-query -W --showformat='${Section} ${Package}\n' | grep ^editors | grep abiword | cut -d' ' -f2`
Of course, if you do an ordinary HD install, space will also be reclaimed.
