Open/install a .txz package on Slackware 12.2?
Tuxedo
Is it possible to open a .txz package on Slackware 12.2? I'd like to test
the various Intel Xorg drivers in a 12.2 environment of my hardware,
meaning the drivers from the extra directory on the 13.0 DVD:
xf86-video-intel-2.5.1-i486-1.txz
xf86-video-intel-2.6.3-i486-1.txz
xf86-video-intel-2.7.1-i486-1.txz
xf86-video-intel-2.8.1-i486-1.txz
Or are these also available somewhere in a .tgz package format?
Is one of the above drivers the same version that comes pre-installed on
Slackware 12.2? If so, which one?
I read an article titled "The status of Intel video drivers for Linux and
what it means for your favorite distro" at
http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20090817#feature
Obviously the Intel driver graphic problems are affecting many systems and
distros, Slackware alike, sperad like some kind of Linux desktop virus.
Whoever didn't make the new drivers backwards compatible created a pretty
big mess!
Graphics and DRI work on 12.2 but with something not working quite right.
The symptons occur only after logging out of KDE (or another window
manager) and having ran in DRI mode in that the text on the console
flickers as if some kind of hardware stress had or is occuring. But as I
said, this only happens after an X session. While running KDE or another
window manager everything appears to run perfectly fine. Only some xorg
errors are returned to the console upon exiting X, which I guess is not
entirely unusual.
Perhaps the Intel driver in Slackware 12.2 is primarily designed for a
later version of the Intel graphics chip, as such, I'd like to test the
above drivers on 12.2. But would it not make more sense to install an
earlier Intel driver on 12.2? Do they exist somewhere in an old Slackware
repository and would they run on 12.2 or with the particular version of
xorg?
Can txz be extracted on a Slackware 12.2 system or can they only be
extracted on Slackware 13.0? I deleted my 13.0 system for now but can
reinstall it again.
Would I thereafter need to re-pack the driver directories before running
installpkg? What exactly is the procedure for creating a packages on
Slackware 12.2 as well as converting for example the new 13.0 format
'xf86-video-intel-2.5.1-i486-1.txz' package into an old .tgz package?
Thanks,
Tuxedo
Douglas Mayne
AFAIK, there are a couple of options for using txz files. However, I'd
advise caution about "jumping forward" with only selected pre-compiled X
packages. I haven't looked into this closely, but X appears to be
substatially different under 13.0. A lot of users report borked conditions
with the default X install. At the very least, caution is in order.
The first option is to just install the xz package from 13.0. Optionally,
you can compile it from source, but the binary from 13.0 appears to work
ok with 12.2 as is. YMMV. After installing, the xz program package, you
can now repackage files to your heart's content. For example, this will
repackage mozilla firefox:
$ cat mozilla-firefox-3.5.6-i686-1.txz | xz -cd | \
gzip >mozilla-firefox-3.5.6-i686-1.tgz
The new package can be installed with installpkg, etc.
The second option is to start down the road to upgrade your system from
12.2 to 13.0, as explained in the file UPGRADE.TXT. That method installs
xz, upgrades tar, the package tools, etc. Check the file for details.
If you choose the second option, and there is a chance you will want to
go back to 12.2, then make appropriate backups first. IME, there is a non-
zero probabality that the upgrade will fail to work for whatever reason.
YMMV. (One WAG: udev is very different and perhaps there are other
differences at the /etc directory.
--
Douglas Mayne
Tuxedo
Right now I'm trying to make graphics and DRI in X windows working
perfectly on a first Linux installation, with an Intel 82852/82855GM
graphics device and a 1024x768 LCD display. It's a Samsung Q25 notebook and
a totally new installation, so there's no risk of important data loss. It's
also a first time I'm using Slackware. I have a multi-Linux-partition set
up, so the final Linux installations may be Slackware 13.0 and/or Slackware
12.2 as well as two or three other similar quality distros. However, the
set-up has proven much more complex than it should be, due to that the
Intel/Xorg drivers are broken in most up-to-date distros, including the
likes of Debian and its derivative distributions. I presume the same
situation applies to other Slackware based distros. But I guess if I can
get graphics working on the particular hardware in Slackware, the problem
can easily be fixed on more or less any Slackware-like distro installation.
Thanks for the txz->tgz package conversion trick and tips!
Tuxedo
Douglas Mayne
> Douglas Mayne wrote:
<snip>
>
>
> Right now I'm trying to make graphics and DRI in X windows working
> perfectly on a first Linux installation, with an Intel 82852/82855GM
> graphics device and a 1024x768 LCD display. It's a Samsung Q25 notebook
> and a totally new installation, so there's no risk of important data
> loss. It's also a first time I'm using Slackware. I have a
> multi-Linux-partition set up, so the final Linux installations may be
> Slackware 13.0 and/or Slackware 12.2 as well as two or three other
> similar quality distros. However, the set-up has proven much more
> complex than it should be, due to that the Intel/Xorg drivers are broken
> in most up-to-date distros, including the likes of Debian and its
> derivative distributions. I presume the same situation applies to other
> Slackware based distros. But I guess if I can get graphics working on
> the particular hardware in Slackware, the problem can easily be fixed on
> more or less any Slackware-like distro installation.
>
> Thanks for the txz->tgz package conversion trick and tips!
>
> Tuxedo
>
I should have added that I got Slackware 13.0 video to work using the
technique as detailed here:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.os.linux.slackware/msg/50d91397325b7833
I would think that Slackware 13.0's X would work best under Slackware
13.0, not 12.2. YMMV.
--
Douglas Mayne
Tuxedo
I just did a fresh installation of Slackware 13.0. For me X -configure and
thereafter X -config /root/xorg.conf.new returns a screenful of errors in
the console.
Before that the system could initially start in X but without DRI, which is
of course unusable in KDE. Also, after running 'xorgsetup', startx does not
work (another console full of errors). I don't think the xorgsetup program
fully goes through all steps of the screen and display configuration in
13.0; after colour depth, it goes onto keyboard/mouse. Remaining graphic
parameters are autoconfigured I guess, which fails on my hardware.
I'll have to read 'man xorg.conf' in detail, which is just what I've been
trying my best to avoid till now :-)
Tuxedo
Tuxedo
[...]
> I just did a fresh installation of Slackware 13.0. For me X -configure and
> thereafter X -config /root/xorg.conf.new returns a screenful of errors in
> the console.
Actually, something must have gone wrong with my first base installation. I
redid the intallation but this time after doing 'X -configure' the 'X
-config /root/xorg.conf.new' command produces just a black screen.
startx works however but after logging out of X there's an error that the
system failed to load module "i180" and "fbdev" because they don't exist.
So I ran 'xorgsetup' and now using an generated xorg.conf the above error
did not occur. Instead, some other errors are returned to console after
logging out of an X session. Loading KDE4 works but without direct
rendering, or with DRI, but if so very slowly and with various display
errors while moving windows around. I also did a complete reboot in case
that makes a difference, which it didn't. I guess the wrong default Intel
driver must be in use. I will test with the alternate Intel drivers in the
extra directory to see if any of those might work better in Slackware 13.0.
Mike Jones
Have you tried 'xorgsetup' at all? Its more like the old way of doing
things. Don't forget to check through your new xorg.conf and add back
bits you might need, like maybe prefered gamma settings, etc.
I managed to get a fully working X setup doing things this way, that
still worked after installing NVIAIA drivers, and with a working UK
keyboard layout too!
--
*=( http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/
*=( For all your UK news needs.
Tuxedo
[...]
> driver must be in use. I will test with the alternate Intel drivers in the
> extra directory to see if any of those might work better in Slackware
> 13.0.
After testing all four Intel drivers shipped in the extra directory and
doing 'upgradepkg --install-new' for each and auto-reconfiguring X by
'xorgsetup' with full reboots between, none of the drivers work at all on
this hardware, except for 'xf86-video-intel-2.8.1-i486-1.txz', which runs X
with the exact same symptons as right after the system was originally
installed, which was a full DVD install. I guess that is probably the same
driver that's in use on the 13.0 system default installation.
What about XFree86? It surely can't work as badly as xorg does with new
drivers and somewhat old hardware. Is it even possible to install on
Slackware?
Tuxedo
[...]
> Have you tried 'xorgsetup' at all? Its more like the old way of doing
> things. Don't forget to check through your new xorg.conf and add back
> bits you might need, like maybe prefered gamma settings, etc.
Sure I did, however, it failed in making DRI work with any of the drivers,
and the hard part is knowing what is necessary to add manually to
xorg.conf, as well as finding the values relating to the hardware. This
information isn't exactly written anywhere on Intel's or Samsung's websites.
So far it is only DRI that isn't working and this is obviously because the
drivers are broken to begin with. I'm pretty sure it would work on a much
older Linux system. I've searched countless forums and found many people
having similar problems but could not find a clear solution anywhere.
Tuxedo
Henrik Carlqvist
> After testing all four Intel drivers shipped in the extra directory and
> doing 'upgradepkg --install-new' for each and auto-reconfiguring X by
> 'xorgsetup' with full reboots between, none of the drivers work at all on
> this hardware, except for 'xf86-video-intel-2.8.1-i486-1.txz', which runs X
> with the exact same symptons as right after the system was originally
> installed, which was a full DVD install.
If so, I have no better idea than to stick to Slackware 12.2 and hope that
the intel issues will be resolved in future versions of the kernel and X
included in upcoming versions of Slackware.
> What about XFree86? It surely can't work as badly as xorg does with new
> drivers and somewhat old hardware. Is it even possible to install on
> Slackware?
The last release of XFree86 is version 4.8.0 from December 2008,
Slackware 12.2 is newer than so. Version 4.9.0 was expected the summer or
maybe winter of 2009, but that did obviously not happen.
regards Henrik
--
The address in the header is only to prevent spam. My real address is:
hc3(at)poolhem.se Examples of addresses which go to spammers:
root@localhost postmaster@localhost
Tuxedo
[...]
> If so, I have no better idea than to stick to Slackware 12.2 and hope that
> the intel issues will be resolved in future versions of the kernel and X
> included in upcoming versions of Slackware.
I agree this is the best available option in this time of age. It appears
that 12.2 is still well maintained in terms of number of pre-packaged
programs in various third-party repositories. However, even in 12.2 after
running in DRI mode and thereafter logging out of X the text in the console
flickers strangely and I have no idea what the cause may be, but something
is definitely not 100% right under the hood. At best it's just a wrongly
configured xorg.conf, meaning that xorgsetup gets the values wrong on my
particular hardware. According to the article linked at distrowatch there
are "48 combinations of settings for different features in the 2.6.x and
2.7.x Intel video drivers". Will dive into xorg.conf the manual way next...
Tuxedo
Mike Jones
Ah. I have indeed been installing on older hardware.
Looks like the same routine as with S12.0 Wait for the bugs to be ironed
out before deploying, which'll mean S13.1 = patched, and S13.2 = final.
Tuxedo
[...]
> Ah. I have indeed been installing on older hardware.
>
> Looks like the same routine as with S12.0 Wait for the bugs to be ironed
> out before deploying, which'll mean S13.1 = patched, and S13.2 = final.
Can't wait for the release :-)
Tuxedo
Richard Herbert
> Hi,
>
> Is it possible to open a .txz package on Slackware 12.2? I'd like to
> test the various Intel Xorg drivers in a 12.2 environment of my
> hardware, meaning the drivers from the extra directory on the 13.0 DVD:
>
> xf86-video-intel-2.5.1-i486-1.txz
> xf86-video-intel-2.6.3-i486-1.txz
> xf86-video-intel-2.7.1-i486-1.txz
> xf86-video-intel-2.8.1-i486-1.txz
>
> Or are these also available somewhere in a .tgz package format?
>
> Is one of the above drivers the same version that comes pre-installed on
> Slackware 12.2? If so, which one?
> Thanks,
> Tuxedo
I keep seeing these questions about .txz packages. Simply download and
installpkg xz-4.999.9beta-i486-1.tgz from slackware/current. You'll also
need pkgtools-13.0-noarch-3.tgz, but you can get that from /current as
well. I've been using this combo in 12.2 with no problems whatsoever.
Richard Herbert
Martin
> I keep seeing these questions about .txz packages. Simply download and
> installpkg xz-4.999.9beta-i486-1.tgz from slackware/current. You'll also
> need pkgtools-13.0-noarch-3.tgz, but you can get that from /current as
> well. I've been using this combo in 12.2 with no problems whatsoever.
I would add the packages "file" and "tar" to the list, the latter for the -J
option. I believe at the time of introducing txz (April 2009) a few other
packages where mentioned in the changelog, but you can probably ignore them
for your purpose.
Ark doesn't handle txz "in one go" to this day. ;-)
Martin
Tuxedo
Thanks for the tip!
Tuxedo