Open/install a .txz package on Slackware 12.2?
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From: Tuxedo on 3 Jan 2010 07:31 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? 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
From: Douglas Mayne on 3 Jan 2010 09:33 On Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:31:41 +0100, Tuxedo wrote: > 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? > > 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 > 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
From: Tuxedo on 3 Jan 2010 12:00 Douglas Mayne wrote: > On Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:31:41 +0100, Tuxedo wrote: > > > 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? > > > > 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 > > > 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. 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
From: Douglas Mayne on 3 Jan 2010 12:37 On Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:00:36 +0100, Tuxedo wrote: > 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
From: Tuxedo on 3 Jan 2010 13:54
Douglas Mayne wrote: > On Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:00:36 +0100, Tuxedo wrote: > > > 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. 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 |