30

January
2013

Run on activate / deactivate

There was some confusion recently regarding how does the post-install feature work in Slax modules. So here is a short desscription. If you activate a module, it does this:

1) mount the module
2) add to aufs union to merge with current root filesystem
3) execute ./run/activate.sh from the module

If your module A requires other module B, it works this way:

1) mount module A
2) mount module B
3) add module B to aufs union
4) run ./run/activate.sh from module B
5) add module A to aufs union
6) run ./run/activate.sh from module A

So in general, the activation script is called for every module after it gets merged with the aufs unioned root. And in general, every module is added to aufs union only after all dependencies are firstly activated. It's recursive.

User comments
Prcek 2013-01-30 04:48

What is happening, when I get this error during module activation?

mount: Cannot allocate memory
Error mounting of the bundle, perhaps corrupted download

There is some memory debug info in the dmesg output and this:

SQUASHFS error: Failed to initialise xz decompressor
vmap allocation for size 528384 failed: use vmalloc=<size> to increase size.
vmalloc: allocation failure: 524288 bytes
mount: page allocation failure: order:0, mode:0xd2
Pid: 22615, comm: mount Tainted: G C 3.6.11 #1

I have plenty of memory (sort of), some is used on disk buffer and disk cache, but there is still enough to activate one tiny module.

Tomas M 2013-01-30 08:05

Hm, are you booting Slax kernel or some own kernel? Can you confirm that the squashfs module is fully and properly downloaded?

Prcek 2013-01-30 08:48

The kernel is original from Slax. I was trying to build a k3b module and needed some dependencies (libsamplerate and libkcddb), so I built them too. When I started to build the k3b, it pulled in some other dependencies (libmad, libdvdread, etc.) and those dependencies started to fail to activate. From this time, I wasn't able to activate any module at all, like as if the compilation from source code took all the memory. But I checked and there was still enough free memory (15 % of 3 GB).

I don't know what you mean by the squashfs module, it is part of Slax already, isn't it? If you meant the module which failed, I think it was properly downloaded. It happened with all of them, from the point when failed the first one.

I am experiencing a lot of strange things about module activation, which I was describing here under your other blog posts. I don't know if all of this can be caused by erroneous flash drive, but I bought it from you a month ago, so it shouldn't be wore down yet to cause some data damage, I think... But I have a feeling, that when I did similar actions in virtualbox, everything was fine. I will look into this further. Maybe my computer is cursed :-).

danny 2013-01-30 23:34

can and one get me teamviewer module

jcsoh 2013-01-30 23:53

http://old.slax.org/forum.php?action=view&parentID=83194

TeamViewer v7.0.9377 32-Bit :
http://www.mediafire.com/?im837mrpdgto6bg

TeamViewer-x64-v7.0.9377-64-Bit official 13 MB :
http://www.mediafire.com/?ncbme7nxppgdtpd
md5sum :
569ffc33285b30d00778e6868df0a308 TeamViewer-x64-v7.0.9377-64-Bit.sb

Prcek 2013-01-31 00:48

jcsoh: Why don't you upload your buildscripts to Slax server, instead of putting packages on filesharing? You have probably your reasons, but I'm curious why :-).

jcsoh 2013-01-31 01:22

(a) I don't know how to build buildscript.
(b) Although not necessary , buildscript usually ( I think) build from souce.
My modules are from binary packages. (someone already do the hard part).
(I am just the guy that mixed the packages together)

The difference ? . Think of from souces as cooking with raw ingredientl.
Binary is cooking using cans/prepacked /precook food.
Actually I just do the tgz2sb /txz2sb /rpm2tgz/deb2sb part.
The main burden is tracing the required dependency files /package.
This is where google comes in.

(c) I skipped the "removed documentation blah2... part" because slax 7 is still missing the slax 6 gems , that all click to extract , merged entire folder etc. It's a strain to do from a console.

(d) To run buildscript you have to be conected to the internet using slax 7 . My slax 7 is offline . I am online with slax 6 remix v09 (which I am not dropping anytime soon).

(e) While I tried to get slackware package , but the bottom line is , what I need , when I need , how I need come first. I can download a few packages from different dsitros at one shot , try and find the first one that work. This is the hidden " horror" story , but as I user I jus want my application.

(f) Putting a bundle on slax's repository makes you the maintainer. Just because I make a bundle doesn't meant I want to maintains it . Sometime I do a bundle because a new user request for it . Sometime because I myself want to check out the application . For eg from the modules I upload , there is a whole bunch of scanner /ocr options. Do I need I really need all of them ?. Obviously no , but in slax 6 , I counld check out most of them . Now I can. I am satisfied with my current sane/xsane and for ocr , I an happy to discover yagf/tesseract/cuneiform.(If I haven't tried out all the options , I can't conclude this)

Tomas is right to insist on the buildscripts requirement as it imposed ient"
But the reality is "what is right" may not be "what is convenient.

It's too early to tell , but as you can see the repository is hardly filling up.

The above is not a criticsm of slax , but as I said, "what is convenient to user" may not be what is best to slax. Hopefully , the both can coexist , one official and one unofficial , and as I informed Manfred/Quax , I will delete my bundle if the same (working) version appears in slax's repository.

Right now I try to explore less common packages eg dictionary /thesaurus /sound dictionary /ebook /manga etc (since this usually /seldom appear in the brepository).

Anyway from the days of slax 5 till now , I have posted 5000+ posting (answering numerous questions) , and only now I am uploading modules , So I deserved some slack...

Prcek 2013-01-31 03:34

I understand your reasons. Maybe we can work out some of your points ;-).

a) If you look at some functional buildscript, there is just one major task to do - write shell commands to compile the software from sources (usually configure,make,make install), the rest does the buildscript for you. OR...

b) Write commands to prepare the module from binary package (like you do). So I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for you at all to write a buildscript. But I'm not convincing you to do it, you have your good reasons... I'm just saying it's not hard ;-)

d) You don't need to be necessarily online to build a module, you just need to have source code (or binary package) of the particular application downloaded beforehand. But for uploading the buildscript to Slax server, ofcourse you need a working internet.

f) I agree with you, that not everyone who uploads a buildscript wants to become its maintainer. With great power comes great responsibility :-)

I think Tomas should reconsider this part of Slax philosophy and let users decide, if they want to be maintainers (and protect their module with password), or if they are willing to let other users to overwrite their buildscript without password, if it isn't good enough (up to date enough) for them. This would certainly encourage more people to write buildscripts, as the buildscipts wouldn't be "locked" by someone who doesn't care about them anymore.

There should be both worlds (privately build modules vs. modules from buildscripts on Slax server). But Slax would prosper more if the buildscript world was bigger, there is no question about it.

Whowne 2013-01-31 04:49

Tomas,i can't install Slax on my SD Card ;(
I used the bootinst.bat.
It booted correctly,but while loading it says:
*Looking for slax directory at /slax ..............
In this moment,it crashes :(
Help me,please i still without slax!

TheAnnoyingRay 2013-01-31 05:00

@Whowne I can't install Slax on my SD Card too.
I doed the same as you,but it crashes too ;(
Looking for slax directory at /slax ... crash!
Tomas,please,help us ;(

JavaMan 2013-01-31 05:02

@Whowne @TheAnnoyingRay Tomas must fix it.

Artaidan 2013-01-31 05:03

Tomas,please,fix the SD Card boot up problem.

Mager1940 2013-01-31 05:05

SD Card boot problem! i can't have Slax on my SD Card.
My laptop only boots from SD Card :/

Werawn 2013-01-31 05:07

@Tomas Shit! Slax does not boot from my SD Card too :( Tomas,please fix the boot up problem.

Lumn1945 2013-01-31 05:08

@Tomas Fix the SD Card boot up problem please.

Royshe 2013-01-31 05:09

@Tomas All the people don't boot Slax from sd card :( me too
Fix it please,i will cry ;(

Spawncreed 2013-01-31 05:15

WOW! the same problem all people! it's a nigthmare

Manfred Müller 2013-01-31 05:42

> WOW! the same problem all people! it's a nightmare

No, it isn't ;)

All those postings have been made from persons not logged in...

I bet it's the same person every time.

Slax is booting fine from all sd-cards I've tested.

Manfred

Mark De Silva 2013-01-31 06:10

Yeah I suspected it was the same person to. So far I've had no issues booting from SD cards either. However I need to ask these people (or this person) how they are booting the SD card. Are you using a USB adaptor to boot or directly from a SD slot on your computer?

Whowne 2013-01-31 07:38

xd you catched me.
Is directly in a sd slot.The sd card's brand is sandisk
slax don't look the /slax data and can't boot.Why? ;( I'm crying now

pvtmert 2013-01-31 07:39

generally built-in sd card slot does not work for laptops...

i think they re or he is doing something wrong...

directories must be:
SD-Card
/ (root)
- slax
- *.sb bundles (7 of them) sb files...
- modules/ (dir)
- changes/ (dir)
- boot/ (dir)
- rootcopy/ (dir)

I think you have:
SD Card
/ (root)
-slax
-changes/
-boot/
-modules/
-rootcopy/
-*.sb files
.
.
.

PS. If you locked your SD card (tiny pin next to card) unlock (slide up) then try again...

Whowne 2013-01-31 07:47

I checked the card.
I have this directories:
SD-Card
/ (root)
- slax
- *.sb bundles (7 of them) sb files...
- modules/ (dir)
- changes/ (dir)
- boot/ (dir)
- rootcopy/ (dir)
the directories i must have.
But slax doesn't work ;(
I need it for a old laptop with 500mb of ram.It haven't got hard drive ;(

Whowne 2013-01-31 08:28

Someone help me? ;(

Whowne 2013-01-31 08:46

The SD Card needs to be partitioned?

OrionRed 2013-01-31 08:57

bad form to spam the announcement page of the person providing a free operating system with fake ids to get a weird problem looked at.

At least I only wasted Thomas and Mark's time because I was doing something stupid.

OrionRed 2013-01-31 08:58

Oh, my stupid question for this post is: Does this activation script run if the *.sb file is in the modules directory during startup, or is it only run if module is activated after startup?

pvtmert 2013-01-31 09:43

whowne, my mıstake, all these folders and fıles must be in slax directory.
i mean
--slax
...|__boot
...|__changes

etc...

Mike 2013-01-31 09:44

Just wanted to point out that the 32-bit SlaxBuildscript virtual server is not compiling. Only 64-bit code gets done.

Mark De Silva 2013-01-31 10:02

@Orionred, the activate.sh gets run both during the startup or if you activate it on the fly. No real difference. I actually suggested making it different, but Tomas has to decide on that.

@whowne when the system boots up, does your SD card reader get identified correctly? Do you see something like /dev/mmcblk0p1 or anything like that in the startup messages? I half suspect that your SD card reader needs specialized drivers and the initrfs.img doesn't have them so it can't appropriately mount your device and hence can't find the slax/ directory. I could be wrong.

Get a SD-to-usb adaptor and plug the SD card into it and try to boot.

Whowne 2013-02-01 03:02

Yes,i see /dev/sdc1.
I tried with the USB-SD Adaptor,but no changes.

Whowne 2013-02-01 03:04

@pvtmert Yes i have all folders and .sb files in slax directory.

Roman 2013-02-01 04:37

I've experienced connection problem on client booted from network (using slax with PXE enable as host). I have aslo Mikrotik router with DHCP in network. Client boot fine, but it is impossible ping abything outside LAN, weird is, that it worked once but I can't replicate that state.
Thank's a lot, great work anyway

pvtmert 2013-02-01 18:27

Whowne, okay try to disable persistent changes and switch command-line boot options and delete 'ram' values

/slax/boot/vmlinuz initrd=/slax/boot/initrfs.img printk.time=0 vga=0x323 rw slax.flags=

it should look like this... try with that...

Whowne 2013-02-01 22:06

@pvtmert I tried,but no results.
When boot, it happen the same as normal mode.
I uploaded two photos of the problem here:

http://i.imgur.com/1KBsZXO.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/1KBsZXO.jpg?1

Whowne 2013-02-01 22:08

@pvtmert This is my SD Card: http://www.msy.com.au/pimages/Flash/Sandisk/4gsd.JPG

Mark De Silva 2013-02-01 22:18

I have the same SD card, no problems booting from it.

Its not your SD card issue, I say its your machine. Can you boot it with a USB and thumbdrive and do lspci, lsmod and lsusb and give us the make and model of your machine so we're not groping in the dark here.

Whowne 2013-02-01 22:28

@Mark @pvtmert This is my pc,a Packard Bell kav60.
Is a old netbook: http://www.gchangetout.com/images_int/m/mel78/103899/420536.jpg

Thanks for helping me ;)

Manfred 2013-02-01 22:44

I think the card reader needs the Realtek driver built into the kernel to boot.

Tomas didn't compile it into the kernel for Slax 7.0.1, because it
caused kernel oopses while testing the kernel for that Slax version.

With the new kernel it is working fine, thus Tomas should build it into the kernel now.

Christian 2013-02-02 07:02

Hi there,

I really enjoy using Slax and would like to provide bundles. But I miss a place where all those which are interested in this Linux distribution and want to share their thoughts and problems can meet. Other distributions have IRC channels on freenode.

Mark De Silva 2013-02-02 07:09

Just took a look at the specs, you do need the driver. Its not modularized in the initrfs. I'm not sure about the kernel oopses with the driver, but Manfred knows what he is talking about so trust what he says. Without the driver, your SD card will not be mounted to Slax and hence can't be read.

That being said, are you absolutely SURE you booted with an SD-to-USB adapter? Because I got a feeling you didn't even try. If you did it should have booted without an issue if your SD card was installed correctly (which I suspect it is, if not you wouldn't even have gotten as far as trying to search for the slax directory).

If you don't want to take advice and heed the stuff we are trying to help you with, then I'm not going to even bother with advising you anymore. Practically everyone should have stopped advising you after that stunt you pulled with multiple userids.

That was completely juvenile and I have no time to waste on juveniles.

Manfred 2013-02-02 08:09

> kernel oopses...Manfred knows what he is talking about...

He does, because he is the one to blame for the driver not being included
as he did the tests for over a week with his Acer AO751h.

@stunts and juveniles: +1

Manfred

Jcsoh 2013-02-02 12:08

@stunts and juveniles: +1

When caught , he just said " you got me there"
By right he should at least grovel....

MRB 2013-02-02 22:19

hi
i can't use keyboard in slax
when start load slax from usb drive
and loading completed , i can't typing anything.
how to fix this ?

jcsoh 2013-02-02 23:12

Two fatal thing with a distro:-
(a) No screen display / no readable screen display -If you can see on screen , you can proceed further.
(b) No keyboard . You can type but you can still use the mouse .
I can answer or help you , but temporary , get a virtual keyboard.
Xvkbd appear in the Menu under Utility .
Get From:-
http://www.mediafire.com/?5dwngcdltin1p

vovcik 2013-02-03 00:21

At me for a long time after starting the computer freezes and thinks, constantly lit LED treatment needed to hard drive or something, he immediately downloads?

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Sam 2013-02-26 05:18

why when I install a module, then slax not recognize devices, hard drives, flash drives, nothing.

ale 2013-02-28 07:44

teamViewer v7.0.9377 32-Bit :
http://www.mediafire.com/?im837mrpdgto6bg



not found..please re upload

timmy tim 2015-01-01 00:47

New to slax here. Just trying to learn it right now. I downloaded some games. copy paste them in the slax/module folder then rebooted. I cant see the games folder. When I do a search on a game by way of gui I find it and click run but they never start up. Can someone help me install a program then find it so I can use it...thanks