MX Linux Forum

Thanks for the explanation BitJam; I can see that makes sense.

Chris

dolphin_oracle wrote: Can you provide some screenshots of the menu? There have been no intentional changes. and "Desktop Apps" doesn't appear on mine.

dolphin_oracle wrote: Perhaps listing out your hardware

zeh@trvAX:~$ inxi -F
System: Host: trvAX Kernel: 4.10.5-antix.1-486-smp i686 (32 bit)
Desktop: IceWM 1.3.12+mod+20170325.1
Distro: antiX-17.b2_386-full keerfa 28 July 2017
Machine: Device: desktop Mobo: N/A model: N/A v: Ver.001
BIOS: American Megatrends v: 4.6.3 date: 11/19/2008
Battery BAT1: charge: 33.1 Wh 96.0% condition: 34.5/44.0 Wh (78%)
CPU: Single core Intel Atom N270 (-HT-) cache: 512 KB
clock speeds: max: 1600 MHz 1: 1333 MHz 2: 1333 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller
Display Server: X.Org 1.19.2 drivers: intel (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: 1024x600@60.00hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 945GME x86/MMX/SSE2 GLX Version: 2.1
Audio: Card Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller
driver: snd_hda_intel
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.10.5-antix.1-486-smp
Network: Card-1: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
driver: r8169
IF: eth0 state: down mac: 00:21:85:e379
Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
driver: ath9k
IF: wlan0 state: up mac: 00:22:43:68:22:c0
Drives: HDD Total Size: 160.0GB (2.4% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_MK1652GS size: 160.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 7.2G used: 3.1G (45%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda8
ID-2: /home size: 26G used: 512M (3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda4
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 49.0C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 139 Uptime: 1:51 Memory: 239.2/991.8MB
Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.3.21
zeh@trvAX:~$

zeh@tcrAX17b2:~$ inxi -F
System: Host: tcrAX17b2 Kernel: 4.10.5-antix.1-486-smp i686 (32 bit)
Desktop: IceWM 1.3.12+mod+20170325.1
Distro: antiX-17.b2_386-full keerfa 28 July 2017
Machine: Device: laptop System: TOSHIBA product: TE 2100 v: PT210E-082YK-GR
Mobo: TOSHIBA model: Portable PC v: Version A0
BIOS: TOSHIBA v: Version 1.60 date: 07/25/2003
CPU: Single core Mobile Intel Pentium 4 - M (-UP-) cache: 512 KB
speed/max: 1200/1800 MHz
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA NV17M [GeForce4 420 Go]
Display Server: X.Org 1.19.2 drivers: nouveau (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: 1024x768@60.00hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI nv17 x86/MMX/SSE2 GLX Version: 1.2
Audio: Card Intel 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller driver: snd_intel8x0
Sound: ALSA v: k4.10.5-antix.1-486-smp
Network: Card-1: Intel 82801CAM (ICH3) PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller
driver: e100
IF: eth0 state: down mac: 00:a0:d1:d5:84:8c
Card-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network Connection
driver: ipw2200
IF: eth1 state: up mac: 00:13:ce:6b:17:c2
Drives: HDD Total Size: 80.3GB (21.8% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: SAMSUNG_HM080HC size: 80.0GB
ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: Victorinox_2.0 size: 0.3GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 9.7G used: 3.0G (33%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda8
ID-2: /home size: 21G used: 13G (63%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
ID-3: swap-1 size: 1.08GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 65.0C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 127 Uptime: 23 min Memory: 180.4/495.7MB
Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.3.21
zeh@tcrAX17b2:~$

Issues with Logout
“MainMenu-Logout” closes all open windows and exits the session (leads to the Login screen)
“MainMenu-Logout-Logout” closes all open windows but doesn’t bring the “Leave/Logout” options box (suspend, reboot, shutdown, etc)
“MainMenu-Logout-Reboot” and “MainMenu-Logout-Shutdown” close all open windows but do not do anything else

In antiX CC some buttons do not start the respective applications
Desktop tab: Choose Wallpaper
Session tab: Screen Blanking
Hardware tab: Configure mouse

Network tab: Configure wap_supplicant – window not decorated

In both machines I have multiple installs and had no issues with the installing.
Targa: XP + AX16 & AX17b2 with a common /home (previously AX16, MX16, SparkyLinux). I've kept /home.
Satellite: XP + MX15, AX17b2, SparkyLinux & Bohdi with a common /home.

Edit: It seems the problem was with my having kept the /home partition from other distros. I've reinstalled beta 2 in a single partition and everything seems OK, now. The menu is the same as in the live install and all buttons on antiX CC are working properly. One issue that still remains is with the window opened by the wap configuration button on the Network tab, which remains undecorated, unlike all the others.

Can I updgrade from b1 to b2 with just "sudo apt-get dist-upgrade"?

Zeh wrote:Edit: It seems the problem was with my having kept the /home partition from other distros.

I stopped doing this a while ago because it can cause a whole bunch of problems. What I do now instead is a little bit more complicated but seems to work much better although it may not have solved the specific problems you ran into.

What I've found is I want to share data between systems but not config files. So I put my data stuff (like email) on a separate partition I mount at /data and then in my home directory I have symlinks to directories under /data/user/. When I want to move to a new system I will tar up my home directory (which isn't that large if it is mostly just config files) and untar it in the home directory in the new system. This might cause similar problems to what you experienced so a safer procedure might be to copy over files and directories from the old system if the don't already exist on the new system even though this will cause you to lose settings.

Some graphical file browser don't handle the symlinks in an elegant way. If that is a problem then one workaround is to use empty directories instead of symlinks and add entries in fstab to bind mount them to the directories under /data/user/.

My main point is that sharing config files (especially in an ongoing way by mounting the /home partition) is fraught with peril. Twenty or more years ago sharing /home on time-sharing mainframes worked really well but those days are long gone. Many programs will not share their config files between systems well. You can often get away with it for a while but you will eventually run into situations where booting into system A borks system B and then booting into system B borks system A.

My scheme of copying config files over once and then linking to data files works much better but is not perfect. There may be problems to overcome (just once) in the new system but at least the new system won't affect your older working systems.

@ BitJam
Thank you very much for your detailed and helpful explanation. I’ve learned a bit more about dealing with Linux and I’ll try to follow your system, since it seems a wise way of avoiding problems. Anyway, I had problems just because I haven’t avoided making a mistake due to my lack of experience, I believe.
Only while reading anticapitalista’s reply did I recall a warning from SparkyLinux – when installing Sparky alongside with other distro(s), if you want to use an existing /home partition you should register with an username different from the one(s) already in that /home partition. I’ve done that now and haven’t found any issues - everything seems to be working properly now. Of course, I haven’t got my bookmarks, etc. in the new system, but I can live with that. With your explanation, I’ll try to follow your way latter on and get them.
Thanks again for your interest in the matter and for your help.

Zeh wrote:when installing Sparky alongside with other distro(s), if you want to use an existing /home partition you should register with an username different from the one(s) already in that /home partition

Yes, using a different username will get rid of all conflicts. You don't get to share you configurations but as you've seen, maybe this is for the best.

I don't bother with a /home partition. That is basically the same as using different user names with a shared /home partition. In both cases, each OS has its own version of the config files under the user's home directory. I then use the separate /data partition (with symlinks and so on) for storing and sharing stuff. IMO, the key concept is keeping the config files and the data files separate and stored separately. The config files usually don't take up much space so having them repeated for each OS is not an issue. The data files might be large or take up a lot of space. By sharing them (instead of copying) you save space as well as gain access to the same files in each OS.

BitJam wrote:I then use the separate /data partition (with symlinks and so on) for storing and sharing stuff. IMO, the key concept is keeping the config files and the data files separate and stored separately. The config files usually don't take up much space so having them repeated for each OS is not an issue. The data files might be large or take up a lot of space. By sharing them (instead of copying) you save space as well as gain access to the same files in each OS.

Yes, it makes all sense to have both (1) the config files and the data files stored separately and (2) the data files share instead of copied.
I'm not yet experienced enough to get it that way on the fly right away, but I'll surely try to get there in the near future.

Use See