Hints and Tips
for Lighthouse Pup
Acronyms |
System
Requirements | Installation | GRUB Bootloader |
Troubleshooting | Keep VirtualBox
or Wine from filling up your save file
Lighthouse64 FAQ | Display drivers in Lighthouse64 | Uninstallation/Upgrade
| SFS
Add-ons | Automount | Desktop
| Command
Line
Release
notes | Flash
Version | JavaRE Test | Compiz-Fusion
| Cairo-Dock
(LHP-5.03)
If
you're updating your existing
Lighthouse to a new version, please
start a 'clean boot'
from the CD-ROM by typing
at the boot menu puppy pfix=ram
and make a back-up copy of your
pupsave* file e.g., LHPsave.3fs.bak
before booting LighthousePup. (If booting with GRUB, at the boot menu,
press 'e' to edit the
kernel line, add pfix=ram,
then Enter and 'b' to boot.)
* As of Lighthouse 5.00 G, the pupsave filename begins with LHPsave.
With Just-Lighthouse64 the save file begins with JL64save.
LHP =
Lighthouse Pup
Linux JWM =
Joe's Window
Manager
IceWM
= Ice
Window Manager
L64 = Lighthouse 64-bit
KDE
= 'K' Desktop Environment
LXDE =
Lightweight X11 Desktop
Environment
SFS = Squash File System
Xfce = Lightweight
& full-featured desktop Fusion = Compiz
stand-alone with ROX desktop
NLS =
Native Language Support, a.k.a. Localization or L10n. Lighthouse is
mostly English, though efforts to support more locales are ongoing.
System Requirements
For the LiveCD you'll want the machine set up in the BIOS to
boot from the CD-ROM drive before
other drives. Floppy, then CD is OK if no floppy is inserted. (If you already have Lighthouse or
Puppy booting from GRUB, you can click on the ISO
in ROX-Filer to mount
it and then copy the files into a new folder one-level-deep at
/mnt/home e.g, /mnt/home/lhp.)
Other requirements differ by
Window Manager (WM). The Lighthouse Base CD
has JWM, IceWM, LXDE and Openbox.
All should work with older hardware,
though JWM is slightly faster than the others.
One of the add-ons make KDE 4
available after saving
your session
and rebooting, though you can use most of the KDE apps without logging
in to KDE. Lighthouse Base and
Mariner should boot and run all WM's except KDE with 256-512M RAM. For logging into KDE
4, I recommend at least 512M
though it may need 768M+ with
fairly recent hardware
for best performance. A
newer ATI or NVIDIA based graphics adapter is recommended for 3D apps
and HD video. For Lighthouse 64, at
least 1G - 1.5G of RAM is recommended.
A Linux
Swap partition is also
recommended, at least the size of the
installed RAM. GParted in the
System menu can be used, however on a
Windows box, note that GParted will pop up a message with
tips on
resizing an NTFS partition in Windows
before creating the Linux Swap with GParted. Please read these
tips as resizing a Vista/Win7/8
partition with GParted is not recommended.
Before applying any changes with
GParted please clean boot from the
LiveCD by typing ram at the
boot menu
so that all partitions can be unmounted first. When saving your
session onto
a Windows partition it is wise to defragment the drive in Windows first
(Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Defragment.)
LHP 5.00 is based on a hybrid of Quirky 1.2, Slackpup 0.4, Slackware 13.1 and Puppy 4.3.1, with some updates from a recent Woof. It's a good idea to
have one of these CDs available for comparison and if something
hardware-related doesn't work, you'll have a wider base of users to get
help from.
Lighthouse64 is loosely based on Fatdog 64, primarily Fatdog 64 521, and requires a
64-bit processor.
Download
the ISO and burn to a CD-R. Start here if you're
unfamiliar with ISOs and MD5s:
Burning an ISO
-
Authoring/Burning
Software -
Using MD5
Checksums
If you're updating your existing
Lighthouse to a new version, please
start a 'clean boot'
from the CD-Rom by typing
at the boot menu puppy
pfix=ram
and make a back-up copy of your
pupsave file e.g., LHPsave.3fs.bak
before booting LighthousePup. (If booting with GRUB Bootloader, at the
boot menu, press 'e' to edit the kernel line, add pfix=fsck,ram
to the end of that line, then press Enter and 'b' to boot.)
No
installation is required for the Base ISO, just enable booting from
CD-Rom in your BIOS/setup menu. Reboot with the Lighthouse CD-Rom disc
in your drive, at the boot menu type ram <Enter>.
This is the Live-CD
or 'clean boot' mode. The Mariner ISO is the same Live-CD but it
includes extra
SFS add-ons for first boot or a Frugal Install as described below.
At
reboot/shutdown you'll be prompted to save your personal files and
settings in a LHPsave
file (Option 1). If you choose to let Lighthouse save your files and
settings, the boot (startup) time can be
reduced. This is called
a Frugal Install and allows sharing the partition with other operating
systems, although choosing a partition formatted with ext4, or another a Linux file
system (ext3, ext2 or reiserfs) is recommended.
After selecting the partition, file system, encryption (optional) and
name of your LHPsave, you'll see a 'Let's double check before finishing
dialog' summary dialog. This one has a button for entering a subfolder, which facilitates
sharing the partition with other Puppy or Puppy derivative
installations on the same partition.
The final dialog presented offers to copy the main file and SFS files
to the same place as your newly created LHPsave, and this is the step
that facilitates faster boot times.
After
rebooting into your newly saved Lighthouse environment, click
on the Pmount Drives icon on the desktop or Menu -> File System ->
Drives Manager,
and the 'Mount' button for your CD/DVD drive. A window should open
showing the files below. Then click on the File System
icon, click on mnt and home. (If
you chose a subfolder in the 'Let's double check before finishing
dialog', open it also.)
Drag
and drop the following files from the Lighthouse CD
to the folder that contains your
LHPsave file e.g., /mnt/home/LHPsave.4fs
or /mnt/home/[subfolder]/LHPsave.4fs.
When
prompted to copy or move the files, select copy.
(/mnt/home is actually a
symlink to the root of the partition.) Some of the files may already be
there. This is the recommended Frugal Install:
- LHP-nnn.sfs (This is
called the main
file. nnn
is the
build version
e.g., LHP-502.sfs, or for Lighthouse 64, L64-514.sfs)
- initrd.gz
(Initial ramdisk; for Lighthouse 64, initrd.xz)
- vmlinuz
(Linux kernel)
- zWine-n.n.n.sfs (Wine
system files)
- click-to-verify-lhp
or click-to-verify-mariner
(md5sum verification script)
- Optional: extra SFS file add-ons e.g., LibreOffice.sfs and JavaRE-nnn.sfs
Note
1: A traditional full
hard disk install is not recommended. It can make
backups, upgrades, troubleshooting and customizing more difficult. A
variety of install options are available in Menu -> Setup ->
Lighthouse Universal Installer. Booting with puppy
pfix=ram from a CD/DVD burned multi-session, at shutdown a
dialog offers to save your session back
to the CD/DVD, so that a hard disk is not needed. This is the
experimental PUPMODE=77.
Note
2: For Lighthouse 5.00 G or later, if
the LHPsave file is in a subfolder,
extra SFS files can be placed
in either the top
directory, or preferably
in a subfolder, (one level
deep, same folder as the LHPsave.) This is ideal when using a GRUB
bootloader (Menu | Setup | Puppy universal installer, or Menu |
System | Utility | GRUB Bootloader Config.) GRUB
allows booting directly from the hard disk instead of from the CD-ROM.
Sample GRUB
entries here.
Switch to Previous System, e.g. other
Linux, Windows,
etc.
There is a command line option at the
boot menu to boot from the first hard drive by typing
h
<Enter>. Or
just remove the Lighthouse CD-
ROM
from its drive and reboot.
It pays
to back up your LHPsave file on a
regular basis, just in case something goes wrong.
If Lighthouse doesn't respond, first
try Ctrl+Alt+Backspace. This will shut down X
Windows to the
command prompt. From the text mode prompt, type xwin
<Enter> to
return to
Lighthouse. If you've changed window managers try xwin
jwm
or xwin starticewm
or
xwin startlxde
/ xwin
startkde / xwin startxfce. On the
outside chance that doesn't work try xorgwizard
to reconfigure the display; or Ctrl+Alt+Delete
| reset button on CPU to
reboot; or just hit the power button, wait about 8 seconds and hit
power
again.
You can verify the core Lighthouse base
files on the CD-ROM or Frugal Installed
drive by clicking on click-to-verify-lhp
(or click-to-verify-mariner.)
This checks the md5sum on the core system files listed above. If this
returns an error, restore the files from your original ISO or
CD-Rom (including click-to-verify-lhp)
and re-try. If it still gives an
error, re-download the ISO from www.lhpup.org/download.htm.
What is
MD5?
Low on free space in your LHPsave
file?
- If you have been running Lighthouse for a long period of time,
Logging out and restarting X will clear away some temporary files. If
you must keep X running, close any web browsers that are
open, then click File System
| etc | rc.d | pup-dip.
- Open Map of Storage Used in the freespace
tray icon menu, or open /initrd/pup_rw
with Gdmap
graphical disk usage in the Utilities/File Menus. Really quick
way to see where the space is going.
- /root/.wine
will fill
up quickly if you run/install anything in Wine. In a Frugal Install I
like to wipe it
clean occasionally by deleting /initrd/pup_rw/root/.wine
and
rebooting--akin to
reformatting in Windows.
(But first back up /root/.wine
if there's anything important in there!) /initrd/pup_rw/ is
typically where the files inside your pupsave
are found.
- VirtualBox is especially
prone to filling up the save file, (OS installations can be huge.) What
I do is close VirtualBox, move /root/.VirtualBox
to, or make a folder, .VirtualBox on another
partition or within /mnt/home.
Then in ROX-Filer drag and drop it to /root and choose 'Link
(absolute)' when prompted. That way VB will work with /root/.VirtualBox as before,
even though it is actually on another partition. The procedure is
detailed at this forum post.
In Lighthouse, you can also do that by pasting this into a terminal:
Code: |
frugal-symlink /root/.VirtualBox
.VirtualBox |
(There is a space before the last
.VirtualBox.) That method will put the large .vdi disk images and all
VB settings into a folder at /mnt/home/LHP_503_Programs/.VirtualBox
The same method can be used for browsers and Wine e.g., Firefox with /root/.mozilla
or Wine with /root/.wine
Code: |
frugal-symlink /root/.wine .wine |
For usage, type frugal-symlink --help in a
terminal.
- You can enlarge your pupsave with Enlarge Storage File in the freespace
tray icon menu, or Resize
personal storage file in the
System Menu. Sometimes the resize requires that a file system check be performed by
entering puppy
pfix=fsck at the boot menu, or pfix=fsck
on the GRUB kernel line, if applicable.
- If you aren't using Moblock (part of an earlier KDE
SFS add-on) for a while, move moblock-monitor
into the DisabledItems
folders in both and /Autostart and /Startup.
On X restart that will trigger
a cleanup of about 130M of blocklists, which are found in
/var/spool/blockcontrol and /var/lib/blockcontrol. (Note: the KDE
SFS for LHP 5.00 F and
later offers to place these blocklists in a subdirectory of /mnt/home
so that they will not fill up your pupsave.)
If
you observe odd behavior, such as fonts displaying only squares, or
unusually high CPU usage, restarting X will usually rectify this.
Occasionally a full reboot may be needed.
If
a particular
application fails to start, open a terminal window like Console-LHP on the Wbar launcher. Type the apps executable name
(case-sensitive but often
all lower-case, e.g., abiword)
and press <Enter>. The correct executable and can
found by opening ROX-Filer (File System
icon), click on Applications
and locate the app's
name. Right-click | Open As Text and find the line beginning with Exec=. Then type what follows the 'Exec='
in a terminal as above. Hit
<Enter> and copy and paste the output into a new post on the Lighthouse Pup Forum. If it starts but something
isn't right, you may need to kill
the previous instance by typing (in a terminal) killall <executable>
<Enter>, then re-type <executable>
<Enter>.
Sys-Info in the System menu is a quick way to
gather some useful system data into one text file. Hardinfo in the same menu is also
helpful.
Finally,
booting with pfix=ram
(first boot or LiveCD mode) and installing if necessary, only the
application or SFS in question is a good way to eliminate other
possible conflicts.
Comments
and questions are welcome at Puppy Derivatives Forum. Please use the thread
labeled LighthousePup N.NN, where N.NN is the
version you are using or interested in. In Lighthouse, type ver in a
terminal window for version
information.
Uninstallation/Clean
Upgrade
Reboot
in LiveCD or 'clean boot' from
your Lighthouse CD-Rom, typing
ram at the
boot menu.
Click on Pmount Drives and mount the drive where your
LHPsave.3fs
is
located. Delete or move to another folder all
of the frugal install files listed above and rename
LHPsave.3fs
to
LHPsave.3fs.save or
similar. Remove the
CD-Rom from its drive and reboot. If desired, insert a new Lighthouse
CD and continue with a frugal install as described above.
Though less reliable,
as of LHP
5.00 F, it is possible to upgrade your existing
pupsave to a later version by
making a backup copy
of your save file and then rebooting from the new LiveCD, (or for a
GRUB
installation, mounting the new ISO and using it to replace the files
above.) Either way,
making a backup copy
of your save file is recommended,
before
starting an upgrade!
What is an SFS and How to Install?
SFS (Squash File System) add-ons
are covered in depth at http://lhpup.org/sfs/Architecture.htm#SFS
Where do I get them?
Click on Download
| LHP version | SFS add-ons. Direct
downloads are
grouped by release version at http://lhpup.org/sfs.
Still more can be found at
the PuppyForum. Use
the direct
downloads link for Lighthouse 64--it
requires 64-bit versions indicated by an x86_64 or amd64 suffix.
If the SFS file name ends with _nnn it
should
match the LHP version you have, e.g., 5-Mariner-5G
_502.sfs
for LHP 5.02 G build 502.
In
earlier versions of Lighthouse Pup, Automount was enabled by
default
to mount all drives during bootup.
To disable Automount
open /mnt
in ROX-Filer, click on the Automount icon and uncheck
Automount: all drives. There is also an entry in the File System menu
for
Automount-setup. In LHP 5.00 and later you can selectively automount
drives with Startmount in the
File System Menu.
Desktop and
User Interface
Internet/Network
Connections
-- Click on the 'Connect' desktop icon. You will
then see at least two buttons, to choose the Dialup or Network Wizards
-- click
the latter if you have a wired or wireless broadband Internet
connection. Once you are connected, you shoud see a 'blinky' icon on
right side of the taskbar.
Autoraise and
mouse focus
KDE4 Autoraise and focus settings--see System
Settings | Window Behavior
KDE3 Autoraise and focus settings--see Control
Center | Desktop | Window Behavior
Openbox
Autoraise and focus is configured with the Openbox
Configuration Manager. To enable click to focus, right click on desktop | Openbox | Obconfig
|
Mouse | uncheck 'Focus Windows when...' and this takes effect
immediately.
Startup/shutdown sounds
To change startup and shutdown
sounds, open /usr/share/audio
folder:
Change login.wav and logout.wav symlinks to point at desired sound
file, or rename the symlinks to disable the sounds.
For KDE4 login/logout sounds,
open System Settings | Notifications | click on Event source: drop-down | KDE System Notifications.
Autostart
Items
For
JWM/IceWM/LXDE/Openbox/Xfce
see /Startup
or ~/Startup;
to
disable an item from autostarting, move it to the DisabledItems folder
(/Startup/DisabledItems)
X Windows Init Script is /root/.xinitrc
(File | Recent Files in
Geany Text Editor.)
IceWM
(Taskbar 'Rocket
Icon') QuickLaunch |
Advanced Settings | Open Autostart Folder. Move
items to and from 'DisabledItems' folder to disable or enable autostart.
QuickLaunch | Advanced
Settings | IceWM Settings | Edit Startup Script
QuickLaunch | Advanced Settings
| Edit X Windows Init Script
KDE Autostart Items in /Autostart
(Click the blue
folder icon File System | Autostart.)
Note: If KDM login manager is installed with
xorgwizard | Options & Tools, /root/.xinitrc
is replaced by a script for each Window Manager in /usr/bin,
e.g., /usr/bin/kdm2icewm, /usr/bin/kdm2jwm
IceWM
Keyboard shortcuts (hotkeys)--for KDE4 see System Settings |
Keyboard
& Mouse
- Alt+Tab Switch Window
(Shift+Alt+Tab to reverse direction)
- Ctrl+Esc Root Menu (aka 'Start Menu'.
'Windows' key has same action.)
- Ctrl+Alt+R Rxvt Terminal ('Windows' key+R has same
action.)
- Ctrl+Alt+C Calculator ('Windows' key+C has same
action.)
- Ctrl+Alt+F Pfind File Search Utility
Openbox
keyboard shortcuts (in Lighthouse 64)
- Alt+Tab
Switch Window
(Shift+Alt+Tab to reverse direction)
- Ctrl+Shift+M
Screenshot via mtpaint
- Ctrl+Esc
Root Menu
- Ctrl+Shift+X
Shutdown panel
Console
Switching
- Ctrl+Alt+F1 Console
Messages
- Ctrl+Alt+F2 Login Console
(default password for root is woofwoof.)
- Ctrl+Alt+F7 Back to
X Windows
Type phelp
<Enter> in
a terminal/console for getting started tips.
ver software versions
If desired, Lighthouse can be started
to CL (without X Windows) with
boot parameter puppy pfix=nox
The following default aliases
(keystroke abbreviations) are in
/etc/.bashrc to make life a bit easier:
alias l='ls'
alias la='ls -A' # include hidden, skip . and .. entries
alias ll='ls -Al | more' # include hidden, details, page at a time
alias lh='ls -Ahl | more' # as above plus human readable sizes (K=KiloBytes, M=MegaBytes, etc.)
alias clr='clear' # clear screen
alias ..='cd ..' # change to parent directory
alias win='xwin' # for congruence with MS/DOS
alias dir='ls -Al | more' # for congruence with MS/DOS
alias shutdown='poweroff' # for congruence with MS/DOS
Release
notes
This free
software comes with absolutely no
warranty. For GPL, LGPL,
other licenses and documentation see
/usr/share/doc, www.fsf.org/licensing
and www.puppylinux.com/faq.htm.