Slackware 14.2 or current 15.0?

[Tuxedo]

Hello,

Before my recent Slackware 64 bit luks+lvm installation a bit over a week
ago I had downloaded and installed slackware64-current-install-dvd.iso via
http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/slackware/slackware64-current-iso/ which
gave me the 15.0 version.

I'm not sure which major differences there are in 15.0 over 14.2. Having
tested 15.0 only briefly, it appeared to work fine.

I initially planned to install and of course system-update the 14.2 version
from https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware-iso/slackware64-14.2-iso/ until somoene here recommended using "current" at alienbase.

I'm about to reinstall Slackware fresh as I cannot access the previously
installed 15.0 version due a Windows MBR reformat action that wiped Lilo.

Now I'm not sure which version Slackware may be best installed.... Can the
current version at alienbase be considered stable enough for everyday use or
would 14.2 at slackware.com be a more failsafe choice?

Tuxedo

[Aragorn]

On Saturday 15 September 2018 08:26, Tuxedo conveyed the following to
alt.os.linux.slackware...

Post by Tuxedo
Hello,
Before my recent Slackware 64 bit luks+lvm installation a bit over a
week ago I had downloaded and installed
slackware64-current-install-dvd.iso via
http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/slackware/slackware64-current-iso/
which gave me the 15.0 version.
I'm not sure which major differences there are in 15.0 over 14.2.
Having tested 15.0 only briefly, it appeared to work fine.
I initially planned to install and of course system-update the 14.2
version from
https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware-iso/slackware64-14.2-iso/
until somoene here recommended using "current" at alienbase.
I'm about to reinstall Slackware fresh as I cannot access the
previously installed 15.0 version due a Windows MBR reformat action
that wiped Lilo.

That should be salvageable. You can boot from the installation CD, open
up a character mode virtual console ((Ctrl+)Alt+F2), mount the root (and
(if present /boot) partition(s) on your hard disk, chroot into the on-
disk root, and then run...

# /sbin/lilo -v

... to repair the MBR. Then u(n)mount the root filesystem (and /boot,
if applicable), remove the installation CD and cleanly reboot your
computer.

[Tuxedo]

Post by Aragorn
On Saturday 15 September 2018 08:26, Tuxedo conveyed the following to
alt.os.linux.slackware...

[...]

Post by Aragorn

Post by Tuxedo
I'm about to reinstall Slackware fresh as I cannot access the
previously installed 15.0 version due a Windows MBR reformat action
that wiped Lilo.

That should be salvageable. You can boot from the installation CD, open
up a character mode virtual console ((Ctrl+)Alt+F2), mount the root (and
(if present /boot) partition(s) on your hard disk, chroot into the on-
disk root, and then run...
# /sbin/lilo -v
... to repair the MBR. Then u(n)mount the root filesystem (and /boot,
if applicable), remove the installation CD and cleanly reboot your
computer.

That was indeed the idea. Here is a copy of a previous post in a thread
titled "Boot up FLASH media creation?" in response to the same suggestion:

----------------------

Post by Aragorn
chroot /mountpoint
mkdir /mountpoint
mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mountpoint
chroot /mountpoint
Don't just type what I just did, verify that the
mount command is what you want.

I don't know about the 15.0 options come from, must be the very recent
Slackware current download. As far as I can remember, I ran the installation
after having downloaded the latest version and selected the "huge.s" option.

I now fired up the install media and mount /mountpoint containing the
various files and directories in /dev/nvme0n1p2 can be accessed but chroot
doesn't work. After having mounted the partition, running:

***@slackware:/# chroot /mountpoint

... results in:

chroot: can't execute '/bin/sh': No such file or directory

Is the idea to chroot into this environment and from there run liloconfig?

There is no chroot program in /bin however.

Tuxedo

----------------------


/dev/nvme0n1p2 is an unencrypted Slackware /boot partition responsible for
unlocking luks and lvm with the Slackware root installation on
/dev/nvme0n1p3

As I can't boot and do the Lilo restore, to simply reinstall Slackware from
the start in this particular case is perhaps the only option.

I'm just not sure whether to install 14.2 or the current 15.0.

Tuxedo

[Aragorn]

On Saturday 15 September 2018 09:01, Tuxedo conveyed the following to
alt.os.linux.slackware...

Post by Tuxedo

Post by Aragorn
On Saturday 15 September 2018 08:26, Tuxedo conveyed the following to
alt.os.linux.slackware...

[...]

Post by Aragorn

Post by Tuxedo
I'm about to reinstall Slackware fresh as I cannot access the
previously installed 15.0 version due a Windows MBR reformat action
that wiped Lilo.

That should be salvageable. You can boot from the installation CD,
open up a character mode virtual console ((Ctrl+)Alt+F2), mount the
root (and (if present /boot) partition(s) on your hard disk, chroot
into the on- disk root, and then run...
# /sbin/lilo -v
... to repair the MBR. Then u(n)mount the root filesystem (and
/boot, if applicable), remove the installation CD and cleanly reboot
your computer.

That was indeed the idea. Here is a copy of a previous post in a
thread titled "Boot up FLASH media creation?" in response to the same
----------------------

Post by Aragorn
chroot /mountpoint
mkdir /mountpoint
mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mountpoint
chroot /mountpoint

[...]
I now fired up the install media and mount /mountpoint containing the
various files and directories in /dev/nvme0n1p2 can be accessed but
chroot: can't execute '/bin/sh': No such file or directory

Try

# chroot /bin/bash /mountpoint

Post by Tuxedo
Is the idea to chroot into this environment and from there run
liloconfig?

Just...

# /sbin/lilo -v

... will do. The "-v" option gives you some verbosity on what it's
doing.

Post by Tuxedo
There is no chroot program in /bin however.

It sits in /usr/sbin, and obviously, the call to /usr/sbin/chroot
worked, so your $PATH is set correctly. /bin/sh is usually a symbolic
link to /bin/bash ─ or /bin/dash on Debian-based systems ─ but GNU Bash
will do just as well if you don't have a /bin/sh.

[Tuxedo]

Post by Aragorn
Try
# chroot /bin/bash /mountpoint

Post by Tuxedo
Is the idea to chroot into this environment and from there run liloconfig?

Just...
# /sbin/lilo -v
... will do. The "-v" option gives you some verbosity on what it's
doing.

Post by Tuxedo
There is no chroot program in /bin however.

It sits in /usr/sbin, and obviously, the call to /usr/sbin/chroot
worked, so your $PATH is set correctly. /bin/sh is usually a symbolic
link to /bin/bash ? or /bin/dash on Debian-based systems ? but GNU Bash
will do just as well if you don't have a /bin/sh.

Actually, chroot is hiding in /sbin/chroot but even if I run:

chroot /bin/bash /mountpoint
or:
/sbin/chroot /mountpoint

...the same error results:
chroot: can't execute '/bin/sh': No such file or directory

/sbin/chroot is in fact a symlink to a program file at:

../bin/busybox

The file also exists in the mounted /boot volume at /mountpoint/init-
tree/bin/busybox

.... Maybe something is missing in the current Slackware media. I think I'll
leave this for a future excersise. For now I will unlock the Luks volume and
do a complete reinstall of Slackware 15. It will probably be easier :-)

Tuxedo

[Aragorn]

On Saturday 15 September 2018 10:09, Tuxedo conveyed the following to
alt.os.linux.slackware...

Post by Aragorn

Post by Aragorn
Try
# chroot /bin/bash /mountpoint

Post by Tuxedo
Is the idea to chroot into this environment and from there run liloconfig?

Just...
# /sbin/lilo -v
... will do. The "-v" option gives you some verbosity on what it's
doing.

Post by Tuxedo
There is no chroot program in /bin however.

It sits in /usr/sbin, and obviously, the call to /usr/sbin/chroot
worked, so your $PATH is set correctly. /bin/sh is usually a
symbolic link to /bin/bash ? or /bin/dash on Debian-based systems ?
but GNU Bash will do just as well if you don't have a /bin/sh.

chroot /bin/bash /mountpoint
/sbin/chroot /mountpoint
chroot: can't execute '/bin/sh': No such file or directory
../bin/busybox

Okay, then try...

# chroot '/bin/busybox sh' /mountpoint

... or alternatively,...

# chroot '/bin/busybox ash' /mountpoint

[Ars Ivci]

Post by Tuxedo
Hello,
Before my recent Slackware 64 bit luks+lvm installation a bit over a week
ago I had downloaded and installed slackware64-current-install-dvd.iso via
http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/slackware/slackware64-current-iso/ which
gave me the 15.0 version.
I'm not sure which major differences there are in 15.0 over 14.2. Having
tested 15.0 only briefly, it appeared to work fine.
I initially planned to install and of course system-update the 14.2 version
from https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware-iso/slackware64-14.2-iso/ until somoene here recommended using "current" at alienbase.
I'm about to reinstall Slackware fresh as I cannot access the previously
installed 15.0 version due a Windows MBR reformat action that wiped Lilo.
Now I'm not sure which version Slackware may be best installed.... Can the
current version at alienbase be considered stable enough for everyday use or
would 14.2 at slackware.com be a more failsafe choice?
Tuxedo

My experience with Slackware suggests even current is more stable than
most of the distros out there. However, it depends on your choice of DE.
If you're planning to use XFCE, both 14.2 and current is fine. But
considering you have an SSD and such, I'd go for 15. If you're a KDE
fan, you have three options, not two:

14.2, current (both ships KDE 4) and Alien's KDE plasma 5.

t.

[Tuxedo]

Ars Ivci wrote:

[...]

Post by Ars Ivci
My experience with Slackware suggests even current is more stable than
most of the distros out there. However, it depends on your choice of DE.
If you're planning to use XFCE, both 14.2 and current is fine. But
considering you have an SSD and such, I'd go for 15. If you're a KDE
14.2, current (both ships KDE 4) and Alien's KDE plasma 5.
t.

Considering I don't use KDE and have an SSD, where the initial test
installation worked, 15 it is :-)

Thanks for the feedback.

Tuxedo

[Eef Hartman]

Post by Tuxedo
http://bear.alienbase.nl/mirrors/slackware/slackware64-current-iso/ which
gave me the 15.0 version.

This is a _development_ version, called -current, which will become
15.0 as soon as it has been released (which most likely won't be in
this year yet).

Post by Tuxedo
I'm not sure which major differences there are in 15.0 over 14.2. Having
tested 15.0 only briefly, it appeared to work fine.

There are about 2 years of differences AND the pre-15.0 current
release will change much more rapidly. Also there will be
malfunctioning packages and/or quick-fixes in a current release as
testing is much more limited then in a _real_ release.

Follow the slackware-current(cq slackware64-current)/ChangeLog.txt
files on mirrors to see what's happening with -current.

Post by Tuxedo
from https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware-iso/slackware64-14.2-iso/ until somoene here recommended using "current" at alienbase.

Eric "alien" Hameleers will provide _weekly_ changed iso's of the
current "release".
As they are based ON -current, of course they're much better for
_recent_ hardware as, as mentioned, 14.2 is more then 2 years old
(july 2016) and although it is being updated as far as possible it
is showing its age.

On the other hand, people still discover many problems with -current,
like (from the sept 14 Change Log):
ap/hplip-3.18.7-x86_64-3.txz: Rebuilt.
Throw away the broken and ill-advised libImageProcessor
closed-source blob.
a/sysvinit-scripts-2.1-noarch-20.txz: Rebuilt.
I'm unable to find any way to shut down a JFS root partition in a way
that leaves it clean enough that fsck will not check it at boot,
(skipped)
If anyone has a better fix, I'll take a look at it, but in my opinion
it's not really anything to worry about.
isolinux/initrd.img: Rebuilt.
Use the ter-114v terminus font. It has been reported that the font
we were using (ter-v14v) restricts the available console colors from
16 to 8 due to needing an extra bit for the higher number of available
glyphs (though in testing here I couldn't see any difference).
The new font covers ISO8859-1, ISO8859-15, and Windows-1252 codepages.
I'm still not sure it's the best choice, so additional input is welcomed.
(to give just a few of the remarks in the Change Log).

[Tuxedo]

Eef Hartman wrote:

[...]

Post by Eef Hartman
I'm still not sure it's the best choice, so additional input is welcomed.
(to give just a few of the remarks in the Change Log).

Thanks for the rundown.

I just installed Slackware 15.0 64 bit (4.14.67) with a LVM+LUKS setup on a
SSD, dual-booting via Lilo with Windows 10 as the alternative.

The final Lilo procecedure required a little manual interaction.

After adding the Windows partition via liloconfig in the setup routine
/dev/nvme0n1p1 for Windows was truncated to /dev/nvm in length of /dev/sdx.

So this part in the Windows block needed to be modified in /etc/lilo.conf:

table = /dev/nvme0n1p1

In the Linux block I also changed image = /boot/vmlinuz which pointed to the
huge version to:

image = /boot/vmlinuz-generic-4.14.67

And added:

boot = /dev/initrd.gz

I presume this is the right way? In any case, the system dual-boots fine.

To make regular updates with with the 'current' version, does the usual
update procedure apply?

slackpkg update
slackpkg upgrade-all

Tuxedo

[jrg]

Post by Tuxedo
dual-booting via Lilo with Windows 10 as the alternative.

I've been laboring under a delusion with 14.2? I thought lilo couldn't
handle EFI and am using elilo , no winbloze.