planetwatt.com
Help and Support => Archives => wattOS R10 => Topic started by: biffster on September 19, 2016, 09:55:39 PM
-
****EDIT****
Microwatt R10 has been released...go get it and play! . Blog post is here http://planetwatt.com/new/index.php/2016/09/23/microwatt-r10-released/ (http://planetwatt.com/new/index.php/2016/09/23/microwatt-r10-released/)
Downloads are here http://planetwatt.com/new/index.php/downloads/ (http://planetwatt.com/new/index.php/downloads/)
YouTube video overview is here - strongly suggest watching for initial tips https://youtu.be/cU0Efw1kfos (https://youtu.be/cU0Efw1kfos)
Will be sending pertinent info to distrowatch tonight...will likely/maybe get posted in the next 24-48 hours also. Look for other notes and ramblings shortly.
**known issues**
The installer issues/notes are the name as R10 LXDE
The USB device issue (mice/keyboards) should not be an issue here
The additional software installs should not be an issue here (at least in the testing done - with other software from the repos like VLC, etc - all seemed to behave as expected)
The default icon set in Microwatt "Delta" is an old ICON set and not fully complete, so you may seem some strangeness with it as root and as sudo in some apps, but its very lightweight, and its presumed most will change to what they want. (more details on that tomorrow)
keyboard shortcuts are important obviously....The youtube video will help until the website and wiki get updated. Will really try to make sure important stuff related to Microwatt gets done tomorrow for the wiki so people can navigate. the basics below help most for moving around.
+++++++++++++++++will also post an update on the "why" behind what we have done with Microwatt (EG. why so minimal, and lacking some creature comforts)++++++++++++++++++
Microwatt - basic help file info -
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The "windows" symbol key
is the "mod" key for the shortcuts listed.
Pressing the mod key and then the second key
will initiate the action indicated.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
mod+g - opens a run dialog where you can enter a
program name (with tab completion for hints) to
launch the corresponding application.
You can run programs as root here also by prefacing the command with gksu - for example 'gksu synaptic' will prompt for a password then launch the software manager with root privileges to install software.
mod+f - opens the file manager
mod+b - opens the web browser
mod+shift+f - opens a root(admin) file manager
mod+l to lock the screen
(then just enter password directly to unlock)
mod+shift+Q - closes any focused window
(focused windows are one with your mouse over it)
mod+f9 to turn off touchpad on laptop
mod+f10 to turn on touchpad on laptop
mod+number key (1-10) will make another desktop
that you can switch to
mod+shift+number key will move focused window
to that desktop
mod+shift+e will log you out of the session
mod+shift+p will power down immediately
**no prompts just shutdown...be careful**
lower right corner has network manager you can
click on to configure network/wireless
mouse pointer over status bar "VOL" letters
and mouse wheel up/down adjust volume
****EDIT****
Look here for the Microwatt info. I previously stated R10 would be released by the 19th (today). Looks like I might be a day or two tardy. Wrapping up 32bit today and 64bit tomorrow. Little QA and testing then release. So expect another update tomorrow or late tonight. There are some differences with Microwatt obviously, and I will expand on that in a blog post and here in the forums. (both technical and philosophical :) )
tks....biff
-
Looking forward to it! Tried i3 in the past and liked it. I've been thinking more and more lately about going back to a tiling wm and this will likely hit the spot.
-
Thank you.
Waiting for it. :)
-
I, too,am looking forward to a new microwatt. R9 has been working great on my old dell wiyh 512 ram. It is much faster than windows 10 (which, on a 4 gig ram machine took 2 hours to update and of course was unusable for 2 hours).
-
Good news...All done...ISO's are ready...too tired tonight to get them uploaded, update the website links, write the blog, seed the torrents, and send the details to distrowatch, etc...So look for them tomorrow along with details :)
tks...biff
-
Yay, you're awesome.
Thank you. :)
-
Microwatt is done...The unpublished draft blog and updated download pages are done (again unpublished for a couple more hours). Torrents are starting to be seeded. But I am not going to publically post the links and blog post and details until the ISO's are completely uploaded and the seeds get a little further along, and that will take another hour or two. I will be updating/sticky a post once its "really" released this evening (EG I have finished the uploads and collated a few notes for external consumption).
The basics of the blog post and message for this version of Microwatt is its the "do what you want" release. It has less of everything included so you can take it from a barebones install (with some basic quality of life/usage tools) and then install what you want rather than undo someone elses work/preferences. I will explain more a little later tonight....enjoy!
biff
-
Posting from Microwatt 64bit, thank you biff.
Couple of notes, if you're dual booting with Windows 7/8/10 - you can't access there drivers, it says you're not permitted to access the drive. I can see USB drives mounted though.
And 2nd: Again, if you're on Windows 7/8/10 and you use Rufus to create the bootable media, it doesn't boot and will load you straight in to Windows instead of booting from USB.
I use this:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/usbwriter/
Ran as admin and created the bootable media that way in Windows 10.
Any idea on accessing the Windows drives, biff?
EDIT1: Ok, so install this:
sudo -i
root
sudo apt install gnome-disk-utility.
still in terminal as root:
gnome-disks
click the mount button and you can see your windows files. :)
EDIT2: After I restarted my PC, I can now access both of my hdd's. I disabled auto mount and the settings are:
http://imgur.com/a/OIlUM
:)
EDIT3: If you want to use dual monitors or triple, add something like:
exec --no-startup-id xrandr --output HDMI1 --auto --left-of DP1
edit for your monitor settings, you can check with:
xrandr.
:)
EDIT4: as you can see from my screenshots, I am using dual monitors.
:)
-
Thanks Bob...keep playing....FYI for dual monitors. lxrandr is included in microwatt. So if you launch lxrandr and choose the settings you want with a gui (like monitor position, resolution, etc). I tested with a dual monitor setup on a laptop and lxrandr seemed to work fine (and its included). When you first apply it, it makes the wallpaper goofy, but once done a logout/login fixes that, or rerun feh which is what handles the wallpaper.
Happy hacking away :)
-
This is my first time using i3.
Microwatt R10 32-bit installed
Firefox and Sylpheed installed
I tried to use the File Manager to go to '/usr/share/applications'
'Preferred Applications' (gui) to change the defaults:
Terminal Emulator to xterm -- mod+enter STILL opens 'sakura'
Web Browser to Firefox -- mod+b STILL opens 'surf'
mod+g 'xterm' works
mod+g 'firefox' works
selecting 'Firefox Web Browser' from 'Applications' works
Changing:
File Manager > Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Terminal emulator to 'xterm' -- F4 works to open xterm
Is this a 'bug'?
Bill
-
Not a bug, no. you have to manually set it to open firefox.
so you should:
unhide files in your home dir.
open the config folder
open i3 with leafpad or your text and/or nano.
replace this:
bindsym $mod+b exec surf https://www.startpage.com
with:
bindsym $mod+b exec firefox/iceweasel
you're good to go. :)
-
Thank you, changing i3 works.
But you do not need to hard code the bindings to firefox or xterm.
To get i3 key bindings to respect Preferred Applications:
bindsym $mod+Return exec exo-open --launch TerminalEmulator
bindsym $mod+m exec exo-open --launch MailReader
bindsym $mod+f exec exo-open --launch FileManager
bindsym $mod+b exec exo-open --launch WebBrowser
-
You can bindsym other apps too if you want to open them quicker instead of using dmenu.
Thanks again, biff. I installed Microwatt on all my systems and they're running great. I was also cheeky, I copied your i3 config file and i3blocks and installed them on debian stretch so I could run it on my chromebook. thanks again! :) looks awesome now, cheers.
PS: if anyone needs help with i3, I'm all ears. ;)
-
I prefer to toggle the touchpad on/off, also spares one F-key.
edit ~/.config/i3/config
bindsym $mod+F9 exec "synclient TouchPadOff=$(($(synclient|grep -io touchpadoff.*|grep -o [0-2])&1^1))"
+ get the current TouchPadOff state ( 0 or 1 )
+ mask bit0 ( &1 is bitwise and )
+ toggle bit0 ( ^1 is bitwise xor )
-
Bob all ears :)
Do you know if i3 has a workspace switcher like alt+tab,
that is, a way to toggle the two most recent workspace?
I know several methods to change to a specific workspace,
but it would be nice to toggle between two when using the eeepc SMALL screen.
Edit: I found it! circular and toggles
# workspace switcher
bindsym $mod+Tab workspace back_and_forth
workspace_auto_back_and_forth yes
bindsym $mod+n workspace next
bindsym $mod+p workspace prev
Bill
-
Microwatt R10 32-bit installed
This does NOT respect Preferred Applications:
exo-web-browser.desktop -- it is hard coded for 'surf'
it would be more flexible as:
exo-web-browser.desktop
exo-open --launch WebBrowser
These respect Preferred Applications:
exo-terminal-emulator.desktop
exo-open --launch TerminalEmulator
exo-file-manager.desktop
exo-open --launch FileManager %u
-
Glad you're sorted, brother. :)
-
HUGE button icons in Microwatt R10
eeepc 701, 32-bit, 4gb ssd, 800x480 screen (small)
WattOS R10 installer fits the eeepc small screen, but...
WattOS R10 will NOT install on the eeepc, only 4gb ssd.
Microwatt R10 installer has HUGE buttons that push the menus off the small screen so it cannot install it.
Microwatt R9 does NOT have HUGE buttons, but some screens are a little tall to see the buttons. I guessed which buttons, and installed on the eeepc. It works well and has 1.6gb free ssd.
I installed Microwatt R10 on another computer and noticed the same HUGE buttons in all apps.
Please make buttons a normal size so it fits the 800x480 screen.
The button icons are approximately 1.25 x 1.0 inches!
I would like to install Microwatt R10 on the eeepc, great travel machine.
Note:
Debian LXDE installs on the eeepc and works well.
After removing Libreoffice there is about 1gb free on the ssd.
-
Please check the first page:
The default icon set in Microwatt "Delta" is an old ICON set and not fully complete, so you may seem some strangeness with it as root and as sudo in some apps, but its very lightweight, and its presumed most will change to what they want. (more details on that tomorrow)
-
Yes some applications and also running some applications with "sudo" vs GKSU with the Delta icon set can cause the "big" icons to show up because the Delta ICON set has some strange/missing ICONS, also some rights that are goofy and a bunch of symbolic links to icons. (don't even get me started on the whole running as root vs sudo, or sudo -i, etc)... I did not have enough time to go through every ICON in Delta (I did not make it) and get those squared away and rights, etc. But its a very light ICON set..old users of wattOS may remember that this ICON set had an issue a long time ago (wattOS-5.0 I believe) with one application and one ICON not showing up at all, which had to do with rights...... But the easiest path for install is to open up lxappearance (its included) and change it to something different and that should go away....(Adwaita, and gnome default, and a couple other are there)
On a live CD if this is happening with limited screen real-estate, simply open up the file manager, go to the applications-preferences area and then choose "customize-look and feel" and change the icon theme from delta to something else before launching the installer.
tks...biff
-
biff...
Thank you the suggestion to use the GNOME icon set.
Microwatt R10 32bit
I used your suggestion to use the GNOME icon set.
The installer icons are now the proper size,
but the installer window is still too large for eeepc.
On the installer 'Welcome' screen,
I can see only the 'Quit' and 'Back' buttons.
I changed the monitor preferences to 640x480.
That was worse, only the 'Quit' button.
It looks like the install does not scale.
Back to 800x480
ah ha... inspiration ( my first i3 experience, learning much )
toggle floating ($mod+Shift+space) BEFORE starting installer
now I can $mod+mouse move the windows to see the buttons!
ok eeepc here comes Microwatt R10 :)
solution:
+ start from install media (usb flash)
+ [Tab] to edit options, add 'forcepae'
+ turn off display blanking and lock screen
+ change to GNOME icon set
+ toggle floating $mod+Shift+space ! BEFORE installer !
+ start Installer Microwatt-R10
+ position windows $mod+mouse to see buttons
+ skip 'Download updates...'
+ skip 'Install third-party...'
+ partition 4.0G ssd swap 256M ext2 remaining
& wait...
+ 'Restart Now'
! success
+ sudo -s
+ apt update
+ apt upgrade
+ reboot
+ sudo apt-get autoremove
= ram used 70M total 1G
= ssd used 2.2G available 1.2G swap 242M
! VERY responsive
! wire and wifi ok
& edit i3 config add bindsym
& copy i3block to home and edit (make room in i3status bar)
* play... thank you biff
asus eeepc 701, Intel Celeron 900MHz, 1.0G ram, 4.0G ssd, 800x480
-
Microwatt R10 32bit
asus eeepc 701, Intel Celeron 900MHz
In the web browser 'surf' I ran the speedtest:
https://www.measurementlab.net/tools/ndt (https://www.measurementlab.net/tools/ndt)
In the i3bar is the i3blocks 'bandwidth'.
I noticed when the 'IN' value went to Mb/s, no value was displayed.
I found the problem... 'bandwidth' uses the bc - arbitrary precision calculator.
After installing bc (sudo apt install bc) 'bandwidth' displays Mb/s values.
-
Good catch! I think bc was installed as a dependency for something else on my machine so I never noticed an issue.
-
hey billwho...nice job on the eeepc. Yes being able to float whatever window you want is kinda nice on demand, and in your case actually needed to work...good job :) - I have an ancient acer tablet/convertible in the garage somewhere with similar specs (and the same lower res) - will have to go find it now and make it work :)
-
I have been adapting my LXDE work environment to i3.
Copy the script into a new file and make it executable:
~/.syxskb.sh
chmod u+x .syxskb.sh
Edit:
~/.config/i3/config
Add this line:
exec --no-startup-id ~/.syxskb.sh
The script will run on boot to configure the touchpad, mouse and capslock.
Change as needed.
The script:
#!/bin/sh
# disable touchpad tapping, single finger vertical edge scroll
# synclient -l
# man synclient
# man synaptics
synclient LeftEdge=1 TopEdge=1 \
VertEdgeScroll=1 HorizEdgeScroll=0 \
VertTwoFingerScroll=0 HorizTwoFingerScroll=0 \
RTCornerButton=0 RBCornerButton=0 \
LTCornerButton=0 LBCornerButton=0 \
TapButton1=0 TapButton2=0 TapButton3=0 \
ClickFinger1=0 ClickFinger2=0 ClickFinger3=0 \
ResolutionDetect=0 TapAndDragGesture=0 \
TouchpadOff=0
# turn off screen blanking, change mouse speed
# xset q
# man xset
xset \
dpms 0 0 0 \
mouse 3/2 0 \
s 0 0 \
s off \
s blank \
s noexpose \
-dpms
# make capslock do escape
# man setxkbmap
# man 7 xkeyboard-config ( search for caps: )
setxkbmap -option caps:escape
-
Looks good bill. Where the script is fairly small and mostly X specific, it might make more sense to just include the commands in your .xinitrc or .xprofile. Or, you could put it in your i3 config as well. That way it's one less script/file for you to maintain.
-
nice job on the eeepc...
I have an ancient acer tablet/convertible in the garage somewhere with similar specs (and the same lower res) - will have to go find it now and make it work :)
Did you get the ancient acer running microwatt?
Do you plan to make the install easier?
Such as
+ use a complete icon set
+ make the installer window scale
-
Hi! I am currently playing around with microWatt R10 and I am determined to stick with it.
I had a few troubles while installing it:
1) I wanted to install it without trying but the installer would crash without notice in the very end.
2) I managed to install it after logging in like guest (after crashing microWatt would log me in like guest by default) and then I ran the installer from /home directory and this time the installation was a success!
--
I have a question regarding desktops - I noticed that when I logout from i3, a graphical login prompt would appear, and it seemed like a KDE. I am no pro at this, and I am very new with i3 too, but is microwatt running anything from KDE in the background? If yes, is that needed? Can it be "purged" to make the system even lighter?
I was a bit annoyed with this graphical login prompt so I comment it out in xinit and made a tty login with i3 starting right after logging in. Works a lot faster on my Lenovo G500 laptop.
It is actually what I was expecting from microWatt from the start.
-
can config file be modified to trigger application from mod key to Ctrl key?
for example launch sakura, instead of mod+Return, can I use Ctrl+t?
thanks,
-
can config file be modified to trigger application from mod key to Ctrl key?
for example launch sakura, instead of mod+Return, can I use Ctrl+t?
thanks,
See if this post may help. :) If the link doesn't take you right to it, it's the last post in that thread.
http://planetwatt.com/newforum/index.php?topic=980.msg2986#msg2986