maintence

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maintence

Postby zebralips » 17 May 2011, 20:35

i did do a search here with the word "maintenance" saw a lot of discussion related to the ps 2`s and 3`s.
I am running a G4.

Maintenance tools or procedures.
what are the maintenance procedures.
Are there any tools to cycle thru the apps or programs.
Would the human operator need to go into the terminal and whip up some command line with any built in utilities.
Problems:
when i go to shut down via main/system/shut down, i do receive a message "log out is taking to long. some apps refuse to close etc".
when i try reboot, i receive a similar message.
and i tried software updater, and it is having difficulty with a network connection, "Details", show: none.
And i can connect to the inter net with firefox.

is there any tools in the GUI. and if not what is available in the Terminal. and what is the default shell in the term window ?.
thank you
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Re: maintence

Postby aguilarojo » 18 May 2011, 02:59

zebralips wrote:i did do a search here with the word "maintenance" saw a lot of discussion related to the ps 2`s and 3`s.
I am running a G4.

Maintenance tools or procedures.
what are the maintenance procedures.
Are there any tools to cycle thru the apps or programs.
Would the human operator need to go into the terminal and whip up some command line with any built in utilities.
Problems:
when i go to shut down via main/system/shut down, i do receive a message "log out is taking to long. some apps refuse to close etc".
when i try reboot, i receive a similar message.
and i tried software updater, and it is having difficulty with a network connection, "Details", show: none.
And i can connect to the inter net with firefox.

is there any tools in the GUI. and if not what is available in the Terminal. and what is the default shell in the term window ?.
thank you


Although many people in the YDL Board run YDL on the PS3, there are a few who run or have run YDL on G4 and older Macs. I'm one of those who've run YDL on G4 and older Macs. Your statements weren't clear regarding which operating system you are using YDL, OS X or something else. Nor were you clear regarding what your difficulty was in that specific operating system.

Until you share more there is only one thing I could share which could be useful, understand that YDL, like other distributions of Linux, are at their highest efficiency without the use of any GUIs and instead function nearly entirely through the CLI (command land interface).

Everything on the Earth has a purpose.
Every disease an herb to cure it.
And every person has a mission.
This is the Indian Theory of Existence.
-- Morning Dove, Salish (1888-1936)
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Re: maintence

Postby ppietro » 18 May 2011, 06:39

zebralips wrote:Problems:
when i go to shut down via main/system/shut down, i do receive a message "log out is taking to long. some apps refuse to close etc".


This happens when you use the default Enlightenment window manager. It's quite harmless - just close it - log out will continue normally. If it bothers you, use another Window Manager - like Gnome - and you shouldn't get this message. You can choose Gnome at the Session pick at the login screen.

zebralips wrote:when i try reboot, i receive a similar message.


Yup - it's not the OS - it's the Window Manager shutdown. When you logout or reboot Linux, it shuts down the Window Manager first.

More about Window Managers here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_window_manager

zebralips wrote:and i tried software updater, and it is having difficulty with a network connection, "Details", show: none.
And i can connect to the inter net with firefox.


I'd start here:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4785

If you're getting the "[Errno 14] HTTP Error 401: Authorization Required" - there are repair suggestions in that post.

zebralips wrote:what is the default shell in the term window ?.


bash

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bash_%28Unix_shell%29

Cheers,
Paul
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Re: maintence

Postby zebralips » 22 May 2011, 05:45

I am running a iBook G4 10.4.?
I do not know how to boot out of Linux and back to the drive options at this time to receive the specs on the G4.
Your words: distributions of Linux, are at their highest efficiency without the use of any GUIs and instead function nearly entirely through the CLI (command land interface).
Question:
How can i get out of the GUI and into a full fledged CLI.

I have read other posts concerning problems with the G4. And this G4 has a bad graphics card. i accidently upgraded to 10.5 last year. and then did a quick re install after i saw i damaged the graphics card.
When i was in the Mac OS before the install i did change the preferences/displays, to 256 colors.
Without the change to 256 colors the screen will show pixel distortion across the screen where the windows reside.
And that could be a big issue.
So i am shopping for a ps3. i am willing to shell out 300 clams.

The problems that i was experiencing i do not remember at this time.
new problems came up that showed Enlightenment running the cpu at between 85 to 90 percent.
I shut down the system, closed the lid.
today when i did boot up the options that i had set in wallpaper setting`s were in effect, gradient 2 was selected when i did select gradient 1. and the snow affect was on. these items did not take effect when they were selected the last time i was in there.
also when i did the boot up today:
received an error message: Nautilus can`t be used now, due to an unexpected error.
show more details: Nautilus can`t be used now, due to an unexpected error from Bonobo when attempting to locate the factory. killing bonobo-activation-server and restarting Nautilus may help fix the problem
To reiterate : How can i get out of the GUI and into a full fledged CLI.

Thank you
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Re: maintence

Postby zebralips » 22 May 2011, 05:53

Thank you aguilarojo and ppietro

Thanks for the info. some day i might catch up.
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Re: maintence

Postby ppietro » 22 May 2011, 21:29

zebralips wrote:I am running a iBook G4 10.4.?
I do not know how to boot out of Linux and back to the drive options at this time to receive the specs on the G4.
Your words: distributions of Linux, are at their highest efficiency without the use of any GUIs and instead function nearly entirely through the CLI (command land interface).
Question:
How can i get out of the GUI and into a full fledged CLI.


This is where personal preferences come into play. Personally, I'd suggest you continue to use the GUI.

In my opinion, with today's processor speeds and on-board memory, the performance hit of GUIs is negligible at best - unless you're specifically running a web server or something where you need every iota of your machine's performance. And - especially for beginners - there are many advantages to using the GUI.

Let me rephrase this - even though I consider myself a power Linux user, I still use GUIs. I just open a terminal window from the GUI when I need to do something really complex.

zebralips wrote:So i am shopping for a ps3. i am willing to shell out 300 clams.


Personally - I wouldn't bother. Sony has removed the OtherOS function - the ability to run Linux - from all new slim PS3s and retroactively from the older PS3s. The only way a PS3 can run Linux is if the on-board firmware is still pre-3.21, and the hardware is a PS3 "phat" - not a slim:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/03/ ... 21-update/

What this means is that a PS3 that runs Linux loses the following features:

* Ability to sign in to PlayStation Network and use network features that require signing in to PlayStation Network, such as online features of PS3 games and chat
* Playback of PS3 software titles or Blu-ray Disc videos that require PS3 system software version 3.21 or later
* Playback of copyright-protected videos that are stored on a media server (when DTCP-IP is enabled under Settings)
* Use of new features and improvements that are available on PS3 system software 3.21 or later

I don't know if that's worth 300 clams or not.

Also - the Cell in the PS3 isn't the best for running Linux. Linux runs on the PPU core of the multi-core Cell - which is a simplified PowerPC processor. Specifically - the PPU is missing "out of order" processing, which really slows it down compared to modern processors.

Also - Sony prevents direct access to the nVidia RSX graphics chip in the PS3, so you can only use a simple framebuffer display. This makes HD video playback problematic, to say the least.

My recommendations - make of them what you will:

1. If you're in the mood for a PS3 to play games - then buy a newer "slim" one. They are much more reliable than the launch models, and use much less power.

2. If you are looking for a Linux box, buy some sort of cheap Intel or AMD box. There are many different Linuxes that run on them - including a version of Yellow Dog for 64 bit:

http://ydl.net/ydl_cuda/

3. If you must run a PowerPC Linux, instead of Intel, then you're limited to Macs like you have or older PS3s. There are challenges running Linux on the PS3 - but it can be fun as well. (That's why I do it! :D) Unlike the PowePC Macs, the one advantage to running Linux on the PS3 is that the hardware is identical. When we figure out an issue, all of us can take advantage of the solution.

zebralips wrote:also when i did the boot up today:
received an error message: Nautilus can`t be used now, due to an unexpected error.
show more details: Nautilus can`t be used now, due to an unexpected error from Bonobo when attempting to locate the factory. killing bonobo-activation-server and restarting Nautilus may help fix the problem


I've see this before when you are logged into Enlightenment, log out, wait a bit, then log in again. You have to go to a terminal window, look for the bonobo process, kill it, and re-log in. Or you can just reboot the computer. :D

It's not a big deal to me - but I can see why it's confusing for beginners. This is one of those issues that we kept hoping TerraSoft/Fixstars would fix, but they apparently never got around to it.

Personally - it sounds like you should switch to Gnome; these things just don't crop up with Gnome.

You might ask why Enlightenment has these issues. The truth is - it doesn't. But YDL doesn't use Enlightenment as written. Enlightenment is just a window manager - it has no file management capabilities. When you see the folders and such on your desktop, that's actually a program called Nautilius - which is part of Gnome.

So - what you're running is Enlightenment with a Gnome overlay - and it doesn't mesh up very well. Until you're more comfortable with Linux, you might be better off running pure Gnome. You can switch to Gnome from the login screen with the "Session" pick.

Cheers,
Paul

P.S. If you really want to turn off the GUI - it's not hard. Use this procedure:
http://ydl.net/support/solutions/ydl_6. ... to-5.shtml
but do the reverse - change the 5 to a 3 and reboot.
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Re: maintence

Postby aguilarojo » 22 May 2011, 22:48

zebralips wrote:I am running a iBook G4 10.4.?
I do not know how to boot out of Linux and back to the drive options at this time to receive the specs on the G4.
Your words: distributions of Linux, are at their highest efficiency without the use of any GUIs and instead function nearly entirely through the CLI (command land interface).
Question:
How can i get out of the GUI and into a full fledged CLI.


The GUI and CLI have their different uses because sometimes in different situations using one as opposed to the other is faster and easier. At this time refer to this link which addresses more complex topics which include the utilization of R, an advanced statistics package comparable with SPSS. You'll notice there an icon which appears at the top which look a little like a TV with a > on it. This icon also appears within Enlightenment; it is a quick means to access the terminal within YDL when you are within Enlightenment or another window manager. If you take the time to review that link more carefully and scroll down to view other images you'll notice the 3rd, 4th and 5th image which have graphic images produced by R while at the same time R is also running from a terminal in the background. The 3rd image is clearer in that the name Terminal is clearly marked on that terminal window. Applications like R are too complex to rely on one GUI or the other CLI command structure alone -- so it can be run simultaneously using one or the other and both at the same time!

Another link demonstrates some of the complications involved using the CLI which one has to learn the use of one or more "flags" which represent a command function in short-hand which you are expected to commit to memory or refer to easily via notes. The link though brief indicates just how complex this method can get for instance should you wish to use the print command within CLI versus GUI there are at least 5 or more flags! Each command, and there are thousands, has flags associated with varying the function of those commands. Although you can make the time to refer to man or info to learn them it may be faster to purchase a reference book discussing Linux System Administration which explains them in a form sensible to you.

Regarding accessing System details from Mac OS X: Just click on the Apple sign then About This Mac. The rest should be obvious.

Within YDL: There exists a command called sysinfo which can be invoked from within any YDL terminal (if you don't have it installed, you need to point your copy of yum to the yum repositories). You can also see what is going on by accessing the dmesg command and var/log/messages which captures all the messages as Linux checks your computer during the boot process. See here.

Everything on the Earth has a purpose.
Every disease an herb to cure it.
And every person has a mission.
This is the Indian Theory of Existence.
-- Morning Dove, Salish (1888-1936)
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Re: maintence

Postby zebralips » 31 May 2011, 00:15

ppietro wrote:
P.S. If you really want to turn off the GUI - it's not hard. Use this procedure:
http://ydl.net/support/solutions/ydl_6. ... to-5.shtml
but do the reverse - change the 5 to a 3 and reboot.



The http address above shows a topic tittle of:

Switching to Graphical Mode after Text based Install

what i found that works on the Mac G4 in this instruction, is:

1, Log in as Root.
2, Type in the command line: Xautoconfig
3, bring up the GUI Text Editor, file/Open Location
4, type in the path, /etc/inittab
comment: i found in the G4 compared to the instruction title reading "text based install" that the id:5:initdefault is there in place without having to change from a 3.
5, enter file path /etc/yaboot.conf in Text Editor, file/open.

A person just needs to find where the video modes information are located. And what a null value for video mode could be to be placed in the curly brackets {null} or {value = 0} or whatever the language that is being used here would use.

It would "seem" that these instructions as found at
http://ydl.net/support/solutions/ydl_6.x/video-3-to-5.shtml
are directed towards
Text based Install


Thank you
i have been mangling this post for an exceeded length of time. will leave as is, hoping it makes sense and is clear of confusion.
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Re: maintence

Postby ppietro » 31 May 2011, 09:24

zebralips wrote:
ppietro wrote:
P.S. If you really want to turn off the GUI - it's not hard. Use this procedure:
http://ydl.net/support/solutions/ydl_6. ... to-5.shtml
but do the reverse - change the 5 to a 3 and reboot.



The http address above shows a topic tittle of:

Switching to Graphical Mode after Text based Install

what i found that works on the Mac G4 in this instruction, is:

1, Log in as Root.
2, Type in the command line: Xautoconfig
3, bring up the GUI Text Editor, file/Open Location
4, type in the path, /etc/inittab
comment: i found in the G4 compared to the instruction title reading "text based install" that the id:5:initdefault is there in place without having to change from a 3.
5, enter file path /etc/yaboot.conf in Text Editor, file/open.


What /etc/inittab does is set the default Linux run level. Run level 3 is text. Run level 5 is GUI.

Most people want to run the GUI - and the text installer leaves you in a text only mode. So - to get the GUI from text, you edit inittab and change the 3 to a 5.

From what I understood of your post, you wanted to change from the GUI mode to the text mode - so you would want to follow the same procedure, but change the 5 to a 3.

That's why I mentioned it above:
ppietro wrote:Use this procedure:
http://ydl.net/support/solutions/ydl_6. ... to-5.shtml
but do the reverse - change the 5 to a 3 and reboot.


You don't need to do step 2 (Xautoconfig) or 5 (/etc/yaboot.conf) at all. They should be set already, since you're running the GUI.

Cheers,
Paul
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