how DO we go about building a Puppy using Woof-CE?

[Grey]

You can run woof-CE to build a Debian, Ubuntu or Slackware based Puppy on practically any distro, if it has woof-CE's dependencies and configured correctly.

Hi. I have two questions accumulated.
The first. Does the gcc version matter a lot in the process? For example, in Fossa 9.3.0, and in Jammy 11.2.0.

Second. Where is the support for tab scrolling anyway (mouse wheel)? Okay, let's abstract from JWM. I took a raw Jammy on Git and installed xfce into it using apt. Tab scrolling doesn't work. It works with xfce in any other distribution. Are you sure that gtk is to blame for this, and not the changes in woof-ce?

[dimkr]

The first. Does the gcc version matter a lot in the process? For example, in Fossa 9.3.0, and in Jammy 11.2.0.

No, because the GCC version on the host doesn't matter at all. woof-CE runs the compiler of the Puppy you're building, inside a chroot environment.

Second. Where is the support for tab scrolling anyway (mouse wheel)? Okay, let's abstract from JWM. I took a raw Jammy on Git and installed xfce into it using apt. Tab scrolling doesn't work. It works with xfce in any other distribution. Are you sure that gtk is to blame for this, and not the changes in woof-ce?

As far as I knoiw, it's a change in GTK+ 3. If the tabbed application you use supports GTK+ 2, maybe you can build it against GTK+ 2. But it will be visually inconsistent with modern applications that use GTK+ 3 and GTK+ 4, and GTK+ 2 will be gone one day, so it's just a temporary workaround. But it could be a bug in JWM - I don't know. Anyway, it's not something that's changed in woof-CE that causes this.

[bean]

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) was officially released on April 2020. Security patches and updates available until 2025.

Fossapup64 don't receive any of these fixes. When you install Fossapup today, you're 2.5 years behind in terms of vulnerabilities and bugs. And Puppy doesn't have any updates mechanism that installs these (IMHO important) updates. It's perfectly possible to release a 9.5.1 release that won't upset any users of 9.5.

Thats really what i want security updates. imo Fossapup64 is mind-blowing tiny, superfast, 95% of progs i use/want. I always update but don't see security updates. In the last 2 Co-vid years have become even more SECURITY CONSCIOUS, (as i do all the families shopping-online they are oll over 80 yo COVID etc). That i do from an untainted WINDOWS 11 PRO machine i trust.

This may sound silly but i see daily Win 1 PRO security updates. thats why i ask re updates and kernel. But i get the picture.

Thanks to all for thoughtful info and replies.

[Jasper]

@mikewalsh

Congratulations on your achievements already

I was wondering if your updated kernel could be substituted for my existing one to bring it up to date with the fixes?

Would I right in thinking that the underlined files simply would need to be replaced with your ones?

[mikeslr]

@ Jasper*:

This is still a Puppy. The new 'iso' still has within it vmlinuz and zdrv.sfs. You still should be able to obtain a newer kernel from this thread, https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewforum.php?f=65, and swap as with any other Puppys. That was to be my next exploration until I discovered:

Edit:
@ MikeWalsh, dimkr and anybody:

I was very pleased with my 9.6 fossapup64 until I tried to listen to something. Like VanillaDpup the taskbar has a widget to configure pulse-audio or turn it off. But turning it off should default to alsa. When there was no sound, I ran pfind 'alsa' > No Files found. I didn't check to see if the components for pulse-audio had been included.

Did I do something wrong? Where to I go from here?
Edit:
Never mind. Well, almost. The above apparent problem was the result of a series of unfortunate choices. Turns out that there was a problem with the 'stored' video I ran. When that vid didn't generate sound, I used Iron web-browser and attempted to listen to a video on Youtube. Also no sound.

After hours of fiddling decided to 'start from scratch' and I booted pfix=ram. Turning 'pulse-audio' off did work [so I think does choosing analog stereo output] and other stored videos played with sound. So I progressed to finding out why streaming videos didn't produce sound. Turns out it was Iron. None of the 3 versions I have generated sound. Neither did firefox. BUT the following did: Chrome, Brave, Vivaldi and Palemoon. [Didn't try others]. The problems with Iron are out-pacing its security advantage. But having a functional version of firefox is important.
Addendum: Likely one of my security settings in firefox as Waterfox (based on firefox-quantum) also produces sound. Maybe something similar with Iron.
-=-=-=-
* And jasper, see my post here, https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 513#p69513 and the post following it for its purpose. None of the applications discussed there are 'built-in' by a new woof. And you also may want to install radky's JWMDesk if you're more familiar with using it than ptheming.

[Jasper]

Thank you Mikeslr for your explanation.

It is something I would like to try out.
Slightly cautious as I do believe in "if it's not broke, don't fix it!"

Scuppered on the onset anyway........ I always get this error whenever I attempt to view/download from this website (archive.org)

I did try with wget and used the command --no-check-certificate same error applies.

[mikeslr]

Jasper, I think you're over-complicating it. Open your web-browser to https://archive.org/download/Puppy_Linux_Huge-Kernels and download using it.

If you're interested, my fossapup64_9.5 is currently using the huge-5.4.154-ubun64oz.tar.bz2 package. But any of ozsouth's 'ubun64oz' packages should work. As do peebee's which have the 'lxpup64' designation. [On my ToDo list: trying newer kernels than the 5.4 series. Some involve significant changes I haven't had the time to explore].

You'll may need to download and rename an fdrv.sfs from here, https://archive.org/download/Puppy_Linu ... an2021.sfs. fdrv.sfses contain firmware. My computer didn't need it. But I suggest that you download it and name it 0fdrv_fossapup64_9.5.sfs. If you discover that wifi isn't working, drop the '0' and reboot.

p.s. Suggest that you don't ditch your 'old' fossa until your satisfied with your new. Just create another folder (and boot-menu entry) for the new.

[Jasper]

Mikeslr, thank you so much for your patience and more importantly the advice you share.

My ISP doesn't like "archive.org".

This isn't the first time I have had errors using this particular site. I tried previously to grab a FLAC update Pet file compiled by Plinej and could not access the site.

https://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=7088

Not to worry lol

[mikeslr]

Jasper, you could try one of peebee's kernel packages from here, https://sourceforge.net/projects/lxpup/ ... e-kernels/. It will need an fdrv.sfs from the same location. There are two, large and small. Download both/ While renaming them put an '0' in front of the large so you can try the small first.

Alternatively, you can try downloading with wget to try to obtain files from archive.org. To use it, Right-Click the package's url-link [provided a Forum's posts] and select copy. Then open a Lxterminal (install it if you don't have it) type wget space and from Lxterminal's Top-Menu select Edit>paste. Press return. E.g. I was able to download peebee's large fdrv.sfs with this command:

wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/lxpup/ ... s/download.

The downloaded package merely had the name 'download'. [Don't know why? Don't know wget very well,] But UExtract revealed that it contained the firmware libraries in their proper location.

Or open Menu>internet>uget, select File>New Download and paste the URL into the URL 'box' --if it's not already there-- on the GUI which opens. It also downloaded with a strange name --that of the url plugged in. But UExtract revealed it was the right package. Had I realized uget was going to do that I could have plugged a proper name in the 'File' box.

But your ISP may still balk at these attempts to escape its restrictions.

[Jasper]

Thanks Mike for taking the time to explain this to me.

I had to use the following as I got an error straight away with just wget+url

wget --no-check-certificate https://sourceforge.net/projects/lxpup/ ... s/download

I now have a "Download" file. Do I rename it to "fdrv_large.sfs" ?

Finally, am I looking to download one of the "Kernel Output" files ?

[Pikaxhu]

Hi Mike

I must start saying I've built slacko 6.9.9 and bionic 32/64 bits with former woof-ce version. Now, I want to share my experience using latest woof-ce under pristine Jellyfish32, without using Git, neither need to be logged, (nor devx on Jellyfish) as I did, on my previuos experience.

If you go to github page:

https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/woof-CE

You could get under GREEN button labeled CODE this link:

https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... esting.zip

Downloading this file is easy, even without github account. Then you"ll be ready to start woof-ce project as follows:

On a linux ext2, 3/4 partition... unzip the testing.zip, then go into the new woof-ce directory, OPEN terminal and you are done.

Follow instructions, runing scripts as posted recipe... Until you get your latest coocked puppy.

Now my comments on tested trials:

Success making Bionic32 19.3 iso and devx with stock kernel.

Failed making Bulleye32 iso... tried to build with huge no pae k4.x.

FYI untouched stock configuration files were used. Will try to get debian32 Bookworm iso later today..

By the way my test lappy is a Dell1545, with 3Gb ram.

Regards

Pikaxhu

[Jasper]

@Pikaxhu

Congratulations on your success!!

Can you let me know the following?

Do you need a lot of storage space for compiling?
CPU intensive?
RAM intensive?
Time taken?
Internet connection needed? eg downloading packages

Thanks

[Pikaxhu]

@Pikaxhu

Hi @Jasper

Thanks. orry for delayed reply. My comments:

Congratulations on your success!!

Can you let me know the following?

Do you need a lot of storage space for compiling?
latest distros, are bigger nowadaya... 4 - 5 Gigas is ok.
CPU intensive? I did on a core 2 duo
RAM intensive? 3 or 4 Gigas ram it's enough
Time taken? half hour depending on your download speed..
Internet connection needed? eg downloading packages it' a must

Thanks

Regards

Pika

[bigpuppyfan]

Apologies for resurrecting this old thread, but thought the question would fit in here, for continuity
I've read the links on github provided by dimkr and
http://oldforum.puppylinux.com/viewtopi ... 6#p1022476

When a puppy is created and a list of packages is read from DISTRO_PKGS_SPECS, are those packages downloaded only from puppy repos? For instance, the .PET version of geany is 1.35, but a 1.36 version exists on ubuntu-focal-universe. Am just wondering if, when using a previous DISTRO_PKGS_SPECS while "creating" a new puppy, if the packages are also updated, besides the OS and the kernel, or if we end up with the same packages from the donating puppy version? Tried to grossly understand the code on the 1download script, but couldn't yet figure that detail out yet.

If one wanted to create a vanilla pup retro or a "noblepup64" with the same - but preferably updated - packages present on fossapup64 9.5, would that be possible through woof-ce out of the box? Or would the packages first have to be compiled for the newer puppy version and then uploaded to the repo? Would a compatible devx have to created manually as well?

(btw, is the DISTRO_PKGS_SPECS list populated manually? How were those many libraries selected for inclusion?)

Thanks in advance

[dimkr]

When a puppy is created and a list of packages is read from DISTRO_PKGS_SPECS, are those packages downloaded only from puppy repos?

See https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... _specs#L43

It's a list of packages, some are .pet packages and some are Ubuntu packages.

when using a previous DISTRO_PKGS_SPECS while "creating" a new puppy

You can't really do that. The differences between Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04 and 24.04 are so big (many packages are removed, many added, many got their name changed to reflect breaking changes). But once to make all the small adjustments (and there's many of them) - the answer is yes, you can build the Ubuntu 24.04 equivalent of a Puppy that uses 20.04 packages.

If you compare https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... untu-jammy and https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... untu-noble you'll see they're super similar, and unsurprisingly, they result in very (visually) similar Puppy builds, but one is 2 years ahead in terms of package versions. You'll need to make this kind of adjustments to take an old package list and use it against a newer version of Ubuntu.

Or would the packages first have to be compiled for the newer puppy version and then uploaded to the repo?

Old .pet packages will probably still work, but they're still old.

If you want to change, update or add packages, you will need to set up a repo with packages and add it to DISTRO_PET_REPOS.

I strongly recommend you not to build .pet packages and instead write a "petbuild", a build script (see https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... rom-source) that builds them automatically from source during woof-CE's run. This makes the packages reproducible (anyone else can rebuild the package), reusable (another Puppy flavor can include this package and it's guaranteed to be compatible because it's built within this Puppy) and easy to update or patch in the future if a new version comes out or if you want to change something. .pet packages are the place software goes to rot and die: pretty much all of Puppy's .pet repos are unmaintained and full of outdated packages, some of them are broken, so it's going to be an uphill battle if you want to use .pet packages in new development. There are many examples of petbuilds in https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... -petbuilds, so it's really easy to add more.

Would a compatible devx have to created manually as well?

Yes, if BUILD_DEVX=yes in _00build.conf.

(btw, is the DISTRO_PKGS_SPECS list populated manually? How were those many libraries selected for inclusion?)

Mostly yes.

Today's woof-CE can automatically resolve dependencies (see https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... _specs#L96) but only few existing build configurations use it (pretty much only those I wrote). This simplifies the task of writing the package list because you can just specify the toplevel packages like applications and it will automatically resolve dependencies recursively during 0setup.

[rockedge]

Today's woof-CE can automatically resolve dependencies (see https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... _specs#L96) but only few existing build configurations use it (pretty much only those I wrote). This simplifies the task of writing the package list because you can just specify the toplevel packages like applications and it will automatically resolve dependencies recursively during 0setup.

I have successfully built with woof-CE several variations of Fossapup64 (F96-CE_5 with APT package manager) the last few days. I would be interested in setting this parameter to use this feature in future builds of the F96-CE series which are produced as Fossapup64-9.6->

Operating System:
Distro Name fossapup64 9.6 (x86_64)
Woof-CE Build testing;fc0329a33;2024-05-16 06:43:27 +0100
Woof Version 9
Binary Base ubuntu
Distro Base focal
Distro Date May 2024
User Session x11
Window Manager JWM v2.4.3
Desktop Start xwin jwm

Linux Kernel:
Kernel Build 6.9.1 (x86_64)
Build Date Sun May 19 16:21:59 EDT 2024
Build GCC 9.4.0-1ubuntu1~20.04.2
SMP Enabled Yes
PAE Enabled Yes
Command Line psubdir=/TestPup/F96-CE_5-alpha4/instance1 pmedia=atahd

@dimkr can you point me in the right direction to begin to utilize this excellent feature?

[dimkr]

@dimkr can you point me in the right direction to begin to utilize this excellent feature?

https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... specs#L102

Just add deps:yes to your DISTRO_PKGS_SPECS lines

[bigpuppyfan]

Wow, that's truly amazing. Many thanks for your reply dimkr. And thank you and everyone who has contributed to puppy