Problems with XFCE on USB stick (Maybe sorted out)

[scbs29]

I sent a query to the main forum and the Gnome forum
http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,92657.0.html
regarding XFCE on a USB stick.

I now have XFCE on the USB stick, but am experiencing problems.
Every time I boot into XFCE persistent.

1. After rebooting from the USB installation, if I boot from my HDD and select PCLos (Gnome) then a lot of the time I get what appears
to be a kernel panic. Unfortunately the messages scroll so quickly that I cannot read them. Another time I get the login splash screen and the system then hangs. A third time I log in, PCLos boots ok, the mouse moves, but clicking on any icon has no effect.
These problems have only started occurring since I tried the USB installation. I know that the USB installation can have no effect
on the main hdd installation, but it seems that it does !

2. Running XCFE on USB. Update system. Downloads 652 files and proceeds to update. Messages from Synaptic say that
errors have been found in installation, and mention device sda10 was not found. I do not have the full message.

3. I set up myself as a user on the USB installation, together with a password. I set boot to not automatically log in guest
but to give the option to enter a user name. I changed the root password.
This was fine for 3 or 4 bootups, but the last time I booted the new user had disappeared,
root password had been reset, guest was automatically logged in, and opening Synaptic showed that all of
the updates had disappeared.

4. I set up the desktop theme, and when I rebooted the theme was reset.

5. I opened a window and the window was positioned in the top left hand corner of the screen, covering
the XFCE menu. I could not move the window and there were no buttons to close it. Alt-F4, together with the
usual keystrokes used to close a window had no effect. Everything was covered, so I could not open a terminal
and kill the process. Pressing the Shutdown button on the right of the top panel had no effect, so I had to
power off.

Can anyone tell me where I start looking to sort these problems out ?

[scbs29]

Further to point 2, here is the message from Synaptic :


While preparing for installation:

Removing PCLinuxOS theme
INTERNAL ERROR: unknown device sda10
MDK::Common::Various::internal_error() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/devices.pm:186
devices::entry() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/devices.pm:201
devices::make() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/partition_table/raw.pm:56
partition_table::raw::typeOfMBR() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/bootloader.pm:188
bootloader::read() called from /usr/sbin/bootloader-config:64
error: %pre(plymouth-theme-pclinuxos-1.1.10-2pclos2011.i586) scriptlet failed, exit status 2
error:   install: %pre scriptlet failed (2), skipping plymouth-theme-pclinuxos-1.1.10-2pclos2011
INTERNAL ERROR: unknown device sda10
MDK::Common::Various::internal_error() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/devices.pm:186
devices::entry() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/devices.pm:201
devices::make() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/partition_table/raw.pm:56
partition_table::raw::typeOfMBR() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/bootloader.pm:188
bootloader::read() called from /usr/sbin/bootloader-config:64
error: %posttrans(plymouth-theme-pclinuxos-1.1.10-2pclos2011.i586) scriptlet failed, exit status 2
W: Some errors occurred while running transaction

[Just17]

What ISO did you use .......  an official release or a remaster?

What did you use to create the LiveUSB

Do you have partitions mounting automatically?

Have you figured out where the reference to sda10 is coming from?

[scbs29]

Thanks for the reply
What ISO did you use .......  an official release or a remaster?
Official download from PCLinuxOS.com

What did you use to create the LiveUSB
PCLinuxOS Live USB Creator

Do you have partitions mounting automatically?
No

Have you figured out where the reference to sda10 is coming from?
No. Not in fstab (not sure if this is where I should look)

However, rebooting after time in Gnome, XFCE has decided that the changes to user and password are OK.
Synaptic now says the only update is Plymouth.
After messing about with window managers, decorators and Compiz I now have reasonable windows.
Dont know if they will be the same after reboot though.

All this is from new bootup.
Dont know if problems will recur on another boot.
Waiting to see if first set of problems reoccur.

[Just17]

Point to remember:-

If you boot using the Non-Persistent boot option then you get the original ISO environment.

If you boot using the Persistent boot option then your changes will be present in the running environment.

Check your file manager to see if partitions are mounted automatically.
If they are then disable that feature.

It may be that if the live session had them mounted they were not properly unmounted on shutdown, and thus needed a file system check before the OS on one of those partitions could be booted.

regards.

[scbs29]

Just19 - Thanks for the reply.
As I said, I always boot persistent and no partitions are mounted automatically.

Another problem though.
Just to make sure I decided to change the Boot order so that persistent is the default.
I opened pcc, went to Boot and selected Setup Boot System.
I received a message
This program has exited abnormally.

Running from a terminal gave the following :
"/usr/bin/drakmenustyle" is not executable [Menus] at /usr/sbin/drakconf.real line 822.
"/usr/sbin/drakvirt" is not executable [Virtualization] at /usr/sbin/drakconf.real line 822.
"/usr/sbin/drakguard" is not executable [Parental Controls] at /usr/sbin/drakconf.real line 822.
INTERNAL ERROR: unknown device sda10
MDK::Common::Various::internal_error() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/devices.pm:186
devices::entry() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/devices.pm:201
devices::make() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/partition_table/raw.pm:56
partition_table::raw::typeOfMBR() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/bootloader.pm:188
bootloader::read() called from /usr/sbin/drakboot:52

The appropriate area of /usr/sbin/drakconf.real is
sub clean_list {
    my ($subtree) = @_;
    grep {
        my $stuff = $_;
        my $exec = real_bin_path($programs{$stuff}{binary});
        my $is_present = -x $exec;
        if (!$is_present && $programs{$stuff}{packages2install}) {
            $is_present = 1;
            # override missing icon:
            $programs{$stuff}{real_icon} ||= $programs{$stuff}{icon};
            $programs{$stuff}{icon} = 'installremoverpm';
        } elsif ($programs{$stuff}{real_icon}) {
            $programs{$stuff}{icon} = $programs{$stuff}{real_icon};
        }
        # do not complain about missing entries in move:
        warn qq("$exec" is not executable [$stuff]) if $mdk_rel !~ /Move/ && !$is_present && !$programs{$stuff}{disabled};
        !$programs{$stuff}{hidden} && $is_present && !$programs{$stuff}{disabled};
    } @$subtree;
}

where line 822 is
warn qq("$exec" is not executable [$stuff]) if $mdk_rel !~ /Move/ && !$is_present && !$programs{$stuff}{disabled};

/usr/bin/drakmenustyle, /usr/sbin/drakvirt and /usr/sbin/drakguard do not appear to exist.

Again, sda10.
Anyone any ideas where I can look to find this errant sda10 ?
And what about these missing files ?

[Just17]

The simplest method to make Persistent Mode default is to edit the    /boot/grub/menu.lst   file on the USB stick.
Default is set to  0  (zero)

Change it to 1  for the second entry  ....  or whichever one you wish.

And what about these missing files ?

/usr/bin/drakmenustyle, /usr/sbin/drakvirt and /usr/sbin/drakguard do not appear to exist.

That is normal ....  they are not installed by default

Again, sda10.
Anyone any ideas where I can look to find this errant sda10 ?

Check you HDD on the PC in which you are booting the device ......  do you have a  /dev/sda10  partition?


regards.

[scbs29]

Thanks again for the reply.
Logging in to my Gnome installation and using df gives

hard disk 1
sda1 - ntfs windows system
sda5 - ntfs storage area

hard disk 2
sdb1 - ntfs storage
sdb5 - /
sdb7 - /home

Sorry to be a pain, but where are these missing files ?
Cannot see them in Synaptic.

[Just17]

Thanks again for the reply.
Logging in to my Gnome installation and using df gives

hard disk 1
sda1 - ntfs windows system
sda5 - ntfs storage area

hard disk 2
sdb1 - ntfs storage
sdb5 - /
sdb7 - /home

Sorry to be a pain, but where are these missing files ?
Cannot see them in Synaptic.

The 'df' command only returns the presently mounted partitions.

Use
fdisk -l  
to see the disks/partitions in the system.

The files are not missing.
drakguard is in the repo and is a parental control package.
As far as I am aware neither of the other two are used by PCLOS ....  although I am open to correction on that.

Fire up your Gnome install and try launching  PCC from a terminal, and you will likely see the same output that you quoted above.
Unless you need Parental Control, just ignore the absence of those files.

regards.

[scbs29]

I did fdisk -l on Gnome with the following results :

fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x08780877

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *       16071   278727749   139355839+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2       278727750   488392064   104832157+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5       278727813   488392064   104832126    7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 197.2 GB, 197230919680 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 23978 cylinders, total 385216640 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7f727f72

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *   168088095   385206569   108559237+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2              63   168088094    84044016    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5             126    25189919    12594897   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6        25189983    33367004     4088511   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb7        33367068   168088094    67360513+  83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Again, no sda10.

[Just17]

Can you give the fdisk -l output with the USB stick plugged in please?

Also post the full contents of the /boot/grub/menu.lst file that is on the USB stick.

That sda10 has to be coming from someplace .......  only thing I can think of presently that has not been tried is that sda10 is a partition on a removable device ......

regards

[scbs29]

Sorry, a long one.

fdisk -l on Gnome with USB stick in place :

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x08780877

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *       16071   278727749   139355839+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2       278727750   488392064   104832157+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5       278727813   488392064   104832126    7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 197.2 GB, 197230919680 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 23978 cylinders, total 385216640 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7f727f72

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *   168088095   385206569   108559237+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2              63   168088094    84044016    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5             126    25189919    12594897   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6        25189983    33367004     4088511   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb7        33367068   168088094    67360513+  83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdg: 16.0 GB, 16008609792 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 15267 cylinders, total 31266816 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdg1   *          32    31266815    15633392   83  Linux

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
full contents of the /boot/grub/menu.lst file that is on the USB stick.
timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd0,0)/boot/gfxmenu
default 1
 
title   Xfce
kernel (hd0,0)/Xfce_0/vmlinuz livecd=Xfce_0 fromusb root=UUID=1f6c2522-7f97-498e-ac4e-b9ee3f94f7ff acpi=on vga=791 splash=silent
initrd (hd0,0)/Xfce_0/initrd.gz
 
title  Xfce with Persistence
kernel (hd0,0)/Xfce_0/vmlinuz livecd=Xfce_0 fromusb root=UUID=1f6c2522-7f97-498e-ac4e-b9ee3f94f7ff acpi=on fstab=rw,noauto vga=791 changes_dev=UUID=1f6c2522-7f97-498e-ac4e-b9ee3f94f7ff splash=silent
initrd (hd0,0)/Xfce_0/initrd.gz

title   Xfce with Copy to RAM
kernel (hd0,0)/Xfce_0/vmlinuz livecd=Xfce_0 fromusb copy2ram root=UUID=1f6c2522-7f97-498e-ac4e-b9ee3f94f7ff acpi=on vga=791 splash=silent
initrd (hd0,0)/Xfce_0/initrd.gz

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have 2 usb hard disks
fdisk -l with each of these in turn mounted is
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x08780877

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *       16071   278727749   139355839+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2       278727750   488392064   104832157+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5       278727813   488392064   104832126    7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 197.2 GB, 197230919680 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 23978 cylinders, total 385216640 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7f727f72

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *   168088095   385206569   108559237+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2              63   168088094    84044016    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5             126    25189919    12594897   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6        25189983    33367004     4088511   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb7        33367068   168088094    67360513+  83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdg: 16.0 GB, 16008609792 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 15267 cylinders, total 31266816 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdg1   *          32    31266815    15633392   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdh: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xc031a876

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdh1   *          63   426236579   213118258+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdh2       426236580   488392064    31077742+   5  Extended
/dev/sdh5       426236643   488392064    31077711   83  Linux
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x08780877

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *       16071   278727749   139355839+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2       278727750   488392064   104832157+   5  Extended
/dev/sda5       278727813   488392064   104832126    7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 197.2 GB, 197230919680 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 23978 cylinders, total 385216640 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7f727f72

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *   168088095   385206569   108559237+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2              63   168088094    84044016    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5             126    25189919    12594897   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6        25189983    33367004     4088511   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb7        33367068   168088094    67360513+  83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdg: 16.0 GB, 16008609792 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 15267 cylinders, total 31266816 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdg1   *          32    31266815    15633392   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdh: 251.0 GB, 251000193024 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30515 cylinders, total 490234752 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x228d09b9

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdh1   *          70   490223474   245111702+   7  HPFS/NTFS

[Just17]

Thanks for the detailed info.
Nothing there hits me between the eyes .....  although it is a bit late here and near time for bed.

Synaptic say that errors have been found in installation, and mention device sda10 was not found.

Reading that again, I wonder if this may have something to do with the repositories selected in Synaptic.

Would you check that only one repo is selected .....  or if more than one could you copy the details of those that are ticked?

regards.

[scbs29]

Thanks again for the reply.
I have just reformatted the usb stick and reinstalled.
I then tried pcc - boot - setup boot system as before.
Again failure, messages when run in terminal
 "/usr/bin/drakmenustyle" is not executable [Menus] at /usr/sbin/drakconf.real line 822.
"/usr/sbin/drakvirt" is not executable [Virtualization] at /usr/sbin/drakconf.real line 822.
"/usr/sbin/drakguard" is not executable [Parental Controls] at /usr/sbin/drakconf.real line 822.
INTERNAL ERROR: unknown device sda10
MDK::Common::Various::internal_error() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/devices.pm:176
devices::entry() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/devices.pm:191
devices::make() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/partition_table/raw.pm:56
partition_table::raw::typeOfMBR() called from /usr/lib/libDrakX/bootloader.pm:188
bootloader::read() called from /usr/sbin/drakboot:53

This was in a brand new installation, no changes, no updates, exactly as installed.
Still the sda10 problem.

[scbs29]

BTW
Also tried with PCLinoxOS Enlightenment.
Exactly the same problems with sda10.