Software projects/OS/Slackware

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Revision as of 11:09, 18 March 2012 by Linux-SWAT (talk | contribs)
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Disclaimer

Hi, this is Linux-SWAT.

I'm the maintainer of this Slackware port, and you can find me here : http://boards.openpandora.org/

It's an a ARMedSlack overlay. ARMedSlack is the official ARM Slackware port.

Important notes : It's not affiliated in any way with Slackware or ARMedSlack. DO NOT contact any of them if you have problems with it. Contact ME.

It's not affiliated in any way with Open Pandora gmbh or Open Pandora ltd. DO NOT contact any of them if you have problems with it. Contact ME.

This software is distributed as is. You are on your own responsibility when using it.

Installation

  • Format a 8G or more SD card with the Ext2 filesystem. To make explanations clear, name it SLACK.
  • It's highly recommended to have a second partition formated as a swap. 256M or more is a good choice.
  • Grab the latest rootfs here : http://
  • Uncompress the rootfs on your SD. Be root, using su -, or sudo :

sudo tar -jxvfp myrootfs.tar.bz2 -C /media/SLACK/ --numeric-owner

First run

  • Be sure your Pandora's clock is set. Otherwise, your filesystem will be checked.
  • Power down your Pandora, insert the SD card in slot 1, and power on your unit.
  • Login : op
  • Password : op

Basic usage

  • In order to type commands as root, you have to type su -. You can use just su, but i don't recommend it because you won't have the full root environment.
  • In order to unmount drives or SD cards, you have an icon in the Xfce bar.
  • Power button is disabled for now, so you won't crash your system putting it in ram suspend.

Basic tools

  • To upgrade, become root using su -, then use slackpkg update, followed by slackpkg upgrade-all.
  • To enable or disable services at boot, become root, then type pkgtool, then go in setup -> services, check the option with space then push enter.
  • To choose a window manager when using the runlevel 4 (the default), become root and type xwmconfig.
  • If you disabled the runlevel 4, you don't need to be root.

Installing a program

  • Slackware archives are .tgz or .txz
  • Slackware uses three powerful tools : installpkg, removepkg and upgradepkg.
  • A fourth tool named makepkg build packages from compiled sources.

Installing a program from source

  • The cleanest way to do it is to use a SlackBuild script : http://slackbuilds.org/guidelines/
  • Many SlackBuilds for Slackware 13.37 are already available here : http://slackbuilds.org/repository/13.37/
  • I shipped a tool named sbopkg, which does the job for you. Become root using su -, then run sbopkg.
  • Note that Slackware does not check dependencies, so you have to get the right build orders looking here : http://slackbuilds.org/
  • Also note that gnome libraries must be compiled in a certain order. I already did the job, and shipped them in the rootfs.

Installing a program with a precompiled archive

  • I compiled a lot of packages from http://slackbuilds.org/. You can find them here : http://
  • Download what you need, checking the dependencies for your version here : http://slackbuilds.org/
  • Put all needed .tgz or .txz in a folder, go root using su -, then type installpkg /path/to/your/folder/*.t?z

Build system

  • I distribute it under the GPL 3 license.
  • It may look a bit messy for now (and indeed, some part have to be cleaned), but it's versatile, as i intended from the start.
  • It's mainly two bash scripts.
  • Depending on what you comment/uncomment, you can produce an alpha build, very minimal, or a full build.
  • Depending on what you edit, you can use it to port any *NIX to Open Pandora, and maintain your build very easily.