Devices /dev/ttyS* in Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1

stripped XFCE build by Claude
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Devices /dev/ttyS* in Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1

Post#1 by claude » 26 Jan 2013, 05:17

Sometimes I need to connect to internet via dial-up and use PPP to do so. With full Porteus 2.0-rc1...no problem, PPP there works just fine. But in Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1 it appears that devices ttyS0 through ttyS3 are missing in /dev, which makes using a dial-up modem impossible. Now, it'll probably be fixed when the stable version comes, but my question is, how can I make the /dev/ttyS* devices myself so that I can start using PPP right away in Xfce 2.0-rc1? Many thanks.....

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Re: Devices /dev/ttyS* in Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1

Post#2 by fanthom » 26 Jan 2013, 10:03

@claude
kernel used in standard and XFCE edition is exactly the same.
please run 'lsmod | sort > modules' command on both systems and compare the files. if you find differences then please post here.

also - if XFCE is lacking some modules then please load them with 'modprobe module_name' and check if ttyS* appears in dev.
(ofc you must have your modem plugged in)
Please add [Solved] to your thread title if the solution was found.

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Re: Devices /dev/ttyS* in Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1

Post#3 by claude » 27 Jan 2013, 02:39

@fanthom

First of all, here are the two files for comparison: http://pastebin.com/k4t3DEWj
And secondly, my apologies in advance, because I know I am deviating from the standard XFCE distribution you guys have made and I do not intend to waste your time this way. I am learning a great deal this way though. And if you have the time and are willing to look at it just for kicks, so much the better :)

The first file is standard Porteus 2.0-rc1 unmodified. The second file is my version of a much pruned off Porteus XFCE 2.0-rc1. I've booted
both on the same machine, the one with the PPP dial-up modem for the sake of comparison. Now, my version of XFCE 2.0-rc1 does not have
any sound programs, libraries (except for libasound.so.2 needed by firefox), drivers - all sound drivers are missing from the outcome of
'lsmod | sort > file' However, all the rest of the drivers that you can see in the standard Porteus' 'lsmod' outcome are also in modified XFCE, yet some do not get loaded.
Thank you for explaining to me that the /dev devices are created when drivers are loaded. I was able to load manually (w/ modprobe) all
the modules that did not get loaded at boot up:
'modprobe 8250_core' loaded serial_core as well and the missing /dev/ttyS* devices were promptly produced.
I had to load each single PPP module manually: ppp_generic, ppp_async (which loaded crc_ccitt as well), ppp_deflate (loaded zlib_deflate),
and bsd_comp. At this point I was able to connect to the internet via dial-up, which is how I am writing this post.
Then modprobed thermal_sys' (which loaded hwmon), parport_pc (which loaded parport and ppdev), 8139too (loaded mii), and finally processor and usblp. At this point an 'lsmod' produced the exact list (minus the sound modules) as in standard Porteus on this system.

But what do you make of it? What process is responsible for loading the modules which did not get loaded?
It is probably due to my shrinking the system as I did, from a 211 MB compressed filesystem to a 91 MB compressed filesystem. However,
everything works perfectly now that I have manually loaded the missing modules. Just wondering why the other modules were loaded at
boot up and these ones were not. I'm tempted to just include the modprobe commands for these modules in /etc/rc.d/rc.local and be done with it.
But it would be great to understand what is going on and fix the problem at its root.

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Re: Devices /dev/ttyS* in Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1

Post#4 by fanthom » 27 Jan 2013, 21:24

@claude
is udev daemon running in your modified system?
run 'ps aux | grep udevd' to confirm. if not then run 'slackyd -d udev' to track missing deps. if there are no missing deps then probably some udev rules got deleted so please reinstall udev package and do not delete anything from it.

btw: in case of further issues i would suggest opening a subforum in 'Porteus derivatives' section as this problem has very little to do with Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1 (this way we wont confuse users of official XFCE edition)
Please add [Solved] to your thread title if the solution was found.

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Re: Devices /dev/ttyS* in Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1

Post#5 by claude » 28 Jan 2013, 06:09

@fanthom
is udev daemon running in your modified system?
run 'ps aux | grep udevd' to confirm. if not then run 'slackyd -d udev' to track missing deps. if there are no missing deps then probably some udev rules got deleted so please reinstall udev package and do not delete anything from it.
root 1080 0.1 0.1 3048 1188 ? Ss 03:28 0:01 /sbin/udevd -d
root 2187 0.0 0.1 3044 828 ? S 03:34 0:00 /sbin/udevd -d
root 2188 0.0 0.0 3044 748 ? S 03:34 0:00 /sbin/udevd -d
root 2257 0.0 0.0 2748 616 pts/2 S+ 03:38 0:00 grep udevd

udev seems to be running... I didn't delete anything at all from udev package.... What I did was delete a lot of modules from /lib/modules, but kept those used by my systems by referring to what was installed by standard Porteus on those systems.
Actually, to be able to run PPP, I've just realized that all I need to do is a 'modprobe 8250_core' which produces the missing /dev/ttyS* devices..... At that point running 'ppp-go' installs all modules needed for PPP. However, serial_core, 8250_core and all the other afore-mentioned modules that should be installed by udev for some reason aren't.
btw: in case of further issues i would suggest opening a subforum in 'Porteus derivatives' section as this problem has very little to do with Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1 (this way we wont confuse users of official XFCE edition)
You are right.....I'm gonna do that right now, would you or someone else please move this thread to "my" subforum? Thanks a lot for everything...much appreciated. :)

EDIT: I explored it and have no idea how to open a subforum there.... I had in mind something like "Claude's Shrinking XFCE" or similar.....

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Re: Devices /dev/ttyS* in Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1

Post#6 by fanthom » 28 Jan 2013, 20:38

@Claude
moved this topic to a subforum in 'Derivatives' section.

any chance you could share your build so i could look at udev issue?
Please add [Solved] to your thread title if the solution was found.

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Re: Devices /dev/ttyS* in Porteus Xfce 2.0-rc1

Post#7 by claude » 29 Jan 2013, 15:59

@fanthom
Thanks for opening subforum...
Well, this mini-Porteus was made just for my use, it's just one large xzm module (91 MB) and contains a lot of personalization...I did not intend it for public view. It would be a lot of work to extract all the personal stuff (passwords, images, extra programs I've included, etc) at this point. A lot of programs were installed which do not appear in /var/log/packages. It would be a bit of a mess for you to look into at this time.
What I'll do, for the time being I'll add those four or five modprobe commands in /etc/rc.d/rc.local which will load all needed modules/drivers that udev missed loading. Then, when Porteus XFCE 2.0 final comes out, I'll go through the same procedure of stripping it, but this time I'll keep it clean with a version I can share with others.
It will be easier then to explore the udev issue if it persists. Thanks a lot for your help. :)

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