MacBook Pro (Mid 2009) 15" 4G Vbox & HD (x64 v1.1 - v1.2rc)

Here you can post about your various experiences with PC hardware. You can also post about hardware that is not compatible with the linux kernel or not recommended for use with Porteus.
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WildeGeist
White ninja
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Joined: 05 Mar 2012, 23:42
Distribution: V1.2
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MacBook Pro (Mid 2009) 15" 4G Vbox & HD (x64 v1.1 - v1.2rc)

Post#1 by WildeGeist » 07 Mar 2012, 13:10

I learned a lot trying out Porteus! Fantistic marvel!

First off, it ran tits on my HD as a Live CD over the natural OS X HFS scheme. Very fast. The v1.1 inspired me to try to figure out how to do a full HD install with Porteus. More later.

I soon found the Porteus v1.2rc and frantically downloaded every offering of it. In the meanwhile I loaded my Vbox with distros to produce BTRFS and ZFS schemes, as well as an ext4 (used openSUSE for btrfs, FreeBSD (PC-BSD) Server for ZFS, Arch Bang for ext4). Both v1.1 &v1.2rc ran like hell over the btrfs, a tad faster and smoother than my HD OS X HFS. Over the ZFS it was a tad slower, and would not pick up the file systems for an HD install, just blanks.. On the btrfs the v1.2rc picked up like 2 slices to install on (sees ext# ones easy). On my Mac HD with HFS, the v1.2rc picked up the full HD (320G) HFS as one whole slice, Porteus itself, and another FAT about 230M? Three in total. Which was interesting, because my HD is only 320G, and Porteus is like 230M, so Porteus seen itself TWICE as 1 FAT and another UNKNOWN. Over Arch, it went like hell, a little slower than btrfs with v1.2rc. The v1.1 did not want to boot fully*? I have had a lot of bad luck with ANY Live OS running over anything Debian based for whatever reason, on Vbox. My v1.1 attempt may have been over Crunch Bang, another ext4, but its Debian. I keep Arch Bang and Crunch Bang in the same pile. With the 1.2rc it was Arch I used, minimal core install.

On my Vbox, I have been having some inconsistent issues these last couple Months. I have had some huge updates from Apple recently, and ever since, a lot of my older Open Source stuff is acting stranger and stranger. I regularly reinstall all my vBox, but the problems are becoming more regular.

If Porteus were able to Install simply with different partition schemes like openSUSE, I would have run it as my Primary OS and threw my OS X out the window! But I also would not like to see that happen with Porteus itself. I think its incredible and wonderful as is, and the concentration on Development should stay sweet, fast, methodical, and ultra-lite to do what it is intended to do.

I do hope though that someone does run with the concept, and make a little heavier version for a full HD Install. Maybe cut back on the Desktop and stay with the lighter LXDE and Open Box etc... Kinda like Crunch Bang.

I really dig the Module thing. True, its not like building your own Slackware from scratch. But for those of us that this is still a serious undertaking, having Porteus built for a full install would be screaming to a new comer to Linux to try out Slackware, and still gives you the feeling of building something, even if its snatching modules and then screw them in, it better than it all being there already whether you like it or not, and keeps it Light for us in the world with very slow Internet. Like my downloading & burning a 3.5G iso is about a 3 Day project with ISP's running 2kbps-12kbps with the fastest peaks at 72kbps. Most Mirrors kick me out under 10kbps! This is DSL too! Saipan is a forgotten world. Island that is.

Anyway, I really admire this project, and I will certainly stick close to this one, and try to be there for Porteus' every move. I am actually on a FreeBSD kick, trying to learn FreeBSD inside & out. But my mentor in Canada said to learn Slackware firstly. When I caught a glimpse of Porteus being Slack-like, I had to see it. Truly impressive and fascinating! To think I too might have my Slack going like this gives me new hopes!

I learned a lot from all this. Thanks for all the added experience. I have a long way to go. Its all good though. Hope the data helps someone. Still learning too how to give good data. Oh, my Apple Mighty Mouse Bluetooth hooked up too with v1.2rc . Can not remember if v1.1 did? Trying to get less mouse happy these days. Moving towards more Terminal type stuff.

Cheers you all, awesome work here!!!

BTW: I also had my Line 6 KB36 USB Midi Keyboard/Interface attached, and it connected too running live over my OS X 10.7.3 . Not perfectly, but pretty impressive considering Line 6 has not let any drivers out yet, only Source. Nice! I can still do most of the midi functions, play keyboards and guitar. Not sure about the Mics. The majority was functional. I have only seen that with the latest openSUSE and OpenIndiana so far. I did not test it extensively, just tapped some keys and banged a string, but still a lot to be said in that Linux people owning Line 6 stuff have been whining for years to get some drivers & kernels tweaked for Line 6 junk to run on Linux. Porteus is very close to having it!

I used DVD-R for all experiments. v1.1 i486 also, possibly the one that 'stuck' over Arch or Crunch Bang? Lost the screen with just blow fly colored horizontal lines near the top left, and a small white blinking horizontal slash kinda like a larger Terminal 'dash' blinking. at the top left most corner.

Georg Curnutt
Porteus, Slackware, FreeBSD on Habey MITX-6500 Development (ARM)