First Steps with STUX GNU/LINUX

Step by step user guide for STUX GNU/Linux (index)

First steps with STUX

Be sure that KDE is properly started using a resolution of minimum 1024x768.
If KDE is started using a resolution less than 1024x768, this means that something goes wrong while auto-detecting your video driver and/or while trying to guess the frequencies used by your monitor: in this case you have to manually set video driver and monitor resolution.

If you have an NVidia video card, you can start STUX Live CD using the boot option
```
stux nvidia
```
in order to auto-configure X Window to use the official NVidia driver; if you don't specify this option, the Open Source NVidia driver 'nv' will be used by default.
Click the red S in the kicker of KDE desktop: this will start STUX Control Center.
Change regional settings: keyboard layout, time and language.
Mount storage devices, if any. Try to enable DMA on IDE devices to make the system faster. If you experience I/O errors later, try disabling D.M.A. (some motherboards have a buggy D.M.A. controller).
If you need to install STUX on Hard Disk, and you want configure system later, jump to point 11. Continue to next point if you want to configure/test configuration before Hard Disk installation or if you don't want to install STUX anywhere (run from Live CD only).
Create/verify swap space.
Learn something about STUX Always On daemon and decide if you will use it or not. You should do this now because this information will be requested when configuring network and storage devices later.If you don't want to know what Always On is, do not use it.
Setup network:
- Assign a host name to the machine, the default is 'stux-darkstar.example.net'.
- Create all connections required (dialup, ethernet, wi-fi or ADSL pppoe) and decide if connections must be monitored by the STUX Always On daemon.
- Setup Network Address Translation (N.A.T.) if the machine will be a networks gateway for your LAN.
- Update DynDNS record, if you have one.
Setup network services:
- Start required network services and choose if and which services must be monitored by the STUX Always On daemon.
- Configure and start the STUX Always On daemon, if required.
Make your own configurations (desktop, configure multimedia, create network shares with Samba and/or NFS, connect to remote shares via NFS or Samba, upgrade/remove/install new packages, .....).
Test if everythings work properly and decide if:
- STUX will run as a compressed iso image file from CDROM.
- STUX will run as a compressed iso image file from hard disk.
- STUX will be fully installed on hard disk.
If you have installed STUX on hard disk or have saved configuration on a persistent device, reboot now in order for changes to take effect.
Enjoy !

To start STUX Control Center click the red S button in the KDE kicker.
A window like this will appear:

STUX Control Center allows to perform a variety of functions in a graphical and mouse driven way.
STUX Control Center is basically a tree-view and a set of buttons from which you can easily access the vast majority of STUX/KDE tools.

NOTE:

tree-view

/usr/local/stux-utils/minidesk/tree.conf

/usr/local/stux-utils/minidesk/buttons.conf

Hard disk/USB/CD/DVD auto detection and mount

When system starts, by default, it autodetects all IDE hard disks, IDE cdroms, USB keys, USB external devices,...
Starting from STUX 0.9, devices are no more automatically mounted. You have to mount device manually or using STUX Storage Devices Manager.

Save configuration persistently on IDE or USB devices.

From the STUX Control Center choose

STUX CONTROL CENTER -> SETUP -> LIVE CD -> SAVE PERSISTENT CONFIGURATION

you'll get a window like this:

Options described in picture above:

Option 'Save in directory /mnt/?d??/stux-union':

This option will create directory stux-union in the selected device.
Use this option with ext2 filesystems only.
Option 'Save in file /mnt/?d??/stux-union.img':

This option will create file stux-union.img in the selected device.
Use this option with ext2 or fat filesystems.
- 'File size: N K':
  
  This is the current selected size for the new file stux-union.img to create.
  Move the slider to change this value.
  Dafult file size is the maximum usable file size, that is 2 GB.
'Approx size required: N K':

This is the disk space required to save persistent configuration.

NOTE: only MOUNTED devices are shown in picture.
To mount a device, see STUX Storage Devices Manager.

Steps to save configuration persistently:

Choose the partition where you want to save configuration.
Choose to save in a directory or in a file, depending on the available filesystems: if you have an ext2 partition, choose to save in directory on that partition; if you only have a FAT partition, choose to save in file on that partition.
If you have choosed to save in a file, move the slider to choose the desired file size: file cannot be larger than 2 GB. Default file size is 2 GB so you have to wait some time for file creation. It would be better to choose the maximum size available, because a disk space shortage could cause problems later. If you only need to test this funcionality, 100 MB is a reasonable value for file size.
Press 'Save' button.
Reboot.
Boot messages will indicate that the configuration has been found and loaded.

If you don't save configuration persistently, all changes you made to the files in a session, will be lost in the next session.
When configuration has been saved, STUX will use the persistent directory specified by user instead of the default one located in the volatile RAM.

You can save configuration in 2 ways:

In a directory:
in this case the directory named 'stux-union' will be created in the root folder of the device. This directory will be located and mounted at boot time.
Is possible to save directory in partition of type EXT2 partitions only (NO NTFS, EXT3, RAISERFS, ....).
The amount of saveable data is limited to the partition size.
In a file:
in this case the file named 'stux-union.iso' will be created in the root folder of the device. This file will be located and mounted, as a loop device, at boot time.
Is possible to save file in partition types FAT or EXT2 only.
This mode is useful when there are no EXT2 partitions available, but has the disadvantage that the amount of saveable data is limited to the file size, that cannot be larger than 2 GB.

If you have an EXT2 partition (or you can format one), it is recomended to save configuration in directory on the EXT2 partition, instead of in a file.

To save the configuration on a persitent partition, at least one of the following devices is required:

A floppy drive and a floppy disk ( minimum data saving )
A FAT partition, with minimum 30 MB free.
If you have only a FAT partition, you can only save configuration in a file (not in a directory).
An EXT2 partition, with minimum 30 MB free.
If you have both FAT and EXT2 partitions, choose the EXT2 partition and save configuration in directory.

The configuration can be saved on USB key or an external USB / IDE disk: if there is an USB device attached, that device will be shown in the list of available devices (see the picture above).

If you don't have a partition ready as requested, and no floppy drive is available, you can use an USB KEY or an external disk ( USB / IDE ) or install a new hard disk.

Saving configuration on floppy disk is an optional (and different) way to save configuration that will be discussed later.

Once configuration has been saved, computer must be rebooted in order changes to take effect.
Configuration must be saved in this way (manually) one time only: once saved, STUX will load and save data automatically.

Remove/Backup/Restore/Move saved configuration:

To remove saved configuration:

STUX CONTROL CENTER -> SETUP -> LIVE CD -> SAVE PERSISTENT CONFIGURATION

If configuration is already saved, a window like this is shown:

Button 'Backup':

This button will create a backup of current configuration.
You will be prompted for directory where to save backup file.
Backup file will have a name like this:
```
stux-union[.iso].<YYYYMMSSHHmmss>.tgz
```
where <YYYYMMSSHHmmss> is time when file is renamed.

Backups can be easily restored, on the same or on another computer, using the button 'Restore', that is present even if configuration has not been saved yet.
Button 'Remove':

Use this button to delete current saved configuration.
You need to reboot computer in order to delete effectively the saved configuration.
Is not possible to delete current configuration immediatly because you are currently using it: configuration will be deleted when computer shuts down. if you have deleteted saved configuration and you have not yet rebooted, you can undo the operation of delete configuration on reboot deleting the flag file located at:
```
/etc/deletestuxconf
```
this will prevent the deletion of configuration on next shut down.
Button 'Restore':

Use this button to restore a backup created with the button 'Backup' described above.
Restore the backup file choosing the root directory of a device.
- if the backup file contains STUX configuration saved in a directory (named 'stux-union'), you can restore it only in the root folder of any EXT2 partition.
- if the backup file contains STUX configuration saved in a file (named 'stux-union.img'), you can restore it in FAT or EXT2 filesystems.
Button 'Move to another partition':

Use this button to move the current persitent partition from a partition to another.
Computer must be rebooted in order to load the persistent partition from the new device.
Button 'Close':

Close the window.

Save configuration persistently on floppy disk

To save configuration on floppy disk, from the STUX Control Center:

SETUP->LIVE CD->SAVE PERSISTENT CONFIGURATION

This will open the 'Save configuration' window:

Click the 'Save on floppy disk' button, you'll get a window like this:

Save configuration on floppy disk is a different procedure than saving on hard disk or usb device, and also works differentely: you can save configuration on both hard disk and floppy disk: data on floppy disk will overwrite data saved on other device.

All files listed in file /usr/local/stux-utils/saveconf/include.conf will be saved on floppy disk, excluding paths listed in /usr/local/stux-utils/saveconf/exclude.conf.

Click 'Save' to save configuration on floppy disk.

Click 'Edit' to edit the list of files to save.

Click 'Restore' to restore original Stux Live CD include.conf and exclude.conf files.

To load configuration from floppy at boot time, use the boot option:

stux floppyconf

To save configuration again on floppy disk, re-run this procedure, or, from command line:

sudo /usr/local/stux-utils/floppyconf/saveconf.floppy.sh

STUX Storage Devices Manager: mount and unmount devices

To start STUX Storage Devices Manager:

STUX CONTROL CENTER -> Setup -> System -> Storage devices

you'll see a window like this:

Here you can handle with your storage devices, create SWAP partitions or SWAP files, connect remote shares via SAMBA or NFS, decide which devices must be mounted at boot time and which not.

If you have saved configuration persistently, all devices mounted with STUX Storage Devices Manager will be remounted at startup.

Press the button QT-PARTED if you need to repartition, or resize existing partitions (advanced users should prefer the command cfdisk from the command line).

NVidia proprietary drivers

boot option

STUX CONTROL CENTER -> Setup -> System -> Hardware -> Video card

STUX CONTROL CENTER -> Setup -> System -> Hardware -> NVidia video drivers

Manually set video driver, monitor resolution and refresh rates

Change desktop manager

To change desktop manager, close the current session:

KDE Menu -> Logout -> End current session

This will bring you to the Login Screen, where you can choose a different desktop manager.

Available desktop managers:

KDE (default) [kde.org]
Window Maker [windowmaker.info]
FluxBox [fluxbox.org]
BlackBox [blackboxwm.sourceforge.net]
Xfce [xfce.org]
FVWM [fvwm.org]
Mwm
Twm

In every desktop manager, you can recall STUX Control Center executing command:

/usr/local/stux-utils/minidesk/minidesk.sh

Compiz

Wikipedia

STUX CONTROL CENTER -> Setup -> System -> Desktop Settings -> Compiz

Windows decorations are missed:
Text scrolling problems while using qt based applications:

rm -f /home/stux/.kde/Autostart/compiz.sh /home/stux/.kde/env/compizwm.sh

3D Desktop

carousel

cylinder

linear

viewmaster

priceisright

flip

random

Manually set video driver

STUX Control Center -> Setup -> System -> Hardware -> Keyboard Hot Keys

Regional settings

Keyboard layout

Date and time

Language and Style

STUX CONTROL CENTER -> Setup -> System -> Regional settings -> Language and Style

STUX CONTROL CENTER -> Setup -> System -> Regional settings -> Download, Install language

NOTE: You can manually install new packages using Slackware packages, kdei serie with a command like this:
$ installpkg kde-i18n-XX-3.3.2-noarch-1.tgz

Manually set video driver, monitor resolution and refresh rates.

This tool tries to automate some basic settings of X server, editing X configuration file /etc/X11/xorg.conf using an easy graphical interface.
It's suggested to edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf directly and manually if you know how to do it.

First of all, it should be a good idea to make a backup copy of your currently working X configuration file (/etc/X11/xorg.conf): in a shell, execute:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.ok

To change video driver:

STUX CONTROL CENTER -> Setup -> System -> Hardware -> Video card

Here you can change video driver, in case of startup auto-detection has failed.

You can see the model of your current video card using command

lspci | grep -i vga

If a suitable driver cannot be found, the default vesa driver should always work.

when you click 'Ok', a window like this will appear:

Press Yes to restart KDE automatically or press ALT+CTRL+BACK keys to restart KDE later.

To change monitor resolution and rates:

STUX CONTROL CENTER -> Setup -> System -> Desktop Settings -> Screen resolution and colors

Here you can change monitor resolution, in case of startup auto-detection has failed.

WARNING: When you change resolution or driver, X configuration file will be modified and X is restarted: it could happen that you specified a wrong configuration ( a wrong driver or a too high resolution ): in this case KDE will not start again and you have to edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf manually. If KDE did non restart, login as root in the shell console, and restore the backup file created before:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.ok /etc/X11/xorg.conf

then restart KDE using command:

kdm

if X window is not running, or

killall -HUP X

or press the combination ALT+CTRL+BACK if X window is already running.

If KDE wont start, you can always restore the default X configuration file for vesa driver; execute:

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf-vesa /etc/X11/xorg.conf

and restart KDE as explained above.

WARNING: when you click 'Ok', a window like this will appear:

Press Yes to restart KDE automatically or press ALT+CTRL+BACK keys to restart KDE later.

Warning: if you set a wrong X configuration, KDE will not start again: in these cases switch to text console pressing ALT+CTRL+F1, login as root, and execute:

/etc/stux/restorex.sh

to restore the last configuration file before editing with Stux Utilities. Once restored, if KDE is running, switch to KDE console pressing ALT+CTRL+F7 and restart KDE session pressing ALT+CTRL+BACK; if KDE is not running, start it with command

kdm