Slackadelic.com

I’ve had a few issues getting my mouse working properly with evdev in the latest updates to Slackware64-current. Today, it appears, that other users are experiencing some other issues outside of a mouse not mapping buttons properly. Most of those users report black screens when trying to restart or quit an X session.

If you are one of us having such issues and are stumped, try the below in your xorg.conf before you go googling around for 3 hours like I did


Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AutoAddDevices" "False"
Option "AllowEmptyInput" "False"
EndSection


I hope this helps!
As always you can catch me in ##slackware on freenode if you have any questions/suggestions/comments.

People have asked, “Is that even possible?” Yes, it is.

I did this remotely from work via ssh on my home box, worked fine, except for a speed bump here and there. Issues that were caused mainly by me not paying attention.

First off, make sure you upgradepkg pkgtools, gzip, and tar. Then install the xz package if its not already installed. If it is, then upgradepkg xz as well.

After that, you should be able to upgradepkg */*.tgz and then upgradepkg */*.txz to make sure everything gets added.

Now, the other issue is the 32bit compat libs that come with Slamd64. You will want to remove these.

You can get the latest release of the 32bit compat libs that Fred is working on here

Now, this is the process that worked for me and your mileage may vary. My upgrade path went a little differently than this and luckily I had a Slamd64 chroot available to symlink missing commands against or I would’ve been hosed.

Comments/suggestions, as always, are welcome.

There have been quite a few questions posed since the official announcement by Patrick Volkerding that Slackware is now releasing an official x86_64 port.

These questions normally stem about 32bit compatibility etc.

Here are a few answers that I hope will resolve any doubts/questions/concerns you may have, at least for now. These are of my own opinion and may not be completely factual.

1) Is Slackware64 multilib? (support both 64bit and 32bit programs)
A: Yes. It is multilib.

2) Does Slackware64 include the needed 32bit compatibility libraries necessary to run 32bit applications?
A: No, it does not include any 32bit compatibility libraries at this time.

3) Can I build 32bit applications on Slackware64?
A: From research and talking with other Slackware64 testers, it appears that gcc/glibc does NOT support building with -m32 flag for 32bit binary output. I have no idea if this is going to change in the future or not.

4) Is there any easy way to include the 32bit compatibility libraries?
A: The short answer is, possibly. Its been debated that you can use the c/ series from Slamd64-current in Slackware64 and gain the ability to run 32bit applications “out of the box.” However, I have not tested this and right now is more of a theory.

One other note, if you want to RUN 32bit applications without the compatibility libraries you will need to get a static built binary that includes those libraries. This in itself isn’t a bad solution per se, but it also means that you will be looking at VERY large binaries.

I hope this helps to answer some questions. If any of this is inaccurate or could use some clarification, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line and let me know.

Ya know, I love Gaim and have for a long time. I was quite upset to find out that they had been locked in a legal battle with AOL for quite a few years. When they finally came to an agreement they had to change the name to Pidgin. Now I use their new-named IM client. Love it.

However, I was just informed about something on their web site that shocked me. If you read this you will see what I’m speaking of. As a Slackware user I do take a bit of offense to this. I mean ignorance is one thing, but having no clue at all is even worse. “several of us actively dislike that distribution for its history of broken installs, as well as for its non-existant package management.” Ok, I’m confused… right before you said that you stated, ” We have no developers using Slack…” so, If I’m confused you will understand, hopefully.

Where is your proof of broken installs? Which packages are “broken?” Stating non-existant package management is just BS. I mean, how the heck would you know? You don’t even use the distribution. Oh, that’s right, I forget you have a friend who knows a friend.. who knows this guy.. who dated this girl.. who’s brother’s dad’s cousin twice removed used Slackware eons ago and that was what he said.

*BONK* Clue stick!

By the way, if you want to rant to someone call these guys: http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/DeveloperPages

UPDATE: They’ve changed the text. Only after receiving a barrage of emails and from people complaining about it in #pidgin on freenode.net