My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

AmigaOne X5000 platform specific issues related to Linux only.
dstastny
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2016 6:31 am
Location: Atlanta GA

My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

Post by dstastny »

Hi guys,

First thanks for the work you do. I know its all volunteer.

I have spent a week off and on now trying to make a decent working installation on my X5000. I am not Linux expert but been developing for a long time. I just screwed something up that has forced me back to reinstall as I try to make a working environment. (My development work is on separate partition). As I repeat the process I figured a nice documented list of issues would be helpful.

Here is what I encountered so far.

1. Bug in GParted that defaults to unusable state unless you guess to set correct alignment "cylinders".

2. Normal Installer does not work and Alternative install script that does not create a installation. It copies a "USB live session" onto hard drive. I could not figure out how to remove "Live User Session" satisfactorily nor have system think it was installed. The welcome page keeps greeting me with install option that does not work.

3. No 3D hardware support. This boot parameter "radeon.pcie_gen2=1" does nothing as far as I can not see as the "radeon" driver is not in the kernel. " modinfo -p radeon"

4. Having to boot off off USB drive since UBOOT cant read AmigaOS 4 partition table.

For me right now 3/2 are probably the most annoying issues that limits the usefulness of hardware so anything I can do to assist/test please reach out to me.

Thanks for allowing my feedback
Doug Stastny
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xeno74
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Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 7:58 am

Re: My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

Post by xeno74 »

Thank you for posting the issues. After the 17.04 release in April 2017 we will further develop the ubuntu MATE 16.04 live DVD.
http://www.amigalinux.org
http://www.supertuxkart-amiga.de

Running Linux on AmigaONEs can require some tinkering.
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caseycullen
Posts: 519
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Location: Madison, WI USA
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Re: My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

Post by caseycullen »

dstastny wrote:Hi guys,

First thanks for the work you do. I know its all volunteer.

I have spent a week off and on now trying to make a decent working installation on my X5000. I am not Linux expert but been developing for a long time. I just screwed something up that has forced me back to reinstall as I try to make a working environment. (My development work is on separate partition). As I repeat the process I figured a nice documented list of issues would be helpful.

Here is what I encountered so far.

1. Bug in GParted that defaults to unusable state unless you guess to set correct alignment "cylinders".

2. Normal Installer does not work and Alternative install script that does not create a installation. It copies a "USB live session" onto hard drive. I could not figure out how to remove "Live User Session" satisfactorily nor have system think it was installed. The welcome page keeps greeting me with install option that does not work.

3. No 3D hardware support. This boot parameter "radeon.pcie_gen2=1" does nothing as far as I can not see as the "radeon" driver is not in the kernel. " modinfo -p radeon"

4. Having to boot off off USB drive since UBOOT cant read AmigaOS 4 partition table.

For me right now 3/2 are probably the most annoying issues that limits the usefulness of hardware so anything I can do to assist/test please reach out to me.

Thanks for allowing my feedback
Doug Stastny
Hi Doug,
I'll let you know what I did about these issues, but please know that I haven't tested extensively enough to know if there are any unintended consequences. I don't think there should be...

1) It sounds like you're launching GParted through the normal installer. Instead, launch GParted from the System menu (under Adminstration, then Hardware I believe). You will need to use an msdos partition table for Linux (which means Linux must be on a separate drive from AOS, see note 4), which will allow you to create ext4 and linux swap partitions with no problem.
After you have the drive set up, use the alternative installer script, option 2, to copy the installation over. When it asks for the partition, make sure to enter the entire path, such as /dev/sda2.
You can manually make the copied "Live Session" into a normal installation; see note 2...

2) These instructions presume you've setup a drive using GParted, you have copied MATE onto it using the alternative installer script, and you have set your boot parameters to point "linuxboot" to that media:
Log into MATE.
Press 'CTRL + ALT + F1" to go to terminal.
For username type "ubuntu-mate" and press Enter when asked for the password.
Type "sudo adduser [username]" (type whatever you want your username to be instead of [username].
You will be prompted to enter the sudo password first, leave blank and press Enter.
Then you will be asked to type in the newuser password (type whatever you want your password to be) and newuser setup information.
Next, enter "sudo usermod -aG sudo [username]"
Now test to ensure the user was entered with sudo privileges by typing "su - [username]" and then "sudo ls -la /root". You should see the contents of your /root directory; this means the user is correctly set up.
Type "sudo reboot" to restart the system. It will automatically login to MATE desktop as ubuntu-mate again.
Now, to delete the ubuntu-mate user and stop the system from automatically logging in, press "CTRL + ALT + F1" to log into terminal again.
This time, enter the username and password you just set up.
Then, type "sudo service lightdm stop" and press enter.
Now enter "sudo userdel ubuntu-mate" and press enter.
Test to ensure that user was deleted by typing the userdel command again, this time you should receive an error stating that user does not exist.
Type "sudo reboot" and press enter.
This time you should be prompted to enter your username and password.
To get rid of the Ubuntu MATE Welcome screen, login to terminal (CTRL + ALT + F1), type "sudo service lightdm stop" and press enter.
Then, type "sudo apt purge ubuntu-mate-welcome". It will tell you this command will also remove "ubuntu-mate-desktop" but this is only the metapackage (OK to remove).
After this is complete enter "sudo reboot"; now you should be taken to the login screen, and upon logging in as your user there should be no welcome screen.
At some point you may want to edit your other user permissions: open MATE Control Center from the System menu, and click on Users and Groups. You should see your username highlighted. Click the "Advanced Settings" button and check all the permissions you want your user to have (probably all of them).

3) From my understanding, Radeon Northern Isles cards (HD 6000 series) and earlier work with hardware acceleration. As far as performance is concerned, aside from having less memory, an HD 6870 benchmarks about the same as an R7 250X and better than an R7 240, so from my perspective this isn't much of a concern. Also, make sure you're entering "mem=3500M" in your setenv boot parameters.

4) You can boot off a hard drive or SSD as long as it is a separate drive from your Amiga OS installation. This could be external drive, or a second internal drive if you do not have an optical drive connected to your second SATA port. Either way, partition the drive with an msdos partition table from GParted. If the drive is connected via SATA you may have to add "sata init" to the beginning of your boot parameters (before setenv). I have not yet tried using a PCIe SATA controller to add additional internal drives, but I'll post how it goes once I do.
dstastny
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2016 6:31 am
Location: Atlanta GA

Re: My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

Post by dstastny »

Hi Casey,

Thanks for detailed reply!
1) It sounds like you're launching GParted through the normal installer. Instead, launch GParted from the System menu (under Administration, then Hardware I believe). You will need to use an msdos partition table for Linux (which means Linux must be on a separate drive from AOS, see note 4), which will allow you to create ext4 and linux swap partitions with no problem.
After you have the drive set up, use the alternative installer script, option 2, to copy the installation over. When it asks for the partition, make sure to enter the entire path, such as /dev/sda2.
You can manually make the copied "Live Session" into a normal installation
GPart i was just running it from alternative installer or from system. All good its just bug but annoying. I have all my partitions setup. So all good just important point for someone not willing to mess around.
2) These instructions presume you've setup a drive using GParted, you have copied MATE onto it using the alternative installer script, and you have set your boot parameters to point "linuxboot" to that media:
Log into MATE.
Press 'CTRL + ALT + F1" to go to terminal.
For username type "ubuntu-mate" and press Enter when asked for the password.
Type "sudo adduser [username]" (type whatever you want your username to be instead of [username].
You will be prompted to enter the sudo password first, leave blank and press Enter.
Then you will be asked to type in the newuser password (type whatever you want your password to be) and newuser setup information.
Next, enter "sudo usermod -aG sudo [username]"
Now test to ensure the user was entered with sudo privileges by typing "su - [username]" and then "sudo ls -la /root". You should see the contents of your /root directory; this means the user is correctly set up.
Type "sudo reboot" to restart the system. It will automatically login to MATE desktop as ubuntu-mate again.
Now, to delete the ubuntu-mate user and stop the system from automatically logging in, press "CTRL + ALT + F1" to log into terminal again.
This time, enter the username and password you just set up.
Then, type "sudo service lightdm stop" and press enter.
Now enter "sudo userdel ubuntu-mate" and press enter.
Test to ensure that user was deleted by typing the userdel command again, this time you should receive an error stating that user does not exist.
Type "sudo reboot" and press enter.
This time you should be prompted to enter your username and password.
To get rid of the Ubuntu MATE Welcome screen, login to terminal (CTRL + ALT + F1), type "sudo service lightdm stop" and press enter.
Then, type "sudo apt purge ubuntu-mate-welcome". It will tell you this command will also remove "ubuntu-mate-desktop" but this is only the metapackage (OK to remove).
After this is complete enter "sudo reboot"; now you should be taken to the login screen, and upon logging in as your user there should be no welcome screen.
At some point you may want to edit your other user permissions: open MATE Control Center from the System menu, and click on Users and Groups. You should see your username highlighted. Click the "Advanced Settings" button and check all the permissions you want your user to have (probably all of them).
Thanks you this was only comprehensive instructions I could find anywhere. Only issue was ubuntu-mate user was running was running systemmd. I just kept "sudo kill -9 ####" I kept killing processes until it let me delete account :D
3) From my understanding, Radeon Northern Isles cards (HD 6000 series) and earlier work with hardware acceleration. As far as performance is concerned, aside from having less memory, an HD 6870 benchmarks about the same as an R7 250X and better than an R7 240, so from my perspective this isn't much of a concern. Also, make sure you're entering "mem=3500M" in your setenv boot parameters.
Parameters all good, hope they get that resolved as what a waste of memory. I have whats identified as "7770/8760 - R7 250X identified "dealer installed" with "lspci". I can see from the the Xorg.0.log its identified as a a VERDE so I guess that is Southern island and I am looking for compatibility with AmigaOS which if i understand does not work with Northern Island. From the log the failure appears to be surrounding "glamor detected failed to initialize EGL". I am wondering if it needs the driver RadeonSI instead of Radeon. If I could figure out how to build it I would give it a try.
4) You can boot off a hard drive or SSD as long as it is a separate drive from your Amiga OS installation. This could be external drive, or a second internal drive if you do not have an optical drive connected to your second SATA port. Either way, partition the drive with an msdos partition table from GParted. If the drive is connected via SATA you may have to add "sata init" to the beginning of your boot parameters (before setenv). I have not yet tried using a PCIe SATA controller to add additional internal drives, but I'll post how it goes once I do.
For now Ill keep it booting off the usb stick. Its a shame they waste the space on SD card as I suspect there would be enough to squeeze on there but it has special partitioning itself. Let me know how it goes with with additional drive controller as I have small SATA drives all over and picking up a recommended controller would be no big deal.

You sir have really made my day! I cant thank you enough.

Doug
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xeno74
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Re: My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

Post by xeno74 »

Hi Caseycullen,

Many many thanks for posting the instructions.

With Debian Stretch dropping 32-bit PowerPC as a release architecture, Ubuntu is following a similar maneuver and will not be making 32-bit PPC images of future releases including 17.04. I will update my installed development version of ubuntu MATE 17.04 as long as possible. After that I will try to release an unofficial ubuntu MATE 17.04 USB img for the X5000 and X1000. After the unofficial 17.04 release in April 2017 we will further develop the alternative installer for 16.04 LTS with commands for removing the "Live User Session" and adding an own user.

Cheers,
Christian
http://www.amigalinux.org
http://www.supertuxkart-amiga.de

Running Linux on AmigaONEs can require some tinkering.
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xeno74
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Re: My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

Post by xeno74 »

There is an easy way to create an own user.
  1. System - Administration - Users and Groups
  2. Click the button Add to add a new user

    Image

    Image
  3. Click the button Advanced Settings after typing the Username and Password
  4. Choose the tab User Privileges. I'd suggest checking all of the options.

    Image
  5. Code: Select all

    sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
    It displays some text as follows:

    Code: Select all

    [SeatDefaults]  
    allow-guest=false  
    autologin-guest=false
    autologin-user=ubuntu-mate
    autologin-user-timeout=0
    
  6. Delete the ubuntu-mate user and leave it blank
  7. Delete the line autologin-user-timeout=0
  8. Reboot your X5000 or X1000
http://www.amigalinux.org
http://www.supertuxkart-amiga.de

Running Linux on AmigaONEs can require some tinkering.
dstastny
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2016 6:31 am
Location: Atlanta GA

Re: My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

Post by dstastny »

Hi Christian,

That is how I tried it first time but was unable to see the Ubuntu Account to delete after I rebooted and logged in as me. However I could still log into the Ubuntu session. Only when I dumped it to terminal was I able to remove account.

Off course mileage may vary for if I made mistake anywhere :lol:

Again, Thanks for help and hard work. I have my LLVM compiled and putting it through some testing to see if I can get my language running under powerpc, then on to making HW acceleration work.

Regards
Doug
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caseycullen
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Re: My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

Post by caseycullen »

xeno74 wrote:There is an easy way to create an own user.
I don't think this method gives the new user sudo permissions.
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xeno74
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Re: My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

Post by xeno74 »

caseycullen wrote: I don't think this method gives the new user sudo permissions.
Yes, that's correct but it is very easy to add your user to the sudo group. :-)

After adding all User Privileges you can add your new user to the group sudo with the following instructions:
  1. Click the button Manage Groups
  2. Select the group sudo
  3. Click the button Properties
  4. Mark the user to be added by placing a tick mark on the left next to the respective name
  5. Click the button OK
Image
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Running Linux on AmigaONEs can require some tinkering.
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caseycullen
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Re: My experiences with ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS Live USB

Post by caseycullen »

xeno74 wrote:
caseycullen wrote: I don't think this method gives the new user sudo permissions.
Yes, that's correct but it is very easy to add your user to the sudo group. :-)
Excellent! I agree that this method is likely easier for most people. I'm still not totally familiar with MATE; before now I almost exclusively used KDE.
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