Upgrading to Scientific Linux 7.0 from 6.5 and 5.5

random notes

• SL7 is only available as x86-64: 64 bit CPUs . . . Laptops T7x00 x=[246] socket M, [135] ball grid array
• dd if=SL-7everything.iso of=/dev/sdb to USB drive
• how much RAM can Thinkpad + x86-64 access - still looks like 3 GB even with 4 GB of RAM
  • new machine has 4 - can be changed to 3, I have 2x1 in a plastic package

• manual disk partition ? add notes

• USE MATE INSTEAD OF GNOME
  • yum clean all
  • yum update
  • yum update epel-release
  • yum install mate-desktop
  • yum install mate-backgrounds mate-calc
  • yum install mate-dialogs mate-disk-usage-analyzer mate-icon-theme mate-icon-theme-faenza mate-media mate-screensaver mate-screenshot mate-search-tool mate-utils mate-themes mate-system-log mate-system-monitor mate-terminal mate-settings-daemon mate-power-manager caja caja-open-terminal caja-sendto firefox gedit firewall-config network-manager-applet system-config-language system-config-users dconf-editor
  • yum install caja caja-open-terminal caja-sendto
    • desktop, replaces nautilus
  • Keyboard / Layout / Options ... key sequence to kill the X server
• gqview: pbone rpm (CENTOS 6) 2.0.4, software install works fine
• Where is about firefox? drop down box, question mark at bottom
  • Version 31.3.0 ESR
  • ? restore home button

  • Replace Google with DuckDuckGo

• sudo yum erase nepomuk core gets rid of a lot of useless KDE crap

  • also gets rid of K3B, use Brasero
• /usr/local/bin/gstart - customize per machine
  • needs wmctrl, the version for RHEL6 works fine
• okular instead of adobe reader, sudo yum install okular
  • Acroread9.png icon in ~keithl/.icons
• wifi passwords entered or retrieved manually
  • Click ethernet or wifi symbol in toolbar
  • Edit Connections ... at bottom of menu

  • Add button, then Choose a Connection Type ---> Wi-Fi [ Create Button ]

  • General Wi-Fi page, 1) enter SSID, for example fredsburgers 2) enter Connection Name at top, Auto fredsburgers

  • Wi-Fi Security Page select key type, etc ...

  • IpV6 Settings method select Ignore

• usermod -G [groupname] [user]

Text boot

I want to see debuggable text, not pretty pictures. SL7 uses grub2, and we need to remake /boot/grub2/grub.cfg. As root:

• cd /etc/default
• cp -a grub grub.orig
• vi grub . . . . . # remove "rhgb quiet" from GRUB_CMDLINE
• cd /boot/grub
• cp -a grub.cfg grub.cfg.orig

• grub2-mkconfig > grub.cfg

Dual screen control

• MoreLater

• How to force slaved screens when only one screen may be connected?
• Video refresh problem on shiny ... HDMI (primary) screen goes to random pixels sometimes. How to force a periodic refresh?
  • May be this:

> abrt-cli list --since 1425848344
id d4f0c97a240ba61dcf38f9e25185960ee399ce3d
Directory:      /var/tmp/abrt/ccpp-2015-02-22-18:47:06-3080
count:          2
executable:     /usr/bin/mate-display-properties
package:        mate-control-center-1.8.3-1.el7
time:           Sun 22 Feb 2015 06:47:06 PM PST
uid:            1000

reason: gdm-simple-slave killed by SIGTRAP

VirtualBox / Win7 / Quickbooks

• Can I use WINE instead? [ https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=120 | not yet, "garbage" ]

• Video speed no, 2D 3D drivers are experimental and crash

• Shared Folder set up, winlin

• Mount USB

• Networking seems to be autoconnected, can we filter that?

  • what IP address? Connect to local network?

• Test Qbooks OK, but ask shara

• Remote Access

• Restore viva files from white

• Set up citrix and test

• New Kernel: sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup

• How can two users share a VM? - not simultaneously?

There are non-intuitive aspects of the SL/RHEL install. The first is the response to a non-64 bit CPU - the install hangs with the "atom" image but does not emit an error message.

Two more aspects are manual partitioning, and setting up networking. Both are on the "INITIALIZATION SUMMARY" page. You must click the right selection under "SYSTEM": "NETWORK & HOSTNAME" and then set up the machine with the particulars of your network. Otherwise, the install does not set up and test networking - which is good default behavior, connecting to networks should be intentional and informed in this dangerous world.

AFTER setting up networking, you can set "DATE & TIME" and your NTP server, select additional software (again, a minimum install is the safe default), and make other tweaks.

The SL7-With-Everything install image is 4.2 GB, and won't fit on an ordinary DVD. Even with that huge imag3, install draws some packages from the server, and updates after boot.

I install off a USB flash drive; 8 GB Lexar drives on sale $4.99 at Office Depot. You create the drive with "dd if=SL-7-mumble.iso of=/dev/sdb" (or whatever, be careful to pick the correct flash drive!). Flash drives are much faster, and boot with most computers, though you want a drive with an activity light so you know that it is still working.

Now I am making GNOME 3 look like GNOME 2. I hate tablet computer UI's. Start by clicking the gear symbol on the login page, and select Gnome Classic. I'm still figuring out how to make my new desktop look like my old desktop, and a lot of old features are moved or missing. I'm slowly making notes at http://wiki.keithl.com/SL7

BTW, my download from Fermilab to my Frontier FIOS home was capped at 4 mbps, even though I pay for 15 mbps service. 2 hour distro download. I get full bandwidth from most other sources. My offsite server can download the distro at 800 mbps, about 45 seconds. I presume one of the peering connections is throttling the download to provide high QOS for video. I hate TV over IP.