Some users of sidux are having problems getting nvidia to work with the 2.6.25 kernel.
A sidux 2.6.24 kernel works fine with nvidia.

Well, i've done it...... changed to sid & sidux and done the dist-upgrade and all seems to be working well. __{{emoticon}}__

I didn't do a kernel upgrade though (although i was tempted) mainly because i've never done one before, and i don't know how to go about it.

I'm a bit confused as well, because on the sidux forums it says NOT to use synaptic to do install anything, but always use apt-get (Which is kool, kind of) and also never to do a dist-upgrade from within X, but to always drop to init3 and go from there. I've just done a dist-upgrade from within X and it's all worked fine, so what's the biggie on that one?

So i think a bit of research on upgrading the kernel is in order, before i take the plunge for that one. Maybe in a few days or so. __{{emoticon}}__

I'm now contemplating whether to install KDE or not..... I love Konqueror but don't really want the whole KDE thing.... but i guess that's the only way to get it eh? All these decisions are making me thirsty.... time for a cup of tea and some thinking. __{{emoticon}}__

DJiNN wrote:After masinick mentioned the sidux repos, i thought i'd install a recent version of sidux here on the same machine i've got antiX on..... WOW!! Sidux is fast!! Even running KDE it's fast. But i never realised just how much work's involved keeping sidux running well. __{{emoticon}}__

The whole"Don't dist-upgrade" whilst in X really threw me, because it's what i'm used to doing. So i read a bit more, downloaded the smix script and had a play..... nice, but it seems even more work than an Arch install!! (Or am i missing something obvious here?) LOL!!

Anyway.... i'm going to experiment a bit more with sidux, just to get the feel of it, learn a bit more, and see what sid can do. Then, in time, i'll be better able to understand the whole thing.

Really impressed with the overall look of sidux as well. The new look & artwork (compared to the last time i tried a Live CD about a year ago) is great!

The deal with doing smxi, the sidux package manager, from the console is that smxi attempts to protect you from potential problems with X or with KDE or with any GUI related packaging issues. Therefore sidux provides a really easy to use console tool.

Here is the drill:

If you allow sidux to control the GRUB boot menu, when you boot or reboot sidux, just select the sidux item and type 3. That will put a 3 at the end of the boot string, then press Enter. This will send you initially to init level 3, which is multi user with networking but without X. Login as root, then run smxi. It will prompt you for everything and it will use numbered menus. Nothing tough about it. When you are done, the last menu, on option 9, contains an option to return to init 5, which is the normal graphical login.

Do this drill at least once a month, but preferably whenever you boot your system and you will have a perfectly up to date sidux system that is reliable and fast.

If you do this with AntiX mixed in, you will have the best of both AntiX and sidux (not the worst of them)! __{{emoticon}}__ Both are outstanding distros.

DJiNN wrote:Well, i've done it...... changed to sid & sidux and done the dist-upgrade and all seems to be working well. __{{emoticon}}__

I didn't do a kernel upgrade though (although i was tempted) mainly because i've never done one before, and i don't know how to go about it.

I'm a bit confused as well, because on the sidux forums it says NOT to use synaptic to do install anything, but always use apt-get (Which is kool, kind of) and also never to do a dist-upgrade from within X, but to always drop to init3 and go from there. I've just done a dist-upgrade from within X and it's all worked fine, so what's the biggie on that one?

So i think a bit of research on upgrading the kernel is in order, before i take the plunge for that one. Maybe in a few days or so. __{{emoticon}}__

I'm now contemplating whether to install KDE or not..... I love Konqueror but don't really want the whole KDE thing.... but i guess that's the only way to get it eh? All these decisions are making me thirsty.... time for a cup of tea and some thinking. __{{emoticon}}__

Don't do a dist-upgrade at all - at least not with apt-get, do it through smxi, and sidux will protect you from quirks in Debian Sid. That is somewhat important right now, or it has been recently because Sid has been going through a major packaging upgrade involving Python. If you upgrade the wrong thing you could have to untangle it later. No problem if you know apt-get well, but sidux can save you the grief, provided you use smxi. Believe me, once you get used to it you will not mind the init 3 stuff. Just change your initial booting habits a bit, get used to starting sidux at run level 3 when you first boot, and then it becomes trivial and an extremely minor inconvenience, but it will save you considerable time if you take advantage of the smxi tool and save yourself from having to unravel bad Debian Sid packages.

anticapitalista wrote:Some users of sidux are having problems getting nvidia to work with the 2.6.25 kernel.
A sidux 2.6.24 kernel works fine with nvidia.

The good story there is you can upgrade or downgrade kernels with sidux smxi as one of the features. If some experimental feature does not work you can grab any of several kernels very easily. I have not run into any issues, but sidux is the best distro since Libranet in dealing with kernels!

masinick wrote: The deal with doing smxi, the sidux package manager, from the console is that smxi attempts to protect you from potential problems with X or with KDE or with any GUI related packaging issues. Therefore sidux provides a really easy to use console tool.

Hi masinick, thanks for the info. I've now used smxi and it's a great script. Really well put together and VERY useful. I actually found all the options really helpful, and the amount of options is quite incredible! I even tried starting it from X just to see what would happen and loved the way that it informs you you're running in X, and asks if you'd like to drop out of X to continue.

I (kind of ) understand the reason for using the script, i just didn't realise that you could use the same script in antiX. That's pretty amazing.

Thanks for the grub tip also...... that came in really handy. __{{emoticon}}__

Do this drill at least once a month, but preferably whenever you boot your system and you will have a perfectly up to date sidux system that is reliable and fast.

If you do this with AntiX mixed in, you will have the best of both AntiX and sidux (not the worst of them)! __{{emoticon}}__ Both are outstanding distros.

Indeed they are, and to have both is just amazing!! I'll take your advice & dist-upgrade often, using the smxi tool. I have to say that when i did the dist-upgrade yesterday i just did it in X. (Whoops) but later on today i shall run the script & clear up any errors.

Also, i take it that it's best to disable all other repos apart from sidux & sid?

Thanks once again masinick.

masinick wrote:The good story there is you can upgrade or downgrade kernels with sidux smxi as one of the features. If some experimental feature does not work you can grab any of several kernels very easily. I have not run into any issues, but sidux is the best distro since Libranet in dealing with kernels!

Is there a place on the sidux forums (or on the sidux site) that explains how to do this? (Manually i mean) or is it just best left to smxi? Hmmm, i think i've probably just answered my own question there. LOL!

DJiNN wrote:

masinick wrote:The good story there is you can upgrade or downgrade kernels with sidux smxi as one of the features. If some experimental feature does not work you can grab any of several kernels very easily. I have not run into any issues, but sidux is the best distro since Libranet in dealing with kernels!

Is there a place on the sidux forums (or on the sidux site) that explains how to do this? (Manually i mean) or is it just best left to smxi? Hmmm, i think i've probably just answered my own question there. LOL!

I have not seen documentation on smxi; it is menu oriented, but in one of the menus, there are options to add, change, and remove kernels. Once you navigate through the smxi menus I am sure you will see it. Good luck with it. I am sure you will love the combination of AntiX and sidux!

Well, & here we are..... it's taken the best part of the afternoon & into the early evening, and i now have the complete sidux package installed along with the sidux kernel....... and how is it??

Not that great actually. __{{emoticon}}__ Everything runs OK, but most of the apps now execute"Slower" than they did before, and the expected speed increase just didn't occur. It may well have been something that i did, but as far as i could tell, everything went well.

I'm using fvwm-crystal at the moment because the KDE install (from the script) is a bit of a mess. No main menu, and all sorts of weird stuff happening.

I had trouble getting out of X & into init 3, because when i use the CTRL-ALT-F? in fluxbox, nothing happens. Anyway, i got there in the end. __{{emoticon}}__

But i think when 7.2 is released i'll just stick with debian testing, which, in hindsight, is probably a good thing. I need to play around with sidux a lot more before i do this again...... But do it again i will..... Oh yes! LOL!!

DJiNN, were you upgrading to sid and sidux through an installed antiX?
Personally I don't think sidux is faster than antiX, and a siduxed antiX is not faster either. But the advantage of siduxing an antiX install is getting the latest kernel easily. Now that 'may' mean a faster, more responsive system, but it may actually make it slower.
I think Julian posted somewhere that the Mepis kernel used in antiX is actually faster than newer versions.

anticapitalista wrote:DJiNN, were you upgrading to sid and sidux through an installed antiX?

That is indeed what i've done. __{{emoticon}}__

Personally I don't think sidux is faster than antiX, and a siduxed antiX is not faster either. But the advantage of siduxing an antiX install is getting the latest kernel easily. Now that 'may' mean a faster, more responsive system, but it may actually make it slower.
I think Julian posted somewhere that the Mepis kernel used in antiX is actually faster than newer versions.

Heehee, i tend to agree with you there. LOL! It's been a great learning curve though, and i know now (because of much time spent testing many different distros, as well as sidux & and a"Sidux'd antiX) that it's very hard to find a distro that compares to antix for size, speed , efficiency etc. You just can't beat it, period.

As for making it slower, yeah, i can kinda see that. This system's definitely running a lot more slowly than it was before the upgrade.
I don't think it's worth going through all that just to have the latest kernel, especially when the one that comes with antiX is just soooo good!

It's been great fun though, and i'm learning a bunch of stuff, so it's all good. It's a good thing this is a test system eh? __{{emoticon}}__ When 7.2 is released, this will get wiped & the new version will be installed.

I do kinda like Sidux though..... it's really come on a lot in the last year to 18 months, and it's good to see it changing.

I really like sidux too. In fact a lot of my ideas for antiX has come from sidux and I really respect what they have done, especially in producing a very fast KDE desktop. (though I don't use kde).

I know you have been testing all sorts of stuff in antiX and I appreciate your feedback. How would you compare a sidux install with an antiX-base or antiX plus kde install in terms of speed, response etc?

anticapitalista wrote:I really like sidux too. In fact a lot of my ideas for antiX has come from sidux and I really respect what they have done, especially in producing a very fast KDE desktop. (though I don't use kde).

I agree. I'm not a KDE fan myself, although i really love Konqueror, and i wish that either Nautilus or Thunar had the same/similar capabilities etc. __{{emoticon}}__ But yeah, i think the Sidux release is possibly the fastest KDE distro i've ever tried. I love the new colours & artwork as well.

I know you have been testing all sorts of stuff in antiX and I appreciate your feedback. How would you compare a sidux install with an antiX-base or antiX plus kde install in terms of speed, response etc?

Oh antiX is a LOT faster, both base and normal install. I used to think that a Zenwalk install was fast, until i tried antiX. It's easy, fast, and has never failed me yet (& i've done about 20 antiX installs so far..... fresh installs that is).

The speed's not just in the install though, it carries all the way through to the whole"installed" OS. That's one of the (Many) reasons that i use antiX"Full time" on my main machine (much to the annoyance of my wife, who is only just getting used to fluxbox, grudgingly!) __{{emoticon}}__ It works flawlessly, runs superbly, very fast, in every machine i've installed on, regardless of CPU &/or RAM etc...... Pretty amazing huh? __{{emoticon}}__

I have only tried KDE twice (Once using the KDE light - which was pretty amazing in itself) and the other time with a standard install then installing KDE base, and both were great. No problems, no slowdown, and i would say i'm having more"Sluggishness" now, having"Sidux'd" this install, than i've ever had before...... i won't be doing it again. LOL!! I'll leave sid to sidux. __{{emoticon}}__

You have a gem of a distro here anti, and it's my humble opinion that. whilst it may not be"The distro" for everyone, it's as close to perfect (for me anyway) as you can get in a distro/OS. All i need now is to find a way to make PCmanFM work as well (or close) as Konqueror...... that would just bring it all together for me! __{{emoticon}}__

anticapitalista wrote:I really like sidux too. In fact a lot of my ideas for antiX has come from sidux and I really respect what they have done, especially in producing a very fast KDE desktop. (though I don't use kde).

I know you have been testing all sorts of stuff in antiX and I appreciate your feedback. How would you compare a sidux install with an antiX-base or antiX plus kde install in terms of speed, response etc?

anti, sidux is pretty fast, but on my fastest hardware, the Lenovo 3000 Model Y410 laptop with a 1.666 GHz Duo Core processor and 2 GB RAM, I still find value in booting antiX rather than sidux when all I want to do is check a few Email messages with Webmail, remove some spam, and logoff, all in 10-15 minutes. I may be able to do that with sidux on that box, too, but I can definitely do it faster with antiX. On that box, I keep a straight standard antiX, not the smxi-sidux hybrid. On my slower Dell Dimension 4100 desktop box, though, I am experimenting with both antiX and SimplyMEPIS, putting the sidux touch on both of them. It is in the same"ball park" on performance, even on that much slower hardware.

Both sidux and antiX do well on the low end stuff. I definitely see a place for the antiX as you have created it. Also, I customize sidux to use xfce on that older hardware, though I have KDE there as well.

On my SimplyMEPIS-sidux hack, I am keeping KDE, adding XFCE, and doing all kinds of experiments. I see real value in all three distros - SimplyMEPIS (nice stable system), antiX (fast system that is reasonably current) and sidux, which is cutting edge, Debian Sid on steroids and Mood Stabilizers! I really like all three of them and I feel that, for me, they stand out in the crowd of systems and provide me with packaging that I cannot easily obtain elsewhere without a lot of hacking on my part. What you are doing is perfect for the niche that you are carving. Should you want to carve another niche, I also really like the antiX-sidux hybrid niche.