Recent posts
#1
Installation / Re: Sparky install clobbers ot...
Last post by durhammer - July 12, 2025, 03:46:21 PMHUZZAH!!!
It's all fixed now. I wondered what would happen if I detached the external SSD and tried to boot into it on another computer. It went straight to grub rescue, and no amount of rescuing (by me, at least) could fix it. Next, I unplugged the SSD and booted the little HP Stream 13 into its MX 23 Fluxbox edition, then plugged the external SSD back in and ran the MX Boot Repair app, first to repair the SSD's grub partition and then (having seen that the app was able to do it), to the ESP/EFI partition. And it worked! I could then boot from shutdown into my external MX 23 Fluxbox system, and as well, could boot straight into the HP's internal MX 23 Fluxbox setup (it's another nice lightweight distro, so it's in this HP's really limited hardware setup).
All done. Maybe this can help someone else. HOWEVER, Sparky folks should consider allowing the installation without screwing up the ESP/EFI partition on a different SSD (or the same SSD). Be more flexible about the UEFI business -- if the user only has an MBR SSD in a UEFI-capable system, s/he oughta be able to still install Sparky on it!
It's all fixed now. I wondered what would happen if I detached the external SSD and tried to boot into it on another computer. It went straight to grub rescue, and no amount of rescuing (by me, at least) could fix it. Next, I unplugged the SSD and booted the little HP Stream 13 into its MX 23 Fluxbox edition, then plugged the external SSD back in and ran the MX Boot Repair app, first to repair the SSD's grub partition and then (having seen that the app was able to do it), to the ESP/EFI partition. And it worked! I could then boot from shutdown into my external MX 23 Fluxbox system, and as well, could boot straight into the HP's internal MX 23 Fluxbox setup (it's another nice lightweight distro, so it's in this HP's really limited hardware setup).
All done. Maybe this can help someone else. HOWEVER, Sparky folks should consider allowing the installation without screwing up the ESP/EFI partition on a different SSD (or the same SSD). Be more flexible about the UEFI business -- if the user only has an MBR SSD in a UEFI-capable system, s/he oughta be able to still install Sparky on it!
#2
Installation / Re: Sparky install clobbers ot...
Last post by durhammer - July 12, 2025, 04:33:23 AMUpdate #2. Learned about efibootmgr, not that it helped. Allegedly successfully got rid of Sparky's EFI boot entry (the internal SSD's repaired grub menu can bring it up). No dice. Still boots from shutdown into Sparky. Tried reordering the boot order. Still no dice. How does it keep bringing up Sparky? Grub after all?
Gettin' desprit for help, y'all!
Gettin' desprit for help, y'all!
#3
Installation / Re: Sparky install clobbers ot...
Last post by durhammer - July 12, 2025, 04:05:01 AMOkay, an update. I got smart (?) and consulted the body of knowledge known as da web. I learned about the "boot-repair" tool, but tbh, at this point, I didn't trust Sparky to have or do that. I did have my old MX 23 Fluxbox live USB, and was able to use the "MX Boot Repair" tool to fix the internal SSD. Now, I can even start Sparky from a reboot, along with my other distros on the internal SSD.
That just leaves fixing the situation with the external SSD, which only has MX 23 Fluxbox on it. It's the SSD with an EFI partition, and when booted from shutdown state with the external SSD enabled, the ONLY option I have is Sparky (which is actually on the internal SSD).
How do I fix this? Is it perhaps as simple as deleting the "Sparky" folder under the /boot/efi/EFI folder?
That just leaves fixing the situation with the external SSD, which only has MX 23 Fluxbox on it. It's the SSD with an EFI partition, and when booted from shutdown state with the external SSD enabled, the ONLY option I have is Sparky (which is actually on the internal SSD).
How do I fix this? Is it perhaps as simple as deleting the "Sparky" folder under the /boot/efi/EFI folder?
#4
Installation / Sparky install clobbers other ...
Last post by durhammer - July 12, 2025, 03:13:27 AMIn retrospect, I should have avoided installing Sparky in my situation.
I have an old Samsung RD711 laptop with an internal SSD that contains 8 partitions, 4 of them part of an extended partition, being that the machine came with Windoze (7?, later 10), which I have simply removed. It's a non-GPT setup, which is why 4 of the partitions have to be in an extended partition.
I also have a specially setup external USB SSD that was configured GPT with an EFI partition, as well as grub boot partition. I USED TO be able to plug the external SSD into other laptops and boot into it. Not sure I can do that anymore. It only had (still does, AFAIK) one installed distro, MX Linux 23.5 Fluxbox edition.
On the internal SSD, I had AntiX installed on the sda2 partition (sda1 being the boot partition), and in the extended partition (sda4), I had MX Linux 21.3 Xfce installed on sda5, copies of files from my original /home directory in sda6, MX Linux 23.5 Xfce on sda7, and Q4OS (Debian) on sda8.
When I tried installing Sparky without the external SSD enabled, the installer balked, saying it needed an EFI partition, which the internal SSD didn't have (and I'm pretty sure I couldn't have supplied). I couldn't figure out how and couldn't find out how to get around this.
I knew the external SSD had an EFI partition, so I figured I could install Sparky on that in the second, unused, partition. But NOOO -- Sparky had a radio box to replace a partition, but for whatever reason, ONLY on the internal SSD. I was figuring on putting Sparky on sda5 where MX 21.3 was, so I chose that (since I couldn't choose one on the external SSD). The Sparky installer then happily deleted the MX 21.3 partition (sda5) and seems to have moved partitions around so that what was "MyFiles" on sda6 now is sda5, etc., and I presume Sparky is installed on sda8 (which USED TO BE the location of Q4OS -- more on this in a bit).
To boot into my external SSD's MX 23 Fluxbox distro, I'd need to power the machine down and boot (with the external SSD higher priority than the internal SSD). Worked great. I never disabled grub's system prober, so it had all the other distros in its menu, and if I just selected to reboot/restart whilst in MX 23 Fluxbox (i. e., not from a shutdown), BIOS would see the legacy grub boot on the internal SSD and I could select one of the 4 distros in it. It worked great!
NOW, having stupidly installed Sparky in this bastardized setup, I can ONLY boot into Sparky from a shutdown. When I reboot/restart, the really strange thing is that there is no grub boot menu, BUT somehow it sees Q4OS (and issues some strange error message) and lets me start that. (Could be because it was the OLD sda8, which now is Sparky???)
Anyway, I'm ticked about the situation and would love to know how to recover the use of my other distros on my internal SSD. Help!?!
My system setup:
I have an old Samsung RD711 laptop with an internal SSD that contains 8 partitions, 4 of them part of an extended partition, being that the machine came with Windoze (7?, later 10), which I have simply removed. It's a non-GPT setup, which is why 4 of the partitions have to be in an extended partition.
I also have a specially setup external USB SSD that was configured GPT with an EFI partition, as well as grub boot partition. I USED TO be able to plug the external SSD into other laptops and boot into it. Not sure I can do that anymore. It only had (still does, AFAIK) one installed distro, MX Linux 23.5 Fluxbox edition.
On the internal SSD, I had AntiX installed on the sda2 partition (sda1 being the boot partition), and in the extended partition (sda4), I had MX Linux 21.3 Xfce installed on sda5, copies of files from my original /home directory in sda6, MX Linux 23.5 Xfce on sda7, and Q4OS (Debian) on sda8.
When I tried installing Sparky without the external SSD enabled, the installer balked, saying it needed an EFI partition, which the internal SSD didn't have (and I'm pretty sure I couldn't have supplied). I couldn't figure out how and couldn't find out how to get around this.
I knew the external SSD had an EFI partition, so I figured I could install Sparky on that in the second, unused, partition. But NOOO -- Sparky had a radio box to replace a partition, but for whatever reason, ONLY on the internal SSD. I was figuring on putting Sparky on sda5 where MX 21.3 was, so I chose that (since I couldn't choose one on the external SSD). The Sparky installer then happily deleted the MX 21.3 partition (sda5) and seems to have moved partitions around so that what was "MyFiles" on sda6 now is sda5, etc., and I presume Sparky is installed on sda8 (which USED TO BE the location of Q4OS -- more on this in a bit).
To boot into my external SSD's MX 23 Fluxbox distro, I'd need to power the machine down and boot (with the external SSD higher priority than the internal SSD). Worked great. I never disabled grub's system prober, so it had all the other distros in its menu, and if I just selected to reboot/restart whilst in MX 23 Fluxbox (i. e., not from a shutdown), BIOS would see the legacy grub boot on the internal SSD and I could select one of the 4 distros in it. It worked great!
NOW, having stupidly installed Sparky in this bastardized setup, I can ONLY boot into Sparky from a shutdown. When I reboot/restart, the really strange thing is that there is no grub boot menu, BUT somehow it sees Q4OS (and issues some strange error message) and lets me start that. (Could be because it was the OLD sda8, which now is Sparky???)
Anyway, I'm ticked about the situation and would love to know how to recover the use of my other distros on my internal SSD. Help!?!
My system setup:
Code Select
System:
Kernel: 6.1.0-32-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-32-amd64
root=UUID=aedc944a-cc55-4332-b3f6-1d8bffcb2d5d ro quiet splash
Desktop: Openbox v: 3.6.1 info: tint2 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.26.0
Distro: SparkyLinux 7.7 (Orion-Belt) base: Debian 12 bookworm
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: SAMSUNG product: RF511/RF411/RF711 v: 10HX
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 9 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: SAMSUNG model: RF511/RF411/RF711 v: 10HX
serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends
v: 10HX.M034.20110426.SSH date: 04/26/2011
Battery:
ID-1: BAT1 charge: 35.1 Wh (79.1%) condition: 44.4/48.8 Wh (90.9%)
volts: 10.8 min: 11.1 model: SAMSUNG Electronics type: Li-ion serial: N/A
status: not charging
Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech ERGO M575 Trackball
serial: <filter> charge: 75% rechargeable: yes status: discharging
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i7-2630QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge
gen: core 2 level: v2 built: 2010-12 process: Intel 32nm family: 6
model-id: 0x2A (42) stepping: 7 microcode: 0x2F
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 799 high: 800 min/max: 800/2900 scaling:
driver: intel_cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 798 2: 798 3: 800 4: 798
5: 798 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800 bogomips: 31927
Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities:
Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
vulnerable
Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: retbleed status: Not affected
Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
prctl
Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW;
STIBP: conditional; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
affected
Type: srbds status: Not affected
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
vendor: Samsung Co driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-6 code: Sandybridge
process: Intel 32nm built: 2011 ports: active: LVDS-1,VGA-2
empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0116 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA GF108M [GeForce GT 540M] vendor: Samsung Co
driver: nouveau v: kernel non-free: series: 390.xx+ status: legacy-active
(EOL~late 2022) arch: Fermi code: GF1xx process: 40/28nm built: 2010-16
pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: none off: VGA-1
empty: none bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0df4 class-ID: 0302 temp: 41.0 C
Device-3: Silicon Motion WebCam SCB-1100N type: USB driver: uvcvideo
bus-ID: 1-1.1:3 chip-ID: 2232:1008 class-ID: 0e02
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915,nouveau display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1600x2820 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 422x744mm (16.61x29.29")
s-diag: 855mm (33.68")
Monitor-1: LVDS-1 pos: primary,bottom model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x1733
built: 2012 res: 1600x900 hz: 60 dpi: 106 gamma: 1.2
size: 382x215mm (15.04x8.46") diag: 448mm (17.6") ratio: 16:9
modes: 1600x900
Monitor-2: VGA-1 mapped: VGA-1-1 note: disabled size-res: N/A modes:
max: 1024x768 min: 640x480
Monitor-3: VGA-2 pos: top model: Dell P2214H serial: <filter> built: 2015
res: 1080x1920 hz: 60 dpi: 102 gamma: 1.2 size: 268x477mm (10.55x18.78")
diag: 547mm (21.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
API: OpenGL v: 3.3 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 3000 (SNB
GT2) direct-render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio
vendor: Samsung Co 6 driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 2-1:2
bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8087:1024 class-ID: 0300 chip-ID: 8086:1c20
serial: <filter> class-ID: 0403
Device-2: NVIDIA GF108 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1
chip-ID: 10de:0bea class-ID: 0403
Device-3: Intel USB2.0 Device type: USB
driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
Device-4: AKAI MPKmini2 type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
bus-ID: 2-2.2:4 chip-ID: 2011:0715 class-ID: 0103 serial: <filter>
API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-32-amd64 status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 status: active tools: pacat,pactl,pavucontrol
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Askey
driver: bcma-pci-bridge v: N/A modules: bcma pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4727 class-ID: 0280
Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Samsung Co RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie:
gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: b000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Broadcom BCM2070 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 3-1.3:3 chip-ID: 0a5c:219c class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.0
lmp-v: 3.0 sub-v: 4203 hci-v: 3.0 rev: 274
Info: acl-mtu: 1021:8 sco-mtu: 64:1 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park
link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, audio,
telephony
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 2.96 TiB used: 142.68 GiB (4.7%)
SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB
size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 2B6Q scheme: MBR
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: BUP Slim BK
size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A
serial: <filter> rev: 0109
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 type: USB vendor: Sabrent model: SABRENT
size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A
serial: <filter> rev: 0204 scheme: GPT
Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: Optiarc model: DVD RW AD-7717H rev: 1.X0
dev-links: cdrom
Features: speed: 16 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes
rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 219.73 GiB size: 215.22 GiB (97.95%) used: 5.67 GiB (2.6%)
fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda8 maj-min: 8:8
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
used: 584 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdc2 maj-min: 8:34
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 12 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
dev: /dev/sdc4 maj-min: 8:36
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 50.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 42.0 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 218 Uptime: 2h 14m wakeups: 8 Memory: 7.67 GiB
used: 1.42 GiB (18.5%) Init: systemd v: 252 target: graphical (5)
default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12 Packages:
pm: dpkg pkgs: 1641 libs: 921 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,synaptic
Shell: Bash v: 5.2.15 running-in: lxterminal inxi: 3.3.26
#5
Introduction / Thanks for making Sparky
Last post by ken_fallon - July 09, 2025, 03:18:40 PMHi All,
First thanks for the Debian, LXQT, Sparky, and all the other teams for putting together such a excellent distro. I've been using LXQT on Fedora for several years, but have recently switched to Sparky as I wanted a debian base again.
No longer completely Irish, not yet completely Dutch, trying to be completely FLOSS. I've been running Linux as my daily driver since 2000, and I've been a active with Hacker Public Radio since 2005.
I'm joining the forums because I've just bought a cheap (for some) piccolo by x+ n100. It runs Sparky fine for the most stuff, but I could do with some help getting some stuff working.
--
Regards,
Ken Fallon (PA7KEN,G5KEN)
https://kenfallon.com
https://hackerpublicradio.org/hosts/ken_fallon
First thanks for the Debian, LXQT, Sparky, and all the other teams for putting together such a excellent distro. I've been using LXQT on Fedora for several years, but have recently switched to Sparky as I wanted a debian base again.
No longer completely Irish, not yet completely Dutch, trying to be completely FLOSS. I've been running Linux as my daily driver since 2000, and I've been a active with Hacker Public Radio since 2005.
I'm joining the forums because I've just bought a cheap (for some) piccolo by x+ n100. It runs Sparky fine for the most stuff, but I could do with some help getting some stuff working.
--
Regards,
Ken Fallon (PA7KEN,G5KEN)
https://kenfallon.com
https://hackerpublicradio.org/hosts/ken_fallon
#6
System upgrading / Gameover redux
Last post by gdstew - July 04, 2025, 06:15:22 AMI have decided to drop SparkyLinux due to the lack of Gameover updates and look for another more current gaming distro. Please remove me from the forums as I have been unable to find a way to do so myself. Thank you.
#7
Sparky applications / Re: Firefox-sparky is not upda...
Last post by pavroo - July 01, 2025, 12:40:11 AMI dont have an access to the repos, sorry. Will be updated next week.
#8
Sparky applications / Firefox-sparky is not updated ...
Last post by Juanu - June 30, 2025, 10:47:22 PMThe firefox-sparky app is not updated to the latest version 140.0.2 in main repository of the Sourceforge repository. The latest version listed there is the 139.0.4. Many thanks.
#9
System upgrading / Re: Wine on Trixie
Last post by Filemon7 - June 25, 2025, 10:10:28 AMMaybe solution is use q4wine its a gui for wine.
Do not remove anything.
Install q4wine by sudo apt-get install q4wine.
It will detect both wine versions.
Try also sudo apt --fix-broken install.
If still problem persist use command: sudo apt dist-upgrade.
Do not remove anything.
Install q4wine by sudo apt-get install q4wine.
It will detect both wine versions.
Try also sudo apt --fix-broken install.
If still problem persist use command: sudo apt dist-upgrade.
#10
Installation / Re: Installing sparkylinux 7.7...
Last post by Piriponzolo - June 20, 2025, 09:33:35 PMHi, Pavroo.
Is suitable this Debian armhf manual for installing Sparky L.? See https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/armhf/index.en.html
Thanks in advance for the attention.
Is suitable this Debian armhf manual for installing Sparky L.? See https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/armhf/index.en.html
Thanks in advance for the attention.