menu

The default is the bitmap menu, I have changed it to text as I have experienced issues typing the labels, keys are repeated, so I keep the message menu with only two available kernels. Uncomment the following line in /etc/lilo.conf

image = /boot/vmlinuz-[VERSION]
  initrd = /boot/initrd-[VERSION].img
  root = [ROOT_PATH]
  label = [LABEL]
  read-only  # Partitions should be mounted read-only for checking

kernel

The kernel should not be upgraded, if there is a new kernel, this needs to be installed first, keeping the running kernel available in the lilo.conf.

• Download kernel packages
  # slackpkg download kernel
• select the kernel-generic and kernel-headers packages
• the packages will be downloaded to /var/cache/packages/
  If the kernel corresponds to testing it will be /var/cache/packages/.testing/packages/linux-[VERSION].x/
• Install the downloaded packages
  # installpkg /var/cache/packages/[PATH_TO_KERNEL_PACKAGES]

packages

1. blacklist kernels and third-party packages in /etc/slackpkg/blacklist

   kernel-generic.*
   kernel-huge.*
   kernel-modules.*
   kernel-source
   [0-9]+_SBo
   [0-9]+alien
   [0-9]+compat32

2. update the repository and upgrade the packages.
   upgrade-all may need to be run twice if some packages are requirements for other packages.

   slackpkg update
   slackpkg upgrade slackpkg
   slackpkg upgrade aaa_glibc-solibs
   slackpkg install-new
   slackpkg upgrade-all
   slackpkg upgrade-all
   slackpkg clean-system
   lilo
   reboot

current

After a clean install, the setup can be changed to follow current.

1. uncomment a current mirror in /etc/slackpkg/mirrors
2. comment the release mirror (only one mirror needs to be uncommented).
3. follow the upgrade process.

pactl

On a fresh install or upgrade, pulse mutes all audio. It can be toggled:

alsa

On boot, all audio is muted, to unmute using amixer:

amixer -q set Master toggle
amixer -q -c CARD sset Line VOLUME%,VOLUME% unmute
amixer -q -c CARD sset Capture VOLUME%,VOLUME% unmute cap

commands

NOTE: all notes correspond to Slackware64-current and the Slackbuilds-current repository I follow, these comments may not apply to other repositories.

common failures

The following are general tips and issues I've come accross, things that I have done to compile packages, these could help solve a compilation issue.

• Check the info file, remove any packages from REQUIRES that already exists in the base slackware installation.
• Check the package version on the slackbuilds and the latest version of the package.
  Changing the version could solve an issue if the package is no longer available or some requirements changed.
• Try clang instead of gcc.
  gcc could be a bit more strict with some warnings and some packages can compile using clang.
• Check the errors, gcc may fail for some warnings that are not critical, and addign -Wno-xxxx could allow the package to compile.
  Eg.: fails with -Wincompatible-pointer-types adding the CFLAGS -Wno-incompatible-pointer-types could solve the issue.
• In some situations, compiling from source may work even if the Slackbuild does not.

tox

There are two toxcore packages available, toxcore and c-toxcore. if toxcore fails, trying c-toxcore should work.

libkqueue

• The slackbuilds version is 2.3.1 which is not fully compatible with the current Slackware cmake version : 4.1.2
• the policy CMP0063 behaviour changed after cmake 4.0.0
• This can be solved by building manually. In the CMakeLists.txt change cmake_policy(SET CMP0063 OLD) to cmake_policy(SET CMP0063 NEW).
• build normally:
  cmake .; make; sudo make clean install

dictd

• The slackbuilds version is 1.12.1, which may fail. This can be solved by adding the -Wno-implicit-function-declaration to the CFLAGS.
• When building manually, /etc/dict.conf may not be created or found. ~/.dictrc can be created to point at server dict.org

tor-browser

The slackbuilds version is no longer availble, change 14.5.8 to 15.0 on .info and .SlackBuild

qemu

• qemu requires python-distlib, slackware core has python2 and python3 but distlib is only available for python2. There is a slackbuild python3-distlib but it's not listed as a requirement.
• Slackbuilds has version 9.2.0 but that doesn't build, changing to the latest version 10.1.2 builds correctly.

feh

The Slackbuild didn't build for me, even after updating from version 3.10.3 to 3.11.2. However, building manually 3.11.2 worked.

wpebackend-fdo

The version in SlackBuilds is 1.14.2 but it didn't build for me, changing to the latest version 1.16.1 worked.

Current

Slackware 15.0 is the last release to need multilib, Slackware64-current only requires the -compat32 packages.

Usage

Multilib is required when programs need 32bit libs.

• Slackware 15.0 and earlier
  • wine
• Slackware64-current
  • GOG games (eg.: This war of mine, Pixel piracy, Spacechem)
  • wine no longer needs multilib.

mirror

Slackware 15.0 and earlier

lftp -c 'open http://slackware.nl/people/alien/multilib/ ; mirror -c -e 15.0'
cd 15.0
upgradepkg --reinstall --install-new *.t?z
upgradepkg --install-new slackware64-compat32/*-compat32/*.t?z
reboot

lftp -c 'open http://slackware.nl/people/alien/multilib/ ; mirror -c -e current'
cd current
upgradepkg --install-new slackware64-compat32/*-compat32/*.t?z
reboot

slackbuilds

source /etc/profile.d/32dev.sh
ARCH=i486

build normally chosen.package.Slackbuild

links