More Project Updates - Late January 2011

Post date: Jan 29, 2011 4:50:59 AM

Based on user feedback, I have updated Fluff to version 0.8.6. One change is for a major bug: Fluff was not displaying many files if they shared a inode number with another file, which surprising to me, is quite common in TnyCore, what with all the overlapping mounts of squashfile archives. Another change is more cosmetic: don't repaint the screen if the inotify event is associated with a non-visible file/directory. This reduces annoying flicker. However, I just heard today of a new segfault crash report during copying use with FAT32 volumes. Hmmm. I'll see if I can reproduce that one soon.

The other development work was for FL-PicSee. I added code so it can be a drag-and-drop recipient. If you drag a file or set of image files from Fluff file manager to an open instance of FL-PicSee, FL-PicSee will add them to the set of files to display, and will show you the first of the dropped files. I also added a new "nice zoom" scaling mode... where it will adjust the scale to fit the available window size (or at least pretty close so you don't have to scroll much at all), but use a nice zoom ratio like 1:4 1:3, 1:2, 2:3 3:4, 1:1, 2:1. I also did some minor adjustments to the keyboard shortuts and menu wording.

Other than these primary projects, I also documented the steps I've taken to get this new Toshiba Satellite T215D netbook/ultralight working well with TinyCore. Some notable areas:

• • Xorg 7.5 with the proprietary ATI-FGLRX driver

  • Synaptics device configuration in xorg.conf to make the trackpad work well, including edge-scrolling (like in Windows 7 and Fedora 14)

  • cpufreqd power-management, using the powernow-k8 kernel module and a simplified cpufreqd config file

  • After failing to get working udev rules to disable my trackpad after plugging in a mouse, I created my own monitor/manage script that does the same thing

There's an area I have not yet documented publicly:

• • Created smarter wifi connection scripts that will retry if needed

I've also begun trying to learn to use the FLTK GUI design tool Fluid. I've used it to make a mock-up of my proposed FLAN (Fast Light App for Networking) program's user interface. I'd like to get back to that soon.