Nitrux 3.0.0 "ut" released

Nitrux is a Debian-based Linux desktop distribution. It uses the Calamares installer, including the NX desktop and MauiKit applications built on the KDE Plasma 5 desktop environment. Nitrux also does not use systemd as its boot system; instead, it uses OpenRC.

Nitrux 3.0.0 is now released , codenamed "ut"; this new version combines the latest software updates, bug fixes, performance improvements, and out-of-the-box hardware support. Nitrux 3.0 is powered by the Linux 6.4.12 kernel, uses the latest KDE Plasma 5.27.7 LTS desktop environment based on Wayland, and uses Git snapshots of the upcoming Mesa 23.3 open source graphics stack.

Updated the following components:

• Firefox updated to version 117.0 .
• MESA updated to version 23.3~git2309020600.1ae3c4~oibaf~j; see  MESA info .
• Calamares setup for Nitrux, including the following:
  • Removed deprecated kernel parameters from Live GRUB entries and Calamares GRUB module configuration.
  • Changed the execution order of some Calamares modules to avoid problems with Calamares executing tasks in the chroot.
  • Have Calamares enable automatic login for the default graphical session upon installation.
• Updated Station's configuration to disable "Adaptive Color Scheme" by default to avoid visual bugs when using the default color scheme, causing text to be invisible in some cases, such as editing files with micro.txt.
• Nitrux Update Tool System  updated to version 1.1.3.
  • The code was removed using kexec. Since Kernel Boot exists now, there's no reason to have duplicate code doing the same thing on a separate utility.
  • A new rescue  operation has been introduced for backup redundancy, which can handle unexpected events such as interruptions in the rsync process. If such an interruption occurs, the root directory may become inconsistent and unusable, making it impossible to access the GUI or TTY interface. This new action enables users to restore the root partition from a live session, ensuring recovery in such cases. The new operation works as follows: During the update process, the Nitrux Update Tool System creates a compressed backup of the root partition (XFS) using Zstandard. This backup is in addition to the root backup using SquashFS
    • Information : This operation is not a replacement for restore; it exists if restore cannot be used. The purpose of each operation is different; Restore  is designed to be called when the system is functioning normally and the user just wants to roll back the update, while the new operation  rescue  is designed to be called when the system is not functioning.
    • Information : Partition backup will use about 3.1GB of storage, but only one backup will be created.
• Kernel Boot  updated to version 0.0.7.
  • Added a check to ensure Kernel Boot is used in supported hardware. In particular, make sure not to use Kernel Boot on devices that use NVIDIA hardware, since NVIDIA proprietary drivers work differently from the Linux kernel.
• AMD Microcode has updated the "AMD Inception" patch for AMD Zen4 processors.
• Intel Microcode has updated mitigations for "Downfall" on Intel Processors.
• NVIDIA Linux x64 (AMD64/EM64T) display driver updated to version 535.104.05 .
• AMD Open Source Driver for Vulkan updated to  v-2023.Q3.1 .
• Updated the _linux -firmware_ package to include  updated files for the following drivers from the Linux firmware repository

  • "amdgpu": Open source graphics driver for AMD Radeon GPUs.

  • "ar9xxx" and "ar7xxx": Atheros/Qualcomm wireless chipsets.

  • "ath6k": Atheros AR600x series wireless LAN chipset.

  • "atusb": Atmel at76c50x/90x USB wireless network adapter.

  • "cirrus": Cirrus Logic graphics card.

  • "smsmdtv": Siano Mobile Silicon Digital TV USB device.

  • "cxgb3": Chelsio T3 series 10Gb Ethernet device.

  • "dabusb": Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) USB receiver.

  • "dsp56k": Motorola DSP56001 digital signal processor.

  • "i915": Intel graphics driver for the integrated graphics processor.

  • "iwlwifi": Intel Wireless WiFi Connection Adapter.

  • "libertas": Marvell 8xxx Libertas WLAN driver.

  • "matrox": Matrox graphics card.

  • "mellanox": Mellanox InfiniBand and Ethernet adapters.

  • "qcom": Various Qualcomm devices.

  • "rtl_bt": Realtek Bluetooth USB device.

  • "sb16": Sound Blaster 16 sound card.

  • "slicoss": Sangoma AFT series of digital calling cards.

  • "sxg": XGATE coprocessor for ColdFire CPUs.

  • "ti-connectivity" and "ti-keystone": Texas Instruments connectivity and Keystone-based devices.

  • "ueagle-atm": ADSL USB modem based on the Eagle-USB chipset.

• Added option to restart Plasma in NX Desktop. To do this, run the following command:

desktop-config --restart-desktop

• Updated zsync2 and libappimageupdate to version 2.0.0-alpha-1-20230831+nitux.
• MauiKit and the MauiKit framework updated to version 3.0.1 .
  • Information: Visit  https://mauikit.org/blog/  for the latest news about MauiKit, the MauiKit framework, and Maui apps.
    • MauiKit Frameworks 3.0.1 includes MauiKit Accounts, MauiKit File Browser, MauiKit Text Editor, MauiKit Calendar, MauiKit Documentation, and MauiKit Terminal.
    • Updated Maui Apps and NX Software Center to build against MauiKit 3.0.1.

 

The following issues have been fixed or resolved; see Reporting Bugs for details .

• Calamares Unable to enable autologin for Plasma Wayland sessions in SDDM #105 .
• Live ISO with Plasma Desktop requires manual login (does not auto-login to desktop) #119 .
• NVIDIA X Server Settings only shows minimal information #111 in Plasma Wayland .
• Waydroid cannot handle the error Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'modprobe' and [gbinder] WARNING: Service manager /dev/binder has died #120 .
• Partition Manager 23.04.3 does not list any partition #122 .
• VirtualBox cannot build kernel modules using dkms #131 .

More details can be found in the official announcement .