Fatdog64-904 Final Release Notes

Fatdog64-904 Final was released 2 July 2026.

The Fatdog64 team is pleased to announce the fifth release of Fatdog64 GNU/Linux 900 series, which is based on LFS (Linux From Scratch) 11.3.

This is a "hardware maintenance" release update with updated kernels, microcode, and small bugfixes. There are some special adjustments for HiDPI screen, please read the details below.

Downloads

Get the ISO image from here: ibiblio.org | uoc.gr | nluug.nl | aarnet.edu.au | lug.umbc.edu

The corresponding devx, nls and 32-bit compatibility library, and the kernel source SFS can be can be downloaded using the "SFS Manager" applet located in Fatdog64 Control Panel's "System" tab.

The ISO builder for this release is dated 2026.07 and the package list is 904-pkglist.tar.xz. It can be downloaded from ibiblio.org or one of the mirrors.

For new users

Fatdog64 is an operating system. To use it, you need to boot your computer with it.

If you need to boot on a machine with Secure Boot enabled, please make sure you read this first.

For further questions, please check these FAQ pages first.

The FAQ pages are also available locally. If you're running Fatdog64 already you can view the FAQ by visiting file:///usr/share/doc/faqs/faq.html or clicking the "question mark" icon on the desktop.

To provide feedback, please visit Fatdog64 section of Puppy Linux Forum.

For existing users

If you install Fatdog64 in the recommended way, upgrading Fatdog64 is a matter of replacing two files: vmlinuz and initrd. If you use devx/nls/32-bit compatibility library SFS, you can install new versions from the SFS Manager.

Fatdog64 DOES NOT upgrade an existing savefile/savefolder. Generally speaking, you need to use a new savefile/savefolder for every new release of Fatdog64. You might get away re-using an existing savefile/savefolder from the previous release, but this is unsupported, and more often than not would cause hard-to-troubleshoot problems later.

This is specially true for series update (from 800 series to 900 series as an example), as a new series will use a new and completely different base.

IMPORTANT: If you still run earlier Fatdog series (700 or 600) and want to upgrade to 900, please read the notes/warnings noted in Fatdog64 802/801/800 forum thread. Note that the "make-spot-more-secure" script referenced in those notes has been removed (you need a new savefile/savefolder anyway), however all the other points listed there are still valid.

Older packages from previous series

Generally speaking, please do not expect packages from the previous 800 series to work. Some of them may still work, but they are not supported and you are advised to upgrade to newer version of the packages, if available.

This applies to both standard TXZ packages and SFS archives as well.

Special note: This release uses openssl from 3.1.x branch, which is known to be incompatible with the openssl 1.1.x/1.0.x branch that was used in earlier Fatdog64 series.

We provide a compatibility openssl 1.1.x package (called "openssl-compat" in the Gslapt repo) to support those who absolutely need to run older packages with no upgrade path (e.g. proprietary applications), but your success may vary.

Older packages that depend on 1.0.x are __NOT__ supported.

Changes from Fatdog64 903:

The following list of updates, new features and changes is only partial.

Updates:

and numerous bug fixes and fine tunings.

New Features:

Known Issues:

Fatdog64-904 — HiDPI support

Fatdog64-904 is the first release to explicitly address usability on high-resolution (HiDPI) displays.

Work to add HiDPI support began on 2023-08-13 (commit 0dd9f345a9) and first appeared in Fatdog64-900. Early work was limited; 904 broadens support bringing visible improvements worth noting for HiDPI users.

If you use Fatdog on a HiDPI display, upgrade to 904, boot with an empty savefile (default boot entry), and create the savefile saving the session while rebooting. On this first session, if a HiDPI primary monitor is detected you should notice several improvements compared with earlier releases: urxvt text, most dialogs, and the LXQt panel are readable (no longer tiny).

On second boot the Xorg desktop will prompt you to review /etc/profile.d/ui_tweaks.sh. That script contains optional, opt‑in actions to further improve HiDPI support — chiefly switching the default implementations of the preinstalled yad and gtkdialog commands to the `yad_gtk3` and `gtkdialog_gtk3` packages. Those packages make Fatdog core scripts more usable and visually consistent.

If you previously tried older Fatdog builds on a HiDPI screen, you should appreciate the difference.

Possible follow-ups include:

Notes and limitations

Full list of packages included in the ISO image

Kernels:

Packages:


For earlier releases, see here: Fatdog64 903 Fatdog64 902 Fatdog64 901 Fatdog64 900 Fatdog64 814 Fatdog64 813 Fatdog64 812 Fatdog64 811 Fatdog64 810 Fatdog64 802 Fatdog64 801 Fatdog64 800 Fatdog64 721 Fatdog64 720 Fatdog64 710 Fatdog64 702 Fatdog64 701 Fatdog64 700 Fatdog64 631 Fatdog64 630 Fatdog64 621 Fatdog64 620 Fatdog64 611 Fatdog64 610 Fatdog64 601 Fatdog64 600 Fatdog64 521 Fatdog64 520