SFS-TCZ_Linker-2.2.pet

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gcmartin

Using your PETs for SFSs

#81 Post by gcmartin »

I PM'd you with a scenario and question about LightHouse (lhpup) Mariner's LiveDVD (version 5.0 D). This relates to the post of @its-me-again written here, to you, on Monday.

Please look at the PM to you. Thanks
P.S. This is NOT an attempt to plug LightHouse. But, it is my attempt to understand how to use your tool. It just happens that the owner of LightHouse, @taroc, steered me to you thinking that your tool might be appropriate for my intended flexible environment use. If your tool works, this is a HUGE step in the Puppy world.

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jrb
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#82 Post by jrb »

Hi gcmartin,

Glad you let me know about the PM - no notification from forum and it says no new messages but it was there.

I'm working from 9:00 to 9:00 today so really don't have much time to look at it but I will tomorrow.

SFS_Linker-1.5 does work on live CD's and DVD's. It links / to /mnt/home and SFS's there can be mounted. With that said, Its my understanding that SFS's on CD's or DVD's get mounted into ram so I'm not sure how that will effect low ram machines.

I'll take a closer look at you situation tomorrow morning.

Bye for now, J

gcmartin

SFS-TCZ_Linker-1.5.pet

#83 Post by gcmartin »

Thanks. I am running a AMD X2 with 4GB of mem.

I will test, after you comment. (as you can see, if I had posted this here, it would have been more like a book, ranther than a forum post.)

I will produce a doc with pics to show what worked for this single scenario. This (hopeflly) should reduce some questions on your tool's use and should help others new to the tool's use.

Anyway, again, your tool is a very needed utility in the Puppy world. I see how others are so appreciative with your work, here.

Thanks in advance...

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Aitch
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#84 Post by Aitch »

gcmartin wrote:If your tool works, this is a HUGE step in the Puppy world.
That's what I thought, so offered it as a link....

One happy bunny

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=59612

Also requested its inclusion into new builds, thanks jrb

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 6&start=30

Aitch :)

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jrb
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#85 Post by jrb »

Thanks for the positives guys,

I'm afraid I've had only partial success with lighthouse pup. Was able to install SFS_Linker-1.5 to live cd reboot, save and use with SFS's on harddrive

I copied an SFS to / and linked it to /root/my_links/sfs_boot_links and saved so that it should start on bootup. When I rebooted the desktop came up but mouse and keyboard frozen. Have tried this twice now with same results.

Will continue to investigate as time allows.

Bye for now, J

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jrb
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#86 Post by jrb »

gcmartin,

Have modified and tested SFS-TCZ_Linker-1.6.pet in Lighthouse 5D both Live CD and regular. Seems to work very well. Had to make a few small changes but I'm quite sure they won't be incompatible with other pups.

Try it out! J

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jrb
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#87 Post by jrb »

Dingo wrote:I found sfs-linker makes possible mount ands use a devx sfs from LIVE CD

Now I investigated better and more in deep

see image attached, it represents /usr/lib/ after devx mount (with sfslinker latest version)

several symlinks seem broken, the strange is that are pointing to files supposed in devx. Maybe this is a union/aufs limit? devx can't be used fully without frugal install at least and a reboot?
Dingo, I probably shouldn't say anything but I have managed to make an SFS_LInker that successfully mounts devx.sfs. As technosaurus suggested I copy the original symlinks from the SFS. I just haven't quite worked out how to get rid of them when the SFS is unmounted. :? If I haven't puzzled that out soon I'll release it anyway. What's a few extra symlinks, eh?

Cheers, J

gcmartin

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

#88 Post by gcmartin »

I PM'ed the LightHouse owner, @TazOC, of your very fine efforts. Thanks bunches!

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jrb
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#89 Post by jrb »

Have just uploaded SFS-TCZ_Linker-1.7.pet. This one should work with devx SFS's (where's the emoticon for crossed fingers?). :wink: Give it a good test.

Enjoy, J

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jrb
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Re: SFS-TCZ_Linker-1.8.pet

#90 Post by jrb »

Have just uploaded SFS-TCZ_Linker-1.8.pet. This is a fix for 1.7. Doh! I forgot to put the patch for copying existing symlinks into sfs_linker_silent which means it wouldn't work when loading at bootup. :oops: All fixed now. :D

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technosaurus
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#91 Post by technosaurus »

tcl is up to 3.X now so the 2.X repo may start to go stale.

ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dist ... ux/3.x/tcz
Check out my [url=https://github.com/technosaurus]github repositories[/url]. I may eventually get around to updating my [url=http://bashismal.blogspot.com]blogspot[/url].

seaside
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#92 Post by seaside »

Jrb,

Nice work on getting the Dev sfs to work.

I've been using this script on a rox right-click menu just to properly link the Dev files. My script looks for just broken links and copies those over.

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh
#SFSDEV Link & copy for Puppy4.3.1

SFSDEV=`basename $1`

mkdir /mnt/"$SFSDEV"

mount -t squashfs "$1" /mnt/"$SFSDEV" -o loop

find /mnt/"$SFSDEV" -type l -print0|\
 xargs -r0 file|\
 grep "broken symbolic"|
 sed -e 's/^\|: *broken symbolic.*$//g' >/tmp/blfile
 
 cp -rs /mnt/"$SFSDEV"/* / 
 
for file in `cat /tmp/blfile`;do 
 cpfile=`echo "$file" |  sed 's/.*sfs//'` ;cp -a "$file" "$cpfile" 
done 

# redo circular link below
rm  /lib/libsysfs.so 
ln -s /lib/libsysfs.so.2.0.1 /lib/libsysfs.so
Since I usually only run the Dev sfs in ram, I never needed to unlink anything :D

As many of the SFS files, not specifically made for Puppy, need some additional help for configuration persistence or other customization, here is something else you might find interesting.

The following code is in the linker script

Code: Select all

if [ -f "/mnt/"$SFSNAME"SETUP" ]; then
	/mnt/"$SFSNAME"SETUP
	fi
If an SFS file needs some additional commands, I make up a script called "nameofsfs.sfsSETUP" with whatever commands necessary.

Now when the sfs linker is run, any code that's in my "nameofsfs.sfsSETUP" script, is run specifically for that sfs file

I use this system for Thunderbird and several other sfs files and usually avoid any repetitive work or having to edit SFS files this way.

Regards,
s

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jrb
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#93 Post by jrb »

technosaurus wrote:tcl is up to 3.X now so the 2.X repo may start to go stale. ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dist ... ux/3.x/tcz
Thanks technosaurus, I'll update that in sfs_linker-1.9
Last edited by jrb on Fri 24 Sep 2010, 20:31, edited 1 time in total.

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jrb
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#94 Post by jrb »

seaside wrote: As many of the SFS files, not specifically made for Puppy, need some additional help for configuration persistence or other customization, here is something else you might find interesting.

The following code is in the linker script

Code: Select all

if [ -f "/mnt/"$SFSNAME"SETUP" ]; then
	/mnt/"$SFSNAME"SETUP
	fi
If an SFS file needs some additional commands, I make up a script called "nameofsfs.sfsSETUP" with whatever commands necessary.

Now when the sfs linker is run, any code that's in my "nameofsfs.sfsSETUP" script, is run specifically for that sfs file

I use this system for Thunderbird and several other sfs files and usually avoid any repetitive work or having to edit SFS files this way.

Regards,
s
Nice idea seaside. These SETUP scripts could be in the SFS and run once the SFS is mounted. More elegant than my setting up a special directory in the SFS to copy from. Just change /mnt/"$SFSNAME"SETUP to /mnt/"$SFSNAME"/"$SFSNAME"SETUP. Will definitely keep this in mind for sfs_linker-1.9.

Will compare your script for dealing with symlinks with mine when I get a few spare minutes. Busy times right now.

Thanks, J

seaside
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#95 Post by seaside »

jrb wrote:
Nice idea seaside. These SETUP scripts could be in the SFS and run once the SFS is mounted. More elegant than my setting up a special directory in the SFS to copy from. Just change /mnt/"$SFSNAME"SETUP to /mnt/"$SFSNAME"/"$SFSNAME"SETUP. Will definitely keep this in mind for sfs_linker-1.9.

Will compare your script for dealing with symlinks with mine when I get a few spare minutes. Busy times right now.

Thanks, J
Jrb,

Thanks, and I should elaborate to say that the "sfsname.sfsSETUP" files are not in the SFS file itself, but in the same directory as the SFS file. The linker code looks for the *SETUP file (if any) and executes any commands.

Your symlink script looks for any symlinks, while mine looks for broken ones (the ones pointing back to the main puppy files).

Cheers,
s

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tazoc
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/etc/choice

#96 Post by tazoc »

Just a couple of thoughts after testing SFS-TCZ_Linker-1.8

Great idea and well-thought out! I especially appreciate the efforts to test on Lighthouse and other Puplets.

Would you consider moving the /choice directory (for files that need copying rather than linking) to /etc/choice? I think it is best to avoid adding directories to the top level /. Or at least add /etc/choice to the code that checks /choice.

Maybe /root and /home should be copied instead of linked--many apps need their config files writable.

Thanks,
TazOC
[url=http://www.lhpup.org/][b][size=100]lhpup.org[/size][/b] [img]http://www.lhpup.org/gallery/images/favicon.png[/img][/url] [url=http://www.lhpup.org/release-lhp.htm#602]Lighthouse 64 6.02[/url]

gcmartin

I have a contribution and a question

#97 Post by gcmartin »

@jrb
I want to share this with you as you may not have this info AND, I want to ask a question about use of the Linker.
Share:
tazoc wrote:
gcmartin wrote:I saw your post on SFS processing.

Does this have ANY impact on SFS processing on LiveCD if a /mnt/home folder is copied to the root of the LiveCD?

Thanks in advance
P.S. Great idea on "update announcement" PET.
Thanks, gcmartin. As I understand it, Puppy BootManager cannot layer extra SFS files into the / file system from first boot PUPMODE=5. Layering is done during the second reboot, after a pupsave is created and BootManager has run.

I tried SFS-TCZ_Linker and had mixed results. I think maybe /root and /home should be copied instead of linked--many apps need their config files writable. To get some of the Lighthouse SFS files to work with it I had to manually remove the links in /root and copy the files over instead.
-TazOC
Question:
Does the following mean that a reboot is REQUIRED after installing you PET V1.8? "I run a LiveCD environment and have run into problems when trying to your PET in the past."
jrb wrote:
tlchost wrote:Does this remove the requirement for ldconfig430 and my_links?
Yes, they are both built in to this SFS_Linker. Click once on the .pet, reboot and you're ready to start using SFS's. :D

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jrb
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Re: /etc/choice

#98 Post by jrb »

tazoc wrote:Would you consider moving the /choice directory (for files that need copying rather than linking) to /etc/choice? I think it is best to avoid adding directories to the top level /. Or at least add /etc/choice to the code that checks /choice.

Maybe /root and /home should be copied instead of linked--many apps need their config files writable.

Thanks,
TazOC
Hi TazOC, Sorry for the lateness of reply, was contemplating an answer and got distracted. :oops:

The /choice directory that I have included in some of my SFS's and built into the Linker gets deleted out of the top level after serving its purpose when SFS's are initially linked. You are absolutely right that some apps need there config files copied. Thats what the /choice folder is for. For instance:

When I made my OO3.1 SFS I wanted scripts to start the applications copied, i.e. /usr/local/bin/writer. So in my SFS I made /choice/usr/local/bin/writer. When the SFS gets linked the writer script is copied to /usr/local/bin. Any links from the choice folder in the SFS are deleted at the end of the Linker install.

This may not be the ideal way to do it. I kind of like seaside's idea of an accompanying install script. It is a more versatile approach acting like the pinstall script in a .pet.

I continue to contemplate (among other things) and at some point may come to a decision. :wink:

Cheers, J

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jrb
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Re: I have a contribution and a question

#99 Post by jrb »

gcmartin wrote: Does this have ANY impact on SFS processing on LiveCD if a /mnt/home folder is copied to the root of the LiveCD?
In the latest version of SFS-Linker I set it up to check if PUPMODE=77, live CD/DVD. If so it creates a new folder, /root/SFS and then links this as /mnt/home. SFS's placed in this folder will be detected by both SFS-Linker and Bootmanager and will be useable (I think I tested this in Bootmanager?, definitely tested and worked in SFS-Linker).

I tried making this folder at the top level, /, but it didn't work so I put it one level down in /root and it worked.

Does the following mean that a reboot is REQUIRED after installing you PET V1.8?
Actually no. SFS-Linker will work perfectly fine without a reboot or anything else. Just install the .pet and you're good to go. The reboot does two things: It places the my_links folder on the desktop (restarting the X server will do this too) and it checks /mnt/home for appropriate SFS's and links them to /root/my_links/sfs_mnt_home/ where they are available to right click and install.

Hope that helps, J

Edit: I should also mention for running from Live CD/DVD to create /root/SFS and use SFS's saved on your CD/DVD you must reboot and save after installing SFS-Linker.
Last edited by jrb on Sun 31 Oct 2010, 01:22, edited 1 time in total.

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tazoc
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Re: /etc/choice

#100 Post by tazoc »

jrb wrote:The /choice directory that I have included in some of my SFS's and built into the Linker gets deleted out of the top level after serving its purpose when SFS's are initially linked. You are absolutely right that some apps need there config files copied. Thats what the /choice folder is for.
Hi Jrb,
Thanks for replying J, I'm glad to hear from you! I received a request to include SFS-TCZ_Linker in Lighthouse Pup, primarily for Live-CD usage, and apart from the layering order concerns I have with Lighthouse SFS files, (the order that SFS files are linked could be critical as some SFS may have different versions of the same files, and I solved that with a naming convention--files that begin with a numeral are layered above), I'm struggling with how to build future SFS that can be used either with SFS-TCZ_Linker, or the traditional BootManager Puppy--layered SFS after reboot method.

I understand that /choice is deleted by the Linker, but when the SFS is used in the traditional way, without the Linker, /choice would probably not be deleted. That's why I'd prefer /etc/choice.

Thanks again,
TazOC
[url=http://www.lhpup.org/][b][size=100]lhpup.org[/size][/b] [img]http://www.lhpup.org/gallery/images/favicon.png[/img][/url] [url=http://www.lhpup.org/release-lhp.htm#602]Lighthouse 64 6.02[/url]

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