Various ways to install Puppy Linux

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bigpup
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Various ways to install Puppy Linux

#1 Post by bigpup »

Thanks to smokey01 and rjbrewer

With the now common use of bootable USB flash drives.
Doing any of this from a CD/DVD install could also be done from a USB flash drive install.
You would need to initially get Puppy on the USB flash drive.
Most people have good luck using a program like Unetbootin, (but there are others) running in some other operating system.
(This would be a live install on the USB drive)

Unetbootin.
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
Follow the directions for using an iso file you have already downloaded.
http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/#other



Installing Puppy Linux

Live Method
Many people who like to experiment simply use the live cd/dvd method. This is simply burning the ISO image to a CD or DVD then booting from that media. Once you have everything setup the way you want such as your network, icons, browers etc, when you shutdown, you are given the option to save your settings. Make a save file, either to your hard drive, flash drive, USB hard drive, or actually write it to the CD/DVD. The CD/DVD must be multisession. Keep in mind that this save file will hold anything new you install to Puppy Linux and it needs to be made with some size to it. Think of it taking the place of the hard drive. On shutdown, the save file will be auto updated to any changes. Don't worry, if this sounds confusing, there are plenty of prompts to help you along the way. Next time you boot from the CD, puppy will find the save file.

Guide how to make a Live CD/DVD
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/LiveDVD

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofth ... sofile.htm

Use Puppy Universal Installer to do a Frugal or Full install

Frugal Method
This is the best way to install Puppy.
Some features only work with frugal installs.
a frugal install just copies the files on the CD to the hard drive ... a boot loader program can boot Puppy from those files exactly the same as if you boot from the CD.
so, a frugal install is a complete install. The 3 or 4 files on the CD are copied to the hard drive and they are booted from the hard drive, exactly the same way they would have been booted from the CD.
It is still best to boot from the CD, then use Puppy Universal Installer (PUI) to install puppy to your Hard Disk Drive (HDD). Choose frugal install. It can be installed on a FAT32, NTFS and various Linux partitions. In other words, it's easy to install along side Windows on the same partition if you like.
It can also be installed to any storage device. Hard drive, flash drive, usb drive, any bootable drive. Any format. Fat16, Fat32, Ntfs, ext2, ext3, etc..
Just a note on the side about hard drive partitions. Windows use of the NTFS format for partitions, Microsoft keeps the format a secret, like every other format and protocol -- which is the main reason Microsoft keeps its monopoly. Therefore, Linux support of NTFS is not perfect.
The PUI will place three files in a directory of your choosing, something like /puppy511.
To be able to boot the frugal install, a boot loader will need to be installed, with info about the frugal install. The Puppy Universal Installer will guide you on this.
The newer Puppies give you the option of boot loaders. Grub or Grub4dos. Usually found in menu->system.
I like to get Puppy installed and then use Grub4dos Bootloader config to set up the boot loader. Grub4dos is very good at doing a auto setup of the boot loader.

Dual Boot Frugal Install With Windows
If you install to Fat or NTFS partition alongside Windows, you will need a boot loader installed.
If your version of Puppy comes with Grub4dos boot loader, I would use that. It is installed and configured by running Grub4dos Bootloader config in menu->system.

Frugal Install Save File
Lets assume you have puppy 5.1.1 booted and running as a frugal install. The first time you either reboot or shutdown, puppy will ask you to save the puppy save file. Select yes. It will also ask you where you would like to save it. I always save it in the same directory as the other three files previousy mentioned in /puppy511. Now you have four files in the directory and this is all you need. Of course, there are many other files squashed within some of these files, but you don't need to worry about them as they will take care of themselves.
After the computer has saved the save file and shut down, you can start it up again. This time, if you have the bootloader configured correctly, it should start puppy. Just remember, all of your settings and additional software that you add, will be stored within the save file, by default, so it can become quite large if not managed. I suggest you keep all of your documents and photos etc. in another location.

Save File Management
In live CD and Frugal install the save file is used to take the place of the hard drive for storage. You set a size for this file and it can be filled quickly. A 500MB or larger size is good, but not if you install or download a lot of stuff. It's size can be changed using the "Resize personal storage file" program. However, you can store outside the save file, by choosing another location to save.
Example:
you can save all kinds of things at mnt/home
Placed there, files don't fill up the pupsave and you can keep the pupsave file small.
Have many many hundreds of Gigabytes of files on the Internal hdd and you can also save on external HDD or flash drive too.

Alternate Save Options for Frugal Install
drive must be Linux format.
When Puppy is installed to a USB drive you have the choice of saving the session to either a file or to the entire partition.
Of course, saving session to a file has it's advantages, such as you can have lots of them and they are easy to backup.

Saving to the entire USB drive is a kind of quasi-full-Linux-installation. You are using the entire partition to save your session, so you have available all the free space of that partition.

Save folder
Any type drive:
The partition must be a Linux format.
In newer versions of Puppy there is now an option to save to a folder(directory).
It has the advantage of acting like a folder(directory) and dynamically growing in size as you add stuff.
It can use whatever free space is available on the drive partition.


USB Flash Drive
install to a USB Flash drive and use it for booting. This will be a frugal install of Puppy. You can then tell Puppy at shutdown to save to the same USB drive. The USB flash drive can be any format. Fat 16 or 32, Linux ext2, ext3, ext4.
Some computers may require fat 16 or 32 format to make it boot.
Use the Puppy Universal Installer to install Puppy to the drive.
If your computer can boot from USB, it will act like a normal boot disk.
If not, a boot loader will need to be installed and setup, with an entry for the USB flash drive.

In Lucid Puppy 5.2.5
Do not use the Bootflash program
Need to install Lucid Puppy 5.2.5 instant update 001 for Bootflash to work.


Good tutorial for USB Flash Drive install of Puppy Linux:
http://puppylinux.org/main/Puppy430-tut ... nglish.pdf

Caution Upgrade of Save File

There are fundamental problems with upgrading a save-file, such as it breaks things.
It is the way that the /etc/rc.d/rc.update script works. If you install an upgrade PET for a Puppy Linux core program, when the save-file is upgraded to a newer version of Puppy Linux, many of the files get reverted to the "official" ones -- result, that program may not work.
Example:
Had previously upgraded to the latest "Adobe Flash Player", upgraded the save file to a newer version of Puppy Linux, and "Adobe Flash Player" also got reverted to the "official" one.
These are not new problems, they have been there since Puppy started.


NOTICE
Upgrading is limited. Puppy Linux develops in versions like version 1, 2, 3, etc... You can upgrade within a version, but not between versions. It would be okay going from 4.0 to 4.3 for example, but not from 4.3 to the 5.0 and newer versions.

Upgrading Frugal install
This can be done several ways
The basic principle is to use the old save file with the new Puppy version frugal install.

Using Universal installer
Boot with a Live CD of the new version of Puppy.
Use boot option puppy pfix=ram
Make a copy of the old save file.
perform a frugal install of the new version of Puppy.
Copy the old save file into the location of the new frugal install.
Run the boot manager config program to make boot menu entries for the new install.
Remove CD.
Reboot computer.
Because you where running from CD it will ask if you want to make a save file.
Answer no.
Boot with the new frugal install and it will update the old save file.
Using the settings and programs that are in the save file.

Manual way
Ok, here comes the good bit. Lets assume puppy 5.1.2 is released and you want to try it.
Create another directory called /puppy512.
Copy the 3 or 4 new files off the new ISO you have downloaded and place them in the directory /puppy512.
Copy the save file from /puppy511 to /puppy512.
Make the appropriate edits in the GRUB menu.lst file and reboot.
Select the new puppy 5.1.2.
It will load and convert your old save file to the new puppy. All of your settings and installed software will be available in the new distribution. The whole process will take between 1 - 5 minutes.

Example:

(Names used are for example only)

Upgrade Puppy 5.0 to Puppy 5.2.5
Download the Puppy 5.2.5.iso file
In Rox-filer (file manager)
Make a new directory like /Puppy525
Left click on Puppy 5.2.5.iso file to open it.
Copy these 3 files to /Puppy525 directory.
initrd.gz
lupu_525.sfs
vmlinuz
Copy the Puppy 5.0 Puppysave.Xfs file (Your old save file) and place in the /Puppy525 directory.
There are now 4 files in the new /Puppy525 directory.
Run the boot loader configuration program for the boot loader you are using to make a boot option for the new Puppy 5.2.5
Reboot.
At boot menu select your upgraded Puppy.

When Puppy 5.2.5 boots it will use and update the save file and programs.
When Puppy 5.2.5 seems to be working OK you can delete Puppy 5.0.

Upgrade of a Bootable USB flash drive frugal install
A bootable flash drive requires more files than a normal frugal install.
Boot with a live CD of the new version of Puppy.
Use boot option puppy pfix=ram
Copy the old save file from the USB flash drive
Use Bootflash install Puppy to USB to install the new version to the USB drive.
Copy the old save file to the new install on the drive.
Remove CD.
Reboot.
Because you where running from CD it will ask if you want to make a save file.
Answer no.
Boot with the USB flash drive.
Old save file will be updated and settings and programs will be used.


Full Install Method
a full, complete install copies each uncompressed file, that is in the Puppy operating system's file system, to a dedicated partition ... so there will be the directories /bin, /dev, /etc. /lib, /mnt, /proc, /root, /sbin, /var etc........ on the partition, each filled with hundreds of files.
My advice would be to use Puppy Universal Installer (PUI) and install from scratch.
The (PUI) will guide you on doing a full install and options on devices to install too.
A boot loader will need to be installed to access the full install of Puppy. Same procedure as discussed under frugal install.

Minimum partition size for full install is 500MB, but that will not give much growing room. Puppy Linux will take up about 312MB.

You will also have to install it on a Linux formatted partition (ext2, 3, or 4) on (HDD). It's a good idea to have one Linux formatted partition and a Linux swap partition. The benefits of a full install is not having to worry about the save file running out of space. You are only limited by the amount of space on your Linux partition . You will also notice there are files scattered all over the place. The file structure is similar to the frugal install but not as well packaged for ease of use.

Partitioning storage device
Running Puppy from live CD.
Important:
Must boot live CD using boot option: puppy pfix=ram
(this makes sure hard drive is not mounted)


Use Gparted program to setup hard drive.
Basic info video on using Gparted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdgv8xOrKYs

Full install With Other Operating Systems
A full install can be done along side other operating systems. They each need to be installed on their own partition. To install Puppy, have a separate Linux formated partition, with nothing on it, and select it when asked by the Universal Installer, where to install the full install of Puppy.
Example:
Windows on one partition.
Puppy on a different partition.

Guide for Full Install;
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=29653

Guide for one click install
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=42876

Upgrading Full install

NOTICE
Upgrading a full install is limited. Puppy Linux develops in versions like version 1, 2, 3, etc... You can upgrade within a version, but not between versions. It would be okay going from 4.0 to 4.3 for example, but not from 4.3 to the 5.0 and newer versions.

To upgrade burn a new CD of the newer version.
Boot with this new CD.
Use boot option (puppy pfix=ram).
Run the Puppy Universal Installer.
Select the same location for install as the Puppy you are upgrading.
Select Full Install.
Choose "upgrade", not "wipe".
No need to reinstall grub.
It will save your previous settings.
(may want to edit Grub menu.lst to change title info to newer version)
Remove CD.
Reboot computer.
Because you where running from CD it will ask if you want to make a save file.
Answer no.
At boot menu select your upgraded Puppy.

LINKS For More Info
http://www.puppylinux.com/install.htm

There will always be many opinions to which method is best.
I think you will find frugal is the most popular especially with people who like to experiment with new puppies on a regular basis. When the save file runs out of space it can be increased. I also load a lot of my additional software outside of the save file such as Open Office, which is larger than puppy itself. By it being outside the safe file means it's available to other puppies, as well, without having to reinstall.
Another great reason to use frugal is the ability to use SFS packages. This can be many programs packed into a single file. You place it in /mnt/home and tell boot manager to load it at startup. This does not affect your save file.

I hope this assists in your decision making.
Last edited by bigpup on Sun 04 Mar 2018, 03:08, edited 104 times in total.

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rjbrewer
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#2 Post by rjbrewer »

Nice post bigpup;

A word of caution:

Upgading the full install is somewhat limited in scope.
It would be okay going from 4.0 to 4.3 for example; but not
from 4.3 to the 5.0 and newer versions.

Booting the original cd and running "upgrade" is a good way of
repairing a messed up full install.

Inspiron 700m, Pent.M 1.6Ghz, 1Gb ram.
Msi Wind U100, N270 1.6>2.0Ghz, 1.5Gb ram.
Eeepc 8g 701, 900Mhz, 1Gb ram.
Full installs

bones01
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Joined: Mon 11 Aug 2008, 07:47
Location: Melbourne, Aus

Re: Install Puppy Linux

#3 Post by bones01 »

bigpup wrote:
Upgrading Frugal install
Ok, here comes the good bit. Lets assume puppy 5.1.2 is released and you want to try it. you can create another directory called /puppy512, copy the three new files off the new ISO you have downloaded and place them in the directory /puppy512, then copy the save file from /puppy511 to /puppy512. Make the appropriate edits in the GRUB menu.lst file and reboot. Select the new puppy 5.1.2, it will load and convert your old save file to the new puppy. All of your settings and installed software will be available in the new distribution. The whole process will take between 1 - 5 minutes.
Thanks for this Bigpup. I tried to upgrade a frugal install last week and it ended badly. Look forward to trying again during the week.

Bones
Dell Latitude D630 running Puppy 5.2.8 frugal, Macpup 525 frugal (if I can get it working again. Sadly, I couldn't get it fixed :? )
Precise Puppy 5.4 live DVD
Precise 5.7.3 on USB

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bigpup
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#4 Post by bigpup »

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obxjerry
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#5 Post by obxjerry »

I'm always in a quandary when I'm adding Puppy to a computer. I have Puppy on our 3 desktops but we use our laptops 95% of the time. My wife and I have 2 old laptops and I've bought a third. The laptop I use is 366mhz, 160mb ram, 4.5 g hard drive. A full install of Puppy 4.21 has 996 mb of space, 533 mb are unused. It was my first Puppy and it rescued the laptop from the closet almost a year ago. Just to tell you how much I like this machine, does the phrase "pry it from my cold dead hands' ring a bell. The "new" laptop is 1.3ghz, 375mb ram, 30 g hard drive. I would be comfortable with going for up to 10 g space on the hard drive. I have full and frugal installs. I feel more in control with a full install for some reason.

What do I do on the "new" one, full or frugal? Would I notice the speed advantage for a frugal install? How many and what size partitions? ext2, 3 or 4? I know there is no really right or wrong answer but I think there might be a better educated one than I'm able to make on my own.
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

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rcrsn51
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#6 Post by rcrsn51 »

I know there is no really right or wrong answer.
Precisely. Why not make several partitions, install Puppy a different way in each, and compare them?

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obxjerry
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#7 Post by obxjerry »

Precisely. Why not make several partitions, install Puppy a different way in each, and compare them?
There you go. I had not thought of that. I can do a full install in a 1 g partition (replicate what I have on the other laptop) and 2 or 3 partitions for a frugal install. I'm assuming ext3 is good for all of them? I can compare and do something else later on.

Thanks for the feedback.
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Meddle Not In The Affairs Of Dragons For You Are Crunchy And Taste Good With Ketchup

I'd rather be sailing

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#8 Post by obxjerry »

OK, here's the update. I learned today why sometimes you need to boot using puppy pfix=ram. If you have a pupsave file on your hard drive and you let it default boot it will find that file and mount that partition on your hard drive. That may make it hard for you if you want to manipulate data on that partition. That didn't apply to me. I'm just telling what I found out.

I booted the Puppy cd, with Puppy 431 running in ram, I started GParted. I shrunk sda1 (Windows XP) by 5 G. I clicked on the 5 G unallocated space and made a sda2 ext3 partition at the begining. I clicked on the 3 G unallocated space and made a 2.8 sda3 ext partition. I have a Windows Recovery on sda4 so when I clicked on the 200mb unallocated space I ran into a problem. It said I needed to make one of my primary files an extension file so I could divide the hard drive into more than 4 parts. I was going to use the 200 mb as a swap partition as per the advice given on this website; http://www.puppysupport.com/wiki/InstallationNotes
I was going for the 512 mb talked about on the webpage, 375 mb ram+ 200mb swap is over 512. I see by looking over this website now the swap file gets created later so I shouldn't have tried to do this.

I deleted the 2.8 partition and made a 3G ext3 partition, sda3. I got Puppy running the way I wanted; wireless connected, Pwidgets installed and bookmarks set on SeaMonkey. I did a full install to sda2. I installed grub. I did a frugal install on sda3. I didn't remember that I needed to fix grub so it would boot sba3 right then. I rebooted. sda2 would boot but sda3 would not. I knew why but newgrubtext was gone so I had to reinstall frugal Puppy to sba3, copy newgrubtext from tmp on the Puppy in ram and paste it into menu.lst in boot on sda2. That got both Puppies booting.

All the setup I did before I installed the Puppies was for naught. Puppy installs from cd, not from ram. I got the full Puppy set up the way I wanted it. I rebooted, full Puppy was fine. I rebooted frugal Puppy. I set it up the way I wanted. When I tried to reboot, I think it was here it asked me about a pupsave. I chose 1 G. It asked if I wanted to save changes. I chose no and reboot sda3. I set Puppy up the way I want it. It asked me if I wanted to save changes. I saved to sba3 and rebooted to sda3. I set Puppy up the way I want. It asked me if I wanted to save changes. I chose save to file. I reboot to sda3 and all is good.

I teeter back and forth on the swap file issue. If I didn't set up a partition for a swap file, was one created when I did the frugal install? When I read on the above website "shutdown immediately, and Puppy 4.3 will create a swap file on the hd, as well as a pupsave file (it does tell you that it is doing this)." I think when I created the 1G pupsave, a swap file was also created.

It looks like full Puppy boots from grub menu to desktop in 32 seconds. Frugal Puppy takes 39 seconds. Both seem to be consistent on those times.

I'm asking here because I've referenced it, is http://www.puppysupport.com/support/ new? It looks just like a ghost town version of this forum.

I hope all this makes sense and helps someone else not make the same mistakes I did. If I did a Puppy install once a week, I don't think I'd have many problems. Only some of the things I read about installing Puppy talk in my language. Of course, all of them make more sense right after you've done an install.
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Meddle Not In The Affairs Of Dragons For You Are Crunchy And Taste Good With Ketchup

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#9 Post by bigpup »

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