Beginning - Puppy 4.2.1, VBox 4.0.0, now guestadditions?

Virtual machines, emulation, etc.
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wb0gaz
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Joined: Tue 14 Nov 2006, 23:59

Beginning - Puppy 4.2.1, VBox 4.0.0, now guestadditions?

#1 Post by wb0gaz »

Beginner (with this combination, not necessarily beginner with the various components) asking for help...

I'm getting started setting up Puppy 4.2.1 as a virtual machine running under VirtualBox 4.0.0 (Ubuntu 10.10 host system.)

I'm using the version of Puppy 4.2.1 with the older ("retro") kernel 2.6.21.7 as several of my real (not virtual) machines are based on ancient hardware where I've had good success with Puppy 4.0 (version using same kernel).

I've successfully installed the Puppy 4.2.1 guest system from ISO and it is running with XVesa video driver as a guest under VirtualBox 4.0.0 on my Ubuntu 10.10 host. My only complaint is that the mouse pointer does not track at all well, which is why I am trying to install Guest Additions.

I located a .PET file by TheAstrisk! as follows:

http://www.silverdollarsolutions.com/Pu ... .pup43.pet

I copied the .PET file into my virtual Puppy 4.2.1 installation and installed the .PET by clicking on the file's icon (was this the correct procedure? if not, I exported the virtual machine so I could retreat and try differently if needed.)

The .pet file installation says it was successful (but also cautioned against several missing .so files among some python files; I could not copy/paste/save the message so I just closed that window.) I didn't investigate this further.

Upon reboot, I found system->VirtualBox 4.0.0 in the menu.

So, here is where I'm lost - what should I do next? I don't think the guest additions are active because none of the desktop behavior has changed (the mouse pointer is still unruly, etc.)

I would prefer to stay with this particular combination (VirtualBox 4.0.0 because I've got it installed and it's working well for my other virtual machines and hosts, Puppy 4.2.1 retro because it seems to be the final version that uses the coveted 2.6.21.7 kernel), and the .PET file from TheAstrisk! because I'd rather not undertake dealing with the development and kernel source .SFS systems until I get a little more experience with this.

Thank you,

Dave

wb0gaz
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue 14 Nov 2006, 23:59

#2 Post by wb0gaz »

Since I posted my initial question, I have discovered that the "ill-behaved" mouse is not unique to my installation; it seems some people with virtualbox and Linux guest systems have difficulty with this. I discovered that virtualbox 4.0 enables "mouse pointer integration" by default with linux guests (I only have a linux host, so I'm not sure if this is also the case with a windows or mac host). It is possible (in my setup) to disable mouse pointer integration with a menu action from the guest's window (under Machine) which is a satisfactory work-around (the mouse pointer then moves properly, but becomes captive in the guest window and requires right-ctrl to free it - in any event that is OK for me for now), however, it is not, I gather, possible to permanently disable mouse pointer integration. It appears there are many requests to add this feature (probably also a symptom of people having trouble with mouse behavior on a linux guest.)

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TheAsterisk!
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Joined: Tue 10 Feb 2009, 08:52

#3 Post by TheAsterisk! »

In my experience, Puppy is a little wonky as a VBox guest anyway.

There's also a version of 431 that uses the 2.6.21.7 kernel, if I'm not mistaken.
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/dis ... l-puppies/

Finally, although there's no harm in sticking with version 4.0.0, I do also have a package of 4.0.2 for the same Puppy versions, and I plan to keep on packaging new versions as they're released unless or until something keeps me from doing so.
I don't keep copies of the guest additions online, though, since you can always get those from Oracle's site anyway.

Thanks for trying/using my package!

wb0gaz
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue 14 Nov 2006, 23:59

#4 Post by wb0gaz »

Hi, TheAstrisk!

Thank you for your reply.

At this point, I'm still uncertain how to proceed with the file packages you published related to VirtualBox 4.0 and Puppy Linux. My "dumb question" of the day- after downloading your file, what do I do with it? I am still focusing on virtualbox 4.0.0 and puppy linux 4.0.

From what I have learned so far, guest additions for linux guest is installed through a temporarily mounted CD-ROM file system (provided from the virtualbox host) and a script that is executed on that mount point. Since I first posted my question to this forum, I tried installing Ubuntu 10 as a guest (on a Ubuntu 10 host), just so I could try that the guest additions installation procedure without the variable of puppy linux. It did work in that case, so that is what I have learned so far. I tried the same mount-and-run-shell script procedure on my puppy 4.0 guest (except in this case I did a little manual experimentation until I could mount the guest additions filesystem manually), but as I recall (I tried this about a week ago), the virtualbox 4.0 guest additions installation script gave errors (I didn't capture a list of the errors), so it wasn't successful.

I would be very grateful if you point me in the right direction (what is the next step after download?) as I am trying to use your virtualbox guest/puppy resources?

Thank you,

Dave

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TheAsterisk!
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#5 Post by TheAsterisk! »

Were the kernel source and devx SFS modules installed into/onto your guest Puppy?
I don't know the procedure too well, but I'd hazard a guess that the guest OS has to compile some drivers dependent on the kernel, not just the host OS.
If you didn't have those installed the last time you tried it, you might want to do so and give it another go.

If I have some time to spare later tonight, I might try it myself, see if I can't figure it all out.

Let me know if that does it or if there's more yet to be done!

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TheAsterisk!
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#6 Post by TheAsterisk! »

Oh, I do feel like a fool now.
I misread your first post, and have been laboring under the mistaken assumption that you're trying to run Puppy on Puppy, not Puppy on Ubuntu.

Okay, the dot-pets I make are to install VirtualBox onto a Puppy system with Puppy as the host. They DO NOT install the guest additions into a guest Puppy.
For that, you'll just want to use the Ubuntu VBox package, install the kernel source and devx modules for your Puppy version into the virtualized Puppy, and then try to install the guest additions from Oracle's *.iso as you might with any Linux system.

I'm sorry that I've been answering entirely the wrong question. Hopefully we'll figure this out in the end anyway!

dave macarthur
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu 17 Feb 2011, 23:11

Freeing up memory

#7 Post by dave macarthur »

I have puppy installed on a 256mb usb stick. I was left with about 81 mp after puppy installed on it. I then told puppy to save settings to the stick as well.

This worked for a few hours but after saving a doc, and 5 or 6, 1/2mb pics, it sais i'm out of disk space.....in total i couldn't have saved more than 10 mb in files.

Could it be the firefox browser history or cookies using up all my space?

Only have 3 little files left on the drive now......2 pics and a resume.....I can't delete anymore...there is nothing left to delete! Any ideas :?:

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