Puppy Linux Discussion Forum Forum Index Puppy Linux Discussion Forum
Puppy HOME page : puppylinux.com
"THE" alternative forum : puppylinux.info
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

The time now is Sat 25 May 2013, 17:34
All times are UTC - 4

 Forum index » House Training » Beginners Help ( Start Here)
pdev vs pdev1 boot parameters - wot's the diffrnce? [SOLVED]
Moderators: Flash, Ian, JohnMurga
Post new topic   Reply to topic View previous topic :: View next topic
Page 1 of 1 [8 Posts]  
Author Message
luc0zade

Joined: 24 Mar 2012
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Wed 28 Mar 2012, 13:21    Post subject:  pdev vs pdev1 boot parameters - wot's the diffrnce? [SOLVED]
Subject description: UPDATE: pdev is not valid, help instructions & wiki now corrected		  
As you may have seen on my previous thread, http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=77027, I've just spent a long time working out that I can only boot using sfs and f2s pup save files stored on an SD card if I use the boot parameter code pdev instead of pdev1.

What's the difference between these two parameters?

Pressing F3 to see the 'Advanced help' on the Racy Puppy 5.2.90 live CD, I found only pdev1 listed as a boot option.

However when I used pdev1, the boot process crashed every time. Only pdev is working for me; here is the boot command I use:-

Code:
puppy pdev=mmcblk0

The only upside to this episode so far is that out of frustration I started looking for alternatives to Puppy, so now I'm going to try http://porteus.org.
Last edited by luc0zade on Sat 31 Mar 2012, 09:26; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message 
pemasu


Joined: 08 Jul 2009
Posts: 5170
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Wed 28 Mar 2012, 13:33    Post subject:  
Boot time parameters by Barry Kauler:
Quote:
The following are mostly in GRUB/Syslinux setup for installed Puppy. Puppy finds
files automatically at bootup but these can help the init script. Examples
pdev1=sdc1 The boot partition.
psubdir=puppies/wary501 Path in which Puppy is installed.
psavemark=2 Partition no. (in boot drive) to save session to.
pmedia=usbflash Type of media booting from. Choose one of these:
usbflash usbhd usbcd ataflash atahd atacd atazip scsihd scsicd cd
pupsfs=sdc1:/puppies/wary501/puppy.sfs Override auto search.
zdrv=sdc1:/puppies/wary501/zdrv.sfs Override auto search.


pdev seems to be undefined. So you have found new boot time parameter which is undocumented.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message 
luc0zade

Joined: 24 Mar 2012
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Wed 28 Mar 2012, 19:30    Post subject:  
Yes, that's the documentation I was using as I tried to work out what was going wrong with the boot process on my SD card.

The credit for finding the pdev parameter should go to darkcity, who suggested trying this instead of pdev1.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message 
rcrsn51


Joined: 05 Sep 2006
Posts: 7758
Location: Stratford, Ontario
PostPosted: Thu 29 Mar 2012, 05:17    Post subject:  
What happens if you use "pdev=luc0zade"?

The problem with SD cards is that they take a while to initialize. By sending Puppy an invalid argument, it may spend more time searching and eventually find the card.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message 
darkcity


Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 2215
Location: near here
PostPosted: Fri 30 Mar 2012, 05:45    Post subject:  
I got the pdev= from an old wiki page

http://puppylinux.org/wikka/GRUBforDOS

although in the example it looks like the parameter is probably unnecessary in most cases.

I guess pmedia would usually suffice?
_________________
Wiki Audacity 2.0.1
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website 
rcrsn51


Joined: 05 Sep 2006
Posts: 7758
Location: Stratford, Ontario
PostPosted: Fri 30 Mar 2012, 06:02    Post subject:  
When I look inside the init, I can find no reference to the argument "pdev", only "pdev1".

I believe that the reference to "pdev" in the wiki is a typo.

Read here.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message 
darkcity


Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 2215
Location: near here
PostPosted: Fri 30 Mar 2012, 07:38    Post subject:  
Thanks for the update, I have corrected the following wiki pages-

http://puppylinux.org/wikka/BootParametersPuppy
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/GRUBforDOS
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Grub2

I guess the pdev1 wasn't really necessary, when these examples were tested.

Arrow
_________________
Wiki Audacity 2.0.1
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website 
luc0zade

Joined: 24 Mar 2012
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Sat 31 Mar 2012, 10:57    Post subject:  
rcrsn51 wrote:
What happens if you use "pdev=luc0zade"?

The problem with SD cards is that they take a while to initialize. By sending Puppy an invalid argument, it may spend more time searching and eventually find the card.


Interesting suggestion - and it worked!

In fact various other parameter values are working too. One of the more logical options is pmedia=atacd.

However I do need to type in something - the save file on the MMC SD card is only found if a boot command is supplied.

The other crucial requirement is that I have a USB flash drive plugged in during boot, even though both the SFS file and the f2s session save file are located on the SD card, not the USB flash.

This confirms what Barry has suggested in his blog post to which you linked above.

As you say, it seems the problems are caused by the slow initialising of the MMC SD card.

The good news is that I've just tested the latest release of Racy, 5.2.91 (5.3RC2) and the problem is FIXED - the live CD boot finds the f2s session save file on the MMC SD card WITHOUT needing to have a USB flash plugged in at the same time. Nice work, Barry!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message 
Display posts from previous:   Sort by:   
Page 1 of 1 [8 Posts]  
Post new topic   Reply to topic View previous topic :: View next topic
 Forum index » House Training » Beginners Help ( Start Here)
Jump to:  


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group

[ Time: 0.0512s ][ Queries: 12 (0.0047s) ][ GZIP on ]