How to do a FULL install of Puppy, to an empty HDD (2010)

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CatDude
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#221 Post by CatDude »

Hello carldhickman

Welcome to the kennels
carldhickman wrote:Great post...solved all my problems and sorted out all the different questions i had
Glad you found it useful mate.
carldhickman wrote:...just need to get the GRUB to auto-boot to puppy now
Could you post the contents of your menu.lst file,
we may then be able to help you with that too.

CatDude
.
[img]http://www.smokey01.com/CatDude/.temp/sigs/acer-futile.gif[/img]

carldhickman
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Joined: Wed 01 Aug 2012, 21:22

#222 Post by carldhickman »

Hiya...thanks...Lucid Puppy 5.2.8 FULL install on Thinkpad T43 (now it's back from the dead thanks...) GRUB menu:

# GRUB configuration file '/boot/grub/menu.lst'.
# generated by 'grubconfig'. Sat Aug 4 14:37:53 2012
#
# The backup copy of the MBR for drive '/dev/sda' is
# here '/boot/grub/mbr.sda.24058'. You can restore it like this.
# dd if=/boot/grub/mbr.sda.24058 of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1
#
# Start GRUB global section
#timeout 0
color light-gray/blue black/light-gray
# End GRUB global section
# Linux bootable partition config begins
title Linux (on /dev/sda1)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=normal
# Linux bootable partition config ends
title Install GRUB to floppy disk (on /dev/fd0)
pause Insert a formatted floppy disk and press enter.
root (hd0,0)
setup (fd0)
pause Press enter to continue.
title Install GRUB to Linux partition (on /dev/sda1)
root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0,0)
pause Press enter to continue.
title - For help press 'c', then type: 'help'
root (hd0)
title - For usage examples, type: 'cat /boot/grub/usage.txt'
root (hd0)

Sits there at boot up waiting for me to select...like it to boot automatically.

Puppy on this laptop, Ubuntu on other laptop...is this the end for Windows...50:50 split in OS...

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CatDude
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Location: UK

#223 Post by CatDude »

Hello carldhickman

Change your "global section"
from this:

Code: Select all

# Start GRUB global section
#timeout 0
color light-gray/blue black/light-gray
# End GRUB global section 
to this:

Code: Select all

# Start GRUB global section
timeout 0
default 0
color light-gray/blue black/light-gray
# End GRUB global section 
That should do it. :)

CatDude
.
[img]http://www.smokey01.com/CatDude/.temp/sigs/acer-futile.gif[/img]

carldhickman
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#224 Post by carldhickman »

Awesome CatDude...worked a treat...now my resurrected old laptop lives again. You guys ever sleep?

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CatDude
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#225 Post by CatDude »

Hi
carldhickman wrote:Awesome CatDude...worked a treat..
8) That's what we like to hear.
carldhickman wrote:You guys ever sleep?
Not a lot :lol:

CatDude
.
[img]http://www.smokey01.com/CatDude/.temp/sigs/acer-futile.gif[/img]

rcracerguy
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Joined: Tue 15 Sep 2015, 02:18

#226 Post by rcracerguy »

I'm stuck. I've gone through the whole first page. Now when I boot and load the hard drive it loads and stops at a # and that's it. I mean I boot to the grub screen then hit enter on the linux drive and it load through some things and stop with a #

rokytnji
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Joined: Tue 20 Jan 2009, 15:54

#227 Post by rokytnji »

rcracerguy wrote:I'm stuck. I've gone through the whole first page. Now when I boot and load the hard drive it loads and stops at a # and that's it. I mean I boot to the grub screen then hit enter on the linux drive and it load through some things and stop with a #
First wondering if iso was md5sum checked.

Next would be has the hard drive ever ran anything and is not broken.
Then try Slitaz or some other puppy to make sure hard drive is ok.

http://puppylinux.org/wikka/BootParametersPuppy

starhawk
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#228 Post by starhawk »

...having NOT read the entire thread...

What's the text right above the # ?

If it says something about "Exited from X" -- that means that Puppy can't understand, at least initially, what graphics hardware you've got. A remarkably common problem.

If what I describe is the case -- at the # type xorgwizard and press [Enter]. That will take you through the video setup wizard, at the end of which you should have a working desktop.

A protip -- on newer Pups (such as Tahr and Slacko) -- skip the "Test X" by pressing [Esc] when you see that screen, and at the new # prompt, type xwin [Enter] -- either it works or it doesn't, there's not much need for a test. Besides, in my experience that 'test' just makes everything go screwballs anyways.

rcracerguy
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#229 Post by rcracerguy »

the xorgwizard worked but do I have to go through it every time? typing xwin worked also. still same question. do I have to do this every time?

starhawk
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#230 Post by starhawk »

Do you have a savefile/savefolder, or is this an initial install?

If you have a savefile/folder and it's working -- no.

If you don't -- set one up, and then you won't have to do that again unless it breaks. My understanding is that savefiles break more than savefolders. (Don't quote me on that -- I haven't used the savefolder option much, yet. It's quite new.)

rcracerguy
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#231 Post by rcracerguy »

I'm guessing I don't have one. How do I set that up?

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mikeslr
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Something has gone seriously wrong

#232 Post by mikeslr »

Hi All,

I suspect something has gone seriously wrong when the discussion turns to creating a SaveFile on a thread whose title is: "How to do a FULL install of Puppy, to an empty HDD"

I don't do Full Installs. One of the reasons I don't do Full Installs is that any change --including a change to settings such as those required by xorgwizard to provide the desired screen resolution-- are written to the operating system immediately. And any mistake made is also written to the operating system immediately.

Full Installs don't use SaveFiles.

So when rcracerguy asks "the xorgwizard worked but do I have to go through it every time? typing xwin worked also. still same question. do I have to do this every time?" The answer should be "No."

If on rebooting a Full Install Xorgs's setting have not been preserved its time to start from scratch. And seriously consider (a) Is the undisclosed Pup rcracerguy chose really the best Pup for his computer; and (b) Is a Full Install really the best way to run the best Pup for his computer; after, of course, following rokytnji's suggestion to check the md5sum and the integrity of the hard-drive.

The alternative would be an analog of the "Rule of the Road" we apply in New Jersey: If you don't know where you're going, speed. :lol:

@ rcracerguy: It would help us to help you if we knew which Pup you're working with; and

your computer's specs -- the make and model might suffice if it's stock, but what is really important are amount of RAM, Graphics Card, and Processor. If we knew which Pup you were using, we could tell you which apps to run to obtain that info.

mikesLr

rcracerguy
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#233 Post by rcracerguy »

sorry didn't mean to get anyone upset. Just tring to learn. I have lupu3hd 5.2.8.7. I'm installing it on a dell inspiron 1000. It is a 2.2 celeron,256 ram going to try to upgrade another gig. I don't know how to check the md5 sum? everything is working fine I just messed up somewhere on setting up a bootable harddrive. I thought full was my best bet for just that one os.

rcracerguy
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#234 Post by rcracerguy »

ok it all works now. I just don't understand the size of the personal storage space? and how do you add more to it if you need to?

starhawk
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#235 Post by starhawk »

Sounds like you did a frugal by mistake.

It's actually better that way anyways -- you get to use addons called "SFS" files, with a minimum of fuss. Say for example you want LibreOffice on there... once you have a savefile or savefolder, you have a folder in /mnt/ labeled 'home' -- full path /mnt/home -- drop a LibreOffice SFS in there, and run SFS Load On-The-Fly (I *think* that's in Lupu3HD, not sure -- if not, it's Boot Manager you want) and load the SFS, you're good to go. (If it's Boot Manager, then you have to reboot to use the SFS, but that's absolutely it.)

With a 'full' install, you have to unpack the SFS file (it's sort of like a ZIP archive, a little bit -- I'm vastly oversimplifying here but I don't know how much you know) -- and manually install the files, permanently. Or use *.pet packages.

Savefile (and in newer Pups, savefolder) is how you get persistence -- the ability to have your settings and your stuff hang around across multiple boots. Savefiles in Puppy have a habit of breaking a little, every so often (you'll know it has happened when Puppy starts to misbehave a bit more than usual) so it's probably best to plan for that and have backups of your installed packages (*.pet files and, should you need them, Ubuntu Lucid compatible *.deb files) and whatever else you have done or downloaded or created. (You don't need to back up your SFSs in /mnt/home. That's outside the savefile.) There are ways to back up your entire savefile, should you want to, but I can't help you with that. What I have done for a year or two now, is to have two partitions. One has my install of Puppy that I use daily, and the other has, archived, everything I've done to it or otherwise want to keep outside my savefile. I can boot sans-savefile (we call that "RAM Mode") and reinstall, and be back up and going in somewhere around half an hour if nothing is particularly stubborn.

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don570
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#236 Post by don570 »

ok it all works now. I just don't understand the size of the personal storage space?
Definitely a frugal install.

A full install is explained HERE

I would recommend burning the ISO file to a CD or DVD blank .
Then run the install app that is provided in ISO.

Menu > System > Puppy Universal Installer

_____________________________________________

rcracerguy
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#237 Post by rcracerguy »

I didn't make a mistake. I ended up doing the frugal like everyone said.

starhawk
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#238 Post by starhawk »

Good -- it's the better choice :)

Check my last post, above, for a fair bit of detail, including about the savefile bit.

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mikeslr
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What do you do with only 256 Mbs of RAM?

#239 Post by mikeslr »

Rcracerguy

First off, no one is angry with you. Frustrated perhaps by the situation of trying to solve a problem without knowing the facts needed to solve it; but not angry. Perhaps it's best if we all take a deep breath, count to 10 and, if you can, open the following video. Don't watch it. Just listen while thinking of yourself as the advisor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4hHf87mXEc

This will answer your last two questions, but now that we know you have a dell inspiron 1000 with only 256 of RAM, we know we are dealing with conditions where even I, a fervent Frugal Install advocate, consider a Full Install appropriate. So you may want to skip down to the section under the heading Decisions.

Regarding the question you asked, “ I just don't understand the size of the personal storage space? and how do you add more to it if you need to?

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bambuko
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#240 Post by bambuko »

rcracerguy wrote:I'm stuck. I've gone through the whole first page. Now when I boot and load the hard drive it loads and stops at a # and that's it. I mean I boot to the grub screen then hit enter on the linux drive and it load through some things and stop with a #
Everything after this post has nothing to do with original excellent "how to do a full install".
Not only a serious case of thread necromancy, but also thread hijacking and total OT... :lol:

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