psav=....conquering/understanding puppy boot command(s)

Using applications, configuring, problems
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Sailor Enceladus
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#21 Post by Sailor Enceladus »

puppyluvr wrote:1.
Make your save to a directory.
Boot in ram.
Mksquashfs the directory.
Put the .sfs in your home directory with the Puppy .sfs etc..
Edit initrd to load it at boot.
Yup, that's pretty much how you do the adrv thing in the example I posted too except you don't need to edit the initrd for puppy to load the adrv, you just rename the sfs to adrv_tahr_6.0.5.sfs or whatever to match with the zdrv naming and it loads automagically when you reboot. And sure is faster to squash than everything / option 2, at least on my old single-core cpu. :D

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bigpup
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#22 Post by bigpup »

Which boot parameter will load savefile/folder totally in RAM?
There is none.

Doing the adrv, as suggested above, is probably the easiest thing to do.
Last edited by bigpup on Wed 08 Feb 2017, 06:42, edited 1 time in total.

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drunkjedi
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#23 Post by drunkjedi »

Thanks mate.

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greengeek
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#24 Post by greengeek »

Just remember that you should not remove the usb stick (even if all of it's code has been loaded to ram) if that usb stick also has a swap partition on it.

Swap partitions will be loaded during boot and puppy doesn't like it when the swap space suddenly disappears.

backi
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#25 Post by backi »

Hi you all !
As an additional idea :

Here is a sophisticated script from nic007 using an adrive (adrv.sfs) instead of Save-Folder or Save-File .It can be done with a fresh Install without Save File/Folder (Pupmode=5)

Here is the discussion :

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=109745

belham2
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#26 Post by belham2 »

greengeek wrote:Just remember that you should not remove the usb stick (even if all of it's code has been loaded to ram) if that usb stick also has a swap partition on it.

Swap partitions will be loaded during boot and puppy doesn't like it when the swap space suddenly disappears.
Hi Greengeek,

Swap?? Hmmm, what??? I thought the whole point of using puppies (in fact, all related pup OSes too) was that a user never had to worry about either setting up a "swap" and/or using one? I nderstand why in bigger Linux OSes what swap does, and dutifully set it up in all the big Linux OSes I run. But who, and I guess more importantly WHY, has anyone in pup & pup-related land ever set up and/or used 'swap" with a pup? Even with 512mb of RAM, puppies won't use "swap" when running a pup OS designed for 512mb of less. Equally, you cannot run pups on 512mb ram or less that are designed for bigger amounts (i.e. the 64-bit pups, fatdog, tahr, etc, etc). I have never in the years since I started using pup back in ~2006-2007 ever set up a swap partition? Apologies if this all is ignorant ramblings and I should have been setting up "swap" partitions for all pups this whole time.

belham2
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#27 Post by belham2 »

backi wrote:Hi you all !
As an additional idea :

Here is a sophisticated script from nic007 using an adrive (adrv.sfs) instead of Save-Folder or Save-File .It can be done with a fresh Install without Save File/Folder (Pupmode=5)

Here is the discussion :

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=109745

Heehee, darn nic007 made a nice script, right?? The first thing I thought of was this thread and setting up an "adrv.sfs" for those like you & me that are getting a bit angry with the savefile thing :D

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nic007
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#28 Post by nic007 »

backi wrote:Hi you all !
As an additional idea :

Here is a sophisticated script from nic007 using an adrive (adrv.sfs) instead of Save-Folder or Save-File .It can be done with a fresh Install without Save File/Folder (Pupmode=5)

Here is the discussion :

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=109745
Well, not so sophisticated but useful nevertheless. Just to add - if you have a savefile or savefolder, the script will include that data in the created sfs file (less browser cache and trash items, etc. unless you want to keep it). After running the script, you can rename your existing savefile/folder so that it doesn't load at next boot. If you are happy with the result you can delete the savefile/folder and never use one again. The script is an EXAMPLE and you need to adapt it according to your setup and needs.

backi
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#29 Post by backi »

Hi belham !
Swap?? Hmmm, what??? I thought the whole point of using puppies (in fact, all related pup OSes too) was that a user never had to worry about either setting up a "swap" and/or using one? I nderstand why in bigger Linux OSes what swap does, and dutifully set it up in all the big Linux OSes I run. But who, and I guess more importantly WHY, has anyone in pup & pup-related land ever set up and/or used 'swap" with a pup? Even with 512mb of RAM, puppies won't use "swap" when running a pup OS designed for 512mb of less. Equally, you cannot run pups on 512mb ram or less that are designed for bigger amounts (i.e. the 64-bit pups, fatdog, tahr, etc, etc). I have never in the years since I started using pup back in ~2006-2007 ever set up a swap partition? Apologies if this all is ignorant ramblings and I should have been setting up "swap" partitions for all pups this whole time.
In this case i have to contradict your statement ........i have a whole lot of swapping going on on my old Thoshiba 3000 .......1 core ....1 gig Ram ...

I am using Zram which mostly helps avoiding Swaps to a Swap Partition.....but sometimes Ram gets out of Limits and additional Swap Partition will be used .Not very often.

backi
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#30 Post by backi »

Hi nic007 !
Well, not so sophisticated but useful nevertheless. Just to add - if you have a savefile or savefolder, the script will include that data in the created sfs file (less browser cache and trash items, etc. unless you want to keep it). After running the script, you can rename your existing savefile/folder so that it doesn't load at next boot. If you are happy with the result you can delete the savefile/folder and never use one again. The script is an EXAMPLE and you need to adapt it according to your setup and needs.
How to accomplish including Savefile or Savefolder ..
As far as i understood your Script does not work/create adrv.sfs when Save/File/Folder is loaded at bootup .?

Maybe better to put this Question to your Thread :

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=109745

Sailor Enceladus
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#31 Post by Sailor Enceladus »

backi wrote:Hi belham !
Swap?? Hmmm, what??? I thought the whole point of using puppies (in fact, all related pup OSes too) was that a user never had to worry about either setting up a "swap" and/or using one? I nderstand why in bigger Linux OSes what swap does, and dutifully set it up in all the big Linux OSes I run. But who, and I guess more importantly WHY, has anyone in pup & pup-related land ever set up and/or used 'swap" with a pup? Even with 512mb of RAM, puppies won't use "swap" when running a pup OS designed for 512mb of less. Equally, you cannot run pups on 512mb ram or less that are designed for bigger amounts (i.e. the 64-bit pups, fatdog, tahr, etc, etc). I have never in the years since I started using pup back in ~2006-2007 ever set up a swap partition? Apologies if this all is ignorant ramblings and I should have been setting up "swap" partitions for all pups this whole time.
In this case i have to contradict your statement ........i have a whole lot of swapping going on on my old Thoshiba 3000 .......1 core ....1 gig Ram ...

I am using Zram which mostly helps avoiding Swaps to a Swap Partition.....but sometimes Ram gets out of Limits and additional Swap Partition will be used .Not very often.
Yup. I have 1GB Ram and sometimes Firefox freezes and I have to kill it then restart it if I don't have my 2GB swap partition.

backi
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#32 Post by backi »

Hi Sailor Encaladus !

Did you ever tried Zram ? ......useful if you have only 1 Gig or less Ram .
If not Google for it ....or if you are on Tahrpup .....just install with PPM.....
zram-config ...save.
After reboot it is activ .Almost no configuration .
Don`t know if there is a thread here on the Forum .....if not it would maybe useful.....for Machines with less Ram.

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6502coder
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#33 Post by 6502coder »

belham2 wrote:Even with 512mb of RAM, puppies won't use "swap" when running a pup OS designed for 512mb of less.
Well, all my Puppy installations to hard disk are frugal, and I always set up a swap partition. My 412 Retro machine has 96 MB RAM and 384 MB of swap. My Wary 5141 machine has 192 MB RAM and 1 GB of swap. On both of these machines, I do see the swap partition being used from time to time. Even my Precise machine with 1 GB RAM uses its swap partition now and then.

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greengeek
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#34 Post by greengeek »

belham2 wrote:Swap?? Hmmm, what??? I thought the whole point of using puppies (in fact, all related pup OSes too) was that a user never had to worry about either setting up a "swap" and/or using one?
I guess it depends on how big your pup is, and how small your ram is - but remembering at all times that we don't just have the pup sitting idle in memory - we DO stuff with it.

eg: browser cache has to increase, calculating space has to be allocated for spreadsheets, word processing etc etc.

Then there's ripping of music and videos, and especially processing of videos - these can easily outstrip our available free ram.

What if your pup was 200MB, your savefile 512MB and your ram was 512MB. Already you have a problem. And what if you then load a decent sized Libreoffice sfs, maybe also Librecad, and then opened Chrome and did some browsing?

Uh-oh, tits up.

The worst situation is where the puppy keeps on running (ie doesn't crash) runs low on free ram and you keep on manipulating data. What gets written back to your savefile?

If you combine two issues - 1) Low ram due to no swap space and 2) long write times to usb stick - you get corruptions that are hard to explain.

I reckon that running without swap space should be limited to sessions where all data will be dumped at end of session, and no write attempts are made to usb or hard disk.

Remastering can use heaps of ram too - so i think swap space is compulsory for that type of operation also.

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bigpup
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#35 Post by bigpup »

Why are some people so afraid to setup swap on their computers? :roll:
It is there to assist ram IF needed. :shock:
All it does is take up some space on whatever storage device you have swap on.

Most of the newer Puppies have swap usage setup to start when ram gets down to 40% free.

Why worry when that happens, just let it happen.

Do you really know what each program is doing with ram at all times?
No! :shock:
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

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Burn_IT
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#36 Post by Burn_IT »

It is a bit like when you go into a store you pick up a basket to temporarily hold things. You may well put things back on the shelves before going to the checkout, paying, and tranferring to your own carrier.
"Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush" - T Pratchett

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greengeek
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#37 Post by greengeek »

Of course you can always set up a separate usb stick which has been formatted with only a swap partition - no data or boot partitions at all. That way if you run out of free ram your system can still run by using the swap space on that separate usb stick - and you can still unplug the other usb stick that contains your boot files and data.

But i think the original question remains - how to force savefile/savefolder to load into ram initially (and completely) during boot?

Pelo

Bookmarked for translation fr.

#38 Post by Pelo »

Bookmarked for translation fr.
Because of much interest.

Pelo

So you need a savefile.

#39 Post by Pelo »

savefile is the first to be installed..
Savefile=your files storage (menu.lst).
So you need a savefile. Else how to know what to load at boot ? some german users told us to remasterize your ISO before shutdown.. Easy, clever idea.. :(

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greengeek
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#40 Post by greengeek »

puppyluvr wrote::D Hello,
Frugal install?
Two easy ways.
1.
Make your save to a directory.
Boot in ram.
Mksquashfs the directory.
Put the .sfs in your home directory with the Puppy .sfs etc..
Edit initrd to load it at boot.
2.
Make a save to a directory
Boot in ram
Merge the directory, with the original Puppy .sfs.
Swap the new .sfs with the original
Reboot.
I have a 2gb Puppy 5.1.1 that runs in ram..
;-)
Hi Puppyluvr - i am keen to understand the method you use to achieve what you said above re: "Edit initrd to load it at boot."

How is this done? Is it easy to modify initrd so that it accepts a new sfs as the top layer?

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