USB flash drive life. (Puppy iso in USB)

Booting, installing, newbie
Post Reply
Message
Author
ytszazu
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun 14 May 2017, 07:51

USB flash drive life. (Puppy iso in USB)

#1 Post by ytszazu »

Hello there,

I have burned a usb flash drive once (Installed lubuntu 16.04 in it) because I put a swap space in it.

Would like to ask some questions regarding the concern of my usb flash drive life (now running puppy) when running based on a pupsave file on the usb itself.

1) Correct me if i am wrong in the next statement:
- When it started the first time, everything is loaded to memory, so I am assuming that it only reads from the usb life flash card. Any changes are also stored in RAM as well. And finally when shut down, then only it writes to a pupsave file in the USB.
- Now when I have a pupsave file, I don't see the "everthing is loaded to ram" anymore, so does that mean the flash drive is acting as a hard disk now? And it keeps reading and writing?

2) Absolute newbie question next, no offence meant:
In a install to USB lubuntu version, there is the option of "noatime and nodiratime - will stop timestamp writes when you read files and folders". Same thing applies to puppy?

Have 3 systems with puppies:
1) All using tahrpup 6.0.5
2) Running off ISO and pupsave in USB. It is one USB switching between this three systems
3) Systems
- Asus k42n 3 GB RAM notebook computer. (Current testing one)
- pentium D with 1 GB RAM
- pentium m with 256 MB RAM

Thanks,

Regards,

ytszazu

User avatar
bigpup
Posts: 13886
Joined: Sun 11 Oct 2009, 18:15
Location: S.C. USA

#2 Post by bigpup »

Puppy self adjusts for running from a USB flash drive install.
It tries to limit the number of writes.
Any changes are also stored in RAM as well. And finally when shut down, then only it writes to a pupsave file in the USB.
Yes it will hold writing until you shutdown.

However, there is a setting for saving every so often.
By default it is set for every 30 minutes.
This can be turned off (set to 0) or adjusted.

Menu->System->Puppy Event Manager->Save Session

After you make a save, some things do not need to load into memory. They get read from the save as they are needed.
Attachments
event.jpg
(32.48 KiB) Downloaded 511 times
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)

User avatar
bigpup
Posts: 13886
Joined: Sun 11 Oct 2009, 18:15
Location: S.C. USA

#3 Post by bigpup »

PUPMODE 13

If you install Puppy to a USB Flash drive, perhaps by using the Puppy Universal Installer program, or manually, you will have a bootable drive with the files vmlinuz (the Linux kernel), initrd.gz (the initial ramdisk), pup_xxx.sfs (squashfs filesystem with all the Puppy files) and syslinux.cfg (Syslinux config file). The situation is just like booting from a live-CD -- on first boot Puppy will be in PUPMODE 5, as no persistent storage has yet been created. On first shutdown, you will create a persistent storage -- a pup_save file or directory.

On the second boot, Puppy will discover the persistent storage, but in this case will realize that it is on a media for which writes need to be severely constrained. Therefore, Puppy will come up in PUPMODE 13.

Now, if event manager shows you running in something other than pupmode 13.
Need to know how you did the USB install?
There is a specific info command that goes into the file that is booting Puppy.
The Puppy Universal Installer knows what to enter.
Other USB flash drive installers may not.

If the desktop has a save icon, you should be in pupmode 13.
Last edited by bigpup on Tue 30 May 2017, 20:56, edited 1 time in total.
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)

User avatar
bigpup
Posts: 13886
Joined: Sun 11 Oct 2009, 18:15
Location: S.C. USA

#4 Post by bigpup »

- pentium m with 256 MB RAM
This one is going to need a swap.
Swap will get used in it.

The other computers should be good with no swap.

All Puppies, now need 512MB RAM or more, to work best.
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)

User avatar
mikeslr
Posts: 3890
Joined: Mon 16 Jun 2008, 21:20
Location: 500 seconds from Sol

#5 Post by mikeslr »

Hi ytszazu,

bigpup wrote, "There is a specific info command that goes into the file that is booting Puppy."

That command is "pmedia=usbflash*". Grub4dos and (I think) Puppy's Universal Installer, having sensed that the storage media is a flashdrive, will automatically write it as a boot instruction, creating a "kernel" line like the following:

kernel /tahr32/vmlinuz pmedia=usbflash psubdir=tahr32

If the bootloader on your USB-key does not contain that argument, you can edit it so it does. An example, taken from Puppy's Wikka:

Booting from a USB installation
The parameters are set in the 'syslinux.cfg' file, example:
Example: default vmlinuz initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=usbflash

The above edit could be made with a text editor. But don't ask me about other bootloaders, especially not Ubuntu's use of Grub2. The simplest procedure is to run Grub4dos and allow it to be the bootloader on your USB-Key. Grub4dos will create a menu listing for Windows, and almost all Linux Distros. Manjaro is an exception, Ubuntu is not.

For a layman's view of how Frugal Puppies function, see http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 192#862192

mikesLr

* The equivalent command, if Puppy is run from a hard-drive, is pmedia=ataflash. Grub4dos doesn't automatically write it, requiring the default "pmedia=atahd" to be manually edited otherwise Puppies will operate under Pupmode 12, periodically writing to Storage. Pupmode 12 does not provide an option, via Save Session, not to. But see http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 326#662326 for details, especially if you are running Puppies published more than two years ago.

ytszazu
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun 14 May 2017, 07:51

#6 Post by ytszazu »

Thanks for all the advice.
- Learned to use pFind file finder today because the find files option is greyed off in PCManFM.

Started off from Universal USB installer, Windows 7 (on a different, 4th computer )

Pupmode = 13.

Pupsave interval time set to 60 mins.

My syslinux.cfg file:

"
default puppy
display boot.msg
prompt 1
timeout 50

F1 boot.msg
F2 help.msg
F3 help2.msg

label puppy
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=cd
"

System thinks it is a CD?

Any advantage to change from CD to usbflash?

User avatar
Burn_IT
Posts: 3650
Joined: Sat 12 Aug 2006, 19:25
Location: Tamworth UK

#7 Post by Burn_IT »

Yes.

The way it treats the USB drive will also (not in this case) be different whether it emulates a floppy drive or a hard drive.
For this reason it is always a good idea to use the PMEDIA parameter to force the behaviour you want.
"Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush" - T Pratchett

User avatar
bigpup
Posts: 13886
Joined: Sun 11 Oct 2009, 18:15
Location: S.C. USA

#8 Post by bigpup »

Pupsave interval time set to 60 mins.
In Puppy Event Manager
If you set it to "0" so it does not auto save.
Select "ask to save at shutdown"

If you add anything to Puppy or change settings.
Simply click on the desktop save icon to get the changes into the save.

If you make no changes or do anything you want to save.

When you shutdown select "no save".

This way it only writes to the save when really needed.

Most of the time you need no save update at shutdown.

Settings in the web browser, for remembering web sites or history, can really add to data stored in the save.
So, adjust as you wish.
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)

hamoudoudou

pupsave backup

#9 Post by hamoudoudou »

nothing to add to upper information
When you pupsave has reach a size that is enough big in your opinion, start a new one of course, and transfer from the old one personal files.
You can compress old save file, and even load again at boot, when needed
pupsave-backup compress active pupsave.
Attachments
backup.jpg
compression
(63.43 KiB) Downloaded 200 times

hamoudoudou

running pupsave.

#10 Post by hamoudoudou »

i added this info because if i knew how to compress and old pupsave, i was ignoring that puppy linux was able to backup running pupsave.
Attachments
compress.jpg
two formats...
(25.55 KiB) Downloaded 194 times

Post Reply