(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Help please with an install to HD?
It is on an old netbook with 1 GB RAM, tripple-booting with Windows and Antix. Puppy has a 10GB partitioin to itsself, sda7.
I have tested both Full and Frugal install, no errors.
I have tested both installing Grub4Dos from Puppy, and the Grub in Antix.

Both grub give the same error when trying to boot Puppy from HD, saying that it can't find puppy_xenialpup_7.5.sfs in /sda7.

The install was from a live USB. I tested copying the two .sfs files from the USB to /. It still gives the same error.
No other errors during boot.

Please help? Why can't it find Puppy on sda7? very grateful for any ideas!

Please, post a screenshot from the USB flash drive's content.
Please, post the content of file

- menu.lst and/or
- isolinux.cfg and/or
- grub.cfg

These files depending on the boot loader being used.

Thank you for the reply. Below the content of the live USB (which I'm currently using and is otherwise working fine), and the menu.lst from Grub4Dos. If you need the others, can you please say where they are found?

USB Flash

-r--r--r-- 1 root root 2048 nov. 27 2017 boot.catalog
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4194304 nov. 27 2017 efi.img
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3751 nov. 23 2017 fix-usb.sh
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 606 nov. 27 2017 grub.cfg
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 2048 nov. 27 2017 help
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 2280075 nov. 27 2017 initrd.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 24576 mai 25 2016 isolinux.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1555 nov. 27 2017 isolinux.cfg
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 248877056 nov. 27 2017 puppy_xenialpup_7.5.sfs
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 154128 mai 25 2016 vesamenu.c32
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 5122144 nov. 13 2017 vmlinuz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 62020 nov. 27 2017 xenial.png
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 79257600 nov. 16 2017 zdrv_xenialpup_7.5.sfs

menu.lst
# menu.lst produced by grub4dosconfig-v1.9.2
color white/blue black/cyan white/black cyan/black
#splashimage=/splash.xpm
timeout 10
default 0

# Full installed Linux

title AntiX 17.2.1 (sda6/boot)
uuid 8239c560-dada-4230-ad9c-bec43ff285c0
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-4.9.146-antix.1-486-smp root=/dev/sda6 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.img-4.9.146-antix.1-486-smp

title Xenialpup 7.5 (sda7/boot)
uuid b44784b0-1f37-467f-8f33-72fd2f53c6b0
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda7 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.gz

# Windows
# this entry searches Windows on the HDD and boot it up
title Windows\nBoot up Windows if installed
errorcheck off
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /bootmgr
chainloader /bootmgr
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /ntldr
chainloader /ntldr
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /io.sys
chainloader /io.sys
errorcheck on

# Advanced Menu
title Advanced menu
configfile /menu-advanced.lst
commandline

puzzled puppy wrote: title Xenialpup 7.5 (sda7/boot)
uuid b44784b0-1f37-467f-8f33-72fd2f53c6b0
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda7 ro
initrd /boot/initrd.gz

Try to comment the initrd line:
I never did a full install but as I know that line is not needed.

What is on sda7?
Maybe it is not a full install, but frugal: with puppy_xenialpup_7.5.sfs and other sfs still packed.
also: What filesystem is sda7?

Hallo, puzzled puppy. And to the 'kennels'.

I'm 'puzzled', too. Why is your Puppy using a /boot directory.....or did you install Pup from within Anti-X? It looks suspiciously like the way GRUB2 (the abomination in use by Anti-X) would write a 'boot stanza'....

I used to run Anti-X myself, till a few weeks ago. Mine was, however, on a separate drive. I allowed Anti-X to install GRUB2 to that drive, then I set it up so that Puppy's Grub4DOS bootloader 'chainloaded' to it.

Ah. You've made the classic beginner's mistake of going for the 'full' install, haven't you? Because that's the way all other Linux distros do it.....and having never used Puppy before, you couldn't be expected to know that the recommended way of installing Puppy is what's known as the 'frugal' install instead.

(Which doesn't mean it's a 'poor man's', cut-down version at all. Frugal merely refers to the way in which that type of install is careful with space. Everything is in compressed format, and it all 'unpacks' into RAM at boot-time.)

----------------------------------------------

But I'm afraid I, too, have never had the misfortune to commit to a 'full' install, so.....I wouldn't know how the Grub4DOS menu list entry for Puppy varies under those circumstances.

Watchdog's suggestion has merit, though. A 'full' Puppy wouldn't need a 'virtual RAM-disk', I wouldn't have thought. After all, there's nothing to 'unpack'.....

I agree with ITSMERSH. We need a screenshot of gParted, showing sda.....and a screenie of /mnt/sda7 wouldn't go amiss, neither.


Mike.

Only the boot loader config programs in Puppy are going to know how to make a good menu entry for Puppy.
Grub4dos in Puppy is the best to use for Puppy.
Especially if you do a Puppy frugal install.

How did you actually do the install?

If you used the Puppy Universal Installer.
Did a full install of Xenialpup 7.5
At the end of the install process a window pops up with a boot menu entry all made out.
You have to copy that entry as it is shown and paste it into the boot loader you are using.

For Grub4dos boot loader you would paste it into the menu.lst file.
Grub would be the Grub.cfg file.

This is kind of a bug in the Universal Installer when doing full installs.
I know Grub4dos Config should make a correct entry for a full install, but it is trying to use a more generic full install entry, so it is compatible for making menu entries for a large number of Linux OS.
That is why the Puppy Universal Installer actually tells you what the menu entry needs to be.

If you do a frugal install.
Run Grub4dos Config to install that boot loader.
It will make a good entry for a frugal install.

I will tell you also. Frugal install is best for Puppy Linux.
Some features only work in a frugal install.
Try it, you will like it.

Hello all, and thank you for the big welcome and suggestions/ideas.
Apparently I'm a walking textbook of beginners mistakes

To try to summarize a single answer to many questions:

Layout: sda1-3 is "Windows stuff", sda5 is an ntfs data partition

Background
Initially I only installed Antix on sda6, but quickly decided I didn't like it (too much that didn't work), and decided to "taste" some other distros. After testing some live USBs chose Puppy. I made sda7 and it was the only thing on sda7.
I tried frugal install + install Grub4Dos: Didn't work.
I tried reinstalling Grub2 from Antix: Didn't work
I tried Full install + reinstall Grub4Dos: Didn't work.
I gave up and searched for help in the puppy forum.

After reading your replies:
I deleted both sda6 and sda7. Made a new sda6 for puppy (10 GB), formatted it (because I could), and tried Frugal install + Grub4Dos again. IT WORKED! Not sure why, maybe the "infinite monkey" effect? or maybe the result of good advice?

New problem: UPDATE: This problem was resolved, see below.
I want to install some packages. It worked fine when using the live USB, but now it says there isn't enough space? There's 9+ GB on sda6. Attached screenshots. Currently packages are saved to /root, should I change to /mnt/sda6 ?

Update: After restating the system the problem with installing packages resolved itsself.


Now that it is working, two short, trivial, questions please?
1) How to adjust screen brightness? The brightness fcn-keys don't work (but they do for volume and home/end), and can't find brightness amongst the settings.
2) Can I make it mount sda5 during startup? am guessing somewhere in Setup/Startup ? but can't see anything that looks like automount.

Attached screenshots.

Where?

1) How to adjust screen brightness?

menu>Setup>Screen/Graphics Wizard>Monitor Gama Calibration
Adjust each color equally.
negative number lowers brightness.
Positive number makes it brighter.

If you want to constantly adjust this.
There are some add on programs that will provide a quick slider adjustment for this.
This is one:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=114229
Others are found in the Additional Software>Desktop section of this forum.

2) Can I make it mount sda5 during startup?

Click on the mount icon on the desktop.
This opens Pmount.
All the drives are listed.
In the name of each listed drive is a drop-down arrow.
Left click on that arrow.
That brings up a menu of options.
Select mount partition at boot.

bigpup wrote:

2) Can I make it mount sda5 during startup?

Click on the mount icon on the desktop.
This opens Pmount.
All the drives are listed.
In the name of each listed drive is a drop-down arrow.
Left click on that arrow.
That brings up a menu of options.
Select mount partition at boot.

Hah, that's cool.

I always noticed the down-arrows, though never clicked on them!

Made a new sda6 for puppy (10 GB), formatted it (because I could)

You do not say what format.
Before you get to far into saving data to Puppy.

A frugal Puppy install will work no matter what the format is.
However, there is always options to anything.

If the format is a Linux ext 2, 3, or 4 the Puppy save can be a folder. So it auto adjusts as needed as stuff is added to the save.
Best to use ext 3 or 4 format.

If the format is a Windows format fat 32 or ntfs.
The save is a file that is made a set size.
If it fills up.
Then it has to be resized to get more room.
Fat 32 format does have a 4GB max file size limit, so a save file would be limited to 4 GB size with fat 32 format.

bigpup wrote:Click on the mount icon on the desktop.
This opens Pmount.
All the drives are listed.
In the name of each listed drive is a drop-down arrow.
Left click on that arrow.
That brings up a menu of options.
Select mount partition at boot.

.....and don't forget to finish up by clicking the 'Refresh' button! (This just updates Puppy's knowledge of what should get mounted & when.)

bigpup wrote:A frugal Puppy install will work no matter what the format is.
However, there is always options to anything.

If the format is a Linux ext 2, 3, or 4 the Puppy save can be a folder. So it auto adjusts as needed as stuff is added to the save.
Best to use ext 3 or 4 format.

If the format is a Windows format fat 32 or ntfs.
The save is a file that is made a set size.....yet contains a complete Linux file-system inside it, so that Puppy always has what IT needs to work with irrespective of actual location.

If it fills up.
Then it has to be resized to get more room.
Fat 32 format does have a 4GB max file size limit, so a save file would be limited to 4 GB size with fat 32 format.

Note my addition in red.....an important point, and one of Pup's 'secret weapons' as to why it'll install virtually anywhere & and to anything!



Mike.