Questions re the Puppy distributed by CoolCNC

[jank]

Hi, Folks:

I'm using the Puppy-Linux distributed with EMC2 (Enhanced Machine Controller) by CoolCNC, and have a few questions:

1. I can add a VFAT partition (hda1) to the fstab file so I can simply mount it using the terminal window instead of starting up MUT. How do I add a USB flash memory which is formatted as FAT? I believe the flash memory is formatted as FAT16. Should I reformat it as FAT32? (Everything I'd use this Flash memory with can read FAT32)

2. I'd like to add a line to some configuration file to allow me to mount the DOS partition of the hard drive (/dev/hda1) as Puppy boots up. Where are the configuration files that will allow me to do that located?

3. Are there any "better" text editors available than "beaver" which is included in the package? Can you recommend some?

4. How do you put an icon on the desktop?

I'm enjoying using EMC2, so I'll be taking the time to learn enough linux to become dangerous. Thanks much in advance for your help.

-- Jerry J.

[Pizzasgood]

1. Usb flash works like a harddrive, but instead of /dev/hda1, it would be /dev/sda1. If it's fat16, you could probably use either vfat or msdos as the "filesystem type" in fstab (or the mount command). Vfat is nicer because it allows long filenames, but I don't know if it works with fat16.

You don't actually need to edit fstab if you mount them by hand. mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 -t vfat should be all you need to mount /dev/hda1 to /mnt/hda1 as a vfat partition. You can use the "-o loop" option to mount filesytem images (like the pup001 or pup_save.3fs files).

2. /etc/rc.d/rc.local. That file is run on each bootup, so just add the commands you need to it. What I usually do if I have multiple commands for the same thing is write a separate script then have rc.local call it. That way it doesn't get as messy and it's more modular. I can comment out a line and disable all the additional mounts, or the wireless network, or whatever else I have in there.

3. Beaver, eh? Must be an older Puppy (relatively, of course. It's been less than a year since beaver was dropped). Leafpad may or may not be included in your version. It's small and fast, but has no fancy highlighting stuff. A good code-editor like Beaver which is now used in Puppy is Geany. There are dotpups for it floating around the forum and at Mu's site (dotpups.de). If you want a very nice (and slower) editor, look up Bluefish. It's especially designed for website code, such as html and php, but works with plenty of others.

4. Click and drag. You can then right-click it to remove or edit it. NOTE: In Puppy the desktop icons are not actual things like in Windows, but just lines in a text-file. They are just links. You cannot save something to the desktop, though you can save it elsewhere and link it to the desktop.