Individual settings - disability access - SOLVED

[Scoticus]

Will

You really have me totally confused now. As far as I can recall I used the installer and only shifted over the 4 named files to the ext2 partition. The additional items that I downloaded were EZpup, Opera and Realplayer. I followed your instructions to the letter by renaming the pup.sfs to old and replacing it with your combined pup & oo sfs.

One thing that I noted was that on your screenshot you had a swap file which I do not have and that your ext2 displayed as /initrd/mnt/dev_save as against my initrd/pup_rw.

I think I shall attempt to use 2.16.1 + EZpup on a disk and see if I can achieve what I wish before I tackle this weird and wonderfull setup.

Ian

PS I attempted to do a screenshot but could not cut the item for posting as it was greyed out. Where may I get more info as their help is a bit thin

[WhoDo]

I strongly suspect that you have a nice mixup of a frugal and a full install on the same partition there.

Looks like a frugal install with the settings saved to the partition instead of a file. If that's the case then multiple pup_save setups aren't possible on this type of install.

Hope that helps.

[Scoticus]

WhoDo

You appear to confirm that it is not me going mad and that I have a frugal install. All be it not exactly the way I had hoped. Not wishing to change things as this totally suits Brenda I would wish to find a solution to meet my needs.

What would be the best way to access and save work currently on the HD. I would like to have my own settings as the extra large size to too much for my likes. If I choose to use a CD install will I be able to access the HD and having altered info there save to the HD. I much prefer to keep my work on the HD rather than skiddle about with CDs.

It I can get hold of thingsthe way I wish later I may then attempt to install another frugal install where we can both have our settings but until I can walk I will not try to run.

Your assistance is most appreciated

Ian

[WhoDo]

What would be the best way to access and save work currently on the HD. I would like to have my own settings as the extra large size to too much for my likes. If I choose to use a CD install will I be able to access the HD and having altered info there save to the HD. I much prefer to keep my work on the HD rather than skiddle about with CDs.

You can boot from the LiveCD using the pfix=ram option and then work away on stuff on the hard drive, saving your work there. It just limits your configuration options unless you create a multi-session CD and save your own configuration there.

As to backing up from the partition, you could use Pbackup and perhaps restore to your own setup ... maybe. I haven't used Pbackup so I don't know much about its capabilities.

Bottom line: Create a multisession LiveCD and save your own settings there. Then use it to boot into your personal settings but still be able to access the hard drive for data.

Hope that helps.

[Scoticus]

Many thanks WhoDo

I like the idea of the multisession disk and will try and see if I can get my OOo on to it and then set up my preferred choices.

I also want to see from the disk how we now have giant red Xs showing up every time a window is opened so that if she ever resets things (without knowing) I might get things back for her.

At the moment my Lawn Bowls have been taking up too much time to even look at working with the multisession. Might get round to things Thur/Fri.

Will advise on how things work out.

Once again many thanks

Ian

[Scoticus]

WhoDo

I have been attempting to load Open Office onto my multisession disk without any luck and as a consequence if I attempt to open a .odt I have to drag it to Abiword. It would appear that I would then have to save the document there rather than back in OOo.

I have been comparing my CD with the frugal install and for the life of me can't see how Brenda got the result that she did. Looking at the foot of the screen an open window is displayed with a giant red X. When I looked at the global font size we both have the same.

Another thing that I experienced was that when using Puppy pfix=ram and saving on exit that when I attempted to boot the frugal install that I could not access the HD. I had to go back into Windows and remove the pup_save file before it would access the frugal install.

This is causing me some concern as I would wish to keep working with my usual programmes and as I automatically save things the conflicts are a pain in the neck.

As a first for me I will attempt to show a couple of photos which show what Brenda has done in the hope that you might be able to steer me in thr right direction to duplicate what was done. I would wish to see if I can replicate her settings to a CD and then take things forward by totally reinstalling my frugal install.

I hope that what I have detailed is sufficient to let you guide me forward.

Once again my sincere thanks for all your assistance

Ian

[WhoDo]

I have been attempting to load Open Office onto my multisession disk without any luck and as a consequence if I attempt to open a .odt I have to drag it to Abiword. It would appear that I would then have to save the document there rather than back in OOo.

How have you been "attempting to load Open Office", Ian? By installing dotpets? By booting the OOo_2xx.sfs file? When I know that I may be able to offer some advice.

I have been comparing my CD with the frugal install and for the life of me can't see how Brenda got the result that she did. Looking at the foot of the screen an open window is displayed with a giant red X. When I looked at the global font size we both have the same.

Ok, the "giant red X" isn't a font it's an icon. It is the default application icon when your application doesn't have one defined. You can see it repeated, only smaller, in the title bar of the window she has open (Opera browser).

You can either resize the icon (if you can find it), or increase the screen resolution which will automatically decrease the apparent size of all of the icons, including those in the taskbar.

Another thing that I experienced was that when using Puppy pfix=ram and saving on exit that when I attempted to boot the frugal install that I could not access the HD. I had to go back into Windows and remove the pup_save file before it would access the frugal install.

This is because Puppy is trying to use the wrong pup_save.2fs file for the HD installation. When you save that one back to Windows you have two pup_save.2fs files on the hard disk. It's confused. Your pup_save.2fs for the LiveCD should be saved back to the LiveCD, which is one of the options on shutting down.

Hope that helps.

[Scoticus]

Many thanks WhoDo

I have been attempting to use the OO.sfs without success. I currently have this on the frugal install and it works a treat and I had hoped that by matching that everything would be in sync.

You now have me well confused as the giant settings came out of the blue somewhere and if I look at the set global font size what is displayed on the frugal is identical to that on the CD. Any thoughts on what has happened ?

Earlier on in the thread you intimated that I seem to have saved my frugal information to the partition. I have looked everywhere for a save file and for the life of me can't find one so I imagine your thought is correct. In that case what do I do to either establish one or do I just have to live with things.

Ian

[WhoDo]

I have been attempting to use the OO.sfs without success. I currently have this on the frugal install and it works a treat and I had hoped that by matching that everything would be in sync.

There have been problems using sfs files with the LiveCD. I have no solution for that as I've never tried it myself. It may be simpler to install from the dotpet version and save the result to your pup_save.2fs file for the LiveCD.

You now have me well confused as the giant settings came out of the blue somewhere and if I look at the set global font size what is displayed on the frugal is identical to that on the CD. Any thoughts on what has happened ?

For this to have happened "out of the blue", my guess is you are running in Xvesa video mode and either you or Brenda has inadvertantly run the Xvesa video wizard from the setup menu. If that's the case, you can simply run it again and choose a higher screen resolution ... say 1024 x 768.

Earlier on in the thread you intimated that I seem to have saved my frugal information to the partition. I have looked everywhere for a save file and for the life of me can't find one so I imagine your thought is correct. In that case what do I do to either establish one or do I just have to live with things.

Ok this goes back to what we discussed earlier; that your frugal installation was saved to the partition rather than a file. If that's the case, then you won't find a pup_save.2fs file but your settings may still interfere.

We seem to be going around in circles and what we should be doing is tackling one problem at a time. I suggest we tackle the original screen resolution issue first, as it's the easiest to resolve. You can find out which Xserver you have running by choosing Setup>Xserver chooser wizard from the menu. On the left hand side of the resulting dialog box it will tell you what Xserver you currently have running in the frugal hard disk install. Find that out and report back for the next step.

[Scoticus]

Well done WhoDo

You got the screen resolution in one. How she did it no one knows but it is set to the lowest possible setting. In the interests of peace I have left it and am now using a multisession disc for me.

Following on from your remarks about the .sfs files I have downloaded a package and find that although it is a bit old it will let me work with what is on my hard drive.

I think I will call it a day on this thread as at least you have established what has happened and things are working for Brenda.

I would like to properly establish later where I went wrong on saving the frugal install but will once I have everything properly backed up look at this afresh.

Once again my sincere thanks for all your patience and assistance

Ian

[HairyWill]

Ok this goes back to what we discussed earlier; that your frugal installation was saved to the partition rather than a file. If that's the case, then you won't find a pup_save.2fs file but your settings may still interfere.

I tried this type of installation once but it gave me loads of grief trying to boot any other partition on the machine, I didn't like it. I can see why this install option exists, for those wanting to install more software than can fit in the maximum sized pup_save, but this scenario can't happen very often. As long as you are properly separating your data from your OS you are unlikely to have a space problem. Even with a pup_save and one partition you can always create a separate root folder for your data.

IMHO newbies should be discouraged from using the whole partition frugal install.

[Scoticus]

Will

I hope your time away was beneficial and that you are now full of the joys of life.

From what WhoDo has indicated it should be able to do a frugal install OK and then have individual settings for both Brenda and I. Currently I am copying all Brenda's photos to DVD with the intent of doing a complete reinstall.

I am searching for a post "How big should the swap partition be? " that I saw earlier as it looked like the maidens prayer.

I can see me seeking further advise about the best was to totally reformat my HD before long.

Thanks once again for your assistance

Ian