Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Auda

I have a dell PIII 500mhz 256meg ram laptop. Running puppy 0.98 from the cd it runs cool and the fan only ever comes on reading a pdf file or watching something with Gxine I have also done a type 1 HDD install. Running that the fan runs most of the time and the thing gets hot . I wonder why.
Typing this from the CD its using 24w and editing it from the HDD its using 27w

nduanetesh · Ultra Super-stud Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 168

I was going to wait and let someone who might have some more concrete info post a reply...but since it appears to be quiet around these parts, here's some conjecture:

I theorize that when you boot from the CD, pup loads everything it has into RAM and after a certain amount of time your 'puter realizes that the hard drive is not being accessed, and so it spools the drive down (stops spinning the platters inside the drive, that is--basically shutting the drive down) until it is needed again (at shutdown, to write the pup001 file back to HD). Because spinning your hard drive requires electricity and creates heat, when you run from the CD and the HD is not spinning, you see less power being drawn and feel less heat.

On the other hand (and this is the part where I'm totally talking out of my ass), when you run from the HD, puppy will occaissionally access the drive for some reason or another, thus keeping the drive spinning, creating more heat and using more power. (I don't know if a hard drive install actually does access the HD at all when it's running. It's very possible that I just made that up, and that puppy runs ENTIRELY in ram no matter from where it booted. Thus the hard drive will not be acessed, it will spool down, and I will be exposed for the fiction writing imposter that I may or may not be.)

Just some thoughts..

ND

Guest · Guest

Your right, you are a fiction writing imposter ! the hard drive spins all the time, I wish it would turn off, silent computing ! The drive light doesnt flash much / if at all so thats not it.
Auda

danleff · Joined: 08 May 2005 Posts: 294 Location: Albany, NY

Don't be too quick to judge. I found on my mini-itx system, that the hard drive got very hot running Puppy from a fat32 partition, using a "poor man's install." In other words, all my files on a fat32 partition (usr_cram.fs and PHOME...).

Apparently, all that swaping of data from the hard drive.

Once I did a type 2 install, allowing Puppy to use an ext2 partition, the drive ran normally and much cooler.

My issue was not having a cdrom available to run the cd version to do the install. I had to put all the files on a fat32, boot Puppy, then do a proper install.

Same thing with installing Mandrake.

Once I got off the fat32 partition (after doing the installations from the hard drive), I was back to normal.

Auda · Posted: Sun 22 May 2005, 01:39 Post subject:

There was susposed to be a Smile

in there. I'm using the same pup001 file whether I boot from the cd or the hard drive so I dont see how it would make a difference.
Auda

EarlSmith · Posted: Tue 24 May 2005, 01:19 Post subject:

nduanetesh - your post gave me a good laugh. I love people who don't mind taking a chance and TOOTA. Some of the most profound ideas come from TOOTA people. I am going to join you in a small way... Would you even need a cd or hard drive if you boot to a flash Puppy drive? If you are using a laptop this could make you batteries last much, much longer.

Lobster · Posted: Tue 24 May 2005, 02:44 Post subject: 8) Be kewl - Be Puppy Friendly

Pizzasgood · Posted: Tue 24 May 2005, 08:19 Post subject:

You don't need permission, but you can't edit a post you write as guest.

Flash · Posted: Tue 24 May 2005, 10:29 Post subject: Re: 8) Be kewl - Be Puppy Friendly

Auda · Posted: Tue 24 May 2005, 15:25 Post subject:

That was my problem I was logged in and didnt realise that I had timed out and was now a guest and so couldnt edit what I had typed. Running from a CF card would be nice, one day I'll get one that fits in the HDrive bay.

nduanetesh · Ultra Super-stud Joined: 05 May 2005 Posts: 168

Whoah, I didn't realize there was a minor scandal brewing over here. I would have checked in sooner, but I've had a very very busy week.

No worries, Auda. I figured out pretty quickly that "guest" was you and didn't take any offense to your post. After all, you were just picking up on my own joke! I am a fiction writing imposter (MAYBE)!

Earlsmith...yes, if you boot from a USB key (and have sufficient RAM) you don't have to have a hard drive or a CDrom drive. There's a discussion here where a few of us have been talking about building a miniITX computer which would work exactly that way. (and by the way, I love you too)

ND

"Fiction Writing Imposter" should totally be my next tag line.