Can't save multisession back to CD

[Flash]

While waiting for a definitive solution for the problems with Multi-Session Live CD/DVDs, is there another way in which one can save their settings to their local hard drive, perhaps to pup001?

Right now, my PC's Windows95B setup has croaked, and at present my only way to get online is via Linux LiveCDs (I'm alternating between Puppy and MEPISLite). I know that MEPISLite has a feature where you can save the settings to a USB key (except that I don't have one and I'm not set up for USB anyway), but don't know how to save my settings from Puppy. It gets kinda old configuring everything from scratch every time. I'm using Puppy 1.0.7 Mozilla right now, BTW.

Is there a way to save them that I don't know about? I'd appreciate the help.

Thanks,
Weeble

The standard Puppy live CD should create a pup001 file on your FAT32 hard drive where you can keep your stuff. If your drive has cratered but you have USB port in your computer I think there is a way to put a pup file on a USB flash memory but I've never tried it.

[Perkins]

All you have to do is tell it to use sda1 for the location of the pup001 file. If your HD uses NTFS it will automatically ask you if that's what you want to do, else choose the select HD startup option.

[Word Warrior]

Firstly, let me say that it appears that the problem that I had has been corrected in Puppy 1.0.7.

To make sure your problem is the same as mine open a rxvt terminal (also called a shell or console) by clicking the "console" icon on the desktop. Type

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dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/hdc

and press enter.
Those exact characters should work, assuming that you have only one physical hard drive and that the cd is in the CD-ROM drive with the lowest letter (closest to A:\) in Windows. If either of those is is not the case, /dev/hdd should work. Here is the resulting output when I enter that command:

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INQUIRY:                [COMPAQ  ][CD-ROM LTN403   ][DQ19]
     unable to MODE SENSE#2A: Input/output error 

The shutdown script checks that output for the phrases "non-DVD" or "not a DVD unit". If neither of those phrases are present, it assumes that the drive is a DVD writer. Obviously, those phrases aren't in the above output.

If the output is different, please post it.

If I remember correctly, this is what lines 129 to 155 (aproximately) of /ect/rc.d/rc.reboot-cd looked like in Puppy 1.0.7:

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 dialog --yesno "The current session needs to be saved back to $MEDIATYPE.
Please insert the Puppy live-$MEDIATYPE into the burner drive.
Puppy thinks that the burner drive is:
 $BRNRSPEC

Insert $MEDIATYPE now, then select <Yes> (just press ENTER key), or if you
do not want to save this session, select <No> (TAB then ENTER)..." 0 0
 SAVECHOICE=$?

 MEDIASTATUS=""
 DVDRWMEDIAINFO="`dvd+rw-mediainfo $CDR 2>&1`"
 if [ ! "`echo -n "$DVDRWMEDIAINFO" | grep --extended-regexp "non\\-DVD|not a DVD unit|Input/output error"`" = "" ];then
  MAXSIZEM=647
  MEDIATYPE="CD"
 else
  MAXSIZEM=4000  #4300 problem with 4G barrier.
  MEDIATYPE="DVD"
  MEDIASTATUS="`echo -n "$DVDRWMEDIAINFO" | grep "Disc status:" | tr -s ' ' | cut -f 4 -d ' '`"
  MAXSIZEB=`echo -n "$DVDRWMEDIAINFO" | grep "READ CAPACITY:" | cut -f 2 -d '='`
  MAXSIZEK=`expr $MAXSIZEB \/ 1024`
  if [ ! "$MEDIASTATUS" = "complete" ];then #complete=overwrite mode, or totally full.

I use Beaver (the "edit" icon on the desktop) for editing. Note that there should be a difference only between the

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if [ ! "`echo -n "$DVDRWMEDIAINFO" | grep --extended-regexp "non\\-DVD|not a DVD unit|Input/output error"`" = "" ];then

line in your /ect/rc.d/rc.reboot-cd and what is written above. Although the fix should work, I haven't gotten around to testing it myself.

[Word Warrior]

I have now tried using Puppy 1.0.7. It has even more problems during the shutdown and burn operations than 1.0.6! And now the "gotta have a DVD" problem is back, despite the afore mentioned fix.

[blip]

I am a total newbie to Puppy Linux but I have used a few other LiveCD distros and this one caught my attention since it has the ability to write saved data back to your CD/DVD. I think that is really neat but honestly pretty much a requirement for any LiveCD that is used more than sparingly especially if you wish to install programs with little hassle.

Anyway, I am also having problems saving new sessions with 1.0.8, but only on one of the two computers I have tested so far. The one that works has a plain CD-RW drive but the one that doesn't has a DVD reader/CD-RW combo. It is on the DVD reader/CD-RW combo that Puppy demands a writeable DVD and refuses to write to either a blank CD-RW or the bootable, multisession, unfinalized CD-RW. If I may take a guess, I suspect that it may be requesting a writable DVD simply because it "sees" some kind of DVD usage capability (only reading, though, in this case). I downloaded "puppy-multisession-1.0.8r1-mozilla.iso" and ran the md5sum program and checksum verification and burning went without a hitch.

I plan to use this in my university library where they have setup Windows XP. I find myself always having to get around this restriction or that and some programs aren't properly configured like OpenOffice 2.0, so I decided I would try Puppy with the XP theme in IceWM to be less conspicuous. Additionally I may give copies to friends that are spiced up with OpenOffice for use with borrowed school laptops with even worse restrictions. The school's primary policy is that you cannot install anything on their computers so this little canine fits the bill.

Edit: Another thing that would be nice would be getting my USB cable modem (Toshiba PCX1100U) working in Pup. Both Damn Small Linux and an unofficial Fedora core 4 livecd work prefectly with it out of the box. I have played with the network utils to no avail (they only seem to detect my onboard ethernet which is hooked up to another computer via crossover). Currently I am having to download packages in Windows to a temporary location and then reboot into Puppy to install.

[Flash]

...I am also having problems saving new sessions with 1.0.8, but only on one of the two computers I have tested so far. The one that works has a plain CD-RW drive but the one that doesn't has a DVD reader/CD-RW combo. It is on the DVD reader/CD-RW combo that Puppy demands a writeable DVD and refuses to write to either a blank CD-RW or the bootable, multisession, unfinalized CD-RW. If I may take a guess, I suspect that it may be requesting a writable DVD simply because it "sees" some kind of DVD usage capability (only reading, though, in this case). I downloaded "puppy-multisession-1.0.8r1-mozilla.iso" and ran the md5sum program and checksum verification and burning went without a hitch.

I think you are right. The drive returns a code that tells the OS what its capabilities are. Perhaps Puppy does not interpret the code correctly, but my guess is that the code specification is ambiguous enough to allow each manufacturer to interpret it incompatibly. I'm running Puppy 1.0.8 R1 from a multisession CD-RW in a Memorex DVD burner. It's the first version of Puppy that's worked as a multisession CD for me. Prior to this I've only been able to make multisession DVDs.

I plan to use this in my university library where they have setup Windows XP...

I'll be amazed if the public computers at your university are configured to boot any way but over the (secure) network. If they are, the computer administrator is either a genius or an idiot.

[blip]

I know now that my theory is at the least not totally correct since testing on my sister's computer last night. She has a 24x CD-RW drive with no DVD capabilities but Puppy did insist on the insertion of a writeable DVD.

My school's computers (both desktops and laptops) gladly boot from LiveCDs. (Actually I tried one at random today and it didn't boot.) The library's computers dual boot into Fedora but I rather dislike that distro, not to mention it is not configured for internet access. What makes their computers so slow in Windows XP (they boot from their hard drives) though is that many of the programs are loaded off of the network, this especially irritating with borrowed laptops. A friend had borrowed one and used it in his dorm, I saw for myself that Internet Explorer took at least a minute to load and there was no hard drive activity but the wireless activity LED was going nuts. Damn Small Linux flies on the laptops (Thinkpads) but it's not really useful without wireless access.

The configuration of the computers in the one library I frequent is odd. IP addresses are statically assigned so if a computer on the network uses DHCP to request one, they assume it is not a library computer. When you pull up an internet browser, a page comes up requesting a student/prof/grad ID and password to be able to have internet access through them. Funny thing is that booting a LiveCD on one of those computers has the page saying it is doesn't appear to be a library computer which is of course wrong.

[blip]

I figured I'd update y'all on the current situation:

All the library's computers now seem to be configured NOT to boot from CD anymore but I did make a Smart BootManager boot floppy yesterday and tested it. Seems they left floppy booting up so I can still use LiveCDs at least for the moment. But I do get asked if I want to save changes to my DVD even though I am using a CD-RW. The situation overall is pleasing since saving to CD isn't totally necessary since all students have a 50MB online storage facility. Really the last thing I need to do is to go home, since that is where the only computer that I know of that can successfully can write is located, and set the background image to the one that is configured in their XP installation.

[BarryK]

blip,
I need to know exactly what you get when you type this in a terminal window:

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# dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/hdc

(where /dev/hdc is the drive)

That is, with your multisession-CD or DVD inserted in the drive.
Let me know exactly what type of CD/DVD and drive it is.

Note, the latest shutdown script has this code:

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  MEDIATYPE="CD"
  DVDRWMEDIAINFO="`dvd+rw-mediainfo $CDR 2>&1`"
  [ "`echo -n "$DVDRWMEDIAINFO" | grep --extended-regexp "non\\-DVD|not a DVD unit|Input/Output error|Input/output error|Invalid argument"`" = "" ] && MEDIATYPE="DVD"

...AFTER the user is asked to insert the multisession media in the drive.

...so, you should be able to see from your own experiment executing dvd-rw-mediainfo, whether you will end up with the wrong value for MEDIATYPE variable.

CAN ANYONE WHO HAS A MISIDENTIFIED CD/DVD PLEASE DO THIS AND REPORT BACK PLEASE!

Note, the grep expression above means that if the dvd_rw-mediainfo returns without any of these strings:
"non-DVD" or "not a DVD unit" or "Input/Output error" or "Input/output error" or "Invalid argument" then it will be MEDIATYPE="DVD"
Otherwise, it defaults to "CD".

I could of course have applied the reverse logic, needing a positive identification that a DVD media is inserted, which may be intrinsically superior.

[Ted Dog]

I have been able to reproduce the failure and found that the resulting disks are readable in DSL and WindowsXP but not in puppy, I have been able to pinpoint it to the mount command being faulty. Both DSL and Puppy use busybox mount so the problem must be related to mount (or other linux-utils compiled with mount like swap or the memory allocation objects )
Hope that can help.
Td

[blip]

I ran that command on my sister's computer and a library computer (actually posting in Puppy from it now :-D). I probably won't be able to access my own two computers for about 5 or 6 days which is when I visit home.

Sister's:

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INQUIRY:                [LITE-ON ][LTR-24102B      ][5S07]
:-( unable to MODE SENSE#2A: Input/output error

Library's:

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INQUIRY:                [HL-DT-ST][RW/DVD GCC4481B][1.03]
:-( unable to MODE SENSE#2A: Input/output error

8 days ago I bought a 25-pack of Sony CD-RWs with listed write speeds of 1x, 2x, and 4x and capacity of 650MB specifically for use with Puppy. (I was able to overburn one to *almost* 700MB though, excuding lead-out, if that matters.) They seem reliable so far. Also, I only plan on using Puppy with CD-RWs,.

[raffy]

Barry:

applied the reverse logic, needing a positive identification that a DVD media is inserted, which may be intrinsically superior

Yes, this should be helpful.

However, what kind of error (or perhaps warning) can be generated if the CPU speed is not up for the task? (Unless you've already done so, I will try different CPU speeds.) Moreover, is it correct to assume that CD-RWs function only in Pentium II (and up) processors?

Edit: Oh, I guess the above paragraph is unnecessary as the user must have already used the CD-RW drive successfully in Windows

[BruceB]

Hi Barry,

I get exactly the behavior described earlier in this topic. I have a CD-RW drive and cannot get multi-session Puppy to write back to the CD because Puppy thinks it's a DVD drive. Result from dvd+rw-mediainfo:

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# dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/hdc
INQUIRY:                [HL-DT-ST][RW/DVD GCC-4240N][0213]
:-( unable to MODE SENSE#2A: Input/output error

The multisession CD that I am using was created with multimedia/Burniso2cd from puppy-multisession-1.0.8r1-mozilla.iso. Looking at the rc.reboot-cd script, it does not have the longer grep that searches for "Input/output error" as well as "Input/Output error". Does this mean that your message of March 5 refers only to Puppy 2 and not Puppy 1, or is there a later Puppy 1 (not on the Download page)?

I tried using Beaver to edit rc.reboot-cd, just adding a "-i" argument to the grep. This had no effect. I added echo and dialog statements, which also had no effect. It seems to run the original version, no matter what. Does it get rc.reboot-cd from CD instead of from /etc/rc.d? How do I get it to use my version of rc.reboot-cd?

After the first dialog ("The current session needs to be saved back to DVD..."), the following messages appear on the screen:

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expr : syntax error
expr : syntax error
expr : non-numeric argument
[ : argument expected ...
expr : syntax error
Probing DVD filesystem...
[ : argument expected ...

[BarryK]

rc.sysinit and rc.reboot is not permanently editable in puppy1, they are in puppy2.

[BruceB]

So if I edit rc.sysinit and rc.reboot and then burn a new Puppy CD using PCCC, will my editted versions be there?

Is there any other way that I can get a modified rc.reboot script to run? Seems almost impossible to try to debug it. I would like to add some echo's or dialogs to localize where the expr errors are happening. Not being very adept at sh scripts, I need to be able to experiment...

Even better, would 1.0.9 solve the problem? And when will it be on the download site?

[raffy]

One way is to remaster it with AlienX's "slow" script (that is, the one that is not described as "fast"). I have modified it to retain pup001 as the saving file of Puppy and use option 1 at boot time as default (enclosed).

Make sure you have 300 MB or more of free hard disk space, preferably in a Linux partition (ext2), which shall be your target for saving the remaster (new ISO). As the ISO will be for your machine, you can keep the hardware configuration (answer Yes to the prompt).

[tal]

Same problem here Barry...

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# dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/hdc
INQUIRY:                [QSI     ][DVD/CDRW SBW-081][NM02]
:-( unable to MODE SENSE#2A: Input/output error

Raffy does that remastering solution fix this issue? Is there a post floating around that could help me with the steps? (I noticed a remastering tutorial video is coming soon.)

[raffy]

Remastering seems to be the way out of this problem (quoting Barry):

rc.sysinit and rc.reboot is not permanently editable in puppy1

So you make the necessary changes to these files (and whatever else you like to modify) then run the above script. If you start with Setup - Alienx simple remaster, make sure you use the above script update and choose the slow (not fast) remaster.

The remaster process is very simple. It's the preparation that requires some understanding of partitions, as you have to prepare a Linux Ext2 partition for saving the remaster (must have 300 MB free space or more). Remember, too not to clutter your /root directory with unnecessary files.

At the end, you will have your new puppy.iso in the remaster folder of your target partition.

EDIT: Please follow this thread (dougal's) about remastering.

[BruceB]

Thanks to Barry and Raffy for their help, so far.

Unfortunately, I'm still having difficulties. I did the following:

1. Restarted from puppy-multisession-1.0.8r1-mozilla CD, a direct image of the download site version. This will fail on Save or Shutdown because Puppy thinks I have a DVD burner when I don't.
2. Downloaded alienx-remaster, as suggested by raffy.
3. Modified /etc/rc.d/rc.reboot-cd to hopefully correct the dvd/cd ID problem -- added option "-i" to the grep.
4. Created /etc/pupxxxbackup containing "hda7:pup002".
5. Ran alienx-remaster to create a new ISO file and used Start/Multimedia/Burniso2cd to burn it to a new, blank CD.
6. Did Shutdown without any saving of session.

Reboot:

1. Rebooted from the new multisession CD. Selected option 1, save to hard drive. Worked OK, and created /dev/hda7/pup001.
2. What does this mean?? I thought that multi-session Puppy would save both to pup00x on the hard drive AND to CD/DVD. It sort of looks like Option 1 means act like a LiveCD non-multisession, even though it is a multisession CD.
   Is that what it does?
3. Modified a file or 2, and tried the Save. Still failed as before, with "There was an error writing to the DVD". Presumably this is because Save uses some script I haven't found yet.
   Where is the script that implements Save??
4. Shut down. Didn't seem to save to CD, and when I checked on next boot, I found no session directories.

Reboot:

1. Rebooted from the new multisession CD. Selected option 5, save to DVD/CD. I told it to read pup001 from hda7, and it did that correctly. Worked OK, and created /dev/hda7/pup002, as it should based on the /etc/pupxxxbackup file.
2. Save again failed, as before.
3. Shutdown saved to CD, generating many error messages (as expected, per the multisession FAQ).

Reboot attempts:

1. Attempt to reboot brought up the Linux from the hard drive (xandros). From there, I was unable to figure out how to mount the CD -- apparently because it is corrupted.
2. Disabled boot from the hard drive to force boot from CD. The "Intel Boot Agent Version 4.1.07" (I have an IBM ThinkPad T30) failed with the following messages:

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   PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
   PXE-M0f: Exiting Intel Boot Agent.
   Operating System not found.

3. I guess this means that I can't hope to use multisession Puppy with this hardware and Puppy 1.0.8r1. Anybody have any further suggestion, other than replacing the CD-R with a DVD-R (which would cost almost as much as I paid for the computer!?!)??

[raffy]

It must really be tough going with CD-R

One step that is likely to be forgotten is burning the Puppy CD with the "multi-CD" option.

Then there is the matter of hardware - I guess Ted Dog is trying to come up with a list of hardware that multisession is able to play on (this matter was discussed in the April Foundation meeting).