MultiPup CD/DVD/USB Creator

[Lookinglass360]

Woof-Woof
Thanks puppyluvr;
As it turns out the disk I made this morning was bad!
Just made a new one and it works a treat.
I was also able to do a frugal install, always done a manual as I learned from a wink tutorial by the honorable CatDude. Witch BTW is missing in action.
Had no other problems, once I figured out the easiest way to get the needed files to the directory window was to grab one of the icons and just drag on in there, Then highlight the text

Thanks so much! Great work!
I'll be keeping a eye on this

Bob .

[CatDude]

Hi

....I was also able to do a frugal install, always done a manual as I learned from a wink tutorial by the honorable CatDude. Witch BTW is missing in action.

If you are referring to the links in this thread: How to Manually create a Frugal Install of Puppy
i just checked them and they are working OK.
They were broken up until several weeks ago, when i fixed them to point at http://puppylinuxstuff.meownplanet.net instead of http://www.puppylinux.asia
which as you are probably aware, is (unfortunately) no longer with us.

CatDude
.

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
Rebranded ver 10 as -1.0....
Have done a few GUI improvements and commented the scripts..

Other than minor changes, the 1.x Multipup series will be the last ones I can post here...( Appraoching the >1mb bloatware limit.. )
The next series will be designated with a -2.x number, and will include changes for 1 and 2 series Puppies...
And will most certainly cross the 1mb limit...
When I release them, it will be thru a link to my meownplanet directory...
Till then...
Jay...

[Max Headroom]

Thanx Again J** 4 All U've Done So Far!
But Bring On Mk 2
Do it!
Bring it On!
:)K

[CatDude]

Hello Jay

Other than minor changes, the 1.x Multipup series will be the last ones I can post here...( Appraoching the >1mb bloatware limit.. )
......

I just had a quick butchers in the Additional Software (PETs, n' stuff) section of the forum,
and found several packages posted that are bigger than 1MB.

Here are several examples:
vlc_nogui-0.8.6i-fixed.pet = 1.44 MB (bottom of first post)
goggles-mm-0.10.19.pet = 1.35 MB
me-091011.pet = 1.34 MB

So i reckon you should be OK for a while yet mate,
unless you have got some serious additions planned.

CatDude
.

[Yogi]

Puppyluvr,

Great piece of work you've done here! I had learned how to make a
multicd of Puppies (and DSL, Slitaz, Austrumi) about six months ago.
Learned alot in the process. It can be very tedious ensuring every
menu.lst is correct which is why your MultiPup is so great. However,
one thing I discovered making my own multicd was
it wouldn't work for a Puplet that had a zdrv.sfs as part of the
iso. And I never did figure out how to call that file within the boot
menu.lst to get it to load. So those Puplets never did work. I noticed the
same thing with your MultiPup. Will your next series MultiPup address
this? There are some great series 1 and 2 Puppies that I would like
to include on a DVD of MultiPup. Keep up the good work.

Thanks,
Yogi

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
@ Yogi,
Thank you, it has been fun building this..
Fun and frustrating...
And I`m in the process of adding 2 and eventually 1 series..
And its not the zdrv file, well not exactly, thats the problem....
The older series were only capable of going 1 level deep...
Meaning the files cant be in a subdirectory.. So no psubdir=
Meaning just 1 per cd...
Well, I have a workaround in the works, but it will take a "minute"..
I can already put 1 series 2 and 1 series 1 per cd...
Be back....
@ Edit...
OK, so far I have this:
1 series one, unlimited series 2, providing they dont share a numerical sequence, ie pup-200 / pup-202 / pup215..etc...
Just tying it all together, and still under 1mb!!...
Jay

[Lookinglass360]

Hello Everyone!

The first part of this is kind of off topic, and really has nothing to do with Multipup
witch works well when the hardware and disks co operate, but if anyone knows where it should go
I will gladly edit the post. At this point I am still not sure if it is just hardware or
what?
. O-k there is good news and there is bad news and then there is just news.
The good news is there dose not seem to be any thing wrong with my DVD-RW it will read + write to a dvd-r
The bad news is with the DVD-rom that came with it plugged in the dvd-rw will not work
as described below. Did try changing from cable select to slave/master and saw no change.

I did look in pburn + file + preferences + burn devices and selected the burner.

Being that this is a freshly repartitioned HD with only a remaster of 511 on it
and the fact that the DVD-RW wont read a cd-r or cd-rw/dvd-rw and in fact a blank of any of these lock’s the drive tray in until a reboot. ( even when the dvd-rom is unplugged)
Has anyone else seen any thing like this? If so please point me there.
Thanks in advance for any help!
I have had to work around it by swapping the drives in order to get one of the partitions populated with iso’s.
since any iso’s I have are on cd-r’s. Then dd them on to the HD , then plug the DVD-RW
back in to try out Multipup.
To further complicate things just got 25 memorex dvd-r disks that won’t work in either
of the dvd burners I have. However a 5pk of same from the local $ joint did.

Now just the news

puppyluvr;

I have been trying to keep track of witch iso’s will allow the CD/DVD drives
to be dismounted, so far only 5xx and waryxxx. but my testing is by no means
complete lol.
Has anyone been able to get a series 4.2-4.3 or dpup to turn loose of the CD/DVD tray?
Or is it just me ?

These two pup iso’s did not make it out of 14. The good news is my DVD-RW drive did
I have included some of the boot sequence in hope’s it might give you a clue.
If you need more just ask.

.Using MultiPup10, I’ll look at 1.0 after I finish sorting my hardware issues
Cloudy Skies-1.01-Puppy-301.iso
When creating the multipup.iso ‘failed to mount’ however the title did make it to the burned DVD
FatGamesPup dose load on the pc and work fine, did two levels of Duke nukem before I could
drag myself away from it.
But from the MultiPup.iso
FatGamesPup-216.iso
Starting from the last good line in the boot sequence;
#Mounting /dev/hdc on (/initrd)mntdev_ro1... done
#Mnt pup_216.fs off /dev/hdc... monting on (/initrd)pup_ro2... failed
#Dumping last lines of /tmt/bootinit.log..
#expr: syntax error
#[: -gt: argument expected
#/mnt/dev_ro1/pup_216.sfs: no such file or directory
#mount: ,mounting /dev/loop0 on /pup_ro2 failed

Hope there's some thing here that helps!

Thanks for all your efforts!

CatDude; Thanks for the new link, there is much more info than just frugal install in it.
It is a must have for a newbie wanting to know how to repartition a HD or set a boot flag or even understand what gparted is.
Got me around more than one of the curves
Ironic that finding the answer to what led me to your tutorial in the first place should be found here in this thread, ‘off topic as it may be ' a few more well placed words added to that installer window could make it a lot easier 'maybe to easy’

Unfortunate indeed Caneri’s contribution to this community was Great and will surely be missed for some time to come!

Thank You All!
Bob

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
Version 2 released here first...
[

Instructions for use:
Only for ext2/ext3 filesystems...
D/L and unpack anywhere on your hard drive,
where you have twice the size of your intended ISO free..
IE..for a 700mb ISO you will need 1.4bg free space..

After you have unpacked MultiPup, click on it
to open the MultiPup GUI...
If you try to run MultiPup from a non ext2/ext3 filesystem, (ie ntfs/fat)
a warning message will alert you and MultiPup will stop..

When you click the MultiPup icon, a GUI will open, with 7 buttons..

The first 4 buttons each open a directory for you to symlink your ISO`s / Classic ISO`s / Pets / SFS files into..
Symlink your ISOs, Pets, and SFS files and then click "OK"
When you click OK, the ISO`s will mount and copy into their directories..
When they are finished, click OK to proceed to the next step..

The 5th button opens the Bootsplash Chooser..
Choose a splash image and click "OK"
There is no default splash image, so you must choose one...

The 6th button lets you check your current ISO size..
Be sure that for a CD, your ISO`s and files do not total > 700mb
For DVD`s it is < 4gb I believe..
.
@ only 1 series 1 per disk...
@ As many of the series 2 that do not share a version number, ie 2.02, 2.16 etc.. as you want...

After you have symlinked your Puppies, Pets and SFS files
the 7th and last button will Create your ISO image,
and create a custom grub menu for each Puppy...

On the second tab are 4 buttons: Readme, Reset, Install and View..
Readme opens this file..
Reset returns MultiPup to its original state..

Install creates a pet customized for wherever you put MultiPup..
It makes a menu entry under Utility, desktop file, a script in /usr/local/bin, and registers with the Package Manager..
If you move MultiPup, you must uninstall the pet and re-run the Install program from the new location,
and then install the newly created pet..
As long as the MultiPup directory isnt moved, the same pet will "install" MultiPup on multiple Puppy installs. "Reset" does not delete the Pet..

The View button opens the MultiPup directory.

Wait for the "Your ISO is Created" message..
A rox window will open showing your ISO.
A dialog box will open for you to name your ISO..
Enter a name for your ISO in the box and click OK
After you name your ISO, an index file will be created in dvdsource along with your ISO, and on the CD/DVD as well..
After moving your ISO out of /dvdsource, click "OK"

Click "reset" in the GUI to delete the content
of /dvdsource and /files from the MultiPup directory,
and the symlinks from isos, pets, and sfs..
This will delete any ISO`s you have not removed..
You are all reset to do another...

@ This readme is included in the GUI @
Tested with:
1.08
1.09ce
2.00
2.02
2.15ce
2.17
@ Only 1 series 1 and as many 2 series that dont share a version # (ie 2.02, 2.14, 2.17 etc.) as you want..
Various 3, 4, and 5 series Puppies..
( @ Remember that Ttuuxxx`s 2.14x series has been updated, and goes in the normal directory..)
Testing and feedback needed...

@Edit: Uploaded MultiPup-2.2 with fix for menus, updated readme , buttons and dialogs... ...

@ Will test more, then move to first page...
Plesae test and report feedback...

[Lookinglass360]

Hi All!
Not much time, the Grandson shortly
Just gave MultiPup2alpha a spin.
A progress bar would be nice and a warning before it starts mounting iso's.
The first time I was trying to load the 2 series when it suddenly started So I
reset and started over.
ok only FatGamesPup+ puppy-215ce wary-500 made it to the MultiPup boot
menu at start up.
All 18 are listed in the index created with the iso. only 2 were 2xx
Estimate for this iso was 3.4gb but when the burn started pburn est. was 3.0
All 3 iso's booted
Tried to boot from boot options by typing the name of one of the others in
but only went to the one that was highlighted. Your are off to a good start!
Edit; also this this disk would not boot on the pc it was created on
but did on one that has a dvd rom + cd-rw only I have had that happen a few Times in the past. My weird equipment again I guess?

I can look at it again tonight

Good luck with it !
Bob

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
OK, a little more info now that I`m off work...
First, sorry for the surprise...Yes, it mounts and copys the isos when you click OK, instead of at the end, when you click "Create your ISO image",,
This was necessary so that the directory structure would be in place earlier..
1 and 2 series Pups need to have their core files on the top level, so when they are mounted and copied, the .sfs or usr_cram.fs are moved to the top level.. out of the directory..
##This means you cannot use the Universal Installer to install the 1 and 2 series Pups, like you can the 3 /4 /5 series, but must do it manually, as the files are not all in the same place...##
Also, you must choose a bootsplash every time, as "reset" now clears that as well...
More accurate dialogs, and a properly updated readme are in the works..

@Bob, I`ll look into the menu issue, thought I`d squashed all the bugs, but....
Be back...
Jay...

@Edit: Made a series 1/2/3/4/5 Puppy ISO, Grub menu was correct, as were the index`s.
On boot, only 5 or 6 showed in the menu, ( It depends on the splash I think..) but you can scroll thru the rest...
Will test further and get back...
@Edit: OK,
Found the problem...2.1 is posted in its place...
See page 6...
Jay...

[Lookinglass360]

Hi All!
Tried MultiPup-2.1
I have 3 2xx All failed to mount each time from the get.
A 3,4 and 5 each seemed to mount normally.
Got no 1' Z's Yet!

Check back later!

Have a Great Day!

Bob

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
@Bob, you`re right, I broke something,...
Pulled it down, will fix....
Thanks....
@Edit: OK, I think I got it...
I had made a minor GUI change to the Classic series GUI, and it had "unexpected results" LOL..
Amazing how far reaching a little change can be..I should have made sure, but I couldnt see how it would affect anything else...Now I do..
Sorry to the 7 D/Lers who tried it...
Reuploaded as 2.2 on page 6...
Please test...
Jay...

[Lookinglass360]

Hey
MultiPup 2.2 Makes puppies that want to play
The pets however did not make it.
Been copying them from cd or from one of the other Multipups I have already made right along with no problem.
CloudySkies-101-puppy-301.iso
216.1-fulldrivers.iso
511.iso
All booted and seemed to work fine, from cd on the same pc.
3.0ghz 512ram dvd-rw

If i have enough time I will make another?


Edit;

Made another MultiPup2.2.iso with FatGamespup+301-retro+421+1 sfs.+2 small pets
FatGamesPup+sfs+pets did not make it, did not burn disk.

Just made another with FatGamesPup-216+puppy-216.1-seamonkey-fulldrivers+puppy-301retro+2 pets+1 sfs.
Again no FatGamesPup +Pets+sfs

Also after looking in the MultiPup Control Center after the iso was created
everything was still just the way it was setup.

Check back tonight if I can, out of time.

Got back early!

Bob

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
Thanks Bob for catching that....
I need the help "bug hunting"
Easy fix...moved the copy call to another part of the script...
Works fine now...
Strange thing is it worked fine before if run from the cli, but not the gui..
So many loops and sub scripts...
Try ver 2.3

BTW, the directory structure is now set from startup, instead of created later, so the Multipup directory looks unchanged after a reset....

@Edit: Looking at it, I believe some simplification will help, and may even get it back under the 1mb mark, something that has been a big thing for me from the beginning...So before ver 3.0 I may just rewrite the whole "sha-bang"...
Well, except for the sha-bang..."#!/bin/sh"....

[Lookinglass360]

Hello again
.First test of MultiPup2.3
FatGamesPup-216+puppy-216.1-seamonkey-fulldrivers+puppy-301retro+2 pets+1 sfs.
FatGamesPup Did not make it, however on the MP2.3 iso image that was created it’s file was there but size was only 2639 k. unlike previous test where there was no file/ folder created at all.
Puppy-216.1+ puppy-301retro + pets + sfs seemed good to go.

Something I noticed last night with MP2.2 at /mnt was that of all the iso’s created on this pc FatGamesPup and puppy-215ce-final were the only one’s to created a file/folder there.
Afier resetting FatGamesPup was mounted 215ce was not.
Both where added to test Multipup2alpha
Thinking this maybe a problem I unmouted and deleted the file/folder but no change
when creating new with same all thou it did not seem to remain mounted in /mnt "if it ever was'
left 215ce.

. Second test ofMultiPup2.2
Dumped FatGamespup
puppy-215ce +216.1
Thats as far as I got puppy-215ce Failed to mount.
Also after resetting I have noticed that At /mnt this mounted file;
+mnt+home
+MultiPup
+dvdsource
+Multipup.iso
It seems to contain the elements of the first failed test MP2.3 220mb's 'Mount Point' and it remains mounted even when the partition is dismounted. So if this file remains as the iso’s have through reboot, it may not be getting deleted when I change to the newer Multipup as I uninstall pet and then delete the old files each time.
Will delete all and start over, as this may have tainted the test?

Your going to have this now and then with a newbie like me doing testing

I will look at this more when I can.

Edit; Ok deleted the iso's and any trace I could find of MultiPup at /mnt and /mnt/home, but left the one above just to see. On reboot it was still there. Not no more

Edit 2; Doing the little cleanup did the trick,but not for FatgamesPup same as before?
Used CloudySkies-301 + 215ce + 2.16.1- fulldrivers + 3 pets + 1 sfs
Burned cd-r All booted and working well
No files/folders were left at /mnt..!
Forgot to select boot splash so got generic

Have a Great Day!

Bob

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
Working on an "Alien" button next...
So far have working menu.lst configurations for:
DSL
Slax
Tinycore
Slitaz
NimbleX
Looking at rounding it out with some other <200mb distros..

Be back....

[Sylvander]

1. On my son's Dell Inspiron 6400...
First attempt at using Multipup [1.0 used], and got a CD-RW made at 1st try, and it booted just fine, BUT....

2. When I choose a Puppy to load...
No matter which of the 4 I choose [Boxpup-431,Lighthouse-502-G,Lupu-520,Wary-500,Dpup-010]
As it boots...
When it tries to find any suitable pupsave files...
It fails to find any pupsave [or SFS?] file!
I guess it's using the SFS from the MultiPup CD-RW.

3. The pupsave files are copies of those made on my own PC.
Made on a Flash Drive [where they work OK]...
Copied to my own internal HDD [where they work OK].
Then copied from my Flash drive to my son's WinXP NTFS partition on his internal HDD [they work here with ordinary Puppy CD-RW's].

5. Any ideas of the cause and how to fix?

[Lookinglass360]

Hi All!
So far I have created 8 MultiPup2.3 images, with 2 to 5 pup’s or puplets + pets + sfs
Burned 6 to cd with no issues.
The other 2, I made to see why FatGamesPup would not transfer to the disk as in my previous post, what I found is that it will but only if it is the only 216. The same was true on dvd.
Created 4 dvd’s with 18 to 22 pup’s or puplets + pet’s + sfs’s with no other issues.

Also I did a Frugal instal of 520 on an old pc from MultiPup on cd copied sfs and they were available after a reboot.

puppluvr;
I’ll be looking forward to your next ver.
It’s about time we get to abduct some of them, maybe once abducted they cam be probed
in to teaching us how to get multi multisessions on dvd

Thanks once again to you and your team and the whole puppy community for making this possible and ..FUN!
Happy Trails.....
Bob

[puppyluvr]

Hello,
@Sylvander,
Although the behavior of Puppy after it boots is outside of the scope of what MultiPup has any effect on, and is probably over my head, I have a guess...
I think it has to do with run levels...ie pupmode=?..
I think this has some effect on where Puppy looks for save files?? When I can I`ll look into saves from a MultiPup CD/DVD and get back...

@Lookinglass360,
Bob, thanks, and glad to here its working for you...
And yes, as per the instructions on page 6, you can only have 1 of any 1 series, and your 2 series Pups cant share a version #, ie 2.02, 2.16 etc...
Because the 2 series have to have the core files, the .sfs files, on the top level, each new Pup with the same .sfs version # will overwrite the proceeding one..But 1 -2.00, 1 -2.02, 1 -2.15 etc is OK.

And the "Alien" button for ver.3.0 now works with several "Alien" distros...
More to do before release tho...
Jay...