Recovery of lost applications from crashes.

[michels]

I have had 2 crashes from Puppy in the last couple of months. The first removed the applications for the GUI. This was with Puppy 4.1.2. I didn't know how to recover so I moved on to Puppy Lucid 005. Today it lost access to the internet and says it can't find the ADSL modem or connection.
I tried the wizards and loading manually but nada.... Anyway, I thought that loading from the CD (as I always do) would reinstate the files... didn't happen. The reason I chose Puppy is that it is supposed to load the OP SYS from the CD on every boot... it obviously doesn't. Am I missing something?
Linux Mint still operates fine without any issues and I've used it longer than Puppy.

[rcrsn51]

Are you using full or frugal installs?

[2lss]

The reason I chose Puppy is that it is supposed to load the OP SYS from the CD on every boot... it obviously doesn't. Am I missing something?
Linux Mint still operates fine without any issues and I've used it longer than Puppy.

All of the operating system components are packed into the squashfs file in the root directory (pup****.sfs) and are read only, so technically the OS is still ok. The problem is that the screwed up parts of your system are saved to your pupsave file which is mounted over top of the squashfs so it effects 'the system.' If you boot with the parameter pfix=ram your pupsave will be ignored and you will be restored to a fresh install.

Normally in that situation I just create a new pupsave and then mount my old one and copy all of my personal stuff over.
I also try to backup my pupsave frequently in case something gets screwed up.

Note: this is for a frugal install

[michels]

Zlss;
Its a frugal install; supposedly just saving personal preferences etc. I boot from disk.

If you boot with the parameter pfix=ram your pupsave will be ignored and you will be restored to a fresh install.

I'm not sure how. I'm not that technically oriented.

I just create a new pupsave and then mount my old one

Again, I'm not sure how to do this.

backup my pupsave

I didn't know it was possible.
Anyway, thanks for the help. I'll check out some things later today. But if Puppy can't recover from CD with "ease", I don't see any advantage over Mint or other distros. But thanks again.

[lapis]

Zlss;
Its a frugal install; supposedly just saving personal preferences etc. I boot from disk.

Yes, if you boot with "pfix=ram" then you will start with a fresh system. Although you may not need to go that far, first try "pfix=clean" on your existing pup_save file.

I'm not sure how. I'm not that technically oriented.

You managed to use the quoting system when posting on this forum. That is more difficult than typing at the boot screen the following:

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pfix=ram

Just read what it says as you boot and press the appropriate keys.

I just create a new pupsave and then mount my old one

Again, I'm not sure how to do this.

When you boot with pfix=ram it will ask you if you want to create one (just like when you started Puppy for the first time).

backup my pupsave

I didn't know it was possible.

That is what you should be doing. All you do is copy it with a different name just like you would do with any other file. Just keep the same naming convention as your existing pup_save and add something like a name or a date.
For example: pupsaveB1.2fs or pupsave20100714.2fs

Then if something gets corrupted you just choose the backup pupsave when you boot.

But if Puppy can't recover from CD with "ease".

I don't know anything that could be easier or more flexible than a Puppy frugal install.

[2lss]

I'm not sure how. I'm not that technically oriented.

Don't worry, its not to bad.

Here is the way I usually copy stuff from my old pupsave to the new one.(assuming you are currently using the new pupsave)

Open rox ('file' on the desktop) and navigate to /mnt/home. You should see your 2 pupsave files here ( they have a .2fs, .3fs, or .4fs extension). Click on your old pupsave file and rox will automatically mount it (displays a 'success' message) and launch a new rox window that is in the mounted pupsave's directory. Now navigate to the file or directory you want to copy over, lets use /root/log.txt for example. Now right click the file and choose copy. You will be presented with a window that has the destination directory in it, similar to,

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/mnt/+mnt+sda2+pup_save.2fs/root/log.txt

(/mnt/+mnt+sda2+pup_save.2fs is the directory your pupsave is mounted in)
now just delete the first part of the string (from /root back)

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/root/log.txt

and click copy. To unmount your old pupsave, just click it again and it should unmount.
You could also just drag and drop the files but I find this method easier. Do what ever works for you.

[michels]

Lapis:
I did the F2 Pupfix menu and failed on all counts. It could not find "pfix=ram", "pfix=clean" or "pfix=purge". Apparently the fix files were also corrupt. So much for an "easy" fix.
Anyway, being frustrated, I just deleted the sfs and sf2 files. That seemed to have worked. I just have to reload the files and applications and bookmarks that I wanted or had.
I can save the pupsave files now thanks to your help ( Lapis and 2lss thanks) but I'm not sure its worth it. This new knowledge about Puppy's vulnerability hurt. From the original information about Puppy, I was under the impression that all necessary operating files were loaded into ram at boot from CD, for each and every boot. I now know that the OP SYS is not uncorruptible. That puts it on equal risk with other distros of Linux. But I may just have to give it some time and not think about it for a while.

Anyway, thanks for the help guys...

[lapis]

Lapis:
I did the F2 Pupfix menu and failed on all counts. It could not find "pfix=ram", "pfix=clean" or "pfix=purge". Apparently the fix files were also corrupt. So much for an "easy" fix.

I am not sure what you were doing but it's not possible to "corrupt" those options unless you purposefully manually alter them which I very much doubt you did. They are boot options tied to the original files on the CD.

From the original information about Puppy, I was under the impression that all necessary operating files were loaded into ram at boot from CD, for each and every boot. I now know that the OP SYS is not uncorruptible.

In a frugal install that is what happens at each boot. Only files in the pupsave are changed however, that is where the ongoing individual settings like screen resolution and keyboard language type are held. If you boot with pfix=ram then you have to re-enter them as everything starts from the CD afresh.

[Béèm]

Lapis:
I did the F2 Pupfix menu and failed on all counts. It could not find "pfix=ram", "pfix=clean" or "pfix=purge". Apparently the fix files were also corrupt. So much for an "easy" fix.
Anyway, being frustrated, I just deleted the sfs and sf2 files. That seemed to have worked. I just have to reload the files and applications and bookmarks that I wanted or had.
I can save the pupsave files now thanks to your help ( Lapis and 2lss thanks) but I'm not sure its worth it. This new knowledge about Puppy's vulnerability hurt. From the original information about Puppy, I was under the impression that all necessary operating files were loaded into ram at boot from CD, for each and every boot. I now know that the OP SYS is not uncorruptible. That puts it on equal risk with other distros of Linux. But I may just have to give it some time and not think about it for a while.

Anyway, thanks for the help guys...

It seems you try to boot from CD. (pushing F2)
In that case all options like pfix=ram etc... hae to be preceded by puppy.
So you should type puppy pfix=ram f.e.

[Sylvander]

1. "I was under the impression that all necessary operating files were loaded into ram at boot from CD, for each and every boot"
(a) At first boot, ONLY the files on the optical disk [CD?] are loaded into RAM...
Or alternatively, the same will happen if you run the following command at startup to tell Puppy to ignore any suitable pupsave files found:
puppy pfix=ram
Under these circumstances the Puppy is incorruptible, but 2 below is a more convenient alternative.

(b) After you have made a pupsave files on some handy storage location [a Flash Drive?]...
And IF that storage is connected/functioning...
The Puppy will seek, find, and use the [contents of the] pupsave file [and the SFS file too if you save it to a storage location (= the same location as the pupsave?) ].

2. "I now know that the OP SYS is not uncorruptible"
(a) When your Puppy is using a pupsave held on a Flash Drive...
You can...
Configure the Puppy to not ever auto-save the session back to the pupsave DURING THE SESSION.
And then...

(b) You can add a few lines of code to a certain file, so that during shut-down of each session, you will be asked to choose whether to SAVE or NOT-SAVE the session back to the pupsave file.

(c) (a) and (b) above make it possible for you to choose to not ever save any changes made during a session...
In which case, even if the session were to be hacked or infected DURING THE SESSION...
All changes made to the Puppy running in RAM would be lost at shut-down, and would not be carried over to the following sessions.

(d) If you have good reason to believe that all is well during the session...
You could choose to [use the "SAVE" icon to] manually save DURING THE SESSION...
Or else...
Choose to save the session at shut-down.