Best way to replace Lupu full install with Tahr frugal?

[Barkingmad]

Hello

I have a PC with the HD partitioned as follows

Sda1 Full install of Lupu and GRUB
Linux swap
Sda3 All user files, e-mail etc

I want to replace Lupu with a Tahr release and having learned more about Puppy will use a frugal install this time. I can boot the PC to Tahr from a pen drive and run the universal installer but then thought, should I format Sda1 first to remove all Lupu files? If I do will the installer set up GRUB again to boot the new frugal?

Thanks for any help

Will

[s243a]

It's up to you whether or not you want to remove your previous full install. The full install and frugal install can coexist on the same partition.

BTW, if you are considering tahrpup then I recommend taking a look at precise light:

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=115843

The reason is that JRB is actively maintaing precise light and I don't know if anyone is currently maintaing tahrpup.

Or you could try both.

Some notes about precise light:
- It doesn't come with a browser by default. This lets you choose the one you want.
- It has an updated version of glibc.

You could try tahrpup for now since JRB has some important updates to come such as including the portable browser installer by default and some important package blocking.

[mikeslr]

Hi Barkingmad,

s243a posted while I was typing. I agree precise-lite is a fine operating system worth considering. jrb's recent version is more up-to-date than tarhpup. Others worth considering are radky's dpup-stretch, http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 590#974590 and busterpup,http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 98#1032098.

One of the great advantages of Frugal installs is that you can place many on the same partition. I'd start with tarhpup as we know it works with your computer. Once its up and running, you can easily create new folders for any other Puppy you want to try, then re-run grub4dos to add them to the menu.list. After trying them out, you can easily delete whichever Puppies you no longer want, and keep more than one if you find that to your advantage: some applications run (or run better) under different Puppies.

If your computer hard-drives have nothing on them beyond your description, this should be a fairly easy and risk-free operation. Here's what I do:

1. Boot into Lupu and file-browse so that you can see the sda1 partition.
2. Right-click an empty space and from the pop-up menu select New>Directory. Give it a name such as tarhpup.
3. From your USB-Key, drag each of the following files into the tahrpup folder and select copy: vmlinuz, initrd.gz, puppy_tahr_xxx.sfs, and any zdrv.sfs, adrv.sfs or other "system" sfs PLUS your tahrsave.sfs.
4. Unplug your USB-Key.
5. Still using your Lupu, run Menu>System>grub4dos. Select sda as its location. It will create a new bootloader and menu.lst. The latter will enable you to boot into either Lupu or the tahrpup frugal install on your hard-drive.
6. You should not have any problem booting into tahrpup. But if you do it will relate to the transferred Savefile. If that's the case, boot into Lupu, right-click the Savefile and rename it something like 1tahrsave.sfs --coloring only for clarity. [It may be easier to just create a new SaveFile from scratch. But there are techniques for using an existing SaveFile as the base for creating a new one].
7. Once tahrpup on your hard-drive is functioning well, boot into it and delete everything not in your tahrpup folder. CAUTION: after deleting everything, immediately run grub4dos and re-install that bootloader. If you have a problem, boot into tahrpup on the USB-Stick, run grub4dos, select sda as the location for it to be installed and check the box "Search only within this device".

The advantage of this technique is that until tahrpup on your hard-drive is working well you still have Lupu and tahrpup on the USB-Key to make corrections. The only complicating factor is that sda also now holds the files relating grub2. Explaining which not to delete would be confusing. It's just easier to install grub4dos.

[Barkingmad]

Hello Mike

Thanks for that tutorial.

One thing I forgot to mention was that I intended to let Tahr make a savefolder rather than a savefile on first shutdown, would that still work if the Tahr files are in a folder themselves? The reason for trying a savefolder is that this is the PC my Mum uses and I hoped it would avoid any problems with running out of space in a savefile during browser updates etc.

Thanks again.
Will

[mikeslr]

Hi Barkingmad,

About using a SaveFolder rather than a SaveFile:

Step 4 had you copy the SaveFile. Don't. There are probably ways to convert a SaveFile into a SaveFolder. But I don't use SaveFolders. And I've discovered that sometimes when I want to duplicate a system but on a different computer I can't use the existing SaveFile because it contains instructions and settings for different hardware. Similarly, on occasion I just want to update a system, installing new versions of applications or different applications. Updating applications doesn't necessarily replace now unused files; and deleting applications doesn't entirely recover the space they use. So what I always do is boot into my old system --in your case, this is the tahrpup on your USB-Stick-- open Menu>Setup>SFS Load on the fly & take a screen shot. Also open Menu>Setup>Puppy Package Manager> Click the uninstall button and take a screenshot. This provides me with a record of the applications I've installed and know are working.
I'll then use that record as a guide for building a new SaveFile -- in your case SaveFolder. SFSes can be copied over from those you used on the USB-Stick; but you may want to check if there are newer versions. Pets you've installed may have to be downloaded again. Here too, you may want to check if there are newer versions.

Fortunately, http://wellminded.net63.net/ is again available. You can plug in the name of an applications (even include the version details) to quickly locate the thread (and download link) of any. Adding "tahrpup" to the Search box may disclose any problems under that operating system.

This routine may take a little longer than somehow converting a SaveFile into a SaveFolder. But I think it results in a more trouble free system.

One thing I do suggest --based on my use of SaveFiles and the resultant concern with keeping them small-- is whenever possible use SFSes, portable-apps and AppImages rather than installing pets. These are easier to update when updates become available as they do not overwrite the older versions. You can test the new version and if it presents a problem just revert to the older and delete the newer.

I think at this time there are available portable versions of all the species of web-browsers that will run under tahrpup. Web-browsers are one of the few kinds of applications requiring frequent updates; and if I'm not mistaken, all such portables will auto-update or provide an easy method for updating. Portable web-browsers can be run from anywhere. So they don't have to take up space in a SaveFile/Folder. You can just locate them on the same partition as the System Files. They are designed to be 'self-contained': profiles, caches, addons, and updates are written to their respective folders rather than somewhere in "puppy space".

Caveat: If your mum does internet banking or makes purchases on the internet, I recommend setting up firefox to run as spot. See this thread, but particularly this post, http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 00#1048200. Although there may be superior ways to maintain security, consider firefox's Lastpass addon. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo ... d-manager/. You can set it up. After which, it rather than your mum, will remember passwords. At any rate, it's better than typing passwords 'in the clear' or being misdirected to a phishing site and typing in a password. Lastpass stores passwords for specific cites. If you've been misdirected, it won't have the password; login will fail and the request for password will alert you that something is amiss.

[bigpup]

As long as Tahrpup is installed on a partition formatted ext 2, 3, or 4.
You can make a save folder or a save file.
A save folder has to be on a Linux formatted location (ext2,3,or4).

Yes.
A save folder can go inside the Tahrpup frugal install folder. That is the normal place for it.

[Barkingmad]

Thanks all, I think that about wraps up this thread. It looks as though things will work as I'd hoped they would.