frugal install on cf flash in ide adapter

[Rossco]

Hi,

Hope someone can help.

Ive been trying to get 2.14 running from 2gb cf flash in an ide adapter using the universal installer.

It works if I have no partitions on the disk. However, I want to have a swap file of 500mb and when I partition the drive in this way the universal installer will not recognise the partitions and only offers to install in superfloppy mode which will write a ext3 partition to the whole disk, even though the swap partition is enabled and in use by the live cd.

I read in another thread that the installer will only work if I have first formated the partition, onto which I want to install puppy, as fat16. I did this and had the same problem.

Can anyone suggest what Im doing wrong here?

Also, when I did have the frugal install up and running I could not see /mnt/home so that I could install the devx_214 development files. What is the best way to install the devx package?

I would be grateful for any hints anyone may be able to give.

Cheers,

Ross

[raffy]

In Universal Installer, choose IDE Flash Drive (CF in IDE Adapter) - I mention this as this is not the usual "frugal" install (that is more associated with true hard disks). Accept the default values.

Using the IDE flash as swap is not advisable as it has limited writes.

The limitations you might encounter are more of the limitations of the FAT16. While in Puppy, you can format the CF as FAT16 by using Gparted or while in console: mkdosfs /dev/hda1 (!!! if hda1 is your flash IDE!!!).

For devx_214.sfs, just put it beside pup_214.sfs and reboot to use it. Use MUT (Media Utility Tool) to see your home disk.

[Rossco]

Thanks raffy.

I had already formatted the disk with fat16 but as I mentioned the universal installer just writes ext3 over it. This is using the cf in ide option of the installer.

I guess I should just wipe the swap partition to avoid excessive writes, then the installer will also work. Are you able to confirm why the installer wants to write ext3 but others have advised fat16? Is there any problem here?

Thanks,

Ross

[raffy]

I guess "superfloppy" expects no partition number, like /dev/hda, in contrast to a partitioned drive that has /dev/hda1. If the installer finds it to be superfloppy, then I guess it will use the superfloppy option (ext3).

Also, is there any chance that you are clicking on the superfloppy button instead of choosing the partition button?

[Rossco]

The only choices I have in the installer are to proceed with the super floppy mode or to select another drive which does not provide any other options as I dont have another drive installed.

I have just read this thread http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 2&start=15

Dougal seems to have fixed this bug I will try it tonight.

Can you confirm the best format for the cf disk? if the ext3 provided by the superfloppy mode will not have an effect on system running I am happy to use this, I will not make a swap on this drive. All I am concerned about is that the installation works like the live cd, i.e. everything goes into ram, and thta I maximise the life of the disk.

Thanks,

Ross

[Rossco]

Hi,

I had previously been using cfdisk to partition and format - gparted has been working much better. MUT will pick up the disk and shows the partitions.

However, the only way I can get puppy to boot from the cf in ide is to leave the drive unformatted and let it be recognised as a superfloppy and allow ext3 formatting by the installer. I tried formating with both fat16 and ext3 with gparted before using the installer, and all the different options syslinux etc. but mostly I get the "missing operating system" message upon boot, or nothing.

The problem with the superfloppy method is that MUT will not recognise the dirve and when I try to mount using the command line the device can't be found in /etc/fstab. Therefore I cant install the devx file.

Any ideas? I have been unable to find this specific problem and solution elsewhere in the forum.

Cheers,

Ross

[Dougal]

The problem with the superfloppy method is that MUT will not recognise the dirve and when I try to mount using the command line the device can't be found in /etc/fstab. Therefore I cant install the devx file.

1) Try Pmount.
2)

Code: Select all

mkdir /mnt/hda
mount /dev/hda /mnt/hda