(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Hi
Thanks for the hard work on making this.
I am trying to install to a old computer p2 160mb ram
When I use the universal installer i get the error message, sanity check cannot find ce_slacko.sfs file. Is there a way around to try and install?

I installed puppy 4.3 and arcade 11. 4.3 runs very well and fast. It would be nice to have a newer version so I can play around with updated pet packages. I have limited experience with linux.
If there is a better option of a newer 4.3 based or other suggestions to try feel free to let me know.

I know I am limited for ram but that is the max on this machine. It does have a msata ssd hard drive in a ide enclosure. It is pretty fast to load windows. Its an old machine just to play music and program retro hardware.
thanks

Sorry, kschewe. I included the Universal Installer because (a) it customary to do so; and (b) I'd have had to figure out how to remove it without breaking stuff. I never use it. So I can't say would might have gone wrong. I can only think of two possibilities and there may be more. The two are (a) somehow the names of the required files (see below) have ended up being in whole or in part capitalized. They should all be small letters with underlines, not dashes. (2) There is an error in the menu.lst or --if you boot with legacy-grub/grub2, its configuration file. The terms should be identical to the names of the files. What EXACTLY does it say?

To create a FRUGAL Install what I do is, from a running Puppy, mount/Left-Click the ISO, and copy the following files into a folder: initrd.gz, vmlinuz, puppy_ceslacko_5.7.2.sfs, and zdrv_ceslacko_5.7.2.sfs. Then I run grub4dos which installs itself as bootloader and creates a menu.lst that will, on bootup, provide the opportunity to boot into any OS on the computer.

But with only 160 Mbs of RAM, your computer is one of the few where I would recommend doing a FULL install that requires an entire partition for a Puppy's exclusive use. This is also something I haven't had a reason to do so I don't know how well the Universal Installer would handle it.

As an alternative to Slacko 5.7.2CE, might I suggest jrb's Precise-Light, http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 58#1024458. Frankly, I would have chosen to update precise rather than Slacko but was unable to do so. Jrb has the skill set to woof a new kernel (vmlinuz + zdrv.sfs) which, together with changes in how initrd.gz manages files is different from the old combination. I don't have that ability. New kernels can not be substituted for old. When I undertook this project the only versions of precise were those using the old combination. On the other hand, Sailor Enceladus had recently woofed a version of Slacko using the new combination that I could use as the foundation in remastering Slacko.

With only 160 Mbs of RAM, regardless of which Puppy and whether installed as Full or Frugal, I recommend that you create a SwapFile or Swap-partition of 1.5 Gbs (ignoring the unfounded run of thumb "twice RAM"). Doing so might actually help in booting Slacko 5.7.2CE: After copying initrd.gz and vmlinuz into RAM you may have had no RAM left to copy anything else.

The only other advice I can give is to use Mike Walsh's build of 'Portable' Palemoon 27.9.4-SSE with glibc219 'tweak', http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 06#1022606. It is likely that your computer does not have the SSE2 instruction set required by other recent web-browsers. After you download and extract the package, you'll find within the unpacked folder a folder just named "palemoon32". Move that folder to /mnt/home after which you can delete the tar.gz and the top level extraction folders. You can start the application by browsing into the palemoon32 folder and left-click the file named "plmn". Or drag it to the desktop which will create a symbolic link for ease of access. To give the symbolic link a nice icon: Within the palemoon32 folder is another named "browser" and within that one named "icons". Inside is an icon named mozicon128.png. You can drag that into /usr/share/icons and select "copy". Then Right-Click the symbolic link on the desktop, select Set-Icon and drag the /usr/share/icons/mozicon128.png into the box which opened. [If you want a menu entry I'll provide instructions].

It is likely that the above version of palemoon (set up as above recommended) can be run from puppy 4.3 and arcade 11. 4.3.

thanks for the fast update. I am currently trying what you mentioned. It works and I am able to do a frugal install of slacko.
I am now trying to do full install. I am getting some progress and I will report what I did. Having only 160 megs of ram, i get the best results doing full installs of puppy.
I did try the precision iso you mentioned also. I did not have luck with it though. I was not able to get the video drivers to be recognized in the xorgwizard.
Hopefully with some luck i will get slacko installed on the old laptop. I have a complicated setup lol with mulitboot loaders.

mike,

How u've been lately,

Btw what's the Photorec file to run the app in your Slacko CE after extracting the archive?

Hi kuman11,

I've been well. Thanks for asking. How about you?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'photorec'. Booted into Slacko 5.7.2CE to make certain as I didn't recall installing an application by that name. pfind didn't find any files with that name. And Puppy Package Manager doesn't offer it.

My recollection --confirmed by a search of the Forum-- is that photorec is a file recovery application -- the 'rec' part being short for recovery rather than record. See, for example, http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 728#192728

I don't really know what is the current status of photorec/testdisk: whether there's a more recent version? whether some version would run under Slacko 5.7.2CE? I see that watchdog compiled a version under Slacko 5.5, http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 930#716930 regarding which Pelo asked how to launch it and watchdog responded: " Run it in console by: Code: photorec", http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 624#718624. The thread shows that watchdog intentionally did NOT provide a menu entry.

If that is the photorec you are referring to, does that answer your question? If it doesn't run under Slacko 5.7.2CE after photorec is entered into a terminal doing so may provide a clue as to what's going wrong.

I don't have the time, or interest, right now to construct a file recovery application specifically for this Puppy. There are many versions available on the web, including --I believe-- a stand-alone ISO.

If by 'photorec' you mean 'photorecord', I'm not sure whether its a desktop snapshot application or an application to make use of a hardware photo/document scanner that's sought. Regarding the former, tas is built in and should have both a menu entry and a launcher on the teskbar. mtpaint-snapshot is also build in --part of the mtpaint application-- and can be configured to take snapshots. I posted a pet version of 01micko's code somewhere to create a menu entry. Googling may find it.

If its an application to make use of a document scanner, I suggest you ask on the User's Section specifying the hardware involved.

mike,

It's for the recovery app, of course.

Thanks for the links.
I already asked in there.

And I think all you have to do is open a terminal and type, code:

photorec

If that doesn't start it, what --if anything-- does the terminal report?

mike,
It worked this way.

Btw if u stop it, can u rerun it from where it's ended?

I am trying to install to a old computer p2 160mb ram

Frugal installs can work with this low a memory if you use the boot option That tells the boot process to just load the main sfs, but not into RAM.
This will use the lowest amount of RAM to boot to a working desktop.
160MB is not much RAM, but maybe this will make some of it available as free RAM.
It will take a little longer to start a program, but after it starts, it should run OK.

Using a text editor to access the boot menu file.
If you use Grub4dos for the boot loader.
In the menu.lst locate the menu entry that boots Slacko 5.7.2
Put at the end of the kernel line.

Other boot loaders may have a linux line or a append line to put boot options on.

mike,

It worked though the files have no names now, only digits. Do u know of any app that can recover their names?

Thanks

You have to rename each recovered file: I do not know of any recovery app which recovers also the names. They are lost.

watchdog,

Luckily I have the content indexed in GWhere so now I'll only need to
match the files.

Thanks

mike,

if I delete the built-in SM, will the portable 246 still work fine?

You may want to try testdisk for your file and disk recovery. Your file names and hierarchy will be intact.

kuman11 wrote:mike,

if I delete the built-in SM, will the portable 246 still work fine?

Yes. SM 246 portable is self-contained: can be used even if SM wasn't previously part of your system.

But you're better off just editing /usr/share/applications/seamonkey.desktop's Exec= argument to point to the portable's binary/executable.

Using Menu>Setup>Remove Builtins to "delete" applications doesn't actually delete them from the Puppy_xxx,sfs. It only writes 'whites-outs' 'pointers' in your SaveFile/Folder preventing the 'removed' application from being used. They are still there; it's just that your Puppy's been 'told not to use them'. Only a Remaster will actually 'remove' 'built-ins'. The 'white-outs' prevents them from being copied to your new puppy_xxx.sfs.

P.S. After installing the portable SM 246, move its folder from /opt to /mnt/home and then drag it back to /opt selecting Link(relative) from the popup menu. Cache files from the Web will no longer use RAM and occupy your SaveFile.

thanks mike!

u've forgotten, I use your Puppy only in Ram, I only need to free up some space, in this case this about 100 Mb used by the built-in SM, in this session.

Anybody know what's this log file for that sometimes accumulates in /tmp folder to over 300 mb in a matter of a few hours? Practically eating up the free space in RAM. There's any way to prevent this in Slacko 5.7.2.CE?

As far as I know, every file your system accesses will be noted in the /tmp folder. So, yes, if you're doing a lot many entries will be written in a short amount of time.

I don't know how to turn that off, or even if doing so would be advisable. What I did was move the /tmp folder to /mnt/home/SOMEWHERE and symlink it back. That freed up RAM. But Puppies are designed to clear /tmp on shutdown/reboot*. Moving it to /mnt/home/SOMEWHERE means that the entries written to that folder are never automatically deleted. You have to remember to do so manually.

*Having moved it, I can't test whether merely restarting-x would also clear it.

mike,

For me restarting-x usually clears up /tmp files. That's how I solve it so far. I'll try this /home/SOMEWHERE solution too. Practically this log ate all of my free Ram by itself in a matter of a few hours.

Thanks

This command may free up memory:
sync && echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches