How to boot from USB, but save to hard drive instead of USB?

[Keith K]

I'm new here.

I know how to run puppy from CD and save my save file to hard disk, and I've installed puppy on a USB flash drive, which saves my save file to the USB drive.

But how do I set up puppy to boot from my USB flash drive just like booting from a CD, and then save my save file to the hard drive instead of the USB flash drive just as if I was booting from CD?

BTW--puppy is incredible, and even more so when coupled with the LXDE desktop as in Lxpuptahr 15.05.2, found here:

http://lx-pup.weebly.com/current-download.html

I wish more people would get to know and take advantage of puppy for their older computers.

I wonder how many older computers have been given new life and how many people helped by using puppy?

[watchdog]

Using a live session you can copy in a directory of the hd vmlinuz, initrd.gz, zdrv.sfs, the main sfs and syslinux.cfg from the usb key. Open with geany syslinux.cfg on the hd and change "pmedia=usbflash" with "pmedia=atahd". Copy the savefile in the same dir, too. Now boot the usb key and at boot splash screen type:

Code: Select all

[boot:] puppy pmedia=atahd

[Mike Walsh]

Hi, Keith K (and watchdog).

@watchdog:-

I have no wish to denigrate your advice; I can see where you're coming from with this. But I'm not entirely certain that this is what the OP is asking.....

I may be wrong; I frequently am! However, if Keith K is asking what I think he is, then I would offer this small crumb of advice:-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@Keith K:-

The easiest way to do what I think you're asking about, would be to do a new install again (having re-formatted & re-partitioned your USB 'stick' where necessary).

Then, at the point where you do your first shutdown proper from the USB stick, and it asks you where you want to create your save-file/folder (I don't know from experience which one LXPupTahr uses, but I'm guessing it's a save-folder), you get a list of available partitions where the save can be be created, yes?

Rather than choose the 'stick' itself, simply choose whichever partition on the hard-drive you wish to use. You don't say whether you're using Windows from the 'puter's hard drive, but it doesn't matter too much about the wrong type of formatting for this next bit.

IF you wish to retain the 'save-folder' mode of operation, then you'll need to create a Linux-formatted partition on your disk. If it runs Windows, this will entail shrinking Windows; everybody insists this is best done with Windows' own disk tools, although I've shrunk XP with gParted, and had no problems at all with it afterwards. You can then create a small ext3/4 partition with gParted in the space that you've just 'freed-up' (10-15 GB would be ample).

The only thing you'll find when next running Windows (if you do it it with gParted)is that it will insist on running 'chkdsk'.

If, however, you decide to run with a 'save-file', then you can simply create it directly inside the Windows partition; because a save-file is created with its own Linux file-system, inside the save-file.....if that makes any sense! This is much the easiest way to do things. Just make sure to create a large enough 'save-file' for your needs. 10-15 GB may, in all honesty, be far bigger than you actually need; remember, this is really meant for Puppy's configuration files & settings. Any stuff you want to save (documents, music, videos, etc, etc.) can of course be saved to another USB stick, if necessary. Or, if you wish, you can create a second directory ('folder') inside Windows for this purpose; since, as far as ordinary data is concerned, Puppy can read Windows' file-system.....although the reverse can't be said to be true.

Hopefully, this may give you a few options to experiment with.


Mike.

[grump]

Adding to what Mike Walsh wrote - I always run my Puppies from a live USB and direct the save file to the HDD - just select that location when exiting from the first run.

I change the pmedia= in the last line of syslinux.cfg on the USB to read:

append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=cd pfix=copy

because early on I was advised that the pmedia=cd entry forces Puppy to load the .sfs file from the HDD rather than the slower USB (or CD).

[Burn_IT]

I thought it was the other way round??
That forces a fresh copy from CD every time.

[Bushbuck]

I've got a USB stick with a default installation on it, which has been tweaked to read

append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=cd

...the point being to make the USB stick imitate a CD, and act as a boot agent. Thanks to whoever told me about this.

I think the CD preferentially loads the bulky SFS off the hard disk it finds the save data on, so I doubt if the tweaked USB stick would act any different.

[babaguy]

Confirming what Bushbuck says,

I think the CD preferentially loads the bulky SFS off the hard disk it finds the save data on...

- when I ran Puppy "live" from a CD, the save-file being on the Hard Drive, the saved stuff (SFS) loaded into RAM from the HardDrive, as indeed Puppy indicates when you first use it:

"Next boot will be faster!"

I still run Puppy from a CD "live" but my save_file is currently on a USB stick, and when the system is loading into RAM during boot-up, I can see the light on the little USB drive blinking busily away, as it loads its stuff (SFS) into RAM...