Can Puppy run from USB and save to the same USB?

[Scrappy Doo]

I know I can boot and run, but, when asked about saving, can I save to another empty USB? I am on an older PC and the 16GB USB has more storage than the HD!!!

If I can save this way, how do sessions run afterwards? Will I need to put in boot USB, then save USB, or can I boot from initial saved USB?

I like the thought off having my whole OS carriable, and II read in other posts about the 2MB(?) folder that's on the USB, which answered my question I had about how it knew the time after logging off if it was all in RAM!

[bigpup]

wrong topic.

[bigpup]

What exact version of Puppy?

I know I can boot and run, but, when asked about saving, can I save to another empty USB?

Are you booting Puppy installed on a USB flash drive?
If yes.
What size is it?
Am I guessing OK about what you are doing?
Or are you booting from Puppy installed on this small HD?

It would be best to have Puppy and it's save all on the same drive.
Use the other USB as data storage of stuff that does not need to be in the save.
Documents, video's, music files, pictures, stuff you download, a backup copy of the save, etc.......

[Scrappy Doo]

I installed on HD...

I am using the 32 bit bionic beaver ( bionicpup32 8.0)

Yes i would like it all on the same USB, so I CAN save to the same USB and just run it like that? It's a 16GB USB, much more space than the HD.

I just gained an account here after trying for a week, and the HD has plenty of mistakes on it that I have made. I am new to Linux all together, and messed up a bit on the partition and a few saves, etc. Its ok though, I found Puppy Linux after being given an old PC free, and wanted to get it to hum a little better, you know? I fell into small OS's, and settled on Puppy Linux as opposed to the others simply because i am a dog lover Now that i have put Puppy Linux on this old box, I actually got to where i like it. pMusic world radio alone is a reason for me to run it regular.

I plan on downloading ALL the lightweight browsers and other add ons to the HD just to get a feel for them, play a bit with this old clunker, then rip out HD and just run off USB if i can. I am learning the Command Line as well, because now that I have tried Puppy, I am in love with it, and will 100% use Linux on my newer system, maybe even Puppy still.

[Fossil]

@Scrappy

I plan on downloading ALL the lightweight browsers and other add ons to the HD just to get a feel for them, play a bit with this old clunker, then rip out HD and just run off USB if i can.

Whatever would possess you to destroy a perfectly good - working - hard drive? If nothing else it could be used as a means of storage for downloaded pet and SFS programs plus personal photos, videos, music, etc.
If your computer is as old as you say, the USB might run a lot slower than the hard drive. Pause, and think about it! Furthermore, a hard drive usually has a lot more capacity: you can set up far more frugally installed Puppies and run them individually via the Grub4DOS boot menu. Personally, I've over 20 (Yes, twenty!) Puppy variants all running from a single hard drive - frugal installs.
Again, think about it - carefully, before you proceed!
Sorry, just noticed the USB is 16 Gb's - the hard drive is smaller?

[Scrappy Doo]

Fossil: I actually thought of something along the lines of what you were saying, and am not going to just throw away the HD. It can be used for storing my androids pix permanently if nothing else...

Something you said is right on point with what I have JUST come to realize... The frugal install is a file in the HD that saves the initial boot info of the OS, then writes on this file to the space capacity you allot for it,storing any changes made, and kinda scales it down after shut down (something like a .zip file?). At the Boot sequence, this is what the system is asking: Where do i boot from? I see that if i frugally install multiple versions of Puppy, all those options would show at Boot. From what you said in this last post, I know not only that i can run multiple versions on one HD, I now fully understand WHY the install instructions as well as the Puppy community recommends a Frugal, as opposed to a Full, install. Thank you for the Feedback!

[rockedge]

hello Scrappy Doo,

you will find after you have several frugal Puppy's on the partition you can run Menu/Setup/Grub4Dos boot loader configurator.

let Grub4Dos search across the hard drive(s) and / or USB drives and it will create the correct boot loader and give you a menu of the systems you can boot into.

I've simplified it somewhat but you are picking up speed on how Puppy works

[mikeslr]

Ah, yes. The light has dawned.

The actual storage space used by any Frugally installed Puppy, itself --excluding Application.SFSes, portable Apps, and AppImages-- is almost always less than 500 Mbs. A Puppy's system files consist of vmlinuz, initrd(gz or xz), Puppy_VERSION_NUMBER.sfs, usually a zdrv_Puppy_Version_number.sfs, and sometimes an fdrv_Puppy_Version_number.sfs (if firmware wasn't packaged in the zdrv). Occasionally, a Puppy ISO will also include an adrv.sfs and/or a ydrv.sfs. These last two are not necessary to run the Puppy. Within them the Puppy's Dev has included additional applications (s)he considered a User may want. On bootup, a Puppy will copy into RAM all the files of vmlinuz, initrd, and any appropriately named of those SFSes mentioned.

On first shutdown [and thereafter if not done on first shutdown] Puppy will offer the opportunity for the user to create a SaveFile or SaveFolder within which changes to settings, customization, and additional applications will be stored. When that opportunity is taken, the module --among other things-- will ask where the SaveFile or SaveFolder is to be located. The default location is the same drive/partition where Puppy's other 'system files' are. But the User can select another. So, for example, you can have the above mentioned system files on a USB-Stick and select your hard-drive as the location for your SaveFile/Folder. [Only a Linux formatted partition can be used for a SaveFolder; which is why the module has you make that choice first].

There are several reason for having several Puppies. Slackos (based on Slackware) are reputed to provide superior graphics and sound; and often seem to cause Users less problems when they add applications. But the latter 'advantage' may just be a consequence of Slackware's conservative update/upgrade policy. It may not be possible to install the latest, feature-rich applications available to Ubuntu, debian and the Puppies based on them.

And then there's the 32-bit/64-bit divide. Many current versions of applications are now only available as 64-bit, which requires that they be run under a 64-bit operating system. Although only a little more RAM and Storage space is required for a 64-bit system & each application, it add up.

Often, different 32-bit Puppies, without regard for which major distro they are based on, can use the same Application.SFSes, Portable-Applications, and AppImages. The same is true of 64-bit Puppies. And 64-bit Puppies in which a 32-bit compatibility SFS has been loaded can often use 32-bit Application.SFSes, Portable-Applications and AppImages.

I don't keep the datafiles I create within any Puppy. Datafiles, rather are stored on a partition available to all Puppies. In the grand scheme of things, having another Puppy I can boot into doesn't require all that much additional space.

Although I have several Puppies on the computer from which I am currently posting, I only boot into most when someone asks a question about them. There are three I often use: (1) Bionicpup64 for most operations; (2) Xenialpup64 for one or two applications which still work better than under BionicPup64, and with which I am more familiar with than the similar applications which work better under Bionicpup64; and (3) Slacko 5.7.2 CE whose light-weight and Seamonkey Web-browser still provide the quickest access to the Internet. All three make use of the same 32-bit portable Wine and the programs which run under it.

[enrique]

... asked about saving, can I save to another empty USB?...

...If I can save this way, how do sessions run afterwards? Will I need to put in boot USB, then save USB, or can I boot from initial saved USB?

I like the thought off having my whole OS carriable...

Scrappy Doo
Puppy in frugal installation is in fact a powerful solution. So most of your request may be solvable.

Quick answer is you tell puppy adding some special environmental variables. This are(pmedia, pdrv, psubdir, psave, pfix):

pmedia=atahd
pdrv=0123456789ABCDEF
psubdir=/bionicpup32_8.0
psave=0123-ABCD:/bionicpup32_8.0/bionicpup32save-MYSAVE.4fs
pfix=fsck

And is use in grub4dos menu.lst like this

Code: Select all

title Puppy bionicpup32_8.0 (sdb2 /bionicpup32_8.0)
  find --set-root uuid () 0123456789ABCDEF
  kernel /bionicpup32_8.0/vmlinuz  pmedia=atahd pdrv=0123456789ABCDEF psubdir=/bionicpup32_8.0 psave=0123-ABCD:/bionicpup32_8.0/bionicpup32save-MYSAVE.4fs pfix=fsck
  initrd /bionicpup32_8.0/initrd.gz

In this example I using UUID to reference Disk drives. You get you UUID using blkid bash command.

Sooo,
pdrv=0123456789ABCDEF
psave=0123-ABCD:/bionicpup32_8.0/bionicpup32save-MYSAVE.4fs

psave=0123-ABCD:
/bionicpup32_8.0/
bionicpup32save-MYSAVE.4fs

Where:
Grub4dos use this to find your Puppy Kernel:
0123456789ABCDEF is the UUID of the USB booting. Yes the disk been used 1rst.

Puppy Kernel Init used this info:
0123-ABCD is the UUID of the drive been used to save.
/bionicpup32_8.0/ is the directory where my Puppy is save in. I use same directory in both drives
bionicpup32save-MYSAVE.4fs is the name of my Puppy save file. Notice how it is ended as 4fs and usually save is part of the name.

See in this example I am booting from one drive but my puppysave is store in a different one.

To create this effect 1rst you create you puppysave as is. Then you go to your new disk and create the directory in my case /bionicpup32_8.0 then I copy/move my original puppysave to new disk inside new directory.

Hope it helps.