Interesting way of installing Puppy on a HDD

Stoil89 · 09-04-2009, 02:58 PM

Hi!

If you want to keep Puppy Linux on your hard disk drive (HDD) and this OS to be the only one on the desired drive, you can omit the difficulties around GRUB.
What do I have in mind? Perform a frugal install!
Here are some steps in details:

1.Boot Puppy from another media (USB flash, CD or other HDD)
2.Modify the partitions of the desired HDD (for example, /dev/hda, /dev/hdb, dev/sda, dev/sdb, etc.) Refer to Puppy Drive Mounter about the devices or the given sizes (if you remember them).
2.1.Let the first partition have fat32 file system and be not larger than 32 GB. This first partition will be used for installing Puppy.
2.2.Configure the other partitions as you wish, but don't make fat16 volumes larger than 3.75GB each and fat32 ones larger than the limit mentioned in 2.1.
2.3.After the partitions are ready, right click on the first partition, choose "Manage flags" and click on "boot" (it must be selected). If the volume is larger than 4GB, you can also select "lba").
3.Start installing Puppy
3.1.Menu>Setup>Puppy Universal Installer
3.2.Choose the type of your hard drive (Internal ATA hard drive/SATA Internal Hard Drive)
3.3.Select which hard drive to be used
3.4.Click on the button corresponding to the first partition (/dev/hda1, hdb1, sda1, sdb1, etc.)
3.5.Follow the steps (point where are the Puppy files stored, choose a custom folder where Puppy to be installed)
4.Make the first partition bootable with syslinux.
4.1.Choose "console" from the desktop
4.2.Type syslinux /dev/?dX1, where:
4.2.1.? is the letter of the type of your storage device (h for internal ATA HDD, s for SATA one). In newer kernels h is replaced by s.
4.2.2.X is the indicator for primary master(a), primary slave(b), seconadry master(c), secondary slave(d)
5.Configure the boot
5.1.Mount /dev/?dX1, open the volume with ROX file manager, and somewhere click with the right mouse button on the white screen and choose New>Blank file
5.2.Rename the file to syslinux.cfg
5.3.Copy&paste this:

default puppy
label puppy
kernel linux\vmlinuz
append initrd=linux\initrd.gz pmedia=idehd psubdir=linux

6.Create blank files - "markers" for finding Puppy files
6.1.Open the volume with ROX file manager, and somewhere click with the right mouse button on the white screen and choose New>Blank file
6.2.Type either "idehd" or "satahd"

7.Notes
7.1.The code in 5.3. is valid if you installed Puppy to a subfolder "linux". You can change it to whatever you want depending on the folder you created. If you don't want to install Puppy to a subfolder, the code should be the following:

default puppy
label puppy
kernel vmlinuz
append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=idehd

7.2.The value of pmedia can be either idehd or satahd for IDE or SATA HDDs.
7.3.I tested the method on a Internal ATA hard drive and it works!

linus72 · 09-04-2009, 03:59 PM

Whats up man?

How many puppies you booting in 1 partition?

I got all this in 1 partition

Ultimate Edition 2.3
Lighthouse puppy
PAW-RC-2 (photo-artists-workshop) puppy
browserlinux puppy
pmagic-4.4
pmagic-4.5
grml-magix
slax
oh, and Ubuntu wattOS
and more I can't remember

Stoil89 · 09-05-2009, 02:21 PM

That's amazing - so many distributions on a single partition!
Actually I'm not so surprised - you can store as many distros as you want providing that they don't confront each other and you have a correct syslinux.cfg file with all the kernel, initial ramdisk parameters and kernel command lines.
For example, on my memory card, which is bootable with syslinux, I have put Puppy 3.01 vmlinuz&initrd.gz (both for kernel 2.6.21.7 and 2.6.18.1), memdisk as a kernel and images (.img) of MS-DOS 7 and KolibriOS 0.7.5.0.
I wrote my previous post to help others easily install Puppy without "headaches" around GRUB.
Several times I stored Puppy 3.01 and Puppy 4.2, but I've kept only 3.01 recently.

linus72 · 09-05-2009, 02:36 PM

actually
I'm booting all those off my HD, and usb too

heres my messy menu.lst

Code:

title Plop Bootmanager
root (hd0,7)
kernel /boot/plpbt.bin

title GRML-MAGIC 
root (hd0,7)
kernel /boot/grml/linux26 apm=power-off lang=us vga=791 quiet boot=live nomce noraid nolvm noautoconfig noeject noprompt swap nopcmcia persistent
initrd /boot/grml/initrd.gz

title GRML-MAGIC ToRAM
root (hd0,7)
kernel /boot/grml/linux26 apm=power-off lang=us vga=791 quiet boot=live nomce noraid nolvm toram=grml-magix.squashfs noautoconfig noeject noprompt swap nopcmcia persistent
initrd /boot/grml/initrd.gz

title GRML-MAGIC NoPersistent ToRAM
root (hd0,7)
kernel /boot/grml/linux26 apm=power-off lang=us vga=791 quiet boot=live nomce noraid nolvm toram=grml-magix.squashfs noautoconfig noeject noprompt swap nopcmcia nopersistent
initrd /boot/grml/initrd.gz

title DSL-4.4.10
root (hd0,7)
kernel /linux24 ramdisk_size=100000 init=/etc/init restore=hda3 mydsl=hda3 lang=us apm=power-off vga=791 initrd=/minirt24.gz nomce noapic quiet toram knoppix_dir=DSL KNOPPIX_DIR=dsl BOOT_IMAGE=knoppix
initrd /minirt24.gz

title Slax Graphics VESA mode
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz initrd=/boot/initrd.gz ramdisk_size=6666 root=/dev/ram0 rw copy2ram autoexec=xconf;telinit~4 changes=/slax/
initrd /boot/initrd.gz

title            BrowserLinux-0909
root             (hd0,5)
kernel           /bpup0909/vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 pmedia=atahd initrd=/bpup0909/initrd.gz psubdir=bpup0909
initrd           /bpup0909/initrd.gz

title WattOSb3 9.04
root (hd0,5)
  kernel /casper/vmlinuz noprompt persistent cdrom-detect/try-usb=true file=/preseed/custom.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.gz quiet splash --
  initrd /casper/initrd.gz

title            PAW_RC-2
root             (hd0,5)
kernel           /PAW/vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 pmedia=atahd initrd=/PAW/initrd.gz psubdir=PAW
initrd           /PAW/initrd.gz

title DarkMagic-4.4
root (hd0,7)
configfile /boot/grub/pmagic-menu.lst

title DarkMagic-4.5
root (hd0,5)
configfile /boot/grub/pmagic45-menu.lst

title Tinycore_2.2
root (hd0,0)
kernel /tce/bzImage quiet desktop=jwm max_loop=255 restore=hda1/tce tce=hda1/tce noicons 
initrd /tce/tinycore.gz

title            LighthousePup
root             (hd0,5)
kernel           /LPup/vmlinuz acpi=force root=/dev/ram0 pmedia=atahd initrd=/LPup/initrd.gz psubdir=LPup max_loop=40
initrd           /LPup/initrd.gz

title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-14-generic
uuid		b88c3673-8438-416b-a502-742e1a8abf3d
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-14-generic root=UUID=b88c3673-8438-416b-a502-742e1a8abf3d ro quiet splash 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-14-generic
quiet

title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-14-generic (recovery mode)
uuid		b88c3673-8438-416b-a502-742e1a8abf3d
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-14-generic root=UUID=b88c3673-8438-416b-a502-742e1a8abf3d ro  single
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-14-generic

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title		Other operating systems:
root


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sda6.
title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-13-generic (on /dev/sda6)
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-13-generic root=UUID=7fe055ba-c753-4616-8b3a-36fe0aeef4d2 ro quiet splash 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-13-generic
savedefault
boot


# This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for an existing
# linux installation on /dev/sda6.
title		Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-13-generic (recovery mode) (on /dev/sda6)
root		(hd0,5)
kernel		/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-13-generic root=UUID=7fe055ba-c753-4616-8b3a-36fe0aeef4d2 ro single 
initrd		/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-13-generic
savedefault
boot

I had others too
it changes alot...

Stoil89 · 09-05-2009, 02:43 PM

That smells of GRUB and extY partition

Your menu.lst seems quite complicated, actually.
I have little experience with GRUB, but I'm not satisfied and I prefer the combination of fat32 partition, bootable with syslinux.
The reason I don't like GRUB is that after I installed it in the needed partition (extY) and chose which other partition to boot (after some edit of menu.lst, if required), GRUB just put a boot flag on the selected partition and during next boot GRUB was skipped and the other volume was loaded.

linus72 · 09-05-2009, 03:11 PM

what is extY partition?

you mean a usb when speaking fat32/syslinux right?

what you got on your fat32 usb?

hers my present syslinux cfg
for my 4gb usb

Code:

# use this to control the bootup via a serial port
# SERIAL 0 9600
#DEFAULT grml
DEFAULT /boot/syslinux/vesamenu.c32
TIMEOUT 300
# ONTIMEOUT chain.32 hd0 0
PROMPT 0
MENU BACKGROUND /boot/syslinux/warhamr.png
MENU color title   1;36;44    #ffffffff #00000000 std
MENU color sel      7;37;40    #FF000000 #FFC0C0C0 all
MENU color hotsel   1;7;37;40  #FF000000 #FFC0C0C0 all
MENU ROWS 13
F1 /boot/isolinux/boot.msg
F2 /boot/isolinux/f2
F3 /boot/isolinux/f3
F4 /boot/isolinux/f4
F5 /boot/isolinux/f5
F6 /boot/isolinux/f6
F7 /boot/isolinux/f7
F8 /boot/isolinux/f8
F9 /boot/isolinux/f9
F10 /boot/isolinux/f10

 LABEL menu
 MENU HIDE
 KERNEL /boot/grmlsid/vesamenu.c32

MENU TITLE ThorsHammer-090109 - Boot Menu

label plop-boot
menu label ^PLOP Bootmanager
TEXT HELP
* Can boot cd, usb, hd
ENDTEXT
kernel /plpbt

label utils
  menu label ^Utilities Menu
  kernel /boot/syslinux/vesamenu.c32
  append /boot/syslinux/utils1.cfg

label gmenu
  menu label GRML-^Magix-082909 Menu
  kernel /boot/isolinux/vesamenu.c32
  append /boot/isolinux/grmlcd.cfg

label pmenu
  menu label ^DarkMagic-4.4 Menu
  kernel /boot/syslinux/vesamenu.c32
  append /boot/isolinux/pmagic.cfg

label pcdmenu
  menu label RescuePup-^Beta Menu
  kernel /boot/syslinux/vesamenu.c32
  append /boot/syslinux/pupusb.cfg

label knpxmenu
  menu label KNOPPIX-6.0.1 Menu
  kernel /boot/syslinux/vesamenu.c32
  append /boot/syslinux/knpx.cfg

label slkcd
  menu label Slackware-13 Mini Menu (Alien Bob's)
  kernel /boot/syslinux/vesamenu.c32
  append /isolinux/slack1.cfg

label zorosmenu
  menu label ^ZorOS-3.6 Menu
  kernel /boot/syslinux/vesamenu.c32
  append /boot/syslinux/zoros.cfg

the graphical result is this
http://multidistro.com/hammer/fluxboxp.html

as you can see both the menu.lst and syslinux.cfg branch off into sub-menus

thats my ThorsHammer iso on usb

Stoil89 · 09-07-2009, 05:21 AM

I think you are a professional - your syslinux.cfg and menu.lst look very complicated, but nice.
extY means an ext volume, no matter if it is ext2, ext3, or ext4 (Y stands for a digit).
"you mean a usb when speaking fat32/syslinux right" - I mean not only USB, but hard disk drive. It is also possible and I gave an example in my first post.
I'm used to simple text configuration of syslinux.cfg. Currently I keep Puppy on my Diva FX-55 MP3 device, which doesn't load kernel and initrd files correctly, although it did it fine some time ago.
Usually when I am unable to boot correctly from the device on which Puppy is kept, I do it from some other media. For example, from a MMC card with fat16/syslinux (vmlinuz and initrd.gz are stored there), HDD partition/DOS/linld, HDD/fat32/syslinux.
Here are the configuration files which used to be on my USB flash drive:

syslinux.cfg
default 3
display boot.msg
timeout 400
label 1
kernel memdisk
append initrd=dos\dos-win98.img
timeout 50
label 2
kernel memdisk
append initrd=kolibri\kolibri.img
timeout 50
label 3
kernel linux\vmlinuz
append initrd=linux\initrd.gz pmedia=usbflash psubdir=linux
timeout 50
label live
kernel linux\vmlinuz
append initrd=linux\initrd.gz pmedia=usbflash psubdir=linux pfix=ram
timeout 50

boot.msg
ZAREJDANE NA OPERACIONNA SISTEMA
--------------------------------
Izberete ot poso4enite:
1.MS-DOS 7.00
2.KolibriOS 0.7.5.0
3.Puppy Linux 3.01
Sled 4 sekundi avtomati4no se zarejda N.3

Stoil89 :: http://stoil89.hit.bg :: stoil.delchev@gmail.com :: skype stoil89

Translations
Zarejdane na operacionna sistema - Loading an operating system
Izberete ot poso4enite - Choose from the shown
Sled 4 sekundi avtomati4no se zarejda - In 4 seconds ... is automatically loaded

linus72 · 09-07-2009, 06:34 AM

check this out bro
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...6/#post3672896

Quote:

I think you are a professional

LOL
No doubt

Not really though, their all just text files
its just in knowint, thru trial and error, mostly error
what works and what doesn't

please check out the syslinux wiki too
http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index...slinux_Project

so, download PupPak and you can use those menus for any puppy

Stoil89 · 09-07-2009, 12:04 PM

I checked the link about PupPak and it's really nice.
Actually I don't feel like downloading the whole iso just to see the syslinux configuration...If you don't mind, you can send it via e-mail

(I think my e-mail can be got easily).
I know that syslinux wiki contains usage information, but there aren't any examples like yours.
I may learn about syslinux menus when being in mood to. For now I intend to stay with simple things

linus72 · 09-07-2009, 12:11 PM

OK
you want the stuff for both thorshammer and puppak?
meaning the grub/isolinux/and syslinux stuff?

Stoil89 · 09-08-2009, 02:52 AM

Thank you in advance, linus72!
If you don't mind, please send only the isolinux&syslinux stuff which are part of PupPak.

linus72 · 09-08-2009, 04:42 AM

OK
here it is
this is the folders grub,isoliux, and syslinux from my boot folder

http://multidistro.com/hammer/boot.tar.gz
check it out

Stoil89 · 09-09-2009, 10:07 AM

Thank you!