Can swap file manager run swap in a live multi-sessn dvd?

[bigpup]

Sure your CD/DVD drive can write to DVD?

The specs I read about this computer say it only writes to CD but can read CD or DVD's

You can try with a multi session CD install of Puppy.

[rbrehton]

I think you're right, this laptop reads but won't write a dvd. I tried using Pburn, says media not recognized as recordable, a multi-session dvd-rw.

Yes, I'm using pup-431-k2.6.25.16

So I can add a PET package or update the browser and it will save this in the usb file for the next boot? That will be great.

[Flash]

Sure your CD/DVD drive can write to DVD?

The specs I read about this computer say it only writes to CD but can read CD or DVD's

Aaah! That's called a combo drive. Good catch, bigpup.
In that case, a multisession Puppy CD (not DVD) might work.

[rbrehton]

I guess I can spare 40 cents to try it. How many sessions is a CD good for in normal use?

[rbrehton]

Update -- I added details in case developers want to know. I burned a new multi-session cd-r and booted it. At first shutdown, it did the same as the dvd at first shutdown (I selected Power off Computer) -- it dropped out of X without asking for a save and began from there without shutting down completely. It stayed in xvesa and I got the wizard to configure the screen again. It remembered the connection and my gmail password and the usb drive wasn't in the machine. When I shut down the second time, I saved to cd and then it shut down completely. On start up I got only the HP logo and then a flashing underscore. I waited several minutes, hit enter, esc, f keys and then control/alt/delete. Then I booted my previous puppy disk and saved the session to usb.

I like the way it works saving to usb. So the only benefit of a multi-session disk over saving sessions to usb is faster boot and shutdown?

I've been able to play a couple of youtube videos but I have trouble opening certain webpages and gmail only works in basic html. I tried installing service_pack-430-to-431.pet but I get an "error. . . failed to install". Will this help me and how can I install this if possible? Thanks in case I haven't thanked anyone.

[Flash]

Actually a multisession Puppy will probably boot slower than a Puppy CD (or DVD) with a Save file on USB. At any rate, I don't think it will boot any faster. It depends on how many saved sessions have to load when Puppy boots. The main advantage of multisession Puppy is that each save creates a unique session folder on the DVD. These sessions are all loaded and recombined when Puppy boots. A session is where any changes you made to Puppy are saved. If, later on, you find a problem, or suspect you picked up some malware, etc., you can troubleshoot by telling Puppy to skip certain saved sessions when it boots. Multisession Puppy is unique in that every change is saved for possible forensic analysis, kind of like a wiki. Forum member Ted Dog has made multisession work on a USB flash drive, but I haven't tried it myself.

[tallboy]

For those who want to explore different multisession possibilities, using cheap DVD-Rs, here are some links, with more links inside:

Save directories to DVD+RW as sessions, using growisofs

Updating software

tallboy

[rbrehton]

I like the idea of a bootable flash but I like the bootable puppy cd because it can't be corrupted if the session is closed. I was getting some keyboard bugs until I burned another puppy cd and closed the session.

[rufwoof]

Hello all
Just thought I would add that if you do choose to make a swap file
you can do so an a hard drive or flash drive But not on the CD itself
Also when you boot your M/S CD puppy will find and mount any swap partitions automatically

It is useful to have a HDD based swap file that you can activate when running heavier programs

cd to your HDD (ext type partition)

dd if=/dev/zero of=swap bs=1M count=512

will create a 512MB swap file, then

mkswap swap
swapon swap

Use htop to view that its working.

I have no HDD, /data gets auto mounted from another box for data space using reverse sshfs. Even with that I can create a swap file as above, but then you have to assign it to a loop device

losetup ... to see what loops are already used (0 and 1 in my case are already allocated) and pick the next free one ... and prepare it

losetup /dev/loop2 swap

then

swapon /dev/loop2

Pretty daft to have a swap file on the other side of a relatively slow link, so I set mine to be relatively small (100MB swap file) ... and that just serves to potentially keep the system still running albeit very slowly i.e. swap is being used, long enough to start closing the offending program down ... rather than just simply seeing a system lock-up.

More ideally, a swap file (or partition) on HDD is the better choice, sized to your ram size.

Code: Select all

# losetup
NAME        SIZELIMIT OFFSET AUTOCLEAR RO BACK-FILE
/dev/loop1          0      0         0  0 /fd64.sfs (deleted)
/dev/loop11         0      0         0  0 /data/fatdog/google-chrome-09102018-x86_64-official.sfs
/dev/loop2          0      0         0  0 /data/fatdog/swap
/dev/loop0          0      0         1  1 /kernel-modules.sfs (deleted)
/dev/loop10         0      0         0  0 /data/fatdog/gtk3.sfs