Alternative pup_save formats.

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mikeb
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Alternative pup_save formats.

#1 Post by mikeb »

Ok I have made initrd's for puppy 4.12 (what I happen to use but changes could apply to later versions, as the ease of corruption of ext2 pup_saves I feel needs addressing, regardless of what linux purists might say . I run puppy 2 most of the time and its ext3 save file works just fine and keeps working in spite of abuse.)

The main change is that pup-saves formatted ext3 and reiserfs can be used.
To alter an existing (backed up) pupsave use
tune2fs -j /path/to/pup_save.2fs.
Then rename to .3fs.
When booted mount should show its mounted as 3fs.

For reiserfs a fresh file would need making using dd and then mkreiserfs in the same way as a normal pup_save. Name the file .rfs with all the usual naming conventions. Copy out from an existing pup_save or use from a fresh boot . Manual mounting can be done using mount as reisefs support is in the kernel...only the tools need adding for other functions.

There no mods to resize (ext3 might work anyway) and for reiser the tools would need adding but this is just for testing purpuses. Encryption is not touched either though of course all that still works for ext2. The rc.shutdown would need modding for auto creation but again that's no biggie.

So here are the initrd's...rename as required and the reisefs tools from puppy 2
edit... heavily evolved but pm me if you are interested

Other non bug fixes included are
1) failure to allow pup_save creation if initrd.gz present on another partiton or no file named 'initrd.gz'
2)Will not use a full install as a pup_save
3)pfix=ram mode working when there is a partition as a pup_save or full install present.
4) not a fix but raised threshold to 260MB for loading pup_xxx.sfs to ram as I found machines with 256MB were constantly running on swap space so negating any speed benefits.

Ok...looking forward to unrelated questions....
If non of the above makes sense then do not try it

mike
Last edited by mikeb on Thu 08 Mar 2012, 19:15, edited 2 times in total.

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mikeb
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#2 Post by mikeb »

Hmm the non retro initrd may have been an unmodified one due to me going crosseyed....it is now definitely is the right one in case anyone was curious enough to try it out

mike

disciple
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#3 Post by disciple »

4) is an excellent improvement.

Do you have any comments on reiserfs vs ext3 vs ext4 for a save file? Other than that ext3 can be used as ext2 if necessary (e.g. so it can still be read from windows).
Do you know a good gtkdialog program? Please post a link here

Classic Puppy quotes

ROOT FOREVER
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mikeb
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#4 Post by mikeb »

Well for common storage I use ext2 for windows access. It gets regular fsck and seems happy enough... seems to suffer less fragmentation than fat or even ntfs. Indeed after a while of using fat there was a considerable slowdown using puppy which was cured by defragmenting the partition..

But I have certainly noticed how fragile it is for pupsave use. Indeed after one boot cycle a fsck shows errors but having used ext3 for a couple of years now without ever having to start over with a new pup_save due to corruption which seems an all to common subject on the forum.
Someone else commented on the robustness of reiserfs with regards to power failures when used for a full install so since support is in the kernel then why not give it a go. Windows support for reiserfs is quite limited so using that for shared storage is not as feasible. One other point is that the overhead for reiserfs is much lower on larger partitions/image files ie >256MB then ext2/3/4.

On a side note I once started to get the odd error which appeared to be due to a huge build up of whiteout files (a failure of the unionfs which aufs does not suffer from) ...I'm not familiar how this affects the file system (index full?) but it did.

mike

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trapster
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#5 Post by trapster »

Where might one find tunefs?
trapster
Maine, USA

Asus eeepc 1005HA PU1X-BK
Frugal install: Slacko
Currently using full install: DebianDog

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mikeb
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#6 Post by mikeb »

Where might one find tunefs?
ah yes...right next to tune2fs the well known spelling correction

mike

Jim1911
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#7 Post by Jim1911 »

mikeb,

I am trying your technique using a dpup484 save file. My frugal installation is on an ext3 partition.

Is it necessary to change the initrd.gz file? I've noted no problems using the new dpupsave-484.3fs.

Thanks,
Jim

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mikeb
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#8 Post by mikeb »

Hi there...sorry for late reply...the forum seems to miss a lot of notifications.

Well if you changed the pup_save to ext3 it will work but if you check the output of 'mount' in a terminal it will probably be mounted as ext2.

The way the true change is implemented is to edit the init in initrd.gz for your puppy version...I just made a test one for the version I use.

mike

Jim1911
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#9 Post by Jim1911 »

Mike,

After the initrd.gz is unpacked, which lines need to be changed in the init script in order to mount the save file as 3fs? Can I just do a search and replace for all "-t ext2" entries to "-t ext3" as you indicated on this thread?

Thanks,
Jim
Last edited by Jim1911 on Sat 30 Jan 2010, 03:50, edited 1 time in total.

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mikeb
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#10 Post by mikeb »

Ok to avoid duplication and since this other thread is related there are the details here...I don't think dpup will differ greatly.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=51794

As far as rc.shutdown is concerned the option to make an ext3 pup_save is there but commented out near the beginning...but altering the initrd is enough to get things rolling.regards

mike

Jim1911
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#11 Post by Jim1911 »

Sorry Mike,

I was posting my edit above just as you were responding? The thread you point to brings me back here. I believe your thread on Hacking Puppy's Init script that I referenced may have the answer. As I stated before can I just do a search and replace for all "-t ext2" entries to "-t ext3"?

Thanks,
Jim

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mikeb
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#12 Post by mikeb »

Look at post #8.....a bit more than that other thread...the older puppies did work like that

mike

Jim1911
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#13 Post by Jim1911 »

Making above changes to the initrd.gz resulted in this output of mount. Sda2 is the partition that dpup is on.

Code: Select all

# mount
rootfs on / type rootfs (rw,relatime)
/dev/sda2 on /initrd/mnt/dev_save type ext3 (rw,noatime,errors=continue,data=writeback)
/dev/loop1 on /initrd/pup_rw type ext3 (rw,noatime,errors=continue,data=writeback)
tmpfs on /initrd/mnt/tmpfs type tmpfs (rw,relatime,size=164396k)
/dev/loop0 on /initrd/pup_ro2 type squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop4 on /initrd/pup_ro4 type squashfs (ro,noatime)
unionfs on / type aufs (rw,relatime,si=efc7dcf)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,relatime,size=3053504k)
none on /proc type proc (rw,relatime)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,relatime,gid=2,mode=620)
none on /sys type sysfs (rw,relatime)
none on /proc/bus/usb type usbfs (rw,relatime)
/dev/sdb7 on /mnt/sdb7 type ext3 (rw,relatime,errors=continue,data=writeback)
Does this indicate a problem?

Thanks,
Jim

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mikeb
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#14 Post by mikeb »

errors=continue
I believe this is a parameter and not an indication of a problem...in other words looks ok...happy testing

mike

Jim1911
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#15 Post by Jim1911 »

Hi Mike,

Thank you for looking at my code, I didn't think that it was an error, and it seems to be working fine with my dpup484b4. Couldn't have done it without your nice clear instructions on your Hacking Puppy's Init script thread.

I'm going to try it on Lighthouse now. EDIT: Works fine in Lighthouse.

Thanks again,
Jim

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mikeb
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#16 Post by mikeb »

Hey Jim...I don't like the look of this....
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=52002
something to watch out for

mike

Jim1911
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#17 Post by Jim1911 »

Mike,

Thanks for the heads up, I saw that also, hope that it's a false alarm.

Maybe we need to move on to ext4. Although, I've been unable to make a frugal install that is recognized by my favorites. No problem with full install where I do use ext4.

Jim

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mikeb
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#18 Post by mikeb »

Hmm progress does not necessarily mean better and breaking support for a very common filesystem makes me wary generally. That's why my day to day puppy is based on 2.12. Have you considered reiserfs?

mike
edit...
Maybe we need to move on to ext4
..maybe that's the idea but I hate being railroaded.....that's something microsoft do all the time.

Jim1911
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#19 Post by Jim1911 »

Hi Mike

No, I haven't used reiserfs. Does Grub.097 recognize frugal pup installations? What type of pupsave would you use? I would think that 3fs would work, but how would you enable journaling?

If your hardware supports it, you are really missing out if you aren't trying the latest dpup, upup, and Lighthouse. For serious work, I'm normally in Lighthouse or Ubuntu.

I'm late on the puppy scene so I didn't ever check out the 2 series. Barry was switching from the 3 to 4 series at that time and I was just beginning to love puppy.

One more question, would the same techniques used for ext3 work for ext4?

Jim

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mikeb
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#20 Post by mikeb »

No, I haven't used reiserfs. Does Grub.097 recognize frugal pup installations? What type of pupsave would you use? I would think that 3fs would work, but how would you enable journaling?
you have lost me.... :shock:
One more question, would the same techniques used for ext3 work for ext4?
someone else is trying that.
If your hardware supports it, you are really missing out if you aren't trying the latest dpup, upup, and Lighthouse
better the devil you know and everything works really well..I can't be bothered to debug everything again. Besides I'm gradually replacing libs from debian.
Puppy 2.02 is particularly fast and the 1 series flew so speed is another consideration.

mike

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