Grub4DosConfig

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nooby
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#41 Post by nooby »

Sadly that suggestion did not work.

But I trust what the developer told me. It could be one of the experiments for Ext 3 instead of a generic saving to all kinds of formats.

so he will take a look at how to make it work on ntfs and come back in the puppeee thread.

Re the mint I set up in frugal mode. It failed to save book marks.

so I need to find a solution to that one. And before it boots it looks through the whole HDD and that takes time. So if one could tell it to not do that.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

davesurrey
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#42 Post by davesurrey »

Sadly that suggestion did not work.

But I trust what the developer told me
By all means, but I can assure you that your grub code would never work as it stands.

Also I have just checked and puppeee won't boot for me if I install to a desktop but quirky 005 (which puppeee is based on) will boot so it seems the lack of drivers in puppeee (it is designed mainly for asus eee netbooks) is most likely the reason.
Re the mint I set up in frugal mode.
I have absolutely no idea what you mean by this. :roll:

nooby
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#43 Post by nooby »

davesurrey wrote:
Sadly that suggestion did not work.

But I trust what the developer told me
By all means, but I can assure you that your grub code would never work as it stands.

Also I have just checked and puppeee won't boot for me if I install to a desktop but quirky 005 (which puppeee is based on) will boot so it seems the lack of drivers in puppeee (it is designed mainly for asus eee netbooks) is most likely the reason.
Re the mint I set up in frugal mode.
I have absolutely no idea what you mean by this. :roll:
Depends on what you refer to here:

"I can assure you that your grub code would never work as it stands.
"

Well it does work. It is the saving that I have not implemented yet.

But the code as it is works very good.
By frugal I mean that the wmlinuz and the initrd are in a subdir and the pup-43.sfs is there too and the code tell the loader to search for them all over the HDD and this it do and find them and load them up and it just works. While if one tell them where to look then one have to know how to tell them and that I don't now yet. I am too much newbie to know if it is hda1 or sda1 or sata or ide or scsi or what?
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

JustGreg
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#44 Post by JustGreg »

I have Shionbar's GUI for Grub4Dos. It does work. I tried the help button and found it connect to a web site with a Guide for Grub4Dos. The HTML files were available in a zip file. One downloads and places the zip file in a directory. My suggestion is /root/my-documents. Unzips the file by clicking on it in Rox File manager. This will bring up the xarchieve tool and by slecting all buton, files will be selected. Then click on the extract button. the files will be extracted. Checking the directory with the zip file, you should see a file Grub4Dos.htm and a directory named files. Click on Grub4Dos.htm to open the guide.

In Quirky006, which has Grub4Dos, there is only the bootlace.com file. The grldr file is not present. I did a frugal install of Puppy 4.3.1 to a Windows XP partition. One can use the grldr with the normal Windows XP boot manager to start Grub4Dos without changing the MBR. It work exacting like the Guide showed.
Enjoy life, Just Greg
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

nooby
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#45 Post by nooby »

Yes it works in WinXP. My AOpen which has XP is full of Linux. Puppy, Nimblex, Vector Soho, Slitaz, and many more.

But Windows Vista is a bit more complex. AFAIK there are still no step for step description on how to do manual frugal install of different linuxes in Vista or Win7.

so that is why I use EasyBCD that make use of NeoGrub which is based on Grub4Dos but just a variation. AFAIK it does the same thing.

I try to open the file in windows instead. That worked well.

I can understand why you recommend it. But is it really for Vista?
When I searched the biggest text document they only mention XP and older, they most likely did not have it implemented for Vista when they prepared that text.

I found this mention in one of the htm files
Attempting to install Windows Vista to (hd1) will result in the BCD store and other boot files being written to the active partition on (hd0).

To avoid this, temporarily remove (hd0) from the system (either disable the disk in the BIOS settings or physically remove it by disconnecting the IDE/SATA lead).

Make sure that the Vista disk is set as "Master" and install Windows Vista from the installation DVD.

When the Vista installation has completed, reconnect the first hard disk and set it as "master", and set the Vista disk as "slave".
But I am not to install Vista. that is the OS that the OEM already have on my computer and which need to be retained in it's precise state to keep warranty of the computer. I talked to the support of the Acer company here in Scandinavia and that is the rules. No resizing of HDD. No partition so I have to learn frugal install of all linuxes I want to test or to use USB or CD live install with persistent.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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tasmod
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#46 Post by tasmod »

Nooby,

Do a search for win32 installer or some such. I'm sorry my memory is not as good as it was.

I played with this for a while, it will allow you to do what you want.

Basically it converts Puppy or whatever, to an exe file for use by windows boot config. So I had Puppy as an exe that was offered during windows boot as a menu choice. Choosing it booted up Puppy, no MBR changes needed.

The package for creating was on here somewhere. Try hamsamben as a search, I posted one there too.
Rob
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The moment after you press "Post" is the moment you actually see the typso 8)

nooby
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#47 Post by nooby »

You mean this thread
Puppy-Win32-Installer
by seeker he has it on his site for download. But does that work in Vista?
(I sent a PM to him asking if he knows if it is possible to change it so it can do both winXP and older and the newer ones like Vista and Win7? )

My gut feeling get confirmed by this text in the first post.

"Your Puppy will be installable on Windows 98, 2000, and XP.
"
He says this in one entry.

"Sure, I would like to add Vista support. To even begin to do this I would need the active cooperation of someone with a Vista OS.
Any volunteers? "

Sadly little later he has concluded this

"Thanks for the support and input. After spending a good deal of time researching this my inclination is to pass on Vista. Too many hurdles and pitfalls for me. "

One should read here
MikeB give this link
http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki/in ... ot_manager

http://208.109.22.214/puppy/viewtopic.p ... cfe095148c

that text would work for a pro but not for a newbie.

Even Seeker gave up on it.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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tasmod
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#48 Post by tasmod »

OK, just a thought.

Hmm Vista wasn't one of MS's best ideas.
Rob
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The moment after you press "Post" is the moment you actually see the typso 8)

JustGreg
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#49 Post by JustGreg »

From the tutorial (I posted about on page 1 of this topic) on:
http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/wiki/in ... gerBooting GRUB for DOS via the Windows Vista boot manager

Here at the steps:

Use bcdedit to configure the startup menu:
bcdedit /create /d "Start GRUB4DOS" /application bootsector
bcdedit /set {id} device boot
bcdedit /set {id} path \grldr.mbr
bcdedit /displayorder {id} /addlast

Then copy grldr.mbr to C:\, grldr and menu.lst to the root directory of any FAT16/FAT32/NTFS/EXT2 partition.

Based on my limited knowledge of Vista since I have not used it, this should not affect the mbr or the partition. If Vista does not use ntfs file system then there may be a problem. Once again, I do not know much about Vista nor does Microsoft want me to have knowledge. Nooby, if you do not know how to check the file system used by Vista then DO NOT USE THIS!

It uses the Windows Boot Manager of Vista like Windows XP to start Grub4dos (grldr). This process is the equivalent of chainloading under either Grub or Grub4dos. Once Grub4dos is started then it will use the file menu.lst (should be C:\ directory like grldr). The files needed for Puppy 4.3.1 should also be in C:\ directory

Here is my menu.lst that I know works (using a similar process) in Windows XP with Puppy 4.3.1:

# This is a sample menu.lst file. You should make some changes to it.
#color light-gray/blue black/light-gray
color light-gray/blue yellow/light-gray
# timeout 30
# default /default

title Puppy Frugal 4.3.1
find --set-root /pup-431.sfs
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=atahd nosmp
initrd /initrd.gz

title Commandline
#savedefault --wait=2
commandline

title reboot
#savedefault --wait=2
reboot

title halt for manual reboot, Crtl-ATL-Del
#savedefault --wait=2
halt

Not having a Vista system nor at this time do I want one, I can not be sure
this will work perfectly with Vista. I hopes this helps.
Enjoy life, Just Greg
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

nooby
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#50 Post by nooby »

Yes thanks,

I have actually accomplish something now.

I write this from within Linux Mint and I have four modern versions of Puppy going in frugal install using EasyBCD and NeoGrub and I edit the menulist too using gedit or whatever.

Could you tell me what the
#savedefault
that you commentented out means? save default what? Why did you have to comment it out. what does it do?

What I have failed to do is the commands in menu.lst to tell Mint to save changes in frugal. Maybe the iso don't allow it. When I google I found one guy who told that the automatic log in is "live user" is preventing the saving of changes.

so I need to find somebody that can remaster the script or some cheat code that says Don't do the live user thing. Someone suggested one use single as a command. I tested this but corrupted the set up and had to start all over. But it has survived three reboots now and works real fast.

I certainly love puppy but there is something special about mint. :)

Why can not Mint use the Unionfs that puppy make use of doing puppy_save?
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JustGreg
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#51 Post by JustGreg »

Nooby, #savedefault was in the sample menu.lst in the documentation. The documentation has the information. Please read it. The answer is in the documentation. I can not do it for you. Puppy is a community effort. No one is getting to paid to do this. If you have ideas on how it should be then do the research and try to implement them yourself.

If you like Mint Linux than use it. You need to ask the Mint Linux community why Mint does not use unionfs. No one in the Puppy community would know that answer.

Here is a question for you, By any chance, are your questions related to your employment or employer?

nooby
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#52 Post by nooby »

I am a retired TeleCom employee we had nothing to do with computers.
So my questioning is for my own personal instant usage to get my OS going on my new machines.

I learned enough 2008 to use it on winXP machines but unfortunately Vista and Win7 are different.

Yes I am member of Mint forum and do ask there but they are not interested in frugal install. They want very Mint user to do full install.

Puppy community are aware of that many have their puppy in frugal install and are not alien to thought of doing this with other distros.

Puppy users are sometimes also users of other distros.

Mint is third on the DW list and Puppy is at 8 or 9 dependent on whicj week one look. Hopefully Puppy goes up sooner or later.

I have great respect for what you guys want to achieve and I apology if I overload you with my questions.

My eagerness is due to me want to achieve this for Mint that Puppy already have. To be able to save changes in frugal install.

but I would be happy if Puppy could be as good as Linux Mint. then I would not ask for help with that one anymore.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

JustGreg
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#53 Post by JustGreg »

I can not help you with the conversion of Mint Linux. But, here is a starting point. This is Barry's web page that explains Puppy's architecture and workings:
http://www.puppylinux.com/development/h ... works.html

It is well written. It gives a good explaination. If you understand it, then you are the way to doing what you want.
Enjoy life, Just Greg
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

nooby
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#54 Post by nooby »

Thanks Greg, I had very interesting reading for some 90 minutes.

As you know all this is way above my capacity but it was very interesting.
I even love Puppy more knowing how unique Puppy is.
Kudos to Barry for providing it.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
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sasaqqdan
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chinese grub4dosconfig.mo

#55 Post by sasaqqdan »

:D
Attachments
grub4dosconfig-zh_CN.tar.gz
chinese grub4dosconfig
(2.27 KiB) Downloaded 716 times

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shinobar
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UPDATE: grub4dos-0.4.4.v1.5.3

#56 Post by shinobar »

Update: 2 Nov 2010
grub4dos-0.4.4.v1.5.3.pet available from here.

CHANGES: (from 1.5.2)
  • Bugfix: was improper boot entry for Ubuntu 10(Lucid).
  • Bugfix; was multiple entry for one frugal in some case
  • Add chinese(simple) translation
Downloads for Puppy Linux [url]http://shino.pos.to/linux/downloads.html[/url]

big_bass
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#57 Post by big_bass »

Hey shinobar

thanks for the grub4dos I am one of those old world lilo users
* since I always have a slackware install)

but I wanted to test your package and you did a great job!
thanks I will repackage it in *.txz format

I thought to post two ways of how it worked on TXZ_pup
as an example for someone to use

what would be nice is to have a list of different versions using grub4dos
examples are great as a reference


the first example grub4 dos auto generated correctly everything *except that I changed the title from puppy450 to TXZ_pup for my own preference only

the second example I manually made a folder TXZ_450
and manually copied the needed files then edited the menu.lst
just to test out if the manual way was detected correctly or not also

both are working fine and your GUI did all the work correctly
very simple to use I recommend it
thanks again I will include it
BTW no problems dual booting XP (in Spanish) also
Joe

Code: Select all


title TXZ pup_450
  find --set-root --ignore-floppies /puppy450/initrd.gz
  kernel /puppy450/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd psubdir=puppy450
  initrd /puppy450/initrd.gz

title TXZ pup_450 manual installed
  find --set-root --ignore-floppies /txz_450/initrd.gz
  kernel /txz_450/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd psubdir=txz_450
  initrd /txz_450/initrd.gz

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piratesmack
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#58 Post by piratesmack »

Just a suggestion.

There's a project called 'Wee' that can load Grub4dos grldr from an Ext4 partition (as well as vfat, ntfs, and ext2/3)
http://nufans.net/grub4dos/wee/

It can be used instead of Grub legacy to start Grub4dos from Ext4 (Wee is smaller and starts up faster)

Wee is a little difficult to install, so I wrote a script that makes it easier.
Just run 'wee-install /dev/sdX', replacing /dev/sdX with your drive:

EDIT: There seems to be problems when copy/pasting the script, so I'll just attach it

Also, thank you for your Grub4dosconfig tool. Very nice :)
Attachments
wee-install.sh.gz
Builds MBR for loading Grub4dos from Ext4
(847 Bytes) Downloaded 565 times
Last edited by piratesmack on Sat 06 Nov 2010, 02:55, edited 1 time in total.

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shinobar
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Aplying grub4dos to the Live CD

#59 Post by shinobar »

Thanks big_bass.
I am happy if any Puppy become easy to install.

See also if you are interested in:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=61132
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=61348
Graphical boot menu can be also achieved with other measures, but the grub4dos ca be a rescue of Windows even the MBR/PBR broken.
Downloads for Puppy Linux [url]http://shino.pos.to/linux/downloads.html[/url]

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shinobar
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Wee

#60 Post by shinobar »

piratesmack wrote:There's a project called 'Wee' that can load Grub4dos grldr from an Ext4 partition (as well as vfat, ntfs, and ext2/3)
Great!
I will try to implement the Wee in the next grub4dosconfig.

For the ext4 for now, it requires grub legacy with the ext4 patch.
The grub4dosconfig arranges the chain grub --> grub4dos.
The Wee may through out this complex way.

Thanks for the information and the lecture.
Downloads for Puppy Linux [url]http://shino.pos.to/linux/downloads.html[/url]

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