App to allow "live boot" of an iso on HDD??

What features/apps/bugfixes needed in a future Puppy
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greengeek
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#21 Post by greengeek »

I will just try pasting the text.... (sorry, this doesn't look very elegant..)

Booting a PC via your LAN - Made Simple:

Premise: This is a simplified explanation for setting up a Puppy PC as a “bootfile source
Last edited by greengeek on Sun 27 May 2012, 00:23, edited 11 times in total.

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Flash
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#22 Post by Flash »

Greengeek, on the subject of not making coasters to try out Puppy, I've been using CD-RW and DVD-RW for years. Puppy seems to like them just fine. I burn Puppy to them using Burniso2cd.

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greengeek
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#23 Post by greengeek »

Flash wrote: I've been using CD-RW and DVD-RW for years. Puppy seems to like them just fine. I burn Puppy to them using Burniso2cd.
Hadn't thought of that... when I first tried using CDRW (years ago) I had so many problems and lost so much data that I never went back to them. Perhaps the technology has improved a bit?

I'll see if I still have one lying around and give it a go.

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greengeek
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#24 Post by greengeek »

nooby wrote:wrong place I move this post
It was not as easy as you wrote compared to
just using iso boot.

Setting up a server is not an easy thing. Servers are
the most exploited computer thing on earth. I will not do it!
Nooby - I decided to try all of the methods people are suggesting here and I just wanted to let you know that setting up the "server" to share iso files turned out to be so easy that it takes only a few minutes.

It is really handy for me because it means I can even try different puppy isos on machines that don't have a CD drive or can't boot from USB.

It also means I can get my other family members to trial puppy without even getting out of their chair, and without them having to load a CD or USB stick. They can just reboot and select "boot by LAN" and give it a try.

Simple, simple, simple. Just one more bit of fun.

gcmartin

#25 Post by gcmartin »

sickgut wrote:grub4dos and grub2 can both boot isos directly, IF the iso is specially "prepared" to allow that functions. How to prepare the iso to do that? no one knows lol.

cant do it with debian but you can with some ubuntus etc
Contact Shinobar via PPM. He is the resident authority on GRUB4DOS. I also understand that rscnr51 also is an authority on GRUB4DOS as well. Ech of these members can help.

I have been booting ISO since February thanks to JamesBiond's Netboot PET. It works flawlessly. And unless you choose to after you have booted the PC there is never any modifications that are necessary. And, should you choose, you can install (frugal or main) after you have booted from the Netboot service.

No knowledge required. Just a little reading for understanding.

Hope this helps

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L18L
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App to allow "live boot" of an iso on HDD??

#26 Post by L18L »

greengeek wrote:..
I just tried to attach a document detailing the process but apparently neither pdf nor abw attachments are permitted. Hmmm... how best to post this??
Just rename your file to file.gz
My 2 cents

Though I cannot use this excellent method because I have got just a poor man´s single computer I want to thank you very much. There is always something new to learn. :)

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greengeek
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Re: App to allow "live boot" of an iso on HDD??

#27 Post by greengeek »

L18L wrote: Just rename your file to file.gz
Oh, o.k. So you just mean change the suffix to .gz? Or do you mean I should use gzip to repackage it? thx

gcmartin

Re: App to allow "live boot" of an iso on HDD??

#28 Post by gcmartin »

greengeek wrote:
L18L wrote: Just rename your file to file.gz
Oh, o.k. So you just mean change the suffix to .gz? Or do you mean I should use gzip to repackage it? thx
Should you chnage the suffix be sure to attach a note or indicate in the comments what was done. Using gzip speaks for itself in that anyone double-clicking a GZIP file gets to see its contents.

Hope thsi helps

gcmartin

#29 Post by gcmartin »

I saw newbie's post on this.

But, what I miss is an example section for GRUB4DOS that show a modern Puppy's ISO being defined for boot. Is there an example for booting an ISO directly. (I understand about the opening ISO and copying stuff to a folder, BUT, I am looking for a "Boot the Puppy ISO" definition.

Thanks in advance, if you can recommend a sample or example.

amigo
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#30 Post by amigo »

Here's an example (manual commands) as given in this thread:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=774539

grub> map (hd1,1)PATHtoISO.iso (hd4)
grub> map --rehook
grub> chainloader (hd4)+1
grub> rootnoverify (hd4)
grub> boot

Here's an example as it would be written in the menu.lst file:
title Test ISO Boot
map (hd0,0)/Test.iso (hd3)
map --rehook
chainloader (hd3)+1
rootnoverify (hd3)
boot

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greengeek
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#31 Post by greengeek »

nooby wrote:another way is this Frugal boot of isos. Seems to work best with puppy.
Ooops one use puppy to mount the iso by clicking on it and then copy the dirs out to a subdir with same name as the iso see example.
Beware that the preseed need to ahve right name. ubuntu or mint or custom or ... see examples below.

I have ideas but all depends on your exact needs.
Hi Nooby, each menu.lst entry can be different depending on what boot options are desirable, but do you think there is "one specific menu.lst boot entry" that would be suitable for every puppy iso?

What I mean is - do you think some clever person could write a programme or script that would ask which iso you wanted to try, then automatically extracted the subdirs from the iso and added "one specific boot entry" into the menu.lst (as "TESTNEWPUPPY" for example) and then prompted the user to "now reboot".

That way all the user would have to do is:
1) Run the script
2) Choose the iso
3) Reboot
4) watch the machine start the new iso
5) Reboot the machine and choose a "non "TESTNEWPUPPY" entry if something had gone wrong with the test.

nooby
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#32 Post by nooby »

Wish I could help you out. I ahve given wrong impression of
what I know and don't know. Sorry to be misleadng.

It is late ehre now so I go to bed.

I put a note here to look at this tomorrow.
thanks for putting trust in my willingness to be a hlper
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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rcrsn51
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#33 Post by rcrsn51 »

greengeek wrote:Hi Nooby, each menu.lst entry can be different depending on what boot options are desirable, but do you think there is "one specific menu.lst boot entry" that would be suitable for every puppy iso?
This is what I use for testing:

Code: Select all

title Testing (sda2)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /testing/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd pdev1=sda2 psubdir=testing 
initrd /testing/initrd.gz
I click on a Puppy ISO, copy the core files into the "testing" folder and reboot.

nooby
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#34 Post by nooby »

title Testing (sda2)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /testing/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd pdev1=sda2 psubdir=testing
initrd /testing/initrd.gz

This part is a good one for puppy.

psubdir=testing That allow it to boot the sfs within that subdir
because some puppies looks for that sfs file on all drives it can mount.

And pmedia and pdev tell it to narrow down to atahd and not look on CD?
Or maybe it set the pupmode level? How often to save to that media?

IIRC there are 12 different modes?

greengeek, as you see I know almost nothing.
When I wrote what you cited that where a kind of relapse
into "Want to help out even if I know almost nothing mode"

I trust that you and I need to learn more how linux boots.

But first how bootloaders boot and when they let the linux take over
the boot.

One can see that sometimes if one look at the text that flies by. bye?

Suddenly it change from one resolution to another. My wild guess
is that that maybe indicate that it went over to the linux script inside
initrd.gz and then it is too late to give it order unless one set up
break points that stop the boot process?

Antix had such Over at their forum they gave example
if one put a 3 on the kernel line then it stop at a specific time
in the script and you can do adjustment of parameters. Going in and
tell it specific things. Using a 9 stop it at a later point and you can
tell the script something else.

I don't know if that is exclusive for that distro or that version even.

Now I need to find where I wrote that text so I can try to recall
what was on my mind at that time. Wish me luck

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 669#583669

I gave example

Here is a starter that allow you test some 95% of all variations of Ubuntu.
I give example for a few.



title Netrunner 2011 frugal iso boot of netrunner-3.2.iso
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /netrunner-3.2.iso
kernel /netrunner/casper/vmlinuz rw file=/cdrom/preseed/netrunner.seed boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/netrunner-3.2.iso noeject noprompt quiet splash --
initrd /netrunner/casper/initrd.lz


title Linux Mint 12 RC works ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /linuxmint-12-gnome-dvd-32bit-rc.iso
kernel /LM12/casper/vmlinuz rw file=/cdrom/preseed/mint.seed boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/linuxmint-12-gnome-dvd-32bit-rc.iso ramdisk_size=1048576 root=/dev/ram noeject noprompt quiet splash --
initrd /LM12/casper/initrd.lz




title Bodhi Linux boots from bodhi_1.2.1.iso lacks mediaplayer
find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /bodhi_1.2.1.iso
kernel /bodhi/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/custom.seed boot=casper persistent iso-scan/filename=/bodhi_1.2.1.iso quiet splash --
initrd /bodhi/casper/initrd.gz


All these three are variations of Ubuntu but they differ in preseed name.
And they differ how they treat the initrd two of them lz and one gz
only two different ways to pack them as small as possible.

such details are important. Another important thing is to not include the
hidden directory named .dist or similar name that one most often makes
it fail in an important way for my purpose.

Now what I want goes against the policy of Ubuntu so never mention
that on their forums. Not on linux mint either or other such forums.
that could result in you getting banned for being illoyal to their agenda.

They want to protect every user from doing fatal mistake and the way
I boot allow those mistakes so people tell me to not share thus glitch
in the armor.

But I am not sure what I wanted to tell you. I trust it was just my inner
emotional need to be of help that got me carried away. So sorry.

Back on topic. What you ask for is maybe partially dealt with using
something they named Underdog?

Barry had a blog entry about it recently. I try to find it.

Remember Underdog?
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=13750
This is a very handy device for running programs in Puppy from another Linux distro whose partition Puppy Linux shares. Doesn't seem to merit much attention these days - I can't understand why that is - it's very nifty!

For example I have Vector Linux installed underneath Puppy in partition "hda"and have direct access to all these handy utils that Vector has which could be extremely useful in Puppy were they available - e.g. rpm2tgz, pkgtool, installpkg, slapt-get to name but a few.

This little script will enable underdog for you or remove the connection as required. It works by creating the file "underdog.lnx" containing a single line "hda1" (no quotes). The PC will the reboot with this file now in place in the home partition - i.e.
where your pup_save.3fs resides. If you use option 2 to remove the connection without there being an existing underdog.lnx file in the home partition, the script will simply exit without a reboot. Otherwise the script removes the file and reboots Puppy back to normal. Alter the value of variable string1 to whatever your home partition is called.

#!/bin/sh
#tronkel
#this little bash script when run from a terminal will start or remove underdog.
#system reboots after completion of script if "underdog.lnx" is present otherwise will simply #exit the shell. System will also reboot if "Start" option is selected



string1="hda1"
select item in Start Remove
do
if [ $item = "Start" ];then
touch /mnt/home/underdog.lnx
echo $string1 >> /mnt/home/underdog.lnx
/usr/X11R7/bin/wmreboot
elif [ $item = "Remove" ];then
if [ ! -e /initrd/mnt/dev_save/underdog.lnx ];then
echo "underdog.lnx does not exist"
exit
else
rm /initrd/mnt/dev_save/underdog.lnx
echo "underdog removed"
/usr/X11R7/bin/wmreboot
fi
else
break
fi
done


I also attach the script as a file
I screamed Wow Jay more of such things when I read it.

rcrsn51 most likely understand what it is all about.
I wish I could get it too. It is close to what we want is it not?

Barry wrote an answer linking to the blog entry
Posted: Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:40 am Post subject: Reply with quote
Underdog is described here:

http://puppylinux.com/development/howpuppyworks.html

Yes, it is a very interesting idea, but has died through lack of interest.

Puppy no longer supports 'underdog.lnx', but I could bring it back.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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vovchik
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#35 Post by vovchik »

Dear nooby,

Glad to see you back here. Hang around. We don't bite and miss your insights.

With kind regards,
vovchik

nooby
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#36 Post by nooby »

Sorry me so confusing. My ADHD seems to have worsen due to lack of
deep sleep sleep apnea whatever.

greengeek I guess you know that hierarchically you start with
POST which most likely are built into BIOS? That is a hardware
ROM? that sequentially goes through what is attached to the Mother board.

Does it have this and that so POST check up that it can make use of them
and flag those that are defunk?

Then it start the boot order. Depending on what is default boot order
or what you have told it to have as boot order it start up floppy first
if it is a very old machine or CD-ROM if a bit more modern or if Netboot
without CD or DVD then it maybe set the internal HD as first media to boot
from. There it also look hierarchically and follow a script.

So the boot loader is rather independent of the distro. Different bootloaders
may boot same distro. Depending on if it is on CD USB one use one boot loader that suites that media best. HD has another boot loader.

So we have still not got into Linux. The boot loader let Linux take over
at a certain point.

Each linux has their own unique way to look for "cheat codes on the kernel line.

So that makes it very difficult to standardize such booting.

One would need some kind of preparation that looked through what choice
the user make at the moment of booting. So the bootloader would need to
have a very flexible script that made a lot of choice or to ask if it
got into ambigiuos demands?

You could take a look at member d4p and his link to a description on
how to set up external HD to boot 145+ linux distros and have them all
on that external usb hd? Where is the link? :) I try to find it.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 436#507436

But there no link to the 145+ ways of doing it? Does he have it in his profile maybe. nope he maybe took that away. But I found two persons on the web
that described it and one maybe is d4p? Where is that post then
here is the first link I gave but that guy maybe learned from d4p?
http://agnipulse.com/2011/08/install-ubuntu-hard-disk/

So I still have not found the link to d4p description in a blog entry?
d4p gives this link
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... a57174d363

from here
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 420#578420

I quote part of it here
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 451#578451

Here is an imprtant link maybe
http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthre ... did=147959
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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greengeek
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#37 Post by greengeek »

.
Thanks Nooby. Actually, there are several things I am trying to learn about the boot process at the moment. (Too much too learn!)

I think this is the method I should use:
rcrsn51 wrote:This is what I use for testing:
Code:
title Testing (sda2)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /testing/vmlinuz pmedia=atahd pdev1=sda2 psubdir=testing
initrd /testing/initrd.gz

I click on a Puppy ISO, copy the core files into the "testing" folder and reboot.
This is what I want to do, and I also want to find a way to add an extra step - I want to see if it is possible to write a program or script that automatically puts the files into the correct "Testing" folder, instead of me doing it manually.

That way I would run the script, it would ask me which iso, I would tell it which iso, and it would do the copying and maybe even start the reboot too.

nooby
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#38 Post by nooby »

Is that not what the Ms Win program do that fail to work good on linux.
What was the name? Some two years has gone so I forget name.
unetbootin or similar made by an ubuntu active guy tuxcantfly his
nickname on ubuntu. It reminds me of what that program do and
most likely it is a script?

You should take a look at grub4dosconfig that is most likely a script to
and do some of those part? okay very few but you see some ofthe ways
one do gtk? dialog? Shinobar would know.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

nooby
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Location: SwedenEurope

#39 Post by nooby »

oops reading your title.
App to allow "live boot" of an iso on HDD??

You have to be aware that it is of little use to boot live versions.
For to protect the user who want to get familiar with a linux distro
the Devs has set up live session user very restricted in what you
are allowed to do. Sure you will be able to surf and see how it
behaves interface how one get around in menus and so on
but you are very restricted. Not even being root would allow
you to do things in some distros.

So being live has its constraints. I should read your first post
but I am too lazy just now. Hope somebody that knows more than
what I do help you further with the script.
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

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WindUpToy
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#40 Post by WindUpToy »

An interesting discussion.

Sure, it would be nice to be able to simply boot an ISO from hard disc, but how difficult is it to burn a CD and do it the normal way?
Or are some people just too mean to "waste" discs that only cost 18cents each?

I see certain people here jumping through hoops trying to not make CDs.
It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

(just my 18c worth)

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