Puppy On Laptops

Using applications, configuring, problems
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greengeek
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#281 Post by greengeek »

Hi 8-bit, I recall having seen some posts which discuss the use of a 'swapfile' rather than a 'swap partition' for machines with lower memory capacity. I haven't yet delved into this myself but maybe there is some benefit in researching this difference.

(If memory serves me correctly I think either jpeps or dewbie may have a thread on this topic??)

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8-bit
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#282 Post by 8-bit »

If one looks at versions of windows and the memory requirements of them, they seem to take less memory as they have all applications and data on the hard drive.
To have windows run similar to Puppy, one would have to create a startup batch file that would in effect set up a large ram disk, copy all applications and supporting software to it, and then specify that windows was to use the newly created ramdisk as a home drive.
I saw an article by someone that did that.
They stated that windows absolutely flew when ran from a ram disk.
But there again, having the memory for a ram disk of sufficient size was required.
That makes me wonder if a full install of Puppy would be in line with the very low memory requirements of windows 98SE that seemed to be in the area of 16 megs of ram for it and even WinXP was set at 64 megs of memory.
Frugal Puppy installs to a ram disk that is seen as its file system and with low memory on a PC, corruption is more likely to occur.

First, one goes for stability.
Then one goes for speed of execution.

rokytnji
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Joined: Tue 20 Jan 2009, 15:54

#283 Post by rokytnji »

Full install is the way to go on anything 256MB when I ran Puppy 4.0 Dingo on my IBM A22M laptop. Even after I upgraded ram to 512MB. Full install is the way I would go.


Thats my 2 cents on that.
[/b]

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RetroTechGuy
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#284 Post by RetroTechGuy »

8-bit wrote:If one looks at versions of windows and the memory requirements of them, they seem to take less memory as they have all applications and data on the hard drive.
Well, the Windows OSes seem to underestimate the real memory requirements for a functioning machine.

That being said, I do think that most versions of Puppy need more power/RAM than say, Win98. A Win98 with 128MB RAM would generally be pretty usable (who knows how the modern browsers would clobber it though).
That makes me wonder if a full install of Puppy would be in line with the very low memory requirements of windows 98SE that seemed to be in the area of 16 megs of ram for it and even WinXP was set at 64 megs of memory.
I've found a general rule of thumb that Win95 needed 64 MB, Win98 needed 128MB, and every generation doubles... So extending that rule, ME needs 256MB, Win2k needs 512, XP 1GB, Vista 2GB, Win7 4GB...

The extrapolation isn't perfect, but not far off. XP will run fine in 1GB, but with Service Pack 3, probably 1.5-2GB is a better idea... Win7 (32 bit) seems to work fine at 2GB (I've used machines with 1 GB, and they are dogs). Vista was a pig, and probably ought to have 2+. Win7-64 ought to have 4GB...

I would like to see some versions of the newer Puppies have a lower hardware load. My old Compaq 333 laptop runs Win98 pretty good (I stuffed 256MB RAM in it -- it ran fine at 128MB). Puppy 5.20 is pretty heavy for it, but runs.

I recently rolled it back to 4.12 Retro, which shows a Mem load of substantially under 64MB (without loading the .SFS). I have been running 5.20 Retro, and found that at about 64MB. The newer Puppies seem to eat 128+ MB of RAM, with nothing running...

I generally prevent the .SFS from loading, as some packages (e.g. FF) really gobble up memory. On my main desktop (2.2 GHz, with 1 GB RAM), I regularly find things stop working, as FF consumes virtually every bit of available RAM... I flush the RAM cache, and free some of it, and it works for a while, then continues "leaking" to fill the RAM again. It only seems to do this with FF, not other programs that I run (I haven't experimented with other browsers, but probably should). Curiously, I don't think that I have that problem with my 2nd desktop, which has 2 GB RAM (and has no swap). FF creates a heavy load, but doesn't seem to eat all of the 2GB (or only when something "goes wrong")...

Oh, BTW, I run Frugal on everything...
[url=http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=58615]Add swapfile[/url]
[url=http://wellminded.net63.net/]WellMinded Search[/url]
[url=http://puppylinux.us/psearch.html]PuppyLinux.US Search[/url]

rendysatrya
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ASUS 1015BX Soundcard does't work

#285 Post by rendysatrya »

I've tried the latest precise 5.7.1 on my ASUS 1015BX AMD Fusion c60 netbook, all work fine except the sound card. It detects sound card but it doesn't work. What should i do then?

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RetroTechGuy
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Re: ASUS 1015BX Soundcard does't work

#286 Post by RetroTechGuy »

rendysatrya wrote:I've tried the latest precise 5.7.1 on my ASUS 1015BX AMD Fusion c60 netbook, all work fine except the sound card. It detects sound card but it doesn't work. What should i do then?
I think that when I installed 5.28 on my old laptop, that the sound didn't work initially. Then I ran the sound wizard, which identified the correct driver and it worked fine (Menu => Setup).
[url=http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=58615]Add swapfile[/url]
[url=http://wellminded.net63.net/]WellMinded Search[/url]
[url=http://puppylinux.us/psearch.html]PuppyLinux.US Search[/url]

gerry
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#287 Post by gerry »

I use Slacko 5.3.3 on my Acer Aspire One, the label says "Model Number ZG5". It is an early one, about four years old now, and does not get much use. I take it on holiday, and mainly use it to:
Browse, check news, weather forecast, webmail.
Show slideshows of grandchildren to friends/relations.
Store and get a larger view of photos downloaded from camera.

I find that I have to take a mouse, as the I find the left and right pad buttons too awkward to use.

I don't attempt things like games or photo editing, or other things better done on a desktop when I get home.

Within that requirement envelope I've never had any trouble with Slacko.

Gerry

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mikeslr
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Pups which Work with the Acer Aspire One D270

#288 Post by mikeslr »

Hi All,
The problem with the Acer Aspire One D270 is its employment of the Cedarview graphics chip, variously identified in the subheading of this post in the hope that doing so will help others find this post. Other computers have used Cedarview chips, including the gma500_gfx and the gma650_gfx. The information here may also apply to those computers.
As of September 2013, at least three versions of Puppy Linux work almost "out of the box" with respect to graphics, wireless and sound on the D270: that is, setting the Pups up is something anyone can do with only a little more effort than setting up any Pup on any other computer. These Pups will boot directly to desktop and automatically initiate the First Run settings wizard. To obtain proper graphics during “First Run
Last edited by mikeslr on Wed 01 Jul 2015, 16:17, edited 6 times in total.

npierce
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#289 Post by npierce »

mikeslr wrote:For controlling the mouse, the D270 has a simple touchpad, not even adorned by the two buttons below the touchpad to which I've been accustomed by Thinkpads.
It seems like you may have a "ClickPad". When you press down on the lower edge of the touchpad do you get a mechanical click? If so, does that cause the results you would normally get from a left-click? (I'm talking about actually pressing on the pad as you would on a button, not just a light tap.)

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mikeslr
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The Acer Aspire One D270 -- further info

#290 Post by mikeslr »

Thanks npierce,

I'll try that. I'll also retry Slacko 5.6 Final and Phatslacko, having just re-installed them to a USB-key. Will post what such trials uncover.

For those interested in why I acquired the D270 in the first place, and which netbooks are currently recommended, see my post @http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 005#725005

mikesLr

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mikeslr
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Slackos which work the Acer Aspire One D270

#291 Post by mikeslr »

Hi All,

Thanks to npierces' suggestion, I re-examined the D270's touchpad and thus discovered how to work with Slacko Pups.
Although pressing the edges of the touchpad did nothing, it occurred to me while doing so that perhaps the solid black plastic strip just below the touchpad might be more than a design element for aesthetic purposes. Pressing the black strip with the light pressure which would send an alpha-numeric key value to a target also accomplished nothing. But by exerting considerable pressure to the ends of the black strip I discovered that it concealed both left and right mouse buttons. Using a mouse is still considerably easier. But it's nice to know that right-and-left click mouse routines are available from a naked D270.

With that discovery I was encouraged to try running the D270 under Phatslacko and Slacko 5.6 Final again.

PHATslacko, http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 563#691017 ,
Slacko 5.6 Final, http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=87210

Unlike upup raring and the precises I discussed in the post above, the Slackos do not initially boot to desktop. Rather, during the initial boot you are required to type “xorgwizard

efiabruni
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Asus Eeepc 1001PX

#292 Post by efiabruni »

Saluki, Slacko5.6, Precise5.7.1, Lucid5.2.8 Frugal install

Saluki is my day to day OS and I have been using it the last 2 years on this laptop. Internet-connection(Wifi), audio(speakers, headphones and mic), video, suspending, mounting (internal hdd, usb, SD card), touchpad everything is working well. The only issue, which I have is that I cannot mount my android phone via USB in v023, but could in 017.

Tested and working out of the box in Slacko5.6:
Internet-connection(wifi), mounting,(hdd), audio (speakers, headphones and mic) and video

Tested and working out of the box in Precise5.7.1
Internet-connection(wifi), mounting,(hdd), audio(speakers, headphones and mic) and video

Tested and working out of the box in Lucid5.2.8
Internet-connection(wifi), mounting,(hdd) and video

--not working in Lucid: audio(speakers, headphones and mic) , but I haven't tried to configure anything, will run the sound setup wizard next time I have a look at it

After running the sound set up wizard speakers are working, but not headphone/mic. I think it is this problem.

rokytnji
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#293 Post by rokytnji »

Update:

Code: Select all

System:    Host: puppypc15741 Kernel: 2.6.39 i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.4.5) 
           Desktop: Openbox 3.5.0 Distro: Guy Dog Linux Linux 2.6.39 [ arch]
Machine:   System: Acer (portable) product: Aspire 5534 version: V1.10
           Mobo: Acer model: Aspire 5534 version: V1.10 Bios: Acer version: V1.10 date: 08/26/2009
CPU:       Dual core AMD Athlon X2 L310 (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB flags: (lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 svm) bmips: 4788.62 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 1197.159 MHz 2: 1197.159 MHz
Graphics:  Card: ATI RS780M/RS780MN [Radeon HD 3200 Graphics] bus-ID: 01:05.0 
           X.org: 1.7.7 driver: radeon tty size: 80x24 Advanced Data: N/A for root 
Audio:     Card: ATI SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) driver: HDA Intel bus-ID: 00:14.2 Sound: ALSA ver: 1.0.24
Network:   Card-1: Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) driver: ath9k bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller 
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 2000 bus-ID: 08:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 250.2GB (20.3% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_MK2555GS size: 250.1GB 
           2: id: /dev/sdb model: Multi size: 0.1GB 
Partition: 
Sensors:   None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info:      Processes: 79 Uptime: 24 min Memory: 265.5/3546.9MB Runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: N/A Client: Shell (sh) inxi: 1.9.16 

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1          15      120456    b  W95 FAT32
Translation. Guydog 5.01 running on 128MB SD Flash card on a Acer Aspire 5534. Sound, Flash, anything else I install in this 90MB Puppy
version with Debian compatibility works just fine on this Acer. Saving changes on 2 gig personal save file on 250gig NTFS drive.
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klva47
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Toshiba C855

#294 Post by klva47 »

Toshiba Satellite C855-S5206
4x Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2370M CPU @ 2.40GHz
2757MB Memory (333MB used)
Puppy Linux LUPU-528.005 dual boot with Grub
Windows 7

This install is working fine, but that is nothing new for me. I've had great results with Puppy from the first try with an old IBM 770 something like 8 years ago. Puppy also worked on an IBM T42, T23, A31, R51, and a HP tower. I would just installed the current version of Puppy that was available at the time, to a Linux partition, and use grub to dual-boot if there was a working Windows install. They all just worked. The only problem I recall was sound did not work on the 770. In that case, I did not need sound, so it was essentially a non-issue for me.

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mikeslr
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Dell Latitude E6400 -- nice machine

#295 Post by mikeslr »

Hi All,

I had to replace my Thinkpad T42 which ran all 32-bit Puppies very well. Having acquired the light-weight Acer Aspire mentioned above for traveling, the Thinkpad had been relegated to providing quick access to the internet while I watched TV in the den. It was kept next to my chair on a small table by a window. Newton's Third Law and my cat conspired to alter its location. Sturdy bugger that she was, she survived the change, but became mute. Testing revealed a motherboard problem: more costly to fix than replace.
Thought I might as well upgrade. Looked for a Thinkpad T61 on ebay and Amazon Marketplace, but didn't want to spend that much. Figured I'd settle for a Dell Latitude D630, almost as highly rated, but a little cheaper. Then, as I was about to "Buy Now" via ebay I glanced down to "what others are looking at" and saw a listing for a seller refurbished Dell Latitude E6400, Ibm Core 2 Duo, 3 Gb RAM, 160 Gb Sata, Good Battery from a Top Rated Seller for $149, free shipping. Searching suggested it to be superior to the D630 and that it played well with Linux.
It came with XP Professional installed, which I'll keep primarily so that I can use Dragon Naturally Speaking. I plan to resize the hard-drive to create Linux partitions for Puppies and, perhaps, Zorin. As of now, I've successfully run from a USB-key Raring, Upup precise, and FatDog64. All were fast. Overall, it seems like a rather nice machine.

mikesLr

starhawk
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#296 Post by starhawk »

What happened to the muted Aspire?

BTW -- both my parents are from Bergen County NJ, about a half hour from you by Google Maps. Small world :D

nooby
Posts: 10369
Joined: Sun 29 Jun 2008, 19:05
Location: SwedenEurope

#297 Post by nooby »

I could resist if I really wanted it but I got curious
so I bought the cheepest laptop I could find today

2800SEK which is a Close to 530USD we are paying
a bit more than in US?

Why did I bought it? To find out if the UEFI would alllow me
to bypass UEFI in BIOS so I need to go the the thread
describing succeses. So if you know the best way to
install on Pachard Bell EASY NOTE maybe it has a modell number

But I am too tired just now. Local time now is 23.20 time to sleep. :)
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though

stray_dog
Posts: 65
Joined: Wed 19 Mar 2014, 00:14

#298 Post by stray_dog »

Slacko 5.6 & 5.7 have worked for me pretty well on:
hp dv1227us
hp probook 4530s, and
hp elitebook 8530p
Last edited by stray_dog on Sun 10 Aug 2014, 12:40, edited 1 time in total.

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dk60902
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#299 Post by dk60902 »

I have a Compaq Presario 2195us laptop that is 10 years old. I bought it refurbished off the HP website at that time. I had been using XP Pro on it, but as there is no more XP support, I decided to run Puppy 5.2.8.005 off a CD. It runs reasonably well for websurfing with Firefox. Everything worked out without any tweaking (sound, headphones, (haven't checked mic)) except wireless. This came with a Broadcom BCM1506 card. I didn't try Frisbee wireless manager. I know that there is probably some pet, ndiswrapper or something I can do to get the Broadcom card working, as supposedly, they don't do too well with Linux. I even tried installing an Intel WM2200ABG card, but didn't have much sucess. I just said F it, and am using a USB wireless dongle that works out of the box with Lucid. The only small niggle is that after booting to the home page, it takes a couple minutes for the wireless to connect.

When I was using another Windows box with Slacko, Lucid 5.2.8 frugally installed with the same wireless dongle, I got a very quick connection within seconds.
Last edited by dk60902 on Sat 21 Jun 2014, 12:39, edited 1 time in total.
HP Pavilion Mini Pentium 1.7 GHz Dual Core 12 GB RAM 120 GB SSD Linux Lite 3.8 64-bit w/ Kensington Slimblade Trackball
Bionic8.0 Xenial64 Tahr64 USB frugal install
Samsung Chromebook Plus
LG V20 LG Xpression Plus Huawei Ascend XT2

Al1000
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Location: Scotland

#300 Post by Al1000 »

PB EasyNote E6307 - approximately 10 years old.

768MB RAM

AMD 1.8GHz Sempron 3000+ CPU

40 GB HD

Graphics:
VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800/K8N800/K8N800A [S3 UniChrome Pro] (rev 01)

I have Precise 5.7.1 frugal install, dual boot with Kubunutu 12,04, and also use Lucid 5.2.8.6 in ''live'' mode with a savefile on USB (which I have set so that there is no automatic save). This laptop doesn't boot from USB, so to use Lucid I boot from CD.

I had some trouble finding a ''large'' up-to-date(ish) Linux OS that this laptop would boot from, as most of them had issues with the graphics; then I eventually discovered Kubuntu 12.04 just yesterday, and I am delighted with it so far.

On the contrary with Puppy which I've now been using for a few months, it took me a while to find one that didn't work on this laptop, and that one (Tahr) is still in its developmental stage.

Precise, Lucid and Slacko 5.7 all work fine, although the latter runs the CPU slightly hotter, and I gather it's primarily designed for more modern hardware. Lucid is the one I have been using the most up until now, and I just installed Precise on the hard drive for fun after deleting Windows, and plan to install more Pups on the same partition.

I was slightly apprehensive at first about formatting the hard drive because of the infamous ''tattoo,'' but found installing Kubuntu (and Puppy) just as straightforward as installing an OS on my desktop pc.

Using GParted on my Lucid 5.2.8.6 installation on USB, I deleted the former sole partition on the HD and created a small primary partition just for boot files, then created an extended partition on the remainder of the HD and divided it into four logical partitions for Puppy, swap, Kubuntu, and files such as photos and videos etc. It's much more fun that way! :)

Even though this was an XP machine, getting rid of Windows completely was the best thing that ever happened to it. Kubuntu is faster and smoother than XP, and of course Puppy is faster still.

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