Who Needs a Hard Disk? :-P

What works, and doesn't, for you. Be specific, and please include Puppy version.
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Blackfish
Posts: 324
Joined: Wed 26 Feb 2014, 15:36
Location: Brookings, SD

Re: Who Needs Hardware? :-P

#21 Post by Blackfish »

ardvark wrote:For myself personally, I prefer having the storage capabilities a hard drive offers. I don't wish to run everything in or from memory. :wink:

Regards...
You have got me there.

Obviously, I needed storage in other places for backing up my files. In order to get that job done, I put the hard drive back into the machine and installed Puppy. Then I rebooted and mounted the USB stick and copied all my files to the hard drive for back up. Then I shut down and removed the hard drive again and go back to work with the USB stick. I back up at least once per week.

I also use Google Drive for backing up files. I've found that Google Drive nor abw. are compatible with Puppy and will not upload to Google Drive. No problem. I just copy and paste all the data from my abw. files into a new document on Google Drive and create a new file with the same title. I think it's a good idea to have files backed up somewhere other than my own hardware.

Though the hard drive may have more speed and more storage capability, using the machine with the hard drive and any other moving parts I can get rid of increases battery life a great deal. It's a great advantage when traveling. I can boot up and get to work on an airplane or in an airport or any other place when I can't find a power outlet to plug into, and last a long while longer than if I were running a hard drive or spinning a CD.

I have to say however that I have been looking into the capabilities of more modern machines. I like the look of some of the Chromebooks, for example. They are much smaller and more capable, the batteries last longer, and they likely outdo these older machines. And there are machines that are even smaller than Chromebooks and still have the full capabilities of a laptop. Pretty amazing stuff coming out these days.

Now, it's my understanding that if I were to get one of these newer 64 bit machines, my Precise Puppy 5.7.1 would not work on it. I would have to switch to the Fat Puppy? I love my system the way it is and want to continue booting and working from the USB stick. If the newer set up would not allow this capability, then I would think twice before doing it.

starhawk
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#22 Post by starhawk »

You don't need a 64 bit OS to use a 64 bit CPU. I have a 64 bit CPU in this very laptop as I type on it (it has an AMD Turion 64 X2 -- dual core, 2GHz, 64 bit). I'm using a 32 bit Puppy with PAE (X-Slacko 1.1 PAE) -- and I'm only using PAE because this system has 4gb RAM and I don't feel like wasting 3/4 of a gig just because of a missing feature.

Precise 571 should run fine on newer stuff. That's not to say you won't have issues (you might, you might not... really only one way to find out ;) ) but it should run fine.

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Blackfish
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Location: Brookings, SD

#23 Post by Blackfish »

starhawk wrote:You don't need a 64 bit OS to use a 64 bit CPU. I have a 64 bit CPU in this very laptop as I type on it (it has an AMD Turion 64 X2 -- dual core, 2GHz, 64 bit). I'm using a 32 bit Puppy with PAE (X-Slacko 1.1 PAE) -- and I'm only using PAE because this system has 4gb RAM and I don't feel like wasting 3/4 of a gig just because of a missing feature.

Precise 571 should run fine on newer stuff. That's not to say you won't have issues (you might, you might not... really only one way to find out ;) ) but it should run fine.
.

Sounds good. Thanks. The machine I have now is a Dell Latitude D531. The CPU is AMD Athlon X2 64.

Everything runs fine, but with a few annoying glitches I can't seem to solve. I am looking to move on from this particular set up and get smaller and more capable.

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rufwoof
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Re: Who Needs Hardware? :-P

#24 Post by rufwoof »

Blackfish wrote:I also use Google Drive for backing up files. I've found that Google Drive nor abw. are compatible with Puppy and will not upload to Google Drive. No problem. I just copy and paste all the data from my abw. files into a new document on Google Drive and create a new file with the same title.
I LiveCD boot to ram, small core puppy, rest all later loaded using sfs's. No SaveFile. For persistence I have a script that removes core puppy /root files and replaces them with sym links - which could be on HDD, but in my case is actually still contained within ram. The directory containing all of those linked to files/directories can be downloaded and saved back to GoogleDrive as a single upload/download. Just compress and encrypt the directory into a single file and upload/download as/when. The directory could also be used to hold data/abw etc files.

So basically, boot to core desktop, run a script that loads a number of sfs's and also sets up sym links (e.g. libre config files that are normally stored under /root/,config/libreoffice is changed to sym link to /GD/root/.config/libreoffice ....etc for other apps and where /GD/root is formed by downloading and extracting/decrypting a compressed file from googledrive. At end of session, recompress/encrypt /GD/root and upload that single file to googledrive.

In my particular case my internet download speed is about the same as the time it takes to transfer data from the CD/DVD drive.

Initially some effort to set up manual/selective saves/persistence script. But once that's all scripted thereafter it's a pretty quick operation. My puppy iso is around 80MB, but I also include a range of sfs's that I commonly use in that iso - which increases the iso size to around 400MB. I store other sfs's that I use less often on googledrive. Each sfs that is loaded is copied from cd to ram and loaded from there (so the cd can be ejected afterwards - leaving everything running in ram (no HDD/CD's mounted)).

Basically individual sfs's with wrappers that repoint /root/.appconfig files so that any application config changes are preserved despite having no savefile and running totally in ram.

Pelo

USB sticks are just the hard-drive i need.

#25 Post by Pelo »

USB : Slower than hard-drive ? yes, of course, only 20 seconds needed to load in RAM. Then, my Ram is so fast as yours.
USB hard Disk : 5 euros, and i have lot of spares sticks ;
They are labelled
I travel with one or two pieces in my pocket
I can touch them !
complete info here

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RSH
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#26 Post by RSH »

Hi.
The Title wrote:Who Needs a Hard Disk? :-P
I don't save personal files/data in the so-called "Cloud".
I'm not intested in Internet and Networking (only exception: Puppy and its Forum).
I don't do online-internet-banking.
I don't buy stuff over the internet.

I like to support my local dealers and also I like to see/touch/smell products -if possible-, that I'm intented to buy/own.

I do use and look at my Computers as true Workstations, not as Consumer-Devices.

So, I do need a Hard Disk! I do need several Hard Disks!

My Workstation at Home has installed 4 internal Hard Disk Drives. One is a 500 GB SATA Drive, the three others are 160 GB IDE Drives (Western Digital, Samsung).

Besides this I'm using 5 external USB Hard Disk Drives. One is a 250 GB Seagate FreeAgent Desktop, two are 500 GB Cn Memory Drives (I think they contain Samsung Drives at 5400 RPM). The fourth is a 80 GB internal IDE Hard Disk Drive installed into a so-called Icy Box, to be able to use the Drive as external USB Hard Disk Drive. The last one is a 500 GB 2.5 Inches/Zoll Cn Memory USB Hard Disk.

The Seagate FreeAgent Desktop is currently my boot drive containing only Puppy Linux Operating Systems. Internal Drives doesn't have Operating Systems installed. Windows isn't used anymore and removed from internal Drives some Months ago. Those other external Drives are used as backup Drives.

Besides my internal and external Hard Disk Drives, I do own 8 USB Flash Drives. One is a 32 GB Intenso Flash Drive, which is used as a Multi Boot Stick when I'm out of Home. Those other Sticks are 16 GB and 8 GB Flash Drives used for transferring Data or having LazY Puppy (3) and Linux Mint (1) installed.

My Computer is a Big Tower with some special modifications. These e.g. includes 3 Switches installed onto the Front panel to be able to switch on/off the internal Hard Disk Drives before booting the Computer. Two of those four internal Drives can be switched on/off separately, the two others are switched on/off in combination. So, I can use my Computer completely without havin any Hard Disk Drive installed/running, booting from USB Flash Drive (or even from CD, which would be possible, but I don't use my Computer that way usually).

RSH
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sketchman
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#27 Post by sketchman »

I don't understand the cloud idea either. I have a 2TB NAS RAID box which I'll be upgrading hopefully soon to a 5-6TB config. I LIKE local storage for things. Documents, movies, tv shows, pictures, and even my email I still use POP for and store it all locally.
"In a world that exists without walls and fences, who needs Windows and Gates?"

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