Banksy2

[greengeek]

(Banksy3 adds further personalisations and some special purpose versions. The descriptions for banksy2 below still apply to the b3 concept, but b3 can be found here)


Banksy2 continues on from the previous version putting the focus on getting booted and online quickly and easily without having to use a savefile.

It incorporates an exciting new feature - by clicking a single icon you can now burn a new iso containing your personal locale settings and wifi info - without remastering!

This makes it ideal for people who are using internet banking, or Wifi users who want puppy to be able to connect without making a savefile, and without having to type their wifi password each boot. It is ideal for Windows users who want a safer environment for online banking or general browsing, or who need an alternative way to boot their machine if Windows is not functional.

You get a fresh boot every time - nothing retained from the previous session - but still configured with your chosen personal settings.

Here's how easy it is to make your personalised puppy with banksy2:
- Boot banksy2
- Run Quicksetup to personalise your locale (language), timezone, keyboard layout and hostname. Click "restart X" if asked.
- Click the "connect" icon and use sns wizard to set your wifi password.
- Put a blank CDR or DVD into your optical drive and click the "cdpersonator" icon if you want to create a bootable CD, or click the "dvdpersonator" icon if you want to create a bootable DVD. Wait a few minutes for the burn to finish.

Thats it!! Done!

You now have a personalised CD or DVD that can be used to boot that PC on that Wifi network, consistently every boot.

No more need to worry about savefile alterations, corruptions or backups!

NOTE: The CD/DVD you create can still be used to boot any other PC and connect on any other network (using the connect wizard) but it will always remember YOUR pc on YOUR network and connect without any further action.

(You can use the banksy2-generic CD/DVD in this manner to create a personalised CD/DVD for each of your family or friends so that they can boot puppy and connect on their own machines - without having to know a single thing about how puppy works. It is great for each of them to have a "backup puppy" they can count on).

Download links:

Banksy2 "singleclick" version:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/egqf3 ... onator.iso
md5:21e0de35ab9cf676498e4e7fa1c4cebf


Banksy2 "doubleclick" version (more suitable for Windows users):
http://www.mediafire.com/download/2mufw ... onator.iso
md5:33b65a862d59b1521fb65d702c766c30

TECHNICAL NOTES:

- Banksy2 ignores savefiles
- Shares the same base features as listed on Banksy01 thread here
- Banksy2 relies on finding two sfs files on CD/DVD (or in the frugal directory if you are installing it...)
--- puppy_slackoBanksy2_5.6.sfs is the main puppy sfs
--- personalsettings_xxxx_banksy2.sfs is the personal settings sfs
(The personal settings sfs takes precedence over the main banksy2 sfs)

If you are using the sfs in a frugal installation it is possible to change the "xxxx" name above, in order to identify which PC and which Wifi you have created this personal sfs for. For example - you might want to call your personal sfs something like "personalsettings_MumsAcerOnHomeWifi_banksy2.sfs" or
"personalsettings_MyTosh2100AtWork_banksy2.sfs"
(dont change the rest of the sfs name or it won't be found)

If you want to change the personal sfs name on the CD it is possible to use a four step manual process instead of the automatic "personator" icon. The fourstep files and "HowTo" document can be found in /root/isolator. This gives you the ability to create just the sfs on it's own, or the whole iso if desired. It also offers the potential to allow extra personalisations)

- I have changed the layering of the sfs files so that the main puppy sfs now resides at the bottom. I have never really liked the idea of remastering the contents of a main puppy sfs as it ends up as a very different sfs but with the same name. This creates potential for unneccessary confusion and conflict. What I am aiming at here is to have a personal sfs sitting at a higher priority than the main sfs so it 'overwrites' the main sfs with your desired changes.
This does not prevent you remastering the main sfs if you really want to - I'm just trying to offer an alternative so that the main banksy2 sfs can remain unaltered. (I think the main sfs of any puppy should always remain unaltered for as long as it's name remains the same. This is just a 'thing' I get hung up about)
- The CD/DVD uses grub instead of isolinux as the bootloader.
- The CD/DVD burning routines have to guess which bus the burner is on so please let me know if things don't work for you.
- In order to make things work I have used information, ideas and script segments from a range of people, so many thanks to Shinobar (dir2iso), cimarron for putting me on to dir2iso, RSH (drive boot code), vicmz (icon info), MochiMoppel (firstrun wizard disable etc), SFR (all sorts of things), TedDog and Jasper (remastering tips and adventurous ideas), mikeb (layering concepts), jrb (I copied your grub_CD_boot method from WaryTiny and find your zdrv manipulations interesting), rcrsn51 (ntfs readonly mod), musher0 (unmount code), 01micko (excellent slacko 5.6 base) and many other people have unknowingly contributed as well.
I'm really pleased with how banksy2 lets me easily build a customised puppy the way I want so I hope others find it useful too.


Future potential improvements:
(Proposed for Banksy3 which can be found here)
- Save flsynclient settings.
- Swap out sns for PWF to allow increased control of wifi (including multiple profiles)
- Include Wine and Acerose
- Add RSH timezone mods so that it can be passed as a boot time option if desired.
- Learn how to make better icons.
- Add tutorial to desktop to explain things better
- Add a toggle for single/doubleclick
- Further testing to allow method to switch default wallpaper as part of personalistion process.
- Method to save bookmarks?
or at least add the following to bookmarks:
- http://www.givemebackmygoogle.com/ (cthisbear)
- https://www.ixquick.com/ (cthisbear)
.

[greengeek]

reserved

[Jasper]

Hi greengeek,

Hearty Congratulations - I'll try the single-click version soon.

Thank you for your expression of appreciation to Ted Dog and me,
but the facts are:
Ted Dog made everything and I merely pointed you to his works.

My regards

[Announcer]

Looks cool.

[slavvo67]

This looks quite nice. I just downloaded for testing. Not sure if I'm sold on a puppy focused on banking but I'll give it a whirl.

Best,

Slavvo67

[greengeek]

Not sure if I'm sold on a puppy focused on banking but I'll give it a whirl.

Thanks for trying it. All testing is good testing.
It's not really just for banking though - it has all the usual puppy programmes and is really a test bed for running any kind of puppy without using a savefile. (The main advantage of which is the security of not retaining history etc, and not having to worry about what extra info or alterations are being accidentally caught up in a R/W capable savefile).

The tricky bit is saving customisations without remastering the main sfs - thats the bit I am really focused on. In theory the technique could also be applied to any kind of pup as long as it is set up to accept the same method of layering.

Keen to hear if the burning works correctly for others as well as it did for me...

[ally]

mirrored here: http://archive.org/details/Puppy_Linux_BanksyPup

[Tote]

Hello greengeek, I downloaded the singleclick iso, Banksy2, made a manual frugal install to HD partition, ran it, booted okay. I used sns, burned the CD, but no wi-fi settings saved.

Tried it a second time. The first time I neglected to test if the connection was made, this time I opened the browser, used Firefox, the connection was good, burned a second CD, but again the wi-fi settings were not saved.

I could be doing something wrong, not sure.

I can get on line running the live CD, if I use sns again each time.

Manual frugal install on T61 Thinkpad. I deleted the install before running the live CD in case that made a difference. It didn't.

I'll try it again later if you have any ideas.

Many thanks.

[greengeek]

Thanks Tote - I think you are using it slightly differently to what I have tested. The method of saving the personal settings is intended to work in live session. What I mean is that you boot the live CD, make the required changes to the settings and burn the new CD while still in that live session.

Once that is done, then you can use the contents of the new iso to build the frugal install.

I haven't tried building the new CD from an frugal install - that wasn't in my original plan, but I shall give it some more thought.
Thanks for testing.

[01micko]

@Tote.. I see where you are coming from but what greengeek has done is create something dead set against installing -- by design, and that's a good thing in the context of what I understand that greengeek is trying to achieve.

Why don't you try booting the iso in VM? Many pups have virtualbox or qemu available, and it builds fine anyway; if not, plenty of instructions around.

-

greengeek, which slacko version is this based off? (just out of interest)

[Jasper]

Hi greengeek,

I have a suggestion and a few questions.

A Suggestion
--------------
At reaching the desktop it would be helpful to repeat your advice:

"Run Quicksetup to personalise your locale (language), timezone, keyboard layout and hostname. Click "restart X" if asked.
- Click the "connect" icon and use sns wizard to set your wifi password.
- Put a blank CDR or DVD into your optical drive and click the "cdpersonator" icon if you want to create a bootable CD, or click the "dvdpersonator" icon if you want to create a bootable DVD. Wait a few minutes for the burn to finish. "

and your "HowToCustomise"

Plus, an explanation of the purpose of each traffic light icon.

Also, perhaps,a few words about how to set up the banking detail.

and an option to cease future display of this text message.

My Questions
---------------
a) is there a minimum recommendation for ram required.

b) is the CD/DVD personalised setting option required so that a used DVD>RW (perhaps the original) can be wiped clean and reused. If not - would the design of a single working icon be realistic.

c) I suspect (if possible) some users would like to be able to toggle between single clicking and double clicking.

d) might it be possible to change the wallpaper with the first personalised settings.

My regards

I made three test attempts, but the personalised setting file seemed to need 86 MB and it seems my 640 MB ram might, just possibly, be inadequate - although I may easily be in error.

.

[Tote]

Hah! Four coasters later...

My fault; I think I probably used the Network Wizard instead of sns, so the settings weren't saved.

Have now burned the iso to CD as you intended, made personal changes, etc, THEN burned the new iso to another CD, making sure I used sns this time, and there you go, job done, it works, and I'm at peace with the world.

Thanks greengeek and micko for your help/suggestions.

Working well so far.

[greengeek]

@Tote - I just had another thought - did you accept the dialog that offers to save sns as the default network manager? I don't know if that is contributing to your wifi issue, but I realised I have always accepted the default setting in my tests.

@Tote.. I see where you are coming from but what greengeek has done is create something dead set against installing -- by design

Actually I am running one install of banksy2 - it is the closest thing I can manage as a "read only" HDD based puppy. But you are right - the main intention of banksy2 is to be a liveCD that is an unchanging media upon which to store the code and personalisation (without remastering the main sfs)

which slacko version is this based off? (just out of interest)

slacko-5.6-4G-NON-PAE.iso

I have a suggestion and a few questions.
At reaching the desktop it would be helpful to repeat your advice:

"Run Quicksetup to personalise your locale (language), timezone, keyboard layout and hostname. Click "restart X" if asked.
- Click the "connect" icon and use sns wizard to set your wifi password.
- Put a blank CDR or DVD into your optical drive and click the "cdpersonator" icon if you want to create a bootable CD, or click the "dvdpersonator" icon if you want to create a bootable DVD. Wait a few minutes for the burn to finish. "
and your "HowToCustomise"

Perhaps I could add a "HowTo" or ReadMe icon on the desktop. I also thought it would be helpful if I built the 'personator' steps into a gtkdialog that offers the user more info and control of each of the steps that get performed in the background (including burner drive selection etc). At the moment I lack the skill to develop such an interface but I'll be working on that...

Plus, an explanation of the purpose of each traffic light icon.

Good point. Here is a brief overview:
1) Green light - triggers the normal puppy shutdown procedures written by 01micko and shinobar. Safest option and the recommended one for anyone who has mounted any partitions while using banksy2

2) Orange light - triggers a shutdown script written by musher0 which unmounts partitions (but doesn't worry about filesystems/loops/layers etc because RAM is about to lose it's power anyway...). Slightly quicker than the green light.

3) Red light - this is the one I use all the time because it is super quick. However, it makes no attempt to unmount anything and just does a busybox shutdown. I've called that icon "KILLdown" in the hope it will make the user pause and think twice. I recommend caution if you have mounted partitions - but then banksy2 deliberately makes it difficult to access and mount partitions as the target market is for online users and Windows users who would be best served by NOT having mounted partitions as they wouldnt be happy if they deleted their Windows files by mistake...

Also, perhaps,a few words about how to set up the banking detail.

To be honest I thought people would just google their online bank website and click through to it. There is no other special setup at this time, although I do hope to build Wine and Acerose (as recommended by Sylvander) into banksy3

is there a minimum recommendation for ram required.

I think there will be a practical minimum but I don't know what it is at the moment. I have tested with 768MB, 1GB and 2 GB. I will try to test on some smaller machines when I get back home in a few days.

is the CD/DVD personalised setting option required so that a used DVD>RW (perhaps the original) can be wiped clean and reused. If not - would the design of a single working icon be realistic.

There are two icons at the moment because the cli method of creating a CD is quite different to the cli method for making a DVD. At this stage I have not tested CDRW or DVDRW so I don't know how they will behave, but it would be good to have that functionality available.
I would like to have a gui to give the user better control of the whole process but that is quite a big job I suspect. I need to get the basic functionality correct before moving on to that.

I suspect (if possible) some users would like to be able to toggle between single clicking and double clicking.

Added to the list for banksy3

might it be possible to change the wallpaper with the first personalised settings

I tried to achieve this but it did not seem to work. I have more testing in mind for this. Added to the list for banksy3.

I made three test attempts, but the personalised setting file seemed to need 86 MB and it seems my 640 MB ram might, just possibly, be inadequate

Did you end up with a working CD? I would have thought 640MB would be enough but I just don't know at this stage... more testing to follow.

[irishrm]

greengeek:

Downloaded the single click iso and configured my personal settings. Working very well. Posting from it.

Inserted blank cd. Clicked on the cdpersonator to save, However on re-boot found that my personal settings were not saved even though during re-boot it told me that my personalsettings,sfs was being loaded.

Tried the manual save, same result.

Would like to use so hoping for a solution.

irishrm.
[/u]

[Jasper]

Hi greengeek,

Thank you for your replies.

My drawer style tray icon went from a green top drawer to the flashing red bottom drawer and no ejection of my pristine DVD-RW.

Initially it showed (from memory):

311M personal storage, free space 301M

By comparison Precise 5..6 shows (at this moment):

262M personal storage, free space 253M

As your Banksy iso is some 30M larger than the Precise iso perhaps Banksy has higher compression, and/or?

My regards

Because it's Banksy for banking it seems appropriate (to me) to include a few lines about the banking set up and what's unique about the way your OS works.

I'm nearly certain that Multi-session-live-CD/DVD is unique to Puppy; there being no other distro that can save back to a live CD or DVD. Your variation on this theme, as far as I know, is a unique alternative and I wish you well.

[slavvo67]

I just gave it a brief workout on my old Dell and it seemed to work without any flaws. I immediately fell in love with the shutdown options and the automated firewall function. They both make a lot of sense and should probably be implemented in more puppies. It's funny, sometimes, how small things make a big difference.

Great job!

Slavvo67

[greengeek]

mirrored here: http://archive.org/details/Puppy_Linux_BanksyPup

Thanks Ally!

I immediately fell in love with the shutdown options and the automated firewall function

Thanks slavvo - glad you liked those.

Hah! Four coasters later...
My fault; I think I probably used the Network Wizard instead of sns, so the settings weren't saved.

Only two more then you'll have a set of 6

As your Banksy iso is some 30M larger than the Precise iso perhaps Banksy has higher compression, and/or?

Actually, I am not sure how the compression compares. I do think it would be helpful if I could shrink the original iso size so that the creation of the personal iso would consume less memory. It seems your machine RAM may be too close to the minimum to handle the /tmp juggling. I need to do some more testing and see if I can force it to do something like mount a usb stick as a swap partition to effectively increase the temporary working space.

Inserted blank cd. Clicked on the cdpersonator to save, However on re-boot found that my personal settings were not saved even though during re-boot it told me that my personalsettings,sfs was being loaded. Tried the manual save, same result. Would like to use so hoping for a solution.

Hi irishrm - sorry that it isn't working for you yet. Can I ask you a few questions to help try and pin down what is failing?
1) Which personal settings did you change?
2) Did it ask you to click 'restart x'?
3) Did you use the 'sns' network connection wizard rather than either of the other two shown on the connect dialog?
4) Are you using open, wep, wpa or wpa2?
5) Did the CD eject itself or did you have to do so manually?
6) How much memory does your machine have?

cheers
gg

[Sylvander]

1. Posting from my 1st boot of Banksy2.

2. Installed:
a. WINE = working OK it seems.
Used Pmounter to mount the partition on my [plugged-in] Flash Drive, where I hold my "Acerose Password Vault" files.
Used WINE to access and run Acerose.exe on the mounted sdb1, and used it to access my bank account.

b. Pmount = working but difficult to get it running.
If I click on "Menu->Filesystem->Pmount" it doesn't run.
If I enter pmount in a terminal window command prompt, I now get

Code: Select all

# pmount
Printing mounted removable devices:
/dev/sdb1 on /mnt/sdb1 type ext3 (rw,relatime,errors=continue,user_xattr,acl,barrier=1,data=ordered)
To get a short help, run pmount -h
# 

If I enter the pmounter command the program GUI runs and works OK.
Used that to mount sdb1 some minutes back.

3. Xfe = seems to be working OK, except the usual empty r-click->Open-with is there [I have a fix for that, but cannot be bothered to apply right now].

3. Now to click the "cdpersonator" icon.
I assume that prior to doing that, I aught to send this post and make sure all is as I'd want it to be when the new personalized CD-RW gets me to the desktop.
I should close all un-needed Firefox windows etc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Made 2 identical copies [ran cdpersonator twice on 2 CD-RW's], and booted each of those.
Neither includes the installed WINE or Xfe, and don't include various personal configurations->[saving passwords for Puppyforums & PC-Guide, choosing different search page to Google].
What's that about?

[irishrm]

Greengeek_if you are still watching this thread.
To answer your questions.
1) enabled WL driver.
Configured touchpad.
2)yes.
3)no.
4) yes.
5)4gb
Also configured country,time zone and keyboard settings which were saved.
Thanks for the reply.
Irishrm.

[Jasper]

Hi Sylvander,

greengeek may be abed for a while. Meantime, re Wine - see his opening post in this thread:

If you want to change the personal sfs name on the CD it is possible to use a four step manual process instead of the automatic "personator" icon. The fourstep files and "HowTo" document can be found in /root/isolator. This gives you the ability to create just the sfs on it's own, or the whole iso if desired. It also offers the potential to allow extra personalisations)

My regards

@ All - if any tester with less than 768 MB ram has success - would they kindly advise their ram size in this thread.