How to activate .sfs files in Tahrpup64_6.0.6? (Solved)

[matchpoint]

Sky, use the "pDefault Apps Chooser" + All, then Word processor --it'll be there.

In addition and dependent upon file type, you may have to associate your "run action."

[mikeslr]

Hi Sky Aisling,

I obtain LibreOffice by downloading SFSes linked to on the Additional Software Section - Documents. So I don't know how the Quickpet version is handled. But there's a good chance it's the same way: the LibreOffice folder shows up in /opt with the /usr/share/applications/xxx.desktops being symlinks. Make certain that LibreWriter's Category arguments begins with something Puppy's understand. e.g. Categories=WordProcessor,

Alternatively, swriter is the script which opens LibreOffice Writer. To select it in Default Application Chooser you may have to provide the entire path, e.g.:

/opt/libreoffice5/program/swriter

or create a symlink to it by dragging the script somewhere on the path such as to /root/my-applications/bin. Then you could just type swriter into Default Applications Chooser.

But check the Categories argument in LibreOffice-Writer.desktop first.

mikesLr

[Sky Aisling]

Thanks, bigpup, matchpoint, mikeslr
You've given me enough helpful clues that I'll go do some woodshedding on my own for a while. EDIT:- Solved - I put /opt/libreoffice5.0/program/swriter into the 'word processing' box.
DAC worked fine in Tahrpup64.6.0.6. On first initiation of DAC, LibreOffice .sfs showed up in the options list under the 'word processor' box. With 6.0.5 '/usr/local/apps/UExtract/AppRun' shows up as the option. But, I'm not about to mess with updating to 6.0.6 again! Unless I go get a fresh .iso of 6.0.6 and skip the update part. The world of Puppy keeps changing.

[Mike Walsh]

Hallo, Sky.

Y'know, I got to thinking over bigpup's remark about your 'strange' partition set-up.

He's right in that computers do indeed like to see the first partition, flagged 'boot', at the very beginning of the drive.....right after the 512kb MBR sector. But, here's a thing... Take a look at my own partition layout for the big Compaq desktop:-





That large, first partition is labelled 'DATA/boot'.

My first Puppy in the kennels is on the second partition. Sda5 has two Pups in sub-directories, as does sda10.....which is mainly another data partition, but which has plenty of spare room on it.

I used to have XP installed on the first partition, quite some time ago. Since scrapping XP, it's been doing duty as a data partition.....but (and this is the point), it also has Grub4DOS installed to it.

I was thinking about this myself, back when I changed the usage of that first partition. Sure, your hardware expects to find a bootloader in that location.....but it's only convention that there should be an operating system in the same location. I have never, ever, anywhere on the web, found categorical statements by anyone that say your bootloader and operating system must be on the same partition. It is purely convention.

The idea being as follows; to get things working correctly with a set-up like yours, simply create a tiny partition right at the very beginning (no more than 5-10 MB), flagged as 'boot'.....and use that partition to install just Grub4DOS to. And nothing else. Which then tells the system where to expect all your Pups to be.....and with Pup's versatility, they truly can be anywhere.

We're creatures of habit, we humans; if something has become widely accepted as the 'norm', or 'standard' way of doing things, we don't tend, very often, to think 'outside the box'. I'm a great one for lateral thinking, with the result being that my set-ups are often unconventional, yet at the same time, still technically 'sound'.

Thus, they work.....when, going by all conventional approaches, they shouldn't..! And this Forum, populated by an amazing bunch of people, contains more than its fair share of lateral thinkers... Which makes it such a great place to simply 'hang out', of course.


Mike.

[Sky Aisling]

Whoa! Mike, that's quite a partition layout.
Now I see how some of you long-time Puppyists can pull up and report back so fast on a testing issue. You have a 'kennel' full puppies at your fingertips.

I re-worked the issue by doing a complete re-install. See my edited post http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 017#983017 and check out the screenshots.

I had heard that a Puppy could become unstable if not on the same partition as the boot application. Apparently in your experiences, not so?

Is the boot app in sda1 Grub4Dos?

[Mike Walsh]

Hallo, Sky.

I had heard that a Puppy could become unstable if not on the same partition as the boot application. Apparently in your experiences, not so?

Not in my experience, no. The bootloader simply tells your machine where to direct the boot procedure to.....and with Puppy especially, it literally can be anywhere. No matter what your set-up, no matter what the partition layout may be, if you've got a few gigs spare room somewhere, you can stick a frugal Puppy in there, and with Grub4DOS, you've got a better than usual chance of making it boot up.....

I have a 3 TB external USB 3.0 drive, running through a USB 3.0 PCI-e adapter card. Were it not for the fact that the ROM chips on these cards never have the ability to boot programmed into them, I'd be using the external drive for probably several more Pups. And Grub4 DOS would be able to boot them.

I also have a 7-port, self-powered USB 2.0 hub. At one point, I had five USB drives, each with a Puppy installed, plugged permanently into this hub. Each USB drive had its own bootloader.....but all were also linked into the main Grub4DOS bootloader on sda1. And, crazy as it sounds, it worked!

This is what I love about Pup; its unconventional, yet very flexible approach to things like booting. And, yes; having an entire kennels to mess about with does indeed mean I can now respond to most queries with a fair degree of success.....because I have, by now, experienced most things for myself. I'm just pleased that I can, in my turn, pay back this amazing community for all the help they gave me in the early days.

And yes; the bootloader is definitely Grub4DOS. I use it for everything.....because it just works. I haven't yet found anything it won't boot.....


Mike.

[Sky Aisling]

bigpup,

Still trying to figure out why the settings get lost when you reboot.
Something in the save is making it reset, but what is it Idea Question

I don't know if there is any significance to this, but, I did do a Flash 1.7-1 update as a part of the last re-install of 6.0.5.

I found these notes in /opt/libreoffice5.0/readmes

LibreOffice requires a recent version of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for full functionality. JRE is not part of the LibreOffice installation package, it should be installed separately.

[bigpup]

Could be.

If you still have this same partition layout on the drive.
Why are you keeping so much unusable?

Make an extended partition out of all that unallocated space.
Then use that large extended partition to
Divide it up into a few logical partitions, using up all the space when complete.

End up with no unallocated space.

See Mike Walsh's example layout.

Your drive partitions look like this, correct?

[bigpup]

Puppy will not see the extended partition, because it is an area of the drive that is being used to make logical partitions.
Primary partitions and logical partitions are data partitions and will be seen.

So the drive icons on the desktop will be example:
sda1, sda2, sda3, sda5, sda6, etc......

[Sky Aisling]

bigpup,

Thank you for the suggestions.

If you still have this same partition layout on the drive.
Why are you keeping so much unusable?

Yes, same layout.

I have no use for the extra storage. My on-line activity is simple. I use the system to keep a small directory of photos, email the outside world, cruise the net for education purposes and shopping. And, until the DVD/CD broke, I watched movies from the library.

However, I must say, Mike's example is intriguing. I'm tempted to try loading up a bunch of Puppies as he suggests.
That way I could play with different breeds and see how they act. I also have two HDDs in the machine. I was toying with the idea of starting another Puppy on the other drive, but, it looks like I can do multiples on the first drive like Mike has done.

Make an extended partition out of all that unallocated space.
Then use that large extended partition to
Divide it up into a few logical partitions, using up all the space when complete.

End up with no unallocated space.

How do I make an 'extended' partition? - never mind, I see how.
Why do I want to end up with no unallocated space?

[Mike Walsh]

Puppy will not see the extended partition, because it is an area of the drive that is being used to make logical partitions.
Primary partitions and logical partitions are data partitions and will be seen.

So the drive icons on the desktop will be example:
sda1, sda2, sda3, sda5, sda6, etc......

I wish that were always true, bigpup. My copy of Xenial 7.0.8.1 (Phil's earlier 'beta' for 7.5) insists on showing sda4 as a desktop drive icon, too.....

Never seen that in any other Pup.


Mike.

[bigpup]

I saw that also.
It is some kind of bug in xenialpup 7.0.8.1

It is fixed in xenialpup 7.5

With computers, anything could happen and usually does

[bigpup]

Why do I want to end up with no unallocated space?

Unallocated space is usable if you turn it into a partition and format it.
If you keep it unallocated it is no good to use.
It is there, why not use it.

Why do you fill a glass full?
Why do you run a TV so the screen is fully used?
Why did the chicken cross the road?

[Sky Aisling]

OK, I'm going to take the challenge and see if I can set up a 'kennel' of pups on the first drive like Mike's configuration.

Before I do...

1) Regarding thread etiquette...we are veering off course a bit from the original topic. Should I start a new thread or join an existing thread? Or, is it ok to continue on with this thread?

2) Regarding the partition layout...will it cause any issues if I leave sda1,2,3 as ext.4 and then add sda4, 5, 6 as ext. 3 in the extended section?
Or will I need to re-install 6.0.5 all over again as ext. 3?

I have a couple of weeks before I can do this little experiment.

[bigpup]

I would start a new topic.
If nothing else, it will make it easier to search for if someone else wants info on doing this.

You can keep sda 1, 2, 3 the way they are.
The only thing is. If you try to put a series 4 Puppy on the computer. It will probably not be able to work with ext4. Ext 4 support may or may not be in it.
So, make some logical ext 3 formatted partitions that any Puppy should be able to work with.

Understand this about partitioning.
With a msdos partition table (you have that) this is how partitioning works.
Partition basics:
On a hard drive or storage device.
Can have up to 4 primary partitions.
Or 1 to 3 primary and one extended partition.
The extended partition can be divided into any number of logical partitions.

The extended partition is a special partition that can be further divided into usable logical partitions.
No restriction on number of logical partitions.
The logical partitions make the space in the extended partition usable as a file system.

For your drive as it is now.
Make an extended partition out of all that unallocated space.
Then use that large extended partition (sda4) to
Divide it up into a few logical partitions, using up all the space when complete.

End up with no unallocated space.

Example of primary, extended, and logical partitioning.
Notice in this example. The partitions after the extended partition (sdd4) are all logical partitions made from what is in the extended partition.
If you add them together (sdd5, 6, 7). They will total the space in the extended partition sdd4.
Also, notice the down indicator at the start of sdd4.
That indicates everything after it is in sdd4.