Using setting: pmedia=atahd Nothing is saved like a H.D.

[sunburnt]

It seems that using: pmedia=atahd does not mount the Save file directly.
It is necessary to click the Save icon on the desktop to save any changes.

Something is missing in my quest to use my 64GB USB flash drive like a H.D.
.

[Sailor Enceladus]

That's how it worked for me with pmedia=atahd too on a real hard drive. The save icon didn't appear with atahd though I think.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=920935#920935

[nic007]

Check in Puppy Event Manager (menu>system) in which mode you are running. There is also a short explananation how things work.

[sunburnt]

It says pupmode=13 , which does periodic saves from Save copy in ram.

So if there are periodic saves, then the working Save overlay is in ram.
With pmedia=atahd I would think this would not be the case.
It should use the mounted Save file directly from the USB flash drive.
Apparently Puppy thinks it knows better and wants control of it.

# How do I get Puppy to use the mounted Save file directly from the USB flash drive?
.

[bigpup]

It seems that using: pmedia=atahd does not mount the Save file directly.
It is necessary to click the Save icon on the desktop to save any changes.

Did you put this pmedia=atahd in the boot entry, before doing the first boot not using a save?
Did you make the save after booting using pmedia=atahd?

[watchdog]

Where is the savefile? I think "pmedia=usbhd" is your best choice if the savefile is on the usb stick..

[sunburnt]

watchdog; My intention is to use my USB flash drive like a H.D.
The Save file on the USB would be mounted directly as the top union layer.
This how a H.D. install does it. But any flash chip install uses "saving".

Newer flash devices have better life span, so there`s no need to "baby" them.

bigpup; I thought maybe that`s what`s required to get it setup correctly.
In reality it should not matter, but that doesn`t mean Puppy does it that way.

# There should be direct control of Puppy`s boot mode number.

I see in: /etc/rc.d/PUPSTATE the first entry is: PUPMODE=13
Will modding this value to 5 do what`s needed?

Otherwise I will boot without the save file and check if the Save icon appears.
Then copy the old save file over the new one and see if all is good.

[nic007]

You can set saving to savefile at 1 minute (automatically) if you wish. Why do you want to save in real time? The savefile is always mounted at top layer nevermind on which media it resides as far as I know.

[sunburnt]

nic007; Yes, but for flash media Save is copied to ram causing the need for saving.
H.D. setup mounts save file directly as top union layer, no copy in ram, no saving.
Newer flash media has much longer life, so a saving setup is not needed at all.

Puppy should catch up with the times and adapt for the newer hardware.
Direct control of PUPMODE would help...

[nic007]

H.D. setup mounts save file directly as top union layer, no copy in ram, no saving

What do you mean there is no saving? If you run in mode 13 (savefile on flash) and set the automatic time interval for saving and/or saving manually clicking the save icon, those changes are saved to the savefile immediately as far as I know. You can check this by immediately doing a reboot afterwards and see if the changes are saved in the savefile (as it should be).

[watchdog]

I have booted my usb stick with wary 5.5 using "pmedia=usbhd". I was in pupmode 12: savefile at top layer like hd. If you see a Save icon you can remove it because it is uneffective.

[nic007]

I have booted my usb stick with wary 5.5 using "pmedia=usbhd". I was in pupmode 12: savefile at top layer like hd. If you see a Save icon you can remove it because it is uneffective.

Ah, that should address his "problem". When he's in pupmode 12, things will work as he anticipates.

[Sailor Enceladus]

Puppy should catch up with the times and adapt for the newer hardware.
Direct control of PUPMODE would help...

Does watchdog's suggestion of using "pmedia=usbhd" fix your issue?

[sunburnt]

Removed the save file, booted with: pmedia=atahd, PUPSTATE shows: PUPMODE=5
Rebooted and saved a 64MB file, at next startup PUPSTATE shows: PUPMODE=13,
and it saves on shutdown/reboot.

Having pmedia=usbhd or pmedia=atahd seems to make no difference.

When I change PUPSTATE to: PUPMODE=12, then it shutsdown H.D. normal.
It says Save file is directly mounted and no saving is needed.

But at reboot, Puppy always rewrites PUPSTATE to: PUPMODE=13
I changed PUPSTATE to: PUPMODE=12 in all the etc/rc.d/PUPSTATE files in /initrd.
But even then at bootup Puppy rewrites PUPSTATE to: PUPMODE=13
Somehow it is deciding to force the "flash drive" setup no matter what.

Puppy distro. is: precise_5.4.X.5 , old I know, but it`s probably the same as newer Puppies.
.

[watchdog]

What about your old thread http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=108077? I assume it is not solved for you. You might reedit it. I think that flash drives are slow and pmedia=usbflash and PUPMODE=13 should be used. If the flash drive is fast enough then PUPMODE=12 should work and pmedia=usbhd is what I would use. Please explain how you install puppy to the flash drive. I install grub4dos on it and use a standard frugal install and the setting pmedia=usbhd is set in menu.lst. If you use Universal Installer then may be there config files from syslinux which conflicts with your settings.

[sunburnt]

Hi again watchdog; Thanks for the help.
I don`t think the speed of the drive is relevant.

As I said, Puppy shuts down properly when PUPSTATE is modded,
but it rewrites PUPSTATE at every boot back to the original setting.
So it`s never running in the proper pupmode.
And usbhd or atahd makes no difference to this at all.

I install by mounting ISO and copy files to USB, then run Grub4dos config. util.

Puppy`s boot code is rewriting PUPSTATE every boot, seems no way to stop it.
.

[nic007]

Try another boot setting for USB in the BIOS if there is more than one option for that (USB harddisk perhaps). If that works, redo your frugal installation and installation of grub4dos.

[sunburnt]

Wow! So much effort for something that should be a simple option.
This really smacks of a poorly conceived setup.

Thanks nic007; My cheap MB only has one USB boot option.
It`s hard to imagine it would make any difference though.

This is simply Puppy boot code being obstinate and dogged ( pun...).
I have spent so much time with Puppy`s boot code, it`s very tiring.

But it seems I`ll have to find and mod the final value set for the pupmode.
If I can I`ll make a boot arg. option to force the pupmode and post the code.
Perhaps have pupmode forced by the boot opt.: pmedia=atahd
.

[nic007]

Wow! So much effort for something that should be a simple option.
This really smacks of a poorly conceived setup.

Thanks nic007; My cheap MB only has one USB boot option.
It`s hard to imagine it would make any difference though.

This is simply Puppy boot code being obstinate and dogged ( pun...).
I have spent so much time with Puppy`s boot code, it`s very tiring.

But it seems I`ll have to find and mod the final value set for the pupmode.
If I can I`ll make a boot arg. option to force the pupmode and post the code.
Perhaps have pupmode forced by the boot opt.: pmedia=atahd
.

How about making a full install to the USB stick (I think you can, haven't tried it myself). This will eliminate the savefile issue. You may also want to look at this topic http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=13430 which deals with "forcing" the pupmode by editing initrd.gz

[sunburnt]

Thanks nic007! The initrd.gz edit looks like exactly what I was talking about!

Now maybe I can write a Bash script to mod. the initrd.gz file for anyone.
The mod. would make boot arg.: pmedia=atahd force: pupmode=12 ( As it should...)