HDD failure imminent. What to do?

Using applications, configuring, problems
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nubc
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#31 Post by nubc »

When the computer reboots to live CD, it does not read the /slackosave.3fs file, but instead reads only puppy_slacko_5.7.0.sfs main file. When the computer reboots to frugal install, it reads the /slackosave file, and then the puppy_slacko.sfs file.
Last edited by nubc on Sun 10 Sep 2017, 20:15, edited 2 times in total.

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nubc
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#32 Post by nubc »

bigpup wrote: Do not have the live CD in the CD player when you boot.
That doesn't work. The frugal boots from CD.

EDIT: Maybe if I remove the CD just before "Searching for Puppy files..."
Nah, that's too tricky. Every other reboot, it does not load the slackosave file. In the case where it boots to live CD, it may be getting the Puppy files off the CD instead of the USB. When it boots frugal, it gets the slackosave file and the sfs files off the USB, probably.

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bigpup
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#33 Post by bigpup »

nubc wrote:When the computer reboots to live CD, it does not read the /slackosave.3fs file, but instead reads only puppy_slacko_5.7.0.sfs file. When the computer reboots to frugal install, it reads the /slackosave file, and then the puppy_slacko.sfs file.
So, the problem is the save file is only getting seen sometimes.

I am having confusion by how you are stating what you are booting.
When the computer reboots to live CD
I am understanding that as you are booting using Slacko installed on a CD.
It sometimes finds the save file and sometimes does not.
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

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nubc
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#34 Post by nubc »

Slacko installed on CD, probably not. Slacko .iso burned to CD, and yes, it predictably does not find the slackosave file every other reboot. It's something I can live with, but I would like to understand why.

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#35 Post by bigpup »

Slacko installed on CD, probably not. Slacko .iso burned to CD, and yes
When you burn the Slacko iso image to a CD, you have installed Slacko on the CD.
Usually called a live Slacko CD.

Exactly where is the savefile located?
Be very specific with location details!!!!!

Is this the only save file or are there other slackosaves?
If there are other slackosaves.
Exact names and locations.
Be specific with info!!!!





Where the savefile is located can affect how the live Slacko CD finds a savefile to use.
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

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nubc
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#36 Post by nubc »

Savefile is on thumb drive, which system has named sda1 with both hard drives disconnected. After I installed/created savefile on thumb drive, however, it became locked and unmountable. This motivated me work on the original system with two hard drives, so to that end, I completely removed thumb drive from the computer. The system booted up first try and I managed to offload about 15 GB from the full drive, sda2, before the system crashed. The system crashed, and then I found a very useful boot option, namely

Code: Select all

puppy pfix=fsck
which runs a filesystem check on the save file before booting.
After a couple more reboots I managed to offload a total of 50 GB of data

The last directory that I offloaded contained about 550 files, and the transfer of 5 of those files produced an error, that file could not be extended. What does this mean?

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nubc
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#37 Post by nubc »

Here we are, 4 PM on Monday, and the new drive has arrived. My new strategy. Full install of Slacko 5.7.0 on sda1, sized 30 GB. I seem to recall that Legacy Grub did not work on Slacko 5.7, requiring a special .pet from rscn21. Can someone confirm this? I guess I'll set up the new drive, and then install the old 2 TB drive beside it, then try to transfer data. I must say, there are serious issues with the filesystem on this old drive, specifically sda2. You say GParted can fix problems non-destructively? Please advise.

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nubc
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#38 Post by nubc »

Does GParted 0.16.0 (Slacko 5.7.0) have a size limitation? Can't set up the sda2 partition, which is over 3 TB in size. Is this a kernel issue, because GParted on Slacko 6.3 failed to create the partition as well. I also ran the latest live CD of GParted, and it failed.

Ach, I should have selected the gpt partition table.

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nubc
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#39 Post by nubc »

What's wrong with my grub menu.lst?

Code: Select all

timeout 10
default 0
#
title Puppy Linux Frugal on sda1
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz pmedia=atahd pdev1=sda1 pfix=fsck
initrd /initrd.gz
#
title Windows on (hd0,0)
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
#
title Ubuntu on (hd0,0)
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/grub/core.img
I selected the Full install option provided by grub, but it labels the install as Frugal regardless.

Does anyone have the .pet legacy grub upgrade by rcrsn51?

I wish I could take a look at the boot folder on the old hard drive but it is not working at all right now.

I got a feeling that the MBR is munged, and I will have to perform a deep wipe of sda1 just to recover MBR.

What are the alternative designations for root (hd0,0)?

pmedia=atahd is obviously wrong, because the drive is SATA

jd7654
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#40 Post by jd7654 »

nubc wrote:...
Ach, I should have selected the gpt partition table.
...
What's wrong with my grub menu.lst?
...
So you made your new 4TB drive as GPT? (as required for >2TB)
Did you get an error somewhere?
Puppy Grub4DOS installer will have problem with GPT disk, only supports MBR.

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nubc
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#41 Post by nubc »

What bootloader for GPT disk?

I've installed Lagacy GRUB which operates in two stages. I installed Legacy GRUB 2013 Configuration from Slacko 6.3.

The difference between booting MBR and GPT with GRUB
https://www.anchor.com.au/blog/2012/10/ ... with-grub/

Booting from GPT, by Rod Smith
http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/booting.html

Booting GPT disk on BIOS systems
http://www.lightofdawn.org/wiki/wiki.cgi/BIOSBootGPT

Hybrid MBRs, by Rod Smith
[http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/hybrid.html

GRUB2: Heal your bootloader
https://www.linuxvoice.com/grub-2-heal-your-bootloader/
Last edited by nubc on Tue 12 Sep 2017, 16:38, edited 1 time in total.

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#42 Post by nubc »

Question: Does a frugal install avoid this booting GPT disk issue?
Last edited by nubc on Tue 12 Sep 2017, 16:06, edited 2 times in total.

jd7654
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#43 Post by jd7654 »

nubc wrote:Question: Does a frugal install avoid this booting GPT disk issue?
No, it's a bootloader issue. As you found in your research above, Grub2 is the proper solution for GPT booting, and most Linux distros have moved on to Grub2.
Puppy doesn't have an official Grub2 solution. There are rumors of workarounds for older Grub but I haven't tested any. Maybe someone else has.

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#44 Post by nubc »

What is the strategy for booting a GPT disk? If I can't boot the GPT disk, maybe I need to attach a device to the computer that will boot, like a USB flash drive.

I am looking at the new drive from a frugal linstall that boots from CD and stores a savefile on a USB drive. Are you saying that if I instead place the savefile on sda1, the 30-GB partition on the new 4TB hdd, that it won't boot up?

Could I not transfer the savefile that is currently running on the flashdrive to the new partition sda1, and have a frugal install that boots from CD?

Maybe I could install a distro with GRUB2, then surgically remove the OS and substitute Puppy Slacko. Or if could find a distro that installs GRUB2 as an independent operation. Any suggestions for a distro? Ubuntu?

You'd think that Hiren's bootCD or some specialty utility distro (eg SystemRescueCD) would be able to install GRUB2.

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#45 Post by rcrsn51 »

The legacy GRUB installer is here.

It will work with a GPT partition table.

How have you formatted the drive? I can't remember if legacy GRUB will boot from an ext4 partition. Also, I don't know how it will react to very large partitions.

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#46 Post by jd7654 »

nubc wrote:Maybe I could install a distro with GRUB2, then surgically remove the OS and substitute Puppy Slacko. Or if could find a distro that installs GRUB2 as an independent operation. Any suggestions for a distro? Ubuntu?

You'd think that Hiren's bootCD or some specialty utility distro (eg SystemRescueCD) would be able to install GRUB2.
Grub2 is kinda tied to the OS, you can look around for standalone Grub2 options, but defeats the purpose somewhat.
You can install a basic netinstall Debian 9 in less than 1GB that has Base OS minus Xwin and full Grub2. Ubuntu base install is bigger but also works.
Unlike you, I don't have any >2TB drives so I never needed to switch off Grub4DOS, which is simple and easy. The Grub2 bloatware I leave on the other distros PBR.(such as Arch, Debian, Fedora)

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#47 Post by nubc »

That's good news, rcrsn51. I have installed Legacy Grub 2013 from Slacko 6.3. It doesn't work, possibly because of the (hd0,0) lettering options. Do you have any suggestions? Here's my menu.lst from grub.

Code: Select all

timeout 4
default 0
#
title Puppy Linux Full on sda1
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/sda1 ro vga=normal
I didn't like the Slacko 5.7 grub, so I used a DOS floppy to rewrite the MBR.

Code: Select all

C:/ fdisk /mbr

Then I installed Legacy Grub 2013 from Slacko 6.3, Still no luck.

I notice that Slacko 5.7 Legacy GRUB 2013 has an extra line

Code: Select all

initrd /initrd.gz 
Is this significant?

I just tried to boot from the hard drive, and got this message

Code: Select all

No boot device available

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#48 Post by jd7654 »

rcrsn51 wrote:The legacy GRUB installer is here.

It will work with a GPT partition table.
Just out of curiosity, I did a test on VBox and could not get that Grub Legacy to work on a GPT disk. No valid boot device error. Grub2 worked fine though.

Is this Grub Legacy package the same as what is in Slacko 6.3.2? I tried that too and it also did not work. Maybe it would on real hardware, but I have no spare drives/systems to test at the moment.

EDIT: Never mind, operator error. Forgot that my Vbox test setup install was using 64-bit Ext4. 32-bit Ext4 on GPT worked OK with Grub Legacy.
Last edited by jd7654 on Wed 13 Sep 2017, 08:02, edited 1 time in total.

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#49 Post by nubc »

Thanks for that test, jd. I'm still waiting for a follow-up from rcrsn51 on this matter Even if menu.lst is the same for 5.7 and 6.3, there could still be differences in Stage1 and Stage2.

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#50 Post by rcrsn51 »

@nubc: Once you wrote a new MBR with the DOS boot diskette, it's impossible to know where you are at.

What does Gparted say about the drive?

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