Puppeee 4.3X

For talk and support relating specifically to Puppy derivatives
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jakfish
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#76 Post by jakfish »

I found the working command, by pure accident. It happened to be left over from an unentbootin syslinux.cf:

default unetbootin
label unetbootin
kernel /vmlinuz pdev=/dev/sda1 pmedia=ideflash fastboot
#append initrd=/initrd.gz pmedia=ideflash
append initrd=/initrd.gz pmedia=cd

It's this command that makes the pupsave on the sda keep itself up-to-date: append initrd=/initrd.gz pmedia=cd

I guess that command refers to a cd that doesn't exist, thus defaulting to the sda1. I dunno.

You bring up an interesting point--this way, while faster, does make the sda1 natter to itself.

On the other hand, since the OS loads into RAM, perhaps the write calls to the sda1 aren't particularly prolific.

Of course, almost any other OS--be it XP or arch--will work the sda constantly. I've read more than 10,000 writes are possible (forum.eeeuser.com), but can't remember the exact specs/expectations.

Jake

EDIT: what I wish is for a command that allows puppy to shut down without saving at all.

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jemimah
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#77 Post by jemimah »

I can add a parameter that will allow you to force the pupmode if you want. I still think removing pmedia entirely will probably work.

Only the main sfs loads to RAM. Your save file stays on disk and puppy definitely writes to it at least once every few seconds. Linux is a lot worse than XP in this respect unless you go out of you way to prevent it.

I've been thinking about writing an init script that will copy your save file into RAM. Of course, then you need to keep it small enough to fit in RAM. Or you could remaster and just never create a save file. The sfs file is compressed so you can fit a lot more the second way. You'd have to adjust the shutdown script not to ask you to create a save file every time.

jakfish
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#78 Post by jakfish »

Since my pupsave is only 196mbs, I would love to test your savefile-to-ram script.

I'm still too much of a novice to understand fully your pupmode suggestion. Is there a command that allow puppy to shut down without prompting for save?

Jake

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jemimah
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#79 Post by jemimah »

Here's some interesting links
http://www.puppylinux.com/blog/?viewDetailed=00647
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... aad418e369

I'll think about the save file thing, or a perhaps a one-click remaster-sfs script.[/url]

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prehistoric
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disk names

#80 Post by prehistoric »

@jemimah,

I'm on a different machine now, so I haven't tried your latest initrd.gz. Before I reached this point, I did some more experimenting and turned up something which strikes me as odd.

I moved all the read-only files into the SSD, sda2. I modified the Xandrox menu.lst to give me a menu at boot up, including a choice of pupeee 431. The root line in grub treats the partition as (0x80, 1). The kernel line in grub refers to the partition as /dev/sda2.

When I boot with no SD card, it asks me the questions you would expect, and ends up with a desktop showing the internal SSD as sda1 sda2 sda3. I can now insert a blank SD card as sdb1 and create a pupsave file on it. When I reboot and choose the same entry on the menu, it returns to the saved desktop, except that the SD drive is now sda1 and the internal SSD is sdb1 sdb2 sdb3.

For comparison, when I boot the SD card for standard 4.3.1 it always appears as sdb1, with the SSD as sda1 sda2 sda3.

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jemimah
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#81 Post by jemimah »

That's really weird Prehistoric! But I am no closer to understanding what the problem is.

Jakfish, Save File To Ram works good! It will definitely be included in the next release early next week. Of course you realize you're trading slow shutdown time for slow boot time...

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jemimah
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#82 Post by jemimah »

Wow with the drive spun down and everything in RAM I'm running at a very cool 6.4 watts! I may actually get the 10 hour battery life this laptop is supposed to be rated for. ;) Thank you Jakfish for reminding me I wanted to do this.

jakfish
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#83 Post by jakfish »

Encouraging to hear. As for save-less shutdowns, this thread helps:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=321761

Jake

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jemimah
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#84 Post by jemimah »

I guess your laptop isn't exactly a high-availability database or anything, but I'd be worried about data integrity doing that. It looks like it would be ok at the block level, but you might introduce logical errors this way. You're basically pulling the plug on whatever files you had open. If you also disabled periodic saving, though, then I can't think of any reason it would screw up your save file, but I'd have to look at the script. You'd have to mount it read only be to absolutely sure.

jakfish
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#85 Post by jakfish »

You're right; it is pulling the plug. Because upon reboot, you get this error saying xorg closed down unexpectantly, do you want to ignore this or rebuild, you have thirty seconds to make a choice.

So what you have to do is disable this message in xwin, which I've done, so yeah, it's really primitive.

Since users can stop periodic saves, I don't know why such an option can't extend to the shutdown process.

Jake

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prehistoric
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dmesg from failed boot

#86 Post by prehistoric »

@jemimah,

I can't seem to get you a dmesg from one of the failed boots, because when it can't find the sfs files, it drops into an initrd console, which reports it can't find the tty. This could be a clue about where to look for the problem.

When I use the modified Xandros grub menu to boot into your system from the SSD, I get the dmesg and lsmod output attached below. Perhaps this will tell something.

A note about booting from SD cards: I've been assuming everyone boots from the SD card the same way I do, by using the BIOS setup to change the order it tries "hard drives". If you have found some other way to boot from an SD card, without modifying the contents of internal drives, I'd like to know.
Attachments
dmesg2.txt.gz
gzipped output from dmesg command after successful boot of Pupeee 4.3.1 from SSD
(8.08 KiB) Downloaded 406 times
lsmod2.txt.gz
gzipped output from lsmod command after successful boot of Pupeee 4.3.1 from SSD
(371 Bytes) Downloaded 428 times

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jemimah
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#87 Post by jemimah »

Prehistoric, that output doesn't help me with the card reader problem. But your networking problem seems to be caused by the fact that both ath5k and ath9k are loading. That shouldn't happen. Does your sound work?

I get that same tty mesg but I can type commands. Do you not get a prompt, or what?

I leave the boot order alone. I just press esc a bunch of times when it's first starting and choose the card reader from the menu. I wonder if that could possibly make a difference...

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jemimah
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#88 Post by jemimah »

Jakfish, I don't imagine a lot of the options for Puppy were exactly designed with netbooks in mind. That's what we're trying to fix. Read-only save file is an interesting idea that would be fairly trivial to add. The problem is you eventually run out of memory...

Is suspend working for you? Startup and shutdown times become a lot less irritating if you can suspend and resume in two seconds.

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prehistoric
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dmesg from failed boot

#89 Post by prehistoric »

@Jemimah,

With all my experience, I should have known the error message was in error. (This is right up there with the ancient system in which available memory was reported as 0K. Handling a service call from a customer who insisted it said things were OK was worthy of a comedy routine.)

I can get a dmesg, which leads to a new problem, I am not able to mount anything on which to save it. (I'll spare you a blow-by-blow description of other problems. These have confirmed my belief future archeologists will identify the layer marking our civilization by three index artifacts: dead batteries, incompatible chargers and lost remotes.) Once my camera is charged, I'll send a screen shot.

For now, I can confirm that it is treating the SD card as sda and the internal SSD as sdb. These show up clearly because there is only one partition on the card, while there are 4 on the internal ASUS-PHISON SSD drive. It refers to sda as SCSI 2:0:0:0 and sdb as SCSI 1:0:0:0. There is a message from ata2 that the SD card is slow to respond. The text ends at precisely the point where it finally reports sdb as an attached SCSI disk. After this it can't find anything.

Something seems to be backwards.

Added: The mixer in the tray continues to come up muted on boots from the internal SSD. ALSA sound will configure, and I can hear some sound, but the master volume slider remains unusable.

Correction: the very last line in dmesg is:
"<6> Freeing unused kernel memory: 324k freed"

Time to check on the batteries in that camera.

cor
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touchpad

#90 Post by cor »

I'm thrilled about this new puppeee. Amazingly fast. However I can't get the touchpad to work properly. Tapping on the touchpad doesn't work. I followed the leads on the subject in this forum, but to no avail. I have a 701 (Eeepc). Pretty standard I would say. Did I overlook something? :?

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prehistoric
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dmesg from failed boot on 900A

#91 Post by prehistoric »

@Jemimah,

Here are the pictures of that dmesg output photographed off the screen. I apologize for the quality. I'm posting them anyway, as you may be able to glean enough information to locate the problem. These were taken with a handheld camera after a struggle with automatic flash, exposure and autofocus, which were all sure I didn't want a picture like this. The text was viewed in e3vi, so you can see the line numbers on the bar at the bottom, if you wonder where you are. I believe the information you want is near the end.

If necessary, I'll go back and do a better job.
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prehistoric
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dmesg from failed boot on 900A

#92 Post by prehistoric »

more screen shots of that dmesg.
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dmesgp1.jpg
page 1 of dmesg from failed boot on 900A
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dmesgp2.jpg
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smokey01
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#93 Post by smokey01 »

prehistoric try this in the console window:

dmesg > dmesg.txt

This should gernerate a text file in /root/dmesg.txt which you can then upload.

Smokey

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prehistoric
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dmesg from failed boot on 900A

#94 Post by prehistoric »

@smokey01,

Afraid you missed the context of my problem. Those screenshots were from dmesg.txt created as you suggest and viewed in an editor. I can't upload the text, or transfer it to another medium, because the boot fails by losing track of disks, etc. I never get to the point where the sfs files load, let alone reach the internet..

@Jemimah,

I see those pictures have been downloaded. I'm (almost) recovered from my last go round. Do you want me to make another attempt?

Added: I don't think I responded to some of your comments.

I'm using the networking wizard for wireless, because it works for me, and I understand it. The wizard finds the ath5k module without a problem. I just exit from wpa_gui.

I've tried booting off the SD card both ways, and it doesn't seem to matter.

The reason for using BIOS setup and changing the order of "hard disks" is that this way I can continue trying things and rebooting as long as a bootable SD card is in the reader when boot starts, without needing to hit escape or F2 in time. (I tend to be a little slow at my age.) When it comes time to hand the netbook over to the person who currently uses the Xandros system, I just pop out the SD card and it automatically reverts to booting Xandros only.

magerlab
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#95 Post by magerlab »

there's no happiness in this life:)
ndiswrapper works ok but wpa connection is always with troubles( i need to run wizard several times to connect....)
haven't used new version with madwifi yet

is there a way to disable sleep mode when i close the lid

i noticed that if i ihave streaming radio in gxine and close the lid
eee pc freezes after wake up

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