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Savefile updates every couple of seconds [SOLVED]

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 09:58
by Fingers
Hi

I'm running Precise 5.5, booted from usb, running on a reasonable desktop PC.
Nice :D

.. but my hard drive won't shut up. Looking in ROX at the directory where my savefile is on the hard drive and hitting refresh again and again I see the savefile is being updated at least every 2 seconds.

Htop shows plenty of spare memory.

So in Puppy Event Manager I put the save interval to 0 (never save). No change. Rebooted. No change. Put the save interval to 9999. No change. Rebooted. No change.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 11:31
by Fingers
It's slowed down a bit, now. Still at lest evey 6 seconds. Thought I'd try ffconvert's screen capture (ooo my first video :P ) to show you I'm not a fibber

http://youtu.be/vnJiINHQ2WU

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 11:35
by rcrsn51
Go to the folder /etc/rc.d and open the file PUPSTATE. What is the value of the PUPMODE variable?

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 11:42
by Fingers
Hi rcrsn51

PUPMODE=12


( PMEDIA='cd' but I'm using USB - I don't know if this matters)

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 11:44
by Fingers
... yeah it seems it should be usb not cd - I'll try that

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 11:47
by rcrsn51
Because you are in PUPMODE=12, your savefile is mounted, so it is constantly in use. A regular flash drive install uses PUPMODE=13 where the save file resides in a separate layer and is only written to periodically.

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 11:51
by Fingers
Actually I won't (referring to my last post) because I don't know what I'm doing. I'm going out now and will look into it later. Got some learning to do with this one.

Still, if anyone can point me in the right direction, great!

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 12:00
by rcrsn51
Open the file syslinux.cfg on your flash drive and change the argument to "pmedia=ataflash".

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 12:57
by Sylvander
1. I just finished [a couple of minutes back, successfully] doing the following plus some other stuff to Precise-5.6.
I'm booting using a CD-RW with the pupsave on an internal HDD.
a. Begin with this lot.
[Do Items 4->(if your pupsave is on your internal HDD), then 1, then 2, then 3]
I like holding the pupsave on an internal HDD [it's faster than a Flash Drive], and using item 4 [in the page linked above] to have it treated as though on a Flash Drive.

b. Having completed the above, proceed to HERE to see the small code change to add to the code shown HERE.
This makes "Don't Save..." the default, when asked at shut-down whether you wish "to save or not to save".

2. The beauty of the above is that:
Session changes are only saved back to the pupsave IF and WHEN you choose.
a. During the session:
There is only a save IF/WHEN you choose to do it manually by clicking the "Save..." icon.

b. At shutdown/reboot:
You are asked whether you want "to save or not to save", and the default [click OK to accept] is "Don't save...".

Sorted

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 18:57
by Fingers
Thanks guys.

rcrsn51, I can see that this would work but ... but .... it's lying :shock: !

I've got the time and I want to learn so I've gone for Sylvander's suggestions.

I've done: "a. Begin with this lot." items 4. (remaster with pupmode=13 in init) and 1. (Puppy Event Manager save interval=0)

... but I had this problem:

re: kleung21's post http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 2239#82239 - Forcing pupmode 13 by remastering


When trying to mount initrd with 'mount ...' I got errors but got it to work with zcat instead:


mkdir /root/minit
cd /root/minit
zcat /mnt/{my usb stick where Puppy is booted from}/initrd.gz | cpio -i -d
leafpad initrc
#### In leafpad, I inserted:
#### PUPMODE=13
#### before the line:
#### case $PUPMODE in
sync
find .|cpio -o -H newc | gzip -9 > /mnt/{my usb stick where Puppy is booted from}/initrd.gz
sync
cd /root
sync

(Then I deleted the /root/minit directory)

Note: init was not in /root/minit/sbin/ - it's in /root/minit/

Thanks Bruce B for showing the zcat method.



I was about to ask why I don't have a save icon on the desktop but it's appeared as if by magic :) (now that I'm in pupmode 13)

This solves my hyperactive hard drive.

The other stuff is exactly what I was wanting to do next - you read my mind :)

Brilliant, thanks!

Posted: Mon 27 May 2013, 20:05
by Fingers
All done. Awesome. Thanks again.

This will be perfect for the netbook I'm getting next week that I just want to be a word processor. I'll save my work as and when and probably rarely save the session once I get everything how I want it. This was exactly what I wanted a few days ago when I'd never even heard of Puppy Linux.

Running from RAM rocks! It's always exasperated me that no matter the incredible leaps in hardware technology the software manages to keep it pushed to the limits. Great if you're a gamer, but to do simple stuff, why have a machine that struggles? Puppy addresses this brilliantly.

Very pleased :D

Posted: Tue 28 May 2013, 17:59
by Ted Dog
Now play with the suspend to RAM function with lid closed, and if you get into the habit of closing lid between uses, battery life can last about a week. On my 64bit notebook its about 7% per day loss of battery with lid down on fully MAXed out RAM on my older 32bit and a older version of puppy, packed it up on and had it in storage for a little over a month so I was surprised when lifting lid and puppy was is running in RAM.

Savefile updates every couple of seconds [SOLVED]

Posted: Wed 29 May 2013, 03:41
by Sky Aisling
Ted Dog writes:
Now play with the suspend to RAM function with lid closed,
Where is the suspend to RAM function?

Thank you

Posted: Wed 29 May 2013, 09:07
by Fingers
Cheers Ted. First I must wait for my netbook to arrive!

Re: Savefile updates every couple of seconds [SOLVED]

Posted: Wed 29 May 2013, 18:59
by Ted Dog
Sky Aisling wrote:Ted Dog writes:
Now play with the suspend to RAM function with lid closed,
Where is the suspend to RAM function?

Thank you
Close lid, trick is how to turn suspend to RAM off... ACPI settings. Sometimes I like to download overnight and with lights off.