Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Edited January 10, 2022.
Don’t Panic. This post assumes you know nothing. It takes longer to read than to do; and took far longer to write.
[This Recipe assumes that your working Puppy employs JWM-Rox. If not, some of the following may not apply or will have to be ‘translated’ to operations under its Window-and-File Manager].

[frugalpup-installer viewtopic.php?t=337 provides other techniques; some might actually be simpler, but doesn’t result in the structure as flexible as I need. The ‘recipe’ for using it is sufficiently dissimilar from that discussed here that trying to include it would likely result in confusion. See the above thread for instructions.

See here if you can boot Puppy from a USB-Key but can't create a SaveFile; or want to create another USB-Key with the SAME Puppy. You will need a 2nd USB-Key, viewtopic.php?p=51911#p51911

The purpose of this post is to provide an easy-to-follow recipe when using any Puppy to manually install any Puppy to a USB-Stick so the latter Puppy can be booted from that USB-Stick. What you will need:
(1) A USB-Key, to be prepared.
(2) The System files of the Puppy to be installed.
(3) An application to create a boot-loader.

We will be doing so in the following order: Prepare the USB-Key; obtain the Puppy System files, then copy those files into a folder on the USB-Key; then (obtaining, installing, and/or) running a boot-loader application which --finding the Puppy System files where we placed them-- will create a boot-loader on the USB-Key with either a config or menu displayed enabling you to boot into that Puppy.
If you already have the USB-Key, the Puppy System Files and the boot-loader application the entire procedure takes about 5 minutes.

Preparing the USB-Key:
(1) Boot into your current Puppy.
(2) Plug in the USB-Key on which you intent to locate your ‘new’ Puppy. A Desktop Drive Icon will appear just above the Taskbar. Note the label it was given which for the purpose of this Recipe will be referred to as sdb1.
(3) Start Menu>System>GParted partition manager. A GUI will appear. Gparted only formats drives: so for this recipe the drive you’d select is sdb. Caution: Click the corresponding ‘circle’.

(4) A ‘factory fresh’ USB-Key will look something like the panel on the Left in Gparted’s Work GUI.

From the Menu, Select Device>Create Partition Table; then --as the partition type--msdos and click “Apply”. Click OK to dismiss the warning.
What in the above Screenshot was reported as “fat32” will become “Unallocated”.
This is what I did and why:
(5) Right-Clicked the Unallocated Space, Selected New. Create the 1st Partition, approximately 150 Mbs in Size (New Size on Left), to be formatted as fat32 –chosen by clicking button to the right of “File System”, then scrolling.

After the New partition is created, select it, then click the far-right column, Flags, (see prior graphic) and put a check in the “boot” button. [UEFI computers require, other can use, fat32 formatting to hold the boot-loader and associated files. Most boot-loaders require a ‘boot’ flag.]
Continued here: viewtopic.php?p=46867#p46867

Continued from OP: viewtopic.php?p=1788#p1788
When I finished restructuring a (different) USB-Key, it looked like this.

Tip: For gparted to display labels you have to fill in the appropriate field before selecting the formatting. Only some Window-manager (not JWM) will display labels on the desktop. I just fill in that section to remind myself what I'm doing.

(5) Right-Click Unallocated Space, Select New and format the rest of the USB-Key as Linux Ext3. This will hold your Puppy’s system files. IMHO, Linux Ext3 formatting works best for USB-Keys. You can find discussions by others with different opinions; or having special needs.
When you’re finished configuring how the USB-Key is to be structured, click Apply on the Toolbar.

(6) Creating a folder for your Puppy: When gparted has finished processing your instructions Puppy will re-catalog what partitions are available to it and present a new desktop display with icons just above the taskbar for each of the USB-Key’s partitions. Hovering your mouse-cursor over a desktop drive icon will provide a Tool-tip of its size and formatting.
In this recipe we are going to locate Puppy’s system files on sdb3 (the large Linux formatted partition) in its own folder.
[Although we could locate those files at the top/root of the sdb3 partition, placing them in a folder has several advantages: (a) Makes them easy to find; (b) each Puppy only needs its own folder: additional folders can be created for variations of that Puppy, or different Puppys, and the boot-”menu” hand-edited rather than again having to run an application. Hand-editing changes only one file avoiding the wear which takes place when an entire boot-loader is written. IMHO, it’s also faster: just copy, past, then edit the old folder’s name to the new in the new stanza].

Left-Click the drive/partition on which you want to locate your Puppy. In the window which opens Right-Click an empty space, select New>Directory and give it an Unique name relating your new Puppy; for example xenial32, tahr64, Slacko64_6.2. Left-Click the new folder to enter/view it’s contents (it's currently empty) and leave that window open.

Working with Puppy Linux’s System Files

As explained in detail, viewtopic.php?f=2&t=180, a frugal Puppy’s operating system consists of between 3 and 7 files, excluding the SaveFile/Folder you may later create to preserve changes. The minimum 3 are initrd(.gz), vmlinuz, and Puppy_VERSION_VersionNumber.sfs, e.g. puppy_xenialpup64_7.5.sfs. In addition to those, there usually will be a zdrv_puppy_Version_VersionNumber.sfs.
Puppies are packaged as ISOs. The post which provided the link to your Puppy’s ISO will tell you if it is necessary to separately download an fdrv_puppy_Version_VersionNumber.sfs. That post will also provide information regarding any adrv_puppy_Version_VersionNumber.sfs or a ydrv_puppy_Version_VersionNumber.sfs which you may want to download, or having been packaged in the ISO, you may want to remove.

[The above is of the mounted ISO of a Remastered Bionicpup64’s. I swapped the kernel (vmlinuz & zdrv_xxx.sfs). The new zdrv_xxx.sfs did not include firmware. So I downloaded a firmware package and renamed it fdrv_bionicpup64_8.0.sfs. Also notice the absence of a bionicpup64_save_xxx.xfs. SaveFiles/Folders are not found in an ISO. Rather they are created by the User to store settings, customizations, and user installed applications. They are READ-WRITE. amethyst has created a tool for replacing SaveFile/Folders with either an adrv.sfs, a ydrv.sfs or both. viewtopic.php?t=1694 These are READ-ONLY. If used, once your Puppy has booted to desktop the USB-Key can be unplugged (unless and until a SaveFile/Folder is created). The graphic shows such a ydrv.sfs.
Caution: If there was either an adrv.sfs or a ydrv.sfs in the ISO, know what the Dev included in that file. Amethyst’s tools can still be used. But instruction on ‘how to’ are beyond the scope of this post].
Hint: Steps 7 & 8 are not necessary if the Puppy you want to locate on the USB-Key is the same as the Puppy you are currently running. Just file-browse to that Puppy’s System files.
Step 7: obtain/download your choice of Puppy.ISO.
Step 8: Left-Click the ISO. A window will open and you’ll see (and can access) the ISO’s files. Except that some will bear names relating to your Puppy, it will look something like the above graphic:
Step 9: Copy the system files from the ISO window into the folder you created in Step 6. The system files are initrd(.??), vmlinuz, and every file ending with .sfs, except adrv.sfs and ydrv.sfs IF you know they contain EXTRA applications you don’t want, or won’t always want. See the post referred to above for an explanation. [You need initrd which usually is packaged as initrd.gz, may be packaged as initrd.xz or sometimes not compressed at all and appears as just initrd].
To copy ONE file into the folder you created in Step 6, place your mouse-cursor on it, Left-Press, hold, then drag it into the folder you created in Step 6, select Copy.
Rox Short-Cuts: To copy a couple files at the same time, Hold-down the Ctrl key, then Left-Click each file you want to copy. Selected files will be highlighted. You can deselect a file by Ctrl-Left-Clicking it again. After you’ve selected all the files you want, Left-Press, Hold any of the selected files and drag it into the other folder. All selected files will ‘follow’.
To Select all files in a folder, Left-Click an empty space in that folder (to focus rox on the folder) then type Ctrl-a. All files will be selected. You can use Ctrl-Left-Click to deselect any.
Rox has another trick that is useful especially for dealing with files in one or several rows: the lasso, albeit this lasso is a rectangle. Visualize all the files you want as being in a rectangle (ignoring that other files may also be in it). Left-Click an Empty Space just beyond any corner of that rectangle, then drag the mouse cursor up-or-down to the furthest corner of that rectangle. All the files in the rectangle will be selected. You can use Ctrl-Left-Click to deselect any.

The Boot Loader:
You’ll find Menu>Setup>Grub4Dos bootloader config built into most Puppys. IT CAN NOT BE USED to boot from any computer employing the UEFI boot device. Some recent Puppys have Menu>Setup>Grub2 bootloader config builtin. If not, it can be downloaded from here: viewtopic.php?t=3360 . It can be used with both UEFI and ‘old-bios’ booting computers. [The only advantage to using Grub4Dos when possible is that you can provide it with your choice of a fancy splash screen].
Hint: You don’t have to execute a Save to use a newly downloaded Grub2Config. Just left-click the pet to ‘install’ it to RAM, and Menu>Exit Restart Graphical Server (AKA x). Puppy will re-catalog what makes up its system.
(1) Start your boot-loader application: either Menu>Setup>grub2 config or Menu>Setup>grub4dos. Select the USB-Key as the location onto which the boot-loader is to be installed. Caution: Be careful to select the USB-Key you want as the location to have the boot-loader written. You don’t want to overwrite the boot-loader on your hard-drive. In the below graphic it’s sdd.

Grub2 bootloader config –as it can be used with UEFI computers-- offers more choices, doing so through presenting 3 GUIs. Grub4dos only presents the GUI at the Bottom-Right. Notice that in the latter a Check mark has been placed in the “Search within only this device”, being the USB-Key selected/highlighted on the Left.

After each configuration selection you progress to the next by clicking OK. Until the last OK is clicked nothing gets written and a Cancel button will exit the application.

Dealing with SaveFiles/Folders: Your source for your ‘new’ Puppy may have been the Puppy you are running and for which you already created a SaveFile or SaveFolder. It is not recommended that you copy a SaveFile/Folder while it’s in use. Errors may be generated in the copy. You can accurately copy a SaveFile/Folder, but not while its being used. Boot into a different Puppy or debiandog; or into your ‘new puppy’ using the boot argument “pfix=ram”. Ask about the pfix=ram if you need to.
p.s. Don't forget to unmount (Left-Click) the ISO you mounted.

To avoid confusion that can result form mixing recipes, the post originally here has been move to https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 591#p87591

The procedure is identical to that for installing a 2nd Puppy to a USB-Key. However:

When you reach the Section Working with Puppy Linux’s System Files viewtopic.php?p=46867#p46867, Right-Click an empty space on your hard-drive, from the pop-up menu select New>Directory, and give it a name. Follow the instructions for copying your New Puppy's system files into that folder, then run grub4dos or grub2config.
If you are already using grub4dos or grub2config, and the New Puppy is on the same partition* as your old, rather than running those applications, file-browse to the menu.lst or grub.cfg, and open it in your text editor. Create some empty space. Then copy the stanza for your old Puppy and paste it into that space. Then all you usually have to do is edit the copy: change the title and replace references to old Puppy to that of the New*.

=-=-=-
* If your new Puppy is not on the same partition, you can still edit menu.lst or grub.cfg rather than running an application to create a new boot-loader. But you'll also have to edit references to the partition. You can open a terminal and enter the command 'blkid' --without the quotes-- to obtain the unique UUID of every partition.

@mikeslr

I thought to myself, this thread has had 2,000+ views, it's got to have worked

Thank you so much for sharing.

I tried the steps you described but using a USB-HDD and it worked first time.

I did use the Frugal installer and copied over the files from my USB flash drive.

For some reason, I have an error message for the Boot Flag, not sure why but it works

@mikeslr There are no instructions for after launching FrugalPup and choosing "Frugalpup - Install/manage Installs"; so I had to guess what to do ― and naturally, did something wrong. I chose the Puppy button → in "Select the source type:" - I chose directory, the one we created on the USB Key → in short - I choose the same directory to contain Puppy ― and the message was that the Source & Destination directories were the same. What am I suppose to do instead?

This how to might help
https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=5313

It is from the Getting Started and System Requirements section of the form.
It assumes you are running from the version of Puppy you want to install to the usb. If you are not running another version of puppy then you need to pick the location of your puppy iso file

Hi Mr. Accident,

It took me a while to recover from a migraine, then figure out where you went off course. This thread discusses using grub4dos or grub2config. You used frugalpup. In the Opening Post I referred to it as frugalpup-installer and provided a link because the name frugalpup plugged into the Search Box returns 604 posts. I specifically wrote:

"[frugalpup-installer viewtopic.php?t=337 provides other techniques; some might actually be simpler, but doesn’t result in the structure as flexible as I need. The ‘recipe’ for using it is sufficiently dissimilar from that discussed here that trying to include it would likely result in confusion. See the above thread for instructions."

In creating frugalpup-installer, gyrog blazed the trail by which computers employing the UEFI system became available to Puppy fans. Even shinobar in the development of grub2config followed his lead. And I'm sure that there must be a way to employ the tools which come with frugalpup-installer to add a second Puppy to its grub2config.

But like everyone else, I'm a creature of habit. I don't use frgualpup-installer but rather grub2config with which I'm comfortable. Using grub2config, I described how I add another puppy on this thread. https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 141#p57141 Likely, the same technique can be used when frugalpup provides the boot manager.

The other day I tried to get a new usb flash drive to boot with a manual frugal install, using a method I used before with a sd card. Just couldn't get the bloody thing to boot. Eventually ran Bootflash from menu and that worked albeit that both wee and grub4dos were installed. wee seems to be searching a bit at boot time and is slower than I'm used to but at least the bloody thing is booting now. WIth my initial method I chose NOT to overwrite the existing boot record, that may have been the problem in retrospect...
Edit: Slower booting was because I changed the BIOS setting to "fail-safe booting". Now that I have changed it back to the advanced settings, it's quick.

I'm not sure I understood; so tell me if I'm correct:
⚬ you created this manual ― just for your purposes.
⚬if I want to just install Puppy, as a regular user that is not going to mess around with it ― I can just use FrugalPup, and point to the ISO file of the system I want to install; without doing anything from this manual.

Also - is F96 already installed on the flash-card, since I followed all the instructions? If not - what do I do now?

MrAccident wrote: Tue Apr 25, 2023 8:07 am

I'm not sure I understood; so tell me if I'm correct:
⚬ you created this manual ― just for your purposes.
No. By manual I mean I decompressed the ISO and manually copied contents to a folder rather than using an application which would automate those steps. Why would I bother to post a procedure I was only doing for my own purposes? .

⚬if I want to just install Puppy, as a regular user that is not going to mess around with it ― I can just use FrugalPup, and point to the ISO file of the system I want to install; without doing anything from this manual.

Maybe, see below. frugalpup writes the grub2 bootloader to the partition you select and creates on that partition a text file named grub.cfg. grub2 can boot an operating system within an ISO which has not been decompressed IF the argument in grub.cfg is properly written. Off hand, I don't know how to write that and I'm not going to take the time to search for it. See below.

Also - is F96 already installed on the flash-card, since I followed all the instructions? If not - what do I do now?

Which instructions did you follow?
The reason I not going to do any further investigation and writing about your problems and questions here is THIS IS THE THREAD ABOUT DOING INSTALLS USING EITHER GRUB4DOS OR GRUB2CONFIG. You used frugalpup. It has its own thread. viewtopic.php?p=1588#p1588 Please direct your questions to that thread if for no other reason than that by doing so they will come to the attention of those who use frugalpup and understand it better; and it will be easier for future users of frugalpup to find the information provided in reply.

I followed the instructions in this thread.
I continued the instructions in the post that starts with "Boot your Puppy. Open Menu>Setup>Puppy Installer". It talks about FrugalPup. Is this not part of the instructions?
I finished all the instructions prior. I used Grub4Dos; cause that's what I have inbuilt.

My apologies. I forgot that I did write, Frugal Install to USB-Key using the 'Universal' Puppy Installer, https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 911#p51911 on this thread and am now sorry that I did. I should have started a different thread; or not mentioned it at all, leaving to someone who uses it the job of explaining it. In retrospect, including it in this thread was an invitation to create confusion.

As I've often said, I have a flaky memory. It's likely that the last time I used the 'Universal Puppy Installer' was while (or just before) writing that post. So I'm guessing from your original post that you had a running Puppy somewhere and wanted to make a copy of it somewhere else. For example, you're running Puppy is on a USB-Key and the somewhere else is on a hard-drive. In that case, the 'Source' is your USB-Key (or folder on the USB-Key if Puppy is in a folder) while the 'Destination' would be the folder on your Hard-drive.

I've moved the post regarding using the 'Universal Puppy Installer' here, https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 591#p87591

Each Puppy only needs its own folder. But AFAIK, All Major distros require an entire partition. Worse, each insists on creating your computer's primary boot-manager and AFAIK none of the boot-manager they write will automatically recognize your Puppys as operating systems to be offered when you turn on your computer.

Having a hard-drive with several Terabyte capacity, I created one partition to hold "Major Distros"; to explore them and see if any offer something Puppys lack. FYI, I haven't found anything. By selecting their 'Custom Install' option, they can be installed without wiping out either my Puppys or the Windows 7 (or 10) operating system which came with the computer. But, as aforesaid, such installs don't recognize any of my Puppys as an operating system to be offered when I turn on the computer.
My computer is configured to give boot-priority to USB-Keys.
Enter grub2config:
After installing the 'new major distro' to a hard-drive, I boot into a recent Puppy on a USB-Key, open grub2config and select sda as the location for its grub2 to be written. It has never had a problem creating a boot-system whose grub.cfg offers to boot into Windows, the new Major Distro and every Puppy.

I'll leave it to the experts to explain how grub2config accomplishes that and provide any necessary caution.

It's not from the running Puppy, it's from an ISO file.
This is still too complicated for me. So tell me if I can install Puppy in the following way (very consice):
⚬ Insert Flash-Card → open GParted → Device > Create Partition Table > msdos > new Partition 150Mb fat32; boot flag > the rest ext4 → create folder on the ext4 “Puppy_Name”
⚬ Menu>Setup>Puppy Installer (on some puppys named Universal Installer) > "Frugalpup - Install/manage Installs":
Then to click first on the Boot? And install it on the fat32 partition?
Then to click on the Puppy button, and to choose the ISO file (F96)?
And that's it?