Installing fossapup onto USB

[obi3112]

Hello everyone
I was looking for a lightweight linux distro i could install on my USB while being "good" and i came across fossapup, now i was watching a tutorial on how i could install it to my USB and looked at this video right here :- , I did everything the video said and i got some .sfs files in my folder, and i restarted my computer, i opened my PC's boot menu i did NOT see the flash drive i installed fossapup into, all i saw was the installation media but when i booted to that media, it was quite different from what it looked like (now it said GNU grub iirc with a blue background)when i was using fossapup live (before installing it into the USB) and i chose the first option which was fossapup 64, i saved a file in the root/Desktop directory and restarted my computer, and its not there! Am I missing on sth? if it was installed on the USB, i should have gotten the file that i had saved before,

I would really appreciate it if someone could help, Thanks a lot!
Cheers

[wizard]

@obi3112

Take a look here for better instructions on how to get started:
viewforum.php?f=184
This post in particular:
viewtopic.php?t=5192

wizard

[bigpup]

Etcher installer is hit or miss and for me it has never worked.

Use one of the installers talked about in those links in the above post.

when i was using fossapup live (before installing it into the USB)

If you can still run it from some other way than installed on a USB.

Fossapup64 has installer programs that you can use to do installs to a USB.
Those programs are specifically for installing Puppy Linux.

[Geek3579]

This is a different approach again, and requires a running version of Puppy Linux, eg Fossapup64, Bionicpup64. (I use this basic method to make a disk image in a virtual machine which I then burn to the USB, especially if I am making multiple copies of the USB).
I'm sorry but not every step is fully described.

1) Download the following: Fossapup64 ISO
Grub2-config.pet
ydrv.sfs if LXDE required

2) Using Gparted, create the following on the USB:
a msdos/gpt partition table (this will wipe everything on the USB)
a 800MB FAT32 Boot partition with boot + lba flags set
a ext4 frugal data partition (Min 3GB - max size ~2GB less than the stated capacity )

3) Using GParted determine the UUID of the ext4 partition which will be stored as a variable MYUUID below

4) Run the grub2-conf.pet in the running machine to create the boot requirements in the FAT32 partition on the USB

5) Extract the frugal files from the ISO. Add in the extra LXDE sfs as/if required
Save in a named Frugal folder in the ext4 partition –

6) Edit the gub.conf file in the FAT32 partition to add in the boot script and UUID.

eg MYUUID=41eab793-5074-4189-896b-05808b57e1be # example only
MYPUP=”Fossapup64”

menuentry "Fossapup64" {
insmod ext2
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set $MYUUID
echo "Loading vmlinuz"
linux /$MYPUP/vmlinuz net.ifnames=0 pmedia=usbflash pdrv=$MYUUID \
psubdir=/$MYPUP pfix=fsck,fsckp TZ=AEST-10
echo "Loading initrd.gz"
initrd /$MYPUP/initrd.gz
}

[obi3112]

@obi3112

Take a look at here for better instructions on how get started:
viewforum.php?f=184
This post in particular:
viewtopic.php?t=5192

wizard

thank you so much for the warm welcome

and there seems to be a misunderstanding here

what i meant was that i after i installd fossapup onto my USB, i could not see puppy on my computers bootmenu

so I actually had done the steps already of making a live environment of fossapup on my SD CARD and i have been playing around with it,
but I actually wanted to install it onto my USB and therefore i had followed the steps shown on the video, so i did everything it said,
I made partition on my USB (one for fossapup and for the EFI) and i used frugal pup to install fossapup onto my USB
and i got some .sfs files on my USB, and i thought that it would work just like any distro
cause when i previously installed distros (doing a full install and not a live environment), i would see debian, ubuntu or sth like that on the bootmenu and i thought
it would work the same way for fossapup as well and i was expecting to see sth on the boot menu but i didnt and i got confused cause that was not what i was used to.
I did see the installation media but this time it had quite a different appearance, it had a blue background and said Grub iirc, its different from what it was like on the LIVE environment

I am also a programmer and i heard about vanilla dpup which is another version of puppy linux and heard people its better than fossapup for programming? if so should i go to vanilla dpup and would it really affect me if i didnt?
I hope that cleared things up a bit!
and thank you all for replying!

[mikewalsh]

@obi3112 :-

Hallo.....and to the "kennels".

To recap; Etcher is no good for Puppy. Simple reason is that Pup's unique method of operation (running from highly-compressed files) means that 'standard' locations, directories & files which Etcher expects to "see" simply aren't there. Or to clarify this, they ARE there.....but you don't see them until after Puppy has created its virtual file-system in RAM, loaded everything into it & then booted. And Etcher is NOT coded to "imagine" what a virtual file-system is going to look like!!

Etcher is coded to work for the standard, mainstream "full install". It CANNOT work for Puppy...not in a million years.

(Most small, frugally-installed 'portable' OSes are the same. Porteus, Slax, Knoppix, TinyCore, SliTaZ....not one of these uses the 'standard' paradigm of a "full" install via an Etcher-derived 'Live' session followed by booting with the GRUB2 bootloader. All, without exception, use their own long-established methods for achieving this.)

==================

With regard to your BootMenu observation, I don't know of any installer that, having installed an OS to a USB stick, will automatically add an entry to the main BootMenu on your hard drive! Puppy tends to install its bootloader to the same media you've installed your Puppy to, as do many others....and that's the whole point of that small partition at the start of the drive. FAT32 is required by the UEFI specifications, but MBR is also happy to use it.

It's easy enough to manually add an entry to your main BootMenu, so that it "chainloads" & passes control to the USB stick. I've done this many times in the past, purely for my own convenience.

Puppy can take some getting used to. Don't feel bad about it; you certainly aren't the first, and I seriously doubt you'll be the last..!

Mike.

[bigpup]

.
.
First read this topic:
viewtopic.php?t=7630
.
.

i used frugal pup to install fossapup onto my USB

But did you also install a boot loader to boot it?

Frugalpup installer does frugal installs and then you need to use the boot selection in it's main window to install a boot loader on the drive to boot what you installed.

This is how I use Frugalpup installer to do an install to USB:

Use Gparted program.
Setup the USB stick with 2 partitions.
First one, small 300MB, fat32 format, flagged boot. (location for boot loader files, boot partition)
Rest of drive, whatever other partition(s), but one ext3 or 4 format. (location to put frugal installs)
(this is UEFI standard requirement, and some computers, look for a fat32 partition, for boot loader files)

Run Frugalpup Installer main program.
On the main window are selection buttons.
Select the Puppy button, to do the install.
Go through install process, selecting to install to the ext formatted partition.
Note:
When selecting the partition to install to.
A window pops up, giving option to make a directory, to put the frugal install in.
I make this directory and usually name it, the name of the Puppy version.
Carefully read that windows info.
Press enter, makes the directory, not the OK button.
complete the install.

When it gets back to the main Frugalpup window.
Select the boot button.
Select the location of the frugal install, on the USB stick.
Select the small 300MB partition on the USB stick, as location to install the boot loader. (may need to scroll the selection window)
Select the boot loader type.
UEFI
mbr ->legacy bios boot
both

You can install the UEFI for UEFI computers, mbr for legacy bios computers, or both, to boot anything.

The UEFI will also install the needed files, to support secure boot enabled in UEFI.

When you first boot the USB stick, on a UEFI computer, with secure boot enabled.
A process will start, to allow you to install the Puppy security key, to the computer.
It will add this Puppy key, to the other ones, loaded on the computer.

Note:
Not all UEFI computers are the same, for booting from a USB stick.
Some may require secure boot disabled, CSM enabled, or legacy boot enabled, to be able to boot from a USB stick.
So, for those computers.
The mbr boot loader will work, because the UEFI bios, is basically in, legacy bios operation.
Some computer bios setups have option to enable/disable USB booting. That would need to be enabled.

To put more frugal installs on the same USB stick.
Do the complete process again, for the new Puppy version.
When you run the boot loader install.
It will make entries, for all installs it finds, on the USB drive.

Note:
There is a newer version of Frugalpup Installer
viewtopic.php?t=337
You may want to download and install it before using it.

[bigpup]

When booting from a Puppy version on a USB.

The computers boot device selection menu may show it as a UEFI boot device or generic USB device or some other similar name .
May even label it the actual manufactures brand name of the USB.
Which one will be correct you have to just try one and see what happens.

It is not going to label it Puppy Linux or see it as anything labeled that way.

If you select the correct one it should first boot to a boot loader Puppy selection menu.
Depending on the menu entries may have several entries to select.
The first one is usually the normal boot.

If you can still use programs in a running Fossapup64 9.5 to do installs to USB.

Stickpup program is the easy and simplest to use, but it does make it only able to use a save file and the save file will have a max size limit of 4GB.

StickPup
The simplest and most restricted installer, that formats and installs a single Puppy to a usb stick, in a single "fat32" partition.

[obi3112]

@obi3112 :-

Hallo.....and to the "kennels".

To recap; Etcher is no good for Puppy. Simple reason is that Pup's unique method of operation (running from highly-compressed files) means that 'standard' locations, directories & files which Etcher expects to "see" simply aren't there. Or to clarify this, they ARE there.....but you don't see them until after Puppy has created its virtual file-system in RAM, loaded everything into it & then booted. And Etcher is NOT coded to "imagine" what a virtual file-system is going to look like!!

Etcher is coded to work for the standard, mainstream "full install". It CANNOT work for Puppy...not in a million years.

(Most small, frugally-installed 'portable' OSes are the same. Porteus, Slax, Knoppix, TinyCore, SliTaZ....not one of these uses the 'standard' paradigm of a "full" install via an Etcher-derived 'Live' session followed by booting with the GRUB2 bootloader. All, without exception, use their own long-established methods for achieving this.)

==================

With regard to your BootMenu observation, I don't know of any installer that, having installed an OS to a USB stick, will automatically add an entry to the main BootMenu on your hard drive! Puppy tends to install its bootloader to the same media you've installed your Puppy to, as do many others....and that's the whole point of that small partition at the start of the drive. FAT32 is required by the UEFI specifications, but MBR is also happy to use it.

It's easy enough to manually add an entry to your main BootMenu, so that it "chainloads" & passes control to the USB stick. I've done this many times in the past, purely for my own convenience.

Puppy can take some getting used to. Don't feel bad about it; you certainly aren't the first, and I seriously doubt you'll be the last..!

Mike.

What i had done was i had an SD CARD as the installation media and a 64gig USB Drive for the target, i booted fossapup on the SD Card then made some partitons on the USB then installed it on the partitions through frugalpup. Didn't know that i could use fossa without having to install it, Are there any limitations to using puppy this way? Or am i good to go? also consider the fact that i am a programmer so i would really like to know if it would affect me in any way!

Thanks a lot!