I'm confused about ISO & pupmode

[LLe]

So I didn't like the main Puppy Linux and after searching some time I found this, which seems pretty good. when I went to download link there was an ISO and extra file, I assumed I had to download the ISO, but it didn't work, then I found the IMG file in the older version, which seems to be working fine, so what is the ISO for and what is the extra one? do I have to add those files after I have flashed the IMG file on the usb?
then I found out about the pupmodes, bit confused about how to save changes and how to change in which mode it is running in. I only ran it on USB is that something that will be clear when I install it?

[Feek]

@LLe ,
welcome to the forum.

Generally, to choose a version of puppy depends on the hardware you want to use.

Can you please specify, what iso you downloaded and from where?
What do you mean by the "extra file"? Do you mean md5sum....txt?

ISO is most frequent form of a release of any linux distribution. For example, it can be burned to an optical media and then boot. Or some programs like Rufus/Unetbootin can create a bootable usb stick from it.

You can find usefull information about how to begin with puppy in the first 2 sections of this forum: "Before Installing Puppy, README FIRST" and "Getting Started and System Requirements".

Yes, the pupmodes may be bit confusing for the first look. You can find a theory here.
Regarding the running on usb, the key thought is that you would like to minimize writes on the usb, to prolong its life. The pupmode 13 would be appropriate in this case, because you can set when (and how often) are the changes written from ram layer to the usb.

[LLe]

@Feek Thanks, Hello.

I'm downloading from here: https://github.com/vanilla-dpup/release ... x86_64-9.2
as you can see in the latest version assets are:
vanilladpup-9.2.25-extra.tar
vanilladpup-9.2.25.iso

while vanilladpup-x86_64-9.1.27 has these:
kernel_sources-9.1.27.sfs
vanilladpup-9.1.27-ext4-2gb-bios.img.gz
vanilladpup-9.1.27-ext4-2gb-uefi.img.gz
vanilladpup-9.1.27.tar

vanilladpup-9.2.25.iso didn't boot for me, ext4-2gb-uefi.img.gz worked fine.

I know what ISO is, I just don't understand why the newest release listed is only .iso while the older one is only an .img. now that I think about it, since the getting started page says: "these images are mostly useful as a way to try out Vanilla Dpup and produce Vanilla Dpup installation media" the .img was abandoned because it's now recommended to install rather than boot it live on a flash drive, am I assuming correctly?

I skimmed through the "Before Installing Puppy, README FIRST" page, I'll check out the other one out as well.

[Feek]

Okay.

I don't know exactly why the VanillaDpup developer abandoned the .img. There was a discussion about it here. Probably most puppy users require the "traditional" .iso format.

The essential thing is that the stable and regularly updated version is currently 9.2.x, so I would use ...9.2.25.iso if I were you.

Basically, you only need this .iso file for the installation itself. The "Extra" file contains some useful things like multi-language support, more complex documentation, etc.
What method did you try to boot the .iso version?

[LLe]

@Feek
I used gnome disk and Popsicle, both I think just use dd. but before answering this right now I thought I would try again, went to the getting started page and it recommends Etcher, so I tried etcher and it gave me this error

[dimkr]

Go for the 9.2.x ISO and write it to the flash drive using dd or something like Etcher, that writes it as-is instead of trying to re-partition the drive. (Some tools get confused because it's a hybrid ISO with UEFI support, and spit warnings; ignore them.)

Regarding PUPMODE, first boot is PUPMODE 5, once you save it's 12 (changes are saved to the save file/folder directly), but if you save to removable media it's 13 (changes are save periodically or on user request). You don't need to set PUPMODE yourself or something.

[LLe]

@dimkr
I tried, gnome disks, popsicle, etcher, unetbootin and dd from terminal, none of them worked. It refuses to boot, doesn't even give me any errors.

[dimkr]

Have you checked the ISO size?

[user1234]

@LLe, as @dimkr posted, try checking if the iso file is correct. Unfortunately, the md5/sha checksums for the iso is/are not found. A solution might be checking iso size and comparing it with that of external one (though does not provide much information). If you can, why not trying to redownload the iso?

(And are you downloading the iso or the extra.tar? Download iso, extra.tar is there for extra stuff which comes along with the puppy, like devx.sfs, docx.sfs, nlsx.sfs, etc.)

[LLe]

Size of the downloaded file seems to be little larger than what github shows, but I'm perry sure that's normal, I have downloaded the iso number of times and it's the same. It doesn't happen with other distros, I tried Puppy Linux, EasyOS and Fatdog64, all booted fine, but vanillaUpup didn't boot either.

[Dietmar]

Dear Puppy Fans,
maybe this could be an hint, because it worked for me.

I used Rufus 3.2 portable, running in a Win7 virtual System (Virtualbox). Rufus recognized the different ISO Style and requested two additinal libaries, which were install then directly by Rufus itself. After that the ISO File vanilladpup-9.2.26.iso was set up at the USB Stick. Rebooting the system and selecting the USB at boot menu starts Vanilla Dpup.

Hope that this could be help someone.

+++Update 27.11.2022:
It is possible to get OS running, and saving of changes will be done, but the next boot process will not find the saveings. This issue is report (see viewtopic.php?t=7353) I saw it to late.
Will now try unetbootin get create an live usb. Keep you updated. Sorry for inconvenience

Best regards

[mikeslr]

Using Rufus remains the easiest way under Windows to create a 'fully usable with the ability to create a Save' Puppy. But it depends on which version of Rufus you use and how you run it. See this post, https://www.forum.puppylinux.com/viewto ... 522#p40522.

After version 3.17 the publisher of Rufus changed something. There has since been a post by someone who tested several newer versions of rufus and reported which worked. But he did not link that post to the above thread and I can't find his report. So, for now, I still have to recommend that version 3.17 of Rufus be obtained, https://rufus.ie/downloads/

IIRC, Unetbootin will work with Puppys, almost . The boot code it writes to a USB-Stick identifies the Stick as a CD, You have to hand-edit the code. bigpup explained how on the 'old' forum and I repeated his instructions on our current forum, viewtopic.php?p=6801#p6801

[Clarity]

Hello @LLe I no longer have v9.2.25 but here is the checksum (md5) for v9.2.26

/mnt/boot-isos/vanilladpup64-9.2.26.iso 82ecdebdaa6777fa862bc5934d6caca4

If you get the same for your downloaded ISO file, then you have a good download that should function to create the bootable media as you seek.

I do not understand the output error screen you posted. Never seen it before???

Hope this is helpful

[Dietmar]

Dear all,
after a lot of try and errors I was not able to create an boot stick with out the error message "waiting for partion [iso9669]" and the waiting 60 seconds.
In some try the boot was refused completely. - Which is clearly related to the Image writer, but nevertheless it was an unsuccessfull try.

I tried, UNetbootin, Live-USB-Maker, YUMI, Rufus 3.2 and Rufus 3.17, Gnome-Multiwriter, dd command, Etcher, Live-USB-Creater (not longer supported).

Now the hint from mikesir for USB created by UNetbootin to change "append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=cd" into "append initrd=initrd.gz pmedia=usbflash" doesnet help in so far, because the syslink.cfg does not contain any line with "pmedia=cd".
But I saw this in grub.cfg and in /boot/grub/grub.cfg as well at menu.lst - I thought try to change here the lines with "pmedia=cd" into "pmedia=usbflash".

What shall I say
USB created with UNetbootin started only with the option "DEFAULT", but system booted normal and after leaving the session, save folder was created. New booting found this save folder and system starts with the changes done before.

USB Stick created with Rufus 3.17 -- the was only an small file syslink.cfg also here nothing to modify. - Modification of grub.cfg and menu.lst works. System started normal with normal boot menu and also here savefile are created and reloaded by next startup.

Therefore I think, the most important thing to do is the change of the "pmedia=cd".

Hope this will help others

[rcrsn51]

I tried, UNetbootin, Live-USB-Maker, YUMI, Rufus 3.2 and Rufus 3.17, Gnome-Multiwriter, dd command, Etcher, Live-USB-Creater (not longer supported).

FWIW, ISObooter works with Vanilla Dpup in both BIOS and UEFI modes.

[Clarity]

I agree.

And also, tested and posted, so does SG2D. Just add the ISO file to your SG2D USB, boot the USB, when you get the list of ISOs, choose your ISO file and it will boot to desktop.

This is the same for all WoofCE PUPs.

[LLe]

Seems like others are having trouble with is, so I'll post how I got it working. first thing that worked was burning it to a DVD, I used Xfburn, went smoothly. some time later I discovered gurb2config, was not sure how to use it, searched on youtube, found this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaJobAczCXk , I followed the partition part of the video, but in the second part instead of copying the sfs files from the iso I just installed it with frugalinstaller by pointing it to that second partition, link to grub2config and frugalinstaller: viewtopic.php?t=3360