Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Only letting us use Edge and install apps from the MS store is pretty draconian, so I'm just wondering if there's an easy way out. Ducky search doesn't show much on the subject.

https://www.howtogeek.com/354057/what-i ... in-s-mode/

You can exit S-mode if you wish.
https://www.howtogeek.com/360007/how-to ... 0s-s-mode/.

Is it possible to archive S mode before the 'permanent' switch?
I'm always big on putting machines back to oem spec, even though it means all the oem junk.

garnet wrote: ↑Fri Oct 16, 2020 3:28 am You can exit S-mode if you wish.
https://www.howtogeek.com/360007/how-to ... 0s-s-mode/.

Not that I know of ... unless you clone the entire disk before doing so. But to do it you will have to boot another operating system (Puppy perhaps), and I'm not sure if you can do it while S-mode is active, sorry. I used to have a machine running S-mode but it didn't last very long that way and I didn't occur to me trying to boot it up under another OS before removing it.

Booting Puppy to archive S mode is exactly what I would try to do, cloning the disk in Gparted.

If they put S mode in UEFI that would be pretty insidious.

Windows 10s is what Microsoft made to compete with Chromebooks.
It is so restrictive so they can make it free to computer companies and make money from people getting software from the Microsoft store.


I am typing this from a computer that had Windows 10s on it.

It no longer has Windows 10s on it.

I completely deleted Windows 10s and put several Puppy versions on it as frugal installs.
Boots to a menu where I select which Puppy to boot.

This is on a HP Stream 14 laptop.
It is now a Puppy Linux laptop.

The big question is.
Do you want Windows 10s still on computer and bootable?
Do you want to have Puppy and Windows 10s on computer?
Do you only want Puppy on computer?
What is the computer? Make and model????

Do you understand how to get into the UEFI setup to change UEFI settings??????

So, I can give you some info based on your answer to above questions.

The easy answer is put Puppy on a USB flash drive and select to boot from it, when computer starts.

You are going to need to do that much anyway to install Puppy on internal drive.

Also, if it has a SD card slot.
You can put Puppy on a SD card and boot from that.
The SD card will hardly stick out of the slot.
So, those work very well in a laptop.

I boot Puppy from a micro SD card on a Chromebook.
The internal emmc drive is 16GB the micro SD card is 128GB.
Being so small. I use the internal emmc drive as a place to store stuff.

@bigpup who is starting the service shop of installing Puppy on Chromebooks?

I will ask questions that are pre-emptory and hypothetical.

I'm typing on a 32-bit Win7 machine that is jamming along because I found a usable version of Firefox that works in Puppy 5.5.

Chromium installs but won't run. Other browsers won't even install.

It appears Microsoft got some blowback from S mode and that's why we can exit it at no charge?

I suppose if that's the case there's no reason for it if one would never want to use it anyway.

What you're doing, that same machine, is something I've considered, which I imagine being in part why we're all here.

On Windows 10 I would just want it as my HD install and to run Puppy on a USB, Home Edition or whatever we get out of S.

Since I'm an old machine user, I don't know about UEFI yet. I have a Win 10 machine at my feet and have only (unsuccessfully) tried to boot it from USB once. It might be expecting me to use the 3.0 ports in back instead of the more convenient up front.

bigpup wrote: ↑Fri Oct 16, 2020 10:25 am
I boot Puppy from a micro SD card on a Chromebook.
The internal emmc drive is 16GB the micro SD card is 128GB.
Being so small. I use the internal emmc drive as a place to store stuff.

makes a lot of sense

JASpup,
Is it really that hard to answer some simple questions and give use some useful info to help you??

On my laptop that has the latest UEFI version on it.

To boot from USB with Puppy on it.

Had to go into the UEFI setup.
Disable secure boot.
It would not see a USB drive as boot-able until I did this.
( that is a secure boot enabled feature)

Just to get around any issues with the boot loader on the USB.
Enable legacy boot or CSM in the UEFI setup.
May not need this. Depends on how UEFI capable the boot loader is.

Note:
Windows 10 shutdown in hibernate can cause boot issues.
It puts the boot process in a special mode.
Make sure to completely do a normal shutdown.
Then try a boot from USB.

The installer Lick is suppose to be able to install Puppy to an internal drive along side Windows 10.
Lick Installer
https://github.com/noryb009/lick
Makes menu entry to boot Puppy or Windows.
I assume it would work for Windows 10s.

READ the info on this Lick web page!!!
It gives info on using Lick.

Lick is a Windows exe file.
Download and run in Windows.
Just click on the lick.exe file to run it.

My Win 10 machine won't even sleep without breaking - Microsoft's idea of progress. The one pro is you can turn off the sleep option.

Settings has an option to boot from USB, but I'm not sure if it disables secure boot.

bigpup wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 3:41 pm
To boot from USB with Puppy on it.

Had to go into the UEFI setup.
Disable secure boot.
It would not see a USB drive as boot-able until I did this.
( that is a secure boot enabled feature)

Just to get around any issues with the boot loader on the USB.
Enable legacy boot or CSM in the UEFI setup.
May not need this. Depends on how UEFI capable the boot loader is.

Note:
Windows 10 shutdown in hibernate can cause boot issues.
It puts the boot process in a special mode.
Make sure to completely do a normal shutdown.
Then try a boot from USB.

That is one of the options in the UEFI setup.
Enable or disable booting from USB.

I assumed you already had that enabled.

Someplace else should be an option to disable/enable secure boot.
Example:
How to disable Secure Boot in UEFI BIOS?

Boot and press [F2] to enter BIOS. (or some other specific key)
Go to [Security] tab > [Default Secure boot on] and set as [Disabled].
Go to [Save & Exit] tab > [Save Changes] and select [Yes].

To boot Puppy that does not have needed security key.
Should need to:
Enable USB boot
Disable secure boot.
Select the Puppy USB to boot from the boot device list or set as first boot device in the UEFI setup.

Most computers just as they start. Press a specific F key, and a boot devices list will pop up.
F key could be F6, F9, F11, F12. even escape key, etc..... Your computer manual should tell you which one. Sometimes the first thing you see at boot up, says it at the bottom of the screen.
Select from that list what device to boot.

Scanning threads I haven't read and the designation "S-mode" in the context of having problems with multi-booting Puppy rang a bell. I haven't read thru the posts as I doubt there is much I help I can offer. But, remembering S-mode imposes restrictions I wondered if there was a way to overcome them. This post indicates how: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/wi ... -and-cons/. Scroll to the section under the Heading, Pro: It's easy to switch to a full version of Windows 10 Note it's warning: "Be forewarned: Switching out of S mode is a one-way street. Once you turn S mode off, you can't go back, which could be bad news for someone with a low-end PC that doesn't run a full version of Windows 10 very well.

The other trade-off to deactivating Windows 10 S mode is that you're taking security into your own hands, and without installation restrictions, it's much easier to find yourself infected with malware. As always, be sure you double-check that switching to the full version of Windows 10 is necessary for your needs and look online to find out if your computer meets hardware requirements to run the full version."

Need I add: figure out why you think you need Windows 10. If possible reduce its use to those programs which will only run under it. Replace it with something else for everything else. I recommend Puppy for that replacement. I think the Slant community would recommend Linux Mint.

The title is formed as a question. So this reply is merely to address the title.

I have found 2 boot-selection utilities that I currently use to boot 2020 PUP ISOs, directly no matter if secure-boot is enable or disabled.

The WoofCE developers added a boot feature in Dec 2019 such that 2020 PUPs can boot directly from ISOs exactly similar to how Ubuntu has been accomplishing the same over the years.

Benefit #1: A utility such as SuperGRUB2 (SG2D) will find and boot ISOs, directly, without extracting the ISO to any media. This affords users ALL the same benefits that a Frugal extraction gives.

Benefit #2: Because this does NOT disturb the system's disk(s), the SG2D boot selector discovers and presents your Windows installation for boot selection as well as all the bootable ISOs it finds in the BOOTISOS folder.

@ETP presented one explanation of use of this utility for PUP users. After his post I found, I posted about its use, here.

Works, so far for every 2020 WoofCE PUP I have tested, all year.

The other boot selection utility, I am testing has issues in complexities in its usage. As such, it is not appropriate to post at this time. SG2D is just TOO EASY to use.

I have just successfully booted my first 64bit Linux, Xenial MATE Mint.

Alas, it's hung up on the first significant operation, installing Chromium. The mouse cursor won't even move.

It's on a USB with a 2nd partition of Ubuntu MATE.

I haven't had the greatest luck with Mint stability which brought me to Puppy in the first place. I thought it was just resources, which matter, but there's obviously more going on. It's a Windows 10 machine with 8gb.

It looks like the modern GRUB is going to be too new for most of my computer uses, but good to know it's there.

Booting .iso's would save a lot of time.

mikeslr wrote: ↑Sun Oct 18, 2020 4:19 pm
The other trade-off to deactivating Windows 10 S mode is that you're taking security into your own hands, and without installation restrictions, it's much easier to find yourself infected with malware. As always, be sure you double-check that switching to the full version of Windows 10 is necessary for your needs and look online to find out if your computer meets hardware requirements to run the full version."

It wouldn't occur to me that the full version of Home Edition or whatever it's called would be slower / more resource hogging.

We're Puppy users, the distros that run as root by default. Fear is not our campaign. I predict no use for 10 S.