Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

If you are one of the (possibly few at the moment) WeeDogLinux users you simply need to place the following argument on your grub kernel command line as an option (see LABEL option further below for iso booting):

GENERAL TO ALL METHODS AVAILABLE IN WEEDOGLINUX (WDL) SYSTEMS

w_changes=<wherever you want changes/persistence folder to be saved to on your system>

which, by the way, can include RAM (i.e. w_changes=RAM0 or w_changes=RAM1 or w_changes=RAM2 modes)

For example:

Method 1 - use partition uuid (as found, for example, from blkid command)
(preferred over method 3 below for reasons given):

w_changes=UUID=whatever_the_desired_partition_uuid_is=/path_to_directory_you_want_changes_folder_in

(e.g.: w_changes=UUID=a36a6ce1-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx=/WDL_mydistro)

Method 2 - use partition LABEL, which is particulary useful for iso boots
(preferred over method 3 below for reasons given):

w_changes=LABEL=whatever_partition_label_is=/path_to_directory_you_want_changes_folder_in

Method 3 (use simplistic original bootfrom partition/directory location):
such as w_changes=/mnt/sda4/path2dir, but in practice it is not a good idea generally to use a /mnt/sdXX approach since it is inherently unreliable: this method is problematic because on booting via usb attached devices, underlying system somewhat randomly determines which actual partition is sda, sdb etc...:

w_changes=/mnt/sdb1/path_to_directory_you_want_changes_folder_in

(Like Puppy and pretty much all frugally installable distros before and since) if no w_changes= option is supplied on grub kernel line then the directory vmlinuz and initrd.gz was in at boot time is what is used for save persistence changes location (which in WDL is a directory named upper_changes).
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Even more flexibly, in WeeDogLinux you can also specify alternative location for all the numbered (00 to 99 max layers) optional sfs modules (and/or similarly NN numbered uncompressed raw directory filesystems) using:

w_altNN=<wherever you want to store your NNmodules on your system>

same format (using UUID or LABEL and so on) thereafter as for w_changes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

The shell script init code that accomplishes all of the above, in latest dev build, is conveniently accessible in w_init file, which is immediately editable by geany since not hidden away inside the cpio compressed initrd itself. Rather, w_init is a user-editable text file stored in same directory as the vmlinuz and initrd boot files.

I suppose I should code the whole thing in C, just for the hell of it (any extra 'speed' gain hardly human noticable), but I'm trying to encourage others to develop their own WeeDogLinux variants and so have designed the system to use as simple shell scripting as possible along with strong support for user-contributions via plugins. Similarly, these w_changes and w_altNN options are included to make the system as user-managable/flexible as I could make possible.

Whether I have or will succeed making WeeDogLinux a relatively easy, extremely modular, build and frugal bootable system to develop/contribute-to by even non-guru-type community developers and aspiring developers, I don't know, but I try to keep it all as open and simple to read and work with as possible anyway (no git knowledge required for user-development activities - though I do use git myself during the original code creations).

wiak

Please feel free to add similar information for any other distro-type on the forum to this thread if you wish (FatDog, DebianDogs, CorePup etc). Nice to keep such info all in the one place.

wiak

bigpup wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 3:40 pm

No, it is not a good idea, to talk about several Linux OS's, in one topic.
Very quickly will get confusion about different issues or information.

This is the official Puppy Linux forum.
The general sections of this forum are for Puppy Linux OS built with Woof-CE and how Puppy Linux operates.

That is why the other non-Puppy Linux OS;s have their own forum sections.
Their different ways of doing things deal with only them.
So, information about that specific Linux OS, needs to be in their forum section.

There is no place for such House Training -> Howto sections there. Just a one line section for most all these other distros , aside from FatDog and EasyOS which have there own little sections (which in the scheme of things is fine and accepted by us all I think - but...). But this is has always been the main discussion forum for all of them - and many a contribution has been given to Puppy from the developers of these other distros. Many. And many HowTo's on various topics, and much relatively expert Help to Beginners and general Users alike. If your view is a true reflection of what the overall community wants (which I doubt) then none of these other forum distros should be on the forum at all, and all their developers should not post here or discuss Linux here at all unless their posts pertain solely to Puppy (or should I say woof-CE only Puppy???). Personally, I think that is a very weak view, which is selfish and foolish, and were these 'other' distros and their developers to vanish from this shared discussion forum it would become a much more barren and lifeless place.

And how exactly is bigpup, 'bigpup'? - are you positioning yourself, via your self-assigned name and constant posting, as some kind of Puppy creator or lead figure???, which to me is likely to be far more confusing to new forum members than any detail about any other distro on here. What exactly are your creative works or your official woof-CE steward role that makes you consider yourself 'big' - I would love to know so that I can remind new users of your hierarchical status and importance? Anyway, you can ignore this paragraph - I just couldn't help but myself wonder, considering the 'impressive' handle you give to yourself and your loud, to me ridiculous, divisive claim of "we are Puppy ... resistance is futile". What kind of further nonsense is that exactly? My god, man!

Wiz57 wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 4:22 pm

This thread should probably be located in the WeeDog section of the Dog House sub-forum, rather
than in the more generally Puppy related HOW-TO section???

That section is not labelled "Puppy HOW-TO" it is labelled "House Training", this forum being the house that shelters various distro discussions. This is not Puppy Linux, this is a forum for various distros discussed between the users and developers of these several distros. Personally I have used Puppy in the past and have contributed many items to Puppy itself whilst being a member of the discussion forum. However though I have always remained in this discussion forum (old and this new) I have not been using Puppy since 2013 (except to tailor some work of mine for contributing to it), at which time I moved to using forum discussed distro DebianDog, and more recently I developed my own distro, which like DD is not a derivative of Puppy, in any shape or claimed form, but still whilst a member of this mutual shared forum.

However, despite the unacknowledging gang-like behaviour of some forum-for-puppy-only members, I have continued to contribute, best I can to Puppy itself (the quite complex to build dpkg_apt_multiuserPAM addon sfs for example), and to a lesser extent, to the DebianDogs. I have also written countless HowTo articles for Puppy and non-Puppy distros alike on the old forum, prior to this WDL-related one (which I did not originally start as a thread on its own because there was already a forum-distro-related thread started by gyrog) - but fine, I moved that to a 'separate' thread, despite my own opinion that were advantages to holding such information in separate posts on the same thread topic.

As for 'someone' moving the thread out of the House Training -> HowTo section, without first politely discussing the matter with me, when I am also an admin on this forum - that is unbelievably rude and unacceptable behaviour. As the first active encouraging member of this forum after rockedge created it, I was not only given founding admin status, but also remained faithful to this new forum prior to and in most cases long-prior to the majority of Puppy supporters being willing to (until they had no real choice but to followed the rest of their reluctant crowd with sudden voices of support and enthusiasm...).

Certainly there should always remain a time and a place for discussion of structure, equity of provision, and placement of information and contribution materials and documentation, but that is not what has been done on this occasion. Everyone is always welcome to their own opinion - but no-one should be abusing their admin rights to force their opinion without debate and higher delegation. That's crazy and arrogant of that person, and certainly a cause of future chaos if not dealt as it deserves for such an inappropriate and intolerable bullying action.

I have been a puppy linux user since version 5.1.1 and all the following versions. Today I use FatDog64 as my "battle system". I also use DebianDog64 overlayfs, and I learned a lot from "Fred". I go through all the sections of the forum, looking for new ideas. Thanks to that, I realized an old dream: Using the initrd WDLGO_UbuntuFocal64 developed by "Wiak", I was able to start FatDog64 811 with an overlayfs kernel! It is now my main system, and I can compile my kernel without the need for patches. I'm not a programmer, so all the ideas from the forum developers are important to me. On my PC, I have installed: FatDog64-811 aufs and overlayfs, DebianDog64 overlayfs and Slacko64-7.0.
I have used or tested:
X86 versions:
Windows (95, 98, Millenium, XP), Kolibri, BrowserLinux, Slitax, Tinycore, PuppyLinux 5.1.1 to 5.6, Puppy Slacko 5.7 to 6.3.2,
Puppy Lighthouse, quirky (tahr, unicorn, april, pyro), Puppy Pahr.
Amd64 versions:
XenialPuppy, BionicPuppy, Slackware, Ubuntu, Endless OS, CentOS, Linux Lite, Chromium OS, LxPupSc, FossaPup, Easyos (pyro, beaver, dunfell, buster), Quirky Buster 8.8.1, Easypup-2.5, Porteus 5.0, Porteus overlayfs 5.0 , Slax (based on Debian, updated to 10.6, fluxbox), FatDog64 721 to 811, DebianDog Sid overlay.

What does that matter for this forum topic? Maybe nothing!

But the work of "Wiak" and his initrd of WDLGO, is very important for the implementation of the Overlayfs system in distros that today work with AUFS. Me, I didn't need to make any changes to the Wiak initrd. I just changed the one from FatDog64 to his, adjusted the modules (kernel-modules, system, changes) and adjusted the grub entry. It has never been easier!
Perhaps at the moment, it is not in the interest of some developers to adopt overlayfs. But some users like me want to! I got what I wanted, without interfering and without disturbing the developers of the distro, or the path chosen by them ... This is Linux! Freedom!

My special thanks to Wiak and all the developers of this forum, especially to the father of all: Barry Kauler.

Kindly refer to this post: viewtopic.php?p=22481#p22481

Hi Wiak

i want boot weedog of this way.

first put vmlinuz and initrd.gz in sdb1 usb key fat 32

LABEL Weedog Buster
kernel /weedog/vmlinuz
append initrd=/weedog/initrd.gz w_usbwait=8 w_changes=RAM vga=normal

and later put folder /weedog/01firstrib_rootfs.sfs in NTFS windows xp partition

w_bootfrom=/mnt/sda/weedog # weedog folder with only 01firstrib_rootfs.sfs in NTFS partition

but ntfs3g is necesary, for load /weedog/01firstrib_rootfs.sfs from NTFS right?

where install ntfs3g?

in initrd.gz or 01firstrib_rootfs.sfs?

Is possible boot of this way with weedog?

Edit: I find this

http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=19399.0

by the way I want only read, i dont want install nothing in NTFS.

thank you

Andres

AndresC2 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:50 am

but ntfs3g is necesary, for load /weedog/01firstrib_rootfs.sfs from NTFS right?
...
by the way I want only read, i dont want install nothing in NTFS.

Hello AndresC2,

EDIT: ALAS, I just realized the WeeDogBuster you have is almost certainly too old for the uuid method I describe below (but you can modify it to more simply use w_bootfrom=/mnt/sdb1/weedog along with w_altNN=/mnt/sda1/weedog more in line with what you yourself said) and you probably will need w_usbwait=8 for that old build. New WDL build design does a better job.

Sorry, but my brain is hardly functioning following an extreme late night, so not sure of anything till tomorrow (literally).

However, I feel I would know the answer to your question immediately (but don't and have no ntfs on my laptop and need to try what you say myself). Despite my sleep situation, my gut feeling however is that WDL can do what you want, but you will not need ntfs-3g at all; that should only be required for writing to ntfs (in which case ntfs-3g would need installed as a package inside 01firstrib_rootfs(.sfs or uncompressed raw directory). I'm also hopeless rusty with usb booting via syslinux so I'll answer in grub4dos menu.lst format (you convert that to syslinux form appropriately)... I told you I am pretty much brain dead right now...

So, without further though, despite my possibly talking rubbish right now, my dull brain seems to think an arrangement such as the following will work for what you want with WeeDogLinux. NOTE however that the following will only work with current WDL releases (that provide support for uuid):

first put vmlinuz and initrd.gz in usb key fat 32 (sdb1 part of what you said is irrelevant since going to use more reliable uuid method).

In below xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx should be replaced by the uuid of your fat32 usb stick as reported by blkid where you have /weedog/vmlinuz and /weedog/initrd.gz

and yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy should be replaced by the uuid of your NTFS partition where you have stored /weedog/01firstrib_rootfs (and optionally, any other NNfilename.sfs files).

w_bootfrom describes the location of vmlinuz and initrd.gz
w_altNN, when used, describes the location of 01firstrib_rootfs.sfs (and any optional other NNfilenames.sfs files).

In current WeeDogLinux design you should not need the w_usbwait=8 any more for usb (though it shouldn't do any harm)

Hence, below you can the final required grub4dos menu.lst needed to boot up that weird arrangement (!). Be careful not to accidentally put in extra spaces in the big UUID lines:

title WeeDog Buster
uuid xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx
kernel /weedog/vmlinuz w_bootfrom=UUID=xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx=/weedog w_changes=RAM w_altNN=UUID=yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy=/weedog
initrd /weedog/initrd.gz

NOTE that since the ntfs partition is presumably in a fixed sda1 partition (from your post) you could use w_altNN=/mnt/sda1/weedog instead of w_altNN=UUID=yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy=/weedog
However I'd recommend using uuid method overall (and definitely using uuid for usb stick is superior since system can randomly change sdbX position on reboots, but uuid remains reliably fixed. There is another method via a usb partition LABEL, but I won't bother confusing this possible junk I'm writing.

Really, I haven't myself tried what you write, but really think above should be fine - I'll try it when I'm awake sometime...

NOTE: that w_changes=RAM will put save persistence folder upper_changes into RAM at mount point /mnt/layers/RAM/upper_changes. There are ways to store that and use it on later boots but let's not complicate matters further for now. You possibly could also use w_changes=readonly, which doesn't create an upper_changes folder at all - but use w_changes=RAM for now... You could also use w_copy2ram, which copies everything to RAM prior to use, but again, forget that for now.

wiak

Hi Wiak

Thanks for your help.

right now posting with Weedog buster arch 32 bits
run fine un my old dell gx240 512mb ram.
boot from usb 1.1 port , hp pendrive.
posting with iron browser 88, i try boot in NTFS but no luck.
my build-weedog-initrd is: version="2.0.8"; revision="-rc7"

where can i find your new version?
by the way weedoglego look very cool.

Thanks

Andres

Hello Andres,

I've added "try WDL to see if can satisfy Andres NTFS wish" to my growing list of priorities (fear not, I often queue jump my own lists). I'll get back to you regarding your other questions soonish - currently finishing off new developments for wider publishing sooner or later this year - I forgot some of the features you might want are in that. Much the same goes for WDLGO series - I just published the one iso thus far but not the build scripts or additional work as yet. I have a lot on my plate, so working away behind closed doors for a while - but time will come.

wiak

Hello wiak

your are very busy right now, so about boot NFTS is not necesary, that was more curiosity or experimental.

I prefer try WDLGO for debian buster 32 bits.

I will wait for that.

thanks again for all.

Andres