Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Hello everybody:

This morning, when working on puppy (a frugal one) it gets blocked, so I wait to see if it works again.... after 1 minute, I start trying things to solve this situation without restart and I found the disk space indicator in red... and that was the problem.- Puppy can't continue until I delete .cache files and .tmp files.

Question 1.- Is there any way to do it automatically?... If not, is there a script to do it?

Question 2.- What is the most apropiete size for the save file? (I imagine you gonna tell me it depends on each particular situation, haha, so, please, tell me the size of this file you are using to give me an idea..... Not so big to difficult copy /save... Not so small It goes red each minute)

THANKS A LOT

Remember that once changed I can't make it smaller, so I prefer not to be worried about this,

Zero in my case as I don't use one. There are many theories about this but it's up to the user. The general consensus here seems to be that it really does not matter as many seem to have huge save files (those who don't use save folders). Many years a go when I still used one, I made a point of it to keep it as small as possible and only save small system configuration changes to it (I still use this approach, I just save to a read-only adrv). I went this way after building up a rather big save file and then it got corrupted and I lost all my savings. There are threads in the forum on ways to keep your save file small if you are interested to keep it small.

amethyst wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 6:32 am

Zero in my case as I don't use one. ... I went this way after building up a rather big save file and then it got corrupted and I lost all my savings.

Agreed.
MY_SAVEFILE_SIZE=0
(and thanks for your utilities that help build xdrvs from PupRW contents)

Likewise! Minimal. The only reason to have a larger save-file is when a program install requires it. Otherwise all downloads, social, mixed-media, etc, go to an external - out of the 'frugal' save - part of the hard drive; then, as a safeguard are backed-up to a portable external hard drive, 'belt & braces' style. All other 'installs' are self-contained programs kept outside the frugal install (thank you Mike Walsh!) and sym-linked back to the menu thereby obviating any unnecessary internal space-wasting clutter. Frugal is as frugal does!

pp4mnklinux wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 6:14 am

Question 2.- [/b]What is the most apropiete size for the save file? (I imagine you gonna tell me it depends on each particular situation, haha, so, please, tell me the size of this file you are using to give me an idea..... Not so big to difficult copy /save... Not so small It goes red each minute)

I use save FOLDER(S) on an ext3 partition with a size of approx. 100Gb.

The size of the save folder increases automatically (as you save to it) and can expand until all the space on the partition is used. So you only need to have a large enough partition and then you don't have to worry about the size at all.

The requirement is that the partition must have a linux file system on it.

EDIT:
However, I don't recall my save folder ever exceeding 1Gb in size.
When I have everything set up, I only save to the save folder when necessary, usually at the beginning of a session (before I go online).

My adrv with savings is normally around 6MB in size. That equates to less than 20MB uncompressed.

It depends SO much on the individual use-case.

Many of our veterans here started with Puppy back in a time when hardware was physically smaller, less capable, with lower amounts of RAM and less in the way of storage. They found Puppy worked for them, and with their limited resources.....and they got used to that, I guess.

Humans are creatures of habit.....and even as hardware resources became more generous, cheaper to purchase, and more easily available, they tend to "stick with what works" for them.

Some, therefore, have long been in the habit of keeping everything as tiny as possible. Some go to the extreme, and prefer to run "Live" at ALL times; most of these usually run re-mastered Pups containing everything required for their day-to-day needs.

Some - like yours truly! - have so MUCH RAM & storage to play with that it honestly makes zero sense to squeeze everything into one tiny corner of the available resources. (I got very used to that with my older hardware, hated it, and swore blind that in future I would make sure I had enough in the way of resources that I'd never need to worry about it again).

Many "know what they know", are content with that, and see no point in learning new ways to do the same things. Others are very open-minded, keen to try new ways of doing stuff, and happily embrace all the new tech and hardware.

We're all different.......and this is one area where Linux has Windows licked, hands-down (because it's designed to be customizable to the nth degree).

--------------------------------------

BTW:- It IS possible to make a save-FILE smaller, but it's somewhat long-winded, is very definitely a 'manual', 'hands-on' operation, and there's no simple, easy point-and-click GUI to gently guide you through it!

Mike.

pp4mnklinux wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2023 6:14 am

Question 1.- Is there any way to do it automatically?... If not, is there a script to do it?

Question 2.- What is the most apropiete size for the save file? (I imagine you gonna tell me it depends on each particular situation, haha, so, please, tell me the size of this file you are using to give me an idea..... Not so big to difficult copy /save... Not so small It goes red each minute)

THANKS A LOT

Remember that once changed I can't make it smaller, so I prefer not to be worried about this,

I would think that if you identify the directories that are storing large expendable cache files, that a simple bash script could be used to delete these files and empty those directories.

Large persistance storage folders (I don't use files) are one reason that I created the Tbox theme approach, that is linking large icon and theme resources to a directory outside the save folder.

I also link a ton of other config files and data to folders in /mnt/home, so that different OS's can use the same settings and stay in "sync" with each other. Much like a @mikewalsh portable, applications like newsboat (a terminal rss feed reader) have the config files and caches stored outside the save in /mnt/home which are linked into the save folder /root directory. This way 5 OS's use the same cache for that application and the save folder stays smaller.

I start to look at things to delete or move and link when my save folder reaches 2GB.

There are many ways of doing the same thing.
I set up 3 partitions 1 for Puppies 10 Gb > 1 for a small swap file (That even with only 4 Gb of memory never gets use) > and the rest for data
I have purged myself of Windows completely and use only ext4 files system
I also use a save folder so all puppies share the full 10 Gb
I keep my config files with puppy and have a backup copy in my data drive
I like to keep my save folders small so that puppy stays small and fast and it also a lot easier to rebuild if a new program causes problems or if something I was fooling around with went really wrong.
I find this works for me as I can easily use my document with any puppy all in the same place sda2 for me.
I would look for cache files there are lots of them and they can take up a lot of space.

How to keep save file small.
viewtopic.php?t=6257

Settings in web browsers will eat up space in the save.
Check the cache and history settings.

Ditto what others have said, especially bigpup's link to how to keep the Save small. To that I'd only add that anything --such as web-cache-- that will ordinarily be stored in /root --e.g. the /root/.mozilla folder-- can be dragged>moved to /mnt/home then dragged>symlinked back.

I use amethyst's Save2SFS module to create or modify both a ydrv.sfs and an adrv.sfs. Planning ahead, ydrv contains all applications I never expect to change; while adrv holds settings, customizations, and at least one browser (they change often). The content of adrv has priority over everything other than your SAVE and current contents of RAM. That setup allows me to boot to a fully usable operating system with no media mounted. My boot menu.lst/grub.cfg has a RAM MODE listing.
It also offers another which mounts the Save. That enables me to keep Osmo's task's up-to-date; and also test applications and otherwise experiment.

But to answer your specific question: If you're just using a SaveFile its minimal size, as others have said, will depend on what applications you install. [Most applications packaged as pets can be repackaged as SFSes. Those employing python are the exception]. Pets are compressed. They expand by a factor of about 2.5 to 3 when installed into a Save. No problem using a SaveFolder. Big problem when using a SaveFile with its fixed size. And you never want to allow the free space in a SaveFile to fall below 100Mb; I'd say 120Mbs to be safe. Tip: before installing a new pet, check its size and the amount of space left in your SaveFile. Resize the SaveFile as necessary.

@mikeslr
Did you see this thread of mine with regards to the save2sfs module? viewtopic.php?t=8564

@amethyst, saw it. But haven't internalized it yet so as to be able to work it into my routine or change my routine. Thanks for reminding me. I have the memory of a sieve. To avoid hijacking ppymnklinux's thread, I'm going to post a question to you the Utility-Suite's thread.