Revision [11565]
This is an old revision of InstallationFrugal made by coolpup on 2010-12-19 08:30:42.
Frugal Installations
A frugal installation is performed by extracting the contents of the container ISO or ZIP file to any FAT32, NTFS or EXT4 formatted partition.Fastest file-system for flash memory drives: EXT4
When a frugal installation is desired it is convenient to have a LiveDVD because it can be used to install the required boot loader (either GRUB, SYSLINUX, or EXTLINUX depending on the formatting of the installation partition). Instructions are also provided below for situations when not using an optical disc drive.
First acquire the container file (either an ISO or ZIP file) of the desired Puppy Linux, e.g. Fluppy, Puppy 5 or Wary.
If the target partition or drive contains any files copy them elsewhere if required, because they will be destroyed when formatting.
If, after performing the installation processes given below, the computer does not boot into Puppy Linux from the U.S.B. flash drive follow the instructions in Appendices 1 and 3 at LiveDVD.
Installation to an U.S.B. flash (or external) drive
- with Syslinux or GRUBforDOS as boot-loader
- without using an optical disc drive
- see Appendices 1-3 below
- Format the drive or partition to FAT32
- Download and extract syslinux to a folder, e.g. C:\syslinux
- Then go to directory C:\syslinux\win32\ by entering into the command-line interface:
cd C:\syslinux\win32\
- Then run the syslinux command to make the drive bootable (where X: is the drive letter for the target drive or partition)
syslinux.exe -m -a X:
- Open the Puppy ISO (or ZIP) file to view its contents, using e.g. 7-zip, (it is important that the original file names be kept)
- Copy to the U.S.B. flash drive the files: vmlinuz, initrd.gz, and all those with the extensions .sfs, and .cfg
- Rename isolinux.cfg to syslinux.cfg
- Edit syslinux.cfg in a text editor: change "pmedia=cd" to "pmedia=usbflash"
- Reboot computer with U.S.B. flash drive connected
Installation to any Microsoft Windows partition and using GRUBforDOS as boot-loader
Installing the boot-loader to the internal hard disk drive (where Microsoft Windows resides)http://www.icpug.org.uk/national/linnwin/step1-xp.htm
http://puppy.b0x.me/lin-n-win
Installing the boot-loader to an external drive
http://shino.pos.to/linux/lupq/puppydualboot.html
Installation to any partition using an optical disc drive and with GRUB as boot-loader
Flash tutorialReferences
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=46129http://www.puppylinux.org/main/index.php?file=Manual-English05.txt
http://aronzak.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/usb-linux-howto-puppy-41/
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=54826
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/put-lucid-puppy-on-usb-flash-drive-from-windows/#more-4392 (see next reference also)
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=458818#458818
Appendix 1 [Preparing the U.S.B. device]
- Download and install recent versions of: dosfstools, e2fsprogs, NTFS3G NTFS-3G, tar
- Determine the correct target device name of the U.S.B.flash memory drive to work on:
probedisk2
- (Optional) Verify that all existing data is destroyed, e.g. using sdb as target device:
dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/sdb && dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb
- Zero the first 512 bytes of the boot partition to delete any existing M.B.R. boot code and partition table (disklabel), e.g. using sdb1 as target partition:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb1 bs=512 count=1
- Create a new partition table (disklabel) on the correct target device,, e.g. using sdb as target device:
parted /dev/sdb mklabel msdos
- Create new partition(s) on the correct target device: Menu > System > GParted > Partition > New
- Ensure the correct device is unmounted: Menu > System > GParted > Partition > Unmount
- Create the required file system (formatting) on the partition(s) of the correct device: Menu > System > GParted > Partition > Format to
- Set the boot flag on the device: Menu > System > GParted > Partition > Manage Flags > boot
Appendix 2 [Installing Puppy to the U.S.B. device]
- Click on the Puppy ISO (or ZIP) file to open its contents
- Copy to the U.S.B. flash drive the files: vmlinuz, initrd.gz, and all those with the extensions .sfs, and .cfg
Appendix 3 [Installing a boot-loader to the U.S.B. device]
Use either SYSLINUX or GRUB for DOS (recommended).Using SYSLINUX for FAT32 partitions
- Download and install recent version of SYSLINUX
- Install the boot-loader code to the M.B.R. of the target drive, e.g. using /dev/sdb: or
dd if=/usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin of=/dev/sdb
cat /usr/lib/syslinux/mbr.bin > /dev/sdb
- Install the boot-loader file ldlinux.sys, e.g. using /dev/sdb1 as the target partition:
syslinux -i --stupid /dev/sdb1
- Rename the boot-loader configuration file isolinux.cfg to syslinux.cfg
- Edit syslinux.cfg in a text editor: change "pmedia=cd" to "pmedia=usbflash"
- Reboot the computer with the U.S.B. flash drive connected
- Download and install the latest version of Grub4DosConfig (if necessary)
- Install the boot-loader code to the M.B.R. of the target drive: Menu > System > Grub4Dos
- Install the boot-loader file grldr:
wget -c --directory-prefix=/mnt/home http://www.smokey01.com/coolpup/grldr
- The boot-loader configuration file menu.lst can be created or updated using Grub4DosConfig: Menu > System > Grub4Dos
- Reboot the computer with the U.S.B. flash drive connected
