[SOLVED] Install Mint Xfce from partition ... not LiveCD ???

[breaker]

I'm in Washington, at the crossroads of the Cascade Range and the Columbia River ... love it here in the rain forest.
Tough finding work here right now though ... soon, I hope ... I'm a CAD draftsman with no homes being built and industry downsized to the max.
Born and raised in Oregon ...
"Timber" is one of my wolf-dogs ... half Timber wolf, half Malamute ... his wife is 3/4 Arctic wolf, 1/4 Malamute ... and we kept two of the pups ... we go through lots of dog food.

merlwiz79 can have all the time he needs ... I'm anxious but love the refined polish of Mint products and willing to wait as long as it takes.

Great to meet ya!
Thanx 4 all

Nice area, sounds like it is close to the Gorge...

If you can boot to usb, there is an easier way to make a Live USB stick - unetbootin, here is a thread: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=14209

In case your old burner doesn't work.... good luck!

[timber]

Hi Breaker,

Yes, we're in the Gorge. We love it here ... for sure.
My Sony, Laptop doesn't have a boot to USB option, unfortunately.
I was finally able to burn Xfce 7 Mint to CD using GnomeBaker on a very slow burn.
Xfce installed nicely ... I really like it, leaner and meaner.

[timber]

Great, it sounds like you got it figured out with Virtual Box. I too am interested in Helena XFCE when it arrives. I'll answer your other questions below...

Hi Breaker,

I think I follow for the USB boot, I'll have to study this a bit to see how to apply it to HDD boot.
Since grub2 is already installed, can I just append my existing grub.cfg with the script entry so the ISO is just one option from my existing grub boot menu?

Yes, for HDD boot (also handy as an on disk rescue CD), you can add a custom menu entry to either 40_custom or just some other file name with the format XX_filename as long as you follow the format grub2 uses when running your menu entry "script". For example, I have a HDD with a couple of ntfs data partitions, and I made another fat32 partition just for isos, but it could be ext2/3/4 also. I found for the actual install from HDD iso, it is nice to have it separate so the installer doesn't ask about trying to unmount the partition you are running the iso from! This is part of my script called 32_iso:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh -e
cat << EOF
menuentry "Linux Mint 8 Live CD" {
loopback loop (hd1,4)/LinuxMint-8.iso
linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/LinuxMint-8.iso noeject noprompt --
initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}
menuentry "Linux Mint Helena 64bit" {
 loopback loop (hd1,4)/LinuxMint-8-x64.iso
 linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/LinuxMint-8-x64.iso noeject noprompt --
 initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.lz
}
menuentry "Linux Mint Gloria XFCE CE" {
 loopback loop (hd1,4)/LinuxMint-7-XFCE.iso
 linux (loop)/casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/LinuxMint-7-XFCE.iso noeject noprompt --
 initrd (loop)/casper/initrd.gz
}
EOF

So these isos are on (hd1,4) which grub2 understands to be the second hard drive (drive numbers start with 0), 4th partition (partition numbers start with 1). The slash before the file name (of the iso) is important. For ubuntu based distros, it needs the iso-scan/filename=/LinuxMint-7-XFCE.iso in there where it is the path and filename of the iso again. Of course it has to have the curly braces around each entry, and all of the other garbage like cat <<EOF, etc etc. After that you have to make it executable and run sudo update-grub. I learned how to edit grub2 here: http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/grub-2.html

Note, the XFCE Live CD uses initrd.gz and Helena uses initrd.lz

Guess I'm reluctant to make grub2 so it just has the one option.
I realize that once the ISO boots that the new install will find my other OS's and re-install grub2 but what happens if the install doesn't go smoothly?

Perhaps if I knew the command to re-install grub2 from one of my other LiveCDs (like Helena Gnome) I'd be able to restore grub.

This looks doable, it's a little over my head though, I'd best find a way to burn a LiveCD before proceeding.
Thanks for your input here, I may yet give this a try ... after some sleep.

Dave

Yeah, that's true, if you don't have a live usb or CD that you can boot, and you need to rescue yourself, that would not be good. Yes, installs can go badly, if you have the disk space, it is safer to install to other new partitions, but as long as your iso is mounted from a different location, I think you could write over your Helena Gnome install, but yes there are risks, and yes you might want to be comfortable with grub2.

Just wanted to give you the rest of that information.

Have fun!

Hi again Breaker,

I think I'm going to give this a try.
I will use Sidux Xfce as a guinea pig iso and see if I can just install it via boot from the hard drive.
I studied up a bit on what you are showing me here and it's finally starting to sink in.

My understanding is that by placing a (customized) script, similar to the one you show here, into 40_Custom, I am able to add an option to the grub2 boot menu, just like the memtest86+ is added by default via 20_memtest86+ to allow that as a selection. By using this comparison it just gives me something to compare to and a better picture of what is going on.
I think I will make a separate partition just for my iso files so it's easy to designate which drive/ partition to use ... and as you note, so the iso doesn't get unmounted in the process. In my case, I will designate an ext3 partition (hd0,xx), where hd0 is my primary (or first) hard drive and xx is my partition number.

Now that I know the process, I'm not worried about the grub ... (I always make a backup of any file I change, in this case 40_Custom) and can change that back if necessary via LiveCD and re-install or update of grub2.

Thanks again for the detailed explanation, it will be very helpful in letting me install various operating systems to try.
Install into VirtualBox is ok but there's nothing like having an option at boot to go into various systems.

Thanks,

[breaker]

Yup, and you can use them as rescue "disks" if needed, which is handy.

You sound like you are getting the handle of it... let me know how it goes...

[timber]

Hi Breaker,

I was able to install Sidux this way.
It was a little tricky, using a bit different syntax.
Fortunately, I found an interesting script that generates the "menuentry" by extracting the needed information from the iso.
I thought you might be interested in checking it out, it's in "Chapter A Part A The script"
See: http://sidux.com/index.php?module=Wikul ... ub2isofrom

Here I was able to boot the live iso with the iso located in a folder of a partition with another distro already installed (in other words not on a separate partition)
UUID can be found by using "sudo blkid" at the terminal

Code: Select all

menuentry "sidux (2.6.30-1.slh.3-sidux-686)" {
	search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set e34e1c3a-8cee-4e91-af0e-e956c511b097
        loopback loop /timber/isos/sidux-2009-02-aether-xfce-i386-200907141554.iso
	linux (loop)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.30-1.slh.3-sidux-686 fromhd=UUID=e34e1c3a-8cee-4e91-af0e-e956c511b097 fromiso=/timber/isos/sidux-2009-02-aether-xfce-i386-200907141554.iso boot=fll lang=en_US TZ=America/Los_Angeles vga=791 noeject 
	initrd (loop)/boot/initrd.img-2.6.30-1.slh.3-sidux-686
}

It only works for the sidux installation but upon examination it could probably be adapted to work for some other distros as well.
I've noticed that there are a number of variables when going this route.
Installing from an iso located in it's own partition is desirable (as you mentioned above) but the sidux method worked from my /home partition.
I had a little problem getting the generating script to execute properly (and I'm really not sure why, permissions maybe), but finally the information was generated and showed up in my terminal and I cut and pasted it to 40_Custom. Once there, an update-grub and it showed up at boot time leading to a successful installation.

I was interested in installing several distros from the hard drive (e.g. Mepis Antix and PupMac) but haven't been successful yet.
The .lz .gz thing throws me off a bit and most attempts I've been getting an error that says I need to load the kernel first, so obviously I am not using the correct command to get the kernel up and running (I think this is where a modified version of the script above may be most handy in extracting this information).
Each distro seems to have a little different file structure or naming so some sort of "find" is needed (this is way over my head).

I never was able to get the script you have here to work, but I think it is tailored to the way Ubuntu/ Mint install works (if I'm not mistaken).
So, I guess the bottom line is that booting from the hard disk is possible but it depends on the distro as to exactly what to add to 40_Custom (or similar) file.

The info that you've provided has really gotten me interested in digging into how these scripts work.
I have probably learned just enough to be extremely dangerous ... but I only really learn by trying stuff out.
I did (actually sidux did) manage to guber up my grub2 so my main OS wouldn't show up but I reinstalled grub from a second OS on my drive and it spotted my main OS and gave me a way back in. Another grub install from my main OS and I was good to go again.

Thanks for your interest and help on this ... I find it all very intriguing.

[breaker]

Hi Breaker,

I was able to install Sidux this way.
It was a little tricky, using a bit different syntax.
Fortunately, I found an interesting script that generates the "menuentry" by extracting the needed information from the iso.
I thought you might be interested in checking it out, it's in "Chapter A Part A The script"
See: http://sidux.com/index.php?module=Wikul ... ub2isofrom

It is interesting, and would prove helpful to get sidux going. It seemed to pick the wrong uuid on my system, but the script did turn me on to the isoinfo command, which is cool. The "cheatcodes" are the extra commands you don't usually see in a typical menu entry, but are needed by some live CD isos to boot correctly. Whether it is iso-scan/filename or fromiso or something else, this will vary between disros, as will the path and file name of your iso. Looking at the page with the script, it appears the author does modify the entry a bit to simplify it. I was looking it over, and I understand a lot of it, and I think by the time you understand enough to change it for your distro, you don't need it anymore.

For example, for Mint, the Live CD kernel and initrd files are very simply named, so using the man page for fromiso and the script, I came up with these lines to find out the names of the files (and where they are in the CD filestructure):

Code: Select all

isoinfo -f -J -i LinuxMint-8.iso |grep vmlinu
isoinfo -f -J -i LinuxMint-8.iso |grep initrd

(assume you are in directory with iso)

Check out the man page for details (man isoinfo), but basically isoinfo displays the iso directory tree, -i /path/to/Linux.iso is where the iso is on your system which is then piped to the ever useful grep (man grep) to find anything starting with vmlinu and initrd, which in my experience should find the linux kernel and intial ram disk files. Typical names are vmlinux or vmlinuz for the kernel, and initrd.lz or initrd.gz for the ram disk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initrd).

Then you just have to know how grub interprets the rest of the menu entry. The first thing a typical menu entry will have, is a way to tell grub which drive and partition to set as root. In other words, it needs to know where you later path entries actually are on your system. I find the easiest way is to use grub device names, unless a computer seems to suddenly change (or you change it in your BIOS) thus confusing grub. For the loopback command, you don't need to set root like that if you just explicitly call the grub device name and path to your iso (see my example in previous post)

Grub device names are of the format (hdX,Y) where X = drive number (count starts with zero), and Y = partition number (count starts with 1). Therefore, when I made an extra FAT32 partition for Linux isos on my system, I used (hd1,4) because the partition was on the second hard drive (BIOS order), 4th partition. Using the search command, grub can use partition labels, Linux device names (/dev/sdX), or UUIDs. The blkid command shows all UUIDs on your system. But don't use search unless there is a problem, just tell grub where your partition for the isos lives, then a slash (root directory), then the file name of your iso. Example: (hd1,4)/Linux.iso is in the root of the partition, but it could easily be: (hd1,4)/home/breaker/iso/Linux.iso.

It only works for the sidux installation but upon examination it could probably be adapted to work for some other distros as well.
I've noticed that there are a number of variables when going this route.
Installing from an iso located in it's own partition is desirable (as you mentioned above) but the sidux method worked from my /home partition.
I had a little problem getting the generating script to execute properly (and I'm really not sure why, permissions maybe), but finally the information was generated and showed up in my terminal and I cut and pasted it to 40_Custom. Once there, an update-grub and it showed up at boot time leading to a successful installation.

Nice, good to hear it. I don't know why the script didn't run, but aside from of course having to set permissions, you need to put a dot slash before any command in the same directory as your working directory. Then there is the whole owner and user, group, and other permissions, use ls -l to show permissions and chmod to change them, with sudo if you are not the owner (like if you created the script using sudo or as root).

I was interested in installing several distros from the hard drive (e.g. Mepis Antix and PupMac) but haven't been successful yet.
The .lz .gz thing throws me off a bit and most attempts I've been getting an error that says I need to load the kernel first, so obviously I am not using the correct command to get the kernel up and running (I think this is where a modified version of the script above may be most handy in extracting this information).
Each distro seems to have a little different file structure or naming so some sort of "find" is needed (this is way over my head).

lol, now we can use isoinfo The tough part is the cheatcode, if needed. The easiest way is google, or the distro documentation about what cheatcodes are available. I haven't been able to get all distros I tried going, but I did get tinycore going. You can also mount an iso like a drive, then just browse it. Just make a directory with a name of your choice, then loop mount it.

Code: Select all

sudo mkdir /media/myiso
sudo mount -o loop Linux.iso /media/myiso

This example assumes you are in the directory with Linux.iso. After this, just browse to /media/myiso and you can see everything, even grab files.

I never was able to get the script you have here to work, but I think it is tailored to the way Ubuntu/ Mint install works (if I'm not mistaken).
So, I guess the bottom line is that booting from the hard disk is possible but it depends on the distro as to exactly what to add to 40_Custom (or similar) file.

As above, be sure your grub device names are correct, this would be where everything is after POST, and of course, modify the path to the iso, and file name of the iso as needed. This also applies to the iso-scan/filename=/path/Linux.iso It should match your entire path like on the loopback loop line, but without the (hdX,Y).

The info that you've provided has really gotten me interested in digging into how these scripts work.
I have probably learned just enough to be extremely dangerous ... but I only really learn by trying stuff out.
I did (actually sidux did) manage to guber up my grub2 so my main OS wouldn't show up but I reinstalled grub from a second OS on my drive and it spotted my main OS and gave me a way back in. Another grub install from my main OS and I was good to go again.

Thanks for your interest and help on this ... I find it all very intriguing.

It is interesting. I am going to check into learning more about grub4dos also, which can also boot isos.

Here are some more links (sorry if any are repeats):
This guy's blog states he wrote the loopback command, and a little insight about how it works: http://mgerards.net/blog/?p=16
Some examples: http://michael-prokop.at/blog/2009/05/2 ... via-grub2/
More examples: http://www.panticz.de/MultiBootUSB
My original post about how to install Mint from Mint using the grub2/iso trick; http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=38366
Similar, but using flash drive for Mint; http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=38512
This guy has a blog, and responded to my post, if you look at his script, near the end are a lot of examples: http://blog.p-mt.net/archives/644

Well that's all for now, I guess. (-:

[timber]

Thanx for the links Breaker!

I think I can get the info needed for the 40_Custom file by booting the MacPup (Puppy Linux) iso in VirtualBox ... when the boot initializes the info is briefly displayed on the text screen. If I can take a screen shot of it using the host, I think I've got it. Crude but (hopefully) effective ...

[breaker]

Sounds reasonable, unless it needs a code above and beyond the normal Live CD boot. Let me know if it works!

[timber]

Will do, in the next day or four ...
This is another interesting approach http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/#other
I'm not exactly sure what it does or how it does it so I would want to find out more before trying it.
Appears that it does just what we've been discussing ... but I could be mistaken.
If so it would make things pretty easy in this regard.

[breaker]

I've seen that, but I think it is mainly for making a persistent install of a live environment to a usb flash drive. I haven't played with it though... I wrote this user on here "mintnoob" a guide about how to boot a usb flash drive even if your computer doesn't have usb support in the BIOS. You basically chainload a 3rd party boot manager that has built in usb drivers. http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=40256

Thought you might be interested in that also...

[timber]

The program from the link I listed does have a "frugal install" option which will install to HD ...
but as I noted, I need to understand what it does (changes) before trying it.

[Edit] I started the "frugal install" option but it wasn't asking me which partition I wanted to install on so I aborted the installation.
Could be I just didn't proceed far enough to get to that question but didn't want to take any chance that I would install over something else. [Edit]

Very helpful stuff Breaker!
This USB install will be just the ticket since my CD is not burning.
It's great have a number of options ... and the knowledge of how to use them.
Thanks a ton for the "PLoP" tutorial. Good work!

I'll keep you posted on any results.

timber

[timber]

Sounds reasonable, unless it needs a code above and beyond the normal Live CD boot. Let me know if it works!

Hi Breaker,

I was finally able to install the MacPup Foxy 3, LiveCD image (.iso file) from the HD by adding the following code to the 40_Custom file.
I placed the iso file on a separate partition as you suggested.

Add the following to the 40_Custom file for MacPup "Live" install from the Hard Drive (rather than from CDrom):
(edit iso locations and iso name as needed, of course)

Code: Select all

cat << EOF
menuentry "Macpup_Foxy3 Live CD" {
loopback loop (hd0,6)/Macpup_Foxy3.iso
linux (loop)/vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 pmedia=idehd iso-scan/filename=/Macpup_Foxy3.iso --
initrd (loop)/initrd.gz
}
EOF

This ran MacPup iso just as if it were a LiveCD ... I then installed to a pre-formated partition from there.
In order to get the MacPup installer to see the files needed, I had to extract the iso files into the same separate partition as the MacPup iso.
The installer still could not see the files until I invoked a "sudo blkid" at the (MacPup) Terminal to get the UUID then added the partition to the (MacPup) /etc/fstab file.
This made the needed files visible to the installer and all went well with the installation.
I would suggest NOT re-installing the grub from the MacPup installation unless it's the only thing going on your HD ... since it was not able to find the other grub entries properly. I did try this and had to use my Mint LiveCD to re-install grub to gain access to my other distros.

This took a bit of head scratching and quite a few tries ... but I finally got it ... whew!
MacPup is now the fastest running distro, by far, on the HD.

timber

[breaker]

Very nice! Thanks for the update! I will have to try this one. I love Puppy from a usb flash drive, but I have not tried MacPup! The only problem I ran into with Puppy was (at the time) it used an older kernel which couldn't support the wireless adapter drivers I needed. However, it looks like the kernel is new enough now! So the MacPup uses Legacy grub, and didn't find your other distros? Probably you could have added them manually to the menu? But you are right, if you are keeping the distro with the grub2 /boot/grub directory, etc, you may as well use grub2 and not whatever comes with MacPup.

I definitely will try this as a live iso, then probably put it on my 1G Puppy flash drive if I like it.

One distro I couldn't get going was Knoppix, until I used unetbootin to put it on a usb flash drive. So, unetbootin's web page says it will modify your mbr for the frugal HD install, just so you know. It uses syslinux to boot, of which I am not too familiar, but I think most of the projects at pendrivelinux use this. But to a flash drive, unetbootin works well to get Linux Live CDs going. I made one out of the Knoppix based BitDefender Live CD which scans your friend's windows for viruses.

Thanks for the report, a great job getting it installed!

P.S. Did the virtual machine help?

-break

[timber]

The "root=/dev/ram0" entry. I derived from the install on a virtual machine ... which I assume must put the root directory into ram.
The "pmedia=idehd" entry was listed as "pmedia=idecd" when used "live" on the virtual machine (which makes sense) but I found reference to "pmedia=idehd" somewhere in my searches online (which reassured me I was on the right track), so I tried it. Wasn't sure where to put these two entries but had some clues from other scripts I had seen.
The rest, of course, was directly from the script(s) that you provided.
I also found it useful to extract the iso to figure out the path to vmlinuz and initrd.gz (both in root in this case) and to be sure of name and extension.
isoinfo -f -J -i LinuxMint-8.iso |grep vmlinu
isoinfo -f -J -i LinuxMint-8.iso |grep initrd
... would have done the same thing but I'm more of a GUI person (and lacking on syntax) so extraction was my route of discovery.

MacPup is using the 2.6.30.5 kernel now so I think you will find it easy to deal with wireless and/or dial-up.
The repositories can be added to or changed but the default ones have a great variety of applications.
Working at the terminal is not so easy, the language seems to be a lower level than I'm used to dealing with.
I installed Thunderbird and Open Office and upgraded Firefox to v3.6 so I feel quite at home.
Multimedia works well, mounting other partitions is a breeze and there is a nice file manager so everything I normally need is here.
I found a tool that allows me to download deb packages so that opens up a wide range of possibilities.

I did run into problems when I tried to upgrade Thunderbird but I assume that it's a matter of dependencies.
It would be nice to install VirtualBox on MacPup. I think with MacPup's low demand on resources it would make a great platform.

[Edit]: I found a VirtualBox .pet file that makes it an easy install here ... http://www.puppyrus.org/pub/pet/
It's an older version of VirtualBox than I normally use but shouldn't make much difference. [Edit]

Mint 8 Main is the full meal deal, all the bells and whistles. (A morgan horse)
LM Xfce 7 is perfectly balanced, quick and nice to use every day. (A mustang)
MacPup is lean, fast and aesthetically pleasing. (A greyhound)
I rather like having all three on my laptop, depending on what I'm doing.

I did the "Full" install rather than the "Frugal" install.

[breaker]

Hi timber,

You are right, the gui works fine. I realized I should try (from XFCE) right clicking the iso, then using "open with" "archive manager." This works fine.

I tried the grub2 menu entry for Macpup Foxy 3 (changed to the correct grub device number, of course), and it loaded the linux kernel and initrd, but after that it complained about not being able to find the puppy save file, so it drops to busybox. I couldn't get a usb multi boot iso flash drive to work with it either.

So, maybe I'll just copy the files to a usb drive from the iso and use syslinux to boot them (I think puppy normally uses this for a usb flash drive setup).

[timber]

Hi Breaker,

I don't remember, but I may have copied the pup-430.sfs file over to the "new" (target) partition (where I installed MacPup).
It's not clear to me where it looks for the save file. Permissions is another issue that may have a factor, I think all files need to be root.
When I was doing this I was in one of those modes where, if something didn't work, I just tried something to make it work ...
... I should have documented what I was doing a little better.

When I extracted the iso, I also moved all of the files from the extracted folder to root of the iso's partition.
I know the message that you received, somehow I found a workaround to that, I think it was to move (or better yet copy) the .sfs file to the target location. There is a way to get past that red, (not found) message.

timber

[breaker]

Cool, I tried copying that file from the iso to the same location as the iso, but no luck. I will have to play around with it a bit, but I haven't had too much time to do so. I really like Puppy though...

cya,

breaker

[timber]

Hey Breaker,

Let me know how it goes.
If you are using a separate partition for the iso file ... then extract the iso there ... then move all files from the extracted folder to root, it should work - I think. If there is already a save file there ".2fs" (or similar from a liveCD save then it may cause a problem.
It needs to see this as a fresh install ... without a save file - I think. (Don't mean to sound so unsure ... this is new territory for me also)
I cleared the partition first, then extracted and moved the files to root of the iso's partition.
Don't think you will need to move the pup-430.sfs anywhere. (Think I was mistaken there)
The .2fs is the save file or it may be .3fs ... not sure.

Now after install to hard drive you may need to move that .2fs file to the root of you new installation or MacPup will look for it from where you installed it from (the iso's partition).
Hope this all makes sense ... it's kind of hazy, no doubt.

Getting the needed files to show up for the actual install is a bit tricky also but I'd worry about the "liveISO" boot for now.
Have hope, I can assure you it DOES work ... I'm writing this from an iso hard drive installation booted from grub2 now.

timber













timber

[timber]

Hi Breaker,

How about the best of both worlds.
I just installed "Tipsy-Puppy", a Puppy derivative with Xfce under the hood and, what else but, compiz windows manager.
I'm just about to test drive it, only tried the liveCD so far but it looks quite nice and seemed pretty snappy through the menus.
I'll let you know what I think of it in a day or three.
It installed nicely from the iso using the same script as used for MacPup.
I think I've got the iso installation process down pat now if you are still having any issues with that, we can get you up and running, I have no doubt.
I assume it won't be quite as quick as MacPup using Enlightenment WM but the Xfce features may be worth a nano second or two.

Not to worry, I'm keeping my Mint installs right where they are ... just wanted to see if the Xfce engine on a Puppy chassis is a good combination.
... I'm getting a tad bit concerned ... I think I may be showing the signs of becoming a died in the wool, Linux distro hopper.

timber

[breaker]

timber,

I am on Macpup Foxy 3... I installed it on my usb flash drive, and to my hard drive.

For the flash drive, I already had an older version of Puppy on there, so I copied the files from the iso onto the drive, overwriting the originals. That wasn't enough, syslinux probably needed to be reloaded or reconfigured, but since I had Linux Mint 7 XFCE handy on another usb stick, I used it to install grub (legacy) to the usb flash drive and dropped the /boot/grub files that came with Macpup in there, edited menu.lst, and voilà I booted Macpup. It even said it was upgrading Puppy at boot, and when I got into Macpup, my utilities I had downloaded and compiled from source were still there (chntpw, ms-sys).

For booting from the hard drive on my desktop, I never got booting from an iso to work, so instead I just made a directory on the same partition as my other Live CD isos, called macpup and extracted the contents of the iso there. Then I just made a custom script to add the menuentry to grub2 (from Mint 7 XFCE, the place my grub2 lives).

Like so:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh -e
cat << EOF
menuentry "MacPup Foxy 3" {
set root=(hd1,4)
linux   /macpup/vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 pmedia=satahd
initrd  /macpup/initrd.gz
}
menuentry "MacPup Foxy 3 - RAM" {
set root=(hd1,4)
linux /macpup/vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 pfix=ram pmedia=satahd
initrd /macpup/initrd.gz
}
EOF

However, I don't really like the looks and animation of MacPup... It's ok on my desktop, but for my 1Gb usb flash drive, I think I will change over to the official Puppy latest version. The animations and menus are just too slippery and unhelpful on my laptop, which is where I mainly plug the usb stick. I also like a cleaner interface with the big icons, because I use the Puppy stick in various PCs.

Now the XFCE version, that is something I will have to try...

breaker