Introducing Puppy Linux 2.13
improvements with thanks from
Paul Addis,
Brad Coulthard - bradchuck@gmail.com
Oliver
Jan 2007
ed.jason@gmail.com (Lobster)
Why Choose Puppy?
Puppy boots up and runs fast in RAM memory, freeing any CD boot drive. Puppy has all the applications needed for daily use in only 39MB (Barebones) or 83MB (Puppy2.13). Puppy will boot from a minimum PC with 586 CPU and 32Meg RAM. Puppy will easily install to CD, DVD, USB, Zip or hard drive media.
Puppy minimizes USB keydrive writes to extend boot flash devices life indefinitely.
What is Puppy Linux?
Puppy Linux, started by Barry Kauler, is a small, mature, fully featured Linux operating system for your PC. Puppy works well on old, second systems and is a delight on modern computers. It boots from CD, flash card, hard disk, USB key-drive or a CD-RW, saving files on CD-R, DVD-R or USB keydrive. Puppy runs from ram memory with applications including web browser, word processor and chat program. Applications are very responsive on modern equipment and obsolete equipment becomes usable.
Isn't Windows or a big Linux better?
However new your hardware, in a few months it slows down in Windows. True?
Windows and most Linux are slow; big, complex and cumbersome
Puppy Linux is simple and easy. Fun
Puppy is faster loading from CD than MS Windows from hard disk
Puppy includes all needed free software
Puppy uses wizards and simplicity - everything is explained
Puppy comes with great free support, via our community forum, wiki, free video tutorials and audio broadcasts
People who try Puppy are amazed by his speed, ease of use and fun factor. Everyone Loves Puppy
How to get Puppy
You can get Puppy Linux here
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/DownloadLatest
Save the current release puppy-2.xx-seamonkey.iso (e.g. puppy-2.13-seamonkey.iso) on your hard drive. The file size is about 83MB.
To make sure that you downloaded a genuine original file correctly, you can compare the checksum of the ISO file with the associated file puppy-2.xx-seamonkey.iso.md5.txt (e.g. puppy-2.13-seamonkey.iso.md5.txt). Download this file as well.
Within Linux:
Open a shell/terminal and change into the directory, in which you stored the two files. Enter the following command:
md5sum puppy-2.13-seamonkey.iso
As a result you get the checksum. Open the file puppy-2.13-seamonkey.iso.md5.txt with a text program (e.g. Abiword). The two checksums should be identical.
Within Windows:
Download the DOS-Program md5sum.exe. To open a DOS-Box click on "Start | Execute". This opens an input window, into which you enter the following command:
cmd
Now you get a DOS-Box.
Change into the directory, in which you stored the two files, e.g. C:/Puppy. Enter these commands:
c:
cd \
cd puppy
dir *.*
Now you should see the Puppy-files. Enter the command:
md5sum -c puppy-2.13-seamonkey.iso.md5.txt
You should get an "OK".
Subsequently you burn the ISO file (in our example puppy-2.13-seamonkey.iso) on CD. To burn an ISO file on CD, consult the manual of your CD burning software. Beginners sometimes copy the ISO file simply as a data-file on CD, which doesn’t work. Usually the CD-burning software has a special menu option for burning an ISO file on CD. You can verify whether you burned the CD correctly by looking at the CD with the file manager (e.g. Windows Explorer). If you see files as "image.gz" or "vmlinuz.gz" everything is OK. If you see the file "puppy-2.13-seamonkey.iso" this is incorrect.
Tip:
Create a second, identical Puppy CD as a backup copy, in case the original CD becomes corrupted.
Differences between Puppy 1 and 2 series
Puppy 1 uses an earlier Linux kernel and may offer better support for some older hardware. You will find increased speed, more powerful applications, such as Inkscape and Gparted and the Universal Installer in Puppy 2. Puppy hardware recognition is now rivaling that of Knoppix and has surpassed XP for older equipment. Puppy 1.09CE was the last in the 1 series. It is still used.
Run from CD - the easiest way to try Puppy
You don't need a hard disk to run Puppy. No installation is required either. Have a major Linux or Windows on your hard disk and run Puppy from CD or USB keydrive.
How to run Puppy the very first time
First set up the boot sequence in the BIOS. If you do not know how to get into the BIOS-setup, consult the computers manual. Usually you press one of the following keys immediately after switching on the PC: ESC, one of the function keys F1 to F12 or the delete key. At the BIOS-setup you change the boot sequence so that the CD-ROM drive is first and the hard drive is second. Save the settings and close the BIOS setup. Insert the Puppy CD into the CD-ROM drive.
When the PC the reboots, the BIOS will boot from the CD. Now Puppy should start.
During the starting procedure you are requested to enter the keyboard map. Navigate with the cursor keys downward to the entry "us" (us stands for USA) or your locality. Then strike the return key. Thereafter a further window (Puppy video Wizard) appears. Use arrow keys, navigate with the arrow keys to the resolution and depth of colour (e.g. 1024x768x16 or 1280x1024x24) and press the space bar, so that an X is set for your required resolution. Then strike the return key. Make sure that the entry is marked as "supported".
After a test you the Puppy desktop appears for the first time. These settings will be saved on your HD, CD (requires burner) or not when you finish. The choice is yours.
Puppy is loaded completely into RAM. Your old operating system is untouched, you can safely use Puppy Linux. Now you can take the CD out of the CD drive if you wish.
If you terminate Puppy you are asked whether you want to store the settings (and your personal files) in a file named pup_save.3fs on a hard drive or CD-ROM. A window appears which offers you the choice between "SAVE-TO-FILE" and "SAVE_TO_CD_or_QUIT" (you can change between the two options with the tab-key). Select with the tab-key "SAVE_TO_CD_or_QUIT" and press the return-key. Now a further window appears and you can select "NO_SAVE" or "SAVE_TO_CD".
If you would like to store the settings (and your personal files) you are asked on which hard drive.
Save settings and personal files
So that Puppy can store all settings and your personal data, a file named pup_save.3fs is saved. A size of 512 MB for this file, is a good start. This is big enough for further programs and can be backed-up on CD-ROM (note: if you want to backup the file on a USB stick, it must have a storage capacity of 1 GB). Puppy can store the pup_save.3fs-file on a FAT32-file system only (note: USB sticks and external hard drives are usually formatted with a FAT32-file system, so that they can be used without problems). Windows XP users normally have a NTFS filesystem only. NTFS is now supported but may be slow.
Harddrives, partitions and filesystems
A hard drive can be divided in one or more partitions. If you create several partitions on a hard drive, each partition appears like a hard drive in the operating system. In other words, although you have only one hard drive in your PC, you will see several (virtual) hard-drives with Windows or Linux. Windows designates the hard drives (as well as the floppy disk drive and CD/DVD drive). In Windows they will be identified with letters. Usually 'A:' designates the floppy disk drive, C: the hard drive (first partition), D: the CD-ROM drive, E: the hard drive (second partition), F: the hard drive (third partition) and so on. Each partition has its own file system, Windows normally uses NTFS (Windows XP) or FAT32 (Win98, Win95).
With Linux the (first) hard drive is addressed as /dev/hda or /dev/sda. If your PC has a second hard drive, it is addressed as /dev/hdb or /dev/sdb. The partitions are sequentially numbered, starting with one. The partitions of your harddrive are addressed as /dev/hda1 (corresponds to the Windows C-partition), /dev/hda2 (corresponds to the Windows E-partition), /dev/hda3 and so on. Linux can work with different file systems such as ext2, ext3 or ReiserFS. These file systems are not readable by Windows. In addition Linux can work with Windows file systems too. Due to this option a FAT32 partition is ideal to exchange files between Windows and Linux.
How to create a FAT32-partition
First of all you have to plan your new hard drive partitions. I recommend you add to your existing Windows partition at least three further partitions. The following example assumes that you have only one hard drive (Windows-partition C). Your hard drive could be like this:
First partition: NTFS (Windows XP)
Second partition: FAT32 (to save your Puppy-file pup_save.3fs)
Third partition: FAT32 (to exchange files between Windows and Linux)
optional fourth partition: ext3 (Linux)
The first partition is your Windows partition with all its programs and data. The second and third partition have a FAT32 file system, which can be accessed by Windows and Linux. On the second partition (recommended size of approx. 1 GB) the pup_save.3fs-file will be stored, the third partition (recommended size of approx. 5 GB) will be used to exchange files between Windows and Puppy. To save many large files with Puppy Linux (e.g. music collection or picture collection) you should create a fourth partition with an ext3-filesystem. This file system can not be read by Windows and is intended for Linux only.
To create the partition you should do this:
First of all save your files on a CD-ROM, DVD or an external hard drive. Remember also to save your favorite Internet addresses and your email's. If you have encrypted files, it is advisable to decrypt them and save them too. This protects you from data loss while creating new partitions.
Now you have to make sure that on your Windows partition all files are stored at the beginning of the hard drive partition. In addition, run the Windows-program Defragger. You will find the program in the start-menu "Start | All Programs | Accessories | System | Defragger". Depending upon the size of the partition and the stored files, this procedure can last for a very long time (over one hour). If you have many files, you can accelerate the procedure if you first backup these files and then delete them.
Subsequently, when you start Puppy Linux from CD, start the program "Menu | Control Panel | Gparted partition manager". Make the NTFS partition smaller and create the new partitions.
In Puppy Linux you start a shell "Menu | Run | Rxvt terminal emulator" and then you enter the following commands, in order to create the second and third partitions with a FAT32 files system:
mkfs -t vfat /dev/hda2
mkfs -t vfat /dev/hda3
If you want to create a partition with ext3 file system for Puppy Linux, then enter the following command:
mkfs -t ext3 /dev/hda4
Close the shell and remove the Puppy CD out of the CD-ROM drive. Then shut down Puppy Linux without saving.
Next time you start Puppy Linux, you can choose the partition /dev/hda2 to store the pup_save.3fs-file.
How to install Puppy
If you don't want to start from CD-ROM each time, you can install Puppy on a hard drive. There are four alternatives:
Install Puppy on a hard drive
Install Puppy on a USB-stick
CD-ROM-image on a hard drive
Install Puppy on a multi-session CD/DVD
How to save a Puppy-image on a hard drive and how to boot the image in RAM
This is a fine option for starting Puppy. It combines the advantages of booting from CD-ROM (protection from harming programs) and hard drive (speed). If you want to use this option you have to install a boot-manager (e.g. GRUB) first.
After GRUB is installed, start Windows and insert the Puppy CD into the CD-ROM drive. Copy the file PUP_210.SFS to a partition with FAT32 filesystem (in our example this is the second partition, which probably has the letter E under Windows). If you had already stored the file pup_save.3fs from an earlier use of Puppy and if you would like to use it further, cut and paste this file to the same folder as the file PUP_210.SFS. Subsequently, you create a directory named "boot". Then you copy from the Puppy CD two files named INITRD.GZ and VMLINUZ to this directory.
The partition should have the following content now:
E:\ PUP_210.SFS
E:\ pup_save.3fs (optional)
E:\boot\ INITRD.GZ
E:\boot\ VMLINUZ
Now you still have to configure the boot-manager GRUB. Terminate Windows and start Puppy Linux from CD-ROM with the boot-option "puppy pfix=ram".
* Open a shell "Menu | Run | Rxvt terminal emulator" and enter the following comand
mount /dev/hda2 /mnt/hda2
The command assumes that GRUB is installed to the partition /dev/hda2.
* Run the program "Menu | Word Processing | Geany text editor"
* Open the file /mnt/hda2/boot/grub/menu with the text editor.
* In the menu.lst-file change the selection of the operating system (the line begins with the command default):
default 1
* Add these lines at the end of the menu.lst-file:
title = Puppy
rootnoverify (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz root=/dev/ram0 loglevel=3 PMEDIA=idehd
initrd /boot/initrd.gz
Save the menu.lst-file.
Close the text editor.
Close the FAT32-partition with the command
umount /dev/hda2
Take the Puppy CD out of the CD-ROM drive.
Shut down Puppy without saving.
Boot the PC. Now Puppy should start without a CD inserted in the CD-ROM drive.
To boot from CD
It is likely that your computers boot (start up) order is:
1. floppy
2. CD
3. Hard disk
Just pop in the CD and reboot
Boot Options