PUPMODE fix for Classmate

There are various ways that you can install Puppy to a baby laptop with internal Flash memory.

1. Full "hard drive" installation.
2. Frugal, with a "pup_save" file.
3. Frugal, saving to entire partition (if it is a Linux partition).

I recently reported some trouble with option 3, that is, Aufs not starting and Unionfs (latest version) crashing, unless 'pup_xxx.sfs' is copied to RAM.

There has been an on-going issue with option 2, testers have reported that it is running in PUPMODE 12, whereas to preserve the life of the Flash memory it should preferably be 13 (tmpfs top layer in RAM, with periodic or manual saves to the pup_save.2fs file).
I have fixed this -- the init script now detects the boot parameter 'pmedia=usbflash' and changes PUPMODE from 12 to 13.

Note that with option 1, a full conventional installation, this is PUPMODE 2 and there is no buffering with a tmpfs, so no preserving of the Flash memory. Note however, that it is theoretically possible to boot a full installation in PUPMODE 3, which does have a layered f.s. with tmpfs RAM layer on top.

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Comments

easy use with pup_save
Username: Raffy
pup_save allows easy use of PC, like doing backup saves to disk while also having the files in "home". BTW, using a "home" directory will remove a lot of user confusion about where "home" directory is. :) How about a new mode, saving to a remote site (with login, say, via FTP)?

Non-saving mode
Username: Solid
"A few users were talking about this on the forum: The option of not saving the current session over the pup_save. I'm very new to Puppy Linux, but if the pmedia=usbflash mode had the option to not-save, it would allow the life of the flash to be indefinite. It would also have other applications, e.g. if a user is testing applications and something goes wrong, the user can just restart without saving. Solid

Tags: puppy