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Re: I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 02 Aug 2015, 12:46
by francois
What happened to installing to a USB drive?
You can choose the USB option if you prefer.

What's the other choice, the one to remove UNetbootin? What happpened to booting Windows??
Unless they dramatically changed their script: everything will be erased... ... Since you used unetbootin: the porteus iso, the persistence folder and the bootloader installation based on the window bootloader, only. Nothing else.

Once unetbootin has installed the windows bootloader, as I rather have porteus booting first, easybcd was the solution. 8)

Re: I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 02 Aug 2015, 17:57
by Bogomips
sedstar wrote:my first assembly code was z80A ?? lol... then 8086/8088 code
Seems like missed out on 68000, code of Sinclair QL, Linus Torwald's first microcomputer. :(
Trip down Memory Lane

sedstar wrote: i am a former professional programmer, and i also build computers and fix them for people... i'm ther computer guy people CALL... and i have been looking for a easy windows friendly "browse and email distro" like THIS one to try to give my customers... to keep their computers from crudding up when they browse with windows,,,

mean, I'm a computer guy, i pulled it off, you know?? there aint NO WAY any of my customers would have done this, they would have freaked out, and had to call me...

i would feel comfortable handing this out to my windows customers, as a "use this to browse so you dont crud up the windoze machine browsing" and a "use this if windows pukes on you till i GET there" thing, you know?

I mean, i can handle it as a LINUX newbie, cos i used to be a programmer? but, the average WIN user migrating to LINUX? i dont see them doing what i did.... most of my customers dont even KNOW where to FIND the file manager on WIN, let alone modify files, lol...
Now there's this guy beavering away on his ownsome lonesome in the Russian section of the forum in splendid isolation, hails from a closed town, housing something like central missile research and development facility (all very hush hush), who IMHO has done great things with Porteus. According to his profile he is an Electrical Engineer, and he unashamedly lists 'women' among his hobbies. As is to be expected, he has a clientele predominantly consisting of members of the fairer sex with Porteus, and he also sees to the women in his apartment block, services their computers and fixes them up with Porteus systems adjusted to their needs, as far as I can gather. Just a matter of where there being a will there's a way :wink:

Re: I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 08 Aug 2015, 20:55
by francois
@phhpro:
Crap!! I would appreciate the narration of a few of your adventures with unetbootin. :)

Re: I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 08 Aug 2015, 22:53
by francois
@phhpro dixit (you removed your post!!:
What's the other choice, the one to remove UNetbootin? What happpened to booting Windows?? :shock:
The first choice is windows. :D
It will boot automatically given you do not boot unetbootin (which is porteus). :twisted:

Re: I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 09 Aug 2015, 00:33
by brokenman
Getting quite off topic.

@sedstar - Given yours and other experiences with the savefile, I will try to address this for the next version of Porteus.
@everyone - feel free to offer your ideas on how it should work.

Re: I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 09 Aug 2015, 09:09
by donald
--> @everyone - feel free...<--..I do...

If a non linux Filesystem is detected than:
Porteus should boot in an emergency mode, constantly blinking red/white,
starting the Browser to display a "how to set it up Page"....oops..I forgot,
users don't / wouldn't / can't read..so maybe it would be better to start a video.
When the video has finished, some Test-questions have to be (successfully) answered to continue.
After the 3rd failed attempt, a script starts
if [ "User" = "too dumb" ]; then echo "stay with Windows!"; fi
and the maschine will shut down...

Re: I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 09 Aug 2015, 13:32
by Ed_P
brokenman wrote:@everyone - feel free to offer your ideas on how it should work.
I think the support for updating the porteus.cfg file (line 41) when a save.dat file is created needs to be expanded to include updating the refind.conf file (line 470) when the UEFI option has been used.

Another thought would be to add the USB drive's UUID to the porteus.cfg & refind.conf files.

Part of a script I use when creating UEFI flash drives is:

Code: Select all

echo
echo But first, need to tweak the UUID and changes=EXIT codes in
echo the $USB/boot/syslinux/porteus.cfg file and   
echo the $USB/EFI/BOOT/refind.conf file. 
echo
UUID=`blkid $DEV -o value -s UUID|cut -d\" -f 2`
echo "UUID="$UUID 
echo  
echo porteus.cfg (line 41)
echo "APPEND initrd=initrd.xz changes=EXIT:UUID:$UUID/porteussave.dat extramod=UUID:$UUID/Modules"
leafpad $USB/boot/syslinux/porteus.cfg
echo
echo refind.conf (lines 468, 470 and 473)
echo "	options \"from=UUID:$UUID extramod=UUID:$UUID/Modules;UUID:$UUID/ volume=33 reboot=cold\""
echo "		add_options \"from=UUID:$UUID changes=EXIT:UUID:$UUID/porteussave.dat extramod=UUID:$UUID/Modules\""
echo "		add_options \"from=UUID:$UUID nomagic base_only norootcopy\""
leafpad $USB/EFI/BOOT/refind.conf 
echo 
Obviously not very sophisticated but the idea is something you could use when a save.dat file is created. It informs the new user that files need to be changed, what has to be changed and where.

BTW Welcome back. :friends:

Re: I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 23 Sep 2015, 01:48
by Rava
sedstar wrote:to be funny? i barely expect WINdoze to run in its OWN file system, lmao.... :evil:
Hi sedstar....

I see, you are an expert on Windoze OS.... How true, the above. xD

Have fun.

Re: I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 23 Sep 2015, 04:07
by Ed_P
Rava wrote:Hi sedstar....

I see, you are an expert on Windoze OS.... How true, the above. xD

Have fun.
You're responding to a posting made in July!! :shock:

:D

Re: I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 23 Sep 2015, 05:45
by Rava
Ed_P wrote:You're responding to a posting made in July!! :shock:
... Here I thought what I commented on was a timeless truth... </lame excuse is lame> :)

I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 11 Feb 2021, 00:37
by minions2021
:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: im starting to give up on porteus :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
  • it crashes
  • no usb or cd/burner
  • its session based which means your settings aint saved and you have to re enter them every time you log in
  • when you go to the boot settings at the start of the application it doesnt detect the cd/dvd/usb/drive in the boot settings, however when you go to file explorer the cd/dvd/usb drive does show up

I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 11 Feb 2021, 07:00
by Ed_P
minions2021 wrote:
11 Feb 2021, 00:37
its session based which means your settings aint saved and you have to re enter them every time you log in
You're doing something wrong. I don't know if your booting an ISO, a USB drive or a CD or what disk format your using but I can assure you Porteus ISOs boot and settings can be saved on my NTFS disk system. I have also downloaded ISOs, copied all the files and folders in it to FAT32 USB drives and run the Porteus-installer for the system I was on and had bootable drives.

Are there problems with Porteus 5.0, absolutely. That's why there are only test releases of it. Try a 4.0 system.

I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 11 Feb 2021, 19:46
by beny
hi minions2021 if i remeber well you have put porteus into the harddisk,usb key or sd is better you have to make a directory named changes and btw you have to link this directory at the boot line that you have, no fresh install or copy2ram you can't save your tweak on system,xfce4 for me is the best thunar file manager work well and all the device you plug in are into the file manager:

LABEL GRAPHICAL
MENU LABEL Graphics mode
KERNEL /boot/syslinux/vmlinuz
INITRD /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz
APPEND changes=/porteus
well you can start with this, porteus isn't a full system but it have all you need,enable the changes directory and start to have fun, porteus is a read only system if you don't make changes but if you make a xzm of the software you need at boot start you can use it.

I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 18 Mar 2021, 11:30
by francois
@minions:
Maybe you could have a look at a porteus lover thread:
Donated after day two of honeymoon
Porteus might simply be not for you.

Though I am usually very nice with newcomers on this forum, I really don't feel like it when I read your comments. Read the reviews on distrowatch, you might reconsider your opinion minion:
https://www.techradar.com/uk/best/best-linux-distros
https://distrocrunch.com/porteus-linux-a-quick-review/

And if you are able to find your way on the the distrowatch site, you will find a lot more. Most are very positive.

There are guys like you that do not appreciate great wines. And here I do not write highly priced wines. Porteus is really a very good quality/price wine. You have a great lot for your money.

When you do not like the taste of the wine there is a very good option:
just spit it out.

B)

I was actually quite happy... until... GRRRRRR!

Posted: 19 Mar 2021, 09:35
by nanZor
Hmm... I sense the ops frustration, and no need to take it out on Porteus. It's not for everyone.

How about this - and I'm serious - I've recommended it to those who get a tad flustered these days, and is often overlooked:

Raspberry Pi Desktop for PC / Mac

Currently 32-bit. 64-bit *maybe* in the future.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/ra ... i-desktop/

If burned to a usb stick with Etcher for instance, when you first boot it up, it will auto-expand the filesystem to whatever size your stick is automatically. If that works for you, rather than using gparted to do the same, then bingo!

The overall desktop is very simple, and the devs take great pains coming from the Mac side of the design house to try and make it all self-explanatory and easy to use. Well, as much as they can.

Like instead of going into window managers or desktop environments and making 3 different changes to get the look you need, it will invoke Xrandr to emulate a "small / normal / big" resolutions across the board which one can tweak if they want from there. Or yeah, use the 3 different classical menu options to do the same if you have those memorized. :)

Handy, but sometimes will break child-windows, like the option menus in VLC. Means you have to go back to the standard res to set options for vlc. But still, they are attempting to make it as super easy as possible for many things. Stuff like that.

P.S. If you seek support, DO NOT call it "Raspbian", which is for the actual raspberry-pi hardware. Identify your issue with the Raspberry Pi Desktop. Note that you are buying into the Debian / Systemd thing, which may not matter to you. For some it does.

Give it a shot. Then come back to Porteus when you are ready for a different and slightly more hands-on approach.