PLoPKExec

New features which should be implemented in Porteus; suggestions are welcome. All questions or problems with testing releases (alpha, beta, or rc) should go in their relevant thread here, rather than the Bug Reports section.
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Bicephale
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PLoPKExec

Post#1 by Bicephale » 11 Aug 2012, 04:53

Salutations,

I've given Porteus v1.2 some good try on a legacy P3-733 MHz (512 MB RAM) lately so it became necessary for me to deal with a few details including the boot-loader thing... Doing so i discovered a new tool created by the same author as that of PLoP: 'plopkexec' allowed me to boot using an external USB-DVD drive while the BIOS doesn't even support any flash-card compatible booting mode at all. To me this appears to cover the very last spot in such domain, in addition the next months to come will most likely bring more interresting developments as this particularily fine tool starts to reach maturity. Some of us may appreciate the additional functionality, i sure do so i figured i'd mention it just in case.

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fanthom
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Re: PLoPKExec

Post#2 by fanthom » 11 Aug 2012, 08:38

hi Bicephale,

do you mean that existing solution (plop boot manager) was not enough and you had to use PLoPKExec to boot Porteus from USB-DVD drive?

if yes then i'll add PLoPKExec to my TODO list for porteus-2.0 and dig into it deeper.
Please add [Solved] to your thread title if the solution was found.

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Re: PLoPKExec

Post#3 by Bicephale » 18 Aug 2012, 22:40

Salutations Fanthom,

Sorry about the delay, it's summer time and i just couldn't reply any sooner!

...

You're correct, PLoP fails to find my bootable media when present in this external DVD (USB) drive:

RetailPlus RP-DVRW-24E (similar product)
(ATAPI iHAS124 B)

I can't find more detailed information about this particular product (i've tried for hours) but lets also mention that my test-machine appears to have a buggy BIOS (IBM NetVista type 6647-E5U) when it comes to hardware upgrades, especially USB2/WiFi - which is why i was impressed enough to wish our Linux comrades from the legacy user community to benefit from it! In my humble opinion PLoPKExec will shine where most other booting tools have failed so far, stay tuned!!

...and thanks for considering this fine option.

:good:

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Re: PLoPKExec

Post#4 by francois » 19 Aug 2012, 01:06

Bon et durable retour sur porteus, cher voisin. :D
Prendre son temps, profiter de celui qui passe.

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Hamza
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Re: PLoPKExec

Post#5 by Hamza » 19 Aug 2012, 12:26

@francois,

You can use your native language for posting in the relevant subforums. When posting elsewhere on the forums, please use English only to make possible the read of your comment for non-french speaker.

Thanks :)
NjVFQzY2Rg==

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Re: PLoPKExec

Post#6 by Bicephale » 19 Aug 2012, 22:00

Thank you François!

In fact i wasn't very far away (electronically speaking) but i must confess there are challenges which need much more resources than i can manage to provide these days, so i sort of let time work for me once in awhile... Oh, and i'm no longer on the other side of the St-Laurent river, but that's another story!

:wink:

Relatively to my thread's title, have you noticed how difficult it has become to acquire an IDE CD/DVD drive lately? Everything is now SATA when it comes to mass storage it seems, which makes PLoPKExec quite convenient and valuable for those people like me who tend to stick with legacy technologies. For example, yesterday i went back from a small town nearby with a used IDE CD/DVD drive to fix the very PC i'm working on at the moment. That machine's CD/DVD drive died on me about 2 weeks ago and my only resort was to do as most other consumers, by spending time & money on a brand-new USB accessory... I'm sure in similar circumstances the average Joe would walk to the nearest hardware store and do the same, tough this was a temporary measure in my case. Yet, my point is we're going to see more of those USB external mass storage units and it appears PLoPKExec's goal is to fill that particular gap exactly.

With no SATA interface at hand it's becoming necessary to search flea markets in hope to find veteran IDE devices which survived a failing PC... For example, last week i had no other option but to buy used material while i was visiting relatives. My intuition told me i was better to gamble on 2 units instead of just 1 and i was correct: sure enough, i did find that i was sold useless junk in one case even if the drive was seen at boot time. Two identical units, both "tested" fine at 1st until i tried to boot from a LiveDVD that is... Lucky me i wasn't totally without luck so this upgrade/repair did the job nicely in the end.

Oh, i could have tried to add a PCI extension card i guess - which might happen to be fun (SSD drives require SATA, etc., and it turns out my main hard-drive is becoming faulty!) - but right now i'm still utterly puzzled about what would make a suitable (new) PC relatively to operating systems and peripherals. That's why i'm probably going to continue playing with a mix of stuff, old and new, for a few more weeks, maybe months. So, rest assured Porteus remains one of my prefered alternatives as a result, no matter what i buy next: legacy material still has a niche in my hobbies.

...not to mention that Microsoft Windows hardly seems to age satisfyingly, especially when one attempts to upgrade to WiFi, whatever ( :wall: ), etc!...

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Re: PLoPKExec

Post#7 by francois » 20 Aug 2012, 17:23

Ooops! Sorry for this slip. That might be a zest of the anarchy that was reigning on the slax forum between me and bicephale. For those who did not understand, and this is surely not your case, as I can refer to you as a quebecer as our french cousin, I was simply warmfully greeting the return of bicephale on the porteus forum. :)
Prendre son temps, profiter de celui qui passe.

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