Porteus

I am also a PuppyLinux user, and I often need to access various PuppyLinux distributions, so I use the combination of Grub+Lick, which allows me to select the system I want to enter without having to modify the MBR every time. I started using Porteus/X in the past few days and found that this system can only be used by installing the installation files included in the image, which will modify the MBR information, which may prevent me from accessing my previous system, which is not good. So I thought about whether it is possible to start from the hard drive directly like PuppyLinux by only modifying the boot code, without modifying the MBR information. After testing, I found that it works, so I'm sharing this method with everyone. It's possible that someone has already tried this, but I haven't seen it, and it's possible that someone doesn't know about it, so I'm providing a method for those who need it.

The steps are as follows:
1. To install Lick on a Windows-based computer, you'll need to have Windows installed. If you don't have Windows, you can use a portable operating system like PE. I chose to use Windows because some software only works on Windows and cannot be run on Wine. I installed Windows only as a backup option, and I prefer to work and entertain primarily on Linux.

2. Download porteus/x, extract the files in the iso image to any root partition of the disk, three new folders will be generated, such as /boot, /porteus, /EFI, and then modify the boot file lickmenu.lst of the lick, add the following code to it
Because I decompressed porteus and porteux under the same root partition, the /boot and /EFI folders were renamed, so I changed the name of porteux's /boot to /boot2, because my computer is an old computer that can't be booted with UEFI, so /EFI can be unzipped or changed whatever the name is, anyway, they are useless

3,Save lickmenu.lst,Then restart the computer,You can see porteux16 in the lickmenu boot menu,Then enter this system,The same can add porteus boot code,So that you can freely choose which system to enter when you boot up,If you don't want it,Directly delete the files on the hard disk and the code in lickmenu.lst,No need to modify the mbr information

Thank you nayame.

In your Lick menu I don't think you need the --ignore-floppies option. Unless your old machine actually uses floppies.

Ed_P,
Yes, the floppy disk has indeed disappeared now.

A porteus/x boot cheatcode that I use when updating is changes=EXIT thus changes aren't written to disk until I shutdown the system. The advantages are; the system runs faster, and if the changes I implemented isn't as good or as clean as I wanted I can choose to not save them until the next time.

In the Porteus/x /boot/docs/cheatcodes.txt file I don't see the vmlinuz codes you're using, as such they don't work with the Porteus/x system you're booting. They are probably PuppyLinux codes. Is the kernel's /boot2/syslinux/vmlinuz file the Porteus/x kernel file?

Added in 5 hours 51 minutes 27 seconds:
I thought you might like some of my old Grub4DOS menus: Looks similar to your Lick menus.

Ed_P, Thanks for sharing, I think using grub or grub4dos should also be able to boot porteus/x, I am very busy lately, and I'll try to boot porteus/x by modifying grub's menu file when I have time.

is the kernel's /boot2/syslinux/vmlinuz file the Porteus/x kernel file?
yes.changing the kernel may cause a lot of problems, so I just extracted the kernel that came from the iso image which has been tested
run well on my laptop.

The initial requirement is very simple, as long as it can be booted, I just want to verify whether it can be booted from the hard disk, so in order to avoid failure, the simpler the cheatcode, the better, and if there is a demand later, i can refer to Porteus/x /boot/docs/cheatcodes.txt to add other parameters.

nayame wrote: ↑

20 Dec 2024, 02:48

I'll try to boot porteus/x by modifying grub's menu file when I have time.

Don't change the menu's you have, create a new one, or two, named "tests" and try things in it.

nayame wrote: ↑

20 Dec 2024, 02:48

yes.changing the kernel may cause a lot of problems,

I didn't mean to suggest change the kernel just wasn't sure whether the /boot2 file was puppylinux's or porteus/x's or windows.

It would be interesting to see if the grub system you have supports booting an iso system. Easier to test a new system with no install needed.

Ed_P,

Usually I add a piece of boot code to the menu or lickmenu, and if the boot is successful, keep the code, and if it fails, comment it out with a # sign. In this way, I have the freedom to choose from dozens of Puppy series operating systems every time I turn on my computer。

No virtual machine required, no performance penalty,booting in livecd mode is really nice

After testing, I found that I can also boot Porteus 5.01 from the hard disk by modifying the menu.lst file of grub4dos and adding the following boot code
hd0,3
It's the partition where I put the disc image file after I extract it