How do I get Porteus to save my system/apps settings?

[axelney]

Hello everyone, I am not new to linux but I am new to Porteus that I have recently had to get for a computer that has HDD problems and therefore can't boot Mint or windows.

I find the MATE and LXQt edtions of Porteus the more comfortable to use and the faster ones, however, my problem is that Porteus (that is currently on a FAT32 USB) won't save ANY of my settings be it system settings or app settings. I know that this is due to Porteus being installed on a FAT32 partition but Windows does not give options to format in ext2. So, what I did was using AOMEI to format the usb drive in ext2 but then the problem is that Windows won't let you do anything with that usb stick until you format it in fat32/nfts or whatever.

tl;dr: how do i get my porteus to install on a ext2 usb drive from windows in order to be able and save my Porteus settings ?

[donald]

Hello axelney
--> I am not new to linux <-- good!
so, at first read
/porteus/USB_INSTALLATION.txt and /porteus/boot/docs/install.txt and cheatcodes.txt
and then
a)porteus on FAT32 > create a save.dat container to save the settings
or (better choice)
b)boot porteus with the copy2ram option and login=root > reformat the flash drive
and install porteus within the running system.

[axelney]

thank you! what is a suggested size for the dat container?

[francois]

It depends on how much information you would like to store. The bigger, the better. Personally, I prefer linux file system for saving changes as it will expand.

Why don't you reduce the size of your usb key fat partition from windows and then starting from porteus create a second partition that will become your linux save folder?

[axelney]

it seems I was able to create the .dat file to save my changes, however how do I set Porteus to permanently save changes to that file?


edit: I solved by going in boot/syslinux/porteus.cfg and added the location of the porteussave.dat file after the "changes=" voice ^^ now works like a charm

[francois]

to porteus.cfg file add cheatcode:
changes=/path/your-save-file.dat

[Phineas Baritone]

... Why don't you reduce the size of your usb key fat partition from windows and then starting from porteus create a second partition that will become your linux save folder?

That is a most excellent suggestion!