[Solved] Porteus 1.1 save.dat write error

[Abhishek]

Hi Everyone,
I have started encountering this serious issue while using Porteus v1.1 Latest 32-bit release which reproduced every time I tried. Although, porteus works perfectly fine in 'Always fresh' mode but the issue arises when i create a save.dat container in that mode.
I created a save.dat file of size 64 MB using Porteus save.dat manager in an NTFS drive and noticed a few write errors in the output shown below:

Code: Select all

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Building save.dat (11 Mb)
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Building save.dat (12 Mb)
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Building save.dat (12 Mb)
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Building save.dat (12 Mb)
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Building save.dat (13 Mb)
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Building save.dat (13 Mb)
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Building save.dat (13 Mb)
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Building save.dat (14 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (14 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (14 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (14 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (15 Mb)
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Building save.dat (15 Mb)
XXX
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Building save.dat (15 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (16 Mb)
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Building save.dat (16 Mb)
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Building save.dat (16 Mb)
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Building save.dat (16 Mb)
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Building save.dat (16 Mb)
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Building save.dat (17 Mb)
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Building save.dat (17 Mb)
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Building save.dat (17 Mb)
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Building save.dat (18 Mb)
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Building save.dat (18 Mb)
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Building save.dat (18 Mb)
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Building save.dat (18 Mb)
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Building save.dat (19 Mb)
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Building save.dat (19 Mb)
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Building save.dat (19 Mb)
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Building save.dat (19 Mb)
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Building save.dat (20 Mb)
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Building save.dat (20 Mb)
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Building save.dat (20 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (20 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (21 Mb)
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Building save.dat (21 Mb)
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Building save.dat (21 Mb)
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Building save.dat (22 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (22 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
XXX
Building save.dat (22 Mb)
XXX
XXX
Building save.dat (22 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (23 Mb)
XXX
XXX
Building save.dat (23 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
XXX
Building save.dat (23 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (23 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (24 Mb)
XXX
XXX
Building save.dat (24 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (24 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (24 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (25 Mb)
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Building save.dat (25 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (25 Mb)
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Building save.dat (26 Mb)
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Building save.dat (26 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (26 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (26 Mb)
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Building save.dat (27 Mb)
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Building save.dat (27 Mb)
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Building save.dat (27 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (28 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (28 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (28 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (28 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (29 Mb)
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Building save.dat (29 Mb)
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Building save.dat (29 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (29 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (30 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (30 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (30 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (31 Mb)
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Building save.dat (31 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (31 Mb)
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Building save.dat (32 Mb)
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Building save.dat (32 Mb)
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Building save.dat (32 Mb)
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Building save.dat (32 Mb)
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Building save.dat (33 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (33 Mb)
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Building save.dat (33 Mb)
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Building save.dat (34 Mb)
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Building save.dat (34 Mb)
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Building save.dat (34 Mb)
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Building save.dat (34 Mb)
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Building save.dat (35 Mb)
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Building save.dat (35 Mb)
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Building save.dat (35 Mb)
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Building save.dat (35 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (36 Mb)
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Building save.dat (36 Mb)
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Building save.dat (36 Mb)
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Building save.dat (37 Mb)
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Building save.dat (37 Mb)
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Building save.dat (37 Mb)
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Building save.dat (37 Mb)
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Building save.dat (38 Mb)
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Building save.dat (38 Mb)
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Building save.dat (38 Mb)
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Building save.dat (38 Mb)
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Building save.dat (39 Mb)
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Building save.dat (39 Mb)
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Building save.dat (39 Mb)
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Building save.dat (39 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (40 Mb)
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Building save.dat (40 Mb)
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XXX
Building save.dat (40 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (41 Mb)
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Building save.dat (41 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (41 Mb)
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Building save.dat (42 Mb)
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Building save.dat (42 Mb)
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Building save.dat (42 Mb)
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Building save.dat (42 Mb)
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Building save.dat (43 Mb)
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Building save.dat (43 Mb)
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Building save.dat (43 Mb)
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Building save.dat (44 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (44 Mb)
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Building save.dat (44 Mb)
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Building save.dat (44 Mb)
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Building save.dat (45 Mb)
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Building save.dat (45 Mb)
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Building save.dat (45 Mb)
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Building save.dat (45 Mb)
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Building save.dat (46 Mb)
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Building save.dat (46 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (46 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (47 Mb)
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Building save.dat (47 Mb)
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Building save.dat (47 Mb)
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Building save.dat (47 Mb)
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Building save.dat (48 Mb)
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Building save.dat (48 Mb)
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Building save.dat (48 Mb)
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Building save.dat (49 Mb)
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Building save.dat (49 Mb)
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Building save.dat (49 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (49 Mb)
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Building save.dat (50 Mb)
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Building save.dat (50 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (50 Mb)
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Building save.dat (50 Mb)
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Building save.dat (51 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (51 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (51 Mb)
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Building save.dat (51 Mb)
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Building save.dat (52 Mb)
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Building save.dat (52 Mb)
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du: write error
XXX
Building save.dat (52 Mb)
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Building save.dat (53 Mb)
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Building save.dat (53 Mb)
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Building save.dat (53 Mb)
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Building save.dat (53 Mb)
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Building save.dat (54 Mb)
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Building save.dat (54 Mb)
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Building save.dat (54 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (54 Mb)
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Building save.dat (55 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (55 Mb)
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Building save.dat (55 Mb)
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Building save.dat (55 Mb)
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du: write error
XXX
Building save.dat (56 Mb)
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Building save.dat (56 Mb)
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Building save.dat (56 Mb)
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Building save.dat (57 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
XXX
Building save.dat (57 Mb)
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Building save.dat (57 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
XXX
Building save.dat (58 Mb)
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Building save.dat (58 Mb)
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Building save.dat (58 Mb)
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Building save.dat (58 Mb)
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Building save.dat (59 Mb)
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Building save.dat (59 Mb)
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Building save.dat (59 Mb)
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Building save.dat (60 Mb)
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Building save.dat (60 Mb)
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Building save.dat (60 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (60 Mb)
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Building save.dat (61 Mb)
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Building save.dat (61 Mb)
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Building save.dat (61 Mb)
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Building save.dat (61 Mb)
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Building save.dat (62 Mb)
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Building save.dat (62 Mb)
XXX
du: write error
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Building save.dat (62 Mb)
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Building save.dat (62 Mb)
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Building save.dat (63 Mb)
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du: write error
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Building save.dat (63 Mb)
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Building save.dat (63 Mb)
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Building save.dat (64 Mb)
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And when I boot porteus using this file in save-changes mode, the system hangs up unexpectedly as soon as the save.dat file starts filling and afterwards I am not at all able to boot using the save file.
Even I used precreated fresh save.dat file from slaxsave.zip which was provided in Slax but that too got corrupted after a few uses.
I think there is some defect in the save container writing mechanism in this new version as this problem never arose in Porteus 1.0. After a few attempts, I had to revert to the older version to run smoothly.

Kindly advice some solution to this as I want to use the new version.
I have also provided my system info in the link below:
http://pastebin.com/KSFTdQng

and the relevant logs below:
messages - http://pastebin.com/nXehfQ5V
syslog - http://pastebin.com/dZ8wsvtK
dmesg - http://pastebin.com/W5GJG9V7

Thanks.

[Hamza]

It appear you have an Input/Output Error. But you said it was not present in v1.0 version. So, it should be an incompatibility between Hardware Version and Kernel Module Version.

[Abhishek]

If the problem is with the linux kernel, pls. suggest where should I report this bug so that I can get a fix for it ?
Or is it that higher versions of Linux kernel does not support older PCs ?

[Hamza]

You are at right place for report your issue.

Br0kenman who is the main developer of 32-bit Edition will have a look on your issue when he will get a look on your problem.

[newbody]

Abhishek. what hardware do you use. I had some similar problem but
thought it was me doing something wrong. But now today when I tested
again on another computer. It show same error message that you told about.

I test on NTFS formatted internal HD so it can be related to nfs.3g or something?
It boots okay and when I tell the save manager to make a slaxsave.dat file
it says it could make it but then when one reboot it seems to not make use of it.

Edit. It does create a save.dat and it does save some changes that I have made.
Firefox remember what startpage I want but not what encoding.

I used setxkbmap se for to get swedish keyboard but that does not get remembered.
When I go into Trinity setting and set Sweden then it does not remember that one either.

I am now on Acer D255 but it behaves similar to the Acer D250 that I also got same error on.

Apart from that Porteus is very good compared to all the other linux distros that I have tested.
Suppose I have tested some 75 different linuxes from DW. Then Puppy is my fave and Porteus
is the next best of all Linuxes.

[Abhishek]

I use a rather old Pentium III PC. Other hardware details can be found in my system info link provided in this post.
But as it seems that not many users experienced this problem, this issue might be related to hardware & kernel version compatibility as said by Hamza.
Till now I couldn't get any solution to this, so I had to stick to v1.0

[Ahau]

@Abhishek,
Have you tried with a save.dat larger than 64MB? I wonder if there might be some process that is creating more data than that, and perhaps multiple versions of the same data. I'd create the save.dat and use it until it failed, then boot into always fresh mode, mloop the save.dat, and examine it to see if there was any free space left and if it was low on space, find out where the bulk of the files are being generated. If your save.dat container is full, there is simply no way to boot into a GUI with it -- there are files that must be altered at startup.

@newbody,
Please try adding the kmap cheatcode to your boot commands (e.g. "kmap=se"). Your keymap settings will not be remembered between boots unless you either use the cheatcode every time or use the language-selection-tool to set your language.

[newbody]

Thanks I give the kmap=se a chance. Thanks for making Porteus this user friendly.
Unique distro indeed. Only Puppy is easier to use. Knoppix comes in as third in competition.

Edit nope the kmap=se did not work. Maybe one need to download kmap?
Or do something else. Sorry hijacking this thread.

Here is the grub4dos code I use in menu.lst

title Porteus w/changes
root (hd0,1)
kernel /porteusboot/vmlinuz from=porteus/ ramdisk-size=6666 root=/dev/ram0 rw fsck lxde kmap=se changes=/mnt/sda2/porteus/slax.dat autoexec=xconf;startx
initrd /porteusboot/initrd.xz

Maybe it is the lxde that confuse it? I try to boot without it as a test and
if successful I write here but if it fail then not edit or comment.

[feng]

hi newbody,

some cheatcodes changed, maybe you can try this:

title Porteus w/changes
root (hd0,1)
kernel (hd0,1)/porteusboot/vmlinuz from_dir=porteus/ ramsize=60% root=/dev/ram0 rw fsck lxde kmap=se changes=/mnt/sda2/porteus/slax.dat
initrd (hd0,1)/porteusboot/initrd.xz
boot

[Ahau]

feng is right -- in 1.1, you don't need autoexec=xconf anymore unless you have hardware that isn't working without it. Also, using 'lxde' should be sufficient, you don't need to invoke startx unless you have some kind of nonstandard installation. The lxde cheatcode will tell the system to start lxdm, which will automatically log you straight into lxde. If changing your cheatcodes doesn't fix the kmap problem, then it should be resolved in porteus 1.2 RC1, as kmap will be handled as part of the "paths" script, which is run whenever a user logs into a desktop.

[Abhishek]

@Ahau: I have also tested with 256 MB save.dat file but it generated the same errors in that too.
As soon as it gets filled with about 20 MB of data, the system hangs up and after reboot I am not able to login using that save file.

[newbody]

Till now I couldn't get any solution to this, so I had to stick to v1.0

I will test with that one too but unfortunately I seems to have deleted it and when I try to find it on the download site
then it is not there? Maybe I am bad at looking in the right place

Thanks for the code suggestion I give it a try right away. Within an hour I hope.

Edit. Thanks Ahau. I did find due to accident realizing that archive meant old versions.
I did not see it last time I did download. I will test the RC too then.

[Ahau]

@newbody If you are looking for the Porteus 1.0 32-bit ISO to test with that, you can find it here: http://www.ponce.cc/porteus/i486/archiv ... v1.0-i486/
I would, however, suggest trying the new v1.2 RC1 as well. It ought to handle your kmap settings better.

@Abisheck -- This is odd behavior indeed, and the age of your hardware or some incompatibility with the kernel may be to blame. Do you have another flash drive you could try on this computer (to rule out some kind of corruption on your flash drive), or another computer system you could test on, to see if it repeats?

I'd also suggest the new 1.2 RC1 -- perhaps there are some changes there that will help you, and if not, we'll at least know it still needs to be addressed as we move to RC2.

Thanks for your patience and help in testing this!

[newbody]

Maybe I did something wrong?
I changed lxde to xfce and it booted in that one.
I had dl that iso too and extracted it and swedish worked like åäö
but when I try to start the save.dat manager then it failed to start.
That where a surprise. I will test the other isos too so I get back.

[Ahau]

Maybe I missed something in XFCE -- I'll check in a little bit. If you're still booting into XFCE 1.2 RC1, then try running 'make-changes.sh' from a Terminal instead of through the menu (it's probably the menu launcher that is broken).