USB booting :: Saving customization?

No, i just answered very quickly, but i was on my way out the door at the time.

To save .dsl's put them in a folder named " myDSL " exact spelling and they will be found and installed on boot up.

For others make a " optional " folder for stuff you want to load when you need.

For setups you need to add the directory to the .xfiletool.lst either with emelfm's Add2Filetool button or manually, then it will be added to the the backup when you use the Backup/Restore. don't forget to use the cheat. Press F2 at start to see the cheat list.

I'm just going from memory so it might not be exact. The instruction should be in dillo under " saving your configuration "
some where in the middle part. I'll add what ever more i can think of when i switch to DSL, i'm on Xubuntu right now so i can't look.

Hi kerry,

thank you for your reply, I will check the procedures but I am still unsure whether this was the solution I was looking for, then:

currently I am using my pendrive with windows applications installed on it: system info, backup and recovery (for ex. Northon Ghost) and not at last a web-browser with my own bookmarks and settings, an e-mail client containing my e-mails, Skype etc.

Still, if I don't have to use Windows I am rather on Linux/UNIX. First what I saw was Metropipe-s modified DSL installed in a 108 MB image file, as that is a 'normal' installation it is saving all the settings modified in /etc and my e-mails and so on; but running qemu on top of an other operating system requires a lot of resources and the result will be as would I be on a 75 MHz CPU. For this I came to the original DSL site in the hope of a more appropriate solution.

I am still on checking the possibilities.

Thank you again!

Best regards,

kris *_^O^_*

Kris, I think I misunderstood your initial post about the task you are trying acheive. My setup is different, but since I half promised it, here is my 2 cents worth about backing up programs and settings.

I use no hard drive. I boot off the CD, and use a USB memory stick to store permanent stuff on. (My BIOS can't boot from USB, which is why I boot off the CD)

When I first booted up, I chose DSL TORAM

As the CD is spinning away loading up the system, that is when I insert the USB memory. If I have it in any earlier, it doesn't seem to detect it. (could just be my laptop though).

Once DSL is running, I mounted the USB memory device (sda1). Any settings that are now made can be saved to the USB memory. You can do this manually in DSLpanel, but if you shutdown properly with the shutdown command, a script will run and do this automatically. (possibly only after you've done it manually the first time to set the default backup device).

I noticed that if I left the USB memory mounted, it was ready mounted the next time I booted up. Saved me from doing it manually again.

Ok, that's the settings part... now the programs. Again, this is just what I did... I'm sure other people have different stories!

Go to the DSL download extension panel and download your favorite apps. (I'm sure you've done this). Notice how it asks you if you want to save them in the /tmp directory. When it's finished downloading you can go to that /tmp directory and see the .gz , .dsl , .uci files. Copy the applications you want into the root (top level) directory of the USB memory. (I have read people say make a mydsl directory, but that didn't work for me... this did). Anyway, once you've copied those applications into the USB memory they will be loaded automatically next time you boot if you do this:

Insert the cd and at the prompt type:

DSL TORAM MYDSL=SDA1

(don't forget to put the USB memory in as the CD is loading the image, at least that's what I do as it seems to be a nice time for the system to recognise it.

Good luck :-)

OK, that was what I have 'badly missed':

Quote

How do I save my settings?

When booting from the CD or a frugal install your application settings, bookmarks, etc can be saved to separate file on a hard drive partition/usb key/floppy called backup.tar.gz. To create this file choose on System, Backup/Restore in the desktop menu, type in the name of the device to save to (e.g. hda1/sda1/floppy) and hit backup. Then when you reboot your settings can be restored using the cheatcode restore={hda1/sda1/floppy}. To change which files are saved edit /home/dsl/.filetool.lst (list of files to backup) and /home/dsl/.xfiletool.lst (list of files to exclude from the backup process). Adding files to .filetool.lst can be easily done by choosing the file/dir in emelfm and clicking the 'Add2Filetool" button.

The default files/dir saved at backup are:

opt/ppp
opt/bootlocal.sh
opt/powerdown.sh
opt/.dslrc
opt/.mydsl_dir
home/dsl/

If you decide you only want to save certain files in home/dsl/ and not the entire directory, you would want to remove home/dsl/ from .filetool.lst but add .filetool.lst and .xfiletool.lst to the .filetool.lst file.

Here is how it might look in this situation adding just the /home/dsl/.fluxbox directory

opt/ppp
opt/bootlocal.sh
opt/powerdown.sh
opt/.dslrc
opt/.mydsl_dir
home/dsl/.fluxbox
home/dsl/.filetool.lst
home/dsl/.xfiletool.lst

I made an USB-ZIP pendrive install creating two partitions:
/dev/sda1 (for the system)
/dev/sda2 (convenient for backups)

I added

Code Sample

dsl restore=/dev/sda2

to the optional boot time options, this way the backup -created as descrribed above- is restored already by booting the system. It's just wonderful! :-)

Remarks:
- As the whole /home/dsl directory is backed up (by default) my questions related to e-mails, bookmarks etc. are solved at once!
- Being able to set what is backed up I hope I can solve further questions without spamming this forum :-)

Best regards,

kris *_^O^_*

Hi Spice_Boy,

thank you again for your reply! The procedure described above works for me. So this topic may be closed.
Anyway: Thank you for your help!

OTHER:
you wrote:

Quote

I use no hard drive. I boot off the CD, and use a USB memory stick to store permanent stuff on. (My BIOS can't boot from USB, which is why I boot off the CD)

This is also a convenient solution, most HW-s I meet are either able to boot from an USB, for this I boot the USB-drive with a boot floppy. The reason I hold to USB is that this way the optical drive remains free for burning CD-s (there is mostly only one) for recovering datas (from dead or at least halfway-dead M$ systems at my office and by friends [though I am NOT a sysadmin

]).

Best regards,

kris *_^O^_*

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