DSL Embedded :: Howto: QEMU, Frugal and Getting Persistent Data



I read through all of the posts and experimented and finally got QEMU and Frugal to work with persistent home, opt and mydsl.  In case others are trying to get this to work, here is what I did:

A)  Unzip frugal and then run dsl-windows.bat
B)  sudo mount /dev/hdb
# Not sure the next two are absolutely necessary, but since #you are logged in as dsl, they don't hurt
C) sudo chown dsl /mnt/hdb
D) chmod 777 /mnt/hdb
# need to get the stuff from the base /home
# over to the new the virtal disk.  needed to
# X and fluxbox to run
E) sudo cp -R /home /mnt/hdb
# make an opt and optional directory
F) mkdir /mnt/hdb/opt
G) mkdir /mnt/hdb/optional
# get thing to backup
H) right click the desktop and select System and then backup/Restore.  Enter hdb as the device
# shut down
J)  right click the desktop and select powerdown and then shutdown
# now fix up the QEMU start
K) open the dsl-windows.bat in a text editor
# set options to use what we just did
L) you'll see that the last argument is -append " ....".  At the end (before the closing quotes) add this: opt=hdb home=hdb mydsl=hdb
M)  write out the changes and then double click to launch.

When you download extensions with mydsl put them in /mnt/hdb/optional if you don't want them automatically loaded.  Otherwise put them in /mnt/hdb.

Hope I didn't make any typos or leave anything out, and that this helps others save reading lots of posts and experimentation.

Why do we need top have both an /opt and /optional directory? What goes in the /opt directory?

regards b1m1

/opt is where all the installed stuff goes - although for myself, I don't see the reason for having an opt if you have the dsls for those programs.
The /optional directory is a place to store extensions you want
available from the menu, but NOT loaded into your ramspace yet.

It is just like having them on any freespace or partition.
Except that your right-click menu is given another area for extensions.

Placing them in /optional gives the mydsl script a location to build from
to create the menu for the desktop.   Then, clicking on the app name from
your menu works just like clicking the mydsl button in emelfm.
( it LOADS them into your ramspace, making them ready-to-run )

The /opt directory is a location in your filesystem where the files
bootlocal.sh, powerdown.sh, .dslrc, and so on, are located.
It is a "writable" area, and a good place to have your apps and
extensions install to when they are LOADED ..
( .tar.gz and .uci extensions use this area for their filespace
 when they are loaded, either by mydsl, mydsl-button, or menu )
It is also where the monkey webserver, the firefox-plugins,
and several config files are kept that are user-editable..
( samba, bashburn, and a few scripts to support synaptic and flash )

In the last post about persistant home and opt, the home directory
will "make" itself when the distro is booted with the home=hdXx option.

73
ke4nt


original here.