Problems creating /mydsl (Frugal HD)
Forum: Apps
Topic: Problems creating /mydsl (Frugal HD)
started by: setecio
Posted by setecio on Nov. 16 2006,10:53
HiI am using AMD Duron 700MHz, 256MB RAM, 15GB HD,3 4.5GB Linux ext3 partions and 1 1.5GB Linux swap. DSL 3.0.1.
I have installed DSL on hda2 using frugal install and boot up using cheatcode frugal to ensure disc is writable. It is saving my settings fine.
However I cannot grasp this mydsl issue, maybe it is something simple, please help.
I download abiword and get it to run fine. Then I go to shutdown and it says 'unsaved extensions do I want to save'. I click yes and it opens up emelfm in root. I create a new directory /mydsl and then move abiword.dsl from /tmp into this new directory. I then go to reboot and mydsl directory is no longer there, and abiword is gone. I try to download it again this time specifying to /mydsl, but it comes back with an error 'Please mount media containing optional directory'. If I look in Emelfm, /mydsl no longer exists.
Can I not create a directory /mydsl ?
I thought from all my reading that if I created a /mydsl directory and moved my extensions there then DSL will find them there during boot automatically as it looks automatically in / and /mydsl.
How can I permanently create the /mydsl folder and get this to work ? Do I have to create it on a different partion to DSL? I really want it all contained within the same partiton.
I've been trying for 2 days now, but can't grasp this.
Thanks.I also get eroor messages during boot:
Ext2-fs warning: maximal mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended.
Ext3-fs warning: maximal mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended.
Can I ignore these or do they mean anything ?
Posted by dtf on Nov. 16 2006,11:57
Here is how I have my computer setup and it works find althought I am sure others have better configurations.hda1 - is my boot partition
hda2 is my swap partition (1G)
hda3 is for home, opt and mydsl
In the menu.lst grub file I have a cheat of "mydsl=hda3". I move all my downloaded mydsl extensions to /mnt/hda3 login as root. This works well for me. I do not think you can use root '/' for mydsl so pick a partition other that your boot partition.
I often ignore the e2fsck warning but I am not sure this is recommended. To get rid of this warning you can run e2fsck /dev/hda<whatever>. The partition cannot be mounted when you run this command. The warning will return after so many reboots of your computer. Also I think there is a way to extend the number of boots before the warning returns but I do not remember the command.
Posted by mikshaw on Nov. 16 2006,14:00
dtf: you can use the root partition for mydsl. It's not the same as "/" in a frugal/embedded/liveCD system.setecio: you need to use the "root" account to create directories anywhere other than in your home directory. For example:
sudo mkdir /mnt/hda2/mydsl
sudo chown dsl.staff /mnt/hda2/mydsl
The "chown" command gives ownership of the mydsl directory to user dsl so you won't need to be root to add programs.
Posted by setecio on Nov. 16 2006,17:48
Thanks for that. The plan is to have Puppy, DSL and win98 on the 3 partitions so I want to keep everything DSL within hda2. At the minute I have Puppy on hda1, DSL on hda 2, nothing on hda3 and hda4 Linux swap. I'm getting 4 or 5 of these error messages during boot - do they mean anything?
Ext2-fs warning: maximal mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended.
Ext3-fs warning: maximal mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended.
and
mounting unchecked fs
Unfortunately, Mikshaw, the same thing happens when I reboot - everything disappears including the whole /mydsl folder, even though it appear after I create it and give ownership to dsl as you describe (only until I reboot, and even if, after creating it, I try to save extensions to it, it gives an error.
'please mount media containing optional dir and try again'
Posted by mikshaw on Nov. 16 2006,20:26
Where exactly are you creating the directory? If you want it on the same partition as the DSL system, it would be either /mnt/hda2/mydsl OR /cdrom/mydsl. These are both the same location, but /cdrom is already mounted...read-only if you aren't using the "frugal" boot option. /cdrom does not stay mounted, however, if you also use the "toram" boot option. /mnt/hda2 is not automatically mounted, so that's probably why the files disappear when you reboot. /mnt/hda2 has to first be mounted before you add anything to it.
Posted by roberts on Nov. 16 2006,20:43
You can run DSL in many ways, even a frugal install on a hard drive, the answer depends on other factors, like using the 'toram' option or even if you have specified the mydsl=xxyyy option. All of these will effect the operation. A normal frugal boot means that /cdrom is mounted write enabled for root. You should be able to copy your extensions from /tmp to /cdrom as root. In fact the filemanger launched upon exit detects this default situation and displays /tmp on the left and /cdrom on the right. That is very simple.Now, if you have specified a mydsl=xxyyy then the right side will default to your specified location.
If you have booted with the 'toram' option, and no mydsl=xxyyy was specified then there is no default that I could have preloaded on the right side of the filemanager. You will have to mount the drive partition and navigate to it. I suspect that this very situation is what you are doing. Instead of mounting and navigating to a real pyhsical hard partition to make your directory, you are making it off of / which is on the ramdisk. So upon reboot it is gone. When using 'toram' you need to uderstand that you are running in ramdisk. You need to mount and navigate to a persistent store in order to have your extensions persist.
Posted by setecio on Nov. 16 2006,21:07
Success. Thank-you both very much and Roberts for that very good explanation. That is exactly what I was doing and what was wrong, booting toram with no mydsl location specified and trying to write to ramdisk.
Suddenly the light goes on
I think I am correct in realising that toram is not the way that I want to boot DSL, because I will want to save abiword documents to hda2 and it will mean having to mount and navigate to a permanent storage location every time.
Can I just ignore the error codes during boot, or will they affect things if I don't do as it say and run e2fsck, (whatever that is) ?
Thanks.
Posted by mikshaw on Nov. 16 2006,21:58
I'd recommend running e2fsck on a regular schedule if it is not being done automatically. A good schedule might be about once a month, and once again if your system crashes or if you do a hard shutdown or reboot.One way you can run toram and not have to mount your partition is to include a uci or unc extension in with those that are auto-loaded. Since these extension types are mounted, the partition cannot be umounted until the extension is umounted.
Another option is to use a persistent home (boot option home=xxxx). Note: the last I knew this was not possible on the KNOPPIX partition unless you also use toram.
Still another option is to include the command "mount /dev/hda2" in /opt/bootlocal.sh and use backup/restore to keep it persistent. This would mount the partition automatically so you don't have to do it yourself.
Posted by muskrat on Nov. 17 2006,01:56
| Quote |
| The plan is to have Puppy, DSL and win98 on the 3 partitions so I want to keep everything DSL within hda2. At the minute I have Puppy on hda1, DSL on hda 2, nothing on hda3 and hda4 Linux swap. |
You may have a priblem getting win98 to install on hda3 unless you use some boot loader which tricks windozs into thinking it's hda1. Because windoze wants and will not settle for less than hda1.
Posted by setecio on Nov. 17 2006,09:14
Where do I find e2fsck? Have I missed it - I looked in the menus and in Mydsl system ? Can I easily set e2fsck to automatically run on, say, once every 50 shutdowns ?Right now I'm getting to know DSL on my own machine, but I hope to be able to offer it to people who are upgrading their PC and thinking of spending £500. I would be able to say "Here is a solution for nothing where you no longer have to worry about viruses and patches"
They will probably be non-technical people who just want it to work and the only extra required will be the inclusing of Abiword (and easy saving of Abiword documents) and their printer, dial modem or ethernet set up.
Is the only real advantage of 'toram' in this situation speed? It is likely they may be 64MB RAM or less, in which case toram isn't an option anyway.
I'm hoping to be able to remaster my own DSL CD (after some more forum research) to include Abiword, so that it is included in the setup. Is this an easy task or is it quite hard? Obviously I can fall back on the 'mydsl' option for Abiword if I fail.
Thanks Musrat, I'll put win98 on hda1 instead and Puppy on hda2 and DSL on hda3.