Live Installation to External Device (Optical Disc Drive)
Puppy GNU/Linux can run directly from a DVD or CD optical disc.It is by booting up with this disc in the optical disc drive that one can run and use Puppy Linux. Being able to boot from an optical disc live installation means that it itself may be used to boot the computer when it is not possible to do so with a flash memory drive or SSD/HDD - the computer boots from the bootloader on the optical disc but loads the frugal save file (or operating system) from either the flash memory drive or SSD/HDD.
How to create a Live DVD or CD (How to install Puppy Linux to an optical disc)
- acquire access to an optical disc drive that has writing capability (with the logos DVD, RW and ReWritable on the drive tray)
- acquire a DVD+RW optical disc (read Appendix 1 below)
- acquire the .iso image file of the desired GNU/Linux distribution, such as a recent Puppy version (read Appendix 2 below)
- write (burn) the .iso image file to the optical disc
How to write (burn) an .iso image file to optical disc
- ensure the optical disc drive, containing the optical disc, is connected to the computer
- write (burn) the .iso image file to the optical disc, via the command-line interface, where IMAGE_FILE is your chosen .iso image file
- From within GNU/Linux
- Method A using dd command:
time sudo dd bs=4M conv=fdatasync iflag=fullblock oflag=direct status=progress if=<IMAGE_FILE> of=/dev/sr0
- Method B using libburn package:
- install this version of the libburn software package, and run:
burniso <IMAGE_FILE>
- From within Microsoft Windows
- use either one of these free software writer programs:
- BurnCDCC (simple)
- InfraRecorder (advanced)
- always select a maximum write speed of 4x to ensure that data is written properly
How to run GNU/Linux from optical disc
- ensure the optical disc is located inside its drive
- ensure that the U.E.F.I./B.I.O.S. firmware is configured to follow the correct boot sequence (read Appendix 3 below)
- shutdown the computer and ensure that the computer is switched off
- switch on the computer
When shutting down Puppy GNU/Linux one will be offered one or more of the following options:
- create a personal storage save file with the option of selecting its preferred location.
- save any new user data (session) to one's personal save file located on any partition
- save any new user data (session) to the same optical disc from which one is running the operating system (multisession)
Appendix 1 - Using high-quality media is essential
- use high-quality DVD+RW optical discs, such as the Verbatim brand
- D.V.D. has a superior specification relative to C.D.
- DVD+RW optical discs do not require blanking
- DVD+RW optical discs are rewritable
- optical disc archiving:
Appendix 2 - Verifying the integrity of the image file
The downloaded container file must have the extension .iso or .img. It is an exact copy, or image, of a complete file system. To ensure that the file is downloaded completely and without corruption use the wget command, e.g.:wget -c /<puppy-version-location>/<puppy-version>.iso
If wget is not used then one should verify its integrity by verifying its MD5 or SHA checksum. This image file may then be written to external media, such as an optical disc, using a particular software program.
Appendix 3 - Setting the correct boot sequence
For a computer to boot from a device such as an optical disc or a flash memory drive the device must be read/accessed before any other connected device such as a S.S.D./H.D.D.; therefore when, for example, an optical disc is in the optical disc drive at boot up it will load Puppy Linux from that drive only, and no where else, if the computer has been configured specifically to do that. If the computer does not start/boot from the live D.V.D. it will be necessary to either access a boot menu or the U.E.F.I./B.I.O.S. firmware so that the computer is instructed to boot from the optical disc drive and not any other drive; re-starting will be necessary in conjunction with using the correct key(s) (read Appendix from here).Appendix 4 - Boot parameters
"Posted on 22 Dec 2010, 8:30 by BarryKCorrection
Booting with pmedia=cd, Puppy only searches optical drives for vmlinuz and the main sfs (and zdrv).
...correction, the above is true if boot with 'pfix=ram'.
Otherwise, searches optical for vmlinuz, but hd and optical for main .sfs (and zdrv)."
https://bkhome.org/blog/?viewDetailed=02034
Appendix 5 - Creating a graphical boot menu
https://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=61132Appendix 6 - Creating a LiveDVD containing Multiple Puppies
https://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=63572Categories
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