PPI/TCE/Optional Mode?

[Thndr]

I have expirmented with all the modes for trying to install TinyCore Linux on a VMWare virtual machine limited to 64MB of ram (although VMWare shows less), along with other small distrobutions to see if I can find one that runs fast on a laptop I have.

Currently the fastest way for the machine to run is to not load many things into the ram as the other modes do, but there may be programs that I don't want to use all the time and fully install. I'd rather prevent clutter over the last leg of the machine's lifetime, so I wouldn't have to format (or at least delete TCLocal, persistant home configs, and the backup).

Would having a mnt/hda2/tce/optional have the extensions not fully install under PPI/TCE mode? (And if not, could there be this option?)

[tobiaus]

you'd probably like to use tcz extensions, they can be mounted as loops, however if you're having trouble with a tcz extension, sometimes you should try the tce instead.

tcz's are often created automatically from tce's, and are generally the same, but sometimes the conversion process requires a little tweaking. (if a tcz doesn't work but a tce of the same name does, you should mention it on the forum.)

[Thndr]

Well I tried PPR/TCZ due to the fact that TCEs occupy ram more, but even with max_loop=100 it still ran sluggish, I moved to use "local=hda2" and "home=hda2" to have it in PPI/TCE mode with persistent home, which seems to make the virtual machine run a lot faster once Opera is installed.

I did have a couple small TCEs along with TCZs when I tried the PPR/TCZ style, although I do not know if that would cause the sluggishness or not. All I know is once I installed the Opera extension, the virtual machine would run slow once Opera was launched, and still run a little bit slow even after it was closed (TOP still shows the opera process)


Although the PPI/TCE mode is relatively tidy in it's implementation (An inherent feature of Tiny Core), but there may be programs that I want to use, but not fully install on the persistent tclocal folder.

[tobiaus]

you really can't rate performance in a virtual machine, (unless you're comparing with other distros in virtual machines) although you may be trying to do too much with 64m. as the faq says, it needs 32 just to boot, and if you're trying to do a lot, you'd be better off with 128, maybe even the specs of a machine that comes with 128.

[Thndr]

you really can't rate performance in a virtual machine, (unless you're comparing with other distros in virtual machines) although you may be trying to do too much with 64m. as the faq says, it needs 32 just to boot, and if you're trying to do a lot, you'd be better off with 128, maybe even the specs of a machine that comes with 128.

Well the reason I was testing with 64MB ram (although VMWare says it's about 60, probably something to do with how EasyVMX created the file), is because I have a laptop that only has 64MB ram. I know the performance between the real thing and the Virtual Machine will be different, as the processor for the VM is way stronger than the laptop's.

I realise I was trying to do too much for the PPR modes, as they both rely on ram to execute, along with store the extensions that have been loaded. So I switched it to PPI mode and it runs great. But I do not want to clutter the tclocal folder with too many installs and was wondering if there was a way to boot into PPI mode and also have optional and temporary extensions for the remander of that boot


If there isn't I'll probably be better off making an entirely new thread in the suggestions subforum with a better explanation. I just didn't want to suggest something that already may exist.

[mcewanw]

. . . was wondering if there was a way to boot into PPI mode and also have optional and temporary extensions for the remander of that boot

If there isn't I'll probably be better off making an entirely new thread in the suggestions subforum with a better explanation. I just didn't want to suggest something that already may exist.

Did you start the "entirely new thread" with your own solution/thoughts about this? I'm interested in the your findings on the matter.

[mcewanw]

It might also be worth checking out the following threads which partly deals with the difference between tce and tcz extensions in terms of RAM usage:

http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=231.0

http://forum.tinycorelinux.net/index.php?topic=430.0

[mikshaw]

As far as I know, PPI does not handle optional extensions any differently than any others.  Once a TCE is installed in PPI, it stays until you remove it yourself.
This is where TCZ comes into play, as Tobiaus mentioned, since it can be more easily added and removed over and over without writing all these files over and over.

The only other solution I can think of is to write a script that runs tce-uninstall for each optional package you installed.

[roberts]

A 'tce' is a tarball plus TC specifics for menu and icon and nothing more.
PPI maps /usr/local/ from ram to a persistent storage device.
Therefore loading up a tce (tar extract) from any location, e.g., optional, will write its contents onto the persistent store. Therefore there is no PPI/TCE/Optional Mode.