Setting up PPI/TCE

[pme127]

Having downloaded the 1.2 ISO and followed the step-by-step install of the Cloud mode, which is about the limit of my Linux experience.

A step-by-step guide to setting up the PPI/TCE mode would be appreciated.

There are cryptic references to this on the web site/forums, but they all assume you know something, which I don’t, so a step-by-step guide is needed.

[tobiaus]

correction, there is very little jason cannot do.

[Jason W]

Essentially, PPI is not supported by all extensions at this time.  To use PPI, the simplest way is to use the menu entry Tools -> Make tcocal file/directory.  Make a directory or file on your preferred partition and it will be used as PPI on next boot, that is mounted /usr/local.  Use the file option if you are making tclocal on a FAT16/FAT32 partition, directory only is supported by Linux filesystems. 

You will need to first install your extensions there by loading them as normal once you have rebooted with the tclocal mounted.  After that, you do not have to reload extensions that are PPI compatible.  That is, they don't need to stay in your tce directory each boot.  Whether an extension is PPI compatible is usually listed in the info file.

To check what files are not going to be installed in your tclocal, as some extensions install files elsewhere here is a simple script that will tell you which files you will need to include in your backup.  Have the extensions you want to use in PPI in /home/tc

Code: [Select]

#!/bin/sh

for I in `find /home/tc | grep .*tce`; do
tar -ztf "$I" >> /tmp/list
done

sed '/usr\/local/d' /tmp/list

/tmp/list will be the list of files you will need to include in your backup for the extensions you have in /home/tc.  Some extensions will need to be loaded each use like compiletc or perl_xml as they are installed in /usr. 

Hope this helps.

[pme127]

Thanks Jason W

But this is not a step-by step instruction, but rather an overview most of which is beyond me.

I went to Tools -> Make tclocal file/directory and opted for a directory in hda5.

Perhaps at this point I should explain that I have installed Cloud as a guest in VirtualBox 1.5 (VB) running in Windows XP SP2. Setting up the virtual machine (VM) in VB I created a Dynamic virtual hard disk (VHD) of 8 GB.

Installing Cloud, I used cfdisk to partition the VHD 8000 MB Primary Bootable Linux and the rest Logical Linux Swap (598 MB)

This is OK, being dynamic, the actual size of the partitions is whatever the guest requires (up to the above limits), and Cloud works like a dream.

After the Make tclocal, I rebooted, installed Opera (my reason for doing this), which is not supported by PPI, and cfdisk, which is.

I rebooted again expecting to find cfdisk onboard, but no! Incidentally, I never managed to create a backup ‘place’ in DSL or TCL, and then there’s persistent Home?

With VB pristine is no problem, you just keep a copy of the VHD to bring back when needed.

It looks like we will have to give up on PPI/TCE for the time being.

PS I don’t know what tobiaus is on about.

Best wishes,

[tobiaus]

PS I don’t know what tobiaus is on about.

best it stay that way then.

[Jason W]

I have no experience with Virtualbox or other non-native way of running TC.  So I am afraid I can't help in this case.

[^thehatsrule^]

In this case, it should be the same on bare metal, I think.

pme127: what is your partition's format?  Also, (manually) check that the tclocal directory was created on it.

[pme127]

Jason W  VirtualBox is defiantly worth having a look at, it allows you to try out OS’s on a virtual HD, which is really just a file in your current OS which thinks it’s a HD, which you can delete if things go pear-shaped. Which is why I keep Linux in the box.

^thehatsrule^  The formats are as stated above and cfdisk confirms this
hda1 Boot Primary Linux ext3
hda5          Logic    Linux swap/Solaris
However gparted shows an error with hda5, I have deleted it, repartitioned in fat32, deleted and repartitioned back to Linux swap, and they always show an error, yet going back to cfdisk, shows all correct. I assume the fault is in gparted. How about partedmagic.

Some times things are easier than you expect. I did the tclocal directory thing again, this time to hda1, rebooted, installed cfdisk, Opera and Audacity, and they were all there at the next boot up.

Full of success and noticing that Backup asked for dev, I entered hda1, and it backed up on shutdown, so that’s my immediate problems solved.

Many thanks

[edwbri]

Hi Y'all...

So, to recap getting PPI/TCE working:

1) Go to Tools -> Make tclocal file/directory
    * Select a valid hda partition
    * (desire PPI to be on USB flash drive, i selected sdc2 (formatted to Linux ext3) )
2) Reboot machine.
3) modify the boot line (once) to include  local=sdc2
4) boot into TClinux...  (there's one more screen-ful of data that appears, then is cleared before gui desktop appears)
5) The apps supporting PPI should appear in the wbar...



i've tried these steps, and still no proof of PPI working. 
(installing the PPI onto the hda is NOT an option at this time...
  Does this mean PPI is not possible on usb-drives (starting with sda)?

[Jason W]

You may need to use the bootcode "tinycore waitusb=5" or whatever number of seconds it takes to register your usb key.

[pme127]

I now think the hda5 problem lies with TCL, since I use the same VHD partitioning set up fore all Linux distros, and at boot up TCL mentions a possible swap file.

I currently, have Absolute using the same hda5 set up.

Finally, can I request a TCE for VLC Player, it really does play media files when all others have failed.

[edwbri]

You may need to use the bootcode "tinycore waitusb=5" or whatever number of seconds it takes to register your usb key.

to Jason W:  Ah!  That was missing.

So, to recap (again) as a "first time user" who wants to do PPI while in cloud mode:

1) Go to Tools -> Make tclocal file/directory
2) Select a valid disk partition
3) Verify the tclocal directory was created.

Now, if TCE apps are already installed:
1) # mount << new-device holding tclocal >>
2) # cp -a /usr/local/* /mnt/<<newdevice>>/tclocal/
3) Review the TCE notes on each app installed. 
      (Note if filetool, Xfiletool, bootlocal, etc must be updated for retaining info on next boot)
3) Activate Panel, select Backup/Restore
4) input the device name holding the (new) backup information (mybackup.tgz)
5) Reboot
6) modify the (grub) boot line (once) to include 'pause local=<<name of new-device holding tclocal>>'

As a new user, these steps were not obvious at all when booting into cloud-mode, and *then* deciding PPI is the way to go...

Hope this helps.   

[kerpob]

Is backup mandatory at any stage if you are doing PPI?

[mikshaw]

No.  It's never "mandatory", but unless you are using a persistent home you will lose any dynamic data created in $HOME if you don't backup.

[coreplayer]

You may need to use the bootcode "tinycore waitusb=5" or whatever number of seconds it takes to register your usb key.

to Jason W:  Ah!  That was missing.

So, to recap (again) as a "first time user" who wants to do PPI while in cloud mode:

1) Go to Tools -> Make tclocal file/directory
2) Select a valid disk partition
3) Verify the tclocal directory was created.

Now, if TCE apps are already installed:
1) # mount << new-device holding tclocal >>
2) # cp -a /usr/local/* /mnt/<<newdevice>>/tclocal/
3) Review the TCE notes on each app installed. 
      (Note if filetool, Xfiletool, bootlocal, etc must be updated for retaining info on next boot)
3) Activate Panel, select Backup/Restore
4) input the device name holding the (new) backup information (mybackup.tgz)
5) Reboot
6) modify the (grub) boot line (once) to include 'pause local=<<name of new-device holding tclocal>>'

As a new user, these steps were not obvious at all when booting into cloud-mode, and *then* deciding PPI is the way to go...

Hope this helps.   

Where is this in the manual?    and by ref to <<name of new-device holding tclocal>>  I presume you mean /sdb1/tce/   ??