On 3/16/07, Bayard Coolidge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I bought a laptop recently with two SATA hardrives.
Did it actually have two physical disks, or just one disk split into two partitions? Either way, it would be useful to know what partitions exist on what disks, and what their purpose is. For example, one possible layout might be: sda1 = 80 GB Windows sdb1 = 1 GB Linux boot sdb2 = 1 GB Linux swap sdb3 = 78 GB Linux main (including root and /usr) You might also give make and model of the laptop. It's often possible to speak to what a given vendor does as standard practice. Otherwise, we have to speak in generalities and possibilities.
So, the upshot is, I have a nicely working openSuSE installation, and I can also boot Windows whenever I want to (which is rare). I'm toying with the idea of "migrating" this installation to FC6. I'm perfectly willing to spool off my /home directory (and certain other critical system configuration files) to DVDs, and "wipe" the openSuSE bits but ONLY if it won't screw up my Windows installation.
Well, without knowing the layout of disks, partitions, and boot loaders, it's hard to say with precision, but in general, that should be possible. During the install of Fedora, you will be prompted to install a boot loader. Just let it overwrite what's already on the boot block of the first disk (no loss, since that's already happened). The second stage GRUB stuff will also get overwritten, so everything should be happy there. Fedora should detect the Windows partition and include that in the GRUB boot menu automagically. You will, of course, have to make sure you don't tell Fedora to overwrite any of the Windows partitions you may have.
(No, I don't want to go to FC7, since it's still being tested - I need a stable environment, and no, I don't want to migrate to a Debian-based installation, since I'm not as comfortable/experienced with it as I am with SuSE and Red Hat.)
Given the above, you may want to consider CentOS. It's a clone of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), rebuilt from source, but generally binary-compatible. It has the advantage of a longer release cycle (years instead of months), but would still have the familiar Red Hat design. Fedora vs CentOS basically comes down to "the latest and greatest software, features, bells and whistles -- and problems" vs "slow, stable, and unexciting, and occasionally somewhat dated". I tend to run CentOS at work and Fedora at home. On the down side, RHEL 5 was just released Wednesday, and CentOS 5 is still in beta. The general release will be a few more weeks in coming (at the least). That might put you in the same situation as with FC6 vs FC7: Install something now that will be semi-obsolete in a few weeks, or install something still in "beta" quality.
Has anyone tried this? Any particular suggestions (aside from backing up everything, which I will anyway) on how to proceed?
Did the laptop come with restore/re-install media? In the unlikely event that Something Happens(TM) to the Microsoft Windows side of things, you may need to reinstall or repair Windows. These days, manufactures provide generally provide any of the following: (1) A special "recovery" or "restore" partition. This special partition is typically triggered with a special keystroke during POST or boot. (2) "Recovery" or "restore" media (CD/DVD). (3) Actually install media (CDs) for Microsoft Windows and layered software. Options 1 and 2 generally do not provide actual Microsoft Windows "SETUP" functionality. Rather, all you can do is nuke the contents of the existing partitions, overwriting them with the "factory image". When you're done, the laptop is back to the same condition it was in when you first took it out of the box -- working, but all your own data and configuration will be lost. Option 1 is additionally worse, because the special partition can be damaged in any number of ways, making it impossible to fix Windows. In that case, you generally have to order option 2 media from the vendor. Sometimes the vendor will provide a Windows-based utility which will let you create option 2 media (CD-R/DVD-R) from the option 1 partition. Option 3 is not the "one-step restore" that options 1 and 2 are, but enables things such as fix methods that don't erase everything. Oh, and back up everything. ;-) -- Ben _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
