> as for the /home stuff as I am the sole user of this system what do I
> stand to gain from installing stuff to /home rather than /usr?
For personal configuration files, and depending on the application, if you
have a separate /home partition, you can remove a linux / partition,
reinstall another version, sometimes another distro, and retain the previous
installations. It also instills a bit more organisation to your
installation--remember: in Windows, not everything pertaining to an
application is in C:\Program Files...much of it is scattered amongst two or
three other directories.
Of course, if you're the only user, you can certainly get away with creating
only the /boot and / partitions in addition to your swap.
--Greg
----- Original Message -----
From: "A.J.O.HOPSON" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Thx, I'll try reinstalling using the suggested partitions. I have been
> using diskdrake - as supplied withmandrake 7.1 most of the time,
> although I have tried partition magic (windows) a couple of times.
>
> as for the /home stuff as I am the sole user of this system what do I
> stand to gain from installing stuff to /home rather than /usr?
>
> Alex
>
> >
> > OK, I'm not familiar with grub--I'm a lilo devotee... but it sounds to
me
> > like grub needs to be told where to look for each of the linux kernels,
> > kernel module info files, and system maps. These are usually stored in
the
> > linux /boot or / partitions.
> >
> > Older versions of lilo, I cannot attest to grub, could not deal with
these
> > files when located beyond the 1028 cylinder mark. This is usually
> > approximately 7.9GB into the hard drive. That's why it is a good
practice to
> > create that /boot partition as close to the beginning of the drive as
> > possible. Lilo would simply need to look into that 16MB or so space to
find
> > everything, and the problem is taken care of....It's also just a good
idea
> > to protect the kernel files in a small space that's easily backed up,
and
> > wuickly replaced it needed.
> >
> > The /home partition, or directory, is where all user files go. It
contains
> > your users' "home" directories where downloaded files, personal desktop
> > config files, browser/mail databases, and other user-installed programs
are
> > located. This can become quite large if users download/install a lot of
> > programs & files. the /usr directory can also grow if the admin of the
> > machine has the tendency to install everything to /usr/bin, /usr/lib or
> > /usr/sbin--sometimes unavoidable or necessary, but not always good
practice.
> >
> > I don't have any documentation on Grub, so I haven't the ability to
instruct
> > you on its configuration files, or repair. but, again, if you haven't
begun
> > anything important and irreplaceable onyour linux partitions, you may
simply
> > wish to start them over.
> >
> > What partitioning tool are you using? This might be a key in getting a
> > reinstall going smoothly.
> >
> > --Greg
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "A.J.O.HOPSON" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >
> >
> > > I'm afraid I'm new to the whole thing and don't understand the use of
> > > the /home partition. I'm not using any networked stuff, I just want to
> > > allow myself to run linux there will only be 1/2 users at most. So
what
> > > should I store in /home rather than /?
> > >
> > > I'm afraid I wasn't to clear about grub. Grub runs ok, if I select
> > > windows it boots windows fine but selecting linux or failsafe just
bring
> > > up a couple of lines of text.
> > >
> > > Thx
> > >
> > > Alex
> > >
> > > >
> > > > I thiink you've managed to confuse your partition scheme. Typically,
the
> > > > best way to prepare a linux drive, especially for the distros you
> > mention,
> > > > is to have the following partitions:
> > > >
> > > > /boot 16MB+
> > > > swap (twice your RAM size)
> > > > / 500MB+
> > > > /home 500MB+
> > > >
> > > > The / and /home directories need to be adjusted depending on what it
is
> > you
> > > > are installing. The OS and all necessary apps go into / and anything
you
> > > > install afterward should be installed to ~/home (your user
directory).
> > The
> > > > /boot partition can be a little larger depending on how many
different
> > > > kernels you wih to store there, but I would not exceed
100MB--there's
> > just
> > > > no reason to.
> > > >
> > > > You may have confused lilo/grub during one of your installs, and
> > > > accidentally removed it from the MBR, placing onto the / partition.
In
> > this
> > > > case, it may not know where to look for itself, or your BIOS doesn't
see
> > a
> > > > boot utility.
> > > >
> > > > If you don't have much invested in these installs, you may wish to
> > consider
> > > > formatting the drive, and starting over with a careful plan.
otherwise,
> > you
> > > > may want to try doing an upgrade of one of the distros, and
selecting to
> > put
> > > > lilo or grub in the MBR during the upgrade. Afterward you can fuss
with
> > tell
> > > > the boot utility where the other distro(s) exists.
> > > >
> > > > --Greg
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "A.J.O.HOPSON" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > Hi,
> > > > >
> > > > > I have had a lot of trouble installing linux and booting it. I
tried
> > red
> > > > > hat 6.2 and mandrake 7.0 to nbo avail. Mandrake 7.1 works though -
> > maybe
> > > > > something to do with grub? I have two linux partitions on my hd
(both
> > > > > logical not primary) the first is mounted as / and is under the
1024
> > > > > cylinder limit the other is /usr and is past the 1024th cylinder.
> > After
> > > > > installing a new dvd drive (samsung 608) and soundcard (live 1024)
> > Linux
> > > > > refused to boot. Now when I select linux from grub I get a couple
of
> > > > > lines of text and nothing happens. I made a few changes to the
bios
> > > > > settings at the same time - could these have any affect? Or are my
> > > > > partitions wrong because at the same time I created another linux
> > > > > partion (the second one) and tried to mount it.
> > > > >
> > > > > I have reinstalled mandrake 7.1 about 10 times now but always the
same
> > > > > problems. Any suggestions would be really useful.
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks
> > > > >
> > > > > Alex Hopson
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> >
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> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
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