Re: [newbie] partitioning for Mandrake 9.1
Hi Derek, Sunday, September 21, 2003, 9:33:47 PM, you wrote: trimmed DJ You have masses of space for your Linux partitions. It does not DJ really matter how you partition it up. Just make sure you have a DJ separate /home partition. That is where your user data goes. So DJ if you ever reinstall you can preserve it. The Mandrake installer DJ will suggest partiton sizes for you. You might as well just stick DJ with that. I do have masses of space (I didn't even mention the scsi subsystem g), but a lot of it is currently spoken for. If I understand the install docs correctly, the Mandrake installer will only suggest partition sizes if I let it take over the whole drive. Is that correct? If so, I'll need to define my partition sizes myself, 'cause I can't just let 'er rip and overwrite. DJ The default file system is Ext3 other choices are Reiserfs, XFS, DJ and JFS, but to be honest as a newbie you will not notice the DJ difference between any of them so leave as default. I guess the question I should have asked there is, Are any of these file systems better in terms of reliability -- as regards data integrity? The one that has the least chance of data corruption is the one I want to use. That might mean an older, more stable or more tested file system, even if it's a bit slower. I know pretty close to zero about the differences right now. DJ The default Linux kernel will not address 1GB of RAM you will DJ only use 700 odd MB. There is an 'Enterprise' kernel on the CD DJ which will address the 1GB, but the extra instructions needed to DJ use the high memory actually makes it run slower than the DJ standard kernel. So I would not worry about it. Linux will run DJ much faster than Windows even with less memory. Fair enough. Swap partition size? (out of the ~35 GB) DJ It is actually quite safe to let Linux overwrite your MBR You DJ would get a nice graphical screen to select which OS you want to DJ run. Most of us here do that. But if you would rather boot from DJ floppy thats your choice. It all works ;-) The key for me would be the ease or difficulty of getting the MBR back to its original state if I decide to flee back into the smothering embrace of Redmond. g Seriously though, I just need to make very sure I can get into XP when I need to. Until such time as I might decide to make a complete migration, I'd have real need to get into XP on demand. DJ Have fun. Thanks. One more question comes to mind. I'm on 100 MB/second glass, and my wife and I share the connection through a router. The install routine will figure out how to get me connected? Thanks again. Lance Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] partitioning for Mandrake 9.1
Derek Jennings wrote: On Sunday 21 Sep 2003 12:43 pm, Lance Cummings wrote: I am going to give Mandrake 9.1 a look, coming from the MS world. Until I get real comfortable with the idea the Linux can work for me, XP will remain the primary OS on the box, so we start by needing to work around that a little bit. I have about 35 GB at the back of a 160 GB Seagate ATA100 that I'm going to use to see how this goes. The space is an extended partition right now; there are already three primaries in front of it. My plan would be to put the entire works in logical drives inside the extended, with a boot floppy for starting Linux. (I'd like to keep the loader off the MBR for now, since I have critical stuff on the MS primaries, and I really hesitate to put anything between me and a straight XP boot, at least until I'm very sure that it won't interfere with me getting into Windows when I need to. Maybe somebody can convince me otherwise; I'm a pretty reasonable guy.) ^_^ I'd like suggestions on how to partition this 35 gig space for the Linux file system, and which particular file system to use. I have a gigabyte of RAM, and until I become very convinced that I want to make this migration, I would not be using the Linux side for anything extremely intensive (no video editing, for example). Appreciate any and all input in advance. Lance Well done on deciding to give Linux a try. I hope like me you will find it is *way* better than Windows. There is a steep learning curve though so do not be surprised to find 'we do do things differently' You have masses of space for your Linux partitions. It does not really matter how you partition it up. Just make sure you have a separate /home partition. That is where your user data goes. So if you ever reinstall you can preserve it. The Mandrake installer will suggest partiton sizes for you. You might as well just stick with that. If you want to share data with Windows be aware that although Linux can read an NTFS partition it cannot (yet) write to one reliably. So you might want a FAT32 partition for common data. The default file system is Ext3 other choices are Reiserfs, XFS, and JFS, but to be honest as a newbie you will not notice the difference between any of them so leave as default. The default Linux kernel will not address 1GB of RAM you will only use 700 odd MB. There is an 'Enterprise' kernel on the CD which will address the 1GB, but the extra instructions needed to use the high memory actually makes it run slower than the standard kernel. So I would not worry about it. Linux will run much faster than Windows even with less memory. It is actually quite safe to let Linux overwrite your MBR You would get a nice graphical screen to select which OS you want to run. Most of us here do that. But if you would rather boot from floppy thats your choice. It all works ;-) Have fun. When you install you will notice you do not have to fiddle around for driver CDs. You do not have to reboot all the time, and you will end up with a system with Hundreds of great apps instead of just minesweeper and solitaire. After you are installed. You do not need to defrag discs. You do not need anti virus protection, you will not get pop ups in your browsers, and the OS will not crash. Whats not to like? :-) derek Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com I must wholeheartedly agree with Derek.;-) I have dual and triple booted all versions of windows including xp with linux without any problems, and I always use the linux boot loader. ( it is easier and faster than a floppy too ) I use Mandrake 9.1 in a production environment at work everyday ( an information management firm where everything is critical ) and run excel and word 2000 everyday IN LINUX!!! . I used to boot into the windows partition at work occasionally, ( win 2000 pro on an nt network ) but I found it much faster and more stable to just stay in Linux. I setup the work box to run a fat32 partition and can share files freely. I log on to the windows network and even store some of my files on our windows server. I only keep the windows partition now for the IT guy. fear of the unknown isn't unusual, however though unknown to you, what you want to do is not unknown by any means. its' safe and well worth the effort. -- Mike McNeese Springdale, Arkansas USA == Dual booting 98lite;MDK 9.1 stock kernel Kde 3.1 Registered Linux User #248955 liquid/acqua Theme == If obstacles are what you see in your path... Then you have lost sight of your goal! Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] partitioning for Mandrake 9.1
On Sunday 21 September 2003 06:43 am, Lance Cummings wrote: I am going to give Mandrake 9.1 a look, coming from the MS world. Until I get real comfortable with the idea the Linux can work for me, XP will remain the primary OS on the box, so we start by needing to work around that a little bit. I have about 35 GB at the back of a 160 GB Seagate ATA100 that I'm going to use to see how this goes. The space is an extended partition right now; there are already three primaries in front of it. My plan would be to put the entire works in logical drives inside the extended, with a boot floppy for starting Linux. (I'd like to keep the loader off the MBR for now, since I have critical stuff on the MS primaries, and I really hesitate to put anything between me and a straight XP boot, at least until I'm very sure that it won't interfere with me getting into Windows when I need to. Maybe somebody can convince me otherwise; I'm a pretty reasonable guy.) ^_^ I'd like suggestions on how to partition this 35 gig space for the Linux file system, and which particular file system to use. I have a gigabyte of RAM, and until I become very convinced that I want to make this migration, I would not be using the Linux side for anything extremely intensive (no video editing, for example). Appreciate any and all input in advance. Lance I don't think that I would worry about the MBR and for that matter I don't think I would worry about the partitioning. During the installation there is a warning that says to back up any important data and maybe it is good advice but I have done dual boot installations on somewhere between 30 and 40 machines and have never lost a single byte of data from windows or had a problem with the MBR, and I am no where close to being any kind of expert. All I have ever done is insert disk 1 and use almost all of the defalt settings and the MBR has always been rewritten flawlessly and never a bit of trouble booting into linux or windoze afterward. If when you get to the partitioning part to the installation you choose custom disk partitioning then click on your 35GB partision and next click on auto allocate you should be good to go. The 35 GB space should automatically be divided into 3 partisions of roughly the correct size then click on done and follow the defalts for the rest of the installation you should be good to go. This has been my recipe for success every time. Never not even 1 time have I had a seconds trouble with the way the partitions were created or had a seconds trouble with the MBR, about all I have ever had to do is configure stuff like modems and sound after the installation was finished. Mandrake has really made it a nobrainer to get it right first time every time or else I have just been darn lucky.. You may want to have a look at the installation tutorials at www.mandrake.com It really is as easy as they make it look. This is just my personal experance YMMV. Marc KM5KW Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] partitioning for Mandrake 9.1
On Sun, 2003-09-21 at 10:03, Marc wrote: On Sunday 21 September 2003 06:43 am, Lance Cummings wrote: I am going to give Mandrake 9.1 a look, coming from the MS world. Until I get real comfortable with the idea the Linux can work for me, XP will remain the primary OS on the box, so we start by needing to work around that a little bit. Most of us understand being a little OS 'gun shy', but (as you will soon come to understand) that has to do with how poorly cobbled together M$ winblows really is, and as you come to understand that there really are other and better methods for things, you will so soon wonder why you thought that that way. just as someone that has had a 2 dollar pistol blow up in their hand may not want to hold a new Glock 9mm, after they fire it a few times, they are no where as worried about the Glock blowing a finger off. soon you too will consider WInblows a 2 dollar ripoff and real OSs to be closer to cruise missile. Just my $.02USD Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] partitioning for Mandrake 9.1
Lance Cummings [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: DJ You have masses of space for your Linux partitions. It does I do have masses of space (I didn't even mention the scsi subsystemg), but a lot of it is currently spoken for. If I understand the install docs correctly, the Mandrake installer will only suggest partition sizes if I let it take over the whole drive. Is that correct? If so, I'll need to define my partition sizes myself,'cause I can't just let 'er rip and overwrite. At the beginning of the install, you will have a choice of where to install Linux: You'll want to Use free space on the Windows partition or something like that. The installer will repartition to split off some of the windows partition. You'll need to defrag 1st, and maybe kill your swap file while defragging. Sometimes the swap file is at the end, and the defragger won't move it. Put the swap file backand reboot before doing the Mandrake install. You will want to leave some extra space for windows, so don't take the entire thing for linux. I did this on XP with no problems, but you'll really want to do a backup first just in case. If you are paranoid, you could get another hard drive and install linux there. 20GB should be plenty. I am happily using 10GB right now, but i may not download as much as others... eric -- Mandrake HowTo's More: http://twiki.mdklinuxfaq.org Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] partitioning for Mandrake 9.1
On Sun, 2003-09-21 at 07:23, ed tharp wrote: On Sun, 2003-09-21 at 10:03, Marc wrote: On Sunday 21 September 2003 06:43 am, Lance Cummings wrote: I am going to give Mandrake 9.1 a look, coming from the MS world. Until I get real comfortable with the idea the Linux can work for me, XP will remain the primary OS on the box, so we start by needing to work around that a little bit. Most of us understand being a little OS 'gun shy', but (as you will soon come to understand) that has to do with how poorly cobbled together M$ winblows really is, and as you come to understand that there really are other and better methods for things, you will so soon wonder why you thought that that way. just as someone that has had a 2 dollar pistol blow up in their hand may not want to hold a new Glock 9mm, after they fire it a few times, they are no where as worried about the Glock blowing a finger off. soon you too will consider WInblows a 2 dollar ripoff and real OSs to be closer to cruise missile. Just my $.02USD ** Thats how it happened with me after running Win$ux alongside Mandrake for about 6 mo I realized that I had not booted the Win$ux for about 3 mo so I erased it and gave the space to Mdk __ Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
