Moving over to linux- advice please

[Sridhar_Rao]

This is the scenario
/dev/sda1 ntfs 19329 MB (XP installed)
/dev/sda5 ext3 9664 MB (meant for ubuntu)
/dev/sda6 ext3 9664 MB (meant for suse)
/dev/sda7 swap 1398 MB (swap for both ubuntu and suse)

I think there is only one primary partition where windows is installed and other is extended partition which contains three logical partitions. Have I done something wrong in partitioning here? Should I have made three primary partitions, one each for xp, ubuntu and suse and then logical partitions for root, home and swap within each?

 

[Rahim]

Just choose /dev/sda5 and select "/" as mount point and check Format box.
Similarly select /dev/sda7 and slect linux-swap or swap. You dont have to create a separate /home partition.
You have already created the partitons and no need to create again. Its just selecting the partitons and choosing the mount points
sda5 as / and sda7 as swap.

 

[Sridhar_Rao]

Hello Rahim, please look at the post #61 regarding root, home and swap.

 

[Rahim]

Forget the /home stuff for the time being and just choose the partitions, click on Edit and choose mount points as "/" for sda5 and "swap" for sda7.

Can you do the above steps ? and forget above primary/extended stuff as you have done the partitioning part already with GParted,isnt it?

 

[Sridhar_Rao]

Ok, I did that, but looking at the post #61, tell me is that approach of making 3 primary partitions for xp, suse, ubuntu and then creating logical partitions of home root & swap for the each of the two a "correct" way, just asking. would it be wrong to do so?

 

[Rahim]

^There is nothing wrong with what you wanna do. Creating a /home partition will help you to migrate/re-install other distros without loosing your data in your /home folder(no need to back it up). Its more of a convenience than a necessity. Keep me posted here about the install.

 

[Sridhar_Rao]

Hurrah, thanks....very much. I got to install successfully.

Two point here...
1) I missed created an additional logical partitions in the primary ntfs partitions, so the in windows there is only C drive.
2) Can the 1.3 GB swap logical partition be used as a swap partition again while installing suse?

Thanks for coming online for my assistance!

 

[Rahim]

Yes you can use sda7 as swap for suse.
You didnt miss to create additional swap for all Linux distros can share the same swap partition.

For suse install, just select sda6 for "/" and sda7 as "swap".

 

[Garbage]

All Linux installed (more than 80 ) on a single computer can use SAME swap partition.

 

[Sridhar_Rao]

Ok, but how can I create another drive in the windows partition because there is only single partitions (C drive)?
Why is there 3 ubuntu options besides windows while booting? which one should be chosen and what do they represent.

 

[FilledVoid]

Why is there 3 ubuntu options besides windows while booting? which one should be chosen and what do they represent.

One is the normal boot option. The second is a failsafe and I believe the third might be a Memtest . Its been quite a long time Ive been on Ubuntu so someone on it might have to confirm. You would choose the first option for normal work .

 

[Rahim]

Ok, but how can I create another drive in the windows partition because there is only single partitions (C drive)?
Why is there 3 ubuntu options besides windows while booting? which one should be chosen and what do they represent.

Why do need to create another partition?
Are you saying that Ubuntu Partition is not showing in Windows? If yes, you can install some plugins Ext2IFS in Windows for that.

You should choose the 1st Ubuntu entry for a normal boot. The other entry(failsafe) is used to trounleshoot if anything goes wrong with root privilege.

 

[Sridhar_Rao]

All the partitions are showing up in windows, that is not what I meant. I have only one partition in windows (C drive) for windows. I would have liked to have another one (say D drive) to keep the files. OS as well as all of my files are now in one single drive (C, if I ever have to format that I will have to lose (or backup) them.

By the way, can you please have a look at this thread, it's urgent
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76470

 

[gary4gar]

install EXT driver and then you can write to your ext partitions directly. you need to use any seprate partititons
*www.fs-driver.org/

 

[Rahim]

Use GParted Live CD and select sda1(WinXP) and click on "New" and create a new partition (say 8 GB) for your data needs.
Advice: Do a defragmentation of C: drive before partitioning

 

[Sridhar_Rao]

Thanks,

Since the partitions are in ext3 format, can EXT driver work without issues?

By the way, can you please have a look at this thread, it's urgent
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76470

OK, now that I got ubuntu installed successfully with your help, can you guide me on how to go about using it. Of course, I can see the menu and the applications installed but some commands and general tips.