[plug] Disk space ...

[Patrick Coleman]

Oops, I didn't even answer your questions...

On 5/21/06, Dave Dartnall <darts at dialix.com.au> wrote:
<snip>
>
> Preferably though, I'd like to install a new hard disk and transfer the
> existing system with all it's settings and links etc to larger
> partitions. Is this possible or is it necessary to reinstall everything?
> And if possible how is it done?

It should be no issue to partition the disk appropriately, mount it,
and cp -a each partition across. You will then need to use chroot to
change into the new root partition and use the lilo or grub tools to
install the MBR onto the new drive.

If you use LVM, though, probably the least painful route will be to
copy off your data and settings, reinstall Mandriva with LVM onto the
new drive and copy your settings back on. If there's an easy way to
convert an OS to LVM then someone please tell me, because my
experiances have been less than pretty.

I run LVM on my home machine, and it has saved me from having to do
exactly what you're doing now. It will be more of a pain to setup now,
but it may save you pain in future :)

> Let's assume that I can install the new drive, that the system will
> recognise it and that I can partition it using Mandriva's utility. What
> then...

As above:
1. Mount partitions
2. Use cp -a to copy data into new partitions
3. chroot /mnt/newhddroot
4. Check your lilo.conf or /etc/grub/menu.lst to make sure it matches
your new config, then run lilo as necessary. Also check /etc/fstab to
make sure everything matches up.

-Patrick
-- 
http://www.labyrinthdata.net.au