[plug] New Installation- question.?

[Paul Antoine]

Hi James,

You're quite welcome - I enjoy helping people shift to Ubu :-)

Your use of PMv7 and partitioner in Q1 is indeed the right way to go.

As for Q2... there's no need to use extended partitions unless you
anticipate needing more than 4 partitions.  You might as well use
primary partitions if you're going to have 3 with NTFS, Swap and Ext3.

I *think* PM7 allows you to switch a partition from extended to primary
without harm... though I can't remember!

As for Brett's suggestion re versions of Ubuntu: the new version 9.04
will indeed be out shortly and comes with long term support (5 years.)
Personally I've not found the 3 year support to be an issue for desktops
though the 5 year support is mighty handy for production servers.

I'm typing this on a Dell Inspiron 6000 running the current Beta version
of 9.04 and I must say it's a delight; it is more responsive than either
8.04 or 8.10 and the wireless connection comes up faster too.

Regards,
P.

James Elliott - WA Rural Computers wrote:
> Thanks Paul for that prompt and very detailed reply, which helps 
> enormously.
> 
> Just two remaining queries as my Partition Magic is older than yours, 
> version 7, and it only seems to have the ability to create and Ext2 
> partition, not an Ext3 as you suggested.
> 
> QUESTION 1
> Would it be possible to use the Ubuntu 'Partitioner' in step 4 to 
> achieve the same results.  Perhpas if I go back into Partition Magic 
> first and:
> 1.  delete the Ext2 partition and Swap partitions;
> 2.  move the NTFS partition to the front of the drive;
> 3.  shrink the NTFS down to 100 GB;
> 
> and then boot from the Ubuntu CD and use the Ubunutu 'Partitioner' in 
> step 4 to :
> 
> 4.  Re-create the Swap partition of 2 GB;
> 5.  Create an Ext3 partition in the remaining space
> 
> Can steps 4 & 5 be done using the Ubuntu 'Partitioner' in step 4 of the 
> CD installation process?
> 
> QUESTION 2
> My Partition Magic suggested partitioning the disk the way I did - ie 
> putting Linux in an Extended Partition, I think that was mainly to keep 
> the drive numbers as they were - not sure.  If I shrink the NTFS 
> partition to 100 GB, that will leave me with unallocated space of approx 
> 150 GB - what sort of partition would you create in this unallocated 
> space? - an Extended Partition or a Primary Partition?  As you can see, 
> I am a  bit 'rusty' in this area ... years since I used Linux! (but I 
> want to get back into it).
> 
> Many thanks
> 
> James
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Antoine" <pma-la at milleng.com.au>
> To: <plug at plug.org.au>
> Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2009 7:55 AM
> Subject: Re: [plug] New Installation- question.?
> 
> 
>> Hi James,
>>
>> Q1:  Yes, you're going to need quite a bit more space for Ubuntu.  I 
>> would suggest booting the computer using the Partition Magic CD 
>> (assuming it's a recent v8 of PM).
>>
>> Having booted from Partition Magic I would:
>>
>> Delete the current Ext2 and Swap partitions
>> Move the NTFS partition to the front of the drive
>> Shrink the NTFS partition down say 100GB?
>> Re-create the Swap partition of 2GB
>> Create an Ext3 partition of the remainder
>>
>> I use PM a lot and it's safe provided you think through each move :-)
>>
>> Once PM is done, reboot to Ubuntu.
>>
>> Q2: The Ubuntu installer has to know where to put the Linux 
>> filesystems. To do this it wants to either create its own partition 
>> table (automatic) or get you to specify where things go manually.
>>
>> It will NOT make any changes without first forewarning/confirming with 
>> you!
>>
>> Having done the above in PM you should tell Ubuntu's partitioner that 
>> you will do partitioning manually.
>>
>> When the partition is displayed you will want to right-click on the 
>> Ext3 partition and tell Ubuntu to use this partition and that it will 
>> be used for the root (/) filesystem.
>>
>> When you click continue the installation the partitioner will create a 
>> filesystem there without changing anything else.
>>
>> Q3: When playing with partitions, which in your case you have to do to 
>> make room for Ubuntu, you always run the risk of making a mis-step so 
>> it's wise to have a backup!!
>>
>> Better yet, get another hard drive and practice on that first to get a 
>> feel for it.
>>
>> Hope this helps,
>> Regards,
>> Paul
>>
>>
>> James Elliott - WA Rural Computers wrote:
>>> I am installing Ubuntu 8.10.
>>>
>>> I have re-partitioned my 250 GB hard disk and it now looks like this:
>>>
>>> *.........................Unallocated ........... 8 MB  (used: 0)
>>> *.........................Extended ........ 2134 MB (used: 2134)
>>> Ubuntu ..............Linux Ext2 ........... 86 MB (used: 3)
>>> Swap Space ...  Linux Swap .....2047 MB (used: 0)
>>> C: C Drive ........ NTFS ........ 236,311 MB (used: 53)
>>>
>>> I used Partition Magic running under Windows XP to re-partition the 
>>> disk and followed all the suggestions and defaults applicable to 
>>> setting up a new partition for the Linux operating system.
>>>
>>> The spaces allocated to Linux seem small compared to those used by 
>>> Windows.
>>>
>>> QUESTION #1
>>> Would it be advantageous to re-size any of the above Linux spaces?
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> When running the Ubuntu installation from CD, I quit at Step 4, 
>>> because that launched the "Partitioner" which apparently wanted to 
>>> re-partition my hard disk.
>>>
>>> QUESTION #2
>>> If the hard disk is already partitioned, whey does the Ubuntu 
>>> installer want to do it again?
>>>
>>> QUESTION #3
>>> Is there any chance of losing my Windows installation and all the 
>>> data I have saved over the years, by making the wrong choice in the 
>>> Ubuntu installation?
>>>
>>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I would be very much obliged for your help, so that I can continue 
>>> with my installation.
>>>
>>> Many thanks, James
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
>>> http://www.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
>>> Committee e-mail: committee at plug.linux.org.au
>> _______________________________________________
>> PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
>> http://www.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
>> Committee e-mail: committee at plug.linux.org.au 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au
> http://www.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
> Committee e-mail: committee at plug.linux.org.au