Re: First time Linux installation - help appreciated

[Bob McClure Jr <robertmcclure earthlink net>]

(For the netiquette purists, my apologies.  I didn't see much I could
easily snip.)

<Gross pontification>
I would forget about "automatic partitioning".  I've not tried it, but
I don't trust it.  This is not rocket science, so give it a try.  When
you get to the partitioning part, choose fdisk, not Disk Druid.  The
latter makes some dreadful assumptions.  At a minimum, I would make:

 2.5GB  for root (/)
 2 x your RAM for swap (use the "T" command to set type to 82)
 5GB for your DOS backup
 the rest as you wish

Better would be

 Primary partitions:
 2.5GB  for root (/)
 2.5GB  for a future root of the next release (/rh72)
 300M for /usr/local

 The rest for an extended partition, containing the following logical
 partitions:
 500M-1GB for /home
 5GB for your DOS backup 
 The rest for /u

Actually, I build three primary partitions, suitable for root use, so
that when I upgrade, say from 6.2 to 7.0, I copy the existing, working
root to the next available spare, make sure it is bootable by
modifying /etc/fstab and /etc/lilo.conf, and then upgrade _it_ instead
of the working one.  That way, if something is irretrievably busted in
the upgrade, I still have a working root to fall back on.

I keep expendable, replaceable stuff in /u, and irreplaceable things
in /home.  I back up /root, /etc, /var, and /home.

</Gross pontification>

On Sun, Jul 22, 2001 at 09:22:10PM -0400, Oded Ben-Ami wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> This is the first time that I try to install and learn about Linux.
> I am trying to install Seawolf (Linux 7.1).
> 
> I have the following system:
> A desktop PC (Compaq) Pentium III, 450Mhz with a bootable CD-ROM and floppy 
> and two IDE hard drives.  The C:\ is 8GB and has Windows installed on it as 
> well as all my work, and I am trying to keep it safe.  This is why I got my 
> second HD, a 15GB HD.
> I plan to have a 5GB DOS partition for backing up purposes, and the rest for 
> Linux.
> I would also like to choose at boot time which OS to load.
> 
> I use Seawolfs' Linux installation and came to the part that allows me to 
> partition with Disk Druid or fdisk.
> The option of automatic partitioning was not there (although I did not think 
> about using it), but that was an indication the the disk space was not 
> enough for installation of RedHat Linux, and I have an empty 15GB HD !?
> I was looking at the bottom window and it indicated that both my HD are full 
> - my C:\ looked 100% full (although it's not even halfway full) and the D:\ 
> (hdb) as if it has only one MB on it).
> 
> In the RedHat FAQ they say that if I don't get the 'automatic partitioning' 
> option I need to use fips.exe to initially split my HD into 2 paritions and 
> that would solve the problem.
> I used fips.exe and it did its work loyally - at my windows I see now three 
> HD (C, D, E) .
> But when I run Seawolfs' Linux installation again, I had the same problem - 
> I didn't have the 'automatic partitioning' option, but this time I had my 
> hdb with two partitions on it, which is good, BUT, both of them where 100% 
> full.
> 
> Am I overlooking something?
> 
> I would think that before the Linux installation program could see anything 
> on a blanc HD I need to Linux-format the 10GB parition which I dedicated for 
> Linux (earlier, all 15GB was DOS formated), but (1) I am not sure that is 
> the problem, and  (2) I don't know how to format my 10GB partition in 
> Linux-format before I have Linux installed on my machine.
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Oded Benami.

Cheers,
-- 
Bob McClure, Jr.            |"God is dead." - Nietzsche
Bobcat Open Systems, Inc.   |"Nietzsche is dead." - God
robertmcclure earthlink net |