Can't install RH Enterprise 3 desktop; white screen lockup

[Ken Scott]

On Wed, 2004-07-28 at 17:26, Phil O wrote:
> Looks as though the "linux text" install will work,
> but I 'm stopping the current install before I
> partition my drive.  Where do I need to read up on how
> I can partition the drive leaving the current Windows
> install?  It is XP Home/FAT32, taking up the entire
> 30GB drive.  Will I need Partition Magic, or are there
> free alternatives?  I'd rather not "kill" Windows on
> this machine if I don't have to (even though I have a
> Ghost of it).  Thanks for the advice.
> 

I have used Morphix and Knoppix Live-CD HD tools (I think it is CFdisk)
to repartition NTFS XP partitions prior to installing linux behind XP.  
Important safety tip - First boot into XP and do a full blown disk
scandisk then defrag. Otherwise the repartition effort sometimes fails.
Also, repartitioning failed on me once due to I think Norton anti-virus
putting some stuff at the end of the NTFS partition that the
repartitioner wouldn't move.   That time I had to simply blow away XP
then partition an NTFS partition to the desired size and reinstall using
the XP CD. Then I went on to install Fedora Core2.
 Supposing a 30 GB drive, I'd set basic partitions as follows:
device      function	 type 	size
/dev/hda1 /boot 	ext3  100MB
/hda2      /XP    	  NTFS  10GB   
/hda3      /swap  	 swap  2*ram  (ie if 512 mbram set swap to 1GB
/hda4      extended
   /hda5   /  (root)       ext3  15GB              
   /hda6   /xfer            fat32 4GB (or whatever is left)
Notes :
1) Could use ext2 and then install RH then convert to ext3 (I have never
had to do this but others have recommended this strategy).
2) The xfer partition allows data to be transferred between XP and Linux
easily and safely without forcing linux to write to the NTFS partition
(I think that is more reliable now but it used to not be).
3) Install XP first and then have linux put the boot loader in the MBR.
That causes LILO or GRUB to start either RH or XP as needed.
4) More partitions can be used to separate /home, /usr , etc. if
desired. 

I have used the above procedure 3-4 times with good success.  It may not
be the best way or the only way but my experience has been favorable.
Others are encouraged and welcome to comment and identify improvements.

Oops, I just noticed that your setup is already FAT32 so you would not
need the /xfer partition.  Just increase the size of which ever other
partition you wish (either the XP partition or the / root).
Good luck.
Ken S.