Fedora partition help

[Dzejkub]

hello, I fairly new to Linux and I'm installing Fedora 5 on my computer.

however, I wish to keep my other partions which have windows on them and have alot of data that I need. I have two 40GB partitions that are unformatted, so I wish to install Fedora on them. But I do not know how to split the partition in order to get the three partitions that are needed for Fedora.

Any suggestions?


EDIT: Yes, I looked at the installation guide but it doesnt say anything about splitting the partition.

[>akc<]

Hello Dzejkub...
You just need to boot from the DVD or installation disk and during the installation it will ask you where you want to install Linux. Use Disk Druid to partition your disk, you need only two partitions to run Linux (The Swap Partition and the Mountpoint "/"). Tell me more about you type of HardDrive if it is a SCSi or IDE and where you have installed your Windows.

Saludos
AKC

[Dzejkub]

Well, I got as far as DiskDruid. I understand what to do, but in the install-guide I found on the fedora site it told me I needed three partitions. I had 4 partitions when I first installed windows. two of them have data on them and my other two are unformatted and are ready for use. The only problem is that according to the guide I need three partitions, one that boots at /boot and at / and a swap partition.

My windows is installed on drive (in this case partition) C, and I use G for my large applications and data, drives E and F are free for use, and each have 40 GB.

You said that I only needed the "/" and swap, right? Well, what is the "/boot" for?

[daverj]

I think the following are the two easiest options:

1) if you have something like partition magic, use it to delete the partitions to make an 80gig contiguous block. Then when installing FC5, let the installer setup the default partitioning for you.

or

2) when you install FC5, choose custom partitioning. Then in disk druid, delete the partitions and create your own partitioning scheme. You will want at least 3: /boot, swap, and /. The best thing to do would be to have a 4th partition for /home.

Dave

[giulix]

It really depends on what you will be using your FC system for. Will you program/experiment on it ? Multimedia ? Will you run any servers, databases ?

[Dzejkub]

but isnt that risking data on the other partitions?

EDIT: I wont experiment with the code, or run servers off it, although I might use it for alot of internet work like downloading. Mostly it will be for Multimedia, and entertainment.

[>akc<]

You just need two partitions... the third /boot partition is where the kernel image will be along with your bootloader like Grub. The mountpoint "/" is where all your linux folders will be. It is best is you are installing a Workstation to make only 2 partitions an let linux do the rest. You have two 40GB partitions you could use, well use Partition Magic to delete them, and you will have 80GB of unallocated disk space. Them with Disk Druid make a Mountpoint of the size that you want to have for Fedora (it depends), and make a swap partition and give to it the double of the size of your RAM(Like 512 of RAM, 1024 swap space). And thats all you need.

Saludos
AKC

[Dzejkub]

Partition Magic? I've never heard of it, is it on the installation DVD or do I have to get from elsewere.

[giulix]

I think 3 partitions is what you need, including swap.
/
/home
swap
If you really want, you can add 1 more for /usr.
/usr (or / in case you don't create a separate partition for it) is where all the system programs will be.
/ is where the kernel and, most importantly, configuration, temp and log files will be
/home is where all your downloaded files will be, so make this one huge; / can be as little as 2/3 GB if it doesn't include /usr. Otherwise you'll need at least 5GB.
swap depends on your RAM.

[Dzejkub]

so all i need to do is delete one of the unformatted partions, and from it create 3 partions, "/", "/home", and swap, correct?

[>akc<]

Partition Magic is a software for Windows that lets you manage your partitions. It is not a Linux software.
Forget about it. You said you have a C drive and G drive for all your data? Well in Linux are not letters for partition, instead it is /dev/partition# (like /dev/hda1 or /dev/sda1 for the primary partition of your disk) You need to know exactly where you have all your data on.

Saludos AKC

[Dzejkub]

Partition Magic is a software for Windows that lets you manage your partitions. It is not a Linux software.
Forget about it. You said you have a C drive and G drive for all your data? Well in Linux are not letters for partition, instead it is /dev/partition# (like /dev/hda1 or /dev/sda1 for the primary partition of your disk) You need to know exactly where you have all your data on.

Saludos AKC



I do. When I first attempted the install, I knew that my C had 20 GB and that my G had 60 GB. My E and F each have 40 GB, and theres two partitions with "39998 MB" each, so those r probably E and F.

I just want to make sure that I'm doing this right, because most of my data is on that computer and if I mess this up then there goes 6 months of collecting and downloading.

[>akc<]

Well those two partitions of 39998MB are your E and F partitions in Windows... Well next step is to set up you linux partitions. Delete one of them using Disk Druid and you will have 40GB of free space. After doing this create a mountpoint "/" is where all your Linux files are gonna be, including your /boot, /home, /usr, /var, etc.
Create the mountpoint and give the size you want like 35GB (for example) and them create a swap partition of the double of your RAM Memory. An thats all you need for enjoing the beauty of Linux.
Good luck!!!

Saludos
AKC

[giulix]

My advise is you take 1 of your 40GB partitions (or two, but they need to be contiguous so that you can merge them in 1 and repartition). Select custom partitioning and make sure you only operate on unused, unformatted partitions. Then, based on your allocation requirements, create the partitions:
/
swap => to keep things simple
/
/home
swap => to make things easier for you, should you ever need to reinstall
/
/boot
/usr
/home
swap => maybe overkilling, but worth it (boot needs, say, 100MB only. You can make it 50MB and that is plenty, but the installation will complain)
Mind that this operation is potentially dangerous. You risk losing your data. Best would be back up before proceeding but, if you do it right (and make sure you abort in case you are not 100% sure what you are doing), risk can be greatly reduced.

Good luck ;)

[Dzejkub]

So I really only need 2 partitions then. '/' and swap, and '/boot', '/usr', and '/home' will be put within the '/', correct?

Well, thank you all for the help and I'll try it right away.

[giulix]

So I really only need 2 partitions then. '/' and swap, and '/boot', '/usr', and '/home' will be put within the '/', correct?

Correct. But create a /home partition too.... you are going to be happy you did,later on...

[>akc<]

Yes basically you need only two partitions to run Fedora.
You welcome. Good luck!!!

Saludos
AKC