Installing fedora along with windows 7 and ubuntu

[horacle]

Hi, Im wondering if I can install fedora 17 in a machine with windows 7 and ubuntu without having to mess around with grub2 files. Also, the extended partition is totally ocupied by ubuntu, can I instal fedora in another nonextended partition?

thanks in advance

[stoat]

Originally Posted by horacle

Im wondering if I can install fedora 17 in a machine with windows 7 and ubuntu without having to mess around with grub2 files.

I think I know what you mean. I think you want to install Fedora without it disturbing the existing boot loader arrangement. If so, then try installing Fedora but choose the option that installs GRUB in the first sector of the Fedora boot partition. Finish the installation and reboot. Nothing will seem to have happened. Then add Fedora to the existing boot loader. If it's Ubuntu's GRUB 2, then run the update-grub command in Ubuntu. If it's Windows BOOTMGR, then repeat whatever you did to add Ubuntu to the menu.

Maybe you didn't mean that though. If you are wondering if you can install Fedora and have its boot loader take over and boot all three from its menu without you having to do anything... then it might happen that way. It's supposed to happen that way. Everybody wants it to happen that way. It was the centerpiece of the GRUB 2 hype. But the fact is that it sometimes doesn't happen that way. Otherwise we would not be reading posts about it not happening from time to time. So I don't think anybody can promise it will happen. You can try it and just be prepared to deal with it, I guess.

Originally Posted by horacle

can I instal fedora in another nonextended partition?

Fedora can go in primary or logical partitions. But just remember that the default partition layout uses LVM (I think that is still true) and requires a separate boot partition (two partitions). To install Fedora in just a single partition, choose the option to create a custom layout, select the partition you mentioned, choose "/" as the mount point, format it as ext4, and it should go in there. Anaconda, the installer, will find and use Ubuntu's swap without discussing the matter with you.

[horacle]

Thank you very much, thats great info... the partition I wanted to have fedora is 90 gb, then I guess I could shrink it to 10gb, right? as it will use ubuntu's.

You are right about me expecting fedoras installation to respect the original grub2 entries and adding fedora's, I hope it goes like that. If not Ill come back and cry about.

Going to install fedora asap.

Regards!

[stoat]

Well, try for the arrangement that you want. If it doesn't work out perfectly, there is always some way to fix it and make it so. Each one of the systems you mentioned has a boot loader that can be made to boot the other two.