Confused about partitioning

angelbeast · #1 11th November 2008, 10:43 AM

Hello. I am wanting to switch to Fedora from Ubuntu. I am a little confused about the partitioning that Fedora uses It's somewhat different form Ubuntu. I have 2 hard drives. The second is for storage and i don't want to touch that one. I want to use drive a for Fedora and do nothing to drive b but be able to access it. I am not sure exactly what to do to accomplish this co like i said this partitioning is a little unfamiliar to me. I'm sorry for such a newbie question but can someone help me? Thanks in advance.

***glennzo*** · #2 11th November 2008, 10:56 AM

The safest thing to do would be to unplug the second drive. That way your sure to maintain it's integrity throughout the install process. The Fedora install will not touch the second drive if you leave it connected. You need to make sure that you specify that Fedora installs to /dev/sda, the first drive. As far as partitioning, there are several methods and many more opinions on what is best for a Linux installation. My preference is to partition the disk ahead of installing my operating systems. This requires some sort of plan. Again, in my case, I wanted to install Fedora, Vista and XP and have another partition that could be used to install as second Linux OS. I also wanted a swap partition. I used the GParted Live CD to partition the disk. I created 2 NTFS partitions, 2 empty partitions and a swap partition. Once the Windows systems were installed I installed Fedora and allowed it's disk tool to format one of the empty partitions to EXT3. The installer went about it's business and here I am. Later I installed Ubuntu (flavor of the week). Now I'm happily quad booting my laptop.

angelbeast · #3 11th November 2008, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glennzo

The safest thing to do would be to unplug the second drive. That way your sure to maintain it's integrity throughout the install process. The Fedora install will not touch the second drive if you leave it connected. You need to make sure that you specify that Fedora installs to /dev/sda, the first drive. As far as partitioning, there are several methods and many more opinions on what is best for a Linux installation. My preference is to partition the disk ahead of installing my operating systems. This requires some sort of plan. Again, in my case, I wanted to install Fedora, Vista and XP and have another partition that could be used to install as second Linux OS. I also wanted a swap partition. I used the GParted Live CD to partition the disk. I created 2 NTFS partitions, 2 empty partitions and a swap partition. Once the Windows systems were installed I installed Fedora and allowed it's disk tool to format one of the empty partitions to EXT3. The installer went about it's business and here I am. Later I installed Ubuntu (flavor of the week). Now I'm happily quad booting my laptop.

Hi thanks for your reply. fedora will be the only os on the drive so i don't need anything special. However Fedora partitions by default will do. I see on the partition screen i can uncheck drive b and then give it a mount point on the confirmation screen. I guess that would work. But what then would i wnt to select for the a drive for the partitioning? It has a drop down menu with some options.

***glennzo*** · #4 11th November 2008, 11:16 AM

I don't think I follow you. If the default install will do then all you need to do, as you said, is uncheck the second drive. Do you mean the options such as (from memory) remove all linux partitions and create default layout, remove all partitions and create default layout, etc? Those 2 options will set up a system with LVM. There are other options such as manual partition which will allow you to format the partition as EXT3. Your choice there. I prefer EXT3 but to be honest I don't know a lot about LVM so it's easier for me and works for my needs.

angelbeast · #5 11th November 2008, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glennzo

I don't think I follow you. If the default install will do then all you need to do, as you said, is uncheck the second drive. Do you mean the options such as (from memory) remove all linux partitions and create default layout, remove all partitions and create default layout, etc? Those 2 options will set up a system with LVM. There are other options such as manual partition which will allow you to format the partition as EXT3. Your choice there. I prefer EXT3 but to be honest I don't know a lot about LVM so it's easier for me and works for my needs.

Yes that's what i was wondering. If i can just uncheck the b drive nd hve it delete all partitions and do the default setup and then just add the mount point on the next screen. I apologize for being a little confusing. I'm just half asleep here so bear with me *LOL*.

Right now both drive are formatted in ext3. I'll look into the difference between the two are.

***glennzo*** · #6 11th November 2008, 11:48 AM

I don't remember if there is an option to add mount points during the install. If there isn't we can surely get that sat up later.

Rincewindcl · #7 11th November 2008, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glennzo

I don't remember if there is an option to add mount points during the install. If there isn't we can surely get that sat up later.

Having just installed only recently I can confirm there is, but it's not very comprehensive.

My suggestion would be to tinker after the main install

angelbeast · #8 11th November 2008, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glennzo

I don't remember if there is an option to add mount points during the install. If there isn't we can surely get that sat up later.

There is if you have drive b unchecked then go to the next screen you can edit it and add a mount point. I'll have to do it later though coz i can't stay awake any more *LOL* ... i'll post back in here and let you know how it went. Thank you again for all the help...I'm sure i'll need more coming to a new distro and all *LOL* :-)

angelbeast · #9 11th November 2008, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rincewindcl

Having just installed only recently I can confirm there is, but it's not very comprehensive.

My suggestion would be to tinker after the main install

So you're saying just to leave the b drive unchecked durring the whole install and set it up after That would be the best way?

Rincewindcl · #10 11th November 2008, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelbeast

So you're saying just to leave the b drive unchecked durring the whole install and set it up after That would be the best way?

Well if your purpose is to install Fedora and leave the B drive alone, but be able to mount it on your new Fedora installation then the answer is yes.

If you screw up a mount point or (worse) accidentally format or reformat B then your up **** creek without a paddle from the word go. In my experience it's always easier to change it later. Just leave the drive unchecked as glennzo suggests and mount it later

beaulieu57 · #11 11th November 2008, 02:07 PM

To be sure, unchecking a drive forces installation on the other one. I did the reverse, an installation on sdb, and sda was untouched. ( I even had to adapt the grub on sda, but that is normal ). And it installs a system with LVM on the drive you selected. I would always strongly advise to take a data backup before starting installation. Then, disaster has limited consequences.

stevea · #12 11th November 2008, 03:13 PM

Just a comment on the first suggestion on post #2. If you actually unplug a drive, then it is indeed safe. The problem occurs when you install the second drive again. Then the bios enumerates the drives - possible in the unexpected order - and that's when problems can begin.

I suggest installing w/ both drives spinning but be careful to select the correct drive for installation.

angelbeast · #13 11th November 2008, 08:52 PM

kay now before i do this again...when i started to install it the other day it stopped halfway through and said i needed the fedora disk 1 ... i was using the install dvd...is that normal? And if so where do i get disk 1? *LOL*

Rincewindcl · #14 11th November 2008, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelbeast

kay now before i do this again...when i started to install it the other day it stopped halfway through and said i needed the fedora disk 1 ... i was using the install dvd...is that normal? And if so where do i get disk 1? *LOL*

FAIL!

Did you make the disk yourself?

Is it from an ISO on the Fedora project site?

angelbeast · #15 11th November 2008, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rincewindcl

FAIL!

Did you make the disk yourself?

Is it from an ISO on the Fedora project site?

Ahhh...Yeah i thought i smelled a faulty disk *LOL* ... Yeah i got it from the fedora site...I'm making another one right now