OpenBSD Partitions

JMJ_coder · 03-06-2007, 01:37 PM

Hello,

I am giving some thought to trying OpenBSD, and I have a question whether I can do this at all. I have two primary partitions used up for Windows - and for many reasons, it is not a viable solution to get rid of Windows altogether. That leaves two primary partitions. One is an extended partition with numerous logical partitions within it that contain Slackware, NetBSD and Fedora (I haven't made up my mind whether to get rid of Fedora or not yet). The last partititon is given over to FreeBSD, which refused to be put on a logical partition. Now my question is - can I install OpenBSD on a logical partition? I was successful putting NetBSD on a logical partition and OpenBSD is descended from NetBSD, so I thought that this could be possible, but am not certain.

taylor_venable · 03-06-2007, 02:45 PM

We've talked about this here before, and I don't think anything is different now. It's interesting that NetBSD can do it, but it doesn't seem like anybody's gotten any of the other BSDs to do it. If you've got extra space in your extended partition you could move one of your Windows primary partitions into there, and then use that primary partition you just freed for OpenBSD.

For reference, here's the old thread. Googling for "openbsd install logical partition" also yields some (perhaps somewhat helpful) results from bsdforums.org

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=435809

JMJ_coder · 03-06-2007, 06:02 PM

Hello,

Quote:

Originally Posted by taylor_venable

If you've got extra space in your extended partition you could move one of your Windows primary partitions into there, and then use that primary partition you just freed for OpenBSD.

Can this be done with an existing partition? I do not have the option of reinstalling Windows - it is as is.

taylor_venable · 03-07-2007, 01:58 PM

I've not used Windows in a while -- does it auto-detect partition locations? I'm assuming it does, and that your Windows install is probably on primary partition one. So if you copy all the data from primary partition two to an extended partition, I'm assuming that Windows would be able to find it. That may not be the case, however, so be forewarned; as I said, I've not used Windows in a long time.

JMJ_coder · 03-07-2007, 02:06 PM

Hello,

No that most likely wouldn't work, especially in Vista. There are so many hidden files and such that normally don't get copied that it wouldn't work. One partition is Windows, and the other is a backup/recovery partition. While Windows does come with it's own partitioning tool, like that vast majority of Microsoft products, it - well, you can fill in the blank. I ended up using GPart on a Live CD that worked excellently. It can move partitions around, but I am not certain if it could place a primary partition inside of an extended partition.

bioe007 · 03-10-2007, 02:28 AM

gPartEd is nice for moving partitions, I have used it many times to resize/move stuff around.

Quote:

I have two primary partitions used up for Windows - and for many reasons, it is not a viable solution to get rid of Windows altogether.

why two?

Is it to have on fat32 for sharing between OSs ?

If so you can put your fat32 on a logical partition. I do that and have had no problems.

Code:

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1   *           1          19      152586   83  Linux
/dev/hda2              20        2569    20482875    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda3            2952       12161    73979325    5  Extended
/dev/hda4            2570        2951     3068415   83  Linux
/dev/hda5            5598       10887    42491925    b  W95 FAT32
/dev/hda6            2952        3047      771057   82  Linux swap
/dev/hda7            3048        5597    20482843+  83  Linux
/dev/hda8           10889       12160    10217308+  83  Linux