[Solved]PCLinuxOS full install how to tell installer to not format?
 

Wanted to install pclinuxos on a Dell Dimension 4600
an old P4 machine

But it says that it will reformat the drive.
Despite me told it to reuse the already formatted sda3 partition.
and to install on that one.

Now does this mean that the Devs has decided that
their OS has to have the format them have decided?
Can I not make use of the partitions that I have already
prepared?

I booted it from usb in live frugal install and had no idea
that it would ask for user name and password but it accepted
root and root or was it toor? Don't remember and I am allowed
to write to the ext3 hd so that is cool.

Any suggestion what went wrong.

Maybe I should not have chosen the / root thing.
Does that force it to reformat the whole drive?
What are one supposed to chose at that stage of the install?

Second time I do full install 2012 and I don't remember things.

I have tried to join their forum but they have a wait time when
they evaluate the new user. So don't know when they let me in.

@ Reply
 

Hi nooby

I am not a PCLinuxOS user but as I can read from this link: http://linuxtop.blogspot.in/2011/09/...n-2011-07.html

It does ask you which partition to select and which partition it will use to install. Yes, it will format the partition that you have selected before installing PCLinux on it.

Nooby, as the post above says, it will format partition that you select to install on. The reason is you are doing a clean install so it needs a clean partition to do it.

Thanks for fast answers.

So even if it is brand new and unused it still need to format it?
I have already format it so seems superflous but maybe the Devs
wants it that way.

May I ask.
What should I chose among all the choices it presents?

/
/home

and so on.

Should I chose / or is that something only the first partition should have?
I install PCLOS on sda3 and not sda1 which is already used

I turn in now because past midnight.

@ Reply
 

Yes, it will format even if it is a new disk / system. Talking about a new disk I would say it is a raw disk without any partitions or file system format so the install has to format it to create a new file system.

In your case you said that you already have an ext3 formatted partition but when you are installing a system it does not know what it contains. So, to be on the safer side system always format that partition using the file system you selected or the default one which it uses to maintain consistency.

You can go with the defaul install that is creating a single partition / or you can define partitions yourself. If you look at the link I mentioned in the my previous post you will find that there is an option for custom partitioning. You can choose that and then you can create partition as per your choice.

Remember you can only have 3 primary partitions on a disk and the 4th one has to be extended partition so that you can create logical partition inside it.

Thanks for the detailed answer!

All this is way above my know how
and are too involved and too many
to me unknown things so I give up
on it. It is way too complicated
at my present time of knowledge.

Much appreciated you took time to explain
but I fail to grasp such abstract things.

I go back to only using frugal install again.
I can boot PCLOS from USB instead. Thanks again