LinuxQuestions.org
Download your favorite Linux distribution at LQ ISO.
Home Forums Tutorials Articles Register
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - General
User Name
Password
Linux - General This Linux forum is for general Linux questions and discussion.
If it is Linux Related and doesn't seem to fit in any other forum then this is the place.

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 03-22-2006, 03:43 PM   #1
Penguin of Wonder
Senior Member
 
Registered: Sep 2005
Location: West Virginia
Distribution: Gentoo
Posts: 1,249

Rep: Reputation: 45
Is it ok to leave space unpartitioned?


I want to dual boot Gentoo and Ubuntu. So i'm installing Gentoo first. I want to set up my partitioning scheme

Code:
hda1    /boot 
hda2    /swap 
hda3    extended (the rest of the drive)
hda5    /root (for Gentoo)
hda6    /home (for Gentoo)
I'm not concerned with sizes and such all I really want to know is if it's ok to leave the rest of the drive as part of hda3. Can I come back later and finish chopping up hda3 or do I need to do it now? Will paritioning up the rest of hda3 later destroy the data on the other paritions?

Last edited by Penguin of Wonder; 03-22-2006 at 03:45 PM.
 
Old 03-22-2006, 04:48 PM   #2
haertig
Senior Member
 
Registered: Nov 2004
Distribution: Debian, Ubuntu, LinuxMint, Slackware, SysrescueCD, Raspbian, Arch
Posts: 2,331

Rep: Reputation: 357Reputation: 357Reputation: 357Reputation: 357
hda1 thru hda4 are primary partitions. You can only have four primary partitions on a disk. Of these four primary partitions, one of them may be designated an extended partition. Within this extended partition, you may have 63 (64?) logical partitions. Logical partitions are numbered starting at "5" and going up from there (e.g., hda5, hda6, etc.) The extended partition cannot be followed by any more primary partitions (this in reference to physical layout on the disk, not the order of entries in the partition table, which can vary).

So your current setup would allow you to create more logical partitions at a later date (providing you have unpartitioned space in that hda3 extended partition). But you could not create any more primary partitions unless your unallocated space happens to fall (physically) between your current hda2 and hda3. This is probably not the case, unless you specifically partitioned to keep the middle of your disk free. Not that this makes any difference to Linux. Linux doesn't care about this primary/logical thing like Windows does (and Windows can be coerced into "not caring" with a little effort).

Short answer: Yes, you can chop up the remaining free space in your extended partition at a later date. (Just don't plan on installing Windows there, without some work.)
 
Old 03-22-2006, 08:30 PM   #3
Penguin of Wonder
Senior Member
 
Registered: Sep 2005
Location: West Virginia
Distribution: Gentoo
Posts: 1,249

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 45
Sweet. Thanks alot, thats all I needed!
 
  


Reply

Tags
dual boot, partition



Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Using unpartitioned space ChriZathens Linux - General 4 11-25-2005 05:38 AM
Multiple unpartitioned spaces... RoaCh Of DisCor Linux - Newbie 4 12-09-2004 09:26 PM
Do i have unpartitioned space? p0rt Linux - General 5 08-17-2004 05:00 PM
My /home partition shows up as unpartitioned space! purplecow Linux - Hardware 2 07-06-2004 05:20 PM
cfdisk (slackware 9.1) wont recognise unpartitioned space vespatian Slackware 1 12-09-2003 12:56 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - General

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:14 PM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration