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Linux - Laptop and Netbook Having a problem installing or configuring Linux on your laptop? Need help running Linux on your netbook? This forum is for you. This forum is for any topics relating to Linux and either traditional laptops or netbooks (such as the Asus EEE PC, Everex CloudBook or MSI Wind).

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Old 07-26-2004, 06:24 AM   #1
siawash
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Partitioning


Maybe someone help me with partition my Dell Latitude Cpx 650. I have 20 gig drive. First 7 gig has win2k. 3 gig is personal files. last five gigs has Red Hat 9 on an ext3 partition.

I had no end of trouble configuring /, boot, usr, var, temp, usr/local and home, swap.

Red Hat's Disk Druid for some reason did not show an option for creating swap. I had to use Partition Magic to do that. After allocating all these partitions Anaconda would throw up a message to the effect that "YOU ARE TRYING TO INSTALL ON A MACHINE WHICH IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THIS RELEASE OF RED HAT.

I got around this by limiting my partitions to swap 512 MB ( at twice the size of RAM ), boot at 100 mb, and root or / which takes the rest of space at around 4.5 gigs. I found most package installed using this config.

I still don't understand the purpose of all those partitions except for the swap which is like Windoz paging.

I am a mature computer science student. Do not have multiple users on the system. Occassionally use file sharing program to download some software, movies, audio. The only reason I have been staying with windows has been a latent desire to learn to design websites on the fly, possibly the Macromedia packages. However I have got around to it yet. My current occupation is Java and, CISCO and Linux admin. So I may well go ahead and scrap windows and dedicate my 20 gig hard drive to linux.

So before I start using linux seriously I need to make sure I have the right partition config.

I read some where that the root partition must be as small as possible ( which mine is not ).

So what partitions do I need. Please suggest for a dual boot with windoz and dedicated alternative.

Many thanks in advance.
 
Old 07-26-2004, 06:35 AM   #2
Tuttle
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It has some connection with the fact that defrag is not possible, so if you have a big partition containing unchanging data (/bin, /lib, /usrbin, /usrlib -- ie. / ) and another couple of partitions for the changing data (such as /var, /tmp, /usr/local, /home) then the main nuts and bolts of the system never get fragmented.
This also makes a useful backup of your /home folder which contains all the desktop settings. If you want to backup /etc do it seperately, it is quite a task to put that on a seperate partition!
 
Old 07-27-2004, 11:22 AM   #3
siawash
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partitioning

Thank you for that. I am currently being plagued by a spyware called EbatesMoneyMaker & DoubleClick. I am using this as incentive to make the leap and dedicate my laptop to Windows.

To do this I need really concrete facts cus I don't want to constantly be rebuilding the system.

I would be most grateful if you could specify a partition scheme for my laptop. I heard some say, usr, usr/local and even home wont be needed.

If I limit the space for root, which partition is going to take up the slack.?

Aagin, I would be grateful if you can ephatically specify partitions based on my sysetem and my needs.

HDD is seen as 17.5 gigs ( sold as 20 gigs )
RAM 256 MB
CPU P3 650 MHz

This is a single user laptop used mainly for development work/practice, downloading music, video, software.

Please tell me, based on the above, best partition configuration.

I currently have 550 mb swap, 100 mb boot, 4500 mb root. This is dual boot with win2k where 5 gig allocated to Red Hat.

In your reply please specify an option for a dual boot, incase i am not quite ready for a dedicated linux machine.

Many thanks in advance
 
Old 07-27-2004, 01:49 PM   #4
Tuttle
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you don't actually need a boot partition, you can install lilo to the mbr.
you dont (especially on your system) need lots of separate partitions; if you still want to go ahead with it then measure the space currently taken up by these partitions by doing:

du -s /usr/local
du -s /home

then add them together and subtract the result from this:

du -s / <-- may take a while!

now double it - the result is an estimate for the size of / (add a bit more if you dont make var or tmp separate).

the sizes of /usr/local is dependant on how much extra software you are likely to install.
/home should be the largest as this is the most sensible place to put your music and development stuff.

You'll probably need at least 500mb for /tmp, a bit less for /var if you want to make separate partitions for these (you don't have to, as long as you leave enough room in / )

give it a go "suck it and see"!
 
  


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