Partitioning Issues - Attempting to dual boot Windows 7 and Slackware 13.0

xTyrant · 10-13-2009, 01:10 PM

I'm not sure if this should be put under newbie or laptop but I'll post it here because it seems like a basic issue.

My current laptop (purchased off of a local computer store owner, I think it's brand is generic but it is called a SPARTAN for those that need to know) is running windows 7 professional and I am attempting to install Slackware 13.0. Now, I did the whole partitioning thing under windows (computer>manage>etc.) but for some reason whenever I boot the DVD to install it seems like it cannot read my hard drive. I then went directly into setup > target partition and I notice that it is reading my hard drive because my two partitions that windows exists on is there.

Now, what is says when I use cfdisk is that it seems to be reading the DVD and it gives me an error saying that the disk is read-only (which I see why).

Is there a step I'm skipping while preparing the hard drive while under windows or is there just something wrong with my computer completely? I tried to read the readme and attempted to use fdisk but it's really confusing for me considering I have never used terminal type code before (except random DOS commands).

For the record, I am new to linux but not computers. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Side note: I can get it installed in virtualbox but I just can't install it on the main computer.

Edit: If it's worth mentioning, I downloaded the DVD ISO off of the website.

markush · 10-13-2009, 01:36 PM

Hello xTyrant and wellcome to LQ,

maybe you're new laptop has a SATA-drive. Then it is necessary to use

Code:

fdisk /dev/sda

On virtualbox you'll have to use hda instead.

Markus

xTyrant · 10-13-2009, 01:40 PM

Now I feel stupid. Thanks, hopefully I can take it from here. lol

brianL · 10-13-2009, 01:42 PM

Try running:

Code:

cfdisk /dev/sda

for it to read your hard drive.