Hi!

There are a number of concerns, but I will first give you the background.

I have a computer with 2*Quad cores, 48GB RAM and 2* 1TB harddisks.
There is a 100 GB partition for Windows 7 on one of the harddisks (sda). We want to use the computer for chemical computations, by running the chemical software on SuSE (SLES 10).

I used GParted to shrink the Windows partition. I tried to install SuSE, but just before it asks for the root password, it restarts the computer, and after the restart the keyboard and mouse didn't work. (I had the keyboard, mouse and screen connected to a KVM switch, because I have more than one computer in the office). I tried to plug the mouse & keyboard directly into the computer, but nothing worked. I was afraid of restarting the computer (since the installation wasn't completed) but I reasoned that perhaps then the computer would automatically pick up the mouse and keyboard. It did. However, earlier in the installation I chose to install KDE and not Gnome, but when everything was finished I found that I had Gnome, and not KDE.

Question 1
How do I change to KDE? I guess there should be a way using YAST or something, but I'm not sure.

At present, one of the harddisks has the Windows partition, and then the SWAP (primary), and then the rest of the Linux part (primary).

I would like to partition the Linux part like this:
SWAP: >2GB
(I remember somewhere that the SWAP should be about twice the RAM space? Sothen it should be about 100GB)
ROOT: 40GB
CODE: 50GB
Chemistry: The rest of the first harddrive and the second harddrive.

I tried to increase the SWAP space by using GParted, i.e. to shrink the Linux partition, move it to the right, and increase the SWAP partition, but there was an error. It could shrink the partition, but didn't finish moving it to the right.


I don't mind redoing the SuSE installation.

Question 2
What would you suggest?

Should I rather install SuSE on the second harddrive than after the Windows partition on the first harddrive?
Would it be easier to increase the SWAP space within the installation of the SuSE? (Somewhere it has a custom partition option or something like that, but I'm not an expert, so I didn't want to take that option.)
How do I put the Root on it's own partition?
How do I "link" the two harddrives so that the Chemistry partition will extend over both the harddrives?


Oh yes, during the installation it didn't prompt my for the second SLES 10 disk. I installed SuSE on a computer a year ago, and I vaguely recall that I did use the second installation disk.

Question 3
How could I include the stuff on the second installation disk in the present system?

Thank you!

;-)

I'm not certain, but I beleive that SLES defaults to the gnome desktop. If you elected to install KDE during installation, you may have it installed.

At the login screen, look for a button labeled Session (or something similar). Click on that button, and you should see a list of the installed desktops. Select KDE if it 's listed, then complete the login. If KDE is not listed, you will have to install it. Go to YaST software management and select all the KDE elements you want to install, or use Zypper to install KDE. I haven't used zypper so I can't tell you how to use it. You will have to do some research on that part.

As for the partitioning, I'd suggest putting swap at the right hand end of the disk (as displayed in gparted. Also, decrease the size of root to about 20 gig (unless you plan to install a lot of software). The DVD installation probably uses only 7 to 8 gig, so 20 gig should be plenty. That leaves the rest for raw data, calculations, simulations, etc.
Root: 20 gig
Code: 70 gig
Swap: 2 gig

The old rule of swap = 2 X ram was for older machines with 128 to 512 meg ram. Newer machines have much more ram. You may not see swap used at all. But if you do need swap, it will be easier to increase the size of the swap partition if it's on the right hand end of the disk (as displayed in gparted).
Do you mean "how do i put the root user in it's own partition?" During the installation, when you set up the partition for the root of the filesystem, you may also set up a partiton for the root user, the /home directory, and any other partitions you want. You set up the root of the filesystem by designating the partition / as root, and another partition /root for the root user. The same procedure applies to any other directories under the root of the filesystem which you want in it's own partition.

Hi!

Thanks for your good advice bigrigdriver!

I managed to set KDE as my default session by clicking on the Session button at the Log-in screen and changing the settings.

Okay, but what if I've installed Suse and I'm not satisfied with the partitioning? Would you advise me to use GParted or the program "Partitioner" that comes as part of YAST?

I have a little experience with using GParted to shrink big partitions (such as the whole partition on which Windows is) but I don't understand how to put a directory, say /home on it's own partition.

Do I first create a separate partition, and then later somehow move it to that partition? I get stuck with the "somehow move it" part.

I looked in an ancient book about Linux, and they go on about using fdisk, but I'm a bit weary of it.

What do you suggest?

Thanks for your help!

;-)