GNewbie's Mepsi Install On 2nd HD
 

all right!

i'm ready to get going on a new mepis install to my 2nd hard drive. i'm going to use this thread to layout what i actually did to get everything working... i'm also going to use it to ask questions so i can make sure i learn and do this right along the way!

i hope it helps others and want to thank any future contributors in advance.


/dev/hda1 : Windows C (NTFS):
1st HD - WinWP

notice the change from hda to hdb below...

* /dev/hdb1 : Windows D (FAT32):
Use drive D: to store files you would like to share between Windows and Linux.

* /dev/hdb5 : swap
then put Linux swap partition next.

* /dev/hda6 : / (root)
Followed by root partition.

* /dev/hdb7 : /usr (usr)
then put Linux usr partition next (do programs go here?).

* /dev/hda8 : /home (home)
Followed by home partition.

i have a 28 gig hard drive. i'm thinking

hdb1: 5 GB
hdb5: 512 MB
hdb6: 2 GB
hdb7: 5GB
hdb8: ~15GB

do these numbers sound right?

i saw a tutorial that recommended using the logical partitions (hdx5 and above) to install linux on a dual boot system with windows. iow, hdx2-4 were apparently left unused.

what is the reason for this? does my partition structure look sound going into my install? I'm thinking of going EXT3 for the linux partitions. is it as stable as ext2?

i heard if one goes with reiserfs they can control the level of journaling. how is this done?

tia...

ok you wanted some feed back, so here's mine.

I would combine your hdb6 and hdb7 as a root only ie 7GB (can't see any reason anymore to have usr on a separate partition).

On linux you can only have a maximum of 4 physical partitions on a drive. You can make 1 an extended partition that can then be split into multiple logical partitions.

I would go for ext3 or Reiserfs. I haven't really noticed any difference .

okay, so how about...

* /dev/hdb1 : Windows D (FAT32):
Use drive D: to store files you would like to share between Windows and Linux.

* /dev/hdb2 : swap
then put Linux swap partition next.

* /dev/hdb3 : / (root)
Followed by root partition.

* /dev/hdb4 : /home (home)
Followed by home partition.

or should i leave hdb 2-4 free and start on the logical partition (hdb5+)?

when i update the OS, will i have to reinstall all the *additional* (not included in distro) programs that i install?

thanks for the advice...

Unless you are going to install another distro onto hdb, then your set up is fine as it is, and you do not need to start an extended partition.

After you have installed Mepis to the hdd, you will need to check your apt sources.list.
At the moment, it is wise at the beginning, to use the testing reps (etch) and not unstable (Sid)
to get your Mepis up to date.
Remember when upgrading packages, read the messages. You might be asked to remove things too.

BTW Which Mepis do you have?

The following link might be of interest

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...61#post1879861

Olkar
:jawa:

To olkar:

Suggest you edit that 1st post you link to to make its reference to your .pdf a true link (add [url] tags).

While I respect anyone who can master the "Winders" boot.ini syntax, I always opt to put GRUB in control because the menu file syntax is so much easier. In fact I use a "Master" GRUB that acts only as a boot manager, chaining to whatever boot loader -- lilo, a subsidiary GRUB, the FreeBSD loader, even "Winders" boot.ini etc. -- the various installers want to use.


To GNewbie:

I think this is a great project. I run a weekly GNU/Linux workshop whose 1st mission is installations for the new. I hope my experience can help, but more that I can learn something about what to do & the best way to explain it.

Q1: How big is the other hard drive?

S1: Eliminate the separate /home also.

I know there are purists & paranoiacs out there who would have had you add filesystems for /var, /var/log, & who knows what else, but it is difficult to predict how much space each will need. Unless you willing to master LVM setup & management, I suggest sticking to a single / partition.

S2: Add a separate /boot.

I don't recall if MEPIS will do this automatically, but traditionally it is considered a good idea. 1 or 2 cylinders (10 MB, give or take) should be enough. From my system:
BTW, never make a /boot or other small partition reiserfs, the journal is too large.

BTW (2), ext3 is ext2 w/ journaling overlaid on it -- it can still be mounted as an ext2 w/o the benefits of the journal.

S3: Increase the Lin swap to 1G, per MEPIS power user recommendation.

S4: Leaving the Win HD alone, boot to the Lin HD.

This can be done by either telling the BIOS to boot IDE-1, or by re-jumpering or re-cabling the drives so that the Lin drive is hda (primary master). The MEPIS installer will automatically insert a "Winders" item in the boot menu.


S5: (Quite optional.) Put the Lin swap on the Win drive.

S6: (Also optional.) Put the Win swap on the Lin drive.

Swapping to a non-system or separate drive is supposed to be faster for any OS.


I think this would give you something like this: This gets way simpler if you eliminate the 2 additional swap spaces suggested in S5 & S6.

If you provide a Lin mount point like the suggested "/D" or "/Data" for the FAT 32 common area, the MEPIS installer should take care of making the mount point & adding it to /etc/fstab. Same goes for /boot.