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I would like to install knoppix on my hd. I took a look at qtparted and it seems that I have 4 or 5 differt type of partition's format.
Since I will need 3 partitons (1 for the boot, 1 for the swap and 1 for the rest of the hardrive) is there any differnce between all the partition's format.
I was trying to resize my hardrive by using qtparted. Well the software told me that my hardrive was not defragmented. I can't believe how good this OS is!!! :D
I don't understand your question! However i'll try to answer anyway :DQuote:
Originally Posted by xaviers2002
Structure
--/ (root) File system ext3
--/--/Boot (boot partition) arount 20 to 50 mb file system ext3
(swap) form 100 mb to 500 Linux swap partition.
I useually make hda1 the boot partition and hda2 as swap and use the rest as / (root)
First of all, sorry to have to "piggy-back" this thread, but, this issue is along the same lines of the original topic...
I have been using Knoppix v3.3, and since it was my first "Linux" install, I went with the "single-whole-drive" partition scheme for my drive topography. With the new Knoppix v3.4, I want to also change my drives partitioning scheme to make future "upgrades" easier, and with less loss of information.
My current drive scheme is: No dual-boot, Knoppix-only, 41 gb device as /hda1, with a swap on /hda3 - I also have a 80 gb device, holding /hdc1 with VFAT and Win98 in about 2 gb, for WINE only, and a /hdc2 in ext3 for Linux backups and storage...
From my research, both through "General Forum - Partitioning and cfdisk and ungoofing your mbr" and with information found in Red Hat partitioning, I have come up with the following "changes" to my current device topography scheme:
/hda -=- 41 gb hard drive - Knoppix-only
-=-
/hda1 - primary, boot, ext2 - 100 mb
/hda2 - primary, non-boot, either reiser or ext3 FS - remainder of device free space - 40.99 gb
------/ - logical, either reiser or ext3 FS - 3 or 5 gb -> used for root
------/ - logical, either reiser or ext3 FS - 1.5 gb -> used for home/user
/hda3 - primary, non-boot, ext3 - 500 mb (my current swap partition, reused)
Now, the questions...
Where, and what, uses the remainder of my /hda2 partition? I prefer to use ext3 for my file system, but many have suggested reiser, does it really matter? Is 3 to 5 gb a good number for the root partition? Is 1.5 gb a good number for the home/user partition? Does the home/user partition contain all users home areas, or just one users home - thus, if more than one user is added, another partition should be created for them as well?
I have not examined the documentation on breaking-off the /home directory yet, I wanted to get an idea of my drives topography first, and then begin to tackle the "symantics" after ironing down the drive.
I also have a large folder that I maintain as a "global" user storage area - this folder is shared among all users, and is contained on the same /hda1 device in my "current" drive map, and is included in the 41 gb drive. ( so far, I have a 41 gb hard drive, broken down into 40.5 gb as Linux, and 500 mb for swap. /hda1 is in ext3 file system, showing in KDiskFree as a partition of 37.3 gb total space. Of this 37.3 gb ( I take it that I don't have 40.5 gb total because of "overhead" needed for ext3 format? ) -=- I have 19.2 gb free on the partition, and am using 48.5 % of the total partition.
I am not sure if what I am planning is viable, or even effective, so, input is welcomed - I just want to make the next major release of Knoppix, easier to install, without having to "gut 'n' install", which is what I have had to do in the past. I would like to retain as much of what I have done; users, settings, configs, etc... even when I have to "upgrade" the OS underneath. And, from what I have heard, this "multi-partitioning" scheme is the way to go about it...
Any ideas, clues, input, suggestions, banter, flames ( constructive ), is more than welcome, as long as it gets this poor-soul to understand just what the heck I am doing here...
Thanks for any, and all, assistance,
Ms. Cuddles
/ i usually make 5Gb (LOTS of space left).
/boot i make about 50Mb.
/home as one large (mine is 30 Gb) partition is a good idea. as most files YOU use are saved in that directory.
/SWAP (mine 500mb).
"I don't understand your question! However i'll try to answer anyway"
I was mentioning 3 partions because Knoppix doesn't work like windows so I need 1 for the boot, one for the 'home and 1 for the root.
I was also askying about the partition's format because QTPARTED gives me several type of format, like xt2, xt3 ntfs reiser....
Also, is it normal for You that I get the message "your hardrive is no defragmented"? That means that knoppix is able to see windows files and the fact that the hardrive is not ready to be resized, right?
Because what I have to do is first resize the ntfs partion and than change the free partition to ext3...or reiser, correct?
The qtparted is v0.4.4.
Thank You for all your advices.
No you don't need that many partitions. Only 1 for / and perhaps a swap partition if you have less than 512M RAM.Quote:
Originally Posted by xaviers2002
It is possible however to have multiple partitions but definitely not necessary.
Don't even worry about formatting as the installer will format the partition for you.Quote:
I was also askying about the partition's format because QTPARTED gives me several type of format, like xt2, xt3 ntfs reiser....
I'm not overly familiar w/ qtpated, in fact I'm not even sure I've ever used it :) but anyway.....It wouldn't be a bad idea to defrag your ntfs partition before trying to resize it.Quote:
Also, is it normal for You that I get the message "your hardrive is no defragmented"? That means that knoppix is able to see windows files and the fact that the hardrive is not ready to be resized, right?
You resize the NTFS partition then create a new partition. Then run knoppix-installer and select your newly created partition to install to.Quote:
Because what I have to do is first resize the ntfs partion and than change the free partition to ext3...or reiser, correct?
The qtparted is v0.4.4.
Thank You for all your advices.
"I'm not overly familiar w/ qtpated, in fact I'm not even sure I've ever used it ".
So which program do You usually use?
Thanks
xaviers2002,
As a side note, Knoppix doesn't require 3 partitions, I am currently using only 2 partitions, and one of those isn't really needed if I had enough memory -=- 1 GB or more -=- You can run Knoppix, on a hard drive install with only one partition.
If your system has more than 1 GB of RAM, you can get by without the SWAP partition.
From what I have seen, possible partitioning schemes can be of the following:
1 ) One "Linux" partition.
2 ) Two partitions: One "Linux", and one "Linux Swap".
3 ) Three partitions: Two "Linux", one for ROOT, one for HOME, and a "Linux Swap".
4 ) Four partitions: Three "Linux"; one for BOOT, one for ROOT, one for HOME, and the "Linux Swap".
4 ) More than four partitions; the combination of any of the above, plus any "extra" ones that you want.
As for the different file systems...
ext2 provides the "Linux" file structure, at least it isn't FAT or VFAT or NTFS. ( so this is a "native" Linux file system )
ext3 provides the same as ext2, but provides additional "journel" recovery, like having Windows Word save a backup of your document as you are working on it, if a problem happens, like a system crash, or program crash, the Word program can "rebuild" the document to what it was at the point of "backup" as a recovery. The same is true with ext3, but at a system level ( os ).
Never worked with Reiser, but I think it is kinda like the ext3 file system - others have more information on its pro's and con's.
If you are going to use Knoppix/Linux on a hard drive install, you should go with the file system that is native to the operating system, either ext3 or reiser, imho.
Hopefully this background helps, I noticed from your original post that these things were not covered or explained, so, here ya go...
Ms. Cuddles
cfdisk - it's all you'll ever need. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by xaviers2002
X Cruddels,
Ok, so in my case I will need only 1 partition.
Thanks for Your advices
X mzilikazi,
Does this mean that qtparted is not able to do the partition? Because from what I saw it seems that this program does nothing but showing the partition ES. ext3 reiser etc..., does not format or mount the hardrive.
Maybe this is why You are telling me that cfdisk is the only program I need.
Thank You for Your advices.
Well qtparted can make partitions and resize partitions and maybe it can format them too but it's rather easy to format a partition yourself like so:
mke2fs -j /dev/hda3
That puts an ext3 format on hda3 but as I said the installer will also format your partition for you.
xaviers2002,
I think the reason why mzilikazi is saying that qtparted is not needed, and all you need is cfdisk, is the following...
Qtparted does a lot of things, resize, change format, format, mount, etc... And yes, cfdisk is only a partition tool, not one as "multi-functional" as qtparted, but none the less, a very good, and always included, tool for partitioning.
Lets see if I can use an analogy on this one...
Qtparted is like a Swiss Army Knife, with tons of tools on it, whereas, cfdisk is a screwdriver, made to do one thing, and do it the best it can.
If you need a complete toolbox, at a moment notice, the Swiss Army Knife comes in quite handy, but, if all you need is a screwdriver, and you had the Swiss Army Knife and the screwdriver, you would probably use the screwdriver for the project. ( because it was made specifically for use as a screwdriver )
You can use qtparted for doing what you are asking, nothing wrong with that, just that cfdisk was made for just this purpose - partitioning - its all it does, and it does it best. It is always included in any Knoppix install ( not sure of this, so don't quote me here, I think it is included with almost all Linux distro's ) - not so with qtparted.
The Knoppix installers use cfdisk for partitioning, so if you get used to using it, you can't go wrong. I think the idea here is, if you look at a auto mechanic, they have tons of tools to use, and the reason for it is, if they need to do something, they have the right tool for the job. They could use a cresent wrench for something, but if they have a set of open-ended wrenches, they would most always use the open-ended set over the cresent, if they have them available, because thats is what they were made for specifically.
The same is true for Windows and Linux tools... You shouldn't use fdisk for Linux, and probably, not use cfdisk for Windows. You would use the right tool for the right job.
If you want to use qtparted, go for it, but during the install of Knoppix, it is still going to start up cfdisk to do your partitioning for you. If you already did your partitioning beforehand, then you would just exit/quit out of cfdisk when it starts up.
Hope this helps,
Ms. Cuddles
ok thanks,
What do You think is the best way to go: install knoppix at boot or let the cd install itself on the ram and than run knx2hd?
thanks
Using the toram cheat really won't affect the installation except it may be faster. Not sure on that one.....Quote:
Originally Posted by xaviers2002
knx2hd is just a symlink to knoppix-installer
I usually just boot into run level 2 and run the instaler from there. Why waste system resources running X and KDE when you don't even need them for the installation?
Ok thanks,
What "run level 2" means?
As a side note mzilikazi,Quote:
Originally Posted by mzilikazi
I needed to run the X and KDE interface, as far as I could figure out. In v3.3 I could, for the life of me, never get alsa working, so I booted completely into Knoppix off the Live CD, with the alsa cheatcode, and then did the install, and it gave my hard drive install an "inherited" alsa install - which I could never get any of the alsa stuff to work, even when I followed all the instructions to the letter. I hope to test this inheritance thing out in v3.4 as well, since it worked for me. So, I would say that if you want to use the Live CD to inherit boot cheatcode configurations, from within X or KDE, you might need to let Knoppix's Live CD boot all the way into them, and do the install from a konsole in KDE.
Just my thoughts,
Ms. Cuddles
run level 2 is attained by typing the number '2' at the boot prompt along w/ any other cheats you need to boot correctly.
Hi, I'm new here and on UNIX so I hope that you will be nice nice with me :)
Here's my case... I've been given a copy of knoopix by an actual stranger with whom I've talk only once of Unix in my neibourhood !
Of course, being a Window user all my life and tired of it, i've tried the CD and decided to install it ( HD ) on a old PC that I had... 4 geg, pentium 450 with a little RAM and/but my HD was already formatted by the way...
To make a long story short, I've partition the disk in 2 .. one for SWAP and the other of free space like mentionned in knoopix.. Or in Qpart if you prefer!
Everything seems to work perfectly but the problem is that all I see on my desktop is partition HDA2 giving me 382 B of space.... and i'm supposed to have and to see someting like 1.2 GB available.... I probably did someting wrong in the partition part but hey, I've seen it and installed it in a day ! :)
It's my first week dealing with Unix so please dont laught ! :oops:
Hope I will get some help here, Thanks !
PS... Sorry for my english, I'm french-Canadian !
As long as you're not French-Canadian we might be nice. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by satyre
Open a terminal,
get root
su
issue:
fdisk -l
and
free -m
Post the output of each please.