Partitioning... of a newbie

[xaviers2002]

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!!!

[Gozar]

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!!!

I don't understand your question! However i'll try to answer anyway

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)

[Cuddles]

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

[OErjan]

/ 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).

[xaviers2002]

"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.

[mzilikazi]

"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.

No you don't need that many partitions. Only 1 for / and perhaps a swap partition if you have less than 512M RAM.
It is possible however to have multiple partitions but definitely not necessary.

I was also askying about the partition's format because QTPARTED gives me several type of format, like xt2, xt3 ntfs reiser....

Don't even worry about formatting as the installer will format the partition for you.

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?

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.

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.

You resize the NTFS partition then create a new partition. Then run knoppix-installer and select your newly created partition to install to.

[xaviers2002]

"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

[Cuddles]

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

[mzilikazi]

"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

cfdisk - it's all you'll ever need.

[xaviers2002]

X Cruddels,

Ok, so in my case I will need only 1 partition.
Thanks for Your advices