(Some different) Questions before I start....

[elldee]

Hi

There's a great thread going with a similar title in this section. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite answer my questions so I've decided to post these separately.

Basically, I have Mandrake 9.2 installed on my system. I recently tried updating this to version 10 and almost lost my system. I've since tried Knoppix, loved it, and now want to install it on my HDD. "No problem", you say. But... and here's the big question... I'd like to retain the /home partition from my present set-up. Can I do this? If so, how?

My other partitions are /usr, / and swap. Can Knoppix recognise these and use them in the same way that Mandrake does? I've done several re-installs of Mandrake where these get reformatted while /home is retained.

Alternatively, I have some spare room on my HDD - remnants of an XP install I had to wipe and have, so far, been unable to re-use. I could reformat this as ext3 and install Knoppix here. But I'd rather retain a separate /home as I've found this very useful in the past.

Thanks in advance for any and all help offered.


Lance

[mzilikazi]

What you want IS easy. The simplest method would be to install Knoppix, boot into it then edit /etc/fstab so that your existing /home is mounted on boot. It is also quite simple to edit the installer script so that other partitions are used. I have already written dircetions for it here.

Note that the installer will NOT format any partitions except /

[elldee]

What you want IS easy. The simplest method would be to install Knoppix, boot into it then edit /etc/fstab so that your existing /home is mounted on boot.

A little confused here. This sounds like I install Knoppix - creating /home in the process - then change the mount point so that /home points to my existing partition. I don't see this giving me what I want.

However, following the instructions on the other site it looks as though, by setting the HD_MAP, I can get the installer to use my existing /home for the install. This is exactly what I want as all the personal stuff I currently use with Mandrake will still be there when I boot up Knoppix.

So... if I understand this correctly.... I set the HD_MAP to mount my /, /usr and /home. I do the install and everything ends up where it should. Great.

Note that the installer will NOT format any partitions except /

OK. So how do I format /usr prior to the install?

Thanks for the response, by the way.


Lance

[Jez]

I think I know what you're trying to do, but I'm not certain. Try this:

Boot into Knoppix off the CD

1) Use QTParted to create a new partition to use as your new /home.

2) Move the contents of your existing /home (from your mandrake install, not from the knoppix CD) to this new partition.

3) Use QTParted to format your /usr partition.

4) Run knoppix-installer and go through the installation process.

Boot into your new installation, and edit the fstab to mount your new home partition to /home and your reformatted /usr partition to /usr on boot.

And that's it.

Is that what you mean? :/ I'm new to this so I may have completely misunderstood what you want. Also, the method I just gave may be a load of rubbish. I wouldn't try that unless you're sure it'll work, or unless someone else confirms it.

Good luck

[mzilikazi]

A little confused here. This sounds like I install Knoppix - creating /home in the process - then change the mount point so that /home points to my existing partition. I don't see this giving me what I want.

However, following the instructions on the other site it looks as though, by setting the HD_MAP, I can get the installer to use my existing /home for the install. This is exactly what I want as all the personal stuff I currently use with Mandrake will still be there when I boot up Knoppix.

If you add your existing /home partition to HD_MAP in .knofig the installer will overwrite any files/directories of the same name on your existing /home partition! Make sense?

Example. The installer will write .kde to /home overwriting your existing .kde

This is why I suggest running the installer, mounting up /usr in .knofig and editing fstab AFTER you boot into your new installation. If you want to reuse your existing /home partition just as it is then this is what you want. It should go without saying that one should always make a backup of the important stuff first.

Assuming you used /dev/hda2 for /home
Boot your new install.....

cd /home/username
rm -rf * .*
mount /dev/hda2 /home
xedit /etc/fstab

OK. So how do I format /usr prior to the install?

For ext3 do:

mke2fs -j /dev/hda3

[Jez]

Ah yes. I'd misread the post actually. I didn't realise /home was already on a partition of its own. Ignore my previous post .

[mzilikazi]

Ah yes. I'd misread the post actually. I didn't realise /home was already on a partition of its own. Ignore my previous post .

/home is not on its own partition by default. It is a directory under the root filesystem.
/home is only a directory UNTIL you decide to mount another partition to it. Then it is both a directory & mount point. So....you will mount the partition that contains the files/directories from /home to the mountpoint /home

[Jez]

He said

I'd like to retain the /home partition from my present set-up

Which I misread as saying "I'd like to retain the /home directory". I didn't realise he already had a partition already mounted to /home. That's all

[elldee]

If you add your existing /home partition to HD_MAP in .knofig the installer will overwrite any files/directories of the same name on your existing /home partition! Make sense?

Example. The installer will write .kde to /home overwriting your existing .kde

This sounds like what I'm after. As I said before, in the past I've re-installed (or installed a new version of) Mandrake, formatting all partitions apart from /home. On completion, all my previous settings (e.g. Kmail folders, bookmarks and address book) were retained while whatever changes came with the install were installed as desired. Now, this is what I'm trying to achieve here.


Thanks again for the responses. Thanks also to Jez.


Lance