problem installing fedora core 4 with xp home

[QASA25]

Hi all . I got a computer that is running windows xp. I want to install Linux fedora core 4 with it so i have 2 operation system at same time. My hard disk has 2 partions.

drive c: capacity :27.9 gb
free space:12.6 gb
file type:ntfs

drive d capacity :27.8 gb
free space: 27.8 gb
file type ntfs

xp home edition is already installed on partion c:

when insert cd 1 of fedora and reboot it ask me about installation options and i selected custom.(I want to run a webserver on fedora)
After selecting custom option a winow came and ask me to make root(/) partion!(i could not see drive c and h letters!) i do not know how to make root partion . i want use the partions that i already have now and install fedora on d: partion but i do not know how to tell the instalation sofware. I even tried server installation option and it ask me same thing!. I be happy if some help me with this .(A tutorial guide will be higly appreciated)

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

Linux treats disks differently to windoze.
C: is usually seen as /dev/hda and D: (if you have only one partition on each drive) is usually seen as /dev/hdb.
You need to add partitions for linux on /dev/hdb.
If you point linux to /dev/hdb I think it has an option to auto partition for you.


Trojan.

 

[Chacalinc]

and ask me to make root(/) partion!(i could not see drive c and h letters!) i do not know how to make root partion

hehehe ... windows guy...

forget the NTFS or fat filesystems, linux use ext3 by default. You need to clean the D: and leave it as *not used* so you can make the / (root) partitions and swap.

see:

http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch03s05.html.en

http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch06s03.html.en#partman

Cheers.

Chacal, Inc.

 

[Chacalinc]

also read:

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/...s1-steps-partitioning.html#S2-STEPS-SPACEREQS

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/s1-diskpartsetup.html

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/...rtitioning.html#S2-DISKPARTITIONING-GRAPHICAL

Chacal, Inc.

 

[zeland]

Paradigm shift alert! In linux, there is no c:, d: or any drive letter for that matter. In linux, you have nodes in the form of [device_type][position][partition] i.e. The first partition on your primary master ATA HDD would be known as hda1. The second partition on your secondary slave ATA HDD would be known as hdd2. SCSI HDDs are denoted by [device_type] sd. sda1 would indicate the first partition on the the first SCSI device.

Secondly, / (root) serves as the starting point of your file system. Additional nodes (partitions/devices) are then attached to this / tree. i.e. In Windows, you may have c: (first partition) for your OS and d: (second partition) as your home folder where you put all your stuff. In linux, you have / (first partition) for your OS and attach (or mount in linux) your second partition to /home. This may see strange to you now, but you'll get used to it.

As for your installation, during the partitioning part, you should see your d: as /dev/hda2 or /dev/hda5. Delete that partition and create a new partition in the free space. The mount point for this partition should be / (select from menu) and partition type should be ext3. Don't allocate all the free space to this partition as you still need to create a swap partition. Your swap partition should be 2x the size of your physical system RAM.


--== Anything can go wrong. It's just a matter of how far wrong it will go till people think its right. ==--

 

[QASA25]

Hi all. Thank u all for your replies. This is what i see:


Hard Drives
/dev/hda
/dev/hda1
/dev/hda2
/dev/hda5

I do not see any hdb. I do not want erase partion c: since xp home and my data is inside it. so which one of the above hda's should i use to create root partion? and how to create one ?I be happy if i get some help here.Thanks

 

[Chacalinc]

did you read

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/s1-diskpartitioning.html

??

read it.

Chacal, Inc.

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

BTW: Backup your data first!!!!


Trojan.

 

[zeland]

Did you actually read through anything I said?

The first partition on your primary master ATA HDD would be known as hda1

during the partitioning part, you should see your d: as /dev/hda2 or /dev/hda5

--== Anything can go wrong. It's just a matter of how far wrong it will go till people think its right. ==--

 

[QASA25]

Thanks zeland i deleted hda5

Hard Drives
/dev/hda
/dev/hda1
/dev/hda2
/dev/hda5 ---> deleted

My free space is 28569 mb. i clicked on new and followed your instruction but i do not know what size should i select for the root partion. Furthermore, could u tell me how to make swap partation and what data for each feild with size?.Thanks

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

It is usually wise to have a gig or two of swap at least.
The normal breakdown of partitions for linux is:
/boot # Small partition for main boot files and kernel
/ # Large partition where almost everything lives
swap # Swap space normally a gig or two minimum.

Often people break down other parts of the filesystem to other disks such as /tmp /usr and /var but in your case I would suggest that you can strip it all down to just 2 partitions.
/ # Entire filesystem including boot space
swap # one 2 gig swap partition.

With modern linux installs you can usually put these in either order and I like to have all partitions as primary (you are allowed 4 primaries per drive and you have two windoze partitions already so that would fit perfectly).

It might be easier for you to define the swap space first at say 2 gigs and then the root partition (/) to use the entire free space after that.

Don't forget, BACKUP your windoze data FIRST!



Trojan.

 

[Chacalinc]

It is usually wise to have a gig or two of swap at least.
...
swap # Swap space normally a gig or two minimum.

I disagree with you in this case Trojan, ussualy, swap space must be according to the phisical memory of the PC, if you have only 128MB or 256MB you don't make a partition of 1 or 2GB, that's too much! my rule of thumb is: for PC with less than 512MB, 2xRAM, more than 512MB-1GB: 1.5XRAM... +1MB: 1xRAM

Cheers.

Chacal, Inc.

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

That concept is not very realistic with the space that modern apps devour.
It used to be the way to look at it but you have to remember what swap space is used for. It actually makes sense to have more swap if you have small amounts of ram since the OS is more likely to need to swap.
Your sliding scale demonstrates that issue.
Also I would be happy with either your suggsetion or mine in this case but I find your use of the word must a little overzealous.
Still, as I said either way would probably do, after all, I've had linux machines running with no swap at all!



Trojan.

 

[Chacalinc]

yeah.. "must" doesn't sounds good in this phrase...

anyway, a system should have enough RAM in order to run all services, the idea is not use swap! ;i)

Cheers.

Chacal, Inc.

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

Agreed but that's not always possible.


Trojan.

 

[QASA25]

Thank u all for helping me installing linux . i installed it now but the problem is that when it reboted it did not give me a chance to select os . I have xp home on c . I be happy if some one help me fix this problem .I did not erase that part.Thanks

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

When the grub boot screen comes up you need to press a key within a few seconds to get the boot menu up.
Try that and let us know if you're ok.


Trojan.

 

[QASA25]

Thanks for u reply. I tried that and a screen came with name of fedora and other. when i clicked on other it booted fedora for me. Is it possible to make this screen automatically comes out on each boot and instaed of other it says windows xp home .Thanks

 

[Chacalinc]

modify the grub boot loader in order to let Windows as default. See /boot/grub/grub.conf (or menu.lst)

man grub-install

Cheers.

Chacal, Inc.

 

[QASA25]

Many thanks fo u reply. could u tell me how to ge to /boot/grub/grub.conf since i have no idea how to get to fedora file explorer.Thanks