XP-Mandrake 8.2 dual-boot install questions

[adkmom]

Howdy all-

I have this same set of questions at the end of another thread so thought I ought to post where more would see. I've been told here that the free space on my slave drive will be fine for Mandrake & that I don't even have to partition or format it- Mandrake will do the job.

Now, let me run a few more things by you? These are some things I've read are good to do when setting up Linux- you tell me if they're true or not:

set plug-n-play to "disable" in BIOS before starting installation;

that a mount point must be determined before starting the installation- if this is so, how do I know where to start this? What I read said to mount Linux 1-2GB inside the partition that you're loading it on-true?

On a different site I also saw this & noted it to verify with someone who might know:

/ext2 - 1200mb
/usr/local ext2 - 4000mb
/usr ext2 - 2000mb
/home ext2 - 4800mb
swap - 1000mb

this was based on a 13GB partition which is close to what I have left. I have no idea right now exactly what all this means but I can research further if it looks like something worth doing.
My main concern is hopefully NOT screwing up a new, pristine install of XP Pro if I can possibly avoid it.

Thanks to any who can help with advice & opinions,
T

 

[RiezalR]

adkmom,

Free space on your slave drive. Is this space un-used by your Windows XP? OR is this space unallocated, that means that it is not on the same partition as Windows XP? You have to clarify this first. If XP is in a partition of its own, and this free space is outside the XP partition, then your Windows XP would be safe. Just don't mess up your Master Boot Record (MBR), even if you do, there are ways to get things back to normal. For now, you shouldn't worry about that. Read this thread thread619-405746, it might help you

Regarding the mount points, things doesn't have to be that complicated. I am unfamilliar with installing Mandrake but i've installed a fwe Redhats. If its the same, then setting mount points isn't as complicated as you described. When the installation program is running, it would detect your partitions and list out the current partitions and the amount of free space that you have. So from here, you can just set the mount point on the partition that has that free space. You dont need to specify the sizes of all those dirs if you dont want to. You can just set mount as /, and all the dirs and files will be installed under that mount point.

 

[smah]

1) bios plug n play actually should have been set to 'no' for XP also.
2) mount point must be determined before starting the installation Whoever said this just meant that you need to know where you're going to put it before you start - aka you're free space on the second drive
3) Linux partitions things differently than windows. A linux installation could have many different parttions within it. There are many schools of thought and it depends on what you're going to do with this machine. For now, you should probably stay with what mandrake will recommend when you do the install. After you've used it for a while you'll be comfortable to do some custom partitioning at your next install.

 

[adkmom]

Thanks smah & cod3x-

Yes, my "free space" is just that: 13+ GB's at the end of my 40GB slave drive- not partitioned, not formatted, no drive letter- nada. XP Pro is the kingpin on the master 60 GB HD- 3 partitions there. On the slave drive I have 15GB NTFS for extra XP storage, 10GB of FAT32 for a shared folder for all, & the leftover 13GB's for Mandrake 8.2.

Yes, I do know that it's best to load Windows first as it cannot see Linux but the reverse is true. I also know that operating systems need their own partition. What had me somewhat confused is the requirements as far as where Linux is installed on the various disks. I think it's a recent advancement from older versions that it's becoming much easier in that regard.

I'm wondering now on the install itself. I have read that if I go with the default (auto) install I get only KDE w/o GNOME - if I do "expert-advanced" I can pick. Is this a biggie- or can I go back & install GNOME later? I assume so if it's on the disk. Is it an all-or-nothing like this? Or is there a screen where I can choose other apps? If so, a personal list of fav's would be great (& what they do).

Opinions on ext2 vs. ext3? Pro- con? I realize that it's impossible not to have a screw up but I'm trying to keep it to a min. With all installs lately, I'm keeping a logbook. Hope to help others with it down the road.

Thanks to you both for your insight,
T

 

[smah]

With Mandrake's installer you will be asked to choose what groups of packages to install. KDE & Gnome will be selected for you already you can also choose 'Other' desktop environments. Even using the standard install, at the bottom of the basic package selection (Workstation, Multimedia, Server etc) you can still choose to 'install individual packages' or something like that. This will give you the choice of individual programs and a description of each. It's easy to install apps of the cd's later anyway.

As far as partioning, when you get to that point, select hdb and select your empty partition (I think that it will be shown white) then pick the button for auto-allocate. I think that the simple allocation will split it into 3 different partitions and you should be all set.

 

[adkmom]

Well,

I'm up & running with Lycoris! I had intended to put both Lycoris & Mandrake 8.2 on that 13GB's of free space but Lycoris hogged it all.

Can you tell me if there's a way to get Mandrake's Diskdrake to "steal" some space so I can get it on there, too?

Thank you!
T

 

[garp54]

hey adkmom,
this has already been mentioned, but in case you missed it...Mandrake does an excellent job of "re-partitioning"...let it do the work,during the install, tell it to make space. I'd also suggest you allow it to set the boot loading, then it won't matter where XP is, people seem trepidatious about altering the MBR, but it's just another sector. You will have to select your OS on all subsequent boot ups, but really, is that much of a compromise. I've not played with lycoris, but having used RH and SuSE for years, I am absolutely amazed with Mandrake 9.0. Really this is the point of this post, you have got to try it. I clung to SuSE long after they seemed to lose enthusiasm for the whole idea of OSS, (slow to provide current d/l's, waning support of user community support, just a very "unfriendly" attitude). And that's a shame, but, Mandrake delivers, though the 3 cd d/l doesn't give you everything you need upon install, it forces newbs to get their finger (tips) dirty, and that's a good thing.Do try Mandrake, and let us know what you think. garp

 

[adkmom]

Hey Garp-

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I had seen that mention of Mandrake partitioning but no one really explained the whole thing.

You're saying that I can boot to the first Mandrake CD (I have 8.2 d/l'd) & it will recognize that Lycoris is there & will allow me to repartition the space Lycoris currently resides in? Can you tell me this: There's 12GB of space that Lycoris has taken plus swap of 128mb's. I read that Mandrake can share the swap. How do I know how much/how to figure out the mount points for Mandrake? Since XP Pro is on the system also (different partition & disk) I'm concerned (not really trepidatious) that I don't goof this up.
Lastly, what do I do, if the install stops/hangs/etc...to get out of it w/o screwing up the remaining op. systems? Is there a way to "abort" an install in case of trouble?

Please, any Mandrake-dual-boot tips, Linux install help, appreciated!

T
P.S. One more thing? My Lycoris desktop image doesn't take up the whole screen- I have black showing left & top. Where do you alter this sort of problem?
Other than that, Lycoris is great so far- though I haven't done much beyond email, internet, setting up sound card. I haven't attempted CD burning yet but very soon.

 

[adkmom]

Hi all-

Can any other Linux guru's check this last post & offer some tips/advice?

Very much appreciated in case "garp" is not online.

Thanks!
T

 

[sethanon31a]

Hi there!

The reason that some users suggested that linux be given a number of partitions / mount points is quite simple... If everything is mounted under / (root) then if you re-install Linux it will overwrite everything in your home and user directories, whereas if these reside on separate partitions with their own mount points, as /home and - or /usr then only your "system" will be re-installed, and your data and personal settings should remain intact. As for dual boot (should that be tribple boot?) XP / Linux "Distro A" Linux "Distro B" please post in clearer terms what you would like to see, and I will try and oblige if you are still interested (as your post is a couple of weeks old)???

 

[adkmom]

Hi Set,

Actually, this whole deal is royally screwed up now.
I went ahead & dropped the Mandrake install disk in & went through it- I did use "expert" for a time, but only to choose certain programs- the rest went default.
When everything was done, I copuld only boot to Mandrake- I didn't get any boot choice. What the ????
After much/many attempts to figure it out, I ended up running FIXMBR by booting to my XP CD. It wasn't until many reboots later that I realized the Mandrake floppy was in the drive the whole time (I blame my 3 yr. old who must have pushed it back in).
Long story short, I don't know now if my install would have run fine before I did the FIXMBR deal -w/the floppy ejected? In addition to this fiasco, now my 40GB drive shows as 56- the 16 total GB's used by both Linux is counted twice- once showing it's actual parts, once showing as 16GB's of unallocated space- very weird, eh?

I'm not completely broken up about it all- I'll start over. In fact, I now have Virtual PC & may go ahead & use that next time since my main objective was to familiarize myself with Linux, not dual-boot.

I'd appreciate comments on what I've described (other than "take the floppy out next time -

T

 

[psychoplop]

Do run Mandrake installation disk again, without installing something.

It should fix your bootloader.

Psycho