Partitions

[ponygirldefiance]

Re: Partitions

since we are on a roll here. can a partition be adjusted once its formatted and the system is in stalled on the hard drive. or will it mess up the OS? i thought i read some place about resizing a hard drive with a OS installed.

[dibl]

Re: Partitions

Yes this is what I meant.

/-------root partition
-/home--Could stay on the / or by itself(your preference) for config files only(user config,bookmark, all the hidden stuff)
/swap---Whatever you require
/personal files--- to keep independent of the OS

I see the logic, Erie -- this is actually a pretty good scheme. From Dapper to Gutsy, I've done a clean re-install of the Beta version each time, and of course there's always a little "cleanup" job wrt those dis-connected personal settings that are left over from the prior OS in the /home directory/partition, which I use in the conventional manner for my data. So, separating /home from /data does have a certain attraction. Thanks!

[Qqmike]

Re: Partitions

"since we are on a roll here. can a partition be adjusted once its formatted and the system is in stalled on the hard drive. or will it mess up the OS? i thought i read some place about resizing a hard drive with a OS installed."

Re-sizing a partition:


In general, yes, you can re-size an existing partition (having an OS), assuming there is room. (And people use, again, GParted to do this.) For most users, most of the time, no problems. However, reading the posts, there seem to be subtle/limiting issues now and then. For example, it’s easier, I think, to move the end point of a partition than it is to move the starting point (where the OS/files are placed at the beginning of the partition). And so on. I have not encountered all the gotcha’s, but I’ll bet some others here have seen a few exceptions or tricky points on re-sizing.

[kubicle]

Re: Partitions

why would anyone want to loose their $HOME/.kde? or $HOME/.mozilla?

One might wish to start 'fresh' with a new installation, or just to check the default settings for a distribution, although a more likely use case scenario is using the data partition on multiple OS installations on the same machine (or as a network share), and still keeping the configurations separate (like having different configuration for several linux installations)

since we are on a roll here. can a partition be adjusted once its formatted and the system is in stalled on the hard drive. or will it mess up the OS? i thought i read some place about resizing a hard drive with a OS installed.

Possible, as qqmike explained. There's a (small) risk of data loss with resizing partitions, but most of the times it can be done with a bit of reading and work. Just to be safe, remember backups. (Of course it's easier to get the partitioning right the first time )

[klerfayt]

Re: Partitions

why would anyone want to loose their $HOME/.kde? or $HOME/.mozilla?

One might wish to start 'fresh' with a new installation, or just to check the default settings for a distribution, although a more likely use case scenario is using the data partition on multiple OS installations on the same machine (or as a network share), and still keeping the configurations separate (like having different configuration for several linux installations)

create a new temporary user to check out the distro's default settings; + wiping clean $HOME/.* files with every linux os installation just isn't worth it...

[kubicle]

Re: Partitions

create a new temporary user to check out the distro's default settings

Good point, or one could just use the livecd for most distributions.

I'm not saying one should wipe it or that it would be 'worth it' for everyone or all cases, just pointing out there are use cases when someone (maybe not you or me) might prefer it. Maybe just to get rid of 'old' configurations of uninstalled programs.

This really is mostly a non-issue as one can wipe or backup /home regardless of partition setup. Different people have different preferences.

[Qqmike]

Re: Partitions

kubicle: “This really is mostly a non-issue as one can wipe or backup /home regardless of partition setup. Different people have different preferences.”

That’s for sure – I agree. I can upset this discussion with a contrarian view (to klerfayt). I actually like installing fresh for updates and re-doing my settings because it keeps me in touch with what those settings are and how to do it each time. I keep a log in OOo Writer where I record how I’ve set up Kubuntu, so that helps. Having said that, my user needs are not elaborate (ie, no TV, no sound studio, no CAD, no etc.). Basically, it’s the standard stuff – settings/config for OOo, Firefox, T-Bird & Flash--latest versions (from ubuntuzilla), HP printer setup (now trivial thanks to HPLIP in the menu), 2 HDs one external USB HD (fstab checking), etc. Re-doing this stuff is like another learning experience for someone who doesn't have a good memory for such mundane details.

[dibl]

Re: Partitions

Re-doing this stuff is like another learning experience for someone who doesn't have a good memory for such mundane details.

aka "old senile guys", right Qqmike?

I agree. Not to be argumentative, but the cleanup of "obsoleted" user settings in /home is like a 5 minute job here, when a new installation of the OS is performed on my system. The new Firefox automatically picks up the prior Firefox bookmarks, I nuke the old desktop icons, of which there are maybe 4 or 5, and replace them with their new counterparts, and most of the other custom stuff (Grub splash screen, USB stick mount points, Amarok collection-building, etc.) all has to be done manually anyway, so that's just a consequence of choosing to install the newer OS.

[ponygirldefiance]

Re: Partitions

ok another partition / formatting question and i think im done.

i would like to format my drives to ntfs but it only offers these options when i go to set up the partitions.
ext2
ext3
reiserfs
jfs
xfs
fat16
fat32
swap
efi
dontuse

anyway around this or is one of these the ntfs?

Thanks

[dibl]

Re: Partitions

You can't use NTFS for your Linux filesystem. You can certainly use it for "data" or "shared stuff". I don't know whether GParted will actually do a NTFS format or not -- I'm thinking you need a Micro$oft product to do NTFS formatting.

For Linux, ext3 is the most popular filesystem, by far. I happen to use reiserfs, and it's been very reliable, but it is heading toward the end of its developmental life, so I don't think it has much future. XFS and JFS are kind of "exotic" for desktop and laptop users -- I wouldn't advise you to do that unless you really want to study up on them.

[ponygirldefiance]

Re: Partitions

Thanks that cleared up a lot of the unknown about all of those formats. Thanks Again everyone is so helpful on here, i like that.

[eriefisher]

Re: Partitions

The stand alone Gparted disc will format to NTFS. I have used it to repair windows boxes without trouble. I would not use NTFS for Linux instead I would stick to Ext3, it's very reliable.

eriefisher

[Qqmike]

Re: Partitions

GParted capabilities:

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/features.php

(also answers the shrink/grow question)

[dibl]

Re: Partitions

Good to know -- thanks guys.

Any of you ever played with JFS or XFS filesystems?

[integr8e]

Re: Partitions

How about reiserfs?