Newbie trying to install 18.04.1 LTS

[Marty0750]

Thank you everyone for being patient with me trying to get this done. It looks I should not have gone through the "Manual" option as that creates more complications.

GreyGeek seems to be saying the whole thing could have been done without first shrinking Windows through Computer Management. It could have been done during the CD Kubuntu install. I will back track and try again.

The difficulty I have here is there is no easy way to do this. Maybe I am starting with the wrong Linux "flavour". Is Kubuntu too "advanced"?

If you think Kubuntu is worth persisting with I will continue to take further instructions (after all I am already learning a bit about partitions etc)

[Qqmike]

In my how-to here:
Installing Kubuntu -- Using the "Manual" Installation Type, with your own partitioning
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post377688
ignore the part about GParted (if you wish), and scroll down to:

Step 2 Install Kubuntu using the "Manual" method of installation

It gives you at least some guidance about using the Manual method and how to find it.

[GreyGeek]

Why are we making this so hard? Wouldnt it be a lot easier to just create one partition in the empty space and be done with it? Are the benefits of being able to upgrade / without affecting /home really that relevant? Asking a newbie to partition when they hardly know what a partition is, let alone what sizes they need, seems to be unnecesary complicated to me?
One big partition, no swap or a swap file and done. No need to move partitions later because I got the sizes wrong in the first place.

At the end of the day separated partitions only saves a bit of time when installing a new OS, whereas people like me with one large partition will have to restore /home from the backup which hopefully was made befor the upgrade was started.

Or am I missing something here?

You are missing something. When you use the installer and it comes to the tab where you select how you are going to install it there are a few options:
One is to give Kubuntu ALL the HD. This will wipe out any other OS installed.
A second option is to share the HD with what is already on it. This option will shrink the existing OS, if necessary, and install Kubuntu along side the existing OS.
The third option is the manual install. When you click its radio button and then the "Continue" (or "Next"?) button you will be taken to a partition editor which will allow you to do anything you have the skill and knowledge to do. If you do not know how to run a partition editor, or how to partition an HD, then backup to the previous page and choose the first or second option.

[Thomas00]

Why are we making this so hard? Wouldnt it be a lot easier to just create one partition in the empty space and be done with it? Are the benefits of being able to upgrade / without affecting /home really that relevant? Asking a newbie to partition when they hardly know what a partition is, let alone what sizes they need, seems to be unnecesary complicated to me?
One big partition, no swap or a swap file and done. No need to move partitions later because I got the sizes wrong in the first place.

At the end of the day separated partitions only saves a bit of time when installing a new OS, whereas people like me with one large partition will have to restore /home from the backup which hopefully was made befor the upgrade was started.

Or am I missing something here?

[vinnywright]

Uh..oh More partitioning to do. That' why I got this message?

http://ge.tt/7Md61tr2

no , you got that message because in the "manual" setup you must click the
partition that you created and then click "change" , a window will pop up for you to select what you want to use it as and what file system you want on it ,,,,so you would select "use as /" and file system ext4 ,,,,, if you follow the other advice in the thread you can also change the size of the partition/free space and use the rest for the other suggested partitions and sizes after setting the / (root) partition .

VINNY

[jglen490]

No, use the Kubuntu installer to make the Linux partitions within the free space that you now have on the drive, using a pattern such as what was advised. Just use the free space to install along side your Windows installation.

[Marty0750]

Uh..oh More partitioning to do. That' why I got this message?

http://ge.tt/7Md61tr2


Ok I see from previous post all these extra partitions are required. What to do now?Go back to Windows Computer Management and make more partitions?

I remember years ago a friend installed Ubuntu v 11 (or so) on a laptop for me and there was nothing to it. It gave the option to install from the CD along side windows and it did it all automatically. No manual messing with partitions and sub partitions. And it worked.. The computer is long gone now so revisiting Linux again.

[jglen490]

If the "free space" that the installer is showing you is the unoccupied 87GB that you set aside under Windows, then yes.

Set up your internet connection - ethernet or wifi - before proceeding.

As was previously advised, make separate Linux partitions. I would recommend 3: one for / (root) 12GB, one for /home (your data) about 73GB, one for SWAP 2GB. You can assign each to a Primary if you want or 3 Logical partitions, depending on how your Windows space is set up and how many Primaries are left. You will want to use the installer to divide the space and to then format each partition. Lots of ways to do that, along with lots of opinions. I like the ext4 format for the / and /home partitions. The SWAP partition will be automagically taken care of, as long as it's identified as SWAP and not a swap file.

The rest is just following the installer prompts for the usual things like keyboard, time zone, your name, user name, etc. You will be prompted to let download all the apps as you are installing, or you can wait until the install is finished. If you wait, you will have a fairly basic installation without the usual stuff like an office suite. 12GB in / should be just fine for a full install and still leave some room for more apps later..

Basically, just dive in and watch what happens - and remember it's Linux and not Windows. Some things will look oddly familiar, some things not so much. Stick with us and there are plenty of great people to help you here!

[Marty0750]

Seemed easier to use Windows Computer Manager to shrink the Windows volume and left me 87GB to install Kubuntu.

I begin install from CD again and get this far.



I assume I go for "Free Space"? Then I get this...



Which do I go for? "Primary" or "Logical"? Anything else I need to anticipate?

Marty

[MadMage999]

If you run 18.04.1 using the CD, it is in Live Mode and you can run included applications. So you should be able to run KDE Partition Manager from the Live session, or the gparted application from a terminal in the Live session. just be careful - and by all means backup any valuable files/data that you have on the Windows side before crunching any of its space.

Correct regarding KDE partition manager. You can run Gparted as well, which is actually much easier to use when resizing partitions, but you will need to install it using muon or the command line. Doing so will only last as long as the livecd session is still running. IF you reboot for some reason you will have to reinstall gparted to the live session again. This has no effect on the hard drive, the LiveCD runs in memory and the USB, but will not save any changes to itself on the live medium (eg USB).

LiveCDs are very flexible this way.

[jglen490]

If you run 18.04.1 using the CD, it is in Live Mode and you can run included applications. So you should be able to run KDE Partition Manager from the Live session, or the gparted application from a terminal in the Live session. just be careful - and by all means backup any valuable files/data that you have on the Windows side before crunching any of its space.

[Marty0750]

Thank you all for the tips.

Yes it is true I have run the 32 bit Kubuntu 18.4.01 off CD ok, Err...how to use KDE Partition Manage It is a ".ymp" file If it needs Kubuntu then we have mutually exclusive dilemma! Can't use it without installing Kubuntu first and wiping Windows!

Marty

[Teunis]

But Marty writes it runs from the Live CD and the photo proves it so I wouldn't worry about the 32 or 64-bit.

Yes follow MadMage's advice, start up from the CD and use the partition manager to partition the drive.
Alternatively Windows also has a sort of partition manager to shrink the present Win7 (C drive.

Make a 12-15GB root and because you have only 2GB memory at least a 4 GB swap, the rest of the 100GB can be used for your /home.
The advantage of a separate /home is you can (re-) install without loosing data and settings.

Next you select install and use the manual mode to point to the newly made partitions.
At this time you can also include the Windows partition under either /Windows or /Dos.
This is how I've worked for many years.

[Snowhog]

Bionic in 32-bit ISO's is still available. Cosmic (18.10) is only available in 64-bit AFAIK.

[notabug]

If your laptop has an Intel 32 processor, you won't be able to install Kubuntu which only supports 64 bit processors. For you I recommend LinuxMint which still produces 32 bit versions of its 3 main releases. You may want to take a serious look at LinuxMint Mate or LinuxMint XFCE, either should work well on your laptop and are good for beginners. There are links for their 32 bit versions below the download links for the 64 bit ISO's. The link will take you to the page for the actual download links.

If you want to keep your Windows 7, you should first do a little research (see Google) on hard drive partitioning. You could lose your Windows install if partitioning is done incorrectly. Good luck and if you find that your processor is indeed 64 bit, then give Kubuntu another try or any other 64 bit Linux distribution.