Partitioning....

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Runemaster
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Partitioning....

#1 Post by Runemaster »

Hi, I have a 30gb HDD and I already have windows XP SP2, and I want to create a 2 maybe 3gb partition for linux, I've got the partition magic 8.0 and I know how to work it but my real question is, what kind of format should I use? FAT32, LinuxExt2/3, Linux Swap? By the way what is the point of have a swap partition, I know how to do it but I've never fooled with partitioning my HD till now because I know it not as easy for linux to read NTFS.

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rarsa
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#2 Post by rarsa »

1. Puppy itself has a partition manager "Gparted" on the Live CD. Partition Magic should also be OK.

2. If Linux is going to be your only OS then make it ext3. If you are going to dualboot then create an ext3 for linux and a FAT for shared data.

3. The swap partition has the same function as the "virtual memory file" in Windows. It allows the OS to use more memory than physically available. Yes, create one: If you have less than 500 MB of RAM then assign as much space for the SWAP. if it is more than 500 MB RAM then 500 MB should be enough.
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Billcnz
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Re: Partitioning....

#3 Post by Billcnz »

Runemaster wrote:I've never fooled with partitioning my HD till now because I know it not as easy for linux to read NTFS.
Actually linux has never had a problem reading NTFS partitions but there was a potential for file corruption when writing to the partition due to some of the proprietary file structure not being available to open source authors, however this is no longer an issue with the latest Puppy 2.02 having full NTFS write support. You really have a lot of choice is the way you run or install Puppy but for those who want to dual boot from the hard drive without using cd or floppy it's easiest to have Puppy installed to a linux partition.

If you're going to shrink your NTFS partition a bit to free up some space for new partitions remember to defragment it first to move files away from the end of the partition.

slvrldy17
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Using Partition Magic

#4 Post by slvrldy17 »

The hard drive in our IBM Thinkpad was set up basically as you describe using Partition Magic with no problems. By all means first run the disk defragmenting utility to clean up and compact files. As to how you divide it up, we set up the 20GB drive as follows - hda1 NTFS windows "C" drive of about 14 to 15GB, hda2 FAT32 about 4GB for Puppy files, and a "linux swap" partition of about 500MB that Window sees as an "unknown type partition" but that Puppy finds and uses with no problems. The advantage to having hda2 as FAT32 is that files can be copied from Windows to it, worked on/with and still be accessible as needed in either Windows or Puppy, also your save file will be fine in the FAT partition. This assumes that you are booting off the CD! If you follow the instructions/prompts/wizards in Partition Magic you should be able to set this up with no problems. If you want to set up a dual boot with Windows using an option 1 or 2 install other considerations would apply and some of the more advanced folks here can probably help with the how to part of setting it up.
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#5 Post by Runemaster »

Well see the only reason I want to make a partition in FAT is that when I try to mount the NTFS part of my drive a window pops up with nothing in it and it still says that the NTFS partition is still unmounted........any suggestions as to why this is happenin? because I just started with puppy about a week ago and I know the basics but I'm not good with troubleshooting puppy as I am with Windows since I know every nook and cranny of Windows...

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ezeze5000
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partitioning

#6 Post by ezeze5000 »

What version of puppy are you using?

The latest is 2.0.2

I hope this helps.
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#7 Post by Runemaster »

Yes I'm using 2.0.2......but I don't know why this is happening, i try to mount the NTFS partition which is the majority of my HD and a tiny window with nothing in it appears and it still says it's unmounted...WTF???
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mouse
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#8 Post by mouse »

Runemaster wrote:Well see the only reason I want to make a partition in FAT is that when I try to mount the NTFS part of my drive a window pops up with nothing in it and it still says that the NTFS partition is still unmounted.
Hi,
I had the same problem with 2.02 when I saved to the hda1 ntfs partition, it was no longer accessible. It seems to be a bug.

I haven't tried saving to a Fat partition, but Gparted works well in my experience, so create a partition and try it.

Mouse. :)

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#9 Post by Runemaster »

I've got a solution, I just plugged my psp in and used it like a flash drive but I'm still gonna make a FAT partition and see how it works :wink:


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I'm gonna do it, I really am this time!!!!!!!!!!! lol

#10 Post by Runemaster »

HD: 30Gb. Drive will be Partitioned as follows, starting from the front of
the drive going to the back, let me know if I sould revise this, I'm not
gonna do it just yet though I'll wait until a couple of you guys respond.



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slvrldy17
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Partitions

#11 Post by slvrldy17 »

Should be workable - My own inclination would be to make the "Linux Partition" a FAT32 to ease sharing files between Windows and Puppy but that is really a matter of personal preference. Possibly a moot point now that v2.02 has NTFS read/write capability. Not sure that Windows will read/access files in a Linux file system though. Size should work - the partition on our laptop is roughly 4GB and we haven't really pushed its capacity even with several save files for more than one version of Puppy. So your size choice should work OK. Good luck and let us know how you come out.
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muggins
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#12 Post by muggins »

for reading ext2/ext3 file systems from windows there's explore2fs available here:

http://www.chrysocome.net/explore2fs

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Runemaster
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???

#13 Post by Runemaster »

Anyone else???

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