Installing Linux, a dual boot system with Windows and Linux

[doctorjohn2]

Hi all
This is a OpenSUSE only variant of a thread I started here

Installing linux alongside windows can be quite daunting for new users. The fear of losing data is always
there, besides other problems like corrupting your boot record, getting a completely unusable system at the end, etc.
The purpose of this tutorial is to simplify the process by the use of screenshots of an actual installation (a picture is equal to a thousand words someone said).
I have covered two flavours of linux, Ubuntu and OpenSUSE. The process is very similar in other
flavours.

Assesing your hard disk, partitions
To install linux on your PC you should first make some free space available on your hard disk for the install. Click
on Start->Control Panel->Performance and Maintainance->Administrative Tools->Computer Management

[doctorjohn2]

Click on Disk Management System



I have covered a few possible scenarios you might face.
[list][*]You have a 40 GB hard disk made into four more or less equal partitions. You can see your partitions and their corresponding drive letters (C,D,etc.) in the figure below.



The idea is to free at least 20 GB for our linux install. This might seem like a lot and other's might disagree, but if you are looking for a full experience I'd recommend it. We will need this space later to make three partitons

Swap - Space=1.5 to 2 times your RAM
Root (designated as /) - stores your OS and system files, programs, etc. - Space approx 8GB
Home (designated as /home) - like the Documents and Settings folder of Windows XP. Stores your preferences, bookmarks, wallpaper, My Documents and Desktop. - Space - remaining space

The / is like the base directory in linux, into which all other directories (folders) are incorporated or "mounted". I took a very long time to understand the concept of "mounting". Don't worry about it for now, you will understand when the time is right.

So here you will have to backup the data in the last two partitions by writing it to a CD or DVD or copying to another hard disk, and delete them as shown below

[doctorjohn2]

[*]You have a 40 GB hard disk with only one partition "C". This is the scenario in many laptops. The other partition may be a back up or EISA partition. Now you're in for a rough ride. If you have made the back up CDs and DVDs from the EISA partition using the tool the vendor has provided you, you can delete the EISA partiton but you will have to first backup your data, delete all partition using a partition manager like GParted, make a small C partiton, say 20 GB, with the ntfs filesystem using GParted, and then boot from your recovery cd/dvd and restore the system.
[/list]
Resizing Partitions is something I do not recommend with any tool unless you have uninterrupted power supply in your part of the country/world or a power back up solution that lasts for a few hours.

Hardware check
With the advances in Linux and the new kernels this step may not be necessary, but will help you in troubleshooting later if required.
Click on Start->Control Panel->Performance and Maintainance->System
Click on the Hardware tab->Device Manager button
Make a note of the model numbers of your monitor, graphics card (display adapter), and any other devices.

Installing Linux
You are now going to install linux to the empty space on your hard disk that you prepared in the earlier step. Linux by itself is not a single monolithic entity unlike some popular operating systems. It is very much a collaborative effort. It consists of a core (also called a kernel) on which the entire system is built on an runs. Linux is modular. As you become more experienced, you will realise that you can add and remove modules depending on your requirement and create a highly customised system, to make a long story short - NO **** is forced down your throat. No hidden agandas, no long cryptic EULAs (the thingy which you blindly scroll down and click "I agree" without batting an eyelid), and no leash up your arse (pardon the bad language but that's exactly how I feel).

So let's get started !!

The first step in installing any linux distro involves booting from a live media, usually a CD or DVD.
SUSE CDs and DVDs can be downloaded from openSUSE.org

To boot from the cd or dvd your bios should have it as the first boot device. Alternatively some bios allow you to select the boot device. The key used for this varies with different manufacturers. To see if your bios has a boot device select menu please refer the manual of your motherboard or take help from a more experienced friend.

I suggest you try the following - insert the cd or dvd and start your pc. If your pc boots too fast simply restart windows with the cd or dvd in the drive and see what happens. Very often the optical drive would have been set as the first boot device and the system boots from the cd automatically. If it still goes to windows and refuses to boot from your cd or dvd then you will have to adjust your bios settings or search for a boot menu as I described earlier.

OpenSUSE Installation
If your pc boots successfully from your OpenSUSE DVD you will see this screen

[doctorjohn2]

Use the Up and Down arrow keys on your keyboard to select the option Installation and press ENTER. The system will start booting.

[doctorjohn2]

You will see the Welcome screen in your language. Make sure your language selection and keyboard selection is right, tick I Agree and click next



Your system will be probed



Select New Installation, and uncheck Use Automatic Configuration

[doctorjohn2]

Select your timezone from the list, and click forward



Choose your desktop. I'd recommend GNOME desktop if you have <b>less than</b> 512 MB RAM, and KDE 3.5 if you have more than that.



You will now be presented with the partitioning options. OpenSUSE "intelligently" offers to resize your windows partition and do everything automatically. I advise AGAINST using this option, and instead click Create Partition Setup

[doctorjohn2]

Select Custom Partitioning (for experts)



You will now come to a screen which shows you the layout of partiitons on your hard disk. Note the nomenclature used in linux. The first hard disk is labelled as /dev/sda Partitions withing this are labelled as /dev/sda1 /dev/sda2 so on and so forth. Now in this example, there are some numbers missing inbetween as you can see. These have gone for the extended partition. /dev/sda5 is actually my D drive, but as it is not formatted it shows up as an unknown partition. /dev/sda1 is the C drive and has an ntfs filesystem.



Select /dev/sda and click on the the Create button, you will get a dialog box as shown below



Click the dropdown list against filesystem and select swap

[doctorjohn2]

You now have to enter the size of the swap partition. For example, if you want a partition of 512 MB size, in the End box type +512M as shown below. If you want 1 GB then you have to type +1GB. Swap partition size is typically 1.5 to 2 times the amount of RAM you have.



Click OK. Now again select /dev/sda and click on the the Create button, you will get a dialog box as shown below. Select the filesystem as ext3, End as +8GB, mount point as /



Click OK. Now again select /dev/sda and click on the the Create button, you will get a dialog box as shown below. Select the filesystem as ext3, mount point as /home
Leave the End value as it is



The proposed partition table layout will get updated as shown

[doctorjohn2]

You now have to mount your Windows partitions. This will enable you to read and write to your windows partitions from linux. Windows partitions are marked as ntfs, fat16 or fat32 in the partitoner. Usually, as is also the case in this example, the C drive corresponds to the first partition on the hard disk, so it is /dev/sda1
You can also confirm this by seeing the size of the partiton in the partitioner (I am assuming that you know the size of your windows drives/partitions). So select /dev/sda1 and click Edit. You will get this dialog box



Now type /windows/c as shown in the mount point box. Click on Fstab options



In this tick mountable by user, and in the Arbitrary option value box add the entry

umask=0002

inbetween users, and fmask=133
so it should read

....users,umask=0002,fmask=133....

Please note it is umask and not unmask Click OK

Do the same for other windows partitions, the only difference being the difference in mount point. D will become /windows/d E will become /windows/E so on and so forth. There is no need to mount the partition marked as extended partition.

This is how your proposed partition table layout finally looks like.



Remember, nothing has actually happened to your partitions as yet, this is just a proposed layout, so if you make a mistake in your newly created linux partitions you can simply go back and redo the partitioning. Note the partition table down in a book and keep it safely. You will require it to rescue your system if need be, and to install the GAG boot loader later (optional but desirable). Click Next.

You will be shown, one last time the partitioning tasks that the installer is going to perform. Click Next

[doctorjohn2]

You will now be asked some details about yourself. You will have to give a password. Make sure you don't forget it. I have unchecked Automatic login and Use this password for system administrator. This need not be done if you wish so. I am kind of fixated with the traditional OpenSUSE install. Fill in the details and click next.



If your password is weak you will get these prompts. I usually give yes to override them, this is optional, you may take them seriously and give a strong password if you are in a multiuser environment.



Key in your root password (also called administrator password) and click next