Can't Install to the hard drive of my choice

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

I have two disk drives my production drive is SDA, my play with other distros drive is SDB.

I downloaded, burned and tried to install the latest Tumbleweed last night.

After configuring SDB to install / and /home after formatting the new partitions, with /boot on SDA, the installer wanted to install to SDA.

I can’t use another drive?

EDIT: Kubuntu 14.10 is on my production drive. No Windows involved.

#2

As you do not describe the details, I do not exactly know why you are not able to tell the installer how to partition. But:

  • if I understand you correctly, you already created the partitions you want to install on, that means that that is no more free space and the installer will try to find an alternative solution. Better to leave unused space really unused, that is no partitions on it. Then the installer will think it is free space to be used for a partition proposal;
  • what the installer tells you it will use is only a proposal. You can always change that, just use something like expert, or (also a nice one) you whole disk (of course you then tell it which one). Again, as yo do not explain what the proposal was, nor what you did to change that, we have to guess a lot here.
#3

I did use expert.

The installer had already decided I was going to use SDA and reformat my / to use Btrfs. NOT!

Then I told the installer not to format SDA /, deleted the / and /home partitions from SDB, recreated them and told the installer to format them to ext4. After all I had another operating system on that drive and wanted to replace it.

I don’t remember what the installer told me about disk partitioning and installation once I clicked Install, but I know it wasn’t going to install to SDB. I think it was something like couldn’t format SDA and the OS couldn’t be installed.

I suppose since it’s a rainy day, I could start the procedure again and take better notes, or switch cables so SDB is SDA.

#4

That might be useful.

#5

When the installer gives its proposed partitioning, click on “Create partitioning”. On the next screen, select “Custom partitioning (for experts)”.

That should take you to a screen showing existing partitions. Right click on a line, and select “Edit” to change it to what you want.

#6

Did that the first time, changed it to what I wanted, still wanted to install to sda not sdb.

I have installed openSUSE many times in the past, but never had a dual boot system.

Don’t know what I did differently the second time, but got it to install to sdb, then it booted to a grub rescue screen, but it is fixed now with a shiny new Kubuntu 15.04 on sdb, and Kubuntu 14.10 on sda.

Thanks for the suggestions! Need to play with Plasma 5 on Kubuntu 15.04 so I know what to do to make it look better when I upgrade 14.10.

#7

Nice you solved it. Enjoy!

#8

On 2015-05-17 20:46, rafter22 wrote:
> nrickert;2710333 Wrote:

>> That should take you to a screen showing existing partitions. Right
>> click on a line, and select “Edit” to change it to what you want.
>
> Did that the first time, changed it to what I wanted, still wanted to
> install to sda not sdb.

The installer needs to install something (grub) in the first disk, sda,
even if the system is on sdb. You have to enter into the boot details
section and change that.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

#9

Did that also.

I’m going to back up /home, switch the drive cables so sdb is sda because sdb is a 200 GB drive, and sda is 1 TB. I plan to use the 1TB for /home and play with operating systems on the 200 GB drive.