It’s been a while since I’ve made a new install on a new box and, it’s the first time I’ve dealt with uefi and I’m a bit confused from all that I’ve read.
So I’m wanting to do a single boot on a lenovo g70, but all the how to’s are referencing the install partitioning as duel boot.
Plus all the search results with partitioning info have time stamps of three years or more. So I could really use some guidance please.
Should I use the installer’s partitioning program or should I partition the hd with gparted to clear out windoze before install?
What I’m looking to do on the tb drive is maybe this;
/ - 50gb (ext4)
SWAP - 4gb
/home - the rest of the gb (ext4)
Now I have read that efi needs it’s own 250 mb partition before root for linux, but again that was from 2009, and I’ve read nothing about uefi needing this.
This is very confusing that straight answers on uefi seem elusive but efi is ripe with issues and work arounds from years ago. I really don’t want to brick my drive.
Hi
I normally setup the system via a 13.2 rescue live cd to configure the drive with gdisk… but the partitioner in the install dvd should be fine since it’s just single boot. The other thing I do is put swap at the very end of the drive and set the swappiness via /etc/sysctl.conf after install;
I suggest something like;
gdisk /dev/sda
sda1 - type ef00 260MB /boot/efi
sda2 - type 8300 50GB /
sda3 - type 8300 ?GB /home
sda4 - type 8200 4GB swap
w(rite and exit)
mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1
Then fire up the install media, then at partitioning select expert and then rescan the device and set as required for partitions.
If it doesn’t start after the install because of efi issues, don’t panic as can be corrected via the live cd and efibootmgr, but cross that bridge if needed…
Thanks for the info, maybe I’ll try the live disk install then, I just didn’t want to try and configure wifi in the installer, but I guess I could drag out a ethernet cable.
Just a couple of questions; first, the question mark in your home partition example is just a space holder for the actual gigs used, or is that an option now a days? I don’t want to assume old school then miss a new function.
Second, the swap at the end, is it because of where the disk reader arms access the disk first, and if so would it matter on a ssd? Or is it something else all together?
And third, are the uefi pages available? The links in the 12.2 new user pre-install guide were both 404s, and I’d like to read them since I’ve been out of the game for awhile.
You know, rtfm and all that.
Yes, the question mark was just an indicator for what ever space you wished to allocate…
Yes, if it’s a big disk, it does depend on your end use though, if not much ram and a tendency to swap, then would put at the beginning. I always adjust the swappiness with rotating or SSD’s;
Its also worth considering the fact that because you don’t need windows you are not locked into using EFI, you should have a choice, enter what used to be called the “BIOS” and change the appropriate setting from EFI ,once it is recognised as a standard “BIOS” you can use all your standard old partitioning tools. For me this made life easier, for one machine anyway.
Placing swap partition at the end of the disk should in theory speed up access to your normal files slightly at the cost of slightly slower swap access on rotating disks (HDD). This is because of the radial geometry of a physical disk.
But, there should not be any diff on an SSD or other non-rotating media.
Of course, those are just generalizations and YMMV (Your disk scheduling algorithm and OEM disk blocks layout may further reduce differences in access).
Your procedure should be “mostly normal” using a regular install DVD.
You will need to specify during installation to wipe out all existing data on the disk which will automatically wipe out Windows and reformat your disk. If you decided to wipe the disk clean prior to installing from DVD, then the install routine will offer to install filling your entire disk by default.
