on /dev/sda1 is Ubuntu
on /dev/sda2 is XPpro
on /dev/sda3 -couple of un-needed storage folders and a ‘frugal’ installation of Puppy Linux (which I can put somewhere else if needed)
on /dev/sda4 is /dev/sda5 or the ‘swap’
At this point, Boot is handled very nicely by grub…
being a linux noob, I’m sure I’m jumping into to many distros much to quickly, but I want to try this anyway…I’m currently able to run OpenSuse 11.1 through VirtualBox and really like the looks of it, but I want to install it on /dev/sda3…
I downloaded and burned the cd iso (not sure if the md5sum really checked out)…it installed through virtual box, but when I tried to do a ‘real’ install, I’ve gotten confused with my options…I’m afraid to proceed and screw up my current setup…
I want install OpenSuse (hopefully on /dev/sda3) and then add something to my current grub to give me the following choices on boot:
Ubuntu (sda1)
XPpro (sda2) or
OpenSuse (hopefully on sda3)…
I like the current grub loader and think I’d like to keep it. I’m assuming modification to account for OpenSuse…
What’s the easiest thing for me to do (in linux noob terms) at this point…
If you don’t want to change anything about your partitioning, it shouldn’t be too hard to do what you want. Let suse begin its install. When you get to the screen that describes the suggested partitioning, make sure it says it will use sda3, in the amount of space you described, for suse. Then make sure it is using sda4 for swap.
If it is not, you have the option of changing the partitioning scheme by clicking on it when the install shows you the page of what it intends to do. You can look at this and cancel before it does any partitioning. You can cancel the install at that point and not risk messing up your partitioning.
I’ve decided to try the install with the DVD…I’ve finished the DL and now am trying to finish the md5 checksum (seems to be taking awhile)…if that’s OK, I’ll burn a DVD tomorrow and give it a try…
you said…
If you don’t want to change anything about your partitioning,it shouldn’t be too hard
we’ll see…but did you mean I should set the partitioning up differently before I try the SUSE install??
> I downloaded and burned the cd iso (not sure if the md5sum really
> checked out)…
my free advice (you get what you pay for!):
do NOT install from that CD until you are CERTAIN the the md5sum
REALLY checked out!!
(not 99% checked out, but 100% absolutely correct…anything else might lead to YOU finding what was wrong six months or a year from
now when suddenly ALL your photos, music, doctoral dissertation,
business plan for the next big thing and etc are suddenly unreadable
and/or GONE!!)
Andy
For a future install, create a separate /home partition for you data. When you install a new version, don’t format this but mount it at /home. That way your data is accessible from all distros and isn’t lost.
If you only formatted and installed on the one partition as in your first post, your ubuntu and xp partitions are still intact.
The ubuntu install disc/live cd should allow you to recover them.
If you still want to try suse, try downloading the network boot cd. It’s a smaller download.
Also use the custom partitioning setup and choose to install on your desired partition.
do NOT install from that CD until you are CERTAIN the the md5sum
REALLY checked out!!
thanks Andy… I just didn’t realize how long it takes to checksum a DVD iso…I figured something went wrong…
anyway, found the program Furius Iso and it made Md5 Checksum easy…(I know I could have used terminal and probably will once I get more accustomed to all of this)
anyway, burning the install DVD now and will try to install to my sda3 partition later today…
I realize there may be better ways to partition my drive so all distros share the data files, but I’m just not up to that speed yet…
Mick
(just playing for now…but hoping to be leaving the Windows world soon)
do NOT install from that CD until you are CERTAIN the the md5sum
REALLY checked out!!
So far so good…I’ve dl’d, finished the md5sum and burned the DVD…I booted from the DVD and started the installation…HERES where I get real confused…
As said earlier in this thread…for the time being I want to install OpenSuse on /dev/sda3 (which is about 13gigs), then be given the option to boot from it or either of the other two partitions at startup…
Yep…I think I’m going to drive myself nuts with this…I’ve looked at the install and repartition screens ad nauseum. Every option I take seems to tell me that I’m going to end up formatting everything.
All I want to do is install OpenSuse on dev/sda3, then use the current grub bootloader to pick my boot…
Just make sure it is not formatting anything or touching anything else.
Now normally the partitioner will pick the empty space and make a proposal, I suspect if you have no empty space you may need to resort to edit then use sda3, mounting / there.
As for grub you have 2 ways take the risk and hope Suse picks it all up, if not edit that after booting Suse. Or tell Suse not to install Grub and fix the menu.lst on the distro it resides.
As long as no slip ups with formatting occur then menu.lst is easy. I’d probably go for Suse and then merge the 2 menu.lst to maintain the way the distros have written the specific lines.
Installation and HD partitioning is pretty straightforward with openSuse. You don’t need to use gparted for the installation. In my macbookPro I have: 1. Solaris, 2. Suse, 3. Fedora.
Maybe something I observed, and that can be some how an interesting information for you, is that at least to my macbook the boot loader from suse could not be installed directly in the MBR, given the partitioning:
sda (all in one same HD)
sda1 : Solaris
sda2 : x
sda3 : Swap
sda4 : x
In the end, I installed Fedora at sda4 because with Fedora it worked to put the grub/boot loader at sda. Suse also has this option for you to define where to put the grub – as the default location is sda(x),which is partition where the suse would be installed, or you may try to choose to put in other place, like sda – which probably would be better. But, the suse installation pprocess fail if you try to put it at sda. On the other hand, if you simply put it at sda(x), it means for example that the sda probably has other grub installed, just maybe inactive. Then, when you try to run the other SO at sda1, normally the suse installation craches when you will try to reboot on it.
The solution I found for my installation was to install suse not as at sda4, just put suse at sda2. For the fedora installation it worked to put the grub on sda. Then, you can choose to define as the default the OS you like at most.
Installation and HD partitioning is pretty straightforward with openSuse. You don’t need to use gparted for the installation. In my macbookPro I have: 1. Solaris, 2. Suse, 3. Fedora.
Maybe something I observed, and that can be some how an interesting information for you, is that at least to my macbook the boot loader from suse could not be installed directly in the MBR, given the partitioning:
sda (all in one same HD)
sda1 : Solaris
sda2 : x
sda3 : Swap
sda4 : x
In the end, I installed Fedora at sda4 because with Fedora it worked to put the grub/boot loader at sda. Suse also has this option for you to define where to put the grub – as the default location is sda(x),which is partition where the suse would be installed, or you may try to choose to put in other place, like sda – which probably would be better. But, the suse installation process fail if you try to put it at sda. On the other hand, if you simply put it at sda(x), it means for example that the sda probably has other grub installed, just maybe inactive. Then, when you try to run the other SO at sda1, normally the suse installation craches when you will try to reboot on it.
The solution I found for my installation was to install suse not as at sda4, just put suse at sda2. For the fedora installation it worked to put the grub on sda. Then, you can choose defined as the default the OS you like at most.
