On partitioning during dual-boot install of openSUSE 13.1

English Install/Boot/Login
1

G’day all,

I have a brand-new Dell inspiron pre-loaded with Windows 8.1 and on which I am hoping to set up a Linux distro in a dual-boot configuration. The machine has 1 TB HDD and 8 GB RAM. I have already shrunk the Windows system partition (C:) to 80 GB and setup a separate 400 GB NTFS partition for Win data and/or sharing with Linux. I once successfully managed to get Fedora dual-booted with WinXP on a laptop, but that was a long time ago (Fedora 10 or 12 IIRC).

I’ve decided on openSUSE 3.1 and have downloaded the full .iso and set it up on a bootable USB drive. I was expecting to be able to set up the Linux partitions during the install process. I had planned to set up 3 partitions: 8 GB for swap (= RAM size), up to 50 GB for /, and the rest of the disk for /home. I was planning to mount the earlier-partitioned NTFS chunk on /media/blah.

However the installer recommends only 2 GB for swap and 20 GB for root. Choosing to edit this and resize the partitions, the installer insists on these values being maxima; I can choose lesser values but not greater.

So we come to the questions:

  1. How can I allocate larger swap and root partitions during the install process?

  2. How much space ought to be sufficient for these partitions? I’d always thought swap should be at least as big as RAM, and that it didn’t hurt to leave a bit of space on / for future updates, software installs, etc. However I suspect that the OpenSUSE installer is limiting these values for good reason …

and was I wise to allocate the NTFS shared-partition (to be mounted on /media/foo) from Windows?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

2

How did you try to edit there? When the proposal is something like:

  • sda5: 2GB for swap (BTW there earlier should have been a checkbox to say something like “enlarge for hybernating”, when you check this, it will be made 7BG if I remember correctly);
  • sda6: 20GB for / (adequate in most cases, I have only 30% of it in use);
  • sda7: the reast for /home,

you can not simply edit sda5 and say: make it larger. There is no space because sda5 (and sda6) is in the way. Thus first delete sda6 and sda5, then enlarge sda4, then create a new sda5 and then a new sda6 (to your liking).

But as you did not tell how you trioess to get what you want, the above may be useless to you.

3

On 2014-07-15 07:36 (GMT) Blinky composed:

> the installer recommends only 2 GB for swap and 20 GB for root.
> Choosing to edit this and resize the partitions, the installer insists
> on these values being maxima; I can choose lesser values but not
> greater.

> So we come to the questions:

> 1. How can I allocate larger swap and root partitions during the
> install process?

http://fm.no-ip.com/SS/Suse/yast2-02-part-2d0768.png

> 2. How much space ought to be sufficient for these partitions? I’d

The minimum is pretty small, so it depends on what you plan to do. With 8GB
RAM few people actually need any swap, except to be able to suspend to disk
(which I never do, as I have no laptops, and all my systems are multiboot).

I have openSUSE / partitions as small as 4GB. Most people who are not
building software probably need no more than 5-8GB. With 20GB for / and a
separate /home most non-programmers will probably wind up using no more than
30% of the available space. With disks upwards of 500GB there’s really little
point in not providing generously. With 1TB it makes little sense not to have
2-3 / partitions: 1 for now, a 2nd for a fresh install of the next release
when its time comes, and a third or more for experimenting. When you have
more than one, any can serve as a convenient repair device for any others
that get fouled somehow.

> always thought swap should be at least as big as RAM, and that it didn’t

Swap = or bigger than RAM is a proper rule of thumb for suspenders, but
rather archaic otherwise. RAM used to be a precious commodity, long, long,
long ago.

> hurt to leave a bit of space on / for future updates, software installs,
> etc. However I suspect that the OpenSUSE installer is limiting these
> values for good reason …

The limit is a general purpose indication of how little is typically needed.
One size does cannot be optimal for all. If you want custom, you have the
option to go fully manual via expert mode.

> and was I wise to allocate the NTFS shared-partition (to be mounted on
> /media/foo) from Windows?

No good reason not to.

Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/

4

Henk, that was very useful to me, you have helped me to solve the problem. Thanks muchly.

Felix, you have also given some sage advice; I shall create an empty partition for future use. Thanks to you too.

5

Glad it helped you.

And indeed, I just today installed a new system with two partitions fit as root partition as I always first install a new openSUSE version alongside the existing one. Another bonus is that after you switched prduction to the new version, the old / is till available, can be mounted (best read-only) to look e.g. how a certain configuration file in /etc was in the old version. In the first few weeks of a new system that may be of enormous help.

6

For comparison, on my Dell Inspiron 660, I have 10G for swap (probably too much, but better safe than sorry), and 40G for the root file system.

My personal practice is to partition the disk with booting a live system, before I start an install. That makes it easier for me to control the partitioning.

However the installer recommends only 2 GB for swap and 20 GB for root. Choosing to edit this and resize the partitions, the installer insists on these values being maxima; I can choose lesser values but not greater.

It’s been a while since I did it that way. My best recollection is that you have to first tell it to reduce the size for the home partition. Then it should allow you to increase the size of swap and root partitions. Then re-edit the home partition, and enlarge it to as big as you can to use all available space.

If you don’t first reduce the home partition size, it won’t allow you to increase other partitions because there is no space left.

My preference is to ignore the suggested partitioning, and click the “Create partitioning” option. Then you get to create your partitions before the space has all been taken by the suggested partitioning.

  1. How much space ought to be sufficient for these partitions?

For swap, it depends on how you use your system. I’m sure that I could do with a lot less than the 10G I allocated. But disk space is cheap these days.

For root - I allocated 40G. I actually use around 10G, but I want some space for growth, and I want it large enough to handle the software bloat of going to future versions. As it turns out, 40G might be just about right with the “btrfs” file system, though I decided to stay with “ext4”.

and was I wise to allocate the NTFS shared-partition (to be mounted on /media/foo) from Windows?

I’ve always done that, up through Windows 7. But I did not do that for Windows 8.1. Whether it is wise depends on your practices. I suppose the reason I did not do that for Windows 8.1, is that I intended this to be a linux only computer, and am keeping the Windows only for experimenting.

However, I mount that partition as “/windows/D”, since it will be “D:” in Windows. Best not to try mounting on “/media”.