partitioning query

English Install/Boot/Login
#1

is there a way to get install opensuse on my entire hard drive when at the installation screens?

i have a 80gb hard drive and when i tried to install it, it does install and it works well, my only gripe is that when i choose ‘use entire drive’ option at installation, it just lists the rest of the free space on my harddrive and installs on that.

tried it last night as i am trying to make the move permanently to opensuse from ubuntu as i like the way suse is ran.

ubuntu took up 5ish gb of my hard drive and opensuse installed itself on the remaining 70 odd gb left.

i know ubuntu has a option to use the entire drive on installation and it does use it, so was wondering if theres a way with suse?

edit: also when i managed to install opensuse, it allocated 20gb to root and i was left with 55ish gb to play with. i was expecting to get to play with the 80gb minus the space for the OS.

#2

During installation, click on Edit partition. Once you are at the screen, partition the harddisk the way you want it. If you dont need any existing partitions then select all the partitions and delete it. After that partition ur 80GB the way u want it.

Hope that helps.

  • Thejaswi Raya
#3

thanks,

why does it allocate 20gb for root? or why does it allocate a section for root?

#4

just had another go and followed the instructions and went to edit partitions, deleted it all and it still says my main partition is 74.5gb.

#5

bump.

anyone?

#6

Hi
If you wish to use the whole drive, just create a swap partition first
(rule of thumb, twice the physical ram) and if you don’t want a
separate ‘home’ just create a / partition and use the rest eg;

/dev/sda1 swap 1GB
/dev/sda2 / <the rest>

I always go into the fstab options and use device name rather than
the device id and also give it a label eg swap and root. Set the type
as ext3 (default).

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.0 x86 Kernel 2.6.25.11-0.1-default
up 13:03, 1 user, load average: 0.03, 0.04, 0.09
GPU GeForce 6600 TE/6200 TE - Driver Version: 173.14.12

#7

first, is yours a laptop? (some manufacturers build a hidden section
that contains laptop specific utilities and stuff–delete it at great
risk)…

second, an “80 GB” driver seldom actually gives a full 80 GB of
usable space…read:
http://www.typicallyrandom.com/hddsizes.htm

–
DenverD (Linux Counter 282315) via NNTP, Thunderbird 2.0.0.14, KDE
3.5.7, SUSE Linux 10.3, 2.6.22.18-0.2-default #1 SMP i686 athlon

#8

hi,

thank you for your quick reply.

so i would go into the ‘edit partition’ tab and delete all the partitions and make a swap partition as you said.

but howcome it still says 74.5gb as the max space. i am assuming cos ubuntu took the other 5.5gb up, but even when installed, it doesnt go into a dual boot or even acknowledges ubuntu is there.

its a bit like the 5.5gb just disappeared.

#9

I think you may be confusing the difference between what hard drive manufacturers call a Gigabyte and what everyone else calls a gigabyte. The hard drive manufacturer will use a system where:
1 kilobyte = 1000 bytes
1 megabyte = 1000 kilobytes
1 gigabyte = 1000 megabytes

However, all operating systems will use a system based on a binary counting system where:
1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes
1 megabyte = 1024 kilobytes
1 gigabyte = 1024 megabytes
because 1024 = 2^10.

You can read more about it on wikipedia here.

So, what is labeled as a 80 GB drive on the box, will always show up with only having 74.5 GB available. So, you aren’t really missing anything. It is confusing though, and hopefully some day it will be straightened out.

Hope that answers your question.

#10

Hi
Yes, your correct if you just want swap and a / partition :slight_smile:

Others have commented on the difference in sizes you see :slight_smile:

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 11.0 x86 Kernel 2.6.25.11-0.1-default
up 14:46, 1 user, load average: 0.04, 0.07, 0.10
GPU GeForce 6600 TE/6200 TE - Driver Version: 173.14.12

#11

thank you malcolmlewis and elserj.

74.5gb is normal for a ‘80 gb’ hard drive.

ubuntu is hashing up my wireless, its opensuse now!!!

#12

I suggest to have a root partition, swap partition and home partition.
/ - 30 to 40 gb
swap - twice the RAM size
/home - rest of the space

This way, you can install the next openSUSE version (11.1) when it comes out without re-formatting the /home partition where you can keep all your files (mails, documents and other stuff). I have been doing this from SuSE 9 onwards!