partitions...eh?

[froot]

Hi Am a bit stuck trying to install ubuntu lucid on my brand new novatech core pro laptop (which I am delighted with, btw). I got to the partitioning and was instantly stumped - Please see the image below, a screenie of gparted.

I have never seen anything like it, but then I no expert. I am happy about resizing the partition marked data, but concerned re grub as it seems the windows mbr is mounted on the partition marked 'boot'. What effect does (or doesn't) have on grub when the ubuntu installer plonks it on the hd?

Is it safe to install on the free space created by shrinking the data partition and using the space thus freed? Will grub install on a different partition than the one marked boot, if so does the boot partition, and anything on it override grub?

Thanks a lot for any help that you are able to give, I really appreciate it!

And here's the screenie of gparted:

http://www.larryfroot.co.uk/testing/gparted.png

[codemonkey]

GRUB is your boot loader for linux. It won't boot without it (or some other boot loader) and as such will be installed to the MBR. The boot partition is still required as a seperate partition to the MBR.

However, GRUB will detect if Windows is already installed and will give Windows as a boot option. So each time you turn the laptop on you will have to choose between Windows or Linux.

It's fairly easy to get rid of too (at least it used to be in XP), you just ran the fixmbr command.
Windows 7 is a bit different and can be researched here: -

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

[alecjw]

Hi Am a bit stuck trying to install ubuntu lucid on my brand new novatech core pro laptop (which I am delighted with, btw). I got to the partitioning and was instantly stumped - Please see the image below, a screenie of gparted.

I have never seen anything like it, but then I no expert. I am happy about resizing the partition marked data, but concerned re grub as it seems the windows mbr is mounted on the partition marked 'boot'. What effect does (or doesn't) have on grub when the ubuntu installer plonks it on the hd?

Is it safe to install on the free space created by shrinking the data partition and using the space thus freed? Will grub install on a different partition than the one marked boot, if so does the boot partition, and anything on it override grub?

Thanks a lot for any help that you are able to give, I really appreciate it!

I was just about to post this messge when i noticed a big flaw in the plan: the MSDOS partition format only allows for up to 4 partitions on a single drive. Ubuntu uses up one (technically two, but using extended partitions, it registers as one). You could free up a slot by deleting your recovery partition, but that will of course mean you cant reinstall windows. Ill leave it for others to decide what to recommend....

Nonetheless, my original post follows:
If you don't have any data stored on your data partition, it's probably safe to completely wipe it. It might show up as D:\ in windows. The 3GB used space seems a bit suspect though, so it might be best to, as you say, shrink it. I'm sure codemonkey or other novatech guys will be able to shed some light on how the data partition's used by default on core pros though.

GRUB doesnt need to be on a partition marked boot, so no need to worry about that. I expect the ubuntu lucid installer will give you the option to shrink the partition and use the free space. After that, it'll sort out booting for you including adding a menu option for windows

A more advanced option to make the most out of your free space would be to shrink /dev/sda3 by about 20GB and make a 15 to 17GB / partition and a 3 to 5GB swap partition, then shrink /dev/sda4 and make a /home partition (where all your data's stored, much like c:\documents and settings in windows).

I havent seen any partition table quite like yours, but then I haven't used windows for about three years now.

[froot]

thank you very much for your long and helpful reply. I tripped over the 4 partition limit, so I had a look at the content of Data, backed it up, deleted the partition and created free space for the lucid installation to find and install on. As far as the boot loader / manager goes, I just left it to grub to automatically take precedence, much to my good fortune it did just that. I can understand some of the thinking that went into the original partition plan...Anyways, am enjoying a fine stable dual boot system. Prefer lucid though!