tlug: How to install Linux (Part 1) ...

[Matt Gushee <matt@example.com>]

Ulrike Schmidt writes:

Wow! You're in the thick of it, aren't you? Well, I've been there
... I'll see if I can tell you something of use.

First of all, it sounds like you don't have a functioning OS on the
computer at the moment. FIPS is intended for repartitioning without
destroying an existing system, so in your case it's probably more trouble
than it's worth. The best thing to do would be to:

1) Get DOS working, and use the DOS fdisk program to create whatever
partition you think you need for your Microsoft stuff, leaving plenty
of free space for Linux (note that this may not be the best way
anymore. Some time ago I heard that the Windows 95 version of fdisk
was dangerous and should not be used under any circumstances
... conceivably Microsoft has done something about that).

2) Begin installing Linux, and use the Linux fdisk program to create
your Linux partitions in the remaining free space.

 > I want to install Red Hat 5.0 with a CD on a Japanese Aptiva.

I'd suggest 5.1. 5.0 was ... hmm, perhaps "factory second" would be a
good way to put it. The Laser5 CD shop (they have ads in Linux Japan)
sells RedHat for about 6,000 yen, and you might even find it cheaper
in a book or magazine.

 > Are these two discettes enough to reinstall DOS when neccessary? Can I
 > just boot with the system disc and copy everything to the harddisc with
 > "copy"?

If you want a complete DOS system, i.e. to run applications and/or
Windows, and you have wiped it all off, the 2 disks are not
enough. But if you're just using DOS to set things up (e.g. Linux),
the disks probably contain a skeleton system that will run the
commands you need (but I can't promise that)

 > Should I leave a DOS partition on the harddrive, or should I just make
 > partitions for Linux? Would this effect my attempts to reinstall DOS?

If you think you'll use the DOS partition, you'd best keep it ... or
at least, keep *some* partition at the beginning of your harddisk (C:
in Microspeak, /dev/hda1 in Linuxian) that is about the right size for 
DOS/Windows/whatever. It's not a big problem to change the type of the 
partition, but it can be a very big problem to *create* a partition
when your disk is full of data (hence the existence of FIPS and
various commercial partition managers).

 > So can I just later format a Linux partition after booting with my
 > system disc and with format.com, in order to make it a DOS partition
 > again?

if it is the first partition on the disk (as noted above), yes.

 > In the documentation they recommend the following partitions:
 > 
 > - A swap partition
 > - A root partition
 > - A /usr partition
 > - A /home partition

snipsnipsnop

 > Regarding the root partition they mention some Lilo constraints, of
 > which the following will apply: "the partition that holds /boot must be
 > located entirely below cylinder 1023."

 > Is there a danger, that the other partition would be too big for Lilo,
 > beyond cylinder 1023?

Depends on your BIOS. Most newer harddisks use a virtual addressing
system -- basically, the BIOS fools the computer into thinking that
the 5000 (or whatever) physical cylinders are actually 1024. So
probably you're okay, but it's hard to be sure. If you keep the
partition with /boot below 1 GB, you're almost certainly okay.

 > Why do people recommend all these partitions? I've found when I partition
 > up a disk I normally regret it beause I run out of space on one of them.

1) For backup purposes. It can save you a lot of work to back up a
whole partition, rather than deciding which directories to back up.

2) For safety. If you have a small, separate root partition it won't
have very much disk access, thus it's less likely to get
corrupted. Also you can mount some partitions, like /usr, read-only
to keep your software relatively safe.

3) I hear this doesn't matter much with newer hard disks, but
traditionally, if you put, say, the swap partition right in the middle 
of the disks and the most-accessed partitions (e.g., /usr and /var)
next to it, you could get better performance and/or less wear on your
disk.

Hope this helps a little.

Matt Gushee
Oshamanbe, Hokkaido
---------------------------------------------------------------
Next Nomikai: 20 November, 19:30 Tengu TokyoEkiMae 03-3275-3691
Next Technical Meeting: January, 1999 (details TBA)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sponsor: PHT, makers of TurboLinux http://www.pht.co.jp