Basic Installation issue viz partitions

[caperash]

I have done 2 installations. The first I chose a default 4 GB size from the installation pull-down menu and ran out of memory shortly afterwards.

Then, again from within Windows, I re-installed this time picking 30 GB which is about the size of the partition (34 GB).

After installation I find that two partitions on my hard disks are missing.

One is simply invisible although in a Partition Manager utility I can see it, it's name and size. There it is. But not the the Computer file display. As it happens this is the main partition I use to store data files such as word docs, spreadsheets etc.

The second, which has many backup files, is now found mysteriously as /host in the System Folders area in Linux. How it got there I don't know.

Both of these partitions are located on a different hard disk from the one with the Linux partition installation.

On booting up, often it won't work because - if I remember correctly - the error says it cannot locate sys/host (might be something else).

I suspect these issues are related and that I should do yet another install but this time managing the partitions correctly. I could not understand the menu options when it lets you set up the partitions, esp. the error warning telling me the swap file was too small, since I had no idea how to set up a swap file along with establishing the basic partition in which Linux could run.

I get the feeling that the best thing is to give Linux an entire disk but even then it might start moving things around on the other disk for whatever reason.

Any clear help on this would be appreciated. Not knowing the problem it is hard to determine the solution.

I like Mint very much. If I can get it installed properly and then learn how to use some Windows apps without having to restart, i.e. have them run concurrently somehow, I will be making the move over despite not being a very proficient techy type.

[willie42]

Ok someone may be able to tell from your description but I am not. The one thing I can suggest is for you to Run Gparted and post image here so we can see exactly whats going on if you can do that I will do my best to help

[caperash]

OK, thanks Willie. Much appreciated offer.

Sda is a spare 80 GB hard drive on which I used a 30 GB partition called 'Linux' for installation. At least that's what I told the installation menu to do.

Sdb is a 500 GB Sata Drive.

Sdb5 entitled DATA is not accessible from any of the usual Linux GUI file manager type things (sorry, don't know names yet).

Sdb7 entitled BACKUP seems to be where Linux was actually installed somehow. All it's files can be found in the File System/.host directory for some reason.

I suspect that I am going to have to re-install unless there are ways to move things around in a partition manager utility. Bear in mind that I have had only about 6 hours screen time with Mint installed and really don't know what Linux is yet. Have not ventured into the Terminal since I don't know any of the lingo therein.

[willie42]

First sdb7 cant hold your linux data because its NTFS. That is a windows format. Somehow you were able when you were assigning partitions to assign your host there. You didnt include sda so I cant see what the swap issue is. I dont know what you were trying to do but I sorta might see where you are and I can tell you what I would do. In my opinion a reinstall would be the best option. I would reinstall Linux on the 30 gig partition as planned. let Linux set its own defaults. but I would let the system set everything up in that one partition. that should be about less than 10 gig for your root and a little more than 20 gig for your home folder which is where all your config files are located. For now until you gain a little more experience that would be best for you. At this point I would not feel that you moving files would be beneficial at this point. Clean install on the 30 gig would be your best option and that would be what I would do. you didnt include what is on the rest of the 80 gig drive is Windows there or empty space.....?

[caperash]

First sdb7 cant hold your linux data because its NTFS. That is a windows format. Somehow you were able when you were assigning partitions to assign your host there.
A:Well, I installed from within Windows. I told it to use the 30 GB partition entitled Linux but apparently it ignored me and put everything in a different partition on a different hard disk.

You didnt include sda so I cant see what the swap issue is. I dont know what you were trying to do but I sorta might see where you are and I can tell you what I would do. In my opinion a reinstall would be the best option. I would reinstall Linux on the 30 gig partition as planned. let Linux set its own defaults. but I would let the system set everything up in that one partition.

A: Basically I agree with you, but I have no way of preventing it doing exactly the same thing again.

that should be about less than 10 gig for your root and a little more than 20 gig for your home folder which is where all your config files are located.

A: the install menu asks you how many GB's to assign. The initial installation default was 4 GB so that is what I used and immediately was getting lack of disk space messages. So I installed again and chose 30GB. Was this a mistake because that left not enough room on the 34 GB partition for Linux do put other things in the partition and this is why it grabbed space from somewhere else? Or put another way: are you suggesting that with the next install instead of asking for 30 GB I should put in 10 GB which gives enough space for Linux (root) and then there will 20 GB left for the home which will then be assigned there since there is room for it?

For now until you gain a little more experience that would be best for you. At this point I would not feel that you moving files would be beneficial at this point. Clean install on the 30 gig would be your best option and that would be what I would do. you didnt include what is on the rest of the 80 gig drive is Windows there or empty space.....?

A: the rest of the drive has some other partitions with stuff. I could conceivably empty that entire disk and dedicate it to Linux but I wanted to get Linux basically running first and also see if I can run certain Windows programs which I need-want at the same time, at which point I will begin to move to Linux as my main OS. I am really not sure why - perhaps its boredom - but I am heartily tired of the Microsoft environment after 25 years; moreover I am now with XP for about 10 years or whatever, luckily didn't move to Vista, tried W7 briefly but didn't feel it offered enough improvement to justify all the dicking around that learning a new OS naturally entails - also several important older programs wouldn't run properly in it. Since installing XP 64 I have had many little problems all the time, probably due to a bad board and driver issues more than anything, but they remain unresolved and I am increasingly unwilling to delve into it all in XP after so many years with it. So I want a change, have heard good things about Linux for years but have held off because I am intimidated by too much programming command prompt stuff which I don't know. Black screen phobia! Still, if I can get the basics down somehow so that I can use the OS on a daily basis, over time I will learn more and gladly.

Anyway, looks like another install is called for.

Is there any way to back up what I have now, which has all the updates, applications etc. and just restore that into the new installation rather than having to spend several hours (for the third time) re-downloading and installing them? Or is it best to do the latter once the partition issue is properly set up in order to have a good fresh installation?

[caperash]

I still don't see why my DATA partition on the 500 GB Sata Drive is invisible in Linux.

[caperash]

Also, you mention that the Linux partition is NTFS. I read somewhere that was okay. All the others are. Would it be better to format it as a Linux Ext 4 type before installing?

[willie42]

its there you just have so many partitions. I see one thats 424 gig thats part of the 500....you said you have alloicated 30 gig for Linux. what are you doing with the 50 gig left from the 80 gig?

[caperash]

There are other partitions on both HD's including the 80 GB HD and most of them have stuff I want to keep. Soon will get a larger HD but for now I have to make do with what I have. I just made this 30 GB one empty for my first Linux experiment which should be large enough but I didn't anticipate the installation script going through all my hard drives and just arbitrarily taking over one or more of them. And still don't understand why one of them just disappears completely in Linux. And it just happens to be the partition with my working data files, stuff I use for business and personal projects. Weird that it just disappeared.

[Radar]

I still don't see why my DATA partition on the 500 GB Sata Drive is invisible in Linux.

/dev/sdb5 is your DATA partition and it shows 39.68 GB of folders/files on it.

Sdb5 entitled DATA is not accessible from any of the usual Linux GUI file manager type things (sorry, don't know names yet).

I noticed that you have only a few hours with mint. How exactly did you try to access to it?
According to gparted your information is still there.

[caperash]

Yes, it shows in the partition manager. But in the Explorer (Computer) display it doesn't exist and I can't find any of the files. This is true in the latest installation as well.

I tried installing more than 5 times over many hours. Finally I went back to windows, reconfigured the partition - now split into multiple disks, swaps etc. back into NTFS and then installed from Windows Explorer and it seems I have one partition on the drive I specified and it picked another partition on the other larger disk to put the /home stuff. So there seems to be no control over such things when using the GUI menus. No doubt you can control all this in Terminal or something but that is way over my capability.

In any case, apart from usually having to boot 2-3 times before it takes, it's working and at least some of it is on the Linux partition I set aside.

At this point, frankly, I am discouraged. I suspect I don't have the programming skills to work with this OS yet. But I will see if I can solve two things before giving up:

1. Learn how to get that Data Partition to become accesssible
2. Learn how to run Windows programs after a Linux boot. I have heard/read about things like Wine, Dual Boot etc. but don't have the foggiest idea how to go about actually doing it.

First thing was to get a clean installation. Didn't happen but I've got the best I can at this point to start with.

Thanks for your interest/input.

[Oscar799]

Moved here from Newbie Questions