partitioning during install fails /SOLVED/

[christoph]

hello all. i've been using ubuntu for a year or so, and i'm really excited to start running mint. but it's giving me a problem.

the system is a dell laptop, inspiron 2650C (celeron 1.5GHz, 256Mb ram). i know the ram isn't much, but it manages to slowly boot the mint livecd. then i run the installer, and proceed through the steps. when it starts installing, around 15% i get an error "could not create ext3 filesystem" and it aborts. here is the partitioning setup that i attempt:

4Gb existing windows, ntfs
512M swap
3.5Gb linux mint, ext3
20Gb existing storage space, fat32

has anyone else had trouble with the ext3 partitioning process? i tried using xfs instead, and got a warning that grub wouldn't like that. i tried jfs, and the install process froze up on me. this is especially inconvenient because i erased a previous linux installation to try mint. now the old grub files are gone, and i cant even boot windows (btw does anyone know a good distro/utility for booting that windows partition?). thanks in advance for your help.

christoph

[D1Wayne]

yes
If you resize the partition to leave enough unallocate space before booting the live-CD you can then boot live-cd

when install eith choose guided using largest continous space or manually
partitioning options. then things should run smoother

[Boo]

you could use a windows install disk to restore the windows booter to the mbr.

I use a distro called DEFT, and the testdisk command/script to restore partitions when they go poo. (testdisk could be found on other live distros)

or like D1Wayne says use mint live again to un-allocate where mint was (using gparted) and then install...

[christoph]

thanks a lot guys. i used gparted in live-cd mode to free up the intended space. then used the guided installation for free disk space. now its up and running like a charm. my wireless card even works with ndiswrapper! and the new grub installation boots my old windows partition as well. but considering how well mint is running, i don't think i'll need it anymore.

this distro rocks.