Install strategies?

[jpete]

I had read a thread a while ago and can't seem to find it now about different theories on installing and partitioning.

I'm getting ready to install LM9 and would like to do "better" than I did with LM8 which I just allowed the installer to do what it does.

I thought I read something about partitioning in such a way as to be able to install a new version of Mint without disturbing anything else.

I'd really like to do that if possible. I've got a bunch of pictures, music, etc that really should be backed up but I'm like everyone else and don't do it like I should.

I have to do something before I upgrade, but would prefer not to have to jump through hoops the next time.

If someone can point me in a direction, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

[Robin]

What most people do is manually describe their partitions in three parts, depending on the size of their hard drive. Mine is 80 GB so I'll just use that as an example:

First partition is 1 GB, designated as swap. I use 1 GB because I have 512 RAM on my 'puter. The rule of thumb is 2X whatever your RAM is.

Second partition (I use ext4) is 20 GB and designated as /.

Third partition takes the rest of the drive (the remaining 59 GB) (also ext4) is designated /home. That's where all the stuff is that I want to keep. It's the partition that is left unformatted when I do a new installation. It's where my Firefox bookmarks, e-mail settings and folders, pictures, documents, Xfce desktop settings and stuff is stored. They all remain as they were in a fresh installation.

But this is not guaranteed! Be absolutely sure to back everything up to some external media (CD, USB stick, external HDD, etc) before you reinstall in case you mess up - or in case the partitioner messes up and wipes that partition.

Hope this helps,
Robin

[JasonLG]

I had read a thread a while ago and can't seem to find it now about different theories on installing and partitioning.

I'm getting ready to install LM9 and would like to do "better" than I did with LM8 which I just allowed the installer to do what it does.

I thought I read something about partitioning in such a way as to be able to install a new version of Mint without disturbing anything else.

I'd really like to do that if possible. I've got a bunch of pictures, music, etc that really should be backed up but I'm like everyone else and don't do it like I should.

I have to do something before I upgrade, but would prefer not to have to jump through hoops the next time.

If someone can point me in a direction, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

You'll have to backup you files this time around but if you follow my advice you'll never have to again.

What you want to do is during install you want to check the "Specify partition manually."

Then you want to delete your old partitions(remember to backup your data first) and setup your hard drive something like this.

From left to right/top to bottom.
10 - 20GB / (depending how big your drive is and how much you do things that generate large tmp files like rip DVD's)
The rest of your drive /home
The amount of RAM you have plus a little swap (if your swap partition is smaller than your RAM suspend will not work)

The result will be that you now have separate /home partition which will allow upgrade/reinstall without moving your data by again next time going into "Specify partition manually" but this time don't delete the partitions but instead format / and tell the partitioner to use it as your new / now tell it to use your old /home as /home but do not reformat it.

You may want to delete most of the hidden folders in /home before you do a inplace upgrade/reinstall as the desktop config files have been known to cause errors.

[jpete]

Cool. Thanks. That's what I was looking for.

[Aging Technogeek]

There are two topics you should read if you are interested in learning more about the theory and practice of partitioning and installing Linux distros.

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=11872

and

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 93#p129425

The person who wrote the original posts and answered user questions in these topics is extremely knowledgeable and knows how to impart his knowledge in a clear and understandable fashion.

[libssd]

The amount of RAM you have plus a little swap (if your swap partition is smaller than your RAM suspend will not work)

Suspend will work with swap < RAM; hibernate will not unless swap > RAM

[JasonLG]

The amount of RAM you have plus a little swap (if your swap partition is smaller than your RAM suspend will not work)

Suspend will work with swap < RAM; hibernate will not unless swap > RAM

My Bad I switched em