install Mint Debian: select a root directory

[Katyanewb]

I've tried to install Linux Mint 11 the Debian version and I can't get past the directory creation stage. It keeps giving me the error "Please select a root directory." I'm trying to dual boot Katya and Mint Debian but even when I try to do a clean install I keep getting the same error.

Is there a tutorial somewhere on creating directories so Debian is satisfied and does the install?

[xenopeek]

Do you perhaps have your harddisks configured in RAID 0 array?

[Katyanewb]

Nope, I have no RAID configuration at all.

[proxima_centauri]

Sounds like it's trying to get you to identify which partition "/" directory will be installed to.

[Katyanewb]

Sounds like it's trying to get you to identify which partition "/" directory will be installed to.

Yes, and regardless which partition I select, it gives me the error message "please select a root directory." How can I select a root directory when I don't know the first thing about manually repartitioning for Linux?

[DrHu]

Screendump --you can use the print screen key to get that, if nothing else (graphics program) is able to you --your partitions or give us the fdisk -l (from a terminal) list

You will of necessity have to run a partitioning program to look at your current partitions

• And that should be part of the installer

Anyway, here are some guides
http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2010/09/18/di ... nt-debian/
A Mint:Debian guide..
http://www.howtoforge.com/partitioning_with_gparted

• 1 Preliminary Note
  As partitions must be unmounted in order to be modified, I think it's a good idea to use the GParted Live-CD instead of using the desktop application. Therefore I have downloaded the latest GParted Live-CD (0.3.3 at the time of this writing) from here: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfile ... _id=173828 and burnt it onto a CD.

Basically you just need something, and for most users that would be a GUI/desktop application
--take your time, and investigate the options before committing them, also read the guide to get some ideas on the process of partitioning..

[Brian49]

It could be something as simple as this: at the partition dialog, right-click on the name of the partition to which you wish to install LMDE, and a context menu will appear from which you can choose to designate that partition as "/". Having done that, you should then be able to move forward in the installation process. The GUI really ought to tell you to do this, but for some reason it doesn't.

[Katyanewb]

I figured it out. I have to double-click the partition I want to install the root directory in. But then it asks me to format that directory. Since I already have Katya in there, I had to use Gparted to shrink the Katya directory and create some unallocated space after it, then format the unallocated space to ext4. After that I could install Mint Debian in the new ext4 partition by just double-clicking it and choosing to format it as root.

The boot loader installed just fine and I am able to select either Katya or Debian easily. My Katya doesn't seem to have been damaged by the Gparted operations.

Sadly, as I was downloading and installing updates for Debian, something broke. Now Debian hangs on the reboot screen for 10 minutes or longer before I shut it off. I'll try reinstalling it a few days from now once the bug reports have come in and the failed update package has been fixed.

[Jesse654]

It could be something as simple as this: at the partition dialog, right-click on the name of the partition to which you wish to install LMDE, and a context menu will appear from which you can choose to designate that partition as "/". Having done that, you should then be able to move forward in the installation process. The GUI really ought to tell you to do this, but for some reason it doesn't.

I agree with you. There should be a better way of explaining this to the user. Something simple like: "Right-click on a partition, and choose "/" to select it as the root directory location."

[Katyanewb]

As another, vaguely related suggestion, when you try to use gparted to alter partitions on an already installed system by booting from the Mint install disk, the error message should not simply be "sda is currently in use." It should be "sda is currently in use. To stop using it right-click the swap partition and select 'swapoff.'" This would save new users a lot of headaches.