partition advice sought for install!

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thegutterpoet
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partition advice sought for install!

Post by thegutterpoet »

Hi folks,

I am keen to install Mint on my SSD which i formerly used for Windows System files and applications.

I have connected -

dev/sda
dev/sda1 104mb
dev sda2 127453
dev sda 3 471

dev/sdb
dev/sedb1 10000102mb

I save all my documents and videos and data to the other drive.

Want the SSD just for system/ applications/ maybe the swap ? (which I believe is like page file?)

There is 8gb ram and an i5 quad core 3.2ghz processor...its a few years old, but still going!

I just seek advice on how to partition the SSD?

60gb root
40gb home
4gb swap
Do I need to leave 20Gb or any GB fully free on the ssd?

My 'home' is essentially already set up with sdb which is half full of data so I do not wish to rename or repartition it.

Kindly advise!

Cheers,
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Spearmint2
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by Spearmint2 »

If using a /home partition, then you really don't need more than 20 GB in the first one and make the home partition larger. Linux Mint will install to about 8GB and you may never use the full 20 GB even with more programs added later.
All things go better with Mint. Mint julep, mint jelly, mint gum, candy mints, pillow mints, peppermint, chocolate mints, spearmint,....
michael louwe

Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by michael louwe »

@ thegutterpoet, .......
thegutterpoet wrote:...
.
What are your computer brand, model and other specifications.? Does your computer has the BIOS setting for Secure Boot.? Which Windows OS are you using.? Or can you provide the Terminal output for inxi -Fxz and sudo parted -l by running a Live LM USB/DVD.?
... I need to know whether your computer is using UEFI or Legacy BIOS technology.

Since your /sda1 is 104MB, which should be the Windows EFI System Partition, your computer is likely UEFI.

You can also opt to install LM on the 1TB HDD while keeping Windows(10.?) on the 128GB SSD.
mr_raider
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by mr_raider »

My suggestion:

1. Put a single large partition on your SSD for your /
Do not put in a separate home, I would not bother

2. On your larger rotational drive (1tb), make 2 partitions: 1 for swap and one for "data" (call it what you like). Format it to ext4 and mount it somewhere convenient beneath your home, i.e. /home/myusername/mybigassdrive

3. Make sure the folder mybigassdrive has ownership set to your user

4. Create subfolders in the folder above for documents, photos, etc,....

5. Optional: link these subfolders back to your /home/myusername folders like Photos, Music or downloads.

You also have a 100mb partition at the start of your SSD. Do you need an EFI or BIOS grub partition?
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thegutterpoet
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by thegutterpoet »

michael louwe wrote:@ thegutterpoet, .......
thegutterpoet wrote:...
.
What are your computer brand, model and other specifications.? Does your computer has the BIOS setting for Secure Boot.? Which Windows OS are you using.? Or can you provide the Terminal output for inxi -Fxz and sudo parted -l by running a Live LM USB/DVD.?
... I need to know whether your computer is using UEFI or Legacy BIOS technology.

Since your /sda1 is 104MB, which should be the Windows EFI System Partition, your computer is likely UEFI.

You can also opt to install LM on the 1TB HDD while keeping Windows(10.?) on the 128GB SSD.
Yes the Bios is UEFI and Windows 7 was installed I believe.. I am happy to get rid of it and just use Linux as the OS on the SSD. Or is it simple to install side by side on the SSD and have the choice whenever I start the thing? Any major Pros other than I can still use Windows and Windows based software?

System information -

Display – Intel HD graphics 4600 – Adapter RAM 1GB
Windows 10 10.0.15063 Build 15063
System Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co Ltd
System Model B85M-D3H
System Type x64 based PC
Processor i5- 4570 @3.2Ghz 3201 Mhz 4 Core
BIOS American Megatrends Inc. F6 7/19/2013
SMBIOS version 2.7
Bios Mode Legacy
Baseboard Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology
Memory is DDR3 -
G.Skill F3 1600C9-4GA0
Installed physical Memory 8.00GB
Total Physical Memory 7.88GB
Abailable physical memory 4.03GB
Total Virtual memory 9.74GB
Available Virtual memory 5.79gb
Page File size 1.86GB

Motherboard Gigabyte Technology
Model B85M-D3H
Chipset Intel Haswell
SouthBridge Intel B85

C: SSD Volume serial Number 56D56CFD – Size 118.7 GB Free Space 29.5GB

I see no need to meddle with the other HD. As Linux will see it and I will be able to save and access files there. Or is there any particular advantage to doing otherwise?

I just wondered if there is any need to leave any free space on the 128gb SSD. And what options to choose for the root and swap?

Happy to have a Home on the SSD.
Maybe 20 root
100 home
4gb swap
?

Leave 4gb spare...and can these be altered in the future if need be without losing the data?
michael louwe

Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by michael louwe »

@ thegutterpoet, .......
thegutterpoet wrote:I just wondered if there is any need to leave any free space on the 128gb SSD. And what options to choose for the root and swap?

Happy to have a Home on the SSD.
Maybe 20 root
100 home
4gb swap
?

Leave 4gb spare...and can these be altered in the future if need be without losing the data?
.
For a dual-drives configuration, you must use the manual "Something else" install method. UEFI technology requires an EFI System or Boot Partition at the beginning of the hard-disk/drive and the bootloaders to be installed there. So, you can opt to retain the Windows EFI System Partition(retain /sda1 of 104MB and delete /sda2 and /sda3) or ... delete all the Win 10 partitions and create your own Linux EFI Boot Partition = fat32/550MB/mount point is /boot/efi and other partitions.
... Then ensure that the "Device for boot loader installation" is the EFI System or Boot Partition.

The simpler option is to create a / or Root partition of about 40GB, a Swap partition of about 1.5X RAM size(= 12GB), a Home partition of about 70GB and the rest as free disk space(= about 6GB) on the 128GB SSD.

If you use mr_raider's recommendation of putting the Swap and Home partitions on the 1TB HDD, you will need to auto-mount the 1TB HDD on boot-up by editing the etc/fstab file, etc = more complicated.
.
mr_raider
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by mr_raider »

My suggestion was to forego the separate /home partition, and use the 1TB drive as a storage drive that would contain large files. That way if he ever re-installs, his data stays intact.

When you look at your /home/myuser directory, it contains very little outside of hidden config files on first install. Personally I don't think it justifies a separate partition.
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Spearmint2
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by Spearmint2 »

When you look at your /home/myuser directory, it contains very little outside of hidden config files on first install. Personally I don't think it justifies a separate partition.
While that's true for initial install, over time the /home grows to become the largest folder due to all the files being saved by the user. If user is big into creating or saving video, that can grow big quite fast.
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mr_raider
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by mr_raider »

Spearmint2 wrote:
When you look at your /home/myuser directory, it contains very little outside of hidden config files on first install. Personally I don't think it justifies a separate partition.
While that's true for initial install, over time the /home grows to become the largest folder due to all the files being saved by the user. If user is big into creating or saving video, that can grow big quite fast.
Of course, but there is no reason that those folders cant be placed on a separate drive mounted somewhere:

https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1609
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thegutterpoet
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by thegutterpoet »

michael louwe wrote:
The simpler option is to create a / or Root partition of about 40GB, a Swap partition of about 1.5X RAM size(= 12GB), a Home partition of about 70GB and the rest as free disk space(= about 6GB) on the 128GB SSD.

.
I am happy to simply have Windows erased...there seems nothing obvious which I need or use frequently which demands Windows...solely dreamweaver which i used to use for editing webpages, yet I suspect I could find a simple WYSIWYG editor via Linux? It seems too small a reason to keep Windows active.

The above setup is perfect.
thegutterpoet
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by thegutterpoet »

Damn!

Please help!

I tried to install with the following partitions on my 128gb SSD

40gb / Ext4 (for root)
70gb / Ext 4 Home
2gb Swap

And all seemed okay, but I was hit with this horror>>

GRUB installation failed

The 'grub-efi-amd64-signed' package failed to install /target/.
Without the GRUB boot loader, the installed system will not boot.


So what now!? IS this something to do with the UEFI business??

Seems I forgot this advice from earlier>

delete all the Win 10 partitions and create your own Linux EFI Boot Partition = fat32/550MB/mount point is /boot/efi and other partitions.
... Then ensure that the "Device for boot loader installation" is the EFI System or Boot Partition.


Do I choose with the partition for bootloader>>>
Reserved BIOS boot area?
or EFI SYstem Partition??
Those are my options!
thegutterpoet
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by thegutterpoet »

Done it!
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Spearmint2
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by Spearmint2 »

I suspect I could find a simple WYSIWYG editor via Linux?
Google has an online editor. You can edit HTML in Libre Office. Go to the Wizard area, and clk on Webpage. Also link to view in a browser. Does frames, tables, and other html stuff.

http://kompozer.net/

http://bluegriffon.org/ previously Nvu which was based on Netscape Composer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compariso ... ML_editors

https://www.thoughtco.com/free-html-edi ... ix-3468154
All things go better with Mint. Mint julep, mint jelly, mint gum, candy mints, pillow mints, peppermint, chocolate mints, spearmint,....
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Re: partition advice sought for install!

Post by SoapyMint »

thegutterpoet wrote:Done it!
What did you do ?
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