[SOLVED] Partitioning on single boot 500GB SSD with separate /home partition

[Dint]

I have just purchased a Crucial MX500 SSD for my Dell Inspiron 3537 laptop which has 8GB of RAM. The SSD will replace the HDD that's currently in the laptop and I'm not planning to dual boot, so it will only contain Linux Mint XFCE.

Because I'd like to keep my documents and installed games when I install a new release of Mint in the future, I would like to use a separate /home partition for these files.

I am coming from Windows 7 and this will be my first time switching to Linux completely, so before I replace the HDD with the SSD and start installing Mint, I have a question regarding the partitioning of the drive.

I have read viewtopic.php?f=46&t=287501 and https://itsfoss.com/swap-size/ regarding the size of the swap partition, as well as https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... d.html#ID5 about over provisioning the drive and https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... stall.html for general installation instructions.

This leaves me with the question as to what would be the best way to divide the 500GB on my SSD? Here's what I have in mind right now based on the resources mentioned above:

• 100GB - / (root) (should be 100GB or more according to https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... stall.html, though only 24GB was suggested for a drive twice the size of mine in viewtopic.php?f=46&t=287501)
• 16GB - Swap partition (2x RAM size, the golden rule of swap according to https://itsfoss.com/swap-size/)
• 10GB - Reserved space for over provisioning (7% with a maximum of 10 GB according to https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... d.html#ID5)
• 374GB - /home (the rest)

Would this be a good way to partition the drive? Would you suggest something different? Is there anything else I should keep in mind or pay attention to during the installation?

Edit 1: Changed size of / (root) from 174GB to 100GB and size of /home from 300GB to 374GB after viewtopic.php?p=1592475#p1592475 and viewtopic.php?p=1592475#p1592476

Edit 2: Solved! Linux Mint has been installed and is running smoothly. viewtopic.php?f=46&t=287652#p1592777

[Moem]

174GB - / (should be 100GB or more according to https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... stall.html, though only 24GB was suggested for a drive twice the size of mine in viewtopic.php?f=46&t=287501)

The installation guide assumes that home is a directory under / (root), because that is how it is created by default. If you make a separate partition for /home, your / does certainly not need to be so large; that explains the discrepancy here.

[Pjotr]

Looks OK, but you don't need a swap partition anymore in Mint 19.x. It's a swap file now, residing in your root partition. With a dynamic size.

Don't make the root partition as small as 24 GB; in your case there's clearly no need for that, and lack of space might become a problem in the future. In your case, 100 GB is probably the best option.

[Dint]

Thank you both for your replies! I have changed the size of / (root) from 174GB to 100GB and the size of /home from 300GB to 374GB. Also, I have a couple of additional questions after going through the installation in a virtual machine and reading some more posts and articles:

• Do I need a /boot/efi partition as mentioned in viewtopic.php?f=46&t=279663&start=20? If unsure, what would determine whether I need it or not?
• Should I select 'Primary' as the type for each partition? If not, which partition(s) should be 'Primary' and which partition(s) should be 'Logical'?

Looks OK, but you don't need a swap partition anymore in Mint 19.x. It's a swap file now, residing in your root partition. With a dynamic size.

I'm a bit confused by this, because https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... stall.html still mentions that it should be added and I believe the default installation also creates a swap partition. Why is that if it's not needed any more?

[Pjotr]

I believe the default installation also creates a swap partition.

It doesn't do that anymore in 19.x.

[JerryF]

...

• Do I need a /boot/efi partition as mentioned in viewtopic.php?f=46&t=279663&start=20? If unsure, what would determine whether I need it or not?
• Should I select 'Primary' as the type for each partition? If not, which partition(s) should be 'Primary' and which partition(s) should be 'Logical'?

...

EFI is needed if your disk is set as GPT instead of MBR.

As for partitions, if you do have a GPT disk, you can use primary partitions. MBR disks have a limit of 4 total partitions, so if someone needed more, the extended partition can be created with many logical partitions in the extended partition.

I would stick with primary partitions. They are easier to manipulate if you need to in the future.

[Dint]

From what I've read I won't be needing GPT, so I'll stick to MBR. Leaving out the swap partition too, as suggested by Pjotr, leaves me with the following configuration:
=======================================================
Partition 1: / (root) -> 100GB (ext4)
+ Type for the new partition: Primary
+ Location: Beginning of this space

Partition 2: /home -> 390GB (ext4)
+ Type for the new partition: Primary
+ Location: Beginning of this space

Free space: 10GB
Reserved space for over provisioning (7% with a maximum of 10GB according to https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... d.html#ID5)
=======================================================

It definitely looks a lot simpler like this, though I hope I didn't forget anything. Any other suggestions, recommendations or feedback?

[Moem]

Looks fine to me.

[Pjotr]

Fine.

[Dint]

Thank you Moem, Pjotr and JerryF for your help! I have just installed the SSD and everything is running smoothly so far.

Also, is https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/ yours Pjotr? If so, it has been a major help in setting things up!

[Pjotr]

Also, is https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/ yours Pjotr? If so, it has been a major help in setting things up!

Indeed it's mine. Good to hear that it has helped you!