08-11-2022, 08:27 PM | #1 |
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Do Linux installs still force a "whole" disk setup?
Or has it evolved to allow the user to install to a specific partition IE: leaving an existing data - or D drive - alone and in place?
Or is it still the same, and you need to wipe out all data to install it...which of course requires time consuming transfer of data to external media and then transferring back. |
08-11-2022, 09:00 PM | #2 | |
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On my very first install of dual boot Linux on my Windows 7 DAW, I used the drive management tool in Windows, shrunk drive C: to as small as it would let me, then when I installed Xubuntu, it suggested installing on the new un-partitioned space. You can also bypass the suggested target for the install and manually select everything. |
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08-11-2022, 09:50 PM | #3 |
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I've been using Linux since the late 90s, and every distro I've installed has allowed full partition control, including leaving data partitions intact, resizing existing partitions, etc...
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08-12-2022, 01:29 AM | #4 |
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I always do a (manual) 3 partitions since I started with Ubuntu early 2004 something. So someone at a swedish forum recommended this, so I have used it since.
boot = 4096mb / (root) = 50-75GB /home the rest of hd If I do a new installation I always have my /home intact. I just activate it but tick of "format". Boot partition does the startup a bit faster.
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08-12-2022, 02:24 AM | #5 |
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Are you sure? As much as I know, the boot partition is only needed with a encrypted system.
As mentioned from all the others here, what you are asking for was the only way I installed all my linux systems, because I did either a dual boot or want at least set the sizes for my / and /home directories manually. |
08-12-2022, 12:51 PM | #6 |
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Thanks all....so the upshot is that I can install it and retain the existing NTFS data drive partition?
Linux would be going on to the first partition which is the C drive, replacing windows |
08-12-2022, 01:05 PM | #7 | |
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You just have to choose to manually partition. And when you then select the C drive to format, you have to choose a filesystem (probably ext4 will be the best choice) and set / as mount point. But if you are unsure, why don't you watch a youtube video about installing a linux distribution, maybe of the distro you want to install? There are plenty of it at youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWFJ2fGtmKs EDIT: You don't have to seperate the / and the /home partitions. You need just the / partition. If you want to seperate them, you should know how big your installation will become over time. That needs a little of experience. Last edited by fabio77; 08-12-2022 at 02:33 PM. |
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08-12-2022, 01:23 PM | #8 | |
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If I were doing it, I would temporarily disconnect the physical drive that Windows calls D: and do the install with only the physical drive that Windows calls C: connected. If you are working with a single physical drive that has two partitions, I would be way more careful and make sure I knew the names Linux gives the partitions and how those names match up with the drive C: and D: designations that Windows uses before installing. |
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08-12-2022, 03:37 PM | #9 |
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If you are going to replace windows with Linux in the C drive (good!!!) Then I would suggest you to also replace the D with a Linux format instead of NTFS for better performance. EXT4 is the most reliable I think. I wouldn't try BTRFS yet. Unless you really need it. So maybe it is a good idea to backup D drive to an external disk anyway and copy it back to a new Linux partition. Maybe you can convert the NTFS on the fly but I wouldn't do it without a backup anyway
Last edited by heda; 08-12-2022 at 03:44 PM. |
08-12-2022, 03:50 PM | #10 | |
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If the D partition is still there, there is the option to easily switch back, or if anything runs fine, backup the data and formatting it to another file system later. I never had struggles with ntfs on linux either. So the performance shouldn't be as bad. |
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08-12-2022, 04:10 PM | #11 | |
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I eventually formatted both the 250GB Windows SSD and the 1TB HDD to EXT4 then threw about 12 Windows DVDs into the trash bin outside. |
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08-12-2022, 04:18 PM | #12 | |
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08-12-2022, 04:25 PM | #13 |
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Well it is true. no need to rush
And Linux NTFS support has been better with latest kernels too. But I think pax-eterna has been testing Linux for a while now already and it seems he is making the final move to put that Windows where it belongs along with Glennbo's DVDs LOL |
08-12-2022, 04:41 PM | #14 | |
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If the choice is already made, then your way may be good or even better. Spares time in setting the right paths twice, for example in case, that on the "now D" partition are lying sample libraries. Last edited by fabio77; 08-12-2022 at 05:01 PM. |
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08-12-2022, 06:55 PM | #15 |
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Yes I dabbled with Linux a while back, and every time I tried to do the install, for some reason, it always tried to wipe the data partition, even though manual and the single partitions was selected. In the end I gave in, copied all the data over to an external drive and let the installer do "it's thing"
As it turned out I HAD to to revert windows for some other stuff, BU I am getting ready to jump back to Linux....Windows 11, while looking very nice and running ok, is simply getting to be a pita haha! |
08-12-2022, 07:31 PM | #16 | |
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If you now have a backup of all your data, it's even better. And in the end you will succeed |
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08-12-2022, 08:50 PM | #17 | |
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08-13-2022, 11:18 AM | #18 | |
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Thanks, good tip...I would have just left it with windows on it and just over-written. I was thinking of using Manjaro XFCE ...seems to be a popular choice among Linux Audio users. |
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08-13-2022, 11:39 AM | #19 | |
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I tested gnome kde and xfce for several days before I chose one, after many years on unity and the ubuntu flavor of gnome. At the end I chose kde, but only for some individual reasons. Gnome for example seemed to have some kind of blur on my screen and didn't was very sharp. And on xfce I missed the minimize-on-click behavior of opened applications, that I always had with gnome on ubuntu. There were other reasons too, but just to give you a picture of things you might be looking on for your own desktop-usability experience. As I said, xfce is really clean, clear and fast. So, if you don't miss anything with it, it should be a good choice. |
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08-13-2022, 12:09 PM | #20 | |||
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If OTOH you were to boot first from live Linux media and nuke all the partitions on the C: Windows drive first, then the installer will want to use that space and will create the needed FAT and EXT4 partitions for you. Lots easier. Just be sure of the partition before nuking it so you don't kill your drive D:. Quote:
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I first started using XFCE around 2016 with Xubuntu on a MythTV server in my studio closet. When I switched my DAW over to Xubuntu in 2018, I was already real familiar with it, so a little more than a year ago when I built my Ryzen 3700X machine for REAPER, I installed the XFCE version of Manjaro. It handles my second monitor pretty well using a profile on the advanced tab of display settings too. If I switch the second monitor on, XFCE detects its name and then when it sees both monitor names, it loads the profile I setup and everything displays to the proper monitor. |
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08-13-2022, 01:30 PM | #21 | |
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I think, if I had created profiles as you did, I woudn't even have to confirm the configuration, right? But now I'm very happy with kde, that I actual never liked before. But now it offers all I need. |
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08-13-2022, 02:21 PM | #22 | |
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I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't some way of doing monitor profiles with other DEs. All they really do is look at the names of all the monitors connected, and if all present match a profile, it loads the configuration for which monitor is the main, which one is the extended, resolution and wallpaper for each. |
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08-13-2022, 03:06 PM | #23 |
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On kde now everything works fine, and I can switch monitors on one click. I think I would have figured something out on xfce too, but there were more things that I liked on kde. So, everything good.
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08-13-2022, 07:27 PM | #24 | |
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If someone feels gung ho and has no problem with repeatedly reinstalling in the name of learning and experience, so much more the power to them—that person will learn faster through the failures and successes of the experience. However, I myself plan to be more cautious with my recommendations to try to avoid another community member loss. |
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08-13-2022, 08:02 PM | #25 | |
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But serious, if one has the impulse to make this step, sooner or later will make it. I tried OpenSuse over 20 years ago, and it took me 10 years to dare another try, with full success. |
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08-13-2022, 08:49 PM | #26 | |
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I personally cratered my first installations of NT4.0 because of my perceived "Windows Expert" status. NT 4.0 wasn't like any of the versions of Windows that I actually was an expert on, and within a couple of "I know what I'm doing" moves, I managed to completely hose the OS twice. By my third install of NT 4.0. I was rapidly becoming an expert, and those are the kinds of "Crash and Burn" moments you might have to endure when switching to an OS that is very different from what you are used to. |
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08-13-2022, 09:38 PM | #27 | |
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I remember I just tried to tweak my Windows XP in every possible manner I knew. I created customized installation disks to make it as small as possible, get rid of and turn off all unneeded microsoft stuff and so on. So linux in the end was inevitable And in using linux then the second time, in 2011, I became aware, that it developed to such degree, that also the average user could install it meanwhile as total replacement of windows. At least if no special software like photoshop, cubase or games were a must have. I experienced linux to even be much easier to install, configure and maintain as windows. And I know, because I run it in dual boot for all these years, although not used except for cubase and here and there some casual gaming. Because of this I never understood those voices, that were saying linux would be so hard and on windows "all simply runs smooth." EDIT: But many of them don't even install their windows themselves, but I have to or someone else I never had to install a driver for a special printer in ubuntu. I never had to wait hours to update after a new installation. Installing windows and all updates, drivers and programms is a nightmare compared to set up a linux system with all of that + customizing it. But as you said. In the beginning you have to start as a noob again and be confident to understand the new system step by step. Last edited by fabio77; 08-13-2022 at 11:06 PM. |
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08-14-2022, 12:51 AM | #28 |
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Haven't looked into it that serious, I just followed the instruction back then. I read somewhere that it ain't needed anymore on today's computers. Next fresh installation I might do a tradional installation. Before that I make a reboot check to see if this I have now is faster or not,
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