[SuSE Linux] SuSE 6.0 installation: YaST and partitioning
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I've run into a problem early in the process of installing SuSE 6.0 that I hope someone can help me with (or point me toward an information source that can actually help). I have a 10G IDE hard drive that I'm planning on running both Linux and Win98 from. I used FIPS to partition the drive so there are 8G for Win98 and 2G for Linux. The problem is the fact that the disk has 1247 cylinders and during the installation YaST refuses to have anything to do with creating a partition. I realize that the kernel wants to be installed under 1024, but I assume there's no reason that Linux can't make use of the cylinders over 1024 for things like my /usr and /home partitions. Now the questions: Is there any way to get YaST to deal with creating partions that will exist in whole or in part past 1024? If I create them using, for example, FIPS will YaST be able to deal with changing them from WIN95 partitions to Linux? If I intend to boot Linux from a floppy does the kernel still need to be kept under the 1024 limit? If so, how much space should I make sure I have under that limit for my root partition? I've looked in the SuSE support database and at the mini-HOWTO about large disks, but I wasn't able to find clear answers to these questions. Thanks for your help, Mike -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
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At 03:05 PM 3/27/99 -0500, Michael Curry wrote:
I have a 10G IDE hard drive that I'm planning on running both Linux and Win98 from. I used FIPS to partition the drive so there are 8G for Win98 and 2G for Linux. The problem is the fact that the disk has 1247 cylinders and during the installation YaST refuses to have anything to do with creating a partition. I realize that the kernel wants to be installed under 1024, but I assume there's no reason that Linux can't make use of the cylinders over 1024 for things like my /usr and /home partitions.
*sigh* The 5th line in that paragraph should have read, "have anything to do creating partitions that extend past 1024." Mike -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
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Michael Curry wrote:
I have a 10G IDE hard drive that I'm planning on running both Linux and Win98 from. I used FIPS to partition the drive so there are 8G for Win98 and 2G for Linux. The problem is the fact that the disk has 1247 cylinders and during the installation YaST refuses to have anything to do with creating a partition. I realize that the kernel wants to be installed under 1024, but I assume there's no reason that Linux can't make use of the cylinders over 1024 for things like my /usr and /home partitions.
The booting partition can't "straddle" the 1024 cylinder limit from what I've read. If I were you I would make /dev/hda1 a 1 sector partition to mount /boot. Then divide the rest up anyway you want. /dev/hda1 will only be about 10 megs and surely won't straddle 1024 cylinders. -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
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zentara wrote:
Michael Curry wrote:
I have a 10G IDE hard drive that I'm planning on running both Linux and Win98 from. I used FIPS to partition the drive so there are 8G for Win98 and 2G for Linux. The problem is the fact that the disk has 1247 cylinders and during the installation YaST refuses to have anything to do with creating a partition. I realize that the kernel wants to be installed under 1024, but I assume there's no reason that Linux can't make use of the cylinders over 1024 for things like my /usr and /home partitions.
The booting partition can't "straddle" the 1024 cylinder limit from what I've read.
Wrong! It can. The reason is simply, that lilo remembers the physical location of data on the disk. At boot time it doesn't care about files, directories, not evev filesystems. That's the reason why you can even store your kernel image on some mounted dos or windows partition. Lilo writes only physical locations in its mapfile. (There are different methods, how lilo can do that. But that's irrelevant in this context.) Anyway it's better to work around that. Otherways, whenever you copy one of the files you would have to assure that it hasn't been stored beyond 1024.
If I were you I would make /dev/hda1 a 1 sector partition to mount /boot. Then divide the rest up anyway you want. /dev/hda1 will only be about 10 megs and surely won't straddle 1024 cylinders.
That's a reasonable solution. Henning -- H. Henning Vossieck - h.vossieck@ndh.net - <A HREF="http://www.ndh.net/home/vossieck/"><A HREF="http://www.ndh.net/home/vossieck/</A">http://www.ndh.net/home/vossieck/</A</A>> 49 2291 3010/6519 -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
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At 05:22 PM 3/27/99 -0500, zentara wrote:
The booting partition can't "straddle" the 1024 cylinder limit from what I've read.
If I were you I would make /dev/hda1 a 1 sector partition to mount /boot. Then divide the rest up anyway you want. /dev/hda1 will only be about 10 megs and surely won't straddle 1024 cylinders.
Actually, the real problem is that fdisk doesn't want to let me create any sort of partition that goes past cylinder 1024. Here's the relevant info from YaST's partitioning screen: At the top of the screen it says: Fdisk detected the following hard drive geometry: Disk /dev/hda 255 heads 63 sectors 1024 cylinders One cylinder has 8225280 Bytes But the table reads: /dev/hda1 1 957 7687071 c Win95 FAT32 (LBA) /dev/hda2 958 970 104442 c Win95 FAT32 (LBA) /dev/hda3 971 1247 2225002 c Win95 FAT32 (LBA) At this point I am unable, after deleting hda3, to create a new partition in its place that ends past cylinder 1024. I tried using fdisk in a new virtual console (using alt-F2 to get there) but encountered the same problem there... I couldn't create a partition that went past cylinder 1024. As for /dev/hda1, that's currently my Win98 partition and I'd prefer to keep it that way if at all possible. Mike -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
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Michael Curry wrote:
At 05:22 PM 3/27/99 -0500, zentara wrote:
The booting partition can't "straddle" the 1024 cylinder limit from what I've read. I tried using fdisk in a new virtual console (using alt-F2 to get there) but encountered the same problem there... I couldn't create a partition that went past cylinder 1024.
As for /dev/hda1, that's currently my Win98 partition and I'd prefer to keep it that way if at all possible.
What I've done was to use a third-party software (e.g. - in my case Partition Magic by Powerquest - check www.powerquest.com). This software not only lets you create, resize and move the partitions anyway you want, but it also recognizes Linux native (ext2) and Linux swap type partitions, and in plus acts like a boot manager. I used this piece of software to create a partition at the end of my HDD, installing Linux in the middle (a pretty ugly solution, I admit). Creating instead a small /dev/hda1 could be indeed a solution, since we know that even though DOS and Win9x won't install but on drive C: (/dev/hda1), they are dumb enough not to recognize ext2, hence thinking /dev/hda2 is the drive C:. Anyway I haven't tried this way. Let us know if you succeeded and how. Best regards, Dan -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
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Michael Curry wrote:
At 05:22 PM 3/27/99 -0500, zentara wrote:
The booting partition can't "straddle" the 1024 cylinder limit from what I've read.
Actually, the real problem is that fdisk doesn't want to let me create any sort of partition that goes past cylinder 1024. Here's the relevant info from YaST's partitioning screen:
As for /dev/hda1, that's currently my Win98 partition and I'd prefer to keep it that way if at all possible.
Partition Magic lets you move things around and create a little space at the beginning of a drive. I do remember having a similar problem with a big hard drive, where yast and fdisk complained about not being able to do what I asked. It turned out to be the "Drive Rocket" or other similar bios adaptor software . This usually gets installed on any windows machines with big drives. I had to use a floppy boot disk which contained the bios adaptor software, then disable it. It is actually an electronic switch on the hard drive electronics, from what I remember. Then I went back into linux fdisk, and could do exactly what I wanted, with no "error messages" about cylinders. All I needed was LBA chosen for the drive in the motherboard bios. -- To get out of this list, please send email to majordomo@suse.com with this text in its body: unsubscribe suse-linux-e Check out the SuSE-FAQ at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A">http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/</A</A>> and the archive at <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html"><A HREF="http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A">http://www.suse.com/Mailinglists/suse-linux-e/index.html</A</A>>
participants (4)
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dan_tudor@home.ro
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h.vossieck@ndh.net
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mcurry@io.com
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zentara@mindspring.com