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Hi there I would like to install Ubuntu 9.04 and Fedora 11 on the same disk. It's a 40GB disk and I would like to split that evenly. My attempts ...
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  1. 07-29-2009 #1
    Arianyr
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    Two linux distros on one disk

    Hi there

    I would like to install Ubuntu 9.04 and Fedora 11 on the same disk. It's a 40GB disk and I would like to split that evenly.

    My attempts so far have good rather bad to be honest.

    If I disable lvm in both installations I could use one /boot, one /swap and a root partition for fedora and a root partition for ubuntu. Is that the way to go?
  2. 07-29-2009 #2
    oz
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    If it were me, I wouldn't bother with creating a /boot partition unless you really need it for some reason. If you aren't sure about whether or not you need one, you probably don't need it. Otherwise, you should be able to use the same swap partition for both distros, and 20 GB out of the disk for each distro should be plenty. I personally like to keep a /home partition on my system, but it's not necessary to have it.
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  3. 07-29-2009 #3
    Arianyr
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    but isnt /boot where my bootloader will be installed?
  4. 07-29-2009 #4
    oz
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    It's usually better to install GRUB to the master boot record (MBR) unless you have some reason that it needs to be installed elsewhere. Most of the GRUB files will go into the /boot directory whether it's created within the root directory, or you have a separate /boot partition. I rarely ever create a /boot partition for my own use.
    oz
  5. 07-29-2009 #5
    saivin
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    Quote Originally Posted by ozar View Post
    If it were me, I wouldn't bother with creating a /boot partition unless you really need it for some reason.
    OP wants to install Fedora11. Fedora 11 is strange. Its default root filesystem is ext4 but it cannot boot from an ext4 partition i.e., /boot cannot be ext4; it has to be either ext3 or ext2. So to have F11 we need to create a seperate /boot with ext3/ext2 filesystem. Not sure if this problem has been fixed. But otherwise I agree with you in that /boot is not required to be a seperate partition.
    A candle looses nothing by lighting other candles. - Khalil Zibran.
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  6. 07-29-2009 #6
    Arianyr
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    ok, so suppose I installed fedora first, with

    /swap partition
    ext3 /boot partition
    18ish GB root.
    18ish free space

    Then I install ubuntu, using the same /boot, the same /swap and the remaining space as root... would that work? Would ubuntu recognise fedora and update the bootloader correctly?
  7. 07-30-2009 #7
    Hal343
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    Yes, it will. I have 3 distros on one drive and a fourth on another and have no problems with grub, except if I shut the other (usb) drive off.
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