XP , Red Hat Linux 9.0 & Partitining requirements !

[raedaljarrah]

OK ... Now I am going to install Linux in an unallocated space and see if every thing would go as expected .

Previously , I use to get an error message related to the boot partition .

Wish me a good luck !

[raedaljarrah]

It did not work !

Hers is what I did :

From Windows XP I created the following partitioning plan :

1 : A primary Partition ( entirely devoted to c:\ ) ---- 6 GB
2 : An Extended Partition ( entirely devoted to d:\ ) ---- 6 GB
3 : The rest of the HDD was left Unallocated ( about 7 GB

The Linux installer failed at the Automatic Partitioning stage with the following error :

Could not allocate partitions ---- press OK to get the next error as :

You have not defined a root partition .....

The Installation cannot continue !

I told you that Linux needs a special partition type as defined by XP !

Any ideas ?

[raedaljarrah]

Another failed attempt :

A primary partition was created out of the unallocated space .
No logical drives were defined .
Same installation errors !

Do I have to keep experimenting with partition types until I find my way out of this ?

[raedaljarrah]

I have tried about 10 possible partitioning plans and only the following seems to work :

The HDD is partitioned as follows :

1 : Primary partition ( c:\ ) + Unallocated ( Linux goes here )

2 : Primary partition ( c:\ ) + Extended Partition ( Linux goes here )

All other combinations failed including :

Primary ( c:\ ) + Primary ( d:\ ) + Unallocated ( to be used by Linux )
Primary ( c:\ ) + Primary ( to be used by Linux ) + Extended ( d:\ )
Primary ( c:\ ) + Unallocated( to be used by Linux ) + Extended ( d:\ )
Primary ( c:\ ) + Extended ( d:\ ) + Unallocated ( to be used by Linux )
Primary ( c:\ ) + Extended ( d:\ ) + Free Space ( to be used by Linux )
Primary ( c:\ ) + Extended ( d:\ ) + Extended ( e:\ )

Please note that where extended is mentioned ( d:\ & Linux ) would exist on the same extended partition .

Did you now know how much the problem is complex for me to select the right partitioning plan ?

Any ideas ?

[atlantic442]

I am new to Linux too, but I don't understand why you are having so many problems with the partitioning. Here at my place of employment, I have been given the task of creating an XP/Linux RH9 image. So far, the only trouble I have encountered is when I tried using the GUI install method and two different monitors would not display anything once Anaconda started.

Even through the text installation method, the partitioning is no trouble. I created 2 partitions for Windows XP during the XP install and left the rest of the space unallocated. With the Linux install, I had to once again use the text installation method. During that process, I used the Automatic Partitioning option and am at this time continuing on with the rest of the installation of RH9 as the installation process has created the appropriate partitions for the OS.

In short, I'm baffled by your partitioning troubles.

[raedaljarrah]

Hi ...

After all of those attempte I discovered that Linux needs to be installed within the first 1024 Cylinder limits !

This is a strange behaviour from my Pintium 4 PC !
The model is Dell Optiplex GX240 for which the BIOS has no option for setting any LBA-related properties !

I did solve the problem by installing Linux on the D:\ partition not E:\ as usual !

Thanks