Running Out of HD space

[Parlour]

OK here is My first Problem, it's most likely a real noob problem.

First the background.
I have an ASUS EEE 701 with only 4 gigabytes of HD space, i am fast running out of space and I am afraid to add programs, some Programs like VLC i'm happy to give space but others like CELESTIA and GIMP which I would use more sparingly and are larger I can not have give room too. I have an external Hard drive of 160g. I am using Xandros.

Here's the Problem, how can I download programs to an external Hard drive, instead of straight to the Internal HD. I know that my usr/bin etc folders contain the programs and that they may also be spread across the system, I don't quite understand how though.

I have looked at other forums which have not given me a straight answer, I have considered Logical Volume Management but dont know whether it will solve my problem. I have searched high and low and I am unsure what to do, as most people have larger internal drives I doubt this comes up to often, thanks for reading, hope to hear from you soon.

NB I am a complete Linux newbie and need the guidance clear so that I can understand it, I probably wont come with such a silly question again when I have access to a larger drive because I will have room to play, thanks

[khafa]

hi,


mount the external hard disk , change directory to the mount point
and use wget to download the files there.

[ls354]

Agree get an SD card (cheap) for example and mount it.

[Parlour]

Ok as a complete Noob, how do I do this. I have followed another Forum's advice on copying my /bin over to a USB, but this is only a back up.

How do I mount a ext HD, USB or SDHC?

How do I change the directory to the mount point.

and how do I use Wget to download files there?

As I say I wont be quite so ditzy when I have this problem solved so thanks for your patience in the mean time.

[i92guboj]

OK here is My first Problem, it's most likely a real noob problem.

First the background.
I have an ASUS EEE 701 with only 4 gigabytes of HD space, i am fast running out of space and I am afraid to add programs, some Programs like VLC i'm happy to give space but others like CELESTIA and GIMP which I would use more sparingly and are larger I can not have give room too. I have an external Hard drive of 160g. I am using Xandros.

If the external drive contains a standard disk, I'd suggest putting it into your box case, and to put the 4gb disk onto the external drive.

Here's the Problem, how can I download programs to an external Hard drive, instead of straight to the Internal HD. I know that my usr/bin etc folders contain the programs and that they may also be spread across the system, I don't quite understand how though.

mount /dev/sda1 /bin

Change sda1 by whatever your external drive is called. And /bin by whatever dir you will be mounting. If you are satisfied with the results, add a line into /etc/fstab so it will be mounted each time you boot on linux. The lines already existing into that file and the mount command I gave you above should be enough for you to figure how to write a new line, but if you have some problem just ask and I will be glad to help.

[Parlour]

Got it shall give it all a go now and tell you how I get on, Thanks., by the way the ASUS EEE PC has an intergrated solid state drive, it can not be removed.

[elija]

On my eeePC, I got a second 4gb SD Card, moved my home directory over to it
and have 4gb on the internal drive for my system. This has the added
advantage that I can back up my data simply by putting the SD Card in my
desktops reader and copying it to a suitable place.

[Parlour]

Hi Elija, If I move my home directory over to the SD card, do I need to change all the directories to D:/ (or whatever the directory is called) and I assume delete the Home directory from the internal system.

[elija]

Here is a howto about moving your home directory

Linky