Dual boot: From OpenSuSE to Kubuntu

[sonicboy03]

Hi,
some weeks ago I installed windows xp and opensuse 11.1linux on my laptop. But now I notice some instabilities with opensuse and I want to change to Kubuntu. This because it seems less complicated software and I've heard lot of good things because it (tried to solve the problems with opensuse, but don't seem to work - some programs, especially multimedia, hangs or crashes).

So, the question is: what is the easiest and safest way to switch from opensuse to kubuntu?
I have an ntsf partition of 20 gig made for linux. The first step was to delete the boot manager i tought. Then to delete the linux partition.
To install kubuntu, do i need to make a new partition? I ask this because I've noticed that when trying to install kubuntu, you have the option to make a dual boot. Is this safe enough? Can I make a partition manually with GParted and then install kubuntu on this because this seems more safe to me?

Sorry for the long question, but I don't want to mess up with my xp-partition because there's a lot of data on it.

Thx for your kind help!

Wouter

[Jonathan183]

Boot from the kubuntu CD, open a terminal and type the following

sudo fdisk -l

the -l has a small L not a one. This will show the disk partition structure, post the output here.
You should be able to just install kubuntu over openSUSE. You will need to select manual partitioning and select the openSUSE partitions you want to over-write.

Always backup the data if you can before installing an OS or modifying partitions

[sonicboy03]

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x38000000

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 15 120456 de Dell Utility
/dev/sda2 16 16855 135267300 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 * 16856 19457 20900565 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 16856 17022 1341396 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 17023 18029 8088696 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 18030 19457 11470378+ 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 3913 MB, 3913285632 bytes
104 heads, 40 sectors/track, 1837 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 4160 * 512 = 2129920 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x27ffd00a

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 2 1838 3817536 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Thats the output I got

[Jonathan183]

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x38000000

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 15 120456 de Dell Utility
/dev/sda2 16 16855 135267300 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 * 16856 19457 20900565 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 16856 17022 1341396 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 17023 18029 8088696 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 18030 19457 11470378+ 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 3913 MB, 3913285632 bytes
104 heads, 40 sectors/track, 1837 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 4160 * 512 = 2129920 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x27ffd00a

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 2 1838 3817536 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Thats the output I got

To install kubuntu directly over openSUSE ...
You should be able to select manual partition, select sda5 as swap, sda6 as root and sda7 as home (I'm assuming that is the allocation of sda6 & sda7 by openSUSE). The installer will insist on root partition (sda6 - based on my assumption) being formatted but home partition (sda7 - again my assumption) you will have the option to format or keep existing data. You can double check which is root and home partition on the existing install by using

cat /etc/fstab

Grub by default will be installed to sda (no need to change this) and dual boot with Windows should be setup automatically.

Note:- Linux does not use NTFS or FAT32 partitions - I think this is a Windows installation. Do not select these partitions for the installation or you will loose Windows & data

[sonicboy03]

Hi man! I did as you told, and now I have kubuntu instead of opensuse. Actually, it was very simple .
You were right about your assumptions: sda6=root and sda7=home. Selected to format the home and keep the home partition. In this way, I didn't have to re-install all my linux files Very good system, and kubuntu seems to be more reliable on my laptop than opensuse (minor thing about kubuntu is that you have to download and install lot of addtional prog & files, instead of opensuse where you almost have everything you need, except for video and dvd playback)

[Jonathan183]

You will find many distros that install from a live CD need quite a bit of downloading to get all the apps you want ... some but not all have options to install from dvd.

Glad your sorted ... enjoy kubuntu.