Question about getting Ubuntu onto a external harddrive Mac OSX

[theINTERCEPTOR]

I have been trying and trying and there is a chance that it cant be done. I have Ubuntu on a disk and the .iso in the downloads of my hard drive. I am operating from a Mac OSX and have a 250GB external hard drive. The external hard drive is partitioned into three parts I left 50GB of space for Ubuntu. I know this is a TON of space but it is available so i figured i would use it. I have tried using the disk utility and the terminal with a dd. I took a copy of the .iso and used the terminal to rename it with a .dmg for the disk utility and that didnt work. I tried just about everything I could find and it won't work.

I just want to know if it is even possible and if so why can't I get it.

(I am new to Linux and this forum but am trying to learn as much as possible)

[ved]

i m not sure i think you use live cd of any distro which available for you .
Read link in my signature .

[ptkobe]

I don't know anything about OSX, but the general idea to install ubuntu is to make a cd from the .iso and boot from it, then follow the install steps. Right?

If you computer allows you to boot from an external usb drive is another question (that could be solved, probably).

And I don't know if the cd installs on a Macintosh/motorola cpu, but you may have an Intel any how.

Hope someone else may help you more.
Luis

[theINTERCEPTOR]

It is intel and I am pretty sure the hard drive is bootable. Is it because the drive is partitioned.

I have it on a disk but the problem is that when I go to run the install on it I do not have to choice to put it on the drive.

[yancek]

I have it on a disk but the problem is that when I go to run the install on it I do not have to choice to put it on the drive.

When you boot from the Ubuntu disk, what choices do you have?
Are you using the most recent version of Ubuntu?
Did you do and md5sum check after downloading to verify the download?
Did you burn it as an iso image, data?
I haven't installed a recent Ubuntu but, the one I installed when booting the CD would give options such as:

Try without installing, Install, memory check, etc.

I've never used a mac but have seen web sites explaining how to do it so I guess it is possible.

[theINTERCEPTOR]

Well I figured it out for the most part. I am still taking care of some details to make it better but what I did is to save the .iso to a disk.v Then reboot the computer while holding the "c" key to boot from disk.

Also the external hard drive must be ready. I partitioned it but the section for Linux must be actual free space because during the actual instal process you will be creating the new partitions.

Once Ubuntu is open run the Installer. I am not sure yet but I think I need three new partitions. a Swap space which is about 4GB a root and a home. I am still working on these and what size they need to be but by googling it I learned more.

The restart was weird for me. But hopefully it helps a bit.

THIS IS FOR UBUNTU 10.10 using a mac OSX 10.5.8 and a 250GB WD External hard drive.

[yancek]

I am not sure yet but I think I need three new partitions. a Swap space which is about 4GB a root and a home.

The key word is "need". You may not need a swap partition if you have 2GB+ of RAM unless you do a lot of graphics intensive work. If you're just learning Linux, it is probably best to just create a swap partition. You also don't need a /home partition but there are good reasons to have one. Most installs just Need a root partition. Other partitions are pretty much optional, a personal choice depending upon the use for the computer.

[ptkobe]

I agree with yancek, except if you want to use hibernation. In that case, I believe you MUST have a swap a bit larger than your ram.

10GB should be more than enough to hold all your files on the main partition. To allow disk creation of DVD images before burning and other temp files I think 15-20GB in a desktop system will be better. Of course, what's left is /home.

That's my experience, some software may require more on /.

[theINTERCEPTOR]

So what I need is:

4GB Swap space (I have plenty of room so Ill just use 4GB)

and then 20GB for /

and a logical partition of 50GB for /home

Would that work well?

[ved]

So what I need is:

4GB Swap space (I have plenty of room so Ill just use 4GB)

and then 20GB for /

and a logical partition of 50GB for /home

Would that work well?

yes it work well