Dual boot installation - where to install to?

[Paul Orton]

I have a machine with 2 hard drives, one with Vista installed and the other empty, ready to host an Ubuntu installation. I want my system to dual boot.

When I boot via the Ubuntu 10.10 CD I am presented with two choices : install Linux to SCSI1 (0,0,0) (sda) using the entire disk, or to SCSI2 (0,0,0) (sdb) with 50% of the disk designated as Files and the other 50% designated as Ubuntu.

Which one do I choose?

[nujinini]

Hello!

While booting from an Ubuntu CD. Please go to terminal and post the output of:

fdisk -l

Thanks!

[Paul Orton]

Sorry, that command doesn't work.

[Paul Orton]

I guess it needs to be prefaced with 'sudo'....

I'll try again.

[Paul Orton]

Hmm, no internet connection using the CD so I've had to copy by hand the relevant fdisk info:

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1gb

Device Boot Start End Blocks ID System
/dev/sda1 1 1097 8292296 27 Unknown
/dev/sda2 * 1098 64602 480091816 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1gb

Device Boot Start End Blocks ID System
/dev/sdb 1 60802 488383488 7 HPFS/NTFS

So I should install to SCSI2 (0,0,0) (sdb) with 50% of the disk designated as Files and the other 50% designated as Ubuntu. Should I accept the 50/50 or is there a better plan?

[nujinini]

Hmm, no internet connection using the CD so I've had to copy by hand the relevant fdisk info:

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1gb

Device Boot Start End Blocks ID System
/dev/sda1 1 1097 8292296 27 Unknown
/dev/sda2 * 1098 64602 480091816 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1gb

Device Boot Start End Blocks ID System
/dev/sdb 1 60802 488383488 7 HPFS/NTFS

So I should install to SCSI2 (0,0,0) (sdb) with 50% of the disk designated as Files and the other 50% designated as Ubuntu. Should I accept the 50/50 or is there a better plan?

MMmmmmmm....

I'm just trying to be careful not to overwrite any data in your system so if I may ask, how come /dev/sdb is formatted as HPFS/NTFS?

Are there any relevant data you have installed there? If yes, we can try to partition it and make an ext4 filesystem where you can install your ubuntu.

[Paul Orton]

No, there's no data on this drive. I formatted it as NTFS - I don't even know what HPFS is!

[MikeTbob]

When you start the installer, Ubuntu should detect Windows partition and give you the option to create a dual boot, just be sure and pay extra attention when the installer ask where to install Ubuntu...you want to install it to /dev/sdb. I would point out right now, this is the perfect time to create a seperate /home partition so that you won't lose data and files if you decide to switch distros at a later time.

[Paul Orton]

When you start the installer, Ubuntu should detect Windows partition and give you the option to create a dual boot, just be sure and pay extra attention when the installer ask where to install Ubuntu...you want to install it to /dev/sdb. I would point out right now, this is the perfect time to create a seperate /home partition so that you won't lose data and files if you decide to switch distros at a later time.

Could you explain that further, please? What exactly is a "/home" partition and how do I create it? How is this different from the Files partition that the installer offers to create?

[MikeTbob]

Well, it's been awhile since I have installed Ubuntu but if it's asking you to create a "Files partition", then that is basically the same thing as a separate /home partition. It's just a spare partition to keep your downloads and files safe from being overwritten if you should choose to re-install Ubuntu or any other distro as long as you do not format that spare partition. See this link for a short explanation.
Partitions: Planning Your Linux Installation

The reason I recommend creating a separate partition is that you are a new user. You are going to want to play with things, experiment, push the limits of your system. Before long, you will break something so badly that you will need to reinstall, or you'll just want to reinstall with different options, or try a different Linux distribution. Having /home on a separate partition makes it very easy to wipe out and reinstall Linux without losing any of your data.