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[OCLUG-Tech] Re: Disk partitions etc.

I've done what Roland did when there were "slots" available, i.e., fewer
than 4 primary partitions. In the case yesterday, there was a smallish
partition 1 (zero if counting from 0) of 200MB, then nearly 200MB for
Win7. This we were able to shrink, but could not put a new partition
into place (i.e., third partition) because there was a 30G Extended
partition as #3 and a special recovery partition at #4. We could not
move the 30 G partition down, which I think would have allowed it to be
extended and another extended sub-partition there.

It would be a useful service if OCLUG "team" could figure out some nice
ways to deal with this, especially if we can come up with
scripts/interface to help novices.

My current resolution -- I cannot say solution: put Linux on USB (HD or
Flash) and boot from it, possibly putting data in the Win7 partition
(NTFS) so external drive is read only. Unfortunately, the sub-model my
friend bought left out the SD card slot, which would be a nice
unobtrusive option. We tested the external solution with an old 40GB
drive and a Vantec USB-IDE cable/power supply setup. Works just fine.

JN

> Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 18:22:51 -0800 (PST) From: R RENAUD <rjrenaud [ at ] rogers [ dot ] com> Subject: Re: [OCLUG-Tech] Re: Laptop partitioning To: linux [ at ] lists [ dot ] oclug [ dot ] on [ dot ] ca Message-ID: <561396 [ dot ] 83694 [ dot ] qm [ at ] web88301 [ dot ] mail [ dot ] re4 [ dot ] yahoo [ dot ] com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 --- On Tue, 12/1/09, Prof. John C Nash <nashjc [ at ] uottawa [ dot ] ca> wrote:
>> > Have been helping a friend with a new
>> > Lenovo G550 ... wonderful nasties at
>> > Lenovo have put 5 partitions on the drive, plus leaving some
>> > unallocated space.
>> > 
>> > As I recall, the structure was
>> > 
>> > 1 MB free unallocated
>> > 200 MB NTFS /dev/sda1
>> > 187 GB NTFS /dev/sda2
>> > 30 GB NTFS /dev/sda3 (extended)
>> >      30 GB NTFS /dev/sda5
>> > 14.5 GB NTFS /dev/sda4
>> > 
>> > (with some odd unallocated bits of about 1MB between)
>> > 
>> > This, of course, means that one needs to do some work to
>> > set up a Linux partition. On my wife's Asus Eee 1005HA,
>> > there were 4 partitions (C: D:
>> > recovery and winboost), but D: was empty and same size as
>> > C:, so replaced it with Karmic with no fuss.
>> > 
>> > Does anyone have a good strategy for dealing with the
>> > Lenovo-style situation, which I fear is more or less a
>> > deliberate setup to block dual boot? This might make a very
>> > good tutorial / advice topic, and of course be beneficial to
>> > the Linux community generally, since many folk are reluctant
>> > to go to all-Linux right away. I find they eventually forget
>> > how to use Windows once they have Linux, but getting them
>> > going means finding convenient ways to set up dual boot.
> ...
> 
> I don't think it's just Lenovo.
> You mention similar partitions on Asus Eee 1005HA.
> 
> I recently helped someone install Debian Lenny on a Windows Vista
> desktop that had similar partitions.
> I don't recall the computer manufacturer and unfortunately didn't note
> the exact partitions.
> 
> This machine had a large D: that I shrank down using Lenny and
> installed Lenny in the room created there and all worked fine.
> 
> roland
>