Dual booting Ubuntu with xp

Hey all!.

I've been trying to dual boot Ubuntu 7.10 with windows xp. I have no problems when the live cd does the partitioning for me, but I want to do it manually. (as now I only have two options for some reason, entire disk or manual)

So I used a windows app to create a separate .ext3 partition (on my C:, which windows is on) and the .swap. But when getting to where you pick your partition for installation, I select the .ext3 just created and I get this msg :

"No root file system is defined.
Please correct this from the partitioning menu."

After that, I read somewhere that the .ext3 needs to be root "/" and the .swap needs to be "/swap". So Im assuming that its done with a linux app (gparted?), but I dont know how to run it from Ubuntu live cd.

So to sum up, heres what I'd like to accomplish :

I have two ntsf partitions, one is C: which has windows installed and the other is E: (175GB, a partition of C). Id like to use 75GB from E: for Ubuntu.

This forum has really helped me out in the past and Im hoping someone will adopt an ubuntu newb, who is ready for the change. Sorry for the long post but I wanted top be clear. Please help Im sick of winblows.

Thanks.

 

Use the partitioner on the Ubuntu cd. when it asks how you want to partition select manual. select the ntfs partition that you want to resize and then select the resize option. then you will have free space create a new ext3 file system and select it to be your root "/". you will also need a swap space that is about 1 or 2 gb. that should be all you have to do.

 

http://www.howtoforge.com/the_perfect_desktop_ubuntu7.04

I think they have stripped the ubuntu partitioner down too far..

Choose manual..

forget hda1.. leave it be, that will be windows.

hda2..(the big one? the one you think is E: delete it.. it is wrong for linux.

that will give you whatever size of free space.. in that you need to make

hda2 primary 20gb ext3 B / (root)
hda3 primary 2gb /swap
hda4 primary whatevers left ext3 /home

Make them at the end not the beginning.. and write changes to disk..

Then let the installer do it's bit.. it is clever enough to recognise the mountpoints..

When you get to the end of the installation it will ask to install grub to the MBR.. you can tell it YES and then it will finish and spit the disk out... moment of truth

 

Finally got it working. (after a few failed attempts)

I was up all night customizing/updating and I'm never going back to windblows.

Thanks a ton for the help, both of you

 

Check if you get sound on youtube.. I don't and it has never worked

Note the problem with the flashplugin-nonfree which means you probably need a manual install.. (what a pain)

You may want to add the debian-multimedia repositories to your sources.list file too..

have fun

 

Ok, Im having troubles again. Ive got this error before and reinstalled thinking I fixed it. Im not reinstalling all over again, lol.

The problem Im having is on startup. Ubuntu starts loading (progress bar) then goes to black screen, saying I needed to run manual fsck check (without -a or -p). So I read how to run manual fsck, which I did on /sda2. (still know nothing about the -a -p part)

After that it gives me errors about resizing inodes, if I hit yes, it just keeps going onto the next error, and so on.....

Please help me!.

 

Honestly, the easiest way to do this is using Wubi:
http://wubi-installer.org/

Basically, you install Ubuntu from within Windows as though it was just another program.

Works like a charm.

 

That wasn't the question.. and installs the OS like a windows app..

Linux is about getting away from M$ completely, not using it as a crutch to support linux. Basic core skills like partitioning and installing an alternative OS are vital to understanding what the differences are... and this wubi method does admit it will run far slower than a normal linux installation. (no real swap partition etc:

As they say, it's fine to experiment and as a taster.. I can't see much point, why not just run off a live cd and avoid the M$ malware cross infection risk if you want a simple no gritty install OS..

So.. not a proper linux install, and I have a feeling like DSL-frugal it could start to trash your windows installation (I tried it as a test a while ago and there is no way to set the max size for the lvd.. so swap in theory could destroy all your windows settings, especially if they are held as volatile temp files on a fragmented drive). Linux isn't happy within an NTFS file system. And why only ubuntu??

Fine for a taster, but install a proper partition dual boot system for usability and security.

 

I dont want to use the wubi (thanks but Ive used it).

But what people are saying is it could be because of new HDD. Im not sure what to do. I asked in the Ubuntu forums found : HERE

Please help (again)

 

Ok.. it should be simple..

When you get to the grub boot choice choose single user mode (recovery mode?).

This will bring you to a nice login prompt. (runlevel 1) Should ask for user/password.. may just ask for password.. never been this way with ubuntu..


Use umount command to unmount /whatever file system
Run fsck using fsck command

Let us say you would like to run fsck on /home (/dev/sda3):

# umount /home
OR
# umount /dev/sda3

# fsck /home
OR
# fsck /dev/sda3
OR
# e2fsck -y /dev/sda3 (the "y" should fix all errors silently)

If you aren't sure where your partitions are you can run cfdisk also at runlevel 1 to make sure the labels are right and you are attacking the right partitions.

More specific ubuntu related things here.. it may be an idea to let the OS handle the checking by forcing a check on reboot.

# shutdown -r -F now

http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-100408.html

Something has gone wrong with the way your system is shutting down.. some process isn't exiting cleanly and is leaving inodes orphaned.

While at runlevel 1 it is a good idea to take a look at /boot/grub/menu.list to check you are booting from the right partition. last ubuntu (kubuntu) I saw was failing to boot due to having failed to add sda1/2/3 whatever and was trying to boot from hda2. +500xp's and 1gp for that

 

When I boot into recover mode it doesn't ask me for anything (pw). Just kind of looks like the page I get with the errors (black).

It wont let me unmount, it says "command not found". when running the e2fsck with -y, it goes through a few then stops. Then does nothing.

And I tried shutdown -r -F now and it did a few things, then went to a weird blue screen Ive never seen before, I'm an idiot cause I cant remember what it said exactly.

Thanks soo much for all your help, I really appreciate it, but what am I doing wrong?, lol.

cb_edit: what do they mean buy this :

Creating file "forcefsck" in the root directory should cause an fsck to
be run on next reboot.

# sudo touch /forcefsck

or

# sudo echo " " >/forcefsck

how would I tell it for sda/2 or home?

 

sorry to say that's typical ubuntu.. it's missing lots of important schtuff.

The black screen should have a login.. if not you can use <ctrl>+<alt>+F4 to get to another console and try again from there..

it should look something like

UBUNTU$

This is straight out of the debian handbook..

login as root
use password and

touch /forcefsck

which basically makes a file called "forcefsck" which will run the file system check on all drives.

It could be the superblock is corrupt so

e2fsck -b 8193 -y /dev/sda3

OR.. if you are feeling particularly brave (and why not.. it's busted up already) http://beans.seartipy.com/2005/12/29/system-rescue-act-using-gnulinux-live-cd/


You mentioned a new drive, have you changed hardware about since installing?

I'm not that hot on ubuntu.. I broke it fatally 4 times in 3 weeks before going over to debian (with all it's stupid annoyances)

 

The only thing I did after installing was move some space from the NTSF partition to the Ubuntu one (on same HDD). Could that cause a problem?. I was using a partition manager in windows.

Thank you so much (again) for your help but I tried switching to a new console. All that happens is it switches to black screen and a blinking text icon. It wont let me type anything, nothing seems to happen.

I'm starting to think maybe I'm just an idiot and should stick stupid windblows

 

Ahh.. changing the partition size with a windows tool will nearly always hose it. M$ don't recognise that there is anything other than their way and filesystems on the planet....

Now then now then.. I would get a live cd distro.. either puppy or knoppix (puppy if you must have a GUI.. otherwise knoppix is more useful) and reinstate the new partition sizes with gparted or cfdisk... (you will need to unmount the drive again) Set the partition type, but don't actually format the partitions.. then try running the fsck again. Probably won't work because the new space has no filesystem and will just look like bad sectors/damaged area, and some people will obviously have other ideas.. It's what I would do next as otherwise I'm out of ideas..

Never a good idea changing the size of partitions with data on them

 

OMG I'm sorry, I feel like I've wasted your time, lol.

I'm just going to re-install the OS with the desired size I want, and leave it.

Thanks for all your help

 

OMG I'm sorry, I feel like I've wasted your time, lol.

I'm just going to re-install the OS with the desired size I want, and leave it.

Thanks very much for your help

 

no probs.. it's a good reference thread