dual-boot partition setup

[CalcProgrammer1]

My setup on my main computer is:

80GB drive: 20 Linux (ext3) , 60 WinXP (NTFS)
120GB drive: 120GB FAT32 (setup before Ubuntu had NTFS support, may switch to NTFS if I can backup all the data to DVD's)

On my Compaq (Sempron):

60GB drive: 20GB Linux (ext3) , 40GB WinXP (NTFS)

On my laptop:

30GB drive: 15GB Linux (ext3) , 15GB WinXP (NTFS)

[Mak213]

I am noticing more and more that i can shrink down my Linux partition. there is no way i can see me using 160GB for Linux. I still cant believe that i havent used 4GB yet...

Ahh well at least it will allow for more space for Vista. Which needs it sadly.......

[darkop16]

Ok i got a problem. Ubuntu partitioner is not recognizing my raid 0. The two hard drives are separate in the manual partition setup.

I guess this is my problem since it is an onboard raid controller: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FakeRaidHowto

Alright...problem solved...sorry bout posting for no reason. Ill search the ubuntu how to's first if i got another question :P

[darkop16]

Well i got another problem that i might not be able to do through ubuntu. Gparted doesn't have ntfs as an option to reformat a partition. Can partition magic reformat the partitions i couldn't reformat during xp install later?

edit: i meant parted magic....not the other one you have to pay for. Anyways, its not going to work either, cause it seems to not have very good support for raid 0 systems. I read somewhere that if i go on and partition the raw partitions to FAT32 in gparted, that i can boot back to XP and tell XP to change the partitions from FAT32 to NTFS....can i do this before i go on and partition these raw partitions to FAT32?

Also, do i need to make any of the partitions for ubuntu primary?

[CalcProgrammer1]

GParted CAN do NTFS... You can make any type of partition with GParted (but you may need a newer version, what Ubuntu are you using?). If you can't get it, you can format NTFS partitions during XP setup or through the command prompt or My Computer (command prompt: "format <drive letter>:", My Computer: right click the drive, select Format, and choose NTFS)

[Mak213]

GParted will format to NTFS. Just no when creating a Partition. at least from what i have seen. So what i do is create the partition and leave it unformatted. Then right click on that partition i just created and choose the format option there. It will give you NTFS then. That has to be the only bug i have ever seen with GParted.

[darkop16]

Yeah, i just figured out how to format a partition in XP. Im formating the other 2 partitions to ntfs right now. Earlier, I tried to just go on a install ubuntu on the rest of the HDD but i got some weird partition map error. I am waiting for XP to finish reformating those raw partitions, then i will give ubuntu installer another chance. Ill post the error here if i get it again.

[darkop16]

Ok im at the partition screen now. I did what that how to for supporting my raid 0 told me to do and this is what i got:


Bigger Image: http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...6/DSC01363.jpg

Ive got two free spaces...whats up with that? The two at the bottom (sda and sdb) are the actual 250gb HDDs. If i didn't install the dmraid thing like the "how to" said to do then that would be all that shows up. Anyways, what do i do about the two free spaces and what is all the stuff in the middle supposed to be(dev/mapper/sw_ccjdedhaif_dark1 to "..."_dark9)?

edit: Im still trying to figure out what the heck that FakeRaidHowto guide wants me to do. I got lost at the "Mount the Temporary File Structure" about a quarter of the way through it.

[darkop16]

Ok i ignored the 2006 MB freed space above the sda and sdb partitions. I splint the 51161 MB into /home, /boot, /, and swap (in that order). After i setup the name of the computer and other stuff, I try to install. I get the following error:

"The ext3 file system creation in partition #7 of LVM
VG isw_ccjdedhaif_dark,LV isw_ccjdedhaif_dark failed"

The "installing system" box stoppes at:
"creating ext3 file system for /home in partition #7 of LVM V..."

[Mak213]

Honestly you will probably have to go to the Ubuntu forums to find out how to get Ubuntu to recognize the RAID.