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Creating Linux partitions on new Lenovo notebook

post #1 of 7
5/27/10 at 5:41pm
Thread Starter 
I'm trying to create some Linux partitions to install Slackware on my Lenovo W510 notebook and I'm getting some partition "errors" when using fdisk or cfdisk during the Slackware install. I have a feeling this is due to the hidden system restore partition and was wondering how others have dealt with this.
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post #2 of 7
5/27/10 at 6:16pm
Might help if you posted the errors.

Seablade
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post #3 of 7
5/27/10 at 6:20pm
Thread Starter 
Unfortunately I don't have the computer in front of me... what I do remember from earlier was that fdisk and cfdisk, as well as Partition Magic all complained about the partitions where cfdisk and Partition Magic wouldn't even let me continue past the message. The weird thing is, gparted started up with no problems at all. I wonder if gparted is going to screw anything up...
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post #4 of 7
5/27/10 at 10:22pm
gparted is typically considered more powerful than fdisk for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that gparted can resize partitions something that fdisk last I checked cannot do non-destructively. Partition Magic probably won't do it for the reason that s0be alluded to in your other thread, resizing partitions is not a guaranteed process, and particularly if the partition has been used for a long period of time, or it is close to full, it can be difficult to do due to fragmentation. I would FIRST AND FOREMOST make a backup as was suggested, then I would de-fragment your Windows drive, THEN I would use gparted to resize.

But understand resizing partitions does not always work cleanly, that is the most likely step to cause problems, and while I have never had it fail on me, that isn't to say it never will and having a backup before doing it is a must just in case. Resizing a partition means moving any data currently written to that area of the disk individually and relinking it in the FAT correctly, a lot of work pretty much for the program to do and a lot can go wrong, even though it rarely does in my experience. Again, in case it wasn't obvious I strongly advocate making a backup before doing anything

Seablade
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post #5 of 7
5/28/10 at 12:18am
Thread Starter 
With what you said regarding gparted being more powerful I went ahead and used it to resize and create my Linux partitions and everything is working! That is of course after following your precaution of creating a backup! Luckily it wasn't needed this time around! Thank you Seablade!
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post #6 of 7
5/28/10 at 5:39pm
I don't know that I've ever needed a backup when I made one... only when I didn't......
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post #7 of 7
5/28/10 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by s0be View Post
I don't know that I've ever needed a backup when I made one... only when I didn't......
That is pretty much par for the course, so to speak.

I have had my backup drive fail on me when I reformatted my primary, THAT SUCKED. Lost a lot of work I will never be able to recreate. I have had other things happen as well, I rarely ever need my backups, but when I do it makes all the difference.

Seablade
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