Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] hard drive partitioning

["Ian" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

I believe think that the GRUB boot loader doesn't care where the kernel is.
It is default with Mandrake nowadays, and has what it calls a "BASH-like"
shell in which you can add entries and stuff if you know what your doing.

I had lots of trouble for a while with running out of space in the /
partition, until I figured out that some applications (like Staroffice and
such) like to install themselves in the /opt. What is up with that?

I just moved it to the /usr directory and expanded my root directory to some
empty space I had left for such a purpose. Because they were programs like
Staroffice I didn't have to change any links, as nothing seems to rely on
them.

Ian Monroe

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kmicic" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>
To: <EMAIL:PROTECTED>
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2001 1:18 AM
Subject: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] hard drive partitioning


> this was going to be a mental note to self, but since some ppl may
> disagree, i post this to the discussion list in case it starts a flame
> war.
>
> i do this mistake all the time, and the linux arch designers seem to
> promote this, so here's a word of wisdom:
> if you're going to have mostly a single user system you will most likely
> want 3 partitions. you need 3, not just two (swap and filesystem), cause
> lilo expects to find kernel image in the 1st 1000  or so blocks (within
> the 1st gig of your hd), so if by any chance the file with the kernel
> image gets put beyond that limit, you may be in trouble. so.... the
> system designers seem to encourage a small root partition (say 200Mb),
> and the rest /usr, like this:
> - 1st partiotion (about 200Mb) root (/)
> - 2nd partition (128Mb) swap
> - 3rd partition (everything else) /usr
>
> well, duh... at the same time on your average system the /var itself
> takes 200Mb and can grow beyond that, filling the root partition almost
> immediately. there are 2 ways around it:
>
> 1) a quick hack - move /var to /usr/var and then link it symbolically.
> try at your own risk - i just did it, but then i realized how idiotic it
> was to try it without taking precautions.
>
> 2) don't mount root on your 1st (small) partition! the best way to split
> 2 partition file system is probably:
>  - 1st partition (up to 200Mb, but can easily be 100Mb since it'll just
> contain kernel images)    /boot  !!! <- chess notation uses this to
> indicate a particularly good move ;-)
>  - 2nd partition (up to 128Mb - if you need more, get more RAM) swap
>  - 3rd partition (everything else) : root (/)
>
> if your installer is not smart enough, you may have to do a few things
> by hand:
> 1. copy kernel image (proably vmlinuz) from / to /boot
> 2. put an entry in /etc/lilo.conf indicating where the new kernel image
> is, and re-run lilo
> this is still a much better solution than the traditional (/, /usr)
> split, for a mostly single-user system, where you don't want to worry
> about filling up some partition while you're copying files around or
> installing stuff.
>
> any comments?
>
> - Km


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