My 1st CFDISK partitioning and mountpoints - Is there a WIKI error?

yvonney · 2008-06-22 17:31:00

Hi....

I have a single drive laptop and want to use the FIRST 32 gig of the drive for ARCH. I managed ti do a manual partitioning and filesystem mountpoints though it seems wrong somehow. I also have one question. I have 3 gig of ram.

WIKI ERROR? or - explanation needed:

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beg … ition_Info

I tried to follow the partitioning and mountpoints parts exactly though got VERY confused.

Here's what I ended up with during the install phase:

Device:Type:Mountpoint:Format

dev/sda2:swap:swap:yes
dev/sda1:ext2:yes
dev/sda3:ext2:boot:yes

And here's what my menu.lst looks like now that I'm running at least:

/dev/fd0 (fd0)
/dev/hda (hd0)
/dev/hdb2 (hd1,1)
/dev/hda3 (hd0,2)

I did NOT do exactly what the WIKI said as this seemed wrong... to me anyways... hehehe
I hope and figure it's me that was wrong.. what are the chances of that! :--)

FIRST OF ALL I DID GET THIS DONE with cfdisk:

sda1 Boot Primary Linux 10240 #root
sda2 Primary Linux swap / Solaris 1024 #swap
sda3 Primary Linux 26480 #home

THEN I got confused setting the mountpoints:

The guide says: First you will be asked for your swap partition. Choose the appropriate partition (sda3 in this example).

I THOUGHT the swap was sda2 !!!!!

Then later it says:

You will now be prompted to add any additional partitions. In our example, only sda2 is remaining. Choose a filesystem type and mount it as /home.

ANYWAYS...

My objective is to have the most LOGICAL smallest number of partitions... OD I have to have 3 PHYSICAL partitions? Is that the best idea? I'm interested in best practices with thoughts of backups, reinstalls of boot or whatever, without risking data etc.

Can anyone tell me how I got so confused???

My first attempt to follow the beginners partitioning mountpoints guide failed, so the second time I just did what I THOUGHT would work... It did.. though at the top here you can see what my menu.lst etc. looks like... seems wrong or at least NOT the most logical...

Any pointers etc. greatly appreciated!!!!

Last edited by yvonney (2008-06-22 17:42:29)

ghostHack · 2008-06-22 17:46:26

It does look like the Wiki was wrong about the sda2/3 thing so I have edited it.

What you have posted from the menu.lst is just comments which are meant to show you how to convert from Linux device names to GRUB device names, the bits of the menu.lst file that you should be interested in are the bits that look like:

 (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,1)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda2 ro vga=795
initrd /boot/kernel26.img

The partitions that you have seem sensible, the minimum you need in one for '/' and one swap however most people recommend also having a separate /home so that you can re-install the OS without losing your valuable data in case you brick your system by accident.

yvonney · 2008-06-22 17:47:55

wow.... looks like I won't have to dye my hair...!
So nice to know, thank you!

now i must think!

Oh, I'm wondering why the numbers aren't more sequential...
I really don't quite GET how partitioning and mountpoints work yet...
Much studying still to do.

This is the one that throws me:

/dev/hdb2 (hd1,1)

hdB ?? and hd 1,1 ???
Why not hda and hd0,1 ????

Last edited by yvonney (2008-06-22 17:53:13)

WiLLiE · 2008-06-22 19:41:25

hda is the first disk, hdb is the second, hdc is the third etc.
hda1 is the first partition, hda2 is the second etc.
So.. hdb2 is the second partition on the second disk

Grub wants the diskinfo in this format:
hdX,Y .. X = disk, Y = partition.. hd0,0 means the first partition on the first disk, hd0,1 is the second partition on the first disk. (Grub starts counting at zero)

edit:
So.. hdb2 and hd1,1 means the same thing. it's just different programs wanting the disk/partition-info in different formats.

Last edited by WiLLiE (2008-06-22 19:46:19)

yvonney · 2008-06-22 19:59:22

nice.. I'll have to think that through though I really will study more and that should fill in the fairly big blanks.. going back to read the page again and think... great!

yvonney · 2008-06-24 23:06:26

Ok... So now I'm doing a repartitioning....

IS there another error in the wiki may I ask...??

Is sda1 the bootable partition of sda3 ????

I created the 3 primary partitions JUST like the beginners guide says... THEN near the end of the process
It prompts me : Enter thre mountpoint for /dev/sda3 /boot

I thought sda1 was the bootable partition not sda3???
I missed something with my knowledge right??

Device:Type:Mountpoint:Format
dev/sda2:swap:swap:yes
dev/sda1:ext2:yes
dev/sda3:ext2:boot:yes

THE WIKI SAYS: (after the first partitioning part and the subsequent file types part it end up with the following final partitioning move)

IS THIS RIGHT??? >>> Choose a filesystem type and mount it as /home

The full final partitioning paragraph is quoted below:

Choose and create the filesystem (format the partition) for / by selecting yes. You will now be prompted to add any additional partitions. In our example, only sda3 is remaining. Choose a filesystem type and mount it as /home. Again, create the filesystem and choose Done. Return to main menu.

Last edited by yvonney (2008-06-24 23:14:42)

yvonney · 2008-06-24 23:30:56

UPDATE COMMENT:

It appears that even though the system runs I now do not have a /home partition.

FSTAB
/ 0 1
swap 0 0
/boot 0 1

NO HOME PARTITION even though I did the beginners manual partitioning to the letter.... I thought.

I used to have....

/ 0 1
/home 0 1
swap 0 0
/boot 0 1

Last edited by yvonney (2008-06-24 23:31:05)

ghostHack · 2008-06-25 17:30:19

I think the wiki is correct but the distinctions between the steps are perhaps not as clear as they could be. The whole partitioning paragraph is actually:

First you will be asked for your swap partition. Choose the appropriate partition (sda2 in this example). You will be asked if you want to create a 
swap filesystem; select yes. Next, choose where to mount the / (root) directory (sda1 in the example). You will be asked what kind of filesystem you want.

< Descriptions of the different Filesystem Types cut >

Choose and create the filesystem (format the partition) for / by selecting yes. You will now be prompted to add any additional partitions. In our example, only sda3 is remaining. Choose a filesystem type and mount it as /home. Again, create the filesystem and choose Done. Return to main menu.

The final three sentences shoule perhaps be seperated:

Choose and create the filesystem (format the partition) for / by selecting yes. 

You will now be prompted to add any additional partitions. In our example, only sda3 is remaining. Choose a filesystem type and mount it as /home. 
Again, create the filesystem and choose Done. Return to main menu.

So, following the example the order of mount operations is:

swap partition, filesystem 'swap' (/dev/sda2)
/ partition, filesystem [ext3|reiser3/JFS etc] (/dev/sda1)
Any other partitions e.g.
/home, filesystem [ext3|reiser3/JFS etc] (/dev/sda3)

I can't see any mention of /dev/sda3 = /boot in the wiki aside from the auto-partition description

Last edited by ghostHack (2008-06-25 17:32:27)

yvonney · 2008-06-25 17:39:28

Nice! I'll have a read and a think... I considered that between me and the wording I'd simply not quite gotten it. Good to know, and I'll eventually get it I bet!

UPDATE COMMENT: it was at the end of the partitioning section where it says:

"Choose a filesystem type and mount it as /home" [I was referring to an actual install and not the wiki when I mentioned this two (and three) post above this one.]

I'm just not understanding how the BOOT partition gets mounted... though I've yet to read and think enough I guess.

Last edited by yvonney (2008-06-25 17:49:00)

Arch Linux

#1 2008-06-22 17:31:00

My 1st CFDISK partitioning and mountpoints - Is there a WIKI error?

#2 2008-06-22 17:46:26

Re: My 1st CFDISK partitioning and mountpoints - Is there a WIKI error?

#3 2008-06-22 17:47:55

Re: My 1st CFDISK partitioning and mountpoints - Is there a WIKI error?

#4 2008-06-22 19:41:25

Re: My 1st CFDISK partitioning and mountpoints - Is there a WIKI error?

#5 2008-06-22 19:59:22

Re: My 1st CFDISK partitioning and mountpoints - Is there a WIKI error?

#6 2008-06-24 23:06:26

Re: My 1st CFDISK partitioning and mountpoints - Is there a WIKI error?

#7 2008-06-24 23:30:56

Re: My 1st CFDISK partitioning and mountpoints - Is there a WIKI error?

#8 2008-06-25 17:30:19

Re: My 1st CFDISK partitioning and mountpoints - Is there a WIKI error?

#9 2008-06-25 17:39:28

Re: My 1st CFDISK partitioning and mountpoints - Is there a WIKI error?

Board footer