Dual boot with Ubuntu?

killerturtle · 2011-05-14 05:37:06

I've got Ubuntu 11.04 setup ok now on an EEE 1201N.
I plan on dualbooting with Arch.

What I've found out so far:

- I can skip the installation of Grub during the Arch install, because I can modify the existing Grub config, to also include Arch in the boot menu
- I need only one SWAP partition, it can be used by both OS'ses

Questions:
- Is it wise to share (use the existing Ubuntu) /HOME partition in Ubuntu and Arch? Or is it better to mount a separate /DATA partition for sharing data used in both OS'ses (movies, pics, docs, ect.)
- Do I need a seperate /BOOT partition for Arch?
- Any other tips ?

Thanks for the help!

MadTux · 2011-05-14 16:40:55

1) Personally, I would prefer a seperate partition to be shared between Ubuntu and Arch. Desktop environments and other applications tend to save content into the home directory. Keeping things seperate reduces the risk of screwing-up one or the other system.
2) No, you don't need a seperate /boot partition.

killerturtle · 2011-05-14 17:31:55

Thx for the reply!

What would be a good partitioning scheme for Arch in this case?

New partition - 10 GB /
New partition - 30 GB /HOME
Existing partition - SWAP

Or do i need extra seperate partitions for /TMP, /VAR, /LOG in Arch?

In Ubuntu everything is located in one partition.

Greetz
Sven

xamaco · 2011-05-14 18:51:03

A frequent way to share a home partition between several distros is to use a different username for each distro...

mcmillan · 2011-05-14 18:53:21

/tmp and /var are fine being part of /.

If you have a separate data partition you probably won't be using much of /home. I'm using only ~3Gb and could probably move some of that to the shared partition. 10GB for / is probably fine, though if you tend to install lots of stuff it may get a little tight.

manzdagratiano · 2011-06-05 03:25:33

I have a quintuple boot system with Arch + Ubuntu + Debian Sid + Slackware + Gentoo, and here's what I do:

I create a separate data partition, different from /home, since I do not like mixing config files with my own files. In the event of a reformat, I just back up what I need to (very few rc files). This lets me have different /home's, but with the same username and not replicating data.

I have the same swap partition for each distro.

I use Ubuntu's grub2 alone (it was the first distro on the machine), which flawlessly detects all other distros (at the moment I have a minor bug with duplicate entries, but that is okay).

My partitioning scheme is as follows:

[manjul@chaar ~]$ sudo fdisk -l
Password: 

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xd7fa6e3b

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1        42205182   583198719   270496769    5  Extended
/dev/sda2   *          63      257039      128488+  83  Linux
/dev/sda3          258048    42202754    20972353+  83  Linux
/dev/sda4       583198720   625141759    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda5        42205184    44302335     1048576   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6        44304384   457363455   206529536   83  Linux
/dev/sda7       541255680   583198719    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda8       499310592   541253631    20971520   83  Linux
/dev/sda9       457365504   499308543    20971520   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

/dev/sda2 is Ubuntu's boot partition (128 MB), /dev/sda3 is Ubuntu, /dev/sda1 is an extended partition containing the following:
/dev/sda5 is the shared swap
/dev/sda6 is the data partition
/dev/sda7 is Debian Sid
/dev/sda8 is Slackware
/dev/sda9 is Gentoo

and I have never had an issue! I even share the Dropbox folder between all distros, and I have never had a problem. All the distro partitions are 20GB each.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-05-14 05:37:06

Dual boot with Ubuntu?

#2 2011-05-14 16:40:55

Re: Dual boot with Ubuntu?

#3 2011-05-14 17:31:55

Re: Dual boot with Ubuntu?

#4 2011-05-14 18:51:03

Re: Dual boot with Ubuntu?

#5 2011-05-14 18:53:21

Re: Dual boot with Ubuntu?

#6 2011-06-05 03:25:33

Re: Dual boot with Ubuntu?

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