Arch Linux

gabrielvc

Member

Registered: 2011-07-24

Posts: 4

What exactly does Arch do with existing partitions at install time?

Hi there,

I would like ton install linux on a computer which has already ubuntu and Vista.
I'd like to keep ubuntu and erase vista altogether.
My partitions look like this:

/dev/sda1               1           5       40131   de  Dell Utility
/dev/sda2   *           6        1918    15360000    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3            1918       12225    82793624+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4           12225       60802   390191105    5  Extended
/dev/sda5           12225       59676   381146112   83  Linux
/dev/sda6           59676       60802     9043968   82  Linux swap / Solaris

sda2 is also a dell-backup partition of some sort, /sda3 is windows.
The less intrusive for me would be to keep /sda1 and /sda2 without modifications, install arch on /sda3. I would be nice if I could add /sda6 as arch's swap, and get a dual arch/ubuntu boot.

Now the question. When I log into the installer, in manually-configure-block-devices, does not show the types of the partitions, says something like "raw data". I chickened out. How should I proceed to only format /sda3, and keep my precious /sda5?

Thanks!

litemotiv

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2008-08-01

Posts: 5,026

Re: What exactly does Arch do with existing partitions at install time?

See this: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Be … Hard_Drive

Instead of option 3, you can choose option 2 to manually partition your drive (in your case only sda3, you can leave the other partitions intact).

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gabrielvc

Member

Registered: 2011-07-24

Posts: 4

Re: What exactly does Arch do with existing partitions at install time?

Thanks! I'll try...

gabrielvc

Member

Registered: 2011-07-24

Posts: 4

Re: What exactly does Arch do with existing partitions at install time?

No, it does not work, since cfdisk can not handle my partition table:

FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 3: Partition end in the final partial cylind
Press any key to exit cfdisk

litemotiv

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2008-08-01

Posts: 5,026

Re: What exactly does Arch do with existing partitions at install time?

No, it does not work, since cfdisk can not handle my partition table:

FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 3: Partition end in the final partial cylind
Press any key to exit cfdisk

You can try to delete partition 3 altogether, then remake it. If that doesn't work things might become more difficult.

edit: that probably wouldn't work if you can't start cfdisk at all. Manually with "fdisk" from another TTY could work, or using parted, but those are less simple than cfdisk..

Last edited by litemotiv (2011-07-24 14:19:46)

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valytzu01

Member

From: Pitesti,Roumania

Registered: 2011-07-13

Posts: 20

Re: What exactly does Arch do with existing partitions at install time?

Boot the ubuntu cd and partition the hdd using gparted,or you can do this from Ubuntu.Just install Gparted in it and do all the partitioning stuff from here.

gabrielvc

Member

Registered: 2011-07-24

Posts: 4

Re: What exactly does Arch do with existing partitions at install time?

I didn' need to repartition, I only wanted to know if, when installing arch, it would erase the partition table.
The fact is, if you choose the option to select partitions (option3), then it ask you to format the new partitions that you create. Leaves the other ones intact. So I just formated my sd3 as ext4, and installed arch there.

Thanks for the interest, and the comments.

G