Linux install on slave drive

[wantonmin]

Hi and thank you for your advance help!

I'm trying to install Linux 6.1 on my PC. My set up is as follows:
a)C drive(master)2Gigs contains Win98 and apps. 500MB free.
b)D drive(slave)30Gigs contains some Win apps. 27Gigs free. I partitioned 5gigs for Linux use.

Problem is during installation, whenever I would set my Linux native/swap/boot partitions to D(slave) drive, it says it cant create partition becuuse it has no space. Instead, Linux native is created on my C drive (which is running out of space).

Why cant I seem to install my Linux partition on my slave(D) drive? Do I have to install Linux on a master drive for it to work?

Thanks again!

[BooRadley]

>> Do I have to install Linux on a master drive for it to work?

No. Are you using Red Hat? Also, you can't use your swap partition for your native & boot partition. It's a whole different partition and a whole different filesystem. You'll need to add one extra partition for swap, just a few hundred megs should do. I do believe, though I could be wrong, that boot & native can be the same, but swap cannot.

It's probably taking the 5 gigs and creating a Linux Native partition, then when it tries to create swap, it can't because all 5 gigs of a 5 gig partition are in use by Linux Native.

[slugo3]

how did you create the 5 gig partition? sounds like there is one partition on the d: drive so linux has no space to create a partition. if thats the problem there is a free program called fips for spliting partitions, it comes with some distributions or you can d/l it somewhere.
btw there is no "linux 6.1" there are many different "linux" distributions that all contain the linux kernel.

[wantonmin]

I got Linux Redhat 6.1 from the book Im using "Learning Linux". I Know its a bit outdated but Im following another how-to book that uses redhat 6.1.

I partitioned my D: drive using Partion Commander 8.0. I initially used FIPS but I get the same error when I get to Disk Druid - it creates the partition in C: instead of D:

Im beginning to think of transferring all my data from drive C to D using Copy Commander and re-configuring my D to C and make it master. That way, I can have all the space I need if Disk druid still insists on installing on C. But that is the last resort...

If its possible to run linux on a slave drive, then that would still be better.

Did I mention I want it to be dual boot as well?

Thanks for the replies again!

[BooRadley]

You should be fine so long as you create another partition for swap.

http://pw2.netcom.com/~estraws/stuff/drives.gif

Here's mine. It has Windows 98 as the first partition. It has two installs of Linux, one from a long time ago that's not in LILO any more on the "d drive" or hdb, but I could add it to LILO and boot it if I wanted. In fact, it may be in there now that I think about it, if not, I've booted it using loadlin not long ago. Any way, the point is that your setup is fine but you need a swap partition.

hda is the master disk, hdb is the slave, the other is my camera, ignore that.

[slugo3]

"partitioned my D: drive using Partion Commander 8.0. I initially used FIPS but I get the same error when I get to Disk Druid - it creates the partition in C: instead of D:"

sounds like you need to specify the d: drive when you start disk druid. I've never used it but its probably similar to fdisk which is probably included with redhat also. for fdisk you just type "fdisk /dev/hdb" b for secondary disk.

[wantonmin]

Thanks for your inputs!

I was able to instal RH 6.1 on my slave D drive and had no errors.

So I log on to root and type "start x" to start X Windows but I get an error:

execve failed for /etc/X11/X (errno2) _X11

Did I do something wrong with the install? How can I get X Windows started?

[BooRadley]

Did you run the xconfigurator? You have to configure x before you can run it. During install, did it go into a graphic configuration mode and make you pick your mouse, monitor, and graphics card?

[wantonmin]

My graphics card is 3DLabs Permedia. I did run x configurator but whenever I select the right graphics card, the program exits and displays a an error message.

[BooRadley]

Try the hit & miss method. On older distributions, I've always had to do that. Trial & error. Yum.

[wantonmin]

Would it do me good if I installed RH 7.1 instead? Will newer RH releases support my 3DlabsPermedia card?

[BooRadley]

I'm not sure. You can google up compatibility lists. Red Hat is pretty good about supporting relatively current and just about all dated hardware. One of the reasons I quit using windows is because it doesn't support all my hardware but Red Hat does.

What error message does it give you, anyway? You may just need to download a better x server or something, or -- for the time being -- go with some horrific generic setting just long enough to get x working, then fix it up from there.

Linux used to be kind of hard to get working on a fresh install, and you have an old version. You'll probably just have to fiddle. If I recal, 7.1 was pretty damned easy to install. I think it was a fairly significant improvement over 6.

[wantonmin]

Thanks so much for your inputs. It gives hope to newbies like me! :) I'll give 7.1 a shot...if it doesnt work out, you'll hear more from me hahahah!

Have a happy new year!

[BooRadley]

Good luck. My first install was slackware from about six or seven years ago. It didn't even have an x server for my video card, which meant I had to do everything from a command line, not knowing what I was doing, and write a dialer to connect to my ISP, so I could use an x term to find a driver for my video card, so I could install it, so I could start x, so I could download Netscape. After that, a little trial and error seemed like a blessing. I think RH 7 was the first really impressive install. If I remember, it went more smoothly than Windows does.

If you have a fast internet connection, you could always download an up-to-date copy from Red Hat or Mandrake (which is basically Red Hat).