cant convert unallocated space to ext3

[rookie1010]

Hello

I was trying to install ubuntu on my desktop. does the ext3 file system partition need to be at the beginning of the drive.
what is the use of linux swap?

presently i have got unallocated space at the end of my drive(the drive has NTFS partition at the beginning). when i try to create an ext3 partition using partitionmagic 8.0, i get the following message

"Error #632. Can't execute the operation: partition location, size, or type is different than anticipated"

if the ext3 partition needs to be in the front, can i sue partition magic to move the partition to the front of the drive?

 

[degibson]

Originally posted by: rookie1010
Hello

I was trying to install ubuntu on my desktop. does the ext3 file system partition need to be at the beginning of the drive.
what is the use of linux swap?

Linux swap = Virtual memory pagefile. Just like the NTFS pagefile, except in NTFS it actually is a file, whereas Linux uses a partition.

presently i have got unallocated space at the end of my drive(the drive has NTFS partition at the beginning). when i try to create an ext3 partition using partitionmagic 8.0, i get the following message

"Error #632. Can't execute the operation: partition location, size, or type is different than anticipated"

if the ext3 partition needs to be in the front, can i sue partition magic to move the partition to the front of the drive?

You can have ext3 partitions anywhere you like on the disk -- they don't need to start at the beginning of the drive. I would blame PartitionMagic... unless the space you're talking about is really really small.

 

[sciencewhiz]

There shouldn't be any need to use partition magic to partition the free space. The Ubuntu installer will give you the option of using the existing free space, and it will partition it for you.

 

[rookie1010]

thanks for the reply,

how much linux swap should i set aside? i set aside 10 gigs for the ext3 space and i tried to use the ubuntu installer to create a partition.

i got to this point where the ubuntu installer screen said the following

"
this is an overview of your currently configured partitions and mount points. select a partition to modify its settings (file system, mount point, etc), a free space to create partitions, or a device to initialise a pation table.

guided partitioning
help on parititioning

SCSI5 (0,0,0) (sda) - 82.0 GB ATA MAxtor 6Y080p0
SCSI5 (0,1,0) (sdb) - 160.0 GB ATA WDC WD1600JB-oog
#1 PRIMARY 10.5 GB NTFS
#5 LOGICAL 149.5 GB NTFS

undo changes in partitions
finish partitioning and write changes to disk

<Go Back>

when i select Guided partitioning, i get the following screen with the following options


"if you choose guided partitioning for an entire disk, you will next be asked which disk should be used.


partitioning method:

guided - use entire disk
guided - use entire disk and set up LVM
guided - use entire disk and set up encrypted LVM
Manual

"
when i select SCSI5(0,0,) (sda) ...
i get the message

"you have selected an entire device to partition. If you proceed with creating a new partition table on the device, then all current partitions will be removed.

Note that you will be able to undo this operation later if you wish.

create new empty partition table on this device.

<Go Back> <Yes>

it appears i cant create a small partition within either hard disk

 

[silverpig]

Use the manual option.

 

[degibson]

Aye, use the manual option.

Originally posted by: rookie1010
thanks for the reply,

how much linux swap should i set aside? ...

I have a feeling any single answer I give might be debated on this forum, so I'll give several and let everyone pick which one they like best.

* If you run a lot of memory-intensive jobs, you'll want a lot of swap space. ~16 GB will be plenty most of the time.

* If you don't run memory-intensive jobs, and you have a reasonable amount of memory in the machine (say, 2 GB), then you don't need much at all, or could even get along without swap. For stability, however, I'd recommend ~4 GB swap.

* If you don't know what kind of jobs you run, allocate ~8 GB for swap and call it good.

 

[Nothinman]

Also if you want to use hibernation you should set aside at least as much swap as you have memory, maybe 1.5x to be overly cautious.

 

[rookie1010]

i had already gone down the manual route by clicking on manual and getting the first screen

i.e.

"
this is an overview of your currently configured partitions and mount points. select a partition to modify its settings (file system, mount point, etc), a free space to create partitions, or a device to initialise a pation table.

guided partitioning
help on parititioning

SCSI5 (0,0,0) (sda) - 82.0 GB ATA MAxtor 6Y080p0
SCSI5 (0,1,0) (sdb) - 160.0 GB ATA WDC WD1600JB-oog
#1 PRIMARY 10.5 GB NTFS
#5 LOGICAL 149.5 GB NTFS

undo changes in partitions
finish partitioning and write changes to disk

<Go Back>

so i should set say 10 gb for the OS and 4-8 GB for the swap. i have got 1 GB RAM on this machine(Yes, it is anancient machine, i am going to upgrade sometime this year)