Ubuntu questions

[1Cheap2Crazy]

I'm thinking about installing Ubuntu on my PC. I noticed on Distrowatch it says, "Journaled File Systems" ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, and XFS. Will I have a choice when installing Ubuntu? If so, what file system should I choose? Is it safe to keep my 2nd HD connected when installing Linux? Will I be able to access my files on my 2nd HD and my external HD that are both formatted NTFS?

Thanks

system: Athlon 2400+, 512MB, Visiontek 9250

 

[n0cmonkey]

For the best compatibility I recommend ext3fs.

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy
I'm thinking about installing Ubuntu on my PC. I noticed on Distrowatch it says, "Journaled File Systems" ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, and XFS. Will I have a choice when installing Ubuntu?

You might not be offered the choice unless you pass the installer a special command to that effect. But it doesn't matter, because the default is fine.

If so, what file system should I choose?

ext3, the default.

Is it safe to keep my 2nd HD connected when installing Linux?

Yes. In fact, it's much better to leave it connected. Otherwise, you're very likely to have boot problems.

Will I be able to access my files on my 2nd HD and my external HD that are both formatted NTFS?

Yes, though it's not ideal. You may have to configure some things for that manually. I don't know exactly how Ubuntu handles NTFS reads, but I'm sure there are docs for it out there.

 

[Brazen]

As has been discussed many times, go with ext3 if you want reliability, xfs if you want speed, and ReiserFS if you want to restore from backup.

 

[sourceninja]

I would just use ext3, its good enough. If you require additional performance in the future it is trivial to tweak ext3. The latest version of ubuntu automatically discovers and mounts NTFS volues and places an icon on your desktop. They are mounted read only however.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: Brazen
As has been discussed many times, go with ext3 if you want reliability, xfs if you want speed, and ReiserFS if you want to restore from backup.

lol...

second time around with reiser (lappy, very very often backed up) and it's doing a little better...


still won't put it on any of my really important machines yet.

 

[silverpig]

I've been burned by reiserfs and xfs before. I've got jfs on pretty much everything right now and I'm very happy with it.

 

[1Cheap2Crazy]

I gave up last night.
Ubuntu installed easily, but I couldn't access any of my files on the 2nd HD 🙁 I click on My Computer and only 4 things showed up, my 2 CD drives, my main HD, and something called FileSystem. I thought I found a way under Disks(?), It showed the drive, size, how much free space, said it was accessible, but when I clicked on browse, I got an error message. Other times in MyComputer my main HD wouldn't show up. This happened before and after the 160 updates and a reboot. Couldn't figure out how to install Flash, so I gave up. XP is working well and I have access to my 2nd HD!!!

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy
I gave up last night.
Ubuntu installed easily, but I couldn't access any of my files on the 2nd HD 🙁 I click on My Computer and only 4 things showed up, my 2 CD drives, my main HD, and something called FileSystem. I thought I found a way under Disks(?), It showed the drive, size, how much free space, said it was accessible, but when I clicked on browse, I got an error message. Other times in MyComputer my main HD wouldn't show up. This happened before and after the 160 updates and a reboot. Couldn't figure out how to install Flash, so I gave up. XP is working well and I have access to my 2nd HD!!!

Those are all relatively simple problems to resolve. Just edit your fstab file and remount the drives. File System is the equivalent to your C: (more or less).

 

[sourceninja]

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy
I gave up last night.
Ubuntu installed easily, but I couldn't access any of my files on the 2nd HD 🙁 I click on My Computer and only 4 things showed up, my 2 CD drives, my main HD, and something called FileSystem. I thought I found a way under Disks(?), It showed the drive, size, how much free space, said it was accessible, but when I clicked on browse, I got an error message. Other times in MyComputer my main HD wouldn't show up. This happened before and after the 160 updates and a reboot. Couldn't figure out how to install Flash, so I gave up. XP is working well and I have access to my 2nd HD!!!

It's probably best you dont use linux.

 

[Nothinman]

Couldn't figure out how to install Flash, so I gave up. XP is working well and I have access to my 2nd HD!!!

Wow, what form of ADD do you have? Giving up after 1 night and only 2 problems?

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Couldn't figure out how to install Flash, so I gave up. XP is working well and I have access to my 2nd HD!!!

Wow, what form of ADD do you have? Giving up after 1 night and only 2 problems?

Eh, linux isn't for everyone. If he doesn't want to learn, then so what?

 

[Br0k3nman]

I would really look in the ubuntu forums for help with this. There is a guide for everyhting and you should be able to fix this stuff pretty quick as they are minor problems.

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: Brazen

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Couldn't figure out how to install Flash, so I gave up. XP is working well and I have access to my 2nd HD!!!

Wow, what form of ADD do you have? Giving up after 1 night and only 2 problems?

Eh, linux isn't for everyone. If he doesn't want to learn, then so what?

It's just funny that's all. He already got it installed and working. He had to download the software, burn it to a cdrom, boot off of it, setup his partitions, and installed the things, booted it up and gave up on it.

It's just kinda odd.

Anyways. Have you done anything worthwhile in your life that didn't take at least some effort?

I know linux can be hard, but it's just kinda funny.

 

[1Cheap2Crazy]

Geez people lighten up. I didn't have to partition my HD, I had other problems, I was using a 5400 rpm HD, and I only have one PC. I don't have all day to sit around and play with my PC. I'm not a programmer and I was hoping Ubuntu would be a little easier then other distros, but it's still linux. I googled my problem and one result showed up, in a foreign language. Looking for HD problems on the ubuntu forum seems to only show up a million hits about dual boot, or partitioning a HD.
If you people know so much, or think you do, why didn't you just answer my questions? It's like that on so many boards, "Try google". As if people haven't.
Even using the live CD I can't mount my HDs, or browse then. I figured if it was going to be having this many problems this early on, I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. I can always try another day when I feel like taking my PC apart and taking out my HD to put in the linux drive, but after spending hours looking for a solutioon and not finding one, I had better things to do. BTW, the web sure looks different with ads. Thank god I figured out how to use a hosts file, the proximitron, and adblock in XP.

Have a nice day 🙂

 

[n0cmonkey]

It looks like your questions were answered...

 

[cleverhandle]

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy
If you people know so much, or think you do, why didn't you just answer my questions?

Because you didn't ask them. After you got people's opinions on installing, you went ahead and did it (correctly), then posted back saying "Well, there were other problems, so I quit". Why not post again and say "Hey, I can't access my other hard drives, can anyone help?"

It's like that on so many boards, "Try google". As if people haven't.

I don't see a single reference to Google in this thread, besides yours.

I figured if it was going to be having this many problems this early on, I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.

"This many problems?" You want to browse your Windows hard drive and install Flash. I count two problems, neither of which you asked about, and both of which would have received detailed instructions in under an hour had you posted them here. Your instant gratification meter is off the chart.

 

[SleepWalkerX]

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy
If you people know so much, or think you do, why didn't you just answer my questions?

Ok, shoot.

Originally posted by: 1Cheap2Crazy
It's like that on so many boards, "Try google". As if people haven't.
Even using the live CD I can't mount my HDs, or browse then. I figured if it was going to be having this many problems this early on, I'm going to quit while I'm ahead.

Ubuntu won't mount your hard drive from the livecd without you manually mounting it. I think it might after you install it. The reasoning is that if your partitions are mounted in the livecd, you won't be able to resize your partitions during the install. Some noobs might think Ubuntu can't resize partitions then.

But even afterwards, mounting a partition (or just plain device) takes two commands tops and mounting it permanently on boot takes an edit of one file.

mounting a windows ntfs partition in ubuntu for one session (like running from livecd):

sudo mkdir /mnt/hd
sudo mount -t ntfs /dev/hda1 /mnt/hd

where /dev/hda1 is your partition (sudo fdisk -l will list your partitions)

mounting it permanently (like once you install ubuntu):

sudo mkdir /mnt/hd
sudo nano /etc/fstab
(add the following line at the end of fstab exluding quotations:
"/dev/hda1 /mnt/hd ntfs defaults,ro,umask=000 0 0", remember 'sudo fdisk -l' will list your partitions)

That should do it. Let me know if you need more help.

 

[Satyrist]

As of 6.06, the latest commands that will assist in mounting a windows-type partition, vfat (fat32) or ntfs. (likely pretty applicable towards older releases as well, but I'm not 100% sure if the syntax/commands will be the same.)

mounting a fat partition manually: (and allow all users to read/write)

sudo mkdir media/windows (or whatever you decide to name it)
sudo mount /dev/hdk1 (used as an example here) /media/windows/ -t vfat -o iocharset=utf8,umask=000

mounting an ntfs partition manually: (and allow all users to read only)

sudo mkdir media/windows
sudo mount /dev/hdk1 (used as an example here) /media/windows/ -t nfts -o nls=utf8,umask=0222

Alternatively, you can also apply these steps to mount partitions on boot-up:

NTFS: (READ ONLY)

sudo mkdir /media/windows
sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab_backup (if you wish to back up this config file)
sudo gedit /etc/fstab

In the opened text file, add the following line at the end of the document:

/dev/hdk1 (used as an example here) /media/windows ntfs nls=utf8,umask=0222 0 0

save the file.

FAT: (READ/WRITE)

sudo mkdir /media/windows
sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab_backup (again, if you need to back up the config file)
sudo gedit /etc/fstab

In the opened text file, add the following line at the end of the document:

/dev/hdk1 (used as an example here) /media/windows vfat iocharset=utf8,umask=000 0 0

save the file.


to mount all unmounted partitions, without rebooting, simply type in the terminal,

sudo mount -a

if the partitions are already mounted, then you can type in the terminal,

sudo umount hdk1 (used as an example here)

then type

sudo mount -a (this will mount all unmounted disks/partitions at this point)

This was a bit tricky for me to grasp at first too. Going to the Ubuntu wiki, however, will give a good step-by-step set of information about a good number of basic tasks, such as mounting disks/partitions, and/or configuring samba for file/print sharing.

There is an option for allowing NTFS partitions to be READ/WRITE on bootup, but that's a bit too advanced/experimental for my tastes...Therefore I'm simply mounting the partitions as ntfs and transferring them over the network. Once that's done, I'll likely reformat the ubuntu's NTFS partitions as ext3 and move everything back over. 😛

Hope this helps.