Linux Solutions

Generally it is a good idea to allocate about 1GB (1,024MB) to the Linux partition (maybe more depending on your needs). A good size for your swap partition is to match your physical memory (RAM) or use 128MB, whichever is smaller.

The System column lists the type of partition (Linux Native, Linux Swap, Extended, or DOS/Windows). When installing Linux, you usually create an
Extended partition and add logical drives for the Linux Native and Linux Swap.
The Bootable column shows whether each partition is bootable. Bootable partitions are marked with an asterisk. Make sure that your Linux partition is marked as bootable and that no other partition is marked as bootable (use the Edit button to fix this).
The Mount Point column displays where in the UNIX (Linux) file system the partition will be “mounted.” Unlike Windows or DOS, which represent partitions as separate disks, Linux grafts (mounts!) a partition as a directory onto thE “root” or main partition. Ah, and because we are getting technical, you only can have one root partition. If you only have one partition, that partition will be the root partition by default.

The Format column lets you know if the partition will be formatted during th next step. Make sure existing partitions that have data you want to preserve an not formatted. Formatting a partition erases all its contents.

The buttons on the Partition Hard Disk panel perform the following tasks:

The Edit button allows you to change parameters on a partition—such as its start and end sectors (changing the partition’s size), the system type (type of partition), and such options as the mount point and bootable flags. You also can specify whether the partition should be formatted.

To create a new partition on your disk, use the Edit button. Note that you can specify the type of partition to create. Typically you’ll want to create a primary and a swap partition for Linux.

The delete button allows you to reset all settings on the selected partition. ) The Add Logical button creates a logical partition inside an extended partition. Logical partitions can be created only inside of extended partitions.

The Write button does what its name implies: It writes your partition changes to the disk.

The Reset button allows you to undo and revert to the partition settings you had prior to entering this screen.

Partition and Disk Device Names Under Linux
If you have an IDE disk system, Linux will refer to your disk devices as outlined here. /dev/hda is for the master device on the primary IDE channel. The slave device on the primary channel has the name /dev/hdb. The secondary IDE channel shows the names of /devlhdc and /devlhdd for the master and slave devices, respectively. Most IDE systems will have the hard disk as /dev/hda and the ATAPI CD-ROM drive as the secondary master device /dev/hdc.

If your system is SCSI, your devices will be shown as /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, and so on.
Partitions on the disks are shown by appending a number to the end of the device name starting with one. In other words, /dev/hdal refers to the first partition of the primary master device. A second partition on the same disk has the name of /dev/hda2, and so forth. Note that extended partitions begin numbering at 5 and count upwards from there regardless of the number of partitions in your
system.

How to create Linux partition
In order to create Linux partition:

1. If your disk has free space, select one of the Not Used partition identifiers and click Edit.

2. The panel that appears allows you to create a Linux, Swap, Extended, or DOS/Windows-type partition from the System Type popup menu. Leave the Start boundary as it is, but tweak the End boundary until the size of the partition is the size you want. Unless you already have more than two primary partitions, select the Linux option from the System Type and check the Bootable option. This creates a primary partition where you can install Linux. If you’d like to create an extended partition, set the System Type to Extended and go to the next step; otherwise skip to step 4.

3. If the space where you want to install Linux is inside of an extended partition, select the partition and click Add Logical. On the panel that appears, leave the Start boundary as it is, but tweak the End boundary until the size of the partition matches the type of install you want to perform. Check the Bootable option and set the System Type to Linux. Make sure your Windows partition is not bootable, or you won’t be able to start your computer because your computer BIOS won’t know what to do if it finds two bootable partitions. The fix for this is to use DOS FDISK and “reset” the active partition to your Linux or DOS partition.

4. To create the swap partition, you do as you just did in steps 2 or 3. If you want to allocate the swap space in a logical partition, repeat step 3. However, this time, select Swap as the System Type. Remember to allocate an amount of space matching your physical memory. If you have more than 128MB of RAM, allocate space for 128MB only. To allocate the swap space as a primary type partition instead of a logical partition, repeat step 2, selecting Swap as the System Type.

5. After you have defined your Linux and swap partitions, click Write. If you want to redo any of the settings, click Reset.

Partition Information
After defining your partitions, click Next to see the panel, where you’ll see where OpenLinux will be installed. If anything doesn’t look like what you specified, click the Back button to return to the previous screen and redefine your partitions. If you are happy with your settings, click Format Chosen Partitions. Formatting will take a while depending on the size and speed of your disk. When formatting is complete, click Next to proceed to the Select Installation panel.

The Partition Information panel
Click Format Chosen Partitions to format your new Linux partitions.