About to install. Partitioning questions.

[Thomas Ferreira]

I own a G5 Dual 2GHz system with a 160GB HDD. I do not want to have to go out and buy another drive just for Linux. Does the Wart Warhog 4.10 PPC CD I just received allow during installation to repartition the drive at the very beginning so I do not lose all my current OS X install or does it erase it all and basically start me off from scratch? I will backup my mail folder and a few other files before I do this but wanted to know if I can perform an install of Unbuntu Linux without me losing everything I already have.

Thanks

Thomas

[Thomas Ferreira]

By the way, if I can partition w/o losing my OS X system, is there anything special I have to do so when all is said and done, I can duel boot direct into either OS X or the new Linux systems. This G5 is used for work also so I will need to direct boot to OS X without losing anything I already have in place.

Thanks

Thomas

[adamw]

If you need a repartitioner, I think there are one or two for sale at the Apple store. Not sure exactly how reliable they are. Ubuntu at this point will not alter your single partition without erasing all of your data.
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20041130014827278

[ewaldgroup]

I used iPartition to non-destructivly resize my Mac OS X partition, and it works perfectly. Here is the link: http://www.coriolis-systems.com/

Make sure that you run the Defrag utility that is included with iPartition before your resize the mac os x volume.

On booting, Ubuntu installes yaboot which gives you the option of booting either into mac os x or ubuntu, buy pressing the x or l key. You can set up the config file to automaticly boot into os x if you want, after a short delay that allows you to choose linux. when booting, you could also hold down the option key to choose which os you want to boot into.

If you want I can post my yaboot.conf file if it would help.

Everything worked perfectly for me on a 2001 iBook.

-ewaldgroup

[ewaldgroup]

also make sure that the new partition that you create is "Empty" or "Free Space" for linux

It is also a good idea to put you prefered OS in the front of the drive to speed up performance.

ewaldgroup

[tatdude]

hey ewaldgroup:

could you post your config file to boot automatically boot into OSX in yaboot?

cheers!

[Thomas Ferreira]

Well, since I have an extra bay in my G5 for another drive, for $50 to $75, I can buy a 60GB drive so maybe that makes more sense. So if I add another drive, can I install Linux on the new drive and keep OS X on the original drive and just install it that way without issue?

Thomas

[ewaldgroup]

also make sure that the new partition that you create is "Empty" or "Free Space" for linux

It is also a good idea to put you prefered OS in the front of the drive to speed up performance.

ewaldgroup


Here ya go. Enjoy.
## yaboot.conf generated by the Ubuntu installer
##
## run: "man yaboot.conf" for details. Do not make changes until you have!!
## see also: /usr/share/doc/yaboot/examples for example configurations.
##
## For a dual-boot menu, add one or more of:
## bsd=/dev/hdaX, macos=/dev/hdaY, macosx=/dev/hdaZ

boot=/dev/hda10
device=/pci@f2000000/mac-io@17/ata-4@1f000/disk@0:
partition=11
root=/dev/hda11
timeout=100
install=/usr/lib/yaboot/yaboot
magicboot=/usr/lib/yaboot/ofboot
enablecdboot
macosx=/dev/hda9
default=macosx
image=/boot/vmlinux
label=Linux
read-only
initrd=/boot/initrd.img
append="quiet splash"

image=/boot/vmlinux.old
label=old
read-only
initrd=/boot/initrd.img.old
append="quiet splash"

-ewaldgroup

[ewaldgroup]

make sure you read the manpages.... and examples....

-ewaldgroup