bsonk
November 13th, 2008, 04:05 AM
*Note: I am a Linux n00b, the despised script kiddie who pastes commands into the terminal. I've only had VMs of Linux distros, and I want to run at native speeds, partly for WINE gaming. I have XP, but want to break free of Microshaft. I'm just getting into the GNU/Linux world, and my more knowledgeable friend doesn't want to teach me teh 1337 haxxor terminal skillz, so I can't exactly compile my own code and I ask you to bear with me:
My MacBook Pro Penryn (low end 2.4ghz) has a 200GB HDD in it. Previously, 32GB of this was an XP partition created using Boot Camp. It worked fine. I decided to ditch XP (cloning it to an external should I ever change my mind) and go with Intrepid Ibex for my dual boot. I used Boot Camp to delete the XP part and reformat it HFS+. Then I tried to repartition it, giving Ubuntu 61GB, leaving 41GB free (Leopard's files on the rest). I got a "Files could not be moved" error. Apple wanted me to format my drive and try again. This annoyed me, so I booted from the LiveCD and tried to manually partition by splitting the OS X part. I assumed the partitioner (is it GRUB?) would leave the OS X data alone. Instead it left the partition completely alone, saying that "scanning HFS+ volumes has not been implemented."
I ended up booting from the Leopard CD and restoring from my Time Machine backup. I had to repair permissions, but otherwise everything was fine. Then I went to school and took notes and everything was rosy. When I came back, I tried to partition for Ubuntu once more. It's now almost midnight, and the evil Apple striped progress bar that doesn't ever actually move is displayed, along with "Partitioning Disk..." This is normal, but is usually supposed to last 30 minutes or less (according to MacRumors forums).
Now I'm writing this on my machine, in a quandary. I don't want to kill the process, for fear of screwing my Leopard install (This wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have to take notes tomorrow in class). I also don't want to leave it going, for fear of having to write a bunch of data to the HDD while it's partitioning. I also want to find out what causes this, fix it, repartition, and install Intrepid on a 61GB partition. This is my ultimate goal. I don't really want to have to reinstall Leopard, but I will if I have to in order to get a Ubuntu part. (For instance if I were to partition using GRUB or Disk Utility and lose my OS X).
I'm not too worried, but I would love an answer. I have good backups and the worst case scenario is that I take paper notes tomorrow with a (gasp) pencil. For now, I'm leaving the process running.
To recap:
1. Partitioning my disk is taking too long.
2. I'm kinda scared about that.
3. What should I do?
4. How do I fix it if it's wrong?
5. What's the best way for me to install Ubuntu?
NOTES: I am trying to dual boot using the Dual Boot, no rEFIT method outlined here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro
Also, I'm getting many Firefox crashes trying to use Gmail while the partition process is running. Javascript cache/cookie problems?
EDIT: I just saved a text file in Pages and nothing died. Perhaps the error is less grievous than I think? Also, what I previously refer to as GRUB= Gparted.
I have looked on other forums, and the problem could be disk fragmentation, as I have heard that Boot Camp looks for the largest block of free space on the drive and uses that. Should I run a program like iDefrag http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php and then try again?
My MacBook Pro Penryn (low end 2.4ghz) has a 200GB HDD in it. Previously, 32GB of this was an XP partition created using Boot Camp. It worked fine. I decided to ditch XP (cloning it to an external should I ever change my mind) and go with Intrepid Ibex for my dual boot. I used Boot Camp to delete the XP part and reformat it HFS+. Then I tried to repartition it, giving Ubuntu 61GB, leaving 41GB free (Leopard's files on the rest). I got a "Files could not be moved" error. Apple wanted me to format my drive and try again. This annoyed me, so I booted from the LiveCD and tried to manually partition by splitting the OS X part. I assumed the partitioner (is it GRUB?) would leave the OS X data alone. Instead it left the partition completely alone, saying that "scanning HFS+ volumes has not been implemented."
I ended up booting from the Leopard CD and restoring from my Time Machine backup. I had to repair permissions, but otherwise everything was fine. Then I went to school and took notes and everything was rosy. When I came back, I tried to partition for Ubuntu once more. It's now almost midnight, and the evil Apple striped progress bar that doesn't ever actually move is displayed, along with "Partitioning Disk..." This is normal, but is usually supposed to last 30 minutes or less (according to MacRumors forums).
Now I'm writing this on my machine, in a quandary. I don't want to kill the process, for fear of screwing my Leopard install (This wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have to take notes tomorrow in class). I also don't want to leave it going, for fear of having to write a bunch of data to the HDD while it's partitioning. I also want to find out what causes this, fix it, repartition, and install Intrepid on a 61GB partition. This is my ultimate goal. I don't really want to have to reinstall Leopard, but I will if I have to in order to get a Ubuntu part. (For instance if I were to partition using GRUB or Disk Utility and lose my OS X).
I'm not too worried, but I would love an answer. I have good backups and the worst case scenario is that I take paper notes tomorrow with a (gasp) pencil. For now, I'm leaving the process running.
To recap:
1. Partitioning my disk is taking too long.
2. I'm kinda scared about that.
3. What should I do?
4. How do I fix it if it's wrong?
5. What's the best way for me to install Ubuntu?
NOTES: I am trying to dual boot using the Dual Boot, no rEFIT method outlined here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBookPro
Also, I'm getting many Firefox crashes trying to use Gmail while the partition process is running. Javascript cache/cookie problems?
EDIT: I just saved a text file in Pages and nothing died. Perhaps the error is less grievous than I think? Also, what I previously refer to as GRUB= Gparted.
I have looked on other forums, and the problem could be disk fragmentation, as I have heard that Boot Camp looks for the largest block of free space on the drive and uses that. Should I run a program like iDefrag http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php and then try again?