HD Install :: Please give me the frugal install procedure

Quote (curaga @ May 24 2007,08:43)

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14. Select Quit to exit cfdisk, and reboot the computer.

It hangs 'cause hda3 hasn't been formatted. DSL doesn't format any other partitions than the install partition. Change that to

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14. Select Quit to exit cfdisk, format all your partitions and reboot

ie sudo mke2fs /dev/hda1
sudo mke2fs -j /dev/hda3
sudo mkswap /dev/hda2

this makes hda3 ext3, so your data is safer on a blackout...

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It hangs 'cause hda3 hasn't been formatted. DSL doesn't format any other partitions than the install partition.

Wow, that would explain A LOT. So why isn't this step taken care of in the installation wizard?

In any event, I'll use those sudo commands next time I partition the drive.

Also, when is ext2 appropriate, and when is ext3 appropriate? I've heard that ext3 is more secure (since a delete really is a delete) but ext2 is better supported.

Actually, I find there's many ways to install it... but here's some comments/questions.

- After #3, why is there still data left that you need to do #7?
- Lilo and grub should be about par on terms of reliability. Grub is just easier to maintain due to its use of menu.lst (stage2).

curaga is right about about hda3 being not formatted yet. but here's some comments on that:
- formatting in #14, should not be done UNLESS you are starting with a fresh partition table (i.e. `cfdisk -z`). Otherwise, it's safer to do format after the reboot (like what cfdisk will suggest).
- afaik DSL will just mount ext3 partitions as ext2... so the journal won't be used at all

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EDIT: Adding reply to your last post
- "wizard"? In any case, how would it automatically know that you wanted to format hda3?
- ext3 is basically ext2 with journalling and some minor changes.

I don't see any reason to do #3 at all, unless you're concerned about someone digging into your harddrive looking for old data. I've installed several distros on several machines over the years, and never needed any extra programs to set up the partitions other than cfdisk and formatting.

ext3 *can* be used for your main partition, but it will be mounted as ext2. Other partitions can be formatted with ext3 or reiserfs and they will be mounted as such.

Some of you have questioned the inclusion of the hard drive wipe. I've found that even formatting the hard drive isn't enough to get rid of the old OS. Of course, when I erase the hard drive to get rid of the old OS, the quick version (1 pass) is enough. If I were getting rid of the computer, I'd go whole hog (35 passes) or at least heavy on the erasure (at least 7-8 passes).

Thanks for all the help, everyone.

I have revised my frugal hard drive installation and posted it at

http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....529;r=1

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