(RESOLVED) partition problems installing 6.0
Posts: 27
After using the Live Cd for a few days I decided to install it as a dual boot with WinXP. I spent many hours reading every discussion forum and procedures for the installing, writing everything down in sequence. I really studied this.
I had problems with QTParted.
Here is the procedure I followed:
Disk on left is /dev/hda with Windows logo.
01 /dev/hda1 NTFS Active 28.01GB
02 /dev/hda-1 Free hidden 9.26GB
Click on it and write down size (37.26GB).
Right click on this partition and go to Resize.
In the New Size are type in size of the partition (37GB) minus the size I need for MEPIS.
37GB
- 8GB for MEPIS
--------
29GB New Size.
Click Commit. Exit.
I even tried doing this as a 512MB swap file.
I also tried rebooting and going back to the install and checking out QTParted to see what changes were made.
In the next 2a nothing is changeable in the partitions menu.
Well, after spending hours on this I decided to give up on installing MEPIS. I went into QTparted and reset my Windows partition back to the original 37.26GB. Commited, exited.
Rebooted into WindowsXP twice, showing new hardware for some reason and automatically running Checkdsk.
Now in Windows control panel my C: drive shows only 28.9GB capacity total.
Any help would be appreciated in getting my system back to the way it was. Guess MEPIS is over my head.
Single 40GB hard drive less than 1/3 used, 512MB RAM, P-4, never installed Linux.
Thanks for your help John. I
Posts: 27
Thanks for your help John. I really appreciate it.
As you suggested I downloaded the GParted ISO boot CD instead of QParted.
After boot up with it I see my single WinodwsXP 40 GB hard drive and it looks normal:
/dev/hda1 size 37.25 GB NTFS used 8.97 GB unused 28.28 GB
unallocated size 18.19 MB
However, when I reboot into WindowsXP's control panel my C: drive shows only 28.9GB capacity total. What happened to the missing 8.35 GB?
I am hesitant to do anything further as I don't want to retry installing MEPIS without getting my hard drive recognized properly in Windows. Also I am not sure I can do the MEPIS partioning properly as the documentations I have seen are unclear to me.
Beau
Got the HD size fixed...
Posts: 27
Ran Gparted again and saw a repair feature. I ran that and it repaired the disk volume problem.
Now all I have to do is find a simple documentation on how to use Gparted to install MEPIS. I was thinking of using 5 GB for the /root and 512 MB (my total RAM) for the swap.
Beau Langer
Your Figures Are Fine
Posts: 5513
Beau, your figures are fine. GParted is just another tool in the arsenal of open-source goodies; it is not affiliated in any way with Mepis. But sometimes it's easier to use another tool to "move the furniture around". I like using QTparted if I'm installing Mepis (or other distro) on a brand-new, empty disk, but otherwise it can sometimes get a little confoozed 
Jon
SimplyMEPIS Value CD: $17.95
Amount saved not buying Windows Vista Ultimate: $399
Experience gained learning Mepis and helping others: Priceless
Partitioning successful and
Posts: 27
Partitioning successful and MEPIS installed. Many thanks.
Beau Langer
Let's Celebrate!
Posts: 5513
Congratulations Beau! How about if the WHOLE WORLD has a celebration today and tomorrow over your success with fireworks and noise and dancing in the streets!
Jon
SimplyMEPIS Value CD: $17.95
Amount saved not buying Windows Vista Ultimate: $399
Experience gained learning Mepis and helping others: Priceless
Well done from me as well
Posts: 162
Hi Beau,
Glad you resolved partitoning and installed Mepis.
John
Partition problems
Posts: 162
Hi Beau,
Some people have had problem on some machines with qparted I have not yet.You could try downloading gparted live cd
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/ and follow instructions on boot up for partitioning then maybe try Mepis again.
However if still no joy and you want just windows back still use gparted but make sure you format the spare partition back into your ntfs first as windows does not recognize linux partitions unless you use other programs on windows.
Hope this helps.
John