3.6. Installation Destination
Select a method used to configure the partition in which Turbolinux FUJI will be installed. You can select one of the following three methods:
- Automatic partitioning
This is the installer's default method. The installer automatically configures the partition. If you select "Automatic partitioning", the installer deletes all existing Linux partitions and automatically creates a new partition. If you want to leave a partition, do not select "Automatic partitioning". Note that any Windows partitions are left undeleted. See Section 3.14 to confirm the installer's partitioning.
- Manual partitioning
TFDisk is a tool you can use to configure the partition intuitively via a graphical interface using the mouse. Select this option if automatic partitioning fails or you want to configure the partition manually.
- Loopback installation
For information on "Loopback installation", see Appendix B.
The explanation about partitioning that follows assumes that "Manual partitioning" is selected.
3.6.1. Partitioning using TFDisk
When you select "Manual partitioning", the following screen appears:
On this screen, you can create a new partition and modify or delete existing partitions.
 | The partition configuration defined using TFDisk will be reflected on the hard disk immediately before the package is installed. Before this occurs, you can restore the original configuration by clicking the [Reload] button. |
If your computer includes multiple IDE hard disks, the screen contains as many tabs entitled /dev/hda, /dev/hdb, ..., as the installed hard disks. Tabs corresponding to SCSI hard disks are identified by /dkev/sda, /dev/sdb, ... By selecting a tab, you can configure the partitions on the hard disk corresponding to the selected tab. In this example, a SCSI hard disk is connected. The blue bar marked "/dev/sda" indicates this hard disk.
The gray bar marked "DOS Free" indicates the free area on the hard disk. Therefore, you see that no partition is created on this hard disk. If a partition already exists, its configuration is displayed graphically as follows:
Before you can newly install Turbolinux FUJI, you need to click the [Remove All] button to delete all existing partition information. When you click the blue bar indicating the hard disk, information on the hard disk is displayed.
3.6.1.1. Creating a new partition
The procedure used to create a new partition on a free hard disk space is as follows:
To install Turbolinux FUJI, you need at least two partitions: A partition on which / (root) directory is to be mounted and a swap partition. To create a new partition, click the bar marked "DOS Free."
Click the [Add a partition] button.
A dialog box appears, recommending that you should create a /boot partition so that you can start the system when you need it.
 | The /boot directory will contain the Linux kernel and files that are required to activate Turbolinux FUJI. Some old PC/AT compatible computers have such BIOS restrictions that when the CPU starts, it can only access hard disk cylinders numbered 1023 or lower (about 8 GB). If Linux is installed on a partition that is beyond this cylinder, the boot loader may be unable to start the OS. One of the methods used to avoid this problem is to create a small /boot partition in the starting hard disk area. However, you do not need to create this partition if you are using a recent computer, which is freed of this problem. |
Click the [OK] button. The following dialog will come up:
In this dialog box, specify settings for the partition to be created.
- Partition Type:
From this pull-down list, select a partition type. The specifiable partition types are as follows:
Table 3-1. TFDisk - partition type
Linux ext3 Partition formatted with the Ext3 file system, which is equivalent to the Ext2 file system plus a journaling function. Linux ext2 Ext2 file-system partition generally used for Linux. Linux swap Partition for swap area Linux RAID Partition for RAID MSDOS VFAT FAT 32 file-system partition used for Windows 9x/Me and similar operating systems. Extended DOS area Extended partition (since up to four base partition can be created, an extended partition must be created if you need more partitions.) Windows NTFS NTFS partition used for Windows NT/2000/XP. Physical volume Partition that makes up an LVM volume group. Reiser FS Partition formatted with the Reiser FS, which is a journaling file system. Raw I/O Partition for RAW devices (may be used when, for example, a database is run.) JFS FS JFS file-system partition. This JFS file system is a Linux version of the IBM Journaled File System (JFS). XFS FS XFS file-system partition. This XFS file system is a Linux version of the file system used for the SGI UNIX operating system (IRIX). - Mount Point:
From this pull-down list, select a mount point. The specifiable mount points are outlined below:
Table 3-2. TFDisk - mount point
/boot The /boot partition contains the kernel and files required to activate Linux. You should create this partition in the starting disk area as separate from the main partition. / The root directory will be mounted on the / partition. Therefore, this partition must be created. /home In the /home partition, the user's home directory will be created. You should create this partition as separate from the main partition. When the installer detects existing VTAF, NTFS, and other partitions used for Windows, it automatically creates /mnt/windows(), /mnt/winnt(), and other mount points. Once installed, Turbolinux FUJI can access Windows data via these directories.
You can also directly specify mount points that are not included in the list.
- Size (in megabytes):
Specify the size of the partition to be created. The unit is the megabyte.
Now, create the /boot partition. Simply click the [OK] button.
The created /boot partition is displayed as a cyan bar to the left of the DOS Free bar. To confirm information about this partition, click this bar.
Next, create the swap partition. Click the [Add a partition] button, which is displayed by clicking the DOS Free bar. The following dialog will come up:
Specify the following parameters and click the [OK] button.
Table 3-3. TFDisk - Creating the swap partition
| Partition Type: | Linux swap |
| Size (in megabytes): | 1024, for example |
| The swap partition size depends on the system environment. In general, it should be two to three times the physical memory size. Note that this size is only approximate because recent computers often contain memory with a size of a gigabyte order. |
| If the installer detects a swap partition with an ID of 0x82, it also uses that swap partition for Turbolinux FUJI even after it is installed. This swap partition could cause a problem if it is also a swap partition provided for another instance of the UNIX operating system. Therefore, if you are building a dual-boot environment, you should disable the swap partition to ensure that Turbolinux FUJI will not use the swap partition. For this purpose, click the [Disable the swap area] button, which is displayed when you click the target swap partition bar. |
Next, create the root partition. Similarly, click the [Add a partition] button, which is displayed by clicking the DOS Free bar.
Here, create the root partition using all of the remaining hard disk area. Specify the following parameters and click the [OK] button.
Table 3-4. TFDisk - Creating the root partition
| Partition Type: | Linux ext3 |
| Mount Point: | / |
| Size (in megabytes): | All remaining disk area (7106 in this example) |
Once the root partition is created, the [Next] button becomes active. Confirm the configuration of the created partition and proceed to the next step of the installer.
3.6.1.2. Updating and deleting a partition
This section describes the procedure used to modify the configuration of an existing partition.
Select one of the existing partitions and click it. Partition information and two buttons [Modify] and [Remove] are displayed. When you click the [Remove] button, the partition is deleted and changes to a free area marked "DOS Free." When you click the [Modify] button, the following dialog box appears:
You can change the partition type and mount point. Change the configuration, and then click the [OK] button.
| If you want to access an existing partition from Turbolinux FUJI after it is installed, you can specify the mount point now. |
3.6.2. Partitions to be formatted
A partition cannot be used if it is only allocated. It can be used when a file system of the selected partition type is created. Now, select the partition to be formatted. The swap partition is not displayed.
To check for bad blocks on the hard disk, select "Check for bad blocks while formatting?". You should select this option although it increases the formatting time.
| When the partition is formatted, data if any is deleted. Confirm that a partition you do not need to format is deselected as when you have set a mount point on an existing file system. |