Re: Ubuntu and HP Pavillion laptop dv2000

Emerald Saint wrote:

Thanks for the good info. I am tinkering with Ubuntu already - I just got
it via Torrent. I'm going to figure out a way to dual boot XP and Ubuntu.
I think XOSL might work. And keep the Ubuntu hidden from WinXP

XOSL or comparable bootmanagers are nice, but in my humble opinion they are
a solution for a problem that doesn't exist, or at least not in the
GNU/Linux world. ;-)

GNU/Linux comes with its own bootloader, or actually, two of them. The
original bootloader was LILO (LInux LOader), but more and more
distributions are switching over to GRUB (GRant Unified Bootloader) now.

The main difference between both is that GRUB offers more functionality, and
that its configuration is done in realtime, whereas modifications to the
LILO menu need to be written to the bootloader explicitly via an additional
command. This is because LILO accesses its configuration and its kernels
(or partition bootsectors) via direct logical block addresses, while GRUB
can read a filesystem and reads its files via filesystem access.

GRUB is actually more than a bootloader; it's a miniature real mode OS,
capable of reading filesystems and equipped with an actual miniature shell
for emergencies. It's also got more options than LILO, but be advised that
if you use /ext3/ on your */boot* filesystem - or on the root filesystem if
you don't have a separate */boot* - you need the latest version of GRUB due
to an incompatibility between the older GRUB and /ext3/ introduced in the
latest version of the /ext3/ filesystem layer.

Both GRUB and LILO are capable of booting GNU/Linux as well as Windows, OS/2
or DOS, alongside other operating systems (for GRUB). Both are capable of
fooling an operating system into thinking it's installed in another
partition type or on another disk than it physically is. Both are capable
of chainloading, i.e. using one bootloader to call up another bootloader.

The best course of action for installing XP and Ubuntu alongside of
eachother is to first install XP on a blank hard disk. Give XP just enough
room for itself, its swapfile and its applications, and have it sit on an
NTFS filesystem. Then create a second partition from within XP, which you
format as FAT32 - /vfat/ in UNIX-speak. Use this partition for documents
that need to be shared between Windows and GNU/Linux. Don't make this
partition too big either.

Next, reboot your system with the Ubuntu CD/DVD and proceed with the
installation. Most newbies will require two partitions, i.e. one for the
root filesystem itself - which will be mounted on "/" - and one for swap;
the Linux kernel prefers swap partitions rather than swapfiles, although
you _can_ also use swap files. A swap partition is formatted in a special
way and does not have a filesystem on it. It's also not mounted anywhere
into the filesystem hierarchy but is mounted onto the kernel directly as
virtual memory.

Now, whereas most newbies will opt for an installation of all files in the
system onto one single filesystem - i.e. the root partition - this is
actually a Windows-induced concept, since Windows requires to be installed
into one partition. This is not the case for UNIX-style operating systems.
Certain files need to be present on the root partition, but others can be
split off onto other partitions just as easily, or onto logical volumes.

There are various benefits from spreading the filesystem hierarchy over
multiple partitions or logical volumes. You can use different filesystem
types per partition, or format certain partitions with different block
sizes, or have certain filesystems mounted read-only during normal system
operation, or use again other mount options.

The minimum that I would advise is to use at least a separate filesystem for
your own files. GNU/Linux is a UNIX-style operating system, and thus a
multiuser operating system. That means that you should not work from
within the root account - unlike in Windows, where user accounts have
Administrator privileges by default - but instead you should do all of your
work from an unprivileged user account, and only use the root account - in
Ubuntu, root cannot log in directly but one must use /sudo/ to gain root
privileges instead - for system maintenance.

The reason why I mention this in the context of partitioning - although it
is advise to be heeded! :-) - is that unprivileged user accounts have their
home directories under */home* - while in GNU/Linux, the root account has
its home in */root.* Your home directory will contain your work files and
directories - they should _not_ be called folders :p - as well as a number
of hidden files with "per user" configuration settings for various
programs. Hidden files in UNIX are files whose name begins with a period.

These are the directories you will find in a typical GNU/Linux root
directory...:
- / : the root directory itself
- */bin* : binaries needed at boot time and in single user maintenance mode
- */boot* : kernels and GRUB configuration files, may be split off and made
read-only
- */dev* : nowadays its population exists in RAM
- */etc* : configuration files and System V /init/ scripts
- */home* : user accounts, may be split off
- */lib* : system libraries; _note:_ on 64-bit x86 systems */lib* is a link
to */lib64* and there will also be a */lib32* as well
- */media* : the parent directory of mountpoints for removable storage media
- */mnt* : a generic temporary mountpoint for various filesystems
- */opt* : add-on software, may be split off and mounted read-only
- */proc* : a virtual filesystem representing kernel data
- */root* : the root user's home directory
- */sbin* : system binaries needed at boot time and single user maintenance
mode (i.e. runlevel 1)
- */sys* : like */proc,* a virtual filesystem representing kernel data and
used by the /udev/ system to populate */dev,* among other things
- */tmp* : temporary files, may be split off onto a partition or better yet
would be to use a /tmpfs/ for it, i.e. a RAM-based filesystem
- */usr* : all software for multiuser mode, and the bulk of the
installation; may be split off and should then be made read-only
- */var* : variable files such as logs, print spools et al; may be split off

Eventually, there may also be a */srv* directory, but not all GNU/Linux
distributions feature this, and those that do typically leave it empty.
The idea is that you use */srv* for shareable user data, e.g. files that
need to be worked on by multiple users of the same system, or that need to
be shared over the network.

If you follow my advice, you could mount your two Windows partitions on a
directory under */mnt,* e.g. */mnt/fat32* or */mnt/win_d.* That way, you
can access them from within GNU/Linux and share files with your Windows
environment. However, do _not_ attempt to install your home directory or
any other system directory onto them, because GNU/Linux requires
filesystems that support UNIX-style permissions, and Windows filesystems do
not.

While the above listing is one of directories, some of which can be
mountpoints to filesystems on other partitions or logical volumes, these
filesystems, disks et al are all represented under */dev* as device special
files. Some are block devices - such as hard disks, partitions on hard
disks, logical volume groups, logical volumes, RAID filesystems et al - and
others are character devices - such as your mouse, the console, the
soundcard, the video adapter, etc.

If you follow my advice of having two partitions for Windows and the
recommended minimum three for GNU/Linux, your partitioning layout would
look like this...:
- */dev/sda1* = the Windows C: drive
- */dev/sda2* = the extended partition container
- */dev/sda5 = the Windows D: drive (with FAT32)
- */dev/sda6 = the GNU/Linux root filesystem
- */dev/sda7 = the GNU/Linux swap partition
- */dev/sda8 = the GNU/Linux */home* filesystem

Should you wish to split off more filesystems from the root filesystem, then
you must keep in mind that SATA and SCSI only support up to 15 partitions
in total per disk - or if you have multiple disks in a real hardware RAID
configuration, on the entire RAID array.

As you can see, the device special files denoting the partitions carry
numbers. The hard disk itself however also exists as a device special
file, */dev/sda* (and */dev/sdb* for a second hard disk, and so on).

These device special files can be manipulated as regular files in the sense
that they can be read or written to from a given offset up to an other
offset. As such, when you install your bootloader - provided that you use
either LILO or GRUB - you should install it in the master boot record of
your hard disk, i.e. on */dev/sda.* This will write the bootloader to the
first few bytes of the hard disk, outside of the partitions, which is where
the master boot record lives. For chainloading, a second GRUB or LILO
would then be written to a given partition's bootsector.

However, that is something you don't need to know about right now as it
doesn't pertain to your situation. When the installer asks you where you
want to place the bootloader - this will be GRUB in Ubuntu - just answer
*/dev/sda,* without any numbers to it.

The reason why there are device special files is that in UNIX, everything is
a stream of data, and a stream of data is a file. All your hardware, they
are all files that are written to and read from. Everything is very
logical and orderly. All configuration files are in human-readable plain
text.

There is probably a ton more that I should tell you about, but at this very
moment I've been awake for over 24 hours already and my mind is a bit
blurry right now. ;-)

Either way, I trust I've given you some useful information. I have given
you advice, but you are free to organize things as you want. GNU/Linux
*gives* you that option. ;-)

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Usenet was invented so
people could share their experiences, and most of the GNU/Linux groups - a
few exceptions not included - make for a good representation of the true
GNU/Linux community spirit of helpfulness and sharing.

Good luck! :-)

--
*Aragorn*
(registered GNU/Linux user #223157)
.

Relevant Pages

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