I agree with this. I found the partitioning to be a bit confusing. Fortunately I did not have a Windoze partition to wory about and I had backed up my /home.
--- Dustin Harriman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Package: installation-reports > > Debian-installer-version: 06-Aug-2004 23:18 > http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimage-testing/sarge_d-i/i386/rc1/sarge-i386-netinst.iso > uname -a: Linux 2.4.26-1-386 (plus other stuff) > Date: Aug 11, 2004, 9pm > Method: Booted from CD > > Machine: Toshiba Sattellite 1130 > Processor: Celeron 2.2 GHz > Memory: 256 MB > Root Device: /dev/hda3 > Root Size/partition table: > Output of lspci: > > Base System Installation Checklist: > > Initial boot worked: [x] > Configure network HW: [x] > Config network: [x] > Detect CD: [x] > Load installer modules: [x] > Detect hard drives: [x] > Partition hard drives: [E] > Create file systems: [ ] > Mount partitions: [ ] > Install base system: [ ] > Install boot loader: [ ] > Reboot: [ ] > [O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] > = didn't try it > > Comments/Problems: > > I was curious to see if I could resize a vfat > windows partition using the > partitioning tool on the sarge RC1 installation CD. > I have 1 vfat > partition already set up. > > In the "Partition Disks" menu, I saw the sentence: > "Select a partition to > modify its settings (file system, mount point, > etc.)". But unfortunately > the word "resize" was nowhere to be found. So I > selected the vfat > partition and hit enter, thinking one setting (ie. > that these "etc" > settings might include) will be "resize partition" > if I'm lucky. > > The next screen, also called "Partition Disks", and > under "Partition > Settings", Size is shown to be 6.1 GB. The word > "resize" did not appear > anywhere on this screen either!! So I was about to > give up that it was > even possible to resize the partition, but in a > giddy moment of reckless > abandon, I hit enter on the line that I assumed > merely reported the size > of the partition. Then the screen went all blue and > my disk LED started > thrashing madly! I was freaked out: was it erasing > my Windows partition? > WTF? There was no informational message like > "scanning the partition, > please wait". There needs to be an informational > message during that > minute where it paused to scan the vfat partition! > > After about a minute of nervous disk thrashing, then > I was offered a > screen saying "Before resize operation takes place, > the changes have to be > written to disk. You cannot undo this operation. > Write the changes to > disk and resize the partition?" > > So all of a sudden I'm about to do a partition > resizing! I was relieved > (that no harm was done), excited (that resizing is > possible) and annoyed > (that resizing wasn't mentioned at all up until that > point), all at the > same time. > > Partition resizing during installation is a HUGE > feature, as it opens up > the path for Windows users to add Linux to their > systems without losing > their current Windows install. > > So please mention any partition resizing > capabilities prominently in the > partitioning utility if it's possible whatsoever! A > menu option called > something like "resize this partition" or "partition > resizing > possibilities" is very important! Or even the word > "resizable" printed > beside potentially resizable partitions (when all > partitions are shown in > a chart) would be helpful. > > Also, the installation documentation here: > http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/en.i386/ch06s03.html#id2514217 > which talks about partitioning never mentions the > word "resize". I expect > this documentation to at least mention which types > of partition are in > fact resizable: vfat? (apparently yes, I didn't > actually perform it) > ntfs? (I hope yes!) ext2? ext3? resierfs? > > This additional information may be pivotal in people > deciding to install > Debian whatsoever, as many people aren't ready to > risk losing their > current Windows install, and don't have access to > commercial software like > Partition Magic. Even mentioning the resizing > capabilites possible with > "qtparted", seen here: > http://qtparted.sourceforge.net/features.en.html > ...which is included on the bootable Linux utility > CD "System Rescue CD", > available here: > http://www.sysresccd.org/ > ...may lead to tons more Debian deployments. I know > of one friend who > would install Sarge right now if he knew that the > Sarge installation CD > could resize an NTFS partition during installation > (or knew of a utility > that could in a proven fashion). > > Having said this, I have not attempted to resize an > NTFS partition with > the latest version of qtparted (which is 0.4.4). > Has anyone else? > Reliably? Unreliably? After applying Windows XP > service pack 2? ;) > > Dustin Harriman > > Root Shell Computer Support > http://rootshell.ca > > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
