Wanker here again. Okay, thanks a lot Chris, that's really helpful. I admit I was suprised no one suggested I do a e2fsk before disk partioning since this used to be standard practice back in the day when I last fuzzily recall doing this kind of thing. So everything seems to be set-up for the disk partioning exercise now and I've got the go ahead on disabling the DMA but the question I now have is there seems to be two options; Do I i) merely make some free space available for Xubu (i.e. just shrink current root (/) and let the Xubu installation decided how to do the actual pationing and naming or ii) set up some partions for Xubu and a boot sector for it (actually will I even need two boot sectors for two linux flavours?) and tell it where to go? If/when a new root directory is made for Xubu will it named root (/) also? Can you have two sector named root(/) on the same hard drive? Thanx for any and all suggestions, Greg
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: [SPAM] Re: [wlug] Two flavour install partioning? From: "Chris O'Halloran" <cmoman(a)gmail.com> Date: Sun, November 05, 2006 8:48 pm To: "Waikato Linux Users Group" <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz>
On 05/11/06, GJB <balle(a)auspira.com> wrote:
Okay, it seems I should apologise, I expect whoever called me a wanker to do the same of course.
There seems to be a huge misunderstanding here, my apologies for that. My comment to Matt wasn't intended as a "bite" (what does that mean?). I merely said in a somewhat rural vernacular that it was a "bum stare" (we are in waikato right?), i.e. the advice didn't work for me, not any reflection on Matt. And yes I know all about the "free advice is worth what you pay for it" thingy, I have picked up a few useful tips lurking here and that is appreciated. Messing with disk partions is hair raising stuff for the DIYer, once in a decade partitioner, linux user who values his data for his livelihood, it was late, etc. Anyway no-one, except Matt, has actually offered any useful suggestions on what the problem maybe or even queried what my hardware maybe really be as to where to go from here so I'm not expecting anybody to come up with anything. I cannot for the life of me see how armchair sysadmin types can diagnose harddisk partioning problems without knowing the hardware of the drive they are advising towards. If I have any criticism of anybody, this would be it. No malice intended, just a technical point and that perhaps there should be some more caution on that side of it.
Back to the technical issue at hand. So yes Matt I did check the md5sum of the CD image before the burn but had become skeptical of the burn itself, is there anyway of checking the md5sum of the iso image once it is on the CD?
From http://www.g-loaded.eu/2006/10/07/verify-a-burned-cddvd-image-on-linux/
The method below assumes the iso image is called sep2006.iso
<quote> So, getting back to the md5 sum calculations, you can get the on-disk image's md5 sum with the following: $ cat sep2006.iso | md5sum cc363de222ba6fe7455258e72b6c26ca -
The final step is to calculate the md5 sum of the burned data. The dd command can be used to read the DVD, but the crucial part is that dd must read as much data as the size of the ISO image. Otherwise, it is almost certain that you'll get a false negative about the quality of the copy. Data is written on a CD/DVD in blocks of size: 2048 bytes. The number of the written blocks is the number of extents mkisofs had printed to the stdout when creating the ISO image. The following command instructs dd to read 169383 blocks, 2048 bytes each, and pipe it to md5sum: $ dd if=/dev/hdc bs=2048 count=169383 | md5sum 169383+0 records in 169383+0 records out cc363de222ba6fe7455258e72b6c26ca -
</quote>
Similary the method above assumes the CD/DVD drive is /dev/hdc.
Regardless of that, I found the problem with sysrescdd was I had to disable the DMA for the sysresccd to boot up cleanly. Others may want to note this, maybe not. This raises the further questions now:
i) Is disabling the DMA before doing hard disk partitioning a safe thing to do? Qtparted seems to give me a GUI and recognises my current partion so that's encouraging.
Disabling DMA is generally safer, it's just slower and in the case of partitioning I can't see it making the slightest bit of difference. It's a technology that allows disk data to be loaded directly into the RAM bypassing the CPU. If DMA is causing problems, then disabling DMA won't make them worse. The CPU will just have to manage the transfer of the data.
ii) Oh yeah, shouldn't I be doing an e2fsck before doing any disk partioning?
I can't advise if is necessary but its probably a sensible precaution.
But, have you made backup of your critical data? If you aren't prepared to do that it might be better looking to install Xubuntu on a separate harddrive.
For now I'm getting up the gumption to screw around with the partions and make room for Xubu. Thnx for any help so far, particularly Matt.
Greg
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [wlug] Two flavour install partioning? From: "Chris O'Halloran" <cmoman(a)gmail.com> Date: Sun, November 05, 2006 2:50 pm To: "Waikato Linux Users Group" <wlug(a)list.waikato.ac.nz>
Similarly,
Greg, LUG's are voluntary associations of people with a common interest in Linux and more generally open source software. Technical questions to the list are welcome because we all share a general interest in promoting and enjoying the use of open source software. There are no commerical interests or obligations within the WLUG.
You volunteered a question. Matt, a well established and knowledgeable member of the WLUG (possibly a founder?) tried to assist you. Your criticism of his advice is unwarranted. I would encourage you to reconsider your criticism and offer an apology if you would like anyone to consider responding to your questions in future.
On 05/11/06, jaytee(a)clear.net.nz <jaytee(a)clear.net.nz> wrote:
I Agree, It serves no purpose biting people who are trying to be helpful. Regards John
----- Original Message Follows -----
I think you owe Matt an apology, your reply was rude and I honestly don't think you will be getting better free support from anywhere else..
Matts suggestion was completely on par with what you would get from anyone else.. id suggest an apology and no longer being such a wanker to people who are trying their best to help you.
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