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I have a 2nd 1TB drive in my X1000 that is only for linux. I installed Debian from the very 1st install guide that Trevor made. Since then we now have all these ther Linux's to use.

So, since my 1st install is working and all, and if I want a 2nd linux, am I able to partition this 2nd drive multiple times so each has its own Linux?

Do I lose my 1st linux once I start doing any partition stuff?

I want something with Gnome 3.4 or Unity and not sure my 1st Debian from Rev 1 of the Trevor's guide can do these newer desktops or if I have to install a whole new linux like Ubuntu 12.04, etc...

Thanks for any advice,

TJ

amigasociety wrote:I have a 2nd 1TB drive in my X1000 that is only for linux. I installed Debian from the very 1st install guide that Trevor made. Since then we now have all these ther Linux's to use.

So, since my 1st install is working and all, and if I want a 2nd linux, am I able to partition this 2nd drive multiple times so each has its own Linux?

Do I lose my 1st linux once I start doing any partition stuff?

I want something with Gnome 3.4 or Unity and not sure my 1st Debian from Rev 1 of the Trevor's guide can do these newer desktops or if I have to install a whole new linux like Ubuntu 12.04, etc...

Thanks for any advice,

TJ

Interesting question. I am not a Linux expert and I'm sure there are plenty of ways to install multiple Linux systems on the same HDD.

However, as I was testing multiple Linux installs for the user guide, this is what I did to keep things relatively simple and keep each Linux system separate.

1. For my first installation I installed Debian Squeeze on the same HDD as AmigaOS4.

2. I then added two additional SATA HDD's and installed MintPPC11 on one and Unbuntu 12.04 on the other.

3. I then added a PATA IDE drive to install Debian Wheezy.

4. However, becuase I wanted to test new installations without overwiting the existing ones I installed an IDE mobile rack and hdd carrier. I can now simply replace the IDE HDD in the carrier if I want to test a new Linux distributions. (I'm sure a SATA mobile rack and drive could also be used for this purpose).

Then, as outlined in the Installation guide, I modified the Boot Menu in CFE to include the various Linux boot options.

For example (with menu itemes 0 & 1 already assinged to AmigaOS HDD and CD/DVD drive) I added extra Boot menu option for the additional Linux installations:

setenv -p MENU_2_COMMAND 'setenv bootargs "root=dev/sdb2" ; boot -elf -noints -fatfs cf0:vmlinux39'
setenv -p MENU_2_LABEL “Debian Squeeze”

setenv -p MENU_3_COMMAND 'setenv bootargs "root=dev/sdc1" ; boot -elf -noints -fatfs cf0:vmlinux39'
setenv -p MENU_3_LABEL “MintPPC 11”

setenv -p MENU_4_COMMAND 'setenv bootargs "root=dev/sdd1" ; boot -elf -noints -fatfs cf0:vmlinux39pw-1.2'
setenv -p MENU_4_LABEL “Ubuntu 12.04 LTS”

setenv -p MENU_5_COMMAND 'setenv bootargs "root=dev/sde1" ; boot -elf -noints -fatfs cf0:vmlinux39'
setenv -p MENU_2_LABEL “Debian Wheezy”

etc etc

Note: the use of single and double quotation marks in the above command lines.

Trevor

Sure, you can have several linux installs on one HDD.
Using Gparted you should be able to resize existing partitions without data loss and can create new ones as well.
It should install as usual from the package database (did not try it yet).
Please see http://gparted.sourceforge.net/ as well.

Just some preliminary thoughts. It seems possible with some care and a pad of paper to keep track of what is where.

A not completely thought out scheme. So don't shoot me.

Three Debs on one drive, squeeze, mint, ubuntu.

First install squeeze and use Manual Partitioning.

First partition,,Primary--200M--FAT32. For kernels. Format and mount as /start.

Second partition,,Primary--2G--Swap. For all Debs. Format

Third partition,,Primary--1G--Either EXT2 or FAT32. Spare/Future for all. Format and mount as /spare (or something).

Forth partition,, 6 Logical Partitions 5-10. Only format 5&6. Mount as / and either /usr or a smaller size /home. Continue install.

We'll call this drive sdc here. Your designation might be different.

If that works(?) then copy the 39 and 39NH kernels to sdc1 (/start) and set the CFE to boot from there with sdc5 (/) as the root partition. The modules go to /lib/modules.

Next, Mint.

Again use Manual Partitioning.

Mount sdc1 as /start. Do not format.
Mount sdc2 as swap.
Mount sdc3 as /spare. Do not format
Mount sdc7 as / . Format
Mount sdc8 as /usr (or /home). Format

Install Mint. Set CFE to boot from the first partition again with root set to sdc7.

Ubuntu, same procedure as Mint except use sdc9 and sdc10 and only formatting those partitions and mounting sdc1, swap, sdc3, sdc9, sdc10.

No idea if this will work, but each install can only see 1 root (/) partition so the others cannot be mounted for each install.

Maybe I'll try this next week.

P.S. Don't forget to copy the modules to each installs /lib/modules folder.

P.S.S. Perhaps sdc3 (/spare) should be much larger and used to store music, videos, and stuff common to all three so only one copy/download is necessary.

Yesterday was a rainy day so I gave installing multiple distros on a single drive a try. It works.

Care must be taken so that each distro does not try to mount any of the others partitions while booting. These other partitions can be mounted for example by creating folders in the /mnt directory like 'one', 'two', etc. and then issuing 'mount /dev/sdc7 /mnt/one' in a root terminal.

I have not tuned up the installations so right now squeeze uses the 39NH kernel while Mint boots with the 39.

The only strange thing is how CFE refers to the drives on the PATA. The first drive I installed some time ago is setup as Master and the drive I installed yesterday is Slave. CFE sees the master as ide1.0 and the slave as ide0.1, which seems backwards. Perhaps someone could explain.

Anyway, it works.

For those new to Linux I suggest installing gnome-commander. You will find it very much like Dopus and it allows root functions either by starting it from a root terminal, gnome-commander <enter>, or from the first pull down menu when started as user.

Thanks for all the tips everyone!

With documented help like this and Trevor doing all of the updates to the X1000 Linux installation guide, even Linux noobs like me should be able to complete the installation of one or more Linux distros on their X1000 computers.