Shawnhcorey

Revision 9 as of 2006-03-24 13:51:44

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Mr. Shawn H. Corey, B.Sc.

Email: MailTo(shawnhcorey AT SPAMFREE magma DOT ca)

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[#20060321 2006-03-21 Introduction to Installing Ubuntu]
[#20060322 2006-03-22 Detailed Plans for Install]
[#20060323 2006-03-23 After Install: What Happened]

My Adventure in Ubuntu

Anchor(20060321)

2006-03-21 Introduction to Installing Ubuntu

Today I decided to install Breezy on my old PowerBook G4. After much internal debate, I decided that I shall partition my disk as follows:

Ubuntu: 6GB

swap: 4GB

Originally, I wanted to convert the whole thing to Unbuntu but I can't seem to get PPPoE to work under the Live CD.

So I decided that create a dual boot system and eventually convert the old Mac OS X partition into a data only. This will give some protection when I install applications since they will be separated from the data.

I have read [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=89960 HOWTO: Resize your HFS+ partition for free] and hopefully I can get it right the first time. Wish me luck.

Update

It has been suggested that 4GB is too large for a swap partition. Since 2GB is the recommended minimum, I'm not sure what to make of this. Now, I'll have to rethink what I'm doing. Installation is delayed

Anchor(20060322)

2006-03-22 Detailed Plans for Install

OK, after thinking this out, 2GB should be more than enough for a swap. Also, 6GB is too much for my applications. I'll step that down to 4GB.

The Procedure

This is my step-by-step plan for creating a dual-boot system on my PowerBook G4:

1. Disable journaling on Apple_HFS

This can be done with the command:

  sudo diskutil disableJournal /

And to verify that journaling is off:

  diskutil info /

2. Load the Install CD and reboot.

3. Following the instructions until the partitioner. Then click, "Go Back", "Go to Shell", and then "parted"

I have found the parted manual at [http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/manual/html_mono/parted.html the GNU Parted Manual]. It should make things a little easier.

4. Now type:

  print

and I should see a line:

  5          0.344  38154.263

5. To resize the partition:

  resize 5 0.344 32010.263

6. Verify with another print:

  print

I should now have a 6GB hole in my partition table. No partitions for it yet; they will be created later in the install process. After all, that should be the next step.

7. Exit parted:

  quit

8. Exit the shell:

  exit

9. Continue with the install.

Anchor(20060323)

2006-03-23 After Install: What Happened

Well, it's done. It when exactly as planned except for one thing; I set the swap partition to the default value, about 302 MB. I tired to change it by freeing up some space in the Ubuntu partition but the was no command to set the swap space to free space. I would have to enter values by hand. Possible but I would have to do a binary search to find a value to not leave too much free space unaccessible. So I took the easy way out.

I had to skip the network configuration part. The Install detect both the ethernet and the wireless and insists that one of them must be connected to a network. Unfortunately, my modem is not configured for PPP and the only way to continue was to go back to the menu and start at the next item.

So I have to do the following:

Get the clock to display the local time. It's showing UTC even tho I changed it during install.
Configure the modem for PPP.
Configure the DHCP and network.
Mount the Mac OS X partition so I can access my data files.

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