Gradual migration to Kubuntu

[duane]

I've been a fan of Linux for almost as long as there has been Linux, but mostly constrained to Windows because of being a Windows developer. Well, that situation no longer formally holds, and Windows 10 is the last and most fatal of a long line of Microsoft offenses, so I've started the process of migrating my main Windows 8.1 laptop to Linux. Much of that has been figuring out how to replace apps. For example, I'm learning Blender now as a replacement for 3DS Max, which remains stubbornly Linux-resistant. I think I'll like it better, anyway.

Because of the large number of tools in my workflow (I'm into a bit of everything), I'd like to take the transition carefully to make sure I have all the bases covered and not screw up productivity. I'm thinking I'd like to split off 100GB or so from my primary Windows partition and allocate it as follows:

/boot (250MB ext4)
swap (8GB)
...with the rest assigned to LVM split up between / and /home.

I'm thinking that as time progresses and more of my work is transitioned to Linux, I can further shrink the Windows partition and allocate that space to LVM without too much complication, eventually leaving a vestigial Windows partition for games and Windows-only apps with no Linux substitute, like DAZ Studio. But as LVM is fairly new to me, I'd like to ask if anyone can see any pitfalls that I'm not aware of. I'm sure someone else has gone this route, or tried to, but Google seems oddly quiet on the matter. I haven't used Linux for about three years now, and haven't developed for it in probably 12.

[Snowhog]

Welcome to Kubuntu Forums . Net. Always like to see new members.

So as to limit the number of ask and answer posts, tell us the specs on your "Windows 8.1 laptop". Make and model; how old it is; hardware specs (GPU and wireless being the most important), and if it's UEFI (likely if it's a 'newer' laptop).

[duane]

All I can tell you about the make and model without pulling the battery (I don't know why they do that) is that it's HP ca. 2013.
EFI/GPT (I'd intended to mention that)
AMD E-300 CPU (Yeah, I know it's slow. My "fast" laptop that I use for video transcoding, 3D rendering, and such is Windows 7 and I can live with that for quite a while. It's actually surprising how well 3DS Max runs on the slow one.)
AMD Radeon HD6310
Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 WiFi
Not much information about audio other than AMD/Realtek (They don't want you to know.)

Webcam I'm not too particular if it works or not, and the touchpad I'd rather it not. I hate those things and there's no way permanently turn it off. I'd planned to try things out in LiveCD mode first to make sure the hardware is compatible. I want to build a new desktop, and that will be Linux from the start.

Thanks.

[Snowhog]

Creating a LiveUSB (the .iso image is to large to burn to a CD) is a good, even recommended, idea. It lets you 'try before you buy' to see what works and what doesn't 'out of the box'. I would strongly encourage you to do that before you go any further. What you learn in a Live test will go a long way in assisting you with an actual installation. Of particular importance will be any video issues during booting, and ultimately, loading the Desktop. Let us know what works and what doesn't 'out of the box'.

[SpecialEd]

Being a newb, I don't know if my experience is typical, but even though about half of my 1TB HD was "free," when shrinking my Windows partition, I was only able to get about 100GB, as there were some unmovable Windows files, allegedly preventing me from accessing more free space. File under "Don't count your chickens..."

[duane]

Special Ed: Oh, I'd forgotten about that "unmovable files" problem. Actually, the page file (why MS never instituted a swap partition is completely beyond me) and the hibernation file are pretty easy to move. The MFT, which sometimes ends up smack dab in the middle of a partition for another inexplicable reason, is more problematic, but it can be done by a smart enough defragger at boot time. In the old, old days, they used to play with trick sector headers and such as a form of copy protection, and if you moved those files, your app wouldn't work anymore. But you gave me a good idea. I could use a larger drive anyway, as it's only 350G, so why not slap in a 1TB, which you can pick up for $50 these days? The way Windows backup/restore works is that when it restores, it also restores partitions exactly as they were. That would leave me an unallocated 650G to start with without even touching Windows. Thanks. Wouldn't hurt to throw in some more RAM while I'm at it.

Snowhog: Yeah, I'd noticed that size issue. I was going to burn a DVD, but I guess a usb drive would work. I've never booted from a USB in my life. I'll have to look into that.

[Qqmike]

I've never booted from a USB in my life. I'll have to look into that.

Section 2 of my
UEFI for Kubuntu--simplified.
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post373198

SECTION 2: Install your Kubuntu properly in UEFI mode
Install your Kubuntu properly in UEFI mode: Use the 64-bit version of Kubuntu
(Optional: Do the partitioning of your HDD first.)
How to access your firmware setup
How to run the Kubuntu installer ... etc. ...

[Qqmike]

For example ...

Plug in a Kingston USB flash drive containing a live, bootable image of Kubuntu 14.04.3 (64 bit)

Re-boot my ASUS (motherboard) PC
Press F2 at the POST screen to enter my UEFI firmware setup menus
Advanced Mode
Boot
Boot Override menu
and then choose:
UEFI (FAT)KingstonDataTraveler 3.0(15004MB)
and then the PC re-boots to that Kingston flash drive

There may be other entries (in your firmware menu) for that Kingston flash drive, but you want to pick the entry that indicates UEFI/EFI.

Btw, if using Linux, a good way to build your live bootable USB flash drive from the iso image is by using the dd function, which you may remember from your Linux work:

Building a Kubuntu live USB flash drive installer using dd
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...712#post378712

(There may be dd versions for Windows, a google on that suggests there are.)

dd is pretty handy, my how-to on that:
The dd Command
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...The-dd-Command

[duane]

Actually, no I don't remember dd. Doesn't matter, because I wouldn't be able to use it until after I have the USB burned. Still, those links were worth bookmarking. I think I have a 4G USB drive around here somewhere. I'll try it out soon and let you folks know how it goes. Thanks for all the help.

[duane]

Another reason to hate Microsoft. Their iso-to-usb utility says I have an invalid iso file. SHA256 checks out, that error message must mean it's a valid Linux iso. They sure wouldn't want anyone to install THAT. I'll get there, Microsith or not.

[dequire]

Another reason to hate Microsoft. Their iso-to-usb utility says I have an invalid iso file. SHA256 checks out, that error message must mean it's a valid Linux iso. They sure wouldn't want anyone to install THAT. I'll get there, Microsith or not.

THAT's the spirit! As others here on the forums have pointed out, you might want to try out Etcher. Seems to work extremely well and is cross-platform.

[duane]

Thanks. I found Rufus, and it seems to be doing its job. We'll see.

[duane]

Getting frustrated here, and likely to give up for the day. I burned the ISO (16.10 amd64) for UEFI to an SD card. On the first attempt, I got to a screen that looked like GRUB (though I don't recall if it actually said "GRUB"). I selected "Start Ubuntu" and waited for the startup messages to scroll by. Five minutes later, I was still waiting and shut it off. Discovered that I'd accidentally hit the write protect on the SD, so I switched it off and tried again. This time, it thrashed the hard drive but didn't give me anything on the screen at all. I'm not totally out of ideas, but I'm kind of shooting in the dark at this point. Thoughts? I installed Red Hat countless times before switching allegiance to Ubuntu, and since installed that 5 or 6 times.

Never had a hitch until now.

On the plus side, I forgot to run Command Prompt as administrator and almost typed "sudo...". It appears I'm not all that rusty, after all.

PS: USB drive formatted FAT32. OK?

[GreyGeek]

You might want to test the checksum of the ISO file that you downloaded, and of the burn as well.