Need help changing from dual-boot to triple-boot.

[SecretCode]

Yes, BIOSes can vary.

Also it's always a good idea to disconnect backup drives when you're not actually backing up data!

I'd go so far as to say if you only back up to one removable drive you're not really backing up. You need two independent drives and you should store them in different places. At least put one in a fireproof theftproof safe.

[Qqmike]

As for BIOS's, BIOS should clearly identify each drive by its serial number. Easy to distinguish the drives.

[SecretCode]

Should I close the other posts? If we solve the problem step-by-step, that is what I want anyway. Otherwise it could get very confusing for me, an opening for mistakes.

I don't think it's important to close them. If you want to, maybe post a note that discussion is going on in this thread, in case people see them in isolation.


Have you been able yet to back up your data to a drive that you can remove?

[Shabakthanai]

I did not understand at first what you meant by suspending to disk and then reboot. I don't know what I said, but I restart the computer to have choice of operating system............ OH, I see, you were responding to jlittle. That confused me.

So you would suspend to disk and then reboot into another OS? Is that even possible? I thought about that but I couldn't imagine suspending then rebooting as a necessity or possibility. Then again, I don't use suspend because even my 8 year old desktop boots in 13-15 seconds or so. I suppose that's what my laptop does when I close the lid - but since it un-suspends when you open the lid, it's not possible to boot into another install without rebooting from the OS.

[Shabakthanai]

I don't think it's important to close them. If you want to, maybe post a note that discussion is going on in this thread, in case people see them in isolation.


Have you been able yet to back up your data to a drive that you can remove?

I have delayed until I find that I am understanding correctly. [A few years ago, I would not have recognized that post replies were drifting away from my posted problems. This is the first time it did not start confusion, perhaps too great for me to overcome.]

Since I am apparently only using one SSD and one HDD, what is the reason for needing to backup on a removable drive? Can't I use the empty HDD and create three partitions that can each hold the data from the three active and used hard drives? I realize drives are very cheap anymore, and I have USB III which is very fast, but I have so much available space on my current HDD's that it really doesn't seem sensible to purchase another.

Am I wrong in feeling safe when I use separate internal drives to protect data from catastrophic loss by not putting several types of partitions on a drive that can potentially be broken? By that, I mean, if I use a single HDD for my /home partition, and then back up it's data on another internal drive, isn't the likelihood of both drives becoming defective at the same time unlikely enough to consider the data well protected? And since my current plan is to put Operating Systems exclusively on smaller SSD's a way to protect catastrophic loss of permanent saved data leaving only one drive to reinstall or replace and reinstall if the drive becomes defective and permanently lost?

While I am at it, I would like the answer to this question: Is '/home' the location for all added applications and the files and folders that make them function, or is some data retained on the Operating System's partition. It seems like even after I separated /home from all other partitioned drives, I still have to re-install packages like restricted-extras or an alternate application like vlc and have to reconfigure them again for them to function when I reinstall or install an Operating System? It makes sense if the change involves a different version, but doesn't make sense if I am reinstalling the same version.

[Shabakthanai]

From my BIOS, you can boot to any drive while in the BIOS. When I realized that, I not longer felt the need to make the USB or ROM drives the first to boot when installing an Operating system, If the OS I wanted to install was contained in a USB, I simply booted from the USB entry in the boot order of the BIOS. It seems faster to me and I don't have to set a priority on a USB vs. DVDROM, they can stay in the latter order of the drive selections as a result. This did not seem to matter to me when I was not able to boot from USB. Now that I have the choice, it eliminates on step of selecting order for boot. This is kind of away from my post, but that is my two cents on the subject.

This doesn't always work. I have 3 sata drives. Connected to sata1 and sata2 are 1Tb drives (unlickily for me, same type, so I can't tell which is which). on sata3 was a 3Tb drive. It always showed up to windows as drive 3, but to linux as sdb. Swapped it to my other computer and put another 1Tb in main computer. So, now I really don't know which is which. Tried installed windows 7 and kubuntu with a 1Tb eSata connected. Kubuntu put its boot files there. Reinstalled with this drive turned off. Now, everything boots ok and I only turn on eSata to back things up. Just under 15,000 pictures that I don't care to lose, important docs, etc..

[Shabakthanai]

Can I label my '/' Kubuntu 14.04, my home drive '/Critical Data', and my backup partition /Backup so that when they appear in my Devices, column left, in Dolphin they will appear that way, and perhaps '/Movies' or movies without the '/'? Then if you have several drives on the computer, you could more easily identify them by content. Your comment is out of the subject of my post, but gives me the opportunity to ask a question on something I would like to know. Thanks for a reply.

As for BIOS's, BIOS should clearly identify each drive by its serial number. Easy to distinguish the drives.

[Shabakthanai]

But wouldn't it be easier if the drives were identified by what they contained instead of a long number that you have to verify amongst long numbers. I currently want to have both Kubuntu 14.04 and Kubuntu 15.04 on separate SSD's. I would rather have them identified as Kubuntu 14.04 and Kubuntu 15.04 when they appear as drives, because then I do not have to check them against a long number.

If I kept a drive for movies, it would be nice if that drive appeared as 'Movies', and if PrivateStuff' have the drive identified as PrivateStuff.

I would like to be able to name USB's and DVD's that way too. If I insert a USB in my computer and it already has a USB of the same size in its port, when I open Dolphin and look at Devices, it would be great if each USB appeared with what it's content or name showed.

Same in the BIOS, but that may not be possible.

As for BIOS's, BIOS should clearly identify each drive by its serial number. Easy to distinguish the drives.

[Qqmike]

I haven't use it, but I believe GParted Live CD/USB can place a (custom) Label on a partition.
http://gparted.org/display-doc.php?name=help-manual
http://gparted.org/display-doc.php?n...artition-label

(what's all this talk about getting old and dying, anyway ...?)

[Qqmike]

From the GParted manual:

Specifying Partition Label

To specify the partition label, also known as a volume label, type a label name in the Label text box.

Tip

Labels can be used to help you remember what is stored in the partition.
Unique labels can be used to mount file systems with the GNU/Linux operating system.

[Shabakthanai]

I haven't use it, but I believe GParted Live CD/USB can place a (custom) Label on a partition.
http://gparted.org/display-doc.php?name=help-manual
http://gparted.org/display-doc.php?n...artition-label

(what's all this talk about getting old and dying, anyway ...?)

I have an artery on the surface of my brain in the area of my sinus' that broke a year ago and almost killed me then. It took 6 months to recover in agonizing pain. It happened again early this year; I am 72 the 10th of March and probably won't survive if it happens a third time. No complaints, but I think I might prefer not dying over a third battle; the pain is unrelenting an doesn't respond to most pain medications.

I love computing even though, I have an artists mind and don't really think in the same terms as a scientist or engineer. Those are qualities more found in people good with computers. It has taken me 20 years to understand what most of you grasp by the second year. Then you accelerated to where you are, while with all my years of experience I am still back at year two. Just goes to show you how much I love this stuff. I still get extreme highs when I finally understand something that came naturally to you back in year one or two.

My daughter gave me a cell phone a couple years ago. I use it so little, it is really a luxury for me. I enjoy its ability to move due to the way the screen acts when you select and move things. I suspect this is more common with the cutting edge of today in Desktop and Laptop computers. I also see the 3D computers in the Movies. Such technology is exciting to see, and something I am sure I will not get to experience; I wish I were 30 years old again.

I appreciate your willingness, collectively, to help me learn and do the things that drive me, but want you to know how short lived my understanding of this technology may be. I don't want to abuse your time should you think it not worthwhile due to the short time I may be able to use the knowledge. My gratitude is unmeasurable.

Thanks for the referral to Gparted manual etc. I have only had a quick look at the contents, but it looks like I will be spending a lot of time there. I can't understand how I could have gone this long without seeking that source of data.

[Qqmike]

Sorry to hear about your condition. Bear in mind--as an artist you know this!--anything is possible, and for the better. The medical model is just one model; the human body doesn't always fit the "expected" curve. As any doctor or nurse can attest. That said, it never hurts, at any age, to begin to prepare for death (starting here, now, at 66). Read some cosmology books ;-)
"I don't want to abuse your time should you think it not worthwhile due to the short time I may be able to use the knowledge." This applies to any of us. Again, ask any doctor: Being in "good" health is no guarantee you won't die soon. What I know, at 66, is that I have already lost many friends and acquaintances and neighbors, starting at age 45; it continues that pattern every month or three; it is impossible to predict. No one knows how much time he/she has left. Good damn thing Steven Hawking didn't throw in the towel after his Dx. As Robin Williams taught his class in Dead Poet's, Seize the day! (Who needs Latin, anyway.)


"... with all my years of experience I am still back at year two..." Rates of speed learning, et cetera ... The ONLY thing that counts is that you love what you are doing. Leave speed timings at the race track (I prefer horses over cars).

Thanks for the referral to Gparted manual etc. I have only had a quick look at the contents, but it looks like I will be spending a lot of time there.

Don't. For now, just run GParted on a test disk (or a flash drive that you have a partition on), label one of your partitions (you can always remove the label), exit out of GParted, and see how Dolphin (and any other Kubuntu utilities/commands) see the labeled partition. You can use GParted Live CD, or just use the GParted installed on your Kubuntu (K > Applications > System > Partition Editor (GParted)) -- not any other partition editor. If it is not there, you can quickly install it using Muon Package Manager. (I just did this experiment on a 4 GB flash drive I use for doing quick, working backups. I labeled its one partition: My_data. It shows up in Dolphin that way. I ran df -hT, and it shows up mounted on /media/mike/MY_DATA.)

[Shabakthanai]

I don't know how hibernation got into the conversation. I have no understanding of it. I can't answer any questions about it; I have never even wondered what it is used for. It sounds like something a laptop user would need to save power. I apologize.

I only have the one /home on any and all of my drives. The confusing part to me is somehow an operating system also got installed on the same drive. I do not want any operating system on the /home partition or the HDD that the /home partition is located.

That is the reason for my separate post relating to being able to move an Operating System from an HDD to SSD. If I can move the OS from the HDD to the blank SSD, the only data on the HDD will be /home. That is the way I want it.

In all the time I have been learning how to operate a computer, I have backed up my data to a what I have called a backup drive. I am not positive that I have data backed up anymore. When I found that one of the TB drives was empty, I was confused, because there should have been a system backup there.

Additionally, when I found my Kubuntu 14.04 install was located on the /home partition I also was confused. It should have been located on the smaller SSD, which is currently also empty.

I hope you are understanding what I am trying to say right now, because I find it difficult to be understood. I am confident it is my inability to pose my questions and blame no one else. Frankly I am trying very hard to communicate accurately.

So you will know what I would like to do, here is the setup I thought I had and still want:

128GB SSD Kubuntu 14.04 exclusively, nothing else.
256GB SSD Windows 7 exclusively, nothing else. I want everything Windows 7 to be on that drive without any other partitions. That is if it is sufficiently large enough. I hardly ever use Windows 7 and do not plan to expand its function to do more than just run in an emergency and perhaps play a movie on Netflix. Had I thought my setup out better, I would have put Windows 7 on the TB HDD. the slower one, and perhaps Kubuntu 14.04 on the larger SSD and the Beta on the smaller SSD, but that makes thing even more complex, if I want to accomplish everything without losing anything I still consider mildy important. (Perhaps it would not be any more difficult, just a little more time consuming. If that is the case, it would be my preference.)
TB HDD 6GB/s is to contain exclusively my /home directory and nothing else.
TB HDD 3GB/s is to contain system backups and a partition for a Beta Operating System (current Kubuntu 15.04, cutting edge). If you are willing, please recommend a size for that partition. Since I will only be using it to test drive new stuff and help in its perfection by sharing bugs, I will not install any extra applications, unless like Netflix is constantly being perfected and is an application I use every day as a voice in the room, I would install Netflix, if possible.

Oshunluvr, this is what I thought I had when the problem surfaced, and this is what I want. Of course, if this is not a good idea, I would never challenge your opinion and would defer to your recommendation. Someone recommended I purchase an additional HDD; I am willing, but do not understand why it is necessary.

Finally, the reason I use 20GB for swap is because I do lots of multimedia stuff and want plenty of ram when the system is churning. If that is too much or too little, please advise. Additionally, I understand that I only need one Linux Swap, so I do not want to waste the space I was using for a swap for each installed OS. Thanks for the help, friend

Easiest way is to highlight the text you want and click here (follow the red arrow)

[SecretCode]

Hello Shabakthanai

You don't need to worry about hibernation. It came up because you mentioned that you have 20GB of swap space, which you're unlikely to need except for hibernation - but you can safely leave it as is!

Your planned setup is fine except for some aspects.

• You will need more than one /home directory. You should have one for each different version of Linux operating system, otherwise KDE settings from the different versions will overwrite each other and cause problems. You could do this by using your HDD for /home just for Kubuntu 14.04, and having the /home directory for your Kubuntu 15.04 in the same partition as its root. But will you remember not to mount the 14.04 /home on the 15.04 system?
• Having your backup HDD being the same as the one you are going to install a beta operating system on is a very bad idea - unless you are very careful and know exactly what you are doing, you may overwrite backups. This is why I suggested purchasing an extra HDD, one that can be disconnected from the computer whenever you are doing installations - or you could remove the existing drive you use for backups, but then I think you wouldn't have enough separate drives for the planned setup.

[Shabakthanai]

Several years ago, I labeled a partition. Of course, I had even less knowledge to work with, but I had a problem created by that label, or advice to not to it, I can't remember, so being the slow one, I always take the advice, which has held till now. As I recall I had to reinstall and lost some important data in the process.

Believe me, I am planning for life, but if my artery bursts again, I really don't want to have to deal with the pain anymore. I am more than 3 months past the surgery this year and I still haven't had a moments break from pain. The pain is less, but is continuous.

Nonetheless, if I could become as smart as you guys, without having to struggle another 70 years to get there, I would be happy to live with unending pain. The things that the collective you take pretty much for granted are things that give me a state of bliss when I finally make the knowledge mine. In that respect, I am more fortunate than you. I get super excited and happy with stuff you are able to ignore, due to its simplicity to you. So I get a lettle extra joy from time to time.

I already have Gparted installed. I will label a partition to see what happens. If it screws me up again, I will be back, as Arnie said, to get help fixing the new problem. I will avoid my usual reinstall until it is hopeless.

You prefer horses over cars, while I prefer wormholes, hah! I would just love to be able to enter a wormhole and exit on the other side of the galaxy or perhaps another galaxy on the other side of the universe a second or two later.

Relating to your My_Data label, could the labe be named "My_Data" rather than /My_Data without the forward slash? That might be how I screwed up in the past. It has been too long to remember the specifics. It is something I would probably have done, though.