Checking my hard-drive partition scheme before installing K15.1 as dual-boot

[2muchcoffeeman]

Please include the following information in your posts:

What release of Kubuntu you are using. Plan to install 15.1
What version of KDE you are using. Series 5, which I assume is part & parcel with 15.1
What version of Grub you are using. None, yet. My PC is 100% Windows at this time
What other Operating Systems are installed. Win10 Home
Information about your PC:



GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) manufacturer and model: GPU is integrated, not discrete. Don't know manufacturer or model.
HDs (number of and type internal - number of and type external)



Optical Drives (number of and type internal - number of and type external): none


Here is my HD partition:



And here is what the Dual-Booting Windows and Kubuntu section of the Ubuntu Guide Wiki has to say:



My ambition: Install Kubuntu 15.1 on the XPS, and have it available for use under a dual-boot setup, allowing me to choose, upon bootup, either Win10 or Kubuntu.

My question: Am I good to go?

Advice and counsel welcome.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Deleted.

[sithlord48]

you need space to install kubuntu .. you can make some by resizing your other partitions or using a completely seperate disk. MBR disks can have upto 3 primary partitions so you can either create another primary or an extended. use extended if you plan to have more then 3 total partitions.

[oshunluvr]

Setting your forum posting issues aside, what is your question? What are you trying to do?

Basic partitioning for linux in general has very little in the way of requirements. Linux (Kubuntu) will install to any partition you have available. I've never seen an Ubuntu wiki mentioning a need for 2 primary partitions nor can I imagine why anyone would post something like that because it simply isn't true. I believe Windows required a primary partition in the past, but to my knowledge Linux never has. The only reason to use a primary partition over a logical one is to set the 'bootable' bit but this too is a Windows requirement and not needed for a Linux install. Modern computers can use GPT drive partitioning so the concept of primary vs. logical and extended partitions is fading fast. GPT has only one partition type and has other advantages like larger maximum partition sizes and is capable of more total partitions.

Best practices for linux partitioning are to have 3 partitions - swap, root, and home - but this isn't required. You can install the whole thing to a single partition and use a swapfile instead of partition or skip using swap altogether.

Presuming you already have Windows 10 installed, you'll need free space enough for the Kubuntu install (8gb minimum, 12gb is plenty, 16gb is extra room, 20gb is excessive), swap (an amount equal to RAM size is generally accepted as preferred), and whatever you deem necessary for home. Home holds your users' personal settings which take little space, but also contains data like pics, music, etc. so this is usually the largest partition.

The biggest hurdle you have to consider is how you are planning on dual booting and prepping for that before you install Kubuntu. I wouldn't recommend allowing GRUB to install if you're using Windows 10 with UEFI. I don't use Windows often and don't have it installed to my personal machines, but I have heard tales of booting issues. Micro$oft doesn't want you using any free OSs so they make it as difficult as possible to install Linux. I know with Windows 7 you could boot to Linux using the windows bootloader but I have no idea beyond that. Other users use a boot manager name rEFInd instead of GRUB with great success and there's an amazing How-To post on here by QQmike about how to install and use it.

I recommend you clear the space and make the partitions for Linux, install a replacement bootloader and get it booting Windows first, then install Kubuntu to it's partitions and do not install grub when you do, then get your bootloader to boot Kubuntu. This seems to be the most sensible way to proceed. Good luck!

[2muchcoffeeman]

Dell XPS 13 L321X
Version 1511
Windows 10 home
OS build 10586.63
Processor Intel core i7-2637M CP @ 1.70GHz
RAM 4.00 GB
System type: 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Setting your forum posting issues aside, what is your question? What are you trying to do?

Install Kubuntu alongside Win10 on my Dell XPS system, in such a way that I can choose between one OS and the other when booting.

I've never seen an Ubuntu wiki mentioning a need for 2 primary partitions nor can I imagine why anyone would post something like that because it simply isn't true.

Upon further review, I may have mischaracterized what the Wiki said. Here is the pertinent part:

Newer installations of Windows use two primary partitions (a small Windows boot partition and a large Windows OS partition). A (K)Ubuntu Linux installation also requires two partitions -- a linux-swap partition and the OS partition. The Linux partitions can either be two primary partitions or can be two logical partitions within an extended partition. Some computer retailers use all four partitions on a hard drive. Unless there are two free partitions available (either primary or logical) in which to install (K)Ubuntu, however, it will appear as if there is no available free space. If only one partition on a hard drive can be made available, it must be used as an extended partition (in which multiple logical partitions can then be created). Partition management can be done using the using the GParted utility or KDE Partition Manager.


Emphasis mine.

On my system, two partitions are identifed as "primary": OS and Recovery (see below)

Best practices for linux partitioning are to have 3 partitions - swap, root, and home

I will glady study any resource you can recommend that provides instruction on how to do this. I can tell you the drive on my system currently has a total of 4 partitions. They are:

1. OS - Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition (212GB) NTFS
2. Recovery - System, Active, Primary Partiton (18GB) NTFS
3. Hibernation Partition (8GB)
4. OEM Partition (39MB).

So, I would need to learn how to carve out partitions for swap, root and home.

Presuming you already have Windows 10 installed

I do

you'll need free space enough for the Kubuntu install (8gb minimum, 12gb is plenty, 16gb is extra room, 20gb is excessive), swap (an amount equal to RAM size is generally accepted as preferred), and whatever you deem necessary for home.

Free space available on the OS partition is 140GB, or 66 percent.

The biggest hurdle you have to consider is how you are planning on dual booting and prepping for that before you install Kubuntu. I wouldn't recommend allowing GRUB to install if you're using Windows 10 with UEFI.

My Windows system uses BIOS, not UEFI

I don't use Windows often and don't have it installed to my personal machines, but I have heard tales of booting issues. Micro$oft doesn't want you using any free OSs so they make it as difficult as possible to install Linux.

I don't doubt it, though once I did, on a separate laptop, intsall Ubuntu on a WinXP machine, no issues.

I recommend you clear the space and make the partitions for Linux

I'll gladly do my homework on that. Reading recommendations welcomed.

install a replacement bootloader and get it booting Windows first, then install Kubuntu to its partitions and do not install grub when you do, then get your bootloader to boot Kubuntu. This seems to be the most sensible way to proceed. Good luck!

This makes sense and seems a prudent way to proceed. Thanks.

[2muchcoffeeman]

Many thanks for your detailed information.

You have 140GB available so no problems to use the Windows disk manager to shrink the existing 212GB partition to 160GB.

Okay, here's a New Guy question: What happens to that 52GB when I shrink the existing 212GB to 160GB? Does it automatically get allocated to a new partition? Does it "disappear"? How do I make sure that the ~52GB that I am "carving out" from the current OS partition doesn't fall off the table and roll out the door?

I know you later say that I use the Kubuntu USB installer to "assign" the 52GB to the root, swap and home partitions (the ARE separate partitions, correct?, not just a single partition with enough room for each of those functions?), but my "New Guy" worry is that the system will lose track of those 52GB during the step where I shrink the Windows OS partition and then reboot. I just want the system to know it has 52GB available after I reboot.

[oshunluvr]

My Windows system uses BIOS, not UEFI

I find this odd as I thought Windows 10 required EFI, but whatever.

BTW, your pictures are now loading...

I have no idea what windows means by an "OEM" partition and it and your hibernation partition are empty.

The problem is, if you are indeed using MBR disk formatting, you cannot add any new partitions. Since it appears both the OEM partition and the hibernation partition are empty, here's what i would do:
Boot to Windows and shrink the OS partition so at least 60GB is free.
Delete the OEM partition.
Move all the remaining partitions until all the freespace is co-located.
Create an extended partition in the free space.
Create the three linux partitions as logical partitions in the extended partition - sizing them as Teunis suggests.
Reboot Windows and make sure everything is A-OK.

Then do the boot-loader-and-install-linux stuff.

I would use the windows disk manager to do the re-sizing of it's partition if possible, then use gparted from a live USB boot to do the moving and new partition creation, then re-boot into windows before continuing.

A test to see whether or not you're using MBR or GPT is to shrink the Windows partition first, then try and create a new partition in the free space. If windows allows it, you're good - no need to do the dangerous and slow moving of the other partitions.

[2muchcoffeeman]

I find this odd as I thought Windows 10 required EFI, but whatever.

Thanks much for the advice. At the moment it feels like a firehose, and I'll need to walk through it slowly several times before pushing any buttons, but I'm sure I can find the necessary docs that will break down each of these steps in a New Guy kind of way.

[2muchcoffeeman]

I have no idea what windows means by an "OEM" partition

I wonder if it has to do with the fact that the system was manufactured with Windows 7, and later upgraded to Win10.

[oshunluvr]

I think usually it holds the install files from the original "OEM" windows version, but it's empty. Maybe the Win10 upgrade wiped it??

Teunis, if this was directed at me:

No it will not show up as a new partition, it is just 'free' or if you like, unallocated space on the disk.

I wasn't suggesting it would show up as a partition, rather, I was suggesting an attempt at creating a partition in the freed space would prove definitively whether or not a delete/move of the other partitions was absolutely necessary. I can't tell from the windows utility if all the partitions are actually primary or not or if it's GPT ot MBR formatted. It would be a lot less work if the free space could be used without all the other rig-a-ma-role...

[logan01]

I'm the last who should chime in. I had Windows 8.1 and "upgraded" to 10. I too decided to install Kubuntu (14.04) alongside 10. You have much greater computer knowledge than I therefore this should be a piece of cake. I'm going to assume the only difference is you're installing "15". If you'll take the time and read my thread where folks here dragged me kicking and screaming through the installation process, you shouldn't have a problem. You'll quickly see how obvious it was I was clueless. The thread could have been easily cut in half had I been more knowledgeable. I don't know if my route was the best, acceptable, etc but it did work just fine and I've been a happy camper ever since. Just go through this thread and and cull the stuff I was doing wrong and you don't need. It will be very apparent. To this day I still feel bad having put these guys through my misery. Great folks and good luck with your install. https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...Kubuntu-Please

[2muchcoffeeman]

LOL, well, logan01, kudos to you for being such a willing Guinea pig. Thanks for the link; I'll be sure to read through your thread.

[logan01]

LOL, well, logan01, kudos to you for being such a willing Guinea pig. Thanks for the link; I'll be sure to read through your thread.

You bet. Hope you get it one way or the other.

[Qqmike]

I find this odd as I thought Windows 10 required EFI, but whatever.

Yeah, me, too. Tried to google this and it depends on exactly what model/year your Dell was produced. Looking at your screenshot of partitions, there is no evidence of a special "System Partition" (an EFI System Partition, ESP), which would be required for a UEFI installation. Hmmm. Well, carry on, best of luck, and keep us posted.

[oshunluvr]

Just a guess: Maybe Dell has a special windows version so their older machines work with Win10?