Newbie trying to install 18.04.1 LTS

[Marty0750]

Thank you everyone for being patient with me trying to get this done. It looks I should not have gone through the "Manual" option as that creates more complications.

GreyGeek seems to be saying the whole thing could have been done without first shrinking Windows through Computer Management. It could have been done during the CD Kubuntu install. I will back track and try again.

The difficulty I have here is there is no easy way to do this. Maybe I am starting with the wrong Linux "flavour". Is Kubuntu too "advanced"?

If you think Kubuntu is worth persisting with I will continue to take further instructions (after all I am already learning a bit about partitions etc)

[GreyGeek]

Well, IMHO, Kubuntu is the BEST distro out there, with Neon running right along side it.
The Kubuntu installer is as easy as it can get. You need to enter a name and a password, the time zone and then decide how you want to spilt up your HD if you don't want to give all of it to Kubuntu. Here is a how to video:

[Marty0750]

In my how-to here:
Installing Kubuntu -- Using the "Manual" Installation Type, with your own partitioning
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post377688
ignore the part about GParted (if you wish), and scroll down to:

Step 2 Install Kubuntu using the "Manual" method of installation

It gives you at least some guidance about using the Manual method and how to find it.

So if I read the instructions correctly here it does indeed appear Kubuntu can be installed and partitioned in Manual mode in one go?. Ie I did not have to use Windows CompMgr to create a partition first? I will go through your instructions again to wrap my head around it, hopefully.

Wonder why now it has to be so difficult? Maybe the programmers can make an installation that works like earlier Ubuntu version installs.

[Marty0750]

Thank you GreyGeek for this video. But is there a page with screen shots for follow. I have trouble with video instruction. They fly by too fast and it is laborious to have to pause backtrack over an over to repeat steps and my eyes ain't the best picking fleeting text on screen. At least with a page I can print it out in large print and easily peruse the steps at my own pace.

[Thomas00]

You are missing something. When you use the installer and it comes to the tab where you select how you are going to install it there are a few options:
One is to give Kubuntu ALL the HD. This will wipe out any other OS installed.

I get that part, it's got to be manual in this use case to leave the existing Windows stuff alone. What I meant was why do we complicate matters even further by asking to create yet another 3 partitions in the unused space instead of just saying create one large partition for Kubuntu (/ and /home, no swap) and move on?

@Marty0750, the "complication" you see has got nothing to do with Kubuntu but is purely down to the fact that you want a new OS without affecting what's already on your hard disk. To achieve this you need a new partition, no matter what Linux flavor you go for.

[Qqmike]

Sorry, I got in to this thread late and have been hit-or-miss with it. Yeah, Marty0750, you could do this in one pass, using the live Kubuntu DVD/USB and the installer: Run the live Kubuntu DVD/USB, select Try Kubuntu, and do the partitioning using the KDE partitioning tool in the K menu (that K button on the lower left of the Kubuntu screen); then switch into the live Kubuntu DVD/USB screen where it says Install Kubuntu. Some users PREFER to do it in two distinct, separate steps: #1 Do all the partitioning (using anything you wish: Windows disk mgt, the Linux GParted (my choice), or the Live Kubuntu installer). Then #2 Do the actual installation of Kubuntu.

fwiw, I recently did a Kubuntu 18.04 installation in dual boot with Windows 10 on an ASUS laptop and wrote it up here:
Dual Boot Your Existing Windows 8/10 with Kubuntu
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post418607

I agree with Thomas00:

@Marty0750, the "complication" you see has got nothing to do with Kubuntu but is purely down to the fact that you want a new OS without affecting what's already on your hard disk. To achieve this you need a new partition, no matter what Linux flavor you go for.

And you are just new to learning about all this stuff with partitioning and maybe dual booting, as we all were new to it at one time. This would be true if you were considering any other Linux distribution or just dealing with Windows--you'd have to learn all about the partitioning business and managing more than one OS on your laptop. Once you learn this stuff, though, it puts you into much more control of your laptop!

[GreyGeek]

Sure, glad to help!
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1031...ide-windows-10

However, I would make one small but important change. Instead of selecting the default file system, EXT4, I'd scroll the "Use as" " dropdown combo box to Btrfs and select it as the root files system for "/".

AAlso, notice that "freespace" is selected. It represents all the still available space that can be used. You can use the Partition Manager to divide "freespace" into two primary sections: one which is about twice the size of your RAM, and set it as a swap file, and the rest as the partition onto which you will install Kubuntu.
PS: the instructions show Ubuntu, but you can use them for Kubuntu as well.

[GreyGeek]

Here's another one:
https://hackernoon.com/installing-ub...g-f4cd91b58557

I used "how to dual boot with Win 10 and Kubuntu 18.04" in the search text of StartPage.

[Qqmike]

I don't agree that the filesystem btrfs is for beginners or casual users. I'd stick with vanilla-flavored, standard ext4. There's only a few people here who can help with btrfs.

[Snowhog]

I don't agree that the filesystem btrfs is for beginners or casual users. I'd stick with vanilla-flavored, standard ext4. There's only a few people here who can help with btrfs.

I agree whole heartedly. Establishing btrfs as the filesystem isn't any harder than establishing ext4, but, using btrfs 'in all it's glory' isn't for the novice Linux user. Heck, I'm not a novice, and I have a hard time wrapping my head around using btrfs for snapshots, and I'm not 'dumb'. I don't doubt for a minute that btrfs is powerful; I trust those here who have adopted it and find it's power of great benefit; but I, in the words of Robert A. Heinlein, haven't "groked" it yet.

[Qqmike]

I agree whole heartedly.

Thanks for your considered, examined view on this, Snowhog. I don't think the forum should be used to push this stuff--not technical stuff that should first be studied and considered by the user. To say, for example, "Try Kubuntu," or "Try Mint," or even "Try Windows 10" may be OK. But to recommend fairly highly technical and non-standard, supporting/infrastructure stuff is not fair to most average users who at first may not question it or do their own homework on it. One of our moderators not long ago came down on me for trying to turn the forum into a platform for pushing people into a certain firmware-booting method; since then I have been very careful not to bushwhack people without first referring them to tons of literature, or without first identifying their specific case and specific needs.

[vinnywright]

I don't agree that the filesystem btrfs is for beginners or casual users. I'd stick with vanilla-flavored, standard ext4. There's only a few people here who can help with btrfs.

even though I do use BTRFS , I would agree with this statement and @Snowhog's .

pointing a user to info on it and telling them to do some reading up on it and then deciding for them selves if they feel comfortable trying it is one thing , but I would not just recommend to them that they just do it , and then half to live with it .

VINNY

[jglen490]

So back to the OP. @Marty750 - installing Kubuntu alongside Windows is not complex, but it does mean that you follow the instructions. It's not hard, just different.

Since this is your first shot at installing, you can keep really straightforward. One very strong recommendation is to make a SWAP partition. Your 2GIG of RAM needs some help, so having a 2GB SWAP partition on disk will help with memory management. So when you do your setup on the free space use all the space except for 2GB for a single ext4 formatted partition. This will give you plenty of room to play with Linux and have plenty of space to experiment with applications and store data files. When you get more comfortable with Linux, then you can get fancy with multiple partitions.

The installer will present you with the partition editor, and your new free space will show up with no partition table defined for it. Make sure you stay away from the Windows partitions!! You can use GPT or MS-DOS as the partition table entry, no difference. It will ask you to confirm - just follow the prompts. Then right-click/select that space and use all but 2GB, select ext4 as the fielsystem, in the directory select box click on the "/" symbol, select the format box, and then the O.K. button. It will ask you to confirm your actions, and then go off and do it's thing. When that part is done, you will still have unused space. Just right-click/select that space, and instead of the ext4 filesystem select "swap", and hit the O.K. button.

The confirm that you want to do all this, and let it do its thing. If you mess something up in this process, it can be redone. Once you're done, you will be passed back to the installer. Just follow the prompts and it will do the install.

Again, if something goes wrong with the Linux installation, it can be re-done or fixed.

[Qqmike]

Caution?

jglen490: The installer will present you with the partition editor, and your new free space will show up with no partition table defined for it. Make sure you stay away from the Windows partitions!! You can use GPT or MS-DOS as the partition table entry, no difference. It will ask you to confirm - just follow the prompts. Then right-click/select that space and use all but 2GB, select ext4 as the fielsystem, in the directory select box click on the "/" symbol, select the format box, and then the O.K. button. It will ask you to confirm your actions, and then go off and do it's thing. When that part is done, you will still have unused space. Just right-click/select that space, and instead of the ext4 filesystem select "swap", and hit the O.K. button.

I thought he already had Win 7 present on his hard drive? If so, he won't want to make a new master boot record and partition table because that would destroy his Win 7. All he has to do is shrink his existing Win 7 to make room for his desired Kubuntu 18.04 installation. Correct me if I've misunderstood all this in the OP.

[Thomas00]

...One very strong recommendation is to make a SWAP partition. Your 2GIG of RAM needs some help, so having a 2GB SWAP partition on disk will help with memory management...

Why? Given that for Newbies we want to keep it simple, are there any issues with the swap file?

“For new installs, a swap file will be used by default instead of a swap partition”
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BionicBeaver...ince_16.04_LTS