ext4 on Ubuntu Jaunty x64

[Arup]

Running since the release of Jaunty. Absolutely no issues whatsoever.

As you can see from screen, my boot partition is ext4 as well.

[tlu]

Arup,

did you notice the same performance improvements I did? Did you do a fresh install of jaunty or did you convert ext3 to ext4?

[Arup]

-{ Quote: "Arup,

did you notice the same performance improvements I did? Did you do a fresh install of jaunty or did you convert ext3 to ext4?" }-


tlu,

I converted ext3 to ext 4 as I had to re-size and that's not advisable currently on ext4 partitions. I find the boot time and login window load time to have improved, also file transfer of large files, editing movies has improved as well.

[Shankle]

I started with Ubuntu 8.10 and ext2(which I thought was ext3). I have now UPGRADED
to Ubuntu 9.04. I used the following command to change to ext3:
sudo tune2fs -j /dev/sdb1.
From the gentleman that gave me this command said that this would create a journal
and convert to ext3. Which it did.

Now my question:
Will I be able in the future upgrading Ubuntu to use this same command to change to ext4??????
Thanks for any help.

[Arup]

-{ Quote: "I started with Ubuntu 8.10 and ext2(which I thought was ext3). I have now UPGRADED
to Ubuntu 9.04. I used the following command to change to ext3:
sudo tune2fs -j /dev/sdb1.
From the gentleman that gave me this command said that this would create a journal
and convert to ext3. Which it did.

Now my question:
Will I be able in the future upgrading Ubuntu to use this same command to change to ext4??????
Thanks for any help." }-


Does GParted show your partitions to be ext4. You have to do it from live CD, also upgrade fstab entry from ext2 to ext4 and then do grub-install

[tlu]

-{ Quote: "
Now my question:
Will I be able in the future upgrading Ubuntu to use this same command to change to ext4??????
Thanks for any help." }-

See, e.g., here (http://maketecheasier.com/how-to-upgrade-from-ext3-to-ext4-without-formatting-the-hard-disk/2009/04/21).

[tlu]

-{ Quote: "tlu,

I converted ext3 to ext 4 as I had to re-size and that's not advisable currently on ext4 partitions. I find the boot time and login window load time to have improved, also file transfer of large files, editing movies has improved as well." }-

Arup, thanks for your confirmation. I also observed that apps start faster, and Kmail reacts considerably smoother than before.

[Shankle]

Thank you Arup and Tlu for your responses.
I haven't tried your suggestions yet as I have an opportunity that your are probably not
aware of. My system is a triple boot one; Windows Vista (partition1) and XP Pro(partition 2)
on a Sata hd. Ubuntu is on another Sata hd by itself. I used Easybcd to handle the
boot problems. I think doing as suggested might foul up the MBR.

[Arup]

-{ Quote: "Thank you Arup and Tlu for your responses.
I haven't tried your suggestions yet as I have an opportunity that your are probably not
aware of. My system is a triple boot one; Windows Vista (partition1) and XP Pro(partition 2)
on a Sata hd. Ubuntu is on another Sata hd by itself. I used Easybcd to handle the
boot problems. I think doing as suggested might foul up the MBR." }-


Thats correct, EBCD might not in all probability handle ext4 rendering your system unbootable, at best it might just not recognize your Ubuntu partition.

[chronomatic]

I have Jaunty installed in Virtual Box right now (on Fedora) and I like it a LOT. I have seriously pondered getting rid of my Fedora partition and replacing it with Jaunty. However, I think I will stick with Fedora for three reasons:

1) SELinux is enabled by default, so there is no need to download a hardened kernel, then get all the SELinux policies setup, etc. as one needs to do on Ubuntu.

2) Whole disk encryption is an option on the standard Fedora install. With Ubuntu, one needs the alternate CD.

3) I like KDE better than Gnome, and Fedora 10 KDE is excellent. I never liked the way Kubuntu does KDE.

4) Fedora 11 will ship with ext4 as the default filesystem, and considering it comes out in May, I will just wait. Ext4 is the big reason I like Jaunty.

[tlu]

Does anybody know if Super Grub Disk supports ext4? I couldn't find a hint in the SGD forum.

[FluxGFX]

tlu, now that you mention it.... neither have I.

[tlu]

-{ Quote: "tlu, now that you mention it.... neither have I." }-

So ATM if something goes wrong we have to repair Grub manually by using a Jaunty Live CD.

[FluxGFX]

oh hell... I might as well just do a backup of my HD.

[chronomatic]

You could just make a separate /boot partition and format it to ext3. That will solve any issue of the various GRUB disks not recognizing ext4. Of course, this only applies to those who haven't yet installed Ubuntu or don't wish to reinstall.

[FluxGFX]

bahh.... I haven't ran in that problem yet. But I think like mentioned above will make a backup.

[tlu]

-{ Quote: "bahh.... I haven't ran in that problem yet. But I think like mentioned above will make a backup." }-

You should use this (http://clonezilla.org/download/sourceforge/experimental/iso-zip-files.php) Clonezilla version that is compatible with ext4. You have to chose the expert mode and then the -q2 option.

EDIT: Just out of curiosity: Is anybody aware of other imaging programs that support ext4?

[FluxGFX]

CloneZilla <- Ok that's interesting. But I thought that Acronis True Image also support Linux ext4? (ok I might way off on that one).

[tlu]

-{ Quote: "CloneZilla <- Ok that's interesting. But I thought that Acronis True Image also support Linux ext4? (ok I might way off on that one)." }-
Not yet (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=240612)! Besides, please note what Mrk wrote here (http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gparted.html):

-{ Quote: "Well, it turns out that some imaging (http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/free_imaging_software.html) software, like Acronis True Image, can only work with Linux filesystems that use inodes of the 128-byte size. However, some modern distributions, like Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex (http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/ubuntu-8-10-review.html), use 256-byte inodes, thus making the software unusable with this Ubuntu release. This has caused quite a stir among the Acronis True Image users who happen to dual boot Windows and Linux and like to use their product to create system backups of both their operating systems." }-

He describes how to change the inode size, though. This helps for ext3 but doesn't solve the problem concerning ext4.

EDIT: Just found this (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1369321&postcount=12) post - ATI 2009 should now support 256-byte inodes for ext3.

EDIT2: It just came to my mind that it's probably also wise to download the latest version of SystemRescueCD (http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page) ...

[rdsu]

Arup,

For you 1GB of linux-swap is more than sufficient... ;)

[FluxGFX]

tlu, yeah I noted that when I was reading on Acronis True Image, I've been discussing this with one of the support developpers at Acronis and there should be something coming out soon for Linux.

>.> crossfingers! I also saw ATI 2009.... I'll give it a shot with CloneZilla and then ATI 2009.

Mind you I have an external drive to where I dump my backups on.

rdsu, I don't bother with the swap file anymore... I have a spare disk of 40gb that's use just for that, but I barely use it.

[Arup]

-{ Quote: "Arup,

For you 1GB of linux-swap is more than sufficient... ;)" }-


True but I have enough space as I have a 2TB disk and therefore I make sure Linux has enough swap space to avoid any hibernation issues.

[Ocky]

After the boot delay problem due to installing my old hard drives in a tower
containing brand new motherboard (Intel DP45SG) etc. and not having found
a solution to the 15 odd second boot to splash delay, incl. trying different
boot parameters pci=nomsi etc.etc. (see http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=240642),
I am keen to try Jaunty as well, and intend to download and install the 64 bit version (a first for me),
in an empty 30 GBpartition on my sdb hdd which also holds Hardy. See screenshot.
Will Grub be Ok if I use ext4 for Jaunty taking into account my present setup ?
(I certainly don't want to get rid of Hardy as besides the boot delay, it runs
very well).

[Arup]

Since you are dual booting with WinXP, that means MBR needs to get written to ntfs, I would not reccommend ext4 in this case.

[Ocky]

-{ Quote: "Since you are dual booting with WinXP, that means MBR needs to get written to ntfs, I would not reccommend ext4 in this case." }-
Thank you, do you mean only a separate /boot partition should be ext3 and the
others can be ext4 ? Or should everything preferably be ext3 ?

I have the need to post a 15 sec. bootchart ... ;D ;)

[chronomatic]

-{ Quote: "Thank you, do you mean only a separate /boot partition should be ext3 and the
others can be ext4 ? Or should everything preferably be ext3 ?

I have the need to post a 15 sec. bootchart ... ;D ;)" }-


Are you wanting to get rid of that Windows partition? If so, then just install Jaunty to it using only a / ext4 partition. If it's just for testing Jaunty out, then there is no need to separate a 30GB partition into various partitions.

I would imagine that Jaunty will recognize Hardy and adjust the /boot/grub/menu.lst file accordingly. However, the MBR will be written to your new partition. If you want to avoid that, then just decline that GRUB be installed during the Jaunty install. Once finished, boot into your Hardy install and edit the menu.lst manually.

[Ocky]

Hi chronomatic,

The 30 GB part. is not needed (previously used to store Acronis backups from
my Windows XP drive). However, I think I will take Arup's advice as I don't want
to get into a situation where I can't boot XP, and also because I am not a Linux geek :-\
Furthermore I won't be able to mount Hardy(ext3) or I suppose
XP(ntfs) from within an ext4 Jaunty partition.

Regards

[Ocky]

-{ Quote: " If you want to avoid that, then just decline that GRUB be installed during the Jaunty install. Once finished, boot into your Hardy install and edit the menu.lst manually." }-
I will do it as you outlined above. When adding the new menu entry
(title Ubuntu Jaunty
root hd1,4
chainloader +1)
is it necessary to run update-grub command ?
Is there such a thing as chainloader +2..3..4 etc. ?

PS. Have you tried Remastersys Grub Restore ? I have this in my System>
Admin menu.
Apologies for all the questions - maybe there should be a Beginners sub-section
added to the forum ?

[chronomatic]

-{ Quote: "I will do it as you outlined above. When adding the new menu entry
(title Ubuntu Jaunty
root hd1,4
chainloader +1)
is it necessary to run update-grub command ?
Is there such a thing as chainloader +2..3..4 etc. ?" }-

You shouldn't need the chainloader entry. You would need something like:


title Ubuntu Jaunty
root hd1,4
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.28.xxxxxx root=/dev/sda4
initrd /initrd-2.6.28.xxxx.img

Basically what you have plus the kernel and initrd lines. You can find out the proper versions of these by looking inside /boot on your Jaunty install. Also be sure that root=/dev/sda4 is changed to whatever device your Jaunty / partition is on.


-{ Quote: "PS. Have you tried Remastersys Grub Restore ? I have this in my System>
Admin menu.
Apologies for all the questions - maybe there should be a Beginners sub-section
added to the forum ?" }-

No, I haven't. I don't use Ubuntu (Fedora here)

[Ocky]

-{ Quote: "
Basically what you have plus the kernel and initrd lines. You can find out the proper versions of these by looking inside /boot on your Jaunty install. Also be sure that root=/dev/sda4 is changed to whatever device your Jaunty / partition is on." }-
That sounds easy enough - and when there is a kernel update for either distro,
the kernel will be updated for the distro I am booted into ?
After editing the menu.lst is it necessary to run 'update-grub' ?

Thanks for your explanation.
Regards.

Edit: I think I would have to manually update the Hardy menu.lst 'stanza' for Jaunty when the Jaunty kernel gets updated.
the chainloader would solve this minor inconvenience ?

[chronomatic]

Ocky,

Now that I think about it, I would just let Jaunty install Grub to the MBR. It should auto-detect Hardy and will probably set both of them up automatically.

[Ocky]

Forgot to place brackets in previous post .. root (hd1,4) :P
I have decided to use chainloader - it will be easy for me to remove the
Jaunty stanzas and reformat that partition when the need arises.

So far I am still not sure whether I need to run update-grub from terminal
after adding the Jaunty chainloader stanza to Hardy's menu.lst. ?

Do I place the Jaunty chainloader stanza just above the END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST ?****

Oh yes.. I think the swap partition will be shared between the 2 Ubuntus. ?

**** No, should go below.

[tlu]

-{ Quote: "Does anybody know if Super Grub Disk supports ext4? I couldn't find a hint in the SGD forum." }-

The new version supports ext4 (http://www.supergrubdisk.org/). BTW: SGD is now also included in the Parted Magic (http://partedmagic.com/) ISO but I'm not sure if it's already the newest version.