Can't create partition because not enough freespace?

Discussion in 'Acronis Disk Director Suite' started by eloper, Aug 7, 2008.

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  1. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    If Vista installs drivers for the controller in AHCI mode, then you might be able to look at that driver and see what you need (check the Device Manager).

    Otherwise, the controller is usually listed in the motherboard specifications. This is often in the user's manual or on a support website.
     
  2. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    Apparently I'm supposed to use the Intel(R) Matrix
    Storage Manager driver

    Which is nice....since when I try to install it, it tells me my system does not meet the minimum requirements.

    EDIT: Think I found it elsewhere, hopefully it works, will update in a few minutes.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2008
  3. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    Paul:

    Thanks for picking up where I left off last evening. I was unable to check back in until now because today was our RC club's annual air show. Beautiful day and I crashed only one of my models.

    eloper:

    I think you're having trouble because Dell doesn't officially support Windows XP on your Studio 1535; it's Vista only. I've been searching their drivers page and get the same result -- drivers are only available for Windows Vista. So you'll have to get the drivers directly from Intel.

    To figure out which ones are appropriate we need to know which Intel chipset is used on your motherboard. If we can figure this out then you can download the Windows XP chipset drivers and the Windows XP Matrix Storage Manager directly from Intel.

    To find technical specifications on the Dell site requires the machine's Service Tag number. You probably don't want to post that in a public forum so you can go here yourself, enter the tag number, and then snoop around to try to figure out which Intel chipset is used. It will be something like 945, 965, 975, E7230, etc). Or, you can send me a PM with the tag number and I'll try to locate it.
     
  4. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    There is one issue here with XP and Vista. If XP ever "sees" the Vista partition it will destroy all of the Vista restore points.
     
  5. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    Thate notebookreview forum you linked to earlier had quite a few of the drivers (my video card/sound/ethernet are all good to go....wireless is another story, as are a few other things, but I'm moving along in that regard). You can downgrade from Vista to XP on the Studio for 50 bucks, so the drivers are certainly out there....just not officially on their page because they're trying to discourage users from going with XP over Vista...

    On that note, I installed the right driver for my video controller, and both XP+Vista now boot with AHCI.

    EDIT: If my service tag would still be helpful I'll pm it to you, though if the Hard Drive Controller thing was the only problem that'd helped with, that seems to be solved now.
     
  6. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    Outstanding! No, you won't need to PM the service tag number. However, look in XP device manager to be sure that you don't have any unknown devices with yellow exclamation points. If you do and you can't identify which piece of hardware they go with then you probably need the Intel Chipset drivers also. If all of your hardware is listed and working then you're good to go.
     
  7. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    Heh yah....I still have 6 unknown devices.

    3 are "Base System Device" that have their location listed as PCI bus 3
    1 is "Unknown Device" with the location listed as Intel ICH8M LPC Interface Controller - 2815
    1 is the fingerprint scanner (no big concerns here...not even sure XP could use it if I found the driver)
    1 is a network controller...which I'm pretty sure is my wireless since that's not up and running yet.


    I believe I installed the Intel Chipset drivers however....
     
  8. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    You're welcome. I hope it wasn't an expensive model.

    Yes, I forgot about that. I was thinking along the lines of booting corruption since XP was being installed.
     
  9. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    I crunched up half of a wing. It's just a bunch of balsa wood sticks and some Monokote covering. Probably 10 bucks but it'll take me 20 hrs to rebuild the wing.

    All things considered it is definitely easier to recover from a computer crash!
     
  10. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    Installed drivers for the 3 "Base System Devices"....just the fingerprint scanner/network device/unknown left.

    Once XP/Vista are fully up and runnings...where do I go from here in terms of Ubuntu and setting up some sort of boot loader?
     
  11. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    eloper:

    Somewhere around post #9 we were going to determine a partition layout. You posted a screen shot of one in post #20 but have made changes since then. So after getting sidetracked with XP issues, did you come up with a layout that you are happy with?

    If I understand what you want then I would probably do something like this:

    1. Primary 1, Vista, NTFS, 75 GB
    2. Primary 2, XP, NTFS, 50 GB
    3. Primary 3, OSX, HPFS*, 25 GB
    4. Logical 1, Ubuntu root, ext3, 10 GB
    5. Logical 2, Ubuntu home, ext3, 15 GB
    6. Logical 3, Ubuntu swap, Linux swap, 1 GB**
    7. Logical 4, Data, NTFS, rest of drive

    *HPFS or whatever file system is currently popular on OSX. DD won't directly format this but you can set the TYPE to HPFS, and I would recommend doing this so that the partition does not show up in Windows.

    The current Ubuntu version has good NTFS support so you can use the Data partition from Vista, XP, or Ubuntu (and maybe from OSX; I don't know. Haven't used a Mac since 1986 and have lost touch).

    Does this make sense? I am assuming that you have backed up and removed the Dell Diagnostic and the Dell Recovery partitions so that you have three primary slots available. If you need to shuffle partitions around, now is the time to do this before you get too far along with installing programs and customizing things.

    Once you have this set up then it's time to install Ubuntu. I would let it install its bootloader GRUB to the Master Boot Record (MBR). It should automagically detect your Vista and XP installations and add entries for them. You will need to tweak its menu file in order to accomplish hiding and unhiding when switching between XP and Vista, but Paul or I can help you get this done.
    **Edit - how much RAM do you have in your machine? You should make the Linux swap file equal in size to your RAM.
     
  12. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    I've got 3 gigs of RAM.....I'll go about setting my partition to look just like that (only real changes I have to make is splitting my Ubuntu space). Once I do that, I'll be good to go with installing Ubuntu and GRUB.

    EDIT: Should I keep one of Vista/XP hidden while I install Ubuntu/GRUB? Will that effect GRUB recognizing both for booting purposes? Also want to make sure I don't accidentally boot Vista or XP without one hidden (though seeing as it's pretty early on, I suppose restore points aren't too important at this point).
     
  13. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    Yeah; set it up to boot into Vista. GRUB installer may or may not pick up on XP, but even if it doesn't we can just add it to the menu ourselves.

    Just so this doesn't catch you by surprise, when GRUB is installed to the Master Boot Record (MBR) it will modify the way that the PC will boot. Right now you are using the generic Microsoft MBR which simply searches the partition table for the partition that is Active, and boots it. That's why you are able to control which OS boots by simply setting the Active flag on the one you want to boot.

    After GRUB is installed you will not be able to simply change the Active flag to control which OS boots. In fact, the active flag will become irrelevant (to the boot manager). Instead, booting is controlled by following instructions in the GRUB menu file. You will need to modify the menu (by editing a text file) so that it will - for example - hide the Vista partition, unhide XP, and set XP active when booting XP, and vice-versa when booting Vista. I'll help you out when you get to that point.

    When you get this configured you will see a menu screen when the PC boots. The menu will list all of the operating systems that are configured. You move the cursor to the one you want and press "Enter" to boot it.

    In the mean time I would suggest setting things up with DD to boot into Vista. Then install Ubuntu. The automatically generated menu file will let you boot into Vista or Ubuntu but it will need some editing (as previously mentioned) before attempting to boot into XP.

    **Edit - when installing Ubuntu, choose manual partition setup. Use your existing partitions; don't let the installer create new ones. If you have labeled each partition with DD beforehand then it will be easier to find them.
     
  14. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    Sounds good, I'll get right on it and let you guys know when I've got Ubuntu up and running and ready to go with GRUB

    UPDATE: Vista/XP drivers all finally installed again (there's one in Vista that says its located "on Intel(R) ICH8M LPC Interface Controller - 2815") to which I manually installed a driver for the LPC Interface controller....but that driver is also already installed on another device, so I feel like this may not be the right driver). Installed Ubuntu, very happy to see it up and running. GRUB gives me the option of booting either Vista or Ubuntu (both boot properly). I'm going to bed for now, again thanks for all the help. All there's to do at this point is setting up GRUB to boot XP/hide drives etc (and eventually boot osX as well, but I'm on my own for that one).
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2008
  15. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    eloper:

    Good job! The rest is easy, but I'd like to be certain that I know your partition layout. Could you post the following two items:

    1. The output of the following command from an Ubuntu terminal window:
    Code:
    sudo fdisk -l
    (The last character is a lower-case L.)

    2. The last part of the file /boot/grub/menu.lst. Open the file with gedit and copy the last few lines of the file after ##END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
     
  16. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    At work right now so I don't have my laptop with me, but I'll post it once I get home (about four and a half hours from now).

    On a sidenote, it appears OSx overwrites the entire boot process, so I'd have to re-install GRUB (from the Live CD seems to be the way to go) after installing OSx. Would it be a good idea to just isntall OSx now (so that I don't have to configure GRUB twice)? Or could I perhaps make an image of my linux partitions and restore those after installing OSx, thus restoring GRUB as well?
     
  17. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    There are two simple ways to restore GRUB:

    1. If you have any image made with TI after you installed GRUB then all you have to do is to restore Track 0 and MBR. It will take only a few seconds to restore.
    2. You can boot the PC with the Live Linux CD, go to a terminal and enter the following:
    Code:
    sudo grub
    setup (hd0)
    exit
    These commands reinstall GRUB to the MBR, replacing whatever Windows or OSX have put there.

    Only the code in the Master Boot Record is overwritten by OSX (Windows does this also). The menu file resides in the Ubuntu root partition and is not altered, so there is no reason why you can't finish customizing the menu file now and deal with OSX later.
     
  18. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    Sounds simple enough....with some luck I should be able to get all 4 OS up and running by tonight.
     
  19. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    Part 1 (partition setup):
    Code:
    Device    Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
    /dev/sda1   *           1        9791    78646175+   7  HPFS/NTFS
    /dev/sda2            9792       16318    52428127+  17  Hidden HPFS/NTFS
    /dev/sda3           16319       19582    26218080    7  HPFS/NTFS
    /dev/sda4           19583       38913   155276257+   5  Extended
    /dev/sda5           19583       20888    10490413+  83  Linux
    /dev/sda6           20889       22846    15727603+  83  Linux
    /dev/sda7           22847       23238     3148708+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
    /dev/sda8           23239       38913   125909405+   7  HPFS/NTFS
    on a small note, I didn't change the partition for Apple to be a different file system yet...other than that, it should look just like the suggestion you gave.

    Part 2 (boot menu):
    Code:
    ### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
    
    # This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
    # ones.
    title		Other operating systems:
    root
    
    
    # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
    # on /dev/sda1
    title		Windows Vista/Longhorn (loader)
    root		(hd0,0)
    savedefault
    makeactive
    chainloader	+1
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2008
  20. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    That's how I had thought you set it up but it's good to see confirmation.

    If you're new to Linux then take note of how partitions are identified. Each of the entries sda1 - sda4 refer to the four entries in the partition table and the type can be either primary (like your first three) or extended (which holds the logical partitions; sometimes called the logical partition container). Logical partitions are numbered beginning at 5.

    GRUB references partitions as (hdx,y) where x=disk number and y=partition number, and it numbers things starting at zero instead of at one. So in GRUB terminology you have:
    Code:
    sda1 = (hd0,0) = Windows Vista
    sda2 = (hd0,1) = Windows XP
    sda3 = (hd0,2) = OSX
    sda5 = (hd0,4) = Ubuntu root (/)
    sda6 = (hd0,5) = Ubuntu home (/home)
    sda7 = (hd0,6) = Linux swap
    sda8 = (hd0,7) = Data
    For purposes of setting up multibooting, only the following four are of interest:
    Code:
    (hd0,0) Windows Vista
    (hd0,1) Windows XP
    (hd0,2) OSX
    (hd0,4) Ubuntu
    Note from the end of your current /boot/grub/menu.lst file that you have a series of lines for booting Vista. This grouping is called a GRUB boot stanza. We only need to add two more stanzas for booting XP and OSX, plus we need to modify the stanza for Vista. To make a long story short, here they are with comments in red:
    Code:
    title Windows Vista
    rootnoverify (hd0,0) [COLOR="red"]#we use [I]noverify [/I]here because GRUB doesn't understand NTFS[/COLOR]
    hide (hd0,1) [COLOR="red"]#Hide the XP partition[/COLOR]
    unhide (hd0,0) [COLOR="red"]#Unhide the Vista partition[/COLOR]
    makeactive [COLOR="red"]#Set Vista partition as active (not required to boot but needed by Windows)[/COLOR]
    chainloader +1 [COLOR="red"]#Jump to the first sector of the partition and execute its boot code[/COLOR]
    
    title Windows XP
    rootnoverify (hd0,1) [COLOR="red"]#Point to the XP partition[/COLOR]
    hide (hd0,0) [COLOR="red"]#Hide the Vista partition[/COLOR]
    unhide (hd0,1) [COLOR="red"]#Unhide the XP partition[/COLOR]
    makeactive
    chainloader +1
    
    title Apple OSX
    rootnoverify (hd0,2) [COLOR="Red"]#Point to the OSX partition[/COLOR]
    makeactive
    chainloader +1
    [COLOR="red"]#I think this is correct for OSX but you're on your own here![/COLOR]
    Here is what I would suggest for getting this set up:

    1. Create a backup copy of your current menu.lst
    Code:
    sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst.bak
    2. Open the GRUB menu file with an editor as root:
    Code:
    gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
    Position your cursor after the line # Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST and before the line ###BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST . The reason for pasting text here is to make Vista the first or default boot stanza followed by XP followed by OSX followed by Ubuntu. The operating system choices will be listed in this order on the GRUB menu, so you can rearrange their order to suit. Paste the following text:
    Code:
    title Windows Vista
    rootnoverify (hd0,0)
    hide (hd0,1)
    unhide (hd0,0)
    makeactive
    chainloader +1
    
    title Windows XP
    rootnoverify (hd0,1)
    hide (hd0,0)
    unhide (hd0,1)
    makeactive
    chainloader +1
    
    title Apple OSX
    rootnoverify (hd0,2)
    makeactive
    chainloader +1
    3. Delete the following text at the end of the file:
    Code:
    title		Other operating systems:
    root
    
    
    # This entry automatically added by the Debian installer for a non-linux OS
    # on /dev/sda1
    title		Windows Vista/Longhorn (loader)
    root		(hd0,0)
    savedefault
    makeactive
    chainloader	+1
    4. Save the file and exit.
    5. Reboot the PC. Test boot each OS from the GRUB menu. When booting Vista make sure that you don't see the XP partition in "Computer" and when testing XP make sure the Vista partition doesn't show up in "My Computer". Hiding partitions only has relevance for Microsoft operating systems. It only prevents Windows from assigning a drive letter to the hidden partition and creating a drive in "My Computer". Linux will see hidden partitions so there is no need to hide/unhide when booting into Linux. Probably the same is true for OSX.

    Let us know how you make out!
     
  21. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    Works perfectly with Vista+XP+Ubuntu, now time to install OSx and hope I get that up and running.

    Once again, can't thank you guys enough, you've helped me set something up that I was pretty overwhelmed by at the start. Perhaps most importantly, rather than giving me thoughtless direction, I actually understand how it was all done, so when my harddrive dies (which I expect to be in the near future seeing as it's just been horribly abused by frequent repartitioning and reformatting), I'll be able to do this all over again on my own (and in the same sense, know what I'm doing if I want to add more operating systems later).
     
  22. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    That's great news. For some perverse reason I really enjoy messing around with the PC boot process. Helping others has also really increased my understanding of what goes on when an OS boots. Glad it all worked for you.
     
  23. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    Hah well I'm glad you enjoy messing with the boot process so much, otherwise I'd probably still be where I was three days ago.

    Update: Oddly enough, I didn't even have to re-install GRUB it looks like. Everything seems to be working great, Mac OSx included. Hooray!
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2008
  24. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    Out of curiosity, did you end up installing Ubuntu 32-bit or Ubuntu 64-bit? Did all of your hardware, including wireless, work right out of the box?

    I'm a Kubuntu user myself and the last two releases have been close to flawless on my 3-year old IBM X41T. All of the hardware was autodetected and worked right out of the box. I only had to fiddle around a little to map the keycodes of a few of the special Tablet PC buttons (the ones around the display bezel) and to enable Wacom pen support.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2008
  25. eloper

    eloper Registered Member

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    I ended up gonig with Ubuntu 32-bit. Ethernet/Sound worked right out of the box, I had to enable the video drivers since Ubuntu didn't seem to trust them, and then everything else looks like it was found through updates.

    The only thing I've noticed isn't working (if I remember right) is the eject button on the backlit keyboard. Don't think it's a missing driver thing, because the sound buttons on that part of the keyboard all work, so not really sure why, but not really a big deal. I believe I read that Dell is set to begin supporting Ubuntu on the 15th, so drivers should be even easier to find at that point.

    OS X on the other hand....that's gonna take me a while to find all the drivers, but I'm just happy that it runs (which was in question when I bought the Studio).
     
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