[Bug 775124] Re: Ubiquity should have a command line option to override the free space check

[Erick Brunzell]

First of all I don't disagree with anything said here, but I do need to
do a better job of explaining what I was trying to convey ;^)

In order to keep things as simple as possible when I refer to "free
space" I actually mean "unallocated" or "unpartitioned" space on any
disc, this could include any hard drive, flash drive, media card, etc.

Also when I refer to "automated install" I mean anything other than the
use of "manual partitioning" which is now described as "something else:
you can create or resize .......... or choose multiple partitions
........".

What I hope to convey is the reasoning for always displaying the manual
partitioning option regardless of how much disc space is available, and
regardless of whether it's free space or existing partitions. Currently
Lubuntu requires approximately 2.3GB for / whereas Ubuntu requires about
3.2GB.

I'm unsure about Kubuntu and Xubuntu ATM, but with Kubuntu having
proposed a KDE Lite version (actually referred to as "low-fat Kubuntu"
when I read about it) I'll assume that all DE's can at least exist with
no more than 4GB as /. If I'm mistaken please correct me.

Let's first consider that the automated install always creates a new
swap partition, generally anywhere from the same size as RAM to double
the size of RAM. I'm not sure how ubiquity calculates that but the two
machines I commonly use to test with both have 2GB of RAM and I've had
the automated installation create anywhere from just over 2GB of swap to
as much as 3GB+.

That is where bug 782507 plays into the whole thing. So, if I were using
the Lubuntu live CD, and I tried installing to a 4GB drive with either
an existing swap partition, or if it were a blank drive (that is all
free space), the installer would presumably still fail based on the
amount of swap commonly created during an automated installation. (2.3GB
for / + 2GB for swap)

To make things worse if the 4GB drive were completely unpartitioned, and
was the only drive present, bug 766265 comes into play because the
installation would just begin with no option to use the advanced
partitioning tool :^(

I hope that's fairly clear. I see Colin Watson commented at bug 782507
which indicates that the devs are paying attention, so I hope I made it
clear why always presenting the manual partitioning option is needed. In
some cases it may need to be presented along with other automated
install options, but in others it may need to be presented as the only
option along with a stern warning.

Regardless I'm fairly certain that Lubuntu will have an alternate CD
available by Oneiric final, so difficult installations can always be
performed using it. I'll still bet Colin and Evan have a dartboard
dedicated to me somewhere in the office ;^)

I hope all of the devs know I'm only trying to help. BTW the latest
specs I'm aware of are here:

https://docs.google.com/View?id=dfkkjjcj_101gnkrpg5v#2.7.14

If I'm mistaken please let me know.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/775124

Title:
  Ubiquity should have a command line option to override the free space
  check

Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged
Status in “ubiquity” source package in Oneiric:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: ubiquity

   I downloaded the 11.04 desktop i386 iso, put it on a usb drive so i
   could it install it on my netbook, but couldnt even get past the
   install screen, because it says i need 4.4GB to install ubuntu 11.04.
   The problem is that my hard drive is only 4GB large, a common size in
   netbooks.  I have run installers for ubuntu 10.10, 10.04, 9.10 and
   9.04 netbook editions on my netbook and never had a problem before.  I
   notice that 11.04 has netbook and desktop editions combined into a
   single ISO, so maybe that is why the error happened in 11.04 and not
   before.

   Also, I notice that the install footprint of 10.10 is around 2.1GB, so
   it shouldnt be a problem running 11.04 unless they truly added 2GB of
   junk to the OS.  The problem is I just can't get past the installer.

  [i am intentionally posting a duplicate of bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/772164 because i can't change the package of 
  bug https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/772164 to ubiquity from netbook]

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
  Package: ubiquity 2.6.10
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
  Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic i686
  Architecture: i386
  Date: Sun May  1 20:24:28 2011
  LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release i386 (20110427.1)
  ProcEnviron:
   LANGUAGE=en_US:en
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: ubiquity
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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