Install failed - solved, and got ext3

[rikona]

Hello Cybe,

Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 11:47:08 AM, Cybe wrote:

CRW> On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:17:37 -0700
CRW> rikona <rikona at sonic.net> wrote:

>> To preserve ext3 compatibility, I pre-formatted a disk with ext3
>> partitions - 10G /, 2G swap, 900+G /home.

To review a bit - I want to be able to mount the Ubuntu partitions
with Mandriva 2008, which does not know about ext4. In earlier emails,
the folks here suggested I could install Ubuntu, with no problems,
using ext3. The auto-format in the install uses ext4, so I
pre-formatted with ext3.

CRW> Swap has its own format, not EXT3,

I didn't know that, but the swap format was never an issue re
compatibility.

CRW> and I do believe you need a /boot partition.

Isn't /boot normally set up under /? I did have a / partition in the
pre-format , so couldn't /boot could be set up under that?

CRW> I think you'd be better off if you let the installer do your
CRW> manual partitioning. It's pretty good and gets along with the
CRW> system well.

I tried the auto install, and got a "can't copy" error. That was a new
error and was a bit suggestive of a hardware problem. So, I replaced
the DVD unit, tried the auto install again, and it worked! It would
seem that the problems were due to bad hardware. A bit strange,
because that DVD was used JUST prior to this, and was the DVD unit
that wrote the Ubuntu disk that was downloaded with Mandriva. And,
yes, I'm very careful about messing with hardware, I wear a ground
strap, etc. Still, a bit strange...

But - the auto install gave me ext4 files, and I verified that I can't
see them or mount them from Mandrive 2008. If you tell the installer
to format, it formats ext4. I again pre-formatted the disk with ext3,
and it installed OK, finally giving me the ext3 I wanted - whew... :-)

CRW> Or forget the EXT3 and just go for the LVM which is, I believe,
CRW> the default these days.

Install docs seem to say ext4 is the default, which I verified. Also,
how would I mount an LVM partition using Mandriva 2008, which does not
even know about ext4? May not have the compatibility I need. 

Also, a quick Google gave me a separate procedure needed for
installing LVM in Ububtu. And, a note that LVM *does* require a
separate non-LVM /boot partition.

Thanks for the reply,

-- 

 rikona