Configuration question

[mjwebb007 0]

As you guys (the Dans) know already I am hanging on to WinXP (at least for a little while, and at least I ditched my efforts to use Win98 for older games). My present setup is as follows:

 

DFI LanParty UT nForce 250Gb

Athlon64 3400+

PNY nVidia Personal Cinema FX5700 (yes I had to forgo the AIW 9800 due to aftermarket cooler size constraints with my Swiftech (i.e. too tall) Northbridge cooler)

Soundblaster Audigy 2 Platinum eX

1GB PC3200 Corsair XMS PRO XL Memory

WD 250GB Caviar SE (yes SATA, is there any other way?)

WD 74GB Raptor (if you know about Raptors, you know these are all SATA)

Sony DRU-700 DVD+RW Dual Layer

Plextor Premium CDRW

YE Data 7-in-1 USB Card Reader/Floppy

Netgear WG311 Wireless-G PCI Adapter

WinXP Pro SP2 installed on 200GB partition on 250GB WD (other 50GB is NTFS formatted).

 

NOW...I want to install the beta of WinXP 64-bit with all the 64-bit beta drivers (remember this IS a test box) on the 50GB portion of the WD 250. First, what is the best way to do this (remember I have Partition Commander 9 which allows for easy adding of OSes)? Secondly, I have in-hand SuSE 9.1 Pro. Mandrake 10.1 is on its way and I am also going to try Linspire (I know...I know...do I need to point out Test Box again?). I plan to install all of these on the 74GB Raptor and in 64-bit installs (where available). What will be the best method and chronology of installation of all three Linux OSes? Should I use PC9 to format the raptor for Linux and if so what is the best file system given my planned final setup of three Linux OSes?

 

Thanks for the help and Happy Holidays!

[danleff 0]

Two words of caution. Remember, XP will take over the mbr and over-write your existing grub or lilo bootloader, if you have it set up this way.

 

Linspire is an excellent Linux distro. I have it running on two of my boxes. However, the install is automated and Linspire 4.5 will automatically install lilo (if you are installing version 4.5) on the MBR. It does not give you an option not to install lilo or not. So, you will be forced to use it's lilo. So, if you choose to try this, install it last.

 

If you are comfortable with editing lilo, if you need to, this is fine. But, I caution you on this.

[mjwebb007 0]

Yeah obviously I am not educated enough to edit the lilo since I don't even know what that is.

 

So are you telling me to use Partition Commander 9 with its built-in System Commander? Or are you saying "good job on installing XP first" since it would try to take over if installed last? I guess what I am asking is that I think this is the best order of install:

 

WinXP (already on there)

WinXP 64-bit

Mandrake 10.1

SuSE 9.1 Pro

Linspire (I assume it is 4.5, I am getting it from Linspire.com and it is the latest release)

 

I assume once I set up WinXP 64-bit on the 50GB I will dualboot for that drive...but then how will the Linux distros know where to go? How do I direct them to the 74Gb Raptor for installation? Also should I "pre-format" the Raptor for Linux and if so which file system?

[danleff 0]

What I am saying, is that you are going to run into some snags with the hardware that you have and getting all these distros and Windows systems to boot.

 

Issue #1 - sata. I think that I mentioned in a previous post that Suse 9.1 Pro failed to install on my sata drive. It refused to recognize the geometry correctly.

 

Issue #2 - Each distro or OS is going to want to re-write the master boot record. Some Linux distros will ask you if it should do so, some won't. There is no sure way to know if each distro will allow/see the former one(s) that you install and give an option to boot each. You need to realize that each distro assumes that you are either using it alone, or in a dual boot configuration with one install of Windows.

 

There are two bootloaders in Linux, lilo and grub. Some default to grub, some to lilo. Lindows 4.5 defaults to lilo, unless you have the beta release (are a Linspire insider and have access to the beta version), which uses grub.

 

If you plan to use System Commander, there are instructions how to dual boot a number of distros, located here.

 

I can't tell you off hand what will work on sata and what will not (except my experience with Suse Pro 9.1).

 

My suggestion is to choose one distro and try it for a while, then make a decision where you want to go from there. Starting off right away with multiple distros on a system requires that you have some experience with how the bootloaders work, so you can iron out any boot issues that might arise. The more bootloaders/ distros that you add, the more complex the issues.

[mjwebb007 0]

Yeah that makes sense. Supposedly SuSE 9.2 has better SATA compatability (or am I making that up because of wishful thinking?).

 

I do have the ability to turn off each controller (both IDE and both SATA) so maybe I can make a hardware dual boot system i.e. just enable whichever drive I want to use the OS on. Plus I abandoned the Win98 portion of my test box so I have a rather large IDE drive available too (though I get goose bumps thinking about a 64-bit system on a 10000 RPM drive with such low OS overhead)

 

I also think the one OS at a time is a pretty good idea, although it was poor planning on my part to already have purchased all three Linux distros (especially SuSE 9.1 when 9.2 is out). I just revel in the fact that I jump head first into the deep end when it comes to computers (I would strongly label myself as an early adopter) and who wouldn't want the power of an Athlon 64 system with 5 powerful OSes on it. Thanks for the help. I will keep everyone updated with my progress.