Question about installing Ubuntu on G4 with OS 9.2.2

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Eric P. - 31 Jul 2006 01:08 GMT

Hello,

If there's another forum that's more appropriate for this,
please let me know. When I boot the Ubuntu 6.06 LTS CD
and launch the installer from the Ubuntu desktop, it reads
my G4's internal HD as a single volume, ready to format.
I have the drive split into several partitions, one for my OS
and the rest for my apps, by categroy. I don't want to lose
any of this, of course, so I'm wondering how I can install
Ubuntu to my Mac and preserve everything I already have
on the internal HD.

Do I have to back everything up, wipe, install Ubuntu while
somehow allotting space for everything else, then re-install
all my Mac stuff, or is there an easier solution? Or, would it
be best to install a separate HD and dedicate it to this OS?

Any helpful advice will be greatly appreciated, as I'm eager
to install and check out Ubuntu. Hopefully this will serve me
where YDL 2.0 failed a few years back.

TIA,
Eric

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Leonard Blaisdell - 31 Jul 2006 01:19 GMT

In article
<ericp06-CE67E0.17085830072006@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com>,

> I don't want to lose
> any of this, of course, so I'm wondering how I can install
> Ubuntu to my Mac and preserve everything I already have
> on the internal HD.

The simple answer is you can't.

> Or, would it
> be best to install a separate HD and dedicate it to this OS?

FWIW, that's what I'd do.

leo

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<http://web0.greatbasin.net/~leo/>

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Eric P. - 31 Jul 2006 05:13 GMT

> In article
> <ericp06-CE67E0.17085830072006@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com>,
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> leo

That's what I was afraid of. So, my early conclusion is that
Mac OS and Linux can't live on the same HD. This is inconsistent
with information I got a few years back. *Thinking* Now I'm
envisioning a future in which I'll have one internal HD for OS X
Tiger, one for Ubuntu or another Linux variant, and an external
HD that includes a bootable, stand-alone version of OS 9.2.2
(what I run now, but I use the external system for maintenance
purposes only). Perhaps this will be the optimal setup for my
ever-evolving G4.

Thanks,
Eric

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Leonard Blaisdell - 31 Jul 2006 08:53 GMT

In article
<ericp06-3E103A.21131930072006@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com>,

> That's what I was afraid of. So, my early conclusion is that
> Mac OS and Linux can't live on the same HD.

I didn't mean to imply that they couldn't exist on the same hard drive.
They certainly can. IIRC, you need two different filesystems. If you
were prescient enough to originally format the hard drive as say half
for OSX and half for a future Linux install by either formatting for
Linux on half or leaving free space, you might be golden.
Most people don't do that. I'd guess you have to check for free space on
your hard drive, and I doubt you have much. Messing with existing
partitions will be a disaster.
Far more clever partitioning people subscribe to this group than me.

leo

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Al - 31 Jul 2006 13:29 GMT

> In article
> <ericp06-3E103A.21131930072006@newsclstr02.news.prodigy.com>,
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> leo

I have modified a computer so that I have removable hard drives. They
are mounted in cartridges that plug into a slot. I have differenent
operating systems on each one. They know nothing about each other so
there are no incompatibilities.

When I test out a new program or a new operating system, I do it on a
newly formatted HD. If it's a program, the newly installed OS is on it
already. It saves a lot of grief.

I use something similar to what is in this web site:

http://www.addonics.com/emerging_technologies/drive_cartridge.asp

Al

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Mac Forum / General / General / July 2006

Question about installing Ubuntu on G4 with OS 9.2.2