Bug#265194: resizing needs to be mentioned more in the partitioning utility
I agree with this. I found the partitioning to be a
bit confusing. Fortunately I did not have a Windoze
partition to wory about and I had backed up my /home.
--- Dustin Harriman <dustin@rootshell.ca> wrote:
> Package: installation-reports
>
> Debian-installer-version: 06-Aug-2004 23:18
>
http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimage-testing/sarge_d-i/i386/rc1/sarge-i386-netinst.iso
> uname -a: Linux 2.4.26-1-386 (plus other stuff)
> Date: Aug 11, 2004, 9pm
> Method: Booted from CD
>
> Machine: Toshiba Sattellite 1130
> Processor: Celeron 2.2 GHz
> Memory: 256 MB
> Root Device: /dev/hda3
> Root Size/partition table:
> Output of lspci:
>
> Base System Installation Checklist:
>
> Initial boot worked: [x]
> Configure network HW: [x]
> Config network: [x]
> Detect CD: [x]
> Load installer modules: [x]
> Detect hard drives: [x]
> Partition hard drives: [E]
> Create file systems: [ ]
> Mount partitions: [ ]
> Install base system: [ ]
> Install boot loader: [ ]
> Reboot: [ ]
> [O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ]
> = didn't try it
>
> Comments/Problems:
>
> I was curious to see if I could resize a vfat
> windows partition using the
> partitioning tool on the sarge RC1 installation CD.
> I have 1 vfat
> partition already set up.
>
> In the "Partition Disks" menu, I saw the sentence:
> "Select a partition to
> modify its settings (file system, mount point,
> etc.)". But unfortunately
> the word "resize" was nowhere to be found. So I
> selected the vfat
> partition and hit enter, thinking one setting (ie.
> that these "etc"
> settings might include) will be "resize partition"
> if I'm lucky.
>
> The next screen, also called "Partition Disks", and
> under "Partition
> Settings", Size is shown to be 6.1 GB. The word
> "resize" did not appear
> anywhere on this screen either!! So I was about to
> give up that it was
> even possible to resize the partition, but in a
> giddy moment of reckless
> abandon, I hit enter on the line that I assumed
> merely reported the size
> of the partition. Then the screen went all blue and
> my disk LED started
> thrashing madly! I was freaked out: was it erasing
> my Windows partition?
> WTF? There was no informational message like
> "scanning the partition,
> please wait". There needs to be an informational
> message during that
> minute where it paused to scan the vfat partition!
>
> After about a minute of nervous disk thrashing, then
> I was offered a
> screen saying "Before resize operation takes place,
> the changes have to be
> written to disk. You cannot undo this operation.
> Write the changes to
> disk and resize the partition?"
>
> So all of a sudden I'm about to do a partition
> resizing! I was relieved
> (that no harm was done), excited (that resizing is
> possible) and annoyed
> (that resizing wasn't mentioned at all up until that
> point), all at the
> same time.
>
> Partition resizing during installation is a HUGE
> feature, as it opens up
> the path for Windows users to add Linux to their
> systems without losing
> their current Windows install.
>
> So please mention any partition resizing
> capabilities prominently in the
> partitioning utility if it's possible whatsoever! A
> menu option called
> something like "resize this partition" or "partition
> resizing
> possibilities" is very important! Or even the word
> "resizable" printed
> beside potentially resizable partitions (when all
> partitions are shown in
> a chart) would be helpful.
>
> Also, the installation documentation here:
>
http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/en.i386/ch06s03.html#id2514217
> which talks about partitioning never mentions the
> word "resize". I expect
> this documentation to at least mention which types
> of partition are in
> fact resizable: vfat? (apparently yes, I didn't
> actually perform it)
> ntfs? (I hope yes!) ext2? ext3? resierfs?
>
> This additional information may be pivotal in people
> deciding to install
> Debian whatsoever, as many people aren't ready to
> risk losing their
> current Windows install, and don't have access to
> commercial software like
> Partition Magic. Even mentioning the resizing
> capabilites possible with
> "qtparted", seen here:
> http://qtparted.sourceforge.net/features.en.html
> ...which is included on the bootable Linux utility
> CD "System Rescue CD",
> available here:
> http://www.sysresccd.org/
> ...may lead to tons more Debian deployments. I know
> of one friend who
> would install Sarge right now if he knew that the
> Sarge installation CD
> could resize an NTFS partition during installation
> (or knew of a utility
> that could in a proven fashion).
>
> Having said this, I have not attempted to resize an
> NTFS partition with
> the latest version of qtparted (which is 0.4.4).
> Has anyone else?
> Reliably? Unreliably? After applying Windows XP
> service pack 2? ;)
>
> Dustin Harriman
>
> Root Shell Computer Support
> http://rootshell.ca
>
>
>
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