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10372 discussions

Google Chrome - anyone use it?
by James Freer 21 Oct '11

21 Oct '11

[running Xubuntu] Just wondering if anyone uses it and what their thoughts are! I decided to have a change from Firefox. I liked Chrome and didn't find any problems - except for the bookmarks. In FF i installed the google toolbar and had all my bookmarks stored in my gmail account. Useful while i was teaching and using lots of different machines...(no longer) but i've got into the habit so i wanted to do that with Chrome. Setting up Sync and logging in to gmail i don't find it syncing at all. Having installed Chrome i then found that FF google toolbar bookmarks didn't work. Assuming there was conflict between the browsers i removed FF and google toolbar - problem remains. I think i've found a glitch somehow and will only know when i install the new Xubuntu release. james

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sshd in single-user mode, resizing root ext3 partition
by Richard Lewis 21 Oct '11

21 Oct '11

Hi ALUG, So we've recently purchased a new server on which we intend to run Xen and hand out some virtual OSs to the students our Digital Sociology and Digital Journalism courses. The server machine has two HDDs and I allowed the Debian installer to set up LVM using just one of the drives, leaving the other un-partitioned. I let it create swap and root logical volumes with the root logical volume taking up all the volume group space not used by swap. Now, however, I realise that what I really wanted was a small root LV and then a large LV for Xen to use to store guest OSs which could use physical extents from both HDDs. In principle this should be a matter of: 1. Reduce the size of the / filesystem 2. Reduce the logical volume on which / is mounted 3. Create a new partition on sdb 4. Add sdb to the volume group 5. Create a new logical volume using all of the remaining space 6. Create a new filesystem on the new logical volume 7. Mount this new filesystem in the place where Xen stores its guest OSs However, I can't resize the root filesystem while it's mounted. And now the server has been moved to the rack. Before I face the ITS staff and ask to be allowed to login locally in single user mode in order to resize the root filesystem, I wondered if there's any way to, either: 1. Resize the root filesystem while it's mounted (it's an ext3 filesystem) or; 2. Log in to the computer remotely in single user mode so that the root filesystem is mounted read-only and is thus resizable? (such as running sshd in single user mode) I know this is total schoolboy stuff and please feel free to point and laugh. But after that, any advice would be very much appreciated. Best, Richard -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Richard Lewis ISMS, Computing Goldsmiths, University of London Tel: +44 (0)20 7078 5134 Skype: richardjlewis JID: ironchicken(a)jabber.earth.li http://www.richardlewis.me.uk/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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ubuntu 11.10
by nev young 20 Oct '11

20 Oct '11

Oh my. Oh dear. I've just upgraded (one of) my ubuntu VBoxes from 11.04 to 11.10. How do I get the nice previous gnome desktop back and get rid of the abomination that has replaced it. Of course, I 'spect everyone will think the BIG clicky bar down the left is k3wl and I'm just being an old fart. Looks like the entire household may have to go minty. -- nev

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RIP DMR
by mick 20 Oct '11

20 Oct '11

For anyome who hasn't seen it, Jon "maddog" Hall wrote a nice piece in Linux Magazine. http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Paw-Prints-Writings-of-the-maddo… Mick

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Watching "Look East" on line
by ted.harding＠wlandres.net 20 Oct '11

20 Oct '11

Greetings all! I am not managing to watch the BBC "Look East" news programme on-line. I start with http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv then set "Your location" to "Ely, Cambridgeshire", then select "Full Schedule" under "BBC One". Up comes the schedule for the day, and at 13:00 there is "BBC News at One" followed at 13:30 by "Look East - East". Also, at 18:00 there is "BBC News at Six", again followed at 18:30 by "Look East - East". But, in either case, if while the main "BBC News" programme is on I select "Watch Live", after the end of the main News programme it is followed by the London programme and not by Look East. Also, if I click on the "Look East" link, there is no option to watch today's Look East, but although yesterday's is allegedly "available on BBC iPlayer", when one clicks on this it is "no longer available"!!!! Any solutions? Or am I somehow just confused? Thanks, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)wlandres.net> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 19-Oct-11 Time: 18:59:59 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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Re: [ALUG] ubuntu 11.10
by Ben Bewick 17 Oct '11

17 Oct '11

I agree, I dislike the way the ubuntu desktop experience has evolved. I've always liked gnome 2, and would like to stay with it. Just a note, 11.04 is the current LTS Viper On 17 October 2011 00:18, Ben Bewick <viperfang(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I agree, I dislike the way the ubuntu desktop experience has evolved. > I've always liked gnome 2, and would like to stay with it. > > Just a note, 11.04 is the current LTS > > Viper > > On 16 October 2011 23:53, Wayne Stallwood <ALUGlist(a)digimatic.co.uk> wrote: >> On 16/10/11 22:29, James Freer wrote: >>> >>> As Wayne said once don't swop distros too much but get to know >>> one really well. >> >> That wouldn't be the same Wayne who is typing this from a shiny new >> installaiton of LMDE after giving up (for the time being) with Ubuntu >> 11.10.....? :D >> >> To be fair though I have been a solid Ubuntu user since just before 5.04 >> came out so I am long overdue a look around to see if the grass is greener. >> Pretty sure I could have wrestled it into something close to usable although >> still at a loss as to how or if it is possible to configure around some of >> the things like that "dash" that were annoying me. >> >> Will probably take a look back at Ubuntu for the LTS release. I am not too >> unhappy with some of the overall concepts in Unity I just think the >> implimentation is a bit off at the moment. >> >> As to LMDE...well too early to tell but everything I really care about is >> working. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> main(a)lists.alug.org.uk >> http://www.alug.org.uk/ >> http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main >> Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above! >> >

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Wanted - HTML 'report generator' for sqlite (or maybe mySql) database
by Chris G 16 Oct '11

16 Oct '11

I am looking for a way to display information from an sqlite3 database on web pages in the sort of way that a 'report generator' provides. I.e. I want to be able to have breaks and indents in the report with sub-headings etc. with the breaks being set by changes in the data. For example I might have weekly timesheet information and I want it output with weekly and/or monthly sub-totals:- Week 1 ------ Day Job Hours Monday ABC 1.5 XYZ 6.5 Tuesday ABC 8 Wednesday XYZ 8 Thursday AAA 7 XYZ 1 Friday ABC 6 38 (Maybe the totals for ABC, XYZ, etc. here too) Week 2 ------ ... and so on. It's pretty standard report writer stuff but I can't find anything that does it for web output. There are full blown application frameworks that can maybe do it but they are rather lower level than I want as the database already exists and is created by other tools. I just want a configurable report writer. Open Office can do some of what I want but it's clumsy with sqlite3 and I'm not sure if it can produce an HTML version of the report. -- Chris Green

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : McGintys, Northgate Street
by samwise 14 Oct '11

14 Oct '11

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- The monthly "Third Monday" ALUG Ipswich Social Meeting is next week, Monday 17th October, at 20:00: P J McGinty & Sons 15 Northgate Street Ipswich Suffolk IP1 3BY Tel: 01473 251 515 Map/Directions URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=IP1+3BY WWW: http://www.pjmcgintys.co.uk/ McGintys pub is in the centre of Ipswich. It's directly opposite the town's central library and has a reputation for good Irish beer. We're usually to be found in the lowest section of the bar, near the library entrance to the pub. All are welcome, novices and experienced users. Feel free to ask for further information on the Main ALUG mailing list. Peter. ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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R.I.P. Dennis Ritchie
by ted.harding＠wlandres.net 14 Oct '11

14 Oct '11

Good morning. This morning's news reports the death of Dennis Ritchie: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15287391 at the age of 70 (I hadn't realised before that he was younger than me ... ). That news article is not bad on the importance of UNIX and C. However, it could have tried a bit harder to describe the merits of UNIX as an operating system. I like to think of using UNIX as though it were a system of mountain streams, some of them torrents, some trickles, but all joining up and crystal clear. You could get to any part of the system by climbing the rocks, if you are agile enough. The things you drop into them here and there get carried down and emerge in the desired order and relationships, provided you drop them in at the right times and places. By contrast, systems which emerged 20-30 years after the early years of UNIX are more like the garishly decorated interior of a sluggish pleasure cruiser, with smudgy windows that you can't see out of while being served with cheap champagne and burgers, as the vessel lurches along a stagnant drab canal and lumps of effluent slap up against its bows, sometimes piling up and bringing it to a halt -- whereupon it sinks, leaving the passengers spashing and floundering in the mess. I hope we shall be seeing proper tributes to the clarity, simplicity and completeness of the original UNIX concept and implementation, and to its well deserved longevity, which owe so much to Dennis Ritchie and the other founder members of the UNIX team. Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)wlandres.net> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 14-Oct-11 Time: 08:44:50 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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.htacces question - how to prevent access to sub-directories?
by Chris G 12 Oct '11

12 Oct '11

I have a common .htaccess file that I use for a number of wiki directories scattered around my server. I keep it along with the wiki software in git. This makes it easy when I fix/change things in the wiki software etc. as I can copy the whole lot out to all the wikis when I do an upgrade. I want to prevent access to some sub-directories of the wiki (specifically the data, conf, bin and inc directories) and I can't see any easy way to do this. OK, I *could* put a .htaccess file in each of data, conf, bin and inc but that seems a lot of unnecessary junk. If I could dream up a directive to put in the top level (wiki top level that is) .htaccess to deny access it would be much simpler to maintain. I'm only using .htaccess anyway because it simplifies maintenance, I could of course put all the contents of the .htaccess files in <Directory> sections of the main apache.conf file, it would be more efficient but I'd have to have a <Directory> section for every wiki and, if I moved a wiki, I'd have to change the apache.conf file. It's much easier to maintain if I put the wiki specific stuff in the .htaccess file. -- Chris Green

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[ALUG Announce] ALUG Norwich Pub Meet Thursday 13th October
by Viperfang 10 Oct '11

10 Oct '11

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Hello Aluggers, Our monthly ALUG Norwich social meeting will be held this Thursday, 13th October at The Coach and Horses (82 Thorpe Road, Norwich, NR1 1BA). The meeting officially starts at 8pm, although some people may arrive earlier. More information on those people can be found on the list and the IRC channel. If you are unsure if you will recognise us then make yourself and your intent to attend known by either posting on list or visiting us on IRC so we can look out for you rather than hiding in the corner. Optionally you could ask at the bar if they know where the geeky computer weirdos are and they'll point you in the right direction (seriously!). Another possibility is look for heaps of electronics on a table that may possibly look like movie props that would used for detonating explosives. Feel free to bring electronics/laptops/gadgets to the meet, you will by no means be alone. Ben Bewick aka Viperfang NB: This mail is automated, please refer to the usual sources for more information. ALUG Contact Details: Website : http://www.alug.org.uk/ IRC : #alug on irc.alug.org.uk List : http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo Twitter : http://twitter.com/anglianlug Identica: TBA Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2381613902 ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Web/Javascript (I assume) question - horizontal scrolling text from newsfeed - how?
by Chris G 09 Oct '11

09 Oct '11

Considering how many of these things you see around the web I thought it would be easy! I've been asked to put a horizontally scrolling text feed onto a web page and my Google searching has just turned up loads of sort of messy half-working bits of Javascript. Many of the sites which supposedly show how to do this don't even seem to work themselves which isn't very encouraging! So, is it really that difficult to display something like an RSS feed (could just be text headlines collected manually actually) as a horizontally scrolling line of text? Any pointers to examples of how to do it or to sites that explain it well would be very welcome. -- Chris Green

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DHCP not setting /etc/resolv.conf
by Chris G 06 Oct '11

06 Oct '11

I am trying out my new TP-Link TL-WR743ND Wireless Client router. After a couple of minor configuration issues I have it working as a WiFi client to my main WiFi, this is in preparation for doing the same thing when it's on our boat using the marina's WiFi. One fundamental thing that I had to fix was to change its IP because (not surprisingly) it didn't want to work with the same 192.168.1.x subnet as the main WiFi/LAN. So it's now 192.168.13.1 and I have it working. However I'm currently having to manually edit /etc/resolv.conf every time I start up because Network Manager is emptying it. The TL-WR743ND is set up to provide DHCP and the settings look right to me. It's working to the extent that it's giviing the client laptop I'm using to test it an IP address of 192.168.13.100 which is the start of the DHCP range in the TL-WR743ND. The default gateway is 192.168.13.1 and the primary DNS is 192.168.1.2 (I have a dnsmasq server for the local LAN running there). But on rebooting I just get:- # Generated by Network Manager and nothing more in /etc/resolv.conf. The client laptop is directly plugged in to one of teh LAN ports on the TL-WR743ND and it has its wireless turned off so that *shouldn't* be interfering. Does anyone have any ideas what might be wrong? It seems unlikely that the DHCP server on the TL-WR743ND is that broken, is it?! -- Chris Green

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Norwich 2600: This Friday!
by Ben Bewick 04 Oct '11

04 Oct '11

For those of you who are interested, there is a 2600 meeting in Norwich this friday, full details on our website! http://www.norwich2600.co.uk

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Efficient/simple basic data entry application for sqlite3 or mySql database wanted
by Chris G 04 Oct '11

04 Oct '11

I want a simple, straightforward way to enter data into a sqlite3 database, by this I mean:- I want to be presented with the existing table contents with rows across the page (it will fit across the screen, the database will have only five or six columns). It would be nice if I can customise the sort order. I want to be able to add data at the bottom where there will be an empty row by simply typing the data in and tabbing to the next field, no pop-up boxes or other hoops to jump through. None of the applications that I can find provide anything remotely as easy as this, both sqlitebrowser and sqliteman are very painful to use for entering data. The application can run on the local PC or as a web application. I already have a plugin for my Wiki that does most of what I want with the database but it can only do data entry with a single row of the database shown (i.e. what Access calls 'columnar'), what I want is what Access calles 'tabular'. If there's nothing suitable for sqlite3 I could use mySql instead. -- Chris Green

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How to enable WiFi from cammand line on eeePc?
by Chris G 03 Oct '11

03 Oct '11

I have an Asus eeePc 701 running Ubuntu 10.04, no GUI just the base installation plus a few bits I needed. We now have WiFi available on the boat (where the eeePc is) and so I want to use it from the eeePc - does anyone know how to do it? The eeePC sees the Wifi as an ifconfig returns some information about it, what command line tools etc. do I need to configure it? The WiFi is pretty standard with "WPA & WPA2 Personal" security. -- Chris Green

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cisco router
by mick 01 Oct '11

01 Oct '11

Hi Guys Clearing my cupboard again I have an old Cisco SOHO 97 (837 equivalent) ADSL router going spare (free to a good home). Could be useful to sopmeone who wants to be able to play with cisco IOS (trust me, you wouldn't want to use the web interface, it's crap). Mick --------------------------------------------------------------------- The text file for RFC 854 contains exactly 854 lines. Do you think there is any cosmic significance in this? Douglas E Comer - Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume 1 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc854.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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Need some router/WiFi/routing help and advice
by Chris G 26 Sep '11

26 Sep '11

I need to 'rearrange' the internet connection on our boat. We used to have a connection via a 3G router with a Mobistar (Belgian) SIM in it and everything on the boat (two PCs, printer, VOIP base station) just plugged into the router. It was flakey at times because we didn't have a good signal, but it worked. However we are now permanently in France and our long term mooring has WiFi available (whoopee!) This rather spoils my nice simple setup and I need some advice to work out how to rejig things. The trouble is that neither the printer nor the VOIP base station can do WiFi so I need to have a switch at least to interconnect things. However even that isn't straightforward (at least not to me!). What's needed is:- Local (i.e. LAN) connection between PCs and printer, can be provided by a switch or router but needs to be routed correctly so PCs use the WiFi for everythng except the printer. At present I have to disconnect WiFi and connect wired LAN to print and then vice versa to use the internet. I need to connect the VOIP base station (wired ethernet only) to the WiFi somehow so we can use the phone. The ideal solution would be if I can persuade the 3G router (which does have wireless) to connect to the WiFi here and then provide hard wired services to PCs, printer and VOIP. Is this a normal sort of thing to be able to do? The router does have something about WiFi relay in 'Lazy', 'Bridged' and another mode, should I be looking at these? -- Chris Green

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usb to parallel printer converter
by Peter Alcibiades 24 Sep '11

24 Sep '11

Does anyone have any idea for this? I have a star receipt printer with a parallel interface and no linux drivers. So I am printing to it using lp and just sending raw text to the device itself. The command in question, which works just fine, is: lp -d star temprint.txt In the same way, I send the hex characters to make it cut the receipt and also to open the cash drawer. I say it works fine, it has one slight issue which we can live with, that being that if the printer goes offline, all the print requests queue up and print out in a batch when it comes back. However this being an industrial strength receipt printer, its something we can live with, it hardly ever happens. Leaving that aside.... I set up the printer in CUPS with the name of star, and addressed as parallel:/dev/lp0 Now comes the problem. Parellel interfaces having gone the way of the dodo, the new computer I'm seeking to use only has a usb port. So I got a usb to parallel converter cable. I have played with this by stopping cups, then editing the /etc/cups/printers.conf file. I can't get it to work. Supposedly from the gentoo wiki, which is usually very helpful, you should address it as parallel:/dev/usb/lp0 On the grounds that linux still thinks its dealing with a parallel port. Makes no sense to me, but I tried it, and no luck. The cable itself is recognised and visible if you do lsusb. Also, I know it works fine as cable because I can connect another printer with a parallel port for which I do have drivers, and successfully print a test page on it over that cable. I must be doing something obvious wrong, but what? How do you address the usb port directly and just send it a stream of text, as in my present setup? Is there a way? Peter

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Restarting Firefox from the commandline
by Mark Rogers 23 Sep '11

23 Sep '11

I have an Ubuntu box which I can access remotely via SSH. It is primarily a server but has a GUI with Firefox running on it for people on site to access the web interface that the server provides. Firefox, being Firefox, sucks up memory the longer it's running. So I'd like a way to force it to restart via my SSH connection, and assuming I'm happy with the results probably via a cron-job every night. I can obviously "kill" it, but I'm not sure how I then restart it given that I'm not running from within the GUI environment myself; also, I don't want it to start up offering to restore tabs from a crashed session, I just want it to go to it's configured home page. Suggestions? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Partitioning Laptop
by Richard Parsons 20 Sep '11

20 Sep '11

Hi, I've recently bought a Compaq laptop. It currently has Windows 7 installed and I want to dual boot with Ubuntu. Unfortunately, Compaq have already partitioned the hard disk into four partitions. The largest partition, which is 480GB is the second. If I begin the installer, and resize the second partition to create free space, then I'm told that it is "unuseable". I believe that the extra partitions are for recovery etc. So what can I do? Is there a way of getting Ubuntu installed without disturbing the contents of the partitions already setup? Thanks in advance Richard

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : McGintys, Northgate Street
by samwise 17 Sep '11

17 Sep '11

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- The monthly "Third Monday" ALUG Ipswich Social Meeting is next week, Monday 19th September, at 20:00: P J McGinty & Sons 15 Northgate Street Ipswich Suffolk IP1 3BY Tel: 01473 251 515 Map/Directions URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=IP1+3BY WWW: http://www.pjmcgintys.co.uk/ McGintys pub is in the centre of Ipswich. It's directly opposite the town's central library and has a reputation for good Irish beer. We're usually to be found in the lowest section of the bar, near the library entrance to the pub. All are welcome, novices and experienced users. Feel free to ask for further information on the Main ALUG mailing list. I'll be there, so if any one new wants to drop in, look for the guy in the corner with the latest copy of LXF ... ;) Peter. ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Running CUPS as normal user
by Dan 16 Sep '11

16 Sep '11

Dear All, On my Gentoo system, /usr/sbin/cupsd has permissions -r-x------ i.e. it can't be run (nor even read) as a normal user. Does anyone know why, please? Is it safe just to chmod the file then run it as a normal user? (Background: my new printer, an Epson SX525WD, needs proprietary drivers - and I like to run proprietary software only as a special, low-privileged user.) Thanks -- Regards, Dan

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GIMP frustration
by Bev Nicolson 09 Sep '11

09 Sep '11

I half expect someone to say how easy this is but I'm trying to join three photos together to form one jpg file. Easy to do in OO. In GIMP, I have no idea and the tutorial page doesn't seem to say anything on the topic. Help. Bev.

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Re: [ALUG] main Digest, Vol 75, Issue 8
by Bradley Simpson 07 Sep '11

07 Sep '11

Just Delete a Partion. Hello this is the first time i have ever replyed so i am sorry iff i am a bit crap. I had the same problem with a HP i have got so i figured out which partion was useless and deleted it using GParted and the resized the HD with GPated again pretty simple, Hope that helps. On 7 September 2011 15:26, <main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk> wrote: > Send main mailing list submissions to > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > You can reach the person managing the list at > main-owner(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of main digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Partitioning Laptop (Richard Parsons) > 2. Re: Partitioning Laptop (Tim Green) > 3. Re: Partitioning Laptop (steve-ALUG(a)hst.me.uk) > 4. Re: Partitioning Laptop (Brett Parker) > 5. Re: Partitioning Laptop (Richard Parsons) > 6. Re: Partitioning Laptop (samwise) > 7. Re: Partitioning Laptop (Richard Parsons) > 8. Re: Partitioning Laptop (Stuart Bailey) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 13:16:36 +0100 > From: Richard Parsons <richard.lee.parsons(a)gmail.com> > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: [ALUG] Partitioning Laptop > Message-ID: <20110907121636.GA7728(a)myfreesolicitor.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > Hi, I've recently bought a Compaq laptop. It currently has Windows 7 > installed and I want to dual boot with Ubuntu. > > Unfortunately, Compaq have already partitioned the hard disk into four > partitions. The largest partition, which is 480GB is the second. If I > begin the installer, and resize the second partition to create free space, > then I'm told that it is "unuseable". I believe that the extra partitions > are for recovery etc. > > So what can I do? Is there a way of getting Ubuntu installed without > disturbing the contents of the partitions already setup? > > Thanks in advance > Richard > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 14:05:28 +0100 > From: Tim Green <timothy.j.green(a)gmail.com> > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Partitioning Laptop > Message-ID: > <CAE-w7J+rNTsE+pe1WNRxRAhC+oLKAOk0i0HGx9n46rq8W=YVdg(a)mail.gmail.com > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > On 7 September 2011 13:16, Richard Parsons > <richard.lee.parsons(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi, I've recently bought a Compaq laptop. ?It currently has Windows 7 > installed and I want to dual boot with Ubuntu. > > > > Unfortunately, Compaq have already partitioned the hard disk into four > partitions. ?The largest partition, which is 480GB is the second. ?If I > begin the installer, and resize the second partition to create free space, > then I'm told that it is "unuseable". ?I believe that the extra partitions > are for recovery etc. > > The partition is probably tagged and formatted with NTFS - delete it > from within Windows to be sure it is the right (empty!) one. When you > start the Ubuntu installer again it should see the hole. > > Good luck, > Tim. > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:33:29 +0100 > From: steve-ALUG(a)hst.me.uk > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Partitioning Laptop > Message-ID: <4E6772A9.3070709(a)hst.me.uk> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > I'm no expert, but I believe that a HDD set up with a partition table > can handle at most 4 "primary" partitions. That sounds like how your > laptop has been set up. > > If you change one of the "Primary" partitions to an "extended" > partition, then you can add extra "logical" partitions within the > extended partition. > > I doubt that it is possible to change a partition from Primary to > Extended c/w logical partitions without destroying the data on it. That > would imply having to backup, repartition, then restore. > Also, I don't know how Windows would cope with the new logical > partitions. In my previous experience, it can be quite fussy about > drive letters etc. > > I would also be quite dubious about the "recovery" partitions still > working if you change the partition structure that they're expecting to > see. > > I suppose it depends what's on the 2nd partition. Is it just for data? > Is Windows on partition 1? If that's the case you might get away with > it. e.g. > 1) Backup partition 2 (whatever drive letter it is). > 2) Delete partition 2. > 3) Recreate Partition 2 as an Extended Partion using all the free space. > 4) Create a Logical partition to restore the windows data onto. > 5) Create as many logical partitions as you need to need to install > linux. e.g. 2 / (root) and swap > 6) Restore the windows data onto the relevant partition. > 7) Install linux... > > Good luck! > And backup ***EVERYTHING*** before you start!!! > Steve > > On 07/09/11 13:16, Richard Parsons wrote: > > Hi, I've recently bought a Compaq laptop. It currently has Windows 7 > installed and I want to dual boot with Ubuntu. > > > > Unfortunately, Compaq have already partitioned the hard disk into four > partitions. The largest partition, which is 480GB is the second. If I > begin the installer, and resize the second partition to create free space, > then I'm told that it is "unuseable". I believe that the extra partitions > are for recovery etc. > > > > So what can I do? Is there a way of getting Ubuntu installed without > disturbing the contents of the partitions already setup? > > > > Thanks in advance > > Richard > > > > _______________________________________________ > > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > http://www.alug.org.uk/ > > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > > Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above! > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 14:41:28 +0100 > From: Brett Parker <iDunno(a)sommitrealweird.co.uk> > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Partitioning Laptop > Message-ID: <20110907134128.GA29936@miranda> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > On 07 Sep 13:16, Richard Parsons wrote: > > Hi, I've recently bought a Compaq laptop. It currently has Windows 7 > installed and I want to dual boot with Ubuntu. > > > > Unfortunately, Compaq have already partitioned the hard disk into four > partitions. The largest partition, which is 480GB is the second. If I > begin the installer, and resize the second partition to create free space, > then I'm told that it is "unuseable". I believe that the extra partitions > are for recovery etc. > > > > So what can I do? Is there a way of getting Ubuntu installed without > disturbing the contents of the partitions already setup? > > You're basically screwed - you can only have 4 primary partitions, > usually when wanting to go over this you make on of those 4 an extended > partition and new partitions get created in that. > > I'd take a diskimage of the disk in current state, using something like > clonezilla, then rejig the disk to remove any partitions that you don't > need, (you'll probably want a couple of partitions for linux), and go > from there. > > The reason for using something like clonezilla to take an image first > should be reasonably obvious, means that if you need to get back to that > state you can :) > > Cheers, > Brett. > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 5 > Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 14:43:13 +0100 > From: Richard Parsons <richard.lee.parsons(a)gmail.com> > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Partitioning Laptop > Message-ID: <20110907134312.GA7897(a)myfreesolicitor.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 > > On Wed, Sep 07, 2011 at 02:05:28PM +0100, Tim Green wrote: > > On 7 September 2011 13:16, Richard Parsons > > <richard.lee.parsons(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > > Hi, I've recently bought a Compaq laptop. ?It currently has Windows 7 > installed and I want to dual boot with Ubuntu. > > > > > > Unfortunately, Compaq have already partitioned the hard disk into four > partitions. ?The largest partition, which is 480GB is the second. ?If I > begin the installer, and resize the second partition to create free space, > then I'm told that it is "unuseable". ?I believe that the extra partitions > are for recovery etc. > > > > The partition is probably tagged and formatted with NTFS - delete it > > from within Windows to be sure it is the right (empty!) one. When you > > start the Ubuntu installer again it should see the hole. > > Thank you for that tip. I'm hoping to keep the windows partition though. > My idea is to reduce the windows partition to say 80GB, to free up > approximately 400GB for the Ubuntu installation. If I delete the second > partition won't the windows installation be lost? > > > Good luck, > > I think I'm going to need it! I'm wondering whether what I want to do is > even possible. Perhaps I need to be looking at a tool like Ghost? > > Richard > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 6 > Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 14:28:09 +0100 > From: samwise <samwise(a)bagshot-row.org> > To: ALUG <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Partitioning Laptop > Message-ID: > <CAEW9pC43xiSRGcWObteijh7+oMyyin0f1XNQC8DGv-2FaY7taw(a)mail.gmail.com > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > > Hi, I've recently bought a Compaq laptop. ?It currently has Windows 7 > installed and I want to dual boot with Ubuntu. > > > > Unfortunately, Compaq have already partitioned the hard disk into four > partitions. ?The largest partition, which is 480GB is the second. ?If I > begin the installer, and resize the second partition to create free space, > then I'm told that it is "unuseable". ?I believe that the extra partitions > are for recovery etc. > > > > So what can I do? ?Is there a way of getting Ubuntu installed without > disturbing the contents of the partitions already setup? > > > > Thanks in advance > > Richard > > Richard. > > The problem is that there can only be a maximum of four primary partitions > on a > disk, and your laptop ships with all four of them already in use. Simply > resizing one of the existing partitions won't help, because you won't > be permitted to create a fifth primary partition in the freed up > space. > > The easiest option is to just delete the two recovery partitions (you > should already have made some recovery DVDs from Windows, before doing > anything at all). That will allow you to resize the Windows partition > and create a new one for Linux. This approach means that if you ever > need to restore Windows on your laptop from scratch, you will be > wholly reliant on the recovery DVDs you made. > > The more complicated option is to backup the two existing recovery > partitions to files, and make a note of their partition information. > Then you can delete them both and create a new extended partition in > their place. This extended partition can contain multiple logical > partitions with it - so you can recreate the recovery partitions from > the files you backed them up to, within the new extended partition. > This approach will allow you to then create a new additional Linux > partition, either as a primary partition or within the extended > partition. If you ever need to reinstall Windows again, this way you > will have the choice of rebuilding the laptop from either the recovery > partitions on the disk or from the recovery DVDs you made instead. > > When I bought my HP laptop last year, I used GParted Live > [http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php] implement an extended > partition. The recovery partitions were fairly small in relation to > the total size of the disk so I figured it wouldn't hurt to leave them > intact. > > Peter. > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 7 > Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 15:04:15 +0100 > From: Richard Parsons <richard.lee.parsons(a)gmail.com> > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Partitioning Laptop > Message-ID: <20110907140414.GA7947(a)myfreesolicitor.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > On Wed, Sep 07, 2011 at 02:33:29PM +0100, steve-ALUG(a)hst.me.uk wrote: > > I'm no expert, but I believe that a HDD set up with a partition > > table can handle at most 4 "primary" partitions. That sounds like > > how your laptop has been set up. > > Yes, I'm pretty sure that's how it it. > > > If you change one of the "Primary" partitions to an "extended" > > partition, then you can add extra "logical" partitions within the > > extended partition. > > > > I doubt that it is possible to change a partition from Primary to > > Extended c/w logical partitions without destroying the data on it. > > That would imply having to backup, repartition, then restore. > > Also, I don't know how Windows would cope with the new logical > > partitions. In my previous experience, it can be quite fussy about > > drive letters etc. > > Yes, and sorry, I now realise that I'm asking about Windows, which is > hardly fair for a Linux mailing list! > > > I would also be quite dubious about the "recovery" partitions still > > working if you change the partition structure that they're expecting > > to see. > > Yes, good point. > > > I suppose it depends what's on the 2nd partition. Is it just for > > data? Is Windows on partition 1? If that's the case you might get > > away with it. e.g. > > I believe that Windows is installed on the second partition, but now I'm > even unsure about that. I find it hard to understand why Windows would > require four partitions. > > > 1) Backup partition 2 (whatever drive letter it is). > > 2) Delete partition 2. > > 3) Recreate Partition 2 as an Extended Partion using all the free space. > > 4) Create a Logical partition to restore the windows data onto. > > 5) Create as many logical partitions as you need to need to install > > linux. e.g. 2 / (root) and swap > > 6) Restore the windows data onto the relevant partition. > > 7) Install linux... > > > > Good luck! > > Thanks > > > And backup ***EVERYTHING*** before you start!!! > > Good advice. > > Do laptops ever have room for putting in a second hard drive? That would > be a better option. I suspect they don't though... > > Richard > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 8 > Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 15:26:15 +0100 > From: Stuart Bailey <stuart(a)linusoft.co.uk> > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Partitioning Laptop > Message-ID: <201109071526.18015.stuart(a)linusoft.co.uk> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > On Wednesday 07 September 2011 13:16:36 Richard Parsons wrote: > > Hi, I've recently bought a Compaq laptop. It currently has Windows 7 > > installed and I want to dual boot with Ubuntu. > > > > Unfortunately, Compaq have already partitioned the hard disk into four > > partitions. The largest partition, which is 480GB is the second. If I > > begin the installer, and resize the second partition to create free > space, > > then I'm told that it is "unuseable". I believe that the extra > partitions > > are for recovery etc. > > > > So what can I do? Is there a way of getting Ubuntu installed without > > disturbing the contents of the partitions already setup? > > > > Thanks in advance > > Richard > > > > _______________________________________________ > > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > http://www.alug.org.uk/ > > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > > Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above! > > Hi Richard, > Why don't you make an image of the windows partition using dd, then > repartition > as you like. dd the image back to the disk (same partition size of course), > then > install Ubuntu with dual boot. You won't need to worry about NTLDR in the > MBR, > since you will be using GRUB to boot either. > > This way also gives you a backup of Windows should things go wrong. > > Stuart > > > > Stuart Bailey BSc (hons) CEng CITP MBCS > LinuSoft (Managing Director) > Linux Specialist & Software Developer > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Phone: (0845) 658 3563 > Direct: +44 (0) 1953 878162 > Fax: +44 (0) 1603 858583 > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > http://www.linusoft.co.uk > > > __________ Information from ESET Mail Security, version of virus signature > database 6444 (20110907) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET Mail Security. > http://www.eset.com > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > http://www.anglian.lug.org.uk/ > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > > > End of main Digest, Vol 75, Issue 8 > *********************************** >

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