Mint Linux Install (Macky?)

[Feriol]

Hi.

I've taken a while to get round to this, but i'm finally trying to install this, but having problems.

I want to dual boot on my HP laptop, but i can't create another partition as there are already 4. System, Recovery, HP tools, and another with most of the space where all my stuff is kept. this is how it's set up by HP. I don't have Win7 install disks so would prefer not to mess with this setup.

I used Gparted to resize the large partition and create unallocated space, but i'm not allowed to do anything with this space as it says i can't have more than 4 partitions. Is it possible to install Mint somehow without messing with the current partition setup?

Thanks.

 

[Macky]

Hi.

I've taken a while to get round to this, but i'm finally trying to install this, but having problems.

I want to dual boot on my HP laptop, but i can't create another partition as there are already 4. System, Recovery, HP tools, and another with most of the space where all my stuff is kept. this is how it's set up by HP. I don't have Win7 install disks so would prefer not to mess with this setup.

I used Gparted to resize the large partition and create unallocated space, but i'm not allowed to do anything with this space as it says i can't have more than 4 partitions. Is it possible to install Mint somehow without messing with the current partition setup?

Thanks.

You won't need to bother with Gparted to set up the partition, the installer will handle that for you. You can still set any options, size, location etc, or you can just select whatever defaults it offers. Which will most likely be to resize your main Win7 partition to accommodate the new partition that Mint creates, so it would be a good idea to run a defrag in Windows first as that will group any existing files together and prevent Win7 from getting too upset about the changes that are made.
The number of partitions shouldn't be an issue when running the installer as it isn't creating an NTFS partition so Windows won't even know that it's there.

 

[Feriol]

You won't need to bother with Gparted to set up the partition, the installer will handle that for you. You can still set any options, size, location etc, or you can just select whatever defaults it offers. Which will most likely be to resize your main Win7 partition to accommodate the new partition that Mint creates, so it would be a good idea to run a defrag in Windows first as that will group any existing files together and prevent Win7 from getting too upset about the changes that are made.
The number of partitions shouldn't be an issue when running the installer as it isn't creating an NTFS partition so Windows won't even know that it's there.

Okay. I ran the installer first, but the partition screen didn't give me any options except choosing which existing partition to use, i thought if i selected the windows partition it might delete everything on it? thats when i tried Gparted which says i can't create another primary partition.

It's Mint 12

 

[Macky]

Actually, it looks like I was mistaken. I thought the four partition maximum was just for the Windows boot record only allowing four NTFS partitions. Have a read of this thread

 

[Feriol]

Actually, it looks like I was mistaken. I thought the four partition maximum was just for the Windows boot record only allowing four NTFS partitions. Have a read of this thread

Thanks.

Having done some research it seems the recovery partition is reduntant if i have burned recovery CDs so i can go ahead and delete that.

Worried that there seems to be a problem with wireless though, it connects briefly, then disconnects and won't re-connect. is this likely to be better with a proper install rather than the live cd do you think?

 

[Macky]

Worried that there seems to be a problem with wireless though, it connects briefly, then disconnects and won't re-connect. is this likely to be better with a proper install rather than the live cd do you think?

There's only a limited number of drivers on the live CD because of space constraints. My wireless didn't work at all on the live CD but after I'd done a full install, it held my hand and walked me through installing the drivers for it live a kindly, avuncular, old sage masquerading as an operating system. :icon_bigg

Do you know which wireless adapter it is?

 

[Feriol]

There's only a limited number of drivers on the live CD because of space constraints. My wireless didn't work at all on the live CD but after I'd done a full install, it held my hand and walked me through installing the drivers for it live a kindly, avuncular, old sage masquerading as an operating system. :icon_bigg

Do you know which wireless adapter it is?

Realtek RTL8191SE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter

There is a Linux driver for Kernel 2.6.37 and earlier on the Realtek website, not sure what kernel mint 12 uses.

 

[Feriol]

Thanks Macky.

I'm now running mint 12, wireless is working great.

 

[FryattFox]

wireless is working great.

Fibre optic or cable?

 

[Macky]

Thanks Macky.

I'm now running mint 12, wireless is working great.

 

[Macky]

Fibre optic or cable?

Pah! 4G is what the big boys are using these days

 

[Matt_B]

Pah! 4G is what the big boys are using these days

It is literally the only way to go.

 

[Feriol]

Sorry to bug...

Is there a way to hide the bottom menu on the gnome desktop? Some programs hide it when i go full screen, but it's still there with others.

 

[Macky]

Is there a way to hide the bottom menu on the gnome desktop? Some programs hide it when i go full screen, but it's still there with others.

Right-click >Properties >Auto-hide

 

[Feriol]

Right-click >Properties >Auto-hide

The bottom bar isn't responding to right clicks.

 

[Macky]

The bottom bar isn't responding to right clicks.

Ah right, I'm still using Mint 9, I really should upgrade soon. Have a look for Cinnamon Settings

 

[Feriol]

Just an update:

Mint 12 doesn't have Cinnamon as part of the install, but i have since installed it. Much better than the default Gnome, and the experimental MATE that's included.

I might try KDE since some years ago when i dabbled i prefered it.

Generally very happy with it. although i find the poor descriptions of software in the package managers frustrating when trying to choose software. Guess i'll have to get to grips with compiling.

 

[Macky]

Mint 12 doesn't have Cinnamon as part of the install, but i have since installed it. Much better than the default Gnome, and the experimental MATE that's included.

I might try KDE since some years ago when i dabbled i prefered it.

I used to prefer the KDE desktop, but have stuck with Gnome for the last few years. The only bit of software that I miss is the Amarok music player. I mainly just use Audacious now, very similar to Winamp on Windoze.

Generally very happy with it. although i find the poor descriptions of software in the package managers frustrating when trying to choose software. Guess i'll have to get to grips with compiling.

There are plenty of sites out there that review Linux software or list altenatives to the most common Windoze apps. Probably be a good idea to browse through a few of those first and then hit the package manager when you know which titles you want to try out.