Sean <rsh.lists <at> comcast.net> writes:
> I have a laptop I want to setup to boot either Gentoo or Windows.
> Looking around I am trying to find recommendations as to which is better
> to install first, Gentoo or Windows. From what I found, either often
> gets a recommendation.
> Would anyone recommend which is the best method for setup, start with
> Gentoo or Windows?
Here's what works, flawlessly for me:
A: use the Gentoo live CD to boot up the laptop
1. check/note the hardware
lshw, lspci are great for this. Make sure drivers
exist for your video and ethernet hardware.
B: Decide to proceed:
1. If windoz is not already installed, install it.
2. Use Partion Magic to reduce the partion size of the
windows install and put the remainder into a second partion.
Installing partion magic under windoze is a great idea for
later resizing of the windoz partition(s).
3. Install Gentoo. During your setup, you'll access the drive
not touching the first partion, and use a scheme like this:
a. Follow the gentoo installation guide
b. use the minimal partions as suggested in the guide
1. for example one fstab possibility:
/dev/cdroms/cdrom0
/dev/fd0
proc
/dev/hda2 /boot reiserfs noatime,notail 1 2
/dev/hda3 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hda4 / reiserfs notail 0 0
Your only allowed 3 primarys so I make the / dir an extended.
Once you install gentoo (follow the guide) on the second and
fourth partition, you'll need to config grub.conf for dual boot
per the instructions. It takes some time, but well worth the effort.
> I also want to setup a common partition for data storage which both can
> access. Again, can anyone recommend a setup?
I'm not up on how stable the writing to NTFS is from the linux side,
but you'd add another (fifth partion) and use VFAT. Mount it from
both windows (using partion magic) and Linux and you can move file
between the OSes or share music and such......
Hth,
James
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