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    Thinkpad R60 Linux installation procedure?

    Discussion in 'Linux Compatibility and Software' started by snowstorm, Apr 20, 2007.

  1. snowstorm

    snowstorm Notebook Consultant

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    I can use a thinkpad R60 for a while to install Linux. The laptop is not mine and the owner needs to run Windows. It's a brand new machine (that came for free with an ADSL subscription BTW). It comes factory preinstalled with the recovery partition and the rest is one big windows partition. I don't think it came with installation CD's.

    How do I go about installing Linux on this, without messing anything up on the recovery partition?
     
    snowstorm, Apr 20, 2007
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  2. BigV

    BigV Notebook Deity

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    download Gparted, it's basically a free, Linux-based equivalent to partition magic.

    http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

    Follow directions for use, and shrink the WINDOWS partition by like 15GB or so. Then, you'll need to create an EXTENDED partition with that new free space. Make note of what gparted labels that space as (probably something like /dev/sdaX, where X is a number).

    Boot whatever Linux livecd or install CD you like, and install to that free space.
     
    BigV, Apr 20, 2007
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  3. Mr. Foolish

    Mr. Foolish Notebook Guru

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    I'm going to be painfully pedantic (because I am sick and bored :) ). You don't technically have to create an extended partition. In fact, I would recommend not creating any new partition at all. Just shrink the Windows partition to create some free space and let your Linux install disk handle the rest of the partitioning.

    I would also recommend booting into Windows immediately after resizing the drive (before installing Linux). Make sure that Windows still works. If not, restore Windows from that recovery partition and try again.
     
    Mr. Foolish, Apr 20, 2007
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  4. BigV

    BigV Notebook Deity

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    well, you don't HAVE to, but because IDE harddrives only support 4 primary partitions, it's a good idea, since the minimum number of partitions I would recommend for a Linux install is 3: root, /home, and swap
     
    BigV, Apr 20, 2007
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  5. snowstorm

    snowstorm Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks. Installation went like a breeze. Very impressive how easy the whole process has become. I installed the latest kubuntu, shrunk the windows partition, and created two partitions, although I realized during the installation later that that was not even required. Everything seems to work out of the box, except for a few minor things, like adjusting the screen brightness for example. But overall a painless installation.
     
    snowstorm, Apr 21, 2007
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  6. Pitabred

    Pitabred Linux geek con rat flail!

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    Make sure you update your system, including the new kernel (through the Adept updater). After that, your brightness buttons should work fine.
     
    Pitabred, Apr 22, 2007
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