Ubuntu install will partition, but it doesn’t seem to work right. No matter how I do it, when I create the system drive, it won’t let me use the rest for swap (the error was bizarre, I don’t remember it). I tried making a swap first, same problem. This partition was between two Windows partitions, but I doubt that should matter.

This is also useful for Windows - If your copy of Windows starts to flake out and become unstable, you can use this to form a new partition, install Windows on it, and transfer your files from the old partition to the new.

Secondly, you mention defragging. Is there any open-source defragger that can be run say from a boot disk?

Is the swap disk partition also created in the unallocated space? can swap disk space of another linux install be used with the studio instead of having 2 swap disks?

Thanks

ACPI: SCI (IRQ21) allocation failed
ACPI: Unable to start ACPI Interpreter

Then nothing else happened (message stayed on screen). So I rebooted and installed in spite of the initial error message. Ubuntu Studio now starts (error message still appears at boot) and the sound apps all start and actually make noise . Sound output via Audiophile USB.

I used automatix to install ntfs-3g and have moved folder between ntfs partitions and saved audio files to them without problems.

I have yet to connect my USB Midi Keyboard (Alesis Photon X25) and test 3d. What I really want to see is if Reason and Counter Strike will run under WINE. There we go, I’m getting off topic again. But may I add I just got a new job and migrated to Malta about three weeks ago. So along with Ubuntu Studio, I feel like an excited school boy again…. ooops, time to shower and get to work

with the “Install Ubuntu” line selected, press F6 for “more options”

this will show you the tail end of the command that makes “Install Ubuntu” work… just add ‘noapic nolapic’ to the end and press enter to install!

Having slept very little in the last few days I admit I was ranting too much and got off topic in my last posts… sorry for that.

Adieu Windows. Thanks again guys.

I apologise if I made you guys repat yourselves but reading so much on other sites and the replies from people who forget that someone might be totally new to the matter had confuse me. If I’d read this post first, then I probably wouldn’t have needed to ask. I hope my lengthy posting will be of some help to another noob.

I have used Partition Magic under windows and for defragging I use Perfect Disk.

The reason I wanted to use unallocated space in the middle and put a ntfs partition at he end for shared data is so that Ubuntu Studio would be closer to the front of the drive. I read that I will need to install NTFS-3G which is supposed to be stable now.

The partitioning on my 100GB disk would probably look the same in GParted:

33GB NTFS(Windows)->25GBUnallocated->36GB Extended NTFS(Into 6GB and 30GB)

Now I only need to sort out the “Timer not connected to IO_APIC” error (there’s is a lot of info on this in the Ubuntu Forum) and I’ll install Ubuntu Studio in the middle of the drive.

Andrew, we assume that currently your hardrive is made up of just one large partition, with Windows installed? With that assumption :

First you’ll want to defrag your Windows drive a few times. We suggest downloading some third party Windows defrag programs and using them on top of the default windows defragger. (unfortunately, the NTFS file systems just vomits files all over the place, and you want to get your files as compacted to the beginning of the drive as possible)

Now back up anything you dont want to lose.

Boot into Gparted. Select your harddrive. Select the only partition on that drive, your windows partition.

With that partition selected, click the Resize/Move button. Use the black arrow to select how much space you want to break away from the Windows partition… (10-15 GB is sufficient as Claus suggested.) and then apply the change.

Now youll have two partitions. Your shrunken Windows partition and a brand new chunk of unallocated space (a partition embryo, if you will)

You can now select this unalloacted space from the Ubuntu install. The reason this is such a fool proof method is that unaclloacted space shows up in big capital letters as FREE SPACE within the Ubuntu install

We are kind of repeating ourselves, this is mostly what the article says to do. We’re not sure from your post if you know way more about partitions than we do, or if you’ve over complicated things

The Ubuntu Distro takes up about 10-15 gig, depending how many applications you install later.
Cool thing is that LINUX apps are much smaller than their Windows pendants, so wth a 20 gig partition you have plenty of space to spare.

If I understand correctly I can leave my c: (primary windows) and create an extended partition at the end of the drive.

The extended partition (ntfs) will contain two logical drives. The first for frequently changed data. The second one for samples, sound libraries etc.

So I’ll have:
1. first primary
2. unallocated space
3. extended ntfs with two logical for data

Then install Ubuntu Studio in the unallocated space.

The main question: How large does the unallocated space have to be? I will also want to be able to edit/produce large video files (DVD)

We think one would have to be crazy to try and resize a NTFS partition via the Ubuntu install… can that even be done?

Futhermore, it “guides” you through wiping your disk clean and installing Ubuntu on the whole drive…. not really much “guidance” needed there

It also can “guide” you through installing onto the “largest continuous free space” — which will not exist if you dont have any unallocated space to begin with… other than that, everything has to be done manually… to manually edit and configure partitions in the Ubuntu install is about as user friendly as a shovel in the face