Installing Gentoo Linux Along Side Windows XP (Dual Boot)

NZPyRo · n00b Joined: 20 May 2002 Posts: 2

Hey guys

im just wondering, how should i fdisk my partitions

like this?
c: (just for bootloader)
d: windows xp
e: gentoo linux

any other ideas would be appreciated

also, ive never installed linux text based before, but i think im up to the challenge, i'll just keep with the docs, anyways im just a little worried about the matrox G1000 (the new parhelia drooling) will have decent linux drivers as i want to play games in linux as well as windows, as a comparison, i want to run windows because not all games run under linux right?, if all games run under linux then i'll just use linux 100%. Also
Gentoo compiles everything, so how long am I looking before my pc is setup and running, And will Wine/Winex run all windows games?, because im looking for stability and performance. If i find i have no need for windows i'll get rid of it.

I also understand Linux is picking up momentum when it comes to native support for gaming.

heres the big question

what should i set my partition sizes too
im gonna run it my machien on an 80gb drive

And if i have games installed on my NTFS partition for WinXP can i use Winex under Linux to run the games from the NTFS partition, i know Linux can read NTFS, but im just wondering if that will work.

Also give me all the info you got about Linux coz im still not very good with it

.

Thanks for all your input.

Mike
ICQ : 58045874

freefall · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 13 Apr 2002 Posts: 89

I would install windows on the first partition before installing Gentoo. For Gentoo I would partition something like this:

/boot 50Mb (most of it will probably never get used, but you have got 80Bg so..)
swap 256Mb (enough for me, I have got 256Mb ram and the swap is very rarely used. I don't run anything that requires much ram though.)
/ 5-10Gb (5Gb should be enough for the OS itself, 10Gb if you want to be on the safe side)
/home 5Gb (this is where your configuration files for your users are stored. very convenient to have on a partition of it's own)

If you have files you want to access from both windows and linux (like mp3s, movies etc..) it's a good idea to make a fat32 partition. Linux can read and write fat32 partitions without any problems.

If you don't need all the space on your hd you should (my opinion of course) keep some of it unpartioned. It can be very convenient.

There are many, many ways you can partition. I'm sure others will tell you how they would do it.

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If you want a card that has great support in both windows and linux, then nvidia is the best choice. Their drivers for linux are excellent.

I don't think matrox is planning to support 3d in their linux drivers, so if you want to play games the Parhelia is probably not a very good choice.

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Not many games run natively in linux unfortunatly. I have heard winex is pretty good though.

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Installation takes a long time if you do a stage 1 installation, but if you have got a decent computer it won't be so bad. A day maybe, with X and all. It's the configuration part that takes time.

NZPyRo · n00b Joined: 20 May 2002 Posts: 2

Thanks for your response, ive got an idea how to set up my partitions now, i think i'll give 60gb to my windows and 20gb to my linux and divide it up fromthere

, so I might make a bigger partition for linux than 5 - 10gb im thking about 15gb =).

Okie gotta run off now

thanks for your help

anyone know if linux will play games through winex off an ntfs/fat32 drive?

fatwreckfan · Guest

What about Grub?

In my case I'll have 6GB for WinXP, 19GB for programs, and 3.5GB for Gentoo.

After I've installed Gentoo, Grub will overwrite my XP boot record, so how do I set up Grub for the dual boot? Any help is appreciated.

clementsab · n00b Joined: 12 Jun 2002 Posts: 3

Using a Fat32 would be the way to go. NTFS really only shines on on a large filesystem anyway (MS recommends >=4Gb) I have a 100Mb /boot partition only because I have 2 versions of linux and multiple kernels most people shouldn't need more than 20 Mb. WineX isn't ready for primetime. Some work but the newest won't. If you really want to play Windows Games play on windows. Just remember beware the BSOD!
When you get one consider rebooting to linux, firing up an email client, send a complaint to the game manufacture that it wasn't avalible for linux. [I know this is off topic; please bare with me] Game manufactures make thier games for the system(s) that will make them the most money plain and simple. If no-one complains they'll assume no one wants!

Anyway, just remember that Windows will hog as much space as you'll give it so leave some room for the games.
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"Mr. McKittrick after careful consideration...your system sucks!" --Gen. Beringer