Vista Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 (edited) I'm planning on installing my first Linux distro and don't want to screw anything up. I have to decide which version of Ubuntu 7.10 I'm going to install: 32bit or 64bit. My AMD64 3700+ San Diego obviously supports 64bit, but I've read things on some forums about the 64bit version not supporting certain apps. I went to some websites for apps I want to use and there are Linux versions available, but I'm not sure whether they support both the 32bit and 64bit versions. Opera for example doesn't work on 64bit. What do you recommend? EDIT: I forgot to ask something else: 1. I now have two XP Pro (one on C and one on D) installations that I want to keep. Will I have to do something extra to triple-boot XP, XP and Ubuntu (will put it on E)? 2. E is the only partition on my second 320GB harddrive. C and D are part of my first haddrive. I have a lot of movies, music, etc. stored on E. Do I have to split the second (320GB) harddrive in two, so that I have E for movies and F for Ubuntu? Do I have to create more partitions to install Ubuntu? Edited April 5, 2008 by Vista Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock Horror Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 wait for 8.04, due on Apr24 or beyond, and go with the 32bits version if you dont require 64bits for any specific reason... thats my .02$ advice.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pong Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 As Jock Horror said, you might be better waiting for the 24th of April and downloading 8.04 however if your not too fussed about downloading the updates once its been released then updating isn't a problem. If your not going to be using a specific 64bit app then don't bother with the 64bit version, I'm speaking from past experiences when I say all it does is cause problems at the moment and its no faster than the 32 bit version. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiagosilva29 Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 There are AMD64 Opera .deb builds, which you could find in the Opera Desktop Team Blog, but like you said, by enabling the partner repository and installing Opera that way, you'll only get a i386 build. If you are really unsure and really don't want to screw up, go for the i386 version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vista Posted April 5, 2008 Author Share Posted April 5, 2008 Thanks for the info. Well, I'm burning the 32bit version right now, but before I install Ubuntu, there's still one thing I need to know: I now have two XP Pro installations (one on C and one on D) that I want to keep. Will I have to do something extra to triple-boot XP, XP and Ubuntu (will put it on E)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simsie Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Ubuntu should sort the triple booting out for you, and will split the E drive in half or something. Just pay careful attention in the installer and you'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vista Posted April 5, 2008 Author Share Posted April 5, 2008 I'm trying to install Ubuntu right now, but I'm not sure what to do here. I want to use 15GB of the 320GB drive for Ubuntu: This is what I get when I click Edit partition: This happens when I press Forward: I have data on the 320GB harddisk that I want to keep. I have about 170GB free space on that harddisk, but only want to use 15GB of it for Ubuntu. How do I create a 15GB partition on the 320GB harddisk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foub Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 You edit partition to place the mount point at / and also to format the partition you want to use for Ubuntu to something like ext3. You can set the size of it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vista Posted April 5, 2008 Author Share Posted April 5, 2008 OK, I created a new 15GB partition using Partition Magic in XP to install Ubuntu on, but now during the installation it tells me I haven't selected any partitions for use as swap space. Does this mean I have to create another partition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted April 5, 2008 Veteran Share Posted April 5, 2008 Don't create any partitions. Delete them. (the ones for Linux, not your Windows ones! ) :o Reboot the CD. Let it see the unallocated space and install itself without all the hassle. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foub Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Don't create any partitions.Delete them. (the ones for Linux, not your Windows ones! ) :o Reboot the CD. Let it see the unallocated space and install itself without all the hassle. :D I've used Paragon Partition Manager to create BOTH an ext3 and a SWAP partition for Ubuntu with no problems. Its a very versatile program suite and the nicest thing about it is that you don't even need Windows install since it uses DOS instead (DOS the last truly stable Microsoft OS. :) ). Ubuntu didn't have any problems finding them either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markwolfe Veteran Posted April 5, 2008 Veteran Share Posted April 5, 2008 I didn't say it couldn't be done. Just that it makes extra work that isn't necessary for someone just wanting to install the darned thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borbus Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Yeah I always create partitions manually (because I'm like that, plus I have /home and /boot on separate partitions) but for a first time install it's a lot easier to use the auto allocate. Most people don't understand the concept of partitions at all (probably thanks to Windows having a picture of a hard drive to represent a partition). As for 32 bit vs. 64 bit... You might as well use 64 bit because you have a 64 bit CPU. Ubuntu is not a pure 64 distro which means it comes with all the 32 bit libs etc. anyway so you can run 32 bit apps on there for the few without 64 bit versions (Flash, Wine etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1759 Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 I've finally gotten 7.10 64-bit to work, almost fully on my laptop (a Toshiba A215 Satellite), and other than some apps having issues, that can usually be worked around, it's been good so far. :) I am really curious about the 8.04 release, but I will probably wait awhile before upgrading to it. BTW, I went with 64-bit, as it was the 2nd 64-bit OS I've run, and getting 64-bit drivers for XP was quite difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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