wrote:
> I am changing a bigger HDD in my notebook and would
> like to
> have multiple OS'es on it !
Hi Svobi,
Good to hear from you.
I don't own a laptop, but have run multiple OSes, on
different systems, since at least 1997, so I may be
able to comment on _some_ of this.
> i) WIN XP (leaving as original installation)
> ii) OS/2 Warp 4.52 as main & primary OS
> iii) Linux as additional OS for learning
>
> My intended partitioning looks like following:
>
> 1st prim C: NTFS/H WIN XP
> OS/2 BM
> 2nd prim C: HPFS OS/2 Warp 4.52 (default system)
Actually, unless something has changed fairly recently
that I don't know about, BM is going to be your 2nd.
Primary (though sans any drive letter), and the
alternate C: is going to be Primary #3, out of the
possible 4. Linux may take the last primary (?). Of
course, you do have the option of putting OS/2 on a
logical, which could be later in the drive chain.
Having Warp on the alternate C:, which is Hidden while
XP is running, may afford you some extra protection
from bad behavior on the part of the Evil Empire. The
other C: tends to be out of sight, out of mind.
> D: log FAT32 (Data Exchange between all systems)
> E: log HPFS EXEC files
Not sure what you meant here for E:, unless it is a
separate Warp App.s partition. I do that also, for
most but not all app.s. Certain things like Mozilla
and UniMaint I prefer to keep on the boot partition.
I mean, it's not like the space is at a premium. 2G
is exceptionally generous, even for a *well loaded*
eCS boot partition, whereas you may all too soon find
yourself hitting your head on the ceiling, if your XP
boot partition is much below 8 - 10 G. They are
extremely profligate with space, and THEY KEEP
GROWING, like the menace in a bad 1950s sci-fi movie.
> F: log HPFS FILE (file folders / download, upload)
> G: log HPFS GAR(b)AGE (garbage & maintenance)
> H: log HPFS HOME (user data)
> i: log HPFS IMAG (es DigiCam pics)
>
> plus Linux System partition 5GB
> plus Linux Swap partition500MB
Wow, that's quite ambitious for a laptop. I hope the
H/D is larger than 40G., if you're aiming to include
all of that. Just the photos or video can eat into
that comfort zone pretty quickly, unless you offload
it to other storage, frequently.
> What would you recoomend me to do or to change
Well, some of us traditionalists like to have a real
DOS partition, for *low-level* interventions that may
occasionally be necessary. (But this pretty much has
to be a C:, if you hope to boot it, and that plays
havoc with your partitioning plans. I'm not too up to
date on this, but FreeDOS or someone else might have
come up with a hack by which it doesn't have to be the
C:). The Win boot loader *has* to be on C:, though,
and if that happens to be NTFS, it becomes a gigantic
PITA if you have to attempt to repair these files from
the outside. In my experience, the alternate "MS
Repair Console"-- or whatever they call it -- is
utterly worthless.
> How can WIN XP and Linux access these HPFS
> partitions ?
For Linux I have no idea. MS dropped all support for
accessing HPFS after NT. This late in the game, I
would not recommend any retrofit with the old
Pinball.Sys. MS has this nasty habit of periodically
revising the specs for all sorts of critical things,
incl. NTFS. This is apt to create incompatibilities,
if not outright hazards. But maybe someone else knows
better.
> If unable: What partition types shall I use to have
> access with
> all OS's ?
My guess would be FAT-32. Those partitions can even
be quite large. I haven't made use of the OS/2 FAT-32
drivers yet myself, but, if they are any good at all,
this partition type is apt to be the closest thing we
have now to a "Lingua Franca."
> How secure / sure are their acesses to HPFS (risk of
> destroying
> data) ?
Whichever way you happen to cross the border, Read
Access ONLY is always going to be safer than if there
is Write Access possible. But often all you will need
is to be able to copy some files over FROM the other
partition you are just able to read. I haven't really
dealt with this yet myself, but plan to. Thus far,
I've used some combination of FAT-16 data partition
(which is limited to 2G., and you're stuck with 8.3
filenames, so Zip archives can also come in handy
here), and "sneaker-net" via burned CDs, Zip drive, or
memory sticks, for the exchange of common data. THAT,
I can testify, has been very low risk. Anecdotally,
I've heard reports that the FAT-32 or NTFS drivers for
OS/2 may conflict with certain other drivers, forcing
one to make a choice.
> What limitations or restrictions do I need to
> observe ?
> I may have forgotten anything !?
It sounds like you will be using Warp / MCP, rather
than eCS. The FP-15 ++ route is still going to
involve LVM, though, isn't it. I'd say, get all your
Win stuff squared away to your liking *first*,
including critical backup of the laptop's XP boot
partition AND the hidden XP Default RESTORE partition
of same, if there is one. ThinkPads have these, for
example. (Ooops, that _could be_ another primary !)
Ideally, these partition images should be stored
archivally elsewhere, such as on another hard drive
used just for such storage. The preferred tools for
your partitioning and imaging are going to be
Partition Magic 8.0 and DFSEE. The former is still
much easier for relative novices to use effectively.
The latter does a few things the former does not, or
does them better.
Once _everything else_ is set up to your satisfaction,
proceed with the OS/2 partitions. They should not
interfere with the others, but are much more
susceptible to interference FROM the others, if it's
not done this way. (I'm not at all familiar with any
flavor of Linux, so I don't know if the addition of
that to the mix alters the recommended procedures
here. Perhaps it does.)
Once you have a successfully functioning boot
partition -- *any* platform's boot partition -- for
goodness sake, IMAGE the damn thing, and store the
image safely, elsewhere ! And do this with updated
images of them, from time to time. This is one of the
BEST investments you can make. A laptop hard drive
with multiple OSes is like a one-man orchestra, and
much harder to replace. You won't believe the time,
trouble, and the grief involved, if you ever have to
redo one from scratch. In fact, if/when I get a
laptop, I would buy a duplicate laptop hard drive, and
once it was set up like this, clone the whole thing.
This is the best approach for desktops too, where the
drives are much cheaper.
HTH.
Jordan
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