[ltp] Installing Linux on a TP40 (2373-75U)

[Richard Neill]

Once you install Linux, I think the service partition is of very 
debatable use.

There have been different reports of what it does, but at least on some 
machines, it will restore your hard disc to exactly the configuration it 
came in from the factory. (i.e. a fresh install of Windows, and 
obliterating your Linux install).

Since you can, if need be, get a recovery CD from IBM (on request), it 
isn't disastrous if you erase the service partition - I think it's a 
waste of space anyway.

Apparently Mandrake's installer is capable of resizing NTFS partitions.

You could also back up your entire disk image over the network if you 
want by using something akin to:

dd if=/dev/hda1 | ssh your_name@backup_pc "cat > my_hard_disk.img"
(You should probably check that before running it!)


Richard



Jens Kirch wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have successfully resized mz partition on my T40p with WinXP and the
> service partition. Do not unhide the service partition, becasue you might loose
> it.
> For me it worked fine using PM 8.0
> 
> Regards,
>          Jens




> 
> 
>>I'm looking for some advice.
>>I have a a 2373-75U which was originally configured by my company w/ W2K
>>on a 
>>single 36.5Gb NTFS partition on the 40Gb drive.  The remaining space on
>>the 
>>drive appears to be IBM's hidden partition containing the factory W-XP 
>>restore files.
>>I tried using Partition Magic 8 to re-partition shrink the NTFS partition
>>so I 
>>can format the remainder of the drive for Linux and shared partitions. 
>>PM8 
>>choked halfway through the process and left me to boot to the blue screen
>>of 
>>death.  After the crash, PM saw a single NTFS partition, but had left an 
>>error(s) on it causing the problem.
>>I found a thread on another list suggesting that someone else ran into the
>>
>>same PM problem.
>>I also discovered that by turning off the security feature in the BIOS
>>unhid 
>>the 3Gb partition.  Clearly IT was unaware of this since they have no
>>current 
>>plans to install XP and would create a company standard image if they did.
>>Since I can't kill W2K and I don't have the permissions to be able to
>>restore 
>>it if it gets messed up as before, I'm looking for a way to "safely"
>>resize 
>>the NTFS partition.
>>Will turning off the security feature allow PM to work, or is there
>>something 
>>else about the T40 that is incompatible with PM.  (I've used PM on a W2K
>>box 
>>at home without problems.)  Are the open source ntfs resizing tools on 
>>Knoppix or Mandrake any better?  (I don't need to be able to enlarge the
>>ntfs 
>>partition since I can always make a second one, if necessary.)
> 
> 

-- 
rn214@hermes.cam.ac.uk  **  http://www.richardneill.org
Richard Neill, Trinity College, Cambridge, CB21TQ, U.K.