[ltp] pre-installation advice?

[linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org]

I got my Thinkpad on Monday and I just wanted to let the list know how this
went in case any future Thinkpad linux users have the same concerns:

After I got my Thinkpad I powered it up and allowed it to boot into XP and
fully complete the XP setup. Once that finished, I played with XP briefly to
make sure the machine worked ok. I did not install any software at this
point however. Once I was done, I started the XP Disk Degragmenter utility
and verified that the disk did not need any defragmenting. Then I rebooted
and began SuSE 9.1 installation.

I was able to resize my 80GB NTFS partition down to 25GB in the SuSE
installer with no problems at all. I tried to use XFS for my linux
partition, however the SuSE 9.1 installer kernel paniced from somewhere in
the XFS code when it tried to format my root partition (reproducable). I
tried reiserfs instead with the exact same partitions, and that worked.
After that, the SuSE install went just fine. I rebooted the system after the
install, and everything worked fine in both Linux and XP. I did not run into
that problem where some installers with 2.6 kernels will modify the
partition table in a way that confuses XP.

One thing I noticed is that the partitioning or formatting process
apparently destroyed my recovery partition. I tried to get into the pre-boot
GUI after the SuSE install, but instead of the usual GUI area with the
recovery options I got a standard-looking textual BIOS setup program.

Although I did not have any problems with the machine, I called IBM to order
recovery disks just in case. I was pleasantly surprised by their tech
support dept. Low hold time and the phone was answered by a native English
speaker who was nice, competent and did not give me any fuss about getting
the recovery disks. They shipped the disks to me via Airborne overnight at
no cost to me.

Glad I got a Thinkpad... wonderful notebook, and unexpectedly good service &
support from IBM.


On Fri, Jun 25, 2004 at 04:13:45PM -0400, sltp@rhythm.cx wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone. I ordered a T40 today, should be here sometime next week. I
> plan on dual booting the shipped XP Pro and SuSE 9.1. With that in mind,
> before booting the laptop for the first time, is there anything I should
> know? Would it be best to resize the NTFS partition before booting into XP
> for the first time, or does it not matter?
> 
> Also, do Thinkpads usually come with some kind of recovery/reimage CD or
> DVD, or is that on a hard disk partition somewhere, or do I have to order
> one separately?
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
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