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Operating Systems Linux Slackware Install more than one OS in a single partition... Post 302160582 by niterobin on Tuesday 22nd of January 2008 06:41:02 AM
Old 01-22-2008
My thought is that it depends on the file system. If both operating systems use the same file system and one of them has dual boot capabilties, then it's possible. The only example I know of this was OS/2 and MS-DOS/Windows, if the partition was formatted as FAT16.

I'm not sure it would be possible with Unixes, as I don't know very much about the file systems concerned. I personally run Slackware, which is formatted as EXT2, and also WINXP, which uses NTFS formatting for its partition. Because the formatting of the file systems are different, it isn't possible, as far as I know, to install both of the operating systems on the same partition. And, even if it was, then you'd need a boot loader to switch between each of the operating systems. If one doesn't exist, then you'd have to write it yourself - and I *really* don't have a clue as to how to go about doing that.

If you're trying to install a second operating system without losing data from the first one, then maybe Gparted would be useful to you. It runs from a bootable CD, and enables you to resize a partition to free up disk space and to create new partitions outside the existing one. The homepage for it is here: GParted -- LiveCD

Some caveats: back up your existing partition before you use Gparted. I used it with no problems, but it's always best to err on the safe side. And, if you're installing a form of Linux, you'll need *two* partitions, a bigger one for the Linux installation, and a smaller one to use as the swap partition.

HTH.
 

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DISKTAB(5)							File Formats Manual							DISKTAB(5)

NAME
disktab - disk description file SYNOPSIS
#include <disktab.h> DESCRIPTION
Disktab is a simple date base which describes disk geometries and disk partition characteristics. The format is patterned after the term- cap(5) terminal data base. Entries in disktab consist of a number of `:' separated fields. The first entry for each disk gives the names which are known for the disk, separated by `|' characters. The last name given should be a long name fully identifying the disk. The following list indicates the normal values stored for each disk entry. Name Type Description ns num Number of sectors per track nt num Number of tracks per cylinder nc num Total number of cylinders on the disk b0 str Filename of block zero primary bootstrap for device ba num Block size for partition `a' (bytes) bd num Block size for partition `d' (bytes) be num Block size for partition `e' (bytes) bf num Block size for partition `f' (bytes) bg num Block size for partition `g' (bytes) bh num Block size for partition `h' (bytes) fa num Fragment size for partition `a' (bytes) fd num Fragment size for partition `d' (bytes) fe num Fragment size for partition `e' (bytes) ff num Fragment size for partition `f' (bytes) fg num Fragment size for partition `g' (bytes) fh num Fragment size for partition `h' (bytes) pa num Size of partition `a' in sectors pb num Size of partition `b' in sectors pc num Size of partition `c' in sectors pd num Size of partition `d' in sectors pe num Size of partition `e' in sectors pf num Size of partition `f' in sectors pg num Size of partition `g' in sectors ph num Size of partition `h' in sectors se num Sector size in bytes (default 512) sf bool supports bad144-style bad sector forwarding so bool partition offsets in sectors ty str Type of disk (e.g. removable, winchester) Disktab entries may be automatically generated with the diskpart program. FILES
/etc/disktab SEE ALSO
newfs(8), diskpart(8), getdiskbyname(3) BUGS
This file shouldn't exist, the information should be stored on each disk pack. 4.2 Berkeley Distribution May 17, 1986 DISKTAB(5)
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