Stage One: The Base Installation

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partitions whatever space that is left on the drive can be divided up into

as many logical partitions as needed. The limit on logical partitions is only

constrained by the space on the disk.

Whether you are constructing a primary, or a logical partition, the total space

left on the device will be offered for the new partition. Simply type in a new

value to override the displayed size. Pressing enter to accept the value typed

will present the options: Beginning, End, and Cancel. The new partition

may be placed at either the beginning of the free space, or at the end of it, or

its creation can be canceled all together, by choosing the appropriate option.

A few suggestions:

  Create the root partition first, and make it a primary partition.

  Create the swap partition second. It too must be a primary partition.

  Create whatever additional primary or logical partitions are desired.

Whenever cfdisk creates a partition, it assumes that it will be a Linux partition

and creates it so. When creating a swap partition the FS (file system) type is

not correct. It should be a Linux Swap FS type. When the highlight bar rests

on a partition the options section of the screen looks like:

[Bootable] [ Delete ] [ Help ]

[Maximize] [ Print ]

[ Quit ]

[ Type ]

[ Units ] [ Write ]

While the up/down arrow keys move from one partition information line to

the next, the left/right arrow keys move the highlight bar from one option to

the next/previous one. In addition the first letter of the option will activate it

as well, so pressing the 't' key will allow the FS type to be changed. This will

display a list of all the allowed FS types. Typing the number of that FS type

will change the partition to the new type when enter is pressed. The correct

FS type for a swap partition is number 82, Linux Swap.