Add Ubuntu to existing OSX SL installation

[stoffmann]

Hello,

 

i have an existing installation of OSX SL which is running very well. It's currently using the whole harddrive.

 

Is it possible to resize the partition, add a new partition and install Ubuntu as a second OS without having to reinstall OSX?

I found a lot of guides, but all of them would require a new installation of OSX.

 

Or ist there an other way?

 

Thanks for helping

[srs5694]

Yes, it's possible. It's easier (or at least there are more options) if you're using GUID Partition Table (GPT) as your disk partitioning system, rather than the Master Boot Record (MBR) system. This is because Apple's Disk Utility will resize HFS+ partitions on GPT disks, but not on MBR disks. You may need to boot into the installer to use Disk Utility from it, though; I'm not sure if Disk Utility can resize a partition that's currently in use, such as the current boot disk. Once that's done, you can create new partition(s) for Ubuntu (I recommend not using Disk Utility for this task, though; it's rather inflexible and a little flaky at times, in my experience) and install it.

 

If you're using the MBR partitioning system or if Disk Utility refuses to resize your OS X boot partition even on a GPT disk, I think that some builds of GParted under Linux will do the job, but I'm not positive of that. You could boot System Rescue Cd or PartedMagic and see if they'll do the job. (These are two Linux emergency discs, both of which include GParted.)

 

If these options all fail, you can always back up, resize the partition, create a new filesystem on it, and restore the backup. Personally, I use Carbon Copy Cloner for this sort of thing, but there are other tools that will work, too. Such an operation will be a bit tedious, but probably less so that re-installing from scratch.

 

Note that any partition resizing operation poses risks; if something goes wrong, it could trash your system. Thus, I recommend backing up before you try this, no matter what tool you use.

 

One other comment: If you're using MBR, it's possible to convert to GPT by using my GPT fdisk or gptgen (I've never used the latter, though, so I don't know how well it works). Both OS X and Linux work fine on GPT disks, so if those are your only two OSes, such a conversion should work well, although you'll probably have to re-install your boot loader. If your system also runs Windows, you'll have to create a hybrid MBR to have it continue to boot. GPT fdisk and gptsync can both do this.

[xxsonic2.0xx]

Hey, I am a college student video productions student and I need to learn Final Cut. I can't really afford a MACBook Pro at the moment so I was wondering if anyone knew If I could dual boot windows and Snow Leopard on my machine here are the specs.

 

Processor Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q8200¹ (2.33GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 4MB L2 cache)⁹ Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit) with SP1¹⁰ Memory 8192MB 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Memory (4 x 2048MB Modules)¹¹ Hard Drive 640GB 7200RPM SATA II hard drive with 16MB Cache⁵ Chassis Premium Tower Desktop with Media Control Interface Video NVIDIA® GeForce® GT120 Graphics with 1GB DDR2 Total Video Memory¹¹ Application Software Microsoft® Works 9.0, Microsoft® Money Essentials & Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 (60-day complimentary trial period)⁴ Audio 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio with Dolby Home Theater® Sound¹² Available Expansion Slots Available: 0 - PCI-E x16, 0 - PCI-E x1, 1 - PCI Digital Media Software Cyberlink® Power2 Go™, & Cyberlink® LabelPrint⁸ Dimensions (Box) 11.42" (H) x 23.68" (W) x 19.6" (D) or 290mm (H) x 602mm (W) x 498mm (D) Dimensions (System) 17.7" (H) x 7.5" (W) x 19.0" (D) or 449mm (H) x 191mm (W) x 482mm (D) External Ports (6) USB 2.0 ports (2 Front, 4 Rear), (2) IEEE 1394a Ports (1 Front, 1 Rear), VGA (Rear), (3) Front RCA Ports (Video, Left/Right Audio), (2) PS/2 Ports, HDMI (Rear), DVI (Rear) Keyboard Premium Multimedia Keyboard Media Card Reader 15-in-1 High Speed Digital Media Card Reader with Smart Copy Button⁶ Memory Capacity Maximum 8GB Modem 56K ITU V.92 ready Fax/Modem (RJ-11 port) Motherboard Systemboard with NVIDIA® nForce® 720i Chipset (MCP7A-D) Mouse USB Optical 2-Button Wheel Mouse Network 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port) Optical Drive 18X DVD +/- RW Super Multi-Format Dual Layer Drive featuring Labelfash™ Technology⁸ Power Supply 400W Power Supply

P.S. I tried to post a new topic but it wouldn't allow it.