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I have a desktop (8 GiB RAM) and installed Ubuntu in the standard way (erase disk and install Ubuntu - nothing else ;-)). But it kept booting in windows... finally - as a newbie - I understand the desktop has a ssd and hdd drive...

Anyway, after reading the following:

  1. How would I install Ubuntu with two hard drives
  2. https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/installing-ubuntu-two-hard-drives

I need the desktop for QGis and data/pictures and I intend to use the ssd drive (120 GiB) for booting Ubuntu (quick start) and the hdd drive (1 TB) for data (I don't want a dual boot with Windows). Right now I am checking how both drives are partitioned. This is confusing to me and before deleting all those partitions and making new ones I would like your advice.

From Ubuntu on a bootable usb stick (with GParted) I get this information about both hard drives:

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and I plan to take the following actions according to the linuxjournal article:

On /dev/sdb 120 GiB (SSD drive with UEFI mode)

  1. delete all existing partitions
  2. create a new partition
  3. On this root drive I will create the boot drive (primary, ext4) and select “/boot” as the mount point for this partition as well.
  4. next I will set up a swap area (12 GiB because of the 8 GiB RAM)
  5. Rest of this drive will do for the root partition and mount point '/'

On /dev/sda (HDD drive of 1 TB)

  1. delete all existing partitions
  2. create a new partition
  3. create a home partition with size = All remaining free space, type for the new partition = Primary, location for the new partition = Beginning, use as = EXT4 journaling file system and mount point = /home

Finally, my questions are

  1. Is the above plan acceptable (no serious mistakes)?
  2. Is this re-partitioning best done when I start installing Ubuntu with the bootable usb stick (as in the linuxjournal article) or is better done at forehand with GParted?

Update: I just read a article were they speak about a (U)EFI partition of 512 MB. See https://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-linux-tips/split-ubuntu-between-hdd-ssd/ The Linuxjournal article does not mention that...

Amedee
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1 Answers1

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This has got be a duplicate, but things change every release, so I'll just mention some new things not in the docs yet. Here are some links from a quick Google search:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1311540/how-would-i-install-ubuntu-with-two-hard-drives
https://askubuntu.com/questions/118290/setup-for-dual-disk-ssdhdd-with-home-partition
https://askubuntu.com/questions/52286/how-do-i-symlink-certain-directories-in-home-to-an-ssd?rq=1
https://askubuntu.com/questions/258259/advantages-of-separate-home-partition-on-hdd-ssd-setup
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstallingANewHardDrive

Documentation
https://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=428


Tutorials
https://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=100


https://help.ubuntu.com/community
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation

Definitely do not bother with 22.10, it only has a few more months support. Choose 22.04 for 4 years support or 23.10 for 9 months support, but better installation support for a second disk. Of course, if you remove the "other" disk when installing 22.04, that eliminates most problems.

Using /home on a single release is fine, but if you decide to have multiple Ubuntu boots (22.04 and 23.04 for instance), keep the separate /usr/home/ directories for each and use symlinks to a mounted data partition -- that way the hidden "dot" config files in your home will be kept separate for each release.

ubfan1
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