How bad is my partitioning?
from Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml to linux@lemmy.ml on 29 Jul 02:41
https://lemmy.ml/post/33819322
from Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml to linux@lemmy.ml on 29 Jul 02:41
https://lemmy.ml/post/33819322
I just got a new laptop and installed Linux on it. I mainly run OpenSUSE.
Getting full encryption on both was a bit of a challenge and I had no idea what I’m doing. Will having the swap partition in the middle break things? Did I really need so many partitions (Mint and OpenSUSE don’t show up in eachother’s boot menu)?
I’m probably not gonna change this layout (because reinstallation seems like a pain) unless the swap partition’s position is a problem. I’m just curious how many mistakes I made.
EDIT: I’m not upgrading my drive capacity. I do not need it.
threaded - newest
I think the partitioning itself is fine, but I wouldn’t have 3 operating systems on a 256 GB NVMe, because I’d be running out of space a lot.
if you won’t ever use Windows, you can nuke it. Then I’d consider making one of the Linux ones a VM - if you’re trying out that distro. That will cut down 12 partitions to 5.
Lastly, you can look into btrfs to make better use of space between (the current) p11 and p12: you can make them subvolumes that won’t eat up each other’s storage when not in use.
I’m only have about 20GB of files so I think I’ll be fine on space.
I’m keeping Windows 11 around in case I need it for … IDK taxes (though I don’t have secureboot enabled because [points to image above]). A VM won’t work for the Mint one, I need it separate for reasons I won’t go into.
Btrfs was installed in default but I only know how to do full-disk encryption on ext4. Apparently btrfs doesn’t have built-in support for it. I really liked how it was neatly organized into subvolumes but alas.
Get a bigger drive. Swapping them out on modern laptops is often quite easy. Grab a copy of the manual or search for videos if you want to know more. Replacement 1tb nvme drives can be quite cheap these days, 2tb ones aren’t especially price prohibitive either.
This is the way, there were instances where M$ updates removed the Linux Boot options. So its better to keep them separated. Also a Malware on one system could infect the others.
Why would I get a larger drive when I have zero need for more space? That’d be like buying a huge American-style car because other cars make me feel insecure.
The need for a larger vehicle might not arise from one week to the next, but the need for more gigabytes can. Windows 11 will happily eat up its entire partition next time it decides to update.
That said, as I type from my computer with only a 60 GB SSD, just make sure you have a plan for when that storage runs out.
Time to clone and delete the Windows partition.
This is less like buying a bigger car and more like upgrading the stereo in the car - 256GB in 2025 is somewhat akin to having only AM radio, and I’ve found it gets annoying real fast when doing anything serious.
I would hesitate to put anything smaller than 1 TB in something that’s supposed to be a daily driver.
Tax software is basically all in browser at this point.
I’m an accounting graduate, so yes. Most things should be in a browser really, since generally a webpage can’t give you malware.
If it works, it works. Unless you’re working in Espionage, anything is honestly fine as long as your main storage is encrypted. The boot loader exploits still can’t unencrypt things, just allow access to the data, which…still can’t be decrypted as as we know.
It’s fine.
I should probably work out how to set up secureboot someday.
Never more in my life have I wanted to send a stranger a larger hard drive.
The laptop it’s replacing also bad just 256gb of storage.
I recommend that you take a look at LVM. It can help you manage your partitions without much planning beforehand.
I’m averse to installing things that don’t come with my distro. More software means more risk of a malicious update (which is the greatest security threat I face). Also seems a bit hacky so I’d be worried it’d cause instability. Plus I’m just not that technical.
Well, good news then: lvm comes with most modern linux distros. In fact, it is an option you can enable when installing linux mint.
I use it on every system that I run (workstations and servers) and never had any issues.
It really just makes partition management way easyer: With normal partitions you cannot grow any partition without moving all other partitions after it. LVM can do it without touching anything else.
The best case for semthing like this is when you buy bigger ssd. You can copy the data with dd and then grow any and partitions that you want without hassle.
Why don’t you delete windows
I am afraid that in the future something I need will require Windows 11. Whether that be interacting with the government or maybe if I go back to university.
VM might be enough
Depends whether they’ll start using TPM in combination with kernel-level anti-cheat to ensure you don’t use AI in an exam or something. I don’t know what the future holds and barely understand what a TPM does.
At some point if they have ridiculous restrictions one might consider … doing the test in person, in a room provided by the actual school or that THEY provide the hardware.
Anyway IMHO the bigger point is that a lot of my own inaction (I won’t speak for others) came from fear of problems that rarely, if ever, materialized. I would recommend to move on and if the problem does actually arise then consider solutions at that point.
I uninstalled Windows on my SSD years ago (despite paying for it, forced by OEM deals), didn’t regret it once. In fact, I wear it as a “badge of honor” with pride. When someone tells me I “have” to use Windows for whatever reason, I tell them I can’t and that usually leads to interesting conversations.
Yeah I’ll probably try to work out how to back it up. Don’t want to have to give Microsoft money though so I’ll clone it and store it on a USB.
I imagine legally speaking, if you care for that, the license key is enough but depends on your jurisdiction, if you care for this kind of things. That said as the pace OS deprecates doubt it’d be useful.
Lost my license key anyway. Goodbye forever Windows 11.
Why would they require TPM??? Or kernel level anti cheat? This isn’t a game.
To prevent cheating, or to verify identity. IDK. As mentioned I barely understand what those things do.
Can emulate TPM
also kernel level anti cheat is for video games
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Can’t speak to your exact machine but nowadays the license tends to be tied to the hardware.
If you are capable of manual partitioning then you should be able to reinstall Windows quickly if needed.
I got this laptop
I guess I could reinstall Windows, I really hate the idea of running the Windows 11 installer though.
Tbh I will usually simply swap out the OEM drive for a bigger and faster (and typically cheaper than the OEM upgrade option, per size) one the second I unbox it (optionally, go through the setup process before taking it out, so it’s ready to go next time you want to plug it in). This lets you not waste space on that “rainy day” contingency (which I’ve almost never actually needed). The one exception (and I keep a dedicated laptop around for this) is automotive diagnostic suites with proprietary USB hardware - I’ve got an old thinkpad still running windows 7. XP would honestly be better, because a lot of that shit doesn’t like “new” versions of windows.
I do not need more space. I need 25GB per Linux system and 64GB for Windows (which I’m going to backup anyway), plus 20GB of data.
I may keep Windows 10 on my Desktop too. It’s nowhere near as scary as Windows 11.
Ok, sure, you do you. Simply offering a way to do this that works well for me.
Problem for me is, I don’t know how to install windows. Especially onto a partition of 70gb instead of whole disk
It should be possible to grab the license key before you wipe it. You could also copy it into an external drive and store it away as is
I’m not sure the refurbisher I got my laptop from even gave Windows a license key. It kept bugging me to create an account to fully activate it or something, I should boot into it to check but the thought of opening up Windows 11 just gives me the creeps.
EDIT: They did give me a license. It was just Windows being Windows.
Virt-manager can run windows in a vm
Looks like it’s included in Ubuntu too, so I think I’ll use that (I’m changing to Kubuntu after yet again needing to find missing packages).
I too think you should remove windows. But if you don’t want to, take a clonezilla image of your hard drive now. Store it somewhere else of course. You then can always recover if this scheme gets weird.
Its the first thing I do when I get a new laptop. Then wipe windows. Then install Linux. If I have hardware issues I can simply restore windows for warranty.
In any case, I would pick one of those two Linux to be a primary. You don’t want to get rid of mint or make it a VM. Ok third option: distrobox it.
I probably should somehow get rid of Windows 11. It doesn’t deserve to stay installed just because I might need it and have to reluctantly use it in 2027-2028. I’m not gonna change the partitioning system anytime soon unless the swap partition position is problematic.
You just got a new laptop and it has 250 GB of disk space?? Are you mad???
My Pendrive has 256 GB!
I was looking for: Cheap, used, 1920p display, AMD CPU, 16gb RAM, presence of SSD, Linux bluetooth drivers, at least 2 USB ports, and a non-American brand. Storage capacity is something I’d only really care about on my gaming computer (or if I was still engaging in piracy).
You have swap, which is pointless in this day and age, and will just burn a hole in the flash and delay the OOM killer doing its work. Look at ntfsresize to shrink that Windows partition down to the minimum. Then maybe image the partitions and obliterate them from the SSD. Use LVM instead to give yourself future flexibility. 1TB NVMe SSDs are so cheap these days they might as well put them in boxes of cereal.
You can set the swappiness so that RAM gets filled before SWAP. You need it if your RAM isn’t large enough for the stuff you want to do. You also need it for Hibernation to be the same or larger size like your RAM. Without it you can only suspend. You MUST use encrypted SWAP if you want to be really secure since otherwise your encryption key might be written onto your Nvme.
The common misconception that swap is pointless stems from misunderstanding what it’s supposed to do. You shouldn’t be triggering the OOM killer frequently anyway. In the much more normal case where you’re only using some of your RAM for running applications, the rest is used as a filesystem cache/buffer. Having swap space available gives your OP the option to evict stale application memory from RAM rather than the filesystem cache when that would be the optimal choice to make.
This page explains it detail: chrisdown.name/2018/01/…/in-defence-of-swap.html
Why keep the windows partition if you don’t use it?
In case I need it in some scenario which I can’t even conceive of.
Troubleshooting for friends or getting paid for playing a kernel level game in my case.
Well, I’m not doing that.
Virtual Machine.
My laptop came with Windows 11, I nuked it and installed Linux before even booting lol.
Could I preserve the activation key the refurbisher provided doing that (I’m gonna google whether I can anyway)?
I really don’t know, sorry.
that’s a good question and I’m not sure. Worth it to find out, but personally I don’t dual boot with Windows. I just have my main linux install and use a virtual machine. I never have needed to use a windows virtual machine but it would be interesting if I could activate it with the copy that came with my laptop.
Unless that copy is registered to my microsoft account? I have no idea that’s how much I try to avoid windows now
The pain of keeping it around will outweigh the pain of needing it and not having it.
Quick boot into windows to help a friend test something on your machine?
And suddenly, that’s where you’ll be spending the whole afternoon. I agree with the others who say a VM is probably good enough.
I absolutely do not trust Windows 11 to be a good dual-boot citizen so I’m going to remove it. Gonna replace OpenSUSE with Kubuntu so I’ll do it then.
Are you able to install a second SSD in your laptop? If you really need to keep it around, it’s best practice to have Windows on its own physical drive.
Or if it’s feasible, make your old laptop your dedicated Windows machine.
My old laptop doesn’t have a TPM or Secureboot (or a working CTRL key). So that idea’s out.
I’ll try and put it on a VM, not sure whether that’ll preserve my key though.
Swap on an ssd greatly accelerates the time before the drive fails. I would recommend removing it.
I don’t believe this is true, but since I don’t need hibernation I’m going with a swap file anyway.
Solid state drives have a finite number of write cycles. Using a portion of it for random access MASSSIVELY increases the amount of write cycles that are performed in regular operation.
Swap and RAM are not the same thing. Swap is not written to as carelessly as RAM.
None are game-breaking! You can just note these down for next time you have the itch to tinker.
You do want windows EFI separate as it occasionally likes to turf the Linux efi entries. With opensuse it will probe foreign OS and add chainloader entries to point to the other EFI bootloaders. You set the OpenSUSE to load first and choose mint or windows from the grub menu
Sorry for the late reply, I didn’t have time this week to look into what a swapfile was and I delayed my response until I did. I will definitely be using a swap file since I do not ever use hibernation and encrypting my swap partition seems like a hassle.
I’m currently reinstalling things (after accidentally bricking the Windows partition and finding myself dissatisfied with openSUSE). Hopefully with just 4 partitions total (EFI, Kubuntu encrypted, Mint Xfce encrypted, data). I am removing the /boot from each because unless I’m leaving /boot unencrypted there’s no reason to separate it out. Unfortunately encrypting /boot means GRUB doesn’t detect it automatically in the Kubuntu installer so I’m still working out how to correct that.
Is the swap space unencrypted? If so it could potentially weaken overall system encryption
Nope. I’m just now realizing that I need to do that.
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Looked it up and that’s wrong. An SSD doesn’t wear-level based on the partitions but on a firmware level.
Yep, you’re right. I’ll delete my previous comment. Seems like my info was like 15+ years out of date.
I really don't think 60 GB will be enough for daily use unless you have your home folder on a separate drive, which it doesn't seem is the case from your screenshot.
I have mine on a separate drive and my system partition (150 GB) is half-full. Is there a reason for your 25 GB per Linux installation rule?
25GB is what Ubuntu says is the minimum, and I’m extrapolating that to all distros. Windows says 64GB. I’d be surprised if I need more than 64GB per Linux install with just software installs.
Minimum is just an indicator of what will actually work, but it’s not gonna last.
I have 60GB for Mint and 90GB for OpenSUSE. 25GB is just a reference point.
So you don’t plan on installing any additional packages or downloading anything off the internet?
I have 60GB for Mint and 90GB for OpenSUSE. 25GB is just a reference point.
Again, so you don’t plan on installing anything extra or downloading stuff off the web? Lol.
I tried running arch in about 115GB of space, it wasn’t too bad but I had my /home directory on a separate drive. There’s no way I could get away with my OS+Home Directories on something as laughably small as that, unless I was just testing for a few weeks.
If I run out of space I’ll just wipe and reinstall. Simple.
What’s the point then? Just to try each one for a few weeks to pick the one you like the most? In that case, it makes sense
I would seriously advise you to double it to 50 GB each if you're intending to use these installs for more than web browsing and simple tasks using the packages that came with the distro. The exception to this would be if you have external drives/partitions that you're mounting into system directories (like your 20 GB of shared storage) because that data is obviously stored elsewhere.
The minimum requirements are for the installation and basic use of the operating system as-is; actually using the system and installing other packages will generally require more space.
I have 60GB for Mint and 90GB for OpenSUSE. 25GB is just a reference point.
nuke it 😎
I would create another couple of efi partitions, just to confuse attackers more
Is there any reason? You’re effectively wasting half the drive by using that space for OSes you almost never use.
If you ever happen to need Windows, which I don’t see happening as you yourself can’t imagine an actual use case, you can just go to the library or borrow a friend’s computer or maybe use your phone.
As for Mint, do you just have it to experiment with? If you’re just trying to try out other distros, a virtual machine or even live USBs are much easier ways to quickly try out new systems without having to clear actual partitions.
If you had much more storage then sure, waste some of it, but you’re really gonna be missing that 120gb if you use your computer for… basically anything.
The order of the partitions basically doesn’t matter at this point – I think having a boot partition first used to be important for MBR schemes but I’m pretty sure in the UEFI era you can have them in whatever order. As others have mentioned, you could combine your EFI partitions, but doing so to an already installed system is slightly complex. You also could shrink some of your EFI and boot partitions, I’m not sure of the recommended sizes off the top of my head but I think they could be smaller. On the other hand, your swap partition should probably be bigger – making it the same size as your RAM is a good rule of thumb and will enable hibernation (I think).
Yep, gonna clone and delete Windows 11.
Library might work.
I’m using Mint for sensitive matters, I want to keep it separate from my daily driver.
I’ll basically just be using this laptop for web-browsing.
I don’t really use hibernation. I’ll need to enable swap encryption though.
If you don’t plan to expand the swap partition, I would recommend just deleting the swap partition – you could either make it a new ext4 and use LVM to combine it with the shared storage, or if you’re going to combine your EFI partitions you could grow your Mint partition to include both the SUSE EFI and the swap partition – and using a swap file instead, as another commenter mentioned. You honestly really don’t need swap space regardless with 16gb of RAM if you’re really just using this to run a web browser, but you can easily set up a swap file if you want one.
Some of the responses I got were about how the swap partition is useless, and someone else replied to them that they were wrong. I haven’t responded to these people because I don’t yet understand who’s right. I’ll use a swap file or just no swap altogether once I check for myself if the anti-swap people are nutters. I assume temporary files aren’t saved to swap but instead to temp so I can’t imagine what it’s used for on an SSD.
I found yet another thing I’d need to manually install with OpenSUSE Leap (and at that point I may aswell use Arch with all it’s documentation glory). I didn’t have any of these issues with Ubuntu-based distros so I’m doing a fresh install with Kubuntu.
I’m gonna LVM it with two distros and a shared data partition.
Why would you clone it first? Just nuke it if you don’t plan on using it. It has no value. You can always install it from scratch.
Doesn’t matter anyway. It wouldn’t fit on my USB so I shrunk the partition and now my copy of Windows 11 is bricked.
<img alt="Scared" src="https://startrek.website/pictrs/image/1b6bff32-abe7-4dd4-a0b4-e9d7107abd27.apng">
On a more serious note, as others have said, you’ll probably burn through these weird storage limitations quickly.
Also, what do you mean by “sensitive matters” on Mint? Because almost any way you spin it, I feel like it’s not a great idea:
Also, as I said in another comment here, please upgrade that drive before you put a lot of data on it. If you don’t and you run out of storage later (a near-certainty on 256GB), you’ll have to go through the effort of getting everything copied, which may include equipment purchases and several hours of your time when you could jut do it right now while your important files are still small enough to fit on a flash drive right now. Save yourself the future trouble.
Anyhow, I wish you happy Linux usage.