Author: Michael Maher
Email Address of author: mike@redhat.com
Web Page (if applicable): http://www.redhat.com
Date: Jan 20, 1998
One-line summary of topic\question: Partition Magic working with LILO.

Version of RedHat Linux answer is applicable to:
Red Hat Linux/Intel

Fully qualified question (if applicable):
What is Partition Magic and how do I use it safely with LILO.

-Related Links: http://www.powerquest.com

-Answer:

Note:  This FAQ is based on PartitionMagic 3.0, Windows95, Red Hat Linux 5.0 
       software used in conjunction with supported hardware listed at 
       http://www.redhat.com/hardware.

The most common boot manager for Red Hat Linux is the infamous LILO 
(Linux Loader).  However many people don't realize that they do have
alternatives.  One of these alternatives is a product called
PartitionMagic by Power Quest, http://www.powerquest.com.  Dual booting
users of Windows95 and NT may be more familiar with this product that
enhances the use of Windows partitions and makes their management easier.

The PartitionMagic utility program was originally used to dual boot OS/2
and Microsoft operating systems in multiboot environments which makes this
program very attractive for the potential Red Hat Linux hobbyist.  
The utility program is installs simply, is easy to use, and gives a
a piece of mind to those that don't like writing over their MBR.  

Most modern systems, prior to installing Linux, usually  
have a 1 to 2 GIG harddrive which has Windows95 installed on it. 
Usually this copy of Windows95 will be placed in one giant partition 
on the drive which will require shuffling of system resources before 
installing Linux.  PartitionMagic will make this simple.

This leads up to installing PartitionMagic.  Prior to installing,  
PartitionMagic requires either Windows95, Windows 3.x, NT, MSDOS, or OS/2
and 8MB of Harddrive space.  Consult the PartitionMagic documentation for
more information on what steps to take to install on any of the listed
operating systems. 

The first step to take is to resize or shrink your current partition.
Keep in mind that a full installation of Red Hat Linux requires 550 Megs.
While the average user doesn't need this much installed, many people install 
using the "everything" option, so assume 550 Megs.   This requires shrinking
the partition to about half.  PartitionMagic will do this safely for you
from the Pop-up Menu in Windows95.  After starting PartitionMagic from the 
Windows95 desktop, click on the partition that needs resizing.  Simply
selecting the partition and clicking on 'resize' should start up another
menu where there is an arrow button depicting the size and space used.
This will leave a large space called 'Free Space' in PartitionMagic.
Clicking on this free space and selecting 'Install Boot Manager' from the
Boot Manager menu will bring up a menu.  Even though this menu has two 
choices, the 'End of free space' option is the only valid choice.
This will install the Boot Manager to the disk.

After doing this, the preferences should be set.  'Preferences' is also an 
option that is listed in the Boot Manager menu.   The menu delay and mode
are set from this option and can be customized to fit the system's needs.

Now bootable partitions can be added using 'Add to Boot Manager Menu' which 
allows bootable partitions to be placed on the startup menu.  The partition
to be added must first be selected before choosing this option.  Any name can 
be given up to 8 characters long to represent the choice on the startup menu.

Create two partitions using PartitionMagic.  For Linux a swap partition and i
native partition need to be created.  A swap partition should be between 
32 and 64 megs.  The rest of the space can be used for the Linux native
partition.  The 'Create' option is available from the 'Partitions' section of
the main menu.  The 'Partition Type' for these partitions should be
'Unformatted'.  The large 'Unformatted' partition should be added using the
previous steps of 'Add to Boot Manager Menu'.  This partition should be called 
'Linux' even though it's not installed yet.

After doing this, reboot and install Linux(a whole other set of HOWTO's :-)
The Red Hat Linux 5.0 installation will request 'types' to be set for these two
'Unformatted' partitions with the disk partitioning program called Disk Druid.
More information on doing this is available in the manual, but should be self
explanatory to add the 'swap' and '/' partitions.  

There is however one main difference to a typical installation;  
The last step of the installation will ask where LILO is to be installed.
To work with PartitionMagic and not destroy it, it must be installed on the 
root partition.  This option is the second option of the final screen.
At this time, the system should be operational and can be rebooted after
removing the installation media.  When the boot prompt now appears, the
'Linux' partition will be active and boot Red Hat Linux 5.0.

