#239 Can't install, too many partitions

[JohnT]

I had a problem installing version 1.2 after having 1.1 installed and then installing Linux with several partitions (/boot, /, /usr, /usr/local and /home. My freedos 1.1 installation also has 4 partitions, I think, and other partitions may be listed because of several thumbdrives plugged in. Freedos 1.2 wouldn't install with all those partitions it was seeing. This sounds to me like an arbitrary limitation that needs to be removed, or considerably enlarged. And maybe the installer shouldn't even consider non-DOS and removable partitions in the count.

[Shidel]

Hi John, Sorry for the delay.

FreeDOS 1.2 is not limited to only 4 partitions. On some machines and virtual machines when supported, 1.2 will automatically partition an empty hard disk. Do to the behaviour of fdisk while auto-partitioning, this can sometimes result in a dozen or more partitions.

Since you are unable to create more than 4 partitons, something else is happening. My first though is the type (not format) of partition. Most partitioning schemes (like MBR), are limited to 4 primary partitions. More partitions can be created by changing one of the partition types to extended and placing additional partitions inside it. Basically, the extended partition acts as a wrapper to contain more normal partitions. Doing this allows a MBR partitioned drive to exceed the maximum of 4 primary partitions. I recommend converting you home partition into an extended partition.

Generally, this can be a pain and requires deleting a partition and loosing all of it's data. However, you may be able to occomplish the conversion using one of the advanced partitioning programs available. A GParted boot disc (or USB stick) may be able to help here.

Just make sure you BACKUP in case things get messed up.

[JohnT]

Thank you, Shidel, but creating partitions is NOT the problem. I would like to install on a disk that already has maybe 4 DOS partitions and probably 5 Linux partitions, plus whatever USB sticks happen to be plugged in at the moment. So when seeing 12-16 partitions, FreeDOS looks at the mess and tells me it can't install. The number of existing partitions shouldn't even be a factor in installing, only the factor that you specify the partition and it meets FreeDOS's boot requirements in addition to having enough space and a FreeDOS-compatible format. I am sure I'm not the only person who's got an old FreeDOS on a partition along with a Linux OS and maybe a Windows or FreeBSD installation, and would like to upgrade the FreeDOS. Getting rid of artificial limitations is so helpful.