mac partitioning scheme

Discussion in 'macOS' started by silverwhalle, Mar 3, 2010.

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  1. silverwhalle, Mar 3, 2010

    silverwhalle macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2008
    Location:
    seoul
    #1
    i'm plaining to reinstall mac osx. to make change in partition of disk.
    i'm linux user. so i usually separate / and /home on different partions.
    because it make it easy to backup datas with remaining /home untouched when installing linux just in cases.
    files in /home will be saved and not only original files but backuped files.
    unless diskfail happen, datas in that directory is permanent.

    and now i'm seeking workaround for mac. because mac osx become my first OS. and i'm making mac osx my main system. linux is second and windows for banking is third.

    for that reason, i've searched internet and read some articles. they said to make simlink to /User. but i found out that simlinked /User leads some applications unworkable.

    separating file systems is not recommended on mac? it's not supported?
    if so, how can i save files when reinstalling mac? just use external disks or
    back up files at web hard? it's inconvenience and not acceptable to me, i'm using dropbox a forum user recommended though...

    yea.. i know mac or linux based on unix is stable and not easily broken down.
    but i usually do something on OS very often. i make a plan for that.
    thanks for reading my thread.
     
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  2. maflynn, Mar 3, 2010

    maflynn Moderator

    maflynn

    Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 3, 2009
    Location:
    Boston
    #2
    Correct apple wants you to keep everything on a single volume. That's not to say you cannot do it, but its not recommended.

    Some applications in the past have also balked at having your home directory on a different drive then your system. I go with simplicity and keep it on a single drive.

    If I need to reinstall the OS, I just choose archive and install option and that retains my home folder and applications.
     
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  3. larkost, Mar 3, 2010

    larkost macrumors 6502a

    Joined:
    Oct 13, 2007
    #3
    You can move your home folder off the boot partition, but it is really not worth it. Linux often does this because linux admins come from a school of thought that is appropriate when you have hundreds of users on a system. And MacOS X does support this (but symlinking is the wrong way, you need to change the actual location in your user record).

    But for a single user system this is really overkill, and you will wind up regretting it because you will have made the wrong choices in partitioning (it does not matter what they were, they will wind up wrong). In most cases even linux setups are now defaulting to single partition setups (sometimes with a separate swap file).
     
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  4. silverwhalle, Mar 8, 2010

    silverwhalle thread starter macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2008
    Location:
    seoul
    #4
    k.. when i need to reinstall mac osx, i'll try it, it seems to need more spaces to use though..

    no.. i don't think so.. even for a single user system that's good idea. read my post again so you can see it.

    anyway, i've completed partitioning like below:
    1. disk0s1 EFI 200
    2. disk0s2 Mac OSX 10.5 70G
    3. disk0s3 Fedora 11 8G
    4. disk0s5 /home 8G
    5. disk0s6 ext3 for LFS system
    6. disk0s4 windows xp

    haha.. it's perfect to me.
     
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  5. Hal Itosis, Mar 8, 2010

    Hal Itosis macrumors 6502a

    Hal Itosis

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2010
    #5
    I'm not one who has done this, nor am i overly familiar with Linux.

    As far as relocating a user's home, here is an article on a different matter...

    "Changing the short username in Leopard"

    ...however, it does show (and describes) the System Prefs --> Accounts ‘Advanced Options’ dialog, wherein a Home Directory can also be changed. I have no idea what sort of logistical consequences that might cause, but at least it's a method that seems to be provided by Apple.
     
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