Got our new iMac (700/Combo) yesterday, and I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to split the drive into OSX and OS9 partitions. The only OS9 software we have now is for our scanner.
We upgraded from a 1991 Mac Classic and a 1993 LCII...
<strong>Got our new iMac (700/Combo) yesterday, and I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to split the drive into OSX and OS9 partitions. The only OS9 software we have now is for our scanner.
We upgraded from a 1991 Mac Classic and a 1993 LCII...
Thanks,
did</strong><hr></blockquote>
Welcome to AI and wow... thats a helluva leap!!!
Partitioning is useful (in my opinion) for 2 things. First I have partitioned my HD into one big 18gb section and one 2gb section (20GB total, duh). On the smaller partition I have installed a backup copy of MacOS 9 and main rescue utilities like Norton, TechTool, and DiskWarrior (a must). This is in case my main partition gets currupted, I can boot from my 'rescue' partition with using Boot CDs, etc.
Secondly you may want to have a second partition if you do a lot of beta testing. For example if you should, ahem, get your hands on a new release of MacOS X 10.2beta, you certainly dont want to just install it on your main partition... so you choose your 'backup' partition instead and play with that and dont need to care if it works properly or not.
Of course the bundled boot cds and stuff can be used in case of problems, but after using Macs for 9 years, I like to have my own personalized setup. If you are not a poweruser or have a specific need for a partitioned drive, there is no need to do so.
Regarding performance of having OS 9 on one partition and OS X on the other... its really a non issue. If you can move your SWAP file to another partition, well, thats different, things will speed up a bit. Go to <a href="http://www.macosxhints.com"; target="_blank">www.macosxhints.com</a> and there should be a section just on how to do that.
PS You can also want partitions if you want to set up RAID... but I dont think thats the case
This is great because, I can backup specific things to CD, like Documents. I can erase the whole Scrathpad when things get messy. I can Completely remove OS9+X with minimal disruption to my apps (Copy Extentions, Prefs, etc to scratchPad) and keep the AV drive really defragmented for multitrack recording. All my Textures remain in 1 partitiion for easy navigation.
I've found this really useful on occasions where Ive had to reinstall systems, (like when AOL completely screws to OS) and obviously keeps things really tidy.
BTW. All my OSX apps go into the OSX partition, as I use OS9 mostly, so think of it as a self contained partition. I s'pect most of you would have it the other way around, (But I still hate the Dock/Performance )
My principle in partitioning is that fewer partitions is better, so long as you can easily wipe and reinstall the OS if you need to.
If you ever need to reinstall OS X (say, to upgrade to OS X 10.2, or just to clean out the cruft that builds up), you'll obviously have to backup and reinstall everything else, too.
So your guide to partitioning should be how much of a bother it will be to reinstall the other stuff. Other stuff consists of:
Mac OS 9
home folders (preferences, documents, etc.)
applications (other than Apple apps)
big media files (mp3s, video files, digital pictures)
Of those, Mac OS 9 and the big media files are the biggest pain to reinstall. So, I make separate partitions for those.
OS 9: I could even give less to OS 9, say 1-3 gigs, depending on how many OS 9 apps you still use. If you're using just the scanner software, you'll be fine with ~1 gig.
OS X: This is my main partition, so I bump it up to ~10gigs. All my OS X apps, User folders, etc. live here.
I back up the home folders to CD regularly, so a clean install of OS X isn't a big problem. After experimenting, I found it was too much bother to put the User folders on a wholly separate volume.
I also keep all my apps in a separate MyApplications folder, to make it easier to backup and update these, separately from the Apple apps in /Applications.
Storage: If you wanted to reinstall OS X, it'd be a big pain to back up and reinstall 30+gigs of music, video, and pictures. So I keep these on a separate partition that can be backed up or wiped clean separate from OS X.
Years ago I did like MarcUK, with 7-8 partitions. However, I could never predict with precision how much room I'd later want for say, VirtualPC versus Media Applications versus Scratch. So I'd always end up putting files in the "wrong" partition anyway.
Also, more partitions means more wasted space: if you partition 6 gigs for Applications, but are only using 2 gigs, that's 4 gigs of space that could be going to your ever-expanding mp3 collection. If Applications and Music are just separate folders on the same disk, all that space is available to whatever use you want to put it.
<strong>You have 7 (seven) partitions? Wow! How big is your HD?
- T.I.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Here's a breakdown.
OSX 5GB (3.6 GB free)
AV 3GB (2 GB free)
SCRATCHPAD 1.5GB (0.5GB free)
TEXTURES 3GB (1.8GB Free)
DOCUMENTS 3GB (2.1 GB free)
APPLICATIONS 3GB (2.1 GB free)
MAC os9 1 GB (500MB Free)
that adds up to 19.5GB. Most y'all probably think im insane, But by God it works. And I dont fill up my HD with magazine demos, crap DL's or MP3. Most of my time is spent in C4d/Cubase/Photoshop/Canvas/here, apart from that im not using my mac just to kill time, and I keep it tidy and backed up for a reason.
I'd hate to be Loenis's Mac. All that crap he hoards in his dock. Just think what a mess his hard drive is. I'd be in there like a shot, flinging stuff into the trash. Better hope i never come to Canada, Leo
I'd hate to be Loenis's Mac. All that crap he hoards in his dock. Just think what a mess his hard drive is. I'd be in there like a shot, flinging stuff into the trash. Better hope i never come to Canada, Leo</strong><hr></blockquote>Just think what a mess his private life must be in . . .
Thanks for the breakdown. Most interesting.
- T.I.
BTW Leonis, I might just be putting in that T-shirt order soon . . .
MAC os9 1 GB (500MB Free)</strong><hr></blockquote>When you say, "APPLICATIONS", what do you actually put in there? Do you back up the applications from
<strong>I HADUltrasuperdeluxemeganoodle 4GB (~100MB free ), apps, system software (X and 9)...</strong><hr></blockquote>Do you just *back up* all X apps to that partition, or do you have them there *instead* of on the X partition? This is what puzzles me when people say they have an "Application Partition" partition. Thanks.
On my startup partition, Ultrasuperdeluxemeganoodle, I have an Applications folder with all of the default X applications as well as all of the applications I've added (i.e. Illustrator, Office, tons of freeware/shareware, etc), as well as Applications (Mac OS 9). On Scratch, the other partition, I've resorted to storing some of the larger applications (like Photoshop, and now a few Mozillas/Netscapes, for testing), because I fear I'll run out of disk space.
I just emptied my trash though, and it had a good 500MB that was being left in there each time I emptied because two stupid files in the "Help" directory of the "Documentation" that comes with the dev tools wouldn't delete. A good sudo rm -rf fixed them, though. So now I'm not quite so worried.
Hope that answers your question... if not, I really didn't understand what you meant.
<strong>When you say, "APPLICATIONS", what do you actually put in there? Do you back up the applications from
the Applications folder?
- T. I.</strong><hr></blockquote>
The Applications volume, is all my OS9 Apps that dont ship with the OS9 CD. Stuff like photoshop and cinema4d. To a large extent, this is done so that I can wipe the OS9 partition without having to reinstall the Apps. Sometimes this doesn't work, but if I copy the extentions/preferences/fonts over to the scratchpad before I wipe, I can usually recover missing specific files.
And to a large extent, things I consider SYSTEM functionality apps, like Acrobat/Netscape/IE/DVD player/CD player stay with the OS9 Partition.
Everything to do with OSX goes into the OSX partition, as Im still trying-X-out, not ready to switch yet.
<strong>The Applications volume, is all my OS9 Apps that dont ship with the OS9 CD. Stuff like photoshop and cinema4d.</strong><hr></blockquote>But do these apps not *have* to be in the "Applications" folder on the X-partition in order to work? How does this work? I am puzzled
Applications can exist happily anywhere on your partitions. They are installed into /Applications by default, but you are free to move them anywhere you want. The only problems occur when they are automatically updated through Software Update, which attempts to update into /Applications. That's a bug I'm sure is known by Apple to need remedying and are working on.
But apps work just the same as in 9. They are self-contained and can be copied and moved at will.
<strong>Applications can exist happily anywhere on your partitions. They are installed into /Applications by default, but you are free to move them anywhere you want. The only problems occur when they are automatically updated through Software Update, which attempts to update into /Applications. That's a bug I'm sure is known by Apple to need remedying and are working on.
But apps work just the same as in 9. They are self-contained and can be copied and moved at will.</strong><hr></blockquote>Thanks for that.
Just to be absolutely clear, I could be working away happily in my X-partition and then launch Photoshop 7 which resides in my say "Graphics" partition?
Comments
<strong>Got our new iMac (700/Combo) yesterday, and I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to split the drive into OSX and OS9 partitions. The only OS9 software we have now is for our scanner.
We upgraded from a 1991 Mac Classic and a 1993 LCII...
Thanks,
did</strong><hr></blockquote>
Welcome to AI and wow... thats a helluva leap!!!
Partitioning is useful (in my opinion) for 2 things. First I have partitioned my HD into one big 18gb section and one 2gb section (20GB total, duh). On the smaller partition I have installed a backup copy of MacOS 9 and main rescue utilities like Norton, TechTool, and DiskWarrior (a must). This is in case my main partition gets currupted, I can boot from my 'rescue' partition with using Boot CDs, etc.
Secondly you may want to have a second partition if you do a lot of beta testing. For example if you should, ahem, get your hands on a new release of MacOS X 10.2beta, you certainly dont want to just install it on your main partition... so you choose your 'backup' partition instead and play with that and dont need to care if it works properly or not.
Of course the bundled boot cds and stuff can be used in case of problems, but after using Macs for 9 years, I like to have my own personalized setup. If you are not a poweruser or have a specific need for a partitioned drive, there is no need to do so.
Regarding performance of having OS 9 on one partition and OS X on the other... its really a non issue. If you can move your SWAP file to another partition, well, thats different, things will speed up a bit. Go to <a href="http://www.macosxhints.com"; target="_blank">www.macosxhints.com</a> and there should be a section just on how to do that.
PS You can also want partitions if you want to set up RAID... but I dont think thats the case
[ 03-07-2002: Message edited by: ZO-WTF ]</p>
<a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000466"; target="_blank">http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000466</a>;
5 GB OS 9
5 GB OS X
30 GB Storage Area
I find less problems this way
<strong>I find fewer problems this way</strong><hr></blockquote>Why? Can you give reasons please? Thanks.
- T.I.
[ 03-08-2002: Message edited by: The Installer ]</p>
OS9
OSX
SCRATCHPAD-for junk, testing, etc
Applications
Documents
Textures-for 3d modelling
AV - For movies and sounds
This is great because, I can backup specific things to CD, like Documents. I can erase the whole Scrathpad when things get messy. I can Completely remove OS9+X with minimal disruption to my apps (Copy Extentions, Prefs, etc to scratchPad) and keep the AV drive really defragmented for multitrack recording. All my Textures remain in 1 partitiion for easy navigation.
I've found this really useful on occasions where Ive had to reinstall systems, (like when AOL completely screws to OS) and obviously keeps things really tidy.
BTW. All my OSX apps go into the OSX partition, as I use OS9 mostly, so think of it as a self contained partition. I s'pect most of you would have it the other way around, (But I still hate the Dock/Performance
<strong>Ive partitiioned mine into
OS9
OSX
SCRATCHPAD-for junk, testing, etc
Applications
Documents
Textures-for 3d modelling
AV - For movies and sounds</strong><hr></blockquote>You have 7 (seven) partitions? Wow! How big is your HD?
- T.I.
If you ever need to reinstall OS X (say, to upgrade to OS X 10.2, or just to clean out the cruft that builds up), you'll obviously have to backup and reinstall everything else, too.
So your guide to partitioning should be how much of a bother it will be to reinstall the other stuff. Other stuff consists of:
- Mac OS 9
- home folders (preferences, documents, etc.)
- applications (other than Apple apps)
- big media files (mp3s, video files, digital pictures)
Of those, Mac OS 9 and the big media files are the biggest pain to reinstall. So, I make separate partitions for those.OS 9: I could even give less to OS 9, say 1-3 gigs, depending on how many OS 9 apps you still use. If you're using just the scanner software, you'll be fine with ~1 gig.
OS X: This is my main partition, so I bump it up to ~10gigs. All my OS X apps, User folders, etc. live here.
I back up the home folders to CD regularly, so a clean install of OS X isn't a big problem. After experimenting, I found it was too much bother to put the User folders on a wholly separate volume.
I also keep all my apps in a separate MyApplications folder, to make it easier to backup and update these, separately from the Apple apps in /Applications.
Storage: If you wanted to reinstall OS X, it'd be a big pain to back up and reinstall 30+gigs of music, video, and pictures. So I keep these on a separate partition that can be backed up or wiped clean separate from OS X.
Years ago I did like MarcUK, with 7-8 partitions. However, I could never predict with precision how much room I'd later want for say, VirtualPC versus Media Applications versus Scratch. So I'd always end up putting files in the "wrong" partition anyway.
Also, more partitions means more wasted space: if you partition 6 gigs for Applications, but are only using 2 gigs, that's 4 gigs of space that could be going to your ever-expanding mp3 collection. If Applications and Music are just separate folders on the same disk, all that space is available to whatever use you want to put it.
hope that helps
mithras
[ 03-09-2002: Message edited by: Mithras ]</p>
<strong>
hope that helps
mithras
</strong><hr></blockquote>Interesting, and it sure does help. Thanks.
- T.I.
<strong>You have 7 (seven) partitions? Wow! How big is your HD?
- T.I.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Here's a breakdown.
OSX 5GB (3.6 GB free)
AV 3GB (2 GB free)
SCRATCHPAD 1.5GB (0.5GB free)
TEXTURES 3GB (1.8GB Free)
DOCUMENTS 3GB (2.1 GB free)
APPLICATIONS 3GB (2.1 GB free)
MAC os9 1 GB (500MB Free)
that adds up to 19.5GB. Most y'all probably think im insane, But by God it works. And I dont fill up my HD with magazine demos, crap DL's or MP3. Most of my time is spent in C4d/Cubase/Photoshop/Canvas/here, apart from that im not using my mac just to kill time, and I keep it tidy and backed up for a reason.
I'd hate to be Loenis's Mac. All that crap he hoards in his dock. Just think what a mess his hard drive is. I'd be in there like a shot, flinging stuff into the trash. Better hope i never come to Canada, Leo
<strong>
I'd hate to be Loenis's Mac. All that crap he hoards in his dock. Just think what a mess his hard drive is. I'd be in there like a shot, flinging stuff into the trash. Better hope i never come to Canada, Leo</strong><hr></blockquote>Just think what a mess his private life must be in . . .
Thanks for the breakdown. Most interesting.
- T.I.
BTW Leonis, I might just be putting in that T-shirt order soon . . .
<strong>
Here's a breakdown.
OSX 5GB (3.6 GB free)
AV 3GB (2 GB free)
SCRATCHPAD 1.5GB (0.5GB free)
TEXTURES 3GB (1.8GB Free)
DOCUMENTS 3GB (2.1 GB free)
APPLICATIONS 3GB (2.1 GB free)
MAC os9 1 GB (500MB Free)</strong><hr></blockquote>When you say, "APPLICATIONS", what do you actually put in there? Do you back up the applications from
the Applications folder?
- T. I.
Here's a breakdown
Ultrasuperdeluxemeganoodle 4GB (~100MB free
Scratch 35.9GB (30GB available), mp3s, videos, warez, pictures, webdesign stuff, a few huge apps, also functions as a scratch disk in PS
Looking back I could have made the first partition up to 8GB, and I should have. I'm running out of space for the Users stuff and Applications.
<strong>I HADUltrasuperdeluxemeganoodle 4GB (~100MB free
- T.I.
I just emptied my trash though, and it had a good 500MB that was being left in there each time I emptied because two stupid files in the "Help" directory of the "Documentation" that comes with the dev tools wouldn't delete. A good sudo rm -rf fixed them, though. So now I'm not quite so worried.
Hope that answers your question... if not, I really didn't understand what you meant.
<strong>When you say, "APPLICATIONS", what do you actually put in there? Do you back up the applications from
the Applications folder?
- T. I.</strong><hr></blockquote>
The Applications volume, is all my OS9 Apps that dont ship with the OS9 CD. Stuff like photoshop and cinema4d. To a large extent, this is done so that I can wipe the OS9 partition without having to reinstall the Apps. Sometimes this doesn't work, but if I copy the extentions/preferences/fonts over to the scratchpad before I wipe, I can usually recover missing specific files.
And to a large extent, things I consider SYSTEM functionality apps, like Acrobat/Netscape/IE/DVD player/CD player stay with the OS9 Partition.
Everything to do with OSX goes into the OSX partition, as Im still trying-X-out, not ready to switch yet.
<strong>The Applications volume, is all my OS9 Apps that dont ship with the OS9 CD. Stuff like photoshop and cinema4d.</strong><hr></blockquote>But do these apps not *have* to be in the "Applications" folder on the X-partition in order to work? How does this work? I am puzzled
- T.I.
But apps work just the same as in 9. They are self-contained and can be copied and moved at will.
<strong>Applications can exist happily anywhere on your partitions. They are installed into /Applications by default, but you are free to move them anywhere you want. The only problems occur when they are automatically updated through Software Update, which attempts to update into /Applications. That's a bug I'm sure is known by Apple to need remedying and are working on.
But apps work just the same as in 9. They are self-contained and can be copied and moved at will.</strong><hr></blockquote>Thanks for that.
Just to be absolutely clear, I could be working away happily in my X-partition and then launch Photoshop 7 which resides in my say "Graphics" partition?
- T.I.