Boot loader error during installation of OpenSUSE 11.3

Question

I want to install openSUSE on my new laptop. I partition my hard drive (600gb) with 5 parts:

c: 97gb d: 150gb e: 150gb f: 100gb g: 50gb and 38gb unallocated part

In the openSUSE installation, the yast makes a 2gb for swap 14gb = root , 21 gb = home, but in Installation Overview under Booting has a red error:

 the Boot loader Installed On a Partition that does not Lie Entirely Blew 128 GB .The system maight Not Boot;

What`s the meaning of this error?

Answer 1

That means that you don't have a separate boot partition. Instead the /boot is under /, the root partition. It also means that /boot is very far from the beginning of the disk.

Various systems may have problems when /boot is too high on a disk. Since your /boot is under /, it is on the end of the drive. Error simply warns you that /boot may be too high on a disk and that such position could cause problems.

In general, best way to do partitioning is to have a small boot partition at the beginning of the disk and mount it under /boot. This way the root partition may be anywhere.

The error is there because BIOSes have limits on position of boot partitions. There is a nice article here which explains several limitations which were common on BIOSes. Today, computers shouldn't have such problems, but it is always better to err on the safe side.