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I am using disk utility to partition an external hard disk. My intention is to boot linux off of the partition. However, I am unsure of which format to make the partition. Disk Utility in OS X only allows Mac OS X Journaled, Mac OS X, FAT, exFAT, and free space.

Which one should I use?

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migrated from stackoverflow.com Sep 19 '11 at 19:24

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2 Answers

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You can keep it unformatted for now (or as you call 'free space' as your disk utility can not format it into ext2/3/4 which is typically used for Linux).

While you are installing Linux from a Live CD/DVD, it can be taken care by Installer (eg ubuntu Live CD can format the partition in one of many choices)

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When installing, I'd recommend ext4. – Rob Sep 19 '11 at 19:30
+1 for ext4, am using it on my SSD (with journaling disabled) as well as regular HDD – kunal Sep 19 '11 at 19:32
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Both the supported partition types (Superfloppy, DOS Primary, GPT) and bootable filesystems depend on your bootloader.

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