some general questions

[tstamp]

Is this considered a rolling release since it uses Siduction repos?

Are codecs included in the install?

Coming from using Arch based lately, when partitioning is it suggested, ideal, or even necessary to have the following partitions when using Debian:
5GB var
5GB tmp

Just purchased an SSD (128GB) for the lappy, what filesystem or setup should I be using to minimize writes to the drive? Any other SSD hints and tips?

I am sure I shall have more questions later, but those are the ones on my mind right now.

[machinebacon]

Hi,

yes, Debian sid/siduction/aptosidcan be regarded as rolling.

You can play most media files - depending on the backend you use (gstreamer/xine/. Out of the box you will have no problems to play the standards (mp3, avi, flv, ogg and the like). It's generally no problem to install additional plugins if needed. mplayer2 should play everything without hiccups, though some users reported to have better experience with VLC (which can be installed from the repositories)

The separated var and tmp partitions seem to be Arch's recommendation. It's probably interesting if you want to keep your log files in /var. I think most of use use a single partition setup (or a separated /home) - that's what our installer supports.

About the SSD, there is a nice write-up over at siduction: http://siduction.org/index.php?module=n ... lay&sid=78
The Debian wiki is also quite thorough: http://wiki.debian.org/SSDoptimization

If you are unsure, just run the distro from a USB stick in Live mode and try if the basics you need are provided out of the box. You can of course install packages from the repos (keep in mind they get lost after a reboot). Before you do so, however, first update the package cache (the command is "upd")

Hope this helps :)

[tstamp]

Yes, I love VLC quite a bit. I'm pretty snobby when it comes to that one.

One thing I noticed during a trial install this afternoon was that during the autopartition phase, it suggested a single partition along with an 11GB swap. If I had been drinking something at the time, I would have shot it out my nose when I saw that one.

[machinebacon]

That's quite strange.

Which release did you try? Please launch the installer via terminal:

Code: Select all

gksudo live-installer

[tstamp]

Escargot 64

When I launched the install, it was from the menu (right click on dektop).

[machinebacon]

Can you do me a favour (when you have time) and boot into the session again, then post following info from terminal:

Code: Select all

fdisk -l
sudo blkid

11GB for swap is definitely not okay, good that you cancelled it.

[machinebacon]

Edit: I was wondering about what you wrote: "during the autopartition phase, it suggested a single partition along with an 11GB swap"
The installer does not/should not suggest a swap partition, but detects existing ones. Is it possible you have (accidentally) previously created a partition of 11GB space that was type 0x83 (swap)? Auto-partitioning or guided install (as known from Ubiquity, for example) is not supported with our installer. If in doubt, create a swap partition via gparted (that can be launched from the installer, too). 2GB should be more than enough nowadays.

[tstamp]

When I selected the option to install from the menu, and after selecting language if I recall correctly, it gets to the partition phase and asks if I want to go manual or have the system to partition. I chose to allow the system to do so and it made an 11GB swap and the remainder as ext4. I definitely remember it saying 11GB. The SSD was fresh no partitions.

[machinebacon]

I understand - it was an unpartitioned disk, so it wanted to assign something like 10% of the available space to swap.

Then it would be the best to use a small swap (2GB should be enough) and larger main partition(s) created following the howto I linked to before. The installer will then pick the geometry up. If it asks you how to format the drive, you can use ext4 or btrfs.
right-click on the partition

install5b.png (66.42 KiB) Viewed 3899 times

select edit and then folder and file system (ext4 or btrfs)

fs.png (13.56 KiB) Viewed 3899 times