Bug 1057376 - unclear how to specify destination disk for a partition
Summary: unclear how to specify destination disk for a partition
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED NOTABUG
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: anaconda
Version: 20
Hardware: Unspecified
OS: Unspecified
unspecified
unspecified
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Anaconda Maintenance Team
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2014-01-23 22:58 UTC by Alexander van Loon
Modified: 2014-06-19 09:30 UTC (History)
7 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2014-01-24 18:53:34 UTC
Type: Bug
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)
Screenshot of the button for the configure mountpoint dialog (91.69 KB, image/png)
2014-01-23 22:58 UTC, Alexander van Loon
no flags Details
Screenshot of the dialog for selecting the mountpoint (86.10 KB, image/png)
2014-01-23 22:58 UTC, Alexander van Loon
no flags Details

Description Alexander van Loon 2014-01-23 22:58:14 UTC
Created attachment 854624 [details]
Screenshot of the button for the configure mountpoint dialog

I installed Fedora 20 on my box which has an SSD and a HDD. Because of this I naturally decided against using LVM: I wanted / and /boot on the SSD and the rest of the partitions – especially the swap partition – on the HDD so writes to the SSD would be minimal. As an experienced Fedora user I've previously always used LVM and it was hard to figure out how this new setup was to be accomplished with Anaconda. For the whole story see http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?p=1684023 or read on for a summary.

By default Anaconda placed the swap partition on my SSD as soon as it was created. I saw no way to change this, until I noticed the obscure button for the mounpoint dialog. This dialog allows users to specify on which disk the partition should be created.

This process could be more user friendly: ask which disk should be used as soon as the user creates a new partition. This way the option can't be missed and the process is more easy and efficient. If the question is integrated in the options for creating the new partition, the separate button for selecting the mountpoint can be removed.

For illustrative purposes I've included two screenshots. Unfortunately I had to take these on a different computer with just one hard disk.

Comment 1 Alexander van Loon 2014-01-23 22:58:59 UTC
Created attachment 854625 [details]
Screenshot of the dialog for selecting the mountpoint

Comment 2 David Shea 2014-01-24 18:53:34 UTC
Custom partitioning was changed to its current top-down model in order to place the emphasis on mount points instead of the disks they reside on. This was found to be much clear to the majority of users, and advanced options like disk selection are still available for users who need them. This is not the place to discuss the design of anaconda.

Comment 3 Alexander van Loon 2014-01-24 22:54:54 UTC
I don't consider disk selection to be an 'advanced' option, I'd say it was quite essential in my use case. And what would be the appropriate place to discuss Anaconda's design?

Comment 4 Bob Gustafson 2014-06-18 17:28:47 UTC
Yes, where is the appropriate place to discuss Anaconda's design.

Particularly when it comes to RAID, bios and BTRFS partitions.

And gpt partition tables.

Comment 5 Martin Kolman 2014-06-19 09:30:03 UTC
(In reply to Bob Gustafson from comment #4)
> Yes, where is the appropriate place to discuss Anaconda's design.
> 
> Particularly when it comes to RAID, bios and BTRFS partitions.
> 
> And gpt partition tables.

The anaconda-devel list is usually used for discussion Anaconda's design:
http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/anaconda-devel-list


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