I’m currently using Ubuntu and I want try a different distro but so far the only one I’ve tried was Porteus but I had an issue where Porteus wouldn’t boot if it was installed on top of ext4 but would boot fine if it was installed on top of fat32, which is also another potential problem because Porteus requires a save file for persistence when using Windows filesystems. If there is a problem where my computer can’t boot with an ext4 filesystem, Ubuntu doesn’t have this problem because sda1/2/3 all use a different filesystem.

If I’m correct on this, would I be better off trying Porteus on ext3/2 and hoping it works or just use it with fat32 and have a separate partition formatted for ext4 to serve the same purpose as sda3 in Ubuntu and possibly store the save file (if I have the correct understanding of how save files work).

Also, I would just use NTFS but not only have I heard that it has issues with Linux, I’ve had issues using it with Linux, so I’m using fat32 for stability.

  •  StrayCatFrump   ( @StrayCatFrump@beehaw.org ) 
    1•1 year ago

    I’m pretty sure ext4 is baked into the kernel and has been for some time. Unless the distro has a really, really old kernel or has custom compiled it some really common drivers excluded, it won’t have any trouble reading ext4.

    You might look at what bootloader the distro is using, though. The bootloader has to find some files (like the kernel itself) prior to the kernel taking over. So it’s possible whatever partition your /boot directory is on might need to be something else to baby the bootloader along. Or just switch to using GRUB and you’ll be fine.