On some machines you can install Haiku by formatting the whole disk without a partition table, but on some machines (all EFI machines, and some BIOS ones) you can’t, because the BIOS checks for a valid partition table.
that’s why installation was so easy on the old Toshiba,
what I do remember is that
I DID NOT have to go through 14 steps!!! to start the installaion.
I really couln’t believe my eyes,
when I managed to install Haiku
so easily
in just a few minutes!
I just want to erase the whole disk of the Thinkpad
(which now has only Kubuntu 22.04)
and install Haiku R1/beta4 64 bit.
I’m using Haiku from a live USB stick on this Thinkpad, right now,
and as I can see, wi fi, sound works fine.
so I suppose i can enjoy Haiku on it.
Another funny thing is that this Haiku live USB stick
[made with openSUSE image writer on a Manjaro system]
has saved the wi fi password, Greek language keyboard layout,
even a short Stylededit file I wrote
the PREVIOUS time I used it,
before shutting down the laptop.
- Erase the disk
- create a partition table (gpt for efi, otherwise intel)
- create a bfs partition
- format the partition
(5 on efi create an esp partition)
It’s not that hard, the only difference with no partition map is skipping part 2.
In any case, yes this is annoying. But it has nothing to do with the partition table but rather that users have to think about this stuff and Installer doesnt do it for you.
If you are unhappy about the current situation for Installer, you can upvote this ticket on the bugtracker: #16217 (Installer: Add Install Modes) – Haiku which is about adding a “erase everything” mode to Installer with not as much manual steps.
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The guide and the installer are confusing, I had the same problem myself over in this thread [1].
It’s better to use Gparted. Here’s the short version, for mbr/legacy booting, whether using haiku DriveSetup or gparted (I still don’t understand efi/gpt):
Initialize the disk as intel
create a partition as bfs
format the partition as bfs
run the installer
[1] Trouble Booting x86 Haiku on Dell Inspiron E1505/6400 Laptop
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nephele, thanks,
but unfortunately this is too difficult for me
This is all you need for a legacy/mbr install.
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this looks easier,
not sure I can manage it, though
This is strange considering you having done it in the past.
In any case, wait for beta5 i suppose, maybe it will have made the installation slightly easier.
Would this help:
Put the USB stick image on the harddisk. That’s all.
Maybe with a Linux tool?
Try the installation with EFI step by step. I did this several times now and you cannot do many mistakes. If you want to use the whole harddisk, nothing can happen because all data will be “deleted” in any case. So, if you have a backup of your disk or don’t need the data - who cares.
I spelled it out step-by-step on this thread. It was for an early prerelease of beta4 but should still work.
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TL:DR:
Partitioning just means “preparing a place in the drive”, doesn’t matter if it’s the whole drive or just a fraction of it.
(longer version:)
I guess that maybe @ninos could be interpreting “partitioning” as “dividing into various parts”?
It happened to me, when I started dealing with this things years ago.
Then I learnt to just do it, even if it didn’t make sense to me (Why do it for only one partition? I just wanted to use the whole disk!), and simply accepted it as a kind of “technical bureaucratic paperwork”, so to speak.
Only time later understood that partitioning means “setting the boundaries of the place (part) where the data will be stored” and formatting means “setting the way (form) the data will be stored inside this boundaries”. Simplifying a lot, I know, there’s still a lot of technical nuances that fly over my head.
Kind of like “laying out in the ground where the building will go” and then “doing the building itself”.
A building with thousands and thousands of tiny rooms 
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Yes, 20 years ago when this project started, everyone using a computer was accustomed to these things. Because they probably had to use DOS or some other system like that.
Now, we can’t expect as much from users (which is good, it means they do more intesting things with computers than messing with these technical low-level things!). And so we need to rework this part a little.
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Plus the fact that there is MBR & UEFI nowadays - I’ve been using computers since learning in the mid 70’s using DOS - & I still don’t actually understand UEFI, just that it’s different, & if you do things a certain way, your computer will boot up, just like when using the MBR.
So any easing of the installation process would go a long way to having other people trying/using Haiku.
Initializing the disc is one such confusion, & then partitioning it, also confuses new comers - not just here, but also Linux/BSD - if this could become ‘point & shoot’ so much the better, with a ‘custom install’ option for those who want something other than using the whole disc.
Unfortunately, a lot of people want to try alternate operating systems alongside of MS Windows, & that is where real problems generally start showing up…
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I’m going to repeat myself here, but this is all well understood and all there is to do is upvote this ticket on the bugtracker which already plans exactly that: #16217 (Installer: Add Install Modes) – Haiku and hope it attracts the attention of a developer to actually do it. There is no need to repeat over and over that we need to do it, neither here in the forum or there on the bugtracker.
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Apologies for the ‘noise’ - I hadn’t seen that it was in the pipeline to be done sometime.
As a newbie to Haiku, I’m still trying to get to grips with it & how it works. 
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I’m very new to Haiku. I downloaded the .iso and using dd wrote it to a blank HD. Would not boot. Then using dd again I wrote it to a USB which boots. I ran the installation procedure on the USB to install on the blank HD. Once again the HD did not boot. Finally using dd I wrote the working USB to the HD. Once again it did not boot. Could someone please show me the correct partitioning for the HD that will allow the USB installation utility to do its job? I will use Gparted under Linux to create the partitions.
Also is there a command line utility similar to Linux fdisk that I can use?
Thanks in advance.