[CS-FSLUG] Hard drive won't format - or maybe stay formatted.
Karl Kleinpaste
karl at kleinpaste.org
Thu Aug 5 16:03:29 CDT 2010
davidm at hisfeet.net writes:
> I tried to check what is fdisk(8) thru google Sounds like it's not the
> fdisk included dwith most linux packages. Where can I get a working copy
> and directions for using it?
Referring to it as "fdisk(8)" is the typical way of saying, "It's the
fdisk command, described in section 8 'administrative commands' of the
manual." I would doubt that anything calling itself "fdisk" is not the
expected fdisk. The name was brought over directly from the Microsoft
world.
If you've got fdisk, then run it (as root, of course) thus:
fdisk -l /dev/sdX
This laptop's disc gets this sort of output:
Disk /dev/sda: 640.1 GB, 640135028736 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 77825 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x68e77793
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 26 208813+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 27 3943 31463302+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 3944 7860 31463302+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 7861 77825 561993862+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 7861 9950 16787893+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 9951 10995 8393931 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 10996 77825 536811943+ 83 Linux
If you've got any funny-looking partitions, then run it again without
-l. It'll give you a command line interface for deleting and creating
partitions. End with the "w" command to induce fdisk to write out the
updated partition table and then read it back again.
Don't forget to mark the partition bootable where /boot will land,
whether it's just a directory in / or a separate partition to be mounted
as /boot.
Generally speaking, I prefer to use fdisk rather than any of the
graphical partition editors; they just seem awfully fiddly compared to
"just make this partition in exactly this way."
I suppose I'm old school.
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