Re: Please help with following situation

[Felix Miata]

On 2010/11/22 08:19 (GMT-0600) Steve Cohen composed:

> Perhaps the following fdisk output might shed light on the situation:

> $ sudo fdisk /dev/sda

> WARNING: DOS-compatible mode is deprecated. It's strongly recommended to
>            switch off the mode (command 'c') and change display units to
>            sectors (command 'u').

> Command (m for help): p

> Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
> 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 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: 0x000b6a5d

>      Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
> /dev/sda1   *           1         947     7605248   83  Linux
> Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
> /dev/sda2             973        9730    70337537    5  Extended
> /dev/sda3             964         982      143640    e  W95 FAT16 (LBA)
> Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
> /dev/sda5             973        1459     3905536   82  Linux swap / Solaris
> /dev/sda6            1460        9730    66430976   83  Linux

> Partition table entries are not in disk order

> Command (m for help): c
> DOS Compatibility flag is not set

> If not for the "not end on cylinder boundary" and "not in disk order"
> situations, do you think the the general layout of partitions should
> work?

It should, but to prevent unforeseen future difficulties from the 
non-standard properties I'd eradicate them first if you have the time.

>   I could possibly reinstall the whole system.  There is not that
> much there.  If so, what should I do differently?

1-Make sure to always create all primary partitions prior to any logicals to 
avoid "out of order". To do this, always make 3 before any logicals whether 
you need 3 or not. Make the unneededs a nominal size if you don't want to 
keep it/them, deleting unneededs after any logical has been created. This 
makes the extended sda4, (usually) keeping partitions in order no matter how 
many there actually are.

2-On any HD that needs to be DOS compatible, never use a partitioning tool 
that will create partitions that don't land on DOS boundaries if there's any 
chance anyone will ever subsequently need to use a DOS partitioning tool on 
it. DOS operating systems don't care about boundaries, but its FDISK & 
various compatible tools do.

If you do a lot of partitioning, I recommend sampling DFSee before settling 
on any other partitioning tool. It does more than just manage partitions, 
with native binaries for DOS, Windows, OS/2, Linux & Mac, which means you get 
fully compatible results no matter which you use. The interface is the same 
on all. It's compact, can be run from a floppy boot. It has a helpful 
dedicated support forum. But it is shareware. http://www.dfsee.com/

DFSee can sort that partition table into disk order (so can other tools, and 
so too can anyone who knows how to use a sector editor, moving the 16 bytes 
at 0x1CE to 0x1EE). It can delete the existing partitions without destroying 
their content (as can some other tools), meaning you can probably eliminate 
the boundary messages without disturbing content by deleting then recreating 
with (standard) DOS compatible ending boundaries.
--
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/