narayan@tandem.UUCP (Narayan Mohanram) (04/17/88)
In most unix systems, when one makes a file system via an FSCK, they have to dig up the manual for the disk type to see how the disc driver has laid out the disk (the various partions sizes, and starting point). Has any-one come up with a standard for putting these partition map info on the front a disk on a super-super block so to speak. Then one can mount a disk pack on any unix system, and read it. The drivers/unix can get the info from the front of the disk.
chris@trantor.umd.edu (Chris Torek) (04/18/88)
In article <355@tandem.UUCP> narayan@tandem.UUCP (Narayan Mohanram) writes: >In most unix systems, when one makes a file system via an FSCK, (Must be painful. I use newfs or mkfs. :-) ) >... Has any-one come up with a standard for putting these partition map >info on the front a disk on a super-super block so to speak. 4.3-Tahoe has pack labels. These are stuffed into the middle of the boot sector. Only the hp (massbuss disk) and ra (uda50 disk) drivers really support labels, unless someone has done the up (Emulex sc21 Unibus) driver recently (kre??). >Then one can mount a disk pack on any unix system, and read it. Not quite: the label is stored in `native' byte order, so moving from, e.g., a Vax to a Tahoe will not work. -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Computer Science, +1 301 454 7163 Domain: chris@mimsy.umd.edu Path: ...!uunet!mimsy!chris
dlm@cuuxb.ATT.COM (Dennis L. Mumaugh) (04/26/88)
In article <355@tandem.UUCP narayan@tandem.UUCP (Narayan Mohanram) writes:
In most unix systems, when one makes a file system via an
FSCK, they have to dig up the manual for the disk type to
see how the disc driver has laid out the disk (the various
partions sizes, and starting point). Has any-one come up
with a standard for putting these partition map info on
the front a disk on a super-super block so to speak. Then
one can mount a disk pack on any unix system, and read it.
The drivers/unix can get the info from the front of the
disk.
On UNIX System V for the ATT 3B2/5/15/4000 the second sector on
the disk is the VOLUME TABLE OF CONTENTS (vtoc). It describes
the disk's partitioning. The first 100 sectors of any disk (hard
or floppy) are the boot sectors and excluded from the unix file
system. One "partition" ususually 6 included the whole disk but
of course one couldn't mount it as the disk didn't look like a
real filesystem.
There were some pre-defined vtocs for "default" or naive users.
--
=Dennis L. Mumaugh
Lisle, IL ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,lll-crg}!cuuxb!dlmfriedl@vsi.UUCP (Stephen J. Friedl) (04/27/88)
In article <1766@cuuxb.ATT.COM>, dlm@cuuxb.ATT.COM (Dennis L. Mumaugh) writes: > On UNIX System V for the ATT 3B2/5/15/4000 the second sector on > the disk is the VOLUME TABLE OF CONTENTS (vtoc). It describes > the disk's partitioning. The 3B5 I maintain has no vtoc; the partitions are hardcoded into the driver, thus limiting partition options. In addition, the default partitions overlap and we have to manually insure that filesystems *don't* overlap. The machine as installed had a root partition that overlapped /usr by 100 blocks (the size of the boot area). It was an exceedingly unpleasant experience when root filled up one day... Maybe Sys V Release 3 for the 3B5 fixes this ha ha ha :-) -- Steve Friedl V-Systems, Inc. Spaf for president! friedl@vsi.com {backbones}!vsi.com!friedl attmail!vsi!friedl
preece%fang@xenurus.gould.com (Scott E. Preece) (04/29/88)
> In article <355@tandem.UUCP narayan@tandem.UUCP (Narayan Mohanram) writes: > In most unix systems, when one makes a file system via an > FSCK, they have to dig up the manual for the disk type to > see how the disc driver has laid out the disk (the various > partions sizes, and starting point). Has any-one come up > with a standard for putting these partition map info on > the front a disk on a super-super block so to speak. Then > one can mount a disk pack on any unix system, and read it. > The drivers/unix can get the info from the front of the > disk. ---------- On Gould's UTX/32 the partition sizes and locations are stored on the disk. There are defaults for each type of disk, but installers can change them for each pack. The diskpart(8) command on UTX/32 takes the the name of a raw device partition and reports partition sizes for that disk, rather than for a named class of disks. -- scott preece gould/csd - urbana uucp: ihnp4!uiucdcs!ccvaxa!preece arpa: preece@Gould.com
rbj@icst-cmr.arpa (Root Boy Jim) (04/30/88)
In article <355@tandem.UUCP narayan@tandem.UUCP (Narayan Mohanram) writes:
In most unix systems, when one makes a file system via an
FSCK, they have to dig up the manual for the disk type to
see how the disc driver has laid out the disk (the various
partions sizes, and starting point). Has any-one come up
with a standard for putting these partition map info on
the front a disk on a super-super block so to speak. Then
one can mount a disk pack on any unix system, and read it.
The drivers/unix can get the info from the front of the disk.
No, they just use newfs. TPC should grab that baby, but disk labels are nicer.
(Root Boy) Jim Cottrell <rbj@icst-cmr.arpa>
National Bureau of Standards
Flamer's Hotline: (301) 975-5688
The opinions expressed are solely my own
and do not reflect NBS policy or agreement
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