[comp.unix.i386] faulty disk partitioning in 386/ix

martin@mwtech.UUCP (Martin Weitzel) (10/27/89)

I have observed that under certain circumstances, there might be
an overlap between two disk partitions (which means that writing
to one files-system destroys the other and vice versa).

The problem only occurs, if there is a further fdisk-partition
*behind* the one, in which 386/ix is installed.

Was the topic allready discussed here? (I'm new to news ...)
Please *mail* me if you have observed similar problems or
if you want me to supply more details. I'll sumarize.

<signature? what for ... it's all in the header>

root@mustang.dell.com (0000-Admin(0000)) (10/28/89)

Yes the ISC fdisk will not create multiple partitions correctly if you use the "percentage" option instead of specifying the actual starting/ending cylinders.  This is especially troublesome if you have a DOS partition on the drive, followed by the UNIX.  If you fill up the dos partition (or nearly so) it will overwrite the start of the UNIX root partition.  I believe they blame the failure on improper rounding in converting percentage values to cylinder numbers.


James R. Howard
Dell Computer Corporation  P#: (512) 343-3480
9505 Arboretum Blvd.	   !s: cs.utexas.edu!dell!mustang!jrh	
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