[comp.os.msdos.misc] FDISK

vancleef@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu (02/09/91)

Forget I ever posted it. My original diskette was faulty. That
sucks because I will have to shell out big bucks because these
people make shitty disks. Fine, that's big business for you.

Please don't send me any more e-mail.

-Garrett

storm@cs.mcgill.ca (Marc WANDSCHNEIDER) (03/23/91)

Can I make a LOGICAL drive on my hard drive using FDISK when there the
drive is already half filled, or should I back  everything up and work from
there....?

/*-
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
storm@cs.mcgill.ca         McGill University           It's 11pm, do YOU
Marc Wandschneider         Montreal, CANADA            know what time it is?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

garyf@wiis.wang.com (Gary Field) (03/27/91)

storm@cs.mcgill.ca (Marc WANDSCHNEIDER) writes:


>Can I make a LOGICAL drive on my hard drive using FDISK when there the
>drive is already half filled, or should I back  everything up and work from
>there....?

I'm not sure what you mean by a LOGICAL drive. If you mean a partition, when
you use FDISK to create a new partition, it will not let you create one
since you have no more available space. It is already reserved for the
partition(s) that you already have. If you are now dissatisfied with the
way you defined your partitions previously, you will need to back up
everything you have on your entire hard disk and then start over.
Have Fun!


/*===========================================================================
|   Gary A. Field - WA1GRC          |    GGG     A    RRRR   Y   Y     FFFFF
|   Wang Labs M/S 019-72B           |   G   G   A A   R   R  Y   Y     F 
|   1 Industrial Ave                |   G      A   A  R   R   Y Y      F
|   Lowell, MA 01851-5161           |   G  GG  AAAAA  RRRR     Y       FFFFF
|   (508) 967-2514                  |   G   G  A   A  R  R     Y       F
| email: garyf@gfield.wiis.wang.com |    GGGG  A   A  R   R    Y       F
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|          Anything not worth doing, is not worth doing well. 
============================================================================*/

dcc@hpopd.pwd.hp.com (Daniel Creswell) (03/28/91)

If the partition doesn't already exist then you MUST backup your disk first.

Having done that you should partition the disk as you wish and then use format
on each of the partitions. Which means you'll need your MS-DOS floppies.

This is cos you can't re-install your backup until you've done the format and
as that's on your backup and on your MS-DOS disks you only have one choice!

You DON'T need to do the low level format again though. If you wanna know the 
reasons for the above I'm happy to discuss it with you..

regards,
	Dan

tporczyk@na.excelan.com (Tony Porczyk) (03/29/91)

The News Manager)
Nntp-Posting-Host: na
Reply-To: tporczyk@na.excelan.com (Tony Porczyk)
Organization: Standard Disclaimer
References: <1991Mar23.041821.29165@cs.mcgill.ca> <1991Mar27.133529.1990@wiis.wang.com>
Date: Wed, 27 Mar 1991 17:06:06 GMT

In article <1991Mar27.133529.1990@wiis.wang.com> garyf@wiis.wang.com (Gary Field) writes:
>storm@cs.mcgill.ca (Marc WANDSCHNEIDER) writes:
>>Can I make a LOGICAL drive on my hard drive using FDISK when there the
>>drive is already half filled, or should I back  everything up and work from
>
>I'm not sure what you mean by a LOGICAL drive. If you mean a partition, when

I guess he means a logical drive in an extended partition. Yes, you can
do this, but the data in the extended partition will be gone, certainly
in the two drives affected by the change (you want to resize the logical
drives, right?).
Quick Disclaimer - you do not mean Primary Partition, correct?

Tony

mhr@mendip.UUCP (MHR {who?}) (03/29/91)

In <1991Mar23.041821.29165@cs.mcgill.ca>, storm@cs.mcgill.ca writes:
> 
> Can I make a LOGICAL drive on my hard drive using FDISK when there the
> drive is already half filled, or should I back  everything up and work from
> there....?
> 
I'm not sure what you mean here, but I can summarize my advice in 5
words (more direct than the subject line):

DO NOT FUCK WITH FDISK!

Fdisk is for organizing your hard drive _once_, not several times.  If
you want to reorganize, fine, but back up everything first or else be
prepared to say "Bye bye" to all of it.

Really, people, it wasn't by accident that utilities like FDISK are hard
to use.  Do some advance thinking and planning the FIRST time you run it
and you won't have to do it ever again (on that disk).

Them's _my_ $.02 apples!

-- 
Mark A. Hull-Richter    UUCP:     ccicpg!mhr    In all things, restraint,
ICL North America                                 especially with respect
9801 Muirlands Blvd                               to posting articles and
Irvine, CA  92713       (714)458-7282x4539        doubly so for flames.

sonny@charybdis.harris-atd.com (Bob Davis) (03/29/91)

In article <15744@mendip.UUCP> mhr@mendip.UUCP (MHR {who?}) writes:

>
>Fdisk is for organizing your hard drive _once_, not several times.  If
>you want to reorganize, fine, but back up everything first or else be
>prepared to say "Bye bye" to all of it.
>
>Really, people, it wasn't by accident that utilities like FDISK are hard
>to use.  Do some advance thinking and planning the FIRST time you run it
>and you won't have to do it ever again (on that disk).
>


	But doesn't someone with one partition devoted to DOS and another
to some other operating system need to use FDISK to switch the active
partition from one operating system to the other? So FDISK might need
to be run many times on the same disk?

	Why is FDISK hard to use? In my experience, it is just like
any other external DOS command. Such as FORMAT.


_____________________________________________________________________________
Bob Davis, UofALA alum \\ INTERNET: sonny@trantor.harris-atd.com  |  _   _  |
Harris Corporation, ESS \\    UUCP: ...!uunet!x102a!trantor!sonny |_| |_| | |
Advanced Technology Dept.\\ AETHER: K4VNO          |==============|_/\/\/\|_|
PO Box 37, MS 3A/1912     \\ VOICE: (407) 727-5886 | I SPEAK ONLY | |_| |_| |
Melbourne, FL 32902        \\  FAX: (407) 729-3363 | FOR MYSELF.  |_________|

schuster@panix.uucp (Michael Schuster) (03/30/91)

In article <5955@trantor.harris-atd.com> sonny@trantor.harris-atd.com (Bob Davis) writes:
>In article <15744@mendip.UUCP> mhr@mendip.UUCP (MHR {who?}) writes:
>	Why is FDISK hard to use? In my experience, it is just like
>any other external DOS command. Such as FORMAT.

FDISK is VERY EASY to use. you just type "fdisk" and keep hitting ENTER
until your disk is formatted and bootable.


-- 
 Mike Schuster                                      |    CIS: 70346,1745
 NY Public Access UNIX:  ...cmcl2!panix!schuster    |    MCI Mail, GENIE:
 The Portal (R) System:  schuster@cup.portal.com    |           MSCHUSTER

ce1zzes@prism.gatech.EDU (Eric Sheppard) (04/01/91)

schuster@panix.uucp (Michael Schuster) writes:

>In article <5955@trantor.harris-atd.com> sonny@trantor.harris-atd.com (Bob Davis) writes:
>>In article <15744@mendip.UUCP> mhr@mendip.UUCP (MHR {who?}) writes:
>>	Why is FDISK hard to use? In my experience, it is just like
>>any other external DOS command. Such as FORMAT.

>FDISK is VERY EASY to use. you just type "fdisk" and keep hitting ENTER
>until your disk is formatted and bootable.

FDISK isn't easy on a true-blue 256k PC I'm trying to resuscitate.  I'm
stuck.  FDISK can't read the hard drive.

I'm using: IBM PC with 256k on m'bd, 256k on multifunction card.  Unknown
HD controller, IBM floppy controller.

  I've been successful so far in resuscitating the dead system, ravaging
two other PC's for spare parts, but the hard drive still will not work.
I low-level formatted the drive on a PC compatible using MSDOS 3.2, then
booted up under PC-DOS 3.3 and formatted the drive as bootable.  I then
transferred the drive to the PC, and tinkered with jumpers until the 
1701 error went away. It refuses to boot.

  I've tried swapping HD controllers, motherboards, memory cards.  I've
even got the Sams Photofacts for this thing, but it apparently was not
written with the HD in mind; nothing refers to it.  The system will not
boot from the hard drive, and FDISK reports "Cannot read fixed disk."
What am I missing? Besides "junk the machine and buy a 386," any advice to
give me?  

Eric
-- 
Eric Sheppard      Georgia Tech    |   "Of course the US Constitution isn't
Atlanta, GA                        | perfect; but it's a lot better than what
ARPA: ce1zzes@prism.gatech.edu     |             we have now." -Unknown
uucp: ...!{allegra,amd,hplabs,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!prism!ce1zzes

bqsy1@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (Andrew R. Orndorff, Cornell University) (04/01/91)

>   I've been successful so far in resuscitating the dead system, ravaging
> two other PC's for spare parts, but the hard drive still will not work.
> I low-level formatted the drive on a PC compatible using MSDOS 3.2, then
> booted up under PC-DOS 3.3 and formatted the drive as bootable.  I then
> transferred the drive to the PC, and tinkered with jumpers until the
> 1701 error went away. It refuses to boot.
>
>   I've tried swapping HD controllers, motherboards, memory cards.  I've
> even got the Sams Photofacts for this thing, but it apparently was not
> written with the HD in mind; nothing refers to it.  The system will not
> boot from the hard drive, and FDISK reports "Cannot read fixed disk."
> What am I missing? Besides "junk the machine and buy a 386," any advice to
> give me?
>
> Eric
> --
> Eric Sheppard      Georgia Tech    |   "Of course the US Constitution isn't
> Atlanta, GA                        | perfect; but it's a lot better than what
> ARPA: ce1zzes@prism.gatech.edu     |             we have now." -Unknown
> uucp: ...!$allegra,amd,hplabs,seismo,ut-ngp!gatech!prism!ce1zzes

       Having recently been through a similar experience myself, maybe I
can suggest a possible reason for your frustration.
       I'm not sure how newer controllers may work, but my HD controller,
circ 1987 WD, won't recognize any HD drive unless I've low level formatted
the drive on that controller. It's not the fact that the drive is
formatted, it's that the controller ROM needs the appropriate parameters
for controlling the drive, like number of cylinders and heads, and the
correct interleave. Without this basic information, the controller can't
read any data from the disk and marks that drive in the ROM as unavailable.
Using FDISK in this situation usually returns something like 'No fixed disk
available' or 'No drive C', whatever - you get the idea.
       Since you are using a PC (I'm assuming older model from what you
describe) you'll want to use whatever controller is matched to that system
to low level format that drive.
       Or, if someone has done this somewhere, find a program that can
alter the drive parameters in the controller ROM to the correct ones for
that drive, low level format the drive on another system, and transfer it to th
PC.

--
       Andrew Orndorff
       CIT, Research & Analysis
       Cornell University
       Internet: bqsy1@vax5.cit.cornell.edu
       Bitnet:   bqsy1@crnlvax5