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<H2><A NAME="SECTION00574000000000000000">Partitioning a hard disk</A></H2>
<P>
There are many programs for creating and removing partitions.
Most operating systems have their own, and it can be a good
idea to use each operating system's own, just in case it does
something unusual that the others can't. Many of the programs
are called <tt>fdisk</tt><A NAME="1533"> </A>, including the Linux one, or
variations thereof. Details on using the Linux <tt>fdisk</tt><A NAME="1535"> </A>
are given on its man page. The <tt>cfdisk</tt><A NAME="1537"> </A> command is similar
to <tt>fdisk</tt><A NAME="1539"> </A>, but has a nicer (full screen) user interface.
<P>
When using IDE disks, the boot partition (the partition
with the bootable kernel image files) must be completely
within the first 1024 cylinders. This is because the disk is
used via the BIOS during boot (before the system goes into
protected mode), and BIOS can't handle more than 1024 cylinders.
It is sometimes possible to use a boot partition that is only
partly within the first 1024 cylinders. This works as long
as all the files that are read with the BIOS are within the
first 1024 cylinders. Since this is difficult to arrange,
it is <em>a very bad idea</em> to do it; you never know when
a kernel update or disk defragmentation will result in an
unbootable system. Therefore, make sure your boot partition
is completely within the first 1024 cylinders.
<P>
Some newer versions of the BIOS and IDE disks can, in fact,
handle disks with more than 1024 cylinders. If you have such
a system, you can forget about the problem; if you aren't
quite sure of it, put it within the first 1024 cylinders.
<P>
Each partition should have an even number of sectors, since
the Linux filesystems use a 1 kB block size, i.e., two
sectors. An odd number of sectors will result in the last
sector being unused. This won't result in any problems, but
it is ugly, and some versions of <tt>fdisk</tt><A NAME="1541"> </A> will warn about
it.
<P>
Changing a partition's size usually requires first backing up
everything you want to save from that partition (preferably the
whole disk, just in case), deleting the partition, creating
new partition, then restoring everything to the new partition.
If the partition is growing, you may need to adjust the sizes
(and backup and restore) of the adjoining partitions as well.
<P>
Since changing partition sizes is painful, it is preferable to
get the partitions right
the first time, or have an effective and easy to use backup
system. If you're installing from a media that does not require
much human intervention (say, from CD-ROM, as opposed to floppies),
it is often easy to play with different configuration at first.
Since you don't already have data to back up, it is not so
painful to modify partition sizes several times.
<P>
There is a program for MS-DOS, called <tt>fips</tt><A NAME="1543"> </A>, which resizes
an MS-DOS partition without requiring the backup and restore, but
for other filesystems it is still necessary.
<P>
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<P><ADDRESS>
<I>Lars Wirzenius <BR>
Sat Nov 15 02:32:11 EET 1997</I>
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