Partitions- A Classic Guide to Partitioning Your Linux System
partitions.txt - how to create partitions on linux, how to create file
systems, descriptions of different standard file systems, and information
related to partitions, formatting, file systems, and disk operations.
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Linux Partitioning Information
---------------------------------------
A swap partition -- Swap partitions are used to support virtual memory. If
your computer has 16 MB of RAM or less, you must create a swap partition.
Even if you have more memory, a swap partition is still recommended. The
minimum size of your swap partition should be equal to your computer's
RAM, or 16 MB (whichever is larger).
A root partition -- The root partition is where / (the root directory)
resides.
It only needs to contain things necessary to boot your system, as well as
system configuration files. A root partition of 50 MB to 80 MB works well
for most systems.
[Intel Systems: Don't forget the LILO constraints]
A /usr partition -- The /usr partition is where much of the software on a Red
Hat Linux system resides. This partition should be between 200 MB and 500
MB, depending on how many packages you plan to install. If at all
possible, try to be generous with the /usr partition. Any RPM-based
packages you install later will (in general) use more space from /usr
than from any other partition.
A /home partition -- This is where users' home directories go; the size of
/home depends on how many users you plan to have on your Red Hat Linux
system and what they might store in their home directories.
A /usr/local partition -- Traditionally, /usr/local has been used to hold
things you wish to keep separate from the rest of your Red Hat Linux
system, such as software that is not available as an RPM package. The
size
depends on the amount of software you anticipate putting on your system.
A /usr/src partition -- There are two things that are stored in /usr/src on a
Red Hat Linux system:
Linux Kernel Sources -- The complete sources for the Linux kernel are
stored here, and new kernels are built here.
Sources For RPM-Based Packages -- If a source package file (aka SRPM) is
installed, the files are stored here. Note that, unless specified
otherwise, any packages built also use a build directory located
here.
Again, the size of this partition would depend on the amount of software
you anticipate building.
A /tmp partition -- As the name implies, the /tmp partition is for temporary
files. Creating a partition dedicated to /tmp is a good idea for larger,
multiuser systems or network server machines. The reason is that many
active users can fill the root partition (/), which is where /tmp is
located. It's not necessary to dedicate a partition to /tmp on
single-user
workstations.
Creating Partitions with fdisk
---------------------------------------
fdisk or cfdisk is used to create partitions for linux. any distribution that
does not use the python installer will probably require you to use disk or
cfdisk to create your linux partitions prior to installation.
example: To create a new partition on a second harddrive because you just
added a
second IDE drive to your computer...
1) fdisk /dev/hdb
2) 'n' for new partition
3) use default start and end if you want the entire drive
4) 'w' for write the new partition
Creating a File System on the new partition
---------------------------------------
Now it is necessary to make a file system on the new partition. This is like
formatting the drive in msdos. You may do _one_ of the following:
mke2fs /dev/hdab1 <- make a basic ext2 filesystem
mkfs.ext3 -b 4096 /dev/hdb1 <- an example that makes a new ext3 journaling
file system with block size 4096
Creating a Backup of your Linux System...
---------------------------------------
see: conventional_backup.txt
A couple ways to format a floppy
---------------------------------------
fdformat /dev/fd0H1440
mkfs -c -t ext2 /dev/fd0
Now you can check a floppy disk for bad sectors / blocks with this command:
badblocks /dev/fd01440 1440
QUESTION:
"The Linux 65535 cylinder limit"
- Date: Tuesday, June 20 2000 - 08:33PM PDT
- The Question
I have a 40GB ide drive. Linux does not see the entire thing. As BIOS geometry is irrelevant (I always use 1024x16x63) this is a linux limitation. (see ref URL: http://www.linux.org/help/ldp/mini/Large-Disk-12.html )
The Large Disk FAQ tells of a patch to fix this problem, but they offer no information on where to find the patch or what it is even called. I have installed the new drive as SLAVE on the first IDE so LILO issues are also irrevelant. (This is not the bootable drive)
My distribution is Redhat 5.2. My kernel is 2.0.36 and the drive is a Maxtor 40 GB IDE Ultra ATA/66. fdisk and cfdisk only see 540 or 8 GB.
Please help me to locate this patch or advise me what I need to do to allow my linux machine to see all 40GB.
additional note: the BIOS on most MB's wont autodetect or allow settings for anything over 34 such as the case with my MB. This is without question a linux issue.
- RESPONSES:
- From: Robson
Date: Wednesday, June 21 2000 - 02:29AM PDT
If you want to use 2.0 kernel, you should upgrade to 2.0.38 ang download patch from ftp.kernel.org. Older version of this HOWTO points at:
- My favoirite mirror (two floors above ;-) is:
You may also upgrade your kernel to 2.2.14. It involves upgrading of some RedHat packages, but it worked on my PC.
I found this information at:
