Hello,
I've been running a dual boot system (Win98 & Linux RedHat) for a couple of years. The system has a single hdd of 30Gb which I partitioned using FIPS when I installed Linux. I created two partitions for the Linux, one small for boot and one other, totalling about 5Gb. The Windows partition has never used more than 7 of the 25ish Gb allocated to it and I thought it would be a good idea to claim more for Linux use. Accordingly I ran FIPS this afternoon and created another 5Gb partition. Everything seems to function well with the original Windows and Linux partitions but when I tried to run cfdisk in Linux to format the new partition I got a fatal error. I tried fdisk and got something similar. They were unable to open hda.
A careful re-reading of the FIPS documentation drew my attention to the following sentence :- "If you want to use the new partition under Linux, you may now change the system indicator byte with Linux' fdisk, then use MKFS."
Clearly I cannot do that since fdisk and his brother will not run. Can I change the system indicator byte by editing a file, and if so will this get (c)fdisk working? Is there another route to formatting and pressing the new partition into service? Have I missed something very elementary? Should I go back to the abacus and master that before playing with big boys toys?
On another but obviously not unrelated matter. I am very much in favour of some form of structured introduction to Linux and its many facets as proposed in recent communications to this list. I say that as one who is not an IT professional but a casual user. I am strongly attracted to the Free Software movement on philosophical grounds and because it provides an alternative to the highly unpalatable antics of the major players in the SOHO* industry. The rapid development of Linux is both exciting and overwhelming for people such as myself, and I suspect that it is people such as myself who will need to feel that Linux is not only a good thing but a straight forward thing to use, before it provides a major challenge to the present giants of the industry. But more of than anon if anyone wishes to pursue the matter with a mere foot soldier.
The important thing is my poor marooned partition.
Cheers
Dave Crease
PS * Isn't it odd how time changes the meaning of words. In the 1960s the anything related to SOHO was not for discussion in polite company! D