On Monday 28 Mar 2005 17:09, SnapafunFrank wrote:
> Rosemary McGillicuddy wrote:
> >Warnings well heeded. I am almost too scared to do anything in Mandrake
> > now - no just kidding.
> >
> >
> >[EMAIL PROTECTED] rosemary]# fdisk /dev/hda
> >
> >The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 4865.
> >There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
> >and could in certain setups cause problems with:
> >1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
> >2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
> > (e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
> >
> >Command (m for help): p
> >
> >Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40020664320 bytes
> >255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4865 cylinders
> >Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
>
> Please understand my notes to your table here. Is this what you were
> after? Strictly your call here.
>
> > Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
> > [ Franks approx partition sizes ] /dev/hda1 * 1
> > 2364 18988798+ 7 HPFS/NTFS [19gig ] /dev/hda2
> > 2423 4865 19623397+ 5 Extended [20gig ]
> > /dev/hda5 2423 3186 6136798+ 83 Linux
> > [6gig] ~ [ This is your root partition ] /dev/hda6 4808
> > 4854 377496 83 Linux [350MB ]
> > /dev/hda7 4855 4865 88326 82 Linux swap
> > [82MB ] /dev/hda8 3187 3326 1124518+ 82
> > Linux swap [1.1gig ] /dev/hda9 3327 4807
> > 11896101 83 Linux [12gig - wow, wish I could
> > afford this much] ~ [ This is your /home partition ]
> >
> >Partition table entries are not in disk order
> >
> >I can breathe now I am out of fdisk!
> >
> >regards
> >Rosemary
>
> OK Rosemary, I need to study this a little but for now see what I see.
>
> You have a 40gig hard drive:
>
> You have 7 ( note ~ seven ) partitions:
>
> You have only 1 primary partition ~ you ought to have 3 but not
> essential: more about this later.
>
> You have only 1 ( one ) logic partition ~ you are allowed up to 16 last
> I heard:
>
> You therefore have 1 ( all you are allowed I believe ) extended
> partition ~ it is within this partition that you have your logic
> partitions:
>
> You have 2 swap partitions ~ no idea why you have two when one is enough
> especially when one of them appears huge.
>
> ( Don't mind me rambling on here ~ I'm working out loud.)
>
> Generally the rules here are:
>
> No more than 4 primary partitions with only one of them being made an
> extended partition in which you can have up to 16 logic ( LBA ) partitions.
>
> You can have as many swap partitions as you like though usually one is
> enough.
>
> Partition numbering is:
> primary 1 ~ 4 ( includes the extended partition )
> With LBA partitions numbering 5 ~ say 16
>
> The only partitions you have correct here are:
>
> /dev/hda1 * [ Your WinXP partition and the * means it is bootable ]
> /dev/hda1 [ One of your swap partitions and I say this is correct
> because it appears to be of the correct size ~ Usually no more than 1.5
> times your RAM size if it is under 512MB ]
>
> Now lets take your df printf: [ printf is syntax for echo or in other words
> ~ what you see returned to the screen when you issue a command seeking
> info. ]
>
> Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
>
> /dev/hda5 5.8G 1.7G 3.9G 30% / [ My rough math for
> the above table isn't to far off here afterall.]
>
> /dev/hda9 12G 170M 12G 2% /home [ You must work out what
> you really will be using here because this is far to big at present ~
> only 170MB of 12000MB used so far.]
>
> SO.............
>
> Your WinXP partition does not get mounted when you boot up ~ you may prefer
> this but fstab has it entered.
>
> Your hda6 partition doesn't get mounted so we need to discover which
> directory this relates to. [ See below ]
>
> Your hda8, in my opinion is just wasted space at present.
>
> Please try this:
>
> Go K>>Configure Your Desktop>>Partitions and tell me what you see
> there. If there is more there than /dev/hda5 and /dev/hda9, ( should at
> least be /dev/hda7 and /dev/hda8 ),
> then please make a note of what partitions are there AND what there
> sizes are, ( Usually in megabytes ~ [ MB ] ), as this will save having
> to work out partition sizes using the
> number of blocks reported by the fdisk command. { Went back and did
> that anyway but am still curious ]
>
> Another thing to do is to mount that /dev/hda6 partition to find out
> what it is. So do as su:
>
> # mkdir /mnt/hda6
> # mount /dev/hda6 /mnt/hda6 [ If this gives you errors then stop here
> and let me know what those errors are. ]
> # cd /mnt/hda6
> # ls
> Look at any directories listed here ( other than lost & found ) and tell
> me what they are please.
>
> Not trying to crowd you so will stop here and await your replies.
Okay - first up:
during the install, I selected the partitions that Mandrake preselected -
which is what I was advised to do, probably at linuxquestions or another
forum, or possibly on the installation process itself.
These were:
hda5 (5.8Gb, /, ext)
hda6 (368Mb, /mnt, ext3)
hda9 (11Gb, /home, ext 3)
If this was incorrect, then so be it - I was simply doing what I thought I had
been advised to do. There was also swap there somewhere.
I seriously wonder if all this questioning is worth it - your time, and my
limited knowledge. I simply want a system that works. If I have made a
mistake, okay, then fix it if can be fixed simply, or reinstall. It seems
the fix is not simple, and I believe it is time to reinstall.
I am sorry if this disappoints you ... and I am sorry if I have wasted your
time. I acknowledge that I probably stuffed up when I attempted to install
the mouse, however, there were always problems with stalling, even at the
first install attempt. I see on other forums that Mandrake is reputed to
have problems with USB devices. That may be disputed here - I don't know.
I do know that I need to have a system that works, and if i don't fully
understand why it didn't, then I can live with that. I hope you can see my
point. I read recently - on the local LUG mailing list I think - "that some
prefer to wrestle with linux, than actually use their system" I *don't* fall
into that category.
I really am deeply appreciative of your efforts to help, and of other listers
- but am beginning to wonder if it is going anywhere.
Regards
Rosemary
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