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Date:      Wed, 17 Feb 1999 10:03:50 -0500
From:      pmg <pmg@Quetico.tbaytel.net>
To:        freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   BSD filesystems & MBR
Message-ID:  <36CADA56.67D2@mail.tbaytel.net>

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i have a question about disk formatting and the DOS MBR.

is there any reason at all to reserve a spot (1 block?),
using fdisk or whatever, at the beginning of a disk
that will be used solely for FreeBSD?
if the 'a' partition starts at absolute sector 0
(sector 1 in DOS speak),
relative to the disk, not just the slice,
will FreeBSD ever interact with the MRB, or vicey-vous? 
or, does FreeBSD  always leave the 1st block of
a file partition (not a swap) untouched?
alternatively, will fdisk or any other similar DOS-like
utility mess up the freeBSD disk label or the 'a' partition?

i like the idea of using fdisk just to keep a record on the disk
of the geometry, even if i'm only using a single slice for FreeBSD,
but i'm wondering if it would be more prudent to move that slice
on down a bit just to keep it out of harm's way.
moving it down a bit has no effect on the geometry of the slice on scsi
drives, since their geometry is virtual anyway.
but it seems to me that on ide drives you would have to make the move
1 cylinder, or a integer number of cylinders.
otherwise, the geometry of the slice will be discombobulated with
respect to underlying geometry of the disk.
what about modern eide drives that remap their real geometry anyway???

fundamental question: will fdisk and FreeBSD play together nicely
on the 1st block of a disk??? 


thanks much,


j michael


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