From owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Sep 27 14:12:45 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DFAF61065673 for ; Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:12:45 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from deischen@freebsd.org) Received: from mail.netplex.net (mail.netplex.net [204.213.176.10]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 821CD8FC0A for ; Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:12:45 +0000 (UTC) Received: from sea.ntplx.net (sea.ntplx.net [204.213.176.11]) by mail.netplex.net (8.14.5/8.14.5/NETPLEX) with ESMTP id q8RE5C5V057916; Thu, 27 Sep 2012 10:05:12 -0400 X-Virus-Scanned: by AMaViS and Clam AntiVirus (mail.netplex.net) X-Greylist: Message whitelisted by DRAC access database, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.2.7 (mail.netplex.net [204.213.176.10]); Thu, 27 Sep 2012 10:05:12 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2012 10:05:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Daniel Eischen X-X-Sender: eischen@sea.ntplx.net To: Desmond da Peoples In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: <20120916120041.391C41065680@hub.freebsd.org>, <505624A9.7040508@hesiod.org>, , MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Cc: tevans.uk@googlemail.com, anton@hesiod.org, "freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org" Subject: RE: gpart is junk X-BeenThere: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Daniel Eischen List-Id: Technical Discussions relating to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:12:46 -0000 On Wed, 26 Sep 2012, Desmond da Peoples wrote: > > On Mon, 17 Sep 2012, Daniel Eischen wrote: > > > > On Mon, 17 Sep 2012, Tom Evans wrote: > > > >> On Sun, Sep 16, 2012 at 8:12 PM, Jeff Anton wrote: > >>> ^E my point is that all this information needs to be > >>> together in one human and machine readable form. We need to be able to look > >>> at the whole picture of a device and say "that makes sense" then do it. And > >>> this shouldn't be from some GUI junk either. > >>> In a file, this information can be kept as a reference, as a confirmation > >>> that partitioning hasn't changed unexpectedly, and > >>> modified if needed in a clear manner. > >>> > >> > >> (Sorry to pick at just parts of your email^E) > >> > >> The current GEOM configuration is available from a sysctl in machine > >> readable format - check out kern.geom.confxml. If you are concerned kern.geom.confxml is far from readable. kern.geom.conftxt is closer, but still not anywhere as readable as bsdlabel. > >> about your partitions changing underneath you, storing and then > >> comparing output from this sysctl gives you a simple way to determine > >> what. > >> > >> A human readable version can be obtained from the gpart tool. > >> > >> IMHO, gpart and GEOM are fantastic. gpart is a much simpler tool to > >> use than fdisk, and fully understands every kind of disk partitioning > >> you can throw at it, whilst fdisk is only a tool for playing with MBR. > >> The gpart man page explains clearly and concisely how to use it. > >> > >> GEOM provides a clear framework that anything can plug in to, from > >> labels to whole disk encryption. > > > > It is not simple. All I want is Solaris format utility (partition > > and label). > > For someone such as myself- and others- who use PowerPC(64)/POWER > systems, gpart is far from being junk. Fdisk is basically useless > on an APM table or to even create such. You also have the choice > of creating a partition scheme with a Linux live CD and then > adjusting the partition types with gpart. You can use gparted. > Maybe you haven't noticed that gpart givess you the option of > different partition tables from the start. gpart is a low-level tool to be used by someone who knows exactly what they are doing. It is not useful for someone who just wants to partition and label a disk and doesn't have hours of free time to read and understand gpart. I want the capability of the old installer. Where is that? Ahh, I found it - I guess it is /usr/sbin/bsdinstall :-) -- DE