Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 19:40:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Piet Delport <siberiyan@mweb.co.za> To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: docs/30809: fdisk(8) cleanup Message-ID: <200109270240.f8R2e1597075@freefall.freebsd.org>
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The following reply was made to PR docs/30809; it has been noted by GNATS. From: Piet Delport <siberiyan@mweb.co.za> To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.ORG Cc: Subject: Re: docs/30809: fdisk(8) cleanup Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2001 04:40:19 +0200 --Boundary_(ID_k5eDihN5/pTKcOG9fRZCOg) Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Content-disposition: inline Fsck, forgot to include the patch, sorry... -- Piet Delport <siberiyan@mweb.co.za> Today's subliminal thought is: --Boundary_(ID_k5eDihN5/pTKcOG9fRZCOg) Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; NAME=fdisk.8.patch Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Content-disposition: attachment; filename=fdisk.8.patch --- sbin/i386/fdisk/fdisk.8.orig Thu Aug 16 13:35:43 2001 +++ sbin/i386/fdisk/fdisk.8 Thu Sep 27 01:15:59 2001 @@ -131,10 +131,11 @@ .Ql ad0 , and .Ql da0 -are being searched in that order, until one is -being found responding. +are searched in that order, until one is found to respond. .Pp -When called with no arguments, it prints the sector 0 partition table. +When called with no options, +.Nm +prints the sector 0 partition table. An example follows: .Bd -literal ******* Working on device /dev/ad0 ******* @@ -180,36 +181,35 @@ .It Em "flag 80" specifies that this is the active partition. .It Em cyl , sector No and Em head -fields are used to specify the beginning address -and end address for the partition. +fields are used to specify the beginning and end addresses of the partition. .It Em Note : these numbers are calculated using BIOS's understanding of the disk geometry and saved in the bootblock. .El .Pp -The flags +The .Fl i -or +and .Fl u -are used to indicate that the partition data is to be updated, unless the -.Fl f -option is used. If the +flags are used to indicate that the partition data is to be updated. +Unless the .Fl f -option is not used, the +option is also given, .Nm -program will enter a conversational mode. -This mode is designed not to change any data unless you explicitly tell it to. -.Nm Fdisk -selects defaults for its questions to guarantee the above behavior. +will enter a conversational mode. +In this mode, no changes will be written to disk unless you explicitly tell +.Nm +to. .Pp -It displays each partition -and ask if you want to edit it. +.Nm Fdisk +will display each partition and ask whether you want to edit it. If you say yes, -it will step through each field showing the old value -and asking for a new one. -When you are done with a partition, .Nm -will display it and ask if it is correct. +will step through each field, show you the old value, +and ask you for a new one. +When you are done with the partition, +.Nm +will display it and ask you whether it is correct. .Nm Fdisk will then proceed to the next entry. .Pp @@ -217,30 +217,26 @@ .Em cyl , sector , and .Em head -fields correct is tricky. -So by default, +fields correct is tricky, so by default, they will be calculated for you; -you can specify them if you choose. +you can specify them if you choose to though. .Pp After all the partitions are processed, you are given the option to change the .Em active partition. -Finally, -when the all the data for the first sector has been accumulated, -you are asked if you really want to rewrite sector 0. -Only if you answer yes, -will the data be written to disk. +Finally, when all the new data for sector 0 has been accumulated, +you are asked to confirm whether you really want to rewrite it. .Pp The difference between the .Fl u -flag and +and .Fl i -flag is that +flags is that the .Fl u -flag just edits the fields as they appear on the disk. -While the +flag just edits (updates) the fields as they appear on the disk, +while the .Fl i flag is used to "initialize" sector 0; it will setup the last BIOS partition to use the whole disk for @@ -248,11 +244,13 @@ and make it active. .Sh NOTES The automatic calculation of starting cylinder etc. uses -a set of figures that represent what the BIOS thinks is the -geometry of the drive. -These figures are by default taken from the incore disklabel, -but the program initially gives you an opportunity to change them. -This allows the user to create a bootblock that can work with drives +a set of figures that represent what the BIOS thinks the +geometry of the drive is. +These figures are taken from the in-core disklabel by default, +but +.Nm +initially gives you an opportunity to change them. +This allows you to create a bootblock that can work with drives that use geometry translation under the BIOS. .Pp If you hand craft your disk layout, @@ -262,21 +260,24 @@ A number of decisions made later may assume this. (This might not be necessary later.) .Pp -Editing an existing partition will most likely cause you to -lose all the data in that partition. +Editing an existing partition will most likely result in the loss of +all data in that partition. .Pp -You should run this program interactively once or twice to see how it -works. This is completely safe as long as you answer the last question -in the negative. There are subtleties that the program detects that are -not fully explained in this manual page. +You should run +.Nm +interactively once or twice to see how it works. +This is completely safe as long as you answer the last question +in the negative. There are subtleties that +.Nm +detects that are not fully explained in this manual page. .Sh CONFIGURATION FILE When the .Fl f option is given, a disk's partition table can be written using values from a .Ar configfile . -The syntax of this file is very simple. Each line is either a comment or -a specification, and whitespace (except for newlines) are ignored: +The syntax of this file is very simple; +each line is either a comment or a specification, as follows: .Bl -tag -width Ds .It Xo .Ic # @@ -323,7 +324,7 @@ .Ed .Pp The number of cylinders should be less than or equal to 1024, but this -is not enforced, although a warning will be output. Note that bootable +is not enforced, although a warning will be printed. Note that bootable .Fx partitions (the "/" filesystem) must lie completely within the first 1024 cylinders; if this is not true, booting may fail. --Boundary_(ID_k5eDihN5/pTKcOG9fRZCOg)-- To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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