Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 10:18:06 -0400 From: Brian T.Schellenberger <bts@babbleon.org> To: walton@digger.net, questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Partition table problem Message-ID: <01092910180604.20245@i8k.babbleon.org> In-Reply-To: <20010929125042.33374.qmail@aerre.pair.com> References: <20010929125042.33374.qmail@aerre.pair.com>
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On Saturday 29 September 2001 08:50, walton@digger.net wrote:
> Ok, I need some help from someone who is EXTREMELY familiar with
> partition tables, DOS partitions (esp. extended), and the FreeBSD
> partition tools (fdisk and the partition editor in sysinstall).
I don't know that I'm expert, but I've screwed up my system enough that I've
actually done this sort of thing before.
> At that point, I discovered that the partition editor had rewritten
> the partition table (even though it was unnecessary), and had marked
> the 4th (formerly extended DOS) partition as unused!! It did not
> alter the partition offsets or sizes (as far as I can tell), so no
> data should be lost, but I am now unable to access that partition.
>
> What I need to know is how I can SAFELY edit that entry in the
> partition table to convert it from unused back into an extended DOS
> partition, with a single logical drive in it. Any use of DOS fdisk
> is out of the question, since that will wipe the partition.
This is not my experience, but I'd hate to give you advice that backfires.
> I suspect
> I could use the partition editor to create a partition there
> (type number?), but I don't know for sure that is safe, and what about
> the logical drive?
It's fdisk that you want to use, not the label editor. I'm not quite sure
what you mean by the partition editor.
> Ok, experts... Dazzle me with your brilliance! :)
The one thing I know with absolute certainty is that if you can boot into a
Linux rescue environment and use the Linux fdisk, you'll be able to safely
fix it by changing the type (if it has one) or "creating" it (if it doesn't).
I like FreeBSD as an O/S better, but Linux is the most cooperative O/S
available on the PC. It "plays nice" with every other O/S to a degree that
FreeBSD and Windows don't, and its fdisk understand IDE drives better than
FreeBSDs.
So I'd recommend getting a Linux boot disk (rescue or install) and using it
to bring up a Linux shell, and using the Linux fdisk. Then if you recreate
the partitions as they were before, the data will still all be intact. This
I know from experience.
>
> Thanks,
> Dave
>
> .
>
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--
Brian T. Schellenberger . . . . . . . bts@wnt.sas.com (work)
Brian, the man from Babble-On . . . . bts@babbleon.org (personal)
http://www.babbleon.org
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