Knoppix and creating partitions not recogniozed by XP CD

**zillah** · 12-17-2005, 05:38 PM

I used Knoppix (Live CD V4.0.2) utility "cfdisk" to create 3 primary partitions on a 40 GB HD, there primary partitions are:

1- 15 GB NTFS

2- 5 GB FAT32

3- 20 GB NTFS

I did write (Knoppix option), and I restarted the PC.

When I booted the PC with XP CD (to install OS XP )..

XP did not recongnize the format of all there partitions,,,,Why?

I do not if it is related to knoppix, or XP CD ?

**UnderScore** · 12-17-2005, 09:56 PM

XP did not recongnize the format of all there partitions,,,,Why?

Did you format the partitions? cfdisk is only a partitioner, not a formater.

**zillah** · 12-18-2005, 08:37 AM

Did you format the partitions? cfdisk is only a partitioner, not a formater.

yes this was my mistake,,,,How I can format them ? Do I need to use XP CD or I can do it with Knoppix CD ?

What will the case be if I create partitions "Type"
a- Solaris (BF)
b- Linux swap (83)
c- Linux ext3 (82)
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do I need to format them in order to be recognized by Solaris OS or Linux OS ?

**UnderScore** · 12-20-2005, 01:08 AM

Yes you need to format them. Look into using qtparted, a graphical partitioner/formater. Run the command: sudo qtparted

If you can't use qtparted, then learn the commands: mkswap, mke2fs, mkfs.vfat

**zillah** · 01-08-2006, 07:20 AM

Now I have got another question, I have got FC4 installed on a PC, and If I created Solaris partition (0xBF) by using cfdisk on the remaining free space of the HD.,,,and I have not formatted the partition,,,,Does GRUB bootloader recognize this partition as Solaris partition ? Or I have to format it to be recognised by GRUB ?

**zillah** · 01-08-2006, 07:21 AM

Any idea or help

**zillah** · 01-13-2006, 10:57 AM

Did you format the partitions? cfdisk is only a partitioner, not a formater.

If cfdisk is only partitioner , why do I need to assign tag (flag) to partition (i.e. 0xBF for Solaris, 0x07 for NTFS----etc)

**UnderScore** · 01-13-2006, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by zillah

Did you format the partitions? cfdisk is only a partitioner, not a formater.

If cfdisk is only partitioner , why do I need to assign tag (flag) to partition (i.e. 0xBF for Solaris, 0x07 for NTFS----etc)

Because partitioning & formating are two separate processes involving at a minimum of two separate programs: the partitioner & the formater.

Imagine a mini-van or a SUV without any bucket, captain, or bench seats installed. That is similar to an unpartitioned hard drive.
Then add a captain's driver seat and label it for Bill The Driver. This is similar to making a single partition on the hard drive.
Then add a 2nd row bench seat for and label it for Linus. This is yet another partition.
Then make Bill sit in his seat. This is similar to formatting.

**zillah** · 01-13-2006, 04:02 PM

Do you mean the analogy of adding captain's driver seat and label it for Bill The Driver and 2nd row bench seat are similar to adding different tags (flags,,,,eg:07 and BF) to HD ?

**UnderScore** · 01-13-2006, 05:28 PM

Yes of course I meant analogy.
I can delete all the partitions on my disk. Then I can make a partition & then tag/label it as NTFS. But is does not mean that it automatically created the NTFS filesystem for me. I must use either a linux ntfs tools or windows to make the ntfs filesystem.

Or say I want to use linux filesystems. I can make a partition & set it to Linux, but it did not make a usuable filesystem on it. I must choose to use ext2fs or ext3fs or reiserfs or JFS or XFS.

Analogy: I can label seats for Bill or Linus or anyone else (tagging the partition). It doesn't work until I get Bill or Linus to sit in their chair (formatting the partition with a particular filesystem).