> > 3) rm -rf /usr, /lib.. etc after mounting the vfat partition which also > > contains a copy of /sbin and /bin untarred. > > Hmmm... aren't there important things in /lib, namely libc?
would that be needed for running mkreiserfs, tar and perhaps a few other gnu tools? because thats all that is needed really, just to make the reiser partition and use tar to untar the system backup. > I'm also not convinced that running /sbin and /bin binaries from a vfat > partition is a good idea. I would instead make a few large files on the > vfat partition, format them ext2, mount them via loopback and then copy > /sbin and /bin to them. At least then you'll have proper permissions and > symlinks etc will work. well, to play it safe i've copied them both into /home so that i can safely restore the / partition to its original and have all the basic file utils available while i switch /home and /var to reiserfs also. once again, very unefficient, but i want to keep things very simple :) > > 4) with fdisk remove /dev/hda5 (current / partition) and recreate it. > > mkreiserfs /dev/hda5 > > It shouldn't be necessary to remove and recreate the partition with > fdisk (unless you're planning to resize it, I guess). Just run > mkreiserfs over it and see what happens cheers, William