At 10:49 AM 9/13/99 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
>
>On Mon, 13 Sep 1999, Herman Aa wrote:
>
>>
>> I have trouble with WIN98(95) co-existing with Linux (RH 5.0).
>>
>> Again today, DEFRAG C: affected Linux. Linux did not boot anymore.
>> (I use LINLOAD to start Linux).
>> Restoring the partition-table from backup solved the problem.
>>
>> Yesterday DEFRAG of D: wiped out enough of my Linux to require
>> a re-install.
>>
>> DEFRAG seems to be real bad in this respect. Without using defrag
>> it only happens occasionally. I use Eudora 4.1 and MSDOS-prompt
>> (and Norton Commander, and QEdit) frequently. These are suspects,
>> no proof.
>>
>> I have re-installed Linux many times because of this problem. In
>> all cases it is the partition-table that is affected. Only once
>> drive E: was lost. (Extended partition table and E: are physically
>> near each other.)
>>
>> I usually can recover by restoring the partition-table from a rescue
>> diskette. That gives me drive E: thru G: back.
>> Usually that is enough to get Linux to boot. If not, I do a re-install
>> as I do not have tools for Linux yet.
>>
>> How can I improve following setup to stop WIN98 from clobbering
>> my Linux?
>> Am I the only one with this problem?
>> All partitions (except hda1) are made with fdisk-Linux because it does
>not
>> destroy my data as easily as fdisk-dos. fdisk-Linux gives me control
>over
>> the file-system (separate command, choice of fs).
>> Could that be a reason for my truobles?
>
>This is a guess, from reading between the lines:
>If you used linux fdisk to shrink an existing dos/windows partition
>when you installed linux the first time,
>dos/windows will not honor the new size, but will make free with the
>partition as it was. Dos/windows has its own idea of the paartition
>size in the partition boot record (sector 0 of the partition), which it
>gets from the partition table when it's installed. It never checks the
>partition table after that. To shrink/split a windows partition, you
>need fips as well as fdisk. If you make the windows partition with
>fdisk first, then install windows, you should be right, except of course
>if you have lilo in the MBR, windows install will clobber it.
>
>fips is included with every distro I know of, usually in dosutils or so.
>
My installation was on a new harddisk.
Due to the problem (all partitions 'gone', just C: left) I had to
re-install partitions. fdisk-linux proved a lot more flexible than fdisk-dos.
So I used fdisk-linux. Now it's a mixed bag of course.
I did not shrink a partition because I from a previous installation I know
that DOS (oh horrors) shows the original size of the partition.
It's a lot of work but I will redo the entire harddisk. With linux-fdisk.
Although these problems slow me down badly on Linux I have learned a lot about
harddisks, partitions and fdisk(s).
If WIN98 does not cooperate it will be isolated as much as needed to stop
the problem. First towards the back of the existing 8GB harddisk:
(MAIN1 MAIN-EXTENDED MAIN2. I hope fdisk-linux will allow the EXTENDED
partition in the middle. WINxx to go in MAIN2.)
If that's not enough isolation, WINxx will be 'banned' to a separate
(small) harddisk.
I appreciate your try to help.
>> I can handle backup and reformat with no data-loss. (It's just work I
>can
>> do without.)
>>
>> Obviously my EXTENDED partition is vulnerable. It's table contains
>> the partition-data for E: thru G: (AFAIK).
>>
>> Would 3 or 4 main partitions help? (1 WIN, 1 Linux, 1 Extended).
>> (With WIN98 in a main-partition towards the END of the harddisk to
>> curb it's activities.)
>> 4 main partitions allowed with fdisk-Linux.
>>
>> I already moved / (Linux root) from hda8 to hdb2. I had no more
>> problems till using DEFRAG.
>> It needs further improvement.
>>
>> I have 3.5GB for Linux on /hda (easy).
>> I have /hdb of 600MB. That is premium space considering the way /hda
>> gets wiped out.
>>
>> This is my present setup:
>>
>> Cylinder file- PARTITION-
>> partition Start End system WIN98 LINUX Size(bytes) TYPE
>> ---------- --------- ------ ----- ----- ------------ ---------
>> /dev/hda1 1 63 Fat16 C: 506,016 MAIN
>> /dev/hda2 64 1027 Extended EXTENDED
>> /dev/hda5 64 189 Fat16 E: 1,012,063 logical
>> /dev/hda6 190 442 Fat16 F: 2.032,191 "
>> /dev/hda8 443 473 ext2 /usr/local 248,976 "
>> /dev/hda9 474 599 ext2 /usr 1.012,063 "
>> /dev/hda10 600 630 ext2 /home 248,976 "
>> /dev/hda11 631 638 swap swap ? (64MB) "
>> /dev/hda7 639 891 Fat16 G: 2,032,191 "
>> /dev/hda12 892 1027 Fat16 H: 1,092,388 logical
>>
>> /dev/hdb1 1 507 FAT16 D: 499MB MAIN
>> /dev/hdb2 508 611 ext2 / 102MB MAIN
>>
>> I moved Linux / from /dev/hda8 to /dev/hdb2 to see if that would help.
>>
>> Linux fdisk assigned the /hda7 when I re-partitioned /hda2 and up.
>> It's irregular but does not seem to cause problems.
>>
>> I defragmented /hdb1 D: disk yesterday. Shortly after that I had no
>> more access to Linux (Linux root is on hdb2).
>>
>> Today I used WIN98-defrag to defrag hda1/C: . I could no longer
>> access Linux after that. Partition-table damaged.
>> I restored the partition-table with a rescue disk (MSDOS trick).
>> This gave me access to E: F: G: and H: . Linux started-up normal
>> after that. Obviously /hda access was it's only problem
>
>I don't know defrag but it sounds as if it is calculating the partition
>size from the windows partition boot record and stuffing it back into
>the partition table.
>>
>> I have no idea what to do aside from keeping WIN and Linux
>> physically apart.
>>
>> Herman Aa.
>> >From a mountaintop on Cebu island, Philippines.
>> List: Direct copies (extra copy) welcome.
>>
>HTH
>
>Lawson
> >< Microsoft free environment
>
>This mail client runs on Wine. Your mileage may vary.
>
>
>
>
>
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Herman Aa.
>From a mountaintop on Cebu island, Philippines.
List: Direct copies (extra copy) welcome.
