H.J.Bathoorn wrote:
On Friday 18 March 2005 09:47, SnapafunFrank wrote:
Mikkel L. Ellertson wrote:
Kaj Haulrich wrote:
I've just got my hands on a 160 GB external USB hard disk. Now, this thing comes preformatted with a FAT32 (vfat) file system. When I unmount the thing I can't reformat the drive with a decent file system like ReiserFS, JFS, ext2 or ext3 from be it the MCC or by hand. I can't even re-partition it with FAT32 ?
So here it goes : will this FAT32 file system become fragmented over time like any other Windows file system ?
If yes, how to defrag it ?
Or, will I have to move the FS to another drive back-and-forth in order to defrag ?
TIA
Kaj Haulrich.
I deleted the wrong message, so this is not a direct reply to this message, but to one later in the thread... :-(
When you were trying to work with the drive, what device were you giving fdisk? If you unmount the FAT partition first, you should be able to use something like "fdisk /dev/sda" to get at the partition table. If you can, then it is simple to change the drive to another file system. If you are happy with it being one large partition, then change the type (t) to 83 (ext2/3) and save (w) the updated partition table. Then run "mke2fs -j /dev/sda1" to create an ext3 file system.
If you have any data on the drive you want to keep, BACK IT UP before starting this.
Please keep in mind that the drive may not be /dev/sda and the partition may not be /dev/sda1 - it depends on your system, and how the drive was partitioned.
Mikkel
Just a newbie thought : Can you do as root :
# cat /etc/fstab | grep sd
And post it back here............. Be sure the device is plugged in first.
TIA
Even easier: "cat /dev/sd" on the CML and hit <TAB>...that way you'll see what's there.
When inserting/plugging the device the specific /dev/sd* file gets made and ....also gets removed when unplugging.
Repeat after me:
<TAB> is my best on the command line..........!;)
ONLY I SPECIFICALLY WANTED TO VIEW THE FSTAB ENTRY TO CHECK ITS OPTIONS!
-- Newbie Seeking USER_FUNCTIONALITY always!
Regards
SnapafunFrank
Big or small, a challenge requires the same commitment to resolve.
Registered Linux User # 324213
____________________________________________________ Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Join the Club : http://www.mandrakeclub.com ____________________________________________________
