* On Fri, Nov 10, 2006 at 07:01:04AM +1100, Alexander Samad wrote: > On Thu, Nov 09, 2006 at 05:41:58PM +1100, Scott Ragen wrote: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 09/11/2006 03:08:46 PM: > > > > > Is there a way of creating partitions using fdisk, and not having to > > > reboot before creating filesystems on the new partitions? ie getting the > > > kernel to be aware of the new partions. > > > > > Does it have to be fdisk? > > cfdisk is recommended over fdisk (at least on my dist), and from the man: > > W Write partition table to disk (must enter an upper case W). Since > > this might destroy data on the disk, you must either confirm or deny the > > write by entering `yes' or `no'. If you enter `yes', cfdisk will write > > the partition table to disk and the tell the kernel to re-read the > > partition table from the disk. The re-reading of the partition table > > works is most cases, but I have seen it fail. Don't panic. It will be > > correct after you reboot the system. In all cases, I still recommend > > rebooting the system--just to be safe. > > > > If you need to use fdisk, I guess you could find out what cfdisk does to > > re-read the partition tables and use that. > > My understanding is that fdisk cfdisk and sfdisk (?!), all write the partition > table information, and then send a sysctl to the kernel to re read the > parition information. The kernal will do that for HD's that don't have > loaded partitions. So if there is a partition on that drive that is > being used by the kernel (ie root, swap ....) it will not reread the > parititon information for that hard drive until reboot.
(Hi Alex!). re the cfdisk question, I'd prefer to use it but often I'm using Suse/RH; I'd prefer not to install it. BUUUUUTTTT... I found the answer to my own question - partprobe, which is installed with parted [1] - thanks for your help :-) [1] http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/re-read-the-partition-table-without-rebooting-linux-system.html -- Sonia Hamilton. GPG key A8B77238. -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
