[H-GEN] confusion re device namings

[Hilton Travis]

[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and
Unix-related topics. ]

Hi Frank,

> > Clinton Roy wrote:
> >
> > > I know I'll get into trouble for this, but I've been getting rid of my
> > > (badly sized) partitions for /home /usr etc and just been shoving them
> > > all in the one partition, currently I've got:
> > >
> > > hda1  Boot  Primary  Linux ext2   2944.66
> > > hda5        Logical  Linux ext2   1266.70
> > > hda6        Logical  Linux swap  98.71
> >
>
> I could have this all bum up but does not a logical partition
> need an extended partition to contain it? I am less than a
> complete expert in Linux fdisk but (oh bloody hell gonna get
> some stick here) but in DOS you can not make a logical
> partition alone. You make an extended partition then a logical
> partition in the extended partition. You need (if I am correct):-
>
> hda1  primary
> hda2 extended then some logical partitions.
>
> Why do this? In DOS it is difficult to have more than one primary
> partition and then have to add extended partitions but in Linux
> you can have 4 primaries.
> Other than your swap partition you only want 2 partitions...why
> not make them both primaries hda1 and hda2?

AFAIK even the Linux FDISK program will not create more than 4 Primary
partitions, although I have not tried this.  The DOS issue is that MS-FDISK
does not support the creation of a second primary partition on any hard
drive.  You cannot even create a NON-DOS partition with MS-FDISK - how silly
is that!?!?!?

Under Windows NT you can create extra primary partitions, as well as
extended and logical partitions by using Disk Manager.  I usually use a
single 2GB-4GB primary for the OS, and create an extended and single logical
partition for the rest of the drive space.  Of course, this depends on the
application too!

MS-DOS will ignore all but the unhidden primary partition.  It won't even
hint they are there.  Win95 and Win98 (using MS-DOS 7.x) will not see them
either.  However, when in the 32-bit environment of Win95 and Win98 these
hidden primary partitions become visible, and quite valid to use.

Under MS-DOS versions up to and including 7.x the drive letters are mapped
like normal (drive 0 pri 0, drive 1 pri 0, drive 0 log 0, drive 0 log 1,
drive 1 log 0).  Under the Win9x GUI, this is how it is done; drive 0 pri 0,
drive 1 pri 0, drive 0 log 0, drive 0 log 1, drive 1 log 0, drive 0 pri 1,
drive 1 pri 1).  Invconsistency is the one constant throughout the Microsoft
range, and shown again in this example!!!

So, under Linux, as far as I understand, if you have but 2 partitions, they
can quite easily both be primaries, or 1 primary and 1 logical.  Either way
seems fine to me, but someone is sure to know more about the Linux filing
systems than I (most people, actually) and will give a good argument for or
against multiple primaries.

Regards,
Hilton


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