where did hda3 and 4 go?
 

i just re partitioned my hard disk and something weird has happened

i had it set up as:

hda1 Win98
hda2 Win98
hda3 Win98
hda4 Linux ext
hda5 Linux /
hda6 Linux /swp
hda7 Linux /home

i just changed it and ended up with:

hda1 Win98
hda2 Win98 ext
hda5 Win98
hda6 Linux /
hda7 Linux /swp
hda8 Linux /home
hda8 Win98

i lost hda3 and hda4! where are they?

method i used was:

1) changed the ext type from linux to win
2) copied hda2 and hda3 into the extended partition
3) deleted hda2 and hda3
4) resized the ext partition (now hda2)

i looked at the MBR and there are two rows that have nothing in them except zeros - is this hda3 and hda4 trapped in limbo?

it all works fine - just seems kind of dumb!

I think you partitioner just displays the partitions differently: logical partitions are numbered 5 and higher. A partition is a primary partition or a extended partition, containing logical partitions. So you can't have a windows 98 ext containing logical partions or so. You could also be confused with the name of a linux file-system (ext 2 or 3), what does not mean it is a extended partition. Where did you get all this information from?

Well.....Its not dumb of you, but very few of us know this thing....

A hard disk can have only 4 Primary Partitions....On your box, windows 98 is installed on C drive - which is the first primary partition - ( /dev/hda1 )...D drive was (/dev/hda2) and E drive was (/dev/hda3)...Then you created an Extended Partition ( with linux installed on the logical drives in this extended partition) ...This Extended Partition was the fourth Primary Partition..i.e..../dev/hda4...and therefore the subsequent drives were labeled as /dev/hda5...and so on...

Whenever you have an Extended Partition, linux automatically labels the subsequent drives from /dev/hda5 onwards, becos the labels /dev/hda2, /dev/hda3 and /dev/hda4 are reserved for the second, third and fourth primary partitions respectively....

Thats why your Win98 drive's label was changed to /dev/hda5 coz it became a part of the Extended partition.

Regards,

amit

so it's normal? cheers, amit. makes sense. i had a hell of a time reconfiging lilo cos of that - was expecting / to be in a totally different place - thank god for damn small linux and sudo vi!

do you have any opinion as to the safety of the this set up?

basically this set up was recommended to me as being the safest way of having linux logical partitions in an extended win partition, i.e. you should have the windows logical partitions 1st and last and only one windows primary partition.

I've never come across anything like that in any book/site or tutorial or on the internet....

I dont think having a setup like above will make much of a difference. ..In fact, linux partitions cannot be read from windows unless you install a 3rd party software. Also, Linux has enough tools and utilities to prevent unauthorised access, making it a safe, reliable and secure operating system.

However, I'd like to know if someone else agrees with your idea and the reason for that too....

Regards,

amit

according to the ms knowledge base it seems - big thread about it a while back

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...5&pagenumber=2

i wasn't having any probs the way it was, except i had to make the ext partition linux to "hide" the partition in windows - this prob had been fixed with the new set up - even tho the ext is now windows again.

apparently windows can get confused and eat your linux partitions - happened to that dude - may happen to me - better safe than soryy, look to the future etc

i added this most recent question to the end of that thread but i knew no-one would answer it there - so i cross posted - naughty me :p

Your initial partitioning scheme apparently consisted of 3 primary and one logical partition. Your current partitioning scheme apparently uses one primary and one logical partition. There are no inherent security issues with either approach, and both are equally valid. coolamit's detailed response in post #3 is exactly correct (nicely done!) and I also have never heard of any recommendation to define the partitions in the way you describe. -- J.W.

thanks for that

ok. hda1-4 are set aside for primary partitions but now i have noticed that i have C, D and E for my hard disks in windows but my cdrom is now G!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!

why? :cry:

why isn't it F? i just tested a boot from a floppy to win98 and that made a RAM disk called F - could that still be hanging on somehow? can't be sure that CD wasn't G before tho. this is so annoying!