Help Me with using non-Linux formatted HDD's with Linux OS?
 

Hello,

I just updated an older PC with Linux Mint 17.2 "Rafaela". During the installation only one HDD was formatted and used. This PC uses 4 different HDD's, which were used in a RAID configuration. How can I detect the not-Linux formatted HDD's and format them to be able to use them under Linux?

Thanks in advance for useful tips!

Ir. M.T. de Hoop
Bouwensputseweg 6
4471RC, Wolphaartsdijk
E-mail: tomdehoop@solcon.nl
Homepage: http://quantumuniverse.eu

so you do not need them in a RAID config anymore?

in any case, please post the output of

Use a partition manager to create partitions and format with a Linux filesystem. The Mint installation medium will have the GParted partition manager on it. If you aren't familiar with it, the GParted Manual at the link below:

http://gparted.org/display-doc.php%3Fname%3Dhelp-manual

It's better not to post email and snail mail addresses in a public forum. You might attract spammers or identity thiefs.

Your Linux system has detected the disks, most likely. You can check that with a command like lsblk - I believe it exists in MINT.

If you want a RAID on them, you will have a steep learning curve, as MINT is unlikely to provide a GUI for this task. The command to use is mdadm. Search the web for instructions.

If you want to use them as separate filesystems, a useful command is
where /dev/something comes from the lsblk output. You then have an empty filesystem on that disk, and MINT might detect it immediately and show it in its filemanager, but at the latest next time you boot.
Instead of mkfs, perhaps MINT has a GUI for creating filesystems on unused disks.

The above commands require superuser power, which you get with sudo. Be very careful with the mkfs command - you will overwrite everything on /dev/something, so ensure that you are using the correct /dev/something.