How To Reformat A NTFS Disk Mount In A Redhat 7.1 Server
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How To Reformat A NTFS Disk Mount In A Redhat 7.1 Server
Dear all,
I've have a 4 TB NTFS disk mounted to a Redhat 7.1 Server.
I've created a partition
Code:
fdisk -l /dev/sdi
WARNING: fdisk GPT support is currently new, and therefore in an experimental phase. Use at your own discretion.
Disk /dev/sdi: 4398.0 GB, 4398046511104 bytes, 8589934592 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk label type: gpt
# Start End Size Type Name
1 2000896 8589844479 4T Microsoft basic logical
next I reformat it to a ext3 filesystem using the following command:
Code:
nohup /usr/sbin/mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdi1 &
after 12 hours later,
when I type the following command:
Code:
df -T /dev/sdi
Filesystem Type 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
devtmpfs devtmpfs 16381680 0 16381680 0% /dev
something is really wrong because it is supposed to be ext3 and not devtmpfs
I've have a 4 TB NTFS disk mounted to a Redhat 7.1 Server.
I believe your first issue is that you are using fdisk to work with large partitions. Fdisk cannot work with anything above 2 TB, so you'll have to use parted.
but after I run mkfs.ext3 in the background for about 12 hours later, I found that the filesystem is devtmps, which is wrong.
why is this so?
what should I do to make the filesystem to ext3.
I'm using Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7.1 (Maipo)
Code:
cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server"
VERSION="7.1 (Maipo)"
ID="rhel"
ID_LIKE="fedora"
VERSION_ID="7.1"
PRETTY_NAME="Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7.1 (Maipo)"
ANSI_COLOR="0;31"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.1:GA:server"
HOME_URL="https://www.redhat.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/"
REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT="Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7"
REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT_VERSION=7.1
REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT="Red Hat Enterprise Linux"
REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT_VERSION="7.1"
but after I run mkfs.ext3 in the background for about 12 hours later, I found that the filesystem is devtmps, which is wrong.
why is this so?
what should I do to make the filesystem to ext3.
I'm using Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7.1 (Maipo)
Code:
cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server"
VERSION="7.1 (Maipo)"
ID="rhel"
ID_LIKE="fedora"
VERSION_ID="7.1"
PRETTY_NAME="Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7.1 (Maipo)"
ANSI_COLOR="0;31"
CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.1:GA:server"
HOME_URL="https://www.redhat.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/"
REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT="Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7"
REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT_VERSION=7.1
REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT="Red Hat Enterprise Linux"
REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT_VERSION="7.1"
many thanks in advance
What size do you want your partition? EXT3 is not recommended for anything above 2 TB. You should go with either XFS or ext4 for anything larger then 2 TB.
df only shows what is mounted - and certainly won't show a device node if it is partitioned.
As a side note ext4 is a much better option, and will format much faster.
Dear JockVSJock, 4 TB is my partition size. what should I do next to reformat to 4 TB. Btw, is there any issue writing from a ext4 system to ext3 system?
Dear TobiSGD, then what command should I use to check unmounted filesystem?
many thanks in advance!
Last edited by redhatwannabe; 01-19-2016 at 06:20 PM.
fdisk -l /dev/sdi
WARNING: fdisk GPT support is currently new, and therefore in an experimental phase. Use at your own discretion.
Disk /dev/sdi: 4398.0 GB, 4398046511104 bytes, 8589934592 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk label type: gpt
# Start End Size Type Name
1 2000896 8589844479 4T Microsoft basic logical
May I know what's wrong? Do I need to repartition the disk before reformatting the disk.
and how do I now if the xfs reformatting is complete?
why is there a discrepancy betwween fdisk -l output and lsbllk -f ?
this is saying microsoft
Code:
fdisk -l /dev/sdi
WARNING: fdisk GPT support is currently new, and therefore in an experimental phase. Use at your own discretion.
Disk /dev/sdi: 4398.0 GB, 4398046511104 bytes, 8589934592 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk label type: gpt
# Start End Size Type Name
1 2000896 8589844479 4T Microsoft basic logical
There are no discrepancy between fdisk -l output and lsblk -f. They are two different tools. They are not giving you comparable information. fdisk -l is not telling you anything about the filesystem, nor the UUID like lsblk did. Do not ask a disk partitioning to tell you about filesystem. A filesystem lays on top of partitions.
The nohup log contains the successful output of a normal formatting session, which you would had seen on your screen if you wouldn't had placed it in the background. In fact you can obtain that information anytime you want by issuing
Code:
xfs_info /dev/sdi1
By the way, the Type in fdisk is referring to the type of partition, not of filesystem. And Linux for the most part does not even care about what type of partition is set.
if you NEED one partition of 4 TB
then ext3 is not the format you want
use ext4 or xfs and GPT and NOT a dos table
also it is better to use a live cd with parted ( i use the Gparted live cd )
and use that to format the drive
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