Well, here I am yet again. I think that I installed everything yet forgot to mkfs -j <location>. Is there a way to easily tell if that is so? What do I need to do if so (or if not)?
What happens if I run it on a disk with data on it.
I do have a couple of drives in which the information doesn't really matter so I ran mkfs on them. Why would it respond as such:
bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ umount /dev/sda6
umount: /dev/sda6 is not mounted (according to mtab)
bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ su
Password:
root@bmike1:/mnt# mkfs -t ext2 -j /mnt/sda6
mke2fs 1.34-WIP (21-May-2003)
/mnt/sda6 is not a block special device.
Proceed anyway? (y,n) y
mkfs.ext2: Device size reported to be zero. Invalid partition specified, or
partition table wasn't reread after running fdisk, due to
a modified partition being busy and in use. You may need to reboot
to re-read your partition table.

root@bmike1:/mnt# umount sda5
root@bmike1:/mnt# mkfs -t ext2 -j /mnt/sda5
mke2fs 1.34-WIP (21-May-2003)
/mnt/sda5 is not a block special device.
Proceed anyway? (y,n) y
mkfs.ext2: Device size reported to be zero. Invalid partition specified, or
partition table wasn't reread after running fdisk, due to
a modified partition being busy and in use. You may need to reboot
to re-read your partition table.
root@bmike1:/mnt#

Ahhhhh! It gets even stranger. There are partitions which I didn't create but that are there. Such as:

bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ ls hda1 (msdos)
My Documents _ bootlog.txt _io.sys _ _ _quickenw _ _ _suhdlog.dat
Program Files _command.com _msdos.--- _ recycled _ _ _system.1st
autoexec.bat _ config.sys _ msdos.sys _ scandisk.log _temp
bootlog.prv _ _detlog.txt _ netlog.txt _setuplog.txt _windows
bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ ls hda5 (linux)(WHERE ARE ALL THE FILES?)
bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ ls hda6<(didn't create this)(cat /proc/partitions shows that)
bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ ls hda7<(didn't create this)
bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ ls hda8<(didn't create this)
bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ ls sda5
downloads _drakx-images _lost+found
bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ ls sda5/dr*
sda5/drakx-images:
<listing of files>
bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ ls sda5/do*<there WAS a file in here
bmike1@bmike1:/mnt$ ls sda6<(didn't create this)

If you will notice the directory listing from ls and cat /proc/partitions differ.

root@bmike1:/home/bmike1# cat /proc/partitions; cat /etc/fstab; fdisk -l /dev/sda
major minor _#blocks _name
_ _8 _ _ 0 _ _1025500 sda
_ _8 _ _ 1 _ _ 409584 sda1
_ _8 _ _ 2 _ _ _ _ _1 sda2
_ _8 _ _ 5 _ _ 511984 sda5
_ _8 _ _ 6 _ _ 103408 sda6<I didn't create this.
_ _3 _ _ 0 _ 29316672 hda
_ _3 _ _ 1 _ 14659281 hda1
_ _3 _ _ 2 _ _ _ _ _1 hda2
_ _3 _ _ 5 _ 14651248 hda5

# /etc/fstab: filesystem table.
# filesystem _mountpoint _type _options _dump _pass
/dev/cdrom _/cdrom _iso9660 _defaults,ro,user,noexec,noauto _0 _0
/dev/fd0 _/floppy _vfat _defaults,user,auto,showexec,umask=022 _0 _0
/dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 vfat defaults,users,exec,umask=000,uid=knoppix,gid=knoppix
0 0
/dev/hda5 _/ _ext3 _defaults,errors=remount-ro _0 _1
/dev/sda5 /mnt/sda5 ext3 defaults,users,exec 0 2
/dev/sda6 /mnt/sda6 ext3 defaults,users,exec 0 2
/dev/sda1 swap swap noauto 0 0
proc _/proc _proc _defaults _0 _0

Disk /dev/sda: 1050 MB, 1050112000 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 1001 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
_ _Device Boot _ _Start _ _ _ End _ _Blocks _ Id _System
/dev/sda1 _ * _ _ _ _ 1 _ _ _ 400 _ _409584 _ 82 _Linux swap
/dev/sda2 _ _ _ _ _ 401 _ _ _1001 _ _615424 _ _5 _Extended
/dev/sda5 _ _ _ _ _ 401 _ _ _ 900 _ _511984 _ 83 _Linux
/dev/sda6 _ _ _ _ _ 901 _ _ _1001 _ _103408 _ 83 _Linux
root@bmike1:/home/bmike1#

I am running Debian. It used to be mandrake but now I'm doing debian.

IT IS mkfs /dev/<drive> NOT /mnt/<drive> as shown:

root@bmike1:/mnt# mkfs -t ext2 -j /dev/sda6
mke2fs 1.34-WIP (21-May-2003)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=1024 (log=0)
Fragment size=1024 (log=0)
25896 inodes, 103408 blocks
5170 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=1
13 block groups
8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group
1992 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729

Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (4096 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

This filesystem will be automatically checked every 33 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
root@bmike1:/mnt# mkfs -t ext2 -j /dev/sda5
mke2fs 1.34-WIP (21-May-2003)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=1024 (log=0)
Fragment size=1024 (log=0)
128016 inodes, 511984 blocks
25599 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=1
63 block groups
8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group
2032 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729, 204801, 221185, 401409

Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (8192 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

This filesystem will be automatically checked every 36 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.