Formatting

Diamond Jester · n00b Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 24

How do I format my drive for linux? I have XP on my computer but I want a clean HD to install gentoo.

When I type in fdisk /dev/hda it denies me access even though im in root.

fearofcorners · Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 4:42 am Post subject:

I'm assuming you're doing this from a livecd. You'd better double-check /dev/hda is the right device. Depending on your system configuration it may not be. It is also possible (although more unlikely) that the livecd couldn't load a driver for your hard drive controller.

You can check if the drive is the right one and whether it is recognized by the livecd with `dmesg | grep hda'. It should look something like this:

If not, you can see if your hard drive controller is recognized (I'm assuming you're using a parallel ata, not sata/scsi) with `grep IDE /proc/pci'.

Diamond Jester · n00b Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 24

The first command you told me to use didnt work. The second one did recognize something which I will ssume is my HD but I didnt look at it closely. I installed suse to see if everything worked and there were no problems. So how might I go about gettign Gentoo to let me fdisk?

fearofcorners · Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2005 6:54 am Post subject:

if hda is not mentioned in dmesg you can assume either your harddisk is not controller 0 master, or that the livecd doesn't have a driver for your controller.

What is your /etc/fstab under suse? That'll tell you

You can also look in /proc/ide to see what IDE disks linux recognizes.
_________________
ich bin ein seg fault

Diamond Jester · n00b Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 24

::slaps self:: ugh I forgot I had switched my HD to slave a while back thanks Ill switch it back to master