hmm..partition problem

Fox2k · 05-26-2001, 08:43 PM

Well i got linux installed and thought there were no problems. But all of a sudden i realize that all 4 partitions of my 30 gig drive add up to 25 gigs and my linux patrtition has no letter assigned to it. so now i cant start partitionmagic at all to fix the problem(s) because it gives me an error"partition's drive letter can not be identified".

any suggestions?

ugge · 05-27-2001, 03:18 PM

Linux partitions arent labeled with drive letters.
I can't tell you why PQ Magic won't start.
The problem with the shrinking disk might be that the space for data is less than the actual partition size.
This is because of the file allocation tables take place for every partition.
The same thing happens for a 1.44 MB floppy disk. When you format it will only hold 1.38 MB of data.

Fox2k · 05-27-2001, 06:50 PM

Alright, thanks for the info

Q25 · 05-27-2001, 07:06 PM

And here's another little thing

When used to describe disk storage capacity and transmission rates, a megabyte is 1,000,000 bytes in decimal notation.

However.. when it comes to computer processor storage that's not the case..
Here a megabyte is 2 to the 20th power byte, or 1,048,576 bytes in decimal.

So when you are told you buy a 30 gig HD, what you actually get is 30 / 1.048576 = 28.6 gig

Why you only see 25 gig's I dunno... what about swap space n stuff?

[Edited by Q25 on 05-27-2001 at 08:10 PM]

Fox2k · 05-27-2001, 08:57 PM

I'm aware of the difference between bytes and megabytes, but 5 gigs missing is more than a little off. I still haven't figured out the problem. but i've been planning to reinstall windows some time soon anyways so im going to do that and repartition at the same time. hopefully after that i'll have all of my space back
=)

[Edited by Fox2k on 05-27-2001 at 10:01 PM]