path: root/mpartition.1

'\" t
.TH mpartition 1 "09Jan13" mtools-4.0.18
.SH Name
mpartition - partition an MSDOS hard disk
'\" t
.de TQ
.br
.ns
.TP \\$1
..

.tr \(is'
.tr \(if`
.tr \(pd"

.SH Note\ of\ warning
This manpage has been automatically generated from mtools's texinfo
documentation, and may not be entirely accurate or complete.  See the
end of this man page for details.
.PP
.SH Description
.PP
The \fR\&\f(CWmpartition\fR command is used to create MS-DOS file systems as
partitions.  This is intended to be used on non-Linux systems,
i.e. systems where fdisk and easy access to SCSI devices are not
available.  This command only works on drives whose partition variable
is set.
.PP
.ft I
.nf
\&\fR\&\f(CWmpartition\fR \fR\&\f(CW-p\fR \fIdrive\fR
\&\fR\&\f(CWmpartition\fR \fR\&\f(CW-r\fR \fIdrive\fR
\&\fR\&\f(CWmpartition\fR \fR\&\f(CW-I\fR [\fR\&\f(CW-B\fR \fIbootSector\fR] \fIdrive\fR 
\&\fR\&\f(CWmpartition\fR \fR\&\f(CW-a\fR \fIdrive\fR
\&\fR\&\f(CWmpartition\fR \fR\&\f(CW-d\fR \fIdrive\fR
\&\fR\&\f(CWmpartition\fR \fR\&\f(CW-c\fR [\fR\&\f(CW-s\fR \fIsectors\fR] [\fR\&\f(CW-h\fR \fIheads\fR]
[\fR\&\f(CW-t\fR \fIcylinders\fR] [\fR\&\f(CW-v\fR [\fR\&\f(CW-T\fR \fItype\fR] [\fR\&\f(CW-b\fR
\&\fIbegin\fR] [\fR\&\f(CW-l\fR length] [\fR\&\f(CW-f\fR]
\&\&
.fi
.ft R
 
.PP
Mpartition supports the following operations:
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWp\fR\ 
Prints a command line to recreate the partition for the drive.  Nothing
is printed if the partition for the drive is not defined, or an
inconsistency has been detected.  If verbose (\fR\&\f(CW-v\fR) is also set,
prints the current partition table.
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWr\fR\ 
Removes the partition described by \fIdrive\fR.
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWI\fR\ 
Initializes the partition table, and removes all partitions.
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWc\fR\ 
Creates the partition described by \fIdrive\fR.
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWa\fR\ 
"Activates" the partition, i.e. makes it bootable.  Only one partition
can be bootable at a time.
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWd\fR\ 
"Deactivates" the partition, i.e. makes it unbootable.
.PP
If no operation is given, the current settings are printed.
.PP
For partition creations, the following options are available:
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWs\ \fIsectors\fR\&\f(CW\fR\ 
The number of sectors per track of the partition (which is also the
number of sectors per track for the whole drive).
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWh\ \fIheads\fR\&\f(CW\fR\ 
The number of heads of the partition (which is also the number of heads
for the whole drive).  By default, the geometry information (number of
sectors and heads) is figured out from neighboring partition table
entries, or guessed from the size.
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWt\ \fIcylinders\fR\&\f(CW\fR\ 
The number of cylinders of the partition (not the number of cylinders of
the whole drive.
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWb\ \fIbegin\fR\&\f(CW\fR\ 
The starting offset of the partition, expressed in sectors. If begin is
not given, mpartition lets the partition begin at the start of the disk
(partition number 1), or immediately after the end of the previous
partition.
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWl\ \fIlength\fR\&\f(CW\fR\ 
The size (length) of the partition, expressed in sectors.  If end is not
given, mpartition figures out the size from the number of sectors, heads
and cylinders.  If these are not given either, it gives the partition
the biggest possible size, considering disk size and start of the next
partition.
.PP
The following option is available for all operation which modify the
partition table:
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWf\fR\ 
Usually, before writing back any changes to the partition, mpartition
performs certain consistency checks, such as checking for overlaps and
proper alignment of the partitions.  If any of these checks fails, the
partition table is not changes.  The \fR\&\f(CW-f\fR allows you to override
these safeguards.
.PP
The following options are available for all operations:
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWv\fR\ 
Together with \fR\&\f(CW-p\fR prints the partition table as it is now (no
change operation), or as it is after it is modified.
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWvv\fR\ 
If the verbosity flag is given twice, mpartition will print out a
hexdump of the partition table when reading it from and writing it to
the device.
.PP
The following option is available for partition table initialization:
.TP
\&\fR\&\f(CWB\ \fIbootSector\fR\&\f(CW\fR\ 
Reads the template master boot record from file \fIbootSector\fR.
.PP
.SH See\ Also
Mtools' texinfo doc
.SH Viewing\ the\ texi\ doc
This manpage has been automatically generated from mtools's texinfo
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.TP
* \ \ 
To generate a printable copy from the texinfo doc, run the following
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.PP
 
\&\fR
.TP
* \ \ 
To generate a html copy,  run:
 
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.ft R
.PP
 
\&\fRA premade html can be found at
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.TP
* \ \ 
To generate an info copy (browsable using emacs' info mode), run:
 
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.ft 3
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    ./configure; make info
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\&\fR
.PP
The texinfo doc looks most pretty when printed or as html.  Indeed, in
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.PP