Hard Disk Upgrade Mini How-To
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# 4. Partition the new disk

Use this command to partition the new disk:

    fdisk /dev/hdb

EIDE devices are identified as `hda`, `hdb`, `hdc`, and `hdd` in the `/dev` directory. Partitions on these disks can range from 1 to 16 and are also in the `/dev` directory. For example, `/dev/hda4` refers to partition 4 on hard disk a (first EIDE hard disk).

SCSI devices are listed as devices `sda`, `sdb`, `sdc`, `sdd`, `sde`, `sdf`, and `sdg` in the `/dev` directory. Similarly, partitions on these disks can range from 1 to 16 and are also in the `/dev` directory. For example, `/dev/sda3` refers to partition 3 on SCSI disk a (first SCSI hard disk).

For Linux partitions with the ext2 file system, use system ID 83. For swap partitions, use system ID 82.

For more information on partitioning, see the Installation How-To and the Partition Mini How-To.

If your new disk has over 1024 cylinders, see the Large Disk Mini How-To. In brief, you should install all files required to boot Linux within the first 1024 cylinders. One way to do this is to create a small partition (5 Mb or so) just for the `/boot` directory at the beginning of the disk. (Slackware only: The kernel is at `/vmlinuz` rather than `/boot/vmlinuz`, so you should put both the `/` directory and the `/boot` directory in this partition.)

Partitions for systems other than Linux should be created using their own fdisk or equivalent command rather than with Linux's fdisk.

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Unmount non-Linux partitions and network drives |  | Format the new disk