1.\" $FreeBSD: head/sbin/fdisk_pc98/fdisk.8 68575 2000-11-10 17:46:15Z ru $
| 1.\" $FreeBSD: head/sbin/fdisk_pc98/fdisk.8 68716 2000-11-14 11:20:58Z ru $
|
2.\"
3.Dd October 4, 1996
4.Dt FDISK 8
5.\".Os BSD 4
6.Sh NAME
7.Nm fdisk
8.Nd PC partition table maintenance program
9.Sh SYNOPSIS
10.Nm fdisk
11.\" !PC98 .Op Fl BIaistu
12.Op Fl Bastu
13.Op Fl b Ar bootcode
14.Op Fl 1234
15.Op Ar disk
16.Bl -tag -width time
17.Nm fdisk
18.Fl f Ar configfile
19.Op Fl itv
20.Op Ar disk
21.Sh PROLOGUE
22In order for the BIOS to boot the kernel,
23certain conventions must be adhered to.
24Sector 0 of the disk must contain boot code,
25a partition table,
26and a magic number.
27BIOS partitions can be used to break the disk up into several pieces.
28The BIOS brings in sector 0 and verifies the magic number. The sector
290 boot code then searches the partition table to determine which
30partition is marked
31.Em active .
32This boot code then brings in the bootstrap from the
33.Em active
34partition and, if marked bootable, runs it.
35Under DOS,
36you can have one or more partitions with one
37.Em active .
38The DOS
39.Nm
40program can be used to divide space on the disk into partitions and set one
41.Em active .
42.Sh DESCRIPTION
43The
| 2.\"
3.Dd October 4, 1996
4.Dt FDISK 8
5.\".Os BSD 4
6.Sh NAME
7.Nm fdisk
8.Nd PC partition table maintenance program
9.Sh SYNOPSIS
10.Nm fdisk
11.\" !PC98 .Op Fl BIaistu
12.Op Fl Bastu
13.Op Fl b Ar bootcode
14.Op Fl 1234
15.Op Ar disk
16.Bl -tag -width time
17.Nm fdisk
18.Fl f Ar configfile
19.Op Fl itv
20.Op Ar disk
21.Sh PROLOGUE
22In order for the BIOS to boot the kernel,
23certain conventions must be adhered to.
24Sector 0 of the disk must contain boot code,
25a partition table,
26and a magic number.
27BIOS partitions can be used to break the disk up into several pieces.
28The BIOS brings in sector 0 and verifies the magic number. The sector
290 boot code then searches the partition table to determine which
30partition is marked
31.Em active .
32This boot code then brings in the bootstrap from the
33.Em active
34partition and, if marked bootable, runs it.
35Under DOS,
36you can have one or more partitions with one
37.Em active .
38The DOS
39.Nm
40program can be used to divide space on the disk into partitions and set one
41.Em active .
42.Sh DESCRIPTION
43The
|
44.Bx Free
| 44.Fx
|
45program
46.Nm
47serves a similar purpose to the DOS program. The first form is used to
48display partition information or to interactively edit the partition
49table. The second is used to write a partition table using a
50.Ar configfile
51and is designed to be used by other scripts/programs.
52.Pp
53Options are:
54.It Fl a
55Change the active partition only. Ignored if
56.Fl f
57is given.
58.It Fl b Ar bootcode
59Get the boot code from the file
60.Ar bootcode .
61.It Fl B
62Reinitialize the boot code contained in sector 0 of the disk. Ignored
63if
64.Fl f
65is given.
66.It Fl f Ar configfile
67Set partition values using the file
68.Ar configfile .
69The
70.Ar configfile
71always modifies existing partitions, unless
72.Fl i
73is also given, in which case all existing partitions are deleted (marked
74as "unused") before the
75.Ar configfile
76is read. The
77.Ar configfile
78can be "-", in which case
79.Ar stdin
80is read. See
81.Sx CONFIGURATION FILE ,
82below, for file syntax.
83.Pp
84.Em WARNING Ns :
85when
86.Fl f
87is used, you are not asked if you really want to write the partition
88table (as you are in the interactive mode). Use with caution!
89.\" !PC98
90.\" .It Fl i
91.\" Initialize sector 0 of the disk. This implies
92.\" .Fl u ,
93.\" unless
94.\" .Fl f
95.\" is given.
96.\" .It Fl I
97.\" Initialize the contents of sector 0
98.\" with one
99/\" .Fx
100/\" slice covering the entire disk.
101.It Fl s
102Print summary information and exit.
103.It Fl t
104Test mode; do not write partition values. Generally used with the
105.Fl f
106option to see what would be written to the partition table. Implies
107.Fl v .
108.It Fl u
109Is used for updating (editing) sector 0 of the disk. Ignored if
110.Fl f
111is given.
112.It Fl v
113Be verbose. When
114.Fl f
115is used,
116.Nm
117prints out the partition table that is written to the disk.
118.It Fl 12345678
119Operate on a single fdisk entry only. Ignored if
120.Fl f
121is given.
122.El
123.Pp
124The final disk name can be provided as a
125.Sq bare
126disk name only, e.g.
127.Ql da0 ,
128or as a fully qualified device node under
129.Pa /dev .
130If omitted, the disks
131.Ql wd0 ,
132.Ql da0 ,
133and
134.Ql od0
135are being searched in that order, until one is
136being found responding.
137.Pp
138When called with no arguments, it prints the sector 0 partition table.
139An example follows:
140
141.Bd -literal
142 ******* Working on device /dev/rda0 *******
143 parameters extracted from in-core disklabel are:
144 cylinders=33075 heads=8 sectors/track=32 (256 blks/cyl)
145
146 parameters to be used for BIOS calculations are:
147 cylinders=33075 heads=8 sectors/track=32 (256 blks/cyl)
148
149 Media sector size is 512
150 Warning: BIOS sector numbering starts with sector 1
151 Information from DOS bootblock is:
152 The data for partition 1 is:
153 sysmid 148,(FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD)
154 start 256, size 2490112 (1215 Meg), sid 196
155 beg: cyl 1/ sector 0/ head 0;
156 end: cyl 9727/ sector 0/ head 0
157 system Name FreeBSD(98)
158 The data for partition 2 is:
159 sysmid 148,(FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD)
160 start 2490368, size 5505024 (2688 Meg), sid 196
161 beg: cyl 9728/ sector 0/ head 0;
162 end: cyl 31231/ sector 0/ head 0
163 system Name FreeBSD(98)
164 The data for partition 3 is:
165 <UNUSED>
166 The data for partition 4 is:
167 <UNUSED>
168 The data for partition 5 is:
169 <UNUSED>
170 The data for partition 6 is:
171 <UNUSED>
172 The data for partition 7 is:
173 <UNUSED>
174 The data for partition 8 is:
175 <UNUSED>
176 The data for partition 9 is:
177 <UNUSED>
178 The data for partition 10 is:
179 <UNUSED>
180 The data for partition 11 is:
181 <UNUSED>
182 The data for partition 12 is:
183 <UNUSED>
184 The data for partition 13 is:
185 <UNUSED>
186 The data for partition 14 is:
187 <UNUSED>
188 The data for partition 15 is:
189 <UNUSED>
190 The data for partition 16 is:
191 <UNUSED>
192.Ed
193.Pp
194The disk is divided into three partitions that happen to fill the disk.
195The second partition overlaps the end of the first.
196(Used for debugging purposes)
197.Bl -tag -width "cyl, sector and head"
198.It Em "sysmid"
199is used to label the partition.
| 45program
46.Nm
47serves a similar purpose to the DOS program. The first form is used to
48display partition information or to interactively edit the partition
49table. The second is used to write a partition table using a
50.Ar configfile
51and is designed to be used by other scripts/programs.
52.Pp
53Options are:
54.It Fl a
55Change the active partition only. Ignored if
56.Fl f
57is given.
58.It Fl b Ar bootcode
59Get the boot code from the file
60.Ar bootcode .
61.It Fl B
62Reinitialize the boot code contained in sector 0 of the disk. Ignored
63if
64.Fl f
65is given.
66.It Fl f Ar configfile
67Set partition values using the file
68.Ar configfile .
69The
70.Ar configfile
71always modifies existing partitions, unless
72.Fl i
73is also given, in which case all existing partitions are deleted (marked
74as "unused") before the
75.Ar configfile
76is read. The
77.Ar configfile
78can be "-", in which case
79.Ar stdin
80is read. See
81.Sx CONFIGURATION FILE ,
82below, for file syntax.
83.Pp
84.Em WARNING Ns :
85when
86.Fl f
87is used, you are not asked if you really want to write the partition
88table (as you are in the interactive mode). Use with caution!
89.\" !PC98
90.\" .It Fl i
91.\" Initialize sector 0 of the disk. This implies
92.\" .Fl u ,
93.\" unless
94.\" .Fl f
95.\" is given.
96.\" .It Fl I
97.\" Initialize the contents of sector 0
98.\" with one
99/\" .Fx
100/\" slice covering the entire disk.
101.It Fl s
102Print summary information and exit.
103.It Fl t
104Test mode; do not write partition values. Generally used with the
105.Fl f
106option to see what would be written to the partition table. Implies
107.Fl v .
108.It Fl u
109Is used for updating (editing) sector 0 of the disk. Ignored if
110.Fl f
111is given.
112.It Fl v
113Be verbose. When
114.Fl f
115is used,
116.Nm
117prints out the partition table that is written to the disk.
118.It Fl 12345678
119Operate on a single fdisk entry only. Ignored if
120.Fl f
121is given.
122.El
123.Pp
124The final disk name can be provided as a
125.Sq bare
126disk name only, e.g.
127.Ql da0 ,
128or as a fully qualified device node under
129.Pa /dev .
130If omitted, the disks
131.Ql wd0 ,
132.Ql da0 ,
133and
134.Ql od0
135are being searched in that order, until one is
136being found responding.
137.Pp
138When called with no arguments, it prints the sector 0 partition table.
139An example follows:
140
141.Bd -literal
142 ******* Working on device /dev/rda0 *******
143 parameters extracted from in-core disklabel are:
144 cylinders=33075 heads=8 sectors/track=32 (256 blks/cyl)
145
146 parameters to be used for BIOS calculations are:
147 cylinders=33075 heads=8 sectors/track=32 (256 blks/cyl)
148
149 Media sector size is 512
150 Warning: BIOS sector numbering starts with sector 1
151 Information from DOS bootblock is:
152 The data for partition 1 is:
153 sysmid 148,(FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD)
154 start 256, size 2490112 (1215 Meg), sid 196
155 beg: cyl 1/ sector 0/ head 0;
156 end: cyl 9727/ sector 0/ head 0
157 system Name FreeBSD(98)
158 The data for partition 2 is:
159 sysmid 148,(FreeBSD/NetBSD/386BSD)
160 start 2490368, size 5505024 (2688 Meg), sid 196
161 beg: cyl 9728/ sector 0/ head 0;
162 end: cyl 31231/ sector 0/ head 0
163 system Name FreeBSD(98)
164 The data for partition 3 is:
165 <UNUSED>
166 The data for partition 4 is:
167 <UNUSED>
168 The data for partition 5 is:
169 <UNUSED>
170 The data for partition 6 is:
171 <UNUSED>
172 The data for partition 7 is:
173 <UNUSED>
174 The data for partition 8 is:
175 <UNUSED>
176 The data for partition 9 is:
177 <UNUSED>
178 The data for partition 10 is:
179 <UNUSED>
180 The data for partition 11 is:
181 <UNUSED>
182 The data for partition 12 is:
183 <UNUSED>
184 The data for partition 13 is:
185 <UNUSED>
186 The data for partition 14 is:
187 <UNUSED>
188 The data for partition 15 is:
189 <UNUSED>
190 The data for partition 16 is:
191 <UNUSED>
192.Ed
193.Pp
194The disk is divided into three partitions that happen to fill the disk.
195The second partition overlaps the end of the first.
196(Used for debugging purposes)
197.Bl -tag -width "cyl, sector and head"
198.It Em "sysmid"
199is used to label the partition.
|
200.Bx Free
| 200.Fx
|
201reserves the
202magic number 148 decimal (94 in hex).
203.It Em "start and size"
204fields provide the start address
205and size of a partition in sectors.
206.\" !PC98 .It Em "flag 80"
207.\" specifies that this is the active partition.
208.It Em "cyl, sector and head"
209fields are used to specify the beginning address
210and end address for the partition.
211.It Em "system Name"
212is the name of the partition.
213.It Em "Note:"
214these numbers are calculated using BIOS's understanding of the disk geometry
215and saved in the bootblock.
216.El
217.Pp
218The flags
219.\" .Fl i
220.\" or
221.Fl u
222are used to indicate that the partition data is to be updated, unless the
223.Fl f
224option is used. If the
225.Fl f
226option is not used, the
227.Nm
228program will enter a conversational mode.
229This mode is designed not to change any data unless you explicitly tell it to.
230.Nm Fdisk
231selects defaults for its questions to guarantee the above behavior.
232.Pp
233It displays each partition
234and ask if you want to edit it.
235If you say yes,
236it will step through each field showing the old value
237and asking for a new one.
238When you are done with a partition,
239.Nm
240will display it and ask if it is correct.
241.Nm Fdisk
242will then proceed to the next entry.
243.Pp
244Getting the
245.Em cyl, sector,
246and
247.Em head
248fields correct is tricky.
249So by default,
250they will be calculated for you;
251you can specify them if you choose.
252.Pp
253After all the partitions are processed,
254you are given the option to change the
255.Em active
256partition.
257Finally,
258when the all the data for the first sector has been accumulated,
259you are asked if you really want to rewrite sector 0.
260Only if you answer yes,
261will the data be written to disk.
262.Pp
263The difference between the
264.Fl u
265flag and
266.Fl i
267flag is that
268the
269.Fl u
270flag just edits the fields as they appear on the disk.
271While the
272.Fl i
273flag is used to "initialize" sector 0;
274it will setup the last BIOS partition to use the whole disk for
| 201reserves the
202magic number 148 decimal (94 in hex).
203.It Em "start and size"
204fields provide the start address
205and size of a partition in sectors.
206.\" !PC98 .It Em "flag 80"
207.\" specifies that this is the active partition.
208.It Em "cyl, sector and head"
209fields are used to specify the beginning address
210and end address for the partition.
211.It Em "system Name"
212is the name of the partition.
213.It Em "Note:"
214these numbers are calculated using BIOS's understanding of the disk geometry
215and saved in the bootblock.
216.El
217.Pp
218The flags
219.\" .Fl i
220.\" or
221.Fl u
222are used to indicate that the partition data is to be updated, unless the
223.Fl f
224option is used. If the
225.Fl f
226option is not used, the
227.Nm
228program will enter a conversational mode.
229This mode is designed not to change any data unless you explicitly tell it to.
230.Nm Fdisk
231selects defaults for its questions to guarantee the above behavior.
232.Pp
233It displays each partition
234and ask if you want to edit it.
235If you say yes,
236it will step through each field showing the old value
237and asking for a new one.
238When you are done with a partition,
239.Nm
240will display it and ask if it is correct.
241.Nm Fdisk
242will then proceed to the next entry.
243.Pp
244Getting the
245.Em cyl, sector,
246and
247.Em head
248fields correct is tricky.
249So by default,
250they will be calculated for you;
251you can specify them if you choose.
252.Pp
253After all the partitions are processed,
254you are given the option to change the
255.Em active
256partition.
257Finally,
258when the all the data for the first sector has been accumulated,
259you are asked if you really want to rewrite sector 0.
260Only if you answer yes,
261will the data be written to disk.
262.Pp
263The difference between the
264.Fl u
265flag and
266.Fl i
267flag is that
268the
269.Fl u
270flag just edits the fields as they appear on the disk.
271While the
272.Fl i
273flag is used to "initialize" sector 0;
274it will setup the last BIOS partition to use the whole disk for
|
275.Bx Free ;
| 275.Fx ;
|
276and make it active.
277.Sh NOTES
278The automatic calculation of starting cylinder etc. uses
279a set of figures that represent what the BIOS thinks is the
280geometry of the drive.
281These figures are by default taken from the incore disklabel,
282but the program initially gives you an opportunity to change them.
283This allows the user to create a bootblock that can work with drives
284that use geometry translation under the BIOS.
285.Pp
286If you hand craft your disk layout,
287please make sure that the
| 276and make it active.
277.Sh NOTES
278The automatic calculation of starting cylinder etc. uses
279a set of figures that represent what the BIOS thinks is the
280geometry of the drive.
281These figures are by default taken from the incore disklabel,
282but the program initially gives you an opportunity to change them.
283This allows the user to create a bootblock that can work with drives
284that use geometry translation under the BIOS.
285.Pp
286If you hand craft your disk layout,
287please make sure that the
|
288.Bx Free
| 288.Fx
|
289partition starts on a cylinder boundary.
290A number of decisions made later may assume this.
291(This might not be necessary later.)
292.Pp
293Editing an existing partition will most likely cause you to
294lose all the data in that partition.
295.Pp
296You should run this program interactively once or twice to see how it
297works. This is completely safe as long as you answer the last question
298in the negative. There are subtleties that the program detects that are
299not fully explained in this manual page.
300.Sh CONFIGURATION FILE
301When the
302.Fl f
303option is given, a disk's partition table can be written using values
304from a
305.Ar configfile .
306The syntax of this file is very simple. Each line is either a comment or
307a specification, and whitespace (except for newlines) are ignored:
308.Bl -tag -width Ds
309.It Xo
310.Ic #
311.No Ar comment ...
312.Xc
313Lines beginning with a "#" are comments and are ignored.
314.It Xo
315.Ic g
316.No Ar spec1
317.No Ar spec2
318.No Ar spec3
319.Xc
320Set the BIOS geometry used in partition calculations. There must be
321three values specified, with a letter preceding each number:
322.Bl -tag -width Ds
323.Sm off
324.It Cm c No Ar num
325.Sm on
326Set the number of cylinders to
327.Ar num .
328.Sm off
329.It Cm h No Ar num
330.Sm on
331Set the number of heads to
332.Ar num .
333.Sm off
334.It Cm s No Ar num
335.Sm on
336Set the number of sectors/track to
337.Ar num .
338.El
339.Pp
340These specs can occur in any order, as the leading letter determines
341which value is which; however, all three must be specified.
342.Pp
343This line must occur before any lines that specify partition
344information.
345.Pp
346It is an error if the following is not true:
347.Bd -literal -offset indent
3481 <= number of cylinders
3491 <= number of heads <= 256
3501 <= number of sectors/track < 64
351.Ed
352.Pp
353The number of cylinders should be less than or equal to 1024, but this
354is not enforced, although a warning will be output. Note that bootable
| 289partition starts on a cylinder boundary.
290A number of decisions made later may assume this.
291(This might not be necessary later.)
292.Pp
293Editing an existing partition will most likely cause you to
294lose all the data in that partition.
295.Pp
296You should run this program interactively once or twice to see how it
297works. This is completely safe as long as you answer the last question
298in the negative. There are subtleties that the program detects that are
299not fully explained in this manual page.
300.Sh CONFIGURATION FILE
301When the
302.Fl f
303option is given, a disk's partition table can be written using values
304from a
305.Ar configfile .
306The syntax of this file is very simple. Each line is either a comment or
307a specification, and whitespace (except for newlines) are ignored:
308.Bl -tag -width Ds
309.It Xo
310.Ic #
311.No Ar comment ...
312.Xc
313Lines beginning with a "#" are comments and are ignored.
314.It Xo
315.Ic g
316.No Ar spec1
317.No Ar spec2
318.No Ar spec3
319.Xc
320Set the BIOS geometry used in partition calculations. There must be
321three values specified, with a letter preceding each number:
322.Bl -tag -width Ds
323.Sm off
324.It Cm c No Ar num
325.Sm on
326Set the number of cylinders to
327.Ar num .
328.Sm off
329.It Cm h No Ar num
330.Sm on
331Set the number of heads to
332.Ar num .
333.Sm off
334.It Cm s No Ar num
335.Sm on
336Set the number of sectors/track to
337.Ar num .
338.El
339.Pp
340These specs can occur in any order, as the leading letter determines
341which value is which; however, all three must be specified.
342.Pp
343This line must occur before any lines that specify partition
344information.
345.Pp
346It is an error if the following is not true:
347.Bd -literal -offset indent
3481 <= number of cylinders
3491 <= number of heads <= 256
3501 <= number of sectors/track < 64
351.Ed
352.Pp
353The number of cylinders should be less than or equal to 1024, but this
354is not enforced, although a warning will be output. Note that bootable
|
355.Bx Free
| 355.Fx
|
356partitions (the "/" filesystem) must lie completely within the
357first 1024 cylinders; if this is not true, booting may fail.
358Non-bootable partitions do not have this restriction.
359.Pp
360Example (all of these are equivalent), for a disk with 1019 cylinders,
36139 heads, and 63 sectors:
362.Bd -literal -offset indent
363g c1019 h39 s63
364g h39 c1019 s63
365g s63 h39 c1019
366.Ed
367.It Xo
368.Ic p
369.No Ar partition
370.No Ar type
371.No Ar start
372.No Ar length
373.Xc
374Set the partition given by
375.Ar partition
376(1-4) to type
377.Ar type ,
378starting at sector
379.Ar start
380for
381.Ar length
382sectors.
383.Pp
384Only those partitions explicitly mentioned by these lines are modified;
385any partition not referenced by a "p" line will not be modified.
386However, if an invalid partition table is present, or the
387.Fl i
388option is specified, all existing partition entries will be cleared
389(marked as unused), and these "p" lines will have to be used to
390explicitly set partition information. If multiple partitions need to be
391set, multiple "p" lines must be specified; one for each partition.
392.Pp
393These partition lines must occur after any geometry specification lines,
394if one is present.
395.Pp
396The
397.Ar type
398is 165 for
| 356partitions (the "/" filesystem) must lie completely within the
357first 1024 cylinders; if this is not true, booting may fail.
358Non-bootable partitions do not have this restriction.
359.Pp
360Example (all of these are equivalent), for a disk with 1019 cylinders,
36139 heads, and 63 sectors:
362.Bd -literal -offset indent
363g c1019 h39 s63
364g h39 c1019 s63
365g s63 h39 c1019
366.Ed
367.It Xo
368.Ic p
369.No Ar partition
370.No Ar type
371.No Ar start
372.No Ar length
373.Xc
374Set the partition given by
375.Ar partition
376(1-4) to type
377.Ar type ,
378starting at sector
379.Ar start
380for
381.Ar length
382sectors.
383.Pp
384Only those partitions explicitly mentioned by these lines are modified;
385any partition not referenced by a "p" line will not be modified.
386However, if an invalid partition table is present, or the
387.Fl i
388option is specified, all existing partition entries will be cleared
389(marked as unused), and these "p" lines will have to be used to
390explicitly set partition information. If multiple partitions need to be
391set, multiple "p" lines must be specified; one for each partition.
392.Pp
393These partition lines must occur after any geometry specification lines,
394if one is present.
395.Pp
396The
397.Ar type
398is 165 for
|
399.Bx Free
| 399.Fx
|
400partitions. Specifying a partition type of zero is
401the same as clearing the partition and marking it as unused; however,
402dummy values (such as "0") must still be specified for
403.Ar start
404and
405.Ar length .
406.Pp
407Note: the start offset will be rounded upwards to a head boundary if
408necessary, and the end offset will be rounded downwards to a cylinder
409boundary if necessary.
410.Pp
411Example: to clear partition 4 and mark it as unused:
412.Bd -literal -offset indent
413p 4 0 0 0
414.Ed
415.Pp
416Example: to set partition 1 to a
| 400partitions. Specifying a partition type of zero is
401the same as clearing the partition and marking it as unused; however,
402dummy values (such as "0") must still be specified for
403.Ar start
404and
405.Ar length .
406.Pp
407Note: the start offset will be rounded upwards to a head boundary if
408necessary, and the end offset will be rounded downwards to a cylinder
409boundary if necessary.
410.Pp
411Example: to clear partition 4 and mark it as unused:
412.Bd -literal -offset indent
413p 4 0 0 0
414.Ed
415.Pp
416Example: to set partition 1 to a
|
417.Bx Free
| 417.Fx
|
418partition, starting at sector 1
419for 2503871 sectors (note: these numbers will be rounded upwards and
420downwards to correspond to head and cylinder boundaries):
421.Bd -literal -offset indent
422p 1 165 1 2503871
423.Ed
424.It Xo
425.Ic a
426.No Ar partition
427.Xc
428Make
429.Ar partition
430the active partition. Can occur anywhere in the config file, but only
431one must be present.
432.Pp
433Example: to make partition 1 the active partition:
434.Bd -literal -offset indent
435a 1
436.Ed
437.El
438.Sh FILES
439.Bl -tag -width /boot/mbr -compact
440.It Pa /boot/mbr
441The default boot code
442.El
443.Sh SEE ALSO
444.Xr disklabel 8
445.Sh BUGS
446The default boot code will not necessarily handle all partition types
447correctly, in particular those introduced since MS-DOS 6.x.
448.Pp
449The entire program should be made more user-friendly.
450.Pp
451Throughout this man page, the term
452.Sq partition
453is used where it should actually be
454.Sq slice ,
455in order to conform with the terms used elsewhere.
456.Pp
457You cannot use this command to completely dedicate a disk to
| 418partition, starting at sector 1
419for 2503871 sectors (note: these numbers will be rounded upwards and
420downwards to correspond to head and cylinder boundaries):
421.Bd -literal -offset indent
422p 1 165 1 2503871
423.Ed
424.It Xo
425.Ic a
426.No Ar partition
427.Xc
428Make
429.Ar partition
430the active partition. Can occur anywhere in the config file, but only
431one must be present.
432.Pp
433Example: to make partition 1 the active partition:
434.Bd -literal -offset indent
435a 1
436.Ed
437.El
438.Sh FILES
439.Bl -tag -width /boot/mbr -compact
440.It Pa /boot/mbr
441The default boot code
442.El
443.Sh SEE ALSO
444.Xr disklabel 8
445.Sh BUGS
446The default boot code will not necessarily handle all partition types
447correctly, in particular those introduced since MS-DOS 6.x.
448.Pp
449The entire program should be made more user-friendly.
450.Pp
451Throughout this man page, the term
452.Sq partition
453is used where it should actually be
454.Sq slice ,
455in order to conform with the terms used elsewhere.
456.Pp
457You cannot use this command to completely dedicate a disk to
|
458.Bx Free .
| 458.Fx .
|
459The
460.Xr disklabel 8
461command must be used for this.
| 459The
460.Xr disklabel 8
461command must be used for this.
|