HD Install :: Grub frugal install; partition
I've done a grub frugal install on a Dell Latitude. Everything went smoothly, although I can't mount a linux 83 partition I created to store files. My boot image is on partition 1, and swap partition on partition 2. I used fdisk to creat partition 3 (hda3), which shows up as a linux 83 type partition, but won't mount. When I try I get a "you must specify the filesytem type" message. I had no problem creating a storage partition on my other laptop using Partition Magic from the windows OS. Since there's no other operating system on this laptop, I'm forced to use fdisk. Any suggestions? Thanks.
I did a Debian install (grub) with the same problem. hda1 is 300MB linux boot, hda2 is swap and hda3 is for file storage. Mount tool tells me "you must specifiy filesystem type". If go in terminal to cfdisk, hda2 is Linux filesystem.
I got it working by using "mke2fs /dev/hda3" . This wasn't listed in the DSL book anywhere, but was noted in a link on frugal install found on this board. Now that I know it works, I'll go back and try to understand why. 
Partitioning only divides up the disk. It doesn't really matter what filsystem type you choose at this point. mke2fs formats the partition, i.e. sets out the filesystem on the partition (how files will be stored & indexed). You MUST carry out both steps before any OS will be able to mount the partition.
That makes sense. I wonder why the formating step isn't even mentioned in the DSL book. It also isn't mentioned in Knoppix for Dummies.
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