Hi all,
I did use Gparted-LiveCD test version 0.6.2-2.
See:
http://ziggo-gebruikers.nl/forum/showthread.php?t=16533&page=56
Nb!. Be sure, you have to “resize” the first partition by 1 Mb; this might be a little “bug” in Gparted.
But it looks like you can partition and format your WD20EARS correctly in Advanced Format in Gparted now !
Aligned to Mib. ?
With “fdisk -lu /dev/sdd” I did see:
Disk /dev/sdd: 2000.4 Gb, 2000398934016 bytes
255 Heads, 63 sectors/tracks, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029168 sectors
units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes/512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0002decd
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdd1 2048 4196351 2097152 83 Linux
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary. *
/dev/sdd2 4196352 4405247 104448 83 Linux
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary. *
/dev/sdd3 4405248 38454600191 1925097472 83 Linux
/dev/sdd4 38454600192 3907028991 26214400 83 Linux
The * remarks by “Fdisk” are not correct, I do think!
With “sfdisk -uB -l /dev/sdd”:
Disk /dev/sdd : 243201 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track
units = blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0
Device Boot Start End #blocks Id System
/dev/sdd1 1024 2098175 2097152 83 Linux
/dev/sdd2 2098176 2202623 104448 83 Linux
/dev/sdd3 2202624 1927300095 1925097472 83 Linux
/dev/sdd4 1927300096 1953514495 26214400 83 Linux
I did re-format the disk with “mkfs.ext3 -b 4096 /dev/sddx” to be sure that 4K blocks where used.
Partition 1, 3 and 4 automatic did format with 4K blocks with “mkfs.ext3 /dev/sddx”; only partition 2 required the “-b 4096” parameter.
But this all did not make a difference for the WD Align Utility; and “sfdisk”, they did both present the same information - before and after.
With the “WD Align Utility - by Acronis” I could see in Windows XP that the disk was Optimally Aligned # ! (The utility displays this information)
The result:
Cap Used Start End
Disk 4
# Ext3 (Unlabeled) (H: ) Pri 2 Gb 99,87 Mb Ext3 2048 4.196.351 \Device\000000921
# Ext3 (Unlabeled) (J: ) Pri 102 Mb 9,392 Mb Ext3 4.196.352 4.405.247 \Device\000000922
# Ext3 (Unlabeled) (L: ) Pri 1,793 Tb 29,00 Gb Ext3 4.405.248 3.854.600.191 \Device\000000923
# Ext3 (Unlabeled) (S: ) Pri 25 Gb 574,4 Mb Ext3 3.854.600.192 3.907.028.991 \Device\000000924
Also the “WD Align System Utility - by Paragon”, tells me, the disk is optimally aligned.
So I think Gparted LiveCD 0.6.2-2 can do the job, my disk “looks” in Advanced Format correctly !
But I’m in doubt, is my HD realy in 4 Kb sector or cluster size?
Last info: I did prepare this disk for replacing my HD 320Gb in my PVR Humax iHDR 5050-c.
And this works. But I like the challenge to use this WD20EARS correctly in AF and aligned.
What is your opinion?
Alfredo
The Netherlands
