reusing disk

[Bob McClure Jr]

On Wed, Jan 24, 2007 at 12:27:17PM -0800, chuck lawrence wrote:
> next question...
> 
> I'm (re)using an old linux boot disk, now in an external usb enclosure. 
>  it has a small /boot volume (/dev/sdb1) and a larger / volume 
> (/dev/sdb3).  I gather /dev/sdb2, if it were there, was previously swap.
> 
> can I delete all this and return it to a single disk?  all the tools 
> I've tried so far (fdisk, parted) assume these are distinct disks, and 
> offer to create/delete partitions within them.

If you

  fdisk /dev/sdb3

it will misbehave as you describe.  If you

  fdisk /dev/sdb

you should be able to delete all partitions and then create one
partition the size of the disk.  It will be called /dev/sdb1.

> adv(thanks)ance
> 
> -- 
> 
>  * ------------------- * ----------------------------*
>  | charles e. lawrence | lawrence berkeley nat'l lab |
>  | celawrence at lbl.gov  | #1 cyclotron rd  ms 50a6134 |
>  | (510) 486-4682      | berkeley  ca  94720         |
>  * ------------------- * ----------------------------*
> 
>              www-eng.lbl.gov/~celawrence

Cheers,
-- 
Bob McClure, Jr.             Bobcat Open Systems, Inc.
bob at bobcatos.com             http://www.bobcatos.com
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the
Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance
from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)