Create raw partitions in SUSE Linux 8

[Juan Gonzalez_2]

What are the steps in creating a raw partition in SUSE Linux 8 not using LVM or VxVM using what SUSE Linux calls file type Linux native? Any help will greatly be appreciated.

[TwoProc]

That would just be running the "fdisk" tool against say /dev/hda and cutting it up into partitions. Which would give you, for example /dev/hda1, /dev/hda2, /dev/hda3, etc (in this example if you cut up /dev/hda into three partitions). Then, when you get to the step where you would run "mkfs" on the filesystem for format it - just DON'T do that part. You now have raw partitions - which merely means a disk partitions that have no file system formatted onto them.

[Juan Gonzalez_2]

John,

I did that and it created the /dev/sdd1, /dev/sdd5,/dev/sdd6, and /dev/sdd7 but fdisk did not create the raw file under directory /dev/raw/raw(N). So I can not attach the block device to the raw file.

What am I doing wrong?
Thanks,
Juan Gonzalez

[Juan Gonzalez_2]

Can I run a command to create the raw device file that looks similiar to the one below and then run raw to bind it to the block device?

crw-rw---- 1 root root 162, 11 Oct 21 2002 raw11

[Jesus-Perez]

I don't understand well your situation.

Do you have the file already... right?
So... is It in a partiton... right?
Do you want access the file's content as it is in another partition?

Then maybe you want use losetup command:

http://www.linux.com/howtos/Cryptoloop-HOWTO/loopdevice-setup.shtml

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom Juan,

You use fdisk to create partitions under most Linuxes.

fdisk /dev/hda lets you carve up the first hard disk.

I think thats what is wrong,the methodology.

SEP

[Juan Gonzalez_2]

Jesus,

I did a fdsik on a disk called /dev/sdd. I first did n for create new partition then I did e to create an extended partition and included all of the disk then I did w to write out the partition table. After that I ran fdisk /dev/sdd again then I type n then l to create a logical partition, I did this three times for the different partitions. Then I did a w to write out the partition table. Then I went to look under directory /dev/raw but no new files were created so then I looked in /dev for the files that were created and they were sdd1 sdd5, sdd6, and sdd7. I did a blockdev --getsize /dev/ssd(N) on each of the size of the partition came back. when I bring up the yast I see the sdd disk with the partitions sdd5, sdd6, and sdd7 under it but the raw files are not created. That is my problem.

[Jesus-Perez]

OK, thank you, I got it.

raw -a must show you the raw device nodes.

Maybe these links culd be useful:

http://www.linux.com/howtos/SCSI-2.4-HOWTO/rawdev.shtml

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/db2luw/v8/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.db2.udb.doc/admin/t0004971.htm

I'll check a SuSE system and and post the results here as soon as possible.

[Juan Gonzalez_2]

I figured out the problem. Thanks to the people that responded. I had to create the raw file in the /dev/raw directory with the mknod command.