------- Readme for Version 2.44 Beta / CMD Line June 09, 2002 ------- Beta version 2.44 combines Partition Manager GUI and command line. It also have increased buffer size to investigate reported crushes on some systems (laptops?) when users enter cylinder > max_cyl_value. Command line interface options: part.exe [disk] [/<command>|/BATCH:file [/QUIET|/VERBOSE] [/DEBUG] [/SURE]] Commands: disk-no - hard disk number, valid values are 1..8 - if no command is specified GUI will run /Print - Print disk and partitions information /Extra - Print detailed disk and partitions information /MBR - Write standard Initial Program Loader into MBR /ACT /P:partition-no |/PRI[:nth] /DEL /P:partition-no |/PRI[:nth] |/LOG[:nth] |/EXT |/ALL /FOR /P:partition-no |/PRI[:nth] |/LOG[:nth] [/V:label] /CRE [/PRI |/EXT |/LOG] [/SZ:mb|pcnt%%] [/FOR [/V:label]] Additional /CREATE options: /NTFAT16 /FAT16 /FAT32 /NTFS Examples: part_cmd /print - print information about the first disk part_cmd /all - print information about all fixed disks part_cmd 2 /extra - print detailed information about disk 2 part_cmd /del /ext - delete extended partition and all logical drives part_cmd /cre /pri /sz:4000 /for /NTFAT16 - create 4G FAT16 partition part_cmd /for /log:2 /v:BACKUP - format existing second logical drive part_cmd /del /all /nodel:NTFS,82,83 - delete all but 0x7, 0x82, 0x83 Note: disk-no and /sure from the command line are applied to all batch commands Mikhail ------- Readme for Version 2.43 (Beta by Muthu) April 12, 2002 ------- Beta v2.43 fixes a bug that prevented some OSes (FreeBSD to name one) from booting when /boot partitions was located above 8G. The fix will let you boot Linux or FreeBSD from partitions above 8G, however it will not make magic and boot DOS from the end of 60G disk. ------- Readme for Version 2.42 (Beta by Muthu) March 09, 2002 ------- Please read this file completely before trying out anything. This is a long one but it contains some important information that you need to be aware of. (As usual, this version is for EXPERIENCED USERS ONLY! If you are new to RPM, I suggest you read the URL http://www.trombettworks.com/multi-boot.htm *completely*) While I have *tested* my changes many times except 2TiB disk limit, and found them *working* as expected, standard disclaimers still apply. Beta v2.42 includes the following new features/changes: 1. A maximum of 31 primary partitions 2. Can restore RPM's MBR in case it was overwritten by some other program (e.g.: fdisk /mbr) or after a new OS installation (thereby establishing the link to the "lost" RPM partition table). 3. Check for clash/overlap of a *new* partition (found in MBR/EMBR) before importing the newer partition into RPM partition table (the table used by RPM internally to store all the partition information). 4. > 128 GiB disk support but only upto 1.99 TiB - UNTESTED (GiB & TiB refer to the SI notation of "binary Gigabytes" & "binary Terabytes" respectively. 1 binary Gigabyte (GiB) is same as 1 x 1024 x 1024 x 1024 bytes whereas 1 Gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Please see http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html) 5. "MBR row numbering" related changes in Partition Manager 6. Boot Manager can now support upto 32 primary partitions More on these features in a while. [Though I suggested to call this version as RPM 2.41 Beta 2.0, Mikhail chose to call this RPM 2.42 Beta to avoid any possible confusion. So he added "2.42 (beta) by Muthu" in Partition manager. Please note that Mikhail was not involved with these new changes. So please avoid contacting him if you find any bugs with these new features]. I would like to suggest you keep a backup copy of the RPM partition table on paper. Use the command 'part -p -r > rpmpart.txt' to get the RPM partition table into a file. Print this file & store it in a safe place. This will help *in case* you lose your RPM partition table. To be fair to Mikhail Ranish, the basic things necessary to support more than 4 primary partitions were already present in Beta 1.0 code (for that matter from 2.38 onwards). All I need to do is to build on these to get the support for > 4 primary partitions working. My thanks to him for making the source code available and also for getting the code compiled for this beta release to the public) A note on Trombettworks workaround (please do read this): Here is another person whom I would like to thank. While RPM 2.42b may eliminate the reliance of the paper (well, upto 31 partitions, it is still a worthy read for its contents (e.g.: layout of partitions, partition ending requirement (i.e.) 254/63 (H/S) requirement, moving & resizing of partitions, where to keep RPM partition etc.). I learned few things from his article. Here are some points which you need to know (he can possibly incorporate into that article, that will be my request : a.) while the RPM partition can be present in an incomplete (last) cylinder, I would suggest *not* to do this, the reason being linux does not like it. I could not get linux installation create its partitions properly. So my suggestion is to use the last COMPLETE cylinder for the RPM partition (It worked when I did this and I did not have any problems seeing partitions added to MBR after installation). b.) It is strictly not necessary to have the RPM partition in the MBR (no, this is not my change). But it will help if you keep it in the MBR (reasons later). c. With RPM 2.42b, please *DON'T* reinstall RPM in the case where the RPM MBR was overwritten. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Instead, please follow the instructions under "Restoring RPM MBR". <End of Trombettworks workaround note> Now let us have a look at these new features in detail. I am assuming here that you have some experience working with RPM. 1. Max. of 31 primary partitions This is self explanatory. In case you don't want to know more about this feature, skip to 2, but there is something more to this. The actual number is 32, but only 31 is usable; as you might have observed, the MBR takes one row in Partition Manager. Leaving one for RPM partition, you can have a maximum of 30 primary partitions. Please make a note of the word "primary". In Partition Manager, each row can represent one primary partition. So, if you want to create 31 primary partitions you can do so without issues. But this will not be case with extended partition (in case you have one). An extended partition can have multiple logical partitions inside in which each logical partition normally needs 2 rows in Partition Manager (one for the logical and the other for the extended logical partition). So it is NOT possible that you can have 30 primary & 1 extended partition. You cannot have primary partitions in all those rows occupied by the extended partition and so the number comes down. 2. Restoring RPM MBR In case the RPM MBR is overwritten, here are steps you need to follow to restore (you don't need the paper for a, b & c): a.) Boot with the RPM 2.42b diskette & run part.exe You will now see ONLY the partitions which are part of the MBR. b. In case you have the RPM partition in the MBR: i) Goto the first partition (Master Boot Record). Press <Enter>. Against "MBR Executable code:", select "Boot Manager". Against "Boot interface type:" select "Text 25x80". Press <Esc>. You will be in the main menu. Here comes the main thing: ii) Press F7. You will get a message "MBR written. Please reboot the system WITHOUT saving". Yes, you read it correct. Don't use the F2 key at all. Once you reboot the system without saving, you will find all the partition info restored!!! See, having the RPM partition in MBR helped! Another reason to keep RPM partition in the MBR is that the OSes will know that there is a partition existing at that location. Otherwise the OS might think that it is free space and well use this space if you create a new partition. c. "Oh, my GOD!!! I don't have RPM partition in MBR. What to do? Am I doomed?" Don't despair! All you need to do: i) just recreate the RPM partition and you may assign it an MBR row (say 4, though it is not strictly needed). As the RPM partition existed on the last COMPLETE cylinder before, it should NOT be a problem for you to recreate. If you have placed it elsewhere, you have no other go other than remembering it. ii) Goto the first partition (Master Boot Record). Press <Enter>. Against "MBR Executable code:", select "Boot Manager". Against "Boot interface type:" select "Text 25x80". Press <Esc>. You will be in the main menu. Here comes the main thing: iii) Press F7. You will get "MBR written. Please reboot the system WITHOUT saving". Yes, you read it correct. Don't use the F2 key at all. Once you reboot the system without saving, you will find all the partition info restored! d. "I pressed F2 by mistake" or "I don't know where my RPM partition was" You require the paper now. If you have pressed F2, You need to create entire RPM partition table by entering the data from the paper (a painful process). If you don't know the location of RPM partition, get this information from the paper and follow the steps in c. e. "I don't have a backup copy" Sorry. you are out of luck. 3. Check for clash/...
Kot_Maciek