On 2010-03-06 21:11, Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:
In <[🔎] 4B92A531.6090200@cox.net>, Ron Johnson wrote:On 2010-03-06 09:41, Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:In <[🔎] 20100306015538.GP11387@wasteland.homelinux.net>, Jochen Schulz wrote:Mark:I hope there is a simple answer to this question (fingers crossed): how do I overwrite an existing partition (hda2 for example) with all zeros (essentially blanking the partition clean in preparation for installing Lenny), without destroying the partition table?Why do you think you need to blank the partition before installing lenny? There *are* reasons to do that, but they have nothing to do with the installation of a new OS.(reiserfsck --rebuild-tree) has a nasty habit of necromancy. Inparticular, it might link files from the old file system into lost+found. It can also destroy the heck out of your file system if you happen tostore a reiserfs file system in a file. (e.g. [reiserfs] -> /home/bss/Sid.qemu -> [reiserfs]).Non sequiter?Not really. 1. Old installation using one of more reiserfs file systems. 2. Install Lenny without wiping; use one or more reiserfs file systems. 3. Worst-case scenario file system failure.4. (reiserfsck --rebuild-tree) -> Links files from the old file system into the new file system.
You're joking. You *must* be joking. But then, I never did --rebuild-tree.
If you are going to put reiserfs on a block device, it is not overly cautious to erase the block device, to avoid (reiserfsck --rebuild-tree) from performing necromancy.
While I had lots of problems with ReiserFS 3, v3.5 was really darned stable. Only reason I moved away from it was that it was undermaintained.
-- Ron Johnson, Jr. Jefferson LA USA "If God had wanted man to play soccer, he wouldn't have given us arms." Mike Ditka