8 GB Flash drive formatted at 3.7 GB

[Mikkel]

On 12/20/2009 06:46 PM, Marcel Rieux wrote:
> 
> If you remember well, I said I formatted the drive by right clicking
> on the icon.  If you format sdb, an sdb1 partition will be created. If
> you don't have a partition, the drive can't be used.
> 
You can format a drive without a partition table, and still
format/use it. I am not sure if it would get automatically mounted,
but it does work. A partition table, and partition will NOT be
created for you. Also, you can have a drive with one partition
without that partition being partition 1. ZIP disks were famous for
this. For a log time, DOS formatted ZIP disks used partition 4.

> The man page does say:
> 
> e2fsck - check a Linux ext2/ext3/ext4 file system
> 
> A file system is not a device. So, the filesystem -- here sdb1 -- must
> be specified.
> 
Nope - A file system is created on a device. Both /dev/sdb and
/dev/sdb1 are devices. For that matter, a device is also a file. You
can use an entire drive, or a partition on a drive, as a tar
archive. (tar -cvf /dev/sdb /home/mikkel)

Remember - under UNIX type systems, everything is a file - that
includes devices. That is why commands like cp and cat work on
drives, as well as what most people consider files.

Mikkel
-- 

  Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons,
for thou art crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 198 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://listman.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/attachments/20091220/6a6713c1/attachment-0001.sig>