~ubuntu-branches/ubuntu/utopic/gdisk/utopic-proposed

Viewing changes to .pc/manpages.diff/cgdisk.8

Committer: Package Import Robot
Author(s): Guillaume Delacour
Date: 2012-03-21 23:18:43 UTC
mfrom: (1.1.4)
Revision ID: package-import@ubuntu.com-20120321231843-0uep1rjni0ajtsda

Tags: 0.8.2-1

http://bugs.debian.org/651379

http://bugs.debian.org/660815

http://bugs.debian.org/644537

* New upstream release
* debian/patches/manpages.diff:
  + Edit header with DEP3 format
  + Refresh original patch (as version has changed in the manpage)
  + Add an escape on single quote
  + Fix a minor typo (Closes: #651379)
* debian/patches/eof_stdin.diff: avoid infinite loop when ^D in gdisk,
  thanks Gianluigi Tiesi (Closes: #660815)
* debian/control:
  + Remove unnecessary "for" in long description
  (Closes: #644537)
  + Update Depends on debhelper v9
  + Bump to Standards-Version 3.9.3 (no changes needed)
* debian/compat: Update compat to version 9
* debian/copyright: Update url format

Show diffs side-by-side

added added

removed removed

.pc/manpages.diff/cgdisk.8

.\" May be distributed under the GNU General Public License

.TH "CGDISK" "8" "0.8.2" "Roderick W. Smith" "GPT fdisk Manual"

.SH "NAME"

cgdisk \- Curses-based GUID partition table (GPT) manipulator

.SH "SYNOPSIS"

.BI "cgdisk "

.I device

.SH "DESCRIPTION"

GPT fdisk is a text\-mode family of programs for creation and manipulation

of partition tables. The \fBcgdisk\fR member of this family employs a

curses-based user interface for interaction using a text\-mode menuing

system. It will automatically convert an old\-style Master Boot Record

(MBR) partition table or BSD disklabel stored without an MBR carrier

partition to the newer Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) Partition Table

(GPT) format, or will load a GUID partition table. Other members of this

program family are \fBgdisk\fR (the most feature-rich program of the group,

with a non-curses-based interactive user interface) and \fBsgdisk\fR (which

is driven via command-line options for use by experts or in scripts).

FixParts is a related program for fixing a limited set of problems with MBR

disks.

For information on MBR vs. GPT, as well as GPT terminology and structure,

see the extended GPT fdisk documentation at

\fIhttp://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/\fR or consult Wikipedia.

The \fBcgdisk\fR program employs a user interface similar to that of Linux's

\fBcfdisk\fR, but \fBcgdisk\fR modifies GPT partitions. It also has the

capability of transforming MBR partitions or BSD disklabels into GPT

partitions. Like the original \fBcfdisk\fR program, \fBcgdisk\fR does not

modify disk structures until you explicitly write them to disk, so if you

make a mistake, you can exit from the program with the Quit option to leave

your partitions unmodified.

Ordinarily, \fBcgdisk\fR operates on disk device files, such as

\fI/dev/sda\fR or \fI/dev/hda\fR under Linux, \fI/dev/disk0\fR under

Mac OS X, or \fI/dev/ad0\fR or \fI/dev/da0\fR under FreeBSD. The program

can also operate on disk image files, which can be either copies of whole

disks (made with \fBdd\fR, for instance) or raw disk images used by

emulators such as QEMU or VMWare. Note that only \fIraw\fR disk images

are supported; \fBcgdisk\fR cannot work on compressed or other advanced

disk image formats.

Upon start, \fBcgdisk\fR attempts to identify the partition type in use on

the disk. If it finds valid GPT data, \fBcgdisk\fR will use it. If

\fBcgdisk\fR finds a valid MBR or BSD disklabel but no GPT data, it will

attempt to convert the MBR or disklabel into GPT form. (BSD disklabels are

likely to have unusable first and/or final partitions because they overlap

with the GPT data structures, though.) Upon exiting with the 'w' option,

\fBcgdisk\fR replaces the MBR or disklabel with a GPT. \fIThis action is

potentially dangerous!\fR Your system may become unbootable, and partition

type codes may become corrupted if the disk uses unrecognized type codes.

Boot problems are particularly likely if you're multi\-booting with any

GPT\-unaware OS. If you mistakenly launch \fBcgdisk\fR on an MBR disk, you

can safely exit the program without making any changes by using the Quit

option.

When creating a fresh partition table, certain considerations may be in

order:

.TP

.B *

For data (non\-boot) disks, and for boot disks used on BIOS\-based computers

with GRUB as the boot loader, partitions may be created in whatever order

and in whatever sizes are desired.

.TP

.B *

Boot disks for EFI\-based systems require an \fIEFI System

Partition\fR (GPT fdisk internal code 0xEF00) formatted as FAT\-32.

The recommended size of this partition is between 100 and 300 MiB.

Boot\-related files are stored here. (Note that GNU Parted identifies

such partitions as having the "boot flag" set.)

.TP

.B *

The GRUB 2 boot loader for BIOS\-based systems makes use of a \fIBIOS Boot

Partition\fR (GPT fdisk internal code 0xEF02), in which the secondary

boot loader is stored, without the benefit of a filesystem. This partition

can typically be quite small (roughly 32 KiB to 1 MiB), but you should

consult your boot loader documentation for details.

.TP

.B *

If Windows is to boot from a GPT disk, a partition of type \fIMicrosoft

Reserved\fR (GPT fdisk

internal code 0x0C01) is recommended. This partition should be about 128 MiB

in size. It ordinarily follows the EFI System Partition and immediately

precedes the Windows data partitions. (Note that old versions of GNU Parted

create all FAT partitions as this type, which actually makes the partition

unusable for normal file storage in both Windows and Mac OS X.)

.TP

.B *

Some OSes' GPT utilities create some blank space (typically 128 MiB) after

each partition. The intent is to enable future disk utilities to use this

space. Such free space is not required of GPT disks, but creating it may

100

help in future disk maintenance. You can use GPT fdisk's relative partition

101

positioning option (specifying the starting sector as '+128M', for

102

instance) to simplify creating such gaps.

103

104

.SH "OPTIONS"

105

106

.PP

107

108

Interactions with \fBcgdisk\fR occur with its interactive text\-mode menus.

109

The display is broken into two interactive parts:

110

111

.TP

112

.B *

113

The partition display area, in which partitions and gaps between them

114

(marked as "free space") are summarized.

115

116

.TP

117

.B *

118

The option selection area, in which buttons for the main options appear.

119

120

.PP

121

122

In addition, the top of the display shows the program's name and version

123

number, the device filename associated with the disk, and the disk's size

124

in both sectors and IEEE-1541 units (GiB, TiB, and so on).

125

126

You can use the following keys to move among the various options and to

127

select among them:

128

129

.TP

130

.B up arrow

131

This key moves the partition selection up by one partition.

132

133

.TP

134

.B down arrow

135

This key moves the partition selection down by one partition.

136

137

.TP

138

.B Page Up

139

This key moves the partition selection up by one screen.

140

141

.TP

142

.B Page Down

143

This key moves the partition selection down by one screen.

144

145

.TP

146

.B right arrow

147

This key moves the option selection to the right by one item.

148

149

.TP

150

.B left arrow

151

This key moves the option selection to the left by one item.

152

153

.TP

154

.B Enter

155

This key activates the currently selected option. You can also activate an

156

option by typing the capitalized letter in the option's name on the

157

keyboard, such as \fBa\fR to activate the Align option.

158

159

.PP

160

161

If more partitions exist than can be displayed in one screen, you can

162

scroll between screens using the partition selection keys, much as in a

163

text editor.

164

165

Available options are as described below. (Note that \fBcgdisk\fR provides

166

a much more limited set of options than its sibling \fBgdisk\fR. If you

167

need to perform partition table recovery, hybrid MBR modifcation, or other

168

advanced operations, you should consult the \fBgdisk\fR documentation.)

169

170

.TP

171

.B Align

172

Change the sector alignment value. Disks with more logical sectors than

173

physical sectors (such as modern Advanced Format drives), some RAID

174

configurations, and many SSD devices, can suffer performance problems if

175

partitions are not aligned properly for their internal data structures. On

176

new disks, GPT fdisk attempts to align partitions on 2048\-sector (1MiB)

177

boundaries by default, which optimizes performance for all of these disk

178

types. On pre\-partitioned disks, GPT fdisk attempts to identify the

179

alignment value used on that disk, but will set 8-sector alignment on disks

180

larger than 300 GB even if lesser alignment values are detected. In either

181

case, it can be changed by using this option.

182

183

.TP

184

.B Backup

185

Save partition data to a backup file. You can back up your current

186

in\-memory partition table to a disk file using this option. The resulting

187

file is a binary file consisting of the protective MBR, the main GPT

188

header, the backup GPT header, and one copy of the partition table, in that

189

order. Note that the backup is of the current in\-memory data structures, so

190

if you launch the program, make changes, and then use this option, the

191

backup will reflect your changes.

192

193

.TP

194

.B Delete

195

Delete a partition. This action deletes the entry from the partition table

196

but does not disturb the data within the sectors originally allocated to

197

the partition on the disk. If a corresponding hybrid MBR partition exists,

198

\fBgdisk\fR deletes it, as well, and expands any adjacent 0xEE (EFI GPT)

199

MBR protective partition to fill the new free space.

200

201

.TP

202

.B Help

203

Print brief descriptions of all the options.

204

205

.TP

206

.B Info

207

Show detailed partition information. The summary information shown in the

208

partition display area necessarily omits many details, such as the

209

partitions' unique GUIDs and the partitions' sector-exact start and end

210

points. The Info option displays this information for a single partition.

211

212

.TP

213

.B Load

214

Load partition data from a backup file. This option is the reverse of the

215

Backup option. Note that restoring partition data from anything but the

216

original disk is not recommended.

217

218

.TP

219

.B naMe

220

Change the GPT name of a partition. This name is encoded as a UTF\-16

221

string, but proper entry and display of anything beyond basic ASCII values

222

requires suitable locale and font support. For the most part, Linux ignores

223

the partition name, but it may be important in some OSes. GPT fdisk sets a

224

default name based on the partition type code. Note that the GPT partition

225

name is different from the filesystem name, which is encoded in the

226

filesystem's data structures. Note also that to activate this item by

227

typing its alphabetic equivalent, you must use \fBM\fR, not the more

228

obvious \fBN\fR, because the latter is used by the next option....

229

230

.TP

231

.B New

232

Create a new partition. You enter a starting sector, a size, a type code,

233

and a name. The start sector can be specified in absolute terms as a sector

234

number or as a position measured in kibibytes (K), mebibytes (M), gibibytes

235

(G), tebibytes (T), or pebibytes (P); for instance, \fI\fB40M\fR\fR

236

specifies a position 40MiB from the start of the disk. You can specify

237

locations relative to the start or end of the specified default range by

238

preceding the number by a '+' symbol, as in \fI\fB+2G\fR\fR to specify a

239

point 2GiB after the default start sector. The size value can use the K, M,

240

G, T, and P suffixes, too. Pressing the Enter key with no input specifies

241

the default value, which is the start of the largest available block for

242

the start sector and the full available size for the size.

243

244

.TP

245

.B Quit

246

Quit from the program \fIwithout saving your changes\fR.

247

Use this option if you just wanted to view information or if you make a

248

mistake and want to back out of all your changes.

249

250

.TP

251

.B Type

252

Change a single partition's type code. You enter the type code using a

253

two\-byte hexadecimal number. You may also enter a GUID directly, if you

254

have one and \fBcgdisk\fR doesn't know it. If you don't know the type code

255

for your partition, you can type \fBL\fR to see a list of known type codes.

256

257

.TP

258

.B Verify

259

Verify disk. This option checks for a variety of problems, such as

260

incorrect CRCs and mismatched main and backup data. This option does not

261

automatically correct most problems, though; for that, you must use

262

\fBgdisk\fR. If no problems are found, this command displays a summary of

263

unallocated disk space.

264

265

.TP

266

.B Write

267

Write data. Use this command to save your changes.

268

269

.SH "BUGS"

270

271

As of January 2012 (version 0.8.2), \fBcgdisk\fR should be considered

272

beta software. Although the underlying partition manipulation code is much

273

older, the \fBcgdisk\fR ncurses user interface is brand new with GPT fdisk

274

version 0.8.0. Known bugs and limitations include:

275

276

.TP

277

.B *

278

The program compiles correctly only on Linux, FreeBSD, and Mac OS X. In

279

theory, it should compile under Windows if the Ncurses library for Windows

280

is installed, but I have not tested this capability. Linux versions for

281

x86\-64 (64\-bit), x86 (32\-bit), and PowerPC (32\-bit) have been tested,

282

with the x86\-64 version having seen the most testing. Under FreeBSD,

283

32\-bit (x86) and 64\-bit (x86\-64) versions have been tested. Only 32\-bit

284

versions for Mac OS X has been tested by the author.

285

286

.TP

287

.B *

288

The FreeBSD version of the program can't write changes to the partition

289

table to a disk when existing partitions on that disk are mounted. (The

290

same problem exists with many other FreeBSD utilities, such as

291

\fBgpt\fR, \fBfdisk\fR, and \fBdd\fR.) This limitation can be overcome

292

by typing \fBsysctl kern.geom.debugflags=16\fR at a shell prompt.

293

294

.TP

295

.B *

296

The program can load only up to 128 partitions (4 primary partitions and

297

124 logical partitions) when converting from MBR format. This limit can

298

be raised by changing the \fI#define MAX_MBR_PARTS\fR line in the

299

\fIbasicmbr.h\fR source code file and recompiling; however, such a change

300

will require using a larger\-than\-normal partition table. (The limit

301

of 128 partitions was chosen because that number equals the 128 partitions

302

supported by the most common partition table size.)

303

304

.TP

305

.B *

306

Converting from MBR format sometimes fails because of insufficient space at

307

the start or (more commonly) the end of the disk. Resizing the partition

308

table (using the 's' option in the experts' menu in \fBgdisk\fR) can

309

sometimes overcome this problem; however, in extreme cases it may be

310

necessary to resize a partition using GNU Parted or a similar tool prior to

311

conversion with GPT fdisk.

312

313

.TP

314

.B *

315

MBR conversions work only if the disk has correct LBA partition

316

descriptors. These descriptors should be present on any disk over 8 GiB in

317

size or on smaller disks partitioned with any but very ancient software.

318

319

.TP

320

.B *

321

BSD disklabel support can create first and/or last partitions that overlap

322

with the GPT data structures. This can sometimes be compensated by

323

adjusting the partition table size, but in extreme cases the affected

324

partition(s) may need to be deleted.

325

326

.TP

327

.B *

328

Because of the highly variable nature of BSD disklabel structures,

329

conversions from this form may be unreliable \-\- partitions may be dropped,

330

converted in a way that creates overlaps with other partitions, or

331

converted with incorrect start or end values. Use this feature with

332

caution!

333

334

.TP

335

.B *

336

Booting after converting an MBR or BSD disklabel disk is likely to be

337

disrupted. Sometimes re\-installing a boot loader will fix the problem, but

338

other times you may need to switch boot loaders. Except on EFI\-based

339

platforms, Windows through at least Windows 7 doesn't support booting from

340

GPT disks. Creating a hybrid MBR (using the 'h' option on the recovery &

341

transformation menu in \fBgdisk\fR) or abandoning GPT in favor of MBR may

342

be your only options in this case.

343

344

.TP

345

.B *

346

The \fBcgdisk\fR Verify function and the partition type listing obtainable

347

by typing \fIL\fR in the Type function (or when specifying a partition type

348

while creating a new partition) both currently exit ncurses mode. This

349

limitation is a minor cosmetic blemish that does not affect functionality.

350

351

.SH "AUTHORS"

352

Primary author: Roderick W. Smith (rodsmith@rodsbooks.com)

353

354

Contributors:

355

356

* Yves Blusseau (1otnwmz02@sneakemail.com)

357

358

* David Hubbard (david.c.hubbard@gmail.com)

359

360

* Justin Maggard (justin.maggard@netgear.com)

361

362

* Dwight Schauer (dschauer@ti.com)

363

364

* Florian Zumbiehl (florz@florz.de)

365

366

367

.SH "SEE ALSO"

368

\fBcfdisk (8)\fR,

369

\fBfdisk (8)\fR,

370

\fBgdisk (8)\fR,

371

\fBmkfs (8)\fR,

372

\fBparted (8)\fR,

373

\fBsfdisk (8)\fR

374

\fBsgdisk (8)\fR

375

\fBfixparts (8)\fR

376

377

\fIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table\fR

378

379

\fIhttp://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn2006/tn2166.html\fR

380

381

\fIhttp://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/\fR

382

383

.SH "AVAILABILITY"

384

The \fBcgdisk\fR command is part of the \fIGPT fdisk\fR package and is

385

available from Rod Smith.

Older »