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More Bad Clusters

From Rik on Fri, 05 Feb 1999

Hi,

Do you know how to fix a bad cluster on my hard disk cause I have one and now I can't convert it to FAT32. I've got a Fujitsu U-DMA 1,7 GB HD I hope you can help me.

Thanks in advance Greetingz

Is this some kind of joke? I keep getting questions about fixing bad clusters, marking them as bad, unmarking them from being bad and the like. Worse, these questions seem to come from MS Windows users who seem to have no interest in LINUX whatsoever.

No! I don't know how to force your machine to let you install a FAT32 filesystem on it. I don't care how that's done --- I use ext2 filesystems and they can tolerate and manage bad sectors (or ignore them at your peril) with no problem (just remember to use the -c parameters to mke2fs and e2fsck).

Please, go find a Windows Answer Guy. If you just sent me blind e-mail and don't understand why I'm babbling about this non-MS stuff go read some back issues of the Linux Gazette: http://www.linuxgazette.net

(as you should see in my .sig)

how to fix a bad cluster on hd

From Rik on Sun, 07 Feb 1999

Hi,

I'm sorry but I looked at altavista for bad clusters on how to fix them and there was this message board with your e-mail adress. so that's why I sended my message to you. sorry it would not happen again.

Greetingz

I don't object to getting question (on the topics that are relevant to Linux Gazette). However, it is irritating when those people who find my messages in Alta Vista don't read what I said.

I've never said that I could "fix bad clusters" --- so anything you read that was by me didn't say that. Indeed it almost certainly said almost exactly the same thing I told you.

Noting that this Alta Vista record made reference to linuxgazette.com you have to follow up and look at the "Linux Gazette's" web pages (where you'll find it's own search feature --- which should should have made it obvious who I am and what I do).

I use Yahoo! and Alta Vista (and Deja News and Google and others) extensively. I occasionally even send messages to people who I find therein. However, I do that as a last resort.

Also when contacting someone for the first time, courtesy demands that you introduce yourself. Nothing elaborate but something like:

... and then you can go on to ask your question.

That's only common courtesy --- which is unfortunately all too uncommon these days.

So, if you ever have questions about Linux --- including questions about how to make it work with NT, '9x, MacOS, or other systems, feel free to send them to me. Please search through the appropriate newsgroups, mailing lists HOWTOs, FAQs, and try the search feature on http://www.linuxgazette.net to see if I've answered this question before (or especially if any of our other contributors have written feature articles or 2-cent tips or other material on the subject).

For problems with a piece of equipment --- talk to your retailer or its manufacturer first. For problems which don't relate to Linux --- look for forums that focus on the one at hand. When dealing with Microsoft products remember the level of support you've been getting before purchasing any more of them.

Copyright © 1999, James T. Dennis
Published in The Linux Gazette Issue 38 March 1999

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