Ubuntu
gnome-terminal package

sudo fdisk -l command

Asked by Llewellyn

Hi all. I want to format a hard drive. The command sudo fdisk -l gets me to a brief description of how the hard drive is structured, but doesn't carry out a format of the drive. What next step am I missing?

Thanks, Llewellyn

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Isak Frants
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Best Isak Frants (isakfrants) said : 		#1

If you want to wipe out the entire harddrive (which destroys all data) use gparted LiveCD. http://gparted.sourceforge.net/ Download and burn and start up. If you happen to have a Ubuntu LiveCD you can use gparted from the menu when you have booted up your computer.

If you just want to format a non-system partition on the hard drive you can install gparted via Synaptic and use it to format the partition. You cannot however format the partition from which you are currently running Ubuntu.

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Llewellyn (llwhite) said : 		#2

I downloaded gparted-live-0.3.7-7.iso I then b urned it to a CD. The disk starts, but doesn't offer to format.

What else might I need to do.

Regards,
Llewellyn

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Philip Wyett (philwyett) said : 		#3

gparted will not truly destroy all data in certain scenarios as one reply states.

What is it you are trying to accomplish:

  1. Remove partitions off a disk?
  2. Remove partitions and reformat disk for normal usage?
  3. Remove all partitions and data securely as to make recovery difficult?

Revision history for this message
Isak Frants (isakfrants) said : 		#4

Have you managed to get to the desktop of the gparted LiveCD ? Boot up and choose default settings. Do you see a desktop with a couple of icons on topleft?

gparted flips up as you enter the desktop, you see your partition table and you can choose which partition to format and how to format.

Revision history for this message
naufal (musp-student) said : 		#5

hello,
after launching gparted,
the first thing you must do is unmount all the drive that you want to format.
and then you can format the drive..

hope this help...

Revision history for this message
Llewellyn (llwhite) said : 		#6

Philip, hi.
Thanks for your response. I would think option #3 best describes what I'm
after.

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
Philip Wyett
Sent: Friday, 15 August 2008 6:52 p.m.
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #42216]: sudo fdisk -l command

Your question #42216 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/42216

    Status: Open => Needs information

Philip Wyett requested for more information:
gparted will not truly destroy all data in certain scenarios as one
reply states.

What is it you are trying to accomplish:

  1. Remove partitions off a disk?
  2. Remove partitions and reformat disk for normal usage?
  3. Remove all partitions and data securely as to make recovery difficult?

--
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/42216

You received this question notification because you are a direct
subscriber of the question.

Revision history for this message
Llewellyn (llwhite) said : 		#7

Naufal, hi.

Thanks for your kind assistance.

Llewellyn

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
naufal
Sent: Friday, 15 August 2008 7:42 p.m.
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #42216]: sudo fdisk -l command

Your question #42216 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/42216

    Status: Needs information => Answered

naufal proposed the following answer:
hello,
after launching gparted,
the first thing you must do is unmount all the drive that you want to
format.
and then you can format the drive..

hope this help...

--
If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
know that it is solved:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/42216/
+confirm?answer_id=4

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Revision history for this message
Llewellyn (llwhite) said : 		#8

Isak, hi.

Thanks for your further help. A bit to learn with Ubuntu.

Llewellyn

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of Isak
Frants
Sent: Friday, 15 August 2008 6:59 p.m.
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #42216]: sudo fdisk -l command

Your question #42216 on gnome-terminal in ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/42216

Isak Frants requested for more information:
Have you managed to get to the desktop of the gparted LiveCD ? Boot up
and choose default settings. Do you see a desktop with a couple of icons
on topleft?

gparted flips up as you enter the desktop, you see your partition table
and you can choose which partition to format and how to format.

--
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+question/42216

You received this question notification because you are a direct
subscriber of the question.

Revision history for this message
Llewellyn (llwhite) said : 		#9

Thanks Isak Frants, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
Llewellyn (llwhite) said : 		#10

That should have read: Isak, Frants and Naufal..Thank you!