ReiserFS partition contains old data

Ts4t · n00b Joined: 13 Sep 2002 Posts: 3

Hi folks,

I did a fresh install of gentoo 1.2 yesterday. When I finally rebooted, a system with parts from a previous linux installation (on ext2) and from the new gentoo came up.
Now everytime when I boot from the gentoo cd, delete partition no. 2 (linux /), reboot, create a new partition 2, reboot, mkreiserfs /dev/hda2, reboot, mount /dev/hda2 /mnt, ls /mnt shows me bin, boot etc. - a bootable system.
Am I doing things wrong? Any suggestions?

Ts4t

get sirius · Guru Joined: 27 Apr 2002 Posts: 316 Location: Madison, WI

Suggest you do a low-level format - that'll clean the disk.

pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20067

I'm fairly certain low-level formatting is no longer done on modern HDs.
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millenium_psyrax · Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2002 1:13 am Post subject:

Low level formatting is done on SCSI hdd. I don't use reiserfs, i use XFS. However, there could be a bug with mkreiserfs. So I would probably try reformatting the drive with ext2 or another file system. Then check if the other filesystems format wiped the drive. If it did, then reformat the drive with mkreiserfs
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AutoBot · l33t Joined: 22 Apr 2002 Posts: 968 Location: Usually Out

Just zero out the drive.

Ts4t · n00b Joined: 13 Sep 2002 Posts: 3

Ok, somehow I set up grub to live on another partition, however, zeroing out did clear the partition.
thanks, Ts4t

Binabik

I've been at this a while - still trying - getting closer each time. I'm trying to use my Mandrake 8.2 partitions - this zero out the drive may just be my ticket - I still have old data hanging around eg: root & boot files
Can you explain this zero out the drive for me
Thanks

Ts4t · n00b Joined: 13 Sep 2002 Posts: 3

well, you can just boot from your gentoo cd. You can zero out the whole drive or just a partition. dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda2 took a while, I guess it's quicker with the option bs=512. This fills your drive (or a part) with zeros (no filesystem etc.). Be sure to setup grub to boot the partition you want (/dev/hda2 == (hd0,1)).