[Solved]Format (ntfs)partition on harddisk having one mounted partition

[kln]

Hello,
it seems a pretty common question but I haven't found a clear and straight answer to it : can I format a partition on a harddisk having one mounted partition without unmounting it ?

Here the details : on a 320Go harddisk, I prepared 3 partitions (20Go, 250Go, 30Go in this order) and installed Kubuntu 8.10 amd64 on the last one without formatting the other partitions (which I want to use later for XP and big storage). Now I want to format the middle one in NTFS (250Go). Can I do it from Linux using Qtparted ? There is a warning message 'don't commit a busy device - unmount all partitions'. I am actually commiting a busy harddisk, but not a busy (mounted) partition. What does device mean in that particular case ?
I checked with

# mount

and this is the output, showing that no other sda partition are mounted (and certainly not sda5 - the one I want to format)
/dev/sda6 on / type ext3 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
tmpfs on /lib/init/rw type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
/proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
varrun on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
varlock on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=620)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
lrm on /lib/modules/2.6.27-11-generic/volatile type tmpfs (rw,mode=755)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)

I also tried with Kubuntu Live CD to run Qtparted, but it is not on the LiveCD, so I tried to run Parted from the command line, prepared the partitioning and then Parted replied it can't format in ntfs (not supported). I have no access to the internet when I run from the LiveCD.

Is it better to format that partition using WinXP install CD ?
Thank you for your help
I

[kyonides]

Re: Format (ntfs)partition on harddisk having one mounted partition

Hello,
it seems a pretty common question but I haven't found a clear and straight answer to it : can I format a partition on a harddisk having one mounted partition without unmounting it ?

IIRC it'll always ask you to unmount it first because the mount process locks the partition so it can't be formatted while reading / accessing its actual contents...

[Qqmike]

Re: Format (ntfs)partition on harddisk having one mounted partition

Best advice: Use GParted (gparted).
You can do it from the Live Kubuntu CD.
K > System > Partition Editor.
If it is not there, use Adept Package manager, or
sudo apt-get install gparted
to install GParted in the Live CD session (into RAM with the rest of the show -- it'll be gone after your live session, of course).
Then run it.
If a partition is mounted, it has a pad lock on it; to unmount it, right-click > unmount; to mount, right-click > mount.

Also, in the Live Kubuntu CD, you * do * have internet:
K > Internet > Konqueror Web Browser (or some such).
Tip:
in Konqueror web browser
gg:this_string
will google the string this_string.

(btw, I do this sort of thing all the time.)

[flarson]

Re: Format (ntfs)partition on harddisk having one mounted partition

Hello,
it seems a pretty common question but I haven't found a clear and straight answer to it : can I format a partition on a hard disk having one mounted partition without unmounting it ?

Absolute yes.

I wonder if the message you are getting has anything to do with dolphin? It seems to me that the new system for making disks show up in dolphin is a little flakey still.

As to the NTFS formating under linux it may have become possible and reasonable without me noticing it but I am almost sure you would be better of doing this under Windows.

[Qqmike]

Re: Format (ntfs)partition on harddisk having one mounted partition

GParted features (including the new ext4):
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/features.php

[kln]

Re: Format (ntfs)partition on harddisk having one mounted partition

Well, I did not have internet because the driver had to be recompiled and reinstalled while running the LiveCD, and that took some time. so I got Gparted, unmounted ext3 and swapped off the swap partition in order to have all partitions unmounted. It took then 10 secs to format 250go in ntfs. I will now reboot normally.

as shown before, only the 2 linux partitions were mounted. in fact - pure curiosity - do we need to unmount them if they are on the same physical drive along the unmounted partition we are trying to format ? is it safer to unmount them all ?

[dibl]

Re: Format (ntfs)partition on harddisk having one mounted partition

Partitions have to be unmounted to be formatted.

[Qqmike]

Re: Format (ntfs)partition on harddisk having one mounted partition

(1) What dibl said.

(2) I suppose you might say that it is always safer to unmount any and all partitions when running a partition editor. But strictly speaking, you only need to unmount the partition you are working on. If partition x is "next to" partition y, and you are only working on partition x at the moment, you only need to unmount x. Partition y maybe mounted or unmounted while working on partition x. (We trust our software is not buggy and won't hop the fence over to partition y ... imo, GParted is fully trustworthy.)

[kln]

Re: Format (ntfs)partition on harddisk having one mounted partition

Everything works fine after reboot in normal mode.
Thank you very much for the quick help !

ok for the answer, this is very clear !
Grateful thanks