on Fri, Apr 27, 2001 at 07:10:53AM +0100, Saqib Shaikh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote: > hi all, > > what i want to do is convert my existing linux partition into an > umsdos or loopback filesystem to send to a friend. i have done the > opposite - converted umsdos to ext2, but could someone tell me how to > go the other way?
First: why?
Second: what are you trying to accomplish? If you're sending a umsdos
image, he will need GNU/Linux to access it, ditto a loopback image.
You're not trying to give this to someone running Legacy MS Windows to
see what GNU/Linux looks like are you?
Third: archive formats -- tar, cpio, afio, etc., are far preferable for
transferring sets of files, directory trees, or partitions, in general.
That said, if you're trying to image a partition, the way to do it in
raw format is, assuming /dev/hda1 as the device the partition is on, and
'mypartition.img' as the image file:
# Image partition via dd:
$ dd if=/dev/hda1 of=mypartition.img bs=1024
...this partition can be mounted as a loopback filesystem.
To create an arbitrary filesystem as an image file, and copy content
into it. Note that I'm not sure umsdos can be created in this fashion.
# Create a zeroed-out file of sufficient size to save to:
$ dd if=/dev/zero bs=1024 count=<size of image in KB> of=image.img
$ mkfs.<fstype> image.img
$ mkdir /tmp/mount.point
$ mount -o loop -t <fstype> image.img /tmp/mount.point
# copy data into the new partition via perferred method. E.g.:
$ cd /mypartition; tar cvf - . | ( cd /tmp/mount.point; tar xvf - )
...I think.
Cheers.
--
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? There is no K5 cabal
http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/ http://www.kuro5hin.org
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