Partitioning the hard disk using fdisk

During the SCO OpenServer installation, you have the option of manually controlling the layout of partitions. This option is called Interactive fdisk/divvy disk setup.

SCO OpenServer fdisk is interactive, and displays all options in a menu:

      1. Display Partition Table
      2. Use Entire Disk For UNIX
      3. Use Rest of Disk for UNIX
      4. Create UNIX Partition
      5. Activate Partition
      6. Delete Partition
      7. Create Partition
   

   Enter your choice or 'q' to quit:

You can do the following using fdisk:

• Reserve separate areas (partitions) on your hard disk for different operating systems. The hard disk is divided into tracks. The number of tracks depends upon the size of the hard disk. A partition consists of a group of tracks. Each hard disk can accommodate four partitions.

• Specify one disk partition as ``active''. This means that when you turn on (boot) your computer, the operating system installed in the active partition will start running. The UNIX partition must be active when you intend to use the SCO OpenServer system.

• Specify the number of tracks assigned to each partition. The number of available tracks will vary according to the size of your hard disk. See ``Determining disk space requirements'' for help on determining the necessary UNIX partition size. The size of the UNIX partition also depends on the number of software packages you want to install. You can install the SCO OpenServer system in this space, and have the rest of the space for user files and other software packages. Refer to the custom(ADM) manual page for information on how to install and remove software.

• Specify precisely where the partition begins and ends. fdisk will not allow you to construct overlapping partitions. You do not need to install SCO OpenServer in the first partition.

  You should start a DOS partition at the beginning of the disk, starting at cylinder 0 or cylinder 1.