Re: [gentoo-user] fdisk warnings during install; questions

[Tanstaafl <tanstaafl@libertytrek.org>]

On 2013-05-10 6:00 AM, Neil Bothwick <neil@digimed.co.uk> wrote:
> On Fri, 10 May 2013 11:44:54 +0200, Alan McKinnon wrote:
>> Reading between the lines shows Walter doesn't want to use fdisk to deal
>> with a GPT disk.
>>
>> He has a regular partitioned disk that was once GPT, and some remnants
>> of that are left around confusing fdisk. He wants the remnants to go
>> away and needs to know what bit of the disk to dd and make that happen.
>>
>> I don't know the answer to that.

> That's not quite how I read it, but... gdisk has an option to completely
> erase both GPT and DOS partition tables. Why anyone would choose to use
> the ultra-kludged DOS partition tables when GPT is so much more elegant is
> beyond me, unless they have old hardware that can't read a GPT disk.

If there are problems with fdisk and/or good reasons that it shouldn't 
be used anymore on modern hardware (what about in a virtual 
environment?), maybe the Gentoo Handbook could use some updating? I just 
recently set up a new VM on ESXi, and the Handbook still uses (and by 
implication recommends the use of) fdisk for the setting up your 
partitions steps.