[overlogic2011]

Thanks wroteafaq, i am learning a lot of Unix and it's awesome! It's elegant and rock solid system. You are right, i need some digging on Unix. But thank you for reply.

[weblacky]

(Stop me if I say anything obsolete here...)

...the warnings above about how easy it is for it to get away from you are news to me - I've never found it to be an uncivilized tool.  

I just got done dealing with five old hard drives on three Indys I'm rebuilding.  Booting the Disc 1 from Irix 6.5.19 install media sashARCS FX.ARCS.  If the old drive HAD ANY NON-SGI DISKLABEL (e.g.MBR) pre-existing on it.  FX WOULD IMMEDIATELY SAY: " Creating new default SGI disklabel, creating partition...." right after the SELF TEST text before you can type.  So yes, FX WILL overwrite the partitioning scheme it doesn't recognize if you start FX in the way it shows in the installer --x, at least.

FX does not handle or understand partition schemes that aren't SGI disk labels...ALL DOS/MAC formatting supported by Irix is done through the mkfs, mkfp, mtools, and FormatRmedia commands for floppy/removable media ONLY.  FX doesn't create or know about non-SGI partitioning methods.

So I'm once again saying, if you cared about what was ON THE OLD DRIVES, don't run FX as it will delete the partitioning scheme without your consent.  If you don't care about the old data, then it's helpful.

Also older versions of FX will low-level format if you say "Auto" and you're stuck on that course.  Newer versions DO NOT do this and you have to go into expert mode to low-level format now.  I know this because I only have media for 6.5.5 and 6.5.19...6.5.5 FX definitely will "auto" you into low-level formatting!  So because of this I never select auto anymore!

[wroteafaq]

Well, of course. After all, this is Unix, where "we just supply the rope".

With that in mind, if you just want to take a look and see if the disk has an SGI label on it,
starting fx with the -x or --x switch (depending on context) is mos def not the thing to do.

So the safest way to proceed is to stuff the drive in question into a running system and
invoke fx from the shell without the switch (that's certainly what I'm doing with the modest
mountain of Indigos I'm working on at the moment).

[robespierre]

I just got done dealing with five old hard drives on three Indys I'm rebuilding.  Booting the Disc 1 from Irix 6.5.19 install media sashARCS FX.ARCS.  If the old drive HAD ANY NON-SGI DISKLABEL (e.g.MBR) pre-existing on it.  FX WOULD IMMEDIATELY SAY: " Creating new default SGI disklabel, creating partition...." right after the SELF TEST text before you can type.  So yes, FX WILL overwrite the partitioning scheme it doesn't recognize if you start FX in the way it shows in the installer --x, at least.

When fx creates a new disklabel, that doesn't mean it gets written to the disk. Unless you issue the sync command or enter "yes" to the exit prompt, no changes are made. This is laid out in great detail in its manual page.
It goes without saying that -x mode should only be used on disks you intend to modify. Why else would you use it?

[weblacky]

I just got done dealing with five old hard drives on three Indys I'm rebuilding.  Booting the Disc 1 from Irix 6.5.19 install media sashARCS FX.ARCS.  If the old drive HAD ANY NON-SGI DISKLABEL (e.g.MBR) pre-existing on it.  FX WOULD IMMEDIATELY SAY: " Creating new default SGI disklabel, creating partition...." right after the SELF TEST text before you can type.  So yes, FX WILL overwrite the partitioning scheme it doesn't recognize if you start FX in the way it shows in the installer --x, at least.

When fx creates a new disklabel, that doesn't mean it gets written to the disk. Unless you issue the sync command or enter "yes" to the exit prompt, no changes are made. This is laid out in great detail in its manual page.
It goes without saying that -x mode should only be used on disks you intend to modify. Why else would you use it?

Because that's what the manual says for install, you type what install instructions say...which is why I qualified that.  Since man pages aren't available without a separate online resource (cannot MAN inside the installer), for all I know X means enable EXPERT MODE, which is what it means on the command line.  What does expert mode have to do with label syncing?  I've not had to say "sync" on my labels for changes to be made to a disk that isn't recognized with a pre-existing SGI label, so at this time I do not have evidence you're protected from changes you suggest.  I do most of my installs without saying "label > sync" and yet the new partition gets there.

I only have to say "label>sync" if FX encounters a pre-existing label...which was the point of this discussion, so it all hinges on that.

[wroteafaq]

Forgive me if I'm belabouring the obvious, but perhaps it would be safest to not invoke the installer with disks you aren't absolutely certain you want to install onto.

[weblacky]

Forgive me if I'm belabouring the obvious, but perhaps it would be safest to not invoke the installer with disks you aren't absolutely certain you want to install onto.

Installer doesn't do FX, you do...it's a manual process before you start installation.  Still holds true.  Installer assumes YOU'VE partitioned it yourself before hitting "install software".  Functionality and launch of FX is identical...manual command line.

[wroteafaq]

Well, to clarify, I was getting at "invoking the installation process, beginning with fx".

[weblacky]

Same command. So there isn’t a difference in behavior from what I’m warning about. Launching FX either once Irix is installed or from the miniroot starts FX with the same behavior/issues. There isn’t a difference in the way it operates between the two scenarios.

[wroteafaq]

Except that when you're reading the manual and it tells you how to invoke a sash/miniroot install by booting a CD (or something) for each of the various CPUs, those instructions end with "--x" without explaining the implications of using that switch. When you do it from the shell, you have access to the man pages and thus less reason to make mistakes.