How to replace a partition table

[Bill Wyatt]

> and added the disktab entry for the drive--this disktab entry has worked
> since 1.2.
> 
> The installation worked fine on one system, I was able to create the 
> special files and newfs the partitions I wanted filesystems on. On the other
> system when I went to newfs the first filesystem, I got an error message
> saying that there was no partition table in the superblock!! And when 

I'm suprised the 3.1 install munged your superblock, but I've always
been able to get newfs to write a partition table out by first doing a
newfs on the a partition but telling it the drive is a DEC disk (e.g.
RA81). The newfs program sees there's no partition table and, since
it's a known DEC disk, installs a partition table and makes a
filesystem. I then alter the partitions to the correct layout using
chpt and finally remake the filesystems with the correct disktab entry.

I've done this using several 3rd-party controllers, among them Emulex.

Bill Wyatt, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory  (Cambridge, MA, USA)
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Bill Wyatt, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory  (Cambridge, MA, USA)
    UUCP :  {husc6,cmcl2,mit-eddie}!harvard!cfa!wyatt
 Internet:   wyatt at cfa.harvard.edu
     SPAN:   cfa::wyatt                 BITNET: wyatt at cfa