Partition an Advanced Format drive with 4KB sector (for Linux OS only)

Question

I got a brand new WD 1TB drive, model WD10EZEX, I'm upgrading from an old 500 GB drive with Arch running on it, and I'm going to make a fresh Arch install on it.
I suddenly learned about all this Advanced Format issue, with the first units "lying" about physical sector size and all that stuff, which started like 2 years ago and I was not aware of.
I couldn't find a step by step guide to perform the proper formatting for a fresh Linux OS install with 4KB-sector, despite the info is out there scattered in tons of blogs, forums, etc.
I figured out the steps for my simple setup, and I'd like to know if everything is all right. For the ones who already know the steps, can you please go to the bottom of the post, and tell me if the final setup is all right to start the fresh install ??  I reproduce all the steps hoping that this will help other people in the future.
I'll use the whole drive only for an Archlinux install, with one partition for the / and another for /home.
Seems the GPT modern method is the way to go, and the gdisk tool will do the trick. If we are booting from this drive, with GRUB2 in a BIOS system, we must also create a BIOS Boot Partition.
So, with the drive having no partitions at all, and sda being the device name
# gdisk /dev/sda
Command (? for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 1953525168 sectors, 931.5 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 6527769B-B4BC-408C-A45B-D2DAA4036620
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1953525134
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 1953525101 sectors (931.5 GiB)
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
we create the 2 MiB BIOS Boot Partition
Command (? for help): n
Partition number (1-128, default 1): 1
First sector (34-1953525134, default = 2048) or {+-}size{KMGTP}: 2048
Last sector (2048-1953525134, default = 1953525134) or {+-}size{KMGTP}: +2M
Current type is 'Linux filesystem'
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300): ef02
a 45GB partition to use as /
Command (? for help): n
Partition number (2-128, default 2):
First sector (34-1953525134, default = 6144) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Last sector (6144-1953525134, default = 1953525134) or {+-}size{KMGTP}: +45G
Current type is 'Linux filesystem'
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300): 8300
Changed type of partition to 'Linux filesystem'
and the rest to use as /home
Command (? for help): n
Partition number (3-128, default 3): 3
First sector (34-1953525134, default = 94377984) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Last sector (94377984-1953525134, default = 1953525134) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Current type is 'Linux filesystem'
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300): 8300
Changed type of partition to 'Linux filesystem'
we can check the setup
Command (? for help): p
Disk /dev/sda: 1953525168 sectors, 931.5 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 6527769B-B4BC-408C-A45B-D2DAA4036620
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1953525134
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2014 sectors (1007.0 KiB)
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 2048 6143 2.0 MiB EF02 BIOS boot partition
2 6144 94377983 45.0 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem
3 94377984 1953525134 886.5 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem
and everything looks fine, we have the multiples of 8 starting sectors, so we write the changes
Command (? for help): w
Final checks complete. About to write GPT data. THIS WILL OVERWRITE EXISTING PARTITIONS!!
Do you want to proceed? (Y/N): y
OK; writing new GUID partition table (GPT) to /dev/sda.
The operation has completed successfully.
now we need to give the / and /home partitions a format, I choose ext4 and ask for a 4096 block size just in case we have a "lying" unit (not my case but I prefer to write down the most general command)
# mkfs.ext4 -b 4096 /dev/sda2
mke2fs 1.42.6 (21-Sep-2012)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks
2949120 inodes, 11796480 blocks
589824 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=4294967296
360 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
8192 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
4096000, 7962624, 11239424
Allocating group tables: done
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
and the same thing for /dev/sda3 .
Check with gdisk and parted that everything is fine, is this all right to start the install ??
# gdisk -l /dev/sda
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.5
Partition table scan:
MBR: protective
BSD: not present
APM: not present
GPT: present
Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 1953525168 sectors, 931.5 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 6527769B-B4BC-408C-A45B-D2DAA4036620
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1953525134
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2014 sectors (1007.0 KiB)
Number Start (sector) End (sector) Size Code Name
1 2048 6143 2.0 MiB EF02 BIOS boot partition
2 6144 94377983 45.0 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem
3 94377984 1953525134 886.5 GiB 8300 Linux filesystem
# parted /dev/sda
GNU Parted 3.1
Using /dev/sda
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) print
Model: ATA WDC WD10EZEX-00R (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 3146kB 2097kB BIOS boot partition bios_grub
2 3146kB 48.3GB 48.3GB ext4 Linux filesystem
3 48.3GB 1000GB 952GB ext4 Linux filesystem
Last edited by karamaz0v (2012-12-06 06:39:45)

Answer 1

Your partitions look fine from an Advanced Format point of view. The test is simple: Are all your partitions' start points, as measured in sectors, divisible by 8? Yours are.
karamaz0v wrote:what confused me a bit, was that I saw a lot of setups with the BIOS boot partition, and also a 200 MB EFI one. Having a BIOS system, I think I don't need the EFI one.
Some people do this because they're unclear of their requirements. Others do it because they want to have the option of switching boot modes between BIOS/legacy and EFI. With both types of boot loader installed, you can choose on a boot-by-boot basis which way to start the computer, assuming it supports both boot modes.