: Are there instructions on how to create an extended linux partition?
An extended Linux partition differs in no way from an extended DOS
partition, except that the IDs are 85 and 05 (hex), respectively.
What is the use?
DOS FDISK will crash or worse when it reads a chain of extended
partitions passing the 1024 cylinder boundary. Since DOS does not
recognize 85, this enables you to make DOS happy and still have a
series of extended partitions past the 1024 cylinder mark.
How to create?
Any sufficiently recent *fdisk will do, I think.
Try cfdisk, sfdisk and fdisk.
: If I make hda2/hda3 extended linux partitions, the kernel counting
: mechanism will screw up /dev/hda4
Screw up in what way? What is your complaint?
Do you know what you are doing when you create two chains of
extended partitions? Sometimes that is the only solution,
but usually it is just a very bad idea.
Andries