Add an Additional Disk Drive to Your Linux Computer

First of all check if your Linux can see new device:

sudo fdisk -l

Command and Response Dialog of Adding a New IDE Drive:

As root perform the following: (as highlighted in bold)

[root]# fdisk /dev/hdb
Command (m for help): m     (Enter the letter "m" to get list of commands)
Command action
a   toggle a bootable flag
b   edit bsd disklabel
c   toggle the dos compatibility flag
d   delete a partition
l   list known partition types
m   print this menu
n   add a new partition
o   create a new empty DOS partition table
p   print the partition table
q   quit without saving changes
s   create a new empty Sun disklabel
t   change a partition's system id
u   change display/entry units
v   verify the partition table
w   write table to disk and exit
x   extra functionality (experts only)

Command (m for help): n
Command action
e   extended
p   primary partition (1-4)
e
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-2654, default 1):
Using default value 1
Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (1-2654, default 2654):
Using default value 2654

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/hdb: 240 heads, 63 sectors, 2654 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 bytes

Device Boot    Start       End    Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hdb1             1      2654  20064208+   5  Extended

Command (m for help): w    (Write and save partition table)

[root]# mkfs -t ext3 /dev/hdb1 (mkfs.ext3 -c /dev/sdb1 -- same command as original)
(# mkfs.ext3 -c -L SomeName /dev/sdb1 Add SomeName label
mke2fs 1.27 (8-Mar-2002)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
2508352 inodes, 5016052 blocks
250802 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
154 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
16288 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
4096000

Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (8192 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

This filesystem will be automatically checked every 34 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first.  Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
[root]# mkdir /opt2
[root]# mount -t ext3 /dev/hdb1 /opt2


File: /etc/fstab
Enter the drive into the fstab file so that it is recognized and mounted upon system boot

sudo vi /etc/fstab
LABEL=/                 /                       ext3    defaults        1 1
LABEL=/boot             /boot                   ext3    defaults        1 2
none                    /dev/pts                devpts  gid=5,mode=620  0 0
none                    /proc                   proc    defaults        0 0
none                    /dev/shm                tmpfs   defaults        0 0
/dev/hda2               swap                    swap    defaults        0 0
/dev/hdb1               /opt2                   ext3    defaults        1 2
/dev/cdrom              /mnt/cdrom              iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0
/dev/fd0                /mnt/floppy             auto    noauto,owner,kudzu 0 0



If you want to verify the partition is successfully present and mounted,
use the following commands:

# mount
and
# df -h

Original: at YoLinux
Another basic tutorial at SkullBox.Net