Ubuntu doesnt recognise existing partitions

[gpushkar]

I am trying to install ubuntu 9.10 on an system which already has XP installed. I had used Ubuntu earlier but when I installed XP ( in an attempt to dual boot) I seem to have lost the Ubuntu Installation.

But the problem is GParted or the Ubuntu installer dont recognize the existing partitions but instead see it as an empty unallocated drive. I have a 120GB hard disk.

Below is the extract after fdisk:

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x4fa8a60b
Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x4fa8a60b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 4403 35359169+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 4403 5810 11302025 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 5811 6896 8723263+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 6897 14594 61834185 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 6897 6951 441748 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 6952 9502 20480000 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda7 9502 13890 35249152 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda8 13891 14593 5646847 7 HPFS/NTFS
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$



Also this is how the disk Utility in Ubuntu sees my system: ( See attachment)
file:///D:/Screenshot.png

[lemming465]

I'm not sure what the deal with the absurd amount of supposedly free disk space is, but if you look at the left-hand pane of the palimpsest display you'll see basically the same disk layout as fdisk is showing. I don't know if this system has more than one hard drive in it; if so, the scenario where fdisk sees disks but the ubuntu 9.10 ubuquity live CD installer doesn't is typical of systems which currently or historically had some kind of firmware/BIOS/fake RAID setup. A quick test is to open a terminal window from the live CD an run:
sudo apt-get remove dmraid. Then try the installer; it may be happier about the disks. Note that if windows is actually depending on the firmware RAID across multiple disks, you will destroy everything if you try install Linux without using dmraid. If there is only one hard drive, you will probably be OK.

Losing access to a Linux install temporarily after doing anything major (install, service pack, ...) with a dual-boot windows system is typical; Microsoft thinks it owns the MBR (first disk sector master boot record) and overwrites it freely. You can use a bootable Linux CD to re-run your preferred boot loader install to correct this after the fact.

[gpushkar]

I tried
sudo apt-get remove dmraid

Still it shows the same thing. Installer says no operating systems found and shows the entire hard disk ( I have only one hard disk) as empty!

[gpushkar]

This is what i get after doing fdisk:


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -lu

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders, total 234441648 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x4fa8a60b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 63 70718401 35359169+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 70719488 93323537 11302025 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 93337713 110784239 8723263+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 110784240 234452609 61834185 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 110784303 111667798 441748 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 111681536 152641535 20480000 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda7 152643584 223141887 35249152 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda8 223142850 234436543 5646847 7 HPFS/NTFS




Any help hugely appreciated!!

[darkod]

You already have the maximum of 4 partitions on the hdd. You see sda1 to sda4. Logical are marked from sda5 upwards.
The installer detects this and doesn't offer you much options except erasing the whole hdd and manual option (in which you would still have to delete some partition which I don't recommend during the installer).
Even if it did recognize you have XP you're still stuck because you can't create 5th partition.
You need to sit down and reconsider the layout of your hdd. After you have made a decision about the new partitions layout, use the live desktop first and Gparted which is on it. That is a very good partition manager. Delete the partition you selected and ubuntu will be able to be installed. Also you need to consider how much space you want for ubuntu.

[gpushkar]

OK. But the problem is in GParted , I dont see any partitions. Just a huge unallocated space. For example take a look at the attached screenshot. How do I proceed without affecting my data in the first partition - sda1 ?

[darkod]

You're right, something is weird. Can you boot XP, does it work fine?

[gpushkar]

Yes. I can boot into XP. No issues there!

[darkod]

Yes. I can boot into XP. No issues there!

I don't know. I'm not experienced enough to advise you what to do next, I don't want you to lose your data maybe. I hope someone else will jump in.

[gpushkar]

:) thanks anyways mate! Seriously hope some one jumps in to help!

[lemming465]

Could we also get the output of (live CD OK):
sudo cfdisk -Pt /dev/sda
sudo sfdisk -V /dev/sda
The fdisk -lu output looks fairly sane by itself, but there is something weird going on to confuse gparted.

Echoing darkod's comment, you have occupied pretty much the whole disk with NTFS partitions. If you are willing to sacrifice one of them, move all the data off, change the partition type to 0x83 ("t" command in fdisk), pick "manual" partitioning in the installer, and format it as type ext3 or ext4, usage root (directory "/"). The minimum useful size for running standard Ubuntu installs is about 5GB; more if you want to play with extra applications or source code.

[gpushkar]

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo cfdisk -Pt /dev/sda
FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 1: Partition ends after end-of-disk
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo sfdisk -V /dev/sda
Warning: partition 2 extends past end of disk
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$


I managed to create primary partition using fdisk. Here is the output of that


Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x4fa8a60b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 4403 35359169+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 6897 14594 61834185 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 6897 9502 20929609 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6 9502 13890 35249152 7 HPFS/NTFS

Command (m for help): n
Command action
l logical (5 or over)
p primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4): 3
First cylinder (4403-14593, default 4403):
Using default value 4403
Last cylinder, +cylinders or +size{K,M,G} (4403-6896, default 6896):
Using default value 6896

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x4fa8a60b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 4403 35359169+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 6897 14594 61834185 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3 4403 6896 20032919 83 Linux
/dev/sda5 6897 9502 20929609 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6 9502 13890 35249152 7 HPFS/NTFS

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.
Syncing disks.



Even after doing this, GParted or Ubuntu installer dont recognise existing partitions.

I have data sda5 sda6. If I remove sda2 in fdisk, i can see that sda5 & 6 no longer appear.

[darkod]

Another option is to go to the hdd manufacturer website and they should have some tools to diagnose the hdd and repair it if necessary.
It seems that ubuntu is far more sensitive to bad sectors than windows is. While windows might run even on a bad disk (until it completely crashes), ubuntu seems unwilling to run on it, from what I've seen around as comments.
Run the manufacturer tool to make sure it doesn't report anything. It's always wise to have a backup before operations like that.

[anubis2497]

try installing xp first then ubuntu.

[gpushkar]

yes. I think there may be some bad sectors which are causing this problem. I m presently running the diagnostic program from the HDD manufacturer ( Seagate).

@anubis: I already have installed XP on sda1

[gpushkar]

New update. My HDD is screwed.



ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo ./st -G /dev/sg0
Starting generic long (full sequential verify) test (234441647 blocks) on drive /dev/sg0 (^C will abort test)
VERIFY failed on block 2352128 Sense data = 11/00/00
TEST FAILED at block 3 on drive /dev/sg0



:frown:

[anubis2497]

hey u might need a new hard disk because my brother recently had a similer issue and had to end up geting a new hard disk for his laptop i recomend doing that after backing up your dada if possible.

[gpushkar]

hmm... I think i ll ve to buy a new HDD. Problem is its a Laptop, so HDD s are damn expensive!