Having trouble with swap partition, always listed as unknown

[Falc7]

KDE partition manager reports /dev/sda3 is currently type "unknown".
I have tried reformatting this partition as linux swap, it says successfully done, but both Kde partition manager and gparted still immedietly report this partition as "unknown" again.

[tuxulin]

have you tried to delete and recreate the partition. try giving it a different size on creation to see what happens

Tux

[rnerwein]

hi
post: fdisk -l
please
ciao

[Falc7]

@tuxulin
Yep tried all that, still unknown

@rnerwein
Nothing happens when i put that in

jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ fdisk -l
jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$

[john newbuntu]

Run the command:

sudo swapon -a

Then check if swap is being enabled using:

sudo swapon -s
or
sudo fdisk -l

If it is still not, post the outputs of:

sudo fdisk -l
sudo blkid -c /dev/null
cat /etc/fstab

[Falc7]

Run the command:

sudo swapon -a

Then check if swap is being enabled using:

sudo swapon -s
or
sudo fdisk -l

If it is still not, post the outputs of:

sudo fdisk -l
sudo blkid -c /dev/null
cat /etc/fstab


jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ sudo swapon -s
Filename Type Size Used Priority
/dev/mapper/cryptswap1 partition 6056496 247528 -1



jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xa88cb8cc

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 28924 232331998+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda2 * 28925 38159 74180137+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 38160 38913 6056505 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda5 1 28924 232331967 83 Linux
jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$



This seems to suggest that the swap file is working yes?


jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ sudo blkid -c /dev/null
/dev/sda2: UUID="0A9C61789C615EE7" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda5: UUID="97da6210-9927-4fb9-9697-8227b4fe0221" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/mapper/cryptswap1: UUID="ba16eb07-6a72-48cf-b58d-dc352ada1a35" TYPE="swap"
jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=97da6210-9927-4fb9-9697-8227b4fe0221 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
#UUID=31d3a103-8f4a-43a5-8c15-b98c5d555b9d none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/mapper/cryptswap1 none swap sw 0 0
jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$

[john newbuntu]

From the output of "sudo fdisk -l", it is clear that /dev/sda3 is indeed a swap partition.

But this is not being identified or used by your system since your /etc/fstab and "swapon -s" points to /dev/mapper/cryptswap1, which means your system has been set up to use encrypted swap partition (or changed at some point to use it)

Now, if you decide to use /dev/sda3 as your swap partition, here's what you need to do:
First run:

sudo swapoff -a
You then need to remove the entry from /etc/crypttab.
You also need to edit the last line of /etc/fstab and replace /dev/mapper/cryptswap1 with /dev/sda3. PLEASE make backup copies of these files before editing them.
Finally run:

sudo swapon -a
Now check with your kde tool on where the swap is.

If it does not work, rerun the commands you ran previously in post#6 and post your results.

[Falc7]

jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ sudo swapon -a
swapon: /dev/sda3: read swap header failed: Invalid argument


Here is what my files look like:

jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ sudo kate /etc/crypttab

Looks like this:

# <target name> <source device> <key file> <options>



jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ sudo kate /etc/fstab
Looks like:


# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=97da6210-9927-4fb9-9697-8227b4fe0221 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
#UUID=31d3a103-8f4a-43a5-8c15-b98c5d555b9d none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/sda3 none swap sw 0 0


I have made backups; results from the commands from post6:

jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xa88cb8cc

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 28924 232331998+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda2 * 28925 38159 74180137+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 38160 38913 6056505 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda5 1 28924 232331967 83 Linux



jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ sudo blkid -c /dev/null
/dev/sda2: UUID="0A9C61789C615EE7" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda5: UUID="97da6210-9927-4fb9-9697-8227b4fe0221" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/mapper/cryptswap1: UUID="0ed11f8c-620f-4b9a-979c-d34667aa83a3" TYPE="swap"


jamie@jamie-kubuntu:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=97da6210-9927-4fb9-9697-8227b4fe0221 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
#UUID=31d3a103-8f4a-43a5-8c15-b98c5d555b9d none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/sda3 none swap sw 0 0

[john newbuntu]

For some reason, swap is not being recognized by the block device command. Create it as follows:


sudo /sbin/mkswap /dev/sda3Hopefully, this command should give you a UUID. Once you get this, you can again try:

sudo swapon -aor if that does not work, replace the last line of your /etc/fstab with something like the following:


UUID=2ad3b11a-189d-434f-b546-f45dd844689f none swap sw 0 0where the number following UUID= is the same number you got when you ran the mkswap command. Finally run "sudo swapon -a"

[Falc7]

Ah yes that did it, thanks :)

[yourself65]

For some reason, swap is not being recognized by the block device command. Create it as follows:


sudo /sbin/mkswap /dev/sda3Hopefully, this command should give you a UUID. Once you get this, you can again try:

sudo swapon -aor if that does not work, replace the last line of your /etc/fstab with something like the following:


UUID=2ad3b11a-189d-434f-b546-f45dd844689f none swap sw 0 0where the number following UUID= is the same number you got when you ran the mkswap command. Finally run "sudo swapon -a"

Dude!!

i have got to admit that you made my day really
i spend like 4 fokin hours looking for solution till i found this thread
i registered specially to thank you ;)

[yourself65]

hibernate did appear
but once i press it
laptop freezes for a while then it's back again like a log-out or something

i though it might be the swap partition size

so i extend it..
here is the new size

total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 3924 1413 2511 0 53 705
-/+ buffers/cache: 654 3270
Swap: 4614 0 4614

i still couldn't find the problem..
any help would be appreciated :)

[yourself65]

i think it might be a problem with vga
so here is mine if u 'll ask for it:
Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated
Graphics Controller