Prepare Partitions - blank list

[EMR]

I'm installing Ubuntu 10 LTS on a friend's computer.

This friend's computer has a history of not working very well, but those may have been due to bad configuration. I'm starting fresh with this install (I'm on the live CD right now) and I've hit a snag-
here is a screenshot.
http://i1120.photobucket.com/albums/l494/QuaternionJoe/Screenshot2.png
The useful buttons are all unclickable, and right clicking just asks me if I want to revert. Is it not finding a HDD, or what?

[srs5694]

First, see this Web page, (http://www.rodsbooks.com/missing-parts/) which may provide a solution -- but I can't guarantee that you've got the same problem.

If that doesn't help, please post the output of "sudo fdisk -lu" on the affected computer, between
and strings for legibility.

[EMR]

Thanks for the tip-this is starting to make more sense-I knew that the disc was kind of a mess, and I'd been hoping to use Gparted (or whatever parted front-end the Ubuntu installer uses) to format the thing again. I guess I'll have to use the console version?


Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000cb410

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 63 150689699 75344818+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 150689700 156296384 2803342+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 150689763 156296384 2803311 82 Linux swap / Solaris


I'll manually wipe the disc (not with a magnet) and get back.

Thanks as always!

[srs5694]

Those partitions look reasonable to me, unless I've missed something. I'm therefore not sure what the problem is.