no partition table for installing 10.10

[chidat]

Hi there! My apologies if this question has already been posed and answered out there..

I had an Asus T91MT netbook with Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.10, but due to the annoying ExpressGate boot menu (after selecting win7 from the grub menu) that I could not get rid of, I decided to delete the 100MB partition (that I was pretty sure was the ExpressGate), reinstall windows over the same partition it used to be in, and hope that everything would be fine, and I would not have to reinstall Ubuntu, since I did not touch any other partition. Well, Windows works fine, and I don't get the ExpressGate boot menu anymore, but now there's no grub menu to boot into Ubuntu! I figured I might have to reinstall it, which is not too much of a problem, but when manually trying to select the partition to install it on, there seems to be no partition table at all. GParted shows only an unallocated 29.82Gib space (which is the whole HD) with a warning saying "Can't have a partition outside the disk!", which I have no idea what that means. If I attempt to create a new partition table from within the installer, it warns me that all current partitions will be removed, and that all data will be erased.
Btw, here's the output of
sudo fdisk -lu

Disk /dev/sda: 32.0 GB, 32017047552 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3892 cylinders, total 62533296 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: 0x00094808

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 206848 41021184 20407168+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 41021440 58963967 8971264 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 58964031 62541044 1788507 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 58966016 59858927 446456 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 59867136 62531567 1332216 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 4043 MB, 4043309056 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 491 cylinders, total 7897088 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: 0x04dd5721

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 63 7897087 3948512+ b W95 FAT32
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(490, 254, 63) logical=(491, 145, 38)
Is there a way that I can install Ubuntu without wiping out everything else? Thank you very much!

[sikander3786]

While booted from an Ubuntu Live CD, go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal and post the output of this command.


sudo fdisk -lu

And a screenshot of Gparted would also be helpful.

[chidat]

Thank you for your quick response!

I added the output of sudo fdisk -lu above, and here I attached a screenshot of GParted. Thanks!file:///tmp/moz-screenshot.png

[sikander3786]

The problem seems to lie here.


Disk /dev/sda: 32.0 GB, 32017047552 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3892 cylinders, total 62533296 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: 0x00094808

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 206848 41021184 20407168+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 41021440 58963967 8971264 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 58964031 62541044 1788507 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 58966016 59858927 446456 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 59867136 62531567 1332216 82 Linux swap / Solaris


And the solution here.

http://www.rodsbooks.com/missing-parts/index.html

[psusi]

Post the output of sudo parted print

Nevermind.. good catch there, I didn't see that.

[chidat]

Hi, thanks for the the solution! It worked very nicely, and now GParted recognizes the partitions (see attached screenshot).

However, I am still unable to boot into Ubuntu 10.10 when starting up my computer; there is no grub menu. I am not sure what all of the partitions are for, so I am not even sure that Ubuntu is accessible.. when I look at what the installer says, it shows me one partition for Ubuntu 10.10 and one for Ubuntu (see other attached screenshots).. I'm guessing that the Ubuntu 10.10 is the one that I had left installed? I know that if I try installing Ubuntu now, I'll probably get into a very unpleasant situation, for this looks very familiar, and I did this not too long ago and was stuck with only Ubuntu..

Thanks again for your time!

[sikander3786]

While booted from the Live CD, post the output of bootinfoscript as per instructions here.

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net

It would tell us about your boot and any problems with it.

[chidat]

here is the output of bootinfoscript:

Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda
=> Syslinux is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System: Windows 7
Boot files/dirs: /bootmgr /Boot/BCD /Windows/System32/winload.exe

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Unknown
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs:

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 32.0 GB, 32017047552 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 3892 cylinders, total 62533296 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 * 206,848 41,021,184 40,814,337 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 41,021,440 58,963,967 17,942,528 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 58,964,031 62,533,295 3,569,265 f W95 Ext d (LBA)
/dev/sda5 58,966,016 59,858,927 892,912 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 59,867,136 62,531,567 2,664,432 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 4043 MB, 4043309056 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 491 cylinders, total 7897088 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdb1 * 63 7,897,087 7,897,025 b W95 FAT32


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1 FEE421DFE4219B43 ntfs
/dev/sda2 dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a ext4
/dev/sda3: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda5 c3265fb7-e4f4-4620-a0ca-95ee95843515 swap
/dev/sda6 2881512f-155f-45ce-ae2a-c802873acac6 swap
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sdb1 6CC8-3211 vfat PENDRIVE
/dev/sdb: PTTYPE="dos"

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev output: ===========================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sdb1 /cdrom vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=cp437, iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)


=========================== sda2/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ===========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
set have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
saved_entry="${chosen}"
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n "${have_grubenv}" ]; then if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}

function load_video {
insmod vbe
insmod vga
}

insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=1024x600
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-23-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-23-generic root=UUID=dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a ro acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor acpi_skip_timer nomodeset video=uvesafb:mode_option=1024x600-24,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap pci=nocrs mem=896mb quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-23-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-23-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-23-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-23-generic root=UUID=dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a ro single acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor acpi_skip_timer nomodeset video=uvesafb:mode_option=1024x600-24,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap pci=nocrs mem=896mb
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-23-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a ro acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor acpi_skip_timer nomodeset video=uvesafb:mode_option=1024x600-24,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap pci=nocrs mem=896mb quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-22-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a ro single acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor acpi_skip_timer nomodeset video=uvesafb:mode_option=1024x600-24,mtrr=3,scroll=ywrap pci=nocrs mem=896mb
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos6)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set a6a667a0a6676fab
chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if [ -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

=============================== sda2/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 nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=dadee321-41d1-4af4-8d2b-e23b038cf70a / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda7 during installation
UUID=c3265fb7-e4f4-4620-a0ca-95ee95843515 none swap sw 0 0

=================== sda2: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


25.8GB: boot/grub/core.img
23.4GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
22.3GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-22-generic
22.4GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-23-generic
25.9GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic
25.9GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-23-generic
22.4GB: initrd.img
22.3GB: initrd.img.old
25.9GB: vmlinuz
25.9GB: vmlinuz.old
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sdb1

00000000 eb 58 90 53 59 53 4c 49 4e 55 58 00 02 08 e0 03 |.X.SYSLINUX.....|
00000010 02 00 00 00 00 f8 00 00 3f 00 ff 00 3f 00 00 00 |........?...?...|
00000020 c1 7f 78 00 10 1e 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 |..x.............|
00000030 01 00 06 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000040 80 00 29 11 32 c8 6c 4e 4f 20 4e 41 4d 45 20 20 |..).2.lNO NAME |
00000050 20 20 46 41 54 33 32 20 20 20 fa fc 31 c9 8e d1 | FAT32 ..1...|
00000060 bc 76 7b 52 06 57 8e c1 b1 26 bf 78 7b f3 a5 8e |.v{R.W...&.x{...|
00000070 d9 bb 78 00 0f b4 37 0f a0 56 20 d2 78 1b 31 c0 |..x...7..V .x.1.|
00000080 b1 06 89 3f 89 47 02 f3 64 a5 8a 0e 18 7c 88 4d |...?.G..d....|.M|
00000090 bc 50 50 50 50 cd 13 eb 4b f6 45 b4 7f 75 25 38 |.PPPP...K.E..u%8|
000000a0 4d b8 74 20 66 3d 21 47 50 54 75 10 80 7d b8 ed |M.t f=!GPTu..}..|
000000b0 75 0a 66 ff 75 ec 66 ff 75 e8 eb 0f 51 51 66 ff |u.f.u.f.u...QQf.|
000000c0 75 bc eb 07 51 51 66 ff 36 1c 7c b4 08 cd 13 72 |u...QQf.6.|....r|
000000d0 13 20 e4 75 0f c1 ea 08 42 89 16 1a 7c 83 e1 3f |. .u....B...|..?|
000000e0 89 0e 18 7c fb bb aa 55 b4 41 8a 16 74 7b cd 13 |...|...U.A..t{..|
000000f0 72 10 81 fb 55 aa 75 0a f6 c1 01 74 05 c6 06 32 |r...U.u....t...2|
00000100 7d 00 66 b8 e0 e7 15 00 66 ba 00 00 00 00 bb 00 |}.f.....f.......|
00000110 7e e8 10 00 66 81 3e 24 7e 34 be f5 72 75 76 ea |~...f.>$~4..ruv.|
00000120 38 7e 00 00 66 03 06 64 7b 66 13 16 68 7b b9 10 |8~..f..d{f..h{..|
00000130 00 eb 2b 66 52 66 50 06 53 6a 01 6a 10 89 e6 66 |..+fRfP.Sj.j...f|
00000140 60 b4 42 e8 7f 00 66 61 8d 64 10 72 01 c3 66 60 |`.B...fa.d.r..f`|
00000150 31 c0 e8 70 00 66 61 e2 da c6 06 32 7d 2b 66 60 |1..p.fa....2}+f`|
00000160 66 0f b7 36 18 7c 66 0f b7 3e 1a 7c 66 f7 f6 31 |f..6.|f..>.|f..1|
00000170 c9 87 ca 66 f7 f7 66 3d ff 03 00 00 77 17 c0 e4 |...f..f=....w...|
00000180 06 41 08 e1 88 c5 88 d6 b8 01 02 e8 37 00 66 61 |.A..........7.fa|
00000190 72 01 c3 e2 c9 31 f6 8e d6 bc 6c 7b 8e de 66 8f |r....1....l{..f.|
000001a0 06 78 00 be cc 7d e8 09 00 31 c0 cd 16 cd 19 f4 |.x...}...1......|
000001b0 eb fd 66 60 ac 20 c0 74 09 b4 0e bb 07 00 cd 10 |..f`. .t........|
000001c0 eb f2 66 61 c3 8a 16 74 7b cd 13 c3 42 6f 6f 74 |..fa...t{...Boot|
000001d0 20 65 72 72 6f 72 0d 0a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | error..........|
000001e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200

[psusi]

Windows trashed grub, so you need to reinstall it. Google for reinstall grub; there are plenty of guides.

[sikander3786]

Make sure the disc you are booted from currently is not an older Ubuntu than 9.10. You need Maverick/Lucid or Karmic and then from Terminal,


sudo mount /dev/sda2 /mnt


sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sda

Note, for the second one it is just sda without an integer.

Reboot and hopefully, it should boot Ubuntu now. If it didn't list Windows, from installed Ubuntu's Terminal,


sudo update-grub

Good Luck!

[chidat]

Everything works perfectly now! Thank you very much! I don't know how you did it, but that was awesome! You saved me a lot of time and effort!

Thanks again!