Partitioning for dual boot-- Windows is on an extended partition, other weirdness??

[aburgess]

I successfully partitioned my desktop with Gparted and made it into an XP/Ubuntu dual boot.
Now i'm trying to do the same with my netbook (eee pc 1000he), and the existing partitions look funny:

Partition______FileSystem___Size_________Used_____ __Unused___Flags
unallocated___unallocated___7.84 MiB______-----------_____-------------
/dev/sda1____extended_____82.82 GiB_____------------_____-------------__lba
__/dev/sda5__ntfs_________43.75 GiB_____31.30GiB____12.45 GiB
__unallocated_unallocated___39.06GiB_____-------------____-------------- ( *I made this )
/dev/sda2____ntfs_________61.29GiB_____3.00GiB_____58.2 9GiB___boot
/dev/sda3____fat32 (PE)____4.89GiB______2.67GiB_____2.22GiB___hidden, lba
/dev/sda4____unknown_____47.07MiB_____-----------______-------------
unallocated___unallocated___2.49MiB______-----------______--------

How should I change this to prepare for installing Ubuntu?
Can I just install to the unallocated space on the extended partition?
I don't need optimal efficiency here, I just need to know where to install Ubuntu for a workable dual boot.

It's confusing to me that Windows is on an extended partition, and also that /dev/sda2 has the boot flag (this drive contains nothing but two undeletable folders titled "amd 64" and "i386"). This set-up is the result of a Windows re-install at a sketchy computer shop.


Thanks!

Adam

[Quackers]

Welcome to UF.
How many Primary partitions did you have in use before you used gparted?
If you're not sure please boot from the Ubuntu Live cd/usb and select "try ubuntu" then when the desktop is loaded make sure you have an internet connection and go to the site below and download the boot script to your DESKTOP and then open up a terminal (Applications > Accessories > terminal) and run


sudo bash ~/Desktop/boot_info_script*.sh

This will produce a results.txt file on your desktop. Please copy the contents of that file and paste them in your next post between CODE tags. For CODE tags click on New Reply (not quick reply)and then click on the # symbol in the toolbar.
This will give a full overview of your current system.
Thanks.

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

[aburgess]

All I did with Gparted so far was shrink the first partition to yield that big unallocated space.

Here's the boot_info_script result:

Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

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

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

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sda5 starts
at sector 63.
Operating System: Windows XP
Boot files/dirs:

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Windows XP: Fat32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM

sda4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system:
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed:
mount: unknown filesystem type ''

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 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 16,065 173,694,779 173,678,715 f W95 Ext d (LBA)
/dev/sda5 16,128 91,772,927 91,756,800 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 * 173,694,780 302,230,844 128,536,065 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 302,230,845 312,480,314 10,249,470 1c Hidden W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda4 312,480,315 312,576,704 96,390 ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda2 A000B2F200B2CF12 ntfs
/dev/sda3 CCED-990E vfat PE
/dev/sda4: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda5 3448A7B948A777EE ntfs
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)


================================ sda2/boot.ini: ================================

[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sda1

00000000 00 80 1f 72 00 00 00 00 00 00 fd 6e 00 00 00 00 |...r.......n....|
00000010 40 79 0f 72 00 00 00 00 00 80 0f 72 00 00 00 00 |@y.r.......r....|
00000020 00 00 fd 6e 00 00 00 00 40 79 0f 72 00 00 00 00 |...n....@y.r....|
00000030 86 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 75 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 |.~......u~......|
00000040 75 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 48 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |u~......H.......|
00000050 01 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |....@...........|
00000060 09 00 09 00 28 00 09 00 38 00 09 00 18 00 01 00 |....(...8.......|
00000070 38 00 87 01 04 00 00 00 ba 44 00 00 00 00 00 00 |8........D......|
00000080 2d 0d 91 00 00 00 00 00 0b 60 85 7d 00 00 00 00 |-........`.}....|
00000090 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0a 60 85 7d 00 00 00 00 |.........`.}....|
000000a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 95 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 |.........~......|
000000b0 86 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 86 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 |.~.......~......|
000000c0 58 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 |X...........@...|
000000d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0b 00 0b 00 28 00 18 00 |............(...|
000000e0 40 00 18 00 18 00 01 00 38 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 |@.......8.......|
000000f0 ef 13 00 00 00 00 00 00 ef 13 0c 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000100 00 80 1f 72 00 00 00 00 00 00 fd 6e 00 00 00 00 |...r.......n....|
00000110 40 71 1f 72 00 00 00 00 00 80 1f 72 00 00 00 00 |@q.r.......r....|
00000120 00 00 fd 6e 00 00 00 00 40 79 0f 72 00 00 00 00 |...n....@y.r....|
00000130 a6 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 95 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 |.~.......~......|
00000140 95 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 a8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |.~..............|
00000150 01 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |....@...........|
00000160 07 00 07 00 28 00 40 00 68 00 40 00 18 00 01 00 |....(.@.h.@.....|
00000170 38 00 20 00 06 00 00 00 da 0f 00 00 00 00 00 00 |8. .............|
00000180 da 0f 0c 00 00 00 00 00 02 63 81 9c 44 20 cb 01 |.........c..D ..|
00000190 02 63 81 9c 44 20 cb 01 02 63 81 9c 44 20 cb 01 |.c..D ...c..D ..|
000001a0 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ...............|
000001b0 00 00 00 00 07 07 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 |................|
000001c0 01 01 07 fe ff ff 3f 00 00 00 00 19 78 05 00 00 |......?.....x...|
000001d0 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

Thanks for your help.

[ottosykora]

does this boot to wondows??? Almost can not believe that.

[aburgess]

:) Yeah, no problems with XP.

[Quackers]

Is that the whole contents of results.txt file? If not, please post the complete contents in CODE tags.

[aburgess]

That's the whole file. I ran boot info script again with the same result.

Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

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

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

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sda5 starts
at sector 63.
Operating System: Windows XP
Boot files/dirs:

sda2: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows XP
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /boot.ini /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM

sda3: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: Windows XP: Fat32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Operating System:
Boot files/dirs: /ntldr /NTDETECT.COM

sda4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system:
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Mounting failed:
mount: unknown filesystem type ''

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

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 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 16,065 173,694,779 173,678,715 f W95 Ext d (LBA)
/dev/sda5 16,128 91,772,927 91,756,800 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 * 173,694,780 302,230,844 128,536,065 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 302,230,845 312,480,314 10,249,470 1c Hidden W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda4 312,480,315 312,576,704 96,390 ef EFI (FAT-12/16/32)


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda1: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda2 A000B2F200B2CF12 ntfs
/dev/sda3 CCED-990E vfat PE
/dev/sda4: PTTYPE="dos"
/dev/sda5 3448A7B948A777EE ntfs
/dev/sda: PTTYPE="dos"

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

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (ro,noatime)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (ro,noatime)


================================ sda2/boot.ini: ================================

[boot loader]
timeout=1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
=========================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc =======================

Unknown BootLoader on sda1

00000000 00 80 1f 72 00 00 00 00 00 00 fd 6e 00 00 00 00 |...r.......n....|
00000010 40 79 0f 72 00 00 00 00 00 80 0f 72 00 00 00 00 |@y.r.......r....|
00000020 00 00 fd 6e 00 00 00 00 40 79 0f 72 00 00 00 00 |...n....@y.r....|
00000030 86 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 75 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 |.~......u~......|
00000040 75 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 48 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |u~......H.......|
00000050 01 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |....@...........|
00000060 09 00 09 00 28 00 09 00 38 00 09 00 18 00 01 00 |....(...8.......|
00000070 38 00 87 01 04 00 00 00 ba 44 00 00 00 00 00 00 |8........D......|
00000080 2d 0d 91 00 00 00 00 00 0b 60 85 7d 00 00 00 00 |-........`.}....|
00000090 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0a 60 85 7d 00 00 00 00 |.........`.}....|
000000a0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 95 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 |.........~......|
000000b0 86 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 86 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 |.~.......~......|
000000c0 58 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 |X...........@...|
000000d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0b 00 0b 00 28 00 18 00 |............(...|
000000e0 40 00 18 00 18 00 01 00 38 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 |@.......8.......|
000000f0 ef 13 00 00 00 00 00 00 ef 13 0c 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000100 00 80 1f 72 00 00 00 00 00 00 fd 6e 00 00 00 00 |...r.......n....|
00000110 40 71 1f 72 00 00 00 00 00 80 1f 72 00 00 00 00 |@q.r.......r....|
00000120 00 00 fd 6e 00 00 00 00 40 79 0f 72 00 00 00 00 |...n....@y.r....|
00000130 a6 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 95 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 |.~.......~......|
00000140 95 7e 0f ca 01 00 00 00 a8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |.~..............|
00000150 01 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |....@...........|
00000160 07 00 07 00 28 00 40 00 68 00 40 00 18 00 01 00 |....(.@.h.@.....|
00000170 38 00 20 00 06 00 00 00 da 0f 00 00 00 00 00 00 |8. .............|
00000180 da 0f 0c 00 00 00 00 00 02 63 81 9c 44 20 cb 01 |.........c..D ..|
00000190 02 63 81 9c 44 20 cb 01 02 63 81 9c 44 20 cb 01 |.c..D ...c..D ..|
000001a0 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | ...............|
000001b0 00 00 00 00 07 07 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 |................|
000001c0 01 01 07 fe ff ff 3f 00 00 00 00 19 78 05 00 00 |......?.....x...|
000001d0 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

[aburgess]

I'm not trying for perfection, just a safe place to install Ubuntu for a dual boot.

[Quackers]

Thanks, I was afraid you'd say that.
In post #3 you said "All I did with Gparted so far was shrink the first partition to yield that big unallocated space."
What unallocated space?
What was in that first partition that you shrunk?
What did gparted call it? sda1 or something else?
Who created the extended partition that is now sda1? And HOW?

[aburgess]

I believe I just shrunk the logical partition "/dev/sda5" that was already within the extended partition "/dev/sda1" to yield unallocated space within the extended partition. The partition I shrunk is where Windows is installed ("C:").

Everything else was there already. As I said, I had XP re-installed at a sketchy little computer store in Toronto.

[Quackers]

Can you please post a screenshot of your gparted screen? Thanks.

[aburgess]

The screenshot button in Gparted doesn't respond to me (none of the buttons at the top of the screen do), but the data is all in my first post.

[Quackers]

Use the Take Screenshot utility in Ubuntu.
Your partition arrangement is unusual in that sda1 is an extended partition. It is also very limiting for future expansion.
So, it appears that you have approx 38GB of free space in sda1.
I am not sure, however, whether the Ubuntu installer will be able to see that free space, or not. You could try installing Ubuntu and choose the manual partitioning option and confirm that. If it does see that free space inside sda1, you can install Ubuntu there.

[aburgess]

Solved!

The Ubuntu installer didn't see the unallocated space in sda1, but it did see the sda5 logical partition and offered to install there. So I used Gparted to give all that unallocated space back to sda5, and then the Ubuntu installer let me choose how much of sda5 to give to Ubuntu (using the automatic partitioning, not manual).

Now both Ubuntu and XP boot happily. Interesting note, according to the GRUB startup screen, XP is installed on sda2, not sda1. Weirdness.

Anyways . . . thanks for your help :D

Adam.

[ottosykora]

>XP is installed on sda2, not sda1. <

sure, sda1 is th eextended in that nothing can be installed, it needs logical drive in it.
I was just surprised, that XP is willing to boot from logical drive so simple.

[Quackers]

>XP is installed on sda2, not sda1. <

sure, sda1 is th eextended in that nothing can be installed, it needs logical drive in it.
I was just surprised, that XP is willing to boot from logical drive so simple.

It's not. The only logical drive is sda5. The XP boot files are in sda2 which is a primary partition. It just looks odd with the extended partition being first on the HDD.