10.10 Install Freeze At Starting Up The Partitioner - Scanning Disks

[vncoder]

I tried to install Ubuntu 10.10 Server 32bits and 64bits but each time the installer stopped at 45% during "Starting up the partitioner" with the message "Scanning disks".

I installed Windows 7 64bits on the disks without problem.
I installed IPCop 1.4.20 successfully.

However, I tried to install Fedora 14 32bits and 64bits but it also stopped (ie crashed the partitioner) during the "Install To Harddisk" via LiveCD.

Similarly, OpenNode 1.0 also crashed with a bug report that has alot of python error messages. All mean nothing to me.

I even tried to partition the disks first via Fedora 14 LiveCD. Still the same thing.

Has anyone encountered this sort of problems before? If so, any resolutions?

Could this be the problem with the SATA2 disks?

Previously, I managed to passed the Scanning disks with 2 x 1.5TB SATA2 disks. I got to the stage of editing the partition via the GUI. However, it crashed on me (ie froze) so had to restart the installation process. Ever since, I am unable to pass the Scanning Disks - always stopped at 45% no matter how long I leave the installation running (even overnight).


Hardware:
ASROCK G41C-VS motherboard with 8GB of RAM
2 x Seagate SATA2 2TB HDD

[sikander3786]

Welcome to the forums :-)

From the booted Ubuntu Live CD/USB, go to Applications > Accessories > Terminal and post the output of this command please.


sudo fdisk -lu

It would also be handy if you could post a screenshot of GParted from System > Administration sub-menu.

[vncoder]

Hello sikander3786 et al,
Here is the output:



ubuntu@ubuntu:/etc/init.d$ sudo fdisk -lu

Disk /dev/sda: 2000.4 GB, 2000398934016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029168 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: 0x000482b0

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 63 976751999 488375968+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 976752000 1826108549 424678275 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 1826108550 2655464174 414677812+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 * 2655464175 3907024064 625779945 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 2000.4 GB, 2000398934016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029168 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: 0x000161c7

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 63 976751999 488375968+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb2 976752000 2059677584 541462792+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb3 * 2059677585 3907024064 923673240 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdc: 4005 MB, 4005560320 bytes
21 heads, 21 sectors/track, 17740 cylinders, total 7823360 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: 0xc3072e18

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 8064 7823359 3907648 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)




----------------------------------
Tried to startup GParted but only got the main window of GParted up for half a second then it disappeared.

[vncoder]

Tried to start up GParted from commandline, this is what I got:


buntu@ubuntu:/etc/init.d$ sudo gparted
======================
libparted : 2.3
======================

glibmm-ERROR **:
unhandled exception (type std::exception) in signal handler:
what: basic_string::_S_create

aborting...

[sikander3786]

Were your hard disk drives ever involved in a RAID setup? If yes, try removing the settings by,


sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/sda


sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/sdb

[vncoder]

Hello sikander3786 et al,
Both of these two 2TB SATA2 disks are new disks. Haven't been involved with RAID setup before.
I've also did the same commands as you suggested before but obviously won't have any result of course. But I thought I tried anyway.

[vncoder]

I figured this out. There are recent posts in other forums mentioning there's a bug in libpart (which gparted uses), that throws an exception for the head_size that it doesn't know about. This is only happening inthe Verbatim USB sticks - as far as I can tell.

I've tested this by booting up the Ubuntu 10.10 server installation via the same USB stick. This time, instead of waiting for the "Starting up the partitioner", I pulled out the USB stick straight after setting the hostname. The installer complained there's a problem the the CD-ROM (ie the USB) but it will continue and started the Partitioner without any problem. After that, I put the USB stick back in again. That's all I got to today. I will continue with the rest of the installation tomorrow.

Therefore, got nothing to do with the SATA2 disks.

[cygenb0ck]

This time, instead of waiting for the "Starting up the partitioner", I pulled out the USB stick straight after setting the hostname. The installer complained there's a problem the the CD-ROM (ie the USB) but it will continue and started the Partitioner without any problem. After that, I put the USB stick back in again.

thx, that did the trick!

edit:
debootstrap error: failed to determine the codename for the release ...

now using different usb drive

[Peber]

Sorry to thread mine however this thread was the first result on Google when I was researching this problem and I found a solution that worked for me.


I was just trying to install Ubuntu onto a 4gb Verbatim USB key for my media center PC and I kept getting the same issue as the OP.

One of the comments above about pulling out the USB key during install, along with the errors running gparted made me think perhaps the pre-loaded crap on the key or the way the factory partition is laid out might be the issue.

So, I put the key into my Windows machine and cleaned the partition layout using diskpart.
Popped it back into my media center box and now Ubuntu happily installs and runs.

Hopefully someone else might find this useful!