invalid partition table (no os now)

[eslam elbyaly]

hi all , i had ubuntu on my pc , and i was trying windows xp beside ubuntu ,
- i had c ,d partitions (c) for windows copy , (d) for my data and the two partition for ubuntu , one for the system and the other for swap space

- when i tried to install xp on c partition after formatting it , i got this error (invalid partition table

i deleted (c) partition , and made it again from the unpartitioned space , and the error still exist ,
- i deleted all partitions (ubuntu partition , swap partition , (c) partition ) , and now i do not have anything on my hard disk except the (d) partition for my data , and the rest of my hd is unpartitioned space , and i can not install xp , which is the osi wanna install

help quickly , please

[dino99]

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowtoPartition

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=11843514&postcount=9

[eslam elbyaly]

thanks for your prompt reply , but i am sorry you did not get ,

i have no operating system now , just my data on d partition

[wilee-nilee]

thanks for your prompt reply , but i am sorry you did not get ,

i have no operating system now , just my data on d partition

Boot a live ubuntu cd take a screenshot of gparted and post it using the paper clip in the reply panel.

You mention no extended partition and over four partitions.

[darkod]

Boot the ubuntu cd in live mode, open terminal and post the output of:

sudo fdisk -l
sudo parted /dev/sda print

[eslam elbyaly]

what would these comands do
sudo fdisk -l sudo parted /dev/sda print
would it enable me to install the xp ?

[darkod]

It would print the partitions on the disk with two different programs (fdisk and parted), so we can have a look at them.

Otherwise, this sounds like general error, not related to ubuntu. If you can copy the data from D: to another external disk, you can start all over.

Which program did you use to initially create your partitions, some tool from ubuntu or...?

[eslam elbyaly]

i have used windows cd to make windows partitions c and d

and when i installed ubuntu , used ubuntu itself to make its partitions too

[eslam elbyaly]

excuse me please ,
can i just put the ubuntu cd in my drive , then just try it and use the terminal to type these commands (fdisk .......), or do i have to make complete installation ?

[darkod]

excuse me please ,
can i just put the ubuntu cd in my drive , then just try it and use the terminal to type these commands (fdisk .......), or do i have to make complete installation ?

Correct, use Try Ubuntu, when it loads the live desktop open terminal and run them.

[eslam elbyaly]

i got the screen shots , but i do not know where the reply panel is , and i do not know where the paper clip is ?

[darkod]

I don't know about the lba flags shown by parted, but the boot flag should not be on /dev/sda2, only on /dev/sda1.

From live mode (Try Ubuntu), in terminal try this:

sudo parted /dev/sda
set 2 boot off
quit

Then again check with the same parted print command to see if the boot flag is gone from /dev/sda2.

I think windows made some mess creating the partition table and partitions on the disk. But you can try to install XP again after turning off the boot flag on /dev/sda2 and see if that changes anything.

[eslam elbyaly]

you are the man ,
thanks a lot , i did what you told me , and it worked very well ,

but my data partition d has the shape of ( you know when you try to open file and you are asked to pick a program to open it with ,

the partition shape is like that icon

if you know something , tell me please
and thanks again
you are the man :popcorn:

[Hakunka-Matata]

You input the "sudo fdisk -l" command incorrectly, typo.

the fdisk command option is a lowercase L, not the number ONE.

The two most common errors made by operators typing commands into the Terminal incorrectly, (with typos), are:

Failing to start the command-line-input with 'sudo'
inserting an invalid option (- or --) as you did, 1 instead of l

A very good way to learn is first to COPY the command line and paste it into the Terminal program. Ctrl-C for copy, BUT in Terminal, the paste command by default it CTRL-SHIFT-v. It can be easily changed to be Ctrl-v, don't recall off hand where to change it.
Second thing to do, if you're using options, is to do a "man fdisk" for instance, it'll explain the options, use "q" to get out of the man page.

Good Luck,