Partition table errors -> unallocated for GPartEd

[mme oscar]

Hi all,

I have a minor problem with my partition table (dual boot). "Minor" because I can still boot and everything, the only consequence as far as I'm aware is that GPartEd does not see the partitions (latest GpartEd, 0.12.1).

I have now read a fair amount of threads about similar problems but could not find a way to fix it (without re-installing everything, I don't want to currently).

Here is the bootinfoscript output:



Boot Info Script 0.61 [1 April 2012]


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

=> Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks at sector
1 of the same hard drive for core.img. core.img is at this location and
looks in partition 7 for (,msdos7)/boot/grub.
=> Windows is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb.

sda1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ntfs
Boot sector type: Windows Vista/7: NTFS
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sda1 has
31457279 sectors, but according to the info from
fdisk, it has 31465471 sectors.
Operating System:
Boot files: /bootmgr /boot/bcd

sda2: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sda3: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sda4: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sda5: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: FAT32
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sda5 starts
at sector 0. But according to the info from fdisk,
sda5 starts at sector 136118871.
Operating System:
Boot files:

sda6: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files:

sda7: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sda8: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files:

sda9: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sdb1: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: FAT32
Boot sector info: No errors found in the Boot Parameter Block.
Boot file info: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) in the file
/120701-temp-backup-MBR-with-errors.img looks at
sector 1 of the same hard drive for core.img, but
core.img can not be found at this location.
Operating System:
Boot files:

sdb2: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: vfat
Boot sector type: FAT32
Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sdb2 starts
at sector 0. But according to the info from fdisk,
sdb2 starts at sector 573440000.
Operating System:
Boot files:

sdb3: __________________________________________________ ________________________

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

sdb5: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files:

sdb6: __________________________________________________ ________________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System:
Boot files:

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

Drive: sda __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disque /dev/sda: 320.1 Go, 320072933376 octets
255 têtes, 63 secteurs/piste, 38913 cylindres, total 625142448 secteurs
Unités = secteurs de 1 * 512 = 512 octets
Taille de secteur (logique / physique) : 512 octets / 512 octets

Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sda1 2,048 31,467,519 31,465,472 27 Hidden NTFS (Recovery Environment)
/dev/sda2 * 31,471,335 31,664,114 192,780 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda3 31,664,128 136,118,744 104,454,617 7 NTFS / exFAT / HPFS
/dev/sda4 136,118,745 625,141,759 489,023,015 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 136,118,871 402,363,989 266,245,119 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sda6 402,364,053 500,649,659 98,285,607 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 500,649,660 583,352,279 82,702,620 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 583,352,343 605,875,409 22,523,067 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 605,884,416 625,141,759 19,257,344 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdb __________________________________________________ ___________________

Disque /dev/sdb: 500.1 Go, 500107862016 octets
255 têtes, 63 secteurs/piste, 60801 cylindres, total 976773168 secteurs
Unités = secteurs de 1 * 512 = 512 octets
Taille de secteur (logique / physique) : 512 octets / 512 octets

Partition Boot Start Sector End Sector # of Sectors Id System

/dev/sdb1 63 573,439,999 573,439,937 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdb2 573,440,000 614,399,999 40,960,000 b W95 FAT32
/dev/sdb3 614,400,000 976,773,119 362,373,120 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 614,402,048 942,082,047 327,680,000 83 Linux
/dev/sdb6 942,084,096 976,773,119 34,689,024 83 Linux


"blkid" output: __________________________________________________ ______________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/sda1 D8D272EFD272D0EC ntfs RECOVERY
/dev/sda2 AA0091BC00918FC5 ntfs SYSTEM
/dev/sda3 BE1E75901E754307 ntfs
/dev/sda5 EF86-5271 vfat sharedfat
/dev/sda6 23dc1874-f991-4981-95b7-1a88510fa5d8 ext4 data
/dev/sda7 ab129daf-9009-486b-bb7b-6bf6065e19a9 ext4 linux!
/dev/sda8 d29ba00b-5ca2-46d6-bedb-5ee8ce8da642 ext4 linux2
/dev/sda9 aed15349-2481-4cc4-bfee-6c6053781db6 swap
/dev/sdb1 4919-AA9B vfat MBBIGFAT
/dev/sdb2 C3C0-6707 vfat MBSMALLFAT
/dev/sdb5 f8ca249a-8c01-40c1-ae52-d86f2b7dd148 ext4 mb-big-ext4
/dev/sdb6 f9d44cdb-5960-49e3-8710-183a8d970930 ext4 mb-small-ext4

================================ Mount points: =================================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

/dev/sda3 /media/windows fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_ permissions)
/dev/sda5 /media/sharedfat vfat (rw,umask=0000)
/dev/sda6 /media/data ext4 (rw,commit=0)
/dev/sda7 / ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0)
/dev/sda8 /media/linux2 ext4 (rw,commit=0)
/dev/sdb1 /media/MBBIGFAT vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=1000,gid=1000, shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush)
/dev/sdb2 /media/MBSMALLFAT vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks,uid=1000,gid=1000, shortname=mixed,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush)
/dev/sdb5 /media/mb-big-ext4 ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)
/dev/sdb6 /media/mb-small-ext4 ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisks)


=========================== sda7/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,msdos7)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ab129daf-9009-486b-bb7b-6bf6065e19a9
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
load_video
insmod gfxterm
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos7)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ab129daf-9009-486b-bb7b-6bf6065e19a9
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=fr
insmod gettext
if [ "${recordfail}" = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=60
fi
play 480 440 1
### 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 10.10, with Linux 2.6.35-32-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos7)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ab129daf-9009-486b-bb7b-6bf6065e19a9
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-32-generic root=UUID=ab129daf-9009-486b-bb7b-6bf6065e19a9 ro splash quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-32-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu 10.10, with Linux 2.6.35-32-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='(hd0,msdos7)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set ab129daf-9009-486b-bb7b-6bf6065e19a9
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.35-32-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-32-generic root=UUID=ab129daf-9009-486b-bb7b-6bf6065e19a9 ro single splash
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-32-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/30_os-prober ###
### 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.
menuentry "Windows 7 sur /dev/sda3 (via loader sur /dev/sda2)" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dae8c39ae8c37375
chainloader +1
}

menuentry "--------------------------------------------------" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dae8c39ae8c37375
chainloader +1
}

menuentry "--------------------------------------------------" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dae8c39ae8c37375
chainloader +1
}

menuentry "--------------------------------------------------" {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos2)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set dae8c39ae8c37375
chainloader +1
}

menuentry "/dev/sda1 : partition Samsung Recovery ! DANGER ! " {
insmod part_msdos
insmod ntfs
set root='(hd0,msdos1)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d8d272efd272d0ec
chainloader +1
}

### 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 ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=============================== sda7/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
/dev/sda7 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/sda9 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/sda3 /media/windows ntfs nls=iso8859-1,umask=000 0 0
/dev/sda5 /media/sharedfat vfat umask=0000 0 0
/dev/sda6 /media/data ext4 defaults 0 0
/dev/sda8 /media/linux2 ext4 defaults 0 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=================== sda7: Location of files loaded by Grub: ====================

GiB - GB File Fragment(s)

250.978479385 = 269.486090240 boot/grub/core.img 1
249.545270920 = 267.947194368 boot/grub/grub.cfg 1
260.526144028 = 279.737817088 boot/initrd.img-2.6.35-32-generic 2
260.243539810 = 279.434373120 boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-32-generic 1
260.526144028 = 279.737817088 initrd.img 2
260.243539810 = 279.434373120 vmlinuz 1

======================== Unknown MBRs/Boot Sectors/etc: ========================

Unknown BootLoader on sda4

00000000 03 02 03 7c b4 06 c0 c5 08 03 02 03 7c b4 06 c0 |...|........|...|
00000010 c6 08 03 02 03 7c b7 06 c0 df 08 03 02 03 7c b7 |.....|........|.|
00000020 06 c0 e0 08 03 02 03 7c b7 06 c0 e1 08 03 02 03 |.......|........|
00000030 7c b7 06 c0 e2 08 03 02 03 7c b7 06 c0 e3 08 03 ||........|......|
00000040 02 03 7c b7 06 c0 e4 08 03 02 03 7c b7 06 c0 e5 |..|........|....|
00000050 08 03 02 03 7c b7 06 c0 e6 08 03 02 03 7c b7 06 |....|........|..|
00000060 c0 e7 08 03 02 03 7c b7 06 c0 e8 08 03 02 03 7c |......|........||
00000070 b7 06 c0 e9 00 00 00 5a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |.......Z........|
00000080 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
00000090 00 00 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00 00 00 00 |................|
000000a0 00 00 00 00 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00 00 |................|
000000b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 |................|
000000c0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00 00 00 00 00 08 03 |................|
000000d0 02 03 7c ba 06 c0 f4 08 03 02 03 7c ba 06 c0 f5 |..|........|....|
000000e0 08 03 02 03 7c ba 06 c0 f6 08 03 02 03 7c ba 06 |....|........|..|
000000f0 c0 f7 08 03 02 03 7c ba 06 c0 f8 08 03 02 03 7c |......|........||
00000100 ba 06 c0 f9 08 03 02 03 7c ba 06 c0 fa 08 03 02 |........|.......|
00000110 03 7c ba 06 c0 fb 08 03 02 03 7c ba 06 c0 fc 08 |.|........|.....|
00000120 03 02 03 7c ba 06 c0 fd 08 03 02 03 7c bb 06 c0 |...|........|...|
00000130 fe 08 03 02 03 7c bb 06 c0 ff 08 03 02 03 7c bb |.....|........|.|
00000140 06 c1 00 08 03 02 03 7c bb 06 c1 01 08 03 02 03 |.......|........|
00000150 7c bb 06 c1 02 08 03 02 03 7c bb 06 c1 03 08 03 ||........|......|
00000160 02 03 7c bb 06 c1 04 08 03 02 03 7c bb 06 c1 05 |..|........|....|
00000170 08 03 02 03 7c bb 06 c1 06 08 03 02 03 7c bb 06 |....|........|..|
00000180 c1 07 08 03 02 03 7c bb 06 c1 08 08 03 02 03 7c |......|........||
00000190 bc 06 c1 09 08 03 02 03 7c bc 06 c1 0a 08 03 02 |........|.......|
000001a0 03 7c bc 06 c1 0b 08 03 02 03 7c bc 06 c1 0c 08 |.|........|.....|
000001b0 03 02 03 7c bc 06 c1 0d 08 03 02 03 7c bc 00 fe |...|........|...|
000001c0 ff ff 0b fe ff ff 7e 00 00 00 ff 93 de 0f 00 fe |......~.........|
000001d0 ff ff 05 fe ff ff 01 00 00 00 2e fb 25 01 00 00 |............%...|
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

a few precisions about the 3 first partitions, in case you want to know:


manufacturer recovery software (Samsung laptop). didn't want to remove this, in order to be able to go back to the original state (even if I actually also have PartImage backups)
the useless Windows hidden partition
the actual Windows 7


Also don't be surprised with the number of (extended) partitions, I like to organize my disk this way.

I have already tried to write the table again with fdisk, didn't work. btw I would be interested in understanding why fdisk can show something different from what is actually in the table?

Thank you!

[oldfred]

I cannot see an issue & script often highlights an error in partition table.

What does gparted show? Do you see partitions but errors or warning icons. If you click on those it will tell you more about the issue.

I have had gparted not even show my drive. I had XP installed and it was working, but gparted would take forever to try to mount then just show my other drives. I ran chkdsk, Windows actually booted a bit faster and then gparted worked.

Just a comment or two.
I do not like FAT anymore for larger partitions or partitions on a hard drive. (Unless you absolutely have to have it for some compatibility reason wtih Mac or Xbox.) I thought I was creating backups but they were over 4GB and every one was exactly 4GB. It turns out that is the max file size in FAT32, so I never had a valid backup. Converted to NTFS for data I needed with XP and ext4 for backup data. FAT32 also does not have a journal, so file recovery can be more difficult or impossible where with NTFS it might be.
With multiple drives I prefer to have each system on a separate drive. Drives fail and I like to have at least one drive bootable, but I also have multiple bootable flash drives with Ubuntu, repair ISOs and other ISO.

[mme oscar]

For Gparted the whole disk is "unallocated space", no partitions at all.

Yes I know the FAT32 limitation. until now I wasn't sure if NTFS was properly supported by most Linux tools, which is why my "shared partition" is still FAT32.
About multiple drives, this is a laptop so wouldn't be really convenient here ;)

Thanks for the comments anyway

[oldfred]

I think the issue was there in 2006 when I used FAT32, but I changed to NTFS in 2009 and not had any issues. Most that have issues use hibernation and that was not the NTFS driver but an issue trying to use two systems to write into the same space.

I might try chkdsk from a Windows repair CD on every NTFS & FAT32 partition. Not sure what else may be the issue.

Did you change BIOS to turn RAID on? That might write a setting that gparted would not be compatible with, but that normally is before any install and drive has RAID settings left.

[mme oscar]

ok thanks for the tip about FAT32/NTFS.

Don't have any windows CD but did a chkdsk from windows, no error found.

Did not change anything in the BIOS (and btw I forgot to say that GParted used to work fine with my disk)

Other ideas? Do you think it looks more like a real error or a bug in Gparted? Because in the latter case I can live with that, and later when I want to re-install everything I will re-create all my partitions.

[oldfred]

I do not see anything wrong other than these comments in your recovery & FAT partitions.

I know NTFS - PBR (partition boot sector) has to have the same start & size info as the partition table. I am not sure about FAT but bet it does also.


Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sda1 has
31457279 sectors, but according to the info from
fdisk, it has 31465471 sectors.

Boot sector info: According to the info in the boot sector, sda5 starts
at sector 0. But according to the info from fdisk,
sda5 starts at sector 136118871.

IS FAT sdb1:
Boot file info: Grub2 (v1.97-1.98) in the file
/120701-temp-backup-MBR-with-errors.img looks at
sector 1 of the same hard drive for core.img, but
core.img can not be found at this location.


With NTFS a chkdsk or fixBoot is required to fix PBR.
Not sure how the fix the FAT partition with grub2 install since now Windows will not recognize it as a FAT partition.

This says the recovery is the same for FAT32.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

Recovery of a FAT32 partition (instead of an NTFS partition) can be accomplished by following exactly the same steps.

[mme oscar]

With NTFS a chkdsk or fixBoot is required to fix PBR.
Do you know if it's possible to run chkdisk or fixboot without a Windows CD?



This says the recovery is the same for FAT32.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step
testdisk didn't help me because it does not find any problem to fix: as far as I understand you can only write a new partition table if some partition recovery was done before.

[oldfred]

Do you know someone with the some 32 or 64 bit version of Windows?

Make your own Windows repairCD (not vendor recovery):
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/Create-a-system-repair-disc
http://forums.techarena.in/guides-tutorials/1114725.htm

Windows 7 repair USB, Also Vista if service pack installed
http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-repair-windows-7-from-usb-flash-drive-repair-without-installation-dvd-disc/
http://www.webupd8.org/2010/10/create-bootable-windows-7-usb-drive.html

Not sure what this really has.
Also has chkdsk and some other Windows repairs in free version:
http://www.partitionwizard.com/features.html
http://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmanager/partition-fix.html

We used to recommend Neosmart as they had a free download for the Windows repairs. They were offline for a while & I now see they want $10 for the download. So make one yourself before you have to pay to get one.
Make your own Windows recoveryCD/repair:
http://forums.techarena.in/guides-tutorials/1114725.htm

[mme oscar]

Sorry for the delay, since everything was still working I didn't want to break anything before being ready to deal with it.

So recently after doing my backups I tried to rebuild the partitions with testdisk... didn't work. My understanding is that there was some kind of inconsistency with the partition table: I strongly suspect the first partition with the "Samsung Recovery" system, because as far as I understand it has some hidden sectors and probably I did something wrong about that with grub or soem other tool.

So basically I ended reinstalling everything: since I wanted to get rid of both this recovery partition and the Windows "hidden" boot partition, I found these useful pieces of information:

you can download a windows install CD legally: http://www.pcworld.com/article/248995/how_to_install_windows_7_without_the_disc.html
and you can simply avoid creating the windows hidden partition: http://www.mydigitallife.info/how-to-avoid-200mb-hidden-system-partition-from-been-created-during-windows-7-installation


and I installed Ubuntu 12.04, but unfortunately I now have another problem... for which I started this new thread (since it's not related to this one):

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=12113397

Anyway thank you very much for your help!