Testdisk shows all partitions as deleted on dual-boot system, OK on parted

[chiefpokagon]

After allowing Windows 10 to upgrade my dual boot PC which uses an SSD it is not booting. I ran boot-repair and now I get a bootmgr missing. So I ran testdisk from the live CD and all partitions show as deleted.
TestDisk 7.0, Data Recovery Utility, April 2015
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org

Disk /dev/sdf - 120 GB / 111 GiB - CHS 14593 255 63
Partition Start End Size in sectors
>D HPFS - NTFS 0 32 33 63 221 30 1024000
D HPFS - NTFS 63 221 31 8111 174 63 129288192
D HPFS - NTFS 8111 175 1 8218 229 11 1722368
D Linux 8219 39 13 13616 190 14 86712320
D Linux Swap 13616 190 15 14593 66 1 15687680

A similar (but not the same) question and response asked for a parted listing of the disks (and I have backed up the partition data to a txt file). Although I have included /dev/sda it is used as data, I do see it does have a boot record, probably a left over from a prior life.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo parted /dev/sda unit s print
Model: ATA WDC WD15EARS-00Z (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 2930275055s
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 206848s 976814079s 976607232s primary ntfs
2 976814080s 2766430207s 1789616128s primary ntfs boot

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo parted /dev/sdf unit s print
Model: ATA SanDisk SDSSDA12 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdf: 234441648s
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 2048s 1026047s 1024000s primary ntfs boot
2 1026048s 130313813s 129287766s primary ntfs
3 130314240s 132036607s 1722368s primary ntfs diag
4 132040702s 234440703s 102400002s extended
5 218753024s 234440703s 15687680s logical linux-swap(v1)

The partitions seem to be correct in parted so why does testdisk show them as deleted? What do I need to do to get my machine to boot from the SSD (/dev/sdf)? I suspect that Windows 10 is not done upgrading, so I need to let that run it's course perhaps before getting grub back into control. I don't want to make the situation worse by choosing the wrong settings in testdisk.

Although I have used Linux for many years, I am not much of a system administrator.

I am also confused with too much and sometimes what appears to be conflicting information about fixing dual-boot issues. I wish that there is a definitive, simple to execute procedure to recover from this recurring dual boot/upgrade error, which appears to not be going away as long as Microsoft refuses to "support" dual boot and frustrates the upgrade process by wiping out the boot record.

[oldfred]

Every time you change partitions, it is another entry that testdisk usually finds. So those may just be old partitions or old sizes of existing partitions.

But if you look at your extended, there is a large gap between start of extended and start of swap.

You can use testdisk or parted rescue, many threads with examples:

Used parted rescue
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2362656
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2315405
backup partition table before any changes, so you can get back to current if changes not correct
sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sda > PT_sda.txt
So you know sectors:
sudo parted /dev/sda unit s print
[SOLVED] Windows 10 update, Stuck in grub rescue
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2373061
http://askubuntu.com/questions/654386/windows-10-upgrade-lead-into-grub-rescue/655080#655080
Windows 7 to Windows 10 MBR partition missing
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2288988
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2290190
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2292545
Use parted rescue to restore missing partition details in post #22
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1775331
http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/manual/html_node/rescue.html
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/faq.php/#faq-22
Parted rescue seems easier than testdisk
http://askubuntu.com/questions/665445/upgraded-to-windows-10-on-dual-boot-and-cant-boot-to-ubuntu-partition/665462

[chiefpokagon]

I did manage to solve this issue using parted, but as I expressed, I felt overwhelmed by the options and the fact that some of the referenced posts are now incomplete because the pastes have disappeared. I am going to try to post my solution with complete output and hopefully it will help someone see and diagnose the problem clearly.

As I stated in my question, Windows changed the partition table and I could no longer dual boot, it went into grub-rescue. Whatever I did in grub-rescue (I don't remember) didn't work, but now I am convinced that restoring the partition table is the first (and perhaps only) step to success. Here are the steps I followed.

0) Obtain a livecd/usb to run Ubuntu since obviously it won't boot off the hard drive. I found the boot-repair-cd to contain everything that I needed to fix this issue. See https://sourceforge.net/projects/boot-repair-cd/

1) Backup the partition table as oldFred posted above:

backup partition table before any changes, so you can get back to current if changes not correct
sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sda > PT_sda.txt
So you know sectors:
sudo parted /dev/sda unit s print

2) Analyze the output to determine what has gone missing. What is observed is that there are overlapping partitions in the table. See my example below.
3) From this determine the starting and ending sectors containing the Ubuntu partition
4) run parted rescue
5) reboot

Example output after booting machine from boot-repair-disk and running parted with annotations <==:

(parted) select /dev/sdf <== my OS's are on sdf an SSD
Using /dev/sdf
(parted) print
Model: ATA SanDisk SDSSDA12 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdf: 120GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 525MB 524MB primary ntfs boot
2 525MB 66.7GB 66.2GB primary ntfs
3 66.7GB 67.6GB 882MB primary ntfs diag
4 67.6GB 120GB 52.4GB extended
5 112GB 120GB 8032MB logical linux-swap(v1)

(parted) unit s <== set parted to use sectors to simplify entering parameters
(parted) print
Model: ATA SanDisk SDSSDA12 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdf: 234441648s
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 2048s 1026047s 1024000s primary ntfs boot
2 1026048s 130313813s 129287766s primary ntfs
3 130314240s 132036607s 1722368s primary ntfs diag
4 132040702s 234440703s 102400002s extended <== note partitions 4 & 5 have same end so 4 must be ubuntu
5 218753024s 234440703s 15687680s logical linux-swap(v1)

(parted) rescue <== run the rescue option specifying the start and end sectors from 4 & 5 above
Start? 132040702
End? 218753020
Information: A ext4 logical partition was found at 132040704s -> 218753023s. Do
you want to add it to the partition table?
Yes/No/Cancel? y <== Whoo Hooo Found it
(parted) print <== print the results after rescue
Model: ATA SanDisk SDSSDA12 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdf: 234441648s
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 2048s 1026047s 1024000s primary ntfs boot
2 1026048s 130313813s 129287766s primary ntfs
3 130314240s 132036607s 1722368s primary ntfs diag
4 132040702s 234440703s 102400002s extended
6 132040704s 218753023s 86712320s logical ext4 <== This looks much better
5 218753024s 234440703s 15687680s logical linux-swap(v1)

Now I just rebooted without the boot-repair-disk and grub appeared before Microsoft so helpfully upgraded Windows for me.

I have also encountered this problem with a laptop using UEFI. As more computers adopt UEFI, this problem will change, but I doubt if it will go away--I still have not been able to get grub to run on the UEFI laptop without using the function key to enter the boot sequence, but that's another fix. Plus I think Ubuntu users are a thrifty lot and will continue to use older hardware because Ubuntu doesn't demand as many hardware resources as Windows. It also appears that it is next to impossible to stop Windows from replacing itself periodically with "upgrades". So for those of us who need software which only runs on windows making the dual boot option attractive, the upgrade/"grub-rescue" fiasco will continue to happen.

Thanks to those who have commented and helped. I still don't know why I got conflicting information, but the parted solution worked and I understand it. I was apprehensive of this fix until it actually worked!

[oldfred]

Glad you got it working. :)

You can change to solved, so others will find this thread.

Usually with UEFI, Windows does not delete partitions, but does change to make itself first in boot order. Ubuntu also on UEFI install or major grub update will reset system to make Ubuntu first in boot order.
But some vendors do have totally comply with UEFI standards and then we have to do a work around.