Weirdness on my linux box

Post #310,021 by jake123 6/23/09 4:46:57 AM Reply	Weirdness on my linux box The system is running, boots, everything, but when I run gparted it represents the disk as entirely unallocated, and libparted reports an error involving overlapping partitions. Any ideas as to the best way to repair this? ...this is fallout from the whining I did about Windows a week or so back, in case that matters.
Post #310,025 by static 6/23/09 5:55:26 AM Reply	What does fdisk think? I've found the Linux fdisk can do things with the partition table that most partitioning tools would run away screaming from. It sounds like you have some funky entries that libparted doesn't like, but is "valid" enough for GRUB or LILO to boot with. Wade. "Ah -- I take it the doorbell doesn't work?"
Post #310,026 by jake123 6/23/09 6:08:57 AM Reply	Re: What does fdisk think? <p>Well, here's its output from the print command:</p> Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/hda1 * 1 1034 8305573+ 7 HPFS/NTFS /dev/hda2 1035 9686 69497190 f W95 Ext'd (LBA) /dev/hda3 1935 7034 40965718+ 35 Unknown /dev/hda4 9687 9729 345397+ 83 Linux /dev/hda5 1035 1934 7229187 83 Linux /dev/hda6 7035 7642 4883728+ 83 Linux /dev/hda7 7643 8007 2931831 83 Linux /dev/hda8 8008 8227 1767118+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris /dev/hda9 8228 8276 393561 83 Linux /dev/hda10 8277 9686 11325793+ 83 Linux <p>Still not quite sure what to make of that; it looks like there are 900 missing cylinders at the beginning of the extended partition...</p>
Post #310,048 by folkert 6/23/09 3:23:59 PM Reply	Out of number order partitions. Partitions. Looking at it that way == logical order This is physical order: Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/hda1 * 1 1034 8305573+ 7 HPFS/NTFS /dev/hda2 1035 9686 69497190 f W95 Ext'd (LBA) /dev/hda5 1035 1934 7229187 83 Linux /dev/hda3 1935 7034 40965718+ 35 Unknown /dev/hda6 7035 7642 4883728+ 83 Linux /dev/hda7 7643 8007 2931831 83 Linux /dev/hda8 8008 8227 1767118+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris /dev/hda9 8228 8276 393561 83 Linux /dev/hda10 8277 9686 11325793+ 83 Linux /dev/hda4 9687 9729 345397+ 83 Linux This is typical of using other partitioning tools other than "GNU tools" or things like fdisk or cfdisk. I am assuming you've used a different partitioning tool at one time or another. 1 & 4 are primary partitions, 2 is an Extended Container, 5,3,6,7,8,9,10 are all extended partitions. Hope that helps.
Post #310,059 by jake123 6/23/09 7:31:42 PM Reply	Re: Out of number order partitions. Well, I did use the Windows partitioner during its installation. I pretty much figured that was what screwed the pooch on it. However, I'm not too sure what I should do to fix it....
Post #310,062 by folkert 6/23/09 8:14:23 PM Reply	What do you want to do? As far as I can tell, its only a problem with libparted and tools that rely on that. I personally use cfdisk as its very intuitive and allows you to do things normally not allowed by most things, similar to fdisk does but is a bit more friendly. So, what is it you want to do? Please remember, the way that Linux now handles DISKS period, if you have anything newer the 2.6.15 (and some earlier kernels depending on the distribution), only allows 16 total partitions (up-to 4 primary/extended-container and up-to 14 extended partitions (barring any more than one primary and one extended container). One thing you need to do is report a bug. Appears to be similar ones but nothing like yours: http://bugs.debian.o...e=both;src=parted Nor in the Alioth project (alioth is Debian's "sourceforge" type of project) http://parted.alioth...trac.cgi/report/1
Post #310,069 by jake123 6/23/09 8:34:18 PM Reply	Well, basically I'd like to get it back so all those error messages go away. I'm also concerned because it looks like I'm going to have to install Windows again, and I want to be able to get it in there and get it to play nice with the other systems on this laptop... the amount of agony I had to go through to get it to behave after the last time I put it on was extreme, and I'd like to make sure I can minimize that to the greatest extent possible. The main reason I need windows is because I have an M-Audio Fast Track Pro and want to use it to record, but for some reason the audio is completely shitty and fucked up when I try to record under linux, so....
Post #310,071 by static 6/23/09 8:42:42 PM Reply	I feel your pain. There's a reason why it is recommended that Windows is installed first for a dual-boot install. It is possible in varying degrees for various versions to install Windows afterward, but the incantation changes. Windows prefers to take the whole drive for itself and not bother you with the details, as I'm sure you already know. Regarding Linux sound, there has been a bit of a kerfluffle recently about Linux sound brought about by some comments from Adobe. Apparantly, there are some circumstances where ALSA audio has horrible latency and terrible audio, whereas OSS v4 is fine and vice versa. http://linux.slashdo...=09/06/19/1937210 Wade. "Ah -- I take it the doorbell doesn't work?"
Post #310,066 by static 6/23/09 8:27:31 PM Reply	Ah... I think gparted will be complaining about hda3 being after hda5. :-) And possible the type of /hda2 being wrong. (And what is /hda3? That is an odd type...) It is possible to fix it up with fdisk, but it will require very carefully writing everything down, and re-creating all the partitions in order from the start of the disk. Then you have to edit /etc/fstab to remap the partitions to their mount points. Yes, this is very, very scary and quite dangerous, but it is possible. Yes, I've done it. Wade. "Ah -- I take it the doorbell doesn't work?"
Post #310,078 by jake123 6/24/09 12:20:15 AM Reply	Re: Ah... I take it the key piece of info is the start and end cylinder numbers?
Post #310,082 by static 6/24/09 7:06:21 AM Reply	Yes. But I'd still write it all down. Wade. "Ah -- I take it the doorbell doesn't work?"
Post #310,119 by jake123 6/24/09 10:59:42 PM Reply	Re: Yes. Chyeah, no doubt about that at all.

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