[opensuse] Partitioning problem in installing oS v11.1
I am trying to install oS v11.1 on a new Dell Vostro 1501 laptop. A problem has arisen that I don't know how to deal with. I had succeeded in installing the system in partitions that I had made using DFSee. I decided after working with it for a few days that I had made some decisions in the installation options that I now regretted, and decided to repeat the installation from scratch. One of the changes I wanted to make was/is the partitioning scheme. Here I have to describe exactly how I made the new partitions. I deleted all the existing partitions, so that the HD was all free space. I made the Boot Manager and made it Active. It is located in the MBR. I also made three partitions, for Swap (typr 82), Root and Home (both type 83). There are now no other partitions on the disk. I then started the installation. When the installer proposes partitioning, it doesn't see the partitions I have made, although I know they are there. It sees the BM primary, the large extended, and five (5) logical partitions, none of which resembles those that I actually made. But what the installer claims to see is exactly what I suggested to it in the earlier installation. I looked for a way to delete the partition tables, but found only an option to clean them. That didn't help. What do I have to do to get it to forget the past and live in the present? -- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Thursday 01 October 2009 02:43:32 pm Stan Goodman wrote:
What do I have to do to get it to forget the past and live in the present?
since you're starting from scratch, why don't you let the installer create new partitions for you, instead of insisting that it should recognize what you created earlier? i know that the automatic partitioning during the installation process isn't always very good at suggesting disk setup, but there's the 'advanced' option, which lets you arrange partitions as you want. -- phani. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 2009/10/01 11:13 (GMT+0200) Stan Goodman composed:
I am trying to install oS v11.1 on a new Dell Vostro 1501 laptop. A problem has arisen that I don't know how to deal with.
I had succeeded in installing the system in partitions that I had made using DFSee. I decided after working with it for a few days that I had made some decisions in the installation options that I now regretted, and decided to repeat the installation from scratch. One of the changes I wanted to make was/is the partitioning scheme.
Here I have to describe exactly how I made the new partitions.
I deleted all the existing partitions, so that the HD was all free space.
Precisely, in detail, how did you delete?
I made the Boot Manager and made it Active. It is located in the MBR.
Please detail what you mean here. "Boot Manager" normally refers to IBM's OS2/eCS boot management system that lives on its own partition, and not the MBR. OTOH, Grub and Lilo are boot managers/boot loaders, which may or may not "live" on the MBR, depending on how they are needed and installed. If IBM BM, Grub or Lilo are installed on a primary partition they either may be or need be set to "active" state, depending on whether standard or non-standard code is or is to be installed in the MBR's code section.
I also made three partitions, for Swap (typr 82), Root and Home (both type 83). There are now no other partitions on the disk. I then started the installation.
When the installer proposes partitioning, it doesn't see the partitions I have made, although I know they are there.
Maybe your new laptop has some new extended BIOS function that saves partitioning data, or expects or prefers GPT partition tables? Was Windows installed when you got it? If so, it likely had GPT, and DFSee may have deleted only the legacy portion of the GPT tables, leaving inconsistency between the "new" tables and the old GPT spare at the end of the disk? Did you cold boot (full power down) between creating partitions and starting the Linux installation program?
It sees the BM primary, the large extended, and five (5) logical partitions, none of which resembles those that I actually made. But what the installer claims to see is exactly what I suggested to it in the earlier installation.
I looked for a way to delete the partition tables, but found only an option to clean them. That didn't help.
What do I have to do to get it to forget the past and live in the present?
Wipe several tracks at the start and end of the disk, or the whole disk. DFSee can do it. So can dd and various other Linux utilities. -- " A patriot without religion . . . is as great a paradox, as an honest man without the fear of God. . . . 2nd U.S. President, John Adams Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
At 17:32:42 on Thursday Thursday 01 October 2009, Felix Miata <mrmazda@earthlink.net> wrote:
On 2009/10/01 11:13 (GMT+0200) Stan Goodman composed:
I am trying to install oS v11.1 on a new Dell Vostro 1501 laptop. A problem has arisen that I don't know how to deal with.
I had succeeded in installing the system in partitions that I had made using DFSee. I decided after working with it for a few days that I had made some decisions in the installation options that I now regretted, and decided to repeat the installation from scratch. One of the changes I wanted to make was/is the partitioning scheme.
Here I have to describe exactly how I made the new partitions.
I deleted all the existing partitions, so that the HD was all free space.
Precisely, in detail, how did you delete?
DFSee > Mode >Delete Partition.
I made the Boot Manager and made it Active. It is located in the MBR.
Please detail what you mean here. "Boot Manager" normally refers to IBM's OS2/eCS boot management system that lives on its own partition, and not the MBR. OTOH, Grub and Lilo are boot managers/boot loaders, which may or may not "live" on the MBR, depending on how they are
That is quite correct. It is the IBM boot manager (that;s the only one that DFSee knows) and it is on MBR, which surprised me, because I know it doesn't belong there. Another thing that surprised me is that "LVM" appears at the left end of the fist line of the BM; I do not use LVM partitions. Yes, it is screwed up, and I am the only one that did it. I do not know HOW I did it.
needed and installed. If IBM BM, Grub or Lilo are installed on a primary partition they either may be or need be set to "active" state, depending on whether standard or non-standard code is or is to be installed in the MBR's code section.
I also made three partitions, for Swap (typr 82), Root and Home (both type 83). There are now no other partitions on the disk. I then started the installation.
When the installer proposes partitioning, it doesn't see the partitions I have made, although I know they are there.
Maybe your new laptop has some new extended BIOS function that saves partitioning data, or expects or prefers GPT partition tables? Was Windows installed when you got it? If so, it likely had GPT, and DFSee may have deleted only the legacy portion of the GPT tables, leaving inconsistency between the "new" tables and the old GPT spare at the end of the disk? Did you cold boot (full power down) between creating partitions and starting the Linux installation program?
What was pre-installed was Ubuntu 8xx. I had ordered it with FreeDos, but it came with Ubuntu.
It sees the BM primary, the large extended, and five (5) logical partitions, none of which resembles those that I actually made. But what the installer claims to see is exactly what I suggested to it in the earlier installation.
I looked for a way to delete the partition tables, but found only an option to clean them. That didn't help.
What do I have to do to get it to forget the past and live in the present?
Wipe several tracks at the start and end of the disk, or the whole disk. DFSee can do it. So can dd and various other Linux utilities.
That makes sense. I assume that after doing so I must make a new MBR and partition table.
" A patriot without religion . . . is as great a paradox, as an honest man without the fear of God. . . . 2nd U.S. President, John Adams Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409
Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/
-- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 2009/10/01 18:58 (GMT+0200) Stan Goodman composed:
At 17:32:42 on Thursday Thursday 01 October 2009, Felix Miata
I deleted all the existing partitions, so that the HD was all free space.
Precisely, in detail, how did you delete?
DFSee > Mode >Delete Partition.
Can you remember how many there were and what type(s)? Specifically, were any type EEf? -- " A patriot without religion . . . is as great a paradox, as an honest man without the fear of God. . . . 2nd U.S. President, John Adams Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 2009/10/01 13:55 (GMT-0400) Felix Miata composed:
On 2009/10/01 18:58 (GMT+0200) Stan Goodman composed:
At 17:32:42 on Thursday Thursday 01 October 2009, Felix Miata
I deleted all the existing partitions, so that the HD was all free space.
Precisely, in detail, how did you delete?
DFSee > Mode >Delete Partition.
Can you remember how many there were and what type(s)? Specifically, were any type EEf?
s/EEf/EEh/ -- " A patriot without religion . . . is as great a paradox, as an honest man without the fear of God. . . . 2nd U.S. President, John Adams Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
At 19:55:01 on Thursday Thursday 01 October 2009, Felix Miata <mrmazda@earthlink.net> wrote:
On 2009/10/01 18:58 (GMT+0200) Stan Goodman composed:
At 17:32:42 on Thursday Thursday 01 October 2009, Felix Miata
I deleted all the existing partitions, so that the HD was all free space.
Precisely, in detail, how did you delete?
DFSee > Mode >Delete Partition.
Can you remember how many there were and what type(s)? Specifically, were any type EEf?
There would have been the Boot Manager primary, one type 82, and four 83s (all these logical) -- I was setting up for two linux installations.
" A patriot without religion . . . is as great a paradox, as an honest man without the fear of God. . . . 2nd U.S. President, John Adams Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409
Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/
-- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 2009/10/01 23:03 (GMT+0200) Stan Goodman composed:
Felix Miata wrote:
Precisely, in detail, how did you delete?
DFSee > Mode >Delete Partition.
Can you remember how many there were and what type(s)? Specifically, were any type EEh?
There would have been the Boot Manager primary, one type 82, and four 83s (all these logical) -- I was setting up for two linux installations.
Delete Partition", as it arrived with Ubuntu installed. -- " A patriot without religion . . . is as great a
It surprises me not that you remember what you put there. What I would like to know is what was there before you started DFSee to do "DFSee > Mode paradox, as an honest man without the fear of God. . . . 2nd U.S. President, John Adams Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
At 23:16:38 on Thursday Thursday 01 October 2009, Felix Miata <mrmazda@earthlink.net> wrote:
On 2009/10/01 23:03 (GMT+0200) Stan Goodman composed:
Felix Miata wrote:
Precisely, in detail, how did you delete?
DFSee > Mode >Delete Partition.
Can you remember how many there were and what type(s)? Specifically, were any type EEh?
There would have been the Boot Manager primary, one type 82, and four 83s (all these logical) -- I was setting up for two linux installations.
It surprises me not that you remember what you put there. What I would like to know is what was there before you started DFSee to do "DFSee > Mode.
Sorry, your question wasn't clear to me.
Delete Partition", as it arrived with Ubuntu installed.
That's a different story. When the machine arrived, there there was besides Ubuntu (in a single primary partition), also a primary partition containing Dell utilities. The latter was at the beginning of the HD. -- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 2009/10/02 00:15 (GMT+0200) Stan Goodman composed:
....[laptop] arrived with Ubuntu installed....
When the machine arrived, there there was besides Ubuntu (in a single primary partition), also a primary partition containing Dell utilities. The latter was at the beginning of the HD.
It's a shame you can't remember the info probably most in this thread would like to know. You didn't by any chance save a dfsee.log from your first session, did you? You say primary, but that's of little import. The bigger question is what types those two partitions were. Installing Linux to a single partition with no separate partition even for swap is unusual. More expected of a mere two primary partition Linux system of which one is a vendor utility partition is that the other of them would be either a type 05h, or, of greater interest, either a type EEh (GPT, containing other partitions) or a type 8E (Linux LVM, containing other partitions). DFSee won't yet show the existence of (or anything else about) partitions contained within EEh or 8Eh partitions. -- " A patriot without religion . . . is as great a paradox, as an honest man without the fear of God. . . . 2nd U.S. President, John Adams Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
At 00:48:07 on Friday Friday 02 October 2009, Felix Miata <mrmazda@earthlink.net> wrote:
On 2009/10/02 00:15 (GMT+0200) Stan Goodman composed:
....[laptop] arrived with Ubuntu installed....
When the machine arrived, there there was besides Ubuntu (in a single primary partition), also a primary partition containing Dell utilities. The latter was at the beginning of the HD.
It's a shame you can't remember the info probably most in this thread would like to know. You didn't by any chance save a dfsee.log from your first session, did you?
If we want to know the names of the files that were in the Dell Utilities partition, that is probably no problem. The machine came with a CD of Ell utilities, and I can look. I won't do that now (it's going on 0200 and I ought to get to bed). I'll have a look sometime tomorow; tune in in the PM yourtime.
You say primary, but that's of little import. The bigger question is what types those two partitions were. Installing Linux to a single partition with no separate partition even for swap is unusual.
No swap is unusual. I would not be able to swear that there was no swap partition. I didn't linger very long on the preloaded content of the disk.
More expected of a mere two primary partition Linux system of which one is a vendor utility partition is that the other of them would be either a type 05h, or, of greater interest, either a type EEh (GPT, containing other partitions) or a type 8E (Linux LVM, containing other partitions). DFSee won't yet show the existence of (or anything else about) partitions contained within EEh or 8Eh partitions.
Felix, I had planned anyway to wipe the disk clean altogether, per your suggestion. "Altogether" so I am sure I've got everything that ought to go. Then I'll do a new installation and report. I may not do this over the weekend, but only Sunday (which is a weekday here), because I want to first disable the Abominable Touch Pad, which is a royal pain (erratic in operation and placed optimally for inadvertant cursor movement). The word on the Web is that the only way to do this on this machine is to disconnect it physically. -- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (3)
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Felix Miata
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phanisvara das
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Stan Goodman