fdisk: unable to open /dev/hda

andykerouac · 02-04-2004, 04:58 PM

I got my hands on a P2 laptop that has been sitting around. I am trying to install Slackware Linux. however, I can't create any partitions using fdisk. I get a "Unable to open /dev/hda" message when I try to. Is this machine hosed or what?

Thanks

homey · 02-04-2004, 05:18 PM

Maybe it's setup incorrectly in the bios. Normally, you would want it to be primary master.

andykerouac · 02-04-2004, 05:38 PM

Interestingly enough, when I go into BIOS setup, it indicates I don't have a built in hard drive but I do have a Int Selectable Bay. (Weird?) I have a Toshiba Tecra 8000 P2 laptop. The following is the BIOS info.

Built-in HDD = No Drive
Int Selectable Bay = Secondary IDE(170H/IRQ15)

What do I do now?

Peacedog · 02-04-2004, 05:39 PM

try /dev/hdb, or actually if it's secondary ide, /dev/hdc. what does it show for the cdrom?

andykerouac · 02-04-2004, 05:49 PM

fdisk /dev/hda => Unable to open /dev/hda
fdisk /dev/hdb => Unable to open /dev/hdb
fdisk /dev/hdc => (This runs the CDROM) So it sees this, and of course it indicates that "You will not be able to write the partition table .."

This is what I have tried.

homey · 02-04-2004, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Built-in HDD = No Drive

This may seem a little to obvious but is the hard drive actually in your computer? If so, it sounds like it's not seated properly or just plain bad.

tester^_^ · 07-17-2008, 02:50 AM

hi. why i got this result?

Disk /dev/hda: 80.0 GB, 80000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9726 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 5099 40957686 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2 5100 5112 104422+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda3 5113 9726 37061955 8e Linux LVM
[root@firdaus ~]# parted /dev/hda3
GNU Parted 1.8.1
Using /dev/hda3
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) print
Error: Unable to open /dev/hda3 - unrecognised disk label.
(parted)

FranDango · 07-18-2008, 07:49 AM

As for the original question:

Run 'fdisk -l' to see what available disks the system can find. If the disk is there physically, but not shown in the list, then it's either corrupted or unsupported.

You could still use the laptop with a LiveCD, if you do not want to buy another HDD.

As for the new-thread-in-a-thread by 'tester ^ ^':
your /dev/hda3 partition is a logical volume, that's the reason why gparted doesn't deal with it.

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