i have deleted and repartitioned my data drive using partition manager but i can not write data to the drive or even create a new folder - what am i doing ( or not doing wrong please)

First I need more information:

From terminal (console) as root run the command fdisk -l (small L) and post the results

What distro and version?

Is it a separate h/d?

What file system did you format the partition?

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Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000b27b1

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 968384511 484191232 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 968386558 976771071 4192257 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 968386560 976771071 4192256 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000d9d58

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 63 976768064 488384001 83 Linux

Kubuntu latest version as far as i know
file system ? ext2

Try "parted -l".
How are you mounting it ?.

Model: ATA ST3500413AS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 496GB 496GB primary ext4 boot
2 496GB 500GB 4293MB extended
5 496GB 500GB 4293MB logical linux-swap(v1)


Model: ATA ST3500418AS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 500GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 32.3kB 500GB 500GB primary ext2
a right click on the drive gives the option to mount an unmounted drive and vice versa

I wonder if a complete reinstall might render the disc usable?

Did you add an entry in /etc/fstab for /dev/sdb ?

Is there any error output ?

Sorry Cedrik, used the partition manager that is with Kubuntu and left all settings as standard, there is no error output paste is greyed out

It sounds like you are not mounting the partition. There are a couple of ways to do this,

Permanent: Make an entry in your /etc/fstab directory "Tutorial"

Temporary: Mount from terminal

This may be a better tutorial

fdisk and parted disagree on how the partition is allocated (the start in particular). Can't be good. I'd reckon you should delete that partition and reallocate it again using Linux tool(s) - gparted maybe a good choice.
You might want to reconsider the filesystem type as well - why did you choose ext2 ?. On a large extent like that there are (usually) better options.

syg00
many thanks for your help, what i have now done is to reinstall Kubuntu on the problem disc so i can now write to it, i know it's not an ideal solution but it has bodged me round the problem. I used ext2 because that was the default sooo being a newbie I assumed the software knew better than i did, I'll know better in future, once again many thanks for your suggestions I will know where to come in future.
Very Best Regards to all

I still what to know how that's even possible? Could parted be evaluating the same drive with a different geometry configuration?

don't know, it's all new to me. right now i'm running windows 8 and that's even stranger