Partition table problem
 

I installed PCBSD on my PC and after a while i deleted its partition. Since then, parted based programs like Gparted and YaST Partitioner cannot read my partition table ans view the disk as one unpartitioned space. However i have no problem with fdisk-based apps so I could easily install slackware. I want to install SUSE 10.2. can anyone help me with this?

If you want to replace everything on the disk to install SuSE, let the SuSE installation program repartition the disk. That should also fix the problems as well.

Can you list the output of "fdisk-l" here?

A BSD system has internal BSD subparts which is seen by Linux as another extended partition and their BSD subparts viewed as logical partitions. This can cause problems if Linux use an extended partition as only one is allowed in a hard disk. A complete deletion of a BSD should remove the problem. The common error to Linux is the partitions do not match at the boundary.

I did delete the BSD partition. When I start SuSE installation program, it says "The program YasT uses for partitioning (Parted) is not able to read the partition table"! and I am not given any choice to continue installation.

mahdif,

But you are entitled to a 2nd opinion, right?

Why not boot up any Live CD, using it root terminal programs "fdisk" and "cfdisk" to report back to you their opinions of your disk?

This command will list all the partitions in every disk of you PC
and if you want to partition a hard disk, say hda, you can do so with
In general a Graphic partitioning tool like Yast or Gparted will give up first when hit a trouble, then the termial program cfdisk can go a bit further. The most robust partition tool in my experience is fdisk. It will still usable when all the others have given up. If fdisk refuses to read the disk then it is truly over.

No, fdisk and cfdisk can easily read my partitions, the problem is that Suse installer uses parted. I have almost no free space on my disk, I have two ext2 partitions, an ext3, a swap and four ntfs partitions. Plus it has nothing to do with graphical tools, because the command line version of parted is not able to read my partitions either. Is there a way I can write a new partition table using fdisk without destroying my data so that parted and yast work?

I hope all that data is backed up somewhere.....
Also, aside from all other issues, it might be time for another drive. Full disks can create funny problems.

I am puzzled about what can happen to a partition table such that fdisk would read it but Gparted would not. I thought these things were a bit more deterministic.

can I install SuSE in text mode or any other alternate method in which i can use fdisk?

Don't know about that, but you can always set up the partitions first and then tell the SUSE installer which exisiting partitions to use....

mahdif

I don't know your problem.

Your post says due to a deletion of NetBSD Yast or Gparted can no longer read your partition table.

I requested by Post #3 to see the ouput of fdisk -l but no information has been offered so far.

You now say both fdisk and cfdisk can read your hard disk but the hard disk is nearly full.

What is your concern? that Grparted/Yast can't read the hard disk but cfdisk/fdisk can? Is that it? or you have reason to believe the hard disk has empty space that you can use for the installation of Suse?

You know you can use either fdisk or cfdisk to create the partitions first and INSTRUCT Suse installer to use them. I have never met an installer dare to oppose it. It is your God-given right to use any existing partition for install a Linux if you so desire.

For Suse 1Gb Swap partition plus a 10Gb partition for mounting its "/" are all you need.

Pixellany,

From my own experience programs in GUI can have bugs and their implementations aren't always perfect. Terminal programs are more robust and the longest serving Bash commands are very reliable.

I can confirm the problem.

I have problems installing the newer Ubuntu versions (Dapper and Edgy). Neither their graphical installer nor their text based one do recognize my partition table, which I had created a few hours earlier with cfdisk.

fdisk, cfdisk and the kernel have no problem reading and using it.

I'm just waiting for the computer to finish copying a few Gigs, so that their precious program can partition the disk itself. :mad:

The problems seem to occur when logical partitions are used that are not created by their partitioning tool (gparted, I think).

when I run parted in text mode, it says: "can't have overlapping partitions"

what does it mean?

How about giving us the fdisk -l output (requested twice now)????

Also, your question above is not in any real context---what were you doing when parted said this?

The message means exactly what it says: Partitions cannot overlap---ie the beginning of a partition must be after the end of the one before it. Make sense??