[SOLVED] gparted thinks hdd is empty

CollieJim · 11-17-2010, 06:16 AM

I have just downloaded LinuxMint 10 from LQ and put it on a MicroSD card.
On my 1.6Ghz Atom netbook it boots in 73 seconds. Looks good so far.

I have a 500GB hard drive (/dev/sda) with 130GB allocated in 10 partitions, one primary and the rest logical.
When I fired up gparted to add another partition it showed the disk as empty.

catkin · 11-17-2010, 06:30 AM

What do fdisk, sfdisk and parted report about the 500 GB HDD?

CollieJim · 11-17-2010, 06:58 AM

fdisk:

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x9e7d9e7d

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        3917    31463271    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            3918       15267    91168875    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3            5193        5202       80325   83  Linux
/dev/sda5            3918        5192    10241406    b  W95 FAT32
/dev/sda6            5203        7751    20474811   83  Linux
/dev/sda7            7752        8260     4088511   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda8            8261       10937    21502971   83  Linux
/dev/sda9           10938       11446     4088511   83  Linux
/dev/sda10          11447       11955     4088511   83  Linux
/dev/sda11          11956       15267    26603608+  83  Linux

parted:

Code:

/home/jim # parted /dev/sda print                         
Error: Can't have overlapping partitions

I used knoppix qtparted(?) to create most of the partitions.
Perhaps parted does not like sda3 and sda5 being out of order???

sfdisk:

Code:

# sfdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 60801 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track
Units = cylinders of 8225280 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0

   Device Boot Start     End   #cyls    #blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *      0+   3916    3917-  31463271    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2       3917   15266   11350   91168875    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3       5192    5201      10      80325   83  Linux
/dev/sda4          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
/dev/sda5       3917+   5191    1275-  10241406    b  W95 FAT32
/dev/sda6       5202+   7750    2549-  20474811   83  Linux
/dev/sda7       7751+   8259     509-   4088511   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda8       8260+  10936    2677-  21502971   83  Linux
/dev/sda9      10937+  11445     509-   4088511   83  Linux
/dev/sda10     11446+  11954     509-   4088511   83  Linux
/dev/sda11     11955+  15266    3312-  26603608+  83  Linux

impert · 11-17-2010, 07:06 AM

It's sda 3 overlapping sda2. I'd get rid of sda3.

CollieJim · 11-17-2010, 07:30 AM

sda2 overlaps sda3 through sda11. It is the container for the logical partitions.

TobiSGD · 11-17-2010, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CollieJim

sda2 overlaps sda3 through sda11. It is the container for the logical partitions.

??

The container/extended partition is clearly sda2

Quote:

/dev/sda2 3918 15267 91168875 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)

sda3 is a primary partition that overlaps with the extended partition.

Edit: For explanation, primary and extended partitions will always get number 1-4, logical partitions get numbers from 5 upwards.

CollieJim · 11-17-2010, 08:27 AM

Thanks. I really should know that by now. I should probably find a nice, padded cell somewhere...
sda3 is the boot partition and is easily moved.
I just need to work out grub's (hd0,?) for sda11 with sda3 missing.

impert · 11-18-2010, 05:18 AM

It won't change.
If you use Grub 1 ("legacy") it's (hd0,10)
If you use Grub 2 it's (hd0,11)

CollieJim · 11-18-2010, 07:15 AM

Thanks. All is well now, for a while...