"Failed to create a file system"
 

I am installing Ubuntu 9.10 on my computer and I get the following error:
"the ext4 file system creation partition #2 of Serial ATA RAID nvidia_bjfefgci () failed"

I followed the following instructions to prepare partitions (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Insta...0-126370.shtml) and allocated 10,000 MB for swap, 245,000 MB for the one with / mount point and 245,000 MB for the one with /home mount point. I have two 250GB HDDs. Let me know if there is any more information you need on my end.

10G for swap seems excessive for most normal purposes, and 245G for / and 245G for /home seem, errm, at least, generous, but that doesn't seem to be this problem. I take it that you are being this generous 'because you can' rather than any expectation that you will actually needing that much space.

I don't understand why you are getting an error message about RAID; the tutorial that you are following doesn't mention RAID and you don't mention that you are trying to set up a RAID array, so it seems as if you might have got into a RAID array mode accidentally.

Also note that there have been difficulties using ext4 as the partition from which you boot; I'm not up to date with where exactly this issue is now, but there was a time when you had to boot from an older partition type (note that I can't say exactly what the status is with Ubuntu 9.10, but it may be a problem).

The solutions to this, if it is a problem, is to either

• use ext3 (or ext2) for your / partition
• create a small partition (100M is plenty) for /boot, and format that, eg ext2 (it is not really a problem to use a non-journalling fs for this small partition, as will only contain kernels, and you will only rarely write to it)

Yes, I am being generous because I can.

Five years ago, I built my computer and my friend setup my two hdds in RAID. I was running windows 7 and vista on my computer before I decided to install Ubuntu. Now, I just want a fresh install of Ubuntu and nothing else on my hdds.

I tried manually preparing partitions and now have 8003 MB for swap, 239997MB for ext3 partition with / mount point, 98 MB for ext2 partition with /boot mount point, and 252014 MB for ext3 partition with /home mount point. I still get the same error:
"The ext3 file system creation in partition #2 of Serial ATA RAID nvidia_bjfefgci () failed."

Any other suggestions? Are there special instructions to install Ubuntu on hdds setup in RAID configuration?

If I understood your post correctly, you used the ubuntu tools. Alternative:

Get a Live system. Boot it and go into a console. Call fdisk and partition your disks. Call mk2fs and mk3fs to create the file systems as appropriate (no need to care for swap).

Pop in the Ubuntu CD and tell it to use the prefabricated file system.

Yes, I did use Ubuntu tools.

I am sorry I don't know what "Get a Live system. Boot it and go into a console. Call fdisk and partition your disks. Call mk2fs and mk3fs to create the file systems as appropriate (no need to care for swap)." means. Could you please tell me step my step instructions? Thanks in advance.

Live systems are CDs / DVDs from which you can boot a running (linux) system like e.g. Knoppix (there may well be a Ubuntu live version as well). You can download these and burn them as appropriate or you can borrow one from a friend -- doesn't matter as you want to install Ubuntu later on anyway.

When you boot from that live disk you can either use the console application of the desktop system you have or do a <Ctrl><Alt><F2> and you will get a text console where you can log in (as root).

When you have done that you can use that commands mentioned Read their man pages first...

I believe you must use the Ubuntu alternate install CD (text based install CD) in order to install Ubuntu on a RAID array. See this:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...n/SoftwareRAID
If you are using "fake RAID" you may have problems:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FakeRaidHowto

If you still have problems, then you will have to decide if you really need RAID. It would be much easier to install Ubuntu without RAID enabled, but this is your decision.

Also, your root / partition does not need to be as big as you are making it. My Ubuntu root partition on my desktop is 14GB in size, and it has only about 3.5GB on it. The only time it has ever grown significantly larger is if I had some big 3D games installed like Doom3 or Quake4, since these games are about 2GB in size by themselves. I would say a 20GB (20,000MB) partition would be large enough for root; and probably way more than you will ever need.

If you have a RAID setup, please disregard my hints. I understood you want to use to "normal" non-RAID disks, that's what my remarks are aimed at.

Same problem sort of...
 

I am having the exact same problem except my HD is not part of, and never has been part of, any RAID system ever. It is a stand alone 250G that has always had only one OS at a time. Two years ago it was Win2kPro then switched to Ubuntu 9.04 last year with no problems.
Earlier this year there was an issue with it suddenly giving me a GRUB Loading error but that was fixed by disabling PCI IDE controller in BIOS.
This time I was running Lucid Lynx just fine until two days ago when my system suddenly refused to boot at all. Since I have everything valuable backed up elsewhere (online and CD-ROM) I decided to try out the new Mint 9 OS... Using a Live CD burned at the slowest speed possible everything loads fine until I get that message about "ext4 file system created in partition #1 of Serial ATA RAID pdc_bfjdbbfebg (linear) failed".
THEN I tried reinstalling Lucid Lynx AND GET THE SAME MESSAGE!
But nothing has changed with my hardware in over six months.
What have I done? What am I to do?

Check and see if RAID is enabled in the BIOS. If it is, then disable it and see if you can install Ubuntu with RAID disabled.

So very sorry. I should have mentioned there is no RAID option in my BIOS. Intel motherboard from approx. 2002 with a P4 2.5GHz and 1G RAM - which interestingly enough produced an "I/O Error" preventing my computer from even booting at all until I pulled both SIMMS out and switched them. Now it won't recognize my HD at all. Is my HD dead?

Err, excuse me again - Is my Motherboard dying? (or my HD I guess, but that wouldn't affect my RAM, so I'm thinking MB.)

Check your BIOS options for your hard drive. See if changing the options for hard drives makes any difference. Try "IDE compatible" or something similar.

How old is the hard drive? If the system is from 2002, and if the hard drive is that old also, then it could indeed be failing. See if your hard drive manufacturer has a utility you can download to test the drive.

The only option for IDE's in BIOS is "PCI Controller" which I know from past experienced must be disabled or I get a "Grub Load Stage 5 error". There is nothing even vaguely resembling what we're looking for. To make matters more interesting, I loaded Win2kPro again just to see if my HD was dead and everything works just fine. And as to your last question, the HD is only 2 years old. Much of the system has been upgraded over the last 8 years or so leaving only the MB and CPU roughly ten years old. So here is the question:
How can an obviously working system, which has run Ubuntu flawlessly for the last two years, suddenly decide it's HD is no longer Ubuntu (or Mint) friendly after a regular system update?

I think you have faulty RAM. Check your RAM with Memtest86+.