Invalid partition table

[Reshat Sabiq]

Reshat Sabiq wrote:

> Reshat Sabiq wrote:
>
>> Matthew Saltzman wrote:
>>
>>>On Thu, 8 Jul 2004, Reshat Sabiq wrote:
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>>>I am trying to install FC 2 on a new Presario laptop. I tried twice, w/
>>>>boot first at the end of the disk, and then between cylinders 1015-1024.
>>>>Both times i got the message above at boot time. I tried also Force
>>>>LBA-32 the w/ boot at end of disk (didn't help), and will try the same
>>>>for 1015-1024.
>>>>
>>>>I'd appreciate any tips.
>>>>
>>>>Thanks,
>>>><rsa/>
>>>>    
>>>>
>>>
>>>So the install goes OK, but the problem occurs on booting the
>>>installed system?  Is this a dual boot with Windows?  If so, does Windows
>>>still boot?  During the install, did you get a dialog box about repairing
>>>the partition table?  How did you respond?
>>>
>>>Boot the Rescue CD or CD 1 in rescue mode and tell us the result of
>>>"fdisk -l /dev/hda".
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>> Thanks Timothy and Matthew for your responses.
>> Yes, this is a dual boot.
>> This is how it's currently set up:
>> /dev/hda1    1            1014   NTFS
>> /dev/hda2    1015      3446   Extended
>> /dev/hda3     3447      4661   Unused
>> /dev/hda4      4662      4863   Unused
>> /dev/hda5      1015      1024   /boot
>> /dev/hda6      1025      3316   /
>> /dev/hda7      3317      3446   swap
>>
>> I never heard of boot having to be a primary partition, but maybe it 
>> has to be? It's currently a logical one.
>> I set this up using fdisk, and then went on to installing. If i try 
>> the same partitioning from the install CD, i get errors about failure 
>> to do disk-based (or cylinder based) partitioning. But once it's set 
>> up by fdisk in advance, the install CD accepts it just fine.
>> Since it probably doesn't have much to do with LBA-32 or cylinders 
>> for /boot, i will likely try making everything folloing NTFS Unused 
>> (1 partition), and then go on to installing and see how the CD 
>> manages it. Once it's installed i could resize and re-partition the 
>> pieces i need.
>>
>> I'll let you know how it goes.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> <rsa/>
>
> Forgot to mention: Windows boots fine. Trying restore from rescue CD 
> was unsuccessful: it reinstalled boot loader, but there's nothing 
> about partitioning. It looks like fdisk might be accepting 
> partitioning that is invalid. I haven't experienced invalid 
> partitioning before, so don't know what the criteria might be. I 
> considered myself the king of partitioning... :)

Problem solved: GRUB and logical /boot are not in peace w/ each other. :)
I believe Disk Druid needs an enhancement (technically this could be 
called a bug): if the user specifies GRUB as bootloader and /boot is not 
primary, this should be descriptively reported back to the user. The 
code to check this is already there, because this gets prevented while 
partitioning entirely in Disk Druid, but if partitioning has been done 
in advance (such as w/ fdisk), Disk Druid lets it pass.
Can i report this as a bug, and if yes is bugs at redhat.com the right venue?

I don't know how many people pre-partition like that, but i tend to 
think i'm not the only one. And yes, i will never forget the lesson 
learnt, but i wish i didn't spend that much time on learning it. :)

Thanks,
<rsa/>
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