Fail to detect partition during installation

[LaCanicule]

Hello every body,


I am trying to install Kubuntu 15.04 on my PC but I encounter problem when trying to configure partitions.

I have 2 HDD on my PC, one of 250GB with Windows 7 installed on, and another one of 250GB with data only. The BIOS of the mother-board allow enabling RAID mode, but the fonction is set OFF and I use the 2 disks separately.


The first disk is partitioned as follow:
/dev/sda1 100Mb HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2 192.8Gb HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
(40Gb not allocated )


The 2nd disk is partitioned as follow:
/dev/sdb1 232.9Gb HPFS/NTFS/exFAT


The problem is when I try to install Kubuntu with an ISO burn on DVD, the installer seems to detect the RAID and offer me the following choices for partition creation:
- Guided - use entire disk
- Guided - use entire disk and set up LVM
- Guided - use entire disk and set up encrypted LVM
- Manual

The available disk choice is:
- Serial ATA RAID ddf1_all (mirror) - 249.9GB Linux device-mapper (mirror)


When I choose manual to try setup manualy partitions, I can choose between 2 devices:
-/dev/sda
-/dev/mapper/ddf1_all

In none cases I see my existing partition... :-(


When I launch Kubuntu from DVD (Try Kubuntu), I cannot access to my disks, except when I disable RAID with command: dmsetup remove_all


In this case when I try to install again Kubuntu, I have the following error:
"ubi-partman failed with exit code 141. ETC..."



I have no more idea how to install Kubuntu and with keeping my windows partition.
Could somebody help me please?


Thx

[oshunluvr]

What does "HPFS/NTFS/exFAT" mean? Where did that information come from? The partition can't be all three types and any of those types would be a very poor choice for a Linux install. You also need to provide more information about your system: BIOS or UEFI? MBR or GPT partition tables? etc.

It is very odd the Kubuntu thinks your drives are in RAID when you say they are not. Were they RAID in the past?

My first suggestion would be to format the "40Gb not allocated" to either EXT4 or BTRFS using Gparted Live or from the Kubuntu Live desktop, then attempt to install there. Be careful when you select the location to install GRUB because if you choose /dev/sda you will wipe your Windows boot record leaving it unbootable for the time being. I would suggest install GRUB to /dev/sdb then changing the boot order in your BIOS to boot that disk first.

My second suggestion would be to move all the data off of sdb1 and reformat the entire disk including wiping the partition table clean first. Then partition it for use with Kubuntu and Windows.

[Qqmike]

oshunluvr: What does "HPFS/NTFS/exFAT" mean? Where did that information come from? The partition can't be all three types

Boy, I second that statement of dismay. I'm seeing this show up in Windows partitioning schemes (by those posting such). I presume it is coming from a Windows partitioning/disk utility? At best, confusing.

[LaCanicule]

Hello, thank you for answers.

"HPFS/NTFS/exFAT" is what is displayed when I use the command: fdisk -l under kubuntu live desktop.

These 2 partitions are Windows 7 partitions. On the same disk I have also 40Gb not allocated that I want to use for my Linux partitions.

[oshunluvr]

Ok, then try my first suggestion.

If your disk uses GPT instead of MBR (likely with Windows 7), try gdisk instead of fdisk:

stuart@office:/mnt/red$ sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.10


Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: present


Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT.
Disk /dev/sda: 3907029168 sectors, 1.8 TiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): FA7FD45C-E141-4DB3-A867-D80C4B41C281
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 3907029134
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 2157 sectors (1.1 MiB)


Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            2048            4095   1024.0 KiB  EF02  BIOS boot partition
   2            4096         2101247   1024.0 MiB  8300  Linux filesystem
   3         2101248      3487598591   1.6 TiB     8300  Linux filesystem
   4      3487598592      3907028991   200.0 GiB   8300

[LaCanicule]

Ok I will try this and I come bak to show you the result...

[LaCanicule]

Hello, I try gdisk command. Bellow is the result I obtain:

[EMAIL="kubuntu@kubuntu:~$"]kubuntu@kubuntu:~$[/EMAIL] sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.10
                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                   
Partition table scan:                                                                                                                                                              
  
  MBR: MBR only
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: not present
***************************************************************
Found invalid GPT and valid MBR; converting MBR to GPT format
in memory.
***************************************************************

Disk /dev/sda: 488397168 sectors, 232.9 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 7367CE39-971C-46E9-A5A8-C75C2B25BFAD
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 488397134
Partitions will be aligned on 2048-sector boundaries
Total free space is 6445 sectors (3.1 MiB)


Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1            2048          206847   100.0 MiB   0700  Microsoft basic data
   2          206848       404508671   192.8 GiB   0700  Microsoft basic data
   3       404508672       488392703   40.0 GiB    0700  Microsoft basic data
[EMAIL="kubuntu@kubuntu:~$"]kubuntu@kubuntu:~$[/EMAIL]
[EMAIL="kubuntu@kubuntu:~$"]kubuntu@kubuntu:~$[/EMAIL]
[EMAIL="kubuntu@kubuntu:~$"]kubuntu@kubuntu:~$[/EMAIL]
[EMAIL="kubuntu@kubuntu:~$"]kubuntu@kubuntu:~$[/EMAIL] sudo gdisk -l /dev/sdb
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.10


Partition table scan:
  MBR: MBR only
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: not present



***************************************************************
Found invalid GPT and valid MBR; converting MBR to GPT format
in memory.
***************************************************************


Disk /dev/sdb: 488397168 sectors, 232.9 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): E565823C-3479-4F71-8910-85BF7CFB0FE1
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 488397134
Partitions will be aligned on 1-sector boundaries
Total free space is 5099 sectors (2.5 MiB)


Number  Start (sector)    End (sector)  Size       Code  Name
   1              63       488392064   232.9 GiB   0700  Microsoft basic data
[EMAIL="kubuntu@kubuntu:~$"]kubuntu@kubuntu:~$[/EMAIL]

Is it good?
Notice that since last week, I format the 40GB unallocated size to NTFS to do tests.

[oshunluvr]

Well, at least we know your using MBR not GPT. Try reformatting /dev/sda3 as ext4 or btrfs and see if the installer detects it.

[LaCanicule]

Hello, I am back.

I try to format my 40GB partition with gparted, but I have an error when I ask to apply the modification.

I think my problem come from the "mapper" partition. In deed I have this when I do a fdisk command:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 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: 0x1c902356

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048      206847      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2          206848   404508671   202150912    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3       404508672   488396799    41944064   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 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: 0x13191d1b

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *          63   488392064   244196001    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

Disk /dev/mapper/ddf1_all: 249.9 GB, 249865782272 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30377 cylinders, total 488019106 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: 0x13191d1b

               Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/mapper/ddf1_all1   *          63   488392064   244196001    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

In this screen, we can see that Linux detect 2 disks "/dev/sda" and "/dev/sdb", and they seems to be OK. But we can see that he also detect a disk "/dev/mapper/ddf1_all". I don't know why this disk is detected and how to disable it for the install.
Any idea?

EDIT.
Note that when I try to mount /dev/sda2 or /dev/sdb1 I have the follozing error.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda2
mount: can't find /dev/sda2 in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab

[oshunluvr]

The error is self explanatory: You can't mount a partition that way unless it is in /etc/fstab. You have to provide a mount point somewhere, the system can't guess where you want it to be mounted. The correct syntax is:

sudo mount <DEVICE NAME> <MOUNT POINT>


There's no way to help you with the Gparted formatting error unless you provide the error. Re. the RAID mapper, it seems likely that you removed a RAID device without wiping the partition table and/or metadata. It appears the RAID consists of only /dev/sdb. Purging dmraid may remove the problem. You should also verify fakeRAID is turned off in your BIOS.

*** I CANNOT GUARANTEE THIS WON'T REMOVE OTHER DATA. I'VE NEVER HAD TO DO IT. HAVE A BACKUP OF ANYTHING IMPORTANT. ***

This command will remove the RAID metadata:

sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/ddf1_all1

*** I CANNOT GUARANTEE THIS WON'T REMOVE OTHER DATA. I'VE NEVER HAD TO DO IT. HAVE A BACKUP OF ANYTHING IMPORTANT. ***

[LaCanicule]

The error is self explanatory: You can't mount a partition that way unless it is in /etc/fstab. You have to provide a mount point somewhere, the system can't guess where you want it to be mounted. The correct syntax is:

sudo mount <DEVICE NAME> <MOUNT POINT>


There's no way to help you with the Gparted formatting error unless you provide the error. Re. the RAID mapper, it seems likely that you removed a RAID device without wiping the partition table and/or metadata. It appears the RAID consists of only /dev/sdb. Purging dmraid may remove the problem. You should also verify fakeRAID is turned off in your BIOS.

*** I CANNOT GUARANTEE THIS WON'T REMOVE OTHER DATA. I'VE NEVER HAD TO DO IT. HAVE A BACKUP OF ANYTHING IMPORTANT. ***

This command will remove the RAID metadata:

sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/ddf1_all1

*** I CANNOT GUARANTEE THIS WON'T REMOVE OTHER DATA. I'VE NEVER HAD TO DO IT. HAVE A BACKUP OF ANYTHING IMPORTANT. ***

Great thank you for the tips. I'll try this asap.
Don't worry for my data, I have always backup on an external drive just in case.

Does the effect of dmraid command is permanent, or shall I do it at each start of Linux?

[oshunluvr]

Should be permanent if it works...

[LaCanicule]

Sorry, but the dmraid command does not work anymore.

I have the following ERROR.

ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/mapper/ddf1_all 
no raid disks and with names: "/dev/mapper/ddf1_all"
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/mapper/ddf1
no raid disks and with names: "/dev/mapper/ddf1"
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/ddf1_all 
no raid disks and with names: "/dev/ddf1_all"
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/ddf1
no raid disks and with names: "/dev/ddf1"
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/ddf
no raid disks and with names: "/dev/ddf"
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/mapper/ddf
no raid disks and with names: "/dev/mapper/ddf"
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ 
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/mapper/ddf1_all1
no raid disks and with names: "/dev/mapper/ddf1_all1"
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/ddf1_all1
no raid disks and with names: "/dev/ddf1_all1"
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/sda
Do you really want to erase "ddf1" ondisk metadata on /dev/sda ? [y/n] :y
ERROR: ddf1: seeking device "/dev/sda" to 128030386946048
ERROR: writing metadata to /dev/sda, offset 250059349504 sectors, size 0 bytes returned 0
ERROR: erasing ondisk metadata on /dev/sda
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$
ubuntu@ubuntu:/$ sudo dmraid -E -r /dev/sdb
Do you really want to erase "ddf1" ondisk metadata on /dev/sdb ? [y/n] :y
ERROR: ddf1: seeking device "/dev/sdb" to 128030386946048
ERROR: writing metadata to /dev/sdb, offset 250059349504 sectors, size 0 bytes returned 0
ERROR: erasing ondisk metadata on /dev/sdb

I am effraid that the only solution was to erase all the disk and reformat all... :-/

[oshunluvr]

What's the output of

sudo dmraid -r

[LaCanicule]

Hello, I finally resolve my problem by deleting all my partitions and by creating a new partition table using the linux bootable disk.
And after what I finally succeded to install kubuntu.

Thx. The post could be closed.