Help with HDD. Is it a Partitioning Problem?

[Qqmike]

As I suspected: running UEFI with a MBR (or some hybrid) (not a GPT).

Is there anything I can do with Gdisk, Testdisk, or Fdisk to fix this?

-- fix what, exactly?

By switching the boot mode to Legacy, I can boot from a liveCD. I'll toy with it and run some tests with the suspect HDD plugged into the broken laptop.

Problem is, it seems to be the bad HDD -- it is the show-stopper for this "bad" laptop. Running Boot repair can also present problems. It should be run in UEFI mode, 64-bit (since your PC runs that way); if you boot in Legacy mode to try to fool Boot Repair, you might have a problem -- it might fool you back with some legacy fix that you don't want.

The problem is: if you replace the bad HDD into the bad laptop and boot up, there's an issue, right? Even though the bad laptop seems to boot OK without the bad HDD in it.

[Qqmike]

... and, just to be clear, neither one of your laptops will boot up properly if the "bad" HDD is in it, right?

[technomancer]

-- fix what, exactly?

I could be wrong (quite likely), but seems that the partition tables are missing from the broken HDD. I mean, when I open the HDD in a partition manager, all it says is that it is "unalocatted space," with an exclamation point for an error. However, something like TestDisk recovered tables AND the data. Am I mistaken?

The problem is: if you replace the bad HDD into the bad laptop and boot up, there's an issue, right? Even though the bad laptop seems to boot OK without the bad HDD in it.

Correct, there is an issue. Neither computer will boot from the bad HDD. Even if I boot from another version of Windows (like on my spare laptop), Windows Explorer will not recognize the broken HDD. It won't appear in My Computer, and therefore can't be navigated either. It does, however, appear in the "Safely Remove Hardware" utility in the lower right corner.

Thank you again,
TM

[Qqmike]

If GParted doesn't recognize a filesystem or some other show-stopping feature of a drive, it lists that questionable space as "unallocated." It doesn't mean there is a problem with the drive, though. Wouldn't you know it: GParted Features is temporarily off-line! so I can't link to it so we could look at it (a table of capabilities). http://gparted-livecd.tuxfamily.org/features.php

TestDisk recovered tables AND the data

And TestDisk did not show some major broken problem that it offered to fix, right?; except it did indicate the bad sector MBR in your first post #1.

So, then, your "bad" laptop DOES boot up OK to live CD when the suspect HDD is not plugged into it?

Fixed:
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/features.php

[technomancer]

[QUOTE=Qqmike;376690]

So, then, your "bad" laptop DOES boot up OK to live CD when the suspect HDD is not plugged into it?

/QUOTE]

Yes, I put it back together in Post # 44. It will also boot up when the Suspect HDD is plugged into it, so long as I direct the computer to boot from my DVD drive.

And TestDisk did not show some major broken problem that it offered to fix, right?; except it did indicate the bad sector MBR in your first post #1.

Yes. I also notice that TestDisk does not list a partition as "Primary Bootable" (this time, the bad HDD is listed as sda):

For Intel:




For "EFI GPT"


The EFI GPT table lists all of the partitions as "Primary:"



Does that help at all?

Thanks,
TM

[Qqmike]

Does that help at all?

Yes, it helps me to be even more confused. I had concluded that the bad HDD was using a MBR, not a GPT -- gdisk says there is no GPT. But then this EFI-GPT stuff pops up again. Btw, in a GPT, ALL partitions are primary. None are bootable. BUT, in EFI booting, one GPT partition is special, the EFI System Partition -- the ESP. It is small, 100-500 MB, FAT32, and may have a "boot" flag on it or type EF00 (a "boot" flag does not mean the same thing as"bootable" as we are used to with MBR; it is only a flag to indicate type EF00 or ESP). I was hoping to see all this when you ran sudo gdisk -l /de/sdx, where sdx = the bad HDD. You may have some sort of hybrid MBR-GPT, I'm not sure.

See Post #39, for example.

GPT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table

[Qqmike]

From Post #42,

I think TestDisk gave a brief message, like "bad sector." Though SMART didn't detect what we think of as bad sectors in the hardware. Just wondering if there is a "bad sector" (hardware or software-wise), if that is up front, like at the MBR, that would throw things off. Again, who knows.

[Qqmike]

I've used TestDisk only on a few occasions spread over many years, and am not recalling some things. It identifies what it thinks is that 'bad sector' problem -- do you see an option offered by TestDisk to fix this under its repair facility?

[Qqmike]

If, in fact you have a GPT and not an MBR, but you tell TestDisk you have GPT, then it probably will detect something wrong with your GPT (bad sector, not bootable, etc.). But I think you may have an MBR. IF you had GPT, then why doesn't gdisk show it to us?

[Qqmike]

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

[technomancer]

I've used TestDisk only on a few occasions spread over many years, and am not recalling some things. It identifies what it thinks is that 'bad sector' problem -- do you see an option offered by TestDisk to fix this under its repair facility?

Here's a video of what I see in TestDisk:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9H...ew?usp=sharing

[Qqmike]

It won't play. => troubleshooting guide for network admins!

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

Problem is, as we've said, you have to know your partition table structure.

[Qqmike]

EE : --

Indicates a GPT Protective MBR followed by a GPT/EFI Header. Used to define a fake partition covering the entire disk.

(credit: Starman)

=> I thought so. The other reference I copied (way above somewhere) said about the same thing about ee types.

http://thestarman.pcministry.com/asm/mbr/GPT.htm

That's why it looks like only one partition. BUT ... if it is used as a GPT, gdisk should know it and print it. Looks like it is used as the "protective MBR," and booting is by Legacy-CSM.

There is probably nothing broken about this partition table structure.

[Qqmike]

Time to check in with the happyassassin, Adam W, here:
https://www.happyassassin.net/2014/0...lly-work-then/

The picture I have, more or less:
This laptop came with Windows 7, with UEFI firmware for UEFI booting, and the HDD was partitioned GPT.
Either Windows did it or it was done later when you set up a dual-boot with Windows: The booting is (now) setup as UEFI booting a GPT in the legacy-CSM mode. I didn't read starman's article I gave you the link to, but that's basically what it says, with details. I doubt that it is broken. If it were broken, you'd need a utility that could fix it. You might email Christophe GRENIER (@TestDisk) and ask him. Maybe gdisik could, that would require a little research (and maybe an email to Rod Smith). This is also why GParted doesn't see it all -- perhaps it sees only one big partition, or none at all.

[Qqmike]

starman addresses some of the terminology you see in TestDisk.

From my how-to, a summary of the GPT layout:

GPT -- GUID Partition Table
Get a good start on this, get a good picture in your mind. In quick summary, the structure of the GPT setup is as follows (and for a graphic, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table ) :

Protective MBR -- 512 bytes (used for BIOS/CSM/legacy-mode+MBR compatibility)
Partition Table Header -- 512 bytes
The Partition Table entries (128 of them are available in this setup, each has 128 bytes).
The actual partitions (those listed in the Partition Table entries)
The end-of-disk backup to the Partition Table
The end-of-disk backup to the Partition Table Header called the Secondary Partition Table Header
All GPT partitions are at same the level of a primary partition, though not called primary; GPT does away with the primary vs logical partition distinction.
-- and see what follows below for the ESP and the Bios Boot Partition --

https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post373198

You can have a look at your MBR or protective MBR (first 512 bytes on your disk, whether it is MBR or GPT):

sudo dd if=/dev/sda bs=512 count=1 | hexdump -C

where sda is the drive you are exploring; replace it with your sdx (perhaps as seen from a live DVD Konsole).

You might play around with this, on your own , but except for that cryptic message from TestDisk re a damaged sector (relative, I believe), I'm not sure what you have to fix here. Maybe that sector IS damaged! Would that cause all this? Starman tells you what that relative sector is, if you read carefully. Starman does neat work, I learned a lot from him doing GRUB Legacy with MBR, I hope he finishes that page I linked to above.