A strange result from "gparted" ?

[Snowhog]

Re: A strange result from "gparted" ?

Of course, you are correct. I knew that. I was too fast on the post, and too slow on the thinking. :P

[rowan]

Re: A strange result from "gparted" ?

Hello again
Many thanks for your responses and observations which I find interesting and thought provoking.
Perhaps I should have stated from the outset that I use only Linux , it would have obviated the later
controversies.

I can see how EBRs come into the picture , BUT after installation the sda1, which was 63 has now risen to 124 as shown below :


peter@peter-laptop:~$ sudo fdisk -lu
[sudo] password for peter:

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders, total 156301488 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: 0x0000f209

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 124 67312349 33656113 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 * 126 208844 104359+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 208908 4401809 2096451 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7 4401873 25302374 10450251 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 25302438 67312349 21004956 83 Linux
peter@peter-

There is a slight difference in the sizes of the other partitions because I zeroed out the HDD and started afresh.
Has anyone any ideas?

[oshunluvr]

Re: A strange result from "gparted" ?

Why gparted reserved a second sector is beyond me. If you have DOS compatibility enabled it will always start a partition on a cylinder boundary, but still should allow you to select the first cylinder.

[dibl]

Re: A strange result from "gparted" ?

What is the history of that hard drive? Was it once in a Windows system? My fuzzy recollection is that there are some proprietary "tools" used on OEM Windows systems, that will write data in the later part of the first sector -- the part after the MBR. I wonder whether there is something like that causing it to reserve the second sector too. dd'ing the entire first sector (512 bytes) would wipe out anything like that. So would changing the sectors-per-cylinder layout with fdisk. But of course that would put you back to "go" with regard to partitioning and installing, so if you're satisfied with the present arrangements, probably it would not be wise to do such experiments.

[rowan]

Re: A strange result from "gparted" ?

No dibl this HDD has never seen windos I bought the laptop in 2007 from a
reputable company who sell laptops pre-installed with Linux , ubuntu in my
case. Furthermore I've zeroed out the entire HDD before partitioning.

Yesterday I ran sudo dd if=/dev/sda count=1 | hexdump -C to check the
MBR and this came out :

peter@peter-laptop:~$ sudo dd if=/dev/sda count=1 |hexdump -C
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
00000000 eb 63 90 10 8e d0 bc 00 b0 b8 00 00 8e d8 8e c0 |.c..............|
512 bytes (512 B) copied00000010 fb be 00 7c bf 00 06 b9 00 02 f3 a4 ea 21 06 00 |...|.........!..|
00000020 00 be be 07 38 04 75 0b 83 c6 10 81 fe fe 07 75 |....8.u........u|
, 3.6317e-05 s, 14.1 MB/s
00000030 f3 eb 16 b4 02 b0 01 bb 00 7c b2 80 8a 74 01 8b |.........|...t..|
00000040 4c 02 cd 13 ea 00 7c 00 00 eb fe 00 00 00 00 00 |L.....|.........|
00000050 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 80 01 00 00 00 |................|
00000060 00 00 00 00 ff fa 90 90 f6 c2 80 75 02 b2 80 ea |...........u....|
00000070 74 7c 00 00 31 c0 8e d8 8e d0 bc 00 20 fb a0 64 |t|..1....... ..d|
00000080 7c 3c ff 74 02 88 c2 52 bb 17 04 80 27 03 74 06 ||<.t...R....'.t.|
00000090 be 88 7d e8 1c 01 be 05 7c f6 c2 80 74 48 b4 41 |..}.....|...tH.A|
000000a0 bb aa 55 cd 13 5a 52 72 3d 81 fb 55 aa 75 37 83 |..U..ZRr=..U.u7.|
000000b0 e1 01 74 32 31 c0 89 44 04 40 88 44 ff 89 44 02 |..t21..D.@.D..D.|
000000c0 c7 04 10 00 66 8b 1e 5c 7c 66 89 5c 08 66 8b 1e |....f..\|f.\.f..|
000000d0 60 7c 66 89 5c 0c c7 44 06 00 70 b4 42 cd 13 72 |`|f.\..D..p.B..r|
000000e0 05 bb 00 70 eb 76 b4 08 cd 13 73 0d f6 c2 80 0f |...p.v....s.....|
000000f0 84 d0 00 be 93 7d e9 82 00 66 0f b6 c6 88 64 ff |.....}...f....d.|
00000100 40 66 89 44 04 0f b6 d1 c1 e2 02 88 e8 88 f4 40 |@f.D...........@|
00000110 89 44 08 0f b6 c2 c0 e8 02 66 89 04 66 a1 60 7c |.D.......f..f.`||
00000120 66 09 c0 75 4e 66 a1 5c 7c 66 31 d2 66 f7 34 88 |f..uNf.\|f1.f.4.|
00000130 d1 31 d2 66 f7 74 04 3b 44 08 7d 37 fe c1 88 c5 |.1.f.t..}7....|
00000140 30 c0 c1 e8 02 08 c1 88 d0 5a 88 c6 bb 00 70 8e |0........Z....p.|
00000150 c3 31 db b8 01 02 cd 13 72 1e 8c c3 60 1e b9 00 |.1......r...`...|
00000160 01 8e db 31 f6 bf 00 80 8e c6 fc f3 a5 1f 61 ff |...1..........a.|
00000170 26 5a 7c be 8e 7d eb 03 be 9d 7d e8 34 00 be a2 |&Z|..}....}.4...|
00000180 7d e8 2e 00 cd 18 eb fe 47 52 55 42 20 00 47 65 |}.......GRUB .Ge| Here
00000190 6f 6d 00 48 61 72 64 20 44 69 73 6b 00 52 65 61 |om.Hard Disk.Rea| Here
000001a0 64 00 20 45 72 72 6f 72 0d 0a 00 bb 01 00 b4 0e |d. Error........| Here
000001b0 cd 10 ac 3c 00 75 f4 c3 09 f2 00 00 00 00 00 01 |...<.u..........|
000001c0 3e 00 05 fe ff ff 7c 00 00 00 62 1a 03 04 00 00 |>.....|...b.....|
000001d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
*
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200
peter@p

Is this error which I've marked with `here here here` the culprit ?

By the way my post of yesterday was written using my HDD ;
this post is written from my usb stick because as I was about
to write this , with no warning , I was back at the splash screen
mouseless , CTRL+ALT+DEL had no effect , couldn't get to a
text screen run shutdown ,had to power off and get on my stick!

I would recommend a live USB stick with persistance to everybody .

Would using LOGICAL BLOCK ADDRESSING help as I use only Linux ?

[dibl]

Re: A strange result from &quot;gparted&quot; ?

We're pretty far from anything that I'm an expert at, but sometimes you can learn a lot by comparing things. In this case, it does not appear that the lines you marked in your output signal anything out of the ordinary, since my 16GB SSD boot drive shows about the same:

root@aptosidbox:/home/don# dd if=/dev/sdc count=1 |hexdump -C
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
512 bytes (512 B) copied, 2.21e-05 s, 23.2 MB/s
00000000 eb 63 90 10 8e d0 bc 00 b0 b8 00 00 8e d8 8e c0 |.c..............|
00000010 fb be 00 7c bf 00 06 b9 00 02 f3 a4 ea 21 06 00 |...|.........!..|
00000020 00 be be 07 38 04 75 0b 83 c6 10 81 fe fe 07 75 |....8.u........u|
00000030 f3 eb 16 b4 02 b0 01 bb 00 7c b2 80 8a 74 01 8b |.........|...t..|
00000040 4c 02 cd 13 ea 00 7c 00 00 eb fe 00 00 00 00 00 |L.....|.........|
00000050 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 80 01 00 00 00 |................|
00000060 00 00 00 00 ff fa 90 90 f6 c2 80 74 05 f6 c2 70 |...........t...p|
00000070 74 02 b2 80 ea 79 7c 00 00 31 c0 8e d8 8e d0 bc |t....y|..1......|
00000080 00 20 fb a0 64 7c 3c ff 74 02 88 c2 52 be 80 7d |. ..d|<.t...R..}|
00000090 e8 17 01 be 05 7c b4 41 bb aa 55 cd 13 5a 52 72 |.....|.A..U..ZRr|
000000a0 3d 81 fb 55 aa 75 37 83 e1 01 74 32 31 c0 89 44 |=..U.u7...t21..D|
000000b0 04 40 88 44 ff 89 44 02 c7 04 10 00 66 8b 1e 5c |.@.D..D.....f..\|
000000c0 7c 66 89 5c 08 66 8b 1e 60 7c 66 89 5c 0c c7 44 ||f.\.f..`|f.\..D|
000000d0 06 00 70 b4 42 cd 13 72 05 bb 00 70 eb 76 b4 08 |..p.B..r...p.v..|
000000e0 cd 13 73 0d f6 c2 80 0f 84 d8 00 be 8b 7d e9 82 |..s..........}..|
000000f0 00 66 0f b6 c6 88 64 ff 40 66 89 44 04 0f b6 d1 |.f....d.@f.D....|
00000100 c1 e2 02 88 e8 88 f4 40 89 44 08 0f b6 c2 c0 e8 |.......@.D......|
00000110 02 66 89 04 66 a1 60 7c 66 09 c0 75 4e 66 a1 5c |.f..f.`|f..uNf.\|
00000120 7c 66 31 d2 66 f7 34 88 d1 31 d2 66 f7 74 04 3b ||f1.f.4..1.f.t.;|
00000130 44 08 7d 37 fe c1 88 c5 30 c0 c1 e8 02 08 c1 88 |D.}7....0.......|
00000140 d0 5a 88 c6 bb 00 70 8e c3 31 db b8 01 02 cd 13 |.Z....p..1......|
00000150 72 1e 8c c3 60 1e b9 00 01 8e db 31 f6 bf 00 80 |r...`......1....|
00000160 8e c6 fc f3 a5 1f 61 ff 26 5a 7c be 86 7d eb 03 |......a.&Z|..}..|
00000170 be 95 7d e8 34 00 be 9a 7d e8 2e 00 cd 18 eb fe |..}.4...}.......|
00000180 47 52 55 42 20 00 47 65 6f 6d 00 48 61 72 64 20 |GRUB .Geom.Hard |
00000190 44 69 73 6b 00 52 65 61 64 00 20 45 72 72 6f 72 |Disk.Read. Error|
000001a0 0d 0a 00 bb 01 00 b4 0e cd 10 ac 3c 00 75 f4 c3 |...........<.u..|
000001b0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 68 2f 04 00 00 00 80 00 |........h/......|
000001c0 01 01 83 1f e0 fe 00 04 00 00 00 f8 0f 00 00 45 |...............E|
000001d0 05 41 82 fe ff ff 00 00 10 00 00 40 cd 01 00 00 |.A.........@....|
000001e0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................|
000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............U.|
00000200

But, it's interesting that there is any difference at all. This is a Grub 2 installation, same as yours. I suppose any observable differences are attributable to my partition table being different than yours.

[dibl]

Re: A strange result from &quot;gparted&quot; ?

as I was about
to write this , with no warning , I was back at the splash screen
mouseless , CTRL+ALT+DEL had no effect , couldn't get to a
text screen run shutdown ,had to power off and get on my stick!

To be honest, that sounds more like a hardware issue (momentary loss of power) than anything related to software or hard drive partitioning or anything like that. I wonder if there could be a subtle hardware problem behind the apparent disk drive issues?

[oshunluvr]

Re: A strange result from &quot;gparted&quot; ?

I agree with dibl. I'd start by checking connections and re-insert all devices.

As far as that "message" - it's there in plain text to be used as terminal output from the bootloader if it finds an unreadable partition. It wouldn't be very useful to a user to hide an error message in the MBR code.

[Qqmike]

Re: A strange result from &quot;gparted&quot; ?

The hexdump of your MBR is normal. ("... error ... [etc.] ..." means nothing (i.e., nothing is wrong).

Isn't LBA par for the course? What are you using if not LBA? GRUB 2 DOES, however, work with the newer GPT schemes.