[SOLVED] Problem with Gparted before Mint`s installation

[pitz3]

Hi there !
Well, despite of being a total noob i heard about this Linux Mint and I wanted to try it, dual-booting with Windows 7. So, in order to do that, as I already have an Windows 7 partition, i made some free space to create both swap and the Mint itself`s partition.
The thing is that when I boot my USB stick with live mint 10 julia, and open the installation or even GParted, the system somehow "sees" my disk as it was unpartitioned, i mean like it`s free space only ... i didn`t want to risk doing any kind of stuff to avoid loosing my Win 7 partition.
Any ideas of why that`s happening ?!

Thanks in advance

[SimonTS]

From a Linux command line, can you please enter the following commands and post the results here;-
sudo fdisk -l
lspci

[pitz3]

From a Linux command line, can you please enter the following commands and post the results here;-
sudo fdisk -l
lspci

Just did so. Here are the results>

Code: Select all

mint@mint ~ $ sudo fdisk -l

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.


Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x7d71ec9d

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1          13      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2              13       10199    81817600    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3           10199       14024    30720000    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda4           14024       38914   199928832    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5           14024       14279     2048000    b  W95 FAT32

Disk /dev/sdb: 4009 MB, 4009754624 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 487 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1         488     3915733+   c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
     phys=(1023, 254, 63) logical=(0, 0, 2)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
     phys=(1023, 254, 63) logical=(487, 124, 1)
mint@mint ~ $ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 07)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset PCI Express Graphics Port (rev 07)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82567LF Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03)
00:1a.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G96 [GeForce 9600M GT] (rev a1)
04:00.0 Memory controller: Intel Corporation Turbo Memory Controller (rev 11)
08:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300

EDIT: I created those FAT`s because i first thought that the problem with GParted was "seeing" the NTFS ones.

[SimonTS]

I'm confused now. You said that GParted 'saw' your disk as if it was unpartitioned. How did you manage to create the FAT partitions then? If you can, please delete the partitions that you don't want so that all you've got left is the Windows partition and free space, and then post a screen capture of the GParted application screen so I can see exactly what you are seeing.

[pitz3]

I`m sorry, i forgot to tell you that i`ve created it with diskmgmt.msc from Windows 7. I`ve deleted em now, and here`s the capture of GParted running from Mint`s live USB stick.

http://www.imagestoring.net/show.php/70 ... t.png.html

Edit> i posted the link, didnt know if you were able to see it as image, hope that there`s nothing wrong in it

[SimonTS]

Got that. That's fairly much what I was expecting to see given to output of your previous text dumps. Have you tried messing around with 'Hackintosh' at all on this system? Your report was showing the disk as using GPT (GUID Partition Table) which is an Apple Mac thing. I've never come across it myself, but I have done a search on the web and found this post which may help you;-
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1510017

The important stuff...
It sounds like the drive has leftover GPT data on it, which is confusing GParted. The easiest way to deal with this is to use my GPT fdisk (aka gdisk) program, which you can can use via PartedMagic or System Rescue CD.
To fix your problem, follow these steps:
1. Boot the emergency disk and open a text-mode shell.
2. Type "gdisk /dev/sda" (change "/dev/sda" to whatever is appropriate to access your hard disk, if necessary). The program is likely to complain that it's found both MBR and GPT data, and will ask which to use. It doesn't matter which you tell it to use.
3. At the "Command" prompt, type "x" to enter the experts' menu.
4. At the "Expert command" prompt, type "z" to "zap" (destroy) the GPT data.
5. Type "y" in response to the confirmation about destroying the GPT.
6. Type "n" in response to the query about blanking the MBR. Caution: If you answer "y" here, you'll destroy your Windows partition(s)!
The program will now exit. I recommend you test that this worked by using GParted. If GParted can now see your Windows partition(s), the Ubuntu installer should do so, too.

So, I'd recommend that you download PartedMagic from http://partedmagic.com/ and burn it onto a CD that you can keep as a permanent rescue disk - it's highly useful. From there you can run the commands above and it should resolve your problems. Good luck.

[pitz3]

Oh right ! That`s totally correct ! Ok, i`ll try that as soon as possible ... Thanks for the helping and for the fast answering

[SimonTS]

Not a problem at all - glad to be of some help.

[StanTheMan]

The GPartEd window will only display one drie at a time.
If you click on the word " GPartEd " at the top left end of the menu bar , then select " Devices " it will list all drives connected, then select one at a time.

[pitz3]

Finally got some time, did what SimonTS said, and as expected worked perfectly thanks again !