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cheekybadger
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Post subject: cant see sda in installer (GPT?)
 Posted: 13.05.2011, 09:39
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Joined: 2010-09-16
Posts: 10
Status: Offline
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i am trying to install aptosid amd64. i'm using a the full dvd written to a USB stick using dd.
in the aptosid-installer on the partitioning tab it only shows /dev/sdb (the USB stick) in the 'Root-Partition' menu, and only /dev/sdb1 in the list at the bottom. if i launch xparted then sda and sdb are shown.
is this because sda is formatted with GPT? |
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slh
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Post subject: RE: cant see sda in installer (GPT?)
Posted: 13.05.2011, 11:52
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Joined: 2010-08-25
Posts: 948
Status: Offline
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| So far GPT compatibility is unknown, as none of the developers has access to according hardware, so this might be a reason. However keep in mind that you first need to create a linux partition (type 83), before the installer accepts it as install target. |
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cheekybadger
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Post subject:
Posted: 13.05.2011, 18:42
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Joined: 2010-09-16
Posts: 10
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this is no special hardware. just a lenovo laptop.
disk is already partitioned (aiming to install onto sda3):
Code:
# parted -l
Model: ATA WDC WD3200BEVT-2 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 320GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 17.4kB 4000MB 4000MB linux-swap(v1)
2 4000MB 34.0GB 30.0GB ext4
3 34.0GB 64.0GB 30.0GB ext4
4 64.0GB 94.0GB 30.0GB ext4
5 94.0GB 320GB 226GB ext4
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slh
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Post subject:
Posted: 13.05.2011, 19:14
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Joined: 2010-08-25
Posts: 948
Status: Offline
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| Please also post the output of "fdisk -l", which is what the installer has to use due to some problems with parted on the live system. |
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bfree
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Post subject:
Posted: 13.05.2011, 20:32
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Joined: 2010-08-26
Posts: 267
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As I now have a disk I've put a GPT onto I can confirm that the output of "fdisk -l" is basically useless for a GPT disk as all it tells you is that the disk uses GPT. gdisk does provide useful info but needs the device as an argument and I don't even want to try seeing what "gdisk -l" will report for a non-GPT disk. I smell some fun ahead trying to patch the installer to handle GPT (let alone EFI).
In the meantime cheekybadger you are not going to have an easy time convincing aptosid to install on a gpt disk ... unless, perhaps (no promises, untested, just an idea that just jumped into my mind):
you could try changing the partition you want to install to to Linux LVM and then use pvcreate, vgcreate and lvcreate (as explained in the manual) to create a logical volume inside the partition and then format that with ext4 which should (hopefully) allow the installer to recongise it. BUT then you are going to have to install grub into the partition (not MBR as you don't have one) and then figure out how to boot the install somehow, probably from another bootloader. |
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cheekybadger
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Post subject:
Posted: 13.05.2011, 23:01
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Joined: 2010-09-16
Posts: 10
Status: Offline
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here is the fdisk output
Code:
#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: 0x00000000
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 38914 312571223+ ee GPT
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bfree
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Post subject:
Posted: 14.05.2011, 19:42
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Joined: 2010-08-26
Posts: 267
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If you want to be able to boot with grub2 then you need what gdisk calls a "BIOS boot partition" type ef02 (and I think it must be the first partition on your disk). This partition can be small, it may only ned to hold a grub image but I've also seen plenty of people making them closer to 200M or larger (I went for 200M in my kvm test machine). This partition should then be formatted as fat32 (mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sdX1).
Having done that you still need to use lvm on your main "partition" to coax the installer into recognising your disc. If you really want to avoid lvm then perhaps you can get away with telling it to install to your usb stick and then edit the sidconf file to change it to the correct partition before you go ahead with the install. |
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bfree
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Post subject:
Posted: 14.05.2011, 22:46
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Joined: 2010-08-26
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I think I have have gotten things a little confused about the "BIOS boot partition". I doesn't need to be formatted at all and I don't think it needs to be anything like 200M. In fact you might get away with only 32K but a few hundred K is probably a safer bet.
I was getting confused with the EFI System Partition required for EFI (not bios) booting. I've yet to get to trying to test out EFI booting but it appears it's the one which should be fat formatted and something like 100 to 200 M
Of course if your system uses EFI booting (or you think you might like to migrate the disk to one that does in the future) then you'll probably want the 200M fat formatted partition instead (to at least reserve the space for later). |
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cheekybadger
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Post subject:
Posted: 26.05.2011, 20:53
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Joined: 2010-09-16
Posts: 10
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i had a look at the install scripts. looks like it is /usr/share/fll-installer-common/disk that finds the partitions, and can't see the GPT ones because its using fdisk. to test this i made a small hack to it to make it see my partitions.
Code:
--- /usr/share/fll-installer-common/disk.old 2011-05-26 20:19:15.247933143 +0100
+++ /usr/share/fll-installer-common/disk 2011-05-26 20:23:39.742911078 +0100
@@ -92,6 +92,12 @@
partition_or_volume_info $part norm
done
done
+
+ for part in sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4 sda5
+ do
+ partition_or_volume_info $part norm
+ done
+
volumes=`ls /dev/mapper/* | egrep -v "CONTROL|${FLL_DISTRO_NAME}-live"`
for vol in $volumes
with that the partitions show up in the installer. I selected sda4 and was able to install. there were no complaint from the installer, grub was set up correctly, and i am now booted into aptosid.
i guess if /usr/share/fll-installer-common/disk was fixed to use parted instead of fdisk everything would work fine, but i am not sure my bash skills are up to doing this (the output is a bit less sed/awk-able). |
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bfree
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Post subject:
Posted: 27.05.2011, 00:23
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Joined: 2010-08-26
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My own gut instinct is to use gdisk rather then trying to use parted, but there may not be any good reason for that 
I'm thinking along the lines of using fdisk first and then gdisk on those disks it reports as gpt, but honestly I'm not sure and still haven't even got around to trying to setup gpt+efi booting myself yet let alone trying to "fix" the installer. |
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DeepDayze
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Post subject:
Posted: 27.05.2011, 00:57
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Joined: 2010-09-11
Posts: 616
Location: USA
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hightime
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Post subject:
Posted: 01.08.2011, 00:32
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Joined: 2010-09-11
Posts: 14
Location: USA
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| I just did a fresh install of aptosid using the 2011-02 CD and it let me setup GPT during the install. |
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slh
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Post subject:
Posted: 01.08.2011, 00:42
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Joined: 2010-08-25
Posts: 948
Status: Offline
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Nex
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Post subject:
Posted: 02.08.2011, 09:41
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Joined: 2011-01-13
Posts: 16
Status: Offline
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Hi,
@hightime
could you please provide more information like what system, what exactly did you do? Right now I have problems to install aptosid 2011-02 on a Lenovo IdeaPad S205. Live Modus works perfectly from USB, installation (standard, so without GPT etc.) runs, but after reboot I get:
Code:
PXE -E61: Media Test failure, check cable
PXE - MBF: Exiting PXE Rom
and no aptosid. Of course, I am not sure if it is an EFI+Grub problem or not.
Thank you very much
cu |
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