Partition Hell

This is mainly for people who've ever had this problem before, or may in the future. One of my machines was dual booting Slackware 10.2 and FreeBSD 6.0 and I wanted to change it and start using it as at least half Windows.

So I sat here thinking of which version. I wanted to have a 98SE box to play with, but I also wanted a Windows 2000 Professinal machine to toy with too.

So my final plan was just to install those, and then install Linux on a third partition and tri-boot.

Well when I loaded up the Windows 98 CD, it got to format, and froze..... OK, odd, try 2000....

That gets to format and says there is an error. It says my HD may be damaged or maybe not plugged in properly... Strange considering I had just loaded Linux on it without problem.

OK, reboot, slide in the Slackware install CD and have it boot from there.

Get to cfdisk, and it quits with an error saying the HD is messed up.

Hmmm, interesting.

OK,

Commands:

fdisk /dev/hda1

p

o

w

fdisk /dev/hda2

Repeat

fdisk /dev/hda3

Repeat

Delete ALL Partitions as the first time "o" didn't work either...

Reboot.

Boot from Slackware install CD.

Attempt to load cfdisk again. Works perfectly... Guess I'm glad I didn't listen to Windows.... OK, cool, format the entire drive as Fat16 from inside the Slackware install CD and write it.

Reboot and pop out the slackware install CD, and pop in the Windows 2,000 Professional CD.

Tell it to use the Fat16 Partition I made for it and use NTFS, and now it's formatting without problems as I type this. (I know it works all the way through, it did so at 5 AM when I was to tired to finish so I just shut it down and decided to do it after I woke up today with a Mountani Dew AMP Drink, it got to the install without error and is doing so again now).

Lesson:

don't always listen to Windows saying it's hardware. Toy with it and know how to partition by hand. Believe me I've screwed up a MBR before and had to edit the partition table in Hex once.

Anyway, it's currently doing the formatting right now, I just wanted it to format again to be sure no more errors exist.

Not trying to start a "my OS is better than yours" issue....

Quote:

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Lesson:

don't always listen to Windows saying it's hardware.

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Lesson 2:

Be aware that hardware can have intermittent problems that will manifest themselves another day in a more malevolent way.... Regardless of the OS... :eek:

Lesson 3, this HD is about 3 months old and working perfectly.

Lesson 4: I learned years ago when I first got into OSs that Windows will not always install on HDs and even will say the HD is damaged or not plugged in if it can't read the Partitions.

For example, install BeOS, then try to boot from a Windows install CD. I've done this quite a few times, and every time it says the HD is not there. To install again you have to use a Slackware boot CD or other Linux or BSD install CD, then do the partitions, then try booting with a Windows CD again.

In 4 years that is the only way I've ever been able to use Windows on a machine that had BeOS on it before. I'm not exactly sure why but the Partitions BeOS uses seems to not work to well when trying Windows 98 or 2000 Professional.

And save the MyOS is better for the next thread ;) I haven't had time to get it going yet.

Quote:

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don't always listen to Windows saying it's hardware

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errmm

Quote:

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Well when I loaded up the Windows 98 CD, it got to format, and froze..... OK, odd, try 2000....

That gets to format and says there is an error.

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Quote:

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OK, reboot, slide in the Slackware install CD and have it boot from there.

Get to cfdisk, and it quits with an error saying the HD is messed up.

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So...errm...how does the Linux error message saying your Hard Drive is messed up differ from the Windows error message saying your Hard Drive is messed up?.......Or does it mean something different in 3137 linux speak when it tells you your hard drive in buggered?

Easy. Cfdisk gave reasons, and Fdisk actually worked. Windows wouldn't create the partitions or format as I've pointed out already. However with the version of Fdisk *NIX comes with (Which yes, it's different) I was able to delete them all.

Now since I can see another question on what I've said there on the horizon:

Windows install CDs would not work at all. It said the HD was DAMAGED, nothing else. Cfdisk said the partition table contained errors. So Windows would not install or format or allow partitions. So I used a Linux install disk and did them by hand.

I created this thread for someone who may have the same problem, not to pick apart what I said and blame it on Windows bashing.

Do I really have to close this thread because someone thinks I'm yet again Attacking Windows just because the damn CD wouldn't allow me to install? Instead of comments on what I did I get comments on what I said.

Hey gore , chill out will ya? :cold:

Check this:

http://www.antionline.com/showthread...r=1#post905802

That is the way I would go.......................wipe the disk completely then partition/install.

Windows can behave quite strangely on occasions, and using "other tools" and other operating systems tend to produce those circumstances. Power supply glitches and thunderstorms are also favourites :zap:

Another example is "partition tragic" or similar tools, and trying to downsize an existing Windows partition.................I guess I, or my mate, must have come across at least 50 incidences of that turning pear shaped.............and that is only two of us with around 30 years PC support experience between us.

I hadn't used PArtition Magic on it, the disk hadn't had Windows on it... Ever actually. When the HD was installed a few months ago, I put Linux on it. The BeOS one I really don't understand. I could never get Windows to work on it or install, or format, or make Partitions.

It seemed like it was BeOS until I saw this happening. Windows just seems to really not like non Windows file systems, even though this version of Windows 2000 isn't OEM, I bought it, it's boxed. For PCs without Windows.... That's the funny part.

Hey gore ,

When Billygoat Gates says: "PCs without Windows" he actually means "a virgin HDD upon which you have yet to decide which version of Windows to install"

You can even get the same problem with multibooting Windows and with upgrading it...........on machines that have seen no other OS.........like yourself I don't know why, but obviously there is residual data of some sort left there?

One thing I have sort of noticed and certainly suspect, is that Windows is a lot happier if it is the first OS...............time for some more anti-trust bashing maybe?





:D

I hadn't seen anything like this other than with BeOS, but now I've seen it actually do so on every partition type not Windows. Guess you are right about one thing: "For PCs without Windows..... OR anything else".... Lol.

Hey Gore, rather than Tri-Boot, why not get another Box? Unless your experiment is the actual attempt at running 3 O's at once. Just wondering. I can't imagine stabilizing that sort of enviroment, I am certain it can be done but why???? If you want to "play" with an OS, that is.


:)

Edit- Forgot that you are running 4 boxes/Laptop in your crib, would it not be easier to install 2k on one of them and mess with it? Perhaps I am ignorant but I can't imagine attempting to do what you are trying without expecting Partition problems.

Hmmm,

I have been giving this some more thought, as it is a subject that has puzzled me for some years now.

We have all seen software that manages the boot up, they give you the option of which OS to use, and away you go. Some were very clever, and hid each OS installation from the others so they did not get jealous and start to squabble amongst themselves.

Modern developments along these lines would seem to be the "virtual machine" technology? there, they do not even know they are in the same hardware environment?

To get back to the subject:

We all know that to format a hard drive does not actually do a lot except set it as "available" for something new? so, I would think that there must be a lot of residual partition data left over, that is understood as "available" by one family of OSes, but possibly not, by another?

It would seem that Windows (family) "sees" these strange residual partitions and thinks that it is a hardware error? (it understands that it is partition information, but does not understand that it is a dead partition) On the other hand a linux distro recognises them (because they are linux creations), creates new, proper partitions, and everything is rosy?..............Windows sees a live partition and can live with that because it is alive?

I guess the answer is that Windows was not programmed with linux in mind.............hell, it even falls over itself in my experience.

That is why I recommended wiping the drive first.

Pure speculation on my part..............a bit too difficult and time consuming to prove, I am afraid

:)

Lol, careful Nihil, saying that is gonig to have someone calling you "3137" or whatever that is because a Windows install CD doesn't like partitions other than Fat and NTFS. ;)

It's really not going to cause a problem as long as you have a bootloader set up right. When you pick what you want it to load it will only read from that partition. I have tri-booted plenty of times and never really had a problem.

I've tri-booted before too. I've also seen someone who had 100 OSs on their computer. Needless to say they had very special special software to allow this. I have software here that can boot up to 100 or so OSs though I haven't ever done it.

Probably Acronis

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing...tibooting.html

Although I can't imagine why anyone would want to have 100 OS's on their system!

I think after about 10 it's just for show. I can't imagine using more than that. That would be enat though.

My copy of 2000 is like 5 years old. It is CRAP at recognizing partitions and modern files systems. Of course a lot has changed since then. But Linux is always better at recognizing windows files systems than windows is at finding your Linux riser system. Unless you get a new release and even then Windows won't always work well. Why? The don't have too. They don't WANT too. Linux on the other hand must and does. Formatting a hard drive ties the logical structure of the disk to whatever file system you are using. A partition is a partition, it's under the format process. No partition or currupted table... no format. Heck you might have been missing a driver windows doesn't have and Linux does. Who knows. Too many variables. But I bet your linux distros are way newer than that windows burn. So a partition is a partition.... Unless you use a windows dynamic disk. I don't know WTF is going on there. And I do mean WTF?

Windows should recognize a partition unless you are using some wild ass new schema. Even if it doesn't know whats on the partition it should see it. Perhaps the partition table was corrupted. And using the windows wizard installer didn't like it. That's why we have hard drive tools. :D Windows likes it environment nice and cosey. But there are tools in windows that can manually handle a bad partition table. But they suck. That's why you should keep those manufacturer disks that come with hard drives. Or have a copy of UBCD. Besides kick ass hardware tools.... its "special" and loaded knoppix distro comes in HANDY.

/EDIT oh and I kind of agree with Tiger. Personal box, no big deal. But if that HD was going into a mail server or something else critical.. it would meet my BFH and a trash can.