Re: Big Trouble - MBR and partition table modified but not completed

[Zlatko Savic]

Sorry to reply to myself but I just more info on this issue. Please look 
at my attachments. 'output' is a script file output of 'fdisk -l' 
command and 'output2' is the output of my 'gpart /dev/hdd' command.
They show a different /dev/hdd layout.

Zlatko Savic wrote:

> Hi,
> I am an intermediate level Linux user and I have used Parted before 
> without trouble.
> The current issue did not arise from problems using Parted. I am 
> hoping that this list may help me to use Parted to fix problems that 
> occurred before.
>
> First let me show you my harddrive(s) partition layout:
> hdc => [Windows ME]
> hdd => [Mandrake 7.2: "/"][swap][Mandrake7.2:"/home"][Mandrake 9.2 
> "/"][swap][Mandrake 9.2 "/home"][WinXP][some data: FAT32]
>
> I used Diskdrake in Mandrake 9.2  to remove two old Mandrake 7.2 
> partitions from my harddrive (and the swap in the middle of it). I 
> wanted to use the extra 2Gig for storage. I "deleted" the partitions 
> and pressed the 'done' button. Diskdrake gave messages such as 
> "partition table modified" or "partitions are written to disk" 
> (something similar). It also stated that the partitions would be 
> renumbered.
> At the same time I was running the Totem Media player which crashed 
> quite often during playing but I could always 'xkill' it. However, 
> this time the system froze, not even the mouse pointer would move. I 
> had to restart the system cold turkey. I don't know whether the 
> partition change caused the freeze or the media player.
>
> My MBR usually loads first LILO with Mandrake 9.2 as default, and has 
> also the option for Windows which brings me to a second menu that lets 
> me choose between ME and XP. After the partition change I could not 
> load MDK 9.2 (kernel panic) and I could not load WinXP (hardware issue 
> stated on screen).  Win ME  loaded fine and so I loaded it. The 
> Windows explorer did not show the Windows partitions on hdd. However, 
> after loading Win ME theNorton Antivirus 2003 notified me that my boot 
> sector was modified (possible virus threat) and offered me to restore 
> it to the original setting. I thought this would solve the issue but 
> now every time I reboot, the MBR just says "stage1 stage2" and breaks 
> up and reboots the machine again. I cannot boot anything at all.
>
> I  even tried to install Red Hat 9 into the place of the two "cursed" 
> partitions (hoping that RH would attempt to fix the partition table) 
> but RH9  only allowed me to ignore it or to cancel it. And according 
> to the RH9 install GUI program, I had two partitions that were free 
> (on hdd), the first in the size of partitions I wanted to get rid of 
> (approx 2Gig) and the second representing all the other partitions as 
> one.I did not proceed with the installation since it did not promise 
> any good results.
>
> My main goal is to save some data that I have on the last partition on 
> hdd. I can reinstall everything if it has to be. I suspect that the 
> MBR, the partition table and the partition start and end sectors are 
> out of sync.
>
> I ran RH9 install CD in rescue mode - testing to see what Parted would 
> report. This is the output:
> ----
> unable to align partition properly. this probably means that another 
> partitioning tool generated an incorrect partition table, because it 
> didn't have the correct BIOS geometry. It is safe to ignore, but 
> ignoring may cause (fixable) problems with some boot loaders.
>
> error: invalid partition table on /dev/hdd - wrong signature 0
> minor    start        end        type        filesystem    flags
> 1    2099.210    14305.429    extended            boot
> ----
>
> Any help is truly appreciated and will save me from performing 
> "crash-test-dummy" tests with my harddrive...
>
> Regards,
> Zlatko
>
>
>
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Script started on Sun Dec  7 13:28:15 2003
ddress@hidden;39m fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hdc: 6800 MB, 6800080896 bytes
16 heads, 63 sectors/track, 13176 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 1008 * 512 = 516096 bytes

   Device Boot    Start       End    Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hdc1   *         1     13165   6635128+   b  Win95 FAT32
Warning: invalid flag 0x0000 of partition table 5 will be corrected by w(rite)

Disk /dev/hdd: 15.0 GB, 15000330240 bytes
16 heads, 63 sectors/track, 29065 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 1008 * 512 = 516096 bytes

   Device Boot    Start       End    Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hdd1   *      4266     29065  12499168+   5  Extended
ddress@hidden;39m exit
Script done on Sun Dec  7 13:28:23 2003

Script started on Sun Dec  7 13:26:40 2003
ddress@hidden;39m gpart /dev/hdd

** Error: invalid extended ptbl found at sector(4299183).

Begin scan...
Possible partition(Linux ext2), size(1499mb), offset(0mb)
Possible extended partition at offset(1499mb)
   Possible partition(Linux swap), size(99mb), offset(1499mb)
   Possible partition(Linux ext2), size(499mb), offset(1599mb)
   Possible partition(Linux ext2), size(2014mb), offset(2099mb)
   Possible partition(Linux swap), size(299mb), offset(4113mb)
   Possible partition(Linux ext2), size(186mb), offset(4413mb)
Possible extended partition at offset(4599mb)
   Possible partition(DOS FAT), size(3999mb), offset(4599mb)
   Possible partition(DOS FAT), size(5705mb), offset(8599mb)
End scan.

Checking partitions...

* Warning: more than one extended partition: 2.
Partition(Linux ext2 filesystem): primary 
   Partition(Linux swap or Solaris/x86): logical 
   Partition(Linux ext2 filesystem): orphaned logical 
   Partition(Linux ext2 filesystem): orphaned logical 
   Partition(Linux swap or Solaris/x86): orphaned logical 
   Partition(Linux ext2 filesystem): orphaned logical 
Partition(DOS or Windows 95 with 32 bit FAT): invalid 
Partition(DOS or Windows 95 with 32 bit FAT): primary 
Ok.

Guessed primary partition table:
Primary partition(1)
   type: 131(0x83)(Linux ext2 filesystem)
   size: 1499mb #s(3071312) s(63-3071374)
   chs:  (0/1/1)-(1023/15/63)d (0/1/1)-(3046/15/62)r

Primary partition(2)
   type: 005(0x05)(Extended DOS)
   size: 2500mb #s(5120577) s(3071376-8191952)
   chs:  (1023/15/63)-(1023/15/63)d (3047/0/1)-(8126/14/63)r

Primary partition(3)
   type: 011(0x0B)(DOS or Windows 95 with 32 bit FAT)
   size: 5705mb #s(11685681) s(17611839-29297519)
   chs:  (1023/15/63)-(1023/15/63)d (17472/1/1)-(29064/15/63)r

Primary partition(4)
   type: 000(0x00)(unused)
   size: 0mb #s(0) s(0-0)
   chs:  (0/0/0)-(0/0/0)d (0/0/0)-(0/0/0)r

ddress@hidden;39m exit

Script done on Sun Dec  7 13:27:14 2003