Here's a fact. After using parted to do some partition resizing on my system, Partition Magic 5.0 AND 8.0 are completely unable to read the partition table.
Listen closely: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Red Hat 7.3, BootItNG, and Ranish Partition Manager ALL have NO problems with the partition table.
ONLY Partition Magic 5.0 and 8.0 are so screwed up they cannot even READ the thing. They give me an error message which basically means "I have no clue what I'm doing".
So far I have had no problems with BootItNG or Ranish Partition Manager in handling partitions.
Partition Magic is supposed to be the "premier partition manager" but after my experience with it I wouldn't touch it. And since the apparent cause of this was using parted, I wouldn't touch parted again either.
You are correct however that an external partition manager is better than using the installer partition managers. The installers are simply not reliable.
As the other posters have suggested, upgrading from FC1 to 2 may avoid the problem.
My advice - partition your system using an external partition manager - NOT parted - and install onto pre-existing partitions.
However, it is possible that Anaconda may call parted to rewrite the partition table ANYWAY, which might cause the same problem.
Also, apparently you have to set your BIOS to use LBA mode, instead of Auto or CHS modes before you install. This might cause parted to handle the goemetry correctly which would avoid the problem.
So I would suggest doing both: partition externally without using parted, and set the BIOS to LBA mode.
Just boot into Linux with your boot disk (you DID make one, right?), then rerun/sbin/lilo (or grub if you're using that). Should pick up the Linux partitions and the Windows one automatically.
Windows always overwrites the MBR on install without checking. Not a problem with LILO or GRUB - as long as you can boot into Linux with a boot diskette, you can recover your Linux bootloader and multi-boot Linux and Windows.
I run Red Hat 7.3, Windows 2000 and Windows XP from LILO with no problems.
LILO boots and offers me Linux and Windows - when I select Windows, the Windows XP bootloader takes off and offers me Windows XP and Windows 2000.
No problems.
The key is to install 2000, THEN XP which picks up 2000 on its boot menu, THEN boot into Linux with a boot disk and run/sbin/lilo which picks up Linux and the Windows XP bootloader.
If you have to reinstall Windows, just boot back into Linux and rerun/sbin/lilo again.
OTOH, if you reinstall Windows 2000 in this sequence, and then try to rebuild the XP bootloader, it will screw up - you have to reinstall XP to get it to rebuild it's boot menu properly.
Microsoft still hasn't figured out how to generate a simple two-line boot menu - whereas Linux LILO has been doing this for years.
Use a more reliable partitioning utility like BootItNG (not freeware, but you can use it from the install menu for partitioning without actually installing it) or the DOS partitioner Ranish Partition Manager.
Do not use parted or Partition Magic - parted is not reliable and Partition Magic can't handle partition tables after parted has screwed them up.
Also, apparently, make sure your BIOS is set to LBA mode, not Auto or CHS.
No, the kernel CHANGED the reporting of HD geometries - not "bogus geometries".
The key phrase is "unadjusted partitioning tools" - i.e., parted which nobody bothered to test with the new kernel and various BIOS and HD geometries.
This was a problem waiting to happen because parted is not reliable and has caused problems before.
People need to partition their systems using external partition tools like BootItNG or Ranish Partition Manager, then install on pre-existing partitions.
DO NOT TRUST THE INSTALLER PARTITIONING TOOLS! They are NOT reliable! Regardless of whether it is Red Hat or Mandrake (not sure about SUSE or the other distros - anybody know which partitioning tools they use?)
No, just make sure you keep parted away from your partition table and you'll be fine.
I triple boot 2000 and XP with Red Hat 7.3 LILO with no problems - as long as I don't reinstall Windows. And if I do, I just boot from diskette into 7.3, do/sbin/lilo and it picks up 2000 and XP again, no problem. LILO offers me Linux and Windows, then when I select Windows, the XP loader offers me XP or 2000.
Nobody bothered to test parted with the 2.6 kernel AND on various BIOS and HD geometries to see if it worked right. Which is not too surprising considering how much testing that would have entailed on Red Hat's part. The parted people, however, should have done it. Apparently they didn't.
Given that parted has screwed up before, this is not surprising.
Lessons learned: don't use parted for partitioning.
Partition your system with an external partition manager - NOT parted. Use BootItNG or Ranish Partition Manager or even fdisk.
Then install on the pre-existing partitions - and hope the stupid installer doesn't rewrite the partition table anyway - as Anaconda is in fact reported to do.
It is parted which is not reading the HD geometry the way the kernel is reporting it. Apparently the 2.6 kernel has changed the way it reports geometry and nobody bothered to test this with parted - at least not for a lot of different BIOS.
Parted has screwed up before. Every time I start it up, it complains about "alignment" when in fact Windows 98, 2000, XP and RH 7.3 and every other partition manager - except Partition Magic 5.0 and 8.0 which are equally stupid - handle the partition table just fine.
Don't use it. Use BootITNG or Ranish Partition Manager to set up your partitions, then install on the pre-existing partitions.
No, it's a booting problem because the partition table is hosed, which is an install problem caused by using that goddamn parted partition manager which I suspect is crap.
I believe somebody pointed out that upgrades don't necessarily affect the partitioning.
Did you use FC2 to change the partition table?
Also, somebody else said the problem can manifest after the install - I kinda doubt that one, though, unless someone is using the parted partition manager after install.
My guess is the partition manager being used in both Mandrake 10 and FC 2 is parted - and that's the culprit - not the 2.6 kernel per se.
Although I suspect IDE driver changes between Red Hat 7.0 and Red Hat 7.3 were why I could not install the later distro on my Compaq Deskpro 4000. So driver changes in kernel 2.6 could be the problem as well. I don't know what if any changes were made in 2.6 to the IDE support so I'm speculating here.
Of course it's going to work with manual partitioning, it's the damn installer partitioner that's screwed.
Probably the best answer to the whole mess - partition first with another partition manager and don't touch parted (or Partition Magic) with a ten-foot pole.
Try BootItNG or Ranish to set up the partition table, then just install FC 2 to the pre-existing partitions.
I used parted to do some partition work on my system using Red Hat 7.3 - which definitely does NOT have the 2.6 kernel installed - and since then Partition Magic has never been able to read my partition table. Everything else works fine - both Windows and Linux can use the partition table, and any other partition manager can manipulate it - but PM cannot even comprehend my partition table.
IMO, parted has a SERIOUS problem and somebody better look into it. And I don't think the 2.6 kernel is necessarily to blame.
What amuses me is the parted documentation talks about partition managers not getting it right - they need to look at what THEY didn't get right.
A year or so ago, I tried to install Mandrake 9, Red Hat 8 and Red Hat 7.3 on my old Compaq Deskpro 4000 machine. None of them would install. All of them would either fail to read the partition table - after creating and partitioning and formatting it using the utilities supplied with those distros - or would completely trash the partition table.
Red Hat 7.0, however, would blow on the system with absolutely no problem or complaint whatsoever.
After doing some partition work on my latest system with parted, Partition Magic 5 and Partition Magic 8 cannot in any way read my partition table. Windows (98 first, now 2000 and XP) loads fine, Linux (RH 7.3, Knoppix, other Live CD distros) loads fine, all other partition managers (BootItNG, Ranish) see and handle the partition table. ONLY Partition Magic cannot do anything with the partition table - and it is supposed to be the "premier" partition table manager on the market!
So now we have THIS crap with Fedora Core 2!
Guys, the partition table is NOT rocket science. It's a few bytes on a disk with a few variations in what each byte means. It's been around for decades.
So why in hell can't people who write this stuff GET IT RIGHT? What is the goddamn problem with you programmers?
I realize that hard disk manufacturers are constantly screwing around with their geometry reporting to the BIOS, and of course not writing any Linux drivers, but still a bug of this sort should not exist in any modern OS.
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> Use partition magic and you should be fine
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Here's a fact. After using parted to do some partition resizing on my system, Partition Magic 5.0 AND 8.0 are completely unable to read the partition table.
Listen closely: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Red Hat 7.3, BootItNG, and Ranish Partition Manager ALL have NO problems with the partition table.
ONLY Partition Magic 5.0 and 8.0 are so screwed up they cannot even READ the thing. They give me an error message which basically means "I have no clue what I'm doing".
So far I have had no problems with BootItNG or Ranish Partition Manager in handling partitions.
Partition Magic is supposed to be the "premier partition manager" but after my experience with it I wouldn't touch it. And since the apparent cause of this was using parted, I wouldn't touch parted again either.
You are correct however that an external partition manager is better than using the installer partition managers. The installers are simply not reliable.
As the other posters have suggested, upgrading from FC1 to 2 may avoid the problem.
My advice - partition your system using an external partition manager - NOT parted - and install onto pre-existing partitions.
However, it is possible that Anaconda may call parted to rewrite the partition table ANYWAY, which might cause the same problem.
Also, apparently you have to set your BIOS to use LBA mode, instead of Auto or CHS modes before you install. This might cause parted to handle the goemetry correctly which would avoid the problem.
So I would suggest doing both: partition externally without using parted, and set the BIOS to LBA mode.
Just boot into Linux with your boot disk (you DID make one, right?), then rerun /sbin/lilo (or grub if you're using that). Should pick up the Linux partitions and the Windows one automatically.
Windows always overwrites the MBR on install without checking. Not a problem with LILO or GRUB - as long as you can boot into Linux with a boot diskette, you can recover your Linux bootloader and multi-boot Linux and Windows.
Take door number 2 - never make your CD drive a master with a hard drive the slave.
I run Red Hat 7.3, Windows 2000 and Windows XP from LILO with no problems.
/sbin/lilo which picks up Linux and the Windows XP bootloader.
/sbin/lilo again.
LILO boots and offers me Linux and Windows - when I select Windows, the Windows XP bootloader takes off and offers me Windows XP and Windows 2000.
No problems.
The key is to install 2000, THEN XP which picks up 2000 on its boot menu, THEN boot into Linux with a boot disk and run
If you have to reinstall Windows, just boot back into Linux and rerun
OTOH, if you reinstall Windows 2000 in this sequence, and then try to rebuild the XP bootloader, it will screw up - you have to reinstall XP to get it to rebuild it's boot menu properly.
Microsoft still hasn't figured out how to generate a simple two-line boot menu - whereas Linux LILO has been doing this for years.
Use a more reliable partitioning utility like BootItNG (not freeware, but you can use it from the install menu for partitioning without actually installing it) or the DOS partitioner Ranish Partition Manager.
Do not use parted or Partition Magic - parted is not reliable and Partition Magic can't handle partition tables after parted has screwed them up.
Also, apparently, make sure your BIOS is set to LBA mode, not Auto or CHS.
No, the kernel CHANGED the reporting of HD geometries - not "bogus geometries".
The key phrase is "unadjusted partitioning tools" - i.e., parted which nobody bothered to test with the new kernel and various BIOS and HD geometries.
This was a problem waiting to happen because parted is not reliable and has caused problems before.
People need to partition their systems using external partition tools like BootItNG or Ranish Partition Manager, then install on pre-existing partitions.
DO NOT TRUST THE INSTALLER PARTITIONING TOOLS! They are NOT reliable! Regardless of whether it is Red Hat or Mandrake (not sure about SUSE or the other distros - anybody know which partitioning tools they use?)
No, just make sure you keep parted away from your partition table and you'll be fine.
/sbin/lilo and it picks up 2000 and XP again, no problem. LILO offers me Linux and Windows, then when I select Windows, the XP loader offers me XP or 2000.
I triple boot 2000 and XP with Red Hat 7.3 LILO with no problems - as long as I don't reinstall Windows. And if I do, I just boot from diskette into 7.3, do
I'll tell you why this happened.
Nobody bothered to test parted with the 2.6 kernel AND on various BIOS and HD geometries to see if it worked right. Which is not too surprising considering how much testing that would have entailed on Red Hat's part. The parted people, however, should have done it. Apparently they didn't.
Given that parted has screwed up before, this is not surprising.
Lessons learned: don't use parted for partitioning.
Don't use the installer partitioning.
Partition your system with an external partition manager - NOT parted. Use BootItNG or Ranish Partition Manager or even fdisk.
Then install on the pre-existing partitions - and hope the stupid installer doesn't rewrite the partition table anyway - as Anaconda is in fact reported to do.
It is NOT the kernel.
It is parted which is not reading the HD geometry the way the kernel is reporting it. Apparently the 2.6 kernel has changed the way it reports geometry and nobody bothered to test this with parted - at least not for a lot of different BIOS.
Parted has screwed up before. Every time I start it up, it complains about "alignment" when in fact Windows 98, 2000, XP and RH 7.3 and every other partition manager - except Partition Magic 5.0 and 8.0 which are equally stupid - handle the partition table just fine.
Don't use it. Use BootITNG or Ranish Partition Manager to set up your partitions, then install on the pre-existing partitions.
It's not Anaconda, it's parted which Anaconda uses to manipulate the partition table IIRC.
I suspect parted has ALWAYS "been confused" since it could not handle the partition table on my Maxtor hard drive in a Compaq Deskpro 4000.
Parted is not a reliable partition manager - neither is Partition Magic.
Use BootItNG or Ranish Partition Manager - never had any problems with them - yet anyway.
> most distros make it all too easy to format the
> disk and re-create the partition tables
You mean like Windows XP does? I was installing XP in a triple-boot 98/2000/XP system and miskeyed and formatted the wrong partition, wiping out 98.
Troll.
Already done. It's called Linux.
No, it's a booting problem because the partition table is hosed, which is an install problem caused by using that goddamn parted partition manager which I suspect is crap.
> which most likely stems from an error within the
/. page...
> parted utility
I love to be vindicated on the next
Parted is Geek Moron crap, don't use it. Use BootItNG or Ranish to set up your partitions. Haven't had any problems with them yet.
Supposedly this only affects Fedora Core 2 - and possibly Mandrake 10.
I suspect the culprit to be the partition manager - parted - not the 2.6 kernel - or perhaps some interaction between the two.
I believe somebody pointed out that upgrades don't necessarily affect the partitioning.
Did you use FC2 to change the partition table?
Also, somebody else said the problem can manifest after the install - I kinda doubt that one, though, unless someone is using the parted partition manager after install.
My guess is the partition manager being used in both Mandrake 10 and FC 2 is parted - and that's the culprit - not the 2.6 kernel per se.
Although I suspect IDE driver changes between Red Hat 7.0 and Red Hat 7.3 were why I could not install the later distro on my Compaq Deskpro 4000. So driver changes in kernel 2.6 could be the problem as well. I don't know what if any changes were made in 2.6 to the IDE support so I'm speculating here.
And who decided that?
Does Red Hat think people are only dual booting with Windows 98?
Is there a reason for not including NTFS support (even if only read-only) by default?
You don't WANT to date women who regard men as "horny bastards".
Trust me.
Of course it's going to work with manual partitioning, it's the damn installer partitioner that's screwed.
Probably the best answer to the whole mess - partition first with another partition manager and don't touch parted (or Partition Magic) with a ten-foot pole.
Try BootItNG or Ranish to set up the partition table, then just install FC 2 to the pre-existing partitions.
You're absolutely correct - happened to me.
Mandrake reached out and touched a hard disk and partition it was not supposed to do ANYTHING with!
These goddamn partition managers in the installers are NOT reliable.
A bad interaction between parted and the kernel?
WTF?
I used parted to do some partition work on my system using Red Hat 7.3 - which definitely does NOT have the 2.6 kernel installed - and since then Partition Magic has never been able to read my partition table. Everything else works fine - both Windows and Linux can use the partition table, and any other partition manager can manipulate it - but PM cannot even comprehend my partition table.
IMO, parted has a SERIOUS problem and somebody better look into it. And I don't think the 2.6 kernel is necessarily to blame.
What amuses me is the parted documentation talks about partition managers not getting it right - they need to look at what THEY didn't get right.
A year or so ago, I tried to install Mandrake 9, Red Hat 8 and Red Hat 7.3 on my old Compaq Deskpro 4000 machine. None of them would install. All of them would either fail to read the partition table - after creating and partitioning and formatting it using the utilities supplied with those distros - or would completely trash the partition table.
Red Hat 7.0, however, would blow on the system with absolutely no problem or complaint whatsoever.
After doing some partition work on my latest system with parted, Partition Magic 5 and Partition Magic 8 cannot in any way read my partition table. Windows (98 first, now 2000 and XP) loads fine, Linux (RH 7.3, Knoppix, other Live CD distros) loads fine, all other partition managers (BootItNG, Ranish) see and handle the partition table. ONLY Partition Magic cannot do anything with the partition table - and it is supposed to be the "premier" partition table manager on the market!
So now we have THIS crap with Fedora Core 2!
Guys, the partition table is NOT rocket science. It's a few bytes on a disk with a few variations in what each byte means. It's been around for decades.
So why in hell can't people who write this stuff GET IT RIGHT? What is the goddamn problem with you programmers?
I realize that hard disk manufacturers are constantly screwing around with their geometry reporting to the BIOS, and of course not writing any Linux drivers, but still a bug of this sort should not exist in any modern OS.
Get it together.