Unable to resize partitions, hda corrupted...

[tapksa]

Hi everyone,

 

I was rezising my partitions using my Mandriva LiveCD because I needed to take some space from my /home partition and enlarge my Ubuntu root (only 3.1GB) and Windows partitions a bit. I took resized my 84GB /home partition to 81GB. There's still 33GB free space on that partition so I thought it would be safe.

 

The next thing was trying to resize Ubuntu and Windows partitions. I got the following error message:

 

I can not read the partition table of device hda, it's too corrupted for me :(

I can try to go on, erasing over bad partitions (ALL DATA will be lost!).

The other solution is to not allow DrakX to modify the partition table.

(the error is extended partition: reading of partition in sector 4323273827 failed.

)

 

Do you agree to lose all the partitions?

 

Does that mean I need to format my whole hard drive to make resizing possible again? Right now I'm unable to resize anymore.

 

I tried searching for the same error message and found something similar but nothing that helps me, so I'm making this new thread. Is there something I should do? How badly did I screw up? Is there something I can do?

 

I'll manage with these partitions, I guess, if the Ubuntu partition won't prove to be too small. Of course there's now 3GB unpartitioned space but that's okay if I don't need to format my computer and install everything all over again.

 

I'm a bit scared. Any ideas? Help? Hints? What's happening?

 

Thanks,

 

Tapksa

[ianw1974]

If I remember correctly, from command line and booting LiveCD, the fdisk command with advanced options should be able to repair the partition table. However, I'd have to check to be 100% sure. I'd suggest though, before you do anything further if there is anything important to back it up. Otherwise, don't continue with resizing at this present time.

 

I'll get back to you in a little while when I can boot up Linux and check the fdisk parameters to see if it will help and how to do it.

[tapksa]

I hate to bump a thread like this, but it kind of seems like a reminder is needed here. New hints and ideas are also welcome. I'd like to be able to resize the partitions when necessary.

 

 

Thanks and sorry for the bump,

 

Tapksa

[viking777]

No need to apologise tapska, July 11th is a long time ago. I am not an expert, but I have had this exact same error message about a week ago and I managed to overcome it so I have a LITTLE knowledge of it. Do you have a systemrescue cd? If not can you get hold of one? You can get it from here:

 

http://www.sysresccd.org/Download

 

This is important because it contains a utility called 'testdisk'. Despite the name it does not actually run disk checks, what it does is to rewrite partition tables for situations exactly like yours. That is the good news, the bad news is that, in common with almost every other linux tool I have ever used, the help it offers is virtually non-existent. When I used it to restore my partition table, I can honestly tell you it was one of the most nerve wracking moments of my computing life., but it did work. It worked because I made the right choices of course, and the scope for making the wrong ones is endless but of course before using it you will need to read up about it on the net. There are sites out there which offer help with it, unfortunately I can't remember the addresses I found them on.

 

It is not a command line utility btw, it is a text user interface (almost as bad) but if I can get away with it then maybe you can as well.

[ianw1974]

You didn't try going into fdisk then and using the advanced option to toggle more options like I originally suggested? I haven't access to Linux right now as I'm travelling to give you the actual key sequence, which is why I had said what I said in my original post. However, if you had of gone into fdisk, you could find the option "x" for advanced functionality and then "v" for verify the partition table.

 

I'm guessing you didn't try it though.....but I expect it should give you an idea if your partition table is bust.

[tapksa]

[root@localhost ~]# fdisk /dev/hda

The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 14946.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
  (e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)

Unable to seek on /dev/hda

 

Also:

 

[root@localhost ~]# fdisk -l

Unable to seek on /dev/hda

 

So am I screwed or what? Should I try the systemrescue CD?

Edited August 1, 2008 by tapksa

[ianw1974]

I'd say you have more of a hardware problem I think if the partitions cannot be seen. That hints to me at a seek error which potentially means your disk is either on it's way out or not so long before it is. Hopefully you have had a chance to back up your data or if not and you can still boot the system - I suggest you do it now.

[tapksa]

Brilliant.

I backed up everything I need just recently, so I'm safe from losing anything. I can boot the system normally.

 

Thanks for the help and advice. I'll see if this is the end of my disk.

 

-Tapksa

[ianw1974]

If you can, delete everything and start with a fresh install on this machine, formatting the disk, etc just how you want it and then see if you have any issues.

 

Check that all is OK, check that the partitioning can successfully be displayed correctly. Check dmesg and perhaps /var/log/messages to see if there are any disk errors. This will then see if it's just a partitioning screw up causing the seek problems or whether it's actually a physical problem with the disk.

[pmpatrick]

From what you describe, you have either a hardware problem, i.e. the drive is physically defective or "going"; or a software problem, i.e. your partitioning operations screwed up your mbr partition table(most likely).

 

To check for any hardware issues, go the hard drive manufacturer's website and download their hard drive diagnostic utilities which are usually in the form of a bootable iso. Burn the iso to a cd as an image, boot off the cd and run the thorough version of the diagnostic utilities. If the drive doesn't pass, see if you are within the warranty period, usually three years, five for Seagate, and contact the manufacturer if you are for a warranty replacement.

 

If the drive passes, you can be relatively sure you have a corrupted partition table in your mbr. In that case, you can try to repair the partition table using the testdisk utility as described in the prior post. Or you can use the diagnostic utility cd to do a zero fill of the drive which will totally wipe the drive leaving it in the same condition as when it left the factory. You can then repartition, reinstall and restore from your backups.