Re: Hard drive problem

["Patrick Stockton" <codejnki@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Instead of using disk druid (i've never been very sucesfull with it) try
using fdisk from the command prompt under linux.

What does that give you?

If you need access to a command prompt and fdisk I recomend Slackwares boot
and root disks.  No frills, just prompt and tools.

Patrick Stockton

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Jursinic, Ph.D." <jursinic@mcw.edu>
To: <members@kalamazoolinux.org>
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 10:25 AM
Subject: Re: Hard drive problem


> Thanks for the reply,
>
> >Exactly.
> >
> >So...
> >
> >Q#1) Are you:
> >a. Installing Linux on an empty system?
> yes
> >b. Installing Linux on a system with another pre-existing OS you want to
> >maintain?
> no
> >c. Adding a drive to an already installed Linux system?
> no
> >d. Installing Linux on a system with another pre-existing OS you want to
> nuke?
> >
> I want to use this drive for Linux only
>
> >Q#2) How old is the system?
> Drive is 4 or 5 years old and used infrequently
> >Q#3) What type of disk (IDE, SCSI, etc...)?
> IDE
> >Q#4) Disk related BIOS options enabled (LBA, etc...)?
> LBA yes
> >Q#5) Any unholy disk management software installed (Ontrack, etc...)?
> NO
>
> This would be Linux on an empty system.  I have been using Linux and
> installed Linux on a couple of computers over the past year and a half.  I
> am building up a new system out of parts that I accumulated.
>
> The drive in question is a Seagate ST31720A: IDE, cylinders = 3305, Heads
=
> 16, Sectors = 63, capacity = 1706 MB.  This drive was given to me.  It
came
> out of a Packard Bell computer and was functional I was told.  The BIOS
> does recognize the drive and the correct characteristics are determined.
>
> I tried to load Linux Red Hat 7.0 and used disk druid to partition.  I got
> an error saying the drive was not configurable.
>
> I then started DOS with a start up disk and ran fdisk.  The following
> output occurred:
>
> Disk     Drv:     mbytes     Free      Usage
>  1                1624       1624       0%
>
>  2                  96         96       0%
>
> I was unable to set up any partitions on this drive using fdisk.
>
> I have never seen a hard drive show up as disk 1 and disk 2 when running
> fdisk.  I just don't have enough experience.  I don't know what to make of
> this result from fdisk.  Perhaps Packard Bell configured hard drives in
> some special way?  Is this hard drive damaged?  Do I need to do something
> else to get this hard drive into a noraml configuration?
>
> I did try running fdisk /MBR but this did not change anything.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,   Paul Jursinic
> Dr. Paul Jursinic
> Medical College of Wisconsin
> Radiation Oncology Department
> Froedtert Hospital
> 9200 W. Wisconsin Ave.
> Milwaukee, WI 53226
> (414)805-4359
>