Ubuntu

Installing Xubuntu on the Asus A1000 - HDD Not Found

Asked by direwolf007

Okay. I had Windows XP on this rather pitiful box. It didn't work for years as the CPU fan was shot, but I found a replacement and I started using it for my university coding.

Then I decided to switch to Xubuntu 7.04 (xubuntu-7.04-alternate-i386.iso), since XP is a resource hog and this machine is old (P3 700Mhz) and with little precious RAM (160Mb, after 32Mb set aside to the GPU).

I used GPartEd to nuke the old windows partition and reformat to FAT32.

Then I loaded the Alternate CD, started the installation and was underway. Then the problem arose: It didn't find my HDD. I rebooted with GPartEd Live again, double checked that the partition was indeed found, ran fdisk from the GPartEd and it saw my drive. Decided to fdisk it, and rebooted with the alternate CD.

Again, it did not see my HDD.

I then tried to run fdisk from the installer shell:
~ # fdisk

Usage: fdisk [-l] [ib SSZ] [-u] device
E.g.: fdisk /dev/hda (for the first IDE disk)

~ # fdisk /dev/hda

Unable to open /dev/hda

The above is what I got.
I started GPartEd again. The HDD was there. fdisk from the Live GPartEd CD could see it just fine, too.

What the heck is going on ? I would appreciate help from some Linux experts, since this is the first time I am installing Linux, and this leaves much to be desired, as far as ease of install goes. Quite frankly, if I did not have to code C/Cpp on Linux, I would've stopped bothering.

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direwolf007 (direwolf007) said : 		#1

The HDD Model is: IBM-DJSA-210.
Size: 9.36 Gb
DiskLabelType: msdos
Heads: 255
Sectors/Track 63
Cylinders: 1222
Total Sectors: 19631430

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vonHalenbach (lustik) said : 		#2

Please try the command :

sudo fdisk /dev/hda

If that does not work, then issue the command

dmesg > dmesg.txt and put it here.

You could look into your bios if the "boosector virus protection" is disabled. It must be disabled.

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direwolf007 (direwolf007) said : 		#3

First command:
~ # sudo fdisk /dev/hda
/bin/sh: sudo: not found

Second commans gives out a bunch of information which ia far too long to copy by hand, and I do not know how to get the dmesg.txt file off the laptop.

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vonHalenbach (lustik) said : 		#4

Okay, i understand. Did you look into your bios, if this "boot virus protection" is disabled? Did you check the md5sum of the linuxCD before installing? Might be damaged? To install linux on this harddisk, it is not neccesary at all to put a filesystem on it, because the cd normally should partition it right and put the filesystem "ext3" on it. Could you try another Linux CD or redownload the xubuntu CD.

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direwolf007 (direwolf007) said : 		#5

I don't have the "boot virus protection" anywhere in my BIOS. The cd self-checker tells me the CD is okay. I found some guy's blog on the net, where he experienced the same problem with the Asus A1000 and 7.04 just wouldn't work. His solution was to install 6.10 and later update, which apparently worked. I am downloading the previous release now and I'll see if it works (And I ran out of CDs, in addition, so its a trip to a store to get some). I much appreciate your help, do you have more ideas ?

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vonHalenbach (lustik) said : 		#6

Hm. when it really is a bug of your mainboard, then you should file a bug report here in ubuntu launchpad, if there is not already one filed. Another idea is to try xubuntu gutsy gibbon or if you have by chance another pci-IDE controller somewhere around, to put this into your computer and disable the IDE-controller on your mainboard. No need to buy a controller if you don't have one. Maybe ask your friends if they have one for you.

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direwolf007 (direwolf007) said : 		#7

6.06 Installed flawlessly. I couldn't add any hardware (Like the suggested IDE controller, in any case) - The A1000 is a laptop.