Ubuntu
partconf package

ubuntu wont start after partition secondary disk

Asked by Chris

Hi,

I'm running Ubuntu 11.04 (no dual boot) and tried installed secondary 3TB Seagate SATA disk.
I used GParted to partition the disk into a 2.0TB partition and a 800odd GB partition (remainder)
and managed to manually mount both /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb2
Then I added entries to fstab for auto mount but ubuntu wont start after reboot unless I physically disconnect the disk which allows me to start Ubuntu with option to skip mounting /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb2.

As soon as I connect the disk and reboot computer freezes, cant get GRUB menu, system settings or boot menu.
If i revert to original fstab without new partitions and connect disk it makes no difference, still freezes on reboot.

This is a new disk with no data so happy to format disk and try again but can't get that far

NOTE: before partitioning I managed to mount successfully with fstab but mounted partition was only about 750GB when capacity shows 3TB so formatted disk and partitioned.

appretiate any advice :)

fstab looks like this atm

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=b8a0bf10-011a-43b0-b5d4-3300f75d79b6 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=63a1fa2c-a6df-4c88-b85a-96ecdffe528f none swap sw 0 0
# auto mount /dev/sdb1 -> 3T internal disk -> 2TB partition
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/T3 vfat rw,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0
# auto mount /dev/sdb2 -> 3T internal disk -> 800GB partition
/dev/sdb2 /mnt/T4 vfat rw,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0

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pasche (robert-paschedag) said : 		#1

Hm...

How did you manage to partition the disk? Was the new disk the *only* one connected while you booted GParted?

You write, you don't even get a boot menu when the second disk is conneted.

What happens if you just connect the *new* disk and boot? I know, if successful, it should "no operating system found" or something similar.

Regards,
Robert

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Chris (tracey-chris) said : 		#2

Hey Robert,

I tried disconnecting my disk with ubuntu on it and booting with only the new partitioned disk this afternoon to see if I could get that error but that didnt make a difference, still froze on the splash screen. I had the new disk connected to the same SATA cable the ubuntu disk was using.

The new disk is only 2 weeks old so got me wondering if the disk is faulty.

Thanks
Chris

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Chris (tracey-chris) said : 		#3

"How did you manage to partition the disk?"

disk seemed to be working fine...
was showing up in Ubuntu Disk Utility app... think it had a 3TB FAT32 partition
managed to mount this but lshw showed volume had capacity of approx 3TB but size of only approx 754GB

started copying data to this disk and got to 16GB then got no disk space error.

wasnt happy with that
so tried using Ubuntu Utility tool to create smaller 2TB and 1TB partitions but got partition mis aligned by 512K
so installed GParted graphical tool and created the 2 partitions manually entering 2.0TB as first partition size.

was able to mount these partitions manually and lshw showed volumes with matching size and capacity.

Revision history for this message
Chris (tracey-chris) said : 		#4

thats when I added fstab entries and now still stuck with splash screen when using that disk.

also I formatted disk with GParted to FAT32 before creating those GParted partiions.

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pasche (robert-paschedag) said : 		#5

So if I understand you write, everything worked (with both disks!) until you re-partitioned the disk, right?

The new disk has been recognized with 3TG capacity. So this does not seem to be a problem of the BIOS (not recognizing large disks - old BIOSes).

Sounds strange to me. I would again try to remove all partitions on the new disk, so the system comes up correctly with both disks connected.

Then, you can retry to re-create the partitions.

Also I think you have to create a GPT partition table as a normal DOS partition table has a limit on about 2TB disks (if I remember correctly <= really *not* sure)

Regards,
pasche

Revision history for this message
Chris (tracey-chris) said : 		#6

yip, thats right

"I would again try to remove all partitions on the new disk, so the system comes up correctly with both disks connected."

any ideas on how to do this, the computer freezes whenever I connect that disk ;)

thanks

Revision history for this message
pasche (robert-paschedag) said : 		#7

Hm...right. Maybe you can look for a new BIOS for your computer. Maybe there is a bug with "large" disks that has been fixed.

Or maybe you have a USB-> SATA disk adapter you can use.

Regards,
pasche

Revision history for this message
Chris (tracey-chris) said : 		#8

oh yeah, usb sata might work

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