Can't Create Partitions

[havvy]

[20143.040013] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read directory block [26c683b7:b0c]
[20145.007375] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read metadata cache entry [26c683b7]
[20145.007381] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read directory block [26c683b7:b0c]
[20145.007677] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read metadata cache entry [26c683b7]
[20145.007680] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read directory block [26c683b7:b0c]
[20179.844324] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read metadata cache entry [26c683b7]
[20179.844330] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read directory block [26c683b7:b0c]
[20179.844628] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read metadata cache entry [26c683b7]
[20179.844631] SQUASHFS error: Unable to read directory block [26c683b7:b0c]
[20221.682727] EXT4-fs (sda1): bad geometry: block count 5432064 exceeds size of device (5180928 blocks)

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

We need a bit more info. Could you post the output of fdisk -l command here? Which Linux distro/Partition Manager are you using?

[havvy]

That's weird. I thought I didn't send this. Anyways...here's the story of what happened:

I had my drives like this:

sda1: Recovery
sda2: WinXP
sda3: /boot (fedora)
sda4: Logical Partition
sda5: /home (fedora)
sda6: / (fedora)

Then, because WinXP couldn't connect to the Internet, I deleted it, and then set up the drives as such

sda1: / (fedora second) (using the space of sda1 & 2 of the previous list)
sda2: Swap
sda3: /boot (fedora second) (uh...I overwrote the /boot of the first one by accident)
sda4-6: Same as above.

At this point, I was really annoyed with myself, and thought the best idea was to just start from scratch. I deleted everything, but made a drive to hold my data and it took the slot sda2.

I put in the Chakra Live CD, and went to the partition manager in it, KDE Partiton Manager, and it froze while I was deciding what partition changes to make. There was a bug in entering partition sizes about 9999.99 MiB (it'd choose the smallest size possible afterwards) so I booted up the Fedora Live, and installed GParted on it. From there, I deleted all partitions except sda2. Then it errored when trying to create any new partition. Both GParted and KDE Partition Manager get the same error.

Umm...what the heck? Trying to get that error, I got a new one, for turning all the space after sda2 into a drive.

Create a new partition (90.20 GiB, ext3) on ‘/dev/sda’ 
Job: Create new partition on device ‘/dev/sda’ 
Create new partition ‘/dev/sda3’: Success

Job: Create file system ext3 on partition ‘/dev/sda3’ 
Command: mkfs.ext3 -q /dev/sda3 
Create file system ext3 on partition ‘/dev/sda3’: Success

Job: Set the file system label on partition ‘/dev/sda3’ to "" 
Command: e2label /dev/sda3 
(Command timeout while starting) 
Set the file system label on partition ‘/dev/sda3’ to "": Error
Create a new partition (90.20 GiB, ext3) on ‘/dev/sda’: Error

I'm getting "fdisk: command now found". I'll edit that in after I save this. The chakra live cd likes to freeze if I have too many things open...

[havvy]

[root@chakra live]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x8e0cb6b5

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048    41449471    20723712   83  Linux
/dev/sda2        41449472   123412479    40981504   83  Linux
/dev/sda3       123412480   312575999    94581760   83  Linux

sda1 and sda3 are corrupt as far as adding files to it goes, I'm 99% sure.

Still, the fact they exist is a good sign. They weren't showing up at all before, instead saying partition type unknown.

[havvy]

So, I tried the formatting again, and I got two successes (oddly enough) and my original error.

My second success:

Create a new partition (500.00 MiB, ext3) on ‘/dev/sda’ 
Job: Create new partition on device ‘/dev/sda’ 
Create new partition ‘/dev/sda3’: Success

Job: Create file system ext3 on partition ‘/dev/sda3’ 
Command: mkfs.ext3 -q /dev/sda3 
Create file system ext3 on partition ‘/dev/sda3’: Success

Job: Set the file system label on partition ‘/dev/sda3’ to "boot" 
Command: e2label /dev/sda3 boot 
Set the file system label on partition ‘/dev/sda3’ to "boot": Success

Job: Check file system on partition ‘/dev/sda3’ 
Command: e2fsck -f -y -v /dev/sda3 
e2fsck 1.41.14 (22-Dec-2010)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information

      11 inodes used (0.00%)
       0 non-contiguous files (0.0%)
       0 non-contiguous directories (0.0%)
         # of inodes with ind/dind/tind blocks: 0/0/0
  418265 blocks used (1.77%)
       0 bad blocks
       1 large file

       0 regular files
       2 directories
       0 character device files
       0 block device files
       0 fifos
       0 links
       0 symbolic links (0 fast symbolic links)
       0 sockets
--------
       2 files 
Check file system on partition ‘/dev/sda3’: Success
Create a new partition (500.00 MiB, ext3) on ‘/dev/sda’: Success

My error:

Create a new partition (85.81 GiB, ext3) on ‘/dev/sda’ 
Job: Create new partition on device ‘/dev/sda’ 
Create new partition ‘/dev/sda4’: Success

Job: Create file system ext3 on partition ‘/dev/sda4’ 
Command: mkfs.ext3 -q /dev/sda4 
Could not stat /dev/sda4 --- No such file or directory

The device apparently does not exist; did you specify it correctly? 
Create file system ext3 on partition ‘/dev/sda4’: Error
Create a new partition (85.81 GiB, ext3) on ‘/dev/sda’: Error

My new fdisk -l

[root@chakra live]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x8e0cb6b5

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1       123412480   131604479     4096000   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda2        41449472   123412479    40981504   83  Linux
/dev/sda3       131604480   132628479      512000   83  Linux
/dev/sda4       132628480   312575999    89973760   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

[havvy]

Alright, I have my boot and swap drives ready...but creating the main partition is failing...

Here's my current fdisk.

[root@chakra live]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x8e0cb6b5

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1       123412480   131604479     4096000   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda2        41449472   123412479    40981504   83  Linux
/dev/sda3       131604480   132628479      512000   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

(I removed the unusable sda4, and flipped swap & boot since I mixed up their filesizes.

I ran a few more diagnostics/tools.

[root@chakra live]# cat /proc/partitions
major minor  #blocks  name

   8        0  156290904 sda
   8        1    4096000 sda1
   8        2   40981504 sda2
   8        3     512000 sda3
   7        0       7956 loop0
   7        1      52040 loop1
   7        2     635932 loop2
[root@chakra live]# partprobe
Warning: Unable to open /dev/sr0 read-write (Read-only file system).  /dev/sr0 has been opened read-only.
Warning: Unable to open /dev/sr0 read-write (Read-only file system).  /dev/sr0 has been opened read-only.
Error: Invalid partition table - recursive partition on /dev/sr0.

I followed the GNU Toolbox partprobe page as the guide.

Tried another command.

[root@chakra live]# sfdisk -dx /dev/hda
/dev/hda: No such file or directory

sfdisk: cannot open /dev/hda for reading

I am really thinking this had to do with the WinXP installation messing with the partition file.

[havvy]

I switched to Fedora 15 (live cd), yummed gparted (again...) and this time it allowed me to create partitions. Not sure why, but this is now solved.

Thanks for letting me use this thread to post logs for me to look over. :P