Ubuntu install attempt ruined Hard Drive, help me fix it in Knoppix ?

[Jeuk]

Tried to install ubuntu, as it had a reputation of being easier than abc, but it, somehow, messed up my MBR, or whatever is causing nothing to recognize the harddisk in my Dell Inspiron 1721 laptop.

Vista install won't recognize any disks.
XP install won't recognize any disks.
The Bios sees them, and the laptop diagnostic doens't see a problem with them.

I tried to fix things by using the Ultimate Boot CD, using tools like MBR editors, drive wipers, and formaters. Nothing worked.

I am now in Knoppix, which booted without a single problem, thankfully, and was able to enter to enter QTParted to edit partitions, as seen here:



I have no clue what's going on.
I am a first time linux user, and not that good with technical hardware issues, like MBRs, and disk issues.

I know there is a problem because even after trying to formate and repartition using QTParted, when I try to use the "Create persistent disk image" function, knoppix will not recognize any available harddrives.

It's weird. Some programs can see it, some can't. It seems that something is making the hard disk unusable, I don't know what, and if anyone can help me out here it will be a real life saver.

I am not great with coding, or linux in general so try to be easy on me.
Thanks in advance for an input.

[devils casper]

Hi and Welcome !

We have to check existing partition structure first. Open Konsole and execute this

su -
fdisk -l

-l, Its small L.
Post output here.

[Jeuk]

Hi and Welcome !

We have to check existing partition structure first. Open Konsole and execute this

su -
fdisk -l

-l, Its small L.
Post output here.

Got it. Here is a snapshot.

[devils casper]

Have you set RAID in Vista? How many HDs are attached in your machine?

[Jeuk]

Have you set RAID in Vista? How many HDs are attached in your machine?

I haven't set RAID in vista, the settings came as were from the dell factory.
The problem only occurred to me after my system was pooped by the ubuntu install attempt, only then did I realize no installation cds or anything were reading my hard drives, except for the bios.

There are two harddrives, 1 main, and one I think is a backup, but I am not really sure.
Right now they are reading 160 gigs each, I believe, but still not usable.

I mean, I can see the harddrives in qtpart but it seems that I can't do anything to make them bootable, or make them usablef or that matter.

I hope this can be resolved by software means...

Thanks again

[Jeuk]

Well, I am happy to say I managed to fix this.

Booted with a Fedora live CD, and it managed to clear the harddrive and install fedora onto the disk. I am now booted into fedora from my HD, so it seemed to solve the problem.

Thanks again for all the input.

[devils casper]

Glad to help you. Do start a new thread if you have any other question.
Enjoy Linux !