dd command doesn't work

[Corey_James]

I have a Dell dimensions 6400. I need to uninstall FC6 so I can reinstall WinXP.
1) Will not boot with WinXP CD
2) Will not boot with Knoppix LiveCD
3) Will not boot with Gparted LiveCD
4) Will not boot with Mac OS 10.5 DVD (just thought I'd try)

Tried the "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=521 count=1" command after rebooting with FC6 DVD in rescue mode and entering shell (sh-3.1). After I type in the command it prints -
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
521 bytes (521 B) copied, 0.0373664 seconds, 13.9 kB/s

How the heck can I get FC6 off my computer, or is there a way to partion my single harddrive with FC6 in place such that I can dual boot with WinXP? (Tried using Qparted while running FC6, can't touch the hard drive)


Any help would be greatly appreciated

[devils casper]

After I type in the command it prints -
1+0 records in
1+0 records out
521 bytes (521 B) copied, 0.0373664 seconds, 13.9 kB/s

it means HardDisk has been wiped out. Have you tried to boot up from Windows XP CD now?
In case Windows XP CD doesn't work this time too, execute dd command again.

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=521 count=1

[Corey_James]

Okay, that makes sense considering when I reboot after that command it gives me -
"strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility"

I'm sure I need to use the hda instead of sda, I remember that from installing it.

loaded the WinXP reinstallation disk, will not boot.
loaded the Knoppix LiveCD, will not boot.
load the FC6 DVD, WILL boot.

So why might I still not be able to boot from the WinXP CD?


Again, thank you (I can't say that enough)

[devils casper]

Boot up from CD again and execute this

su -
/sbin/fdisk -l

Post output here.

[Corey_James]

I assume you want me to reboot with the FC6 disk in rescue mode and enter the command shell.

"su -" tells me that no super user exists.
"/sbin/fdisk -1" tells me that no such file or directory

use ls and I see -
bin etc lib modules proc sbin sys usr
dev init mnt oldtmp root selinux temp var

cd to sbin and ls
halt init insmod modprobe poweroff reboot rmmod sh

Okay searched for fdisk using find / -name foo
found fdisk at /mnt/runtime/usr/sbin/fdisk

Alright worked, here is the output -

Disk /dev/hda: 80.0 GB, 80000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/tracks, 9726 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 521 = 8225280 bytes

Disk /dev/hda doesn't contain a valid partition table

[devils casper]

Your HardDisk is blank now. Windows XP CD should work now. Have you tried same CD on other machine? Have you tried any other Windows XP CD on this machine?

[oz]

If all the CDs are in fact good, and your CD-drive is being that picky about what it boots and doesn't boot, maybe the drive is beginning to fail.

[Corey_James]

I will take the WinXP CD to work and try it on another computer. It's the disk that came with the computer so it should work. The Knoppix liveCD will not boot. Oh, what the ****! Seriously? I have a DVD drive and a separate CD drive. When I was trying to boot the CD's I figured I would put them in the CD drive, but since only the DVD would boot, I put the WinXP disk in the DVD drive and it boots up!

Well thank you very much for your prompt replies to my questions. I need Fedora and WinXP on my computer, which would you install first?


Thank you

[devils casper]

Glad to help you !

Install Windows OS first. Install Fedora after Windows Installation.
Do post output of /sbin/fdisk -l again before starting Fedora installation. We will guide you how to create partitions and other necessary stuff.
Good Luck !

[Corey_James]

Just got home from work. Installing WinXP. Selected to format hard drive to NTFS, created only C: partition.

When you say to run fdisk -l again, do you to reboot FC6 DVD in rescue mode again? Should I create a linux partition from XP with Partion Magic or some tool like that? Or when I install FC6 should I do a custom layout?