Partitions do not match the way I configured them at install.

[theKbStockpiler]

On my last install I put

Drive one

windows on the first partion

created a swap partition

linux on the third partion

Drive two

Linux on the first partiton

Grub found an old windows and made a menu for it

So why does sfdisk -l return this?

Disk /dev/hda: 19457 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track
Units = cylinders of 8225280 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0

   Device Boot Start     End   #cyls    #blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1   *      0+   2549    2550-  20482843+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2       2550   10388    7839   62966767+   5  Extended
/dev/hda3          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
/dev/hda4          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
/dev/hda5       2550+   2740     191-   1534176   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda6       2741+  10388    7648-  61432528+  83  Linux

Disk /dev/sda: 60801 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track
Units = cylinders of 8225280 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0

   Device Boot Start     End   #cyls    #blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *      0+    190     191-   1534176   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda2        191    7838    7648   61432560    5  Extended
/dev/sda3          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
/dev/sda4          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
/dev/sda5        191+   7838    7648-  61432528+  83  Linux
[root@localhost kbs]#

timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd0,5)/boot/gfxmenu
default 0

title linux
kernel (hd0,5)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=/dev/hda6  resume=/dev/hda5 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,5)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd0,5)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=/dev/hda6  resume=/dev/hda5
initrd (hd0,5)/boot/initrd.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd0,5)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=/dev/hda6  failsafe
initrd (hd0,5)/boot/initrd.img

title windows
root (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

title windows1
root (hd2,0)
map (0x80) (0x82)
map (0x82) (0x80)
makeactive
chainloader +1

This is the Map File

 (hd0) /dev/hda
(hd1) /dev/sda

Thanks in advance !

[valan]

What's the issue? Your partition layout is exactly what you described.

The only thing is that I don't see where grub is finding the second Windows partition.

[theKbStockpiler]

For one I have no idea how there be can be partions that I install an O.S on and what is the mount command for fstab mounting? Are they not both partitions? Every time My thumb drive mounts it would create a new partition would it not.

I installed Linux after Windows and swap so Linux should be hda3 and it is hda5. Grub actually has it as hda6 if converted to Hard drive talk.

I was trying to figure out problems I was having with grub booting which has made me investigate the inconsistancies of what I know and what I assume I know about it.\


Thanks for your experitise!

[sgosnell]

You have extended partitions. That changes the way the partitions are numbered and mounted.

[MikeTbob]

You have extended partitions. That changes the way the partitions are numbered and mounted.

True, but I don't think it normally leaves 2 empty partitions for creating extended partitions.

[sgosnell]

You wouldn't create extended partitions inside extended partitions, those are logical partitions. It's not unusual to have multiple logical partitions inside and extended partition, that's why you use an extended partition in the first place. I'm not sure why there are extended partitions in the first place, but they are there, one on each drive. They may have already been there before the installation started, and that's why the logical partitions are there. Apparently the installer just picked one.

[theKbStockpiler]

Partition 1 Windows
Partition 2 Swap
Partition 3 Linux

I should be able to create at least another partition without it being extended but I must not understant it correctly. If I go over 4 than the forth one is extended and is broken up in to logical volumes.

Could someone explain the partition rules?

I'm thinking that the partitioner in the Distro installers don't work as assumed.

[sgosnell]

I think the extended and logical partitions were there before you started the Ubuntu install. There is an extended partition on both drives. You can remove the logical partitions, then the extended partition, and create primary partitions for Linux and swap if you like. That will require reinstalling Ubuntu, but you can do it if you want. The logical partitions aren't really hurting anything, but you can remove just the two empty ones on each drive if you like. I don't know who set them up that way, but I don't think the Ubuntu installer did it, unless you told it to. My suspicion, as I said, is that they were already there from a previous partitioning.

[theKbStockpiler]

I'm a RedHat imitator type but I like all the utilities in one place. Anyways this is a screen shot of the installer application if you edit your installs partition manually.






The GUI diagram is exactly like I intended but the out come is quite different. The installer has the drives and partitions one way in the diagram and another in the chart part. I think it is part of the installation program myself. I think it is intentional. I wiped out both drives with the windows installer and did the same with the linux ones and it made no difference. I used Mandriva 08 last on the first drive and Mandriva 10 on the second with similar results. I though that this was my Grub problem but it really is not.

Thanks for all the great replies and if you have something to add please do so!

[sgosnell]

Well, I don't know what to tell you. I can't see how you got there or what you did. All I can say is that I've installed every major distro multiple times, and I've never seen an installer put extended partitions on a drive without being told to do it. That's a new one on me.