can't see HDD on slackware installation

[palacinog]

Hi!!

I'm trying to install Slackware 10.2 on a workstation, but when i go to the partition option using cfdisk it shows me only /dev/hda, where my backup is located. I also have three more HDD /dev/sda5 as a swap partition, /dev/sda6 whit linux cern and /dev/sda7 where i used to have my previous slackware version can anyone help me plz.

[palacinog]

when i type
cfdisk /dev/sda7
it says
FATAL ERROR: Cannot open disk drive

[Freston]

cfdisk defaults to /dev/hda when no arguments are given.

What happens when you do `cfdisk /dev/sda` ??


Also, what is the output of

fdisk -l     # note the -l is a small L, not a capital i

[palacinog]

the output of

fdisk -l

is

Device            Boot      Start      End      Blocks          Id       System
/dev/hda1      *           1           9729     78148161    83      Linux

When i type cfdisk /dev/sda it says that there was a fatal error and that the hard disk drive cannot be openned.

However, when i go through fdisk -l not in the isntallation menu but using the OS, it shows the complete list of partitions i have on /dev/sda which go from sda1 to sda7.

thanks

[vonbiber]

1. when i type
cfdisk /dev/sda7
it says
FATAL ERROR: Cannot open disk drive

fdisk (or cfdisk) should be given the disk device as
an argument, not a partition
In other words you should NOT type:

cfdisk /dev/sda7

but type this instead:

cfdisk /dev/sda

2. if you plan on installing slackware on an existing linux partition you
don't need to fdisk, just select that partition when you're prompted
where you want to install slackware
then say yes (and select the type of filesystem) when you're asked
if you want to format it

[palacinog]

Hi vonbiber

I type
cfdisk /dev/sda

and the output is the same than before

When i'm in the installation menu, where i have to select in which partition i want to install slackware, there appears only hda1 but not sda where slack were installed previously, and where is installed one more distribution if linux

i also tried booting different kernels but it didn't work out

Maybe this could help when i'm using the OS and type

cfdisk /dev/sda


Name    Flags    Part type    FS type                   [label]       size(MB)
..................................................................................................
sda1                    Primary     Dell utility                                 2146 
                            Pri/Log      Free space                              13497
sda5                    Logical      Linux Swap                              2006
sda6                    Logical      Linux ext3              [/]              20012
sda7   Boot          Logical      Linux ReiserfFS                       35738

and when i type

cfdisk

Name    Flags    Part type    FS type                   [label]       size(MB)
..................................................................................................
hda1     Boot         Primary     Linux ext3                                 80023