My laptop is partitioned GPT /ext4 and dual booting 12.3 with windows using Grub2, with secure boot disabled. I am trying to upgrade to 13.2 but the 13.2 expert partitioner does not show the hard drive as being partitioned. The drive has all the various ntfs and fat partitions plus the linux root, home and swap partitions. All partitions show up with Gparted but the 13.2 partitioner shows the drive as not being partitioned.
When I use the live 13.1 installer / expert partitioner all partitions show up properly, agreeing with Gparted. Is this a bug yet to be fixed with 13.2? I shall probably upgrade to 13.1 since this has been working nicely on my desktop for months but I am curious to know why 13.2 is giving different results.
I have booted into 13.2 Installer again and after selecting keyboard, time zone, the next screen contains a proposed partition screen with three buttons “Edit Proposal Settings”, “Create Partition Setup”, and “Expert Partitioner”. There is no button “Import Partition Setup”.
Think that is in create partition setup. You do know that nothing happens until you do a final accept on the partition scheme??? So you can explore all you want
To the problem is there aything else we should know about the partitioning? RAID?
I think I already tried all three buttons to see where they lead but will try “Create Partition Setup” again and see if I missed anything. Yes I realize nothing changes until the final go ahead is given. I don’t have RAID or anything special, just seven various Windows / recovery partitions and three Linux partitions.
Now this is weird! I installed 13.1 on an empty partition (keeping the 12.3 just in case something went wrong) and the 13.1 recognized all the partitions. Then when I tried 13.2 again it also recognized all the partitions. The only thing I can think might have changed was that the mount point of /boot/sda1 set to /boot/efi had been re-done when 13.1 was installed. Maybe 13.2 didn’t like the way 12.3 had set /boot/efi??
Depends on how you boot the installer in legacy or EFI mode If you booted in legacy maybe the partitioning was not recognized because it was set to install in a MBR. Mixing modes can lead to odd things depending on the EFI BIOS
On 2015-03-26, OldJohnB <OldJohnB@no-mx.forums.opensuse.org> wrote:
> Now this is weird! I installed 13.1 on an empty partition (keeping the
> 12.3 just in case something went wrong) and the 13.1 recognized all the
> partitions. Then when I tried 13.2 again it also recognized all the
> partitions. The only thing I can think might have changed was that the
> mount point of /boot/sda1 set to /boot/efi had been re-done when 13.1
> was installed. Maybe 13.2 didn’t like the way 12.3 had set /boot/efi??
Just quick thought. The newer openSUSE installation DVDs can be booted in one of two ways: either as UEFI boot or Legacy
BIOS - the choice should be available to you on the UEFI menu. Have you checked if you’re booting the 13.1 installer in
one mode and the 13.2 installer in another?
I cannot remember changing any BIOS settings between trying to install 13.1 and 13.2. I intended to install both as UEFI. In fact I have now installed 13.1 on a spare partition to preserve my 12.3 installation and have been busy installing all my apps and tuning its functionality. When time permits I shall attempt to replace the 12.3 version installation with 13.2 and note the BIOS settings. The tests I have done so far seems to indicate that the old partition scheme (GPT) is not recognized by 13.2 when /boot/efi partition does not exist or is corrupted.
I have now seen some comments on various forums / lists that state “Don’t attempt to upgrade directly from openSUSE 12.3 to 13.2. First, upgrade to 13.1, and then to 13.2.” but don’t give a reason. So there must be some issues around this.
When you mean with “upgrade”, using the Upgrade item from the booted install DVD (remember, “upgrade” is just a common English word that, even when restricted to versions of openSUSE, may cover a lot of ways to go from one version to another), then that is a correct warning.
It is not supported, That means that it “may” work to your satisfaction, butt it was not tested during the Beta of openSUSE 13.2. And when you encounter difficulties either during or direct after installation or later, it will be difficult to get help here, because almost nobody here did the same.
You should understand that every version step might need it’s own special actions when you upgrade in situ. Creating solutions for this covering more then one step might be difficult or even impossible. Think what would be needed to accommodate an upgrade like this from openSUSE 10.2 to 13.2 and all in between.
I guess I was interpreting “upgrade” a little loosely since the quotes about “upgrading from 12.3 to 13.2 via 13.1” were specific to making changes without a complete re-installation of the OS. My case on the contrary was a new installation so the comments referring to “upgrading” probably don’t apply however my suspicion is that the 13.2 Installer is trying to read the /boot/efi of the old 12.3 and for some reason failing, and hence the Installer assumes that the drive has not been partitioned at all. I realize this is all speculation.
boot/efi has nothing at all to do with how the drive is partitioned only how booted. There is a partition table but is is different from the MBR partition table so if you mix modes EFI and MBR you may not see both partition tables thus miss existing partition. Never ever mix modes either use all EFI OS installs or all MBR OS installs. Anything else only introduces confusion.
If you plan to go all MBR or all EFI and you had mixed modes on the drive IMO it is best to wipe the drive clean and start from the beginning doing it correctly
I have never had MBR on this laptop. OpenSuse 12.3 was installed with EFI and the drive partitioned GPT dual booting Windows 8. I fully realize that MBR will not read GPT. To repeat when I use the 13.1 Installer it reads the GPT partitions created during the 12.3 installation but then when I use the 13.2 Installer with NO CHANGE to the BIOS settings the GPT partitions are not read. However after installing 13.1 on a partition separate from the 12.3 partition and then running 13.2 Installer the GPT partitions are recognized. I don’t think I can make it plainer than that. I don’t have mixed mode.
Are you absolutely sure that the installer boot was not done in legacy?? Always use the BIOS boot menu to be sure you get the right mode. It truly sounds like the 13.2 installer thinks it is in MBR mode. Also see what it plans to install is it in keeping with the EFI mode? ie it should want to mount the efi boot partition as /boot/efi and it should want to install grub2-efi as the boot program. Also the initial screen is different a MBR boot will have options across the bottom a EFI screen does not.
My laptop (ASUS S56C) has a very simplistic firmware interface (misleading referred to as BIOS even though its UEFI) there is no option to choose legacy boot its EFI or nothing the only option is to turn “Secure Boot” on and off. The OpenSuse Installers (13.2 and 13.1) do not provide any options with respect to choosing MBR or EFI prior to reading and presenting the existing partition structure, as far as I can see.
In contrast my desktop UEFI firmware has all sorts of options for Legacy and EFI setup and booting.
Correction my ASUS S56C uses an AMI Aptio EFI /BIOS and I have now discovered that it does indeed have a Legacy BIOS (MBR) mode but its called CSM which stands for Compatibility Support Module, which is why I couldn’t find it. However, this does not change the issue that I was having with OpenSuse 13.2 Installing in the presence of OpenSuse 12.3, since the CSM switch has always been set to “Disabled”.
On 2015-03-30 10:26, hcvv wrote:
>
> When you mean with “upgrade”, using the Upgrade item from the booted
> install DVD (remember, “upgrade” is just a common English word that,
> even when restricted to versions of openSUSE, may cover a lot of ways to
> go from one version to another), then that is a correct warning.
>
> It is not supported,
Wait. Upgrading via “zypper dup” jumping over a version is not
supported. Upgrading via booting the DVD and choosing “upgrade”, is
apparently supported.
The OP is, I understand, doing neither, but installing on top, which
some call “upgrade” (I say this because with the real upgrade you do not
se the partitioner section).