Hardware: Fujitsu Primergy MX130 S2 server (amazon)
Intel PWLA8492MT PRO/1000 MT PCI/PCI-X Dual Port Server Adapter (amazon)
/dev/sda 250MB Factory drive
/dev/sdb 1TB Seagate Drive added.
Platform: openSUSE 12.2 x86_64
installed with DVD image verified with sha1
I had 12.2 running on this new server for over a month. In the beginning, I had foolishly put the server online directly to the internet before I really had anything setup while watching packets using the shark program. I noticed some activity while watching packets fly by that kind of freaked me out. I then placed a hardware firewall (netgear router) between the server and the internet. Many weeks later, I saw a message (virus detection setting in CMOS) reporting that the boot sector had changed since the last boot. The server had been running for several weeks without a hitch after I put the hardware firewall in place. Since I received that message, I have been getting anomalous behavior from the server with things breaking down. That was the last straw. I decided to wipe and re-install.
The re-install will not boot giving the error “No Active Partition”. The partitioning setup is /dev/sda1 with 20GB ext4 “/”, /dev/sda2 with 212GB ext4 “/home”, /dev/sda3 as 5GB swap, and /dev/sdb1 as ext4 “/srv”.
I did download grubcheck from please_try_again and the program said something about a protective MBR. I found out later that I shouldn’t use the grubcheck because it was written for 12.1. Oh BTW, I am using the default boot loader which I think is grub2. I have attempted several installs with no success and I read everything I could get my hands on from this forum. Most of the problems had to do with dual booting and macs. I’m working blind here because I don’t know any programs that I can use to check things out other than grubcheck.
Now if you install grub into the MBR or you have generic boot code in the MBR, using a GPART boot disk would allow you to set the active partition, but your best bet may be to follow the reinstall of grub from your installation DVD. Also, I am not a big fan of using more than the normal three Partitions of root /, SWAP and /home unless you know what you are doing and in particular if you are unclear on installing grub or marking a partition as active. But, read through the two links and let us know if you have any other questions. Using findgrub should create no problems on your hard drive at all.
I know about 2 tools to really wipe a disk: one is badblocks, the other dd (both command line tools).
There are man pages describing the use of these tools.
As far as I remember, badblocks (and probably dd too) is available from an openSUSE live system -
I once used it to really wipe a disk before a fresh install.
You’re aware that you should have at least one reliable backup of your data before using these to wipe?
If you don’t like to wait until the whole hard disk is wiped,
wipe the first 100 sectors, say, and as well (!!) the last 100 sectors
(because partition information frequently is stored here as well).
If you wiped a hard disk in this way, and booted from a DVD installer disk
(which usually will have no virus or worm on it) then openSUSE should install fine.
That would be logical.
Everything else, in such a situation, may indicate a hardware error.
FYI - The two links listed above are exactly the same. **(Now Fixed) **Thank-you for the info. I have cataloged it so I can reference it later as soon as I finish here. This catalog I compile will be sent through time into the future for when my future self has forgotten all of this. If you would like to post the other link, that would be cool.
On the boot drive, I only have used the three partitions you have written about. The fourth partition is on another drive meant for server data use exclusively.
I just re-partitioned the drive thinking that the deletion and replacement of the partitions would do the job. Evidently, that Texas toilet paper approach wouldn’t take s*** off of anything. Thanks for the new tools I can now add to my belt. It’s been like trying to drive a car without knowing where all of the controls are.
Most of the problems people have complained about involved an installation with 2+ OS’s on the same machine. “No Dual Boot” was meant to mean “single operating system” or “openSUSE 12.2 only”.
WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The until frisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.
Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders, total 488397168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes/ 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0.00000000
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 488397167 244198583+ ee GPT
WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sdb'! The until frisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x83f91e89
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 1953525167 976762583+ ee GPT
Rescue:~ # _
Here is what I got from the grub2-install /dev/sda command part of the instructions:
Rescue:/> grub2-install /dev/sda
/usr/sbin/grub2-bios-setup: warning: this GPT partition label contains no BIOS Boot Partition; embedding won't be possible.
/usr/sbin/grub2-bios-setup: warning: Embedding is not possible. GRUB can only be installed in this setup by using blocklists. However, blocklists are UNRELIABLE and their use is discouraged..
/usr/sbin/grub2-bios-setup: error: will not proceed with blocklists.
Rescue:/>_
Just for grins and giggles, I tried parted print and this is what I got:
Model: ATA ST3250312AS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 250 GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: GPT
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 21.5GB 21.5GB ext4 primary boot
2 21.5GB 245GB 223GB ext4 primary
3 245GB 250GB 5374MB linux-swap(v1) primary
(parted) _
I’m guessing that the install DVD program setup the GPT partition table. I didn’t get a good look at these things the first time I installed linux because everything worked. I would expect that after all the partitions were deleted, the DVD install program would have put the correct boot code in the right place and installed GRUB2. Everything just worked fine when the drive was blank & new. At this point, I want to do some sort of Low Level Format at this point and try again. But, That doesn’t feel right.
This was taken from another message here in the forum:
So Its hard to make sense of all of these different terms, but one needs to understand why they may make a difference for you. I am using some links here that might help.
The TOP down order is as follows:
UEFI Firmware: It used to be called a PC BIOS and I may still use the term BIOS but the full name is Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) or UEFI for short. Its still the starting program in your PC that kicks starts its operation when the PC is turned on or when it gets rebooted. It is designed to keep track of your hardware and to provide a uniform interface for those resources to your operating system. The UEFI system is designed to address lots of issues including total memory and total disk space. And now, with the advent of Windows 8, it can manage the signing of a operating system boot up process, not allowing an OS to boot if it does not match a certain key loaded into the PC firmware. As for hard disks, it needs to understand GUID partition tables and EFI Partitions. A UEFI PC can often be set to work as a simple BIOS and/or certain features operate while others do not, but it is all up the manufacturer as to what you are allowed to do in UEFI PC setup.
GUID Partition Table: It used to just be a partition table on a hard disk, but now the latest incarnation is called a Globally Unique IDentifier Partition Table (GUID partition table or GPT) (GUID Partition Table - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) or GUID for short or perhaps called a GPT partition. It allows for humongous hard disks with very little limit to the number or sizes of the partitions and is about as far from the old MBR partition type you can get. The basics are that the Linux kernel understands and works with GPT disk partitions just fine, but not all openSUSE disk tools can be used at present with GPT disk partitions. In a case where I had two hard drives and I wanted to load openSUSE on a second disk, I might remove any part of an existing GUID disk and go back to a standard MBR (Master Boot Record) hard drive partition setup on the disk to be installed by openSUSE.
EFI Partition: An EFI partition is called Extensible Firmware Interface partition and is part of the GPT disk partition definition (EFI System partition - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) designed to work with to be read by a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface PC in order to determine what is going to be booted.
Grub2 or Grub2-efi is the latest incarnation of the openSUSE Linux Operating System boot selector with the efi version required to boot from a UEFI enabled PC. Grub2-efi should be able to boot from anything, but the partitioning tools that come with openSUSE 12.2 may not work properly with a GPT disk partition setup. Further, conversion of a GPT disk partition will require software tools not included with openSUSE 12.2. That is why two links were provided on how one might boot using grub2-efi and the steps you need to take for that task.
As for loading openSUSE on a secondary or even external hard disk, there are just a few things you must do. 1) Your PC UEFI or BIOS must allow you to select and boot from the second or external hard drive. 2) The disk partition setup must be compatible with openSUSE 12.2. 3) You must on purpose place all three suggested/required partitions on that second or external hard disk including root /, /home & SWAP 4) You must make sure to either install the Grub 2 boot loader into the MBR (I recommend for a MBR disk) or place generic boot code into the MBR. Consider that secondary or external hard drives may contain a blank MBR which will not boot no matter what else is on the rest of the disk.
So that is my quick and dirty explanation of these terms we seem to be floating around here and I hope that it helps understand the issues in some way.
Here is some info on wiping out a GPT disk (And losing ALL data there as well): Wiping Out Old GPT Data, as GPT disks are not compatible with the tools included with openSUSE 12.2 even though the Linux kernel does work with GPT disk.
On 2012-12-12 04:06, arvidjaar wrote:
>
> jdmcdaniel3;2510307 Wrote:
>> GPT disks are not compatible with the tools included with openSUSE 12.2
>> even though the Linux kernel does work with GPT disk.
>>
>
> Sorry? Could you elaborate, please? That is quite serious statement
> that needs to be backed up by bug report numbers
It is a known issue. For example, fdisk can not cope, there was a summer
project that rewrote fdisk with that goal - see the project mail list
for the progress reports emails.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)
It is a known issue. For example, fdisk can not cope, there was a summer
project that rewrote fdisk with that goal - see the project mail list
for the progress reports emails.
But fdisk is a standard tool that responds on openSUSE the same way it does on any other linux system when it sees GPT , it gives this warning-
WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on ‘/dev/sda’! The until frisk doesn’t support GPT. Use GNU Parted.
Clear and not an issue, I think. The tools in openSUSE seem to handle GPT, as well as any.
Better tools are nice, if someone knows of some good tools not included, ask the devs to include it could be helpful.
On 2012-12-12 11:36, dvhenry wrote:
>
>> It is a known issue. For example, fdisk can not cope, there was a summer
>> project that rewrote fdisk with that goal - see the project mail list
>> for the progress reports emails.
> But fdisk is a standard tool that responds on openSUSE the same way it
> does on any other linux system when it sees GPT , it gives this warning-
>
> WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on ‘/dev/sda’! The until
> frisk doesn’t support GPT. Use GNU Parted.
>
> Clear and not an issue, I think. The tools in openSUSE seem to handle
> GPT, as well as any.
It is an issue if you want to use fdisk. Yes, it is a standard tool, but
it is included by default by openSUSE. And it is openSUSE who has
fostered the new fdisk version in development.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.1 x86_64 “Asparagus” at Telcontar)
Maybe you mean ‘gdisk’ which I ported from Fedora (where it is a standard tool) a while ago - for 12.1 already :
# zypper info gdisk
Loading repository data...
Reading installed packages...
Information for package gdisk:
Repository: PTA
Name: gdisk
Version: 0.8.5-110.1
Arch: x86_64
Vendor: obs://build.opensuse.org/home:please_try_again
Installed: No
Status: not installed
Installed Size: 733.2 KiB
Summary: An fdisk-like partitioning tool for GPT disks
Description:
An fdisk-like partitioning tool for GPT disks. GPT
fdisk features a command-line interface, fairly direct
manipulation of partition table structures, recovery
tools to help you deal with corrupt partition tables,
and the ability to convert MBR disks to GPT format.
and which became meanwhile available for openSUSE under another name (that I don’t remember, but somebody already mentionned it), AFAIK in the standard repo, but not installed by default.
fdisk is a MBR partitioning tool, intended to handle (DOS) partition scheme. There is no need to improve or modify fdisk IMO just to keep the name. GPT and MBR partitioning are too different. You don’t improve fdisk. You write another program. That’s what Rod Smith did with gdisk.
I was unable to install 12.2 on a GPT disk as well. I had acquired a hard drive which unbeknownst to me had been partitioned with GPT. I tried numerous times to install 12.2 to it. The install would appear to go fine until it got to where it tried to write the bootloader and then it would fail with error messages to the effect of “Unable to find partition hd:x”. I repartitioned it a few times with the yast partitioner but this did not help. I finally ran fdisk on it and got the GPT warning. I then used gparted to delete all the partitions and then repartition explicitly to MSDOS type. All then went well after that.
On Wed 12 Dec 2012 01:48:06 PM CST, Carlos E. R. wrote:
On 2012-12-12 11:36, dvhenry wrote:
>
>> It is a known issue. For example, fdisk can not cope, there was a
>> summer project that rewrote fdisk with that goal - see the project
>> mail list for the progress reports emails.
> But fdisk is a standard tool that responds on openSUSE the same way
> it does on any other linux system when it sees GPT , it gives this
> warning-
>
> WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on ‘/dev/sda’! The until
> frisk doesn’t support GPT. Use GNU Parted.
>
> Clear and not an issue, I think. The tools in openSUSE seem to handle
> GPT, as well as any.
It is an issue if you want to use fdisk. Yes, it is a standard tool, but
it is included by default by openSUSE. And it is openSUSE who has
fostered the new fdisk version in development.
Hi
In 12.2 the packages are called;
gptfdisk - GPT partitioning and MBR repair software
gptfdisk-fixparts - A tool for repairing certain types of damage to MBR disks
The first one has gdisk (0.8.2).
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 12.2 (x86_64) Kernel 3.4.11-2.16-desktop
up 13:27, 3 users, load average: 0.01, 0.02, 0.05
CPU Intel i5 CPU M520@2.40GHz | Intel Arrandale GPU
I have a BIOS system. I tried making a separate boot partition (when the disk was GPT) but I could never get it to work. As I noted, though, after I repartitioned with MSDOS partitions every worked.
