"Libparted Bug Found!" error in GParted

[JASpup]

GParted 0.16.1 can't recognize my ATAFLASH (external USB HD) with this error.

The disk was partitioned in XP to mirror the internal.

partition 1: 40M FAT16
partition 2: 64G NTFS
partition 3: 03G FAT32
(large unallocated section)

GParted displays the model but reports "No devices detected". In the process the ATAFLASH partition icons disappeared from the desktop.

Does this have a known cause?

I initially partitioned this drive in Puppy and retried in XP for a similar problem.
The internal drive its mirroring has no problem being detected.
It has to be compatible across systems.

[bigpup]

That is a very old version of Gparted.
The latest is version 1.3.1

I would try a much newer version of Gparted.

I would tell you how to get it , but you never tell use what Puppy version you want to run it in.

[JASpup]

That is a very old version of Gparted.
The latest is version 1.3.1

You're right, but it doesn't make sense to me.

I reformatted the ATAFLASH for a lone boot partition.

I made it my intended size in XP Disk Management.

A 3rd party partition app shrunk the size of the partition upon restoration.

I used another 3rd party app (same company) to increase the size of the partition.

Afterwards there were errors in XP, so I booted Tahr (both JWM & X-Tahr).

GParted hung on operation.

NOW I'm in Xenial, GParted 0.25.0, and it looks like it's working.

XP is so old Tahr shouldn't have a problem with it. I do not know where to proceed because I expect more errors the more I put the drive into use, though it looks promising at the moment.

[JASpup]

The 2nd & 3rd primary partitions created normally.

1 NTFS
2 FAT32
3 FAT32

Next came a logical.

The 4th logical partition within extended produced this error with a "clear old file system signatures" message:

le1.png (8.35 KiB) Viewed 761 times

The extended partition does not have a file format, but in XP I noticed within it all partitions had to be NTFS.

Primary partitions could be FAT16, 32, or NTFS.

The attachment clear_sigs.png is no longer available

[bigpup]

What specifically are you trying to do??

[JASpup]

What specifically are you trying to do??

I am very reluctantly in Win10 now as GParted won't read my disk.

Disk Management in 10 & AOMEI won't either.

If anyone knows how to get it back I'd appreciate it.

I don't mind wiping it and starting over from scratch, but it has to be read first.

How'd I do this?

I tried to make a logical partition in an extended partition in GParted.

I was trying to partition my disk.

Now I'm just trying to recognize it.

[JASpup]

GParted knows the device is sdb, but it's not 'recognized well enough' to wipe it.

Code: Select all

# wipe -q /dev/sdb
Okay to WIPE 1 special file ? (Yes/No) Yes
/dev/sdb: open error: No such device or address
Operation finished.
0 files wiped and 0 special files ignored in 0 directories, 0 symlinks removed but not followed, 2 errors occurred.
# 

then...

Code: Select all

sdb5    8:21   0 134.2G  0 part 
sr0    11:0    1  1024M  0 rom  
# wipe -q /dev/sdb5
Okay to WIPE 1 special file ? (Yes/No) Yes
Wipoing /dev/sdb5, pass 0 in quick mode   
/dev/sdb5: write error: Input/output error

First line, sdb5 is obviously not the full disk but just the last partition I created that caused the malfunction. After the command I ran lsblk again and there's no sdb at all. It was only read for a moment. I got it to recognize the device momentarily by plugging into a different USB port.

Some info from parted:

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# parted /dev/sdb
GNU Parted 3.2
Using /dev/sdb
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) print                                                            
Error: /dev/sdb: unrecognised disk label
Model: HITACHI HTS545025B9A (scsi)                                        
Disk /dev/sdb: 2000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: unknown
Disk Flags: 
(parted)  

Plugging into a new USB port will recognize the disk momentarily:

Code: Select all

Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.31.1).
Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.

p
fdisk: cannot open /dev/sdb: Input/output error

[JASpup]

Honestly I thought I bricked this HD, but it works again.

There isn't a technical explanation save a lot of patience and throwing all the tools at it.

The logical and extended partitions are gone, deleted in fdisk, but it was probably XP Disk Management that got fdisk to recognize the disk again.

Now I want to realize what blitzed it.

Disk Management knew when I tried to delete the logical partition that it wasn't created in Windows.

A partition is more than just its formatting

It hung on deletion, but getting to the point where I could actually issue the command is probably what permitted Xenial's fdisk to clean up.

Is it just the logical partition created in GParted?

Was the extended permissible?

Can I use extended and logicals again if I create them in XP?

The precarious trek onward....

[bigpup]

You posted this:

NOW I'm in Xenial, GParted 0.25.0, and it looks like it's working.

So, now it is not working using a newer version of Gparted V0.25.0?

When I want to completely redo the partition setup on a drive.
I always try to use the newest version of Gparted.
Make a new partition table
Make the partitions in order from beginning of the unallocated space to the end.
Format the partitions whatever format.

There is always the possibility the drive is going bad.

[JASpup]

You posted this:

NOW I'm in Xenial, GParted 0.25.0, and it looks like it's working.

So, now it is not working using a newer version of Gparted V0.25.0?

It worked for a little bit when I wrote that, then I broke it, hence the later posts. Persistent tinkering got repaired it again, but it wasn't straightforward.

I'm rereading this thread just to remind myself what I did so I don't do it again.

I think I started creating partitions in XP then switched to GParted which neither os liked.

The only apparently successful repair command I ran rewrote the MBR:

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dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=446 count=1

Make the partitions in order from beginning of the unallocated space to the end.

I didn't make partitions from beginning to end. My start in Linux involved an unconventional partitioning so I tried it again. Different system so that may be the problem.