[SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

MW2K · 2016-10-26 12:21:31

I've gotten BL going on my laptop, but I want to get it on my desktop too, so I can take advantage of Steam constantly adding new games (and an all-round faster computer). Anyhow, I can boot into a live session of BL on this comp and I can resize and otherwise modify /dev/sba which is an SSD that has Windows 10 on it, but I can't install it to my 2TB drive, which is /dev/sba2. I'd rather not put linux on my SSD as I have nearly 1.5 TB spare on the SATA drive.

This is how gparted sees both drives.

http://i.imgur.com/HHllPdF.png

http://i.imgur.com/9dWIUCr.png

The info for the 2TB drive says it cannot get the contents of the filesystem and it may need ntfs-3g and ntfsprog to read it. When I do fdisk -l for the 2TB drive I get:

Partition 2 does not start on physical sector boundary.

I get this with both the gparted that comes with BL and the one that comes with Fatdog 702. Does this mean the drive has some issue with Linux? I've googled for this and have got a whole bunch of variable and contradictory information, so I've come here for the definitive answer.

My second question is do I have to install the bootloader to /dev/sda2 where the EFI partition is? If so, will it nuke the Windows boot stuff? Alas, until that magic day where Linux runs every game natively, I have to keep Windows around.

System specs

i5-6600
Asrock Fatality H170 mobo
390x graphics card
8Gb RAM
250 Gb EVO SSD for the first drive - M.2 socket
Toshiba 2 TB SATA drive for the second drive

Thanks in advance!

Mod Note: Oversized images replaced with URLs, please limit images to ~250x250px
-HoaS

Last edited by MW2K (2016-10-27 01:39:46)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-10-26 12:38:21

MW2K wrote:

My second question is do I have to install the bootloader to /dev/sda2 where the EFI partition is?

Do not direct the BunsenLabs installer to that EFI system partition.

The BL installer is not UEFI compatible so it shouldn't touch that partition unless you force it to at which point it will probably

nuke the Windows boot stuff

So please make sure that the EFI system partition is untouched by the installer.

Furthermore, the GRUB bootloader should never be installed to a partition, that setup is highly likely to break during kernel upgrades.

As you have a UEFI system you will have to toggle "CSM" or "Legacy" mode to be able to boot the BL system unless you convert it to UEFI, guide here:

https://forums.bunsenlabs.org/viewtopic.php?id=391

Alternatively, use a Debian jessie non-free netinstall ISO image to install a basic (non-X) jessie system then use the bunsen-netinstall script to convert it.

https://github.com/BunsenLabs/bunsen-netinstall

In respect of your first problem, can we see the output of:

sudo parted -l /dev/sdb

This presumes that your 2TiB drive has been assigned to /dev/sdb, correct if necessary.

MW2K · 2016-10-26 13:01:19

Sorry about the images - should've resized them.

OK, I get:

user@debian:~$ sudo parted -l /dev/sdb
Model: ATA Samsung SSD 850 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 250GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size    File system  Name                          Flags
 1      1049kB  473MB  472MB   ntfs         Basic data partition          hidden, diag
 2      473MB   578MB  105MB   fat32        EFI system partition          boot, esp
 3      578MB   595MB  16.8MB               Microsoft reserved partition  msftres
 4      595MB   250GB  249GB   ntfs         Basic data partition          msftdata


Model: ATA TOSHIBA DT01ACA2 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 2000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  2000GB  2000GB  primary  ntfs         boot


Model: Generic Flash Disk (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 4089MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size   Type     File system  Flags
 1      32.8kB  884MB  884MB  primary               boot, hidden

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-10-26 13:10:25

MW2K wrote:

Model: ATA TOSHIBA DT01ACA2 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 2000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  2000GB  2000GB  primary  ntfs         boot

Looks like Windows has partitioned the device, if you don't have any data on the drive that you want to keep then you can use GParted to create a new partition table (pick "ms-dos" as the type unless you want a UEFI system) or use this to blast off the current partition table data:

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1

Probably best to use GParted though.

As I said, if you install from the BL ISO image then you will have to toggle "CMS"/"Legacy" mode from your firmware ("BIOS") options to pick between Windows and BunsenLabs.

Of course this depends on a reasonable implementation of the UEFI sandard by your motherboard's manufacturers and this is unfortunatly not as common as it should be.

For full compatibility I would recommend the netinstall route & a true UEFI system.

MW2K · 2016-10-26 13:23:25

I have data on /dev/sdb I want to keep (about 300 Gb of Steam games). What I wanted to do was resize the drive and give BL about 200 GB of its own to live on. It's not letting me do that in gparted as I get this error:

Unable to read the contents of this file system!
Because of this some operations may be unavailable.
The cause might be a missing software package.
The following list of software packages is required for ntfs file system support:  ntfsprogs / ntfs-3g.

ntfs-3g is there in BL so I'm not sure what's going on here.

or full compatibility I would recommend the netinstall route & a true UEFI system.

Edit: just re-read your post.

Last edited by MW2K (2016-10-26 13:24:47)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-10-26 13:40:59

MW2K wrote:

I have data on /dev/sdb I want to keep (about 300 Gb of Steam games). What I wanted to do was resize the drive and give BL about 200 GB of its own to live on.

As the drive contains a Windows filesystem I would strongly recommend using the tools provided by Microsoft for that operating system to resize the partition and make room for a new one.

MW2K · 2016-10-26 14:33:07

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

As the drive contains a Windows filesystem I would strongly recommend using the tools provided by Microsoft for that operating system to resize the partition and make room for a new one.

Sure thing, but why can I resize the SSD, which was also formatted by Windows, but not the 2 TB drive? Just curious.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-10-26 14:36:43

MW2K wrote:

why can I resize the SSD, which was also formatted by Windows, but not the 2 TB drive?

I have no idea, sorry.

Horizon_Brave · 2016-10-26 15:51:33

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

MW2K wrote:
why can I resize the SSD, which was also formatted by Windows, but not the 2 TB drive?
I have no idea, sorry.

Would his original comment about needing the package ntfs-3g and ntfsprog to handle and deal with ntfs formatted drives be of any use? Perhaps it can make deal with the SSD without it, but maybe the spinning disk drive it may need those two packages?

MW2K · 2016-10-27 01:39:27

Horizon_Brave wrote:

Would his original comment about needing the package ntfs-3g and ntfsprog to handle and deal with ntfs formatted drives be of any use? Perhaps it can make deal with the SSD without it, but maybe the spinning disk drive it may need those two packages?

The BL distro comes with both (according to locate) so I'm assuming the issue was elsewhere.

I actually resized the partition using Windows computer management and installed it from there. I got grub installed on /dev/sdb so when I power up the computer, I just use the BIOS's boot menu to select the drive and voila, I'm in linux. So, it's all good right now.

Working like a charm. Thanks for everyone's help.

#1 2016-10-26 12:21:31

[SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

#2 2016-10-26 12:38:21

Re: [SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

#3 2016-10-26 13:01:19

Re: [SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

#4 2016-10-26 13:10:25

Re: [SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

#5 2016-10-26 13:23:25

Re: [SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

#6 2016-10-26 13:40:59

Re: [SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

#7 2016-10-26 14:33:07

Re: [SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

#8 2016-10-26 14:36:43

Re: [SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

#9 2016-10-26 15:51:33

Re: [SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

#10 2016-10-27 01:39:27

Re: [SOLVED] Can't install to a 2TB SATA drive

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