[Giltrap]

I have just formatted my 90 ish GB harddrive and I have installed Ubuntu on it. Everything seems to be working okay but it is saying the harddrive is only 30GB instead of the 90ishGB it is supposed to be.

I may be being a bit of an idiot and reading the wrong information. Is there any reason why I would have about 60GB not showing up on my computer? It's got nothing on it other than the operating system. The drive was formatted in NTFS by windows (windows was on another drive which I have removed, the computer now runs on the 90GB one only).

If you think I am doing something stupid and reading it wrong, please say so and tell me what to look at. I have only started using it properly yesterday so I have no idea what I am doing.

Thanks,

Giltrap

[CouchMaster]

Are you sure you used the entire HD to install Ubuntu to and not just 30gigs?

[lotuseclat79]

What version of Ubuntu? Fiesty (7.04), Edgy (6.10), or Dapper (6.0.6)?

You can run either of the following commands to determine the size of your partitions:

$ sudo fdisk -l

or

$ cat /proc/partitions

Normal installation of Linux yields three partitions: boot, root, and swap.

The boot partition is usually the smallest, the swap an order of magnitude larger, and the root another order of magnitude larger - in your case should be in the 80GB range.

Let us know the output of both of the commands, You may need to resize your partitions.

-- Tom

[Giltrap]

I am now on the computer which I have installed it all on (but using the CD at the moment). It says it is Ubuntu 7.04

well, I am not sure if I used the entire harddrive to install it, but I did attempt to get the best stuff while I was installing.

What I got from the commands was:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ cat /proc/partitions
major minor #blocks name

3 0 33027624 hda
3 1 31897026 hda1
3 2 1 hda2
3 5 1124518 hda5
7 0 646072 loop0

and

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 33.8 GB, 33820286976 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4111 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 3971 31897026 83 Linux
/dev/hda2 3972 4111 1124550 5 Extended
/dev/hda5 3972 4111 1124518+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

This was done while I was on the CD, should I have done this when I was running it off the HDD?

Also, I did a check with SiSoftware Sandra before I removed the windows disk and replaced it with the 90GB one (changing jumper things of course) and it said that my BIOS is from 1997. Could this have something to do with it because this computer is as old as the hills. (Still runs ubuntu nice enough though)

EDIT: The update manager has popped up and given me a massive list of updates. Should I install?

Giltrap

[lotuseclat79]

If the BIOS is as old as you say, then you should probably either attempt to flash upgrade the BIOS (if possible - note: it is also very risky if you get it wrong), or get a new motherboard assuming it is not possible to replace the BIOS chip - which may be a viable alternative if you check it out thoroughly - may be worth it too!

I am assuming this problem is related to the BIOS as to why your installation of the 90GB hard drive does not indicate the proper amount of size.

Note: Linux/Ubuntu installation should have indicated 3 partitions whereas yours indicates that the /dev/hda2 and /dev/hda5 overlap??? You should have a separate /boot, / (root), and a swap partition.

There are rules for configuring swap size to be at least 1*RAM size - Ill have to look it up to refresh myself on that.

It looks like the number of blocks in /dev/hda2 is very small or almost useless, and the type of /dev/hda2 being a 5 where it should be 83 to the left of Extended which should be Linux. So, it looks like /dev/hda2 is not a good indication for a Linux installation as I recall - i.e.not a compatible partition type with Linux - I'll have to look it up to see if it is a Fat partition type in which case it might be ok. Looked it up, and 5 is an Extended partition (duh)! Still not sure what that means to a valid working Linux installation though.

To give you an idea of my 80GB disk Fedora installation (yours should be similarly configured for /dev/hda, /dev/hda1, /dev/hda2, /dev/hda3):
Disk /dev/sdb: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux <--- Note: The * indicates the Boot partition
/dev/sdb2 14 9538 76509562+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb3 9539 9729 1534207+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Note: I have 1GB of RAM (so, the 1534207 above means that many 1k blocks, or 1.5GB swap).
Note: Looked up swap size and 1GB looks reasonable for RAM=1GB, but can be up to 2GB or more depending on the processor and/or word size of the processor, e.g. 64-bit AMD.

Note: If your installation does not produce an fdisk -l result indicating the full 90GB then you can assume the installation either needs a new BIOS or the installation was faulty for some other reason. Best guess now is the BIOS as to the reason.

-- Tom

[lotuseclat79]

Here is the definition of a partition type code of 5 - Extended:
05 DOS 3.3+ Extended Partition

Supports at most 8.4 GB disks: with type 05 DOS/Windows will not use the extended BIOS call, even if it is available. See type 0f below. Using type 05 for extended partitions beyond 8 GB may lead to data corruption with MSDOS.

An extended partition is a box containing a linked list of logical partitions. This chain (linked list) can have arbitrary length, but some FDISK versions refuse to make more logical partitions than there are drive letters available (e.g. MS-DOS LASTDRIVE=26 is good for at most 24 disk partitions; Novell DOS 7+ allows LASTDRIVE=32).

This to me does not look proper for a Linux installation.

-- Tom

[Giltrap]

I think I understand what you are talking about (woo!), but I'm not sure. I originally did a format with Microsoft Windows before doing anything with the computer. Could windows have done something when I formatted the drive?

[lotuseclat79]

Hi Giltrap,

It certainly looks that way!

While I'm at it, if you take a look at the Update Manager again, it will install everything under the Sun - something you can probably do without even after this problem is fixed. Instead, be more prudent and use Synaptic Package Manager after issuing the command: $ sudo apt-get update. SPM will allow you to install just one package so it has a finer grain of control at the user end than the Update Manager. Using Update Manager, clicking on the Check button is equivalent to issuing the sudo apt-get update command, but never use the Install/Update button unless you really, really intend it and need everything, which most folks do not.

If you formatted your 90GB drive with Windows - go back for a do over using Ubuntu this time and reinstall it. Ubuntu/Linux installations are not normally confined to 30 GB on a disk as large as 90GB.

Before do that, however, using the data output from my system running the command: sudo fdisk -l, figure out some suitable sizes for your three new Linux partitions: /boot, / or root, and swap. If you use my data, you will end up missing 10 GB. I'd recommend something like 1-1.5 GB for swap if you have 1GB RAM for the swap, 10 MB for the /boot partition, and the rest for the root partition to use the entire disk.

-- Tom

[Giltrap]

Okay, I'll have a go at working it out. I can't actually remember how much RAM there is, and I'm actually not 100% sure on the HDD size either. It didn't have any information on the harddrive, so I'll look at the information that I got from SiSoftware Sandra before I removed the windows disk. It should be on there.

UPDATE: It's actually 77GB and there is 384MB SDRAM

Here is my absoloute guess at what it might be. I don't know what some of it is, so I just put what I think that particular bit might do

/dev/hda: 77GB
/dev/hda1: (The OS maybe?)
/dev/hda2: (Space for my stuff? The rest of the HDD space?)
/dev/hda3: 393216 K blocks

Giltrap

[lotuseclat79]

Looks to me like you probably have an 80GB hard drive, so, to make it easier for youself, you could just use my data from ,y previous post to construct the Linux filesystem on each separate partition.

Then after you have a sudo fdisk -l output that is like mine, go ahead and reinstall in the largest partition.

Note: Using the fdisk -l command:
1) sudo fdisk -l /dev/hda will output in Units of cylinders (i.e. Start, End)
2) sudo fdisk -l -u /dev/hda will output in Units of sectors (ditto)

Use that output data to run the mke2fs command to create the Linux filesystems with types 83 for the /boot, and / or root partitions, and 82 for the Linux swap partition.

One thing though, you should try to increase the RAM from 348MB - although that will work - to at least 1GB if you can possibly do that. Since you already have what looks like an 80GB drive, go ahead and partition as per my configuration.

-- Tom

[Giltrap]

I'm a little confused, but I never expected trying out Ubuntu to be easy anyway

So, what I should do is to reformat my HDD using Ubuntu, then making the partitions go something like what you had, which was:
"Disk /dev/sdb: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux <--- Note: The * indicates the Boot partition
/dev/sdb2 14 9538 76509562+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb3 9539 9729 1534207+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris"

I don't know how to reformat, I've only ever reformatted on windows. Could you explain what to do?

I feel like I've been a bit of an idiot and missed something; if I have could you explain in real simple terms what I need to do.

Thanks,

Giltrap

[Giltrap]

Okay, I have reformatted the HDD with this thing called Killdisk, since I had no idea how to do it with linux, I improvised.

It still thinks that it is 30GB, so I think it is something other than what is on the drive itself doing that. I am going to put it in another computer that I have spare and see what happens in that one, so if it still doesn't work right it is something up with the HDD.

I don't know when I'll be able to try it, but for now does anybody know what might have gone wrong with my harddrive if in fact something has happened?

I know it's a bit hypothetical and uncertain, but I would like some suggestions anyway. I'm like that .

Thanks,

Giltrap

[saikee]

My guess is the Bios only allows you to see the first 34Gb. Linux and MS Windows work on the information provided by the Bios and so neither of them should exceed the 34Gb limit.

A 1997 Bios does not sound too old for me though but if it was written to address no more than 34Gb then you will need a Bios update to cross the current barrier.

"fdisk -l" is the definitely report for seeing the exact size of the hard disk Linux can read. Partition the hard disk with any OS should yield the same hard disk capacity.

[Giltrap]

When I was running windows it was showing the right size... I once accidently filled the whole lot when I left my webcam recording too long, so I know it's there

I might have accidently grabbed the circuit board on the drive while I was messing with the cables to make it the master (and only) drive, could I have ruined something during this process?

Thanks and thanks some more

[saikee]

I doubt it. If Windows sees the full 90Gb then the Bios must report it and the same will be available in Linux.

The other thing would be you accidentally restricted the capacity in the jumper or with the Bios. Alternative you may have use an embedded compression software with the hard disk that allows capacity bigger than your physical drive.

Can you confirm the make and model number of your hard disk?