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Topic: cfdisk, don't know designation of the CF-card

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bartgrefte Offline

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Posts: 33
Joined: Jan. 2007

Posted: Mar. 17 2009,21:13

Now another error when trying to start the frugal grub install:

"sfdisk: read error on /dev/hdc1 - cannot read sector 0
Sorry, system has not detected linux partition."

What I did differently, appearantly to get that error, is this:
I created one big EXT2 partition on another computer with the help of Acronis Disk Director Suite v10.
At first I still got that "Warning: start=63" error, but then I did "sudo mkfs.ext2 /dev/hdc1" followed by a reboot.
Then I got that new error.

Edit: ran sfdisk. It saw the EXT2 partition, let it write the partition table, followed by a reboot.

Now I get this:
"Warning: start=1 - ", rest is the same as before.

humpty

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Posts: 655
Joined: Sep. 2005

Posted: Mar. 17 2009,22:37

hmm, it sounds like something wrong with the CF card.

i always blank out the bootsector before a format;
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdc bs=512 count=1

you know, can just use fdisk to format :
>sudo fdisk /dev/hdc
delete whatever partitions are there.
add a new primary partition (it defaults it to ext2)
write it.

use emelfm filemanager to see if you can mount it (right-click-mount)
copy some files to it just to see if it's ok.
unmount it

then do a frugal grub install on it (hdc1).

I have 2 Kingstons 2GB (they're really toshiba's, but you probably already know that). they're usually very reliable, so i'm quite surprised.

i just did a pendrive install on one of them just to see if it works and the only problem i had was that the installer could'nt find the linux24 or minirt24.gz,
but that's cos i boot the pen from freedos. i copied these 2 files to the boot/
directory of the kingston and grub boots okay.

as a last resort, you could try freedos instead of grub;
http://petepr.drivehq.com/dsl/guides/guides_idiots.html#Boot_LoadLin
you might need to use fdisk to switch on the boot flag.

bartgrefte Offline

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Posts: 33
Joined: Jan. 2007

Posted: Mar. 18 2009,00:28

Quote

hmm, it sounds like something wrong with the CF card.

All three of them?
Have three identical 2GB Kingston's... (these)
All of them give those errors when I try a frugal install.

Also wanted to try the cdrom from the official DSL book, maybe that one works?, but can't.
The USB->PATA/SATA adapter I got, sit's partially in the way of the cdrom-power connector. Gonna try something else later.

Quote

i always blank out the bootsector before a format;
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdc bs=512 count=1

Tried that couple of times...

Quote

you know, can just use fdisk to format :
>sudo fdisk /dev/hdc
delete whatever partitions are there.
add a new primary partition (it defaults it to ext2)
write it.

fdisk? Wait, I've been using cfdisk, this evening sfdisk once (no clue how that one works, after pressing ENTER a few times it showed the EXT2 partition and 3 0MB ones?!?!, and wrote the partition table).
Gonna try fdisk when I wake up again. (almost 1:30AM now...)

Quote

use emelfm filemanager to see if you can mount it (right-click-mount)
copy some files to it just to see if it's ok.
unmount it

then do a frugal grub install on it (hdc1).

Okay, gonna try that to.

Quote

I have 2 Kingstons 2GB (they're really toshiba's, but you probably already know that). they're usually very reliable, so i'm quite surprised.

Ehh, didn't know that, I do now :P

Quote

i just did a pendrive install on one of them just to see if it works and the only problem i had was that the installer could'nt find the linux24 or minirt24.gz,
but that's cos i boot the pen from freedos. i copied these 2 files to the boot/
directory of the kingston and grub boots okay.

Pendrive install... What's the difference with a frugal install if that happens to work over here?

Quote

as a last resort, you could try freedos instead of grub;
http://petepr.drivehq.com/dsl/guides/guides_idiots.html#Boot_LoadLin
you might need to use fdisk to switch on the boot flag.

Well, changing bootloader (or what's it called) won't help since I can't get DSL installed...
Anyway, someone recommended me to try installing Grub, just that, to check if the computer can boot it.

bartgrefte Offline

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Posts: 33
Joined: Jan. 2007

Posted: Mar. 18 2009,12:39

Well... Tried fdisk, then mounted it with that filemanager, copied the knoppix folder, that went without problems.
Unmounted it, that took a lot longer though than mounting it, and then started the installation again:......
""Warning: start=63 - etc..."

Installing grub:
Got it installed succesfully, so it seems, didn't get errors. (uses this method)
But after trying to boot from the CFcard, I get a blinking cursor, then "no bootable device detected".
Back in DSL I mounted the CFcard, no grub files/folders...

bartgrefte Offline

Group: Members
Posts: 33
Joined: Jan. 2007

Posted: Mar. 18 2009,19:09

This is just...

Had an idea.
"MacGyver'd" an external cdrom player together -> disassembled a PATA-HDD USB case and used the USB->PATA converter pcb to connect an old cdrom player to the miniITX system.
Then downloaded the most recent DSL (4.4.10) and burned it on a cd to try it out.

1st attempt: no linux FS found (no errorcode or anything)
Ran cfdisk, which found an ext2 partition, wrote the partitiontable without changing anything.
2nd attempt: installation succesful! There are even files present, grub too, but cf-card is still not bootable. Grub won't load, no error, just no bootable device detected.
An yes, I did this...

28 replies since Mar. 01 2009,20:09

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