"no primary partitions marked bootable" partition error

Hey,
I tried Arch some time ago and liked it, then I became curious about other distribution and checked them out. Now, I'd like to return to Arch, but while installing, I had trouble partitioning my harddrives.
My whole sda is Windows, it's bootable and I don't want it to be touched.
On sdb ist looks something like this
sdb? a bit free space
sdb4 logically Windows
sdb5 logically Linux Swap
sdb6 logically Linux Swap
sdb1 Primary Linux ext 3
sdb3 Primary Linux ext3
I wanted to install the main sytem to sdb1, so I set the bootflag there. sdb3 is supposed to be my /home directory.
When I tried to write this, I got an error:
no primary partitions marked bootable. DOS MBR cannot boot this
What am I doing wrong? This problem didn't occur in the previous releases of Arch. Has it something to do with the 1024 cylinders boot limitation. I thought these times were over.
Can I solve this by setting the boot flag to the free space or the windows partition? Would that change anything on my windows partition?
I'm glad for any answer. I searched this forum, but couldn't find anything similar. Please help.

You can happily ignore this message, but it's still odd that you get it at all, since you have set sdb1 as bootable. How exactly did you plan to set up the boot mechanism for your system?

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Unable to split the only visible partition (C) on a fresh system - 4 primary partitions

Hello,
tl;dr I am probably stuck with 4 primary partitions (two WINRE, EFI, and C), and unable to split C on a fresh system installation from HP DVDs.
320GB HDD has failed on my G6 2233 HP laptop. I've mounted a 500GB replacement, and done the following things:
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Here I've wished for 120GB and 344GB.
Anyway, even with various values I've got an error on the next step, claiming that there is no room on the HDD.
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First screen is without any action (there is a bunch of weird partitions there, all created by HP software/OS).
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Even if I will find a way to convert C to logical, is that safe, and should I after D is created return C to primary?
I've tried to play safe, and let the HP/OS software do the job, and they left me with 4 primary partitions...
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http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Other-Notebook-PC-Questions/How-to-repartition-HDD-of-HP-notebook-with-...
Unfortunately they seem to habe different names... Probably are doing simmilar things, but could someone just point out is the EFI partition HP Toolls as mentioned in the guide etc.
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This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi @IgiveUpOnHP ,
I grasp you are having an issue with partition the drive.
Windows only ever allows 4 primary partitions because the word primary is only applilcable to the MBR partition tables which only allow for 4 partitions. You can have extended partitions. Here is a link to Partitioning and Naming Drives (Windows 8) as a guide.
Good Luck!
Sparkles1
I work on behalf of HP
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Getting four primary partitions on X121e

I got my X121e i3 last week. I want to dual boot with Ubuntu 12.04 and Windows 7, with a primary partition for each OS and one for my data/pics/documents etc. However, there is already a system_drv partition and then the Lenovo Recovery Q: partition, making 5 partitions in total, one too many.
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I want to safely delete the Q: partition so that I can have 4 partitions, but with the option of beimg able to reinstall Windows should my first Linux experiment go wrong!
Thanks
Jienchi

Hello jienchino and welcome to community,
You can restore the system with usb disk however, I will suggest you to create recovery disc on DVD as safer side.
Best Regards,
Tanuj
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Partitions, installing , raw- no_fs and "Bad primary partition"

I have been using Archlinux with kde-mod, installed with the Chakra live-cds for some time on a couple of different machines. You may be aware Chakra has now moved away from archlinux to roll it's own distro so this is my first attempt to install "The Arch Way".
I have an HP dv6t-2000 laptop, preinstalled with Windows 7, though I'm really fed-up with Windows at this point I do want to keep it installed on the machine.
The setup of the hard drive is currently (as shown in the Windows7 partition utility):
SYSTEM NTFS 199MB (System, Active, Primary Partition)
C: NTFS 394.12GB (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
RECOVERY (D:) NTFS 12.85GB (Primary Partition)
(there used to be a partition titled HP_TOOLS which I deleted a while ago (that may have been a mistake, I don't think I backed it up, I think it was last time I got really pissed off with windows and wanted to install Linux immediately)
What I have trid doing, starting with the configuration as above it:
> using the windows utility to shrink the C: partition to make space
> booting into gparted live CD
> creating an extended partition
> creating boot (ext2), root (ext4), home (ext4) and swap partitions within this
> booting the archlinux 64 bit netinstall CD
> when I get to Prepare Hard drive - manually configure I see something like:
/dev/sda raw->no_fs
/dev/sda1 raw->no_fs
/dev/sda2 raw->no_fs
/dev/sda3 raw->no_fs
> If I go to manually partition hard drive for sda I get the message
FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 2: Partition ends in the final partial cylinder
At this point I'm getting tired and liable to do something reckless (like when I deleted the HP_TOOLS partition), I I thought I better stop, take a breather and ask some people with more experience.
I'm sorry If I am short on details here, as I say I've spent a bit too long trying to sort this out and got tired and confused, I will fill in any details that are asked for, thank you for reading.

`/dev/sda1 raw->no_fs` means "you didn't tell me what's on here yet", the installer should do some autodetection but this is not implemented yet. so don't worry about this, just leave them alone.
the other one, not sure

Partitioning error

All,
I have a table as follows:
CREATE TABLE TEST_PARTITION
EMP_ID      VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
CREATE_DT   DATE,
EMP_RGN_NM VARCHAR2(2 BYTE),
DSPTCH_CNT NUMBER
TABLESPACE ABC
PARTITION BY RANGE (CREATE_DT)
SUBPARTITION BY LIST (EMP_RGN_NM)
SUBPARTITION TEMPLATE
(SUBPARTITION RGN_E VALUES ('E'),
   SUBPARTITION RGN_MW VALUES ('MW'),
   SUBPARTITION RGN_SW VALUES ('SW'),
   SUBPARTITION RGN_W VALUES ('W'),
   SUBPARTITION RGN_SE VALUES ('SE')
)Now when I try to insert data as follows:
insert into TEST_PARTITION (EMP_ID, EMP_RGN_NM ,DSPTCH_CNT) values (1000, 'SE',100);I am getting the error "ORA-14400: inserted partition key does not map to any partition"
Is there some way that even if I insert a null value, no error is thrown?? How do I need to modify the code for create table statement?
Thanks and Regards,
Saff

saffron wrote:
All,
I am getting the error "ORA-14400: inserted partition key does not map to any partition"
Is there some way that even if I insert a null value, no error is thrown?? How do I need to modify the code for create table statement?
CraigB wrote:The error you are getting is expected given the data you are inserting. The primary partition in your table is CREATE_DT. Your insert statement MUST have a value for CREATE_DT for an insert to succeed. If it is possible that the CREATE_DT will be NULL, then you will not be able to use CREATE_DT to partition your data. Saff,
first of all, your posted statement misses the actual partition definition part and therefore is incomplete.
Regarding your question: You _can_ (above comment is incorrect) insert NULL values, if you use the MAXVALUE clause, e.g. like that:
CREATE TABLE TEST_PARTITION
EMP_ID      VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
CREATE_DT   DATE,
EMP_RGN_NM VARCHAR2(2 BYTE),
DSPTCH_CNT NUMBER
PARTITION BY RANGE (CREATE_DT)
SUBPARTITION BY LIST (EMP_RGN_NM)
SUBPARTITION TEMPLATE
(SUBPARTITION RGN_E VALUES ('E'),
   SUBPARTITION RGN_MW VALUES ('MW'),
   SUBPARTITION RGN_SW VALUES ('SW'),
   SUBPARTITION RGN_W VALUES ('W'),
   SUBPARTITION RGN_SE VALUES ('SE')
partition p_default values less than (maxvalue)
);Then the insert you've posted will succeed:
SQL>
SQL> insert into TEST_PARTITION (EMP_ID, EMP_RGN_NM,DSPTCH_CNT) values ('1000', 'SE',100);
1 row created.The question is: Is it your intention to have a "default" partition that collects all these NULL values (and any other value that's above your remaining partition values)?
Regards,
Randolf
Oracle related stuff blog:
http://oracle-randolf.blogspot.com/
SQLTools++ for Oracle (Open source Oracle GUI for Windows):
http://www.sqltools-plusplus.org:7676/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/sqlt-pp/

Cfdisk fails on partitioning- bad primary partition

Hello. I'm trying to install Arch Linux on my notebook- Asmobile S96SP.
If I try to use manual disk partitioning, then I see black screen of cfdisk with this error:
FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 3: Partitions ends in the final partical cylinder.
Press any key to exit cfdisk.
I've got just one disk (250GB SATA), and 4 partitions on it.
I want to install Linux on E:.
What's wrong? Someone know how to resolve this problem?
Thanks!

Ok, I fixed it by remove E: partition to make free space (unattached).
Now i've got the second problem. I hear "peep" from my notebook all the time. It's problem with ACPI, becouse if I disable acpi on startup, then i don't hear nothing. I found this: http://www.inliniac.net/blog/2008/07/25 … state.html
but i don't know how can i add to "options" file 2 processors, and how to update initrd on Arch.
/proc/acpi/processor/CPU1/
/proc/acpi/processor/CPU2/
Thanks for reply.

Bad primary partition 3: Partition ends in the final partial cylinder.

Hello!
I am trying to install Arch linux and when i choose to manually create partition I receive the following error:
FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 3: Partition ends in the final partial cylinder.
Press any key to exit cfdisk
The output of the fdisk -l is:
Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xac4fac4f
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 1 992+ 42 SFS
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2 * 1 13 102400 42 SFS
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda3 13 7092 56858624 42 SFS
/dev/sda4 7092 19458 99327832 42 SFS
Disk /dev/sdb: 2021 MB, 2021654016 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 1927 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x74eaf53e
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 659 674816 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
Disk /dev/sdb1: 691 MB, 691011584 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 659 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x74eaf53e
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1p1 * 1 659 674816 17 Hidden HPFS/NTFS
I found an old topic(http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=33916) on this problem but the solution was
try cfdisk -z /dev/device. However, this will wipe all your partitions.
I would like to keep my partitions as they are. Somebody suggested using testdisk for Windows to repair the bad partitions but I'm not sure of how to use it. Can anybody help me please? Thank you!

Are you still frustrated because of cfdisk which gives you something like this:
FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 3: Partition ends in the final partial cylinder
Press any key to exit cfdisk
Here, I'm trying to install archlinux on a pendrive and I get almost the same error when trying to manually format the disk. The only difference is that it mention partition 0 instead of partition 3... I guess there is a bug in the livecd?
I'm having this problem with archlinux-2010.05-core-i686.iso.
Last edited by manouchk (2011-04-02 19:06:00)

Bad primary partition 1: Partion ends in the final partial cylinder

i just got a new laptop, dell inspiron 6400.
it's partition table is set up this way:
1) a 55 meg partition which is supposedly the dell boot utility
2) a 10 gig recovery partition that contains the completely original HD
3) a 81 gig partition which has Vista on it
4) a 2 gig partition for MediaDirect
i used dd to backup the 10 gig partition, and was about to install arch. cfdisk crapped out with the error message:
"FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 3: Partition ends in the final partial cylinder"
ok...i'm stuck. gparted is able to go in and see all the partitions as fine, and it can delete partition 2, but if i try to format a new volume, it craps out.
now here's the kicker. if i go into vista and into computer management, i can go there, format the 10gig to ntfs and it works fine.
any ideas? thanks.

Does anyone know what else could be done than what is described here???

Bad Primary Partition

I have a PC with two identical Western Digital 750 GB S-ATA drives. The drives are in perfect working order. I have installed Debian and Slackware on them fine. Now when I go to install Arch and select the drives using 'cfdisk', I get this error:
FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 1: Partition ends in the final partial cylinder - Press any key to exit cfdisk.
I then tried to install Ubuntu, works. I install Debian again, it works. Why does Arch or cfdisk not allow me to partition my drives?

THCMyst wrote:Have you tried using fdisk? I had an issue with this using cfdisk, and as weird as it sounds, I used fdisk to partition, went back into cfdisk, and everything was in order. Not sure how that works, but it's a suggestion to try.
That can and will cause problems if cfdisk is invoked afterwards. cfdisk is very strick when creating partitions or dealing with a disk with a partition table, in a way that is good, some partition managers (an example is partition magic) will completely refuse to do anything on a disk that does not have a very strict partition layout.
Linux will boot from pretty much any partition and partition layout and will not complain at all, but older versions of windows (I don't have experience with anything newer than xp) can be quite picky and have problems with "uncommon" partition layouts (such as extended partitions mysteriously vanishing) which cfdisk avoids.
Like I have said before, if there is no need to edit the partitions (as in partitions created before running arch's installer) then selecting the partition, filesystem and mountpoint should work without problems.

Is a possible to get 3 primary partitions on a SATA HDD?

It seems a simple question, but would like to have some opinions on this. I have Vista pre-installed but non-bootable besides a bootable XP.
I want to add a 3rd OS to share the boot with XP, keeping Vista on reserve. I know there is another primary partition on the SATA disc, WinRE, the recovery partition for Vista.
So, in reality, there would be 4 primary partitions, two bootable. Could there be any trouble with this?
Thanks for any comment.

Yes, you can create 3 primary partitions.
My notebook uses dual boot option I use XP and Vista. Both OS are bootable.
I have installed Vista firstly. Then I created 3rd partition using the settings in Vista disk management.
Then I have installed the XP on the new partition.
After this procedure I was not able to boot the Vista again because the Win XP has damage the Vistas boot manager. This was only a small issue. I could renew the Vista boot manager booting from Vista CD and choosing the repair option.
Finally I have installed BootVis (its a tool to manage Vista boot manager) and could add the XP to the boot manager.
Of course its possible to add further OS but I think XP and Vista is enough.
Maybe this short description could help you to add further OS.
Best Regards

How to fix: Too many Primary Partitions ? G770

Hello,
I am trying to install PuppyLinuxSlacko.5.4 from a LiveUsb to a unallocated-Partition in my Lenovo-G770 Laptop, Win7 .
My G770 shows that I have two disks: C:\ and D:\ .
But the Using (Linux) GParted program shows there are 4-Primary Partitions already (see pic GParted01.png below) .
http://www.vmars316.com/ShowMe/GParted01.png
And when I try to Format the Unallocated Partition, I get an Error Msg (GParted02.png below) .
http://www.vmars316.com/ShowMe/GParted02.png
Pls, How to fix: Too many Primary Partitions ?
Thanks...vmars316...Vernon

* Questions added to original Post:
I am trying to install PuppyLinuxSlacko.5.4 from a LiveUsb to an unallocated-Partition in my Lenovo-G770 Laptop, Win7 .
My G770 shows that I have two disks: C:\ and D:\ .
But the Using (Linux) GParted program shows there are 4-Primary Partitions already (see pic GParted01.png below) .
http://www.vmars316.com/ShowMe/GParted01.png
And when I try to Format the Unallocated Partition, I get an Error Msg (GParted02.png below) .
http://www.vmars316.com/ShowMe/GParted02.png
Pls, How to fix: Too many Primary Partitions ?
I've been told that to try and fix it in Linux is too risky .
I set up the unallocated 20gb partition.
Can I just merge it into the 29gb Extended Partition ?
If I did merge, How would I access it ? Which Partition is it an extension of ?
I am on thin ice here, and would rather fix the prob in Window7 , because I am brand new to Linux .
Here is the PartitionsDetail using AomeiPartitionAssistant -note the differences:
http://www.vmars316.com/ShowMe/AoemiPartitionWindows.png
Is there a way to tell what's in the partitions , especially the two 29gb partitions and the 14gb partition ?
Worst case: Is there a way to reset my 'Lenovo G770' computer back to factory settings under win7 ?
I think I'll add this Post to the Win7 Forum, since I hope to fix it via Win7 .
Thanks...vmars316...Vernon

NB100 - Cannot create image of primary partition

Hi.
I'm user from a Toshina NB100 and i'm happy with my netbook, but i have a problem.
I always work with partition on my HD. The primary partition have 20GB and the secondary partition have 100GB.
On the primary partition i have the OS windows xp and on the secondary partition i have music, photos, programas, games, etc.
When i want to created an imagen from my primary partition for example with Acronis partition magic or with other program the NB1000 don't recognize the hard drive, the machime write a legend "i can not find HD". I thing that the problem is the fault of the Bios.
Someone know about of this problem? or may be someone could do this?

I think there are a two options available to you.
First, when you create a bootable recovery CD using the Bootable Media Builder application be sure to include both "Full" and "Safe" versions. The "full" mode version uses Linux because it probably didn't include RAID drivers for your new system and thus it couldn't detect any disk drives present.
The "safe" mode version uses DOS and should be able to see any hardware that your BIOS recognizes, however it does not support networking and probably will not see USB devices.
Second, you could contact Acronis Support and ask them to make you a custom ISO file that includes driver support for your hardware. They will often do this. With the proper drivers then the full-mode version should work fine.

How to create a new partion in my HP (Compaq LE1902x )PC that has already 4 primary partitions ?

How to create a new partion (to save my files & Folders) in my HP (Compaq LE1902x )PC that has already 4 primary partitions ? when something goes wrong along with OS(C) drive my all files are lost. so i want to create a new partition & dedicate it to my files & folders.

I would consider another problem. What if the hard drive (not the OS) fails. You'd lose all your data, all partitions. It seems better logic would be to copy your files and folders to either an external hard drive or USB thumb drive.
I would not use the internal backup program, but would manually copy the data. I also would not leave such device attached to the computer.
In my system I have a separate USB thumb drive that stored critical medical and legal documents. That way, I can travel with it, as needed. I also clone my primary desktop every 30-45 days. That way, if I get a failure, it's only that far back on lesser files.
I am a volunteer. I am not an HP employee.
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Stumped On How To Fix HFS+Partition Error!! Help!

WEll hello and i am having so much trouble with my mac software. My current setup is as follows.
-Windows XP Home Edition Installed As Base OS
-80GB Hard Drive Partitioned
-65GB Windows NTFS Partition
-15GB Mac Partition
-Intel Celeron Processor
-Multiboot Software Set Up As Well
Here's my problem. I made all the partitions correctly and installed the Mac software onto my pc with already had Windows XP installed on it. The install went smoothly and the disk was mounted and formatted correctly. But after the install of the Mac OS I restart my pc and boot into Mac. Immediatly a message comes up saying HFS+ Partition Error. I have tried tons of things to fix it but everywhere I go it tells you have to fix erros related to intalling Windows onto a Mac. But luckily my Windows Xp still boots up fine. Someone out please help me!!
Great appreciation if ya do
Toshiba Satellite Laptop Mac OS X (10.3.2) Windows Based PC, Intel Celeron Processor

Hi Steel Raptor;
What you are trying to do is illegal. Asking for help here is not a good thing since this forum is an Apple sponsored site.
Allan

"no primary partitions marked bootable" partition error

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