Bugzilla – Bug 147245
Yast partitioner insists on deleting unused partitions
Last modified: 2006-02-02 13:14:12 UTC
Upon a new installation of SUSE10.1 Beta3 (also happens in Beta1 and 2) yast makes a propsal which partitions to use. On my machine this reads: Delete partition /dev/hda3 (29.9 GB) Delete partition /dev/hda5 (20.0 GB) Create root partition /dev/hda3 (29.9 GB) with reiserfs Create partition /dev/hda9 (19.0 GB) Use /dev/hda1 as swap None of the normal or expert dialogs helps to convince the machine that /edv/hda5 shall survice. I'd expect that a partition is no longer marked for deletion by specifying 'don't Format' and 'no mountpoint' in the Edit Menu. Workaround: Partitioning -> Expert -> Reread Partition Table Then starting from scratch.
Jürgen: please attach /var/log/YaST2/* and fdisk -l Thomas: i guess this is for you?
Your expectations are wrong, if you accept the proposal you have no possibility to make one of the partitons not deleted any more (since the expert partitioner is WYSIWYG these partition are simpy vanished). If you are not happy with the partitions the proposal wants to remove, you need to discard the proposal not accept it or modify it.
I do not believe that I expect too much. 'reread partition table' is definitily an extremly non-obvious way to save one's home partition. I do not understand a non-expert user must accept that some partition gets deleted.
Created attachment 66063 [details] y2logs from that installation. # fdisk -l Disk /dev/hda: 122.9 GB, 122942324736 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14946 cylinders Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/hda1 1 96 771088+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris /dev/hda2 97 1402 10490445 83 Linux /dev/hda3 * 1403 5318 31455270 83 Linux /dev/hda4 5319 14946 77336910 f W95 Ext'd (LBA) /dev/hda5 5319 7929 20972826 83 Linux /dev/hda6 7930 9888 15735636 83 Linux /dev/hda7 9889 11847 15735636 83 Linux /dev/hda8 11848 13806 15735636 83 Linux /dev/hda9 13807 14946 9157018+ 83 Linux #
The partitions get only deleted if you either accept the proposal or use it as a base for further modifications. Of course one should take this decision consciously and not by wildly clicking at a random button ;-) If one is not happy with the proposal, he should definitely select "Custom partition setup" instead. BTW: 'reread partition table' is not the only way to get the original proposal back. This is also possible with "Reset to defaults" in proposal screen.
I'll redo now. It starts again with: Delete partition /dev/hda3 (29.9 GB) Delete partition /dev/hda5 (20.0 GB) Create root partition /dev/hda3 (29.9 GB) with reiserfs Create partition /dev/hda9 (19.0 GB) Use /dev/hda1 as swap I select 'Custom partition setup', then select my /dev/hda, then partition 7. It then reads Delete partition /dev/hda8 (15.0 GB) Create partition /dev/hda9 (9.0 GB) for /home with reiserfs Create root partition /dev/hda10 (6.9 GB) with reiserfs That leaves me confused. Who mentioned partition hda8 and hda10? Sorry. reopening...
I still see no bug, from what I can see here, all is exactly as it should. Since this endless CLOSE/OPENING is not very productive, maybe we can discuss this face to face tomorrow.
Ok, finally could resolve the misunderstandings.
For the records. I now learned the following concepts: - 'Create Custom Partition Setup' implies a two partition layout unless one also chooses 'Custom Partitioning (for experts)' on the next screen. - Deleting an extended partition renumbers all following extended partitions. - The hotkey numbers in 'Preparing Hard Disk -- Step 2' do not necessarily correspond to partition numbers, but often do so. Thanks for the explanations!