Ubuntu 12.04 won't install due to odd partitioning

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 01:18:59AM -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
> I have a notebook on which I previously installed Ubuntu 8.04 and
> 10.04 and I want to install 12.04 (over 8.04).  See a pattern?  I want
> the latest LTS and the one before.
> 
> When I try to install 12.04, and ask to configure the partitions, the
> installer sees none.  And gives no explanation!
> 
> I exited the installer (this is a live DVD of Ubuntu 12.04 for AMD64)
> and run parted from the console, it prints a terse message to stderr:
>     ======================
>     libparted : 2.3
>     ======================
>     Can't have a partition outside the disk!
> 
> A hint.  But not too explicit: it doesn't say what partition.
> 
> Here what fdisk says (decorated with labels from the partitions):
> 
>     Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
>     255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 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: 0x17a417a4
>      Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
>     /dev/sda1               1        1020     8193116   27  Unknown
>     Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
>     /dev/sda2   *        1021        6368    42957804+   7  HPFS/NTFS
>     /dev/sda3            6369        7388     8193148   83  Linux: Ubuntu8.04
>     /dev/sda4            7389       14594    57882195    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
>     /dev/sda5            7389        8153     6144820   82  Linux swap / Solaris
>     /dev/sda6            8154       13573    43536116   83  Linux: /home
>     /dev/sda7           13574       14594     8195072   83  Linux: Ubuntu10.04
> 
> It all looks good: all the cylinder numbers make sense.

You think ending on 14594 makes sense when you have 14593 cylinders total?

Your sda4 and hence sda7 are invalid.  Any attempt to write to the last
few mebabytes of sda7 would have failed.  You probably just never did.

-- 
Len Sorensen
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