fdisk/sfdisk/Disk Management problems + unallocated sectors

  • Thread starter Thread starter (sberlusconi)
  • Start date Start date
S

(sberlusconi)

Hello all,

I've got Linux and XP on dual-boot both running fine - except
that I only now notice that fdisk reports a huge number of
unallocated sectors when I verify the partition table.

In WinXP 'Disk Management' I see a block of 86MB that's
unallocated at the end of the disk.

When I try to allocate a new partition with fdisk under Linux
I get an error message - 'no free sectors available'.

Under Disk Management in XP, the space marked 'Unallocated'
cannot be formatted or used in any way.

Looking at the fdisk -l output I get the idea that there
is something wrong with the partition table. The disk is
supposed to have 4864 cylinders but there is no cylinder
allocated above 4852.

So, can anybody tell me if this is really the case? If
so, how do I recover my 86MB of space 'beyond the last
cylinder'? I looked at the 'advanced' menu in fdisk and
I think it should be possible to tell the partition
table something about what it's missing.... but how?

Thanks in advance!

S


fdisk v2.11y

Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40007761920 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4864 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 1867 14996646 c Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda2 1868 3576 13727542+ f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda3 3577 4851 10241437+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda4 4852 4852 8032+ 1e Hidden Win95 FAT16 (LBA)
/dev/hda5 1868 1875 64228+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda6 1876 1941 530113+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda7 1942 3576 13133106 83 Linux




sfdisk -l output:


Disk /dev/hda: 4864 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track
Units = cylinders of 8225280 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0

Device Boot Start End #cyls #blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 0+ 1866 1867- 14996646 c Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda2 1867 3575 1709 13727542+ f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)
start: (c,h,s) expected (1023,254,63) found (1023,0,1)
/dev/hda3 3576 4850 1275 10241437+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
start: (c,h,s) expected (1023,254,63) found (1023,0,1)
/dev/hda4 4851 4851 1 8032+ 1e Hidden Win95 FAT16
(LBA)
start: (c,h,s) expected (1023,254,63) found (1023,0,1)
/dev/hda5 1867+ 1874 8- 64228+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda6 1875+ 1940 66- 530113+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda7 1941+ 3575 1635- 13133106 83 Linux
 
(sberlusconi) said:
In WinXP 'Disk Management' I see a block of 86MB that's
unallocated at the end of the disk.

.... are you sure this isnt the 'recovery' partition
that is allocated on some boxes, which is used to
reinstall the originally-installed OS?
..
 
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