HDD not detected by installer :-/

Throne777 · 2013-02-05 20:57:48

I tried installing Arch and got to the partion stage. The guide said to work with /dev/sda, but every single partitioning tool shot back that there was no such device. So I tried installing Archbang instead. Get to Disk Preparation, and my available disks are: none existent. I have two HDDs, and if I'm not trying to install anything, it currently boots to Linux Mint just fine (with both HDDs working without issue).
Any ideas?

kaszak696 · 2013-02-05 21:01:14

ls /dev

What do you see there?

Throne777 · 2013-02-05 21:05:07

Currently on the live Crunchbang installer:

autofs           log                 rtc0      tty23  tty47  uinput
block            loop-control        shm       tty24  tty48  urandom
bsg              loop0               snapshot  tty25  tty49  vcs
btrfs-control    loop1               snd       tty26  tty5   vcs1
bus              loop2               sr0       tty27  tty50  vcs2
cdrom            loop3               stderr    tty28  tty51  vcs3
char             loop4               stdin     tty29  tty52  vcs4
console          loop5               stdout    tty3   tty53  vcs5
core             loop6               tpm0      tty30  tty54  vcs6
cpu              loop7               tty       tty31  tty55  vcsa
cpu_dma_latency  mapper              tty0      tty32  tty56  vcsa1
disk             mcelog              tty1      tty33  tty57  vcsa2
dm-0             mei                 tty10     tty34  tty58  vcsa3
dri              mem                 tty11     tty35  tty59  vcsa4
fb0              mqueue              tty12     tty36  tty6   vcsa5
fd               net                 tty13     tty37  tty60  vcsa6
full             network_latency     tty14     tty38  tty61  vga_arbiter
fuse             network_throughput  tty15     tty39  tty62  vhost-net
fw0              null                tty16     tty4   tty63  watchdog
hidraw0          port                tty17     tty40  tty7   watchdog0
hidraw1          ppp                 tty18     tty41  tty8   watchdog1
hpet             psaux               tty19     tty42  tty9   zero
hugepages        ptmx                tty2      tty43  ttyS0
initctl          pts                 tty20     tty44  ttyS1
input            random              tty21     tty45  ttyS2
kmsg             rtc                 tty22     tty46  ttyS3

Scimmia · 2013-02-05 21:35:44

Go into your bios/firmware setup. Is the disk detected there?

alphaniner · 2013-02-05 21:38:46

Have you scanned the systemd journal and/or the kernel log for any error messages?

Throne777 · 2013-02-05 23:10:31

If I try and start gparted I get the following message:

Invalid partition table - recursive partition on /dev/sr0.

FYI, I tried installing Linux Mint 14 and the installer/partitioner on that could work with the HDDs just fine.
I go into system information on Archbang on the live installer, the only storage device that comes up is my DVD-RW drive (the one that's running the Archbang cd).

EDIT:
Not sure if it's relevant, but when I start up the installer for Archbang, it mentions ata1, ata2, ata3, & ata4 saying 'reset failed (errno=-19), reset failed, giving up'.

Last edited by Throne777 (2013-02-05 23:13:35)

WorMzy · 2013-02-05 23:15:55

What is /dev/dm-0? Have you set up LVM?

Throne777 · 2013-02-05 23:21:01

WorMzy wrote:

What is /dev/dm-0?

No idea.

Have you set up LVM?

I get the error message I quoted upon opening gparted without having done anything else. The message pops up when it's trying to scan devices.

Longer error message from gparted:

File system: ext2
Size: 2.75 GiB
Flags:

Path: /dev/mapper/arch_root-image1
Status: Not mounted
Label:
UUID:

First sector: 0 
Last sector: 5756927
Total sectors: 5756928

Warning:
e2label: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/mapper/arch_root-image1
Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock

tune2f2 1.42.6 (21-Sep-2012)

tune2fs: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/mapper/arch_root-image1
Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock

Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock.

dumpe2fs 1.42.6 (21-Sep-2012)
dumpe2fs: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/mapper/arch_root-image1
Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock

Unable to read the contents of the file system!
Because of this some operations may be unavailable.

The cause might be a missing software package.
The following list of software packages is required for ext 2 file system support: e2fsprogs

Further edit:
Archbang installer finds the HDDs if I choose the second installer option (Vesa mode instead of Xorg autodetect). If I run the first, xorg autodetect, it throws up the 'can't find ata1: reset failed' messages. So I managed to install it using the second option. Only problem is that upon booting after a successful installation, the 'can't find ata1: reset failed' messages come up, claims it can't find the drive with 'UID: [blah blah blah]' and leaves me with an emergency shell.

Getting quite frustrated now :-/

Last edited by Throne777 (2013-02-06 01:24:20)

alphaniner · 2013-02-06 14:27:13

All of the gparted output looks to be about the installer system, in which case it's irrelevant. I think the same goes for dm-0.

The "ataX: reset failed" messages are probably what you need to worry about. Gather all the information you can about the controller: manufacturer/model, type (IDE/SATA), BIOS settings, etc. Google for issues (sort by date as it may be a regression) then post all the info here if Google doesn't return anything useful.

If it's a SATA controller, you could also try changing the mode (ie. Compatible/IDE, AHCI, RAID). Keep in mind this may cause boot issues with other OSs: Windows almost certainly and maybe Ubuntu too.

fantab · 2013-02-09 17:22:02

Was the HDD ever a part of RAID? Was the HDD ever used with GPT? Generally installers fail to identify HDD if there is any left over from either RAID or GPT.

bgc1954 · 2013-02-09 18:09:18

@Throne777 - just a polite note to let you know that if you get your hdd issues sorted, you will want to install Arch, not Archbang, to get further help on the Arch forums. Generally, you won't receive much help if you're asking about other distros you're trying to use, especially Archbang see: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=157361&p=1 and https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Forum_Etiquette

Last edited by bgc1954 (2013-02-09 18:13:15)

ewaller · 2013-02-09 18:34:21

Throne777, The moderators have received a couple reports about Archbang support. It looks to me as if you are trying to install Arch, are having problems, and are falling back to Archbang as a sanity check. If so, fine. Please clarify the next time you post that this is what you are trying to do. If I am wrong, and you are trying to install Archbang, then you will probably want to refer to their forums.

Thanks

Mr Green · 2013-02-12 20:37:14

@Throne777 does fdisk -l show anything....

Arch Linux

#1 2013-02-05 20:57:48

HDD not detected by installer :-/

#2 2013-02-05 21:01:14

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#3 2013-02-05 21:05:07

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#4 2013-02-05 21:35:44

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#5 2013-02-05 21:38:46

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#6 2013-02-05 23:10:31

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#7 2013-02-05 23:15:55

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#8 2013-02-05 23:21:01

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#9 2013-02-06 14:27:13

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#10 2013-02-09 17:22:02

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#11 2013-02-09 18:09:18

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#12 2013-02-09 18:34:21

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

#13 2013-02-12 20:37:14

Re: HDD not detected by installer :-/

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