Arch Linux

chenel

Member

Registered: 2023-06-18

Posts: 2

[SOLVED] Problems trying to partition HDD for windows 11 dualboot

Reformulated because I wasn't getting any replies,

I'm trying to set up a dualboot of windows 11 (currently installed) and archlinux. I've done this before on a machine running windows 10 and I had no problems, however with this machine I run into errors trying to partition the drive. Here's the output of fdisk -l /dev/sda:

Disk /dev/sda: 931.51 Gib, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: ST1000LM035-1RK1
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/0 size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Device    Boot Start        End    Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1          1 4294967295 4294967295   2T ee GPT

Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.

From what I've been able to understand, the drive on this machine uses Advanced formatting, which is why the logical and physical sector sizes differ, this was not the case with the first machine which I dualbooted, however seeing as this format seems to be the norm, I don't think it's the actual problem ?

Secondly, the windows partitions, which should look like this:

Device         Start       End   Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sda1       2048    206847    204800   100M EFI System
/dev/sda2     206848    239615     32768    16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sda3     239616 209954815 209715200   100G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda4  209954816 463017983 253063168 120.7G Windows recovery environment
/dev/sda5  463017984 467836927   4818944   2.3G Windows recovery environment
/dev/sda6  467836928 468858879   1021952   499M Windows recovery environment

aren't shown either, and fdisk erroneously reports the HDD to be 2T:

Device    Boot Start        End    Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1          1 4294967295 4294967295   2T ee GPT

I'm pretty sure that this is because of Protective MBR which makes it seem as if the whole disk is one partition ?

The presence of Protective MBR is confirmed by gdisk /dev/sda:

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.10

Caution: invalid main GPT header, but valid backup; regenerating main header
from backup!

Caution! After loading partitions, the CRC doesn't check out!
Warning: Invalid CRC on main header data: loaded backup partition table.
Warning! One or more CRC's don't match. You should repair the disk!
Main header: ERROR
Backup header: OK
Main partition table: OK
Backup partition table: ERROR

Partition table scan:
  MBR: protective
  BSD: not present
  APM: not present
  GPT: damaged

****************************************************************************
Caution: Found protective or hybrid MBR and corrupt GPT. Using GPT, but disk
verification and recovery are STRONGLY recommended.
****************************************************************************
Warning! Main partition table overlaps the first partition by 34 blocks!
You will need to delete this partition or resize it in another utility.

Warning! Secondary partition table overlaps the last partition by
7521962741076038258 blocks!
You will need to delete this partition or resize it in another utility.

Command (? for help):

However, fdisk's Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary. and gdisk's invalid main GPT header lead me to think that there's something wrong with the GPT or some other alignment or partitioning error.

Here's some more output:

parted /dev/sda unit s print

Error: /dev/sda: unrecognised disk label
Model: ATA ST1000LM035-1RK1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1953525168s
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/40968
Partition Table: unknown
Disk Flags:

fdisk /dev/sda

This disk is currently in use - repartitioning is probably a bad idea.
It's recommended to umount all file systems, and swapoff all swap
partitions on this disk.

The device contains 'isw_raid_member' signature and it will be removed by a write command. See fdisk(8) man page and -wipe option for more details.

My questions are:
1. Is the problem with archlinux or with the actual HDD ?
2. If it is with the HDD, what would I need to do to fix it, preferably without losing any data ?

Any help or direction at all is appreciated, thank you for your time!

Last edited by chenel (2024-08-21 20:41:14)

chenel

Member

Registered: 2023-06-18

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED] Problems trying to partition HDD for windows 11 dualboot

Turns out the problem was Intel RST acceleration (Intel Optane), when I disabled it I stopped getting errors and everything was fine. Unix stackexchange post with more details