Member Avatar for apurva agarwal

well i have installed suse 9.0 and windows xp ,but after formatting windows xp
due to some reason , ihave formatted the only c drive which had windows system files but after unastaling windows xp it was unable to show suse 9.0
at the beginning .
after that i tried to install suse again or recover suse 9.0 but it gives an error
of partition table and ask for formatting hard drive.
tell me any way how can i recover suse linux!!!!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by BubbaExtra

Dani AI

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As described, this is a classic dual-boot recovery situation. Two distinct problems are possible and should be checked in order: 1) the bootloader in the MBR was replaced so GRUB no longer appears, or 2) the partition table or Linux partitions were damaged when Windows was formatted/reinstalled. pointed at the bootloader possibility, and / were right to ask for exact error text and the partition layout—those details determine whether repair is safe or whether a deeper recovery is needed.

Safe, non-destructive checks (boot from a SuSE rescue disc or any Linux live CD):

fdisk -l /dev/sda
blkid
file -s /dev/sda1     # check filesystem type; replace sda1 with your Linux partition
mount /dev/sdaX /mnt  # replace sdaX with the Linux root partition
ls /mnt                # confirm this is your installed system (bin, etc, boot)

If the Linux files are intact, reinstalling GRUB will normally restore booting. From the rescue environment mount and chroot into the install and reinstall GRUB:

mount /dev/sdaX /mnt
mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
chroot /mnt
# legacy GRUB (common for SuSE 9.0):
grub
# in grub shell:
#   root (hd0,Y)   -- Y is partition index (first partition is 0)
#   setup (hd0)
#   quit
# or, if available: grub-install /dev/sda
exit
reboot

If partitions are missing or the installer asks to reformat, do not write changes yet. Back up the MBR/partition table, then use TestDisk to scan and recover partitions:

dd if=/dev/sda of=mbr-backup.bin bs=512 count=1
sfdisk -d /dev/sda > sda-parttable.backup
testdisk /log    # follow Analyze -> Quick Search -> Deeper Search, write only when results match known layout

Cautions: always back up before writing, confirm the correct Linux partition before running setup/grub-install, and avoid the installer’s “format whole disk” option if you need to preserve data. If the partition table is irrecoverable, a reinstall may be required—choose the installer option that preserves existing Linux partitions rather than reformatting them.

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All 9 Replies

Member Avatar for apurva agarwal

no replys till now !!!!!
why
help me its important as i need linux on my computer urgently, come up with some solution as early as possible!!!!

Member Avatar for Cain

please post in your previous and it will become current no need to start another
thread. i think the reason that you have yet to receive a reply is there isn't lots
of info to go on. it isnt even 24 hours old. check your previous post for questions and reply there. please dont demand or beg its just not conducive to keeping ones dignity. :rolleyes:

View your previous thread here:

Member Avatar for Cain

format usually gets the whole disk. (unless there are multiple partitions.) im not quite sure
what you have done in what order. Im a big fan of installing windows then linux and havnt had any problems with dual boot. as far as recovering your system i think we all need alot more info to go on... ..like: What was your installation order? Were there any errors generated? did an installation fail to complete? How many partitions do you have? How many disks? What type of system Hardware are you running? did you perform custom installations or allow the OS's to install themselves?
You get the picture
However if you have performed this step "i tried to install suse again or recover suse 9.0 but it gives an error
of partition table and ask for formatting hard drive."
I am very concerned as you may have corrupted or wiped out data that was needed for recovery. Your only option may be a reinstall of the whole dang thing. :!:

Member Avatar for apurva agarwal

well first i installed windows xp and then i installed suse linux on my computer.
for windows xp -cdrive ,d drive ,e drive
for linux i made a seperate partition
to reinstall the linux it encounters the problem!!!.

Member Avatar for DMR

no replys till now !!!!!
why
help me its important as i need linux on my computer urgently, come up with some solution as early as possible!!!!

Please do not post such a demand here again- it is simply rude.

Everyone's problem here is urgent, and your's is no more urgent than any other. Also keep in mind that we volunteer our time here, and are under no obligation to do so other than our desire to help. Believe me, if our members have a choice between answering a politely-asked request for assistance and a demand such as yours, the politely-asked question will get the attention.

Member Avatar for apurva agarwal

well that was just a request made and arude reply from you!!!!

commented: very rude, asks for help and when he doesnt get it fast enough is rude about it. +0
Member Avatar for DMR

No, my request was not rude; trust me- you would have gotten a much more pointed response on some of the other tech support forums out there.

On any support site it is considered impolite to wait less than 18 hours after asking your question before demanding that members "come up with some solution as early as possible!!!!".

If we're dealing with a language difference (that is, English is not your primary language), then I apologize for my possible misinterpretation of the tone of your post. If the way your post reads is exatcly the way you meant it to read however, I stand by what I've told you.

If you have further questions as to my posts, please contact me via the forum's Private Message function; the forums themselves are not a venue for arguments or disagreements.

Thank you.

Member Avatar for DMR

well first i installed windows xp and then i installed suse linux on my computer.
for windows xp -cdrive ,d drive ,e drive
for linux i made a seperate partition
to reinstall the linux it encounters the problem!!!.

To try to answer your question though-

- On which drive are you trying to install SuSE, and how is that drive partitioned.

- When you say "it encounters the problem", what is the exact error message concerning the partition table?

- What program/utility are you using to partition the drives?

commented: way to handle that! +3
Member Avatar for BubbaExtra

well i have installed suse 9.0 and windows xp ,but after formatting windows xp
due to some reason , ihave formatted the only c drive which had windows system files but after unastaling windows xp it was unable to show suse 9.0
at the beginning .
after that i tried to install suse again or recover suse 9.0 but it gives an error
of partition table and ask for formatting hard drive.
tell me any way how can i recover suse linux!!!!

You are tying to install a dual booting system.
When you install Linux it normally places the boot loader (i.e. Grub)
in the MBR (Master Boot Record).
Windows XP (NT 5.2) also loads a boot loader in the MBR, overwriting
the Linux boot loader.
This is where you are in your posting. The solution is here:

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/other-formats/html_single/Linux+WinNT.html#s6

This was found on the http://www.tldp.org/ site. There are other very useful HowTo's here.

BubbaExtra

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