Bug#491147: kernel and fdisk see partitions but libparted does not

[Frans Pop <elendil@planet.nl>]

reassign 491147 parted 1.7.1-5.1
retitle 491147 kernel and fdisk see partitions but libparted does not
tags d-i
thanks

On Thursday 17 July 2008, Daniel Browne wrote:
> Comments/Problems:
> Boots fine, no problems until partitioning. The partitioner shows all
> of my hard disks. However, it does not see the existing partitions on
> my second SATA disk (/dev/sdb)

You seem to have 3 hard disks:
kernel: ata1.00: ATA-7: WDC WD800JD-75MSA2, 10.01E03, max UDMA/133
kernel: ata1.00: 156250000 sectors, multi 0: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32)
kernel:  sda: sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4

kernel: ata2.00: ATA-7: WDC WD800JD-75MSA2, 10.01E03, max UDMA/133
kernel: ata2.00: 156250000 sectors, multi 0: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32)
kernel:  sdb: sdb1 sdb2 sdb3 sdb4

kernel: hdb: ST3120026A, ATA DISK drive
kernel:  hdb: hdb1 hdb2 hdb3 hdb4

The kernel indeed sees the 4 partitions on the second drive, but the 
partman log (thanks for including that as well) shows:

<snip>
/lib/partman/init.d/35dump: IN: DUMP =dev=sdb
parted_server: Read command: DUMP
parted_server: command_dump()
parted_server: Opening outfifo
parted_server: OUT: OK

parted_server: Closing infifo and outfifo
parted_server: main_loop: iteration 7
parted_server: Opening infifo
Device: yes
Model: ATA WDC WD800JD-75MS
Path: /dev/sdb
Sector size: 512
Sectors: 156250000
Sectors/track: 63
Heads: 255
Cylinders: 9726
Partition table: no
</snip>

So, the installer is told that the disk does not yet have a partition 
table, which explains what you see during partitioning.
This makes this an issue in libparted, not in the installer itself. 
Therefore reassigning your report to the appropriate team.

Some questions that may help them.

How exactly was this drive formatted? Has it been used as part of a 
pseudo-hardware RAID set up from the BIOS maybe?

Does the command line tool 'parted' show the partitions and what exactly 
does 'fdisk' show. To get this info, use the following procedure:
- boot the installer in expert mode
- when installer components are displayed for selection, select
  parted-udeb for installation
- switch to debug shell on VT2 and enter the following commands:
  # fdisk -l /dev/sdb >fdisk.out 2>&1
  # parted /dev/sdb print >parted.out 2>&1
- include the resulting files in your reply

Please also try a "daily built" version of the installer. This has a newer 
version of parted (1.8 instead of 1.7). Does that make a difference?

Cheers,
FJP