piikea

I may have omitted making 1 partition "active". Posting results for 4080c sequence since if I input #'s in wrong then it wouldn't help to input the 2nd sequence of #'s wrong too. Now here I'm not sure the correct way to input the numbers. I've tried putting 0c-4080c in 1st line, then 4080c-8160c in the 2nd & it "worked" or "took" anyway. And previously I've put 0c in 1st line then the end point, for example 4080c in the 2nd line. That way it "took" too but either or neither may be correct. For 2nd partition it gets more unclear. Put 4080c in 1st line & 8160c (4080c + 4080c)in 2nd line?? How else to "put in the: 4080,4080,4080,4080"? I've tried 10 different ways & still not sure which is correct. Apparently this should be "obvious" but I am far less clear on it than I was the 1st time I attempted this. Anyway, this is whats shown in PL after what I did today: Getting screens IN PL is NOT an easy feat but I found a way in order to try & clarify WHAT I AM SEEING when inputting the numbers. And RPM 2.43 (CHS & LBA) -

It is the protection that must be why it won't allow me to open it.

I can't open w/o password. Unsure what I am to do with the "Manual" one. PL should be so easy just to be able to input what size each partition should be by putting in: 1. 4080 2. 4080 3. 4080 4. 4080 Instead of having to put 0 - 4080, then have to add 4080 to 4080 to get the next ending point (8160) & then 8060 + 4080 = "x" # & so on (especially since the ending points I'm supposed to arrive at NEVER are accepted by it). So far I've tried using the numbers provided & the only reason I wouldn't have would be if PL said: "invalid ending cylinder" so I would try the next most "logical" alternative(s). Currently the partitions are: 233GB 233GB 233Gb 231GB

I need ULTRA patience because this drive is cursed (or I am). I changed it to 255, it didnt ask "accept" but I hit F2 to save which I'm pretty sure it did & the line never turned white - before OR after save. It half froze computer so had to close out of it to do anything. BUT, when I reboot & run RPM it takes up the whole screen & therefore I can't get a screen. There is no "minimize" that I can locate. So I delete RPM & re-download it - same thing. So screenshots of RPM are out. It does still give the "MBR/ENBR....." error message. PLUS - It was on DRive 1 & trying to figure out how to minimize it, hit something & it said: "MBR written reboot without saving" It wouldn't let me undo, or save or not save so all I could do was exit & re-start. Luckily it did but had a black screen & words "rebooting HD1"....... then on to my regular desktop & boot up. So, I almost screwed up the actual system. I've also started getting Windows bluescreen errors when throught MY Computer I click to "see" a different drive (or partition). Then have to reboot & usually it works ok....(until it does again eventually). Idk where this came from. My worry is this ill-fated ext drive causing more problems than its worth.

I thought there may be a limit but didnt think I could've possibly hit it already. Anyway, here are the 2nd two screens (in this case I'm not sure which partition is the main one of interest) - I'm assuming all the red is still NOT good! BTW - I appreciate all the efforts, this stuff just makes me a mental case after awhile.

Here are the 2nd two screens since trying to post them in previous post gave me: Error This upload failed Because this whole endeavor is trying to drive me insane. Actually it wont let me upload them here either. Same .jpg's, created w. same program 2 minutes after the other ones, same size. Idk???????????/

Well dencorso mentioned 0 - 485519 in post #80. Besides it shows up as that when you do use 485520. Perhaps I should be putting a "1" in the "starting cylinder" box? Also didn't add "c" to the numbers - maybe that made some difference. I put 485520 & I'm pretty sure it displayed as 0 - 485519. Used 485520 for the 1st 3 partitions then had to use 1938020 as ending cylinder on the last (4th) partition becuase all other numbers gave me "invalid ending cylinder".

Unfortunately, I have no idea whats going on. PL will list under cylinders: 0 - 485519 485520 - 1456558 1456559 - ? so at this point IF I add 485519 to 1456559 it tells me "invalid ending cylinder" IF I add 485520 same thing. IF I add 481440 same thing. IF I use the numbers on the PL pop up STILL "invalid ending cylinder". So, I give up.

Yes I know, thats why I want to make sure its "well prepared" & as standard as it can be. I will attempt re-partitioning w/ those numbers. BUT, my confusion is: 1st I can put 0c-485520c then the 2nd has to be 485520c-? (since 1st one takes up 485519c). If I go 485520c + 485520c = 971040c it's "invalid ending sector #" ?

Oops - there's 2.40 AND 2.43 in the same zip file. It initially shows MBR/EMBR "warning" - and then w/ partition 5 selected - side note: RPM 2.40 showed a couple partitions on my internal Drive #1 in RED too but it has been installed & working fine for years now so it must be pretty "picky / finicky". I will hold off for the moment trying to re-partition in case these new results change anything. Since this drive "may" someday migrate into a newer PC as the main HDD (#1) - I was going to have a "small" partition 1 for a possible OS to reside on by itself & then evenly sized partitions of roughly 250 to 300GB each. Since the degree of difficulty has turned out to be so high, at this point I just want it to reliably store data, etc. w/ minimum partition sizes of 250GB (except for MBR or primary as necessary). As to uh....vaguely. RPM will show it as: 0 - 2031, 2032 - 5000, 5001 - 10000 or whatever numbers you use. Or, 0 - 485520c, 485521 - ?, etc

@ jaclaz: As I posted before - the 4th column in 1st line is shown in cylinders not bytes so no "0-127" I used your numbers with an "m" BUT starting with the 2nd partition there's no way to set "sectors" - its either "c" (cylinders) or "m" (megabytes). Therefore it ONLY shows 0 - 2031 so I cannot put "128". I used 2032 to "3000m" & so on using cylinder numbers. 1. Free FDISK shows - 2. the 3 partitions DO show in Win ME & get assigned drive letters. 3. I can (& did) (re-)format each of them (full) in Win ME. (It said to run Scandisk on them which I did not do). Just to provide more info....RPM 2.43 - My partitioning scheme (numbers) aren't "crazy" but rather logical given my intended usage & in order to be able run defrag, etc on the partitions w/o problems.

YES, my main concern is that WIndows(!) see's it correctly (which it does) but if RPM, FDISK, & FreeFDISK see it incorrectly does that signal potential problems? Can't remember where I read this now but is there reason to fill up the drive to see if it functions right? Tho' 931GB would take some doing!!

Did these things - IF it updated the drivers it didn't give any sign of it. However, in Windows it assigns the ext HDD & it;s partitions the proper drive letters as I partitioned it & proper sizes. But RPM 2.43 shows - and FreeFDISK this - So idk - good AND bad news perhaps?

Note: I tried re-partitioning/formatting with "my" sizes but same result just different sizes. RPM 243 - FreeFDISK (and FDISK) - It seems to only want to show the primary partition & the other 4 partitions I created (w/ my sizes) as 1 ext partition with the entire drive size. Also the drive letter is different than what shows in Windows.

the 4th column in 1st line is shown in cylinders not bytes so no "0-127" What happens now when you look at in in FDISK? Says "No Partitions Defined" Do the three volumes above get a drive letter in DOS/Win9x? Win ME shows it as 1 drive but does assign it a drive letter - capacity: 999MB used: 0 bytes free: 999MB Can you (re-)format each of them from DOS/Win9x? n/a (?)

Tried it w/ no luck but thanks.

PArtition Logic shows the drive as 953868Mb (approx.). Once in there I'll be damned if I can work it. I attempt to create a primary partition guessing at cylinder #'s or Mb's, then try to create logical drives from there but start with 0 cylinder to any # & it says incorrect starting cylinder, try "1" & it says incorrect ending cylinder. Try to use "m" for megabyte & get same scenario. Googled around for more info on using it but there's very little.

I think at this point it would be a huge shortcut to pass by a friend that has a recent machine (XP or later) and see how that drive behaves.Agreed. If at all possible, it would be really a good idea to find out how XP's Disk Management tool sees it. But jaclaz's idea of trying the Partition Logic standalone tool is a good idea, too, and is perhaps simpler to put in practice than hunting for a friend having XP. So, I'd try jaclaz's idea as the next step. What I'd do would be: get the 0.69 iso, burn it into a CD, boot from it with the USB HDD connected and go on from there. Not sure but may be able to try it on a Windows 7 pc - I guess that'll be about the same. (I am in a new city only a few months & do not know many people yet).

RPM 2.43 gave same numbers.

As to make & model - WESTERN DIGITAL WD10EALS Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM 32MB cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" in an EAGLE e series 3.5" SATA to USB 2.0 aluminum external hdd enclosure System has USB 2.0 - which readily recognizes a card reader, mp3 device & 80GB ext HDD w/o issues so perhaps 1TB is too big(?). Although IT IS assigned a drive letter & displays in Windows as 931GB (which is about right?). Waiting to proceed for a concensus on what best to try next...

Yes the partition is still there... It said: "There is no active partition on this disk!" upon exiting but I selected "Proceed anyway".

here's the screenshot....no partitions......

Tried SwissKnife & it didn't work - not sure why not. After attempting partitioning in FreeFDISK & then formatting something is still messed up. Now in SwissKnife it shows the drive as formatted but not partitioned & shows 439787MB as used space & 0MB free space (yet total space as 953859MB which is the only number that makes sense). Only option it gives me is "Format" - "Delete" partition is grayed out. FreeFDISK shows 4 partitions but the numbers are strange AND the drive letter is incorrect (i.e., NOT the same as it is assigned in Windows).

"Shows" partitions but the numbers are....uh, strange. Another view - says "unsupported file system" (?).

I agree with the guy in the 3rd thread jaclaz posted: Diskman4 was too complicated & has no "help" file. I ran it but couldn't figure out how to use it.