Score:0

Unable to change partitions on my disks

cn flag

I'm having trouble with disks on my machine. I'm unable to boot and currently trying to clean install Ubuntu. When I use Gparted with bootable usb disk, I can remove all partitions on my disk and when I hit apply button it says job is done but as soon as the success message disappears, it shows all the old partitions as they were before.

Update: when I use Disk utility, after hitting - button to delete any partition, nothing happens.

David avatar
cn flag
You of course have rebooted to verify this is the case?
Nmath avatar
ng flag
You could just format the whole disk. You can also use the Disks application. Many people find it more user-friendly than gparted.
cn flag
@David many times with no success.
cn flag
@Nmath I updated the question.
David avatar
cn flag
Sounds like the failure to boot may in fact be a bad hard disk. Just a guess from experience. Can not boot can not edit partitions.
N0rbert avatar
zw flag
Does this answer your question? [How to resize partitions?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/126153/how-to-resize-partitions)
cn flag
@N0rbert not really.
cn flag
@David any way to confirm it?
David avatar
cn flag
Off the top of my head take it to another computer and try it there.
N0rbert avatar
zw flag
Check disk SMART using GNOME Disks or GSmartControl. Share screenshot.
Score:0
nl flag

If you're fine with wiping ALL data on the disk, boot to a Linux live USB and try these:

  1. Run this command to wipe the first few blocks of /dev/sdb
sudo dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sdb bs=4M count=50 status=progress && sync
  1. Reboot to the same live medium.
  2. Create a new Partition Table ("gpt" for newer EFI systems and "msdos" for older Legacy Boot systems) using GParted.
cn flag
I did it with no success. It seems to me any write operation to the disk won't work.
nl flag
That means either: 1) The disk is damaged (hardware failure)t is read-only (some SD card holders and some rare kinds of disks, USB disk enclosures, USB-SATA etc., have a switch that makes them read-only).
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