Current situation is:
- My laptop internal hard disk is fried.
- I have a USB stick of XUbuntu-12.04
- I have a live CD of Ubuntu 11.10.
I have another 16 GB HP pendrive where there is an Xubuntu 12.04 installed, which I am currently using as my only hard drive and running the system.
I bought a new WD 1TB Elements USB-3, which is fine when I connect to any system, it works fine, I can save data.. do whatever.
My new WD hard drive is detected in Bios when booting.. even I can choose it as my first boot device too.
My goal is:
To install a Linux on my External hard drive "Western Digital Elements 1TB with USB-3" and run my system without an internal hard, like the way I am doing it now with my pen drive, I wanna do it with my WD External.
Problems I was facing initially (day before yesterday):
I had inserted Ubuntu 11.10 Live CD [it doesn't matter whether 11.10 is not supported the CD is fine].
I had connected my WD external.
Bootable device list shows both of the above and I selected my CD as first and WD second.
Ubuntu appears with option (i) Try (ii) Install, I selected (i) then in another time (ii) also.. doesn't matter problem is same I am describing below:
After choosing any of Try/Install appears a nice black screen that usually is not a problem.. but after waiting for several minutes I see
"udevd[124]:timeout:killing '/sbin/blkid -o udev -p /deb/sdc1' [269]"
I tried many times so something like that appear always may be /sdc becomes /sda or /sdb ..
but this kind of "timeout" error !
But it never happens if I use anything else.. any other "pen drive" instead of WD Hard Drive for installing Ubuntu. In fact I have installed Ubuntu in another pendrive same way and I faced no such problem.
So I googled and found:
- WD External hard drives are updated with some new "4k" sector technology, I don't understand much so I won't explain.
- Thy say some sort of "alignment" is necessary during partitioning, and newly bought WD won't boot or will be slow if I don't do this new partitioning with proper alignment.
What I did yesterday ---
I followed links like this one --
"http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1768635"
and created partitions using "fdisk" and started first sector at 2048 and endpoints also a multiple of 8 and each partitions separated by space multiple of 8. Then I finally formatted the partitions using Gparted to two big "ext4" and smaller "swaps"
My partition tables are big so I have pasted at the end of this question.
I went on and did more gymnastics [describing below] --
I gave up Ubuntu 11.10 and started with a fine perfect "USB Live stick Xubuntu12.04" and faced
same "timeout" problem. Then I applied a new idea...
I removed the WD hard drive and using Pndrive-1 as my hard disk and Pendrive-2 as USB XUbuntu Livestick... I opened Xbuntus
"Try Xubuntu 12.04 without Installing"
Then when trying it... I inserted my WD External... and it perfectly mounted all the partition, I can open the partitions and see whats inside... life is fine. Then in the desktop of I clicked... "Install Xubuntu Icon" and it started... it asked me to unmount the WD partitions otherwise I won't be able to repartition these during intsallation so I allowed Xubuntu to unmount but the WD is still connected.
Installation started.. everything went well.. finally I was able to install Xubuntu in one of my Partition of WD and installation completed saying "now restart to run newly installed Xubuntu bla bla bla"
When I restarted and chosen newly installed XUbuntu drive that is WD as my first boot device.. and the message during booting showed... "no bootable or something like that [don't remember] found insert bootable media and press any key...". I then removed every CD pendrive everything except this WD Hard driv... it still displayed
“Insert bootable media... and press..."
I gave up and started computer with Xubuntu installed HP pendrive... and then after startup.. I connected WD External HDD... and in one of its partition I found.. it contains all the files of Xubuntu installed... everything... but why my system doesn't recognize it and "times out" I have no clue....
This is the best way I could explain all my problems... outside this I neither know nor understand. This is it and this is all. Please help... I just need my WD hard drive [external 1TB] to work as my main hard disk with Ubuntu... I need step by step instructions to achieve that....
I don't have reputations to upload image so copy pasting:
xyz@xyx:~$ sudo -i
root@atanupndrive:~# fdisk -lu /dev/sd
sda sda1 sda2 sda5 sdb sdb1 sdb2 sdb3 sdb5 sdb6
root@atanupndrive:~# fdisk -lu /dev/sda
Disk /dev/sda: 16.3 GB, 16257318912 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1976 cylinders, total 31752576 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00013fd3
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 2048 27584511 13791232 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 27586558 31752191 2082817 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 27586560 31752191 2082816 82 Linux swap / Solaris
root@xyz:~# fdisk -lu /dev/sdb
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000202043392 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121600 cylinders, total 1953519616 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000022db
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 2048 61032447 30515200 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb2 122094856 1953517566 915711355+ 5 Extended
/dev/sdb3 61032448 122093567 30530560 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb5 * 122110065 1037798999 457844467+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb6 1037799063 1953503999 457852468+ 83 Linux
Partition table entries are not in disk order