Subject: install/28841: sysinst code dumps on invalid extended partition (mbr)
To: None <install-manager@netbsd.org, gnats-admin@netbsd.org,>
From: None <kre@munnari.OZ.AU>
List: netbsd-bugs
Date: 01/02/2005 18:57:00
>Number: 28841
>Category: install
>Synopsis: sysinst code dumps on invalid extended partition (mbr)
>Confidential: no
>Severity: serious
>Priority: medium
>Responsible: install-manager
>State: open
>Class: sw-bug
>Submitter-Id: net
>Arrival-Date: Sun Jan 02 18:57:00 +0000 2005
>Originator: Robert Elz
>Release: NetBSD 1.6U (irrelevant send-pr system...)
>Organization:
Prince of Songkla University
>Environment:
System: NetBSD fuchsia.noi.kre.to 1.6U NetBSD 1.6U (FUCHSIA) #51: Wed Jul 23 16:06:08 ICT 2003 kre@fuchsia.cs.mu.OZ.AU:/usr/obj/sys/FUCHSIA i386
Architecture: i386
All totally irrelevant. It is an i386 running 2.99.11 (Dec 22).
Machine: i386
>Description:
sysinst (i386) core dumps when it references what seems like it
should be an extended partition, but isn't.
>How-To-Repeat:
Create an invalid "extended" partition. The way I almost certainly
managed that was using sysinst from a 1.5 or very early 1.6 vintage
system (may have even been 1.4) - what I really did was reinstall
an old drive I'd had sitting on a shelf for a while, and attempt to
use that to do a 2.99.11 install.
The drive had an MBR with 3 partitions. The first was a typical
wintrash (fat32) type. The second was "type 5". The third was
an old NetBSD partition. The "type 5" was once a swap space
area (for NetBSD - the NetBSD 'b' label used much of the space
inside it - and any other systems that wanted it). It got to be
type "5" because sysinst insisted I give it some value (non-zero if
I recall correctly)and I have absolutely no idea what the numbers
actually mean (I know what the number scheme means, just not which
values mean what) - so I just picked something I'd seen before.
It worked for years & years... (in fact, I thnk I still have a
few drives installed that have layouts just like this).
Use a -current (as of a week or so ago anyway) sysinst, attempt to
delete the old partitions that are no longer wanted - watch sysinst
dump core when it cannot find the internal label in the extended
partition that's supposed to say what is really there.
>Fix:
No idea, haven't looked ... simple workaround is to use fdisk to
delete the partition, aside from issuing a warning about the
invalid extended partition, it handled it with no problems.
>Unformatted:
This was from a 2.99.11 (-current) of December 22 (that is,
just before anoncvs took its holiday...) I haven't seen any
sysinst commits during the intervening period though.