Failed to create a partition table - install failed

This bug has been reported on the Ubuntu ISO testing tracker.

A list of all reports related to this bug can be found here:
http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/reports/bugs/1851188

Added picture of error reported bug 1851188

Tried installing on another machine - same result - 1851188 bug - unable to create partition table.
This time on Dell Inspiron 15 i3-3217 CPU 4GB RAM 500GB Hard Disk

@leok,

- How do you boot (UEFI mode or BIOS mode)?

- What partition table is there (GUID or MSDOS)?

- Have you tried starting with a wiped drive (without any partition table)?

@sududus

--thanks for asking these questions.
Here is my reply and a few thoughts on this matter.

1. booting in legacy BIOS mode
2. MSDOS partition table
3. YES - installing on a wiped (no partition table ) drive works well.

A. However this is a bug other releases of Lubuntu and Kubuntu among others will erase the existing partitions. I feel that many users will have other preinstalled operating systems on there machines and this will make it difficult for the less experienced user to install the nwe OS if they want to overwrite the disk.
B. I also tested Kubuntu 20.04 Focal daily and could use the "Erase" function.It appears to me that the problem is in the installer used.

I´m willing to do further tests with different boot modes/partition tables etc.

leok

@sudodus

Further to my last comment....

1. I wiped the partitions and installed Focal with success as mentioned in no.3 last comment.

2. I the changed BIOS mode to UEFI and tried to install and erase the partitions. Again I got the "Installation failed" Error - unable to create a new partition table ...etc etc.

leok

@sudodus

Further comments...

Sorry didn´t notice but when I rebooted after the failed install I got the message no bootable device.
I.E the install seems to have erased the disk but failed with the installation.

Hope this is all helpful.

leok

I tested with your basic setup:

1. booting in legacy BIOS mode
2. MSDOS partition table

and I was affected by this bug. So I am confirming the bug.

As you wrote, it was possible to install, when wiping the first mibibyte (to remove the partition table).

Testing Lubuntu Focal daily build 20191111

Did 2 separate tests 1 on a VirtualBox and another on an Acer E3-111 laptop.
It was interesting that in the VirtualBox install I was given the option as in number 7 - "Erase disk" - I selected that and all went well.
On the Acer laptop booting in legacy mode - the "Erase disk" option was no available but the option "Replace disk" was there and I selected that and all went well.

I marked my bug as duplicate of this; however I blamed calamares
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/calamares/+bug/1854559

I discovered the issue on
dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)

but it doesn't occur on every box; I gambled it'd occur and tested it on my hp dc7700 expecting install to fail and me not to lose my data ... nope - install is nearly done & my data gone.. (it does explain though why I was slow to pick this up; I've mainly been doing installs of 20.04 on boxes that aren't impacted by this).

This becoming more interesting.
I tested again today Focal Daily build 30.11.2019 this time on a Dell Inspirion 3521 laptop.
Was presented with the "Erase disk" choice - selected that and installed failed as in previous examples.

It is strange the the installed gives different options for option number 7 - ""Select the "Erase disk" radio box and click "Next"
    A partition layout should be shown which uses all disk space, and the bootloader should be installed to the correct disk.""

1.On a virtualbox machine I get the choice erase disk
2.on Acer E3 111 I get the choice "replace but not Erase
3 on Dell Inspirion I get both choices "Replace" and also "Erase" - selecting "replace" works well and installs the system. However selecting "Erase" causes the system installer to fail with the error:
Installation Failed
The installer failed to create a partition table on TOSHIBA MQ01ABF050.
Create a new partition table (type:msdos) on /dev/sda
Job:create new partition table on device /dev/sda
Command:sfdisk /dev/sda

dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)

I saw leok's fail (iso.qa.ubuntu.com) & looked at lp report so re-tried on this box that had failed from this before...
install before was 20.04 (prior qa-test install); single 80gb sata hdd with sda1 using all space
Install: full disk, no encryption, BIOS, internet - FAILED
I loaded KDE Partition Manager & `fsck` the partition; no issues detected

--
Using KDE Partition Manager I erased the only partition sda1, and re-tried.
Same install settings (full disk, no encryption, BIOS, internet) & all good.

At worst (if this isn't fixed) - this is a work-around (my box anyway)

More play with this today on
dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)
INSTALL ALONGSIDE works without issue ?!
(prior lubuntu 20.04 qa-test install was on box; erase & install fails)

I haven't found anything useful (clues in logs etc) & out of time [for now]..

I also tried installing alongside dual boot with Windows10 and Lubuntu 20.04 on Acer E3 111 laptop
with no issues ( of course I selected "Replace a partition ).

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

So looks like this is a "race condition" caused by the new kpmcore API. It's a little hard to get it to reproduce according to upstream bug reports, but there's some suggestions to get it to go.

Upstream developers already have a branch going to fix it and it should be coming up in the new Calamares along with some more minor fixes:
https://github.com/calamares/calamares/commits/kpmcore-manager

This occured in VirtualBox machine - FOCAL build 14.02.2020 -

The installer failed to create a partition table on VBOX HARDISK-....

Installed on Dell Inspiron 3521 no problems.
However as per number 7 in test case instructions- "select "erase disk" - this option was no longer available - instead I selected "replace a partition" and all went well.

Leó that problem is a well known one that is unrelated:
https://phab.lubuntu.me/T149

BTW we've got plans to nip this in the bud for Focal:
https://phab.lubuntu.me/T150

Walter - tks for the heads up on T149 /T150 .

I had this issue again today on

dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)

testcase: full disk, bios, internet, no-encryption

this box reliably has this issue, but I noticed something unusual after the test when I tried to use the box instead for a 'live' test..

'install was attempted'. it failed & I cancelled out of `calamares`

On loading `pcmanfm-qt` I tried to `mount` hdd as I often do in 'live tests and I keep getting

"Error" - "No object for D-Bus interface"

I rebooted the system, and using `pcmanfm-qt` I to mount as I normally do got no errors, used `kde partition manager` to umount & re-attempted install (it failed again), then again retried to `mount` via `pcmanfm-qt` and error "No object for D-Bus interface".

Leó (and anyone else watching) since you're not on our Phabricator I couldn't tag you in but upstream believes the issue to be the way we call Calamares. I'm skeptical but you can test as described there (https://phab.lubuntu.me/T150#3176) or simply by just running `sudo calamares -E` (although the links on the welcome screen should not work if you call it that way). If you can test either of those, it would be greatly appreciated.

An aside: even without the above, with 20200218 I'm having trouble reproducing this. At all.

Scratch that. I just got it to fail again but immediately tried to reproduce and couldn't. Looks like it is a race condition after all. I'm going to spend the rest of the say just doing the fix I mentioned on Phabricator.

And first go it fails, so the means of running it is a red herring.

Walter - I will continue testing this and report back ..

Turns out the os-prober thing was a red herring, too. It seems to reduce the frequency of failure but still a possibility. Now I'm totally at a loss.

Dell Inspiron 3521 laptop ..
selecting "Erase disk" now works on this build..18-02-2020

However when booting up the image to install the language selection menu is not available.(radio button 1) The boot loader (grub) appears and I can select "Start Lubuntu" and the system loads correctly to the live desktop. (see bug 1863805)

I tested this HEAVILY yesterday and found that I could not reproduce it as regularly as I thought. It's not 100%. That said, if you get a successful install, keep trying under the same conditions and I bet you will eventually get a fail.

Ran 2 tests today in VirtualBox -in the first machine I had a SATA Virtual disk and could select "erase disk" which I selected and the install failed. Next I selected "replace a partition" and all went well.
On the second virtual machine I used an IDE virtual disk and the "erase disk" option was not available - "replace a partition" worked successfully.

Will test on 2 other "barebone" boxes and see what happens.

Tested 2 more machines many times and always get same results on both of them.
Old Dell Inspiron 3521 - erase disk always fails (SDA)
New Intel NUC8i3BEK with M2.SSD disk - erase disk always fails - replace partition -success.

Nothing new, but I zsync'd latest ISO & did QA-test install on
dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)
and this bug occurred again, but it's the only box I've had this issue with (not that I do full-disk installs on many boxes).

Using KDE Partition Manager I erased sda1 then exited.
Re-did QA-test install using same options & perfect install (as is usual)

Did several test on virtual machines and had similar results as Chris.
What I noted was that if the virtual machine had a disk with an OS on it --"Erase disk" failed.
Creating new clean virtual disk - "erase disk" worked as it should.

I then tried the same tests on my Dell Inspiron (not in VirtualBox) and had the same results.

Also set up dual boot on an old MAC Mini and used "replace disk" with no problems.

This bug was fixed in the package calamares - 3.2.19-0ubuntu1

---------------
calamares (3.2.19-0ubuntu1) focal; urgency=medium

  * New upstream release.
  * Improved partition handling with kpmcore (LP: #1851188)

 -- Dan Simmons <email address hidden> Sat, 22 Feb 2020 08:16:53 -0500

I want to add upstream calls this presumed fixed. I still have my doubts.

Finally got a successfull install on Intel NUC 8i3BEK - secure boot-

Also had a failure with VirtualBox and Dell Inspiron 3521 both using "legacy" boot moods.

Could this possible be part of the problem?

Also tried another distro using Calamares - Endeavour OS- which failed to erase disk as well.
On their web site https://endeavouros.com/docs/installation/calamares-offline-installer-tips/
they recommend creating partition scheme before running Calamares install!!

Is that with 3.2.19-0ubuntu1, Leó?

Sorry Walter you lost me - I was referring to the latest daily build on the Focal testing .
What is the 3.2.19-0ubuntu1?

The version of Calamares. I tend not to use the word "latest" when it comes to development releases because it's a moving target :)

If you get a fail, please include the session.log.

Sorry..will do in future.

Where do I find the session.log?

~/.cache/calamares/session.log

Here is the session log for the failed install on Dell Inspiron 3521 Focal Build 22022020

=== START CALAMARES 3.2.19
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: Calamares version: 3.2.19
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: languages: "ar, as, ast, be, bg, ca, cs_CZ, da, de, el, en, en_GB, eo, es, es_MX, es_PR, et, eu, fi_FI, fr, gl, he, hi, hr, hu, id, is, it_IT, ja, ko, lt, ml, mr, nb, nl, pl, pt_BR, pt_PT, ro, ru, sk, sl, sq, sr, sr@latin, sv, th, tr_TR, uk, zh_CN, zh_TW"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: Using Calamares QML directory "/usr/share/calamares/qml"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: Using Calamares branding file at "/etc/calamares/branding/lubuntu/branding.desc"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [2]: WARNING: Branding module-setting *windowPlacement* interpreted as "free"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: Loaded branding component "lubuntu"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: .. Loaded QRC translation "tz_" "en"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: .. Loaded QRC translation "calamares_" "en"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: STARTUP: initSettings, initQmlPath, initBranding done
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: STARTUP: initModuleManager: module init started
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: Found 51 modules 51 names
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: STARTUP: initModuleManager: all modules init done
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: STARTUP: initJobQueue done
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: Available desktop QSize(1366, 736) minimum size QSize(1024, 520)
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: .. Proposed window size: 1024 520
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [0]: Icon theme "elementary" not found.
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [2]: WARNING: The branding component "/etc/calamares/branding/lubuntu" does not ship stylesheet.qss.
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: STARTUP: CalamaresWindow created; loadModules started
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: Loaded module configuration "/etc/calamares/modules/welcome.conf"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: Matching locale QLocale(C, Default, Default)
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: .. Matching approximate locale QLocale::C
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: .. Matching English (US)
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: .. Matched with index 10 "en_US"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: .. Branding using default, system locale not found: "en_US"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: .. Loaded QRC translation "tz_" "en_US"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: .. Loaded QRC translation "calamares_" "en_US"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: Welcome string false "Lubuntu"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [0]: OpenType support missing for "Ubuntu", script 12
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [0]: OpenType support missing for "Mukti Narrow", script 12
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [0]: OpenType support missing for "Ubuntu", script 11
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [0]: OpenType support missing for "Ubuntu", script 19
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: ViewModule "welcome@welcome" loading complete.
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: Loaded module configuration "/etc/calamares/modules/locale.conf"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: ViewModule "locale@locale" loading complete.
2020-02-22 - 18:56:35 [6]: No config file for "keyboard" found anywhere at
     "/etc/calamares/modules/keyboard.conf"
     "/usr/share/calamares/modules/keyboard.conf"
2020-02-22 - 18:56:36 [6]: ViewModule "keyboard@keyboard" loading complete.
2020-...

Still having this issue on

dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)

Full disk install, BIOS, no encryption & internet.
Disk contained last 20.04 QA-test install (performed comment #32)

I hadn't noticed request to upload session.log; so test re-performed, failed and file uploaded from re-run of install

I don't know why I never caught this before:

2020-02-22 - 18:56:39 [6]: Running "env" ("/sbin/udevadm", "settle")
2020-02-22 - 18:56:39 [6]: Finished. Exit code: 127
2020-02-22 - 18:56:39 [6]: Target cmd: ("/sbin/udevadm", "settle")
2020-02-22 - 18:56:39 [6]: Target output:
/usr/bin/env: ‘/sbin/udevadm’: No such file or directory
2020-02-22 - 18:56:39 [2]: WARNING: Could not settle disks.

That was the activity mentioned in the upstream bug that they suspected would fix the issue. I believe they even added a second run of it in hopes if making it better.

And here it is not running at all because it's calling a full path that's the wrong one. But /usr/bin/udevadm is the right one.

Creating a symlink fixes the issue: `sudo ln -s /usr/bin/udevadm /sbin/udevadm`.

Though the original upstream bug (https://github.com/calamares/calamares/issues/1170) is still relevant, it really came to no clear conclusion because we weren't looking in the wrong place.

There's a new bug to fix this and several other issues which I have now linked instead.

QA-test install on dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)
testcase: full disk, BIOS, no encryption, internet

the purpose of which is to test wxl's theory; ie. `sudo ln -s /usr/bin/udevadm /sbin/udevadm` will be performed prior to starting calamares/install...

I adjusted monitor to match my setup, opened firefox to view page (different room) then copy/pasted `sudo ln -s /usr/bin/udevadm /sbin/udevadm` into term; started calamares... I only had the option to MANUAL PARTITION drive, so I've rebooted to start again (in case I did something else.. which I'll assume I did that caused a `mount` to occur)

second time everything was as expected.
COPY & PASTING from this page comment #46 (wxl) or `sudo ln -s /usr/bin/udevadm /sbin/udevadm` BEFORE i opened calamares/installer.
install was clean & tested correctly after reboot.

I repeated the test, booted daily ISO again, firefox to find this page, copy & paste sudo ln -s /usr/bin/udevadm /sbin/udevadm command then hide term firefox tabs to open 'install/calamares' and install created file system, filled file system etc... System installed okay.

Also tested wxl´s theory on entering "sudo ln -s /usr/bin/udevadm /sbin/udevadm" before starting the install.
This worked fine and allowed me to use "Erase disk" as expected confirming guiverc's earlier testing.
Tested on Dell Inspirion 3521 laptop.

BTW if you do get the problem where you have only manual partition options, there's two possible explanations:

 1. An existing partition has a swap on it. Ubuntu has a "feature" where it automounts them.
 2. The partition is somehow mounted, which can happen if you've run Cala and then cancelled it.

Either way, `swapoff` and `umount`, respectively, are your friends. Make sure to do it while Cala is not open.

3.2.19.1 is not available in proposed and should resolve this.

I've a QA-test install going on
dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)
full disk, bios, internet & no-encryption.

This box would have previously failed with this bug, it's well past the crash point so fix has worked.

Yeah WXL (#49) I'll likely have run calamares & exited causing the 'mount', in fact suspected it but when I'm not 99+% sure I think it's safer to start again... But thanks :)

Did another test today - test machine = Dell Inspiron 3521 - Intel Core i3-3217U CPU @ 1.80 GHz – 4GB RAM – Intel HD Graphics 4000 – Intel HM76 chipset 10/100 Mbps ethernet controller integrated on system board – WiFi 802.11 b/g/N – Bluetooth 4.0 – 500 GB hard disk

Installed 2 partitions (dual boot) Focal 20.04 daily build 23.03.20 - then attempted
to install and erase disk sda1 and sda2 - the installation failed as in the original bug report-

After the last Calamares fix (3.2.20)I have only encountered this when trying to run "Erase disk" on a dual or triple boot machine.

attached is the session log-

Further testin today - test machine = Dell Inspiron 3521 - Intel Core i3-3217U CPU @ 1.80 GHz – 4GB RAM – Intel HD Graphics 4000 – Intel HM76 chipset 10/100 Mbps ethernet controller integrated on system board – WiFi 802.11 b/g/N – Bluetooth 4.0 – 500 GB hard disk

Install "Erase disk" selected - the machine was set up to dual boot and all partitions were successfully erased with no errors.

Looks like the fix is working.

QA-test install using daily (2020-04-03) on
dell [optiplex] 755 (c2d-e8300, 8gb, amd/ati radeon rv610/radeon hd2400 pro/xt)

FAILED with this error

I re-ran #54 install on same d755-8 box using
`sudo -E calamares -d`
session.log attached
Note: it'll have first install as found in #54 I suspect
A second run where it displayed on portrait display (buttons off screen so I killed it); also with '-d'
A third run which hopefully is useful, contains another crash "unable to create partition table"

Received this error testing FOCAL Daily build 16.04.2020

This on machine : Acer [Aspire] E3-111-P60S (Pent.N3530, 4GB, Intel HD Graphics, Realtek RTL8111/81681/8411 GB Ethernet, Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless, Bluetooth Atheros A315-53, 500 GB hd)

I didn't always update this log on every occurrence; my last was 2020-04-23 ISO (FOCAL FINAL); viewable via report link in comment #1

Duplicate (or groovy re-file) of this issue is https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/calamares/+bug/1877733

Had same issue on creating partition table during Lubuntu 2020.04 LTS installation.
Worked it around by opening terminal from the live cd and zeroing the first MB of /dev/sda disk in my case:

sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=2048 oflag=direct conv=fsync

After zeroing, re-running the installer went with no issues.