[Bug 669459] Re: Ubuntu installation writes into foreign partitions and MBR without permission, damaging other operating systems on the disk

[interbird1964]

Debian Squeeze now has this behaviour too.
What actually happens is that the lower bound of the extended container,
which is based on a cylinder boundary when created with eCOmStation's (OS/2) LVM disktool,
is moved upwards to a MiB boundary by the Debian Squeeze / Ubuntu 10.04+ installation process.

This causes the eComStation Logical Volume Management system to fail,
as it expects the extended container to start on a cylinder boundary.

It would be very neighbourly if the Linux people would respect eComStations disk-layout
and not touch the extended container.

Since the extended container can potentially contain other bootable operating systems,
this Linux installer behaviour could be considered quite anti-social, since it has no business
messing with the extended container.

There already exists a company that messes with parts of the disk it does not own for
more that decades.

Please don't duplicate this behaviour.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/669459

Title:
  Ubuntu installation writes into foreign partitions and MBR without
  permission, damaging other operating systems on the disk

Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Below is the original text of the question as I posted it. Underneath some new information.
  Thanks
  Oliver Kluge

  Hi,

  I want to install Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Desktop AMD64 on a PC that has a
  terabyte sized hard disk, which is already fully partitioned (with two
  partitions prepared for Ubuntu and Ubuntu's swap device). On that
  system there is a Logical Volume Manager installed (IBM). This LVM
  could be ignored by Ubuntu, as it is meant for an existing, working,
  bootable JFS partition containing eComStation, which is the current
  version of IBMs OS/2.

  But unfortunately, Ubuntu trashes the LVMs information on the disk,
  either the DLAT or the BBR. After installing Ubuntu _and telling it
  not to install Grub2 into the MBR (!)_ the LVM info gets damaged
  beyond repair. Ubuntu runs flawlessly, having actually installed Grub2
  into it's partitions PBR, as instructed.

  But eComStation won't run, and a Logical Volume Manager run from CD
  complains corrupt partition info (the actual partition table is
  intact. But disk editing tools like DFsee show that it's the LVM info
  that got damaged).

  IBMs LVM stores its info in the last sector of track 0, as opposed to
  the MBR which of course is in the first. The MBR is not damaged. It
  boots IBMs boot manager out of a small partition, and that runs okay.
  It will boot Ubuntu and every Windows installed on the system, but
  because of the damaged DLAT and/or BBR no longer eComStation.

  The error can be pinned down to Ubuntu. Immediately before
  installation everything is fine, immediately afterwards it is broken,
  reproducibly.

  Anyone got a hint why Ubuntu does this, even when told not to install
  boot code into /dev/sda?

  Thanks
  Oliver

  New information:
  a) Happens with 10.04.1, too, and also happens using the installation function of a running Live Ubuntu
  b) I bulk copied the entire hard disk to external storage and so I am able to binary compare immediately before and immediately after installing Ubuntu in /dev/sda9 (and Grub2 in there, too, not into the MBR). I am scanning the whole disk, but apparently Ubuntus installer wrote, without permission, into /dev/sda5 which contains the JFS partition of eComStation.

  Thanks
  Oliver Kluge

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