The graphics installer in 2006.0 has a bug that can cause major loss of existing data on the disk (see bug 127150). Basically, when the install involves an extended partition that is requested to be formatted prior to install, all primary partitions following it will be trashed, even if the installer has been told not to touch them. It requires mucking with fdisk to even restore those partitions in the partition table, not to mention the data that resided on them. I believe the fix for the installer has been checked into the CVS, but until the next official release, could the online Installation Handbook for 2006.0 be amended to include a warning about this issue? Otherwise, people switching from another distribution or installing a dual-boot system risk losing their existing files, which is hardly the first impression one wants to leave.
Just lost my partitions on my laptop. Everything restorable by backup, but for the time to come, I'll use 2005.0 install cd. It's the last working install media I've managed to find for a clean gentoo install. Very sad.
Bumping the severity to "critical" so maybe someone has a look at this bug sooner. I am also going to ask on the forums how to get this information into the online docs.
Releng, what do you think?
(In reply to comment #0) Can you describe how you encountered this error? It must be something unusual, because many more people have successfully installed Gentoo than reported a data-loss bug.
/me agrees with Davor. Just look around forums.g.o. Maybe a media refresh like we did with 2005.1-r1 would be justified?
(In reply to comment #4) > (In reply to comment #0) > Can you describe how you encountered this error? It must be something unusual, > because many more people have successfully installed Gentoo than reported a > data-loss bug. There is nothing that unusual about it. It's described in more detail in bug 127150, but the trigger is an extended partition in a slot other than #4. It doesn't matter whether you told the installer to format it, it will destroy any primary partitions that might follow the extended one. Even if this does not warrant a media refresh, adding even a single sentence to the installation handbook would help immensely. I can write this, just tell me who to send it to.
2006.1 is out in a month. Changed resolution to LATER.
Umm... no. Don't touch release bugs.
(In reply to comment #8) > Umm... no. > > Don't touch release bugs. Since you think this is a release bug...
No data-loss installer bugs any more; we have nice shiny new media with the new 2006.1 release. Can this be closed? No problems here on the docs end!
(In reply to comment #10) > No data-loss installer bugs any more Maybe not: http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?p=3553769 It's not clear how much is a PBCK and how much is really GLI's fault but from a user's perspective, if it used to work before trying to install Gentoo, Gentoo br0ke it.
That user's issue is most definitely their fault due to the *really* fscked up existing partition layout. There probably should have been a warning added to the networkless handbook for this release, but it's a bit late for that. There will always be the *possibility* of data loss, as with any program that touches partitions.
<warn>As with any partitioning application, you should have a system backup before making modifications to your partition stable, as any possible bugs could cause you to lose your data.</warn> Can we just throw in something like this to the partitioning section of the Handbook and be done w/ it?
(In reply to comment #13) > <warn>As with any partitioning application, you should have a system backup > before making modifications to your partition stable, as any possible bugs > could cause you to lose your data.</warn> > > Can we just throw in something like this to the partitioning section of the > Handbook and be done w/ it? Yes, we can
Created attachment 100946 [details, diff] hb-install-gli-dialog.xml.patch Patch for gli-dialog. Note that this warning is only needed for the GLI networkless installation methods.
Created attachment 100947 [details, diff] hb-install-gtkfe.xml.patch Patch for gtkfe. Note that this warning is only needed for the GLi-based networkless installation methods.
Reassigning. If you do the job, you get the bla^Wcredit for it.
Fixed in CVS, thanks to the reporter and all contributers.
