[Bug 132762] Re: [gutsy] Don't change UUID of existing ext3 partition when formatting it for install

[Phillip Susi]

I'm going to have to say no on this.  It would be inappropriate to try
and pretend a formatted partition is the same as the existing one.


** Changed in: ubiquity (Ubuntu)
       Status: Confirmed => Won't Fix

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Title:
  [gutsy] Don't change UUID of existing ext3 partition when formatting
  it for install

Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
  Won't Fix

Bug description:
  Hi, first of all kudos for your great work!

  The problem, in short, is:

  After installing Gutsy tribe4 next to an existing Feisty (dual boot),
  whenever I boot into Feisty it gets confused because the UUID of the
  Gutsy partition was changed (I think when formatting it at Gutsy
  install).

  
  Details follow below.

  My machine dual boots between Feisty and Gutsy; I tried to use Feisty
  (Ubuntu 7.04) as a stable OS, and Gutsy (Ubuntu 7.10 tribe 4) for
  testing.

  For that, and before installing any OS, I made 4 partitions with the Feisty live CD:
      /dev/sda1, 4GB ext3 partition      --> for Feisty
      /dev/sda2, 510MB swap partition --> for both OS
      /dev/sda3, 4GB ext3 partition      --> for Gutsy
      /dev/sda4, 1GB fat32 partition, to store data files or whatever

  First I installed Feisty on /dev/sda1 (with manual partitioning to
  select what partition to use for /). After installation it mounts the
  other partitions in the desktop. So far no problems.

  Then I installed Gutsy tribe4 on /dev/sda3, again with manual
  partitioning to chose the partition for /. But it insisted in
  formatting /dev/sda3 (a warning dialog appears if you don't mark the
  partition for formatting). After the install it mounts the other
  partitions on the desktop, all good.

  There are no problems when booting into Gutsy.

  The problem is when booting into Feisty. It has stored in its
  /etc/fstab an UUID for /dev/dsa3 that no longer matches the real one
  (assigned by Gutsy at installation). The graphical boot in Feisty
  drops to a text console at approx. 1/3 of progress with the following
  error:

      fsck.ext3: Unable to resolve 'UUID=7bbf5139-cd64-4b4b-b409-2cf37244bb11'
      fsck died with exit status 8

  which is true, because now the UUID for /dev/sda3 is, from Gutsy's /etc/fstab:
      09897928-e57f-42ed-b119-4764aa8ed083

  It then stays in a text recovery prompt; pressing Ctrl+D makes the
  boot continue, gdm is shown, I log in and all is well in Feisty. It
  just doesn't shows /dev/sda3.

  The machine is not my main one, so I can live with my borked Feisty
  boot.

  
  Some possible solutions.

  A possible solution could be just allowing the installation into an
  existing ext3 partition without formatting it.

  Another solution (don't know it it's possible) might be to preserve
  the UUID of an existing ext3 partition even after formatting it (say
  by copying it before format, and restoring it after format). In this
  way an existing Linux installation that uses UUID to identify
  partitions would continue recognizing them, and both installations
  could coexist happily.

  Yet another solution would be not creating the ext3 partition for
  Gutsy in advance, so that Feisty doesn't know about it. I could just
  leave the space for it unassigned on disk, and create the ext3
  partition in that space at Gusty installation. But I think this is a
  workaround, rather than a solution.

  Sorry for the long explanations; I hope the problem is more or less
  clear that way.

  If I can be of any help, just tell me.

  Best regards
  Eduardo José Moreira

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