Dell Latitude false "Partition format invalid!" error

Question

I have a Dell Latitude with which I messed around for a while, installing several OS (Windows and Ubuntu versions), also with multiboot options. When I installed an OS - I can't remember which one - I started getting a Partition format invalid! error at each boot. It is not a real problem: if I hit Enter it boots without problems. However, it's bothering: is there a way to fix that?

I can risk to lose data in my drive - I'm going to reinstall Ubuntu anyway - so any solution would be good.

Answer 1

What I always do with thumb drives should also work on hdds and ssds

Run a live dvd (or the ubuntu installer in live mode).

Find the disk:

# lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sr0     11:0    1 1024M  0 rom
sda      8:0    0   20G  0 disk
├─sda2   8:2    0    1G  0 part /boot
├─sda3   8:3    0   19G  0 part /
└─sda1   8:1    0    2M  0 part

In this case, /dev/sda is the drive we want to erase

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda bs=10M count=1^

This wil override the first 10Mb of the drive with zeroes.

Now restart the live dvd and install the os.