Hard drive dded full of zeros won't allow install of new OS

2

I dded the hard drive with zeros as a simple way to clear out the sensitive data (yes, I'm aware there are better ways, but it was fast and easy). I am now attempting to install Ubuntu Server 12.04, but I run into an issue when I get to installing GRUB.

I issue grub-install /dev/sda and get a fatal error back.

My question is, are the two things related or "happy" coincidences?

If the two are related, is there a good way to solve the issue?

Dan

Posted 2013-03-31T04:28:06.877

Reputation: 314

Filling a hard drive with zeros is enough, by the way. See zero fill vs random fill.

– Dennis – 2013-03-31T04:41:57.880

Answers

6

The command

grub-install /dev/sda

attempts to install GRUB in the Master Boot Record (MBR) of /dev/sda.

The problem is: A freshly zeroed hard drive doesn't have an MBR!

To create an MS-DOS partition table / MBR, use the following command:

parted /dev/sda mklabel msdos

Dennis

Posted 2013-03-31T04:28:06.877

Reputation: 42 934

Doh! Thanks. Let me verify this works and the vote is yours. – Dan – 2013-03-31T04:42:20.203

Asked: 2013-03-31T04:28:06.877

Viewed: 125 times

Active: 2013-03-31T04:35:49.803