Description of problem: After selecting to "Remove all Linux partitions" on a machine that does not contain any, the installer displays an obfuscated error message[1] and then forces a reboot. [1]: "Could not allocate requested partitions: Partitioning failed: Could not allocate partitions as primary partitions. Press 'OK' to reboot your system" Steps to Reproduce: 1. Select Automatically partition. 2. Select "Remove all Linux partitions on this system" Actual results: Generic error message is displayed, and forces a reboot. Expected results: Should say something to the effect of "No linux partitions were found on this disk", and let the user select another option.
What was your initial partitioning layout? A quick test here shows that the error message sequence was: - "Could not allocate requested partitions: Partitioning failed: Could not allocate partitions as primary partitions." - Click OK. - "The following errors occurred with your partitioning: blah blah blah. You can choose a different automatic partitioning option, or click 'Back' to select manual partitioning. Press 'OK' to continue." - Click OK. - Back at automatic partitioning screen for a retry. My partition table is two vfat partitions occupying the entire disk.
I'm not positive of the *exact* partition layout, but it was whatever IBM shipped it to me with: a large NTFS and a Compaq Diagnostics partition.
I cannot reproduce an error remotely close to what's described in this report. If the system lacks any Linux partitions, selecting "Remove all Linux partitions" for the autolayout, Anaconda will display an error message telling you to use another method. I created several test scenarios and used the Remove all Linux partitions option to automatically lay out partitions: 1) One Compaq Diag partition (0x12) unformatted, one NTFS partition (0x07) unformatted. Anaconda gave an error dialog saying it couldn't allocate partitions as primary partitions. Clicked ok and it gave another explanation dialog and took me back to the automatic partitioning screen. 2) Same two partitions, but this time formatted as FAT32. Anaconda behaved the same here as it did in step 1. 3) Two NTFS partitions and one Compaq diag partition. One NTFS partition formatted as FAT32, one formatted as Linux ext3, and the diag partition formatted as FAT32. Anaconda ignored the two FAT32 filesystems, but used the NTFS partition formatted as ext3. I'm not sure what happened in your case, but without more to go on, I'm not sure if this bug exists anymore. Can you test either rawhide or FC5 Test 2 on this system and see if it happens again?
Closing due to lack of response.