GNU bug report logs - #79752
Feature suggestion: detect partition tables with sector-size mismatch

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Samuel Plavec <samuelplavec <at> gmail.com>
To: submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Feature suggestion: detect partition tables with sector-size mismatch
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 2025 22:06:09 +0100

Package: parted
Severity: wishlist

Hello,

I would like to suggest a new feature. In the case parted couldn't
recognize the partition table on a disk, I think it would be helpful
if parted attempted to check whether the partition table didn't assume
a sector size different from the sector size that the disk currently
uses.

The context is that I recently ran into an issue when I accidentally
partitioned a disk with a logical sector size of 4096 bytes, and then
tried to read it with a logical sector size of 512 bytes. (This was
because of a USB--SATA adapter acting strangely. Physical sector size
of the disk is 4096 bytes.) When I tried diagnosing this issue using
parted, it didn't recognize the partition table, which created a false
impression that the data could have become corrupted.

(This issue is not particularly uncommon; when I finally learned what
was its cause, I could find several posts online describing exactly
the same problem.)

Thank you.

Best regards,
Samuel Plavec

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