cannot see disks under disks manager

.....'When I try to acess my disks thru disks manager'.....

A - can you tell us what disk manager are you using ?

would pls type in a terminal

df

and

sudo fdisk -l

commands and post output here (l above is lower L)

peter b

Thanks for the prompt response, how can I find out the type of disk manager. I was going to disks thru systems-administrator - disks & was getting the above message.

the outputs are
venu@venu-desktop:~$ df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/hdb1 10586416 8393072 1655572 84% /
varrun 254092 76 254016 1% /var/run
varlock 254092 4 254088 1% /var/lock
udev 254092 128 253964 1% /dev
devshm 254092 0 254092 0% /dev/shm
lrm 254092 18856 235236 8% /lib/modules/2.6.15-53-386/volatile
/dev/hda1 19549536 8370560 11178976 43% /media/hda1
/dev/hda5 19549536 17543296 2006240 90% /media/hda5

and
venu@venu-desktop:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 40.0 GB, 40060403712 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4870 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 2435 19559106 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda2 2436 4870 19559137+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 2436 4870 19559106 b W95 FAT32

Disk /dev/hdb: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hdb1 1 1339 10755486 83 Linux
/dev/hdb2 1340 9601 66364515 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hdb3 9602 9729 1028160 82 Linux swap / Solaris

hda is visible on the desktop but while trying to go thru systems-admisistrator -disks to check the hdb I face the error. please advise

1 - it appears that you're using a v old distribution/kernel - pls do

lsb_release -a

and

uname -a

commands and post output here. honestly, I do not remember such tab (disks) under sys-->admin. you can try

sudo apt-get install gparted

gparted is the partition editor (gui based); it may not work under such an old kernel.

2 - your / partition appears as 84% full. I'd recommend for your consideration

backing up all your data on the linux partition (hdb1) first
then shrink if possible the NTFS (hdb2) partition to create additional room
then get your hands on one of the latest ubuntu distros (currently 810 intrepid latest available)
and install it on the new larger partition made up of the former hdb1+the free space created on above step

btw, do you have wubi (was linux installed under win ? )

peter b

Thanks Peter.. No I do not have wubi...I installed ubuntu on my second HD as aclean install from a live cd...I was infact trying to upgrade to 8.01 when i got the msg that I need more dsk space hence Itried chkng the dsk. Earlier too I couldnot mount /use the NTFS partition,So now that I cannot acess that partition how can i shrink it or use it for that instance

venu@venu-desktop:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 6.06.2 LTS
Release: 6.06
Codename: dapper
venu@venu-desktop:~$ uname -a
Linux venu-desktop 2.6.15-53-386 #1 PREEMPT Sun Jan 25 23:29:51 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux
venu@venu-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get gparted
Password:
E: Invalid operation gparted

- question pls - what is there in the NTFS partition ? is there just data ? or any os ?

- in any event, at this stage as I said

back up all your data on the linux partition (hdb1) AND the NTFS partition (if you have win installed on hda then access the NTFS under win and back up your data while in win); if that's the case just do it, if not I'll tell you how to get NTFS recognized under linux (be prepared also for the worst scenario, that may be a problem with NTFS partition based on .....'Earlier too I couldnot mount /use the NTFS partition,So now that I cannot acess that partition'.....

pls understand that modifying HDD configuration is an exercise that may result in unexpected problems - so better be safe than sorry.

looking at the overall picture of the problems you're having pls do as quickly as you can (save to other media) a backup/copy of all data you care of on the linux hdb1 (probably just /home folder) AND NTFS partition.

after that we'll more than likely get hdb set up such that it meets the new ubuntu install rather than upgrading from an old kernel which also may bring unexpected surprises; hdb can be set up either under win or under ubuntu installer - it depends what I hear back from you re the NTFS part.

pls get ready a good ubuntu distro CD _(intrepid recommended) be it live or alternate.

peter b