Existing partition accessed during installation

Introduction:

This is a problem I hit during Fedora Core 4 installation. I already had a version of Linux installed on this machine (Redhat 7.2) so the hard drive was already partitioned. During FC4 installation, I decided to completely re-parition the disk, nuking everything that was already on it. However, when I came to run the new installation, something (I know not what), accessed one of the existing partitions. Or maybe something didn't. Whatever, the install THOUGHT something did and fatally spat the dummy. This, unfortunately is a show-stopper as far as the installation is concerned.

Aim:

To fix this, we first delete the existing partitions. This makes the machine look, to all intents and purposes, like a first-time install.

Requirements:

You will need disk 1 of 4 of the FC4 install disks. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go here.

Procedure:

This procedure is in response to the following popup messages during FC4 install:

"Error informing the kernel about modifications to partition /dev/hda2 - Device or resource busy. This means that Linux won't know about any changes you made to /dev/hda2 until you reboot - so you shouldn't mount it or use it in any way before rebooting."

followed by:

"The kernel was unable to re-read the partition table on /dev/hda (Device or resource busy). This means that Linux won't know anything nothing (sic) about the modifications you made until you reboot. You should reboot your computer before doing anything with /dev/hda."

Then follows an "Exception Occurred" popup with some debug information.

To fix this, do this:

• Insert the "Fedora 4: 1 of 4" CD.
• Reboot the server.
• At the boot: prompt, type "linux rescue".
• Choose a Language:
• -English- [OK]
• Keyboard Type:
• us [OK]
• Setup Networking: [No]
• Rescue: [Skip]
• This puts you into a Bourne command shell with the prompt: -/bin/sh-3.00#
• Delete all partitions:
• # fdisk /dev/hda
• You are now in fdisk. Type "m" at any time to get a list of commands.
• : p lists all your partitions. They have device names of /dev/hda1, /dev/hda2, etc.
• : d deletes partitions, asking for the partition number. Delete all of them.
• : w writes these changes and exits.
  
• That's it. Leave the CD in the drive and reboot (# halt shuts down and then you can turn the power off and on again).
• Restart the installation from scratch.