Hello,Friends!
Actually, there is already similar topic on this forum:http://www.computing.net/windows2000/wwwboard/forum/11757.html. Unfortunately, it is not quite clear wat exactly was done to fix the problem. So maybe somebody will be so kind and help me figure it out.
Here is what happened:
I have two harddrives on my machine, which runs Windows 2000 SP4, and the idea was to make both disks dynamic and mirror the first one onto the second for extra security.
I have converted to Dynamic a Basic disk (disk 0) , which had several partitions on it including one, which was mounted on the empty folder on the C: drive and contained very important information.
After restart in Disc Management it shows as Dynamic Unreadable. Windows boots OK, I see all C drive folders and files but not the rest of the partitions (including the one, which was mounted before).
I read almost every web page describing this problem including Microsoft KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=... I did what they suggest in the article:

One of the partitions on the unreadable disk is Linux installation and another (very small one) is Linux swap partition. So I booted my Linux and:
- first time changed partition type for the partitions 0 and 1 from x07 to x42 through Linux "fdisk". Could not boot Windows, so through Linux changed them back to x7's
-second time changed only partition 0 type to .x42. Could not boot Windows, so reverted back to x7.
So it stays now.
Both times I received: "STOP 0x0000006F SESSION3_INITIALIZATION_FAILED" error message.
How do I ensure that associated LDM database that contains the original partitioning scheme does agree with the partitioning scheme ? Or whatever I need to do to fix that problem ? I do not care if the partition is no longer mouted, as long as Disk is readable againg and I can access data on this partition.

Here is a fragment ofdisk.txt file, which contains dmdiag output. (I could attach the whole file but do not know how to do so.) It describes the unreadable disk:
12 PartitionCount
0000675f Signature

Starting Partition Hidden Total Partition Partition Boot Recognized Rewrite
Offset (bytes) Length (bytes) Sectors Sectors Number Type (HEX) Indicator Partition Partition

32,256 19,926,434,304 63 38,918,817 0 0x07 1 1 0
19,926,466,560 54,190,080 38,918,880 105,840 1 0x07 0 1 0
19,980,656,640 15,722,864,640 39,024,720 30,708,720 2 0x42 0 1 0
35,703,521,280 24,315,863,040 69,733,440 47,491,920 3 0x0F 0 0 0
35,703,553,536 1,068,286,464 63 2,086,497 4 0x42 0 1 0
36,771,840,000 23,069,491,200 2,086,560 45,057,600 5 0x05 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 6 0x00 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 7 0x00 0 0 0
36,771,872,256 23,069,458,944 63 45,057,537 8 0x42 0 1 0
0 0 0 0 9 0x00 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 10 0x00 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 11 0x00 0 0 0

I was thinking about changing them all to x42's but I fear that it might make my Linux installation useless.
Maybe it is just a matter of changing a few values there, but I do not dare to do so on my own in order not to screew things up hopelessly and for good.
Somebody, please help!

Thanks a lot, Slonumber.

Look at the link below. Pay attention to the paragraph after the title Upgrade to Dynamic Disks.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302969

Dear OtheHill!
With your forgiveness, could you please be more specific? I am unfortunately not really sharp tonight...

Thanks a lot, Slonumber.

Raid systems require Dynamic disks under Windows 2000. Any disks that you are upgrading "must contain at least 1 megabyte (MB) of free space at the end of the disk for the upgrade to succeed". Disk Management automatically reserves this free space when creating partitions or volumes on a disk, but disks with partitions or volumes that are created by other operating systems may not have this free space available.

Did you solve your problem yet?

I am not sure what happened to my previous message, so I'll repeate it:
I am afraid that no matter how convincing the following sounds:
"Any disks that you are upgrading "must contain at least 1 megabyte (MB) of free space at the end of the disk for the upgrade to succeed", it has nothing to do with my problem, hence it could not have helped me to solve my problem.
The fact is, that the now Unreadable disk had before conversion 170 MB of unallocated space. So, unless I am missing something completely, my problem could be solved by editing LDM table as was done in the:
http://www.computing.net/windows200... case.
How exactly this table should be edited IS my question.

Thanks a lot, Slonumber.

If I understood your problem you attempted to create a mirrored set of dynamic disks and the procedure failed. I was pointing out one possible reason for it, not necessarily a fix. I should have included more of the article in quotes as it mentioned that this occurs when partions are created with other OSes. I don't know how your disk was partitioned. I am not sure that you can mirror the disk because of the Linux partition. Just because you have space on the disk does not mean you have met the criteria cited in the article.

At the bottom of the linked article are additional links. One mentions recovery. I didn’t read it.

Another link.
edit, ignore this link, applies to NT only.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/120...

OtheHill writes:
"If I understood your problem you attempted to create a mirrored set of dynamic disks and the procedure failed."
No, this is NOT what happened. I my original post, I described the problem in all possible detail. Very similar situation is described in the http://www.computing.net/windows200...
Creating a mirrored set of dynamic disks was my ultimate goal, but meanwhile:
I tried to convert Basic disk to Dynamic. It came back as "unreadable" because there is a mixture of System ID types in the LDM table (see above). I need to edit this table by putting in the right values. I do not know what these values should be. If somebody knows the answer, please help!

Thanks a lot, Slonumber.

Second time I'm posting this link, don't know what happened to the first.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/236086

Dear OtheHill!
It is a very strange concept, but usually people try to read a question first and only then try to answer it. If you read my original post, you must have undoubtedly noticed this line:
"I read almost every web page describing this problem including Microsoft KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=... I did what they suggest in the article:, etc ".
Since you suggest the same article I quote, I come to a sad but inevitable conclusion:
You did not read my post carefully.
I appreciate your envolvment on the creative side, but please, with all due respect, STOP wasting time (both yours and mine)! Unless, of course, you have a concrete answer to my concrete question.

Thanks a lot, Slonumber.

Try your own link before you get on my case. You cut off part of the link and it doesn't work. I am not a mind reader. The old thread you linked in CN has no relivence to what you keep asking. It does however have relivence to the last link I posted.

The last link I provided did give a solution to your problem. A problem you wouldn't have if you maintained backups or at least created one before you attempted the conversion. I am done with your ridicule. Good luck to you.

You shouldn't have jumped on OtheHill's case, he was just trying to help. He could have chosen not to help in the first place you know!

If the earth was created by a big bang, how come my car or computer or anything else isn't created the same way?