I got a Thinkpad X41 (laptop) without HDD, I bought a mSATA (Kingston SMS200s3120G) and an adapter to be able to used with the laptop. I managed to install Windows XP without any problems, but I have not been able install Debian (as dual boot).

I tried to install Debian 9 using the "netinst.iso" using two different approach, using the CD/DVD-ROM unit located in its docking station and using a USB stick but always the installation becomes stuck in the partitioning process, I am receiving the following message: "Failed to create a file system. The ext4 file system creation in partition 5 of SCSl1 (0,0,0) sda failed".

I was able to load the Debian9-live DVD, but not able to install it using the live DVD.

Have anybody faced this problem before? Any suggestion to install Debian 9 along with Windows XP in that particular SSD?

Hi & Welcome to LQ.

Is the drive that you purchased an external or internal drive?

In order to install Debian alongside of Windows you will have to shrink your Windows partition to make room for your Linux install.
To do that go into Disk Management and shrink the Windows partition.

Once the Windows partition has been resized you should be able to proceed with the Debian installation. The installer and the partition manager should see your drive and show you the unallocated space. Use the unallocated space to make your partitions for Debian.

Welcome to the forums!

A friendly reminder that Windows XP reached its end of life over four years ago and is completely unsupported, with no security patches.

I strongly encourage you to install a supported Windows release, or why not install Debian single-boot as your only OS?

Thanks for you responses so far.

Ztcoracat - The SSD is an internal one (120 GB). I shrank the Windows XP partition to 60 GB and allocated the other 60 GB for Debian (using Debian installer), but I have not had any success, I still get the message "Failed to create a file system. The ext4 file system creation in partition 5 of SCSl1 (0,0,0) sda failed".

Snowpine - Thanks for your advise, however I still use old specialised software that run in Windows XP.

Before you burned the Debian .iso to DVD did the integrity of the .iso file check out ok?

It may be time to test the health of that hard drive. It's possible even-tho the drive is new it could be faulty.
I think in Windows you want Disk Management and look under disk utility.

I would boot up the Debian Live DVD and see if it see's the drive. Try Debian without installing. Open the terminal and
run lsusb and or lsblk while using the Debian DVD to see partitions on the drive.

Another thing you may want to check is that in the BIOS your machine is set to SSD not IDE.

IF you still have trouble you may have to use g-parted Live to create a ext4 partition for Debian and a 1 to 2 GB swap partition and than try the installation. Creating partitions using Windows for Linux will not work.

Here are 2 threads with the exact same error that you are getting. Hope it helps.

https://forum.openmediavault.org/ind...a-file-system/

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=126140

To clarify, you are using an internal mSATA to 2.5" SATA adapter, is that correct? When you are running Linux in "live" mode, can you mount the drive and view its contents?

One thought is you might try a "mainstream" distro (such as Mint or Ubuntu) which, having a newer kernel, might have better hardware support for your adapter.

Another thought is you might try another type of adapter. I see that external mSATA to USB adapters can be purchased for under $10. That would be a cheap way to test for "proof of concept."

A third great idea comes from @Ztcoracat above, to test the integrity of your install medium.

Hi I run the lsusb and lsblk in the terminal and I got the following results:

user@debian:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04b3:4484 IBM Corp. SMSC USB20H04 3-Port Hub [ThinkPad X4 UltraBase, Wistron S Note-3 Media Slice]
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0483:2016 STMicroelectronics Fingerprint Reader
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
user@debian:~$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
loop0 7:0 0 1.9G 1 loop /lib/live/mount/rootfs/filesystem.squashfs
sda 8:0 0 111.8G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 55.9G 0 part
└─sda2 8:2 0 55.9G 0 part
sr0 11:0 1 2G 0 rom /lib/live/mount/medium
user@debian:~$

It seems that the SDD is detected.

I will try to do the partitioning with gparted live to see the results.

I think the BIOS of the Thinkpad X41 cannot be change to SSD, I assume that is in IDE mode.

I am using the same configuration shown in
https://scottlinux.com/2016/11/05/th...-an-msata-ssd/

Thanks for your help

That's good that the SSD is being detected.

Let us know how partitioning with gparted goes.

Hi, I tried to use gparted live. I downloaded the iso file (300 MB approx) from the website (https://gparted.org/livecd.php) and burned into a CD.

The CD loads ok but the process becomes stuck before showing the GUI of the program, the last message I get is:

"Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by applicable law"

Any suggestion?

Thanks in advance.

So gparted just hangs at that message and doesn't move?

Did you check the .iso file of gparted to make sure it was ok?

Ztcoracat - I have checked the integrity of the gparted iso file with 7-Zip and it showed no errors.

Ok-

Did the signature on the Debian page where you downloaded the Debian .iso match what your terminal returned?

I have checked (using the Haskcheck) the checksums for Debian and Gparted iso files, and they passed (MD5SUMS & SHA1SUMS obtained are the same of those displayed in the Debian and Gparted websites).

Before you installed Windows XP what operating system was on that Thinkpad x41?

--On another note:

Looking at the spec's of your Thinkpad it has a Intel Pentium m 758 1.5 GHz 32-bit processor.
-::-Debian needs at least a Pentium 4.-::-

https://www.cnet.com/products/thinkpad-x41/specs/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_M

I don't see the Lenovo Thinkpad X41 in this list.
https://www.linux-on-laptops.com/lenovo.html

IMHO, I think Debian is too heavy for your laptop.

Anti-X and MX Linux are os's that are designed for older machines and run well.

https://antixlinux.com/
https://mxlinux.org/