[HLUG] Partition problem with multiple distros

[Paul Stenning]

Hi all,

I am trying to install several different distros on one PC for our 
document freedom day event at the end of the month and have encountered 
a serious problem.

So far I have installed OpenSUSE, Fedora and PCLinuxOS, giving each a 
10GB ext4 partition as well as having a shared 2GB swap partition.  All 
works fine and the initial PCLinuxOS GRUB menu shows the three available 
distros, and they all run OK.

However if I try to install Mint or Ubuntu the partitioner thinks the 
hard disk is all unallocated and does not show any of the existing 
partitions.  Gparted in both distros is the same.

What has gone wrong and what can I do to make the partitions visible to 
Mint and Ubuntu installers without breaking what I already have?

Thanks,
Paul