#1151072 gnome-disk-utility: partition creation fails with "(null)" partition table type; format fails with udisks timeout

Package:
gnome-disk-utility
Source:
gnome-disk-utility
Description:
manage and configure disk drives and media
Submitter:
Aliy333 safary333
Date:
2026-10-16 17:09:05 UTC
Severity:
normal
#1151072#5
Date:
2026-10-16 17:06:12 UTC
From:
To:
Dear maintainers,

I found two related bugs in gnome-disk-utility 46.1 on Debian.

gnome-disk-utility version: 46.1
Debian version: 13.7 (trixie)
Desktop: GNOME
Device: SATA SSD internal drive "Black Panther 128G", 128 GB

Steps to reproduce:
1. Boot a Debian live session (USB stick booted via Ventoy).
2. Open gnome-disk-utility ("Disks").
3. Select a 128 GB SATA SSD drive containing 3 partitions
   (64 GB ext4, 58 GB ext4, 6.1 GB swap).
4. Delete all partitions.
5. The "Partitioning" field now shows "Unknown ()" and the volume
   list becomes inconsistent (a leftover 293 MB partition and two
   Free Space entries remain displayed).

Bug 1:
Creating a new partition from the unallocated space fails with:
  Error creating partition: Don't know how to create partitions
  this partition table of type `(null)' (udisks-error-quark, 0)

Bug 2:
Choosing "Format Disk…" from the drive menu fails with:
  Error formatting disk: Error synchronizing after initial wipe:
  Timed out waiting for object (udisks-error-quark, 0)

Expected result:
A new partition is created / the disk is formatted with a new
partition table.

Actual result:
Both operations fail; the volume list keeps showing stale
(inconsistent) entries.

Workaround:
Creating a new partition table with GParted (Device ->
Create Partition Table) restores a consistent state; afterwards
gnome-disk-utility can create and format a 128 GB ext4 partition
successfully.

Attachments: numbered frames from a screen recording
(0001.png ... 0094.png) showing the whole sequence.

why does gnome-disks-utility have no tool for resolving that
problem but GPARTED has it ?
Please forward to upstream if reproducible upstream.