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I am trying to install Ubuntu on a brand new internal hard drive using a USB install.

Using lshw -C disk I'm able to see that my computer recognizes the hard drive is connected.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo lshw -C disk   *-disk                  
   description: ATA Disk
   product: ST1000DM003
   vendor: Seagate
   physical id: 0.0.0
   bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
   logical name: /dev/sda
   version: CC49
   serial: S1DGBN30
   size: 3950MiB (4142MB)
   configuration: ansiversion=5

But when I attempt to read the disk so I can partition and format it I get this

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sda fdisk: unable to read /dev/sda:
Input/output error

Something similar happens when I try to do this through gparted

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo gparted
Input/output error during read on /dev/sda

Why is this happening? If Ubuntu can see that my hard drive is connected, why can't it do any of these basic operations.

EDIT: Running lsblk gives me this. The hard drive /dev/sda is 3.9GB (supposed to be 1TB). I'm pretty sure that's because it hasn't been initialized or partitioned yet.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ lsblk
sda      8:0    0   3.9G  0 disk 
sdb      8:16   1   3.7G  0 disk 
└─sdb1   8:17   1   3.7G  0 part /cdrom
sr0     11:0    1     2K  0 rom  
loop0    7:0    0 666.6M  1 loop /rofs
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closed as off-topic by psusi, Jorge Castro, Braiam, Avinash Raj, Radu Rădeanu Mar 20 at 5:41



Which version of Ubuntu are you trying to install? –  terdon Mar 19 at 1:01
Version 12.04.3 Desk 64-bit –  GMS Mar 19 at 14:16
Lets's see if we can get any clues. Please edit your question and post the output of lsblk. Is there anything special about this drive? Some strange connection or hardware? –  terdon Mar 19 at 14:38
I'll edit my post with that output as soon as I can. But I can tell you right now that there is nothing special about this drive. It's a regular internal Seagate hard drive. I opened up my computer, took out the old drive, and plugged in the new one. It's always possible that the drive was just a lemon, which is fine (I'll just get a replacement), but I want to rule everything else out in Ubuntu first, obviously. –  GMS Mar 19 at 19:04
I've posted the lsblk output –  GMS Mar 19 at 23:15