Intel Extensible Firmware Interface User Manual
Page 370

Extensible Firmware Interface Specification
11-10
12/01/02
Version 1.10
Table 11-1. GUID Partition Table Header
(continued)
Mnemonic
Byte
Offset
Byte
Length
Description
MyLBA
24
8
The LBA that contains this data structure.
AlternateLBA
32
8
LBA address of the alternate GUID Partition Table
Header.
FirstUsableLBA
40
8
The first usable logical block that may be
contained in a GUID Partition Entry.
LastUsableLBA
48
8
The last usable logical block that may be
contained in a GUID Partition Entry.
DiskGUID
56
16
GUID that can be used to uniquely identify the
disk.
PartitionEntryLBA
72
8
The starting LBA of the GUID Partition Entry array.
NumberOfPartitionEntries
80
4
The number of Partition Entries in the GUID
Partition Entry array.
SizeOfPartitionEntry
84
4
The size, in bytes, of each the GUID Partition
Entry structures in the GUID Partition Entry array.
Must be a multiple of 8.
PartitionEntryArrayCRC32
88
4
The CRC32 of the GUID Partition Entry array.
Starts at Partition Entry LBA and is
NumberOfPartitionEntries *
SizeOfPartitionEntry
in byte length.
Reserved 92
BlockSize
– 92
The rest of the block is reserved by EFI and must
be zero.
The following test must be performed to determine if a GUID Partition Table is valid:
• Check the GUID Partition Table Signature
• Check the GUID Partition Table CRC
• Check that the
MyLBA
entry points to the LBA that contains the GUID Partition Table
• Check the CRC of the GUID Partition Entry Array
If the GUID Partition Table is the primary table, stored at LBA 1:
• Check the
AlternateLBA
to see if it is a valid GUID Partition Table
If the primary GUID Partition Table is corrupt:
• Check the last LBA of the device to see if it has a valid GUID Partition Table.
• If valid backup GUID Partition Table found, restore primary GUID Partition Table.
Any software that updates the primary GUID Partition Table Header must also update the backup
GUID Partition Table Header. The order of the update of the GUID Partition Table Header and its
associated GUID Partition Entry array is not important, since all the CRCs are stored in the GUID
Partition Table Header. However, the primary GUID Partition Table Header and GUID Partition
Entry array must always be updated before the backup.