Question about resizing partitions on my serval

[Replicon]

I think I posted about this elsewhere a while back, but I think a new thread here will be good, since I have some questions specific to the default configuration.

I've only got 800MB free on there, and the new release is just around the corner, and I'm worried about running out of space during the update.

1) Is the default configuration of the ServalP such that I can resize my root partition? (I want to take a GB or two off of /home and put it on /). I heard that you can't always do that, and that if you want to, things have to be setup in a very specific way (partitions have to exist in same logical volume or somesuch). here is some useful info (not sure if this is enough to be able to tell):


$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 5.6G 4.5G 795M 86% /
varrun 2.0G 128K 2.0G 1% /var/run
varlock 2.0G 0 2.0G 0% /var/lock
udev 2.0G 52K 2.0G 1% /dev
devshm 2.0G 12K 2.0G 1% /dev/shm
lrm 2.0G 44M 1.9G 3% /lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/volatile
/dev/sda3 171G 86G 77G 53% /home


$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 200.0 GB, 200049647616 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24321 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000e4c2b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 730 5859375 83 Linux
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2 730 1692 7725585+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 1692 24322 181776023 83 Linux




2) I am not dual-booting or anything like that. I keep reading online that if you're resizing a windows partition, you absolutely must defrag it before. Is that true of ext3 as well, or am I safe just doing it? (erm... how DO I defrag in linux? can I just do it from gparted, or is there another way, or is it, in fact, completely irrelevant in ext3?)


3) I plan on just burning a gpartedmagic iso and booting with it to get it done. Assuming condition 1 is met, is there anything I need to be aware of? Yes, I've backed up all my stuff. :)

Thanks!

[Replicon]

Ack!

So I basically did it. It all seemed to work, to produce what I wanted:


Old configuration: [ / 5.5GB ][ swap 7.0GB ][ /home 170GB ]
New configuration: [ / 7.5GB ][ swap 7.0GB ][ /home 168GB ]


However, now when I reboot, all I get is the "GRUB" flashing cursor of death.

I imagine it's just a matter of me having moved what GRUB looks for from the boot sector, and so I just need to reconfigure it somehow, but I am not quite sure how. Is there an easy way to fix this? thx!

[unutbu]

Try catlett's instructions on how to reinstall GRUB:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=1308395&postcount=1

[Replicon]

Alright, so I found a real old thread (bulldog's post here (http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-283311.html)), which provided information on how to reinstall GRUB. I followed it, and it seems to have worked just fine.

The only difference I am seeing is that instead of getting the Ubuntu progressbar on boot, I get the "Reading files needed to boot", followed by the long list of "[ OK ]" checks. Doesn't bother me at all, but I do wonder if something else was setup "custom" originally.

edit: just saw your post unutbu; thanks!

[jdb]

Alright, so I found a real old thread (bulldog's post here (http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-283311.html)), which provided information on how to reinstall GRUB. I followed it, and it seems to have worked just fine.

The only difference I am seeing is that instead of getting the Ubuntu progressbar on boot, I get the "Reading files needed to boot", followed by the long list of "[ OK ]" checks. Doesn't bother me at all, but I do wonder if something else was setup "custom" originally.

edit: just saw your post unutbu; thanks!

edit /boot/grub/menu.lst and put the word splash on the end of the line that starts with "kernel /boot/".