PDA

View Full Version : [ubuntu] Resizing partitions



rp181
March 16th, 2009, 12:38 AM
Right now, i am dual boot with Windows XP Home Edition and the latest Ubuntu, but i have ran out of memory on the ubuntu partition. Is there a way to resize the partitions without formatting the disk?

upchucky
March 16th, 2009, 02:03 AM
yes, but it depends on how much room you have, post the drive geometry so we know how to advise.


sudo fdisk -l
sudo blkid
cat /etc/fstab
df -h

miegiel
March 16th, 2009, 02:47 AM
I suggest the GParted Live CD http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

eli_d
March 16th, 2009, 06:24 AM
I would second using GParted. I've always used SysrescCD Live CD (http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page) ... it has always worked well for me...

there are a couple things you'll need to know, if you use GParted in SysRescueCD ...

1) it will start you at a command prompt. You can load a gui by typing "startx" if that doesn't work, there is another command you can enter (can't remember right now) that is printed on the screen after booting. It'll give you the option to choose the resolution manually before the gui (graphic user interface) loads.

2) you will probably need to resize your windows partition first... and then use the space you free up from that partition to resize your ubuntu partition. GParted let's you do all of this at once... BUT it's VERY important to let Windows XP load after you resize your windows partition. When Windows XP does load it'll see that something is wrong with the disk and will run "chkdsk" on a light blue screen at startup. You really need to let chkdsk run entirely for your Windows XP partition to work with the new partition size. After you let windows do this, you can restart the PC and load back into ubuntu. your new space should be ready for use.

3) if you need to use the internet in SysrescueCD live environment, you'll have to type something like "dhcpc" (can't remember the exact command) to get an IP address from your server for internet access.

rp181
March 16th, 2009, 11:23 PM
ok, before i do anything, here is what came when i did what you said:

phani@phani-desktop:~$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for phani:

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9726 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xd0f4738c

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 4 32098+ de Dell Utility
/dev/sda2 * 5 7928 63649530 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda3 9367 9725 2883667+ db CP/M / CTOS / ...
/dev/sda4 7929 9366 11550735 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 7929 9299 11012526 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 9300 9366 538146 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdb: 1015 MB, 1015808000 bytes
32 heads, 63 sectors/track, 984 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2016 * 512 = 1032192 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 984 991747+ 6 FAT16
phani@phani-desktop:~$ sudo blkid
/dev/sda1: SEC_TYPE="msdos" LABEL="DellUtility" UUID="07D4-0C02" TYPE="vfat"
/dev/sda2: UUID="7ED8CA3BD8C9F187" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda3: LABEL="DellRestore" UUID="0000-0000" TYPE="vfat"
/dev/sda5: UUID="544dd0b5-206a-40e3-8bd3-77685021ab90" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda6: TYPE="swap" UUID="21789cd1-3eac-4c65-a7e2-6a10b5f2712b"
/dev/sdb1: SEC_TYPE="msdos" LABEL="KODAK" UUID="0000-0000" TYPE="vfat"
phani@phani-desktop:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/sda5
UUID=544dd0b5-206a-40e3-8bd3-77685021ab90 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /dev/sda6
UUID=21789cd1-3eac-4c65-a7e2-6a10b5f2712b none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
phani@phani-desktop:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda5 11G 9.6G 304M 97% /
tmpfs 500M 0 500M 0% /lib/init/rw
varrun 500M 304K 500M 1% /var/run
varlock 500M 0 500M 0% /var/lock
udev 500M 2.8M 498M 1% /dev
tmpfs 500M 144K 500M 1% /dev/shm
lrm 500M 2.0M 498M 1% /lib/modules/2.6.27-11-generic/volatile
phani@phani-desktop:~$

PenguinsFan
March 16th, 2009, 11:46 PM
Another good option is Parted Magic (http://www.partedmagic.com) - its essentially GParted with a few other options like Web Surfing.

Just be careful! If your not careful you can do some damage and lose data by partitioning. If your totally new to GParted / PartedMagic check out the tutorials here: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/documentation.php

Good Luck!

rp181
March 17th, 2009, 12:15 AM
ok, i downloaded GParted, but now i cant burn it on a CD. My computer has 2 CD drives, 1 read only and 1 RW drive. The R only drive opens fine, but i cant get the tray open for the RW drive ;(. How do i get it to open? Pressing the button on the computer doesnt work.

EDIT: Ubuntu installed GParted, and it runs fine, can i resize from inside ubuntu?

upchucky
March 17th, 2009, 11:28 PM
yup drives r full.

to do partitioning you need to be able to boot from the cd drive, preferably the one that writes so you can burn a cd. the rw needs to be the first drive on the cable set as master. this is so u can write to the drive while using the live cd.

burn gparted to a cd, then boot the cd, you cant partition a mounted drive this is why u need either a live cd or the partitioner on a bootable cd.

you are gonna probably need advanced super grub to set up everything that needs to boot.

and knoppix is a great live cd for troubleshooting/editing and fixing pcs
knoppix comes with both partitioners which is handy if and when one or the other partitioner fails.

rp181
March 18th, 2009, 12:19 AM
I tried the partitioner on the Ubuntu 8.10 CD, but the partitioner said it failed. I remember this happening on my first install too, what should i do? Also, will this keep all my data?

upchucky
March 18th, 2009, 12:43 AM
you really should back up all precious data first.
with that said, partitioning usually preserves all data, but there are instances where it screws a drive, powerfail, user error.

see my post about knoppix and failed partitioning. back up all important stuff and then it don't matter what happens.

rp181
March 18th, 2009, 01:32 AM
Im just asking because i dont really have anything to back up too, but ile see what i can do.