[SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

Ron · 2018-05-18 13:08:37

I had been dual booting Miyo and Mint. Mint was on sda2 and Miyo on sda5. I decided to delete the Mint partition since I'm happy with Miyo. I went into Gparted and deleted Mint's partition, so it's now gone. I then tried to increase the size of Miyo's partition using the now unallocated space from the deleted Mint partition, but it won't let me. Thinking it wasn't working because Miyo's partition was mounted, I live booted from a disc and tried it again, but I still can't increase the Miyo partition size. Miyo is still showing as sda5 (I thought it would automatically switch to sda2), can this have something to do with the problem? How do I fix this without resorting to a reinstall? Thanks.

Last edited by Ron (2018-05-18 19:03:44)

GNUser · 2018-05-18 14:09:13

Boot from live disc then use GParted to resize your Miyo partition (make sure the partition isn't mounted). GParted will warn that resizing can cause the partition to become unbootable, but I've done this many times before without any issues.

Last edited by GNUser (2018-05-18 14:09:41)

Panopticon · 2018-05-18 14:18:56

You thought partitions would automagically re-allocate?

No... im afraid you need to research this little endeavour some more.

I would recommend learning how to use fsarchiver http://www.fsarchiver.org/

It would seem you want to move sda5 into sda2 position on the hdd. Not a good idea.

Ron · 2018-05-18 15:25:50

GNUser wrote:

Boot from live disc then use GParted to resize your Miyo partition (make sure the partition isn't mounted).

I've already tried this before my post. It won't let me, and I've tried two times so far.

Panopticon wrote:

You thought partitions would automagically re-allocate?

I'm not assuming, I'm going off of past experience. It did when I was triple booting and deleted the middle partition, sda5. Then sda6 became sda5 (my current sda5).

Panopticon · 2018-05-18 15:39:34

If mint was on sda2 and you deleted it its just deleted. Your partition scheme should stay as created unless you recreate it by either shrinking or growing/moving the volumes on the hdd. It will require a whole lot of fuckery to achieve what you want, ive done it. I had 3 partitions, sda1,2,3. Because i am anal retentive i wanted a sda3 to become sda1 that meant i needed to move 200 GB to the start of the drive and re label it and mess about with drive letters. The i discovered fsarchiver and how to back up my partitions.

Last edited by Panopticon (2018-05-18 15:50:19)

golinux · 2018-05-18 15:40:47

Ron wrote:

I'm not assuming, I'm going off of past experience. It did when I was triple booting and deleted the middle partition, sda5. Then sda6 became sda5 (my current sda5).

The drive numbering and size/location of the partition on the disk are two different things.

Ron · 2018-05-18 15:44:49

golinux wrote:

The drive numbering and size/location of the partition on the disk are two different things.

Yes, I know that. When sda6 became sda5, I still had to resize it to get the unallocated space merged into the partition.

golinux · 2018-05-18 15:48:47

Ron wrote:

golinux wrote:
The drive numbering and size/location of the partition on the disk are two different things.
Yes, I know that. When sda6 became sda5, I still had to resize it to get the unallocated space merged into the partition.

Exactly. Happy to hear you got that worked out.

Panopticon · 2018-05-18 16:06:19

I dont understand how sda6 can become sda5. Ive only ever experienced deletion of exact partitions, i mean if i delete sda3 my other drives still present as sda1,2,4 it would need manual intervention to re-name the scheme. Maybe because my machine is MBR not GPT?

Ron · 2018-05-18 17:34:43

golinux wrote:

Happy to hear you got that worked out.

That was separate from this issue.

I'm getting the feeling that the only way I can fix this is by a reinstall (or just continuing using half of the hard drive). This is what I'm thinking:

1. Boot into a live session.
2. Delete the Miyo partition, sda5
3. Combine both deleted partitions unallocated space, if necessary
4. Reinstall OS.

Am I on the right track with this? Thanks.

GNUser · 2018-05-18 17:53:02

Ron, from a previous thread I know that you use MBR like me. MBR can only hold 4 primary partitions. If you have/had more than 4 partitions (which sda5 suggests), then one of your partitions must be what's called an extended partition.

I think the problem here is that Miyo is on a logical partition inside an extended partition, so you have to make the extended partition bigger before you can make sda5 bigger.

Hopefully the above is enough to get you squared away. If not, it would be helpful to see a screenshot of what GParted is showing you.

Last edited by GNUser (2018-05-18 21:20:16)

Ron · 2018-05-18 18:51:10

Thanks for helping GNUser. Here's the pic of gparted:

GNUser · 2018-05-18 18:59:22

Yes, it is as I suspected. You'll be resized in no time

1. Boot into your live disc and start GParted
2. Right-click anywhere on that light blue line, choose "Resize", then make the extended partition (/dev/sda1) bigger by expanding it into the large unallocated space to its left
3. Right-click anywhere on your /dev/sda5 partition, choose "Resize", then make it take up all of the space available in the extended partition

Last edited by GNUser (2018-05-18 19:08:49)

Ron · 2018-05-18 19:03:10

Thanks GNUser. Actually, I just did your instructions. After posting the image, I noticed that sda1 was only half of the full size. (All the previous times I didn't pay any attention to sda1.) So I was able to figure out I first had to resize sda1, then resize sda5. Thanks for pointing me to the right direction, again.

Last edited by Ron (2018-05-18 19:05:16)

GNUser · 2018-05-18 19:04:51

Happy to help Enjoy your humongous partition.

Ron · 2018-05-18 19:06:13

I will. Thanks again. Now I'm totally systemd free. Yay!

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#1 2018-05-18 13:08:37

[SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#2 2018-05-18 14:09:13

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#3 2018-05-18 14:18:56

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#4 2018-05-18 15:25:50

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#5 2018-05-18 15:39:34

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#6 2018-05-18 15:40:47

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#7 2018-05-18 15:44:49

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#8 2018-05-18 15:48:47

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#9 2018-05-18 16:06:19

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#10 2018-05-18 17:34:43

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#11 2018-05-18 17:53:02

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#12 2018-05-18 18:51:10

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#13 2018-05-18 18:59:22

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#14 2018-05-18 19:03:10

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#15 2018-05-18 19:04:51

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

#16 2018-05-18 19:06:13

Re: [SOLVED] Deleted dual boot, how to fix partition resizing problem?

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