Can't Shrink 1TB HDD?

[PhysicistSarah]

I'm trying to resize my 1TB HDD to move it using clonezilla to my new 500GB SSD, but I keep getting this error when I attempt the resize using gparted from the live USB (Kubuntu 18.04.01)

GParted 0.30.0 --enable-libparted-dmraid --enable-online-resize

Libparted 3.2
Shrink /dev/sda2 from 931.01 GiB to 453.07 GiB  00:11:20    ( ERROR )

calibrate /dev/sda2  00:00:01    ( SUCCESS )

path: /dev/sda2 (partition)
start: 1050624
end: 1953519615
size: 1952468992 (931.01 GiB)
check file system on /dev/sda2 for errors and (if possible) fix them  00:03:04    ( SUCCESS )

btrfsck '/dev/sda2'  00:03:04    ( SUCCESS )

Checking filesystem on /dev/sda2
UUID: 029c3c88-8edb-4da0-a741-5d912950e2e1
found 486480076800 bytes used, no error found
total csum bytes: 472420212
total tree bytes: 1832337408
total fs tree bytes: 1171816448
total extent tree bytes: 107429888
btree space waste bytes: 326644474
file data blocks allocated: 5172690423808
referenced 962355593216
checking extents
checking free space cache
checking fs roots
checking csums
checking root refs
shrink file system  00:08:15    ( ERROR )

mkdir -v /tmp/gparted-pryNSu  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )

Created directory /tmp/gparted-pryNSu
mount -v -t btrfs '/dev/sda2' '/tmp/gparted-pryNSu'  00:00:05    ( SUCCESS )

mount: /dev/sda2 mounted on /tmp/gparted-pryNSu.
btrfs filesystem resize 1:475078656K '/tmp/gparted-pryNSu'  00:08:05    ( ERROR )

Resize '/tmp/gparted-pryNSu' of '1:475078656K'
ERROR: unable to resize '/tmp/gparted-pryNSu': No space left on device
umount -v '/tmp/gparted-pryNSu'  00:00:05    ( SUCCESS )

umount: /tmp/gparted-pryNSu unmounted
rmdir -v /tmp/gparted-pryNSu  00:00:00    ( SUCCESS )

Removed directory /tmp/gparted-pryNSu

========================================

Not sure what else I should try.

The disk usage is 450GB/1TB and I'm trying to shrink it to whatever the minimum is in gparted.

*My home folder is encrypted, but I'm not sure that this is relevant. Full disk encryption was not chosen. I don't know if this has implications for shrinking the drive.

[claydoh]

You have to decrypt before resizing i believe:

https://medium.com/@tbeach/resize-an...m-6ef475619745
or more detailed instructions (without using gparted)
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Re...ptedPartitions

Not sure if you need to do the setup steps from the second link, the needed software may now be included on the disk now.
I have never done this myself.

[Cage72]

If I not mistaken you can't do that with Clonezilla. You can do it with a drive the same size or larger but not to a smaller drive. I remember reading about this one time doing a search for the same idea. What I might suggest is using TimeShift to make a copy of the system then put it onto the new smaller drive. Then copy all your data over to the new drive and your software that isn't included with your install.

[woodsmoke]

this IS an interesting thread...yes..."back in the day" of really small drives when I got something a little larger and tried to clone to a smaller one for donation to somebody...nope, didn't work. this IS interesting.

woodsmoke

[PhysicistSarah]

Actually, I found out that Timeshift was causing the issue! I had purged Timeshift a while back and it still had snapshots floating around which had bloated in size from all the changes made on the disk. I removed them and un-encrypted my home folder and it worked like a charm!