How do I allocate more HD space for Kubuntu?

[GranPaSmurf]

[oshunluvr]

The problem is your start sector is wrong. I have to wonder how your disk got partitioned this way, but it appears there is a small amount of free space before sda1 but it's smaller than 4G.

Note the available last sector default in fdisk is 16125 but the last sector of sda1 is 205582335. You might want to use the partition manager instead of fdisk. You want to split up the 55GB section of unallocated space at the bottom into sda2, 3, and 4.

Unfortunately, the partition manager has a habit of down-sizing your choice to the next smaller size if you choose a size that crosses a cylinder boundary. Try making sda2 with a size of 4100mb and see what it drops you down to. Cancel if it goes below 4096mb. Add 2 or 3 to the size until you get at or over 4096. Then you've got 4GB.

Once you've got that one, then just divide the 51GB-ish in half and make sda3 and sda4. They don't have to be the same size, so WAG it.

[GranPaSmurf]

error.
from Partition Manager:
There were errors while applying operations. Aborted.
Create a new partition (4.01 GiB, ext4) on ‘/dev/sda’
Job: Create new partition on device ‘/dev/sda’
Failed to add partition ‘New Partition’ to device ‘/dev/sda’.
Create new partition on device ‘/dev/sda’: Error
Create a new partition (4.01 GiB, ext4) on ‘/dev/sda’: Error

[oshunluvr]

That's odd. Let's try fdisk again. This time, create a partition using the defaults 2048-16125. Then create another one and note what the default starting sector is. Make this one +4G - it will be your eventual swap. Assuming this is successful, print out your table list using this

sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda

and post it.

[GranPaSmurf]

sorry for delay, overwhelmed with real work today. Below is what I have in my Konsole window now. I assume I enter some command now to "make it so" but I don't know that and don't want to go any further until I hear from you next.
Thanks again for your help.


granpasmurf@Petersen:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sda
[sudo] password for granpasmurf:

Command (m for help): n
Command action
l logical (5 or over)
p primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4, default 2):
Using default value 2
First sector (2048-321672959, default 2048):
Using default value 2048
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (2048-16125, default 16125):
Using default value 16125

Command (m for help): n
Command action
l logical (5 or over)
p primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4, default 3):
Using default value 3
First sector (205582336-321672959, default 205582336):
Using default value 205582336
Last sector, +sectors or +size{K,M,G} (205582336-321672959, default 321672959): +4G

Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sda: 164.7 GB, 164696555520 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 20023 cylinders, total 321672960 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000ada32

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 16126 205582335 102783105 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda2 2048 16125 7039 83 Linux
/dev/sda3 205582336 213970943 4194304 83 Linux
/dev/sda5 16128 132510378 66247125+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 132511744 189859839 28674048 83 Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Command (m for help):

[oshunluvr]

Ok, well at least it worked. Now try the partition manager again and see if it will let you make primary partition #4 in the free space. Use half of what's available and we'll get to the other half once we're sure it worked.

What you should really do is boot to a gparted live CD and expand the Extended partition to fill that area from 2048 to 16125. It's such a small area that it's not really about recapturing the space - it would just avoid confusing partition manager in the future. Might not be worth the time and effort. It could take hours to move all that data to the left. Although it's likely once you get through with all of this you'll never want to see a partition manager ever again!

[GranPaSmurf]

I copied for you all that I am seeing in my Konsole. When I look at the KDE Partition Manager, the changes have not happened.

How do I get the instructions entered into the Konsole to "take'? I'm keeping the Konsole window open until I learn that next step.

after that I don't mind working in Gparted if necessary.

[oshunluvr]

Did you write the changes (w) before quitting fdisk?

If so, run

sudo partprobe

and then try partition manager again. Gparted is up to you. If you want to put in the time, I'll tell you what to do.

[GranPaSmurf]

Ah Ha! It was that 'W' command I needed.

I will have to pick this up tomorrow however. My wife told me the Spurs game is on.

[GranPaSmurf]

I spent some time in G-Parted this afternoon:


I believe I am at the point of moving data, am I right?

[oshunluvr]

Good Job! That's looks like what you want. Before continuing, lets re-order the partitions correctly and then discuss how you want to do the rest of it. In a terminal, run fdisk again and go to the advanced menu and choose "fix partition order", then write it out (w again).

This will make it 1-2-3-4 as it should be. I'm always concerned mis-ordering will come back to bite.

So do you want to take my suggestion and move the install to sda3 and leave /home on sda1 (after expanding to fill it)? Or what other ideas did you have?

[GranPaSmurf]

granpasmurf@Petersen:~$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for granpasmurf:

Disk /dev/sda: 164.7 GB, 164696555520 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 20023 cylinders, total 321672960 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000ada32

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 16126 205582335 102783105 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda2 205582336 213970943 4194304 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3 213985800 267819614 26916907+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 267819615 321669494 26924940 83 Linux
/dev/sda5 16128 132510378 66247125+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 132511744 189859839 28674048 83 Linux
granpasmurf@Petersen:~$

Is this right? I still get this in partition manager:




I will follow your instructions about installation and data. I can do without this machine and still get through my day, so let's take the time to get it right.
thanks

[oshunluvr]

IMO, the easiest way to copy your install while you're still using it would be to use rdiff-backup Or you can boot to a or usb or cd of something and do it that way. I also prefer to be sure the target boots before I remove the source. To do that, you have to do a couple edits. Also, grub has to be re-installed eventually and the rdiff-backup folder will need deleting. Don't fret - these are not huge tasks.

rdiff-method: install rdiff-backup, make a backup of your install, edit the fstab file in the target folder, run update-grub, reboot into new install.

Assuming all is well, we will then move your home folder slightly and clean things up. Grab a beverage and open up a terminal...

Tasks:
install rdiff-backup: sudo apt-get install rdiff-backup
make a place to mount sda3: sudo mount /dev/sda3 mkdir /mnt/sda3
mount sda3: sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/sda3
run rdiff-backup: sudo rdiff-backup --exclude /home --exclude /mnt --exclude /tmp --exclude /proc / /mnt/sda3

This will copy all your files from your install to sda3 except your /home files. We will need a place to mount your /home to, so do this next:

sudo mkdir /mnt/home

Next, edit fstab in the target so it has a chance to boot up First, we need the UUID of your new partition:

sudo blkid /dev/sda3 -o value | head -n 1

This should list only the UUID. Copy it, then:

kdesudo kate /mnt/sda3/etc/fstab

It will look like this (opening remarks in the file excluded):

proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=1db51d0b-ac03-4877-90e8-bc1539535790 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda7 during installation
UUID=260df0d2-f4df-4c7e-92f8-b3c20774d846 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

Change this line by pasting the new UUID over the old one:

UUID=1db51d0b-ac03-4877-90e8-bc1539535790 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1

Now, since we excluded your /home folder from the backup, we need to point the new install at your old home. Add this line:

#UUID=1db51d0b-ac03-4877-90e8-bc1539535790 /home ext4 defaults 0 2

Note the first character is the #: This means this line will be ignored for now. The problem is if we just mount your other partition as /home (we will eventually) your home folders and files will not be correctly available because they will be nested in /home/home. That won't work, and we don't want to move them yet - not until the new install boots. So we're going to add a couple lines that will do the job as is. Add these at the end to fstab too:

/dev/sda6 /mnt/home ext4 defaults 0 0
/mnt/home/home /home bind 0 0

What this does is mounts your old partition to /mnt/home, then "binds" (mounts a folder to a folder) your old home to /home so your new install can see it. Later, when we know all is well we will delete these lines. **NOTE** The end of the fstab file (like most files in linux) requires a blank line (carriage return) at the end. Simply add one extra "Enter" at the end before you save and close Kate.

Phew - a lot of work! Now let's update grub and see how we've done:

sudo update-grub

If all went well, you should see a second linux install available in the grub menu when you reboot. If so, select it and try a boot to it. If something fails - reboot again and select the first option and report the error(s) messages or what went wrong.

[GranPaSmurf]

first brick wall was early on. I successfully installed rdiff-backup, moved on to next step, then this:
granpasmurf@Petersen:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda3 /mnt/sda3
mount: mount point /mnt/sda3 does not exist
granpasmurf@Petersen:~$ sudo mount /dev/sda3 mnt/sda3
mount: mount point mnt/sda3 does not exist

[Snowhog]

A 'mount point' must already exist. Just type:

sudo mkdir /mnt/sda3

then you can run the mount command.