[SOLVED] How to convert ext2 to ext3 in slackware 14.0 32 bit for root ( / )directory without losing data

sinar.kk · 01-18-2016, 05:34 AM

Hi could you all help me ? i want to convert my ext2 to ext3 of my machine which is running slackware 14.0 (32 bit) ,i only have one partition just the "/" . i do not want to lose my data , while searching i found this "tune2fs -j /dev/hda2" to do as root but nothing else mentioned .

Can you help me with details step by step to achieve this exactly without losing data?

Hope you all will help.

Thanks ,
Sinar.KK

business_kid · 01-18-2016, 07:15 AM

tune2fs -j /path/to/drive is the trick.

The correct drive would hardly be hda2, and that info is out of date. There is no need to unmount. To see the drive, try

cat /etc/mtab

and look for /

sinar.kk · 01-18-2016, 07:34 AM

@business_kid , yes i know my drive ... i was asking whether i should do something else other than just tune2fs , somewhere i have read like after that we have to do a makeinitrd with the boot img...im not sure about that

This is what i have seen , just want to check if its correct or not

Quote:

Log in as root
Edit /etc/fstab and change ext2 to ext3 on the line referencing the root directory.
tune2fs -j /dev/hda2
cd /boot
mv initrd-2.4.18-26.8.0.img initrd-2.4.18-26.8.0.img.ext2
mkinitrd initrd-2.4.18-26.8.0.img 2.4.18-26.8.0
reboot

I'm not sure about this

MarcT · 01-18-2016, 08:22 AM

Also make sure to update /etc/fstab from ext2 to ext3 so the affected filesystems are mounted as ext3 at boot.

You may need to update the initrd if the ext3 and jbd modules are not included.

bassplayer69 · 01-18-2016, 09:50 AM

I'd also make a full backup of your drive using Clonezilla or something similar just in case something goes wrong. You can always fall back on and retry.

sinar.kk · 01-18-2016, 11:23 PM

Yes i was able to do with ,first edit the fstab file and changed the corresponding drive from ext2 to ext3 and then i just did "tune2fs -j /path/to/drive" , that's all it was required , after that i rebooted the system and everything is working fine. I am marking this thread as solved.. and thanks to all of you for your support