Partition root : chicken or egg?

snoozing · 02-02-2006, 03:54 AM

I've found in Suse 10.0 a partition tool which can increase the size of a partition. Fine. But to increase / I must unmount it and then the partition tool will not work.
Can I change my shoes while standing in them?
Can I call the partion tool from the command line after unmounting the root. Or must I install a second instance of Suse to deactivate the partition and resize it?

abisko00 · 02-02-2006, 04:05 AM

Use a LiveCD, like KNOPPIX. It will provide all required tools for resizing operations without the need to mount your HDD filesystem.

reddazz · 02-02-2006, 04:12 AM

I am sure you can resize the root partition from rescue mode which you can access by booting from your installation disc.

snoozing · 02-02-2006, 07:00 AM

Well Reddazz, I already have used the installation disk once to rescue myself and there was nothing which would deal with partitioning.

I seek a software which can run from a floppy and resize the root partition, 4.3 Gigabytes.

I tried Knoppix and it is from 2004 and doesn't like my graphics at all--won't even go into command line.

geeman2.0 · 02-02-2006, 09:11 AM

Quote:

tried Knoppix and it is from 2004 and doesn't like my graphics at all--won't even go into command line.

Download the latest CD.

Personally I hate live-CDs and instead I always have at least two distros installed on two physically separate hard drives.
This way I can easily tear apart and rebuild the other partition table from the comfort and safety of a fully functional familiar OS.

snoozing · 02-02-2006, 11:19 AM

I downloaded the newest Knoppix an hour ago but it warns me to use option -b with the cd buring application.

Well, I can only burn it on a windows machine here with nero. My linux is at 99.99% capacity as it is. No new applications in sight.

With nero would the iso bring in these boot sectors the the "-b" option probably deals with?

abisko00 · 02-02-2006, 11:31 AM

I don't know the -b option, but in Nero, the 'Burn ISO' or 'Burn Image' function should work without any further adjustments.

snoozing · 02-03-2006, 01:07 AM

So knoppix is rolling now, however it has no Yast, so it has no partitioning tool.

abisko00 · 02-03-2006, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snoozing

So knoppix is rolling now, however it has no Yast, so it has no partitioning tool.

Wrong! The partitioning tool of YaST is just a GUI for parted. In knoppix you can use qparted or, as I prefer it, cfdisk and resize_reiserfs from command-line. Remember, YaST may be a SUSE tool only, but other distros have their own way to do the same jobs.

snoozing · 02-04-2006, 03:20 AM

let me get this right :
use cfdisk. Man tells me to delete then recreate and my data should be intact. It should gobble up that empty space after it as soon as I enter "w" for write.

Then use resize_reiserfs -s +1G /dev/hda1.

this this right?

abisko00 · 02-04-2006, 08:17 AM

Sounds right, didn't check the parameters, though. Make sure you don't grow the filesystem beyond the partition size. And don't change the start-cylinder of the partition. Only grow on the lower end.

snoozing · 02-04-2006, 09:08 AM

It works, it just grew clean with 1Gig.

That cfdisk command-line program is apparently a partition table tweaker. Only good after you reboot.
And that resize_reiserfs makes the file system cognizant of the physical change in the disk.

This two step approach is something which is transparent with things like Part Magic.

All I need now is a way to say "take all that empty space below you and don't bother me with cyl numbers, byte count and sectors."

PS. You know, that "Delete" button in cfdisk scares the
**** out of me.