1 (edited by anoni 2009-05-15 22:59:02)

Topic: Unable to move partition

Noob question here. I am dual-booting Windows Vista and Ubuntu Intrepid. There is a lot of empty space on my hard drive, but GParted (LiveCD 0.4.5) is not letting me move one of the Ubuntu partitions into it.

Here is the general layout:

[Windows partition] [unallocated] ["Ubuntu", ntfs, 3GB] [extended Ubuntu partition (includes Ubuntu data, swap, etc.)]

I'd like to move "Ubuntu" to the left in order to enlarge the partition that has all my data under Ubuntu on it. I'm not really sure what the purpose of this mostly unused partition is (I'm assuming it was made when I was installing Ubuntu). In any case, when I tried to move it GParted said it had a "very rare fragmentation type" that is not supported yet and that I should try defragmenting it. However I have not been able to find any Linux defragmentation tools for NTFS partitions. Is it ok to just delete this partition or what?

2

Re: Unable to move partition

To assist with this problem, it would help if you could provide the gparted details that can be saved when the operation completes or fails.
Saving GParted Details

3

Re: Unable to move partition

GParted 0.4.5

Libparted 1.8.8
Move /dev/sda2 to the left and grow it from 3.00 GiB to 3.00 GiB  00:00:05    ( ERROR )
        
calibrate /dev/sda2  00:00:02    ( SUCCESS )
        
path: /dev/sda2
start: 259264512
end: 265556103
size: 6291592 (3.00 GiB)
calculate new size and position of /dev/sda2  00:00:01    ( SUCCESS )
        
requested start: 170594235
requested end: 176891714
requested size: 6297480 (3.00 GiB)
new start: 170594235
new end: 176891714
new size: 6297480 (3.00 GiB)
check file system on /dev/sda2 for errors and (if possible) fix them  00:00:02    ( ERROR )
        
ntfsresize -P -i -f -v /dev/sda2
        
ntfsresize v2.0.0 (libntfs 10:0:0)
Device name : /dev/sda2
NTFS volume version: 3.1
Cluster size : 4096 bytes
Current volume size: 3221291520 bytes (3222 MB)
Current device size: 3221295104 bytes (3222 MB)
Checking for bad sectors ...
Checking filesystem consistency ...
Accounting clusters ...
Space in use : 90 MB (2.8%)
Collecting resizing constraints ...
Estimating smallest shrunken size supported ...
File feature Last used at By inode
$MFT : 3222 MB 0
$MFTMirr : 1611 MB 1
Ordinary : 3222 MB 2
ERROR: Very rare fragmentation type detected. Sorry, it's not supported yet.
Try to defragment your NTFS, perhaps it helps.

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4

Re: Unable to move partition

BTW this also happens now that I've upgraded to Jaunty.

5

Re: Unable to move partition

From the gparted details log, there is a suggestion to try defragmenting the file system within Windows first, and then to retry the operation.

Would you be able to try to defragment the file system while booted into Windows to see if this helps?

6 (edited by anoni 2009-10-11 07:34:42)

Re: Unable to move partition

I defragmented both the Windows partition (that is, the C: drive) and the "Ubuntu" one that I want to move, but it still displays the same error message.

7

Re: Unable to move partition

Some ideas:
- Use the latest GParted Livecd version (however the resize task is performed by ntfsresize, not by gparted itself, so if ntfsresize remains the same there is little chance for something else). The livecd is always up to date for GParted as well as for dependencies.

- Try to temporarily move data from the partition, to leave more free space, and repeat defrag. Defragmentation tools don't work well with less than 15-20% free space.

*** It is highly recommended to backup any important files before doing resize/move operations. ***