1 Topic by murugan (edited by murugan 2021-12-03 08:45:38)

  • murugan
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Topic: GParted hangs (starting graphical env)

Computer: Dell Optiplex 755 SFF, with one SATA 500 Gb, with only Windows 7 Pro installed, CPU Intel Core2 Duo, 8 Gb memory.
Chipset Intel Q35 - OpenGL version 1.4

Versions of GParted tried: 1.2.1 and 1.3.1 (both i686 and amd64) Live CD.

GParted hangs when I try to use to use Option 1 - start X to use GParted automatically (see attached screenshot)
GParted also hangs if use the option 1 to start GParted manually with "Forcevideo" (see screenshot attached) regardless of using options like
"vga=normal" or "vesa".
GParted (both versions and flavors) exhibits the same behavior when I use the First (default) Boot Menu option or use the RAM (copy to RAM) option on the Boot menu.
Reading through the Gparted online manual does not give me a clue on any boot options that could start GParted in a graphical environment
UNTIL I chose to enter the command line and use the old "startx" command which finally gave me a clue as to why the X server aborts: I need OpenGL 2.1 (see screenshot attached).
Unfortunately, my computer is old (but I'm perfectly happy with it (I have another exact one with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS installed) and it runs perfectly!
Unfortunately, on my computer, I cannot upgrade to OpenGL 2.1 or greater as Intel has stopped production/development of drivers for the G35 series.

Here's the rub:
CONUNDRUM 01:
After searching (fruitlessly) for a list of CLI options to start the GParted graphical environment, I turned to System Rescue Disc (v8.04 i686 which I had
lying around - I keep it since it has a lot of tools (including Truecrypt 7.1) that I use from time to time.
guess what? Sys Rescue 8.04 i686 has GParted on it and it booted into its graphical environment just fine WITHOUT squealing about OpenGL not being 2.1 or greater.
The version of GParted on the Sys Rescue CD is 1.3.0.
I resized my Windows 7 Pro (ntfs) partition (not the Boot partition) successfully!

Would appreciate it if someone could help me with Gparted 1.2.1 or 1.3.1 (i686 or amd64) Live CD boot options to get to work with my computer (regardless of OpenGL version
required) since Sys rescue CD works with OpenGL 1.4. I'm sure that it is possible.

CONUNDRUM 02:
Although I have used GParted (< v1) before, and successfully used the graphical environment, I have never run into problems of a Windows (XP or 7 Pro) not booting after the resize/move operations.
Unfortunately, the GParted FAQ (https://gparted.org/faq.php) spells dire warnings of Windows will not boot after resize/move operations and will need to be fixed
manually (bootrec commands - see FAQ #6
"NOTE: If you move a partition that is used in the operating system boot process, (for example
the C: drive in Windows), then the operating system might fail to boot, especially on LILO/GRUB
Legacy or Windows systems using the MBR partitioning scheme"
And FAQ #14 & 15) - I had to dig out my original Dell OEM Windows 7 x64 DVD just in case this happened - but it did not!
Using Sys Rescue CD 8.04 i686 and the GParted v1.3.0 on it, I did not run into my Windows 7 NOT booting.
Am I missing something or just plain lucky all these years?

Would appreciate the experts or noobies on this forum to weigh in on these issues (including the Conundrums) - any advice would be appreciated (except the sop of
"upgrade your computer or upgrade your graphics with a SFF PCI card" - there's no elegance/merit/challenge in that advice.)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51720990771_d9c4cdcedc_m.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51721650959_4ca217644b_m.jpg

Low and Hi Res screenshots are also here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/194598221 … 721221568/
.

2 Reply by murugan (edited by murugan 2021-12-03 08:30:41)

  • murugan
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Re: GParted hangs (starting graphical env)

I realize that I haven't attached my screenshots - can anyone help me with this (I can upload them to a image host or online drive and edit my post to include the url/s but these are low res (800X600) images <100Kb and I'm sure theer is a way but I'm too dumb to figure it out.

Edit:
Never mind - I was too dumb to search the forum - found the answer on post
http://gparted-forum.surf4.info/viewtopic.php?id=16737

3 Reply by class413

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Re: GParted hangs (starting graphical env)

1.  Concerning boot parameters, you can look at the page
https://gparted.org/gparted-live-boot-param.php
There are several live cds that contain GParted. Each one is based in a different Linux o.s. distribution. System rescue CD is a nice option too.


2.  The boot problem occurs when you change the location of the partition start sector.
This happens mostly when you move the partition to another place of the hard drive space or when you resize the partition from the start point (left in the graphic screen). Resizing a partition from the right end only usually doesn't cause such a problem.

However there is another situation where you can get that error even when you move the end sector only: this is if you use a partition alignment other than the one used by the specific partition. Older systems used to align the partitions to the cylinder borders, a very old concept remaining from the era of the early hard drives. Even since the late 1980s or the early 1990s this was obsolete in practice, nevertheless it remained in use perhaps for backward compatibility reasons. Since about 15 years, the alignment to MiB is used by (almost ? ) every system by default. This is because this format is compatible with actual hard drives'  technology, as well as newer SSD devices. Old GParted versions used the cylinder alignment by default. Newer versions use the MiB alignment. I guess it is very rare to find a system from, say, before 2005. If you want to resize a partition to such an old system you have to check the alignment and use the same setting, otherwise a little move by one or a few sectors can break the windows bootloader.

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

4 Reply by murugan

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Re: GParted hangs (starting graphical env)

class413 wrote:

1.  Concerning boot parameters, you can look at the page
https://gparted.org/gparted-live-boot-param.php
There are several live cds that contain GParted. Each one is based in a different Linux o.s. distribution. System rescue CD is a nice option too.

2.  The boot problem occurs when you change the location of the partition start sector.
This happens mostly when you move the partition to another place of the hard drive space or when you resize the partition from the start point (left in the graphic screen). Resizing a partition from the right end only usually doesn't cause such a problem.

However there is another situation where you can get that error even when you move the end sector only: this is if you use a partition alignment other than the one used by the specific partition. Older systems used to align the partitions to the cylinder borders, a very old concept remaining from the era of the early hard drives. Even since the late 1980s or the early 1990s this was obsolete in practice, nevertheless it remained in use perhaps for backward compatibility reasons. Since about 15 years, the alignment to MiB is used by (almost ? ) every system by default. This is because this format is compatible with actual hard drives'  technology, as well as newer SSD devices. Old GParted versions used the cylinder alignment by default. Newer versions use the MiB alignment. I guess it is very rare to find a system from, say, before 2005. If you want to resize a partition to such an old system you have to check the alignment and use the same setting, otherwise a little move by one or a few sectors can break the windows bootloader.

@class413: Thank you for the quick reply.
On LiveCD/DVD distros: Yes, I did find that out when I was trying my collection of LiveCDs - Knoppix, Ubuntu, etc. when I ran into this problem with GParted 1.3.1-1. I just chose Sys Rescue since it has Truecrypt also and I could use it to mount some of my files if I am in a jam. Unfortunately, the man page (from your link takes me to Debian) does not shed much light on the X-Server needing OpenGL 2.1 or greater. I will have to delve into this.

On 02: I realize that the operative word is "move" - thank you for pointing that out.
I do have computers (thinclients circa 2000 - Neoware CA15 & 22, which have SSDs (also know as DOMs which I'm sure you knew) which I use frequently and have to frequently resize the partitions and move some of them. I also have thinclients after 2005 (with the same DOMs) - HP (which bought Neoware which bought Maxterm) T5743s. My Maxterm B3300s (No DOMs but CF Cards) are relegated to being "honeypots" now. I have given this somewhat lengthy intro because I don't experience any bootloader problems (some of the TCs run Windows XP SP3 (embedded of course), some have BSD and some have DSL).
I must try some aggressive partition moves to see what would happen - I can always re-image the TCs very quickly - they range from 512Mb to 16Gb. Would be interesting.