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can i use DiskDrake SAFELY to do this?


chris z
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i know DiskDrake has been discussed before, but i couldn't find anything conclusive to answer this question. if it has been answered, then please link me to the correct thread.

 

i would like to increase the size of my /usr partition. i have a way too big /swap partition that rarely, if ever gets used. here's my MDK partition set up as it stands now.....

 

/root (ext2) 1482MB total 923MB free

/swap (swap) 800MB total 800MB free almost all of the time

/usr (ext3) 5111MB total 2823MB free

/home (ext2) 2455MB total 1949MB free

 

i would like to know if i can shrink my /swap & add the gained space to /usr, using DiskDrake, SAFELY & with MINIMAL RISK of hosing my setup. if there's a good chance that it will screw me, then it's not worth it (to me) just to gain a few hundred megs of space.

 

if anybody has had experience doing this successfully, i would like to hear your input.

 

awaiting on you all........

 

Chris

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I'm good at hosing my system. Sounds like a project for me later tonight.

 

I happen to have an extra swap partition from my last install, which was just a backup till 9.2 came out. So I will attempt to reduce swap #2 to 0 and reclaim that 256 megs on my /home partition before installing 9.2.

 

You using diskdrake through KDE and MCC ???

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yep, using DiskDrake through KDE on MDK. and, don't feel the need to experiment on account of my inquisitiveness. but if ya do, i'll be watching this thread.

 

Chris

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/root  (ext2) 1482MB total 923MB free

/swap (swap) 800MB total 800MB free almost all of the time

/usr    (ext3) 5111MB total 2823MB free

/home (ext2) 2455MB total 1949MB free

 

i would like to know if i can shrink my /swap & add the gained space to /usr, using DiskDrake, ...

Chris

 

I can be wrong but I think you cannot change the start of a partition with DiskDrake.

Something I'm sure:

If DiskDrake displays something like:

"Your partitions have been renumbered ... "

REBOOT IMMEDIATELY ( may be you can still change /etc/fstab, lilo.conf and run lilo )

see http://qa.mandrakesoft.com/show_bug.cgi?id=5999

 

good luck

 

roland

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Roland,

i wouldn't be trying to change the start of my partition. (at least that's not my intent. :shock:) i just wanna take a chunk of swap & add it to usr. i did read other horror stories about DiskDrake screwing up things, so that's why i asked first. also, don't know if this info matters, but my partition numbering is like this....

 

/root-hdc7

/swap-hdc8

/usr-hdc9

/home-hdc10

 

Chris

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Roland,

i wouldn't be trying to change the start of my partition. (at least that's not my intent. :shock:) i just wanna take a chunk of swap & add it to usr. i did read other horror stories about DiskDrake screwing up things, so that's why i asked first. also, don't know if this info matters, but my partition numbering is like this....

 

/root-hdc7

/swap-hdc8

/usr-hdc9

/home-hdc10

 

Chris

 

?? I missed something. If your swap is BEFORE your /usr and you reduce swap to make a bigger /usr you have to change the start of /usr partition or what else ?

 

roland

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IMHO using anything to change partitions is inherently dangerous.

 

If you have anything you consider valuable then back it up!!!

 

You could have a powercut or anything, regardless of which tool.

 

My own rule is if you can do it at the CLI you probably understand the risks involved, you can't help it by the time you read all the man pages :D

 

Make your own decisions it will probably work....

What you need to decide is, is probably good enough!!!

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roland is correct. You'll have to

cp -fR /usr /somewhere

resize swap

resize /usr which will require deleting reformatting, which will cause renumbering. So if

/usr=hdc9

/home=hdc10

 

/home will become hdc9 imediately and the new /usr will now be hdc10. IF diskdrake success fully updates fstab and you successfully

cp -fR /somewhere /usr

to restore /usr, you maybe ok.

 

IMO, it's not worth 400MB, I wouldn't do it. :wink:

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still alot to learn.......

 

that's why i asked about this before diving right into it.

 

You'll have to cp -fR /usr /somewhere

 

see, i have no idea what that means? :shock: copy? force/remove? rename?

 

well, unless somebody has a fool proof way, i guess i'll be leaving this alone........for now.

 

Chris

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No luck with my project. By the time I got to the step that sez,

After resizing partition hdb7, all data on this partition will be lost

I think it was too late. I tried the undo feature, but sytem would not boot. I think my mistake was more somewhere in deleting the swap on drive B and not being able to use the swap that was on drive A.

 

*Now, back to restoring my backups into my new system*

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I think it was too late. I tried the undo feature, but sytem would not boot.  

boot on cd1, rescue mode, and see how it is from there

 

I think my mistake was more somewhere in deleting the swap on drive B and not being able to use the swap that was on drive A.

 

no: linux can run without swap partition. ( I guess it creates a temporary one somewhere on an other partition ?? )

 

roland

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linux will run w/o a swap, even when you run out of RAM.....it's just really, really, REALLY slow and unstable (I've tried it :wink: )

 

chris z,

cp --help

will tell you what

-f

-R

do. Just like any/most commands (--help, info <command>, or man <command>)

 

Full-Proof Way? No such thing with this kind of operation. Like lx has said on other threads, I've hosed everything, and I've succeeded.....your mileage will vary. There's only one real way to learn linux or any OS.....just do it, see what the outcome is, and learn from mistakes. :)

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Thanks for the help, but I don't want to hijack Chris' thread here. My intent was just to see if diskdrake was more foolproof, or otherwise. I think we have a definiative answer now and have learned some things here too :wink:

 

I must move on... I have lots to set up now on 9.2 :D

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