Join Log in
Score:1
avatar Ubuntu

How to Rework Partitions Left Over from Old Installation

br flag
Sigmatic

I'm pretty new to Ubuntu and Linux as a whole and I've run into some issues regarding how my drive is partitioned and I'd like to learn how to fix them and get a better handle on working with the drive and file system.

I'm messing around with an old laptop running Windows 7 and trying get Ubuntu set up dual booting. I've tried installing Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS twice now (I made some mistake and couldn't boot Ubuntu anymore and decided reinstalling would be easier than fixing it) and some of the partitions I set up for the first install are still present. I think during the second installation the installer chose one of the first install's partitions to use, leaving the rest unchanged and unused.

I installed GParted to see if I could fix things. Here's how my drive is set up viewed from GParted:

Screenshot Image

As you can see, installation two is using /sda8 and /sda9 but what I want is access to the full 120 gigs of /sda4. Unused partitions /sda5 through /sda7 were created following some guide.

Here are a few things I still don't understand:

  • What does the hierarchy of partitions with /sda5 through /sda9 being contained under /sda4 mean? Does this have to do with the primary/logical partition distinction?
  • Why can't I delete, say, /sda6 without unmounting any logical partitions with a higher number? It's my understanding that the number just refers to order created so why this limitation.
  • Why is /sda8 fat32? What's it being used for?

But my main question is how can I can I consolidate my partitions or at least rework the space so it's available to my current install? I'd like to avoid installation three.

32
0 + 0
oldfred avatar
cn flag
oldfred
You seem to have a newer UEFI system, but have the old MBR partitioning. Most Windows 7 installs were BIOS/MBR, but since 2012 Microsoft has required vendors to install in UEFI/gpt mode. That you have an extended partition which acts as a container for all the logical partitions means MBR. But FAT32 as ESP - efi system partition means you installed Ubuntu in UEFI mode. Ubuntu lets you install in UEFI mode to MBR (and probably should not). What partiitons do you want to keep, any? If you have good backups best to convert to gpt, but that will erase all MBR partitions.
2
Reply
guiverc avatar
cn flag
guiverc
sda4 is an extended partition which exists in the partition table your machine has, but can contain only partitions & not data directly. It's a creation to get around the 4 primary partitions limit of MBR/legacy partition (ie. one extended partition is a single primary count; but allows for subdivision into smaller non-primary partitions). Ubuntu will use whatever you want it to, but the *LOCK* symbols show in-use partitions which should be changed whilst operating from *live* media (so the *live* media is used & the partitions are free for re-size/move etc). sda8 is FAT32 as ESP mandates
0
Reply
ธงชาติไทย
Elon Musk
I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.