Expanding linux partition

[vnambood]

Hi All. I had recently created a dual boot configuration of windows xp and FC4. I liked FC4 so much now that I want more space on it. I had created the initial partition using partition magic 7.0. So how can i expand my space on linux partition? I have spare capacity on my windows partition which i would like to use.

Here is current configuration

Volume PartType Status Size(MB)
C: NTFS Pri,Boot 26403 (15GB free)
Linux Ext2 Pri 101
F: Type 8E Pri 11648 (2GB free)

What can i do to increase size of partition F: ?

I tried to resiexe parition C: and created unallocated space. But, i simply cant get the space to be allocated to F:. Partition Magic does not seem to allows that, atleast as far as i tried.

Would appreciate any help. I am a linux newbie of sorts and would find it easier to use paritionmagic if possible rather than use something requiring indepth knowledge of linux organization or commands.

Thanks,
Vinod

[AlexK]

You can't allocate extra space to partition F, what you can do is just create a new partition formatted as FAT or ext3 and mount it in Linux.

If you want the new partition to be 'merged" into partition F, then you'll need to do a reinstall of Linux i.e. delete present Linux partition, leave the new partition empty and tell FC to install on the new unformatted partition.

[vnambood]

Thanks. I would prefer the former option as i dont want to do a re-install at this point of time. But i had a few questions about formatting a new partition and mounting it on linux.

1) How do i name and mount this new partition on linux? I.e how is my current filesystem affected?

2) Are there any obvious disdvantages to keep mounting partitions in this manner?

3) Is there any advanatage/disadvantage of formatting this new partition as either FAT or ext2 (i believe my partitionmagic software 7.0 does not do ext3)? I remember reading somewhere that if i format it as FAT i can access it from windows on my dual boot machine. But does it have a disadvanatage when i am accessing from linux? .

Vinod

[AlexK]

I will answer your questions in a backward order as each builds on the previous one.
3. If you format it as FAT32, you can access it from both Windows and Linux with read/write permissions. If you wish to do this, don't use PM, just use Windows' built in formatting tool i.e. right click on partition in Explorer and tell it to format as FAT32. There is no known disadvantage from accessing a FAT partition from Linux.

2. Nope. Windows "mounts" partitions too on boot, but you just don't see it.

1. To find out what the new partition is called and how to mount it in Linux, just follow the steps below:

fdisk -l

execute above command as root, it will spit out information regarding partitions e.g. mine returns somethig like:

/dev/hda1 * 1 1913 15361812 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2 1913 2545 5080869 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda3 2546 2608 506047+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda4 2609 3649 8361832+ 83 Linux

Look for the entry in your results which contains the line W95 FAT32. In my case, Linux calls the partition /dev/hda2.

Now for mounting the partition, you'll need to add the following line to your /etc/fstab file as root:

/dev/hda2 /data vfat user,rw,users,gid=users,umask=0000,utf8=true 0 0

the 1st colum = partition name
2nd colum is mount point, i.e where you will see the partition in your File Manager
3rd colum is the filesystem type
4th and other colums are various options which allow a user to access the filesystem with read write permissions and to have the system automount it on startup.

Hope this helps.

[vnambood]

based on the previous reply, i was able to successfully create a new partition and mount it as /data. i had some problems as i got stuck at the grub prompt which i was able to resolve with the help of the thread
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...d-edition.html.

Just had a follow up question. This new mount point /data based on a fat32 partition seems good to hold my data and stuff. is there anyway i can execute some programs while in that directory? I tried compiling and running a c++ program. it compiled fine but i get 'permission denied' when i try to run the executable. my /etc/fstab is exactly as pointed out in the previous post and even tried adding 'exec' on that line.

/dev/hda2 /data vfat user,rw,users,gid=users,umask=0000,utf8=true 0 0

/dev/hda2 /data vfat user,exec,rw,users,gid=users,umask=0000,utf8=true 0 0

is there i can put anything in the entry so as to be able to execute files in that directory? i am happy with it as a storage folder but want to explore what more i can do with it.

Would like to know how i can execute files in my home directory but not in this directory /data. would it help if i mount it as /home/XXX/data ? I want to try to use this fat32 as much as possible like a part of my linux setup. Would appreciate some pointers.

Thanks in advance,
Vinod

[AlexK]

my understanding about your problem is that FAT doesn't store file permissions well, hence the reason why you can't run the compiled C/C++ program from it. Even if you mount it as /home/XXX/data, it still wouldn't help as the partition is still formatted as FAT.

The only workaround I can think of for this is just to copy over your code to your linux partition, and compile and run it there.