32k Blocksize Support

[davidlandy]

Not sure if this is the right area to post this in but here goes!

I'm trying to upgrade the hard drive in my PVR, without losing all my existing recordings.

The trouble is, the data partition on the drive is in Ext2 format, but with 32k blocks -- so it can't be mounted in Linux, and the standard partition resizing tools won't touch it (they say it has an invalid superblock).

I've managed to copy the entire old drive (80gb) to a correctly-formatted new drive (160gb) using dd, and then restored the partition table correctly (again with dd). The disk works fine, but it looks like an 80gb drive to the PVR as the superblock etc are still set for 80gb.

Can anyone think of a workaround for this problem? Are there any partition resizing tools that will touch 32k-block partitions? Has anyone seen a tool that will fix up the superblock and sector allocation tables? Could anyone write one?

Any help would be much appreciated.

David

[Lakshmipathi]

Though i'm not sure whether it supports 32k Block.
Have you tried ext2resize?

If not check here,
GNU ext2resize - an ext2 filesystem resizer
SourceForge.net: GNU ext2resize

Note the ext2resize Disclaimer:
Please note that like any program that messes with your hard disk,
this program has the possibility to totally destroy your disk,
or even turn it into a sperm whale. There is NO WARRANTY for this program!

[davidlandy]

Thanks for the tip.

Checking through the documentation, ext2resize is used as the foundation of Parted, which is based on the same lib as GParted. I've tried GParted and it wouldn't touch the partition... So I would assume that ext2resize wouldn't work either.



Having said that, I'll at least email the author of ext2resize to see what he thinks...

Again, thanks for the reply... any other ideas, anyone?

[Lakshmipathi]

I forgot mention this - you can drop mail here
https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/ext3-users
for ext3-users - You should get appropriate help from FS developers.

[davidlandy]

Thanks very much for the link - I've dropped a mail there and look forward to some replies!