Will system boot after expanding openSUSE partition on the Left?

andy0023 · November 6, 2013, 4:37pm

I have currently win7 / openSUSE 12.3 dual boot. I would like to expand openSUSE partition size (for possibly install 1 more distro keeping win7 / opensuse)
my current gparted
View image: gparted current opensuse
my current boot loader
View image: boot loader

I would use a live CD to boot system and adjust partition to increase sda4/sda5.
after increase
View image: before apply

gparted does warn me that moving start of sda5 would cause boot failure.

my questions are

would it boot after increasing sda4/sda5?
if it does not boot, could I fix it by below? thanks.

boot with live USB and follow this
[https://forums.opensuse.org/content/...ed-system.html](https://forums.opensuse.org/content/146-using-livecd-take-over-repair-installed-system.html)

Once you have control of the system. In the terminal next do this:
     

     grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg 
          grub2-install /dev/sda

hcvv · November 6, 2013, 5:49pm

Your partition picture looks nice, but as so many GUI pinctures it lacks information. In this case the start/end addresses. Thus we can not see for certain which partition follows which one. And as the numbering is mixed up (not nesseceraly a problem). So please post

su -c 'fdisk -l'

(and of course copy/paste that between CODE tags, you get them by clicking on the # button inthe toolbar of the post editor).

Expanding is allways tricky, but expanding before the start seems asking for trouble, specialy because you also have to exppand the extended partition before it’s starting point. I allways (but I am conservative) unload/save every involved partition before I repartition, not trusting the ability of these partition tools to hadnle the contents of the partitions (the file systems).

BTW, I do not understand your explanation on what you try to achieve. When you want to be able to install anothher distro beside Windows and openSUSE, you need an extra partition, not a larger openSUSE partition. (You can use the same Swap partition for the other distro, you do not seem to have a seperate partition for /home, thus you can not share that).

andy0023 · November 7, 2013, 7:10am

Thanks for replying. Here is the fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x851175d8

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048     2459647     1228800    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2         2459648   785972511   391756432    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3       944003072   976771071    16384000    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda4   *   785973246   944003071    79014913    5  Extended
/dev/sda5       785973248   935797466    74912109+  83  Linux
/dev/sda6       935798784   944003071     4102144   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Guess my problem is that I already have 4 partitions. If I understand correctly I could only have at most 4 partitions. sda1 is windows boot (I guess), sda2 (windows 7), sda3 (windows recovery), sda4 is extended (with sda5 as opensuse and sda6 as swap).

Assume my additional distro needs residing in sda4. I wish to create sda7 (under sda4), and share use sda6 as linux swap.

So after expanding sda4 (sda5+sda6) currently 80G to 160G. I wish to have opensuse staying as 80G, and have the remaining 80G for sda7.

hcvv · November 7, 2013, 12:04pm

As I (and you) see before our (your) very eyes, you have already 6 partitions.

You have 4 primary partions (sda1, sda2, sda3 and sda4) of which one (sda4) is an extended partition. Within that extended partition you have 2 logical partitions (sda5 and sda6).

Take care, because sda4 is before sda3 on the disk.

Please read this to get some more background information: SDB:Basics of partitions, filesystems, mount points - openSUSE

When this is clear to you, you will understand that your situation is a bit different from what you thought.

Extending sda4 would mean shrinking something. I guess sda2 (but it is you that must decide). As I do not know anything about Windows, I do not know how you can do this. But for the rest, as said earlier, I would copy the contents of sda5 to a backup medium (not a clone, but e.g. using tar). Then I would remove sda6 and sda5 and then sda4. Then I would shrink (or replace) sda2 to a smaller size. Then I would create a new extended in the new bigger hole. And then devide that in three new logicals and create the two file systems and the swap on them… After that I would reload the openSUSE data. It could be that a repair of the GRUB configurationn is needed then. Just how I would design this action.

andy0023 · November 9, 2013, 7:31pm

Have installed Fedora 19 onto my current dual boot. Have skipped installing Fedora boot loader.
My grub menu still shows only openSUSE and windows. Have run grub2-mkconfig but Fedora 19 has not been added.
Shall appreciate if you could guide me thru adding Fedora 19 to boot. Thanks.

My current fdisk is

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1            2048     2459647     1228800    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2         2459648   663092511   330316432    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3       944003072   976771071    16384000    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda4   *   663093248   944003071   140454912    5  Extended
/dev/sda5       785973248   935797466    74912109+  83  Linux
/dev/sda6       935798784   944003071     4102144   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7       663097344   664121343      512000   83  Linux
/dev/sda8       664123392   785569791    60723200   8e  Linux LVM

Partition table entries are not in disk order

My current grub.cfg is

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by grub2-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if  -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
  load_env
fi
set default="${saved_entry}"

if  x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
  menuentry_id_option="--id"
else
  menuentry_id_option=""
fi

export menuentry_id_option

if  "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
  set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
  save_env saved_entry
  set prev_saved_entry=
  save_env prev_saved_entry
  set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
  if  -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
    saved_entry="${chosen}"
    save_env saved_entry
  fi
}

function load_video {
  if  x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
    insmod all_video
  else
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod ieee1275_fb
    insmod vbe
    insmod vga
    insmod video_bochs
    insmod video_cirrus
  fi
}

if  x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
   font=unicode
else
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos5'
if  x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 --hint='hd0,msdos5'  a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
fi
    font="/usr/share/grub2/unicode.pf2"
fi

if loadfont $font ; then
  set gfxmode=auto
  load_video
  insmod gfxterm
  set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
  set lang=en_US
  insmod gettext
fi
terminal_output gfxterm
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,msdos5'
if  x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 --hint='hd0,msdos5'  a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
else
  search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
fi
insmod gfxmenu
loadfont ($root)/boot/grub2/themes/openSUSE/ascii.pf2
loadfont ($root)/boot/grub2/themes/openSUSE/DejaVuSans10.pf2
loadfont ($root)/boot/grub2/themes/openSUSE/DejaVuSans12.pf2
loadfont ($root)/boot/grub2/themes/openSUSE/DejaVuSans-Bold14.pf2
insmod png
set theme=($root)/boot/grub2/themes/openSUSE/theme.txt
export theme
if  x${boot_once} = xtrue ]; then
  set timeout=0
else
  set timeout=9
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'openSUSE 12.3' --class 'opensuse-12-3' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c' {
    load_video
    set gfxpayload=keep
    insmod gzio
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='hd0,msdos5'
    if  x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 --hint='hd0,msdos5'  a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
    else
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
    fi
    echo    'Loading Linux 3.7.10-1.16-default ...'
    linux    /boot/vmlinuz-3.7.10-1.16-default root=UUID=a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c   resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-TOSHIBA_MK5061GSY_51BMP049T-part6 splash=silent quiet showopts
    echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
    initrd    /boot/initrd-3.7.10-1.16-default
}
submenu 'Advanced options for openSUSE 12.3' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c' {
    menuentry 'openSUSE 12.3, with Linux 3.7.10-1.16-default' --class 'opensuse-12-3' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.7.10-1.16-default-advanced-a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c' {
        load_video
        set gfxpayload=keep
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd0,msdos5'
        if  x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 --hint='hd0,msdos5'  a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
        fi
        echo    'Loading Linux 3.7.10-1.16-default ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-3.7.10-1.16-default root=UUID=a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c   resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-TOSHIBA_MK5061GSY_51BMP049T-part6 splash=silent quiet showopts
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd-3.7.10-1.16-default
    }
    menuentry 'openSUSE 12.3, with Linux 3.7.10-1.16-default (recovery mode)' --class 'opensuse-12-3' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.7.10-1.16-default-recovery-a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c' {
        load_video
        set gfxpayload=keep
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd0,msdos5'
        if  x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 --hint='hd0,msdos5'  a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
        fi
        echo    'Loading Linux 3.7.10-1.16-default ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-3.7.10-1.16-default root=UUID=a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c  showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 nomodeset x11failsafe
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd-3.7.10-1.16-default
    }
    menuentry 'openSUSE 12.3, with Linux 3.7.10-1.1-default' --class 'opensuse-12-3' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.7.10-1.1-default-advanced-a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c' {
        load_video
        set gfxpayload=keep
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd0,msdos5'
        if  x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 --hint='hd0,msdos5'  a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
        fi
        echo    'Loading Linux 3.7.10-1.1-default ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-3.7.10-1.1-default root=UUID=a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c   resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-TOSHIBA_MK5061GSY_51BMP049T-part6 splash=silent quiet showopts
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd-3.7.10-1.1-default
    }
    menuentry 'openSUSE 12.3, with Linux 3.7.10-1.1-default (recovery mode)' --class 'opensuse-12-3' --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-3.7.10-1.1-default-recovery-a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c' {
        load_video
        set gfxpayload=keep
        insmod gzio
        insmod part_msdos
        insmod ext2
        set root='hd0,msdos5'
        if  x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 --hint='hd0,msdos5'  a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
        else
          search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
        fi
        echo    'Loading Linux 3.7.10-1.1-default ...'
        linux    /boot/vmlinuz-3.7.10-1.1-default root=UUID=a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c  showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 nomodeset x11failsafe
        echo    'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
        initrd    /boot/initrd-3.7.10-1.1-default
    }
}

### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry 'openSUSE 12.3 Memtest' --class opensuse --class memtest86 --class gnu --class tools $menuentry_id_option 'memtest-a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c' {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='hd0,msdos5'
    if  x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos5 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos5 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos5 --hint='hd0,msdos5'  a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
    else
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root a5457e6f-d7bc-4b65-b9a7-68af0ef7122c
    fi
    echo    'Loading memtest ...'
    linux16    /boot/memtest.bin
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_ppc_terminfo ###
### END /etc/grub.d/20_ppc_terminfo ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry 'Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda1)' --class windows --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-chain-7EAC0604AC05B823' {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ntfs
    set root='hd0,msdos1'
    if  x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos1 --hint='hd0,msdos1'  7EAC0604AC05B823
    else
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 7EAC0604AC05B823
    fi
    chainloader +1
}
menuentry 'Windows 7 (loader) (on /dev/sda2)' --class windows --class os $menuentry_id_option 'osprober-chain-6A3E08463E080DAF' {
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ntfs
    set root='hd0,msdos2'
    if  x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd0,msdos2 --hint-efi=hd0,msdos2 --hint-baremetal=ahci0,msdos2 --hint='hd0,msdos2'  6A3E08463E080DAF
    else
      search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 6A3E08463E080DAF
    fi
    chainloader +1
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries.  Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment.  Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
if  -f  ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
  source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
elif  -z "${config_directory}" -a -f  $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
  source $prefix/custom.cfg;
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/90_persistent ###
### END /etc/grub.d/90_persistent ###