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I am having a problem in Gparted. I am running Ubuntu 16.04. I need to expand my main partition, containg "/", into unallocated space. I have used a live DVD with 18.04 to try to use Gparted to expand the partition. I believe that I have unmounted the partition because the "lock" symbol disappeared and I swich linuxswap partion to Off. Despite my best efforts the partition is not changeable in size. It's shown as Full in Gparted and I am wondering if this condition is somehow inhibiting my desired expansion of the partition. Can anyone suggest what I am failing to do correctly?

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    Yes you need to umount before you can expand a partition; and if it's "/" you are trying to umount then lots of files will be open. Upgrading to Ubuntu 18.04 LTS will not change things, it's easiest to do by booting a 'live' (eg. install-media) system where the in-use drive will be your thumb-drive/cd. You need to be more specific, for more specific advice (you haven't told is what partition, why it's mounted etc).
    – guiverc
    Commented Feb 28, 2019 at 2:12
  • Is there a reason you can't use a DVD or possibly a USB drive to boot the installation image? The CD images are very limited and text based although they do allow expanding partitions. The DVD and or the USB iso will allow a full live session where you can run gparted from.
    – mchid
    Commented Feb 28, 2019 at 2:28
  • @RoyG if you're on live session and still unable to resize partition, can you please share a screenshot of GParted?
    – Kulfy
    Commented Feb 28, 2019 at 19:44
  • @Kuffy Thanks for your kind advice. I have now got the partition to expand as I wished. I am not sure what I did differently but suddenly the ability to resize appeared. I had tried a few different, desperate changes, like adjusting the "before" and "after" spaces but I am sorry to say I didn't keep a record odf the successful adjustment. I am just very relieved that it has now worked! I have at least learned the correct procedure in principle i.e. by using a Live DVD. Thanks again!
    – Roy G
    Commented Feb 28, 2019 at 22:46

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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You need to boot up a "live" session from an installation media such as a USB device or a DVD like the one you used to install ubuntu.

Once you boot up into your "live" session, select the option to try Ubuntu without installing.

Finally, open gparted and resize the partition because it will not be in use or mounted during the live session unless you choose to mount it first.

You can download the 64 bit live session DVD (or USB) iso from here.

You may need to delete the swap and any other unused partitions that are after the partition (to the right) to free up some unallocated space. Just do not forget to create a new swap partition when you are done because running without swap is not recommended.

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  • I followed your instructions. I still cannot resize the "/" partition. It's very mearly full now and I have over 40 GB free space on the hard disc. I could create a new partition in that unallocated space but I find that is not usable.
    – Roy G
    Commented Feb 28, 2019 at 19:29
  • @RoyG Also, please run the command: lsblk and please edit your question to include the output. Thanks!
    – mchid
    Commented Feb 28, 2019 at 20:04
  • @mchld Many thanks for your help. I have now succeeded to expand the partition. Quite honestly, I can't remember exactly what I did differently. I seem to remember I moved the partition slightly to the left before trying the resize-ing action. Anyway, lo and behold, IT WORKED, thanks to you.
    – Roy G
    Commented Feb 28, 2019 at 22:39
  • @RoyG Awesome. I think this same thing happened to me before and it certainly is frustrating when you try to click and drag the partition larger and it doesn't let you do anything for some reason. Glad to hear you got it working!
    – mchid
    Commented Mar 1, 2019 at 0:07

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