Changing Windows dynamic disk partition to basic partition and not the full drive

Question

I have a Lenovo G505s with Win8 installed on it. I would like to install Ubuntu 14.04 on it, and I've followed all the procedures to disable the secure boot and fast boot successfully.

The problem starts here:

1. Once the installation starts, gparted doesn't recognize the Dynamic partitions of HDD.
2. It shows the whole HDD as unknown.

I want to convert my HDD dynamic partition, which I made for Ubuntu, to a Basic Partition without changing the other partitions.

Is it possible to just change a single partition to basic from dynamic, without having to change the whole hard-disk?

Answer 1

You cannot change just one partition - you have to change the whole drive. The whole drive is either a Dynamic Disk or Basic Disk.

To convert a Dynamic Disk to Basic you will need to use Windows. It cannot be done in Linux, because Linux can not access Dynamic Disks. See Converting dynamic to basic disk and MS Technet: Change a Dynamic Disk Back to a Basic Disk and this answer on Super User. For detailed instructions with different tools see this tutorial.

Answer 2

Bain may well be correct, but the description of the Linux tool showing the disk as unpartitioned makes me think that something else may be going on. Specifically, I suspect that the disk may be using the Master Boot Record (MBR) partitioning system, but with leftover GUID Partition Table (GPT) data from a previous setup on the disk. This type of configuration is known to give the Ubuntu installer fits. If I'm right, the solution is to clear away the old GPT data. One easy way to do this is to use FixParts, as described here.

Before deciding what to do, I recommend posting the output of the following command, typed at an emergency Linux boot's command prompt:

sudo gdisk -l /dev/sda

If it tells you that it's found both MBR and GPT data and asks which to use, then my hypothesis is correct and you should use FixParts (or some other tool) to delete the old GPT data. If it doesn't present such a question, though, it could be that something else is going on -- maybe a simple Basic/Dynamic problem that's showing unusual symptoms, or maybe something else. Also, it's entirely possible that both issues are in play -- you could have leftover GPT data and a Basic/Dynamic problem!

Answer 3

From Linux you can't do this. Linux does not support dynamic disks.

Install Windows 8 on a 32GB or higher pendrive or external hard disk (google "how to make live Windows USB").

Boot Windows 8 from your pendrive in your laptop. Connect to the internet.

Then download AOMEI Dynamic Disk Converter Software from this link: http://www.disk-partition.com/features/convert-dynamic-disk-to-basic.html.

Then install that software. Using that software you can convert your whole hard disk easily into a basic disk without losing any data.

Answer 4

You can change the disk from dynamic to basic using TestDisk, see this guide. I know Arch comes with testdisk, so I guess many other distros also have it.

Answer 5

From ubuntuforums.org:

SFS converting:

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/26829-convert-dynamic-disk-basic-disk.html

You can use a third-party tool, such as Partition Wizard 4.2. to convert a convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk without having to delete or format them.

The Partition Wizard software for Windows is supposed to be able to convert dynamic disks to regular partitions without data loss, so it may be what you need to get around this problem; however, I've never used it and so I can't be sure it will work.

Dynamic volume is a Microsoft proprietary format developed together with Veritas (now acquired by Symantec)

Used testdisk but see caveats in Post#7: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1669418

Also used testdisk http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1675420

Not sure if in "free" version, but older version had it & was free see 4.2: http://www.partitionwizard.com/help/convert-dynamic-disk-to-basic-disk.html