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I have a computer that dual boots Linux Mint, and Ubuntu, I am wondering what the best way would be to remove Linux Mint, then recovering the hard drive space that is resides in so that Ubuntu will be able to access it.

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  • Could you please show the output of 'sudo fdisk -l' and note which partitions are used with Linux Mint (one root partition and one swap partition, most likely)? – user8290 Dec 2 '11 at 19:50
  • No I can't as I am work and my computer is at home, I will try to get to it later tonight if I have time. – TheXed Dec 2 '11 at 19:52
  • It is simple to do via GParted, as long as you understand what you are doing--I assume you do. But if removing the Mint partition disturbs your bootloader, you'll have to reinstall it, etc before you can boot. – jpaugh Dec 2 '11 at 20:10
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Here are steps to claim space from Mint partition.

  1. Login to Ubuntu
  2. Start gparted: sudo gparted. If not available, then install it.

  3. Find the Mint partition and format it

    Or delete it and create a new partition.

  4. If Mint has modified (taken control of) your boot loader, then :

    1. Boot from live USB/CD for Ubuntu
      • I use the same version. I have no idea how different versions of Ubuntu would work especially 32/64 bit differentiation.
    2. Open Terminal.
    3. If you don't know the drive where Ubuntu is installed, use sudo fdisk -l, which will list partitions. Note down the one with root. Boot will be indicated by a star (*). Assuming your root (/) partition shows /dev/sdaX, where X is a number.

    4. Execute:

      sudo mount /dev/sdaX /mnt
sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
sudo chroot /mnt

    5. Assuming you have only one HDD and it is sda, execute:

      grub-install /dev/sda # Note there is no X here

    6. Once it is installed unmount all

      sudo umount /mnt/dev
sudo umount /mnt/proc
sudo umount /mnt

  5. Remove USB so you can boot from HDD, then reboot.

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  • Great. I'm gonna use that as well. – bioShark Dec 2 '11 at 20:31
  • sure :) just a note: once I deleted my Ubuntu partition instead of windows cause I was not paying proper attention :P – wisemonkey Dec 2 '11 at 20:35
  • Happened to me too once, although it was on win. – bioShark Dec 2 '11 at 20:41
  • Note that this applies to a BIOS/MBR system. Fixing the bootloader on a UEFI/GPT system is different. – wjandrea Apr 6 '17 at 21:46
  • See here for UEFI/GPT. – wjandrea Apr 7 '17 at 0:41

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