Solved Mint 17.3 low on disk space

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cabman46

Solved Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by cabman46 »

Hi all,
I have a Dell Optiplex 780 running Mint 17.3. I have used this OS for several years now. I originally was setup to dual boot Win XP Pro. each partition was about 40 gig out of a total of 320gig. About a year ago I got rid of Windows and now I'm down to about 9gig of space left for Mint. Attached is a screeprint of my hard drive.
I would like to add/merge the 240gig partition to my Mint file system without losing any data. Would someone be so kind as to show me how to do this? Many thanks in advance. I have Gparted installed.
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catweazel
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Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by catweazel »

cabman46 wrote: Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:02 pm I would like to add/merge the 240gig partition to my Mint file system without losing any data.
Nobody can guarantee that you won't mess something up. Backup your treasured stuff before proceeding. You will need to delete the 240GB partition and extend the extended partition into that space, then delete the swap partition, then extend partition 5, then recreate swap. I doubt you'll come out unscathed. The alternative is to mount the 240GB partition and soft link to it from your /home directory. This option will save you lots of potential heartache.
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WharfRat

Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by WharfRat »

Another alternative to finagling with the partitions or symlinks is to move the /home folder to that partition :wink:

sudo du -sh /home/ will show how much space that folder is using.
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Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by HaveaMint »

Since it is only smart to backup your treasures I think it would be easier to just re-install after the backup.
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puddleglum
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Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by puddleglum »

I assume Mint 17.3 and your home directories are on Partition 5 and you want to expand partition 5 by using partition 1. Do you currently have anything on partition 1 that you want to keep? If there is you will need to back it up because you are going to lose everything on that partition.

You mentioned Gparted, and you can use that to accomplish the steps catweazel outlined for you. The safer alternative he mentioned keeps your OS on partition 5 and places your home directory on partition 1. You would need to use a program like rsync to copy the contents of your home directory to partition 1. Then edit your /etc/fstab file and add a line to mount partition 1 on /home. After rebooting and making sure your home directory is working from partition 1, you can unmount it and delete the original copy on partition 5 to free up the space.

Another possible solution is to move everything from partition 5 to partition 1 and delete partition 5 as you have your 41 GB of Free Space. I assume that used to be windows. You would then be running Mint 17.3 and your home directories on the 240 GB of partition 1. If you chose this option you will need to edit your /etc/fstab file so / is mounted on partition 1 instead of partition 5. You will also need to reinstall grub from partition 5 with grub-install or you will end up with a system that will no longer boot.
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sdibaja
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Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by sdibaja »

don't over-complicate this.
run Gparted from a live medium
1. expand the boundary of the Extended partition all the way to the left.
2. move the partitions within all the way to the left
3. move the boundary of that Extended partition over as desired.
now the un-formatted area adjoins the BIG 240...
4. expand the 240 to consume it all
yes it is slow, but it works.

Yes, backup first... but that is a given.

Personally I prefer GPT partition tables, much smaller partitions (purpose specific)...much more flexible. And I would make a fresh install.

alternatively the partitions can be Copied to another drive and Copied back as desired.
Gparted does it all, simply.
Peter
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JerryF
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Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by JerryF »

sdibaja wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:53 am don't over-complicate this.
run Gparted from a live medium
1. expand the boundary of the Extended partition all the way to the left.
2. move the partitions within all the way to the left
3. move the boundary of that Extended partition over as desired.
now the un-formatted area adjoins the BIG 240...
4. expand the 240 to consume it all
yes it is slow, but it works.

Yes, backup first... but that is a given.
...
+1
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trytip
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Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by trytip »

i would first check and delete the extra leftovers and uninstall extra kernels you have.
in /boot/ folder how many kernels do you have? how many files starting with initrd.img- are there?
also in var/cache/apt/archives/ and var/cache/apt/archives/partial/ you can delete everything
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cabman46

Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by cabman46 »

WharfRat wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:57 am Another alternative to finagling with the partitions or symlinks is to move the /home folder to that partition :wink:

sudo du -sh /home/ will show how much space that folder is using.
I ran it and got 14gig.
cabman46

Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by cabman46 »

JerryF wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:15 am
sdibaja wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:53 am don't over-complicate this.
run Gparted from a live medium
1. expand the boundary of the Extended partition all the way to the left.
2. move the partitions within all the way to the left
3. move the boundary of that Extended partition over as desired.
now the un-formatted area adjoins the BIG 240...
4. expand the 240 to consume it all
yes it is slow, but it works.

Yes, backup first... but that is a given.
...
+1
I have a large external HD. Could I just copy the Home folder to that drive. I was also thinking about upgrading to mint 18.3 or 19 then put the copied Home folder back in?
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JerryF
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Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by JerryF »

Be careful with regards to your hidden folders (the ones that start with a period) in your home folder.

Some of those have settings for your apps. As of now, they're for 17.3 and may not play well if you install a higher version like 18 or 19.
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Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by puddleglum »

cabman46 wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:45 pm I have a large external HD. Could I just copy the Home folder to that drive. I was also thinking about upgrading to mint 18.3 or 19 then put the copied Home folder back in?
I figured that was what you were going to use your free space for since 17.3 will stop being supported next year. You can install 18.3 or 19 there for now and duel boot until you make sure the new OS works with your hardware. You can move the stuff over from your 17.3 home directory any time. If you need more space you can set up partition 1 as your home directory during the installation.
cabman46

Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by cabman46 »

puddleglum wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:55 pm
cabman46 wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:45 pm I have a large external HD. Could I just copy the Home folder to that drive. I was also thinking about upgrading to mint 18.3 or 19 then put the copied Home folder back in?
I figured that was what you were going to use your free space for since 17.3 will stop being supported next year. You can install 18.3 or 19 there for now and duel boot until you make sure the new OS works with your hardware. You can move the stuff over from your 17.3 home directory any time. If you need more space you can set up partition 1 as your home directory during the installation.
Sounds like a good plan to me. The only thing I have on partition 1 is a save from Timeshift. I can run Timeshift again to a thumb drive.
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sdibaja
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Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by sdibaja »

the partitions can be Copied to another drive and Copied back if desired.
Gparted does it all, simply.
Peter
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WharfRat

Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by WharfRat »

cabman46 wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:39 pm
WharfRat wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:57 am Another alternative to finagling with the partitions or symlinks is to move the /home folder to that partition :wink:

sudo du -sh /home/ will show how much space that folder is using.
I ran it and got 14gig.
So you will essentially clear up 14gig of your mint filesystem and anything you save to the /home folder will not impact your Mint filesystem.

So you have some choices and good advice and instructions here so the decision is yours.

If you decide to move /home to the 240gig partition I can provide you with the term commands.

Good luck :wink:
cabman46

Re: Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by cabman46 »

WharfRat wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:53 pm
cabman46 wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:39 pm
WharfRat wrote: Thu Oct 18, 2018 8:57 am Another alternative to finagling with the partitions or symlinks is to move the /home folder to that partition :wink:

sudo du -sh /home/ will show how much space that folder is using.
I ran it and got 14gig.
So you will essentially clear up 14gig of your mint filesystem and anything you save to the /home folder will not impact your Mint filesystem.

So you have some choices and good advice and instructions here so the decision is yours.

If you decide to move /home to the 240gig partition I can provide you with the term commands.

Good luck :wink:
I've thought about this situation and have decided to backup my /home/ folder and format the drive to get it straight then reinstall linux. I'm going to mark this solved. Thank you guys for all of your help. My Linux knowledge is limited so many of the instructions here are over my head.
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sdibaja
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Re: Solved Mint 17.3 low on disk space

Post by sdibaja »

Good choice. Best of luck.
Remember, first thing... get a backup program going and rest easy in the future.
shameless plug for LuckyBackup with scheduled automatic backup
Peter
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