[SOLVED] Dell XPS 9370: can't resize NTFS *filesystem*

epeld · 2018-03-23 21:23:46

Hi,
I just got a brand new Dell XPS 9370 which I want to set up so that I can dual-boot between Archlinux and Windows.

Currently, C:// is reported as an NTFS-partition by Windows, and it uses up most of my hardrive so I need to resize it. However, ntfsresize will not recognize the partition. Instead, it says 'NTFS signature missing'.

I tried running e.g "mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/nvme0n1p3 /mnt" but I get the same error.

"gdisk /dev/nvme0n1 -l" reports the partition as having code: "0700", i.e "Microsoft basic data".

"parted /dev/nvme0n1 print" basically says the same thing, i.e, flags: "msftdata", name: "Basic data partition". It is interesting though, that parted doesn't seem to recognize the filesystem, because its "filesystem"-column is blank for this particular partition.

I am not sure if this is relevant but I had to disable "Raid" in my BIOS (as explained here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/De … ontroller) to be able to boot the arch live USB.

I am not sure where to go from here. How do I get windows to recognize the partition so I can resize it? Any pointers welcome. Thanks!

Last edited by epeld (2018-03-25 16:49:43)

romansky · 2018-03-24 03:58:20

I'm currently dual booting Arch and Windows 10 on a Dell XPS 15 9560. If I can remember correctly, I used parted to resize my Windows ntfs partition. If that doesn't work, you can alway try running a live usb of another Linux distro that has GParted on it.

Last edited by romansky (2018-03-24 03:59:25)

epeld · 2018-03-24 08:24:42

Hi romansky, does parted really resize file systems? I thought it only worked on partitions so that I would have to use e.g ntfsresize first?

seth · 2018-03-24 14:36:40

"C:\" - windows uses the wrong slash and also only one :-P

Please paste the outputs of

lsblk
sudo ntfs-3g /dev/nvme0n1 /mnt -o debug,no_detach

Wild guess: windows fastboot is enabled, the windows system thus hibernated and the ntfs partition in an undefined state?

epeld · 2018-03-24 19:51:53

Haha right, I forgot about the backward slash.

I don't know how I can easily copy the output from the terminal, but basically "lsblk" says soemthing like this (copied manually)

nvme0n1 259:0 0 477G 0 disk
..
nvme0n1p3 259:3 0 463.5G 0 part

and this command: "sudo ntfs-3g /dev/nvme0n1 /mnt -o debug,no_detach" just gives me the same error as I described earlier, i.e, "NTFS signature is missing", "Failed to mount XX: Invalid Argument" "The device XX doesn't seem to have a valid NTFS. Maybe the wrong device was used? " etc ( I tried the command with both /dev/nvme0n1 and /dev/nvme0n1p3 here, just in case)..

seth · 2018-03-24 20:06:52

lsblk > ~/lsblk.txt

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Li … in_clients

However from the post I guess that nvme0n1 is your disk and not a partition, so you can certainly not mount it.

sudo ntfs-3g /dev/nvme0n1p3 /mnt -o debug,no_detach

?

epeld · 2018-03-24 20:20:56

seth wrote:

lsblk > ~/lsblk.txt
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Li … in_clients
However from the post I guess that nvme0n1 is your disk and not a partition, so you can certainly not mount it.
sudo ntfs-3g /dev/nvme0n1p3 /mnt -o debug,no_detach
?

Yes, I tried both just in case. Here is the output:

NTFS signature missing.
Failed to mount '/dev/nvme0n1p3': Invalid argument
The device '/dev/nvme0n1p3' doesn't seem to have a valid NTFS.
Maybe the wrong device is used? Or the whole disk instead of a partition (e.g /dev/sda, not /dev/sda1)? Or the other way around?

seth · 2018-03-24 20:48:29

What brings us back to lsblk, ideally make it "lsblk -f".

epeld · 2018-03-24 20:57:06

OK Here we go:

NAME FSTYPE LABEL UUID MOUNTPOINT
loop0 squashfs /run/archiso/sfs/airootfs
sda iso9660 ARCH_201803 2018-03-01-15-13-16-00
├─sda1 iso9660 ARCH_201803 2018-03-01-15-13-16-00 /run/archiso/bootmnt
└─sda2 vfat ARCHISO_EFI 8688-0060
nvme0n1
├─nvme0n1p1 vfat ESP CE86-F7E7
├─nvme0n1p2
├─nvme0n1p3
├─nvme0n1p4 ntfs WINRETOOLS 60F2D37FF2D357BC
├─nvme0n1p5 ntfs Image 4200D39F00D397ED
└─nvme0n1p6 ntfs DELLSUPPORT EA8CF4168CF3DB51

That is the output from "lsblk -f"

seth · 2018-03-24 21:08:37

Can you still boot windows? The partition might be encrypted, but does not seem to have an ntfs header.

epeld · 2018-03-24 21:20:18

Yes, logging into Windows works fine. If I right-click on the C:\-partition and hit 'Properties' I can see that Windows thinks that the partition is NTFS

R00KIE · 2018-03-24 21:21:41

Can't you just resize the partition from windows? I believe windows is able to do that without having to install any third party programs, and since it is windows doing the resizing there should be less chance of breakage.

epeld · 2018-03-25 16:49:23

Wow, I had no idea Windows came with a builtin (free) disk management tool. It turns out my NTFS-partition came encrypted with BitLocker which is why ntfsresize wouldn't recognize it.

I've now managed to resize the partition. Thanks a lot for helping me out!

Arch Linux

#1 2018-03-23 21:23:46