Arch Linux

donkey uses arch

Member

Registered: 2025-01-11

Posts: 3

Root partition size too small and can't be resized

I used the archlinux install script to install my installation a couple month ago, I was aware of the warning that said the install script doesn't create a recommended size root partition, despite this I used it and now I am incapable of resizing it. The idea is that I shrink my home partition and increase the size of my root partition, so I read the parted arch wiki  and tried resizing my partition with a live usb (It has an archlinux install iso) but that's when I realized MY DISK IS ENCRYPTED which meant it didn't work at all :(

My setup:
44 GIB root partition size
402.1 GIB home partition
LUKS 2 Encryption
EXT 4

PS - my root partition is flooded my games are crashing and my printer drivers don't have any place to be installed to. SEND HELP.

Last edited by donkey uses arch (2025-01-11 18:12:18)

shulamy

Member

From: israel

Registered: 2010-09-11

Posts: 466

Re: Root partition size too small and can't be resized

maybe you need to clean pacman cache  ?

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman

ezik

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: The Wirral

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 8,642

Website

Re: Root partition size too small and can't be resized

Why do you even have a separate partition for /home/? If it isn't solving a specific problem for you then it looks like it's just creating a problem. Why not just use a single root partiton and leave /home/ there?

EDIT: to resize an encrypted partition you must first unlock the partition, refer to the relevant ArchWiki page for your chosen encryption method. Remember to resize the filesystem first though to avoid damaging the data.

And looking at your description of the table, simply shrinking the /home/ partition would create space in the upper sector numbers, which aren't contiguous with the root partion and so cannot be added to it. You would have to copy the filesystem contents out to a backup, recreate the partition table, then copy the contents back. That being the case it would be very easy to convert to a single root partition to avoid the need to do this again in the future.

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2025-01-11 21:30:26)

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Para todos todo, para nosotros nada

donkey uses arch

Member

Registered: 2025-01-11

Posts: 3

Re: Root partition size too small and can't be resized

Why do you even have a separate partition for /home/? If it isn't solving a specific problem for you then it looks like it's just creating a problem. Why not just use a single root partiton and leave /home/ there?

If I screw up my root partion my very important data isn't  lost as well, additionally, you can just copy and paste the entire home partion to another computer and use it perfectly even on another distro!

Head_on_a_Stick

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From: The Wirral

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 8,642

Website

Re: Root partition size too small and can't be resized

If the data is important, back it up properly.

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Para todos todo, para nosotros nada

cryptearth

Member

Registered: 2024-02-03

Posts: 1,160

Re: Root partition size too small and can't be resized

If I screw up my root partion my very important data isn't  lost as well, additionally, you can just copy and paste the entire home partion to another computer and use it perfectly even on another distro!

you seem to be new to linux and not experienced many different distros - as dragging along configs often lead to some difficult to debug issues due to version difference of installed packages
also: same with raid's not a backup - although it's a good starting point and a backup-target should be setup ontop of some sort of redundant multi-drive-array - the only proper backup are real copies onto other media
anyway - although I don't really understand how you were able to fill up 40gb in a few months - my 2 1/2 year old install only sums up to 19gb - as HoaS pointed out: to increase your root partition you not just need to shrink your home but also move it - in which case a clean backup - wipe and start over is the better idea as you otherwise risk data loss

Nikolai5

Member

From: North West, England, UK

Registered: 2024-01-27

Posts: 191

Re: Root partition size too small and can't be resized

In all my years using Linux I have never used a separate home partition, it just seems a pain. I just use rsync to backup the things I care about in /home and doing a fresh install and restoring those things is trivial, so the risk of data loss between having a separate partition and not is the same. Or are you running it on a different drive?

Also, as cryptearth said, do you really want to be keeping ALL the files in /home after a reinstall? Selectively backing up can be a cleaner solution in that regard. There's a reason most Linux installers these days default to just root, boot and maybe swap.

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MacbookPro-2012 | XFCE

donkey uses arch

Member

Registered: 2025-01-11

Posts: 3

Re: Root partition size too small and can't be resized

ok so the common solution is backup my install and reinstall arch linux?
I don't want to have any apps be uninstalled my internet is VERY BAD so reinstalling even a gigabyte of data takes 4 hours.
Also I like all my configs.
So how should I make my backup and how do I recover it after doing a fresh manual install?
I Have an external hard drive for the backup.

ReDress

Member

Registered: 2024-11-30

Posts: 69

Re: Root partition size too small and can't be resized

Maybe it is me who just isn't putting my PC into very modern use.

Your root partition at 45GiB isn't small. Maybe stop putting things that shouldn't be in the root partition in the root partition.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,639

Re: Root partition size too small and can't be resized

You can resize partitions on the fly, without losing data or reinstalling. I highly suggest you use a gparted live disk for this and make sure you have backups in the case you need them. Generally this process works and goes fine, but is somewhat involved especially since you'll be shoveling a lot of data to make room for the root partition.

ReDress

Member

Registered: 2024-11-30

Posts: 69

Re: Root partition size too small and can't be resized

You mean it might take a while for it to resize?

Yeah, that seems to concur with other hearsay. This is not something I have had to do myself.:-)