0

The current state of partitions on my 500gb HDD is as follows: enter image description here

I'm not really good when it comes to partitioning. I probably did something foolish to end up here. But the problem is I want to install Ubuntu 13.10 and I'm unable to create multiple partitions as once I create /boot partition remaining space becomes unusable. During Ubuntu installation it shows as:

/dev/sda
   /dev/sda1    350mb
   /dev/sda2    155gb
   /dev/sda3    156gb
   /dev/sda4    153gb

Is it possible to create additional primary partition (preferably without having to wipe off everything?

Is it possible to create /dev/sdb?

Improve this question
1
  • I don't know if you have a reason for separating D and E, but like noggerl said, I would using gparted to delete E, delete/resize D to your preference, create an extended partition in the newly freed space, and then create as many logical partitions as you need inside the extended partition (root, swap, etc). Make sure you select "Something Else..." at the Ubuntu installer so you can inform it of your custom setup.
    – MetaNova
    Oct 19, 2013 at 14:15

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

With the gparted livecd you can resize your partitions as you want. But be aware to save your data because manipulating your partition table can always lead to data loss.

/dev/sdb refers to an other harddrive. So /dev/sda is the first harddrive, sdb the second, sdc the third and so on. USB-Sticks also will be named in this order if you plug them in.

I have reread the question for a third time and have another clarification for your primary partition question: it is not possible to make a fifth primary partition because there is a partition table limit of four. What you can do is make the last of the primary partitions to extended partition table and create up to 7 logical volumes in that.

Improve this answer
3
  • I can use gparted from within the Ubutntu 13.10 live disk. Both D: and E: drives don't contain anything important. Ideally I wanted to make a 20GB partition out of D: and use it to install Ubuntu.
    – md1hunox
    Oct 19, 2013 at 12:20
  • It's better to make changes in partitions when the drive is not mounted, hence the recommendation of gparted live cd.
    – noggerl
    Oct 19, 2013 at 12:27
  • If all your partitions contain data, you can convert from primary to logical using FixParts; however, there are some caveats -- see the FixParts page for details. If any of your partitions is empty, you can delete it and create an extended partition in its place; the extended partition can then hold as many logical partitions as you like.
    – Rod Smith
    Oct 20, 2013 at 17:10

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .