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I need to shrink a linux partition. All gparted options are greyed out. I see "greyed out" questions being asked for gparted in this forum since 2012, and no one fixed it, 8 years latter. No gui option should ever be greyed out. Use an error message instead. Now how can I shrink the partition, or even debug anything, if there is not even an error message?

enter image description here

David Moseler
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  • I deleted my answer because I completely read that wrong like 7 times. Can you post either df -h or a screenshot of GParted without the resize window open? – Pixelated Fish Oct 14 '20 at 23:04
  • Greyed options are usually because they protecting users from themselves; because damage would occur if used (or change doesn't make sense, including no current change). An example will be if the partition is mounted, performing operation on such a partition would be stupid thus it's greyed out to protect users from themselves. What you're asking about is very unclear to me sorry. If you believe it's a problem in how the program behaves, a bug report is more appropriate than a support request on a user support site https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs – guiverc Oct 14 '20 at 23:13
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    The partition was not mounted. I was using ubuntu live usb. – David Moseler Oct 14 '20 at 23:17
  • What release are you using? It's pretty clear it's a desktop release, but it's still better if we're told, however any guesses about your release would be unwise so it's best if you just tell us. Have you dragged the picture to cause a 'resize' to occur (I suggested no change in my prior comment as a reason the resize may currently be greyed out if you re-read). – guiverc Oct 14 '20 at 23:20
  • No, it doesn't move. Classical case of gui disabling things without any kind of error message. This shouldn't happen in gparted. This kind of stuff drives people away from linux. – David Moseler Oct 14 '20 at 23:26
  • Please [edit] your question to show the main GParted window (not overlayed). I hope there is a hint about your problem. – Melebius Oct 16 '20 at 12:17

3 Answers3

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Are you trying to shrink the root partition while in use? I don't believe Gparted does this. The safest options are to boot into either an Ubuntu LiveCD or GParted Live so that the root file system is not in use.

It's fine to grow the root partition while it's in use, but it's best not to shrink it while it's in use. But if you insist you must shrink it while it's in use, and you're feeling brave, you could try these instructions.

Jaydin
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This is not an actual solution; but a workaround is to use the ubuntu usb to go to install, select "Something else", and shrink the partition there. For some reason gparted is of no use in the live usb, but the installation software was still able to do the shrinking.

David Moseler
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The min size says 476426 the max size says 476426... so it's not just a greyed out button. I'd like to see underneath that resize screen. I have the exact same situation because my partition is mounted. Is there an image of a key next to /dev/sda2? If so right click and unmount it and retry. (just because it is a live disk, doesn't mean it didn't get mounted)

if not,
Look under the partition info in gparted and see if there is any info

Try running a filesystem repair.

Try using the gnome-disks application, it has a resize option there too. ...and see if it kicks back an error.

Try it manually and see if it kicks back an error.

WU-TANG
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