Appendix: Tips and tricks
Following are some tips and tricks to help you manage partitions on different devices with GParted.
Maintaining Mac OS X hybrid partition table
Mac OS X uses a hybrid partition table scheme that is a combination of GPT and MS-DOS partition tables. This hybrid partition table scheme is non-standard. When you edit the hybrid partition table, GParted will make the GPT align with GPT standards by writing a single protective entry in the MS-DOS portion of the hybrid partition table. This causes the partition entries in the MS-DOS portion to be lost, and prevents some operating systems from booting, such as 32-bit versions of Windows.
Fortunately these MS-DOS partition entries can be recreated from the GPT partition entries. When you finish editing Mac OS X partitions, open a terminal window and enter the following command:
sudo gptsync /path-to-disk-device
where /path-to-disk-device is the disk device you just edited (for example, /dev/sdc).
The gptsync command will copy the GPT partition entries that are below the 2 TB MS-DOS limit into the MS-DOS portion of the hybrid partition table scheme.
Editing iPod partitions
If you wish to repurpose your iPod for use as a RockBox music player, or as a portable GNU/Linux drive, you may wish to edit your iPod partition table. Before editing iPod partitions, you should be aware of the following unusual partition configuration.
Some iPods have a proprietary firmware partition at the start of the device. This partition ID is set to type 0 (zero). A type 0 partition ID usually indicates the partition is empty. In this situation, GParted treats the partition as empty and might use the partition table entry, or overwrite the partition while you are editing iPod partitions. This can overwrite the proprietary firmware, causing your iPod to cease to function as the manufacturer intended.
To prevent overwriting this type 0 partition we recommend that you use the following high-level steps:
In a terminal window use the
fdiskcommand line tool to set the partition type to non-zero value (for example, 83).Next, start GParted and perform your partition editing.
When finished with partition editing, exit GParted.
Finally, use
fdiskto set the partition type back to zero (for example, 0). Some versions offdiskwill warn about setting the type back to zero, but in this case a zero partition id is needed.
Following is a example listing of an iPod partition table with a type 0 partition:
user@debian:~$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sde Note: sector size is 2048 (not 512) Disk /dev/sde: 8120 MB, 8120172544 bytes 250 heads, 62 sectors/track, 255 cylinders Units = cylinders of 15500 * 2048 = 31744000 bytes Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sde1 1 3 92876 0 Empty /dev/sde2 4 255 7812000 b W95 FAT32 user@debian:~$
Assuming the iPod is recognized as device /dev/sde, the steps to use fdisk to change the partition id type are as follows:
user@debian:~$ sudo fdisk /dev/sde Command (m for help): t Partition number (1-4): 1 Hex code (type L to list codes): 83 Changed system type of partition 1 to 83 (Linux) Command (m for help): w The partition table has been altered! Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table. Syncing disks. user@debian:~$
Use similar steps, as shown above, to set the type back to 0 (zero), instead of 83.
Tip
If you edit your iPod partitions, your iPod might cease to function as the manufacturer originally intended.
Adding space to virtual machines
Oftentimes, virtual machine (VM) software provides the ability to add more space to virtual disk drives. However, adding more space does not increase the size of the virtual disk drive partitions. This is where GParted can help. The high-level steps are as follows:
Configure the virtual machine BIOS to first boot from removable media, such as a CD or USB flash drive.
For more information on how to configure BIOS, see http://gparted.org/display-doc.php?name=gparted-live-manual.
Attach GParted Live to the VM as removable media. In some cases you can connect the VM CD drive directly to the
.isoimage file. You might also need to create a new CD device for the VM.Boot the virtual machine.
Use GParted to add new partitions or grow existing partitions to use the added space.
Shut down the virtual machine.
Disconnect GParted Live from the VM.
Using these steps, you can avoid creating a new VM with larger virtual disk drives. This will save time and effort needed to reinstall the operating system and applications, restore the data, and configure the system.
Getting help with GParted
There are several resources available to help you with GParted:
Answers to frequently asked questions can be found on the FAQ at http://gparted.org/faq.php
Assistance with problems is available in the forum at http://gparted.org/forum.php
New bugs can be reported, and links to existing bugs can be viewed on the bugs page at http://gparted.org/bugs.php
For additional information on GParted, see http://gparted.org.
Other uses for GParted
The practical applications of GParted are numerous since GParted can be used on a wide variety of disk devices. Searching the Internet reveals many ways people have used GParted to accomplish their goals.
Some of the other uses of GParted include:
Expanding the memory in Android smart phones
Migrating operating systems to larger drives
Preparing disk devices for use with digital video recorders and game consoles
The list of uses for GParted continues to grow.
With these many uses in mind, we hope that this book has empowered you with the knowledge and tools to manage partitions with GParted.
