-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On 03.07.2012 09:09, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
> Hi,
>
> modern fdisk puts the first partition at block 63 while older
> version have put it at block 1.
>
> Now, I'm going to upgrade an older system. Is it safe to
> repartition it by letting the first partition start 63 and
> shortening the first partition by 62 blocks?
>
> (I will loose the first partition which doesn't matter in my
> case.)
>
> Many thanks for sharing your experience, Helmut.
>

Do you want to resize the partition or do you want to delete and
recreate it?

The second option is no problem, the first could lead to some data
loss (if you are unlucky).
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.19 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/

iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJP8p5gAAoJEJwwOFaNFkYcoDAIAMNRsPzJq8 ukcX8SYfpt2TAN
y4UQ8l39zdJx+8WLTHwEAcjDIsYti0xOPzz38RteMCJ4lY6KSD lw7QdpQQv6wK4V
EuNfpnUXrb+ty6Fk6X3mS5bUS6rDmTrxGFVeFJha2tklHR7oPN a8CVrULSccpZrG
spLBUy8q/XxlkjB/dCn2zzfDFhOzAkqmuCxLgGoj7QDBfOBBsCE3HF3JqlkD3JFt
OusMVlFHZf2RI1/1G/R1Hq5WQfQAKe2Y6cLLYvmHGx+gWFbyudIL7FQpsX+orCc0
arUGe5V2swt7NGN3DvjxLbLWubuPmqKfMS/iDNkYUZS3xso2EpVZzUXBU4sLwcc=
=Of29
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

On 07/03/2012 09:25:20 AM, Hinnerk van Bruinehsen wrote:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On 03.07.2012 09:09, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
> Hi,
>
> modern fdisk puts the first partition at block 63 while older
> version have put it at block 1.
>
> Now, I'm going to upgrade an older system. Is it safe to
> repartition it by letting the first partition start 63 and
> shortening the first partition by 62 blocks?
>
> (I will loose the first partition which doesn't matter in my
> case.)
>
> Many thanks for sharing your experience, Helmut.
>

Do you want to resize the partition or do you want to delete and
recreate it?

The second option is no problem, the first could lead to some data
loss (if you are unlucky).


I'd like to delete and recreate ONLY the first partition (which is
small).

The question is, can I keep the other partitions.

As far as I remember, I once deleted the extended partition and tried
to recreate

logical partitions "at the same place". But that didn't work.

Helmut.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On 03.07.2012 09:42, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
> On 07/03/2012 09:25:20 AM, Hinnerk van Bruinehsen wrote:
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1
>>
>> On 03.07.2012 09:09, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> modern fdisk puts the first partition at block 63 while older
>>> version have put it at block 1.
>>>
>>> Now, I'm going to upgrade an older system. Is it safe to
>>> repartition it by letting the first partition start 63 and
>>> shortening the first partition by 62 blocks?
>>>
>>> (I will loose the first partition which doesn't matter in my
>>> case.)
>>>
>>> Many thanks for sharing your experience, Helmut.
>>>
>>
>> Do you want to resize the partition or do you want to delete and
>> recreate it?
>>
>> The second option is no problem, the first could lead to some
>> data loss (if you are unlucky).
>
> I'd like to delete and recreate ONLY the first partition (which is
> small). The question is, can I keep the other partitions.
>
> As far as I remember, I once deleted the extended partition and
> tried to recreate logical partitions "at the same place". But that
> didn't work.
>
> Helmut.
>
>

If the first partition is a primary partition it's no issue. If it is
inside a extended partion it gets tricky, because the extended
partition acts like a kind of container.

- From your description I guess it's a boot partition, which normally is
a primary one. In that case just delete it and recreate it afterwards.

Note: you may need to reinstall you bootloader afterwards (due to the
changed partition data) and don't forget to toggle the bootable flag
for that partition.

If it's an extended partition I fear that my experience doesn't
suffice to give you qualifield hints as I try to avoid them.


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.19 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/

iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJP8qSkAAoJEJwwOFaNFkYcKSIH/i1USa0uUOGqfwaYZeJf9fhA
tSshu2Hu74KZZedkoVgu/zWIYpbPdu1al60elUR20TGXVtE7FXukpakjYLCb/50i
Izj9RAhkbk719TbeJ78Vmu7hVn+zXGMBsoRM6WsrLlm0rw1Whr RElunbkJ6qeURS
Bw2ZecSsnrxa3V89fizFHbQkWb15iN0O5afIbgLGgiwtzxhRCN RSNWJrNKpHiu2n
tnGO7A+0wWDbV7d2ua8mCwKYBa+Rxs9HerENaOY4jQaA8nxJoB W/Pplb7OZA5KZ0
q/Cv8MFhuMjci4EQ1RNNNucmTqzGZ4uLmhWrXNdzG0TKZ2IkvBKX Deptb+bs810=
=SBZ0
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Helmut Jarausch writes:

> modern fdisk puts the first partition at block 63 while older version
> have put it at block 1.

No, it's older versions that use 63, while the new fdisk uses 2048. This
way the new 4K sectors of huge drives are aligned well. It does not
need to be 2048, as long as it's dividable by 8. But fdisk apparently does
not allow smaller values.

> Now, I'm going to upgrade an older system.
> Is it safe to repartition it by letting the first partition start 63
> and shortening the first partition by 62 blocks?
>
> (I will loose the first partition which doesn't matter in my case.)

I thought this would work, but I'm not sure now. But why do you want to
change the partition start anyway?

Wonko