gparted - unallocated space?

[odoyle81]

so if I'm running ubuntu and I'm looking the partition that is running ubuntu, then it can't be corrupt right?
Why wouldn't gparted recognize a generic default ubuntu install partition schema?

any advice on what I should try next? I really need more space so I can work on some large files for a project so I need to figure this out!

[mpack]

I checked at the gparted forum and it seems that unless the partition type/format is known (not encrypted), gparted can not process the partition

Well of course. Enlarging a partition means rejigging all of the hidden operating system data structures which map the partition into used and unused clusters, and which connects some of these into chains to make files. Gparted can only do anything if it's able to access this data, plus it must be a supported filesystem type (i.e. one whose internal structures it understands).

[Sasquatch]

Do you need to enter a passphrase when you boot the VM? You can also check with it's own Gparted install, no need to boot to another one, only when you need to actually modify a partition that can't be unmounted.

Yes I use a password to enter ubuntu...
When I run gparted from within ubuntu, it still shows the entire drive as unallocated space.. what is going on here?

I'm not talking about a username and password to log on, but a passphrase that is asked when the VM boots, before you get to the login screen.

[odoyle81]

no I don't have that setup

[odoyle81]

I can't believe no one can help me with this..any advice for another forum to ask on? Should I ask on the gparted forum? I have spent way too much time trying to figure this out. What should have been relatively simple has turned into a nightmare, and I might as well have just started with a new install.. unbelievable!

[Sasquatch]

Sorry we are of no help here, but your issue is very uncommon. As you say, maybe the gparted forums can help you with this, as they have far better understanding of the software.

[odoyle81]

The guys over there are amazing - fixed my issue in 5 minutes using fdisk to rewrite the partition table. I'm posting the answer here in case others run into this issue. Still not sure what caused the invalid flag in the first place, but it is solved now..

gedakc said:

An invalid partition table does not always prevent booting. It depends on the nature of the problem.

From the output you provided.

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sudo fdisk -l -u
Warning: invalid flag 0x0000 of partition table 5 will be corrected by w(rite)

It appears that there is a invalid flag in the extended partition (/dev/sda5). From reading the output of fdisk, it would appear that fdisk can correct the problem if you use it to (re)write the partition table.

Before editing partition tables I always recommend that you make a backup of your data. That way if something goes wrong (power outage, software bug, hardware failure) you will be able to restore your data.

To fix this I think you might try the following steps:

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sudo fdisk /dev/sda

At the "Command (m for help):" prompt type the letter "p" to print out the partition table.

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p

If the partition table looks the same, then at the "Command (m for help):" prompt type the letter "w" to write the partition table to disk and exit.

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w

Hopefully this will fix the problem. You can check if the problem has been fixed with the following command:

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sudo fdisk -l -u