Combining SDA and SDB

7,882

Solution 1

The hdparm outputs clearly shows that you have 2 ssd-s in your laptop. So I decided to search for the specifications of your laptop, and there is no mystery, you have the Asus UX31LA-C4018H version, which comes with 2x128 GB SSD-s. See for example here

If you still want to combine the drives then you should use LVM. Please see this Q&A for more info on setting up an LVM.

Solution 2

http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/notebooks/2013/asus-zenbook-ux301-im-test/ shows the configuration of your Zenbook is, indeed, two each 128GB SSDs. Therefore, I would set up Ubuntu to use sda for the operating system and programs (root) as well as the swap partition. Then, create a new partition using all of sdb as /home and that's where your data will go.

The original configuration, RAID0, gives more speed (good for poky ol' Windoze), but less reliability.

7,882

JLee

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

JLee over 1 year

I recently purchased a laptop to install ubuntu onto. From my understanding, there is 1 SSD inside with a size of 256GB. However, upon attempting to install ubuntu, I am given two partitions, SDA and SDB of equal size.

If I install on SDA will that limit my "total" size of ubuntu to 128 GB? How do I combine the two to use a total size of 256 GB?

Am I wrong in assuming that there is 1 SSD of size 256?

Thank you.

@falconer's request

/dev/sda:
ATA device, with non-removable media
    Model Number:       SanDisk SD6SP1M128G1002                
    Serial Number:      132254401865       
    Firmware Revision:  X231202
    Media Serial Num:  
    Media Manufacturer:
    Transport:          Serial, ATA8-AST, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6, SATA Rev 3.0
Standards:
    Used: unknown (minor revision code 0x0028)
    Supported: 8 7 6 5
    Likely used: 8
Configuration:
    Logical        max    current
    cylinders    16383    16383
    heads        16    16
    sectors/track    63    63
    --
    CHS current addressable sectors:   16514064
    LBA    user addressable sectors:  250069680
    LBA48  user addressable sectors:  250069680
    Logical  Sector size:                   512 bytes
    Physical Sector size:                   512 bytes
    Logical Sector-0 offset:                  0 bytes
    device size with M = 1024*1024:      122104 MBytes
    device size with M = 1000*1000:      128035 MBytes (128 GB)
    cache/buffer size  = unknown
    Nominal Media Rotation Rate: Solid State Device
Capabilities:
    LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
    Queue depth: 32
    Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, no device specific minimum
    R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 1    Current = 1
    Advanced power management level: 128
    DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
         Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
    PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
         Cycle time: no flow control=120ns  IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
    Enabled    Supported:
       *    SMART feature set
            Security Mode feature set
       *    Power Management feature set
       *    Write cache
       *    Look-ahead
       *    Host Protected Area feature set
       *    WRITE_BUFFER command
       *    READ_BUFFER command
       *    DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
       *    Advanced Power Management feature set
            SET_MAX security extension
       *    48-bit Address feature set
       *    Device Configuration Overlay feature set
       *    Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
       *    FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
       *    SMART error logging
       *    SMART self-test
       *    General Purpose Logging feature set
       *    64-bit World wide name
       *    WRITE_UNCORRECTABLE_EXT command
       *    {READ,WRITE}_DMA_EXT_GPL commands
       *    Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
       *    Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
       *    Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
       *    Gen3 signaling speed (6.0Gb/s)
       *    Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
       *    Host-initiated interface power management
       *    Phy event counters
       *    READ_LOG_DMA_EXT equivalent to READ_LOG_EXT
       *    DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
            Device-initiated interface power management
       *    Software settings preservation
       *    Device Sleep (DEVSLP)
       *    Data Set Management TRIM supported (limit 16 blocks)
       *    Deterministic read ZEROs after TRIM
Security:
    Master password revision code = 65534
        supported
    not    enabled
    not    locked
        frozen
    not    expired: security count
        supported: enhanced erase
    2min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 12min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
Logical Unit WWN Device Identifier: 5001b449d68f0149
    NAA        : 5
    IEEE OUI    : 001b44
    Unique ID    : 9d68f0149
Checksum: correct
Device Sleep:
    DEVSLP Exit Timeout (DETO): 20 ms (drive)
    Minimum DEVSLP Assertion Time (MDAT): 10 ms (drive)

/dev/sdb:

ATA device, with non-removable media
    Model Number:       SanDisk SD6SP1M128G1002                
    Serial Number:      132254404902       
    Firmware Revision:  X231202
    Media Serial Num:  
    Media Manufacturer:
    Transport:          Serial, ATA8-AST, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6, SATA Rev 3.0
Standards:
    Used: unknown (minor revision code 0x0028)
    Supported: 8 7 6 5
    Likely used: 8
Configuration:
    Logical        max    current
    cylinders    16383    16383
    heads        16    16
    sectors/track    63    63
    --
    CHS current addressable sectors:   16514064
    LBA    user addressable sectors:  250069680
    LBA48  user addressable sectors:  250069680
    Logical  Sector size:                   512 bytes
    Physical Sector size:                   512 bytes
    Logical Sector-0 offset:                  0 bytes
    device size with M = 1024*1024:      122104 MBytes
    device size with M = 1000*1000:      128035 MBytes (128 GB)
    cache/buffer size  = unknown
    Nominal Media Rotation Rate: Solid State Device
Capabilities:
    LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
    Queue depth: 32
    Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, no device specific minimum
    R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 1    Current = 1
    Advanced power management level: 128
    DMA: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 *udma6
         Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
    PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
         Cycle time: no flow control=120ns  IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
    Enabled    Supported:
       *    SMART feature set
            Security Mode feature set
       *    Power Management feature set
       *    Write cache
       *    Look-ahead
       *    Host Protected Area feature set
       *    WRITE_BUFFER command
       *    READ_BUFFER command
       *    DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
       *    Advanced Power Management feature set
            SET_MAX security extension
       *    48-bit Address feature set
       *    Device Configuration Overlay feature set
       *    Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
       *    FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
       *    SMART error logging
       *    SMART self-test
       *    General Purpose Logging feature set
       *    64-bit World wide name
       *    WRITE_UNCORRECTABLE_EXT command
       *    {READ,WRITE}_DMA_EXT_GPL commands
       *    Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
       *    Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
       *    Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
       *    Gen3 signaling speed (6.0Gb/s)
       *    Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
       *    Host-initiated interface power management
       *    Phy event counters
       *    READ_LOG_DMA_EXT equivalent to READ_LOG_EXT
       *    DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
            Device-initiated interface power management
       *    Software settings preservation
       *    Device Sleep (DEVSLP)
       *    Data Set Management TRIM supported (limit 16 blocks)
       *    Deterministic read ZEROs after TRIM
Security:
    Master password revision code = 65534
        supported
    not    enabled
    not    locked
        frozen
    not    expired: security count
        supported: enhanced erase
    2min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 12min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
Logical Unit WWN Device Identifier: 5001b449d68f0d26
    NAA        : 5
    IEEE OUI    : 001b44
    Unique ID    : 9d68f0d26
Checksum: correct
Device Sleep:
    DEVSLP Exit Timeout (DETO): 20 ms (drive)
    Minimum DEVSLP Assertion Time (MDAT): 10 ms (drive)

@RPiAwesomeness

link

As you can see, /dev/sda is in the top right corner in the drop down menu, /dev/sdb can be accessed from there as well.

RPiAwesomeness over 10 years

What is the make/model of your computer? Basically, installing to SDA won't limit your Ubuntu installation. You can always put files on SDB. However, you can also, so long as there are no files or any Windows installations you wish to keep intact, just combine the two partitions to give Ubuntu the entire 256GB of space. I can go more into depth in an answer if we get more info.
Rmano over 10 years

That's quite strange. If he has sda and sdb he system is showing two drives, not one (otherwise he will have a couple partitions, sda1 and sda2. Maybe some sort of (evil) predefined RAID?
JLee over 10 years

@RPiAwesomeness The make/model is Asus UX31LA. The problem I'm having is that the two are completely separate. I'm not planning on having anything else on their beyond Ubuntu
RPiAwesomeness over 10 years

Ah, Well, this makes it easier to answer. IMO that's a nice laptop. Anyways, it indeed comes with one (1) 256 GB SSD or one (1) 128GB SSD, not two of any type so it must be partitioned. I will post an answer with instructions on how to combine partitions so you can have one large 256GB partition to install Ubuntu on (you would do this via the LiveCD/LiveUSB.)
RPiAwesomeness over 10 years

@Rmano Good point. There should only be sda not sda and sdb... the model should have only one SSD, not two. I'm thinking you may be right. Any input?