Formatting and Partitioning SSD Help?

Question

So I just installed Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on my netbook and was going through the things to do to optimize my SSD (https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/ssd) Steps 5 and 6 tell me to partition it to have 7% unallocated space and to make sure it is formatted to ext4.

I opened Gparted and it is not allowing me to split my partitions to add unallocated space, also it looks as though it is formatted to ext2 and I am unaware of how to change it. My partitions in Gparted look as follows:

Any help on these issues?

Solution 1

My suggestion: start over with a clean install and choose those options from the get go.

There IS a way to convert ext2 to ext4 but it is a bit involved. If this is a brand new install, might just be easier to start over.

Likewise, you can resize your partition but not when it's mounted (i.e. you are booted into it). Use the Gparted livecd or liveusb

Solution 2

Warning: Before performing any partitioning operation (e.g. resizing), make sure you have your data backed up somewhere other than the disk you're using.

The problem is that you're trying to resize the partition Ubuntu is running off of. The little key icon next to /dev/sda1 indicates that you can't do anything with that partition, as it's mounted (in use).

In order to resize the partition, you'll need to use a Live USB or CD. If you still have the one used to installed Ubuntu on that computer, it will work.

Follow the same steps as before (installed GParted, etc). This time, the key icon will be gone, and you'll be able to resize the partition.

Solution 3

Do not encrypt your entire root. If you need to, encrypt only /home. It's probably the encryption that's blocking things in GParted.