[Bug 820078] [NEW] Full-disk install creates very small extended partition for swap

[Jeremy Bicha]

Public bug reported:

Tested on the Ubuntu 11.10 Alpha 3 test CD today. I tried the full disk
install on my 10 GB partition in VirtualBox. While doing the post-
installation ISO tests, I was surprised to see this result:

$ sudo sfdisk -l -uM

Disk /dev/sda: 1305 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track
Warning: extended partition does not start at a cylinder boundary.
DOS and Linux will interpret the contents differently.
Units = mebibytes of 1048576 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0

   Device Boot Start   End    MiB    #blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *     1   9339   9339    9563136   83  Linux
/dev/sda2      9340+ 10238    899-    919553    5  Extended
/dev/sda3         0      -      0          0    0  Empty
/dev/sda4         0      -      0          0    0  Empty
/dev/sda5      9341  10238    898     919552   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Ubuntu installed to partition 1 and then created a small extended
partition just big enough for 900 MB of swap. That seems like a big
waste for an extended partition. Ubuntu should either not bother with
creating an extended partition in this case (my preference) or make
better use of that space.

Personally, when I install manually, I create a very small regular
partition for the Windows bootloader to use and then use the rest as
logical partitions inside a massive extended partition.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: ubiquity (not installed)
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-7.9-generic 3.0.0
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-7-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Tue Aug  2 17:38:45 2011
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Alpha i386 (20110802.1)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: ubiquity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

** Affects: partman-auto (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

** Affects: ubiquity (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: apport-bug i386 iso-testing oneiric running-unity

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/820078

Title:
  Full-disk install creates very small extended partition for swap

Status in “partman-auto” package in Ubuntu:
  New
Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Tested on the Ubuntu 11.10 Alpha 3 test CD today. I tried the full
  disk install on my 10 GB partition in VirtualBox. While doing the
  post-installation ISO tests, I was surprised to see this result:

  $ sudo sfdisk -l -uM

  Disk /dev/sda: 1305 cylinders, 255 heads, 63 sectors/track
  Warning: extended partition does not start at a cylinder boundary.
  DOS and Linux will interpret the contents differently.
  Units = mebibytes of 1048576 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0

     Device Boot Start   End    MiB    #blocks   Id  System
  /dev/sda1   *     1   9339   9339    9563136   83  Linux
  /dev/sda2      9340+ 10238    899-    919553    5  Extended
  /dev/sda3         0      -      0          0    0  Empty
  /dev/sda4         0      -      0          0    0  Empty
  /dev/sda5      9341  10238    898     919552   82  Linux swap / Solaris

  Ubuntu installed to partition 1 and then created a small extended
  partition just big enough for 900 MB of swap. That seems like a big
  waste for an extended partition. Ubuntu should either not bother with
  creating an extended partition in this case (my preference) or make
  better use of that space.

  Personally, when I install manually, I create a very small regular
  partition for the Windows bootloader to use and then use the rest as
  logical partitions inside a massive extended partition.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
  Package: ubiquity (not installed)
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-7.9-generic 3.0.0
  Uname: Linux 3.0.0-7-generic i686
  Architecture: i386
  Date: Tue Aug  2 17:38:45 2011
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Alpha i386 (20110802.1)
  ProcEnviron:
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: ubiquity
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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