Gene Heskett composed on 2019-04-03 08:16 (UTC-0400): >> parted -l > gene@coyote:~/Mail/emc$ parted -l > Model: ATA ST1000VX000-1CU1 (scsi) ... > Model: ATA ST2000DM006-2DM1 (scsi) > Disk /dev/sdb: 2000GB ... > Model: ATA ST31000333AS (scsi) > Disk /dev/sdc: 1000GB > Model: ATA ST2000DM001-1ER1 (scsi) > Disk /dev/sdd: 2000GB ... >> fdisk -l > Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes ... > Disk /dev/sdc: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes ... > Disk /dev/sdb: 2000.4 GB, 2000398934016 bytes ... > Disk /dev/sdd: 2000.4 GB, 2000398934016 bytes ... > /dev/sdb is the target disk, /dev/sda is current operating disk > /dev/sdc is older, not in use amandatapes-1T disk, > and /dev/sdd is currently used amandatapes-2T disk. > Look this over please. I see nothing in the partitioning itself that should prevent success. 500G+ for the / filesystem does seem to be at least somewhere around 200%-300% overkill. 20G-30G may well be too little for your needs, but surely 100G ought to cover it. If you're using big databases, they probably should be configured to store their data on a data partition rather than the / filesystem. I don't have any / filesystems as big as 20G (unless counting Mac or Windows, which are nevertheless under 3 digit G in size). If the BIOS is old enough, more than around 504G for the / filesystem containing the bootloader could be another obstacle. A 200M to 500M primary partition at the start of disk just for /boot would avoid this mere potential, as should a slightly smaller / partition. My boot partitions are all EXT2. Writing to /boot is rather rare, making journaling on them arguably unnecessary overhead. If that's Wheezy on sda, I suggest to consider to use it to format the partitions on sdb prior to installation, and ignore any objections you get from the Debian installer that it is not to be doing any formatting. Post-Wheezy at least one formerly optional/experimental formatting feature for EXT4 became default, 64bit. It's not a needed feature on smaller filesystems, as fit on a disk 2TB or smaller. Having Wheezy do the formatting will allow working with the new partitions post-installation. Alternatively, disabling 64bit (-O '^64bit') when formatting with newer mke2fs versions would have the same effect. Questions remain as to bootloader configuration. Are sda and sdc to remain installed once successful installation is confirmed and data migration complete? If ultimately sda and sdc are to be retired, I suggest to disconnect them prior to installation, and reconnect for migration purposes only after installation success is confirmed. I might go further and temporarily disconnect sdd as well. Is this a mix of SATA and PATA, all SATA, or all PATA? A different set of kernel and disk drivers could potentially reorder device assignments, making the order bootloader sees and the system sees differ. Booting using UUIDs or LABELs instead of device names is supposed to render any such differences of no import, but potential for confusion does remain, particularly from the perspective of an administrator's eyes. -- Evolution as taught in public schools is religion, not science. Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/