The resize operation is impossible

/var/log/installer/syslog

My disk layout (before starting ubiquity):

Disk /dev/hda: 123.5 GB, 123522416640 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 15017 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 2611 20972826 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2 2612 15017 99651195 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 2612 13054 83883366 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda6 13055 13837 6289416 83 Linux
/dev/hda7 13838 13968 1052226 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hda8 13969 15017 8426061 83 Linux

/var/log/partman

I encountered the same issue. First the message 'The resize operation is impossible' appears. Then, when I select manual partitioning, nothing happens but the busy mouse cursor.

It does it on 2 different computers.

Bug 57989 seems related.

Ubiquity from edgys iso of the 15th of september worked fine.

Luka, could you try again please ?

I tried to install Knot 3 this week end. Have the same problem ;((

I too have experienced this problem, though there was no unusual delay at this point, so I think that is unrelated.

After seeing the dialog, I selected "Erase entire disk" (which is what I wanted anyway), but ubiquity then hangs forever with a busy cursor. syslog attached.

As a note to myself, the problem here is that if resizing fails then the code that's driving partman forward past the resize question (in order to find out the bounds for the resize bar on the automatic partitioning page) gets horribly confused and just sits there. This should be straightforward to fix as soon as I can rig up a test scenario in VMware.

On Thu, Sep 21, 2006 at 02:25:31AM -0000, Colin Watson wrote:
> As a note to myself, the problem here is that if resizing fails then the
> code that's driving partman forward past the resize question (in order
> to find out the bounds for the resize bar on the automatic partitioning
> page) gets horribly confused and just sits there. This should be
> straightforward to fix as soon as I can rig up a test scenario in
> VMware.

For me, simply installing twice in a row into the same virtual machine,
using 'erase entire disk' the first time through, triggers the problem.

--
 - mdz

ubiquity (1.1.21) edgy; urgency=low

  * Handle partman-partitioning/impossible_resize errors while trying to set
    up the auto-resize slider; we now back up and disable the auto-resize
    option (closes: Malone #58500).
  * Automatic update of included source packages: partman-auto 54ubuntu4.

 -- Colin Watson <email address hidden> Thu, 21 Sep 2006 11:37:02 +0100

(This was probably exacerbated by a lack of 64-bit maths while calculating partition sizes, now fixed in partman-auto and thence in ubiquity.)

I need to add a note here. Partitioning failed on my first attempt. I don't know why. I should have added that I'm dual-booting with Vista Home Premium, sp1, one of the three cheap versions of that system. It performs a sort of shadowing operation on a hidden drive, but that's unimportant. The next day, I ran Windows disk defragmenter, and then tried to install v. 8.04 once more. This time, there was no problem with partitioning, and Ubuntu seems to have installed well. Thanks, and I'm sorry for giving such little help. Yrs, J. Wagner