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Is there a ext3 defragmenter?

There's plenty of threads on here about Defrag for Ext3 and Ext4 and largely it seems E4Defrag is the most reliable new way to defrag in Linux.

But, there is no mention of whether e4defrag is backward compatible with Ext3 and can support / optimize it? e3defrag(8)

If not, what is the reliable stable method today in 2017?

(Most of the previous threads are dated 2010/ 11 and that is half a decade in fast moving tech time frames)

PS: Yes, it is not always needed as it says here, But, I'd like to defrag a fragmented volume before I archive it.

PPS: Cant convert this to ext4 as older systems that only support ext3 need to access it.

muru
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Alex S
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    On Linux file systems, fragmentation is typically less then 5%, often 1 or 2% unless the disk is 99% full. Just for reference, my HDD has %0.3 fragmentation, and it only has 800MB free. To see how much fragmentation you actually have, just do `sudo fsck.ext3 -fn /dev/sdX1` and at the bottom it will print the amount of fragmentation. – You'reAGitForNotUsingGit Apr 13 '17 at 18:11
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    Did all that (and good for you), I have higher frag numbers and since I plan to archive this I'd like to do a final defrag on it - PS: Have double digit frag numbers so I'd be happy if I had your numbers i.e. 0.3 etc – Alex S Apr 13 '17 at 18:13
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    Well, there's `shake`, which apparently is meant for ext3: http://www.webupd8.org/2009/10/defragmenting-linux-ext3-filesystems.html – You'reAGitForNotUsingGit Apr 13 '17 at 20:05
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    @AndroidDev - Sorry to ask this, but how do I install it on Linux Mint Serena 32 bit (based on Ubuntu) (via Package Manager or Software Manager?) It says APT repository: http://vleu.net/apt - Not sure if I am doing something wrong here. Or should I pick a different build of Cinnamon or KBuntu here to make this easy? (I hate unity :P) – Alex S Apr 16 '17 at 18:49
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    Sorry, but Mint is off topic here. You might want to ask that on [unix.se] instead. That said, Ubuntu repositories are compatible with Mint, so you can install from the Ubuntu repos. – terdon Apr 18 '17 at 09:52
  • Sorry I use kubuntu and mint interchangeably as I hate unity and they both use the Ubuntu platform underneath. Assume kubuntu – Alex S Apr 18 '17 at 09:54
  • Possible duplicate of [Is there a ext3 defragmenter?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/21142/is-there-a-ext3-defragmenter) – Panther Jun 20 '18 at 06:02
  • I don't think there is anything more recent than the duplicate I linked – Panther Jun 20 '18 at 06:04
  • @Panther - I've already mentioned more recent examples compared to your 2011 reference one year after this question was posed with due research and references. When a solution is Vindicated (maybe e4defrag or better) we'll have an answer. As of now it stands Unsolved. – Alex S Jun 20 '18 at 13:08
  • @Panther - Of course, then post your answer and may be someone will find or debunk your answer. – Alex S Jun 20 '18 at 18:20
  • Ext3 can become fragmented in some conditions, any FileSystem (FS) can. I cant answer this question properly, ask answers have been disabled. However, surmising that you have a fragmented FS, an old solution would be to compress the entire FS into a tarball, then decompress it. When the FS is decompressed from its tarball, the space it it decompressed into will be contiguous. Situations that could create a fragmented FS in linux (including Ubuntu!) may include having multiple users with many files, overtime, users being added or removed. This scenario is less likely on a single user system. – j0h Dec 15 '19 at 02:08

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