New 9.04 install over Feisty 7.04 questions

[Ositosma55]

Hi everybody.....

I really love this forum, and I have always been able to find answers and solutions by just searching. This time I have not been able to find what I would like to know, and need some help.

Unfortunately, I am still using Kubuntu Feisty 7.04, so no chance of upgrading this EOL. Due to a bad experience trying to upgrade to Gutsy, I decided to stay here. Don't fix it if it ain't broke. Right? Well, not really........... Being the newbie I am, I had no idea what EOL meant..........

I am thrilled with Feisty, but need to "get with the program", and have issues that warrant the new install. I have read posts dealing with upgrading from an EOL by doing a new install, setting my current /home folder as the new /home using manual partitioning, and even renaming .kde to .kdeold from the Live CD boot (though I don't understand why I should rename the old .kde folder if I have a backup of /home on my external - other than maybe simplifying the process). My computer is generic, AMD Sempron 3000+, 160 Gig HD, 512 MB RAM, VIA S3 UniChrome Pro VGA chipset (I bought a new Nvidia GeForce 6200, but waiting for the new install before dealing with drivers ). My HD is formatted ext3. That said, these are my questions and concerns:

I prefer to jump into this head first, rather than start at Hardy and work my way up. I have burned a copy of Juanty 9.04 (and did a CD check). I know the new install will wipe out my old root folder and program applications. The programs I am most concerned about are my email client and web browser, of which I use Firefox and Thunderbird.

Now comes the newbie in me.............A friend told me there shouldn't be any major problems or issues, and to install the most stable KDE4 version. This was Juanty when I burned my Live CD, but not sure anymore since Karmic is out. It took my several attempts to restore my emails after the Gutsy upgrade crash, so I hope you can understand why I am gun shy.

Perhaps I'm just being paranoid, but knowing that once I wipe out my Feisty, it will be virtually impossible to get back to where I am now. I would appreciate any advise or recommendations that would help before I take this plunge into KDE4. BIG thanks!!

Mark

[lmilano]

Re: New 9.04 install over Feisty 7.04 questions

Hi

I got lost a bit, do you mean you already created a separate /home partition and copied your home directory there? Then, you can do a fresh install to /, and simply tell the installer that you want to sue the existing /home. I read that at that point the installer will import the user settings. Never did it that way though.

I would very strongly recommend Karmic, it is a lot more solid than initial Karmic, even more solid than Jaunty plus all the updates up to today.

Having another copy on the external drive is a great idea, well thought out!

I would just go ahead, try to use ext4 wherever possible.

Cheers!

[Ositosma55]

Re: New 9.04 install over Feisty 7.04 questions

Thanks for your help Imilano. A friend installed Feisty on my machine in 2007, and he put my /home on a separate partition. HD 160 GB : "/" = 28.8 GB, "/home" = 122.9 GB, "swap" = 949.2 MB. I have made a backup copy using of my current /home on my 500 GB external USB drive using KEEP Backup.

I was planning on doing a fresh install, choosing manual partitioning, and setting my current old /home as the new /home. Fintan suggests booting from the Live CD and re-name .kde to .kdeold -> re-boot -> install -> check apps/configurations. If errors, copy those old settings back from my backup copy. Sounds good to me.

I had burned a copy of the Juanty Live CD a month ago, but was considering Karmic instead. I just wanted to be sure Karmic was more stable than Juanty now, especially the ext4 fs. As I pointed out, once I do the fresh install, there is no going back to where I was before in Feisty.

I guess my biggest concern was making sure I would be able to migrate my old /home configurations back into the new /home after the fresh install, and would be compatible with the new app versions. Especially my emails (my primary source of communications with clients). Besides my Mozilla suite, I really don't have any other important programs I certainly couldn't live without.

I really appreciate your help Imilano! I will burn a copy of Karmic right now.

Saludos!

[lmilano]

Re: New 9.04 install over Feisty 7.04 questions

Excellent partitioning! You are ready to go. I would leave .kde as it is, and see if the first login to KDE4 migrates it correctly. As you mentioned, you have a copy externally anyway

After the install, and once you are happy with everything, you can migrate /home to ext4 from the live CD, it really is simple!

Have fun! I am sure you'll love Karmic!

[Ositosma55]

Re: New 9.04 install over Feisty 7.04 questions

That's what I wanted to hear. I'm glad you mentioned merging /home to ext4. I was not thinking about this.

Just to clarify........after I install, I will be re-downloading Mozilla Thunderbird. I know that Karmic comes with Firefox, but no mention of Thunderbird. If not, I can run apt-get.

Still not clear of the differences going from KDE3 to KDE4, or, ext3 to ext4, so I want to be careful I do this right. Do I need to merge /home to ext4 BEFORE (not yelling, just emphasizing) I download and install Thunderbird again, or after? Does it make a difference? Compatibility of my old /home settings and configs are more my concern, even though I have a backup copy.

Perhaps I should have posted this in help the new guy, since I obviously am still very much a newbie. :P

Thanks again for your great help!!

[lmilano]

Re: New 9.04 install over Feisty 7.04 questions

Thanks for your nice words

Here we go:

1. Thunderbird is in Karmic, it is much better to use that, yes:
http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?ke...ic&section=all

2. Ext4 _needs_ to be done after the Karmicinstall, and you can do it at any time after that. If you do it _before_, you will have serious problem, since your current kernel doesn't understand ext4. Also, you need a modern liveCD for that, karmic would be best. You will be doing this (really, running two easy commands on an UNMOUNTED /home fs).

http://kernelnewbies.org/Ext4#head-3...148a1e28c6a9d4

(you will also need to edit /etc/fstab and make change ext3->ext4 for /home).

3. Ext4 will work a lot faster than ext3, that's the only difference you'll notice. No compatibility issues

4. Compat of old settings and new settings is a bit of an issue when you jump 2.5 years forward, what can I say, if anything breaks a bit we'll help you fix it Most likely all the applications will handle this gracefully.

[Ositosma55]

Re: New 9.04 install over Feisty 7.04 questions

This is great information! It sounds simple, even for a novice like me.

You mentioned I could change over to ext4 at any time after the Karmic install. I was concerned about ext3 files not working in a ext4 environment until I migrated my /home to ext4, but the ext4 article confirms the compatibility as you have so wisely pointed out.........

Ext4 will use the new data structures only on new data, the old structures will remain untouched and it will be possible to read/modify them when needed.

Therefore, my issues reside primarily in compatibility of old/new settings, especially since I'm jumping 2.5 years forward. You can bet this won't happen again!! 8) I'm assuming that if there are problems migrating some old settings (mainly my emails) that converting my old /home to ext4 probably won't be the solution.

Bottom line.........why worry when I have you guys standing beside me!! I have no doubts you all will come to my rescue if or when problems do arise. My adventures have only just begun!!

Mil Gracias!!

[lmilano]

Re: New 9.04 install over Feisty 7.04 questions

Mil de nadas!

Yes, the applications don't communicate with the filesystems (ext3, ext4) directly, so it won't make a difference. An application may read a file, and at a very low level, it is up to the linux kernel and the filesystem to do whatever it takes to write proper zeroes and ones on the physical disk

And yes, we'll be here for ya !

[Ositosma55]

Re: New 9.04 install over Feisty 7.04 questions [SOLVED]

Looks like I'm ready to go!

Again...BIG thanks for all the help and tips Imilano. Hopefully all will go smooth, but if not, I know where to find you all.

Cheers!

[lmilano]

Re: New 9.04 install over Feisty 7.04 questions

Excellent, pls drop a line here in this thread once you are done, even if it is a perfect upgrade and you don't need anything