Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

[aiiee]

This is a new thread from issues raised in the 'Installing Kubuntu over another distribution' thread.

I have a machine with old Mandriva double booting with Win2K. I want to install 9.10 so that it replaces the Mandriva distro.

I have run the 9.10 installation and created a 40 gig ext4 partition (sdc) for 9.10 to reside in.

The issue is that, by default the install program puts Grub in sdc . This isn't right is it? Shouldn't it be in the first partition in the list of partitions given in the install Grub dialog? In my case this sda.

When I can I can post pictures of the Grub install dialog, and the list of partitions given in the 'manual partion' dialog. Gonna be a bit though, this install is dog slow.

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

yes it probably should be in sda and thare shouldent be a nead for a pick but frome the live cd/dvd you can do a sudo fdisk -l and see the disk layout and post it.

and as I sead some pepole have had probs with ext4 I would do ext3 but that's up to you

VINNY

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

@aiiee it's late hear and I half to go to bead hears some good stuff to read......check the install and grub stuff

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3099811.0

see ya tomarow

VINNY

[aiiee]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

Ok Vinny. Thanks for all the help. I think I've got a handle now, will read the link too.

[aiiee]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

@aiiee it's late hear and I half to go to bead hears some good stuff to read......check the install and grub stuff

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3099811.0

see ya tomarow

VINNY

I think this is my favorite quote from the guide: "Reiserfs is not recommended, due to the lack of development and maintenance. " I guess not!

But anyway the install, still doesn't find the KDE grub menu, just the Mandriva one.

I think maybe the Kubuntu developers are suffering under the twice yearly release schedule? The install screens look amateurish and rushed compared to those of Ubuntu and the placement and content of certain dialogs leaves much to be desired. Hopefully they take note.

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

couldent sleep smoking a sig .........

it's still using the old bootloder frum manderva if you'r other post in the other thred is still relavent!!

install grub to sda and make shure sda has the boot flag set.

VINNY

[aiiee]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

couldent sleep smoking a sig .........

it's still using the old bootloder frum manderva if you'r other post in the other thred is still relavent!!

install grub to sda and make shure sda has the boot flag set.

VINNY

Hmm, since installed simply, and I've been using it for years, any boot flags should be set, no? My error must be somewhere in the partitioning? And since this is 9.10, it's using grub2 not grub, correct? Super Grub 2 Disk is useless, it won't boot, lots of complaints on the developer's website about it not booting, yet no solutions forthcoming. This is the achille's heel of linux; it only works when the developer's enthusiasms run high, unlike a commercial product. It seems more and more these days I run into things I want to use, but the developer maintaining it has lost his interest and the thing languishes, broken.

But I digress I still can't quite figure out what's gone wrong.

I've looked quite a bit thruout the various guides and forums, but no one seems to have addressed this situation that I can find. If anyone can point out where this is not true, I would appreciate that very much!

[aiiee]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

Well well well. I believe I've found my answer finally. 9.10 is BROKEN. Good job Canonical!

to quote:

Installing Kubuntu

Warning: Kubuntu Desktop edition installer no longer allows a custom installation of GRUB, and it now uses GRUB2, which allows very little customization. DO NOT USE the Karmic Koala Desktop edition if you use a boot partition, use multiple OS (more than 2), or chainload bootloaders. The Kubuntu installer will overwrite your Master Boot Record and you will later be forced to recreate it. This is a serious flaw in Karmic Koala. Use the Ubuntu Server edition instead (and then later add the kubuntu-desktop).

The Kubuntu Server edition installer does not have this problem, and, in general, I recommend its use instead (adding a kubuntu-desktop to the server afterwards).

The above taken from Kubuntuguide.org for Karmic installation. http://kubuntuguide.org/Karmic

Smoov fellas. Well at least we have a workaround eh? *thud*.

Again, maybe driving volunteer developers to a twice yearly release schedule isn't the smartest move?

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

I must eat crow hear aiiee I had no idea that you couldent do this with a Karmic cd

the last one I acualey did a install from was 9.04 AND you definatley could do a multy boot system with it.

my old box with 9.04 tripall boots 9.04 a slackware and XP and this one duel boot's 9.10 (upgraded from 9.04) and XP and the rescu partition.....

so my bad and my apolages ..........for what that's worth

and I still have grub not grub2

VINNY

[aiiee]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

I must eat crow hear aiiee I had no idea that you couldent do this with a Karmic cd

the last one I acualey did a install from was 9.04 AND you definatley could do a multy boot system with it.

my old box with 9.04 tripall boots 9.04 a slackware and XP and this one duel boot's 9.10 (upgraded from 9.04) and XP and the rescu partition.....

so my bad and my apolages ..........for what that's worth

and I still have grub not grub2

VINNY

well, nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition either did they?

No harm done. And I am learning a lot

It really does not bode well for Kubuntu that this happened. It is obviously a rushed release that they were not really ready for. Hopefully some wiser heads will prevail next time at Canonical or whoever is responsible for this. Do this stuff too many times and people will start comparing Kubuntu to Windows, and not in a good way. And then stop using it.

[dibl]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

It really does not bode well for Kubuntu that this happened. It is obviously a rushed release that they were not really ready for. Hopefully some wiser heads will prevail next time at Canonical or whoever is responsible for this. Do this stuff too many times and people will start comparing Kubuntu to Windows, and not in a good way. And then stop using it.

I only ever installed 9.10 once, and that was the Beta, or Alpha 5, or something that I installed here. So, my experience is really limited.

However, @aiiee when you mentioned Windows, it got me thinking. I installed Win 7 Beta on a VM, for fun, a few months back. As I recall, it insists on formatting the drive before it installs. Isn't that true for Win XP and Vista, also? So, if Windows makes you format the partition before you install it, that is the comparison. And then they all insist on installing the Microsoft boot routine in the MBR of "the" hard drive, do they not? You have no choice about that. So, it seems to me, a reasonable expectation would be that you prepare your target partition by using GParted and making a new (empty) filesystem, and then you should be able to install Kubuntu 9.10 on that. And at the end of the process, do you not have the opportunity to choose where the Grub boot menu will be installed? I think I did have that choice with Kubuntu (but not Windows!).

So, at least Linux/Canonical are giving you some options. Maybe they don't all work perfectly on your setup -- hard to tell exactly what the deal is there, with BIOS options and SATA modes and so forth. But at least you have some maneuvering room -- not like the Windows users.

[aiiee]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

Yes and no dibl. Remember, mine is a win2k machine with an existing dual boot mbr first created in 2005 running originally just win2k, and then I used the Mandriva install to make it dual boot. And this approach to dual boot install has worked with linux....until now that is. And that is the crux of my complaint here. This is the first distro that would not install itself over another flavor of linux. Nor will the Ubuntu server edition of 9.10, even though the kubuntu guide says it will, I could not get it to work..

Now I've just finished downloading the 'alternate' cd, we'll see how that goes. Seriously, this is the most messed up I've seen kubuntu since its inception. This should not be this difficult

I thought gparted did not work with grub2. And even if it does, a simple install such as this should not be so ..... verklempt.

[dibl]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

It seems like you are blaming Kubuntu because it is not happy with the Grub left over from Mandriva.

I see you were lucky and it worked in the past, but is Canonical responsible making that work with 9.10? I think if you install Grub 2 in the MBR, and it doesn't boot Kubuntu, then you will have a legitimate complaint. But I don't see where you have done that.

[vinnywright]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

the more I think about this the more I cant beleve it!!

SO after a nap....(I'v ben up over 36 howers now and trowling stucko on wall's all day today) I am gowing to dust off an old test box and see what I can see........it will go like this.

1- remove the slackware thats on it and use Gparted to make a NTFS partition on the first drive and an ext3 on the second

2- install a old copey of windows XP to the first drive.

3- install some linux to the second drive and install grub to the MBR of drive 1

4. try to install Karmic to the second drive and use the on cd partitioner to do the work and install it's grub2 to the MBR of drive 1

IF that wont work use the Gparted to wipe the second drive and try agin (the original grub would still be in the MBR of drive 1

@aiiee will this reproduse your situation as closley as I can get it??

if so good if not tell me what I'm missing?

OK now for that LONG awated nap

VINNY

[aiiee]

Re: Installing Kubuntu 9.10 over old Mandriva distro

It seems like you are blaming Kubuntu because it is not happy with the Grub left over from Mandriva.

I see you were lucky and it worked in the past, but is Canonical responsible making that work with 9.10? I think if you install Grub 2 in the MBR, and it doesn't boot Kubuntu, then you will have a legitimate complaint. But I don't see where you have done that.

How can I do that? There is no way to do that. I have no way to do that. Show me how to do that.
Darn right I am blaming Canonical. I've never had this kind of a mess before.