[SOLVED] Bad upgrade!

[mikeaer0n]

Hi guys...

I was upgrading my Kubuntu 10.10 to 11.04 today, but I had a power loss.
I wasn't near the computer at the time, but I suppose it was already performing the changes.

Now it only starts in text mode and says that "/" could not be mounted.
At some point (I don't really remember very well) it says "plymouth command failed".

I tried to use some command as "root" like:
dpkg --configure -a
apt-get upgrade -fix-broken
dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-2.6.35-31-generic

But none of them work! They always complain about something wrong. It seems that my distro is all messed up.

I also tried others versions of the kernel through "GRUB", but the results are always the same.

I searched on "Google" for the solution, but with no success.

Please guys, I need it to continue my corporate work.

Ah! Almost forgot: I NEED to keep my settings and personal files.

How do I solve it?

[SteveRiley]

Re: Bad upgrade!

Is your /home directory on a separate partition? If so, then a clean re-install might be the quickest way to get back into production -- just be sure not to format the partition containing /home.

If /home isn't on a separate partition, then I'd suggest that you boot from a live CD or USB, mount the partition containing /home, copy it someplace else, then re-install.

[mikeaer0n]

Re: Bad upgrade!

It's on the same partition.

Just a few important questions:

Does it contain my desktop settings?
Am I able to directly install Kubuntu 11.10 without future problems? If not, which version should I reinstall (10.10 or 11.04)?
And after I reinstall, is it just to recopy my saved "/home" folder to the new one?

[SteveRiley]

Re: Bad upgrade!

Does it contain my desktop settings?

Yes.

Am I able to directly install Kubuntu 11.10 without future problems? If not, which version should I reinstall (10.10 or 11.04)?

I'd suggest going straight to 11.10. While no software is perfect, if you look through the history of posts here, I think you'll see that 11.10 has been, on average, less problematic than 11.04.

And after I reinstall, is it just to recopy my saved "/home" folder to the new one?

During your re-install, I'd suggest carving out a separate partition for /home. This greatly simplifies recovery. After the re-install finishes, copy your documents and other data from your temporary storage device to your new /home. As far as desktop settings go, it's probably easier to recreate using the GUI than to figure out which files to restore from .kde and all other settings directories.

[mikeaer0n]

Re: Bad upgrade!

During your re-install, I'd suggest carving out a separate partition for /home.

How do I do that while installing Kubuntu 11.10?

As far as desktop settings go, it's probably easier to recreate using the GUI than to figure out which files to restore from .kde and all other settings directories.

I didn't understand this very well. Are all my desktop and system settings going to be saved just by saving the "home" folder?

Beacuse I really want to save the settings from "System Settings" and my desktop widget settings.

(modedit: fix quoting problem)

[SteveRiley]

Re: Bad upgrade!

How do I do that while installing Kubuntu 11.10?

See this page on Psychocats for details. While the particular steps might vary a bit from what's there (I think the page was written for 9.04), the guidance should help you understand. You'll want to use EXT4 for both the / and the /home partitions now, rather than /EXT3 as the page suggests. You'll need to determine for yourself how much space you need for /home (and therefore how big / should be) -- the author's recommendations might not reflect your requirements.

Note that it's a lot easier to set up a separate /home partition during install than after.

I didn't understand this very well. Are all my desktop and system settings going to be saved just by saving the "home" folder? Beacuse I really want to save the settings from "System Settings" and my desktop widget settings.

Most KDE settings are stored in ~/.kde and ~/.config. You could restore those directories after you finish installing, however I can't predict how the various changes made between 10.10 and 11.10 will behave. Fortunately, none of your other data will be affected. If your desktop behaves wonky, you can begin from a clean start without re-re-installing:

1. Log out of KDE
2. Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[F1] to switch to a console prompt
3. Log in
4. Enter rm -rf ~/.kde/*
5. Enter rm -rf ~/.config/*
6. Log out
7. Reboot

[mikeaer0n]

Re: Bad upgrade!

Thanks VERY MUCH!

[zahtar]

Re: [SOLVED] Bad upgrade!

SteveRiley is so right about that! Making a separate home partition is unbelievably helpful!

I had a bad upgrade much like you, but not due to power loss, for a reason I can't remember.

Having a separate home partition, I did a clean install in the / partition, specified during install that I need to use "that" as /home, and after installation all was ready, wallpaper, desktop shortcuts, documents, browser links (not the browser itself though) some applets etc. Only thing I needed to do to finish was install some programs like lmsensors, wine etc. Wine configuration was ready after install cause is was previously stored in /home.

I'd strongly recommend making a separate home partition, copy paste everything from your home folder, backup, and then go on experimenting with whatever you like.

have fun!