Path: csiph.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: Gordon Newsgroups: uk.comp.os.linux Subject: Re: Here we go again Date: 3 Sep 2025 23:46:51 GMT Lines: 88 Message-ID: References: <1096fcr$dp58$1@dont-email.me> <1098se7$10teb$1@dont-email.me> <1099o24$17t27$1@dont-email.me> <1099rhn$18ptm$1@dont-email.me> X-Trace: individual.net kHmTCR5K7IMVUMoqBjht3wzCnD7NZaMZr5HkJ3jmORZIj+22b0 Cancel-Lock: sha1:mrwEV8fI4qRjRTWv9FCzwtkuJj8= sha256:W9ZoL2vDOpa98VL/74jZXdCkFcg+THLf2RYR1SjSt8k= User-Agent: slrn/1.0.3 (Linux) Xref: csiph.com uk.comp.os.linux:23701 On 2025-09-03, Davey wrote: > On 03 Sep 2025 17:21:51 +0100 (BST) > Theo wrote: > >> Daniel James wrote: >> > On 03/09/2025 08:57, Davey wrote: >> > > ... I am seriously wondering whether to remove the added SSD, the >> > > original m2SSD, and try again. This might lead to a total wipe and >> > > re-installation of the OS, the major problem being the loss of >> > > all my Thunderbird Local Folders since my last backup. In the >> > > perfect world, the replacement of the other SSD would restore it >> > > to the PC, but if it doesn't, I won't be surprised. >> > > >> > > It does seem that the main partition is full, and it won't >> > > complete a boot sequence. >> > > I really need some help here, please! >> > >> > It's really hard to know what actually happened to bring about your >> > problems in the first place, and how what you have done since to >> > try to try to remedy matters may have made them worse, or at least >> > more complicated. >> >> My guess is that there are two bootable drives (one M.2 and one SATA) >> and he is booting from the backup not the primary drive. And >> possibly it's using the boot partition on one and the rootfs on >> another, or some mixup like that. >> > > I agree with that, it matches GParted and Disks views. > >> > It would be easier if you had made image backups of all your disks >> > before you started. Time taken making a backup is never wasted. >> > > Unfortunately, one never knows when something is the beginning of a > problem. A week ago, it was all working smoothly, including access to > the 'lost' partition. The only known problem was the 'wrong' m2SSD' > name, and which partition it was booting from. Then it wouldn't boot. > >> > TBH at this stage my course of action would be to get a new drive >> > big enough to hold everything and do a clean install onto that, and >> > then try to mount your existing drives one at a time (maybe in some >> > sort of hot-swap (e.g. USB) external housing so they're not present >> > at boot time and UEFI can't mistake one drive for another (they >> > SHOULD have different GUIDs, but have they?)) and copy the the data >> > you need onto that clean system. >> >> Sensible. I'd suggest that if you take full-disc image backup, it's >> never connected to the machine at boot time. Then there is never any >> confusion over which drive you've booted from. >> > Sounds sensible. I need to look at large SSDs. I have never heard of > USB housings for SSDs, but then, I have had no reason to. > >> The same goes when you do a fresh install - if there is only one drive >> present in the machine, you can't get any pieces installed to the >> wrong drive. >> > > That was how it was originally set up. The extra SSD (m2SSD) was added > later, and it all worked fine for a couple of years. Everything started > to go wrong when I had to upgrade from Ubuntu 18.04 and went to 22.04. > There have been various problems since then, culminating in the present > uselessness. How did you upgrade? By a fresh install, or via the command line? > >> > It should be easy enough to copy /home from your (partly-)working >> > system(s) onto the new drive. Linux is pretty good at letting you >> > transplant a /home from one system to another, and so long as you >> > have installed all the applications you need onto the new one >> > everything should Just Work(TM). >> >> For Thunderbird, make sure you copy the ~/.thunderbird folder, >> and if it's Ubuntu and you're on the snap, also >> ~/snap/thunderbird/common >> >> Theo > > I have been given the name of a local guy who specialises in data > recovery, so presumably he knows a thing or two about this. I will call > him tomorrow and see what help he can be. I do not trust myself to go > deeper into uncharted waters at this point. > For now, I will leave the laptop unpowered. It spent most of > yesterday sitting there with a blinking cursor, but nothing else > happened. > > Thank you both for the advice, I will report (any) progress. >