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fixing broken installation

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  fixing broken installation duncan smith <duncan@invalid.invalid> - 2016-01-24 19:29 +0000
    Re: fixing broken installation Penny Tration <fedora_the_explora@asia.com> - 2016-01-24 19:36 +0000
      Re: fixing broken installation mike antipasto <pizzadude@mycomputerrox.org> - 2016-01-24 16:43 -0500
        Hey philo, here is what your fellow Linux users really think about you. mike antipasto <pizzadude@mycomputerrox.org> - 2016-01-25 18:09 -0500
    Re: fixing broken installation Mike Easter <MikeE@ster.invalid> - 2016-01-24 11:46 -0800
      Re: fixing broken installation philo <philo@privacy.net> - 2016-01-24 13:58 -0600
        Re: fixing broken installation duncan smith <duncan@invalid.invalid> - 2016-01-24 22:06 +0000
          Re: fixing broken installation Bit Twister <BitTwister@mouse-potato.com> - 2016-01-24 22:42 +0000
            Re: fixing broken installation duncan smith <duncan@invalid.invalid> - 2016-01-25 01:27 +0000
              Re: fixing broken installation Bit Twister <BitTwister@mouse-potato.com> - 2016-01-25 02:07 +0000
          Re: fixing broken installation philo <philo@privacy.net> - 2016-01-24 17:38 -0600
            Re: fixing broken installation "Dirk T. Verbeek" <dverbeek@xs4all.nl> - 2016-01-25 01:35 +0100
              Re: fixing broken installation mike antipasto <pizzadude@mycomputerrox.org> - 2016-01-24 19:38 -0500
    Re: fixing broken installation "Dirk T. Verbeek" <dverbeek@xs4all.nl> - 2016-01-24 21:56 +0100
      Re: fixing broken installation mike antipasto <pizzadude@mycomputerrox.org> - 2016-01-24 17:16 -0500
      Re: fixing broken installation duncan smith <duncan@invalid.invalid> - 2016-01-24 22:22 +0000
        Re: fixing broken installation "Dirk T. Verbeek" <dverbeek@xs4all.nl> - 2016-01-24 23:35 +0100
          Re: fixing broken installation "Dirk T. Verbeek" <dverbeek@xs4all.nl> - 2016-01-25 00:18 +0100
            Re: fixing broken installation duncan smith <duncan@invalid.invalid> - 2016-01-25 01:39 +0000
              Re: fixing broken installation "Dirk T. Verbeek" <dverbeek@xs4all.nl> - 2016-01-25 10:13 +0100

#186565 — fixing broken installation

Hello,
      I made the mistake of allowing aptitude to make changes to (i.e.
basically nuke) my installation in order to install Skype. It's a recent
install, so there are no important files on the machine. But I would
like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set up my e-mail
accounts etc. all over again.

Using the installation disk I have managed to get to a terminal
(following directions at
http://www.webupd8.org/2014/01/how-to-fix-non-bootable-ubuntu-system.html)
and reinstall grub2 and unity. I also took the opportunity to install
Skype - which seems to have worked. Do I need to install anything
further to be able to (hopefully) boot normally into the machine?
Ideally I'd like to have all the applications that come with a standard
installation rather than having to hunt for them individually - but I'm
not sure if they come under the unity umbrella.

Am I better off doing a fresh install? If so, will I be able to somehow
get my home directory copied over to another networked machine? I tried
this after booting the installation disk, but wasn't sure how to get
round the file permissions. Presumably that won't be a problem now I'm
in the terminal, but I'm no expert at the command line. I know it's
possible to reinstall without overwriting my home directory - but I
might make a mess of it. Thanks.

Duncan

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#186566

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 19:29:33 +0000, duncan smith wrote:

> Hello,
>       I made the mistake of allowing aptitude to make changes to (i.e.
> basically nuke) my installation in order to install Skype. It's a recent
> install, so there are no important files on the machine. But I would
> like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set up my e-mail
> accounts etc. all over again.
> 
> Using the installation disk I have managed to get to a terminal
> (following directions at
> http://www.webupd8.org/2014/01/how-to-fix-non-bootable-ubuntu-
system.html)
> and reinstall grub2 and unity. I also took the opportunity to install
> Skype - which seems to have worked. Do I need to install anything
> further to be able to (hopefully) boot normally into the machine?
> Ideally I'd like to have all the applications that come with a standard
> installation rather than having to hunt for them individually - but I'm
> not sure if they come under the unity umbrella.
> 
> Am I better off doing a fresh install? If so, will I be able to somehow
> get my home directory copied over to another networked machine? I tried
> this after booting the installation disk, but wasn't sure how to get
> round the file permissions. Presumably that won't be a problem now I'm
> in the terminal, but I'm no expert at the command line. I know it's
> possible to reinstall without overwriting my home directory - but I
> might make a mess of it. Thanks.
> 
> Duncan

I've crossposted your post over to comp.os.linux.advocacy where the Linux 
experts hang their compilers. These guys are amazing because everything 
Linux just seems to work for them, by their own words, so they can surely 
help you out.

You might want to ping William Poaster or Peter Kohlmann as they seem to 
have a more in depth understanding of Linux internals than some of the 
others.

Good luck to you and hopefully one of the experts can help you out.

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#186576

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 19:36:23 -0000 (UTC), Penny Tration wrote:

> On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 19:29:33 +0000, duncan smith wrote:
> 
>> Hello,
>>       I made the mistake of allowing aptitude to make changes to (i.e.
>> basically nuke) my installation in order to install Skype. It's a recent
>> install, so there are no important files on the machine. But I would
>> like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set up my e-mail
>> accounts etc. all over again.
>> 
>> Using the installation disk I have managed to get to a terminal
>> (following directions at
>> http://www.webupd8.org/2014/01/how-to-fix-non-bootable-ubuntu-
> system.html)
>> and reinstall grub2 and unity. I also took the opportunity to install
>> Skype - which seems to have worked. Do I need to install anything
>> further to be able to (hopefully) boot normally into the machine?
>> Ideally I'd like to have all the applications that come with a standard
>> installation rather than having to hunt for them individually - but I'm
>> not sure if they come under the unity umbrella.
>> 
>> Am I better off doing a fresh install? If so, will I be able to somehow
>> get my home directory copied over to another networked machine? I tried
>> this after booting the installation disk, but wasn't sure how to get
>> round the file permissions. Presumably that won't be a problem now I'm
>> in the terminal, but I'm no expert at the command line. I know it's
>> possible to reinstall without overwriting my home directory - but I
>> might make a mess of it. Thanks.
>> 
>> Duncan
> 
> I've crossposted your post over to comp.os.linux.advocacy where the Linux 
> experts hang their compilers. These guys are amazing because everything 
> Linux just seems to work for them, by their own words, so they can surely 
> help you out.
> 
> You might want to ping William Poaster or Peter Kohlmann as they seem to 
> have a more in depth understanding of Linux internals than some of the 
> others.
> 
> Good luck to you and hopefully one of the experts can help you out.

William Poaster?
Peter Kohlmann?
Experts?
You can't possibly be serious.
Those two idiots could screw up an iron anvil. Collectively they couldn't
manage to correctly put the cap back on a tube of toothpaste.
 

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#186633 — Hey philo, here is what your fellow Linux users really think about you.

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 22:36:35 +0000, William Poaster wrote:

> It was reported that Chris Ahlstrom posted:
> 
>> chrisv wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:
>>
>>> vallor wrote:
>>>
>>>> philo wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> I'm sure he posted that as a sick joke   COLA is not a Linux advocacy group
>>>>
>>>> Not with people like you feeding the trolls it isn't.
>>>
>>> Philthy philo gets-along nicely with the lying Linux haters, and
>>> considers the cola advocates to be the "trolls".
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> "I quit subscribing to the Linux advocacy group as too many of the
>>> so-called advocates were simply trolls...  (Flatfish) got most of them
>>> pissed off simply because he was a lot brighter then most of them..."
>>> -  "philo"
> 
> Ye gods! What a fucking idiot that 'philo' guy is.
> 
>> LOL

I'm sure philo will be thrilled to hear what you, William Poaster and sissy
boy Chris Ahlstrom are saying about him.
For the record, philo contributes more to Linux advocacy in a day than both
of you two losers have contributed, collectively, in years.

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#186568

duncan smith wrote:
> But I would like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set
> up my e-mail accounts etc. all over again.

Fixing a broekn installation might be educational and therefore 
worthwhile, but setting up your email accounts 'all over again' will 
likely be much MUCH faster.  What does that take, 5 minutes?


-- 
Mike Easter

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#186570

On 01/24/2016 01:46 PM, Mike Easter wrote:
> duncan smith wrote:
>> But I would like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set
>> up my e-mail accounts etc. all over again.
>
> Fixing a broekn installation might be educational and therefore
> worthwhile, but setting up your email accounts 'all over again' will
> likely be much MUCH faster.  What does that take, 5 minutes?
>
>



Yep.

I am a firm believer in fixing rather than reinstalling but since it's a 
new install I'd probably just do it again since it will probably be faster.

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#186578

On 24/01/16 19:58, philo wrote:
> On 01/24/2016 01:46 PM, Mike Easter wrote:
>> duncan smith wrote:
>>> But I would like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set
>>> up my e-mail accounts etc. all over again.
>>
>> Fixing a broekn installation might be educational and therefore
>> worthwhile, but setting up your email accounts 'all over again' will
>> likely be much MUCH faster.  What does that take, 5 minutes?
>>
>>
> 
> 
> 
> Yep.
> 
> I am a firm believer in fixing rather than reinstalling but since it's a
> new install I'd probably just do it again since it will probably be faster.

I might do that. But there's also a whole bunch of Python stuff that I
had to install via the command line (in some cases after fixing the
setup.py files), and some videos that took a while to transcode etc. It
would take a good while to get up and running again.

Duncan

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#186582

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 22:06:38 +0000, duncan smith wrote:
> On 24/01/16 19:58, philo wrote:

>> I am a firm believer in fixing rather than reinstalling but since it's a
>> new install I'd probably just do it again since it will probably be faster.
>
> I might do that. But there's also a whole bunch of Python stuff that I
> had to install via the command line

And if your drive dies next month, what then.  :(

Create a script, say, install_addons. Put your command line commands
in the script, set execute bit on it, and next install run
install_addons and your done with installing those extra packages.

> (in some cases after fixing the setup.py files), 

Yup. Anything I have to do a few times, I automate it as much as possible.
I create a whatever_changes script to fold in my changes.

Example: every time the ssh package update gives me a new /etc/ssh/sshd_config 
file, I run sshd_config_changes to fold in my changes.

> and some videos that took a while to transcode etc.

Sounds like you need to write a backup/restore procedure/script,
execute backup verify backup has desired files, test the restore
procedure/script. 


> It would take a good while to get up and running again.

Not when you get all your scripts working.  :)

The following is the results of a clean install on my Test Bed node.
$ grep -i elap tb_*
tb_official_5_day_one_install.rpt:Elapsed: 0 00:01:59 for 20 packages
tb_official_5_install_addons.rpt:Elapsed:  0 00:08:12 for 138 packages
tb_official_5_install_changes.rpt:Elapsed: 0 00:10:32 for 18 packages
tb_official_5_install_toys.rpt:Elapsed:    0 00:24:57 for 56 packages
tb_official_5_new_install.rpt:Elapsed:     0 00:02:57 for 38 packages

Number of configuration file changes:
$ ls /local/bin/*changes | wc -l
78

There you have it ~48 minutes after a clean install. 

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#186593

On 24/01/16 22:42, Bit Twister wrote:
> On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 22:06:38 +0000, duncan smith wrote:
>> On 24/01/16 19:58, philo wrote:
> 
>>> I am a firm believer in fixing rather than reinstalling but since it's a
>>> new install I'd probably just do it again since it will probably be faster.
>>
>> I might do that. But there's also a whole bunch of Python stuff that I
>> had to install via the command line
> 
> And if your drive dies next month, what then.  :(

I've had that before and the backup failed. I managed to retrieve the
important stuff though. What I have been thinking about is somehow
syncing certain directories on my desktop with directories on my new
laptop. Thus each serves as a backup for the other and I don't take my
laptop somewhere and find that I haven't got the files I need.

> 
> Create a script, say, install_addons. Put your command line commands
> in the script, set execute bit on it, and next install run
> install_addons and your done with installing those extra packages.
> 
>> (in some cases after fixing the setup.py files), 
> 
> Yup. Anything I have to do a few times, I automate it as much as possible.
> I create a whatever_changes script to fold in my changes.
> 
> Example: every time the ssh package update gives me a new /etc/ssh/sshd_config 
> file, I run sshd_config_changes to fold in my changes.
> 
>> and some videos that took a while to transcode etc.
> 
> Sounds like you need to write a backup/restore procedure/script,
> execute backup verify backup has desired files, test the restore
> procedure/script. 
> 
> 
>> It would take a good while to get up and running again.
> 
> Not when you get all your scripts working.  :)
> 
> The following is the results of a clean install on my Test Bed node.
> $ grep -i elap tb_*
> tb_official_5_day_one_install.rpt:Elapsed: 0 00:01:59 for 20 packages
> tb_official_5_install_addons.rpt:Elapsed:  0 00:08:12 for 138 packages
> tb_official_5_install_changes.rpt:Elapsed: 0 00:10:32 for 18 packages
> tb_official_5_install_toys.rpt:Elapsed:    0 00:24:57 for 56 packages
> tb_official_5_new_install.rpt:Elapsed:     0 00:02:57 for 38 packages
> 
> Number of configuration file changes:
> $ ls /local/bin/*changes | wc -l
> 78
> 
> There you have it ~48 minutes after a clean install. 
> 

This is a good idea. I suppose I could easily write a (Python) script to
take care of my applications and the additional Python stuff. Just edit
it each time I remove something or install something new. A script for
the syncing could be interesting, but I guess there are already
solutions out there. (I did look at syncing my home machine with my work
machine a while ago, and I didn't settle on a solution.)

Duncan

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#186595

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 01:27:38 +0000, duncan smith wrote:
> On 24/01/16 22:42, Bit Twister wrote:
>> 
>> And if your drive dies next month, what then.  :(
>
> I've had that before and the backup failed.

Yep, that is why I indicated you need to test the procedures, media,
and restore script.

> I managed to retrieve the
> important stuff though. What I have been thinking about is somehow
> syncing certain directories on my desktop with directories on my new
> laptop. 

More than one backup is somewhat desirable. My backup script, copies
all desired files to a directory, and creates an iso for burning.
I also copy those files/directories to my other two systems.


> This is a good idea. I suppose I could easily write a (Python) script to
> take care of my applications and the additional Python stuff. Just edit
> it each time I remove something or install something new. A script for
> the syncing could be interesting, but I guess there are already
> solutions out there. (I did look at syncing my home machine with my work
> machine a while ago, and I didn't settle on a solution.)

I have a multi-boot setup. Each install has its own /home/$USER.
Common user files are in /accounts/$USER. A few example snippets

$ ls -al | grep -- '->' 

.bashrc -> /accounts/bittwister/.bashrc
Desktop -> /accounts/bittwister/Desktop
.cron -> /accounts/bittwister/.cron
mail -> /accounts/bittwister/mail
.thunderbird -> /accounts/bittwister/.thunderbird



Backup/sync is easy and contained within /accounts.

All my system wide custom stuff is in /local.
$ ls /local
bin  config  cron  doc  icons  lock  log  lost+found  opt  ppp  sounds  tmp

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#186588

On 01/24/2016 04:06 PM, duncan smith wrote:
> On 24/01/16 19:58, philo wrote:
>> On 01/24/2016 01:46 PM, Mike Easter wrote:
>>> duncan smith wrote:
>>>> But I would like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set
>>>> up my e-mail accounts etc. all over again.
>>>
>>> Fixing a broekn installation might be educational and therefore
>>> worthwhile, but setting up your email accounts 'all over again' will
>>> likely be much MUCH faster.  What does that take, 5 minutes?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Yep.
>>
>> I am a firm believer in fixing rather than reinstalling but since it's a
>> new install I'd probably just do it again since it will probably be faster.
>
> I might do that. But there's also a whole bunch of Python stuff that I
> had to install via the command line (in some cases after fixing the
> setup.py files), and some videos that took a while to transcode etc. It
> would take a good while to get up and running again.
>
> Duncan
>




What I'd so then is simply boot to the command line and use  sudo 
apt-get uninstall to get rid of what broke your system.


In the 15 years I've been using Linux that saved me a major headache once

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#186589

Op 25-01-16 om 00:38 schreef philo:
> On 01/24/2016 04:06 PM, duncan smith wrote:
>> On 24/01/16 19:58, philo wrote:
>>> On 01/24/2016 01:46 PM, Mike Easter wrote:
>>>> duncan smith wrote:
>>>>> But I would like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set
>>>>> up my e-mail accounts etc. all over again.
>>>>
>>>> Fixing a broekn installation might be educational and therefore
>>>> worthwhile, but setting up your email accounts 'all over again' will
>>>> likely be much MUCH faster.  What does that take, 5 minutes?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Yep.
>>>
>>> I am a firm believer in fixing rather than reinstalling but since it's a
>>> new install I'd probably just do it again since it will probably be
>>> faster.
>>
>> I might do that. But there's also a whole bunch of Python stuff that I
>> had to install via the command line (in some cases after fixing the
>> setup.py files), and some videos that took a while to transcode etc. It
>> would take a good while to get up and running again.
>>
>> Duncan
>>
>
>
>
>
> What I'd so then is simply boot to the command line and use  sudo
> apt-get uninstall to get rid of what broke your system.
>
>
> In the 15 years I've been using Linux that saved me a major headache once

Just a pity that 15.10 makes it exceedingly difficult to boot to the 
command line, the root shell is now the closest and it has limitations 
like no easy networking.

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#186590

On Mon, 25 Jan 2016 01:35:02 +0100, Dirk T. Verbeek wrote:

> Op 25-01-16 om 00:38 schreef philo:
>> On 01/24/2016 04:06 PM, duncan smith wrote:
>>> On 24/01/16 19:58, philo wrote:
>>>> On 01/24/2016 01:46 PM, Mike Easter wrote:
>>>>> duncan smith wrote:
>>>>>> But I would like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set
>>>>>> up my e-mail accounts etc. all over again.
>>>>>
>>>>> Fixing a broekn installation might be educational and therefore
>>>>> worthwhile, but setting up your email accounts 'all over again' will
>>>>> likely be much MUCH faster.  What does that take, 5 minutes?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Yep.
>>>>
>>>> I am a firm believer in fixing rather than reinstalling but since it's a
>>>> new install I'd probably just do it again since it will probably be
>>>> faster.
>>>
>>> I might do that. But there's also a whole bunch of Python stuff that I
>>> had to install via the command line (in some cases after fixing the
>>> setup.py files), and some videos that took a while to transcode etc. It
>>> would take a good while to get up and running again.
>>>
>>> Duncan
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> What I'd so then is simply boot to the command line and use  sudo
>> apt-get uninstall to get rid of what broke your system.
>>
>>
>> In the 15 years I've been using Linux that saved me a major headache once
> 
> Just a pity that 15.10 makes it exceedingly difficult to boot to the 
> command line, the root shell is now the closest and it has limitations 
> like no easy networking.

So run something else. It's not like there isn't choice in the Linux world.
Only another 999 distributions to try. That should keep you busy for a
while. lol!

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#186573

Op 24-01-16 om 20:29 schreef duncan smith:
> Hello,
>        I made the mistake of allowing aptitude to make changes to (i.e.
> basically nuke) my installation in order to install Skype. It's a recent
> install, so there are no important files on the machine. But I would
> like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set up my e-mail
> accounts etc. all over again.
>
> Using the installation disk I have managed to get to a terminal
> (following directions at
> http://www.webupd8.org/2014/01/how-to-fix-non-bootable-ubuntu-system.html)
> and reinstall grub2 and unity. I also took the opportunity to install
> Skype - which seems to have worked. Do I need to install anything
> further to be able to (hopefully) boot normally into the machine?
> Ideally I'd like to have all the applications that come with a standard
> installation rather than having to hunt for them individually - but I'm
> not sure if they come under the unity umbrella.
>
> Am I better off doing a fresh install? If so, will I be able to somehow
> get my home directory copied over to another networked machine? I tried
> this after booting the installation disk, but wasn't sure how to get
> round the file permissions. Presumably that won't be a problem now I'm
> in the terminal, but I'm no expert at the command line. I know it's
> possible to reinstall without overwriting my home directory - but I
> might make a mess of it. Thanks.
>
> Duncan
>
Providing you followed the rules you've installed with a dedicated /home 
partition and can do a fresh install without losing your settings.

But yeah, installing proprietary (closed source) software always carries 
an additional risk.

To be fair, I've yet to see issues installing Skype.

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#186579

On Sun, 24 Jan 2016 21:56:23 +0100, Dirk T. Verbeek wrote:

> Op 24-01-16 om 20:29 schreef duncan smith:
>> Hello,
>>        I made the mistake of allowing aptitude to make changes to (i.e.
>> basically nuke) my installation in order to install Skype. It's a recent
>> install, so there are no important files on the machine. But I would
>> like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set up my e-mail
>> accounts etc. all over again.
>>
>> Using the installation disk I have managed to get to a terminal
>> (following directions at
>> http://www.webupd8.org/2014/01/how-to-fix-non-bootable-ubuntu-system.html)
>> and reinstall grub2 and unity. I also took the opportunity to install
>> Skype - which seems to have worked. Do I need to install anything
>> further to be able to (hopefully) boot normally into the machine?
>> Ideally I'd like to have all the applications that come with a standard
>> installation rather than having to hunt for them individually - but I'm
>> not sure if they come under the unity umbrella.
>>
>> Am I better off doing a fresh install? If so, will I be able to somehow
>> get my home directory copied over to another networked machine? I tried
>> this after booting the installation disk, but wasn't sure how to get
>> round the file permissions. Presumably that won't be a problem now I'm
>> in the terminal, but I'm no expert at the command line. I know it's
>> possible to reinstall without overwriting my home directory - but I
>> might make a mess of it. Thanks.
>>
>> Duncan
>>
> Providing you followed the rules you've installed with a dedicated /home 
> partition and can do a fresh install without losing your settings.
> 
> But yeah, installing proprietary (closed source) software always carries 
> an additional risk.

The problem is always something other than Linux, isnt' it?
Laughable how you idiots feel the need to defend Linux like it was your
little sister or something.

And exectly what difference would it have made if the program was open
source?
Other than the fact that it probably wouldn't work right for anyone.
Do you think having the source code makes a difference for 99 percent of
the users?
Of course it doesn't. Not anymore than having the operating manual for a
Boeing 777 will improve a passengers trip to London.

> To be fair, I've yet to see issues installing Skype.

Of course you haven't.
Unlike Linux, Skype works.
And it works really well under Windows.
Under Linux, bleh, not so much.

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#186580

On 24/01/16 20:56, Dirk T. Verbeek wrote:
> Op 24-01-16 om 20:29 schreef duncan smith:
>> Hello,
>>        I made the mistake of allowing aptitude to make changes to (i.e.
>> basically nuke) my installation in order to install Skype. It's a recent
>> install, so there are no important files on the machine. But I would
>> like to fix the installation so that I don't need to set up my e-mail
>> accounts etc. all over again.
>>
>> Using the installation disk I have managed to get to a terminal
>> (following directions at
>> http://www.webupd8.org/2014/01/how-to-fix-non-bootable-ubuntu-system.html)
>>
>> and reinstall grub2 and unity. I also took the opportunity to install
>> Skype - which seems to have worked. Do I need to install anything
>> further to be able to (hopefully) boot normally into the machine?
>> Ideally I'd like to have all the applications that come with a standard
>> installation rather than having to hunt for them individually - but I'm
>> not sure if they come under the unity umbrella.
>>
>> Am I better off doing a fresh install? If so, will I be able to somehow
>> get my home directory copied over to another networked machine? I tried
>> this after booting the installation disk, but wasn't sure how to get
>> round the file permissions. Presumably that won't be a problem now I'm
>> in the terminal, but I'm no expert at the command line. I know it's
>> possible to reinstall without overwriting my home directory - but I
>> might make a mess of it. Thanks.
>>
>> Duncan
>>
> Providing you followed the rules you've installed with a dedicated /home
> partition and can do a fresh install without losing your settings.

I didn't set it up like that because the last time I tried it I cocked
it up somehow. (That's another machine that needs fixing.) My home
directory is somehow showing up in both partitions and consuming the
disk space.

> 
> But yeah, installing proprietary (closed source) software always carries
> an additional risk.
> 
> To be fair, I've yet to see issues installing Skype.

I think the answer is to install it before too much other stuff. I tried
the version in the repositories and various debs but they all had
problems resolving dependencies. Aptitude sorted that problem, but in a
rather draconian manner.

Duncan

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#186581

Op 24-01-16 om 23:22 schreef duncan smith:
>> Providing you followed the rules you've installed with a dedicated /home
>> >partition and can do a fresh install without losing your settings.
> I didn't set it up like that because the last time I tried it I cocked
> it up somehow. (That's another machine that needs fixing.) My home
> directory is somehow showing up in both partitions and consuming the
> disk space.
>
You can try to back up the present /home directory, reformat the HD to 
include /, /swap and /home and then copy the back up of your old /home 
to the new /home partition.

Next reinstall, obviously without formatting this /home.

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#186586

Op 24-01-16 om 23:35 schreef Dirk T. Verbeek:
> Op 24-01-16 om 23:22 schreef duncan smith:
>>> Providing you followed the rules you've installed with a dedicated /home
>>> >partition and can do a fresh install without losing your settings.
>> I didn't set it up like that because the last time I tried it I cocked
>> it up somehow. (That's another machine that needs fixing.) My home
>> directory is somehow showing up in both partitions and consuming the
>> disk space.
>>
> You can try to back up the present /home directory, reformat the HD to
> include /, /swap and /home and then copy the back up of your old /home
> to the new /home partition.
>
> Next reinstall, obviously without formatting this /home.

Oh yeah, not sure how computer savvy you are but you can access your 
present /home directory by booting a live disk or better, USB stick.

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#186594

On 24/01/16 23:18, Dirk T. Verbeek wrote:
> Op 24-01-16 om 23:35 schreef Dirk T. Verbeek:
>> Op 24-01-16 om 23:22 schreef duncan smith:
>>>> Providing you followed the rules you've installed with a dedicated
>>>> /home
>>>> >partition and can do a fresh install without losing your settings.
>>> I didn't set it up like that because the last time I tried it I cocked
>>> it up somehow. (That's another machine that needs fixing.) My home
>>> directory is somehow showing up in both partitions and consuming the
>>> disk space.
>>>
>> You can try to back up the present /home directory, reformat the HD to
>> include /, /swap and /home and then copy the back up of your old /home
>> to the new /home partition.
>>
>> Next reinstall, obviously without formatting this /home.
> 
> Oh yeah, not sure how computer savvy you are but you can access your
> present /home directory by booting a live disk or better, USB stick.

I'm using a live disk. USB stick would be better, then I could back up
to my DVD drive (although the permissions issue that stopped me backing
up to my desktop would, I imagine, still be an issue). Maybe doable now
I have apparently "chrooted" into the system?

Duncan

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#186603

Op 25-01-16 om 02:39 schreef duncan smith:
> On 24/01/16 23:18, Dirk T. Verbeek wrote:
>> Op 24-01-16 om 23:35 schreef Dirk T. Verbeek:
>>> Op 24-01-16 om 23:22 schreef duncan smith:
>>>>> Providing you followed the rules you've installed with a dedicated
>>>>> /home
>>>>>> partition and can do a fresh install without losing your settings.
>>>> I didn't set it up like that because the last time I tried it I cocked
>>>> it up somehow. (That's another machine that needs fixing.) My home
>>>> directory is somehow showing up in both partitions and consuming the
>>>> disk space.
>>>>
>>> You can try to back up the present /home directory, reformat the HD to
>>> include /, /swap and /home and then copy the back up of your old /home
>>> to the new /home partition.
>>>
>>> Next reinstall, obviously without formatting this /home.
>>
>> Oh yeah, not sure how computer savvy you are but you can access your
>> present /home directory by booting a live disk or better, USB stick.
>
> I'm using a live disk. USB stick would be better, then I could back up
> to my DVD drive (although the permissions issue that stopped me backing
> up to my desktop would, I imagine, still be an issue). Maybe doable now
> I have apparently "chrooted" into the system?
>
> Duncan
>
Especially for such a complete backup it is easy to change the 
permissions 'recursively' (the -R switch), meaning with one single 
command all directories and documents in the tree get the same.

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