SOLVED Help a newbie upgrade from Mint 12 KDE to Mint 13 KDE

[RJim]

Okay so I have a backup of my existing system using .tar
I have heard so many people say that using APT to upgrade just isn't worth it and creates more problems, so I have downloaded a fresh .iso of 13 KDE 64-bit and burnt it.

Now I have a few questions before I begin. I have my home partition separate from my root partition. Can I just leave /home intact an format only root? That could save me some time.

If I cannot leave /home intact and must format both, then I will need to restore from my backup after the installation of 13. When I do that, it will also copy over all of the old dot-files -- will that create problems due to compatibility changes?

I have made several tweaks, such as editing the rtchibernate script in order to have my laptop suspend for two hours and then automatically hibernate to conserve battery. Is there any way o carry that over to 13, because I cannot remember exactly what I did Also did something similar with my touch-pad.

Lastly, I have added some PPA's to my sources because I need the latest cinlerra and vlc to always be installed. Can I keep those, or will they need to be changed or updated on the new system?

Keep in mind that I have never done this before and may need some hand-holding. And if things go poorly, I may not be able to respond right away.

--Jim

[Jaws]

Before you start formating and reinstalling, but after everything is backed up twice, I'd try to do an existing upgrade through Synaptic. If it fails, you still have the fall back option of preceding with a fresh install. If it works with no issues, you're a winner.

Now I have a few questions before I begin. I have my home partition separate from my root partition. Can I just leave /home intact an format only root? That could save me some time.

Everything I've read suggests you can leave /home intact and that's pretty much the only reason you really need home on a separate partition. I know folks that don't use a separate partition, ever. If I were you, I'd research everything I could to make sure I had my duck in a roll. Some but not all you would need to do:

Take note the user name and UID. On my install, with a single user, the UID is 1000. If you have multiple users, add them in the same order so the UIDs match. Also, when you're ready to install from the liveDVD, use the expert or custom or manual mode (forgot what they call it) so you only format and install the / partition.

You'll also need a list of all your installed apps and if I remember right there is a simple command you can run to get that. Either print it out or open Kwrite and copy and save it in one of your data backups.

If I cannot leave /home intact and must format both, then I will need to restore from my backup after the installation of 13. When I do that, it will also copy over all of the old dot-files -- will that create problems due to compatibility changes?

Shouldn't but if there are issues with apps in your current install, you'll be dragging all the old configuration files you got in /home to the new install with all the old issues.

If you use Kmail or Thunderbird, you may have issues if you try to save or backup your old messages. A topic I personally will avoid.

I have made several tweaks, such as editing the rtchibernate script in order to have my laptop suspend for two hours and then automatically hibernate to conserve battery. Is there any way o carry that over to 13, because I cannot remember exactly what I did Also did something similar with my touch-pad.

Shame on you for not copying those scripts to Kwrite and saving them in your Documents folder for a rainy day.

Lastly, I have added some PPA's to my sources because I need the latest cinlerra and vlc to always be installed. Can I keep those, or will they need to be changed or updated on the new system?

Anything that happens in root, such as your source list, would need to be added again.

What I wrote above is not a guide but just some things to look out for. I personally never keep my old /home when I install or reinstall, so don't take what I wrote as gospel. Do your own research so you know the workings of your system.

What I do do is make multiple backups on different media of my docs, media files, fonts, photos, etc. Besides having all those files in my home folder, for me, that means creating a separate /data partition on the hard drive the OS is on, a /data partition on the second hard drive on the desktop, my laptop home folder and a separate /data partition there too. All synced with LuckyBackup (it's in the repos).

Good luck.

[RJim]

That was a very detailed answer Jaws, and I thank you for writing it.
You answered pretty much every question.

The main reason I have been delaying my update is to try to verify that there are no regressions for my hardware. I believe I have done that.
The second reason is because I really wanted to avoid having to re-configure my system and install all of my apps again.

You have made an excellent point about after backing-up to at least try the apt update. At this point there is nothing to lose; I am still searching for exact instructions on how I would go about doing that. And if I understand correctly, I will have to manually add the new entries to grub upon completion, and I am also researching how to do that ahead of time.

I am a little concerned that my ISO of 13 KDE is roughly 400MB smaller than 12 KDE. That is usually not the order of an upgrade - to actually get smaller with each release. Maybe I am still thinking like a Windows user

I will keep this topic updated with my progress, and if all goes well, I will end it with a post of my 13 KDE system!

--Jim

[J_C]

You should be fine, I did a fresh ‘root only’ install leaving my home partition intact (12 to 13). All up and running in no time.

The only issue I have so far encountered was no sound in VLC, the fix for that is here;

viewtopic.php?f=109&t=108589

Though I should add I haven’t fully tested everything!.... Good luck!

[RJim]

** Update **

I am writing this from Mint KDE 13! The actual installation went well, there are now just a few things which need to be dealt with.
I will list them here, along with what I am doing to try and solve them, and if anyone has any advice please share.

This new release is noticeably faster and more polished though. I am definitely glad that I updated!

All SOLVED, see follow-up posts!

1) While the boot and shutdown times are much faster, the GRUB boot selection no longer appears -- just a black screen from the start. In Mint 12, I had the option from GRUB of a normal boot, or recovery modes; I no longer have those options. It seems like an important thing to have and I want it back. I was thinking about re-installing GRUB, but I don't know enough about how to configure it yet to attempt something like that.

2) Several apps that were in the repos for 12, are no longer there for 13... apps that I need, like cinelerra and qlscribe. I solved this problem by either downloading .deb packages and force installing them, or by using PPAs. This seemed to work, but now synaptic is complaining about broken packages, and whenever I go to update with synaptic or MintUpdate they try to fix the "broken packages" by removing the apps I installed. I have no idea how to even begin to solve this.

3) Regardless of my best efforts, I can not seem to create a new icon on my desktop in folder view anymore. I have attempted to create an icon to an app five times, and it is not showing up. I know it is there because when Itry to create it I am asked to replace the existing one! But it does not show up for some reason. I am assuming that this is some kind of permission issue? But that is only a guess. I am still searching for answers.

4) Last one, and it is strange: Whenever I start a terminal window, I receive the following errors before the command-line is displayed:

bash: /dev/cgroup/cpu/user/2492/tasks: No such file or directory
bash: /dev/cgroup/cpu/user/2492/notify_on_release: No such file or directory

My searching skills so far have turned up almost noting, and none of it is useful.

--Jim

[RJim]

Update 2

I have solved number 4, with the terminal errors.by commenting out some lines from my bashrc file.

Also, while not exactly solved I found a workaround for number 3 about the desktop icon, by switching to desktop view I was then able to create my icon properly.

Items 1 and 2 sill remain unsolved.

I have grayed out the solved items above in my previous post.


--Jim

[Jaws]

#1

sudo update-grub

would be my guess but I'm curious. When you installed, weren't you asked where you wanted GRUB? And do you have grub.cfg in /boot/grub?

#2

You can pin packages so Synaptic will ignore them. I know how to do that with my other distro I have installed. Not 100% sure with Mint, especially with a package installed from outside the repos. Try searching for: pin packages in mint kde

[RJim]

#1

sudo update-grub

would be my guess but I'm curious. When you installed, weren't you asked where you wanted GRUB? And do you have grub.cfg in /boot/grub?

Ok I tried that command and everything seemed to execute properly (no errors), however upon reboot still no grub menu.
It did list that it found the images for the kernel, recovery, and memtest.

To answer your question, yes I was asked where to install grub during install, and I chose /dev/sda, which I assumed would place it somewhere in the MBR,

#2

You can pin packages so Synaptic will ignore them. I know how to do that with my other distro I have installed. Not 100% sure with Mint, especially with a package installed from outside the repos. Try searching for: pin packages in mint kde

This actually helped me solve the problem! It was not the only step, but it saved me from losing the other apps, and it's a very useful bit of info! Thanks!
So now just that pesky grub problem, and then I'm all done.

--Jim

[Jaws]

Open a terminal and run...

sudo kwrite /etc/default/grub

... it will open this file as root...

Code: Select all

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in this file, see:
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"


That second line should be commented out as my grub file shows...

#GRUB_HIDDEN-TIMEOUT=0

If it's not already, make sure GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 and rerun update-grub.

Wow that took alot of searching and I hate messing with GRUB. Turns out if you only have one OS on your computer, that's
the default... no grub menu

BTW, how about a rundown on what you did for pinning your apps, for my personal knowledge.

[RJim]

Thanks so much Jaws! That worked perfectly!

Now to answer your question. I found that it is very easy to pin packages using Synaptic. Just select the package and ten from the menu select Package -> Lock Version.

--Jim

[Jaws]

You're welcome.

Now to answer your question. I found that it is very easy to pin packages using Synaptic. Just select the package and ten from the menu select Package -> Lock Version.

Wow, that's easy. Didn't have that menu item in my other disto and to pin a package there, you had to create a text file and add it to the /etc/apt folder. Thanks.