Problem with everything...

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Carl
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Problem with everything...

Post by Carl »

Ok I was running a setup of Ubuntu 8.10 with my home folder on a separate partition, the problem is that I installed Linux Mint over Ubuntu and kept my home partition unformatted so I could keep the data which I assumed would be fine although now after the desktop appeared there are some unexpected things which I didn't expect... :wink: but basically it looks like a Ubuntu installation but with mint :? there's no mint menu or anything it basically looks like my ubuntu install lol I assume this is because my gnome settings were kept? what do I need to delete on my home partition to get the default linux mint desktop?

Thanks in advance!
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Fornhamfred
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Re: Problem with everything...

Post by Fornhamfred »

Hi

If I were you I would copy any files which you wish to keep from your home folder and then do a fresh install making sure that you format the home partition so you start with a clean install.
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Carl
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Re: Problem with everything...

Post by Carl »

Fornhamfred wrote:Hi

If I were you I would copy any files which you wish to keep from your home folder and then do a fresh install making sure that you format the home partition so you start with a clean install.

The problem is I have nothing to copy the files I need onto as it's mostly music, photo's and video which come to the grand total of roughly 400gb :cry:

I'm assuming that only certain folders contain the gnome settings and things, could I possibly delete everything apart from the folders containing the stuff I want to keep? would that work?
altair4
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Re: Problem with everything...

Post by altair4 »

How about this: When you go to reinstall mount your old "/home" partition as "/data" partition without formating it. Then you can either create a new /home partition or simply let /home be a directory not a partition within "/".
Please add a [SOLVED] at the end of your original subject header if your question has been answered and solved.
viking777

Re: Problem with everything...

Post by viking777 »

kamitsukai wrote:Ok I was running a setup of Ubuntu 8.10 with my home folder on a separate partition, the problem is that I installed Linux Mint over Ubuntu and kept my home partition unformatted so I could keep the data which I assumed would be fine although now after the desktop appeared there are some unexpected things which I didn't expect... :wink: but basically it looks like a Ubuntu installation but with mint :? there's no mint menu or anything it basically looks like my ubuntu install lol I assume this is because my gnome settings were kept? what do I need to delete on my home partition to get the default linux mint desktop?

Thanks in advance!
First of all kamitsukai, let me thank you for this post. Purely because I like gloating (that is, being proved right, in case English is not your first language). For years I have argued (and I am pleased to say that the Mint Wiki now agrees with me) that a separate /home partition is not a benefit, it is a curse. As their wiki now says a separate /data partition is a benefit. This is the problem you have fallen foul of. Not really your fault because the former argument is such a widely held belief. A separate /home partition is only of any use if you are installing exactly the same OS over again. Even an upgrade of the same OS is likely to be a problem and the installation of a different OS is likely to be a disaster as you have found out. It is like installing Windows XP with a registry from Windows 98 - it is not going to work.

Anyway, I wouldn't respond unless I thought I had a solution, and I think I do.

All of the configuration files that are causing you problems are hidden files within your /home directory, so I believe that all you need to do is delete those before repeating the install and then you should have a proper Mint installation.

So open your /home directory, find a way in your file manager to "Show hidden Files" and delete all of them, then try Mint installation again. I am pretty sure this will work, and as long as you don't format your /home partition all you data should be safe.
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Carl
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Re: Problem with everything...

Post by Carl »

viking777 wrote:
kamitsukai wrote:Ok I was running a setup of Ubuntu 8.10 with my home folder on a separate partition, the problem is that I installed Linux Mint over Ubuntu and kept my home partition unformatted so I could keep the data which I assumed would be fine although now after the desktop appeared there are some unexpected things which I didn't expect... :wink: but basically it looks like a Ubuntu installation but with mint :? there's no mint menu or anything it basically looks like my ubuntu install lol I assume this is because my gnome settings were kept? what do I need to delete on my home partition to get the default linux mint desktop?

Thanks in advance!
First of all kamitsukai, let me thank you for this post. Purely because I like gloating (that is, being proved right, in case English is not your first language). For years I have argued (and I am pleased to say that the Mint Wiki now agrees with me) that a separate /home partition is not a benefit, it is a curse. As their wiki now says a separate /data partition is a benefit. This is the problem you have fallen foul of. Not really your fault because the former argument is such a widely held belief. A separate /home partition is only of any use if you are installing exactly the same OS over again. Even an upgrade of the same OS is likely to be a problem and the installation of a different OS is likely to be a disaster as you have found out. It is like installing Windows XP with a registry from Windows 98 - it is not going to work.

Anyway, I wouldn't respond unless I thought I had a solution, and I think I do.

All of the configuration files that are causing you problems are hidden files within your /home directory, so I believe that all you need to do is delete those before repeating the install and then you should have a proper Mint installation.

So open your /home directory, find a way in your file manager to "Show hidden Files" and delete all of them, then try Mint installation again. I am pretty sure this will work, and as long as you don't format your /home partition all you data should be safe.

Yep that's what I was doing after id posted my second response I cam to the conclusion that it wasn't going to do any harm so I just deleted everything in there apart from my custom fonts.conf file (makes my fonts look super sexy :lol: ) and my video, pictures and a few other data folders and then reinstalled Linux Mint and it now works perfectly

Thanks everyone! :mrgreen:
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