Re-installing on a broken system

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busdriver12
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Re-installing on a broken system

Post by busdriver12 »

After trying to recover from a superblock corruption issue (see this thread for details), I have decided my only option is to re-install Linux Mint onto my root partition and start afresh. I have ascertained via a live session that the data on my HDD is intact. I have a separate /home partition and all the crucial data is backed up, so I won't lose anything if the process goes awry.

I am currently running 20.3 and was preparing to upgrade to 21 when this boot issue occurred. With my limited knowledge and with doing some research I see 2 possible paths:

1. Running the setup and at the Installation Type screen, select Something Else and installing onto the root partition leaving the rest of the disk intact. I believe this is the reason for separating /home from root for just these type of circumstances. I have downloaded a copy of a 20.3 image onto my Ventoy stick for this purpose.
2. Restore from a Timeshift backup. I had Timeshift run a backup once a week so that I can recover in case something I install/change bricks my system. I've only had to restore once in the 3 years I've been running Linux. I believe I can run Timeshift from a live session but not sure if this is the correct usage of it.

I think option 1. is the way to go, but would like to pick a few brains to make sure I'm on the right track. Currently I am stuck with a W10 laptop and am greatly missing Linux. Below is an output of lsblk - sda2 is root and sda4 is /home. TIA.

Code: Select all

mint@mint:~$ lsblk -f
NAME   FSTYPE   LABEL                         UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINT
loop0  squashfs                                                                          0   100% /rofs
sda                                                                                               
├─sda1 vfat                                   CBF9-C961                                           
├─sda2 ext4                                   97f6b315-660f-47af-8049-5bf5fcb4286c                
├─sda3 swap                                   25185f9e-0dc6-45aa-b092-a614925b629f                [SWAP]
└─sda4 ext4                                   be6a4eab-e36d-40c2-8aae-c75c7ab5f8bc                
sdb    iso9660  Linux Mint 20 Cinnamon 64-bit 2020-06-24-19-01-47-00                              
├─sdb1 iso9660  Linux Mint 20 Cinnamon 64-bit 2020-06-24-19-01-47-00                     0   100% /cdrom
├─sdb2 vfat                                   1AC3-20ED                                           
└─sdb3 ext4     writable                      72acd476-f593-4be7-a999-b1e0f32c0110    5.1G     1% /var/log
sr0    
Last edited by LockBot on Sun Feb 12, 2023 11:00 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Phil

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Re: Re-installing on a broken system

Post by Cosmo. »

You can choose both ways.

Obviously #2 is a little bit more convenient. Id does not matter, if you launch Timeshift from inside of the current system or from a live system; in the latter case you have to point TS to the partition with the snapshots.

Besides that: A swap partition does not make sense, Mint creates during install a swap file. If you install new, leave it.
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Re: Re-installing on a broken system

Post by busdriver12 »

Cosmo. wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 4:51 am You can choose both ways.
Thanks Cosmo. I was looking at both options before heading off to work this morning - it was suggested to me that if I used the installer (option 1) to mount the /home partition first to prevent the installer from writing to it during the process. As long as the new install points to it that's all I'm looking for.

However, I will try the Timeshift method first. It will have to be run from a live session as I cannot boot into LM from the current HDD - it stops at the Linux Mint Logo which first appears and fails to progress any further.
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Re: Re-installing on a broken system

Post by Cosmo. »

busdriver12 wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:48 am However, I will try the Timeshift method first. It will have to be run from a live session as I cannot boot into LM from the current HDD - it stops at the Linux Mint Logo which first appears and fails to progress any further.
That was already clear to me, that's why I wrote about using the live system.

In case you should anyway come to method 1. Here is most likely a misunderstanding:
busdriver12 wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:48 am it was suggested to me that if I used the installer (option 1) to mount the /home partition first to prevent the installer from writing to it during the process. As long as the new install points to it that's all I'm looking for.
No, this is not the right method - and not needed. If you are in the installer select as installation method "something else". You will need to create the system partition, than you select the home partition and - important - you set to not format it; what you must select is the mount point /home.
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Re: Re-installing on a broken system

Post by The Muffin Man »

When I re-install (or distro-hop) I generally boot the live iso, mount my exiting harddrive (where linux is installed) and rename my existing home.
/home/tmm
becomes
/home/tmm.bak (or something similar.

I then just re-install and let the installer do what it does best and let it create a new
/home/tmm
home for me

after I finish the install, I then copy/move over files that I want to keep from
/home/tmm.bak

Having a separate /home partition like you have makes everything so much easier.
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Re: Re-installing on a broken system

Post by busdriver12 »

Hi Cosmo,

I tried the Timeshift option but it must have overwritten something required for startup as the HDD is not longer recognized as bootable media (asks me to insert bootable media and press enter...)
Cosmo. wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 9:58 am No, this is not the right method - and not needed. If you are in the installer select as installation method "something else". You will need to create the system partition, than you select the home partition and - important - you set to not format it; what you must select is the mount point /home.
SE-01.png
This is how far I've got. By creating the system partition, do you mean the current partition being used for root (sda2 in my case) needs to be deleted and recreated? If so, how is this done? - I've examined all the partitions and I believe the two ext4 partitions should be set like this:
EP-sda2.png
EP-sda2.png (13.74 KiB) Viewed 2174 times
EP-sda4.png
EP-sda4.png (14.38 KiB) Viewed 2174 times
Is this correct? I think I'm on the right track but I need to be 100% certain what I should be doing with the root partition. Thanks once again for your time and efforts
Phil

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Re: Re-installing on a broken system

Post by busdriver12 »

The Muffin Man wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 5:21 pm When I re-install (or distro-hop) I generally boot the live iso, mount my exiting harddrive (where linux is installed) and rename my existing home.
/home/tmm
becomes
/home/tmm.bak (or something similar.
I've done just that (although all the crucial stuff is already backed up).

Thanks for the idea :!:
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Re: Re-installing on a broken system

Post by Cosmo. »

busdriver12 wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 10:17 pm Is this correct?
Yes. You are on the right track. Congrats. :)
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Re: Re-installing on a broken system

Post by busdriver12 »

Just an update to let you know it all worked and I now have my system back - no data loss.

Thanks Cosmo and Muffin Man for your guidance. It's been a good learning experience for me.

I'll now mark this thread solved :)
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Re: Re-installing on a broken system [Solved]

Post by busdriver12 »

Update:

My system has failed once again and starting up in Busybox. It's increasingly looking like a failing hard disk, so I am going try nuke and pave and see how I get on.

It's times like this that reinforce the value of backing up.
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