Need to re-install my Mint, a question or two, OK?

[white stone]

The version I have been running since July 2014 is Mint 17 Qiana.

Searching for that I have only Mate or Cinnamon but no Qiana.

Can anyone tell me which of those would come closest to the Desktop and features I am used to using?

Since last reloading my Husband has passed away and the little forum where I was introduced to Mint has closed. I feel fairly comfortable reloading and have everything I can think of backed up. However, I know there will be something new that I might not understand.

Should I just bite the bullet and jump in? A word of encouragement would be appreciated. I have done this in the past many times, so I do feel capable just a little uneasy. No one else in my area seems to be running Linux. I certainly do not know why it is a great system.

Thanks for any replies,
white stone

[MintBean]

Don't get hung up on the name Qiana - it's just a codename for Mint 17. It doesn't 'mean' anything in terms of desktop and features other than 'what's in release 17.'

On your old system open the terminal application and typeinxi -Sfollowed by return. (Make sure you use a capital 'S' as printed.) Here you will be able to see what desktop it was, most likely Cinnamon or Mate.

Installing is not hard but please do what the majority don't- read the Mint user manual (or at least the page or two on installation) and the release notes for your version of Mint. They are available next to the download links and the manual gives you a step by step guide on how to install.

Once you are backed up (all your data files, plus the whole contents of your home directory) I would say bight the bullet. You can theorise for so long but you need to encounter the issues first hand to gain experience.

Once you have managed to boot the live system from DVD or memory stick you will be able to open the application 'hex chat' from the menu which allows you to get quick help in a chat room with any install issues you get.

[syg00]

Of course you could always upgrade rather than do a fresh install - have a read of https://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/2316

[WharfRat]

white stone ,

Whether you decide to reinstall or upgrade don't skip backing up anything important as MintBean alluded to

[white stone]

Thank you for all the encouragement. I believe I will reinstall. You see I have totally messed up my Home folder. I was tired and trying to create a folder and somehow ended up making a folder that is now replacing my Home. I could try to fix the mess but, this is not the first time I might lose a file or two and I know life goes on.

That business about the Qiana was really throwing me. I entered inxi -S in terminal and this is what I got.
System: Host: janice-HP-xw4400-Workstation Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64 (64 bit)
Desktop: N/A Distro: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
janice@janice-HP-xw4400-Workstation ~ $

If it was supposed to show Mate or Cinnamon for desktop I imagine it shows N/A because of the mess I created. Oh, well.
I will just order a new DVD of each version and try them out. I am bound to get something I like, I have used this system for years and love it.

I will report back when I get the job done. Have to wait for the DVD's to arrive. In the past I would have downloaded them but I don't want to do all the work this time.

Cheers,
White Stone A/K/A Janice

[zaqcroyd]

You might be giving up on your current installation too quickly. Can you briefly summarize what you did and what happened as a result? Unless you did something along the lines of sudo rm -rf * while you were in the /home directory it might be possible to recover from your mistake.

[MrEen]

Feel free to ignore this but during the installation you might want to change the default Computer name to something more manageable like janice-hp. It could save you some work in the future if you share files over a local network.

[michael louwe]

@ white stone, .......

About different Linux Mint versions(eg Qiana, Rebecca, Sarah, etc) and desktop environment(cinnamon, Mate, Kde, Xfce, etc), please refer to ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_Min ... on_history

For your Legacy BIOS Win XP era HP computer, it is quite straight forward to install LM. Please refer to ...
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=122276 (manual partitioning Tutorial)

Also, to save costs, it's quite simple to ...
1. download the ISO file for LM 17 Qiana to a folder on your computer, while keeping the computer idle during the downloading process.
2. burn the ISO file onto a DVD+R disc or a 4GB USB Flash-drive by using programs like Imgburn, xfburn, k3b, Universal USB Installer, USB Image Creator, Unetbootin, Rufus, etc. DVD burn-speed should not be more than 4X.

https://www.wikihow.com/Install-Linux-Mint
https://www.linuxtechi.com/linux-mint-1 ... ion-guide/

[Termy]

Hugs to you and sorry for your loss. I'm sure you'll figure this out, and if it goes awry, it's okay, just a computer.

[white stone]

You might be giving up on your current installation too quickly. Can you briefly summarize what you did and what happened as a result? Unless you did something along the lines of sudo rm -rf * while you were in the /home directory it might be possible to recover from your mistake.

Been spending some time trying to remember how I got so messed up. I know I was trying to move something, or creat a folder to put something into so I could move it to HOME. Somehow I ended up with /home/janice/home and I am no longer recognized as owner. Many of my settings have to be reset each time I boot. All the necessary files/folders are still there they are just merged and jumbled.

Each time I have started to try to reorder things I get distracted and all mixed up again. It may be an age thing or my medications?? This is one reason I am ordering a Disc rather than download, I want to keep things as simple as possible.

I have loaded Mint many times and have my hard drive partitioned to accommodate it. I have my late husband's computer next to me with the identical system, so if worse comes to worse, I can switch to it.

The disc will be here by next week and I will, hopefully, get back to normal. Once I get this straightened out I believe I will limit my 'permissions' so I will not be able to do this ever again. Although safeguarding from myself is not that simple. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, ya know.

[zaqcroyd]

Good luck with your new install. I hope everything goes smoothly with it.

[white stone]

OK, Folks, I did reinstall. It worked and it didn't.

They have changed the way you format the disk and set up partitions and That is missed up. Originally I had Partition 1 and an Extended partition with 5 divisions. I could not fathom how to do this in the new style Install. I ended up trying only 3 partitions but they did not come out as I hoped. Most of my HD is now inaccessible. Rats!! The OS installed just fine and I can manage it but I have to learn how to partition the HD so I have access to all the room on the HD.

I was able to transfer all files I wanted to save (and many I probably don't need to save) onto my late husband's computer, thus no files have been lost (thus far) in this process.

In the midst of this the Memory Battery in the PC is failing. I have to open it to see what one I need to replace it. Probably 2032 but I better check before I drive all the way to town to buy one. I feel as if I am swimming upstream with this project. Am looking forward to when it will be successfully completed. Right now it feels like a Ben Hur project.

During this upgrade Firefox 'improved' the browser & it adds to the frustration. I'll just have to learn to love it.

Any simple explanations on how to set up the HD when choosing "Something else" in install? I have to have one partition in Fat32 for HTML stuff. The rest can be EXT 4, I guess. I did try to make one NTSF (?) but all I see is the EXT4. I put one in for swap, that might have worked. I have an old GParted Live disk I may try looking at it with that and see what shows.

Thanks for any input,
janice

[JerryF]

Hi Janice,

I'm taking a few of your points one by one:

...
Any simple explanations on how to set up the HD when choosing "Something else" in install?

Here's the setup of my hard drive with Mint:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Lo9XH ... 6CA3VUwsqY

...
I have to have one partition in Fat32 for HTML stuff.

Not sure why. You can store HTML files onto a disk formatted with an Ext4 file system.

...
The rest can be EXT 4, I guess. I did try to make one NTSF (?)...

NTFS is fine, but will you be using Windows at all? If not, then there's really no reason to have NTFS partition. The reason I ask is that Windows can't view Ext4 partitions, so that's why some people set up an NTFS partition to store files that will be shared by Windows and Mint.

[pbear]

Any simple explanations on how to set up the HD when choosing "Something else" in install? I have to have one partition in Fat32 for HTML stuff. The rest can be EXT 4, I guess. I did try to make one NTSF (?) but all I see is the EXT4. I put one in for swap, that might have worked. I have an old GParted Live disk I may try looking at it with that and see what shows.

Not a guru, but can answer two of those questions.

First, the GParted disk and GParted in the live session are the same thing. All around, simpler and easier to stick with the live version. By the way, sounds like you're doing this but to make sure, I find it much easier to to the partition work before opening the installer. Also uses the same commands, so there's no difference in substance. By doing the the partition work first, I can do little steps, back up and go forward again, or even completely redo. Partitioning during install only makes sense IMHO if one knows exactly what one plans to do.

Second, yes, NTFS is there in GParted. Try again. Pick the table type as before (msdos or gpt, whichever you're using). Click File system. Look way down the list, below lvm2pv. That's where you'll find "ntfs."

[MintBean]

As Jerry said, NTFS is only required if you need to read/write with Windows, otherwise prefer EXT4.
FAT32 - I can't think why you'd ever need that over NTFS, and storing HTML files is not a valid reason unless there's something I'm missing.

You can run GParted from the Mint install disc to modify the size of your partitions. DONT use some ancient version of GParted you have lying around.

If you post a picture of the disc layout in GParted we could advise better. This can be done from within Mint - no need for boot discs.

[white stone]

Thank you all for the many replies. I am going to crawl off into a corner and study them further.

About the Fat32 partition need. I have Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Bible in HTML format. I like to be able to open the index page in file manager and then access any other pages (books and chapters) by clicking the links on the main page. If the partition is ext4, the file will open but in my browser and not as a 'stand alone' page and clicking on any links only brings up an error page. If the partition is fat32 the page I click will open when the file is double clicked in file manager and then will operate as I need/want. I also used to design web pages for my husband's business and I would need to test them out on my PC in the same manner.

So, I am going to have to redo my drive. I am going to have to document how I do it the next time, this way when I have to try a 3rd time I can do it differently.

At least most of Mint has not changed just the Install partition set-up and this new version of FireFox, which would have bitten me even had I not moved to the upgrade of Mint.

My first step will be to study the most recent replies. Hopefully I will find a clue there and have good news to report next time.

Until later, Janice

[white stone]

I need Linux-Swap, FAT32, EXT4 Home & Storage

Looking at my partition job in Gparted I think one of the problems is that I did not have flags on all of the partitions. Is that fixable now or do I have to redo?

Or, is there some other error I do not recognize?

Hope this image is correctly placed.

Later, Janice

[michael louwe]

@ white stone, .......

.

.
The Swap partition should only be about 1.5 times RAM size(eg 1.5 X 2GB = 3GB), not 172GB, and should be located at the end of the HDD or end of the Linux partition because it is not often accessed.
... The Swap partition is used for supplementary Virtual Memory for systems with 2GB of RAM or less and the Hibernation/Suspend-to-disk feature. You only need Virtual Memory-on-disk when you put heavy loads on such a computer, eg opening 10 browser tabs, video-editing, playing 3D games, etc. If you have 8GB of RAM or more and do not need Hibernation, you may skip creating the Swap partition.

Legacy BIOS mode installation of an OS using ms-dos disks is limited to 4 Primary partitions and 2TB in size. So, users often create the Home and Swap partitions as Logical/extended partitions, especially for dual-booting with Win XP/Vista/7.

The latest Firefox 57 does not support Legacy add-ons. If you want to use add-ons, you will have to stop a newly installed LM 17.x/18.x's Update Manager from updating to FF 57. Go to >Update Manager >Edit >Preferences >Ignore updates, and manually add Firefox.

[JerryF]

Thank you all for the many replies. I am going to crawl off into a corner and study them further.

About the Fat32 partition need. I have Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Bible in HTML format. I like to be able to open the index page in file manager and then access any other pages (books and chapters) by clicking the links on the main page. If the partition is ext4, the file will open but in my browser and not as a 'stand alone' page and clicking on any links only brings up an error page...

I'm finding this very interesting. So, the main page isn't supposed to open in your browser? In what program does the main page and subsequent pages open?

As for partitions, if all you need are four partitions, I would delete the extended partition that contains swap, /windows, and /home and recreate each as primary partitions. Primary partitions are easier to resize if needed on the future.

[white stone]

Good morning, Jerry.

When double clicked in file manager (while in a Fat32 partition) the HTML file opens as a separate browser page and operates as it would normally. You can click 'next page' and it immediately switches. It is very useful and necessary if you manage web sites with multiple pages. As I said, I use the Commentary often (it also has the KJV for each section) so it is used in Daily readings. I have a nice audio version of the KJV and can follow along on the Commentary. It was years ago that I downloaded the Commentary from http://www.ccel.org/. The HTML version is much easier to handle than the heavy book. Sorry, but if you ever do any work with HTML, then you will understand. Having a file open and having a file open 'and operate as it should' are two different things.

My late husband's computer is next to mine, so I will open your recommendations and follow along as I try again. Maybe, later today.

In the mean time, while I have Mint operating on my PC, I will practice setting up the email and loading my folders. Better to practice on a system that I am going to replace. This way, Lord wiling, the next reload will be good enough to keep. At my age I have given up aiming for perfect.

michael louwe, Thank you for your reply. I will incorporate your suggestions in my next reload.

It is supposed to rain here today, we need it! A good day to stay in the computer room and get 'er done.

Janice