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View Full Version : [ubuntu] 10.04LTS (Lucid Lynx) to 10.10 (Meerkat) is not possible.



usalabs
March 3rd, 2011, 11:16 AM
This is what I found, if anyone wants to upgrade from 10.04LTS (Lucid Lynx) to 10.10, and have already customized their 10.04,,,, the upgrade WILL fail,,, upgrades can only be performed if the original installation from CD/Network was performed and no customization or settings changed,, change just one setting or add a piece of software, then the upgrade WILL fail, and a complete reformat and install of the new version is required.

Unlike Windows, Linux upgrades do not allow the upgrade if ANY part of the operating system has deviated from its original install.

Windows, will upgrade regardless of if the desktop has changed,,,, non generic hardware drivers are installed, or any programs installed, when a windows upgrade is finished one still has their software, drivers, desktop, documents, videos and images ALL still intact, can that be said about Linux upgrades?, I don't think so.

So,, personally, I would completely load up an Ubuntu machine first, and try the upgrade procedures,,,before making an upgrade available.

As the upgrade from 10.04LTS to 10.10 can not be performed, I shall be continually using 10.04LTS until such times as it no longer is supported, then it'll be time to (even though I despise BG), return back to Windows,, at least upgrading is effortless.

Oh, and before anyone suggests reading the section on upgrading,,, I have already read it, and basically, all that should have said was,,,,"when you first install Ubuntu,,, DO NOT under ANY circumstances, add anything, change anything, download anything or save anything,,, the installation should be as it was when it was first installed,,,,, only THEN can you perform an upgrade.", which to me is a load of BS. an upgrade is an upgrade regardless of what drivers are installed, what hardware, whether software has been installed or removed, or even if the desktop has 3D enabled or not, or whether the desktop settings has been changed, an upgrade should only perform a core system upgrade and leave any personalized settings as is, but no!, a Linux upgrade means completely replacing the entire core and applications, why not just say, "First backup ONLY your documents, videos, and images, then reformat the entire drive, and install the new version", it is pointless to backup the /home/<user> folder because there will be discrepancies between the old version and the new version, and possibly run into permission problems too.

mörgæs
March 4th, 2011, 02:52 AM
Some small customisations might be allowed in an upgrade, but in general you are right: The more customisations, the less likely it is that the process succeeds.

I have never managed to get an upgrade working, and I always do a clean install.

However, I don't think that changing operative system is the solution. Windows will turn to *******, if you don't format the drive and reinstall from scratch from time to time.

Rather get used to reinstalling Ubuntu. After you have done it a few times, you can do it by routine and in no time.

tommcd
March 4th, 2011, 07:43 AM
I always do a clean install.
...
Rather get used to reinstalling Ubuntu. After you have done it a few times, you can do it by routine and in no time.
I always do clean installs of Ubuntu as well. It is fast, simple and reliable. After you have done a few clean installs it does indeed become a simple routine. Getting the updates, installing the programs I use and any customizations I may want also becomes a simple routine matter.
You also start over from a clean slate without any of the detritus that may be left on the system after a dist-upgrade.

atomicben
March 6th, 2011, 12:06 AM
I always do clean installs of Ubuntu as well. It is fast, simple and reliable. After you have done a few clean installs it does indeed become a simple routine. Getting the updates, installing the programs I use and any customizations I may want also becomes a simple routine matter.
You also start over from a clean slate without any of the detritus that may be left on the system after a dist-upgrade.

I'm curious. I also had problems going from 10.04 > 10.10 so I had to wipe it clean and do a fresh install but that's a pain in the butt to me.

Is there something I'm missing? Don't you have to install all your programs again after a fresh install or is there some wicked cool ubuntu way to install fresh but restore all the programs and settings and drivers?

Do I just need a backup of my home dir?

beew
March 6th, 2011, 12:48 AM
If you want to go back to Windows just don't let the door hit you on your way out. I hate people who make threats as soon as some little things don't work like what they expect.

Maybe since installing Windows (at least before Win7, never use Win7) is such a pain that there would be more incentive to do upgrade instead?

If you have made a separate /home directory then a clean install would keep all your data and settings as well as third party software (I have installed stuffs that come with tarballs, I usually install them in my home directory instead of /usr/opt if possible for this very reason.)You simply overwrite the / directory with the new version of Ubuntu. It takes about 15 minutes and it takes maybe another half an hour to reinstall all the prgrams from repos and reactivating all the ppas (if you save a copy of the sources.list and sources.list.d it would be even easier)

Upgrading even successful would take a couple of hours, and how do you know everything works? It may appear to work and problems only show up later and you won't even know what hits you.

As for Windows, a clean install in a new machine would take a lot longer, I don't know how long will it take to upgrade, nobody I know does Windows upgrade because upgrading cost $$$, usually they just use the same Windows until they have to buy a new computer and get the new Windows that comes with it.

mörgæs
March 6th, 2011, 09:03 AM
...or is there some wicked cool ubuntu way to install fresh but restore all the programs and settings and drivers?


Yes, if you are sure that this is what you want, you can mirror the installed programs onto the new system:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1580857