13.10 install gone awry

[kim3]

I made the decision recently to upgrade from within Ubuntu from 12.04 lts to 13.04 to 13.10. The final install did not go very well, with the main install not working at all, after leaving GRUB. I then went into advanced options tried the 3.11.0-12 generic option which also did not work...so then onto the 3.8.0-32 generic which does work. But it seems very slow, the software update program takes ten minutes to even tell me what I need...

Is my best bet to download a clean 13.04 and install that from a live usb version???? Is that easy to do when I have windows already installed elsewhere on a different partition on this drive??? Is there a more simple way of telling ubuntu to heal itself???

[kim3]

I think I will revert to 12.04...seemed fine and dandy. Just that need to get the latest software got the better of me.

So...I presently have Windows 7 and Ubuntu 13.10 installed, side by side. I am downloading the image for ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Can I use the start-up disk creator here on Ubuntu, burn the image to my USB, then boot from that USB and install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS over the present 13.10 installation??? Keeping Windows 7 in the process???

[Johan De Cauwer]

While I didn't do a 'downgrade' on my system there was a 12.04 and a linux mint. The standard choice was an upgrade of 12.04 to 13.10, but you can always select the partition you want to use. I selected the mint partition and all went well. I guess that in your situation what will be suggested is to take space from windows and make a system with 3 os on, so you will have to select the 13.10 partition for installation. I still use 12.04, I'm only trying out 13.10 and to be honest, for me the difference isn't all that important. There is the internet search from dash as the most glaring difference, of course.

[kim3]

Thanks for the response, Johan...I am preparing to burn the 12.04 LTS iso onto my USB and will hope I can install it, simply, over my 13.10 partition! And since the 13.10 has caused so much trauma, I will be happy with the 12.04 if it installs fine and dandy, and await the LTS of 13 to appear...and if not, well, 12.04 was running wickedly, staving off all concerns of needing to update my hardware.

[kim3]

How can I paste over this awkward ubuntu 13 with 12.04???

[mörgæs]

In a live boot you can open Gparted and delete the Ubuntu partition(s).

By the way, nothing here indicates to me that 13.10 was a bad one. The problem is likely to be the online upgrade itself. 13.10 would likely be sweet and dandy in a fresh install.

[kim3]

So what is your advice, morgaes????

[grahammechanical]

You should understand that if you install 12.04 you can keep that beyond the release of 14.04 LTS but by upgrading to 13.04 and then to 13.10 you will also need to upgrade to 14.04 because 13.10 only has 9 months support.

Another point. When you rebooted into 13.10 at the end of the upgrade you were most probably running on llvmpipe. It is not the most fastest video mode on the planet. Think of it as a video fallback mode. You may need to activate another video driver. Either Nouveau (open source) or proprietary.

At lots of us here recommend fresh installs over upgrades due to the issues that many people like you have. Upgrades work best if we are going from one default install to another default install.

Regards.

[mörgæs]

So what is your advice, morgaes????

I don't advise anything, it's your choice. I just wanted to point out that you should judge 13.10 based upon a fresh install, not an upgrade.

[fantab]

I always keep two dedicated Ubuntu partitions; one installed with an LTS version which I upgrade every two years with clean install whenever a new LTS is released, another is where clean install regular and latest (non-LTS). I don't have a separate /home partition, instead I use a simple ext4 formatted Linux partiion for all my DATA which I manually mount when needed.

[kim3]

I am more than happy to try a fresh install of 13.10. My question is...Can I simply burn the image onto my usb stick, boot the installer from that, then copy it over the present dodgy installation of 13.10???? Keeping my windows 7 partition and the SWAP partition all intact???

[fantab]

Yes you can. You have to take control of the installer by choosing 'SOMETHING ELSE' at the 'Installation Type' dialog. Then select the partition you want to install to and select to format with "Use As= Ext4", "Mountpoint=/".