Replacing ubuntu files

[OpressedCalamity]

Hello,
So heres the story. I was messing around and ****ed up ubuntu, and nothing functions properly now..
Is there a way I can reinstall ubuntu and keep my current configuration and files.. drivers and such.
because backups not a option..
thanks

[Ginsu543]

When you installed Ubuntu the first time, did you set up a separate /home partition, or did you install Ubuntu into one partition? If you have a separate /home partition, all you have to do is reinstall the OS into the / partition without formatting the /home partition. This will keep all your config and data files (you will have to reinstall all the programs for which you have config files, of course).

If you didn't set up separate / and /home partitions, my recommendation is to use this opportunity to just start from scratch and reinstall Ubuntu with separate / and /home partitions.

[OpressedCalamity]

When you installed Ubuntu the first time, did you set up a separate /home partition, or did you install Ubuntu into one partition? If you have a separate /home partition, all you have to do is reinstall the OS into the / partition without formatting the /home partition. This will keep all your config and data files (you will have to reinstall all the programs for which you have config files, of course).

If you didn't set up separate / and /home partitions, my recommendation is to use this opportunity to just start from scratch and reinstall Ubuntu with separate / and /home partitions.

uhh..
Now to think of it.. don't remember, how to find out?

[rtimai]

Oppressed, what does "nothing works now" mean? You can't boot up and using another machine to post, or are logging in to the desktop, but getting error messages? If it's the second, MAYBE... you could run Synaptic Package Manager and from the menu select Edit > Repair Broken Packages.

If your $HOME is on a different logical partition it will appear as on a separate drive in Nautilus. The installation default in system and user in one partition, I'm afraid.

[OpressedCalamity]

Oppressed, what does "nothing works now" mean? You can't boot up and using another machine to post, or are logging in to the desktop, but getting error messages? If it's the second, MAYBE... you could run Synaptic Package Manager and from the menu select Edit > Repair Broken Packages.

If your $HOME is on a different logical partition it will appear as on a separate drive in Nautilus. The installation default in system and user in one partition, I'm afraid.

Hey good idea thanks, my retardation is something you have to live with..

[OpressedCalamity]

Alright, so I tried reinstalling broken packages.
But in synaptics whenever I try to install any packages at all I get the following error, "E: yiff-server: subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1"

[Ginsu543]

uhh..
Now to think of it.. don't remember, how to find out?

If you haven't already, fire up Synaptic and install GParted (Gnome Partition editor). GParted will tell you exactly what drives you have installed and how each drive is partitioned. If you have / and /home on the same partition, GParted will show that you only have one partition. If you have it on separate partitions, GParted will show that you have two.

Most likely you only have one, since having a separate /home partition is not the default setting.

This is what my partition scheme looks like under GParted:

[rtimai]

Sorry. You could try re-installing Synaptic Package Manager

The package name is synptic. Enter apt-get --help if you need to review the command syntax. Good luck...

Well, your case, and Ginsu543's comments, I'm looking into learning myself how to move the home folders to a separate partition. Kind of scary procedure, however...

[Ginsu543]

Yes, it can be somewhat daunting when you're learning to do something for the first time, but just back up your data and give it a go. It's actually not as difficult as it might at first seem, and learning to do things like this really makes running a Linux box a great fun and learning experience.

The best time to set up separate / and /home partitions is when you first install. When you run the installer, you'll get to the partition manager. It will ask you to choose how to partition your drive(s). One option is to let the installer do the partitioning for you. The last option is to do it manually.

Select manual, and it will take you to a window showing you the hard drives you have installed in your system. Simply click on the drive and delete all the partitions you have (for now). Now, you can set up each partition the way you want. Right click the drive and select "Add." Select "Primary." Change the partition size from entire drive to (let's say) 20000 (20 GB). Select the file format (ext4 is the best for most situations). Check "format." Select "/" for the drive point. That should do for the / partition.

Now, you should have the / partition and the rest should be unformatted. Right click on the unformatted portion and select "Add." Just repeat the above steps except set the drive point to "/home." and the partition size to what you want.

Continue the install.

[sgosnell]

Boot from a liveCD (or USB), and you should be able to access the drive. Copy the /home folder to another drive, then reinstall Ubuntu, with a separate /home partition this time, and then copy the /home folder to the /home partition. As long as you can boot from an external drive of some sort, you should be able to recover your settings, or at least most of them. You probably want to copy /etc also, and restore that, because many configurations are there instead of in /home.