[SOLVED] Help in xubuntu

[Joe_Richardson]

Hi

I wanted to upgrade to the new 9.04. I was told I hadnt got enough space so I started to delete programs. I deleted python and I can start it in safemode. What I would like to do is install the new disk from the command line.

Can anyone help please.

Thanks

Joe

[oz]

Not sure, but it sounds like some of your partitions might not be of adequate size to begin with if you are unable to upgrade.

Post the output of fdisk -l so we can see how your partitions are currently setup.

[Joe_Richardson]

Thanks Ozar for taking the time to help me it is really appreciated.

I cant copy and paste as there is limited operation so I have to write it out.

First thing to note is
[1733.836721] Buffer I/O error on device sda, logical block 19541088

The listing is

Device Boot Start End Blocks ID System
/dev/sda1 1 368 2955928+ 82 Linux swap/solaris
/dev/sda2 1025 1216 1542240 82 Linux swap/solaris
/dev/sda3 369 628 2088450 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 629 1024 3180870 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 990 1024 281106 82 Linux swap/solaris
/dev/sda6 * 629 966 2714922 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 967 989 184716 82 Linux swap/solaris

Thanks

Joe

[waterhead]

Hi, That doesn't look right. I hope you just copied it down wrong.

The Start and End numbers should be in ascending order. I reformatted it to make it look like it should.

Device	 Boot 	Start	End Blocks 	ID System
/dev/sda1	1 	368 2955928+ 	82 Linux swap/solaris
/dev/sda2	369 	628 2088450 	83 Linux
/dev/sda3	629 	1024 3180870 	5  Extended
/dev/sda4 * 	629 	966 2714922 	83 Linux
/dev/sda5   	967 	989 184716 	82 Linux swap/solaris
/dev/sda6   	990 	1024 281106 	82 Linux swap/solaris
/dev/sda7   	1025	1216 1542240 	82 Linux swap/solaris

I don't know if this is actually how yours is set up, but there are two things that I noticed.

First, you have more swap partitions than actual operating system partitions. Even if you have several versions of Linux installed, you still only need one swap partition. The same swap partition can be used by all distros, as long as they are not running at the same time (impossible?).

The other is the boot partition, marked with a *. It is either the forth or sixth partition, depending on which version of the partition table you look at. The boot partition is usually on the first partition, and the swap the last partition.

This is so screwy, that I recommend reformatting the entire drive and starting with a fresh install. If you have a Solid State Drive (SSD) you shouldn't even have a swap partition. The constant writing to a swap partition will wear out a SSD prematurely.

[Joe_Richardson]

Thanks Waterhead

I didnt know what I was doing when I set this up.
Yes the order is as it appeared on the screen with no errors.

I think you are saying scrap it and reinstal and set up the partitions.

How should the partitions be set up?

Joe

[oz]

For my own system, I usually set the partitions up something close to the following:

/ = about 10 to 15 GB, ext3
swap = about 1 GB, swap
/home = about 10 to 15 GB, ext3

It's generally better to have a partition thats bigger than needed rather than smaller than needed.

[Zeroangel]

That's a good setup he has. I'd recommend allocating at 20GB to your root partition, 1GB to swap, and the remainder to your /home partition where your personal files are stored.

If you want to dual boot (either windows or linux) then you will want to use a different partitioning setup (like 30GB linux, 100GB windows, 1GB swap, remainder media partition). But this one will work fine for a single OS system.

[waterhead]

I usually set it up similar to what ozar said. Of course, the partition sizes depend on the size of the drive.

[Joe_Richardson]

Thanks guys

Because of what you said I decided the system is so screwed up that i would reinstall Xubuntu 7.04 (found out the 9.04 disk was in Nero.iso format so thats why that wouldnt boot)

I will have other questions but it will be better on another thread.

Thanks

Joe

[oz]

Glad you are up and running!