Preparing to install PCLinuxOS

[notwatson]

Hi,

I've been using PCLOS 2007 for the last (almost) three years - all has been fine (well, brilliant actually)

Unfortunately, as it has been working *so* well, I have neglected to keep the system all updated and think that it is too late to update it now.  The machine needs a spring clean, so I reckon this is the perfect time to have a new version of PCLinux.

SO........ here's what I've decided to do:

I've installed a second hard disk which I have dropped important files onto (Thunderbird profile, Firefox profile, important documents etc......).  Now that I've done that, I propose to do a fresh install of PCLOS onto my original hard disk.  (I am considering installing 2009.2 and then adding all of the Gnome packages, to enable either KDE or Gnome sessions.....)

I installed the new (40 Gig) hard disk which used to have 3 Windows partitions on it.
Using the Administration centre and the mount point app I removed these three partitions and created (and formatted as EXT3) one single 40 Gig partition.  Here is my current set up (sorry for long post...):

Original hard disk: currently contains PCLOS2007.
two partitions:

Partition 1:
8.4G
/dev/hda1
Base URL: file:///
Mountpoint: /
Location: /media (system)

Partition 2:
67G
/dev/hda6
Base URL: file:///home
Mountpoint: /home
Location: /media (system)
Mounted on: /home

New Hard Disk: currently contains various back-up files and folders copied from the other hard disk.
one partition:

Partition 1:
40G
/dev/hdb1
Base URL: file:///data
Mountpoint: /data
Location: /media (system)
Mounted on : /data


Here is my question (finally !):
If I install a fresh copy of PCLINUX onto the 80 Gig drive, will the second (40 Gig) drive still contain the data that I have backed up there ?  To put that another way, will the 40 Gig drive be safe during the installation or do I need to do something to it in order to protect it ?

I'm sorry about the long winded post, with what I do hope is a rather straight-forward question at the end of it !

Thanks in advance.

Jon

[menotu]

If I install a fresh copy of PCLINUX onto the 80 Gig drive, will the second (40 Gig) drive still contain the data that I have backed up there ?  To put that another way, will the 40 Gig drive be safe during the installation or do I need to do something to it in order to protect it ?

Your data on the 40Gig hard drive will be safe (providing you select the right drive to install your new 2009.2 on  )

Note:  The 2009.2 repo's are frozen and have not been updated for a few months but if you install 2009.2 it will still work okay ( see this link about frozen repo: http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,65202.msg528216.html#msg528216

BTW, are you aware there is new version of PCLinuxOS based on KDE4.4.1? Its called PCLinuxOS 2010 Beta 1 and is available for download from the PCLinuxOS main web site. (and Distrowatch)

But if you install 2010 I'm not certain you'll simply be able to "drop" your 2007 settings into it (you may be able to import some data and settings but even that may not be feasible without lots of faffing about and it could bork your setup)

[notwatson]

Thanks for the reply - good news !

Yes I am aware of the beta - as I use Thunderbird for my work emails (!) I want to get in quick before I lose my settings and profiles...

If I update Thunderbird from 2 to 3 once I've clean installed 2009.2 and my profile, will that be a smooth operation ?

Also, I did mention adding the Gnome stuff to enable KDE or Gnome sessions - is this do-able ?

Thanks !

Jon

[menotu]

Hi Jon,

If I update Thunderbird from 2 to 3 once I've clean installed 2009.2 and my profile, will that be a smooth operation ?

I no longer use TBird but if it was me I would install the  2009.2 system and then open TBird and import/move/whatever your emails into it and only when I was happy that everything was hunky dory would I update TBird to version 3 (you may want to go to the TBIrd web site  - or search on Google - to see what they suggest for the best way of importing settings and emails etc)

Also, I did mention adding the Gnome stuff to enable KDE or Gnome sessions - is this do-able ?

Yup - that can be done. Again I would suggest getting your KDE system setup in a way that your happy with everything and fully updated and then go about adding the Gnome desktop stuff.

To add Gnome open Synaptic and select the "Custom" button, and you will see lots of task-xxxxxxx items ( these are "tasks" for setting up different desktops or printers or virtualbox etc)

The ones you are interested in is:

task-gnome-minimal (which sets up the Gnome desktop with the minimum amount of packages etc)
and
task-gnome (which sets up the FULL Gnome desktop)

So it will be your decision for which to install. I know some users do the minimal install first and THEN add the full task-gnome on top of that but its not essential doing it that way.

When you are happy with your setup there are also the lxde and the enlightenment desktops in that same Synaptic area for you to consider at sometime BUT AGAIN I would suggest getting your KDE setup configured properly first and getting your data safe (and setting up back-up routines  ) before jumping in too deep.

Good luck and have fun

[notwatson]

That's a brilliantly clear post - many thanks.

As to having Fun - I intend to !

A thousand thanks.

Jon

[notwatson]

I am slightly stumped at the moment....

I have a 2009.2 (KDE) CD which goes all the way and hangs once the desktop is displayed (with some missing font characters on the icons ?!!), a 2009.2 Gnome which hangs consistently whichever way I try to boot it and a 2007 Gnome (on a DVD which came with a magazine) which works flawlessly....

Can I install the 2007 Gnome and update to the latest version from the repositories ?

I reckon this may be a safer bet with KDE 3.x no longer being developed....

Any advice would be helpful.

My PC is a Compaq EVO 310 with 512Mb RAM and onboard Intel graphics.  As stated before, I am currently running 2007 very nicely indeed.

Thanks,

Jon

[notwatson]

Just been looking at the DVD disc I have - it contains PCLinuxOS 2007 and PCLinuxOS Gnome 2.12.2 (amongst other things...)

I can run both the KDE and Gnome versions perfectly from this Live CD (well DVD...)

I have tried everything I can think of to get the newer versions (latest) to run - slow burn - good media brand - different optical drive - even different screen - nothing works properly - they both hang at some point.

So, if I am going to do this, I want to install Gnome 2.12.2 - check that Thunderbird (once installed) sparks up with my profile properly (from the new 40Gig drive [I'll copy the .thunderbird folder to the /home partition]) and then use Synaptic to do the reload - mark all - apply process to try to get a working system.

Does this sound like it is likely to work ?

Thanks for any help.

Jon

[thorper]

If you are going for a complete install, after backing up your data, you should consider resizing your / partition. 8.4gb is the standard partition size but this doesn't provide space if you want to remaster in the future. You should think about resizing / to at least 20gb. Doing thiswill not affect your data on your new hard disk, but as previously mentioned be careful, take your time and write down your hard drive info (ada1, sda1, etc) so you are 100% sure you are working on the correct disk. SystemRescue cd is a great tool for formatting hard drives www.sysresccd.org (others are available)

[notwatson]

Thanks Thorper - that is a good idea.

Is my plan a good one ? (the 2.21.2 install and update afterwards...) ?

Jon

[thorper]

I'm not a Gnome fan so either download the latest Gnome version and run it as a live CD or install Gnome on your newly formatted hard drive and play around with it before adding new apps and data, that way you can remove it and install KDE or some other desktop or wait for a Gnome user to respond. I would go with the first option myself.

If you wait for the offical 2010 release you can install that then add Gnome on top. This will give you a choice of either desktop which you select at the log on screen. There are instructions on how to do this already in the Tips and Tricks section http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,65769.0.html. This will run Gnome over a KDE4 base.

[pags]

Intel on-board graphics were problematic with 2009.1 and 2009.2.  What chip-set do you have?

I worked around the issue (for an 845 chip-set), by installing the LXDE 2009.4 version (which ran OK).  From there you could update and install Gnome, KDE etc...

[notwatson]

Pags - that's exactly the chip-set I have - it explains why they both hang (and scramble the graphics) and why the gnome 2009.2 disk works very nicely on my neighbour's PC with separate graphics card.

The 2.21.2 Gnome disk and the 2007 (KDE) work brilliantly here, so can I use that as my installation and work up from there ?

Thanks - I knew somebody would come up with the answer !

Jon

[pags]

I don't think you'll have much luck upgrading from 2007...I was able to do it once or twice loooong ago, just after the "big update" to 2009, but those installs still nuked themselves down the road...
As I said, I was able to use the LXDE 2009.4 iso successfully, and that is still running (although, I never put KDE back on, as these PCs are for my kids, and as long as their websites are working, they have no interest in worrying about DEs  ).

I plan to try the 2010 beta 1 on one of these machines this weekend (if I can get the time), but if this isn't an option, I still think you should be able to update the LXDE iso to current KDE or Gnome.

[notwatson]

many thanks for the message Pags - would you let me know if you have any joy ?

I will try that too.

I'm also trying to get hold of an AGP graphics card to put in the system - that could well fix the installation problems do you think ?

Thanks,

Jon

[notwatson]

Pags - could you answer one more question please ?

If I install LXDE 2009.4 - which I have downloaded... and update to the current Gnome desktop, will the onboard graphics still be a problem - in other words is it purely a LiveCD problem or a Gnome/KDE issue ?

Thanks,

Jon