Ubuntu
ubiquity package

32bit 10.10 to 64bit 10.04 (N00B)

Asked by David Fisher

-The story-
I recently purchased (and built) a new computer. This is my first experience with Ubuntu, and Linux for that matter.
I'm currently using Ubuntu 10.10 32-bit. For some strange unknown reason to me, it's using up 100gb of storage on my hard drive already (before I connected to the Internet). I got the boot DVD from LXF magazine in December. I've only had this computer up and running for 3 days. I also was not connected to the internet when I installed the OS and haven't updated anything yet so I'm still bare boned for the most part in databases and such (like codecs lol).

Question 1 - How do I clear up all that space? I only have 500GBs and it's telling me 95 are already in use... I know about DBAN but that plays into my other problem that I'm having, because I would totally have used that.

Question 2 - From what I'm able to read the only way to go from 10.10 32-bit to 10.04 64-bit (I would even be happy with 10.10 64-bit) is to completely reinstall. But I've been up for the last 5 hours trying to make a boot disk with no such luck (also first time making one). Steps I took (I did this 3 different ways via CD, and once with a USB);
Step 1 - Downloaded Ubuntu 10.04 Long-term stable 64-bit
Step 2 (variation A) - Directly copied the ISO file to a CD via the CD GUI that pops up on a basic install
Step 2 (variation B) - Extracted the files from the ISO and copied them to a CD via the CD GUI " " ".
Step 2 (variation C) - Followed the directions on Ubuntu's install guide website... Right click the file and burn to disk
Step 2 (variation D) - Used System -> Admin -> Start up disk creator and used a 8GB flash drive and allowed 1.5 gigs to be saved for settings (like a LiveOS CD but you can actually save stuff?)
The 3 CDs I wrote have the files there so I don't think that's the issue.
Step 3 - turned off my computer
At this point I change my boot order to be anything but the HDD. I now am getting frustrated because every boot option nets me almost the same result and that's the Ubuntu loading screen before the login script :( I even tried disabling boot priority with no luck.
I'm getting desperate for a fix and I try UNPLUGGING my HDD from the motherboard and see if that works. All I get is the locked up DMI pool screen for about a minute and then it tells me BOOT ERROR. I did get one different response on a CD but it was telling me that it wasn't a valid CD to boot from and that was a DBAN CD that I also have done those 3 CD methods on.
Is there some sort of magical thing that I'm not doing and can someone give me a detailed guide on how to fix it? I found similar post on this in the magical directory called Google, and the answers given were to change the sources.list of the updates to reflect that of a 64-bit. But it doesn't have information on how to do that.

All I want to do is test my RAM to make sure it's not dead or have bad memory addresses, and that's hard to do when the sticks are 4 gigs each on a 32-bit (in your face sucker I only support 3GB RAM) Operation System.

What program/app do I need to fix this CD/USB problem? Can you show me how?
Thanks in advance, David
Sorry it's so long

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Stanz
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Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

You don't extract the ISO to make the CD. Why do so many user do this is beyond me completely. Yes your archive manager may give it an archive icon but thats all it is, it simply means it CAN be opened in WinRAR or whatever you use but resist. Ignore the icon.

All you have to do is MD5 test the ISO so you know that it is complete and consistent (also missed by Windows users):
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM

And then open the image with your burner (probably Nero in Windows) and it will make a bootable install CD (burn SLOWLY). If you use unetbootin in windows you can create a bootable USB using the ISO and the app.

If you are reinstalling, why care about the used space as it will be cleared down when you clean install the 64bit version.......?

Revision history for this message
David Fisher (pac-dlfisher) said : 		#2

><; More of discussion and thank you letter.
People extract the ISO because it's a zipped folder in their eyes, I've only
dealt with them when I was using a virtual disk. DBAN yells at users to not
unzip it on their website. I unzipped it because one of the options in
Ubuntu's auto run CD writing program would not copy the file over (this
might be why Ubuntu's site tells you to ignore the auto run feature when
making these disks while running Ubuntu).
I was worried about hard drive space because I thought there was a way to
revert to 10.04 and then somehow trick the system into thinking it needs to
update for 64 bit and not the 32. Also was wondering why I had so much
space being used with just a LiveOS DVD install with Ubuntu, Kubuntu,
Xubuntu on it
I'll write back again if this fails, thank you for the help.

--you make windows users seem plagued or something (they probably are), but
the day UNIX/Linux makes playing high end games easy to run and run properly
is the day Windows becomes obsolete.

"Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make
the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That
factor is attitude.” ~William James

On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 6:52 AM, actionparsnip <
<email address hidden>> wrote:

> Your question #141658 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/141658
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> actionparsnip proposed the following answer:
> You don't extract the ISO to make the CD. Why do so many user do this is
> beyond me completely. Yes your archive manager may give it an archive
> icon but thats all it is, it simply means it CAN be opened in WinRAR or
> whatever you use but resist. Ignore the icon.
>
> All you have to do is MD5 test the ISO so you know that it is complete and
> consistent (also missed by Windows users):
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM
>
> And then open the image with your burner (probably Nero in Windows) and
> it will make a bootable install CD (burn SLOWLY). If you use unetbootin
> in windows you can create a bootable USB using the ISO and the app.
>
> If you are reinstalling, why care about the used space as it will be
> cleared down when you clean install the 64bit version.......?
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/141658/+confirm?answer_id=0
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/141658
>
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.
>

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

You cannot downgrade without reinstalling and you cannot change arch (32bit to 64bit and vice-versa) without reinstalling.

Revision history for this message
Best Stanz (stanz) said : 		#4

Hi David,
I've not done any extracting or copying for my .iso file.
  Once downloaded, I burn the .iso at low speed [4x] to a CDRom.
I've not tried the DVD version, and I always use a CD-RW.

Please Read Step 2: http://www.ubuntulinux.org/desktop/get-ubuntu/download -nice "Show me how" feature.

Check BIOS to boot from cdrom or dvd player first - then your HDD. You'll need your HDD plugged in, so ubuntu can write the OS to that disk.

All should work - we hope - and when asked, TRY Ubuntu - first {if ya want!}
and if it can wait - you can test memory later.

Question 1 - How do I clear up all that space?
   With a fresh install of only one OS, choose the option to "use the entire disk" and to format it. {More info on the forums}

Question 2 - From what I'm able to read the only way to go from 10.10 32-bit to 10.04 64-bit is to completely reinstall.
   Right!

I hope this all is a help!

Revision history for this message
David Fisher (pac-dlfisher) said : 		#5

Thanks Stanz, that solved my question.