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  • Strange New Installation Behavior

    From Stephen P. Molnar@21:1/5 to All on Mon Apr 22 15:10:02 2024
    This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
    I am running Bookworm and cleaned up a couple of files too many
    resulting in a messed up Xfce Desktop. I decided that this would be a
    good time to reinstall the Bullseye.

    I made a backup of my /home/comp directory using Deja-dup.

    I downloaded and ran the 512 check sum on a copy of Debian-12.5.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso and ran the Graphical Install mode on the
    1.0 TD SSD on my Computer. The installation went smoothly without any
    warning or error messages.

    I logged in as root to set up the Desktop and, much to my surprise,
    found that my previous Desktop configuration was still there!!??? This
    was also the case when I logged in user!!!???

    I have been using computers in my work since the 1960, the era of the
    Hollerith Card and tape drives and Linux since early days of Slackware
    and the Red Hat Mother's Day Edition. Now I am not a computer expert but
    a Research Chemist.  I have installed Linux OS's many times and consider
    Linux my primary computational platform. I have never encountered the
    situation and have no ideas as to what is going on.

    I have been runnind Debian since Etch.

    I would appreciate some insight into what might be going on.

    Thanks in advance.

    Stephen P. Molnar, Ph.D. https://insilicochemistry.net (614)312-7528 (c)
    Skype: smolnar1


    <html>
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    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
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    <p>I am running Bookworm and cleaned up a couple of files too many
    resulting in a messed up Xfce Desktop. I decided that this would
    be a good time to reinstall the Bullseye.</p>
    <p>I made a backup of my /home/comp directory using Deja-dup.<br>
    </p>
    <p>I downloaded and ran the 512 check sum on a copy of
    Debian-12.5.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso and ran the Graphical Install mode
    on the 1.0 TD SSD on my Computer. The installation went smoothly
    without any warning or error messages. <br>
    </p>
    <p>I logged in as root to set up the Desktop and, much to my
    surprise, found that my previous Desktop configuration was still
    there!!??? This was also the case when I logged in user!!!???</p>
    <p>I have been using computers in my work since the 1960, the era of
    the Hollerith Card and tape drives and Linux since early days of
    Slackware and the Red Hat Mother's Day Edition. Now I am not a
    computer expert but a Research Chemist.  I have installed Linux
    OS's many times and consider Linux my primary computational
    platform. I have never encountered the situation and have no ideas
    as to what is going on.</p>
    <p>I have been runnind Debian since Etch.<br>
    </p>
    <p>I would appreciate some insight into what might be going on.</p>
    <p>Thanks in advance.<br>
    </p>
    <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72"><font size="+1">Stephen P. Molnar, Ph.D.
    <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://insilicochemistry.net">https://insilicochemistry.net</a>
    (614)312-7528 (c)
    Skype: smolnar1
    </font></pre>
    </body>
    </html>

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  • From Michael =?utf-8?B?S2rDtnJsaW5n?=@21:1/5 to All on Mon Apr 22 15:30:01 2024
    On 22 Apr 2024 09:00 -0400, from s.molnar@sbcglobal.net (Stephen P. Molnar):
    I downloaded and ran the 512 check sum on a copy of Debian-12.5.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso and ran the Graphical Install mode on the 1.0 TD SSD on my Computer. The installation went smoothly without any warning or error messages.

    I logged in as root to set up the Desktop and, much to my surprise, found that my previous Desktop configuration was still there!!??? This was also
    the case when I logged in user!!!???

    It sounds to me like you intended to do a clean reinstall, but the
    obvious question given the observed behavior is: did you actually do
    that? For example, did you actually reformat (create file systems
    anew)?

    My guess would be that you installed _on top of_ the previous
    installation rather than wiping and replacing it; so I'd start with
    seeing if that hypothesis can be ruled out. An easy way might be to
    check /var/cache/apt/archives and look for old linux-image .deb files.
    If it's a freshly installed system, there should only be one or two,
    likely at 6.1.0-20 for Bookworm. If you see any kernel older than
    6.1.0-18, those are remnants from a previous installation (Debian 12.5
    shipped with kernel ABI 6.1.0-18 <https://www.debian.org/News/2024/20240210>.)

    --
    Michael Kjörling 🔗 https://michael.kjorling.se “Remember when, on the Internet, nobody cared that you were a dog?”

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  • From debian-user@howorth.org.uk@21:1/5 to 2695bd53d63c@ewoof.net on Mon Apr 22 17:10:01 2024
    Michael Kjörling <2695bd53d63c@ewoof.net> wrote:
    On 22 Apr 2024 09:00 -0400, from s.molnar@sbcglobal.net (Stephen P.
    Molnar):
    I downloaded and ran the 512 check sum on a copy of Debian-12.5.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso and ran the Graphical Install mode on
    the 1.0 TD SSD on my Computer. The installation went smoothly
    without any warning or error messages.

    I logged in as root to set up the Desktop and, much to my surprise,
    found that my previous Desktop configuration was still there!!???
    This was also the case when I logged in user!!!???

    It sounds to me like you intended to do a clean reinstall, but the
    obvious question given the observed behavior is: did you actually do
    that? For example, did you actually reformat (create file systems
    anew)?

    My guess would be that you installed _on top of_ the previous
    installation rather than wiping and replacing it; so I'd start with
    seeing if that hypothesis can be ruled out. An easy way might be to
    check /var/cache/apt/archives and look for old linux-image .deb files.
    If it's a freshly installed system, there should only be one or two,
    likely at 6.1.0-20 for Bookworm. If you see any kernel older than
    6.1.0-18, those are remnants from a previous installation (Debian 12.5 shipped with kernel ABI 6.1.0-18 <https://www.debian.org/News/2024/20240210>.)

    He said he wanted to revert to Bullseye rather than Bookworm, so it's
    to be expected that there will be older kernels, if that's really what
    he meant and what he did. But as you say, without a clear statement of
    the intent and the actions taken it's difficult to be sure.

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  • From Michael =?utf-8?B?S2rDtnJsaW5n?=@21:1/5 to All on Mon Apr 22 17:20:01 2024
    On 22 Apr 2024 16:03 +0100, from debian-user@howorth.org.uk:
    He said he wanted to revert to Bullseye rather than Bookworm, so it's
    to be expected that there will be older kernels, if that's really what
    he meant and what he did. But as you say, without a clear statement of
    the intent and the actions taken it's difficult to be sure.

    You're right. Except the reference to a Debian 12 ISO would definitely
    be Bookworm, where 12.5 is current, so that part checks out.

    At this point I'm guessing that the reference to Bullseye is a
    mistake.

    Hopefully it'll be a while before we have three consecutive releases
    with codenames all beginning with the same letter (Buster, Bullseye,
    Bookworm). I'm probably not the only one who's got them mixed up on
    occasion. Bookworm / Trixie / Forky should be easier to keep apart.
    Looking at Wikipedia's summary table it doesn't look like there has
    otherwise been any _two_ consecutive releases (ignoring Sid) where the codenames began with the same letter, much less three.

    --
    Michael Kjörling 🔗 https://michael.kjorling.se “Remember when, on the Internet, nobody cared that you were a dog?”

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Stephen P. Molnar@21:1/5 to debian-user@howorth.org.uk on Mon Apr 22 18:40:01 2024
    On 04/22/2024 11:03 AM, debian-user@howorth.org.uk wrote:
    Michael Kjörling <2695bd53d63c@ewoof.net> wrote:
    On 22 Apr 2024 09:00 -0400, from s.molnar@sbcglobal.net (Stephen P.
    Molnar):
    I downloaded and ran the 512 check sum on a copy of
    Debian-12.5.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso and ran the Graphical Install mode on
    the 1.0 TD SSD on my Computer. The installation went smoothly
    without any warning or error messages.

    I logged in as root to set up the Desktop and, much to my surprise,
    found that my previous Desktop configuration was still there!!???
    This was also the case when I logged in user!!!???
    It sounds to me like you intended to do a clean reinstall, but the
    obvious question given the observed behavior is: did you actually do
    that? For example, did you actually reformat (create file systems
    anew)?

    My guess would be that you installed _on top of_ the previous
    installation rather than wiping and replacing it; so I'd start with
    seeing if that hypothesis can be ruled out. An easy way might be to
    check /var/cache/apt/archives and look for old linux-image .deb files.
    If it's a freshly installed system, there should only be one or two,
    likely at 6.1.0-20 for Bookworm. If you see any kernel older than
    6.1.0-18, those are remnants from a previous installation (Debian 12.5
    shipped with kernel ABI 6.1.0-18
    <https://www.debian.org/News/2024/20240210>.)
    He said he wanted to revert to Bullseye rather than Bookworm, so it's
    to be expected that there will be older kernels, if that's really what
    he meant and what he did. But as you say, without a clear statement of
    the intent and the actions taken it's difficult to be sure.

    I did not want to revert to Bullseye, but to reinstall to Bookworm.

    --
    Stephen P. Molnar, Ph.D.
    https://insilicochemistry.net
    (614)312-7528 (c)
    Skype: smolnar1

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    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From David Christensen@21:1/5 to Stephen P. Molnar on Mon Apr 22 22:10:02 2024
    On 4/22/24 06:00, Stephen P. Molnar wrote:
    I am running Bookworm and cleaned up a couple of files too many
    resulting in a messed up Xfce Desktop. I decided that this would be a
    good time to reinstall the Bullseye.

    I made a backup of my /home/comp directory using Deja-dup.

    I downloaded and ran the 512 check sum on a copy of Debian-12.5.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso and ran the Graphical Install mode on
    the 1.0 TD SSD on my Computer. The installation went smoothly without
    any warning or error messages.

    I logged in as root to set up the Desktop and, much to my surprise,
    found that my previous Desktop configuration was still there!!???
    This was also the case when I logged in user!!!???

    I have been using computers in my work since the 1960, the era of the
    Hollerith Card and tape drives and Linux since early days of
    Slackware and the Red Hat Mother's Day Edition. Now I am not a
    computer expert but a Research Chemist. I have installed Linux OS's
    many times and consider Linux my primary computational platform. I
    have never encountered the situation and have no ideas as to what is
    going on.

    I have been runnind Debian since Etch.

    I would appreciate some insight into what might be going on.

    Thanks in advance.

    Stephen P. Molnar, Ph.D. https://insilicochemistry.net (614)312-7528
    (c) Skype: smolnar1


    On 4/22/24 09:34, Stephen P. Molnar wrote:
    I did not want to revert to Bullseye, but to reinstall to Bookworm.

    I suggest that you buy a good 16 GB USB flash drive and install Debian
    12 with Xfce onto it. Having a working live USB stick is very useful
    for low-level disk drive chores such as examining, backing up, testing, repairing, restoring, wiping, etc.. Use it to:

    1. Ensure that you have a good backup of your 1 TB SSD.

    2. Make additional backups or archives of all or part of your 1 TB SSD.
    Note the mantra: "Data does not exist unless it exists in three places".

    3. Wipe the SSD so that the Debian installer will see a blank disk and
    respond accordingly when you later install Debian onto the SSD.


    Regarding copying a home directory from one OS installation to another
    OS installation, please see my comments on another thread:

    https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2024/04/msg00336.html


    Once you have logged in to your new account on your fresh install, I
    suggest that you restore your /home/comp backup to a subdirectory and
    manually copy/ move/ edit/ merge files and directories from the restore subdirectory into your fresh home directory. Be very careful not to
    damage or delete anything needed by your fresh desktop or applications.


    David

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