Ubuntu reinstallation

EricTRA · 03-01-2010, 03:02 AM

Hello,

The reference to that package is no error. The word error is in the name of the package libgpg-error0 so you don't have to worry about that one. Sorry I didn't see it before.

Package details:

Code:

libgpg-error0  1.4-2          library for common error values and messages

So I imagine you're good to go. Or am I missing something?

Kind regards,

Eric

elishac · 03-01-2010, 03:16 AM

So you think that every package of that list has been installed ?

If so, what's the next step ?

EricTRA · 03-01-2010, 03:27 AM

Hi,

The next step is to recreate the --get-selections file so that you have a backup list of all packages installed and their status. For this run the command:

Code:

dpkg --get-selections>yourselections.txt

and keep that file safe.

Now you could plug in your USB and copy your data to your Ubuntu and start using it again. Unless you have other questions, I think you're set to go. Remember to make backups of your personal data on a regular basis or save them to another partition or removable media like an external disk/USB stick. Also copy the file generated above to that 'safe' location. It'll come in handy whenever you need to reinstall your system.

Make a new 'get-selections' file whenever you do package installations, updates, and so on, to reflect the state of your system in that file.

Kind regards,

Eric

elishac · 03-01-2010, 03:53 AM

ok. But what about the softwares that were installed ? How do I install them again ?

EricTRA · 03-01-2010, 03:59 AM

Now I'm lost.

You reinstalled the packages with the script and using the list in p2install.txt.

Or did that script fail on the first line?

Kind regards,

Eric

elishac · 03-01-2010, 04:09 AM

I'm the one that is lost lol.
I don't understand what packages are that much. All I want is to be able to use the programs I was using before reinstalling everything.
From what you've told me, and what I have understood is that packages are librairies that are used by programs. But I haven't installed the programs yet, have I ? For example, amsn, which you talked about earlier, is not installed yet.
Hence my question : how to install them ?

EricTRA · 03-01-2010, 04:41 AM

Hello,

In the list p2install.txt you have both libraries, software packages, the works...

If for example amsn is not installed and it is in the p2install.txt file then the script didn't get to that line and exited with an error before.

You can install manually using the following command:

Code:

sudo apt-get install amsn

which will install amsn and all necessary dependencies.

If you can give me some time, I'll write a small script to process the p2install.txt file and check if packages/libraries are installed or not, and if they're not to install them interactively (so that you can see what happens).

Another more time consuming way is to open the p2install.txt file in an editor and check every name using the Synaptics package manager for example and install it from there if not installed. But that's manual labor.

This is exactly why the 'get-selections' file is so important, because you can use that file with dpkg to get your system up and running with the same packages in no time with minor manual intervention.

Kind regards,

Eric

elishac · 03-01-2010, 05:03 AM

Ok no problem I'll wait until you can write that script, this is not that urgent.
The 4th and 5th lines of p2install.txt are amsn and amsn-data.
The software amsn is not installed in the sense that when I go to run application (alt+f2) and then write amsn and hit enter, I receive the following error :
could not open location file:///home/elishac/amsn. Error stating file 'home/elishac/amsn': No such file or directory.
There is no amsn link in Applications->Internet either, but it was there before the reinstallation.

EricTRA · 03-01-2010, 05:10 AM

Of course it will not run if it's not installed. You can easily install it, either using the Synaptics or by typing the following command in a terminal:

Code:

sudo apt-get install amsn

That will install all necessary files, and you'll have the aMSN icon in the menu Application - Internet if I remember correctly.

I'll look into the script when I'm home (around 16:00).

Kind regards,

Eric

EricTRA · 03-01-2010, 01:12 PM

Hi elishac,

Finally 5 minutes of time. Here goes, I wrote the following and tested it on my ubuntu spare, and it works. What it does is go through the list (p2install.txt) and check if a package is already installed. If it is it'll move on to the next line. If it's not it will install it automatically. I didn't have more time to put into it but it works, small and simple. So just change the contents of the other script for the following:

Code:

#!/bin/bash
#set -x

while read LINE;
do
	VALUE=$(dpkg -l $LINE | tail -1 | awk -F ' ' '{ print $1 }')
	if [ $VALUE = "ii" ]; then
		echo "$LINE seems to be already installed"
		echo "Move on to the next line...";
	else
		echo "$LINE doesn't seem to be installed."
		echo "Installing now"
		apt-get -y install $LINE
	fi
done<p2install.txt

Then run the script like you did with the other one:

Code:

sudo ./scriptname.sh

(change scriptname for what you have of course). If you want to save the output to a file then use this:

Code:

sudo ./scriptname.sh>results.txt

and you can review later what has been done by the script and what was installed.

Kind regards,

Eric

elishac · 03-01-2010, 01:44 PM

Hello Eric, thanks for the script. I run it and I received the following error :
line 7: |: =: unary operator expected

EricTRA · 03-01-2010, 02:14 PM

Hi,

That's very strange, I ran it three times over right now before posting and I get no errors at all. Did you copy paste what I posted or typed in manually?

Kind regards,

Eric

elishac · 03-01-2010, 03:06 PM

I copy pasted.
Actually, hundreds of lines appeared. I hadn't waited enough.
This was just the first one. Every now and then this same line appears.
It's still working now (it's been running since my last message, about 1hour ago)
the last ones are :

./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching nvidia-180-modaliases.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching odt2txt.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching openoffice.org-help-cs.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching openoffice.org-help-da.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching openoffice.org-help-en-gb.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching openoffice.org-help-et.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching openoffice.org-help-hu.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching openoffice.org-help-pl.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching openoffice.org-help-pt.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching openoffice.org-help-ru.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected
No packages found matching openoffice.org-help-sl.
./autoinstall.sh: line 7: [: =: unary operator expected

theiron · 03-01-2010, 03:06 PM

Dang. Wish I'd spotted your discourse before I ran WipeDrive. I have 2 laptops, 1 failing HDD, and no wireless access. I had the one with the failing HDD configured pretty well, playing back DVD's and Skyping with a USB mic. Was working on t'other to get the DVD working, and coulda used some of your commands to find out what was on the "failing" laptop (Acer Aspire 3610) to get the dual-booting laptop (eMachines M2352) configured. Ah well, I'll know better next time, likely this coming weekend, when I install Win 7 and Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook on them both.

I'm running WipeDrive to clean off the failing HDD before I replace it. While that was running on the Aspire, I've been lurking in LQ on the M2352 in XP SP3. Time to restart in Ubuntu and do some of what you've eluded to in this thread...very informative, THX!

theiron · 03-01-2010, 03:09 PM

I'm a newbie in Linux, too, but I think I see where the error is coming from:

Quote:

echo "Move on to the next line...";

Should the ";" be on the end of that line? It isn't on any others.