Q4OS Forum

Mr.Mark

Member

Registered: 2016-02-03

Posts: 98

Upgrade from Scorpion to Centaurus

I’d like to upgrade from Scorpion to Centaurus on one of my laptops. Is it possible to upgrade the OS without losing everything else that is on the laptop?

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,300

Re: Upgrade from Scorpion to Centaurus

It is possible to upgrade from Debian Stretch to Debian Buster - there are a number of sources on the interwebs that describe the process.

The fact that it is possible does not necessarily make it a good idea. In the end a fresh install will be cleaner and probably quicker.

The best way to future proof and allow you to move around between different distros and or versions is based on your drive being correctly partitioned so that the OS and your data are separated.

The way I have always done this and it has seen me through countless distro hops is to set up as follows

1. Boot + OS in Primary partition sda1 /
2. Extended partition for rest of space on drive
3. In that space small logical drive for swap - say 4gb
4. Remainder of logical space for /home

When you install a new version you can then just tell it to re-use the /home partition and away you go. Having said that I always make sure that I have a backup!

Attached shows drive setup in gparted if it's useful. You also need to consider the impact of the various config and other dot files in your home area. These are related to both your interface/desktop and also apps that have been installed over the years. These days installers are pretty well behaved but in the past I came across some that would would cause problems if they found a user space already set up on a drive in the same name as the one to be used in the new install. Configs would not be set correctly etc etc. So I still tend to just rename my current /home (again from the live media) and then just move stuff across once the new system has been set up.

However, if you are sticking with the same distro you can normally get away with leaving your /home area. Going from Scorpion to Centaurus the installer should find all your config files and drop them into a dot file folder for you so you just then need to pick out what you need.

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Attachments:
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DavidB

Member

From: Saskatchewan, Canada

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 180

Website

Re: Upgrade from Scorpion to Centaurus

I do the /home on it's own partition, too.  The pain in the butt for me, when upgrading by doing a clean install, is getting all of the apps that I use re-installed.  That's the most painful and frustrating part for me, as I use many of them that is not part of the "default install".  Some are in the repositories, but some are not and are stand-alone installs.

I've skipped upgrading to the latest distribution and just muddled through a few times because of this.  Did I say it was a pain?  LOL!

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Current setup:  Acer Aspire One D257 / Q4OS Centaurus / TDE / SeaMonkey 2.53.8.1

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,989

Re: Upgrade from Scorpion to Centaurus

I would suggest a dual boot system so you can keep your old OS along with the new one until you are satisfied that all packages are fully functional, the only thing to be aware of is that if a package has a newer config file (changed with version) it could possibly cause a problem if you boot back in to your old OS as the config file might have been automatically changed.

Mr.Mark

Member

Registered: 2016-02-03

Posts: 98

Re: Upgrade from Scorpion to Centaurus

Is it possible to load things from the old OS onto a zip drive then install them on to the new OS? For example I have the Traverso DAW on Scorpion. It isn't available on Centaurus. Could I install it on Centaurus from the zip drive?

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,989

Re: Upgrade from Scorpion to Centaurus

I had to install a package that was not in Buster (Centaurus) and used the stretch (Scorpion) package, this worked for what I needed and might be an option. If that is no good the best option would be to backport the Bullseye package. Backporting is not too difficult and instructions are in the Debian wiki.