I Would Like to Clean Install Debian 13 and Wandering...

[ZennMystic]

I have Debian 12 currently installed. I have backed up everything I want to keep (I think/hope anyway.)
Way back when I remember going from tutorial to tutorial To install Debian 12 and software I might need.
I vaguely remember things like:

Having to type a second password on boot because it was a good idea to encrypt the Linux partition. True?
Installing nala for a better apt experience.
Installing a firewall.. fw..something..?
Extensions thing for like caffeine, dash to panel.
Flatpak for things like the latest Firefox, although I saw a post on here about swapping out ESR for latest Firefox.
I remember reading something about swap file/swap file size and what to pick/put.
I remember reading something about giving the desktop its own partition because it is easier to drop in a replacement or something and upgrade later? (I did not do this before.)
I remember I needed something to give me max, min close window icons.
Oh do I need anti-virus? I read it is better to have it and I installed clamv something.. But never went beyond that.
There is only going to be 1 user on the machine. So Do I need a separate root person/user?

So in what order do I do things? I remember I had to re-install 3 times because I messed something up. So I would like for smoother this time.
I know I will need latest Firefox, Extensions app and nala and flatpak/nix maybe? for additional software, but, other than that I do not know/not sure.

Any help/input would be appreciated TY.

 

[Brickwizard]

I wont list it out just in case i miss something,
kindly read https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-upgrade-debian-to-latest-version

 

[Deleted member 197709]

Personally, just from my own experience, Using Linux for so many years, I have never needed antivirus stuff. That being said, I'm really cautious about what I download and install. Browser junk is a never ending security risk. I deal with that by not allowing javascript to run, only selectively and temporarily allowing it as needed per site, then dis-allowing when I'm done. On top of that I use my host file and host.deny to weed out bad actors on the net.

Overall, I always recommend installing the minimal install if available, as it's easy enough to install the stuff you want and like individually aftwards. That minimizes the stuff you'd probably never use. Installing linux with full blown DE's i find ... Ugh... too much junk going on. Then, when you want to remove some of it, you find dependency hell going on.

Anyway... with careful practices, especially with a home computer not associated with top secrets stuffs, I never needed antivirus software. Never had a virus in all the years I've used linux. Maybe I'm naive, I dunno. I never have auto fill password, save account, remember stuff, or location on, info stuff activated on anything. Actually if someone did get into my system, they wouldn't find anything to benefit them as far as theft goes. Hence, "careful practice."

Unix is much like Linux.. Where I work, and worked, for years, Unix was always used due to its inherent security properties.

Not sure this will help you with your question, but just my two cents worth.

Kudo's on the backup!! Playing with linux as I do.. They come in handy!! hehe

I keep mine on a ssd separate from my system that I can plug into a usb port with a portable linux install on it, just incase I screw up so bad my system wont boot. LOL .. It's happened! Ugh

 

[osprey]

I have Debian 12 currently installed. I have backed up everything I want to keep (I think/hope anyway.)
Way back when I remember going from tutorial to tutorial To install Debian 12 and software I might need.
I vaguely remember things like:

Having to type a second password on boot because it was a good idea to encrypt the Linux partition. True?
Installing nala for a better apt experience.
Installing a firewall.. fw..something..?
Extensions thing for like caffeine, dash to panel.
Flatpak for things like the latest Firefox, although I saw a post on here about swapping out ESR for latest Firefox.
I remember reading something about swap file/swap file size and what to pick/put.
I remember reading something about giving the desktop its own partition because it is easier to drop in a replacement or something and upgrade later? (I did not do this before.)
I remember I needed something to give me max, min close window icons.
Oh do I need anti-virus? I read it is better to have it and I installed clamv something.. But never went beyond that.
There is only going to be 1 user on the machine. So Do I need a separate root person/user?

So in what order do I do things? I remember I had to re-install 3 times because I messed something up. So I would like for smoother this time.
I know I will need latest Firefox, Extensions app and nala and flatpak/nix maybe? for additional software, but, other than that I do not know/not sure.

Any help/input would be appreciated TY.

To upgrade from debian 12 to 13, the canonical information is provided by debian here: https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/release-notes/. There are plenty of other advisories online, but the optimal read is the official release notes. Other texts which purport to advise on the upgrade are best compared with debian's own official release notes. In other words, it's best from the horse's mouth, so to speak. In fact, a lot of the non-debian advice is derived from the official release notes, but sometimes with idiosyncratic slants which can be a little unclear or confusing for less experienced debian users.

 

[Mike-BTU]

with a home computer ... I never needed antivirus software. Never had a virus in all the years I've used linux.

Bingo! It's been over 30 years for me.

 

[ZennMystic]

After I installed Debian 13 and rebooted. got this (See Attached):

I know it has something to do with my drives, because my 2nd internal backup drive does not show up in list of drives/folders.And the last error line only started to show up after I plugged it in.

This did not happen what I was running Debian 12, so what did I do wrong?

TY for all your time and help.

 

[Deleted member 197709]

I'm not too sure, as I don't mess with encrypted too much on my home system as I don't keep anything sensitive on it. It kinda looks like a bios setting your system doesn't like. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can help.

As far as the internal backup drive or drives. They won't show up unless you mount them manually or add them to fstab to auto mount at boot if you want. Even so you should be able to see the unmounted drives in your system folder. Again, a Bios problem I believe. I had lots trouble with UEFI when i got my computer. It was new to me. Using UEFI? I had to fiddle with some bios settings on my system to play nice with linux. Not saying that's your problem though.. Just kinna sounds like it.

Also I read somewhere the Debian installer.. or one of them, doesn't support UEFI very well if at all. I guess UEFI although popular on newer systems isn't mainstream yet. I'm still learning about it.

This is interesting and informative! ... Here. Something I'll deal with when I make my switch back to Debian.

 

[Condobloke]

a good idea to encrypt the Linux partition

I assume you did encrypt the drive. Are your security issues such that you need encryption?

I think the errors there say it all.....(not that I have used encryption) ....I have zero need for it. My household is secure.

I can see you doing a reinstall, without encryption.

 

[ZennMystic]

I assume you did encrypt the drive. Are your security issues such that you need encryption?

View attachment 30692
I think the errors there say it all.....(not that I have used encryption) ....I have zero need for it. My household is secure.

I can see you doing a reinstall, without encryption.

Sorry for the late reply took a few days off...

I used to have it setup that way when I worked from home. It stall boot and everything just fine. I just get all that stuff before hand that I did not get with Debian 12. To make it all less complicated I re-formated the drive and re-installed Debian 13, Choosing the Guided - Use entire Disk. Even after a clean install and choosing the (best for new users option) I still get the following on boot up.

I updated my bios to the latest one to see if it would help, but no.
I do not know much about the effi thing, so I don't know what to do next. I could just ignore it? I might everything seems to boot up and run fine (so far any way.)

Any assist/help/input would be welcome.
Thank you for your time.

 

[Deleted member 197709]

I do not know much about the effi thing

Likewise! Man was I scratching my head on that one! As far as I got was the newer bios is acting as a mbr in a way hence signifying the efi flag, if I'm understanding it correctly. Some Linux installers take the efi thing into account letting us flag boot as efi. Some don't support it yet. Maybe legacy mbr is still an option with these newer bios systems. But I don't know yet. I had enough problems with all the other new stuff going on in Linux when I started fiddling after 10 years. I didn't experiment with efi much. If I were dual booting two Linux systems, i'm sure it would make me understand it better with the two internal Nv drives I have!

Other thing that drove me nuts for a while was my two Nv drives switching places nvme0n1 showing up sometimes as nvme1n1 and vice versa after boot. no rhyme or reason. It's which ever uuid in fstab gets read first signifying which label gets assigned to it I guess. Switching to legacy in fstab using dev labels didn't make a difference. Anyway it's normal, yet confusing nonetheless. Best just to use uuid in fstab labels. Just another change I had to deal with and learn. Ugh

Sometimes I feel like a linux newbie all over again even though i was pretty good with it back in late 90's an early 2000's. At least I remember the old stuff that's still around kinna well.

I miss the old Grub!! I had it down pat, triple booting 3 different linux distros on three hard drives at one point. Had a bash script I wrote to clone them just using cp recursively to preserve permissions with the drives formatted the same and auto changing files to represent their dev locations. All worked so cool! then I went to college and became an engineer, and a linux Dummy over time!! LOL

 

[Trml]

I could just ignore it? I might everything seems to boot up and run fine (so far any way.)

The regular boot up is what counts. Your screenshots are too blurry for me to read it, but troublesome failures are frequently colored red. I'd not worry too much, if it works as expected.

If you want to re-check, usesudo dmesg | more and copy the text to repost. Since you updated the Bios, have a look about anything you might have changed in the past (perhaps save a bios profile, if available) and do reset it to factory defaults.

 

[Mike-BTU]

usesudo dmesg | moreand copy the text to repost.

If you must take a photo of screen text, it's best to save the photo as .png or .gif. It looked to me like your screenshot was a highly compressed .jpg (JPEG). It was too blurry to read.

 

[APTI]

I have Debian 12 currently installed. I have backed up everything I want to keep (I think/hope anyway.)
Way back when I remember going from tutorial to tutorial To install Debian 12 and software I might need.
I vaguely remember things like:

Having to type a second password on boot because it was a good idea to encrypt the Linux partition. True?
Installing nala for a better apt experience.
Installing a firewall.. fw..something..?
Extensions thing for like caffeine, dash to panel.
Flatpak for things like the latest Firefox, although I saw a post on here about swapping out ESR for latest Firefox.
I remember reading something about swap file/swap file size and what to pick/put.
I remember reading something about giving the desktop its own partition because it is easier to drop in a replacement or something and upgrade later? (I did not do this before.)
I remember I needed something to give me max, min close window icons.
Oh do I need anti-virus? I read it is better to have it and I installed clamv something.. But never went beyond that.
There is only going to be 1 user on the machine. So Do I need a separate root person/user?

So in what order do I do things? I remember I had to re-install 3 times because I messed something up. So I would like for smoother this time.
I know I will need latest Firefox, Extensions app and nala and flatpak/nix maybe? for additional software, but, other than that I do not know/not sure.

Any help/input would be appreciated TY.

I think you might adjust that a little. Mostly my opinion but listen...

1.. typing a 2nd password to encrypt the system? BAD IDEA. this is not necessary it will not help you unless you are worried about somebody stealing the system. Most times in my experience people come to my shop with encrypted drives and lose everything because they do not know the passwords or keys for it. Save the trouble and don't encrypt unless you are forced to for work.

2.. the firewall that comes with should be fine just let it be.
3.. extensions are great things to add what you don't already have.
4.. Let the system do the swap by default in install, don't mess with it unless you actually know what you are doing.
5.. Extra partitions are just going to complicate things and you know what happens with that.
6.. Anti virus is not needed in linux. clamav is not for you. It only searches for windows viruses so you don't pass them on. Not needed.
7.. all linux systems have a root user and regular admin from the start. leave it that way and add users if you need them.

 

[ZennMystic]

It is/was a png.. Anyway...

sudo dmesg | more
[ 0.000000] Linux version 6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64 ([email protected]) (x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc-14 (Debian 14.2.0-19) 14.2.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Debian) 2.44
) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Debian 6.12.74-2 (2026-03-08)
[ 0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64 root=UUID=532973d0-12e1-4b3e-a4a9-0683c41cac40 ro quiet
[ 0.000000] x86/tme: not enabled by BIOS
[ 0.000000] x86/split lock detection: #AC: crashing the kernel on kernel split_locks and warning on user-space split_locks
[ 0.000000] BIOS-provided physical RAM map:
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000009dfff] usable
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000000009e000-0x000000000009efff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000000009f000-0x000000000009ffff] usable
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000000a0000-0x00000000000fffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000000100000-0x000000006ef14fff] usable
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000006ef15000-0x0000000070714fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000070715000-0x0000000070824fff] ACPI data
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000070825000-0x0000000070a24fff] ACPI NVS
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000070a25000-0x0000000075bfefff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000075bff000-0x0000000075bfffff] usable
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000075c00000-0x0000000079ffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000007a600000-0x000000007a7fffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000007b000000-0x00000000807fffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000c0000000-0x00000000cfffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fe000000-0x00000000fe010fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fec00000-0x00000000fec00fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fed00000-0x00000000fed00fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fed20000-0x00000000fed7ffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fee00000-0x00000000fee00fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000ff000000-0x00000000ffffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] BIOS-e820: [mem 0x0000000100000000-0x000000047f7fffff] usable
[ 0.000000] NX (Execute Disable) protection: active
[ 0.000000] APIC: Static calls initialized
[ 0.000000] e820: update [mem 0x66ba8018-0x66bb7057] usable ==> usable
[ 0.000000] extended physical RAM map:
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000000000000-0x000000000009dfff] usable
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x000000000009e000-0x000000000009efff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x000000000009f000-0x000000000009ffff] usable
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000000a0000-0x00000000000fffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000000100000-0x0000000066ba8017] usable
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000066ba8018-0x0000000066bb7057] usable
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000066bb7058-0x000000006ef14fff] usable
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x000000006ef15000-0x0000000070714fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000070715000-0x0000000070824fff] ACPI data
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000070825000-0x0000000070a24fff] ACPI NVS
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000070a25000-0x0000000075bfefff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000075bff000-0x0000000075bfffff] usable
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000075c00000-0x0000000079ffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x000000007a600000-0x000000007a7fffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x000000007b000000-0x00000000807fffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000c0000000-0x00000000cfffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000fe000000-0x00000000fe010fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000fec00000-0x00000000fec00fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000fed00000-0x00000000fed00fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000fed20000-0x00000000fed7ffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000fee00000-0x00000000fee00fff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x00000000ff000000-0x00000000ffffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] reserve setup_data: [mem 0x0000000100000000-0x000000047f7fffff] usable
[ 0.000000] efi: EFI v2.9 by American Megatrends
[ 0.000000] efi: ACPI=0x70981000 ACPI 2.0=0x70981014 TPMFinalLog=0x70950000 SMBIOS=0x7265a000 SMBIOS 3.0=0x72659000 MEMATTR=0x66c49018 ESRT=0x6bd01518 MOKvar=0x73675000 I
NITRD=0x66c45398 RNG=0x7074c018 TPMEventLog=0x70740018
[ 0.000000] random: crng init done
[ 0.000000] efi: Remove mem100: MMIO range=[0xc0000000-0xcfffffff] (256MB) from e820 map
[ 0.000000] e820: remove [mem 0xc0000000-0xcfffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] efi: Not removing mem101: MMIO range=[0xfe000000-0xfe010fff] (68KB) from e820 map
[ 0.000000] efi: Not removing mem102: MMIO range=[0xfec00000-0xfec00fff] (4KB) from e820 map
[ 0.000000] efi: Not removing mem103: MMIO range=[0xfed00000-0xfed00fff] (4KB) from e820 map
[ 0.000000] efi: Not removing mem105: MMIO range=[0xfee00000-0xfee00fff] (4KB) from e820 map
[ 0.000000] efi: Remove mem106: MMIO range=[0xff000000-0xffffffff] (16MB) from e820 map
[ 0.000000] e820: remove [mem 0xff000000-0xffffffff] reserved
[ 0.000000] Kernel is locked down from EFI Secure Boot; see man kernel_lockdown.7
[ 0.000000] secureboot: Secure boot enabled
[ 0.000000] SMBIOS 3.6.0 present.
[ 0.000000] DMI: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. MS-7D25/PRO Z690-A WIFI DDR4(MS-7D25), BIOS 1.M0 08/08/2025
[ 0.000000] DMI: Memory slots populated: 2/4
[ 0.000000] tsc: Detected 3600.000 MHz processor
[ 0.000000] tsc: Detected 3609.600 MHz TSC
[ 0.000008] e820: update [mem 0x00000000-0x00000fff] usable ==> reserved
[ 0.000009] e820: remove [mem 0x000a0000-0x000fffff] usable
[ 0.000015] last_pfn = 0x47f800 max_arch_pfn = 0x400000000
[ 0.000018] MTRR map: 6 entries (3 fixed + 3 variable; max 23), built from 10 variable MTRRs
[ 0.000020] x86/PAT: Configuration [0-7]: WB WC UC- UC WB WP UC- WT
[ 0.000491] e820: update [mem 0x7c000000-0xffffffff] usable ==> reserved
[ 0.000493] last_pfn = 0x75c00 max_arch_pfn = 0x400000000
[ 0.004786] esrt: Reserving ESRT space from 0x000000006bd01518 to 0x000000006bd015c8.
[ 0.004791] e820: update [mem 0x6bd01000-0x6bd01fff] usable ==> reserved
--More--

There is a LOT more. But I do not know how much to post/is needed.

 

[Deleted member 197709]

I think you might adjust that a little. Mostly my opinion but listen...

All old school stuff from long ago ... Makes me feel better!
Except for maybe clamav which I dont think was around back then.

 

[ZennMystic]

If you must take a photo of screen text, it's best to save the photo as .png or .gif. It looked to me like your screenshot was a highly compressed .jpg (JPEG). It was too blurry to read.

The was my bad I took the pic and assumed it was OK (usually is.) In this case it just fly by to quick. Apologies...

 

[ZennMystic]

I think you might adjust that a little. Mostly my opinion but listen...

1.. typing a 2nd password to encrypt the system? BAD IDEA. this is not necessary it will not help you unless you are worried about somebody stealing the system. Most times in my experience people come to my shop with encrypted drives and lose everything because they do not know the passwords or keys for it. Save the trouble and don't encrypt unless you are forced to for work.

2.. the firewall that comes with should be fine just let it be.
3.. extensions are great things to add what you don't already have.
4.. Let the system do the swap by default in install, don't mess with it unless you actually know what you are doing.
5.. Extra partitions are just going to complicate things and you know what happens with that.
6.. Anti virus is not needed in linux. clamav is not for you. It only searches for windows viruses so you don't pass them on. Not needed.
7.. all linux systems have a root user and regular admin from the start. leave it that way and add users if you need them.

I was using it at/for work at the time. So it was force of habit more than anything. It is why I re-formatted and re-installed choosing the general option as I no longer need encryption.

At the time half of us were on Linux the other half on windows. Then I left. Last I herd the full team has totally ditched windows altogether and are 100% Linux...

Back to our regularly scheduled program...

 

[ZennMystic]

I have also now noted that if I unplug my external USB drive the my boot up speed is like twice as fast blink and you will miss it. Was like that with Debian 12 But not with Debian 13.

I am definitely down heated now and with all the warnings I am also getting at boot up, wondering about either going back to Debian 12 or ditching Debian all together for another OS.

"I picked a hell of a week to quit drinking!"
(Or any other vices you care to mention.)
I think I'm going to go watch the movie: Airplane!

 

[Brickwizard]

Come across a similar problem in the past the cure back then was in the BIOS, many of us have our machines set
1]USB
2] onboard HDD
3] OPTICAL drive
4[floppy
6]network boot
this set up is optimal if your constantly swapping external drives with different OS's or testing new distributions,, with this set up the BIOS will search any and all USB storage drives first,
to speed things up change the first around so it searches the onboard hard drive first

 

[wizardfromoz]

I think I'm going to go watch the movie: Airplane!

Just don't sniff any glue, or try to make a paper hat out of a report (What do you make of this?), start singing and waving your guitar and knocking out drip feeds, or rely on an inflatable pilot to fly your computer.

Avagudweegend.

BTW on

2.. the firewall that comes with should be fine just let it be.

Enable it first with sudo ufw enable- it is not enabled by default.