Upgrade to 20.4 Ubuntu

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reg harris

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When I try to go from 18.4 t0 20.4 in Ubuntu by clicking "update now" in the Linux update window, nothing happens. Have tried at least 6 times.
 


Thank you Condobloke. I have tried using the terminal - updated etc, but didn't work. I just wonder if Linux's offer to upgrade is technically faulty - at least in NZ. At 96 I'm a slow learner. cheers, rh
 
It's been my experience that upgrades don't go well.
The last time I tried to upgrade one version of Ubuntu to a higher version I had graphic's glitches, couldn't log in or took me through a log in loop and the distro would crash.

I always perform a fresh installation's now.

Just my 2 cents:-
 
on upgrade they say the same with Slackware- backup everything including /etc directory for config and do fresh install if at all possible.

I did manage upgrade from slackware 14.2 stable (4 years old) to Slackware current (January this year) everything went , Ok but make one mistake especially point where old kernels are replaced with new if doing it in one go ....any corruption due to internet and you don't have old kernel because they were wiped and nor do you have new ones. So i do manual download and install new offline , then upgrade everything else. But thats Slackware
 
I tried to upgrade to ubuntu 20.04 from 18.04 and had to do a clean install. It is better to do a clean install. But first and foremost backup everything. Once you get caught up in the upgrade you can not save anything from the prior version. Remember there is not and undo command when you begin the upgrade and something goes wrong. I like a clean install better than upgrading so far. It is cleaner and there is no excess baggage carryover from prior corrupt files etc.
 
When I went from 19.10 to 20.04, Ubuntu marked lots of software (KMail, etc. [I use Kubuntu, which is why I have KMail]) for removal. The next time I ran sudo apt autoremove I lost a lot of software.

As many others on this forum will tell you, it's a good idea to back up your system with Timeshift before upgrading.
 
Thank you folks. I have just registered as a new member and am greatly impressed with with so many quick responses offering help and advice. I do keep backed up and updated. My last Windows was XP and, apart from Evolution long gone, have looked upon Linux as unbelievably generous with all its offerings, by way of its program producers and contributors. I am encouraged to have a little think about 20.4! Cheers, rh
 
do you mean Evolution Mail ?
 
G'day :) Reg from another Aussie and welcome to linux.org

First part of this Post is seriously off-topic :p

Reg if you are seriously 96, I want you to get your bony Kiwi arse over to Member Introductions

https://www.linux.org/forums/member-introductions.141/

as soon as convenient, and say Hi, and tell us a bit of the Reg Harris story, we would love to hear it.

On Topic:

With Linux Mint, its CEO is one Clement Lefebvre, French-born, lives in Ireland (go figure).

Brian @Condobloke and I had a bellyache with (was it Linux Mint 17 to 18, Brian?) Mint, in upgrading from one version to the next.

Clem had a two-page or so How-to on the Mint website for the upgrade, we both followed it (we thought) religiously, and both our Mints bellied up.

Brian opted to do the upgrade as a fresh install, and I, being a stubborn bugger, repeated the attempt and got it in the end, but only by squinting my eyes and holding my mouth the right way and hoping the wind would not change.

Since then (several years) I would not upgrade from one to the other. Things might have improved ... or maybe not.

Linux is great in so many ways, I can allow for a failure or two :)

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
wizardfromoz said:
Brian @Condobloke and I had a bellyache with (was it Linux Mint 17 to 18, Brian?) Mint, in upgrading from one version to the next.
Click to expand...

Yes Chris, that is correct.
Since that experience, it has been Clean Installs only.....both for myself and I always recommend that course to others.

Either backup images , or Timeshift snapshots, saved to an external hard drive, are crucial.
 
I double-click ditto on Clean Install, always. And that is the main reason why I keep / and /home on separate partitions. Upon a clean install of the OS, the config files on /home are simply updated when the updated software is installed. I haven't lost any mail or calendar entries (Thunderbird/Lightning) of bookmarks (FF or Chrome) since doing that. Also, with Kubuntu, I only do the LTS release so no concerns with any of that except once every two years - or if I upgrade some hardware.

And job #1 is always do backups.
 
wizardfromoz said:
G'day :) Reg from another Aussie and welcome to linux.org

First part of this Post is seriously off-topic :p

Reg if you are seriously 96, I want you to get your bony Kiwi arse over to Member Introductions

https://www.linux.org/forums/member-introductions.141/

as soon as convenient, and say Hi, and tell us a bit of the Reg Harris story, we would love to hear it.

On Topic:

With Linux Mint, its CEO is one Clement Lefebvre, French-born, lives in Ireland (go figure).

Brian @Condobloke and I had a bellyache with (was it Linux Mint 17 to 18, Brian?) Mint, in upgrading from one version to the next.

Clem had a two-page or so How-to on the Mint website for the upgrade, we both followed it (we thought) religiously, and both our Mints bellied up.

Brian opted to do the upgrade as a fresh install, and I, being a stubborn bugger, repeated the attempt and got it in the end, but only by squinting my eyes and holding my mouth the right way and hoping the wind would not change.

Since then (several years) I would not upgrade from one to the other. Things might have improved ... or maybe not.

Linux is great in so many ways, I can allow for a failure or two :)

Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
Click to expand...
Wiz,
Right on with your last comment - 'Linux is great in so many ways, I can allow for a failure or two :)'.
With any 'failure' comes an opportunity to learn something. Keeps the mind active.
The memory is a different animal however. LOL.
OG
 
G'day Chris and thanks for the encouragement to converse. If I can have your email address I can open up a bit - don't want to bore others with it.
And Brian, it was Evolution Mail. But a dim memory so no detail apart from the fact that it really buggered my email with loss of addresses and all sorts
So thank you Gentlemen, rh
 
reg harris said:
...don't want to bore others with it.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't. We have a very significant representation here, of Members aged 55 to 85, and we are always interested to hear of each other's paths through life, and our journeys to trying Linux as well.

Not easy to get bored here, there is always activity on the board (I think there is a pun lurking there)

Friday in Oz and in The land of the Long White Cloud, so to all

Avagudweegend

Wizard
 
reg harris said:
And Brian, it was Evolution Mail. But a dim memory so no detail apart from the fact that it really buggered my email with loss of addresses and all sorts
Click to expand...

Much the same experience for me as well,Reg.
I promptly changed to Thunderbird mail....(accessing gmail)....and life has been without incident in the email department for over 6 years.

I have a fairly large email haul....it takes up 4 gb, approx. ,of googles free 10 gb

interestingly, both evolution and Thunderbird are available as free downloads in the Linux software repository.
 
As someone in your generation-ish, at 73, I can appreciate - well, everything :)

The path in Ubuntu to 20.04 from prior releases (i.e., 18.04, 19.10, etc) became a bit rocky, for some technical reasons. But, in reality, if you go to the Release Notes page, there is a way on CLI to do the update, or you can simply do a clean install from the Live/installer USB or DVD.

Again, my approach is back up my data and files, then a clean install.
 
Wait... I have a question...

Do you have 32 bit Ubuntu installed?

If you do, it will invite you to update and then fail, though usually with an error saying that no updates are available for your system (rather cryptic and not all that informative) because there are no more Ubuntu updates for 32 bit system. I have no idea why it will still let you try to update. I have no idea why it will ask you if you want updates, considering there is no path to 20.04 for 32 bit installs.

Even if you have 64 bit hardware, you could have installed the 32 bit version of Ubuntu.

What's the output of 'uname -a'?
 
KGIII has a good point, as Ubuntu dropped 32 bit support with release 19.10. However, the typical upgrade path for Ubuntu is a problem this time around, also.
So the request for identifying the current version that is on your system with
Code: 
uname -a
is a great first attack on your problem.
 
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