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I am currently using Ubuntu 12.10 i386.

I was disappointed when I was unable to install any software, get updates, or upgrade.

In another question here, I was told to install Ubuntu 14.04. And I am currently downloading the Ubuntu GNOME 14.04 via Transmission.

I've used Windows for a long time and I know I can't upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit.

The Ubuntu installation that I use now is 32 bit 12.10, so can I upgrade directly to Ubuntu 14.04 from 12.10 or do I have to clean install it?

If i can upgrade without losing files, can someone please tell me how?

RPiAwesomeness
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Anfas
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2 Answers2

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You have to do a clean install for two reasons:

  1. As you have noted, 32-bit cannot be upgraded to 64-bit.
  2. Ubuntu releases can be upgraded in two ways: from any release to the immediate next release, or from one LTS release to another. You can't jump from a normal release to an LTS release which came a couple of versions later.

If you have the free space, create a new partition and install. If you don't have the free space, you have two options - do a step-by-step upgradation of 12.10 to 14.04 - from 12.10 to 13.04, from 13.04 to 13.10 and 13.10 to 14.04. This can be done - the question is, is the time and effort worth it? On last way would be avoid formatting the partition when you are installing 14.04, which may let you save your home directory and a few other things.

muru
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  • I lost a lot of file , movies, folders of about 300gb when i installed ubuntu 12.10.My hard drive is clean formatted without any pasrtition.I do not know to create partitions.I have a 500 gb hard disk with 469 gb usable. Thank you for the answer and i didn't think it would be this fast.The would you mind solving my other question.Once again Thank you. – Anfas Jul 22 '14 at 12:37
  • https://askubuntu.com/questions/500674/cant-install-any-softwares-through-software-center-nor-packages-or-get-update – Anfas Jul 22 '14 at 12:37
  • this is the URL of the question – Anfas Jul 22 '14 at 12:38
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    @Anfas as hazrpg and I have said, you can choose not to format when installing again. Or, do you have about 20GB free space, we can shrink that partition and make a new one. – muru Jul 22 '14 at 14:39
  • Anfas: I agree with @muru, those are your two best options. I'm sure if you wanted to go down the shrinking/creating partition route, either of us would be happy to help. – hazrpg Jul 22 '14 at 14:50
  • I have a 4gb pendrive with me and i've lost all my data.I do not think i ave data that i need to keep that exceeds 4 gb.I don't mind clean installing.I just want to learn how to install one over the other without losing data. – Anfas Jul 22 '14 at 15:36
  • If you don't mind clean installing, and you have the most important data already, then best way is to have one partition for / and one for /home (starting a fresh from now). Because that way, should you ever need to upgrade, you can do a clean install over / but keep /home safe with all your configurations and settings saved. This guide might help you get started: http://www.tecmint.com/ubuntu-14-04-installation-guide/. One thing I should mention, you need to remove all the current partitions with the - button. – hazrpg Jul 22 '14 at 16:04
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Quick Warning: I can't promise you that this will work, but this is how you are suppose to do it. Always make sure you backup before you do a fresh install just incase you lose your data.

The best thing to do is do a clean install. If you don't want to lose your data, this can be easily solved during the install stage when it asks you what installation type you want to carry out (found in step 4 here).

Simply pick something else from the list, and click Continue.

On the next screen, you'll be presented with something like this:

Installation type gparted menu screen

From your description you should only have one partition, so select that one and then click the Change button.

Change the Use as: option to be the same type as your partition. So in my example this is ext4. And select the mount point to be /. Make sure the Format the partition: option is not ticked - this is how you will protect your /home directories/files/settings. You should have something like this:

enter image description here

Click OK and then click Install Now. Then follow the rest of the install steps as usual.

hazrpg
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  • So if i install the way you said to , what will happen? Will there be a new Partition with 14.67gb or .. – Anfas Jul 22 '14 at 15:24
  • @Anfas: No, you won't be making a new partition. This step is where you could create new partitions, however that is not what we are doing. We are simply telling Ubuntu where to install to (note that / is the root directory). If we wanted to create or remove partitions, we would use the + and - buttons. Hope this answers your question. – hazrpg Jul 22 '14 at 15:30
  • so can you please tell me whether i could divide my 469 gb into two partitions.One with very small size required for ubuntu.In which i will install ubuntu and the rest another partition to keep my files seperately.It would be more convenient.Please tell me if it's possible? – Anfas Jul 22 '14 at 15:40
  • Of course it is possible. Under that same step outlined above, simple remove all the partitions first with the - button, then click + button to create any or all the partitions you need. I would recommend 20GB for /, a swap partition with the same size as your RAM (e.g. 2GB of RAM, then make 2GB swap), and then make /home the size you need - e.g. the remainder of your hard drive. If you need more help, then there is a guide here: http://www.tecmint.com/ubuntu-14-04-installation-guide/. – hazrpg Jul 24 '14 at 14:52