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When I bought my current Dell Inspiron 3552 - http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-15-3552-laptop-ubuntu/pd - Ubuntu came preinstalled. I was new to Ubuntu and I did not feel ready to install an OS. I had so much else to learn. That was almost a year ago. Can I move from 14.04 to 16.04?

A previous answer on askubuntu said yes (Is it necessary to upgrade to 14.04 LTS or can I stand in 12.04 LTS forever with no problem?). Earlier versions of Ubuntu would cease to be supported so I did try to update. However the screen went blank. With some help from Dell I reinstalled 14.04 from a USB stick. I consulted Google and discovered that I was not the only one to encounter difficulties.

I'm currently only using this laptop to learn the command line and Python and general Ubuntu housekeeping but my ambitions will grow. I may need the greater protection that a newer OS might provide. Is it possible to migrate from 14.04 to 16.04

Community
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Bea
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  • Yes it's possible and recommend as support will eventually end for 14.04. Please post the steps that you followed to do an upgrade to 16.04. – George Udosen Dec 13 '16 at 09:59

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All trials I made to migrate my recently bought Inspiron 3552 to 16.04 were unsuccesfull.

After accepting from Ubuntu 14.04 to upgrade to 16.04, the laptop didn't start correctly any more. With a bootable usb-key it was posssible to "try" ubuntu 16.04, but the installation (although it finished with a report of success) systematically failed, as by the restart the PC was "unable to find any bootable devices". Various attemps were made, including with security boot disabled in the bios, with the same result.

Dell advises to check that your model is suitable for upgrade: http://www.dell.com/support/article/be/fr/bedhs1/SLN151664/EN but Canonical do not certify 16.04 on this laptop: https://certification.ubuntu.com/hardware/201504-18248/ so I think it is not (yet ?) possible to upgrade. As Ubuntu automatically suggests to upgrade, there is a heavy problem for the user unaware of the potential problem.

Ghislain
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  • The problem may not be solved but this does, at least, describe the problem better than I managed in my own words. For now I will accept the limitations of this Dell laptop. I can, at least, use it to teach myself Python and the Command Line. – Bea Feb 05 '17 at 14:36
  • I don't see your computer as "limited computer." I am currently using dell Inspiron n5010 and rocking Ubuntu 17.04. These upgrade problems are related to Ubuntu's GUI apps. I tried upgrading OS from live USB as they offered "Complete upgrade without data loss." It is a working way for me and I managed the issue with this. Else I upgraded from 16.10-17.04 in terminal and that gave me 0 error. – Ege Sucu Apr 25 '17 at 15:43