Arch Linux

solarwind

Member

From: Toronto

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 546

I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

Ok, so my first partition has Ubuntu and GRUB is installed in it's /boot/grub, naturally. I want to use that partition for data as I have no need for Ubuntu after I discovered this amazing distribution. I also have my documents and stuff in there. Is it safe to remove all the directories in my Ubuntu partition except for /boot and /home (which contains my files)? Remove as in: rm -rf <all my dirs except /boot and /home>?

bender02

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2007-02-04

Posts: 1,328

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

Yes, I would feel safer if grub would be on my root partition (if you don't use boot partition), and not on the one with just data.

I bet you already have /boot/grub on the arch partition as well (since grub is in the base group), so you could just let the part of grub in MBR know that it should be using this and not the ubuntu one. That way it also gets updated along with arch. How to do this (it assumes that grub is in MBR and that you don't have a boot partition):
1. copy over the /boot/grub/menu.lst (or /boot/grub/grub.conf, whichever filename you're using)
2. run 'grub' as root-> you get into its prompt
  a. "root (hd0,x)", where 'x' is one less than your arch root partition number (e.g. if it's /dev/sda2, then 'x'=1) (grub should confirm the filesystem you're using)
  b. "setup (hd0)"
  c. "quit"

Last edited by bender02 (2008-03-24 04:13:27)

solarwind

Member

From: Toronto

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 546

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

Yes, I would feel safer if grub would be on my root partition (if you don't use boot partition), and not on the one with just data.

I bet you already have /boot/grub on the arch partition as well (since grub is in the base group), so you could just let the part of grub in MBR know that it should be using this and not the ubuntu one. That way it also gets updated along with arch. How to do this (it assumes that grub is in MBR and that you don't have a boot partition):
1. copy over the /boot/grub/menu.lst (or /boot/grub/grub.conf, whichever filename you're using)
2. run 'grub' as root-> you get into its prompt
  a. "root (hd0,x)", where 'x' is one less than your arch root partition number (e.g. if it's /dev/sda2, then 'x'=1) (grub should confirm the filesystem you're using)
  b. "setup (hd0)"
  c. "quit"

Thanks a lot for the info! Also, the only other stuff I need from my Ubuntu partition is that I have a printer set up. How do I backup those configuration files? Where would they be?

bampowwack

Member

From: Manitoba

Registered: 2006-07-07

Posts: 15

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

If your messing around with Linux its a good idea to keep your /home dir on a separate partition or drive, just in case you want to try a diferent distro or want to reinstall.

You should never use rm -rf under root unless you know what your doing; If there's a sim link in your system leading to your home or root dir your fucked.

---

"Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed."

solarwind

Member

From: Toronto

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 546

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

If your messing around with Linux its a good idea to keep your /home dir on a separate partition or drive, just in case you want to try a diferent distro or want to reinstall.

You should never use rm -rf under root unless you know what your doing; If there's a sim link in your system leading to your home or root dir your fucked.

So how would you suggest I safely remove the directories?

bampowwack

Member

From: Manitoba

Registered: 2006-07-07

Posts: 15

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

What does your partition layout look like? If you don't know, do "df -h" in a terminal and post the output.

---

"Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed."

solarwind

Member

From: Toronto

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 546

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

[vg@vg-x2-arch ~]$ df -h
Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdb3              30G  3.7G   24G  14% /
none                  950M     0  950M   0% /dev/shm
/dev/sdb1             116G   25G   87G  23% /mnt/sdb1
/dev/sda1              77G   34G   43G  44% /mnt/sda1
/dev/sda2              77G   21G   57G  27% /mnt/sda2
[vg@vg-x2-arch ~]$

bampowwack

Member

From: Manitoba

Registered: 2006-07-07

Posts: 15

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

copy/backup your files and restructure your drive partitions.

Looks like you should backup all your user data and stick with one os.

---

"Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed."

solarwind

Member

From: Toronto

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 546

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

copy/backup your files and restructure your drive partitions.

Looks like you should backup all your user data and stick with one os.

Yeah, I just need to get rid of Ubuntu stuff on that partition and I'm fine.

eerok

Member

From: Canada

Registered: 2005-03-20

Posts: 171

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

You should never use rm -rf under root unless you know what your doing; If there's a sim link in your system leading to your home or root dir your fucked.

No,  rm just removes the symlink, not what it points to.

---

noobus in perpetuus

solarwind

Member

From: Toronto

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 546

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

You should never use rm -rf under root unless you know what your doing; If there's a sim link in your system leading to your home or root dir your fucked.

No,  rm just removes the symlink, not what it points to.

Even rm -rf? As in recursive + force?

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,742

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

Do this simple test, as a NON-root user:

cd ~
ln -sfn / disaster
rm -rf disaster
ls -l /

Yes, everything is still there.

solarwind

Member

From: Toronto

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 546

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

Do this simple test, as a NON-root user:

cd ~
ln -sfn / disaster
rm -rf disaster
ls -l /

Yes, everything is still there.

Well obviously it's still there if root owns it...

brebs

Member

Registered: 2007-04-03

Posts: 3,742

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

Well obviously it's still there if root owns it...

You're completely missing the point. There's no error message of me trying to delete everying in / and failing.

solarwind

Member

From: Toronto

Registered: 2008-03-18

Posts: 546

Re: I Love Arch. I Want To Get Rid Of Ubuntu.

Well obviously it's still there if root owns it...

You're completely missing the point. There's no error message of me trying to delete everying in / and failing.

Lol yea I noticed that. I just had to make my smart *** post above, hehe.