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I had the 24.04 upgrade fail on me. :(

My attempts to "fix" the broken apt have left me with a system that no longer boots.

So I've downloaded the Desktop distro, made a bootable USB, and am trying to re-install without losing my data. From what I've read online I think this "should" be possible...

But when I get to the "Manual partitioning" screen during the setup process I cannot specify my root partition (which also has all my user data on...) without the Format checkbox becoming ticked, and I cannot then untick it.

Please can anyone help me?

vanadium
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thoughton
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    I've written an answer that explains WHY FORMAT IS FORCED.. and hopes that it will be reverted in time (alas no clues on when), and two possible alternatives (obvious is install with format, then restore data from backups)... – guiverc May 25 '24 at 08:50
  • @guiverc thank you so much for explaining all this. One question: would attempting a reinstall of 23.10 (my previous version) instead be a valid thing to try? Did that use the old installer with the working ”don't format” option? And then I could try the upgrade again. I'm just wondering if that's potentially a smoother path than choosing an entirely different flavour. – thoughton May 25 '24 at 10:35
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    Ubuntu 23.10 had both installers available (ubuntu-desktop-installer and ubiquity; the latter appearing as the legacy ISO/installer). If I was in your shoes, I'd ensure you have good backups, then yes I would consider a re-install of 23.10; which can always be upgraded again.. alas this is still messy & a long approach; though yes another flavor maybe more work anyway! I'd likely use the ubiquity installer (ie. legacy 23.10), but that maybe as I still feel I know it better, but cleanest option would be clean install, then restore of data. ...... – guiverc May 25 '24 at 10:47
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    I regularly go backwards in QA; eg. in August [2024] we release 22.04.5 & 24.04.1 so switching a system from one to another (using existing data/packages) is something I do.. but that's usually on test systems with data that doesn't really matter to me.. In real life (with data that does matter) I've run into problems a couple of times going backwards (I think I touched it in an answer I linked to below) but those circumstances are rare.. but do occur!! If you have issues, you can always clean install & restore data, so maybe an option to consider for sure. – guiverc May 25 '24 at 10:49
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    FYI: If you don't already know, or hadn't realize.. I'm on the Lubuntu team, which is why Lubuntu is referenced often by me.. and much of my QA is done with Lubuntu... Xubuntu second, then Ubuntu Desktop, MATE, Kubuntu.... etc.. Ubuntu Desktop differs a little in non-destructive re-install between releases (in relation to 'universe' enabled/disable thus packages found/not-found) which can be worked around, but I forget which releases the work arounds are required for. – guiverc May 25 '24 at 10:52
  • Thank you once again. This is all invaluable. No I did not realise you are on the Lubuntu team - in fact I hadn't really heard of it until today - but I am liking the sound of it very much, thanks in no small part to your kind sharing of knowledge here. If I do go down the path of installing a different flavour, Lubuntu is definitely top of my list. – thoughton May 25 '24 at 11:41
  • FYI: I only mentioned Lubuntu (& team) as what I've said here does sort of mention Lubuntu a bit (esp. some of my links). I see Lubuntu as still a Ubuntu system, just using a different desktop... and a number of us are on different teams (most of what I did today related to Ubuntu News related, another team). Use whatever works for you, and makes you happy. – guiverc May 25 '24 at 12:44
  • do-release-upgrade from 22.04 to 24.04 nuked my boot partition. The process did not fail gracefully or informatively, was an unprofessional shitshow, and I had to wipe the partition and do a fresh install. Same thing happened to a friend today. Recommend going into the process expecting to have to do a fresh install on a clean drive. – Lexible Sep 27 '24 at 23:15
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    @Lexible yep sadly my experience was very similar, ultimately leading me to write my original post. It's fair to say it was not a fun few days. – thoughton Oct 01 '24 at 22:30

1 Answers1

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The format box is currently forced, which is why you cannot uncheck it.

A problem was discovered during Quality Assurance testing for Ubuntu noble (24.04), where insufficient time was available for it to be fixed, and corrected prior to release.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-desktop-provision/+bug/2058638

The workaround implemented in the time available was to force format, thus your inability to uncheck format.

There are plans to correct this issue when time allows, and being that ubuntu-desktop-installer is a snap package, it will be available once released, but no time line on when the ubuntu-desktop-provision fix will be available is currently known.

It impacts the ubuntu-desktop-installer, thus affects Ubuntu Desktop and all flavors of 24.04 using ubuntu-desktop-installer.

It does not impact Lubuntu, Kubuntu or Ubuntu Unity 24.04, as they use the calamares installer.

The current workaround, is to format the partition on install, then post-install, restore your data from backups.

The other alternative is using another ISO that uses a different installer, then alter the installed packages so as to achieve what you want (ie. install Lubuntu 24.04 for example, then adjust what is installed to make it what you want); alas this is dirty & maybe more work than restoring backups.

ps: I've assumed you have backups, but if you don't, stop now and boot live media (eg. 24.04 and use the TRY mode) and create backups of your data now !!

guiverc
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    This issue you'll find written about in an answer to this question on this site in comments - https://askubuntu.com/questions/446102/how-to-reinstall-ubuntu-in-the-easiest-way/1451533#1451533 – guiverc May 25 '24 at 08:47
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    My normal QA tests including install one flavor (eg. Lubuntu), adding packages & data... then non-destructively re-installing another system (eg. Xubuntu).. expecting the data & my manually installed packages to be there but I've switched to Xfce (instead of LXQt)... then do it again with Ubuntu Desktop (same again but GNOME now..) before finally non-destructively switching back to Lubuntu... Has been possible for all releases up to 23.10; alas this issue appeared as consequence of ubuntu-desktop-provision late in noble cycle.. forcing FORMAT was fix chosen. – guiverc May 25 '24 at 08:48
  • It's a problem for me. I always used non-destructive re-install, and now I stuck on 23.10 version. – dima.rus Mar 02 '25 at 10:10
  • @dima.rus I've done two non-destructive re-installs of my 24.04 system on this box last month... I had an issue that I was having problems resolving & didn't want to spend more time on it (mostly I was out of ideas) so just did a non-destructive re-install of the 24.04 release.. I didn't want 24.10, and saw little point it going backwards to 22.04 LTS, so I just re-installed what I had which was 24.04. The calamares ISOs don't have a forced format; only those using ubuntu-desktop-provision – guiverc Mar 02 '25 at 10:16