On Fri October 26 2007, Carlos E. R. scratched these words onto a coconut shell, hoping for an answer:
The Thursday 2007-10-25 at 13:28 -0700, Randall R Schulz wrote:
-Is it also possible to skip a release when updating? e.g. is it possible to update 10 to 10.3 or 9 to 10.2?
It is, but see below. I recall one person recently mentioning here (this list) successfully doing a 10.0 -> 10.3 upgrade. More below.
I did 9.3 --> 10.2, no problems. Not unexpected problems, at least.
Here are some of my perspectives, views and opinions. They are neither authoritative, definitive nor official.
- The view long held by those among us inclined to be conservative about system stability and integrity have generally had a strong preference for using only clean installs, not upgrades. adding to this one.. generally a clean install also has the benefit of cleaning out old programs, folders and files that may have been something you *thought about* installing, and then didn't.
Or you did install said program, but for various reasons decided against keeping it and the uninstall of said program isn't complete. By which I mean, perhaps some files or folders are not in standard locations so when you delete the folder and files, or use whatever uninstall system you normally use, all the bits aren't always cleanly removed. This can happen when there is a new consensus coming together in the Linux community, about exactly where various bits and pieces of code are to be placed so ( in our case ) *Suse* and in general Distro "X" , also, knows where to look for it. It sometimes happened in the past when there was a disagreement as to the exact ( preferred ) location of files or folders should be. *But* if you are installing something that you got , for instance, directly from the primary programmer. (i.e. Usually the latest and greatest multimedia files are ones you may find work better than what was in the current release.Perhaps only the newest Alsa, or Jack, or Amarok or ???? actually recognizes your sound card or chip, it happens <shrug>) This problem seems to have resolved itself ... for now.... ;-) As you can see , you can have a lot of files or folders lying about your system that may NOT cause problems, but waste space.. and Just might cause odd problems in the future. A clean install gets rid of all the *chit* and makes things tidy. And you recover space on your drives you weren't even aware you were missing. This might be really important on a laptop.
I'm an exception: I always upgrade. I have done so since 5.3. If it hoses (it did once, 7.3 --> 8.1), there is the backup and retry or clean install.
My advice is to do a full backup before either upgrading or instaling new version fresh. Oh boy ,Carlos is so right on the money here. I agree, and more, suggest you don't "skimp" on this backup. Put in items, files, you might not do in a normal backup.. like, for instance, some of your config files. The ones in the /etc directory , as those are your system wide settings.
That way you will have a copy you can SEE to compare to the *new* one , should there be some sort of odd config problem. You *could* just print them.. but that's a lot of paper! Be certain , whatever route you go, that you have a clean copy of your /etc/X11/XF86Config file ( and perhaps print a copy as well ) & the /etc/X11/xorg.conf for good measure. Just in case... perhaps ,the next nvidia-xconfig makes a dogs dinner of things.. or your power goes down in the middle of installing the drivers for your monitor and video card.. or chips Dastardly things can happen. In fact I would make sure I had a printed copy of any item that has given me trouble in the past.. be certain you note changes especially. If you also have a clean copy of these files, you can always use your init 3 login and just rename the one that isn't working and then copy your old one into that location.( assuming, for instance you *do* have the nvidia driver installed !! Obviously if it isn't installed and you copy a config file that is looking for nvidia drivers, you will most likely not get a display. You are going to be really unhappy at that. ;) however, if it's just something weird in the way the file got written, or it wasn't completely done.. replacing the bolloxed on w/ a prior config file that worked will allow you get back to a desktop and presumably if getting a display is your main problem, you can send email "shout out" for help.. :) Chances are you won't need it, and it's even less likely that anything can go as radically wrong as some of us have had in the past. Usually w/ a box which isn't a critical use box.. so if it's down , or needs care, or a kick in the backside.. we can make it obey. As you can see, many "old hands" ( relatively speaking in computer usage terms, Linux user terms ) are opting for an upgrade, even when it's more than one level upgrade.. But as you say you are "new" ... be aware things happen. And it's just a good idea to make these backups .... just in case.. you know, meteors, dust motes from Mars, lightning strikes, someone drives a bus thru your location... a rare likelihood sure, but take a few minutes, take an afternoon, and prepare.. before you attempt an upgrade, or a from scratch install... eventually you will also be an "old hand" and will have your own comfort level to offer. Also, while you feel "new"at Suse, take notes. Make notes of what you change, and why.. it's easier to undo something if you actually know what you did in the first place. :-) HTH -- j I've lived in the real world enough, we're all here because we ain't all there. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org