The Great Ubuntu Reinstall of January 07

Well, I did it. I royally hosed up my new Ubuntu Linux install trying to get my laptop to play a microsoft media file. Oh sure, it wasn't easy. I had to install and reinstall about twenty packages but I finally managed to bugger up the the O/S. I could claim it's all part of Microsoft's attempt to take over the world but in the end I have only myself to blame.

So its back to a thirty minute operating system load then another hour spent reloading things I'd already loaded once. If I find the packaged that did me in I'll post it here so other will know what not to do.

Thus shows the true value of blogs and the internet. Don't do as others have done. Do as others wish they had done.

Ok, that said, here's a list of steps I performed.
First I backed up the old home directory. Basically I just copied the files to a blank CD

Next I reinstalled Ubuntu by placing the Ubuntu install CD into the drive and rebooting. It'll boot Ubuntu off the CD. There is an icon on the desktop labled "Install". Double click that.

Follow the install menu options. I choose to reformat the drive in order to blow away my old install. Wait forever for that to finish then allow the software updater to update what you just installed. You'll need to rebot after that.

Here's where I did things differently from the last install.

I edited the /etc/apt/sources.list and added universe and multiverse to the end of the first two lines so they look something like

deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ edgy main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ edgy main restricted universe multiverse

Next I ran

sudo apt-get update

The reason this was needed is the fact that java-5 isn't in the application list of the default entries in /ect/apt/sources.list

After that I went to the System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager, found Java 5 (and some cool 3d star system packages) and updated my system. I decided not to install java 6 this time.

I rebooted my system after this just to make sure all the java stuff was set correctly. This probably isn't needed, after all this isn't Windows I'm using, but I decided to do it anyway just to make sure.

After this I installed Eclipse using the package updater under Applications->Add/Remove menu

Next, so I won't have to do another full install, I did a system backup. To accomplish this, first read this post in the Ubuntu Forums for details but it boils down to the following two statements.
cd /
then
sudo tar cvpzf backup.tgz --exclude=/proc --exclude=/lost+found --exclude=/backup.tgz --exclude=/mnt --exclude=/sys /

After the backup finished, I copied it off to an external drive. The files was over a gig so it wouldn't fit on a CD.

I'll update the blog with more information as I run into other snags.

My next effort will be to install DB2. Luckily I found another blogger who's written instructions for this at http://project-tigershark.com/people/rob/blog/2007/01/02/installing-db2-91-on-ubuntu-dapper-606/