I have an old netbook, it has an old version of Ubuntu on it, I want to install the latest version (mainly so I can get the new version of Chrome).

The netbook has two physically separate drives on it. A 3.5Gb and a 15Gb.

Nearly everything is on the 3.5Gb, but none of these are documents or my files, just files and programs to do with Ubuntu. They are taking up 2.5Gb of the 3.5Gb and I need 1.2Gb to do the upgrade.

The 15Gb has only 7.9Gb used.

Any suggestions for what I can do to make enough space for the new installation?

Please keep instructions basic and assume I know nothing in the world of Ubuntu!

Find the program called GNUParted, if you don’t have it download it through the Unbuntu repository. If you do a google for a guide it’ll tell you how to alter your partitions.

Should be able to do that from the installer, no? Flatten the primary drive and start again if there’s nothing on it you want to keep.

You can use gparted (as above) to resize the partitions. But might be easier just to reinstall from scratch.

Find the program called GNUParted

More commonly known as gparted. If it doesn’t come as standard on the liveCD (which it doesn’t with Fedora) then easy enough to install and use whilst running that. Though as Cougar says, if you’ve no data on the partition, no obvious reason not to just wipe it and reinstall from scratch.

Speaking from experience, if you’ve never used a partitioner before, then backup any documents/files that you might want to keep to an extenal drive before you start mucking about.

It’s horribly easy to lose stuff even when you think it won’t be touched.

Then as Cougar says, run the installer and it’ll give you choices about how to set up new partitions and formats (at least it used to in the 13 versions of Ubuntu – I assume the latest releases do too)

THey like to recommend partitioning for different things but for me it always seems to end up in a right ballache when you’ve run out of space on one and got loads left on another. Like this!

I’m guessing you’ve not used gparted then molly (which surprises me)? I tend to have it handy on a liveCD, and it makes resizing partitions so you’ve got space where you need it dead easy. Just the other day I installed Fedora as a dual boot on a HD which was full with a Windows install (but had plenty of free space in one of the partitions). A matter of a couple of minutes to make free space on the disk for the install.

The only problem then is if you have LVM partitions which tend to be used as standard with recent RHEL variants – and have numerous benefits over traditional partitions. gparted won’t work with those, but for that there is system-config-lvm (which appears to be unsupported, though it still works with current releases).

Ah, sorry I should have been clearer. I am pretty sure the netbook contains two different drives. One small SSD and a larger conventional spinny one. If so am I right in thinking the re-partitioning is not an option?

How could I check whether there are two disks or just one split into two?

gparted will tell you 😉

Alternatively if you’re prepared to use a command prompt

fdisk -l

will tell you

that an eeePC? (sounds like a 901, that had a 4gig primary SSD, and a 16gig secondary SSD for the Linux version or 8gig for the windows version)

I found with ubuntu and mint etc, that realistically I had to put / on the primary drive, then split the secondary in to 2 partitions. typically /home on most of it, and iirc /var or something on a spare 1-2gig of that (otherwise every time you do an update the primary SSD runs out of space downloading files).

personally, I’d back everything up, and start over whenever i did an install (didn’t keep all that much user data on it, and much of that was dropbox, so add that and all the files resync anyway).

ubuntu, mint etc. end up using about 2.8gig of the 4gig iirc for a default install.

gparted is on the LiveDVD .iso, but is NOT installed by default* and usually has to be added afterwards [via software center]. Therefore you can use it before installation, but if you want it again you have to go get it.

I am pretty sure the netbook contains two different drives. One small SSD and a larger conventional spinny one.

Totally don’t believe that. 15GB drives are, around 2000 era! Could be wrong though, I guess. Have you heard it ticking/working? fdisk or gparted will show you, though.

*WHY?!

andytherocketeer – Yes it is indeed an EEE PC 901 🙂 The Linux version so so 4/16 drives.

Like you I just used Dropbox so there are no files on it. How would I go about clearing off the OS and starting again?

so long as everything is 100% properly backed up, and confirmed as such, and that’s not just user data in /home but also make a note of some config files in /etc too (and maybe some others)…

simply burn the installer ISO to an SD Card, boot it, then install. the installer lets you partition (although I probably pre-partitioned and just selected the allocation in the installer).

which version of ubuntu, and which GUI? (PS Cinnamon was far too slow to use on mine – think I used xfce most, but never used the stock Unity Ubuntu)

Great minds think alike:

I just came back to add that my last [and next] Linux install was Mint/XFE, because on my Turion Laptop, Mint’s default window manager “Cinnamon” was slow.

Might be the best choice [though I think you can install XFE and switch over to it later] would be either Mint XFE or Ubuntu

http://xubuntu.org/
http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

I don’t really know what I would make a note of about config files. Really I just want to install a new version – there is nothing on the computer currently that I am worried about losing.

It has Ubuntu (lucid lynx?) on it at the minute so I guess I would get a new 32bit version here:

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

and follow the instructions.

My only slight issue on this is that previously I had to do some fiddling to get the wireless to work but hopefully the new versions will have resolved this, maybe :-s

Most people have covered the basics, only thing to add is are you sure you want Ubuntu as Unity is a bag of shite, so other distro’s might be a better idea.

Good point rich – Lubuntu is a good option for a lightweight system (I’m sitting here waiting for stuff to timeout on Fedora LXDE system I’m testing). Though other options have been mentioned above.

From the terminal you could do:

sudo apt-get clean
sudo do-release-upgrade -s

and if that works then:
sudo do-release-upgrade