Ubuntu, be careful out there!

[Paul M]

I've played with Ubuntu in the past and tried the whole KStars / Ekos Thing on both Astroberry and in Ubuntu on my imaging Mini PC.  I liked all that but never got anywhere with it. Ended up back on Windows and APT for imaging.

In the run up to Christmas I decided to install Ubuntu on my old W10 Lappy, 8Gig Ram, 500Gb SSD. Just for something to do.

It didn't go smoothly, for a variety of reasons the old Tosh Satellite Lappy wouldn't boot into Ubuntu. I'll save the details, I've tried a million ways round and eventually tried an application called UNetbootin. It works via Windows as an initial boot source then allows Ubuntu to be installed. Dual or single OS boot. It's all to do with EFI or Legacy BIOS entanglement.

So I've had a couple of goes yesterday with UNetbootin but never getting a bootable Ubuntu installation. Unfortunately each attempt also trashed the W10 installation. Each time having to reinstall windows. There seems to be an issue with the Samsung Evo 500 Gb SSD. It now only talks to the Toshiba lappy. Can't do anything with it in an external caddy, including Low level format using proprietary software. It says it's done but I can put it back in the Tosh and it'll boot into windows.. Likewise Diskpart via command line can't wipe or partition it. 

Anyway, so I had another go tonight. Samsung Evo 500Mb SSD installed in the tosh. Newly installed and working W10. UNetbootin installed and started. It looks for the location of the Ubuntu ISO. I've kept a copy of that on my imaging SSD, an external USB SanDisk Extreme 500Gb...  OK, y'all might see where this is going...

Fired up UNetbootin for about the 4th time tonight using the recommended setting I got from YouTube. And this time it actually worked. I had a lovely new Ubuntu Installation on the Tosh. Did some updates and decided to install the Linux/Ubuntu  Astro software I had the Instal files for... on my imaging SSD... Now can you see where it's going.

Opened the Sandisk SSD to look for ASTAP and it's data files to install and found er.. I found my astro data... three years worth of imaging data (the stuff worth keeping) a number of other config files for my Windows software ets... all overwritten by my shiny new Ubuntu instal

I'd left the Sandisk SSD plugged in and somehow selected that as the destination in UNetbootin.

On a happy note I now know the problem is with the Samsung SSD. I won't bother buying a new one (nothing will completely wipe the old one) I don't need Ubuntu. I was just playing and became obsessed with the problem.

However I will miss the imaging data that I just lost. I know I could recover some of it. Only a few Gb of the Sandisk SSD has actually been overwritten. But No enthusiasm for it just now! 

New year, new data, as they say!

 

[Rallemikken]

7 hours ago, Paul M said:

... all overwritten by my shiny new Ubuntu instal

Lesson learned. Sorry for your loss. When you prepare the install media and the machine and disk you want Linux on, this is best done within Linux itself. The first thing you should do is to pick a 16 or 32gB USB-stick and install a persistent Linux system on it, a system to keep for later use and householding. MX Linux offer live install media with persistence. Or you can choose the distro of your heart and do a regular install. This is what I do. I use Debian and Mint. Once you've got your new stick booting (albeit a little slow maybe) you start gathering tools and learn to use them. dmesg to trace things you stick in and out, dd to write images to USB-stick, gparted to get to know your disks and prepare them for install, lsblk, lsusb, hardinfo and hwinfo for guidence. And last but not least, grub to deal with boot problems. 

This is a sticky matter, and I will not dwell further, but I'd like to share one trick that has saved my day many times: Do a regular install of Debian or Mint on a stick as mentioned above. Learn to master grub from the command line. Whenever you have a machine that does not boot, you reach for your stick, plug it in and voila! Find out which disk is what. Use update-grub and grub-install. You have two choices: Install grub on the disk in the machine and reboot without the stick, or if you don't want to touch that disk, reinstall grub on the stick and boot once again from that. When you get to the grub welcome screen, you may find boot entries to the other OS'es (if any) on the machine. Try them. The boot entry for the stick itself will always be on top, and will always work later, regardless on what it boots in.

[Stickey]

A salutary lesson for all of us. Sorry to hear about your misfortune Paul M.

I keep all my image data, including processed images, on an external SSD - quickly ran out of space on the laptop 😳 - and I have a separate HD that backs up both the laptop and the SSD on separate runs. 

I've heard that professional photographers will have 3 independent backup devices, ruggedised ones if they're out in the field a lot. 

 

Mike

[Paul M]

@Rallemikken hi, yup I initially made a boot stick on my even older Dell ex Windows Laptop. I have Ubuntu installed on that but its only got 2Gof RAM and an old 120G HD. No use for anything other than playing with linux and creating instal media. The stick I made with it wouldn't boot in the old Tosh. Neither would a DVD made in the old Dell Ubuntu Machine using numerous software. I can't remember them all but they all had the same result. The tosh would just say the USB or DVD DEVICES were "failed". The same media would boot on the old Dell and my current modern Dell laptop.

Ive got a small stack of DVD's I've burned using Ubuntu on the old Dell a also on my current W11 Dell. They all boot anywhere but in the Tosh!

Tried various methods via Media prepared on the Dell. This is where UNetbootin comes along. It piggy backs in the W10 C drive and piggyback at boot. 

There is a whole Internet of info about the EFI/Legacy BIOS boot debacle. Not much of it makes sense to me but UNetbootin is crested for just such a problem.

When I reinstall W10 on the Evo 500G SSD in the Tosh machine it runs fine. If I put that drive in a caddy and look at it elsewhere under Ubuntu or W11 it shows as uninitialized. No partitions and nothing but nothing will wipe it. I already had paid for Partitioning software but it fails. I installed a low level format utility, paid a license fee to get full functionality and that does nothing!

Anyway. I'm going to get that Evo SSD, and introduce it to my SDS (big hammer drill) then throw it in the road and drive over it. I'll invite the neighbours to do the same. Maybe throw a bit of a street party, get them in the swing of it. Then I'll put the remnants in the wood stove for an hour.

See if that clears it...🤣

 

[Paul M]

@Stickey

Oh I always do backups...tomorrow with full benefit of hindsight. 

But not to worry. Most if not all of my images worth looking at are safely stored in SGL's servers in my attachments.

When you see them you'll realise why I'm not to bothered about the stuff I didn't share!🤣

I was actually thinking of blitzing my imaging SSD soon because it's full of junky data. Just a few data sets I go back to now and then. Plus my early images that I liked to look back at. I'll find a few bits and bobs in the cloud probably.

[Paul M]

Well, it looks like I've actually got Ubuntu installed on the Tosh and 500Gb Evo SSD!

I burned yet another USB boot stick using UNetbootin and it did boot and did install. 

Doing some updates and then I'll install the whole KStars / Indi  thing plus ASTAP as the solver/ Stacker.

Not that I'll use it! 🤣😁🤪🔭

[Rallemikken]

13 minutes ago, Paul M said:

plus ASTAP as the solver/ Stacker.

The platesolver buildt into Ekos works excellent. It solves against indexfiles on your computer. The files themselves can take some time to download, but once they'r there, you can platesolve locally. You can also load a file from an earlier session, raw or fits, let Ekos solve it, and the rig will slew, take a new picture, solve and adjust and so on. When it fails, it's always to few stars or not focus. I platesolve with my 1000mm scope with a 2.5x barlow and a Canon, works great. Just a matter of spending enough exposuretime to gather stars. The solver automagically selects the right indexfiles, based on the settings in your current profile. You can even platesolve with the guidecamera, handy when you do visual.

[Paul M]

I've spent quite a lot of time in the past playing with Kstars et al and have set up the internal solver a few times.

I agree that it works well but since then I've become a big ASTAP fan.

I tried wedding it with KStars on my slow old Dell laptop that I put Ubuntu on previously and found that it works well also, at least with subs loaded into the EKos viewer.

There are a couple of long threads I started on SGL about Linux/Ububtu/Kstars, the first about my endless issues with Astroberry. I won't open the wounds again but suffice to say that I never got a successful session with it. Indeed 2nd Sub would crash the RasPi, if it got that far.

Then I started another thread about the miniPC I that intended to run Ubuntu on and try Kstars on the bigger machine. That too was flakey, so to avoid any more wasted time I just went back to Windows. No issues with APT but I like playing with software.

Maybe I will, maybe I won't try to run a session with Ekos from the Tosh lappy 😁

I've though about trying NINA some time but by the sound of it, it'll just work.

Where's the fun in that?😁

 

[AstroMuni]

On 08/01/2023 at 01:46, Paul M said:

Opened the Sandisk SSD to look for ASTAP and it's data files to install and found er.. I found my astro data... three years worth of imaging data (the stuff worth keeping) a number of other config files for my Windows software ets... all overwritten by my shiny new Ubuntu instal

We have all been there and done that. I inadvertantly got rid of my partition on my HDD which had all my old images etc. Had to reinstall Linux Mint all over again. Like yours its an old laptop with 3Gb Ram and 256Gb hdd. I had similar problems with DVD and in the end had to use a USB stick to boot Linux.

[Paul M]

The good news is that my portable Astro SSD is now empty. That has to be a good omen, an indicator that there will be clear skies for Galaxy Season!

And my old lappy has a new lease of life under Ubuntu. Been using it as my routine laptop for a few days now 😀