[ubuntu-uk] killed box through /var :P

[Matthew Wild]

Hi,

On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 12:33 PM, Farran <fazzy.baboon at ntlworld.com> wrote:
> hi everyone again
> sorry this is awfully complicated, but stick at it if you can be bothered I
> try to make sense of it at the end.
>

I read it, but I'll skip to the end to reply :)

> following my previous question about compiz, I realised the issue was with
> space on my / partition - every time I tried to do something, it complained
> (which was when I noticed). I had only set aside 15gb for the /, and I'm a
> bit of a program whore so I managed to fill it up. So much so, that synaptic
> could not start because there was not enough space to write an index of
> installed packages!
>     The only option I could think of was to move data to another partition
> (I have two more 15gb sections, originally set aside to play with other
> OSes) and remount it in the correct place. Looking through the different
> system folders, I discovered /var was almost the biggest, so moved that - by
> setting up a /var2 and mounting another partiton to it. I moved everything
> over, and remounted it over /var. The only issue was that none of the socket
> files would move. I figured I could move them over later on. I also felt
> comfortable with it because when the moved files were in the wrong place, an
> error popped up (about dpkg). When I remounted it, the error vanished, so I
> presumed it was ok. I edited /etc/fstab to mount /dev/sda6 to /var2 (not
> /var which was silly). Another weird thing - every time I removed anything
> through synaptic - however big or small - no space was ever freed up. I
> transferred 6.2gb of /var to the other partition, and there's only 5.4gb
> space left on /.
>     After rebooting, it worked fine, but I wasn't happy with it being spread
> around, so I looked through synaptic to try and remove stuff so I could put
> /var back on the same partition as the rest of it. [Also playing around with
> xorg.conf, I ran the reconfigure command it gave me in the file (no manual
> editing!). This might have some relation to the next bit cos it links to the
> input devices.] But now it won't/can't start gdm or X because /var is all in
> /var2. It needs xauthority from /var/lib/gdm. I tried to re-edit fstab with
> vi, but I don't know how to use it and I have no help file - how do I save
> it? But even when I mount sda6 to /var, gdm starts and logs on, but nothing
> works apart from <control><alt>F1-F12 and Delete. And the mouse doesn't do
> anything.
>
> Another option I was going to try is repartitioning - through another [live]
> os. Delete a spare 15gb, move everything up and resize the / partition. But
> I'm scared of accidentally formatting something or wiping something off, and
> ending up with no boot flag.
>
> Err that probably made no sense, but if you can get anything out of that, my
> main questions are:
> 1 is repartitioning safe and preferable?

It should never be considered safe, and never do it without backups.

> 2 how do I use vi?

My solution is to use nano ;)

If you do ever find yourself stuck with vi though, you can save and
exit with: <Esc>:wq

> 3 what are the commands to move /var2 back to /var (I think I know but don't
> want to make it worse)

mv /var2 /var?

Since I really don't know how you moved it initially, it's hard to
say. Did you move it to another partition, or...? and did you copy it,
or move it?

> 4 would it be best to generate an install list from synaptic so I know what
> I've got, and do a clean install with a larger partition? (and how would I
> do this through aptitude command line - I have no gui at all now).

dpkg -l > packages.txt

However if dpkg is in a bad state, this may not work.

>
> I'm thinking number 4 would be easiest and better for my ubuntu - but I want
> my pc working cos I'm just about to get internet in my room
>

If you have backups, and are really in a mess, a clean install isn't
too far-fetched. It can take less time to do that than you'll spend
fixing it. The catch is the going through the configuration and
installation all over again. However I personally reinstall (at least)
every 6 months anyway, and it doesn't really bother me (I enjoy it,
even :) )

Matthew.