[ubuntu-uk] Scrambled screen

[Rob Beard]

Greg Herdman wrote:
> Hi Rob & Neil,
> I have no problem accessing my hard disc from Live DVD - I can read and 
> write everything from the disc once I've set myself up as a new user. As 
> far as I'm aware, everything is in one partition - in other words, no 
> partitioning of the hard drive.
> If anyone hasn't used Live User from CD/DVD then I can thoroughly 
> recommend it. It's a more than capable 'get-you-home' solution that 
> loads up and functions at least as quickly as my old Windows 98SE system 
> (that I'm using to write this posting). The only significant downside is 
> that all user-defined aspects have to be reset at EVERY new session. 
> Printer and internet detection (mine is wired router-based) is 
> straightforward but e-mail is a bit more fiddly, so I use one of my 
> other systems. I can read from and write to reovable media, so things 
> are quite comfortable in that respect.
>
>   
Great that's a good start, you should be able to copy your home 
directory over from your old installation then.

What you'll need to do is go into the home directory on your hard disk, 
this may possibly be located at something like:

/media/disk/home

In there you should see the folder which refers to your username (in my 
case it's simply called rob)

Copy this folder to some removeable media (such as USB stick, external 
hard drive etc).

What I generally do after a copy, right click on the directory and 
select Properites, I do this on the original folder and the copy of the 
folder on the backup.  I then compare the two properties windows to make 
sure that the size and the amount of files and directories is the same.

Now I haven't used Gramps personally but what you can do to make sure 
you don't loose your Gramps data is to install Gramps whilst running on 
the live CD, go into the home directory on your hard drive, press CTRL 
and H which shows hidden files.  Then look for a folder called .gramps 
or something along those lines.  Then copy this folder your home folder 
on the Live CD (probably /home/ubuntu).  Then try running Gramps and see 
if your data is there, hopefully it will be.

This guide might be helpful when coming to reinstalling too, it explains 
how to install Ubuntu by creating a separate home partition.  It's aimed 
at Intrepid (8.10) but from what I can remember the installation program 
is pretty much the same.

Hope this helps anyway.

Rob
> When I reinstall Ubuntu (8.04) I'm quite concerned that I might lose 
> data generated by GRAMPS - the family history application - since I've 
> done quite a bit with it since I downloaded it. Reinstalling GRAMPS 
> shouldn't be an issue, but I really like to retain the work 've already 
> input. Although  had downloaded INKSCAPE, I've not done anything 
> significant with it, so that's not an issue.
>
> Thanks for the support - much appreciated.
>
> Greg
>
>
>