Re: Preparing for Debian 13
On Thu, May 15, 2025 at 05:30:51PM -0400, Default User wrote:
> Hi.
>
> I currently run Debian 12 Stable, amd64.
> Unexceptional single-user SOHO setup on a relatively current
> (2023) low-end Dell laptop.
> Intel Core i3 processor.
> 8Gb ram.
> UEFI booting.
> Internal nvme SSD, 256 Gb, for mass storage.
> Partitions:
> nvme0n1 259:0 0 238.5G 0 disk
> ├─nvme0n1p1 259:1 0 512M 0 part /boot/efi
> ├─nvme0n1p2 259:2 0 23.3G 0 part /
> ├─nvme0n1p3 259:3 0 9.3G 0 part /var
> ├─nvme0n1p4 259:4 0 977M 0 part [SWAP]
> ├─nvme0n1p5 259:5 0 1.9G 0 part /tmp
> └─nvme0n1p6 259:6 0 202.6G 0 part /home
>
> Note: 10 Gb for /var is barely adequate. I have to
> periodically do surgery to cut out the built-up bloat there.
>
> Since Debian 13 should soon be released, what should I be doing
> ahead of time to prepare for the upgrade? For me, upgrading is
> always a major hassle, so I try to make it as easy as possible.
>
> OT rant (probably irrelevant):
> The laptop does NOT support virtualization. The DOES, but the
> BIOS does NOT!
>
> Apparently the tightwads at Dell are punishing me for being poor.
> "Hey dude, you've got a Dell!" Sorry to hear that . . .
>
> (Grrr . . .)
>
> Advice?
>
If you don't have anything vital on there and can back up personal data
to something else - maybe reinstall with everything in one partition?
Fixed partitioning is not great for the reasons others have outlined.
The other option if you feel confident taking a laptop apart is to go
and buy a 1TB NVME and an external case for an NVME.
Take the laptop apart - substitute the 1TB NVME.
Put the old 256M NVME in the external case.
Install a fresh copy of Debian onto the laptop.
Rsync or otherwise copy any data you need from the old drive.
Reformat old drive and use for storage.
Andy
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