Upgrade Ubuntu from 8.04 to 9.04

Did you google this Question and it link you to ubuntu.com?

I may have some Answers for you I need to know that part. here the LINK

I have a friend with the same deal. Be we fix it in two to three different ways.

You probably have the upgrade settings for "Long Term Release" upgrades.

System->Administration->Update Manager... [settings]... Click the Upgrade Tab... Under "Release Upgrades" find "Show new distribution releases" and select "Normal Releases" then click "Close"... Check for new updates from the Update Manager window.  The new release should be shown at the top of the window.  Click Upgrade.

If you want to upgrade twice then click check for updates again and Upgrade.

Before you upgrade back up your data.  You might also do a search to determine how compatible your hardware is with the Upgrades.

My Dell version of Ubuntu 8.04 does not seem to give me an option to change setting under Update Manager. Any suggestions?

Yes, I Goggled the Ubuntu upgrade site. It says I need to upgrade to 8.10 first, but I am not able to do that under Update Manager. It does not give me that option.

What type of computer do you have?

If you have a mini 12 (or anything with a GMA 500 graphics card) you want to stay with the Dell version of 8.04 (due to lack of driver support).  Unless there is something specific you require in 9.04 there is no real reason to upgrade.  8.04LTS will be supported until 2011.  LTS means "Long Term Support" which means "Stable".  After 2011 there may be dell support for upgrading but I have seen reports in the news groups that 9.04 is not entireley stable anyway.

Right now you have the Dell supported OS which is also a stable current version.  Consider sticking with that for now.

I am interested in getting from 8.04 to 9.04 on my Mini 9. Can someone from Dell and/or someone who really knows how to do this please respond. It would be nice if Dell could put a post out with that information. Thank!

Again I must ask the question, "Why"?  Is there software you just can't do without that must run under 9.04?  8.04 is the most stable of the Ubuntu family at this time and it is the only one dell supports at this time.

If you must upgrade...  Check the compatibility of your system by searching the forums and then...

          Download the image of the Ubuntu you want to install. 

          System->Administration->USB Startup disk creator... Select the image and the USB drive

          Reboot (assuming the BIOS is set to boot from USB) and you should have a working live CD with an Install Icon on the desktop.  Click that to start the install process.

Note that in 8.04 you may have to install the USB Startup disk creator first

I forgot to mention that YOU MUST BACK UP YOUR DATA BEFORE INSTALLING.

I also did a quick search to determine that your dell mini 9 probably has a "GMA 950" graphics card.  below is a link regarding Ubuntu and that chipset.

          http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=315014&page=3

I have already downloaded and run 9.04 for netbooks from a live UBS and have had no problems. When I install it from the UBS are my software settings, files and programs preserved or do it have to input my setting and download my programs again?

I don't understand what the problem is with the GMA 950 graphics card.

It is likely you can download and install OpenOffice without upgrading from 8.04.  100% compatibility is probably not completely right, however, the file filters are getting better with time.  Why don't you look for a package of OO 3.x compatible with Ubuntu 8.04, first?  You risk a lot by upgrading from 8.04 for your hardware since compatibility is not guaranteed.  Check out the Openoffice.org site for a self installing package compatible with your architecture and just install that locally in your home directory.  It can be a self installing .bin file for that type install.

Dow

Run 'update-manager -d' from a shell (aka Terminal or command prompt) to upgrade to 8.10.  Then 8.10 -> 9.04 -> 9.10.

You should be careful in upgrading to 9.10. It has definite stability issues related to Intel Graphics chips. I have a PC with integrated Intel GMA950 and when I installed 9.10, it could only run on "low" graphics settings. If I tried "normal" or better, the system would freeze. 9.04 - which is quite stable contrary to rumor - could run with full graphics effects, including Compiz. Either way, both are more polished than 8.10.

If you want the latest version of Office, and an incredibly polished interface, you might want to try Mandriva 2010 One in its Live CD form. Mandriva is very end-user friendly and it uses KDE 4.3 (which I like much better than GNOME). It has very clean, crisp graphics and font representation, and includes the latest version of Open Office. It's worth a shot running it from Live CD. In that way, you can test it out without having to install it (no risk at all).

I think once you've used KDE 4.3, you'll have a hard time going back to Ubuntu GNOME. But, that's just my opinion :)

Good luck.

Yes, you can boot from the CD without touching anything on your hard drive. That is the whole reason that Live CDs exist. As for the USB startup disk creator, that was not included in Ubuntu until 9.04 I think - maybe 8.10. And even then it didn't work for me when I was trying to make some 9.10 images. I think the bootloader they used on the 9.10 CDs was too new for that utility. What did work for me is a program called UNetbootin. Not sure how long it has been around but it was in my 9.04 repositories so if you want to make a USB startup disk, check Synaptic and see if it is there.

Always make a backup of any important files before you do any system upgrades! Doesn't matter if you are running Windows, Linux or Mac! If nothing else, get a free account on dropbox.com and sync up your documents.