Can puppy save my new computer? How?

[hundido]

I found this article about ext3 vs ext4:https://www.golinuxhub.com/2014/03/what ... -ext3-and/

Learning a lot. Thanks for your responses, all of you.

@mikewalsh Could I ask, how are your personal storage drives formatted and what was your logic behind it? I want sda to be a personal storage drive. I'm doing the few Gib fat32 just in case and leaving it empty for the foreseeable future. Can I ask what you mean

Ext4 & 64-bit Puppies don't, apparently, play nice together (but I can't speak from experience.

? Do you mean, you should format the operating systems ext3 or data?

Does anyone have experience if ext4 works well as a personal storage drive file system when using 64-bit Puppy? What do you think?

@williwaw you said ext4. Do you use a 64 bit puppy? Does ext4 work well for you, if that's what you use?

It seems like ext4 is pretty standard these days? I'm wondering if newer file system/newer puppy might be the way to go since I have puppy on a newer computer?

Thanks,

[Grey]

Does anyone have experience if ext4 works well as a personal storage drive file system when using 64-bit Puppy? What do you think?

I have three disks of 2 terabytes each - 2 by 3.5 and one by 2.5. All use ext4, from 2 to 4 partitions. No problem. With sudden power outages, nothing has screwed up yet.
Recently I finally made it to the end in Dead Space 3 (Fossapup + Wine) - subjectively it seems that ext4 is much faster than ntfs

[mikewalsh]

I found this article about ext3 vs ext4:https://www.golinuxhub.com/2014/03/what ... -ext3-and/

Learning a lot. Thanks for your responses, all of you.

@mikewalsh Could I ask, how are your personal storage drives formatted and what was your logic behind it? I want sda to be a personal storage drive. I'm doing the few Gib fat32 just in case and leaving it empty for the foreseeable future. Can I ask what you mean

Ext4 & 64-bit Puppies don't, apparently, play nice together (but I can't speak from experience.

? Do you mean, you should format the operating systems ext3 or data?

Does anyone have experience if ext4 works well as a personal storage drive file system when using 64-bit Puppy? What do you think?

@williwaw you said ext4. Do you use a 64 bit puppy? Does ext4 work well for you, if that's what you use?

It seems like ext4 is pretty standard these days? I'm wondering if newer file system/newer puppy might be the way to go since I have puppy on a newer computer?

Thanks,

Hi, hundido.

Mm. Well, I'm probably not the best person to ask this stuff.

Like you, when I first tried Linux - this was at EOL of XP, and I haven't looked back since - the whole business of needing to create & format partition was new to me, too. I'd never had to do this before; as the old saying goes, newcomers to Linux often spend more time in the first few months re-creating & re-formatting partitions, & re-installing Linux, than anything else.....simply due to making basic mistakes.

It's the quickest way to learn, though. And trust me, we've ALL been there. You can be as super-cautious as you like, and ask hundreds of questions, and read thousands of articles about it; I can guarantee you WILL mess something up the first couple of times around.

The best analogy, probably, would be.....well, try this for size. It's like a Brit visiting, say, the US or Australia; it's not that you don't understand the language.....what you don't fully understand is the way things work in their society. You stick out like a sore thumb, simply because you're not doing things in quite the same way as the natives; they do day-to-day stuff without even thinking about it, because it's second nature to them. And so it is with the move from Windows to Linux for many folks; you're coming from an environment where you get lots of hand-holding, & your system is regularly updated without you having to lift a finger.....to a different environment where, by its very nature, you're expected to do much of the basic work yourself - and the concepts are alien to you.

Enough of that.

Okay, to answer your question as well as I can, I have 2 HDDs in my HP tower. The 1 TB Toshiba was installed when I bought it; the 3 TB Seagate was installed by ME, and is basically the Seagate 'Barracuda' drive from inside what they sell as an external USB 3.0 desktop drive. It's not a 2.5" laptop-sized drive like they use in the small portable HDDs you can slip in your pocket, this is a 3.5" desktop-sized drive. I'd had it for a couple of years before buying this new HP tower 18 months ago; I came to the conclusion that by installing it internally, it would be one less piece of junk on my desk, and one less cable to plug in somewhere.....so that's what I did.

--------------------------------

The primary drive - the Toshiba (sda) is formatted like this:-

.....and the secondary drive - the Seagate (sdb, which IS my "data" drive) is formatted like this:-

As you can see, ext3 all the way.

--------------------------------

As to why I use Ext3 in preference to Ext4.....in my first few months of distro-hopping, I noticed that mainstream distros all used Ext4. I was going to use this for Puppy, but having a quick read round things & asking a couple of questions on the old forum before installing my first-ever Puppy, it seemed Ext3 was the preferred format to use.....so that's what used. And because it's never given me a moment's trouble in the several years I've run Puppy, I've stuck with it. Unlike Ext2, Ext3 is what's called a "journalling file-system" in the same way as Ext4; Ext4 is just a more recent version, with more features (and it uses up more of your disk space WITH those "features", it seems). Plus, it can support a larger number of far larger-sized volumes/partitions.

Journaling file-systems @ Wikipedia

Ext3 @ Wikipedia

Ext4 @ Wikipedia

(Interestingly, despite Ext4's wide-spread adoption - mainly, I think, because it's faster in operation than Ext3 - its developer described it as a "stop-gap", based on "old technology".....and still does, 13 years on.)

My view remains the same; for the majority of use-cases where people are likely to use Puppy, Ext3 is a perfectly stable, usable file-system. At the end of the day, both "3" and "4" will work; it largely boils down to personal choice.

Hopefully, some of my above blathering will help you to decide..!

Mike.

[bigpup]

Why I use ext3 and not ext4 format.
https://oldforum.puppylinux.com/viewtop ... 112632&i=3

Note:
The total bug report list numbers have changed, but this topic is locked in the old forum, so cannot change info in topic.
But the web sites linked, are correct info, as of the date and time, you access them.

If anything has to be accessed by Windows.
Use ntfs format.
Windows cannot see Linux ext formats.
Well, unless you add stuff to give it the ability to see Linux formats.

[williwaw]

I use ext4 primarily to take advantage of some of it's newer features. I primarily use Barry's EasyOS.(it's 64bit), and he has compiled various features into Easy that need it. There were some older puppies that did not work well with ext4.
I have had no problem with ext4 for storage, but cannot say if there is a downside to ext4 for storage. On which ever disk you are using, be it the disk you only intend to use for storage, or the disk you intend to use for keeping your bootable distros on, unallocated space can be used to create partitions of any type later.

256M vs 5G for a fat32 first partition: Some will argue their is no need to reserve 5G just to boot, and that is true.
There might a use case for installing a complete puppy in a single fat32 partition, or some other need for a larger fat32 in the future, and a larger partition might come in handy. Many decisions about planning ahead depend on how much you are squeezed for space allocating the 3 TB to have to work with.

[bigpup]

Only use Gparted in Puppy to make ext4 format. (it is 32bit)
A lot of other Linux OS's make ext4 64 bit.
Some programs in Puppy do not handle 64bit ext4 very well.

[williams2]

The default options are in /etc/mke2fs.conf
features = ^64bit
features = 64bit

You can set the options on the command line:
mkfs.ext4 -n -b 4096 -O ^64bit /dev/sdX
mkfs.ext4 -n -b 4096 -O 64bit /dev/sdX

For example, create a file with an ext4 file system with 64 bit indexes, then convert to 32 bit:

Code: Select all

# cd /tmp/
# dd if=/dev/zero bs=1M count=512 > /tmp/dd.4fs
512+0 records in
512+0 records out
536870912 bytes (537 MB, 512 MiB) copied, 1.28479 s, 418 MB/s
#
# mkfs.ext4 -O 64bit dd.4fs 
mke2fs 1.44.1 (24-Mar-2018)
Discarding device blocks: done                            
Creating filesystem with 131072 4k blocks and 32768 inodes
Filesystem UUID: 83d38681-c28e-4b7f-a953-7cf2a4960914
Superblock backups stored on blocks: 
	32768, 98304

Allocating group tables: done                            
Writing inode tables: done                            
Creating journal (4096 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done

# file dd.4fs 
dd.4fs: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data, UUID=83d38681-c28e-4b7f-a953-7cf2a4960914 (extents) (64bit) (large files) (huge files)
# 
# tune2fs -O ^64bit dd.4fs 
tune2fs 1.44.1 (24-Mar-2018)
Please run `resize2fs -s dd.4fs' to disable 64-bit mode.
# resize2fs -s dd.4fs
resize2fs 1.44.1 (24-Mar-2018)
Converting the filesystem to 32-bit.
The filesystem on dd.4fs is now 131072 (4k) blocks long.

# file dd.4fs 
dd.4fs: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data, UUID=83d38681-c28e-4b7f-a953-7cf2a4960914 (extents) (large files) (huge files)
# 

[hundido]

@bigpup thank you for posting those bug report links. They convinced me that I want to try ext3.

Thank you everyone for your answers, and @mikewalsh for your thoughtful explanation of your drives.

Because I finally had to make some decisions:

512 Mib fat32 partition "iamboot" (iam means sometime in Esperanto. I might choose to boot from there sometime.)
250 GiB ext3 "storage1"
250 Gib ext3 "Storage2"
453.57 Gib unallocated

I used gparted to do that, and there was a warning flag next to the iamboot 512 Mib partition I made in case I choose to boot from there someday. I looked under properties, and the flag means,

"Unable to read the contents of this file system!
Because of this some operations may be unavailable.
The cause might be a missing software package.
The following list of software packages is required for fat32 file system support: dosfstools, mtools."

Is that a problem if I don't have anything there, and I made it just in case I want to boot from that drive someday?

[williwaw]

Hi hundido,
did you start by making a new msdos partition table? can you post the output of

Code: Select all

 parted -l /dev/sda      

[hundido]

Hey williwaw,

Thanks, yes, I made an msdos partition table first. Here's the requested code:

Code: Select all

~$ parted -l /dev/sda
Model: ATA ADATA SU760 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1024GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size   Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  538MB  537MB  primary  fat32
 2      538MB   269GB  268GB  primary  ext3
 3      269GB   537GB  268GB  primary  ext3


Model: AI Mass Storage (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 62.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  316MB   315MB   primary  fat32
 2      316MB   62.9GB  62.6GB  primary  ext3


Model: SPCC M.2 PCIe SSD (nvme)
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 1024GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name                  Flags
 1      1049kB  538MB   537MB   fat32        EFI System Partition  boot, esp
 2      538MB   1024GB  1024GB  ext4


Model: T-CREATE TM8FPE001T (nvme)
Disk /dev/nvme1n1: 1024GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  1024GB  1024GB  primary


Model: Unknown (unknown)
Disk /dev/zram0: 65.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 4096B/4096B
Partition Table: loop
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start  End     Size    File system     Flags
 1      0.00B  65.9GB  65.9GB  linux-swap(v1)

Next big challenge is probably figuring out how to move my data from my old computer to my new storage partitions, if that all looks good. Last time I tried to move it by usb. That took hours over days, and much of it was corrupted when I clicked through it on this new computer. Is there a version of KDE connect for Puppy Linux? In slacko64-8.2.1, I see the package and can try to install it, but then it says install aborted and I get this:

Code: Select all

Packages succesfully Installed or Downloaded 


Packages that failed to be Installed or Downloaded, or were aborted be the user
attica-5.82.0 was already installed
bluez-5.58 was already installed
gpgme-1.15.1 was already installed
gst-plugins-base-1.18.4
gstreamer-1.18.4
karchive-5.82.0 was already installed
kauth-5.82.0 was already installed
kbookmarks-5.82.0 was already installed
kcmutils-5.82.0 was already installed
kcodecs-5.82.0 was already installed
kcompletion-5.82.0 was already installed
kconfig-5.82.0 was already installed
kconfigwidgets-5.82.0 was already installed
kcoreaddons-5.82.0 was already installed
kcrash-5.82.0 was already installed
kdbusaddons-5.82.0 was already installed
kdeclarative-5.82.0 was already installed
kdeconnect-kde-21.04.1 was already installed
kdoctools-5.82.0 was already installed
kglobalaccel-5.82.0 was already installed
kguiaddons-5.82.0 was already installed
ki18n-5.82.0 was already installed
kiconthemes-5.82.0 was already installed
kio-5.82.0 was already installed
kitemviews-5.82.0 was already installed
kjobwidgets-5.82.0 was already installed
knotifications-5.82.0 was already installed
kpackage-5.82.0 was already installed
kpeople-5.82.0 was already installed
kservice-5.82.0 was already installed
ktextwidgets-5.82.0 was already installed
kwallet-5.82.0 was already installed
kwayland-5.82.0 was already installed
kwidgetsaddons-5.82.0 was already installed
kwindowsystem-5.82.0 was already installed
kxmlgui-5.82.0 was already installed
libassuan-2.5.5
libfakekey-0.3
libimobiledevice-20200615_4791a82
libplist-2.2.0
libusbmuxd-20200615_c7d7d1a
mariadb-10.5.10 was already installed
ocl-icd-2.3.0
polkit-qt-1-0.113.0 was already installed
pulseaudio-qt-1.2 was already installed
qca-2.3.2 was already installed
qt5-5.15.2 was already installed
solid-5.82.0 was already installed
sonnet-5.82.0 was already installed
speech-dispatcher-0.10.2
talloc-2.3.2
tevent-0.10.2
wavpack-5.4.0
xcb-util-image-0.4.0
xcb-util-renderutil-0.3.9
xcb-util-wm-0.4.1

Missing Shared Libraries


Existing Libraries that may be in a location other than /lib and /usr/lib

Would you be kind enough to point me to, what's the best way to move a bunch of data onto my storage drive from my old computer?

[williwaw]

Hundido,
I am not sure about the error gparted indicated with the fat32 partition. As you have not yet gone thru the trouble of moving data, see if you can redo the partitioning of sda with better results? Was sda unmounted when you ran gparted? Can you try it without the "iamboot" label? Perhaps someone else has seen this error and can weigh in? A little googling has yielded no definitive cause, but if there is something wrong, and you have been having problems with data missing/corrupted, a clean disk setup seems prudent. Since the idea of having a fat32 partiton was optional, were it me, I would prefer a partitioning scheme with out the fat 32 partition and no errors, than what you have now.

With puppy, when you install an app, it becomes part of your save file. There are alternative ways to run apps, (some puppyists like to keep a minimal savefile.) As much as I like some kde apps, they sometimes have a lot of dependencies, and may not be the easiest to get working in a puppy. Before you click install on the package manager, it should let you review how large the install plus dependencies will be. if you are installing an app that requires 200 MB of space, there will most likely be other things to work out to get it working. Of course this would all be installed on your usb puppy savefile at this point, and if you do not have a lot of other configurations already on your usb savefile, the savefile could always be erased and you could start again with a new save file. The two puppies you mentioned make use of slackware and ubuntu repos, and there is much there that could be installed, but that does not mean, (for me anyways), it is always worth it. There are a lot of untried (in puppy) apps in those repos.

I keep an external drive for storage. sata to usb. your adata could become an external drive with

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SAT ... AZODE?th=1

perhaps an easy way to keep a your data library away from any accidents? and as a backup? and easy to move data from machine to machine? once you put your data on the backup, it could be copied to a partition on one of your 2 other 1TB internal cards at will, and presumably will not be attached to any machine when experimenting with installers or partitioning tools

At one point, you mentioned partitioning an internal drive for puppy? And had a concern about loosing data as you undertook various "learning linux" projects ? partitioning tools (gparted) are a common way to make mistakes. Would you consider preparing/partitioning the internal drive you are going to use for puppy and getting your frugal installs onboard before populating the Adata, should you not choose to make it external?

[mikewalsh]

@hundido :-

If both of your machines are connected to your local network, I honestly think the simplest solution for you would be Dukto. Although it's been around for years, and hasn't had any recent development, for something like this it's ideal. It was specifically designed for moving data around a LAN.

Unlike Samba - which takes quite a bit of figuring out, AND setting-up, this is as simple as they come.....has an easy-to-use GUI & everything. The principal difference between Samba & Dukto is this; where Samba PULLS data from the other machine to the one you're using, conversely, Dukto PUSHES data from the machine you're using TO the other one. It has automatic "discovery", too, so it's really easy to use.

I built some packages for it a few years ago. Although the 'latest' package is for 64-bit Xenialpup, I've just tried it in Fossapup and it fires up fine. I'm not certain about the latest Slackos, however; it goes without saying that you have to have this installed & running on both machines for this to work.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the Xenialpup64 package here:-

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CqRfJD ... sp=sharing

You will need Qt4 installed for this to run. I'm not sure if that comes pre-installed in Fossapup OOTB; I add so much stuff to my Puppies I have a job sometimes keeping track of just what I have done..!

There'll be a Qt4 package somewhere around the community that works.

Mike.

[Grey]

Dukto

There is also a dukto-compatible ndrop - a year ago something was still stirring.
And NitroShare.

[hundido]

@mikewalsh thank you. I was able to install it in Slacko64-8.2.1. It's in the menu in network, but clicking on it doesn't do anything or open anything that I can see. I could try installing xenial on my fossapup stick to see if it will work that way, and after I finish this post, I'll reboot with Fossapup64 and see if Dukto works there. Do you know, is there already a good thread on installing a second puppy on a usb stick?

@Grey thank you for the other programs. Do you know which install instructions I follow for either of them for puppy? I'm a little out of my depth. That nitroshare has fedora instructions is nice. I'll try installing it on the Fedora computer from which I'm trying to copy data.

If I can get just one of these working on just one puppy, I should be able to complete mission file transfer.

[mikewalsh]

@hundido :-

O-kay. The new 64-bit Slacko, huh? While I absolutely adore the older 32-bit Slackos, anything from the 6-series onwards I just wasn't so keen on. What I'm trying to say is that I won't be looking at this to see what you need to make it run.....and this leads me into my other pet peeve with Slacko Puppies, which is that they need a LOT more stuff adding to a basic install simply to get many things to run at all. Things which, in the 'buntu-based Puppies, usually run straight-away....

I especially don't like that the Slacko Pups use a separate lib64 directory. Means you have to rebuild packages just for them.....and makes me twice as much work when packaging anything up. Perhaps this has changed, but I won't be looking to find out; I have more than enough Pups to keep me fully occupied already..!

Having said which, I know you WILL need a Qt4 package at the very least. Micko's got two in the Slacko6415.0 repo at Ibiblio....here:-

http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/pe ... cko6415.0/

I'd go with the 4.8.7 version. Download it; move the SFS into /mnt/home, and click on it to load it. Now try launching Dukto from the terminal ; just type

Code: Select all

dukto

.....in, hit 'Enter', and let us know what the output is, please.

Mike.

[Grey]

I seem to have managed to get Dukto running in Fossapup. I made a .pet with the required libraries from qt4. At least the main window starts up. Check the file transfer and don't forget to tell me if it works.
Pet: https://disk.yandex.ru/d/Xs_OCGo_6cslSw
Menu>>Network>>Dukto

dukto.png (196.83 KiB) Viewed 984 times

[mikewalsh]

@Grey :-

It runs fine for me in Fossapup, but then I had Qt4 installed anyway for other stuff. A standalone .pet with just the required Qt4 stuff will be useful, no doubt.

Mike.

[williwaw]

Do you know, is there already a good thread on installing a second puppy on a usb stick?

do a google search with something like

Code: Select all

2nd puppy install site:http://oldforum.puppylinux.com/

as a search term

or use https://rockedge.org/psearch/

if you have two bootable usbs you can rebuild one to have multiple puppies. you will work from the other to reconstruct the multiboot one. The multiboot one will....

1. need each puppy to have its own dedicated folder

2. need the grub.config or menu.lst used by its bootloader to contain a stanza for each puppy. (the stanza will need to contain pointers to the proper subfolder.)

Does slacko use a different bootloader than fossa? if so, they may have slightly different syntax in the config file, so choosing a single bootloader to become proficient with in the near future may be useful.

PS. if you have difficulty googling or finding the instructions you need, consider this. the steps have been explained many times, but usually four five pages into a thread similar to this that started with a somewhat generic title. It is often encouraged for folks to start a new thread with specific search friendly titles for different subjects. "file transfer with dukto" for instance, or "installing a second puppy". the lack of formal documentation for many pups leaves only the forum and search.

[rockedge]

or use https://rockedge.org/psearch/

also there is the same search function at https://psearch.puppylinux.com !

[hundido]

@mikewalsh dukto works in Slacko after adding the Qt4 package you showed me. Thank you.

I ended up with the newer Slacko because I still can't get Redshift to work in Fossapup. It was the first puppy I tried where redshift works on this computer. Then I liked the idea of being a beta tester for it, which means I'm helping shape the future of puppy, if this will be the next main puppy, right? It seemed like a small way to give back since I seem to have a talent for finding how things don't work.

@Grey Thank you so much for making a Dukto .pet. It opens and looks like it will work in both my Slacko and Fossa puppies.

@williwaw I'll repartition the adata and see if I can get an error free install.

I don't think I can take the drive out of the computer without help because of having damaged vision, a lack of experience, and a history of breaking things with plastic openings when I can't clearly see how they open and don't have it memorized.

To be continued... gotta go Thanks again everyone

[hundido]

I redid the ASATA disk, and here the new parted code output:

Code: Select all

~$ parted -l /dev/sda
Model: ATA ADATA SU760 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1024GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size   Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  537GB   537GB  primary  ext3
 2      537GB   1024GB  487GB  primary  ext3


Model: AI Mass Storage (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 62.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  316MB   315MB   primary  fat32
 2      316MB   62.9GB  62.6GB  primary  ext3


Model: SPCC M.2 PCIe SSD (nvme)
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 1024GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name                  Flags
 1      1049kB  538MB   537MB   fat32        EFI System Partition  boot, esp
 2      538MB   1024GB  1024GB  ext4


Model: T-CREATE TM8FPE001T (nvme)
Disk /dev/nvme1n1: 1024GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  1024GB  1024GB  primary


Model: Unknown (unknown)
Disk /dev/zram0: 65.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 4096B/4096B
Partition Table: loop
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start  End     Size    File system     Flags
 1      0.00B  65.9GB  65.9GB  linux-swap(v1)

No errors that time.

[hundido]

Both of my new ext 3 partitions have an empty folder in them titled "lost + found". What is that?

I'm getting a collection of puppy stuff, too. What if I started using sba2 to hold that while I learn to make a usb manually, with multiple puppy installs?

[mikewalsh]

Both of my new ext 3 partitions have an empty folder in them titled "lost + found". What is that?

I'm getting a collection of puppy stuff, too. What if I started using sba2 to hold that while I learn to make a usb manually, with multiple puppy installs?

The "lost & found" is nothing to worry about. It's created with every new Ext3 partition, and the OS will use that directory for metadata if it ever needs to 'recover' after a bad shutdown, or if your power goes off for any reason. You can safely ignore it, but don't delete it.

Mike.

[bigpup]

What is lost&found folder/directory
https://www.howtogeek.com/282374/what-i ... and-macos/

[hundido]

Hey,

I got to where I've got sda1 & sda2 setup. I moved all the data I wanted to keep from the Kubuntu system into sda1.

I want to install something else instead of Kubuntu.

I'm afraid of erasing the program that has the menu that lets me select my boot device, that comes up when I press F12 when booting.

I'd be so grateful if you all could help me figure out this enigma.

nvme0n1p2 seems to be where Kubuntu is installed. it's got bin, etc, lib32, root, sbin, tmp, var, home, etc.

On nvme0n1p1 has this:

nvme0n1p1-1.png (22.63 KiB) Viewed 874 times

nvme0n1p1-2.png (16.42 KiB) Viewed 874 times

nvme0n1p1-3.png (28.62 KiB) Viewed 874 times

[hundido]

and:

nvme0n1p1-4.png (31.92 KiB) Viewed 873 times

Can anyone tell me what those things are? Does anyone know what, if any, partitions are safe to use on that disk without erasing my F12 menu?

Thank you,

[bigpup]

I'm afraid of erasing the program that has the menu that lets me select my boot device, that comes up when I press F12 when booting.

That boot device menu is part of the computers internal UEFI/Bios firmware setup basic operation.
It can not be erased or deleted.
It changes, by what the computer sees for available bootable drives, when it first starts to boot.
You have no control of it other than what drives you have connected to computer.
You can not do anything to it, but go into the UEFI/Bios setup and maybe change the order the drives are in the list.

Those files in the images, are the boot loader files, used by the operating system boot loader.
That boots the operating system, after the UEFI/Bios turns over control of computer, to the boot loader.