D'oh...

[przxqgl]

i figured it out. it's SMB. now how to get it to mount at boot... it's got my music files on it, and i really don't want to move them to the local drive just so that amarok can see them... 8/

[przxqgl]

okay, i got my email fiasco straightened out enough that i could go back to upgrading my computer.

i made a startup USB flash drive with "Startup Disk Creator", which worked perfectly. after several tries with other USB drives in the way, i got it to boot from the USB drive, and installed on my already existing 1TB hard disk (still haven't installed the SSD).

this is where it gets interesting. i found a way to back up my email, and i've got a back up of my bookmarks, and all of my data from my /home directory backed up on my WD "MyCloud".

i can access the administrative interface for the cloud drive with a browser, but it doesn't show up in Dolphin, and i don't know why. in fact, there's no "Network" stuff in Dolphin, apart from a thing under "Places" that is called "Network", but it's not there, and none of the list of things under "Network" (Bluetooth, Google Drive, MTP Devices, Network, Samba Shares and "Add Network Folder") seem to be able to find it.

the new interface is pretty and all that, but i'd really like to get back to a point where i can do things like access my email and data: i can see where the backed up data is, but i can't access it.

any clues?

[przxqgl]

Strange, how do you try to partition this SSD?

as i have never installed any kind of hard disk on a live system, i went to dr. google, and he told me this: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/artic...o-linux-system

then i had an ongoing problem with my web host and email service, which distracted me from my local machine upgrade. i should get back to it some time next week, when the email problem is straightened out.

The installer offers a 'manual' partition option

what "installer"? i would definitely like to find out about such a device! it would make my life so much easier!

You can do it from your existing install or from a live instance (best is a USB flash drive).

okay, i tried using "Startup Disk Creator" -- an application i have seen, but never actually used before.

it appeared to work okay, except... it doesn't appear to like it very much if your USB flash drive is formatted FAT32. not only that, but it doesn't tell you that the first thing it does is alter the machine's BIOS so that the USB flash stick is the boot drive.

so, there was a period of intense panic when my computer REFUSED TO BOOT when i killed the startup disk creator which had been stuck on 30% for about 3 hours... but once that was settled, and i figured out how to reformat a USB flash drive, i think i'm ready to try again... but not until the email fiasco is straightened out.

The easy way is by using the KDE partition manager.

i also tried using gparted on the USB flash drive, which also didn't work. the first time i tried, it, too, got stuck at 30% and didn't move for a few hours, so i killed the process. when i tried running gparted again, it told me that only one instance of "gpartedbin" was allowed to run at one time, and there was already an instance of "gpartedbin" running, but when i tried to find it, i couldn't.

[przxqgl]

i currently use kubuntu trusty (14.04.1).

i want to install kubuntu bionic (18.04) on the 1TB SDD, and use the SDD instead of the disk on which trusty lives.

i want to do this because upgrading to xenial, and then upgrading to bionic is fraught with too many problems.

[GreyGeek]

What OS are you using right now?
What do you want to do with the 1TB SSD?

[przxqgl]

so, i went out and bought a 1TB SSD, but i can only find instructions for how to make an extended partition, and, as my understanding is that it should, eventually, have the operating system on it, my guess is that an extended partition won't work...

so, now what?

[przxqgl]

I noticed that you are using the icon of Joe Btfsplk

you get the idea... ;-)

[GreyGeek]

I noticed that you are using the icon of Joe Btfsplk

[przxqgl]

my current computer runs an AMD processor, and has for some time...

but i'm already paranoid enough. i'm actually trying to reduce my paranoia, and that's why i don't buy my email services from a regular ISP, and why i only use POP3 mail.

"Confront them and someone will shout "gun!" and you'll be dead, laying next to a firearm you never owned."

in a situation like that, i'd rather be dead anyway, because if i lived, i would have to defend myself against their trumped-up charges.

[GreyGeek]

"... If someone else reads my email, that is also my fault ..."

No, it's not.

The Fed's Utah Data Center currently has the capacity to store around 10 Exabytes (10^19 bytes) and growing by Moore's Law it is closing in on Zetabytes (10^21 bytes). By 2020 or so it will be at a Yottabyte (10^24 bytes) The Feds have taps on EVERY Internet entry point, and at most ISP provider servers. Many ISPs limit monthly data to 1TB. 3*10^9 people with 1TB/mo each is just around 10^21 bytes. By 2020 or so that will be 83 years worth of data per person for those who uses the Internet.

Here is what we KNOW they have been using against citizens and others in the past and/or are doing so now:

XKeyscore
PRISM
ECHELON
Carnivore
DISHFIRE
STONEGHOST
Tempora
Frenchelon
Fairview
MYSTIC
DCSN
Boundless
Informant
BULLRUN
PINWALE
Stingray
SORM
RAMPART-A
Meltdown
Spectre
and who know what else?

The last two means that EVERY Intel powered computer has a back door. It is ludicrous to believe that Intel didn't know about it, or that it wasn't because of a direct request by our own spooks. They have access to your data. If they want it you can't stop them, even if you try. My PGP keys were 4,096 bytes and I encrypted my financial software and personal data with them. But, they don't ask ME for my financial data, they ask my bank, who willingly gives it rather than face gov "investigations" into their business practices. The Feds already have my social security and Medicare data. HEPPA may apply to you and I, nurses and doctors, but it doesn't apply to the spooks. The spooks probably have pics of the moles on my butt, taken by the camera in my TV set when I walked by on my way to the shower. And they can match it up with conversations with my wife taken via the mics in that TV.

In the private sector Apple, FB, Twitter, Amazon and others are deciding what freedoms they will allow you to exercise. Hint: if you disagree with their opinions you lose your Constitutional freedoms on their sites. Microsoft patented "Lawful Intercept", a software program that it keeps on its Linux Skype server farms for gov officials to monitor and save anyone's stream, video, audio or chat. Major vendors like Apple make a pretense about not giving in to LEO demands for back doors or encryption keys, but they do so secretly, behind the scenes, according to whistle blowers.

My Kubuntu installation is just about as safe as a Linux installation can get, but the only thing I'm blocking is, essentially, Joe and Sally Sixpack. I used to keep a PGP key and sent my email encrypted, etc. Gov and professional blackhats will have no trouble getting into my or your system and reading our private stuff, IF they have a reason to be interested in us AND IF we keep our private stuff stored on our system. If we keep it in our personal safe and they want a copy they'll show up at the door with a swat team and a warrant (which THEY wrote up minutes beforehand, not a judge - a judge never saw or signed the FISA warrant against Trump), demanding access to your safe. Confront them and someone will shout "gun!" and you'll be dead, laying next to a firearm you never owned.

So, I keep a firewall up and use good passwords just to keep Joe and Sally out, and I don't bother with GPG encryption any more. There's really nothing we can do about the rest.

[przxqgl]

You can configure IMAP accounts to sync/download messages to local machine so they are available even when offline (in KMail the setting can be found in account settings).

that is true, however, IMAP leaves the messages on someone else's server, giving the opportuntity for someone else to read them. POP3 doesn't leave the emails on someone else's server, thus eliminating that possibility.

One of the benefits of IMAP is that you don't really need to backup your mail for local changes,

yeah, i know it's a trade off, but it's one that i've always been prepared to deal with, in spite of the fact that it doesn't always work out the way i hoped. if i lose my email, it's my fault, but if someone else reads my email, that is also my fault.

[kubicle]

i am paranoid enough that i still use POP3 mail, rather than IMAP, because that way, even if my internet connection goes down, i still have access to the information on my local computer.

You can configure IMAP accounts to sync/download messages to local machine so they are available even when offline (in KMail the setting can be found in account settings).

One of the benefits of IMAP is that you don't really need to backup your mail for local changes, you can simply resync with the server to get your mail back locally (although this could take a while with very large mailboxes)...of course you may wish to backup your mail periodically for other reasons.

[przxqgl]

How you backup your email depends on which protocol you use and which email client you use. I've found that mbox works great.

i don't remember what kind of mailbox i use, but the way my email works is that it comes from my own shared server, on which i also have several web sites, and various other internet-related gadgetry.

About a year ago I switched to an ISP that uses IMAP and they store all my email on their servers. When I installed Thunderbird and linked to their server my Thunderbird directories and email contents synced up automatically and quickly.

i am paranoid enough that i still use POP3 mail, rather than IMAP, because that way, even if my internet connection goes down, i still have access to the information on my local computer. i have one IMAP account for convenience, but it's not my main account.

KMail requires a secondary app to backup or restore email, and it is touchy to use because Akonadi isn't all that reliable, IMO.

if the KDE-PIM email group is to be believed, they've got a replacement for akonadi that sounds pretty spectacular.

That's one reason why, after years of use, I left KMail.

i still use Kmail, and i really like it... of course i also have about a dozen different email accounts, and i really dread pretty much any drastic change, at this point.

[GreyGeek]

How you backup your email depends on which protocol you use and which email client you use. I've found that mbox works great. About a year ago I switched to an ISP that uses IMAP and they store all my email on their servers. When I installed Thunderbird and linked to their server my Thunderbird directories and email contents synced up automatically and quickly. KMail requires a secondary app to backup or restore email, and it is touchy to use because Akonadi isn't all that reliable, IMO. That's one reason why, after years of use, I left KMail.

[przxqgl]

now that things have calmed down a bit, after spending the past few days moving my mother-in-law into an assisted living facility, i've actually had the time to read your response.

i believe i am one step closer to actually upgrading my system, but in order to do that, i have to back up my mail.

i pretty much don't care about the desktop settings, and so forth, because i change them on a more or less regular basis, as it is, but mail has gotten to be something that i absolutely CAN NOT do without... and i have NEVER had a backup as part of a system upgrade go smoothly. any advice you could offer on how to get my mail backed up successfully would be greatly appreciated. ;-)

i need to get started on this, too, because one of the things i realised, after having not even turned on my computer in a few days, is that the version of amarok that i'm running is hosed, and i'm having to use QMMP to play music.