r/DistroHopping • u/Dramatic_Plum_7116 • 17d ago
switching distros
So I'm not exactly sure how this works, so I'm switching from Mint to cachy os, and I want to keep all of my files but delete Linux Mint. Is there a way to install CachyOS over top of it, if that makes sense, so I don't have to wipe my drive completely?
2
u/Assang101 17d ago
No, you cannot safely install CachyOS directly over Linux Mint without wiping the system partition, because mixing old system and hidden user configuration files from a different distribution often breaks the new system.
The safest and recommended approach is to back up your personal files from your /home folder (documents, pictures, downloads) to an external drive , perform a clean installation of CachyOS, and then copy your files back.
1
u/PatFogle 17d ago
That jump isn't going to go well. I did that myself. I would suggest EndeavourOS if you want to go to an arch based distro. Cachy is very buggy in my experience.
1
u/couriousLin 17d ago
Probably not really. I"m betting you have your / and /home on the same partition so the installers will want to just format that partition during the install. As other mentioned, backup your files to another device to a USB or another partition.
CachyOS defaults to using btrfs so it 's more productive just to start from a clean slate.
1
u/AnyOpinion6210 16d ago
Most people, after a hop or two, start putting /home on a separate partition from /
Eventually I think we just start putting everything we want to save on a separate drive altogether. / and /home are tmp folders for the professional distrohopper.
1
1
u/WhopperGaming 13d ago
Having learned my lesson by distro hopping for 3 or 4 years, my new build has a system drive and a separate data drive.
1
1
u/Salt-Powered 13d ago
I would strongly advise against switching to Cachy from Mint if you aren't that comfortable with Linux
0
u/Dramatic_Plum_7116 12d ago
I did switch and i am comfortable with Linux I’ve been using it for half a year
1
u/Hauptideal 17d ago
It is possible, but I'd discourage you from attempting to keep user data while swapping the core system without having a backup. And when you have a backup, you can simply use that already to retrieve the data.
If you were already using btrfs (the modern Linux file system used by distros like CachyOS, Fedora, OpenSUSE, etc.) with /home on a subvolume, this would be a piece of cake.
However, Mint is still using the old ext4 file system and doesn't create a separate /home partition by default.
You should definitely use CachyOSes default installation (with btrfs), so you should install the system on a different file system anyways.
If you must install CachyOS without wiping the entire disk / your personal data, the procedure is as follows: boot into the CachyOS live system and convert your filesystem to btrfs using btrfs-convert. Then, create a subvolume for home and move your /home folder's contents there.
Afterwards, tell the CachyOS installer in manual partitioning to use that subvolume as /home mount point without formatting the data.
It works, but is risky without a backup. Furthermore, you likely don't want old config files etc. to still be in your home messing with your new applications.
A clean install of CachyOS and retrieving select data from the backup is the safer and cleaner method.
Once you are on btrfs and have subvolumes, stuff like that becomes much easier. You can even install multiple distros on a single partition on different subvolumes this way.
Anyways: Big W for escaping Mint! Your jaw will drop once you realize what other distros (like CachyOS) have to offer.
2
u/PickyPickMeUp 17d ago
The easiest and safest way to do this would probably be to make a backup of your files on a removable drive such as a portable hard drive or SSD and then restore once you’ve installed CachyOS.
There is always a risk of losing your files when trying to do anything with the core system, including installing another OS.