[Bug 987956] Re: Installer Deletes Contents from Separate HOME partition without WARNING!

[Colin Watson]

Which of /dev/sda5 and /dev/sda7 was used for /, and which for /home?

For what it's worth, I just tried a straightforward test install of
11.10 with separate /home (/ and /home both ext4), created an empty file
/home/cjwatson/x, then installed 12.04 over the top asking it to reuse
the existing /home without formatting (using manual partitioning);
/home/cjwatson/x was still there after the installation.  Whatever this
problem is, it isn't universal, although obviously I can understand why
it's serious for those who encounter it.  We need to narrow this down
somehow to find out specifically what triggers this.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/987956

Title:
  Installer Deletes Contents from Separate HOME partition without
  WARNING!

Status in “ubiquity” package in Ubuntu:
  Incomplete

Bug description:
  I installed Ubuntu (applies to both 11.10 and 12.04) with a separate
  partition for the root and home directory. I chose to only partition
  the root directory.

  After installation, I always ended up with a HOME partition with
  deleted contents!  I just lost all the data therein without warning,
  which IMO is not something to take lightly.

  I can understand why it is necessary to restructure from scratch the
  HOME directory, but I see no reason whatsoever as to why the existing
  contents should not be backed up under a new directory ($HOME/OLD or
  whatever). Or at least informing the user about what is coming up
  before he finalizes his choice!

  Anyways, the whole Idea with a separate HOME partition is to be able to reinstall distributions without having to backup your data. If the Installer cannot be 100%
  trusted about not messing with your files, backing it up is unavoidable, and a
  separate HOME partition is rendered more or less useless...

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
  Package: ubiquity (not installed)
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-23.36-generic 3.2.14
  Uname: Linux 3.2.0-23-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu5
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Tue Apr 24 20:57:18 2012
  InstallCmdLine: noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true persistent file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash -- maybe-ubiquity
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120423)
  ProcEnviron:
   TERM=xterm
   PATH=(custom, no user)
   LANG=en_US.UTF-8
   SHELL=/bin/bash
  SourcePackage: ubiquity
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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