Ubuntu Version: Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS
Desktop Environment (if applicable): Pretty sure it’s GNOME
Problem Description:
I need to repair my ubuntu installation and am currently trying use deja dup to back up my data onto a live usb with 200gb persistence. It’s saying that there’s not enough space to complete a back up and that I need at least 170gb? Is this because I’m not in the correct partition? If so, how do I point it to the correct one?
Welcome to Ubuntu Discourse 
Are you trying to backup your personal data or also system files?
With the USB plugged in, go to the terminal on your Ubuntu install and post the output from this command:
sudo fdisk -l
Copy the output and paste it back here in a reply. Highlight the text and then use either </> in the composer or Ctrl + E to wrap with code tags.
Thanks
Did you use the instructions at the Ubuntu site at the link below to create your persistent USB?
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/LiveCD/Persistence
Posting the output requested in post 2 should show that. You need a partition labeled casper-rw with a Linux filesystem on it.
My previous installation of ubuntu broke when I had to do a cold reboot. Everything was working fine before, but after the reboot the gui was off (icons were really small and touchpad was not responding, everything was shoved into only a portion of the screen) and the system couldn’t detect wifi or ethernet. Considering the circumstances, I’d imagine I’d only want to do a personal data reboot, right? Since I’m assuming something got corrupted? Sorry if this sounds ignorant. I’m new to this and not very tech savy.
I actually partitioned my usb using Rufus on windows. I was able to boot ubuntu from the usb and everything works fine there. Because I don’t have access to the internet with my current installation, I can only post the results I get when running the booted version. The results look similar though.
Edit: I figured out how to post the results from my actual installation. Please see below:
Disk /dev/loop0: 4 KiB, 4096 bytes, 8 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop1: 13.39 MiB, 14041088 bytes, 27424 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop2: 63.77 MiB, 66863104 bytes, 130592 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop3: 13.23 MiB, 13877248 bytes, 27104 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop4: 73.92 MiB, 77512704 bytes, 151392 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop5: 73.91 MiB, 77500416 bytes, 151368 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop6: 63.77 MiB, 66871296 bytes, 130608 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop7: 66.8 MiB, 70049792 bytes, 136816 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 476.94 GiB, 512110190592 bytes, 1000215216 sectors
Disk model: SAMSUNG MZVL2512HDJD-00BLL
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: F7EE94AA-2745-47C8-B629-CF41ECC226C5
Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/nvme0n1p1 2048 2203647 2201600 1G EFI System
/dev/nvme0n1p2 2203648 6397951 4194304 2G Linux filesystem
/dev/nvme0n1p3 6397952 1000212479 993814528 473.9G Linux filesystem
Disk /dev/mapper/dm_crypt-0: 473.87 GiB, 508816261120 bytes, 993781760 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv: 473.87 GiB, 508815212544 bytes, 993779712 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop8: 66.8 MiB, 70045696 bytes, 136808 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop9: 247.56 MiB, 259588096 bytes, 507008 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop10: 249.22 MiB, 261324800 bytes, 510400 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop11: 11.13 MiB, 11673600 bytes, 22800 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop12: 18.49 MiB, 19386368 bytes, 37864 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop13: 516.01 MiB, 541073408 bytes, 1056784 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop14: 589.63 MiB, 618266624 bytes, 1207552 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop15: 618.26 MiB, 648290304 bytes, 1266192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop16: 91.69 MiB, 96141312 bytes, 187776 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop17: 290.77 MiB, 304898048 bytes, 595504 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop18: 290.78 MiB, 304902144 bytes, 595512 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop19: 129.68 MiB, 135983104 bytes, 265592 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop20: 128.9 MiB, 135163904 bytes, 263992 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop21: 40.13 MiB, 42078208 bytes, 82184 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop22: 40.13 MiB, 42078208 bytes, 82184 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop23: 10.77 MiB, 11292672 bytes, 22056 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop24: 10.83 MiB, 11354112 bytes, 22176 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop25: 49.29 MiB, 51687424 bytes, 100952 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop26: 50.77 MiB, 53235712 bytes, 103976 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop27: 568 KiB, 581632 bytes, 1136 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop28: 576 KiB, 589824 bytes, 1152 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop29: 210.37 MiB, 220585984 bytes, 430832 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop30: 226.01 MiB, 236990464 bytes, 462872 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/loop31: 451.31 MiB, 473235456 bytes, 924288 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk /dev/sda: 232.97 GiB, 250148290560 bytes, 488570880 sectors
Disk model: SanDisk 3.2Gen1
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x135a786b
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 2048 69140351 69138304 33G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda2 69140421 488570858 419430438 200G 83 Linux
Looking at it closer, it looks like my capser-rw partition only granted me read permission because it set the owner to root. I’m guessing that’s why deja dev couldn’t back up to casper? Should I change the owner to my username via chown?
I figured out the problem. Turns out I wasn’t writing to the correct directory. Rufus created an upper and lower directory in casper-rw. I couldn’t write to lower, but I could write to parts of upper