Updating Arch Linux

[_radv_]

I wonder if I should update my Arch installation.  It's been running for a tear and I havn't updated anything.  I'm afraid to do so because I'm afraid something will break and the phone/cpu will become unusable.
I'm sure I'm in over my head with Arch Linux, but this is what I'm stuck with.

[Kevin Kofler]

The thing is, the longer you wait, the more likely it is that something will break. What is sure is that never updating is not that great a solution because you will not get any security fixes (nor bugfixes nor any other improvements). So in general the recommendation is to update frequently.

[_radv_]

Yeah ... yeah, you are right @Kevin Kofler that seems like the appropriate thing to do.

I'd be much quicker to do so if the microSD reader on my device worked and I knew I could run another OS were there a problem. It doesn't, though. (grumble - I could go on grumbling . . . )

I'll probably try updating later today. Though maybe I should read all the Arch Linux System Maintence Wikis first which may take few days.

[KC9UDX]

Don't forget to make a full backup. We all forget to do that. At least with that, if it stops working (as always when not updating every day, in my experience with Linux), then you can put it back the way you had it if needs be.

[_radv_]

Don't forget to make a full backup.  We all forget to do that.  At least with that, if it stops working (as always when not updating every day, in my experience with Linux), then you can put it back the way you had it if needs be.

@KC9UDX   Do you have any recommendations for how to make a backup I can reinstall if the System were to fail in part or completely fail to boot?

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I remember reading a post last year, when I'd first (finally) gotten this system working that suggested not updating it when the device was functioning because there's a notable chance the updates would make it unstable. Maybe I should leave it alone. It works ok. I don't ask for much. It's ocassionally glitchy. All I was thinking to do was get a better e-mail & calendar program (as if it were 20 years ago), but maybe I should stop messing with it which would be too bad because I originally bought this to mess around with, but I no longer have another functioning device.

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I found that old post I was remembering. It is https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=17600 in reference to Manjaro/ Plasma so maybe updating Arch/ Phosh would go better. I'll be cautiously optimistic.

[KC9UDX]

To be frank, I'm neither a Pinephone nor Arch user. But being Linux, I expect you can boot from a device other than your normal boot device, and dd the contents of the normal boot device to a file somewhere else.

Like you, as long as everything works, I'm hesitant to do updates. Unfortunately, that's contrary to normal Linux usage, and especially the "rolling release" model of Arch. I find that when I update Linux, it severely breaks the whole system. (Just had this happen recently with a Raspberry Pi)

[Kevin Kofler]

Well, the thing is, normally the "other device" one would boot from would be a microSD card, but the OP's PinePhone's microSD reader appears to be broken.

[KC9UDX]

Does arch by the way have any facility like of course NetBSD snapshots? If so, then you don't even need to boot from another device; but you do need a place to write the backup file (USB or network?)

[_radv_]

Well, the thing is, normally the "other device" one would boot from would be a microSD card, but the OP's PinePhone's microSD reader appears to be broken.

Quite true.
Originally, before the internet and Wi-fi etal.,if was problem with a system one could stick a disk in a disk drive and boot from that. I do not seem to have that option.

I've been looking at Arch backup programs. There are like four different ones described on their website. It seems like I can backup to a different network device using SSH. Does that seem feasable?  I'd have to get a wi-fi signal and still connect through SSH if the updated got borked which I'm skeptical about.

Stuff seems too complicated for me often. Isn't Arch Linux supposed to be a low frills distribution? (Linux is supposed to be simple)  Yet it's still got four options for backup utilities, and I'm having trouble deciphering the tech lingo describing each one. Even if Arch is a basic low frills distribution ( and maybe it is) the tech language itself is pretty bloated.