UUID's messed up after install to sdb3

[ticojohn]

I have Jessie i386 on a SSD and Stretch i386 on a HDD and decide to install Stretch amd64 to a new partition on the HDD. Each drive had a swap partition. The install went okay but afterwards the UUID's for the swap partitions got changed and booting was really slow as the swap partition UUIDs no longer agreed with what was in fstab.

After a LOT of reading, I found the solutions. I needed to correct fstab for each installation, change the /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/resume file to agree with the new UUID in fstab, and then run update-initramfs -u on each install. What a pain.

I have no idea if the changes to the UUIDs and resulting erros in fstab were a result of something I did wrong during the install of Stretch amd64 to the new HDD partition or if it is some kind of error in the installation script. But it was a huge learning experience. Has anybody else had a similar experience?

[sunrat]

Has anybody else had a similar experience?

Yes.

[ticojohn]

Has anybody else had a similar experience?

Yes.

Phew! Thought it was just me.

[debiman]

yes, i know that problem.
but i think i recently saw an installer that allowed me to re-use an existing swap partition without formatting it. not sure it was debian though.
that should help in the future.

[NFT5]

When installing Debian select the Swap partition and the option "Do not use this partition". This will prevent the partitioner from formatting and changing the UUID.

Later in the installation process, when the configurations are being done, the Swap partition will be recognised for what it is and fstab configured correctly. This happens most of the time. Occasionally the configuration process will miss the Swap partition and it just won't be used. In those uncommon instances just edit fstab to show the correct UUID for Swap. Why does this happen? Don't know. Anyway, easy to fix and if it's not there at all it won't hold up the boot by 90 seconds as a wrong UUID does.

Some distros use a smarter installer that allows the option "Use existing Swap partition". Debian is not one of those. DIYbian.

[ticojohn]

When installing Debian select the Swap partition and the option "Do not use this partition". This will prevent the partitioner from formatting and changing the UUID.

Thanks for that feedback. However, I don't recall seeing that option. In any case, the fix was not that hard just a bit worrisome as I had never done those kinds of things and was afraid that I might totally bugger the system. But all is now running well.

And remember kiddies, BACKUPS ARE GOOD !

[makh]

... an installer that allowed me to re-use an existing swap partition without formatting it...

Hi,
Most of the installers, do allow to format or skip formatting of existing swap.