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I am wondering if I can boot ubuntu 18.04 on a ssd and use files from a 2TB hdd in ubuntu 16.04. or must I use a dual boot which would defeat my purpose.? The reason I ask is that I have a few programs that only open in WINE, this is all good on 16.04 but I am unable to install it on 18.04. Any help would be appreciated, with directions on how to do it. Regards, Rod.....

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  • I'm not sure what you mean; but I have tried to share a $HOME between two releases before and for some programs it was not a problem, for others it became a problem. At first there was no issue, however when I discovered and started newer features in the later release (evolution or gnome's MUA), it caused changes in the shared data file that created issues for the older release (that saw those as invalid data files). I learnt how to work around the issues, but it wasn't 'fun'. Wine programs are usually old, but programs can change which causes their data to reflect the change...
    – guiverc
    Jul 21, 2019 at 0:54
  • this could depend on the reason WINE is failing. if it fails because of the kernel, maybe it is due to missing kernel modules. otherwise you may need to run 16.04 in a virtual machine (they are very fast these days). if it fails because of library incompatibility, loading the 16.04 file tree, or a subset thereof, in a Linux container may be the answer. can you explain the WINE failure in more detail?
    – Skaperen
    Jul 21, 2019 at 1:51
  • To explain further, my old computer is bricked.! I have a new computer now that has ubuntu 18.04 installed on a 240G SSD. The old computer had a 2TB HDD. I rescued this drive as it was still OK. I installed the drive to my new computer as it contains all my files amassed over the last few years. I booted up and was in ubuntu 18.04. I tried to download WINE and install it so that I could use the files stored on the 16.04 drive. It didn't work. I then went into BIOS and changed the boot order and booted into ubuntu 16.04 and was able to use all my old programs from there. Jul 21, 2019 at 3:38

2 Answers 2

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Two stock installs of Ubuntu, 16.04 and 18.04, use the same filesystem (ext4). Both installs will be able to read and write ext4 filesystems equally well.

Files written by one can be read (and written) by the other.

However, couple caveats: If you installed special software to use a different filesystem, then obviously it must be installed on both. Also, reading is not the same as executing. Some executable applications must be recompiled for different releases of Ubuntu (the other system would read meaningless jibberish), but others do not.

Generally, Wine itself is Ubuntu-version-specific. You will find it difficult to run older Wine on newer Ubuntu, and the reverse is true also. But the Windows applications do not change, and should be compatible with most versions of Wine.

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I think it might be worth to ask on wine forums how to fix your wine setup on Ubuntu 18. Meanwhile you can still boot on Ubuntu 16.

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  • OK I will go and find a wine forum. Thank you for your assistance. Jul 21, 2019 at 10:50

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