e9t's questions

I wanted to see my memory type information (ex: DDR2, DDR3, DDR4) with the commands below, but it doesn't say. What's the reason? Is there a way I can know?

$ sudo lshw -short -C memory                                                                                                                                           
H/W path           Device     Class          Description
========================================================
/0/0                          memory         64KiB BIOS
/0/5e                         memory         32GiB System Memory
/0/5e/0                       memory         8GiB DIMM Synchronous 2133 MHz (0.5 ns)
/0/5e/1                       memory         DIMM Synchronous [empty]
/0/5e/2                       memory         8GiB DIMM Synchronous 2133 MHz (0.5 ns)
/0/5e/3                       memory         DIMM Synchronous [empty]
/0/5e/4                       memory         8GiB DIMM Synchronous 2133 MHz (0.5 ns)
/0/5e/5                       memory         DIMM Synchronous [empty]
/0/5e/6                       memory         8GiB DIMM Synchronous 2133 MHz (0.5 ns)
/0/5e/7                       memory         DIMM Synchronous [empty]
/0/6c                         memory         384KiB L1 cache
/0/6d                         memory         1536KiB L2 cache
/0/6e                         memory         15MiB L3 cache

$ sudo dmidecode --type memory                                                                                                                               [140/1342]
# dmidecode 2.12
# SMBIOS entry point at 0x000f0570
SMBIOS 2.8 present.

Handle 0x005E, DMI type 16, 23 bytes
Physical Memory Array
        Location: System Board Or Motherboard
        Use: System Memory
        Error Correction Type: None
        Maximum Capacity: 512 GB
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Number Of Devices: 8

Handle 0x0060, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x005E
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 72 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 8192 MB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_A1
        Bank Locator: NODE 1
        Type: Other
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 2133 MHz
        Manufacturer: Samsung
        Serial Number: 9203CE6C
        Asset Tag: DIMM_A1_AssetTag
        Part Number: M378A1G43DB0-CPB   
        Rank: 2
        Configured Clock Speed: 2133 MHz

Handle 0x0062, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x005E
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: Unknown
        Data Width: Unknown
        Size: No Module Installed
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_A2
        Bank Locator: NODE 1
        Type: Other
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: Unknown
        Manufacturer: NO DIMM
        Serial Number: NO DIMM
        Asset Tag: NO DIMM
        Part Number: NO DIMM
        Rank: Unknown
        Configured Clock Speed: Unknown

Handle 0x0063, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x005E
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 72 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 8192 MB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_B1
        Bank Locator: NODE 1
        Type: Other
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 2133 MHz
        Manufacturer: Samsung
        Serial Number: 9203CE36
        Asset Tag: DIMM_B1_AssetTag
        Part Number: M378A1G43DB0-CPB   
        Rank: 2
        Configured Clock Speed: 2133 MHz

Handle 0x0065, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x005E
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: Unknown
        Data Width: Unknown
        Size: No Module Installed
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_B2
        Bank Locator: NODE 1
        Type: Other
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: Unknown
        Manufacturer: NO DIMM
        Serial Number: NO DIMM
        Asset Tag: NO DIMM
        Part Number: NO DIMM
        Rank: Unknown
        Configured Clock Speed: Unknown

Handle 0x0066, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x005E
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 72 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 8192 MB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_C1
        Bank Locator: NODE 1
        Type: Other
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 2133 MHz
        Manufacturer: Samsung
        Serial Number: 9203CE7C
        Asset Tag: DIMM_C1_AssetTag
        Part Number: M378A1G43DB0-CPB   
        Rank: 2
        Configured Clock Speed: 2133 MHz

Handle 0x0068, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x005E
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: Unknown
        Data Width: Unknown
        Size: No Module Installed
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_C2
        Bank Locator: NODE 1
        Type: Other
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: Unknown
        Manufacturer: NO DIMM
        Serial Number: NO DIMM
        Asset Tag: NO DIMM
        Part Number: NO DIMM
        Rank: Unknown
        Configured Clock Speed: Unknown

Handle 0x0069, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x005E
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: 72 bits
        Data Width: 64 bits
        Size: 8192 MB
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_D1
        Bank Locator: NODE 1
        Type: Other
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: 2133 MHz
        Manufacturer: Samsung
        Serial Number: 9203CE7E
        Asset Tag: DIMM_D1_AssetTag
        Part Number: M378A1G43DB0-CPB   
        Rank: 2
        Configured Clock Speed: 2133 MHz

Handle 0x006B, DMI type 17, 34 bytes
Memory Device
        Array Handle: 0x005E
        Error Information Handle: Not Provided
        Total Width: Unknown
        Data Width: Unknown
        Size: No Module Installed
        Form Factor: DIMM
        Set: None
        Locator: DIMM_D2
        Bank Locator: NODE 1
        Type: Other
        Type Detail: Synchronous
        Speed: Unknown
        Manufacturer: NO DIMM
        Serial Number: NO DIMM
        Asset Tag: NO DIMM
        Part Number: NO DIMM
        Rank: Unknown
        Configured Clock Speed: Unknown

I've just installed Ubuntu on a new SSD along with a HDD for data.

Strangely, when I divided partitions at install, 1MB of non-removable free space was reserved at the beginning of each disk. I ignored them however, because I thought they wouldn't be a problem.

But after install, when I sudo fdisk -l, I get the following warnings:

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.


Disk /dev/sda: 128.0 GB, 128035676160 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 15566 cylinders, total 250069680 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 identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1   250069679   125034839+  ee  GPT

WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sdb'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.


Disk /dev/sdb: 4000.8 GB, 4000787030016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 486401 cylinders, total 7814037168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1  4294967295  2147483647+  ee  GPT

Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.

I have little knowledge on GPT/GUIDs, but I'm guessing that the warnings were caused because of the 1MBs at the installation stage.

So here are my questions:

1. Can the warning be a potential problem, issue or difficulty in the future?
2. Is there a smart & safe way to fix the warning?

I'm using a no-longer-supported Ubuntu 13.10 and want to upgrade it to 14.04. However, possibly because my predecessor set the boot partition with too small a size, when running do-release-upgrade I get the following error:

The upgrade has aborted. The upgrade needs a total of 56.8 M free
space on disk '/boot'. Please free at least an additional 8,059 k of
disk space on '/boot'. Empty your trash and remove temporary packages
of former installations using 'sudo apt-get clean'.

My current disk usage with df -h /boot is:

Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1        88M   34M   47M  43% /boot

Files in /boot are:

e9t@/$ ls -al /boot
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 1.0K Sep 13  2014 [1]  grub
drwx------ 2 root root  12K Mar  5  2014 [2]  lost+found
-rw------- 1 root root 3.2M Oct 10  2013 [3]  System.map-3.11.0-12-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 983K Oct 10  2013 [4]  abi-3.11.0-12-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 160K Oct 10  2013 [5]  config-3.11.0-12-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  17M Apr  8  2014 [6]  initrd.img-3.11.0-12-generic
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 173K Jun 17  2013 [7]  memtest86+.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 175K Jun 17  2013 [8]  memtest86+_multiboot.bin
-rw------- 1 root root 5.4M Oct 10  2013 [9]  vmlinuz-3.11.0-12-generic

Cleaning, or freeing up more space in /boot is NOT an option because my /boot is just big enough to fit the necessary files - grub, vmlinuz, and initrd.

So I'm left with the following options:

1. Increase the partition's size (But I have to use command line and have cannot use live CD/USB because I'm working remote.)
2. Temporarily empty /boot (or move a big file, e.g., initrd), upgrade the OS, then restore /boot (or move the big file back)

Which is the safer or preferred way? Is there a better way to fix my problem than the two options I've mentioned?