Ubuntu

3 Failed UBUNTU Installs?

Asked by rfoszcz

I've tried installing UBUNTU 6.06.1 LTS for PC on three machines now and can't get a "good installation". The first two were newer machines so I "chalked it up to" driver inconsistencies.

The third (last night) was on an older HP Pavilion laptop. The installation went flawlessly on this machine. Partitions created exactly as I asked for. However, upon restart the desktop came up (i.e., I saw the "recycle bin" in lower right, "menu bar" across the top with Applications, etc., "start" button in lower left). However, although the mouse pointer moved in all directions, clicking on mouse buttons did nothing. Hovering the mouse over the "recycle bin" showed a tool tip (telling me it was the equivalent of the recycle bin) - but clicking on the icon/button did nothing. As I couldn't get any response at all (keyboard or mouse) I was forced to hard cycle the box with a power off.

A subsequent reboot came up to the desktop - but now there are no icons, no buttons, no menu bar at the top. Again because of no available response options I power cycled again to reboot.

Third time I tried using the "safe boot" option. This took me to a linux prompt. I exited the prompt (as my linux knowledge is less than adequate) and it booted to the desktop again - although again with no icons or buttons - totally unresponsive desktop after I enter my LOGIN ID and password.

I'm planning on a reinstall / refresh, but before I do I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on why this might be happening. One thing I didn't think of until just this second is that I installed on a wireless network connection (Broadcom integrated WLAN adapter). Could this be the problem? Could it be that the install doesn't recognize the WLAN and is hanging up waiting for network response of some sort? The boot process asks for my login id and password before getting to the unresponsive desktop although I'm not certain whether this is considered a local login or is necessary for "network" access. (My home network is running a Win2003 server with WinXP desktops throughout the house and home office.)

Any ideas by chance on what I might try to alleviate problems? I'd sure appreciate any insights...

Russ Foszcz

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Olivier Lemaire (olivier-lemaire) said : 		#1

Hi,

related to your mouse issue under Xorg, can you :
 . boot in rescue mode,
 . look at the "Input Device" section of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf
and report here your configuration ?

Btw, did you check under LaptopTestingTeam if your HP Laptop is not already referenced?
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/

Related to the "user/password prompt before Xorg session" : this user/password is local to your ubuntu box, and is performed once the system has already booted (and probably activated networked too).

To be sure your network is up and running (or not), you could use the rescue mode, log in, and then issue the following command:
/sbin/ifconfig
To list your network configuration.

Revision history for this message
rfoszcz (nutrod) said : 		#2

Regarding your request for information:

1) "Input Device" Section of xorg.conf: I tried for over 30 minutes to find
the linux equivalent of the OS type command (to see the contents of the
file). No luck. If someone can open my eyes to the linux command to dump the
contents of the file I'd appreciate it.

Note - the mouse works fine when I run the ubuntu CD version. In fact, it
works GREAT! That's why I'm so interested in this version of the OS!

2) Checked for my HP Pavilion zx5040us laptop under the LaptopTestingTeam
site - it's not listed.

3) Checked network configuration as suggested. The "ifconfig" exec shows me
the loopback and Ethernet ports configured. I assume this was not the
problem and that the network is loading/starting fine.

======

Since your reply came asking for more info, I reinstalled the OS hoping for
better results. No luck. Same exact problems - desktop is unresponsive (and
incomplete since I don't get the menu bar at the top with Applications,
etc.)

Tried to boot to a different (GNOME) session thinking this might do
something. First time I tried it I actually was able to see a bit more of
the desktop (saw the "start" button, the "recycle bin" button, and on the
top of the desktop (in the "title" bar) the Applications, etc. However, this
too was totally unresponsive. The mouse moves, but clicking does nothing.

Tried connecting an RJ45 cable directly to a switch to take the WLAN out of
the picture - no difference - still totally unresponsive.

For what it's worth, when the machine is going through the boot process, the
Windows Manager box shows up in the center loading different modules (I
assume). The audio at this point starts up then is abruptly stopped during
this process - kind of like it's just cut off.

This is very odd to me since the CD version of the product works so
flawlessly! Is the ubuntu linux version more apt to being finicky with
hardware than other linux builds?

I'd really like to put the OS through it's paces - if only I could get it to
work on one (any?) of my machines!

Russ Foszcz

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
Olivier Lemaire
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 4:27 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Support #3055]: Re: 3 Failed UBUNTU Installs?

Your support request #3055 on Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

    Status: Open => Needs information

Olivier Lemaire requested for more information:
Hi,

related to your mouse issue under Xorg, can you :
 . boot in rescue mode,
 . look at the "Input Device" section of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf
and report here your configuration ?

Btw, did you check under LaptopTestingTeam if your HP Laptop is not already
referenced?
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LaptopTestingTeam/

Related to the "user/password prompt before Xorg session" : this
user/password is local to your ubuntu box, and is performed once the system
has already booted (and probably activated networked too).

To be sure your network is up and running (or not), you could use the rescue
mode, log in, and then issue the following command:
/sbin/ifconfig
To list your network configuration.

_______________________________________________________________________
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

Revision history for this message
jz (jz+) said : 		#3

If possible you may wish to try your luck with Edgy (6.10)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/edgy/

Revision history for this message
Olivier Lemaire (olivier-lemaire) said : 		#4

Hi,

in shell mode ('command'), you can use 'more' or 'less' or 'cat' to display the content of a text file. For example :
less /etc/X11/xorg.conf
will display de content of xorg.conf file.

You can use 'nano' (or 'vi', or 'emacs', but well... hard for a command line beginner probably) to edit a given text file. For example :
nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
will edit the xorg.conf file.

You should compare the 2 xorg.conf (CD Live - Once installed) to see what definity in the Live CD is given for your mouse. Probably a better one than the Installed OS.

Of course, I encourage you to install latest Ubuntu (edgy), as your issue may be corrected already.

Cheers,
--
lem

PS : all this stuff (display content of a file, editing files) may, of course, be done by graphical tools, like under Windows or MacOSX. But having a base knowledge under 'command line mode' is probably a good thing in a Unix system.

Revision history for this message
rfoszcz (nutrod) said : 		#5

This was a nice idea. I started the download last night (around 10:30pm -
CDT) on satellite access. At 2:25pm today it was at 692mb (of 698mb). At
2:26pm it decided to stop...

I just love HughesNET satellite service! Can't get IE7 to reliably work with
download managers yet so a straight HTTP download was my only choice.

I don't suppose that the Edgy version can be mailed can it? I requested
ubuntu from the site and was automatically mailed the Dapper version.

Russ

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
Jonathan Zeppettini
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 11:51 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Support #3055]: RE: [Support #3055]: Re: 3 Failed UBUNTU Installs?

Your support request #3055 on Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

    Status: Open => Needs information

Jonathan Zeppettini requested for more information:
If possible you may wish to try your luck with Edgy (6.10)
http://releases.ubuntu.com/edgy/

_______________________________________________________________________
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

Revision history for this message
Alan Pope 🍺🐧🐱 🦄 (popey) said : 		#6

There is a great tool called wget that you could use:-

http://users.ugent.be/~bpuype/wget/

Download that to a directory (for example c:\ubuntu) and the open a command prompt (Start --> Run --> CMD --> OK) use "cd" to change directory (cd \ubuntu), then use wget:-

wget -c http://...

Replacing ... with the URL of the file you want to download. If it falls over part way through just run it again and it will carry on where it left off. It will also estimate how long is left until the file is downloaded.

Revision history for this message
rfoszcz (nutrod) said : 		#7

I was able to download the Edgy build of ubuntu and install this afternoon.
No better - in fact, maybe worse! In the Edgy build of the software I don't
even get anything on the desktop - just the brown-swirl bitmap. There's no
title bar, no "taskbar", nothing.

The mouse pointer moves freely as it did with Dapper - but in this build
there's nothing to click on!

Starting to think I should just be staying with Windows XP :<

I don't believe it's a mouse driver or configuration issue since it appears
to fail at the display of the desktop. As in the previous install, the
"Windows manager" load of modules starts up after a login, the audio starts,
then is abruptly cut off. Once that happens, I have nothing happening on the
desktop.

Sorry to be such a pain but I'd like to get a working installation of the
product. Is there a LOG file that tracks what's happening and that might
lend a clue to where the boot process is halting?

Russ

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
Olivier Lemaire
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 4:03 AM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Support #3055]: RE: [Support #3055]: Re: 3 Failed UBUNTU Installs?

Your support request #3055 on Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

Olivier Lemaire requested for more information:
Hi,

in shell mode ('command'), you can use 'more' or 'less' or 'cat' to display
the content of a text file. For example :
less /etc/X11/xorg.conf
will display de content of xorg.conf file.

You can use 'nano' (or 'vi', or 'emacs', but well... hard for a command line
beginner probably) to edit a given text file. For example :
nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
will edit the xorg.conf file.

You should compare the 2 xorg.conf (CD Live - Once installed) to see
what definity in the Live CD is given for your mouse. Probably a better
one than the Installed OS.

Of course, I encourage you to install latest Ubuntu (edgy), as your
issue may be corrected already.

Cheers,
--
lem

PS : all this stuff (display content of a file, editing files) may, of
course, be done by graphical tools, like under Windows or MacOSX. But
having a base knowledge under 'command line mode' is probably a good
thing in a Unix system.

_______________________________________________________________________
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

Revision history for this message
Bobzilla (fxef) said : 		#8

If everything works with the LiveCD use the xorg.conf file from the LiveCd session.

1) Boot the LiveCD and copy /etc/X11/xorg.conf to a floppy or usb flash drive. Shutdown the LiveCD session.

2) Boot the HDD install, change /etc/X11/xorg.conf to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old, then copy the xorg.conf file from the LiveCD session to /etc/X11/ on the HDD. Shutdown and reboot.

Bob

Revision history for this message
rfoszcz (nutrod) said : 		#9

I'll try this. However, as I alluded to previously, my expertise is in
Win386 technology - no linux or unix experience. When I tried getting HELP
in the bash shell I didn't see what appeared to be "normal" OS commands
(i.e., copy, type, delete, etc.). Most commands were centered around
executing commands and the parameters needed to do so.

Can I impose to ask what to use for command-line "copy" and command-line
"rename" commands? Also - I have a USB HD attached to the laptop. When I
booted to the CD version, I found the xorg.conf file and attempted to copy
it to the USB drive. The OS told me I didn't have permissions to do so. I
can see everything on my ext USB HD but it appears I don't have security
access to it when I boot to the CD version. Do I need to do anything in
particular to get access to the USB drive so I can copy the xorg.conf file?

(Now I know the frustration that my community college students feel when
they're trying to get an understanding of something and it's coming way too
slowly!)

Thanks to everyone who's been trying to help...

Russ

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
Bobzilla
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 8:16 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Support #3055]: RE: [Support #3055]: RE: [Support #3055]: Re:
3Failed UBUNTU Installs?

Your support request #3055 on Ubuntu changed:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

    Status: Open => Answered

Bobzilla proposed the following answer:
If everything works with the LiveCD use the xorg.conf file from the
LiveCd session.

1) Boot the LiveCD and copy /etc/X11/xorg.conf to a floppy or usb flash
drive. Shutdown the LiveCD session.

2) Boot the HDD install, change /etc/X11/xorg.conf to
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.old, then copy the xorg.conf file from the LiveCD
session to /etc/X11/ on the HDD. Shutdown and reboot.

Bob

_______________________________________________________________________
If this answers your request, please go to the following page to let us
know that it is solved:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055/+confirm?answer_id=7

If you still need support, you can reply to this email or go to the
following page to enter your feedback:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

Revision history for this message
Alan Pope 🍺🐧🐱 🦄 (popey) said : 		#10

Rather than give you a list of commands it's probably better to point you at a guide:-

http://linuxcommand.org/learning_the_shell.php

Revision history for this message
rfoszcz (nutrod) said : 		#11

I wanted to thank everyone in the ubuntu users group for trying to help me
through my problems with getting ubuntu working on my HP laptop.

I gave myself a crash course on linux commands and was able to copy the
xorg.conf file from the working CD-ROM version of the build to a temporary
location and then rename the non-working version (on my hard drive). I then
copied the working version to the /etc/X11 directory and rebooted.
Unfortunately - same problem! The boot process brings up the login screen.
After I login it attempts to build the desktop. It displays the ubuntu bar
in the center of the screen loading the Windows Manager, etc. The audio
starts, get's abruptly cut off. The applications that were trying to load in
the bar in the center of the desktop go away and the brown-swirly desktop
bitmap appears. Nothing else appears - no "taskbar", no title bar, nothing.

Unless there's something else someone can offer - I'm thinking it may be
time to move onto another linux build. I've tried getting this to run on 3
different machines with 2 different builds of the OS and haven't been
successful. The CD version(s) run perfectly on all three machines. Whenever
I install however I get the same issues cropping up - no desktop ever get's
built.

I hate to consume so much time from the group. If anyone else has any final
comments or suggestions, I'd appreciate them since the product looks so
hopeful...

Russ Foszcz

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
Bobzilla
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 8:16 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Support #3055]: RE: [Support #3055]: RE: [Support #3055]: Re:
3Failed UBUNTU Installs?

Your support request #3055 on Ubuntu changed:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

    Status: Open => Answered

Bobzilla proposed the following answer:
If everything works with the LiveCD use the xorg.conf file from the
LiveCd session.

1) Boot the LiveCD and copy /etc/X11/xorg.conf to a floppy or usb flash
drive. Shutdown the LiveCD session.

2) Boot the HDD install, change /etc/X11/xorg.conf to
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.old, then copy the xorg.conf file from the LiveCD
session to /etc/X11/ on the HDD. Shutdown and reboot.

Bob

_______________________________________________________________________
If this answers your request, please go to the following page to let us
know that it is solved:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055/+confirm?answer_id=7

If you still need support, you can reply to this email or go to the
following page to enter your feedback:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

Revision history for this message
Olivier Lemaire (olivier-lemaire) said : 		#12

Ok... Perhaps you could give a try to alternative desktop like... KDE (kubuntu) or XFCE (xubuntu).

Once logged in 'command mode' (no graphical interface), you could use the following command to install theses desktops :
sudo apt-get update <==== will update your local package list
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop <==== will install Kubuntu on your laptop

Then, restart your X org session, and choose the KDE session in you (graphical) login pannel.

Perhaps gnome has an issue with some hardware on your laptop, issue better dealt by KDE. You could give it a try.

Also, for any logging, you can consult /var/log/Xorg.0.log which is the log file for your graphical environment (Xorg). Perhaps somes infos are there to help us find wtf with your gnome setup.

Cheers,
--
lem

Revision history for this message
rfoszcz (nutrod) said : 		#13

The "sudo" commands didn't seem to work. When I issued the first one
(regarding the package list) it displayed some errors saying it couldn't
find the package. I tried the 2nd command (the install) and it tried to
connect to the KUBUNTU website for a download. As my network doesn't seem to
work under this build it errored out too.

I'm trying to download the KUBUNTU install. If I can get it down (over the
satellite connection I'm blessed with) I'll see if I can get that installed
and tested.

Thanks for all your help...

Russ Foszcz

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
Olivier Lemaire
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 4:22 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Support #3055]: RE: [Support #3055]: RE: [Support #3055]:
RE:[Support #3055]: Re: 3Failed UBUNTU Installs?

Your support request #3055 on Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

    Status: Open => Needs information

Olivier Lemaire requested for more information:
Ok... Perhaps you could give a try to alternative desktop like... KDE
(kubuntu) or XFCE (xubuntu).

Once logged in 'command mode' (no graphical interface), you could use the
following command to install theses desktops :
sudo apt-get update <==== will update your local package list
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop <==== will install Kubuntu on your
laptop

Then, restart your X org session, and choose the KDE session in you
(graphical) login pannel.

Perhaps gnome has an issue with some hardware on your laptop, issue
better dealt by KDE. You could give it a try.

Also, for any logging, you can consult /var/log/Xorg.0.log which is the
log file for your graphical environment (Xorg). Perhaps somes infos are
there to help us find wtf with your gnome setup.

Cheers,
--
lem

_______________________________________________________________________
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

Revision history for this message
rfoszcz (nutrod) said : 		#14

I downloaded the KUBUNTU (Edgy) image and it installed without issue. Thanks
for all your help in trying to get things resolved - I appreciate the help
and the patience!

I've got a bit of work ahead of me learning the linux interface (as I can't
get read-write access to my USB drive and can't get the network interfaces
working yet) - but at least the desktop is there and I can start the
learning process.

Thanks again for everything...

Russ Foszcz

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of
Olivier Lemaire
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 4:22 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Support #3055]: RE: [Support #3055]: RE: [Support #3055]:
RE:[Support #3055]: Re: 3Failed UBUNTU Installs?

Your support request #3055 on Ubuntu changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

    Status: Open => Needs information

Olivier Lemaire requested for more information:
Ok... Perhaps you could give a try to alternative desktop like... KDE
(kubuntu) or XFCE (xubuntu).

Once logged in 'command mode' (no graphical interface), you could use the
following command to install theses desktops :
sudo apt-get update <==== will update your local package list
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop <==== will install Kubuntu on your
laptop

Then, restart your X org session, and choose the KDE session in you
(graphical) login pannel.

Perhaps gnome has an issue with some hardware on your laptop, issue
better dealt by KDE. You could give it a try.

Also, for any logging, you can consult /var/log/Xorg.0.log which is the
log file for your graphical environment (Xorg). Perhaps somes infos are
there to help us find wtf with your gnome setup.

Cheers,
--
lem

_______________________________________________________________________
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+ticket/3055

Revision history for this message
Olivier Lemaire (olivier-lemaire) said : 		#15

Greetings,

I'm currently out of office travelling, and will be able to read you emails only 'here and there'.

Albeith you can join me in my cellular phone for urgent request, I suggest you to escalade for really critical topics: M. Fabrice Lamine (<email address hidden>).
Best Regards,
--
Olivier LEMAIRE

Revision history for this message
Olivier Lemaire (olivier-lemaire) said : 		#16

Ouch... sorry for the autoreply...

For your USB disk 'root only' mount, that's probably because of some kind of NTFS formating : default usage is root r/w, everybody else read only.

For being free of such issues, you could consider not using NTFS for your external usb drive, but FAT32 instead, if you're not using specific NTFS ACLs (under Windows).

This way, you won't have to bother anymore with ntfs restrictions under Linux. And by the way, formating using gparted (for example) under Linux is far more quick than the Windows Disk (said-to-be-so-)utilities.

Cheers,
--
lem

Revision history for this message
Ellis (ellis) said : 		#17

I had a similar experience with v6.10.

I downloaded the ISO file and wrote it to CD (twice). I installed it onto my desktop, fine. When I went to install it onto my Laptop it kept failing at the 15% on the final scale. Being totally frustrated with this, I then downloaded and installed v6.06 with no problems.

My main use for the Laptop is as a control for my Epson projector.

Can you help with this problem?

Provide an answer of your own, or ask rfoszcz for more information if necessary.

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