During re-installation, "an error occurred"

Did you MD5 test the ISO you burned?
Did you burn the CD slowly?
Did you check the CD for defects once booted to?

Thank you
1) No I didn't MD5 test the ISO
2) I burned the CD at fastest speed
I3) didn't check the CD for defects.

These are subjects I don't properly understand the significance of!

Having used the installation several times without a problem I assumed (perhaps wrongly) that all was well.

I will have a go at 1) and 3) and report back.

So you had no idea if the ISO was error free and complete but burned it then you didn't think to test the CD you burned to see if it was pristine...

You NEED to check the data at every step you can so you know the data and media you make from it is perfect. It has to be perfect to work.

I suggest you boot to the CD but when you see the stickman screen, press SPACE then select "Check CD for defects", if it passes you got LUCKY. If it is bad then MD5 test the ISO, if the ISO is bad you have to start right from step zero and redownload the ISO and test it

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM

Shows how to perform the tests. Can you please tell 2 friends about MD5 testing and have them tell 2 friends. I am tired of people not testing stuff and getting issues. It adds so much extra time to troubleshooting (as you can see).

Let me know how your checks go.

Frankly it's not exactly that likely that this problem arose from a
corrupt CD anyway. Yes, there are times when it's worth checking the
MD5 checksum of the image; no, people shouldn't be excoriated for not
doing so. In this case I would recommend starting by analysing the log
file instead.

As an Ubuntu installer developer watching contributions to
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity over the last few
weeks, people helping out seem to be unduly obsessive about MD5
checking. It's one valuable tool in the toolbox, yes, but it doesn't
warrant this level of fanaticism. On the whole, corrupt CDs tend to
fall over pretty early, not install successfully but then give a strange
error message.

http://ircanswers.com/ubuntu/306595/geeksquid-install-webroot-location-editable
http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2009/06/02/%23ubuntu.txt

(search both links for 'bad cd')Theres 2 examples I found in a few seconds.

I can and does happen so not checking your data is not acceptable (if you get issues). You need to isolate what is ok so you can isolate to the issue, you haven't checked your data so have no way of knowing if its perfect. That's why it is the first thing I ask when people are having install issues and 95% of the time they either have no idea what I asked or simply didn't bother. If there are bit errors in the part of the data which holds ubiquity (for example) then the installer will cause issues as the data is not what is expected. When a CD burner is given an ISO to burn it doesn't care about the data, the bits are simply fed into the buffers and burned.

Get your CD checked and we can then assume a good ISO as only a good ISO can make a good CD. You can then use the same test to check your RAM. The installer and the live desktop run purely in RAM so if that is at fault there will be issues.

Yes, I am aware that it happens (I've been diagnosing these kinds of
issues for years), but in the majority of cases where there's been a
fight about it on one of these tickets it's not been the problem. Try
just being a bit less confrontational about it?

Have you taken any of the steps I have suggested? How were the tests?

"an error occurred. Permission denied"
Did you installed Ubuntu inside Windows partition (Wubi) or side by side in its dedicated partition ?
In first case, replace in thread in field "For:" packet "Ubiquity" by project "wubi" (be carefull, not packet but project).

@actionparsnip: about MD5, I think its mandatory to check first if error is about "squashfs", else we should both request MD5 test (please provide link to Web page) and do as if error was not due by wrong ISO, to avoid wasting a answer/question cycle. I understand you are tired because I am also. I'm preparing a new troubleshoot for Ubiquity and Grub issues. I will submit to you for review at start of new year.

@Andy: please report context. Don't forget we are not in front of screen, and we have only data you provide. Use also a basic English as for half of answerers English is not native language.

I'm sorry I've not answered before.

Thank you everyone for your time and advice. I don't mind being told off as
I'm new to Linux and there are many things I need to learn.

I'm stuck at a very basic level.

Although I've set my PC to boot first from CD drive, it won't do that with
the Ubuntu version 9 (Karmic Koala) disk.
If I un-install version 9, and download and try to install version 10, I
have exactly the same error message - permission denied.

Whatever the MD5 checksum (which I'm sort of understanding in theory but not
quite in practice) turns out to be, I'm still unable to do anything at all
with an installation.

Apart from re-install XP which is a bit drastic!

On 14 December 2010 19:11, delance <email address hidden>wrote:

> Your question #137705 on ubiquity in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/137705
>
> delance proposed the following answer:
> @actionparsnip: about MD5, I think its mandatory to check first if error
> is about "squashfs", else we should both request MD5 test (please
> provide link to Web page) and do as if error was not due by wrong ISO,
> to avoid wasting a answer/question cycle. I understand you are tired
> because I am also. I'm preparing a new troubleshoot for Ubiquity and
> Grub issues. I will submit to you for review at start of new year.
>
> @Andy: please report context. Don't forget we are not in front of
> screen, and we have only data you provide. Use also a basic English as
> for half of answerers English is not native language.
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
>
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/137705/+confirm?answer_id=8
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/137705
>
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.
>

--
Andy Stockley

"an error occurred. Permission denied"
Did you installed Ubuntu inside Windows partition (Wubi) or side by side in its dedicated partition ?
In first case, replace in thread in field "For:" packet "Ubiquity" by project "wubi" (be carefull, not packet but project).

I initially downloaded wubi and installed inside the Windows partition.
Worked OK initially, then had problem with it going to the GRUB editor and
uninstalled it.
On going to re-install, by opening the file wubi, I'm shown the Ubuntu
installer that asks me to specify which version of Ubuntu I want to install,
what password to use etc.
At the end of doing that I get the error message.
Can't see a place to do what you suggest.ie replace in thread in field
"For:" packet "Ubiquity" by project "wubi"

On 15 December 2010 16:18, delance <email address hidden>wrote:

> Your question #137705 on ubiquity in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/137705
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> delance proposed the following answer:
> "an error occurred. Permission denied"
> Did you installed Ubuntu inside Windows partition (Wubi) or side by side in
> its dedicated partition ?
> In first case, replace in thread in field "For:" packet "Ubiquity" by
> project "wubi" (be carefull, not packet but project).
>
> --
> If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
> know that it is solved:
>
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/137705/+confirm?answer_id=10
>
> If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
> following page to enter your feedback:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/137705
>
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.
>

--
Andy Stockley

Wubi automatically checks the md5sum when you install it.

Andy, can you post the log file(s) to http://pastebin.ubuntu.com and I'll take a look. There'll be one for Karmic: wubi-9.10-revxxx.log and one for the other version you ran. (Pastebin them separately and post back the addresses here). You can find the log files in the %temp% directory.

PS it's unlikely you typed any 'toxic combination of keys'. There are known issues with Wubi 9.10 karmic that drop you at a grub prompt, and there are known issues with Wubi on the latest versions of Ubuntu that have a variety of different symptoms, all related to grub2.
If you use 9.10 you need to download a replacement wubildr file.
If you want to try out the latest versions of Ubuntu it's ok to use Wubi, but don't update packages grub-pc or grub-common.

here we are: http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/544106/
<http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/544106/>http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/544107/

<http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/544107/>I deleted the initial log file when I
tried to clean all traces of the previous installation before re-installing.
 Sorry if that makes diagnosis impossible. Slow learner me :-(

On 15 December 2010 17:27, bcbc <email address hidden>wrote:

> Your question #137705 on Wubi changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+question/137705
>
> Status: Open => Needs information
>
> bcbc requested for more information:
> Wubi automatically checks the md5sum when you install it.
>
> Andy, can you post the log file(s) to http://pastebin.ubuntu.com and
> I'll take a look. There'll be one for Karmic: wubi-9.10-revxxx.log and
> one for the other version you ran. (Pastebin them separately and post
> back the addresses here). You can find the log files in the %temp%
> directory.
>
> PS it's unlikely you typed any 'toxic combination of keys'. There are known
> issues with Wubi 9.10 karmic that drop you at a grub prompt, and there are
> known issues with Wubi on the latest versions of Ubuntu that have a variety
> of different symptoms, all related to grub2.
> If you use 9.10 you need to download a replacement wubildr file.
> If you want to try out the latest versions of Ubuntu it's ok to use Wubi,
> but don't update packages grub-pc or grub-common.
>
> --
> 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/wubi/+question/137705
>
> You received this question notification because you are a direct
> subscriber of the question.
>

--
Andy Stockley

Your karmic CD failed the md5 checksum
"12-14 09:10 ERROR CommonBackend: Invalid md5 for ISO C:\ubuntu\install\installation.iso (8790491bfa9d00f283ed9dd2d77b3906 != 45f625207fa266418f6b23ff8de6a570)"

It should be 8790491bfa9d00f283ed9dd2d77b3906 *ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso according to http://releases.ubuntu.com/karmic/MD5SUMS

You said you installed it successfully before, so not sure how this would happen. It does copy the CD image to a temp install directory, so maybe that adds a unknown.

Anyway... I've have a look at the 10.04.1 log soon.

Can I say I told you so now. Some people just won't be told.

The 10.04.1 you are running with just the wubi.exe, so it needs to download the Ubuntu 10.04.1 image (or Kubuntu which you later tried). It failed to download the 10.04.1 image. That's the permission denied. Perhaps... you haven't allowed pyrun.exe access to your firewall. Or maybe some other issue.

If you want to install Ubuntu with Wubi, you can do it as follows:
1. download the .iso that you want (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, whatever). Use bittorrent - it's pretty fast.
2. download the wubi.exe that corresponds to the release that you downloaded (important). Save it in the same folder as the .iso CD image.
3. Run wubi.exe from that folder. Run as administrator, allow firewall access to pyrun.exe.

If you install Ubuntu 9.10, then you need to replace the wubildr file with a patched version: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/bootinfoscript/index.php?title=Boot_Problems:Wubi_9.10
If you install 10.04 or later, do NOT allow the Update Manager to update packages grub-pc or grub-common. If you do this by accident then see this for fixes: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1639198