What is generic pae? and why it is at the top of the list when using Wubi? (after upgraded to 11.04 beta 2)

Hi :)
I'm not sure what the pae kernel is about. I think it lets the OS access more than 3.2 Gb Ram which is more of an issue with 32bit OSes than 64bit ones. The 64bit ones seem to access larger Rams by default so maybe they have always had this pae kernel module added.

I had heard that Ubuntu recently started including the pae by default because of the ram issue although my machine rarely uses more than 1Gb ram and almost never needs it's swap so i have never bothered upgrading from 2Gb ram. The machine doesn't even "break a sweat" when running HDTV, an online game and a plethora of web-pages = not a huge challenge but Windows seems to struggle with much lighter loads on machines with better specs.

The 64bit OSes are generally more difficult to use although Ubuntu's has become a lot easier in the last couple of years. Still, i stick with 32bit Ubuntu even on a 64bit machine.

Linux usually has a boot menu with a long list of kernels getting older as you look further down the list. Each kernel number is paired with a "recovery" option as it's 2nd option. The pairs are a bit like the saved states that Windows installers and anti-virus keep telling people to switch off (so that when things go wrong with Windows the user can be blamed for not having used obvious safe-guards) but obviously it's a lot more sophisticated and doesn't half-un-install programs since uninstalling stuff is so easy in linux and can be left to the user.

So, if Ubuntu runs into problems then you can try one of the earlier kernels just to see if an upgrade went wrong or you can choose to do a little house-keeping by running through a few of the options in "recovery mode" to see if that helps. The eariler kernels are really a throw-back to the time when most linux users would frequently dig into the kernel and create their own customised ones and then sometimes want to return to something they hadn't broken yet ;)

I hope that helps rather than confuses! If i just made thigns "clear as mud" then many apologies.
Good luck and regards from
Tom :)

PAE = physical address extension (as pointed out by Tom it allows a 32 bit OS to access > 3.2 GB RAM)

The one at the top should be the 11.04 kernel (2.6.38-8) which you'll want to choose (unless something went wong with the upgrade). Since you upgraded you'll see your Maverick entries below that 2.6.35-xx. You can clean these up in time if everything is working fine in Natty.

Hi :)
Yes, i use "Janitor" to clean up general clutter including extra older kernels that i'm unlikely to ever need again. Something like this from the top taskbar

System - Administration - Janitor

Also the "Recovery mode" includes tools like that too.
Regards from
Tom :)

thank you for the nice information.
but when I press the pae version, I will go to something looks like MS-DOS and not to the login screen. I can use 11.04 beta though by using the 2nd option in the list (without the PAE). Do you know why is that happen? Does that mean I should try to fix the problem so that I can use pae version since im using on 32-bit?

Hi :(
I was hoping someone that knew more about this might be able to help better. Please could you re-post the question
https://answers.launchpad.net/wubi/+addquestion
and perhaps copy&paste it to
http://www.linuxquestions.org
http://www.ubuntuforums.com
too?

It sounds as tho the pae lines are not in the usual pair. Does the pae line end with the word "recovery mode"? There should be a line above that which is sadly missing. At the top of the blue-screen recovery mode menu is an item "Continue with normal boot" and that 'should' get you to a normal desktop.

However, it might be that the pae version just can't cope with yoru graphics settings and is dropping you onto a command-line probably with a text-only login prompt? If so then try using your normal login user-name and password. That 'should' get you to a proper linux command-line with pretty colours and all that. On that command-line try

startx

The x is to start the graphical desktop environment (DE running on an x 'server' (not what i would normally think of as a server, the usage of the word is different)). If that does work and does get you to a normal desktop then go to

System - Preferences - Monitors (or screens or something)

and then play around with a few settings, perhaps setting them back the way they were but at least re-saving them so the new kernel is forced to recognise them when you reboot.

As i said, if this post doesn't help then please do re-post here and also post in a couple of other forums too. If possible please let us know how it is going and also if possible please give us links to the new threads you have started as we obviously need the knowledge to be accessible from here if possible.
Good luck and many thanks from
Tom :)

Can you pastebin
the results of the bootinfoscript and then comment here with the
pastebin address?

Pastebin: http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/

Bootinfoscript: http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

Also, do you have a custom graphics driver installed, or are you using the default. If custom, please mention your graphics card.
Thanks