V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 (edited) OK, As many of you know, this is my fourth attempt to install Ubuntu on my system and get it stable. The third time was NOT a charm. ;)Anyway, I'm going to keep a running commentary here in this post about what I'm doing and plan to do next, so that myself and others can refer to this for informational purposes.-The adventure begins...0200hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Booted to Live CD- Installed Ubuntu 6.06.1 on /dev/hda1 = swap, /dev/hda2 = /root, /dev/hda5 = /home- Mount points for other hard drives and partitions: alt_linux_root = /media/hda3, alt_linux_home = /media/hda6, Windows NTFS = /media/windows, Windows VFAT = /media/storage. - Performed update using Update Manager. Downloaded and installed one lib* update.- Enabled Universe and Multiverse repositories.- Downloaded and installed nvidia.glx driver for GEFORCE4 Ti4200 vid card. This did not work for some reason. I'm currently investigating.- Imported Firefox and Thunderbird directories from backup and installed in /home directory.- Using Synaptic, downloaded and installed Moz Thunderbird.- Tested Thunderbird and FF...mostly functioning. There are a couple bugs in the profiles that I restored from backup. I'll investigate and repair shortly.0315hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Performed minor Gnome Desktop customizations.- Downloaded and installed PartImage.- In Terminal, created the following directories and assigned permissions: /home/vtel57/vtel57_private /home/vtel57/vtel57_downloads.- Attempted to fix FF and T-bird bugs. Not successful. I'll investigate further later.- Shutdown.1323hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Cold start bootup... locked up on Ubuntu splash screen at "Loading Hardware Drivers". No logs of this event. I guess the log apps hadn't started yet.- A hard kill and a second bootup brought the system to the desktop in less that 1.5 minutes.1544hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Attempted to repair bugs in FF. Still having problems with new tab focus. Will return to this later.- Reconfigured xserver-xorg using Terminal with this command: $ sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg.- Rebooting now...- Reboot normal - screen resolution and refresh rate now OK - 1024X768 @ 85Hz.1616hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Created auto-node for ATAPI Zip100 drive using this method: Using Terminal, created directory /media/Zip100. With Root Gedit, created this script*: #!/bin/bashmknod /dev/hdb4 b 3 64#End script Saved script as S95zipnode in /etc/rcS.d. Using Terminal again, made the script executable using $ sudo chmod 755 /etc/rcS.d/S95zipnode *Script and method provided by Bruno on THIS thread.- Rebooting now to test Zip100.- Reboot normal.- Zip100 now functional at startup.- Copied custom homepage data from Zip to /vtel57_private/homepages.1701hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Installed Automatix using the method outlined at the Automatix Wiki- Installed numerous applications with Automatix.- Also, the latest reboot seems to have fixed my FF and T-Bird bugs.1722hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Used root Gedit to modify /etc/hdparm.conf so that DMA is enabled on both CDs (hdd) and IDE hard drive (hda).- Set Power Management settings for monitor and system to suspend after 20 minutes. Suspend is probably not functional in Ubuntu though.- All applications installed by Automatix with no problems.- Changed login picture.- Set auto-login - on.- Rebooting now...- Reboot normal.1746hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Reconfigured startup services: Enabled - bootlogd, stop-bootlogd, hdparm; Disabled - blue-utils, laptop mode, hot-key setup, festival.1858hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Added personal folders to /vtel57_private directory.- Imported personal data from Windows.- Tweaked sound settings... minor problems here.- Restored original FF and T-Bird icons using THIS tutorial.- Setup SBackup application.- Performed full backup with SBackup.- Shutdown @ 1900hrs.2105hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- System restart... locked up in Ubuntu splash screen at "Mounting Root File System".- Hard kill and reboot.- Reboot normal.2131hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Uninstalling PartImage from system.- Downloading bootable CD version of System Rescue, which includes PartImage.- System Rescue burned to CD using GnomeBaker.- Rebooting to Rescue Disk to perform PartImage backup @ 2149hrs.2226hrs EDT - 13 August, '06- Reboot normal.- Could not get System Rescue to "see" my RAID disk, the planned destination for my backup. I'll get back to this later.- Killed Nvidia splash screen by editing /etc/X11/xorg.conf as follows: Section "Device" Identifier "NVIDIA Corporation NV28 [GeForce4 Ti 4200 AGP 8x]" Driver "nvidia" BusID "PCI:1:0:0" VideoRam 128000 Option "UseFBDev" "true" Option "NoLogo" Added the items in red. Info on how to do this came from THIS tutorial.0006hrs EDT - 14 August, '06- Downloaded many Gnome themes and wallpapers.- Completed most of my Gnome customizations. Here's a screenshot of my current desktop:*click for bigger pic0429hrs EDT - 14 August, '06- Determined that PartImage would not work on my system. I doesn't have RAID support.- Installed Seahorse encryption software w/ synaptic. - Set up my GPG keys.- Resolved sound problem by choosing default controller in Gnome Preferences - Sound, then installing the correct volume control knob into my drawer on my bottom panel.-Shutdown.1315hrs - 14 August, '06- Bootup - normal and fast. However, the system had already been powered up for about 20 minutes before booting to Ubuntu.1445hrs EDT - 14 August, '06- Upgraded to K7 kernel using this command: $ sudo apt-get install linux-k7.- Reboot normal.1249hrs EDT - 15 August, '06- Cold start bootup... failed @ Loading hardware drivers. Required hard kill to terminate. No logs of this event. Logs start with restart.- Restart... boot up normal and fast.1500hrs EDT - 16 August, '06- Installed dmraid. Clutching at straws here to fix the cold boot problem. 1630hrs EDT - 16 August, '06- Uninstalled dmraid.- Shutting down.2000hrs EDT - 16 August, '06- Reconfigured hardware:* Boot drive - Seagate 120Gig (primary EIDE master) (OS Ubuntu Linux 6.06/Gnome - OS Fedora Core 5/Gnome) - /dev/hda 1,2,3,5, and 6.* Maxtor 80Gig (primary EIDE slave) (OS Windows XP Pro - Storage) - /dev/hdb 1 and 5* Hewlett Packard HP-dvd840 DVD/CW writer (secondary EIDE master) - /dev/hdc* Iomega ZIP 100 ATAPI (secondary EIDE slave) - /dev/hdd4- Corrected /etc/fstab and S95zipnode (see above) to conform to the new hardware profile.- Shutting down.1200hrs EDT - 17 August, '06- Cold start bootup... FAILED. Booted all the way to "Configuring network interfaces", then entered run level 2 and show error: "hda: drive not ready for command". Continued loading till "Starting ACPI services", then hung. Hard kill required to exit.- Reboot, 2nd attempt... FAILED. Error: "Missing INIT". Hard kill required to exit.- Reboot, 3rd attempt... FAILED. Failed to load X. Had to initiate dpkg-reconfigure from the command prompt. Went through the reconfigure process then rebooted.- Reboot, 4th attempt... FAILED. Auto-fsck initiated in this attempt. Corrected file/sector problems on /home. - Reboot, 5th attempt... SUCCESS, eventually. Auto-fsck initiated again. Error: "/home not mounted cleanly". Continued loading all the way to desktop.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A final update...After much hair-pulling, cussing, gnashing of teeth, etc., I determined that ALL of my problems lately: corruption of data, failures to boot, corrupted installs, etc. were ALL caused by an out-of-box failure of a 120Gig Seagate hard drive that I had installed on my system in order to have a place to install Linux. The drive was loading down the IDE controller when it was installed there, and it also loaded down my RAID controller when I had it configured there. The result was random corruption of data on ALL my drives due to this Seagate drive's effect on the controllers. I'm happy to say that this problem has finally been resolved. I now have my system back to its original hardware configuration with just one 80Gig drive on RAID 0. I have Win XP Pro and Ubuntu 6.06.1 installed on it and cohabiting happily. I replaced the 120Gig Seagate with a 250Gig Western Digital, but I may not install it on this system. I'm only lacking the mobo, CPU, and vid card to assemble my new system. I may wait till then to unpackage the WD drive.Thanks for following along and offering tips and moral support while I attempted to get past this urksome problem. All's well now. :)Regards,~Eric Edited September 5, 2006 by V.T. Eric Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Hi EricI get the impression you are hitting the wall again here . . . . . something is definitely not going according plan.The first question marks are already here: - Performed update using Update Manager. Downloaded and installed one lib* update.. . . . . - Downloaded and installed nvidia.glx driver for GEFORCE4 Ti4200 vid card. This did not work for some reason. I'm currently investigating.Now why is there only one update ?? I can't Imagine there is only one.Next is the nvidia driver issue . . . . what happened there ? Where did you get the drivers from ? BrunoPS: If you want the discussion transfered to another thread . . . please let me know and I will do the magic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 No, that's OK. We can discuss on this thread. I'll just continue to edit the first post (diary) as I go along.I have a brand new d-loaded 6.06.1 CD. I figured everything was pretty much up-to-date on it. That's why I didn't worry about the single library update being anything unusual.I d-loaded the nvidia.glx using Synaptic w/ all the default Ubuntu repositories except Backports turned on. I think I remember the first time I did this without the help of Automatix that I had to reconfigure Xorg to get it to work. After that it was fine. I just don't remember how to reconfigure Xorg right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Aaaahaaa . . that is why you only had one update . . . . okay I understand !Now the next thing . . . here is the command you were looking for: $ sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg Okay I will move on to the next remark in a minuteB) BrunoEric . . I made a small typo in the command for X . . . the first character dropped off . . I fixed it above ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 (edited) AHA! That's the one! I wrote it down somewhere around here, but couldn't find the ****** thing. My computer area has been in chaos this past couple weeks. Thanks, Bruno. I'm off to fix this right now because the 60Hz screen flicker is giving me a headache.Back in a few...Hmm... "command not found" ??? Edited August 13, 2006 by V.T. Eric Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Next question/remark . . . . Usually when you "mkdir" a new directory in your /home/vtel57 they automatically get the correct permissions . . . : - In Terminal, created the following directories and assigned permissions: /home/vtel57/vtel57_private /home/vtel57/vtel57_downloads Eric . . I made a small typo in the command for X . . . the first character dropped off . . I fixed it in the post ! Have a look . . sorry about that Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 HAHA! I caught the typo. I figured you meant "dpkg". I just reconfigured xserver. I'll need to reboot now.Yes, when using "sudo mkdir" in my /home directory it did set the permissions correctly. I just changed them so that no one would have read rights. It was originally set as drwx-r-r. I changed it to drwx only. Back in a minute... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Yes, when using "sudo mkdir" in my /home directory it did set the permissions correctly. I just changed them so that no one would have read rights. It was originally set as drwx-r-r. I changed it to drwx only. Okay . . . got it ! Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 Ahhhhhhhh... no more screen flicker. YAY! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Okay next issue: - Cold start bootup... locked up on Ubuntu splash screen at "Loading Hardware Drivers". So this means we are at the same point as before ??? Only progress we made is that you now have "6.06.1" ?? . . . . . . B) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 13, 2006 Author Share Posted August 13, 2006 (edited) Yup! That's pretty much the situation. I'm just going to live with it for now. I need to have the system up and running. Other than that cold start bug, it was very stable before the reinstall, so I'm just going to get this install back to the way it was and then carry on from there.By the way, keep referring back to the "diary" in that other thread. I'm updating the first post in almost real time. That diary may end up being very informative for me and others playing around with Ubuntu, as long as Scot's forums don't crash and burn. Edited August 13, 2006 by V.T. Eric Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 By the way, keep referring back to the "diary" in that other thread. I'm updating the first post in almost real time. That diary may end up being very informative for me and others playing around with Ubuntu, as long as Scot's forums don't crash and burn. Good thinking Eric ! . . . .Way to go. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 I'm actually considering upgrading my kernel to the K7 version. What the ****, right? What's the worse that can happen? It trashes my installation? So what! I've installed it 4 times. What's one more time gonna' hurt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Nothing serious can happen . . . . you simply get an extra option in the bootmenu for the new kernel and can always go back/boot the old kernel if you have to.Opgrading your kernel these modern days is easy as pie and without any risk ( so where is the fun ? ) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 Upgrade: SUCCESS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 - Upgraded to K7 kernel using this command: $ sudo apt-get install linux-k7.LOL . . . see ? . . . . Easy as pie . . . . . LOL . . . . Congrats on your first kernel upgrade !( next step up is compiling a custom kernel ) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 14, 2006 Author Share Posted August 14, 2006 Heh-heh... yeah, one of these days. ;)By the way, am enjoying Rute. However, I'm probably going to have to read this book 4 or 5 times for it to really sink in. I'm learning stuff though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 Rute is great . . . . . it's my personal favorite . . . together with the info on Yo-Linux and the Yo-Linux/Tutorials ;) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 Ok, folks... As you can see in the diary above, I've changed/rearranded my hardware on my system to eliminate the RAID drive. Now, I need to know how to disable RAID detection in Linux (Ubuntu and Fedora), otherwise I think the OS's will still crash on cold start.I'm in Fedora now. I have to make similar modifications in this OS due to my hardware changes. Off I go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Hi EricI think RAID is in the hardware detection during boot, and no special setting has to be adapted . . . . only the /etc/fstab setting the line to /dev/hdb1 and later the /boot/grub/menu.lst reference to XP.Hope your cold boot will be smooth . . . . Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 Yup.... made the fstab and other necessary changes. All's well in Ubuntu. I have a sneaky suspicion that the bootup problem with Linux is not solved though. My Fedora locked up after the system had been powered down for about 45 minutes. I did a fresh install of the Fedora, just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 I have a sneaky suspicion that the bootup problem with Linux is not solved though. Well if it ain't solved . . . you can set the drives back to their original position . . . and we will have to continue the search for the "guilty one" Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 Well if it ain't solved . . . you can set the drives back to their original position . . . and we will have to continue the search for the "guilty one" BrunoTo **** with that! I spent $130 on this DVD/CD writer. I'll leave everything just as it is. If we find that the RAID wasn't the issue after all, I'll probably put the older 80Gig back on the RAID controller and buy a new 120Gig to run as a slave to my other 120Gig. I'll use the slave 120Gig as a backup mirror for my Linux drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 Needed 5 attempts to get to the desktop with Ubuntu on a cold start today (see diary post #1 for details). Oh boy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Needed 5 attempts to get to the desktop with Ubuntu on a cold start today (see diary post #1 for details). Oh boy! 5 attempts ????? . . . . . . . . . oh man . . . . . !!Waiting for the updates in post #1B) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 5 attempts ????? . . . . . . . . . oh man . . . . . !!Waiting for the updates in post #1B) BrunoWell, I edited them in there before I even posted here about the 5 attempts, but the updates aren't there. Will try again now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted August 17, 2006 Author Share Posted August 17, 2006 OK, Bruno... it's there now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Booted all the way to "Configuring network interfaces" Why would it hang there ??? Makes no sense.then entered run level 2 and show error: "hda: drive not ready for command"Huh ???Continued loading till "Starting ACPI services", then hung. The #$@% ACPI !!! Maybe we need an append in grub noacpi ?Hard kill required to exit Well, yep this is the worst thing you can do to your HD . . . it surely will corrupt things and the issues you get at boot 2,3,4 and 5 are the result of that.Is there really no other way out ?? Ctrl+Alt+F2 does that give you a console ?? . . . The Skinny Elephants ? . . Ctrl+Alt+Backspace . . Ctrl+Alt+Del . . Anything to avoid data corruption. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urmas Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 Needed 5 attempts to get to the desktop with Ubuntu on a cold start today (see diary post #1 for details). Oh boy! * Iomega ZIP 100 ATAPI (secondary EIDE slave) - /dev/hdd4.Can't help thinking... this seems to be the only "oddball device"... why don't you remove the mounting script... better yet, remove the script AND unplug the device... then shutdown --> pint of Jack --> cold boot.My 2 (€)cents... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted August 17, 2006 Share Posted August 17, 2006 LOL . . . Urmas . . . again a courageous attempt to take his favorite toy ( the zip-drive ) from him . . . . . LOL . . . . . poor Eric Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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