[clenny]

He.0.4 llo. As you may know, I haven't been able to login to my machine since updating to Ubuntu 8.1. Well I had this great idea to burn the 9.0.4 beta to a CD. Anyway, I tried to use it to update my system but I must be dong something wrong. It just seems to boot up from the CD. But now it doesn't accept my login and password and gives me a prompt" Ubuntu password in 30 seconds. It counts down and then the screen goes black. Any ideas?

[leroys1000]

I think the login for the CD is:
User:ubuntu
password:ubuntu

[clenny]

Thanks but I think my problem is essentially the same as before; Here are some error messages I got:

debconf: DbDriver "config": /var/cache/debconf/config.dat is locked by another process: resource temporarily unavailable

Warning: Could not generate /etc/X11/xorg.conf.failsafe for vesa driver

I then clicked ok and got this message:

The X server is now disabled. restart GDM when it is configured correctly

Now, I'm not even sure what that means except for some reason the graphical interface is not loading. I think my system is incapable of handling the X server for either Ubuntu 8.10 and surely not 9.0.4. I had no problems with 8.0.4. I think I read somewhere for older systems or systems that can't handle the latest versions of Ubuntu there was something else that one could use. Would Xbuntu or Kbuntu work for me? I would still like to be able to rip CDs and watch movies, etc. It is an older computer and it doesn't have enough memory to run 9.0.4 properly. I don't really care to buy any more memory for my Linux box since I already have a Mac and a Windows box on my LAN that are already up to snuff. I'd like to use Linux more but a more up to date computer is not in the near future, I think. Thanks in advance for your ideas and suggestions.

[leroys1000]

When you boot to the CD there should be some options
at the bottom of the boot screen,if you are getting that far.
I think it's F4 for VGA.
Hit that and try setting it to 1024X768.
Then select the system to boot and hit enter.
See if that gets the display to come up.
If not,try different resolutions.

Kubuntu use the KDE desktop that has a lower memory use,
but I don't think that will solve the problem.

[clenny]

Strange thing. I decided to try to run it from the CD and I do get to the desktop when I do. However, I got these error messages:

The panel encountered a problem while loading "OAFID: GNOME APPLET".

The panel encountered a problem while loading "OAFID: GNOME_Pane_TrashApplet".

I occasionally got a similar trashapplet message under Ubuntu 8.0.4 but if I rebooted the trash icon and I assume the applet would load.

There is an"Install" icon on the desktop. Should I try that? If that doesn't work, I can at least run it from the CD although that's not my preference.

If I can get it to install, I think I should go for a "clean install". Do you agree that might be best?




To update my post:

I tried installing 9.0.4 again and got the following error messages:

Error informing the kernel about modifications to partition /dev/sda1- device or resource busy. This means Linux won't know about any changes you make to /dev/sda1 until you reboot- so you shouldn't mount it or use it in any way before rebooting

Then:

the ext3 file system creation in partition #1 of SCSI1 (0,0,0) (sda) failed



After that it kicked me back ti step 4 of 7 of the installation. I guess it looks like I'll be running it from the CD for now. maybe the error messages will shine some light on the problem and be detected by the better informed in this forum.

Thanks!!


I'll be waiting on our feedback. Thanks!

[leroys1000]

You said this is an older system?
How old is it.
The SDA indicates you you are using a SCSI or SATA drive.
Is it SATA or do you have an external drive attached.

When the CD boots,it seems to be mounting the hard drive.
You may need to unmount it before installation.

The one error states that the partitions have been changed
but you will need to reboot first for the kernel to see the changes.
You may want to reboot and restart the install.

Are you selecting use entire drive for the installation?

[clenny]

It's pretty old. I bought it used in 2003 and it was running Windows 2000 pro. I hosed it somehow after one of those Windows updates and since I had an Ubuntu CD that I picked up at a tech show I decided to try it.
I don't have an external hard drive but I do have an Iomega zip drive connected to it.
I believe it must be SATA then.
If it helps to know it's a Compaq Presario, 766 Mhz, 15 gig HD.
I did reboot it but ran into the same issues when I restarted the installation.
Yes, I selected the entire drive for the installation.
It runs from the CD but it is a bit slow but so is my Windows laptop. It's pretty old too. I just need it to run a particular software package I use for translation. Otherwise, I rarely use Windows unless forced by circumstances.

So my LAN consists of the Linux box, the Windows laptop and a Mac Powerbook. At one time I had them all talking to each other and was able to share files and everything. That's a bit off topic though

I do love learning how to solve these various issues even though everything I know has been self-taught and by making mistakes.

[leroys1000]

It's probably that zip drive that is showing as a SCSI.
You might want to disconnect that until the install is done.
A 15 GB hard drive is probably IDE.
It should show up in the installer as hda.

[clenny]

Well nothing seems to be working for me. I have a question, though? What is APCI? When I do try to boot up, I see that APCI never activiates or is never enabled. Just grasping at straws here.

[leroys1000]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance...ower_Interface

[clenny]

I'm wondering if I could downgrade back to 8.0.4, which was the last time my system worked. If yes, how do I do it? That seems to be the only solution to my problems and, at least, I would have a working system until I buy a new computer on which to install 9.0.4.

Any suggestions?

[leroys1000]

Probably looking at deleting the partitons and starting from scratch.

[clenny]

So, do I just insert the disk and reinstall 8.0.4 or is it more to it? Thanks in advance.

[leroys1000]

Yes,boot to the disk and select installation.
It should give you the option to use the entire disk.