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**rogerduncan100** · Oct 24, 2011, 09:00 PM

Re: perfect upgrade record

I thought this thread would be another one about how great Kubuntu 11.10 is but I was happy to see it isn't. I can tell everyone that this version does not work for me. I have gone back to Kubuntu 10.10.

When I tried upgrading online my system totally crapped out! I figured if I did a clean install off a stick that that might work but no luck at all. It would not even install!

I wonder why it works for some and not for others. My computer is an Asus F80L laptop.

**geezer** · Oct 25, 2011, 04:55 PM

Re: perfect upgrade record

Did a CD installation - twice. The first installation had a bad habit of freezing once KDE desktop booted. This was after I had installed a few of the packages I use regularly.

Interesting to see how the second installation goes.

**leetuckert** · Oct 25, 2011, 05:14 PM

Re: perfect upgrade record

My upgrade was a failure as well. I was moving from 11.04 to 11.10 which i expected to accomplish without sweat, blood, and tears. I was stupid enough not to use Clonzilla to make a dump of my current configuration. Lesson learned. I don't know why it works for some and not for others. I'm on a relatively new Dell Lattitude.

**GreyGeek** · Oct 25, 2011, 05:39 PM

Re: perfect upgrade record

A LOT of install failures come from a bad iso download, but also from a bad CD burn.

While most people do an md5sum on the downloaded iso to confirm its quality and validity, a LOT of folks assume that as long as K3b reports a good burn the LiveCD is OK. The LiveCD should be checked as well before installation. Either use the option on the LiveCD menu, or this method:

dd if=/dev/cdrom bs=2048 count=$(( $(stat -c %s karmic-desktop-i386.iso) / 2048)) | md5sum
# $() : applies command substitution ie runs the enclosed command and uses the result in its place
# stat -c %s "filename" : grabs the filesize of "filename" (in this case, the karmic iso image)
# $(( )) : applies arithmetic substitution ie evaluates the enclosed expression and uses the result in its place
# Net upshot - the filesize is grabbed, divided by 2048 and plugged in as the 'count'

**geezer** · Oct 26, 2011, 07:39 AM

Re: perfect upgrade record

Originally posted by GreyGeek

A LOT of install failures come from a bad iso download, but also from a bad CD burn.

While most people do an md5sum on the downloaded iso to confirm its quality and validity, a LOT of folks assume that as long as K3b reports a good burn the LiveCD is OK. The LiveCD should be checked as well before installation. Either use the option on the LiveCD menu, or this method:

dd if=/dev/cdrom bs=2048 count=$(( $(stat -c %s karmic-desktop-i386.iso) / 2048)) | md5sum
# $() : applies command substitution ie runs the enclosed command and uses the result in its place
# stat -c %s "filename" : grabs the filesize of "filename" (in this case, the karmic iso image)
# $(( )) : applies arithmetic substitution ie evaluates the enclosed expression and uses the result in its place
# Net upshot - the filesize is grabbed, divided by 2048 and plugged in as the 'count'

I checked the MD5 sum of the downloaded file. It matched the MD5 sum on the Kubuntu download page. Have done this for the past several version downloads.

**GreyGeek** · Oct 26, 2011, 08:04 AM

Re: perfect upgrade record

Originally posted by geezer

....
I checked the MD5 sum of the downloaded file. It matched the MD5 sum on the Kubuntu download page. Have done this for the past several version downloads.

Most do, but most also fail to check the validity of the LiveCD they've burned, and the purpose of my post was to point that fact out, and give a method for testing the BURNED CD.

**rogerduncan100** · Oct 26, 2011, 07:57 PM

Re: perfect upgrade record

I used a stick.

**GreyGeek** · Oct 27, 2011, 09:11 AM

Re: perfect upgrade record

And you can guarantee that a burn to a stick is always faultless?

Edit:
I realized that I should substantiate that question.

When flash drives were first sold some manufacturers were guaranteeing a MTBF of 100,00 write cycles. Practical experience has revealed that a more reasonable figure is, perhaps, no more than 10,000 write cycles.

Combine that which the drives falling into the commodity basement, with its accompanying reduction in quality of manufacturer and we have cases where flash drives fail right out of the packaging. People using flash drives extensively are reporting that based on the MTBF they expect a drive failure every 12 to 18 months, but they are failing ever few weeks:

We use USB drives regularly here-- given the number of drives we have and the suggested MTBF we should see many one dead drive a year or every 18 months. Instead we see one dead drive every few weeks. Take that for what you will. Razz

Now, failure has become epidemic:

So what causes flash drives to fail? Ryan suggests four main causes:

* Storing a USB flash drive—or any electronic device—in your pocket makes it susceptible to moisture and corrosion, electro-static discharge and physical damage. A Windows error saying “flash drive not recognized” is a common sign of physical damage.
* Using a flash drive in multiple computers exposes it to problems such as virus attack, power surges, and file corruption.
* High-capacity NAND memory chips and multi-chip PCB configuration can increase the likelihood of flash drive failure. Plus, having more storage capacity means we likely have more important documents on our USB flash drives to lose.
* As market forces push USB flash drive prices down, manufacturers often sacrifice quality to compete. This leads to increased flash drive failure rates even among the major brands.

Most USB sticks come with FAT32 on them. The FAT table is constantly being rewritten, so one would expect a rapid failure of those sectors. A USB stick as reserve sectors, just like an HD, and when a sector fails it is marked off and a fresh sector replaces it ... it's just a matter of switching tract & sector values, and marking the first byte of the bad sector with, IIRC, "E5". To avoid too many write cycles of the FAT table it is moved around the USB stick. But, the location which stores its current location is still being written to all too often. Like RAM, USB sticks fail. That why we have memory check and disk check programs, and why it is a good idea on occasions to reformat HDs, USBs and SSDs.

I've inadvertently left a USB drive in my pants pocket (I always carry five around) more then once and they have gone through a cold water wash cycle and through the clothes dryer, yet came out working. How long they will continue to work after such abuse is anyone's guess. IMO, your are as likely to get a bad burn to a USB stick as you are to a CDROM. It is ALWAYS a good idea to test your fresh burn, regardless of the media used.

**rogerduncan100** · Oct 27, 2011, 05:21 PM

Re: perfect upgrade record

That's interesting information about USB sticks. Thanks!

**bsniadajewski** · Oct 27, 2011, 08:29 PM

Re: perfect upgrade record

I did something similar to geezer. I dl'd the minimal CD for Oneiric after I upgraded to the new version just in case, and good thing I did. The KDE upgrade from 4.7.1 to 4.7.2 f'ed up my install and took half of KDE with it. So, after a few tries, I finally got Oneiric to install from the CD with just the minimum for KDE to run smoothly.

**rogerduncan100** · Oct 29, 2011, 08:10 PM

Re: perfect upgrade record

I checked the MD5 sum from the Kubuntu download website and it matched the one for my ISO image so just one last time I tried to do an installation of Kubuntu 11.10 from a stick. The same thing happened as all the other times: I worked fine as a live CD but when I tried to install it, after I gave it my location, it told me my hard drive was over heating. Kubuntu 11.10 will not install on my laptop. I am going back to Kubuntu 10.10 and I am sure I will be happy with it as it is pretty good.

I wonder how many other people can't install Kubuntu 11.10. It's not that I am complaining, I am having lots of fun but I think the developers should know that there are problems with the new Kubuntu.

**bai.ganga** · Nov 03, 2011, 05:25 AM

Re: perfect upgrade record

I remember long [2 years?] ago someone on this forum told me I should preferably do a clean install every time rather than just upgrading. So, finally I downloaded the CD image on 25 Oct or so and upgraded [in the process, formatting the Kubuntu portion of hard drive] to Kubuntu 11.10 on 28 Oct 2011.

Only thing I noticed after the upgrade is that the provision which was there to install new programs like firefox web browser, vlc media player and so many such other softwares, seems to have vanished from the "system settings". I just managed to install firefox browser by going through ---> Applications ---> Internet. But, even after searching everywhere I could in that, there was no option to install vlc player, which I prefer over Dragon and Amarok players.

Can someone give me instructions to install the vlc player please

Although I have been using Kubuntu as an OS since long, please consider me a "newbie" in these matters since I am not in the habit of doing any changes on the OS [except upgrading when it asks for] once it has been installed.

**bai.ganga** · Nov 03, 2011, 07:11 AM

Re: perfect upgrade record

Hi guys . . . This is regarding my previous post a couple of hours ago. I managed to locate the Muon Software Centre and download vlc player. Thanks.

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