Kubuntu 12.04 Precise Thoughts

[bobk]

I think once you run the lsb_release-a command it will be immediately apparent whether you have 32 or 64 bit. Hopefully because the command devel-release-command is itself an upgrade, if your DVD was 64bit the upgrade will be too.

I've never used kubuntu dvd before but it does appear to be a "live" version so I can't see why you can't boot from it (although you presumably could the first time you tried it).

However, looking at the instructions it says you get a boot prompt at which you need to type "live". Are you skipping that step by any chance?

I didn't see a boot prompt, it just went to the blue screen with the logo. then booted into 11.04, I guess I will try to install something 64 bit, and see what happens...thanks for your insights.

[james147]

thanks, I will try this stuff.

lsb_release -a tells me that it unbuntu 12.04 LST but not if it is 32 or 64

if I find that the system d/l the 32 bit version, is it
just simpler to delete the system on the hard disk, so maybe it will boot
from the DVD? I went into the boot menu, and selected DVD but it went
ahead and booted the previous version. and there doesn't seem to be a
setup or installer on the
DVD, so all I could do saw view the files therein.

uname -m

will tell you what architecture you are running on. But note that you cannot upgrade a 32bit (x86) computer to 64bit (x86_64) without doing a complete reinstall.

[The Liquidator]

Okay so let me make sure I have it straight.

You were running 11.04? That appears to be the issue. My reading of the documentation

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

Would appear to suggest that you can only upgrade to 12.04 from either 11.10 or 10.04 LTS. So if you wanted to do an upgrade to 12.04 you would have to first upgrade it to 11.10.

IMHO that would at this stage probably be a pointless exercise. A fresh install of 12.04 will be better. Back up your home directory first - if its not on a separate partition it will be wiped by a fresh install.

Have you not at any time been able to boot from the DVD you have burned? If that is the case logic says you need to

1. Do an md5sum check on the 12.04 image you have downloaded
2. Burn another DVD at the slowest possible speed.

However as an aside you might also like to consider this. Did you burn the downloaded file as a disk image or did you simply burn the download to DVD? If the latter that would perfectly explain the failure to boot. If so, right click on the downloaded file and select "create disk image with K3b".

[bobk]

uname -m

will tell you what architecture you are running on. But note that you cannot upgrade a 32bit (x86) computer to 64bit (x86_64) without doing a complete reinstall.

that told me, x386 _ 64

thanks

[bobk]

Okay so let me make sure I have it straight.

You were running 11.04? That appears to be the issue. My reading of the documentation

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

the uname -m told me what I needed. and I am OK....thanks for your suggestions

Would appear to suggest that you can only upgrade to 12.04 from either 11.10 or 10.04 LTS. So if you wanted to do an upgrade to 12.04 you would have to first upgrade it to 11.10.

IMHO that would at this stage probably be a pointless exercise. A fresh install of 12.04 will be better. Back up your home directory first - if its not on a separate partition it will be wiped by a fresh install.

Have you not at any time been able to boot from the DVD you have burned? If that is the case logic says you need to

1. Do an md5sum check on the 12.04 image you have downloaded
2. Burn another DVD at the slowest possible speed.

However as an aside you might also like to consider this. Did you burn the downloaded file as a disk image or did you simply burn the download to DVD? If the latter that would perfectly explain the failure to boot. If so, right click on the downloaded file and select "create disk image with K3b".

the "uname -m" told me what I needed...I am where I want to be.

thanks for the sugestions.

[bobk]

no audio in videos

I am trying to play avi files, and other videos. the vids take a long time to start, and I have no audio at all. I just upgraded this machine, to use as a "home theater" I was using a p4, and a old nvidia card,
so I went to a i3 and a HD5450 ati card with hdmi. well vids were problimatic before, now they are worse. should I get audio through htmi under linuz? or is that to much to expect. I plugged in a USB speaker.
and when I can get into the multimedia setting panel. the test button gets result. but still no audio in videos. most of the time the settings just crash. I did run the updates. not sure where to go here. I really would
like to use kubuntu....any sugestions? well back to the other machine to see if I can figure anything...>

[tdockery97]

I hope someone has a workable solution for you bobk, as I have never been able to get sound to my hdtv (also ATI Graphics) using anything but Windows.

[GreyGeek]

Open a Konsole and issue

sudo alsamixer


Hit F5 to make visible all of the controls. You may have to use the right and left arrows to slide the "windows" one way or the other to see all the controls.

If a control has "MM" at the bottom arrow over to it to highlight it, and press the "M" key.

Make sure the Master Volume, the PCM and the Digital sliders are at the top of the white region but not into the red, if you can. KMixer and Pulse don't often give the user access to the "Digital" slider. Also make sure the "Capture" slider is in the white.

[tweev]

My 11.10 just died. I've been dealing with annoying shutdowns and I've never found a solution so I thought I would do a clean install when 12.04 comes out.

Tomorrow right? I really need to get back to work!
Thanks

[blackpaw]

I really need to get back to work!Thanks

Go on - tweaking your kubuntu install is much more fun. You know you want to.

[tweev]

Go on - tweaking your kubuntu install is much more fun. You know you want to.

It was weird. I installed TexLiv from source and it somehow filled up my drive after only installing 1/2 way. Now my computer just fails a drive test and hangs. I can enter safe mode and get to a command prompt but really the random shutdowns were getting REALLY annoying (I thought it was a temperature issue but I keep going back to it being a video card issue).

i've been using Kubuntu for about 5 years and have really liked it. Unfortunately, it's gotten to the point that if 12.04 doesn't work fairly easily on my machine I'm just going to go Mac (BOO! I know) I just need something that works.

[bobk]

Open a Konsole and issue

sudo alsamixer


Hit F5 to make visible all of the controls. You may have to use the right and left arrows to slide the "windows" one way or the other to see all the controls.

If a control has "MM" at the bottom arrow over to it to highlight it, and press the "M" key.

Make sure the Master Volume, the PCM and the Digital sliders are at the top of the white region but not into the red, if you can. KMixer and Pulse don't often give the user access to the "Digital" slider. Also make sure the "Capture" slider is in the white.

thanks. I found that control , and set everything as you suggest still nothing. I used F6 select sound card, and it has, what I believe is the card, but when i select that, i only get s/pdif, no volume controls. I think. but am not sure, that the default, is the built in chipset vid. I have the proprietary driver, the top one activated. would the second one, listed as update make any difference? could this be a ati thing? this card worked well, under win 7, SP1, so I know the card is OK...any other ideas?
thank you for your time, I know linuz, is not as easy to configure as other OS's. but I still would like to get open source stuff working...

[bobk]

In (recent) the past I've found interesting differences between the 'regular' and 'updated' driver, it's worth giving it a shot!

In case something of pulsaudio is installed there is pavucontrol to set it up.

is pavucontrol, a terminal sudo thingie also?

I am D/l the other driver now, I will report. it is important, as that is the main reason
for this build, and this point, it is sitting next to the TV, and doing nothing....

thanks

[The Liquidator]

No it isn't. Pavucontrol is a full-blown gui with which you configure the pulse audio system. Command-line not necessary. You install it via the package manager and then hit kmenubutton and start to type the name in the box and reference to it will appear below.

You can then either just click it to launch or if you like drag to the desktop or send to panel (you need to unlock widgets to do the latter).

I believe you are trying to hear the audio through USB? It can be a little tricky but this may help. Plug in your usb device and do kemenu/system settings/multimedia. Select phonon /device preference and look under the various headings for your device. Select it and using the "prefer" button move it to the top of the list. Try the "test" button. Does it work? That's progress. It will mean that whenever you boot up the machine with the USB device plugged in KDE "should" use it as the default. (in my experience it's not infallible!)

Now importantly, what application are you trying to use to watch your video? It may well be that you need to tell the application to use the device you need. For example if the USB speaker has muted onboard sound, it may be that you need to tell the application to use it. Certainly VLC and audacity seem to work that way. Doesn't seem to be a Linux only issue as my daughters iTunes needs exactly the same thing.

Hope that helps

[bobk]

No it isn't. Pavucontrol is a full-blown gui with which you configure the pulse audio system. Command-line not necessary. You install it via the package manager and then hit kmenubutton and start to type the name in the box and reference to it will appear below.

You can then either just click it to launch or if you like drag to the desktop or send to panel (you need to unlock widgets to do the latter).

I believe you are trying to hear the audio through USB? It can be a little tricky but this may help. Plug in your usb device and do kemenu/system settings/multimedia. Select phonon /device preference and look under the various headings for your device. Select it and using the "prefer" button move it to the top of the list. Try the "test" button. Does it work? That's progress. It will mean that whenever you boot up the machine with the USB device plugged in KDE "should" use it as the default. (in my experience it's not infallible!)

Now importantly, what application are you trying to use to watch your video? It may well be that you need to tell the application to use the device you need. For example if the USB speaker has muted onboard sound, it may be that you need to tell the application to use it. Certainly VLC and audacity seem to work that way. Doesn't seem to be a Linux only issue as my daughters iTunes needs exactly the same thing.

Hope that helps

no I am not wishing to use the USB, only tried that to see if it would work. if the speakers on the TV would work with the HDMI, I would be a happy camper.
I just tried to update the post release ATI driver, and it failed. refered me to a log "jockey" file in var folder. that was full of gobblede gook, no idea what it means.
now the other ati driver has disappeared...I have to go out for a while, and deal with real life stuff, but will mess around more when I return. I really want the ATI
video, and sound over hdmi...I guess, I could run a mini jack wire, from the built in audio, to the tv, but I think I tried that last night, and no result..shame that
these things don't just plug and play...thanks for your suggestions.....later...Bobby