End of the road for me and Linux (Kubuntu)

[Stosskraft]

Sorry I really need to vent my anger. I have been using Ubuntu, and kubuntu for about 3 years now.

Lately, the last couple months 12.04 has gone to complete **** in my opinion.

1. Constant crashes. I mean 5 or 6 a day I get notifications a day of a crash and then it send a report to somewhere.

2. This morning I got new update window called 'apper' never seen it before and I didnt install it. after using it libreoffice has disappeared and I cannot update anymore 'a configuration is broken'?

3. Cannot get a printer to print. I have another tread on this, with no help. I plus it in, install it and nothing. Then start hours or searching to get a simple USB printer to work. WHY?

I am not a computer geek and I do not want to be. I have work to do but now I find new programs and problems appearing...this is why I left windows in the first place, now I am having the same problems.. I do not want changes happening to my computer without me doing it! simple. Why can't a printer print?

I am sorry to vent like this but this morning, using Kubuntu has cost me time and money as I cannot use libreoffice to finish some work, and then I have to go to a print shop, where the formatting changes from Libreoffice to word?

[sartic]

i am to sick of crashing pop up so i give up.... i disabled them
kubuntu is nice, not perfect but has many options. now when i moved from ubuntu 10.4 i am not going back. plain ubuntu has wrong direction.
linux is big world u can find distro 4 your need.
i like ubuntu-ish because it is easiest for beginners and pro like it too

[blobfish]

Computers are a source of frustration for all of us at times and sometimes a rant is healthy. Good luck.

[vw72]

Sorry I really need to vent my anger. I have been using Ubuntu, and kubuntu for about 3 years now.

Lately, the last couple months 12.04 has gone to complete **** in my opinion.

1. Constant crashes. I mean 5 or 6 a day I get notifications a day of a crash and then it send a report to somewhere.

Have you installed all of the updates? I know when I first installed 12.04 there were a lot of crash notifications. However, after applying all the updates, it is rare.

2. This morning I got new update window called 'apper' never seen it before and I didnt install it. after using it libreoffice has disappeared and I cannot update anymore 'a configuration is broken'?

Apper is the renamed kpackage-kit. Was your libreoffice installed from a ppa or was it the default version in kubuntu? A lot of times when something like this happens, there is a conflict with a manually installed app and a new upgrade. Since the user tells the system to upgrade, it has to remove the conflict, which usually means the manually installed program gets axed. You can usually just go back and reinstall the broken program (libreoffice in your case) as the conflict usually doesn't go both directions. Another option is to open a terminal and do a sudo apt-get dist-upgrade.

3. Cannot get a printer to print. I have another tread on this, with no help. I plus it in, install it and nothing. Then start hours or searching to get a simple USB printer to work. WHY?

Does the printer print with other versions? Kubuntu and Ubuntu both use the CUPS backend, so if it works on one, it should work on the other. What is the printer make and model?


I am not a computer geek and I do not want to be. I have work to do but now I find new programs and problems appearing...this is why I left windows in the first place, now I am having the same problems.. I do not want changes happening to my computer without me doing it! simple. Why can't a printer print?

I am sorry to vent like this but this morning, using Kubuntu has cost me time and money as I cannot use libreoffice to finish some work, and then I have to go to a print shop, where the formatting changes from Libreoffice to word?[/QUOTE]

I definitely understand your frustration and empathize with you. I usually try to refrain from any upgrades/updates when I have a deadline or a critical project I'm involved with (doesn't matter whether Linux/Windows/OS X or even Android). Another reason to delay updates, particularly if not a geek is that if others have had problems with an update, you will hear about it or more importantly the developers will and hopefully fix it (or remove the offending package from the update).

If you have to do the print shop thing again, tell libreoffice to export to a pdf file and take that to the print shop. You are less likely to have formatting change problems which can even occur if you created your document in Word, but was a different version or it used a different font than what the print shop had.

[GreyGeek]

Well, you are the best determiner of what your problems are and what you've got to do. Good luck with what ever OS you decide to move to.

As far as Kubuntu 12.04 is concerned, I installed it from a verified ISO file, burned onto a CD which I then verified, and then I connected an eth cable to my PC so that I could get 3rd party and updates installed while installing the ISO.

On both my previous Acer and this Acer V3-771G Kubuntu Precise has been working smoothly. I have gotten an occasional crash of VLC, but it continues to work well for the most part. I used it to capture the stream of 1080p mp4 video of Curiosity's landing, which was released yesterday. After I viewed the decent several times I closed VLC and a few seconds later got a crash msg.

So, what I am saying is that how successful Kubuntu is depends on a multitude of factors, from hardware compatibility to operator skill. IF Kubuntu 12.04 were as bad as you think it is then everyone would be experiencing the same problems, and they are not. Without setting at your desk and doing the checks and install procedures that I do, I cannot say what is causing your problems. Take the printer for example. I have an HP duplex laser, P-1606dn. To install it I turned it on and when it was done warming up I plugged the USB cable into a USB port and within 15 seconds it was automatically setup. I didn't have to do anything else. Ten seconds later I had a test page in my hand. Setting up a printer can't be any easier than that, but not all printers are equal. Some take more work and/or manual effort to install.

So, again, good luck with Windows. Aside from its security issues, and Microsoft's ethical standards, I had no issues with either XP or Win7, but I haven't run them very much since I retired four years ago. IF I decided to leave Linux I'd move to an Apple 15" laptop. (I couldn't afford anything larger!)

[wrender]

My mom who loves using linux is actually frustrated as well with 12.04. She doesn't understand computers that well and with this fully updated release as of Sunday complains about crashes all the time. Had flash broke last week and for the first bit couldn't use Firefox until a community member took care of the problems. She asked me "can you install the previous 11.10 release of Kubuntu back on this new one is bad" I didn't know what to say because this is suppose to be the safe LTS release.

[Stosskraft]

some good replies here. After pressing submit I thought I was setting myself up for some good blasting My frustration is that this LTS release is suppose to be stable, something that is not necessarily true. I am going to try a few different distros and see what KDE options I have. I have recently started a small business and need my laptop for work. Maybe it is pushing kubuntu too much, but i need stabliity right now. Troubles with printing (now solved), libreoffice (latest update did something to it) and about 15 crashes a day is not helping the frustration level.

I will try to solve someone of the problems you guys are suggesting. The idea of exporting the libreoffice in PDF to keep the formatting is a good suggestion, thanks.

[GreyGeek]

...about 15 crashes a day.....

That's totally out of character for even an Alpha release of Kubuntu. I've been using Linux since 1998 and I can't recall any distro which gave me that much grief. If Kubuntu were giving me that much grief, and I was sure the problems weren't hardware related, I'd be looking to another distro too.

But, that many crashes per day suggests a hardware problem, most usually a flaky video chip and/or driver, or a CPU that gets too hot because of poor ventilation (dirty or dead fan, or too much dust) or dried conductive paste between the CPU and the cooling fins.

As far as "pushing Kubuntu too much" I doubt that you can do that. If Kubuntu seems limited it is probably due to insufficient RAM (and/or swap file), or a slow, single core CPU, or a low end video chip. IOW, hardware performance limitations. My previous Acer, a 7739, had 8GB of RAM and an Intel HD3000 video chip, but it's low end dual core CPU limited its performance. But, that didn't hinder my use of LibraOffice while multi-tasking with some other apps I had no problems, for example, of downloading an ISO while editing an audio file, creating an mp3 and uploading it to a website, all while burning another ISO on the CDROM. It's two core and two threads each averaged 15-20% of the CPU, and this was while all the system deamons were running and doing their thing.

Now, this Acer V3-771G has 6GB of RAM, but the video chip is an NVidia GForce 650M, which flies. The four core i7-3610QM CPU literally screams at me. It's max temp is 105C and while trying out the SecondLife viewer this evening I was experiencing smooth as silk graphics and the temp was bouncing around 85C. TORCS just flies! This is the fastest PC I've ever ran any distro of Linux on.

Kubuntu 12.04 has been rock solid stable on both of them. In April I had some problems on my previous Acer (I called the problems "the swamp"). I had a litany of errors, just like you are having. Here was the problem:

On 3/11/12 I purchased a 4GB stick to top out my memory at 8GB. It passed the memory test twice, so I never suspected it. Around noon I ran the memory test again and the stick of RAM I had added had failed! I pulled it out and suddenly everything but the wifi returned to rock solid normal. The temp idles at around 100F. Minecraft is fast and solid. KMail is good.

I solved the wifi problem by getting a Linksys E2500 wireless router and buring DD-WRT firmware into it, which allowed me to jack the transmission power from 70 mw to 180 mw. No problems after that.

[wrender]

Synaptics and a kde network launcher crashes regularly and a few other things... It is nothing to do with hardware as these crashes were not present with 11.10.

[NoWorries]

I am not a computer geek and I do not want to be. I have work to do but now I find new programs and problems appearing...this is why I left windows in the first place, now I am having the same problems.. I do not want changes happening to my computer without me doing it! simple. Why can't a printer print?

This comment implies that you also had similar problems with Windows and this makes me wonder if you are having some hardware problems. I also do not consider myself to be a computer geek, but I am wondering if you have access to another computer system and can install Kubuntu 12.04 on it, to see if it behaves the same.

Others may be able to give more help if you can give details of your hardware that is giving the problem. If you don't have these details documented with your computer you can go to System> KinfoCenter and it will show numerous details such as; Summary, Memory and Graphical Information. A simple way to post this information would be to use Graphics>KSnapshot. I tend to prefer using the GUI but there are others on this forum who will be able to give you the commands to get this information.

I hope you can supply information on your system and, also if your can try another computer system.

[blobfish]

My first reaction was hardware also. I would run

sudo /touch/forcefsck

and reboot to check the hard drive. If that is all good, I would run the memtest from the boot prompt. Let the memtest run for as long as you can stand. I usually let it run over night. Memory is fickle and a lot of problems get fixed by simply removing the ram sticks and putting them back in. Spend some time with the liveCD booted up and see if problems are present.

Another thought I had was, if these problem computers have OS upgrades or fresh installs. I have had 3 or 4 successful system upgrades and 1 total disaster. Those odds are not good enough for me, so I just spend the time to do a fresh install and rule out any problems from upgrades.

thinking:
1) boot your liveCD.
2) use dolphin to find your document on installed partition home.
3) open office should be present from liveCD.
4) plugin printer and you should be able to print.

Computers are a house of cards. Any one problem and the whole system comes crashing down. I don't care what brands of hardware and software you buy, you will have problems at some point and you need an "out". Multiple computers, multiple boot etc... Hope for the best and plan for the worst.

[Frank616]

Stosskraft:

I have recently started a small business and need my laptop for work. Maybe it is pushing kubuntu too much, but i need stabliity right now.

I have been running my small business (8 employees) on Kubuntu for about 5 years. We use Calc for invoices and accounting, and Firefox for obtaining paint forumulas from our supplier's website. Our needs are light, but Kubuntu works well. I also use Linux' built-in firewall (iptables) to prevent employees from surfing all over the net on business machines. And, because it is not Windows, I don't have employees installing rogue programs on office machines either.

It works for me, including 12.04 which is now rolled out on 2 of my 5 machines. The rest will get 12.04 over the Winter holidays.

However....

I remember when I first started with Linux some 10 years ago. I was all thumbs, and things that are obvious to me now were definitely NOT obvious when I started. As is the case for most of us, I came from a Windows background, and I naturally tried to apply Windows thinking to Linux. That doesn't always work.

There are a lot of helpful and knowledgeable people here that will be happy to help you out, and you have received a lot of good suggestions already. Be prepared, however, for a learning curve. That is the case with anything in this world, not just Linux. It took me a while to adapt to my Android smartphone after having used a Palm device for many years. It will take you a while to adapt to Linux, but it can be done.

Frank.

[Goeroeboeroe]

About three years ago I wrote something like you. Going back to Windows. I installed a new version of Kubuntu and nothing worked. Really one big mess. There mus be somewhere on this forum a horrible list of problems I have written. At that time KDE 4 was pretty instable too.
I went back one version and everything worked again. It turned out it had something to do with exotic hardware. Really glad I didn't went back to Window.
Maybe that's a possibility for you too: just go back one version.
As suggested I should check memory. When your memory (well, your computers memory...) has problems, you really can get the weirdest things. The fact that a certain thing didn't happen a time ago doesn't mean anything. A certain program or lib can be loaded in a different piece of memory.
As suggested by others I would also check the CPU for dust. Your CPU may have collected dust just the last months. (Or the ventilation gaps in the cover, etc.). Maybe this 12.04 lets your cpu work just a little bit harder so it gets just a little bit warmer than it used to.
Of course you can go back to Windows, and 7 isn't that bad. But I'm really glad I just jumped one or two versions, since Kubuntu is working very well for me again. I still use Windows to test sites, so I can compare it pretty well. Never Windows for me anymore.

[GreyGeek]

Synaptics and a kde network launcher crashes regularly and a few other things... It is nothing to do with hardware as these crashes were not present with 11.10.

Linux was/is often referred to as the canary in the mine, because it uses the hardware thoroughly and will fail quickly on bad or failing hardware.

Win2K had a phantom crash counter which maxed out at 10 and I suspect that later version had one as well, so Windows as a hardware tester fails because it does phantom reboots when it crashes.


A PC can be working perfectly when you shut it down for the evening and work badly the next day, or not work at all. The first three suspects are the RAM, video chip and CPU conductive paste. It could be something as minor as a crack in a trace on the mobo which creates an break in a circuit when the mobo heats up. Or, a poor solder joint which finally fails after repeated heating and cooling. Or, a small leak in a capacitor casing which allows the electrolyte to slowly dry up, until its capacitance changes enough to disable the circuit it is used in. Or, a resistor finally looses enough plasticizer that its resistance changes enough to cause the circuit it is part of to malfunction.

I could go on but you get the idea.

[oshunluvr]

I have nothing really useful to add except to say I noticed two posters that have a misconception about what LTS means.

I does not mean "more stable" or less trouble. It simple stands for "Long Term Support" which means Canonical will continue to update and maintain the release for a five year period rather than the usual 18 months. LTS releases come out every two years in April on even numbered years.

If stability is your main concern - for goodness sake don't upgrade to the newest version every six months and expect the stability of the previous release to follow you. New releases - especially in the first few months - are buggy rather by design. As most of what linux is comes from user testing and support. It's solid field testing and bug reports that create the stability of each new release. The purpose of new releases is to introduce new ideas, programs, code, kernel improvements and the like. My desktop is running 12.04 and I mess (read: fix what I just broke) with it fairly often but my server is still running 10.04 - the previous LTS. Since stability is more important on my server than my desktop, I will leave 10.04 on my server for at least another six months or maybe more.

My mother-in-law, wife, son and daughter all use Kubuntu. Since my mother-in-law does not live with us, her machine still has 10.04 on it and likely will never be upgraded.

EDIT: Personally, I never install the newest Kubuntu version until it's been out at least a couple months. Let the early-adopters pound out the big bugs and I'll slide in later when it's smoother.

EDIT2: I stand somewhat corrected: The Canonical LTS description page does say they use more testing and a longer pre-release stabilizing period than the regular releases, however I still stand by what I say above about upgrading too soon.