13.04 installation... grinding my teeth...

[chconnor]

Update: Executive summary of the thread: Kubuntu installer was crashing (black screen during manual partition config) - never could solve that, unfixed reported bugs exist in ubiquity installer. Decided to install ubuntu server and then install kubunu-desktop package. Ubuntu server install was failing as well. Issues stemmed from UEFI vs non-UEFI booting (caused network on new mobo with Intel ethernet to fail to initialize - module e1000e), the flash drive not "validating" its self-test, and the install failing for other reasons. Use of a CD for the install solved the ubuntu server install (but not the Kubuntu install), and I was then able to install kubuntu-desktop, no further install issues. Thanks to all for the help.

---------------------

Howdy! Long time Kubuntu user. My first clean install since 8.x, on a brand new custom system (mobo is Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H). Thought it would be smoother because I wasn't upgrading, but:

The installer is not giving me a lot of hope. I'm getting the "black screen" crashes when configuring (pre-existing, not-to-be-formatted) partitions. Lots of bugs seem to be reported about this going back several major versions numbers, and no fixes or movement (?). Once it crashed from the partition config and spontaneously booted (without prompting or warning or apparent reason) into the live CD desktop. Yikes. If my googling is any indication, there is no work around, no alternative-install CD, and no hope, unless anyone has any bright ideas?

If I install ubuntu server and then kubuntu-desktop, as suggested in some threads here, am I installing server-ish stuff as well that I don't need/want, or is the "server" CD truly just a no-GUI version of the desktop version? Will that get me the real equivalent of the kubuntu install I can't seem to do?

Thanks!
-c

[chconnor]

Well, tried to install the server version. The e1000e module was crashing (Intel I217-V ethernet) until I booted through the proper strange route from my UEFI, then that problem disappeared.

Now it's failing in this odd way: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...r/+bug/1117292

It's proving remarkably difficult to get this done. :-)

Maybe I should install Kubuntu 12.10 and upgrade from there?

[Snowhog]

The problem you are experiencing is likely because of UEFI on the new MoBo. Installing Linux onto hardware that has UEFI is not straight forward. SteveRiley, one of our Administrators, has done some extensive testing with UEFI and Kubuntu, and as a result, is our resident 'expert' on the issue. Watch for his posts here in this thread.

[SteveRiley]

If I install ubuntu server and then kubuntu-desktop, as suggested in some threads here, am I installing server-ish stuff as well that I don't need/want, or is the "server" CD truly just a no-GUI version of the desktop version? Will that get me the real equivalent of the kubuntu install I can't seem to do?

The server installation task installs these packages:

steve@t520:~$ [B]apt-cache show $(tasksel --task-packages server) | grep -i -e 'package:' -e 'description-en:'[/B]
Package: update-notifier-common
Description-en: Files shared between update-notifier and other packages
Package: python-zope.interface
Description-en: Interfaces for Python
Package: python-six
Description-en: Python 2 and 3 compatibility library (Python 2 interface)
Package: python-chardet
Description-en: universal character encoding detector
Package: libpython2.7-stdlib
Description-en: Interactive high-level object-oriented language (version 2.7)
Package: python-serial
Description-en: pyserial - module encapsulating access for the serial port
Package: w3m
Description-en: WWW browsable pager with excellent tables/frames support
Package: python-pam
Description-en: Python interface to the PAM library
Package: xz-utils
Description-en: XZ-format compression utilities
Package: vim-runtime
Description-en: Vi IMproved - Runtime files
Package: libpolkit-agent-1-0
Description-en: PolicyKit Authentication Agent API
Package: curl
Description-en: command line tool for transferring data with URL syntax
Package: libpcsclite1
Description-en: Middleware to access a smart card using PC/SC (library)
Package: libgc1c3
Description-en: conservative garbage collector for C and C++
Package: vim
Description-en: Vi IMproved - enhanced vi editor
Package: python2.7-minimal
Description-en: Minimal subset of the Python language (version 2.7)
Package: python3-software-properties
Description-en: manage the repositories that you install software from
Package: python-pkg-resources
Description-en: Package Discovery and Resource Access using pkg_resources
Package: wpasupplicant
Description-en: client support for WPA and WPA2 (IEEE 802.11i)
Package: python-twisted-bin
Description-en: Event-based framework for internet applications
Package: python-debian
Description-en: Python modules to work with Debian-related data formats
Package: libevent-2.0-5
Description-en: Asynchronous event notification library
Package: libpython2.7-minimal
Description-en: Minimal subset of the Python language (version 2.7)
Package: python-twisted-core
Description-en: Event-based framework for internet applications
Package: patch
Description-en: Apply a diff file to an original
Package: libpython-stdlib
Description-en: interactive high-level object-oriented language (default python version)
Package: libgpm2
Description-en: General Purpose Mouse - shared library
Package: libnl-genl-3-200
Description-en: library for dealing with netlink sockets - generic netlink
Package: python2.7
Description-en: Interactive high-level object-oriented language (version 2.7)
Package: python-gdbm
Description-en: GNU dbm database support for Python
Package: python3-problem-report
Description-en: Python 3 library to handle problem reports
Package: libcurl3
Description-en: easy-to-use client-side URL transfer library (OpenSSL flavour)
Package: fonts-ubuntu-font-family-console
Description-en: Ubuntu Font Family Linux console fonts, sans-serif monospace
Package: libpython2.7
Description-en: Shared Python runtime library (version 2.7)
Package: python-minimal
Description-en: minimal subset of the Python language (default version)
Package: python-openssl
Description-en: Python 2 wrapper around the OpenSSL library
Package: policykit-1
Description-en: framework for managing administrative policies and privileges
Package: unattended-upgrades
Description-en: automatic installation of security upgrades
Package: apport
Description-en: automatically generate crash reports for debugging
Package: software-properties-common
Description-en: manage the repositories that you install software from (common)
Package: ethtool
Description-en: display or change Ethernet device settings
Package: at
Description-en: Delayed job execution and batch processing
Package: libpolkit-backend-1-0
Description-en: PolicyKit backend API
Package: bc
Description-en: GNU bc arbitrary precision calculator language
Package: python3-apport
Description-en: Python 3 library for Apport crash report handling
Package: wireless-tools
Description-en: Tools for manipulating Linux Wireless Extensions
Package: tmux
Description-en: terminal multiplexer
Package: libck-connector0
Description-en: ConsoleKit libraries
Package: apport-symptoms
Description-en: symptom scripts for apport
Package: python
Description-en: interactive high-level object-oriented language (default version)
Package: libpam-ck-connector
Description-en: ConsoleKit PAM module
Package: consolekit
Description-en: framework for defining and tracking users, sessions and seats
Package: libreadline5
Description-en: GNU readline and history libraries, run-time libraries
Package: whoopsie
Description-en: Ubuntu error tracker submission
Package: libiw30
Description-en: Wireless tools - library
Package: acpid
Description-en: Advanced Configuration and Power Interface event daemon
Package: screen
Description-en: terminal multiplexor with VT100/ANSI terminal emulation
Package: python-newt
Description-en: NEWT module for Python
Package: landscape-common
Description-en: The Landscape administration system client - Common files
Package: python-apt
Description-en: Python interface to libapt-pkg
Package: byobu
Description-en: powerful, text based window manager and shell multiplexer
Package: libnl-3-200
Description-en: library for dealing with netlink sockets
Package: libwhoopsie0
Description-en: Ubuntu error tracker submission - shared library

There isn't much server-ish stuff. You can just leave it as-is, if you want. Many of them are part of the kubuntu-desktop task anyway. Once you get kubuntu-desktop installed, this set of commands will probably remove the few remaining server-only packages:

sudo tasksel remove server
sudo apt-get purge $(dpkg --get-selections | grep deinstall | cut -f1)
sudo apt-get --purge autoremove

I say "probably" because I can't remember if tasksel marks installed packages as dependencies.

[chconnor]

Thanks a bunch - to correct myself: I'm not booting the flashdrive that i'm installing from via UEFI, I was mistaken. Most of the time I boot the flashdrive (non-UEFI) I get to a unetbootin boot screen (I used unetbootin to create the flashdrive image because the KDE tool never seems to work), but via another odd route through the very strange mobo UEFI (Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H, main screen -> "classic setup" -> "save/exit" -> "exit without saving", but via no other route exiting the UEFI including manual choosing of the boot partition) it goes to what looks like a grub2 boot screen. The latter screen is how I got around the network crash issue (unless it was random chance).

Both ways, however, give me the install failure (linked above). As pgoetz experienced at the end of that bug thread, when I check the disc it gives me a md5sum error, so I'm going to try making the flashdrive in Windows as he did and see if that fixes things.

In the meantime, thanks for any ideas.

[SteveRiley]

Now it's failing in this odd way: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...r/+bug/1117292

That bug isn't related to the UEFI problem described in bug 1173423 and to which Snowhog refers.

Are you seeing this "busybox-initramfs" error when installing to the bare metal? What kind of computer -- hardware details would be helpful here.

[chconnor]

Thanks SteveRiley - sounded form some googling like the server version installs apache2 (which is fine, I'll probably use it anyway for local devel) and bind... sound right?

[chconnor]

Oops, posting concurrency problems. :-)

I'm installing from a flash drive to the computer... so yeah, bare metal, if I understand you, no VM.

all new stuff:
i7 4770K
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H mobo
Samsung SSD (840 Pro, 128GB, mbr partition table, linux to sda2 (/) and sda3 (/home), win8 on sda1 and works fine, sda5 is an aux partition)
sdb is a 3TB HD, SATA III, GPT with a bunch of empty partitions
sdc is an old 120 GB HD, SATA, GPT, a few partitions
no other drives (CD/DVD, etc)
no video card (using intel graphics)
couple of generic fans, a firewire PCIe card

Installing off a ~7GB flash drive

Incidentally, the server .iso checked out via md5sum, forgot to mention that.

More than happy to provide other details.

[SteveRiley]

Thanks SteveRiley - sounded form some googling like the server version installs apache2 (which is fine, I'll probably use it anyway for local devel) and bind... sound right?

Only if you tell the Debian installer (that's what Ubuntu's text mode installer is) that you want them. When you get to that point, where you see the list of optional server packages, deselect all of them.

Oh, I've added an additional step to the clean-up section in post #4.

[SteveRiley]

Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H mobo

Does this model contain one of those funky hybrid EFI things? I don't have any experience with that.

Incidentally, the server .iso checked out via md5sum, forgot to mention that.

Then you might have encountered a new bug. Which preseed do you see in GRUB?

[chconnor]

Does this model contain one of those funky hybrid EFI things? I don't have any experience with that.

Is that the same as UEFI with BIOS emulation? If so, I believe it does. The implications/architecture of BIOS vs EFI vs UEFI escapes me entirely. Hard to find clear info on all that for me.

Which preseed do you see in GRUB?

"preseed" is a set of answers to an installer's questions? Are you referring to the boot options in the grub menu as the preseed choices?

I realized that the KDE startup disk creator wasn't asking for the root password and was just silently failing to work. I ran it with kdesudo and now it's making a startup disk. Let's see how that goes (and i'll answer your preseed question) in a minute...

[chconnor]

I remade the flashdisk, and it still failed the check, but geese, the "check" error is apparently due to this: http://askubuntu.com/questions/18021...-alternate-iso

...so that may not be an issue, actually.

Preseed is /cdrom/preeed/ubuntu-server.seed

Starting install now with new flashdrive. Will report.

Aside: Note that the "two boot loader" thing continues: if I boot from the normal UEFI interface (booting non-UEFI to the flash drive) I get a unetbootin bootloader (how is it still on the drive after the KDE startup disk utility? Got me.) but if I go the circuitous route described above, I get to the grub2 screen. I notice that I can't intentionally boot the flash drive "UEFI" style -- it hangs insteaf of booting. That's why I've always booted it non-UEFI. But via the circuitous route, when I'm doing "exit/discard changes", the boot order is set to "UEFI - flash drive" followed by the windows partition, and it boots the flash drive to grub2 (where every other route goes to unetbootin). Makes me wonder if it's actually booting UEFI and that's the only way to make it happen.

[chconnor]

No luck, same deal.

I thought I was clever: I un/remounted one of the ntfs partitions with ntfs-3g and copied the syslog and a bunch of other info onto it so I could post it here via windows, but the files are mysteriously not present (with all hidden/OS files shown in windows file explorer, etc). Wonder if they didn't get flushed to disk or something

Maybe I should burn a CD and try that with an external CD drive...

[SteveRiley]

It's getting late, I need to shuffle off to bed. Question, because I've forgotten: can Unetbootin create properly-formatted UEFI installation media? The partition on the media must be FAT32, and the file \EFI\boot\bootx64.efi must exist.

[SteveRiley]

Had another idea. Try this procedure for creating your bootable USB drive. Presumably, you already have a working Kubuntu system.

1. Install the gdisk package if you don't already have it.

2. Insert the USB drive and run:

sudo gdisk /dev/sd[I]X[/I]

(make the appropriate substitution for X)

3. Navigate thusly -- X: extra functionality, Z: zap structures, Y: yes, Y: yes.

4. Run gdisk on the drive again.

5. Navigate thusly -- O: create new empty GPT, Y: yes, W: write table and exit, Y: yes.

6. Run gdisk on the drive again.

7. Navigate thusly -- N: new partition, [Enter] x 4 for defaults, W: write table and exit, Y: yes.

8. Format the partition:

sudo mkfs.vfat -F 32 /dev/sd[I]X[/I]1

Don't forget the number 1 after the drive letter.

9. Remove and re-insert the drive.

10. Now try using Kubuntu's Startup Disk Creator to place the ISO on the USB drive. Near the end, you might receive an error about failing to write the EFI partition. I don't know what causes that, but you can ignore it. Earlier this evening I built a UEFI mode bootable USB drive following the procedure above and it worked just fine.