Reinstalling Ubuntu

[tomp01]

Because of a problem I've been having with sound in Kubuntu, I wanted to reinstall Ubuntu to see if the problem resided there as well. However I discovered that something stops this from happening, I tried both the 32 bit and AMD64 versions...same story. Re-installing Kubuntu works without any problems, what the difference?

[dibl]

Re: Reinstalling Ubuntu

I discovered that something stops this from happening

I'd say you'll need to provide a lot more specifics, if you hope to get any sort of technical advice on it. In general, any hardware that will support a Ubuntu installation will support a Kubuntu installation, and vice-versa. I'm sure there are some minor exceptions and qualifiers to that statement, but it's mostly true.

When you say "reinstall" do you mean anything different than "install"?

Finally, why don't you tell us about the sound issue -- what is your sound system/chip, and what problem are you having with it? Reinstallation of the OS (at least this OS) is most unlikely to be of any help with a sound problem -- that sounds like a Microsoft approach to fixing a problem!

[tomp01]

Re: Reinstalling Ubuntu


I just mentioned the sound issue, en passant, I have already posted about this in the hardware section. When I say reinstall, I mean that originally I used Ubuntu 7.0.4 and then decided to try Kubuntu to compare the differences. I did have sound in Ubuntu, which is why I wanted to reinstall it to see if it was still working. I tried both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions but neither would load, all that happens is the DVD disk light comes on briefly and then the GRUB menu appears.

[Fintan]

Re: Reinstalling Ubuntu

Bios settings (boot sequence)?? Or the cd/dvd was burned at more than a speed of 8x?

[dibl]

Re: Reinstalling Ubuntu

I did have sound in Ubuntu, which is why I wanted to reinstall it to see if it was still working. I tried both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions but neither would load, all that happens is the DVD disk light comes on briefly and then the GRUB menu appears.

OK, the "mixer" app in Ubuntu and Kubuntu are somewhat different in their interfaces, and in their default settings (actually neither of them has sound enabled on my system upon first installation). Assuming you're using (or trying to use) an ALSA sound system, and assuming you have the alsa-base and alsagui packages installed, then you should open the kmixer and "edit>preferences" and make sure the appropriate output channels are not set to mute.

I agree with Fintan that it almost sounds like your computer is not attempting to boot the CD ROM first. That could be caused by a BIOS sequence that has it boot the hard drive first, or it could also be caused by a faulty CD ROM drive, or finally it could be caused by an imperfect CD or CD burn. The recommendation is to burn your (K)Ubuntu ISO at a 4X speed.

[tomp01]

Re: Reinstalling Ubuntu


I guess that I'm not explaining myself very well. I have four ISOs, two Ubuntu and two Kubuntu, with 32 bit and 64 bit versions. These were all burned on the same DVD drive, hence there is not a problem with the drive or the BIOS settings. I used the Ubuntu 32 bit disk originally when I first came to do a dual boot with XP. I then wanted to try Kubuntu so I loaded this without any problems. The problem is that now I cannot seem to load Ubuntu over Kubuntu and I cannot see why. I even went into XP and deleted the whole Kubuntu partition and it still wouldn't work.

[dibl]

Re: Reinstalling Ubuntu

I guess that I'm not explaining myself very well.

Or else I'm having a particularly stupid day ... :P

I even went into XP and deleted the whole Kubuntu partition and it still wouldn't work.

Wow -- well that's not a way that I would approach it, and it could be part of the problem.

Using either a (K)Ubuntu Live CD, or a downloaded (from here) and burned GParted Live CD (my personal favorite), check that partition and make sure that it is shown as available (needs to be at least 7GB for the OS, and there needs to be a partition for swap, and if /home is not on a separate partition then you must add the space for your data to the space for your OS), does not have the "bootable" flag set on it, and you can format it if you want to be certain that there is no OS or data on it.

If there's another computer anywhere in your nearby environment, it would be good to verify that your CD really is bootable (or alternatively that there's not a problem with your CD ROM drive).

[tomp01]

Re: Reinstalling Ubuntu


Having deleted the partition, I was immediately able to reinstall Kubuntu 64. Anyway after rewriting DVDs several times earlier, I finally managed to get one to load.

[dibl]

Re: Reinstalling Ubuntu

Interesting little adventure -- not sure what happened there, but I'm glad you ended up with the installation that you wanted.

[eriefisher]

Re: Reinstalling Ubuntu

all that happens is the DVD disk light comes on briefly and then the GRUB menu appears.

This alone would point to the dvd/cd drive. It is possible that there is a intermittent problem. If you got a grub menu then it didn't even look at the cd.