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    #1

    can't install 8.10

    I'm having a really bad time with Kubuntu this weekend, and I cannot figure it out.

    I have a dual boot system (WinXP/Kubuntu 8.04.1). The Kubuntu part stopped working when I made some kind of error with my fstab file. Or maybe that's not the issue at all. I really don't know. It just won't boot. I cannot even load the Kubuntu Live disk in disk-only mode. WinXP boots fine, however

    I've just downloaded 8.10 twice. The first had an error, on the disk I burned. I did a checksum on the second, and it was fine. I burned a disk, and it wouldn't boot at all. The drive acted like it wasn't there at all. I downloaded it again, and burned another and got the exact same reaction. I've never had this happen before.

    I'm completely baffled at this point. I have no idea why Kubuntu seems completely dysfunctional for me.

    The only idea I have left is to grab my gparted disk and reformat the Kubuntu partition (I have my data on a different partition), and see if for some reason that makes a difference. That's sort of a crazy idea, but I don't have any other options.

    I want Kubuntu back - 8.04.1 or 8.10 or?? But nothing seems to work for me. The drive seems fime, and the motherboard (in WinXP). But...no kubuntu.

    Any ideas, anyone?
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    #2
    Re: can't install 8.10

    When it rains it pours. Geez, you have had a time of it.

    Do you have your 8.04 LiveCD? Have you tried booting from it? If your rig boots fine from the 8.04 LiveCD but insists on not doing so from the 8.10 LiveCD, that could indicate a video conflict (8.10 does appear to be pretty picky with certain video card/drivers on the host PC - plenty of posts on such in the forum).

    Having your /home partition separate is a very good thing. Under what version of Kubuntu was it for - 8.04? If yes, and you have to reinstall 8.04 you will be in pretty good shape. You will have to undergo the process of getting updates, reinstalling packages and such, but hey, you are not alone - many have had to rebuild their systems, and you'd be surprised at how many go out of their way so as to do just that (MoonRise, are you listening? )
    Windows no longer obstructs my view.
    Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
    "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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      #3
      Re: can't install 8.10

      Yes, it really is snowing, and I can't find the shovel right now. Hmmm.

      Yes I have an 8.04 LiveCd. That's the version of Kubuntu I've been running on for months. But now the load disk won't even load the run-only-from-CD version of Kubuntu. I cannot get anywhere with it. It starts, but then the errors start pouring out onto the screen.

      Here's the thing - and this may be the critical clue. No matter what I try with Kubuntu of any kind right now, I get a similar set of errors. It's always about I/O problems.

      I just tried to load my copy of systemrescueCD (downloaded from sysresccd.org a while back). This thing should work, period, when I try to boot from CD. Initially, it seems to, but then I start getting a series of I/O error reports, including this one: "Buffer I/O Error on device sr0". I have to think that sr0 would have to be the CD drive itself, since there's no reason for this disk to be attending to the HD at all at this point. It should only do that when I tell it too, using some of the zillion useful things it has on the CD. I've used this before, and it's never failed. I was trying to get to GParted, which is on this CD, but I couldn't get past the I/O errors. I've never before failed to get to gparted on this CD.

      So....I'm thinking....bad CD drive? Can write but not read?
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        #4
        Re: can't install 8.10

        Bad device. Hmm. Or a flaky device? Is this a desktop rig, or a laptop? If a desktop, sounds like it's time to open the case and do some 'vestigating! I'd look for loose a loose cable connector - ribbon cables are notorious for working there way loose in desktop rigs. Also, check the ribbon cable connector itself. The micro-pins that puncture the individual leads in the ribbon create holes in the cable (obviously). With the heat/cold cycles that occur with the running/shutting off of the PC, the cable itself expands/contracts. Over time, this causes the holes created by the micro-pins to 'expand' to a point that the pin no longer makes contact. All it takes is for one pin in the cable to not be making contact. In that situation you either shorten the cable or replace it. I've had to do that 'back in the day.'
        Windows no longer obstructs my view.
        Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
        "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes​
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          #5
          Re: can't install 8.10

          Is there any USB device in the USB port? It got me reformatting a few times thinking that something funky had happened during installation but when I unplugged my USB flash drive, and reboot, the problem vanished.

          Or could it be the optical drive itself? Try swapping it up with another one incase my first solution doesn't met.
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            #6
            Re: can't install 8.10

            Snowhog / Umarzuki - Thanks for confirming my thinking. Have decided cracking the case and checking connections is first order of business. I don't have any USB device hooked in that isn't supposed to be there - i.e., mouse, cable modem, etc. (Had already thought of that.) And finally, I'm up for purchasing an extra CD drive just so I can swap it out - had already thought of that too. The drive is acting flakey, not bad, and in truth that really does sound like a connection problem. I've seen it happen before.

            But first...some sleep.

            Thanks for your thoughts. This has been a bit bewildering (ah, but when is this NOT the case, for some of us!).
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              #7
              Re: can't install 8.10

              You've tried different bootable disks, so that indicates it is (probably) NOT the case that your entire spindle of new disks for 8.10 is all bad.

              Connectors, data or power.
              Or the device itself.
              Plextor drive? (A good brand name, but lots of failures with those in the past few years)
              They are generic items now, any will do ...
              Pioneer, Samsung, whatever. It's not like it used to be 5 years ago (when, for example, Plextor ruled the field)


              The other problem with not booting 8.04 is something else. Do you get a GRUB error or what?
              An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski
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                #8
                Re: can't install 8.10

                Agreed. I don't think bad CDs is the problem. I KNOW my 8.04.1 CD is OK; it's worked for me in the recent past. I did just now wiggle all the connections related to the CD/DVD drive, and retried the 8.04.1 boot disk. Same as before. It goes fine for a while, and then there's a flood of errors on the screen, as I have previously documented.

                I think my next move is to swap out the drive. It'll cost about the same as having someone look at the box, and has a fair chance of fixing things, I think. My current drive is, I thnk, a Toshiba, and it was a replacement for the original, which didn't work correctly at all. Argh....
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