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**The Liquidator** · Sep 23, 2009, 05:56 AM

Re: kubuntu 9.04 won't boot

The issue here is that you cannot safely upgrade (if there is such a thing) by more than 1 version. So if you wanted to do this via the package manager, you would have to go 8.04>8.10>9.10. To go direct is, I am afraid a recipe for disaster. On the basic assumption that with 8.04 you were using KDE 3 you have the double whammy of a KDE upgrade too. I would hazard a guess that no packages for 9.04 will be the same as for 9.04.

I can only suggest you run the live CD and copy the data from your home directory (bear in mind your KDE 3 settings will be almost useless in KDE4 which you will need to reconfigure) but by that I mean mail folders, documents and the like, eg application data which is held within the home directory. Copy it preferably to a USB drive or second best to the Wix XP partition. I assume you have burned the 8GB DVD iso to an actual DVD so I wonder why you haven't deleted it from your desktop.

Then reboot and do an installation from the boot menu rather than the live cd desktop. You will have to format both the / and home partitions I am afraid (assuming you have separated them). Unless bandwidth is a big problem then I would not get hung up about losing the applications because as noted earlier they will have all changed since 8.04 and also most will have been subjected to updates since the launch of 9.04.

Once you have gone through the process you can install the extra packages you need and reinstate your home data. Yes, it's hassle I am afraid but you will end up with a clean system at the end of it.

**SilverWolf** · Sep 23, 2009, 09:28 AM

Re: kubuntu 9.04 won't boot

Originally posted by The Liquidator

The issue here is that you cannot safely upgrade (if there is such a thing) by more than 1 version.

This is simply unacceptable, especially considering the fact that there's a new "version" every 6 months. Most other OSs only come out with a major update every 3-5 years. Even if it were true that it was technically necessary, it would be an extremely simple matter to simply have the installer check the existing version and only upgrade one version at a time until you're completely up to date. The existing ubuntu upgrade process is utterly moronic.

So if you wanted to do this via the package manager, you would have to go 8.04>8.10>9.10.

Sigh... if only that were possible, but it's not. To expect people to download and burn CDs for any intermediate versions is asinine, and Adept doesn't give you the option. Once a new version comes out, any previous versions are dropped completely from the upgrade process. Of course, the unreliability of Adept is a big part of the problem. The new version in 9.04 is even worse, with lots of blocked updates etc. If an update is going to be blocked, then why even offer it? And there's no option to override, so it's just a total waste of time, screen space and bandwidth.

To go direct is, I am afraid a recipe for disaster. On the basic assumption that with 8.04 you were using KDE 3 you have the double whammy of a KDE upgrade too. I would hazard a guess that no packages for 9.04 will be the same as for 9.04.

I assume you intended to say 8.04 vs. 9.04, but your guess would be utterly wrong. There are many, many apps and packages that are totally unchanged. Of the tens of thousands of packages that I have installed, only a very few have been updated in the last year, and most of the updates that have occurred have been multiple ones from the same few extremely actively developed packages.

And KDE 4 is a PITA, and non-intuitive and hard to navigate. They've taken several steps backward with KDE. The two worst offending issues are the bizarre and useless implementation of the desktop and the irritating cashew that can't be removed without a workaround. The only reason I went ahead and updated that is because I can see the writing on the wall and didn't want to keep getting the prompts to upgrade. To anybody that does serious work on their machine, all those pretty effects just take time and get in the way. It's form at the expense of function, just like Apple products.

I can only suggest you run the live CD and copy the data from your home directory (bear in mind your KDE 3 settings will be almost useless in KDE4 which you will need to reconfigure) but by that I mean mail folders, documents and the like, eg application data which is held within the home directory. Copy it preferably to a USB drive or second best to the Wix XP partition. I assume you have burned the 8GB DVD iso to an actual DVD so I wonder why you haven't deleted it from your desktop.

I kept all my documents and mail folders etc. on a completely separate partition (fat32 so it's accessible from *any* OS, not just NT-based Windows or Linux), so almost all of my data is safe from an upgrade. The only things at risk are the few items on the desktop. I haven't deleted that DVD iso because my experience with burned DVDs is that they are not at all reliable as backup media and conventional wisdom notwithstanding degrade quickly to the point where there are lots of errors and sometimes can't even be read. Since my backup external hard drive is fat32, files larger than 4 Gb can't be copied to it, and there isn't enough room on the WinXP ntfs partition because I didn't want to waste any more space than absolutely necessary with that partition since I rarely boot Windows. I only keep Windows around for those few times when I need to use apps that don't exist and have no reasonable alternative in Linux and won't run under Wine.

Then reboot and do an installation from the boot menu rather than the live cd desktop. You will have to format both the / and home partitions I am afraid (assuming you have separated them). Unless bandwidth is a big problem then I would not get hung up about losing the applications because as noted earlier they will have all changed since 8.04 and also most will have been subjected to updates since the launch of 9.04.

I'm not worried about "losing applications" or data. What I'm concerned about is the loss of time and energy. I am a power user and use *many* different applications, and tracking down and installing all of them from a clean slate (and then setting them up the way I like them) is a major PITA.

Once you have gone through the process you can install the extra packages you need and reinstate your home data. Yes, it's hassle I am afraid but you will end up with a clean system at the end of it.

As you said, the change to KDE4 pretty much makes the old home data useless (since my actual data is on another partition and the home stuff is basically just settings), so I'm not worried about that.

The bottom line, and the thing I'm really complaining about, is that I'm not alone in this problem, and it's not limited to upgrades. *Many* other people are experiencing this same bug, sometimes even with clean installs. There's a serious bug somewhere in the 9.04 install process that needs to be tracked down and fixed. I can't help but wonder if it's in some way related to the KWallet fiasco - with the last upgrade of that, it only recognizes the wallet password the first time, and after that won't allow access to any credentials that have been saved. Having to delete the wallet and re-enter both sets of credentials every time you want to access the home WiFi is ridiculous. I had to disable KWallet and stop using it in order to get anything done. Anyway, since all my UUIDs match up and setting rootdelay to 500 did nothing but make the resulting failed boot take a *very* long time, the problem must be with GRUB, and has nothing to do with the upgrade itself. It's not even starting the actual boot process, so any package or upgrade issues are irrelevant at this point.

So thanks for the quick response, but you haven't said anything that either I haven't already tried or is strictly a last resort (or is irrelevant to the issue at hand). Please only respond to the specific problem, which is the boot loader issue. There has to be a relatively easy solution, I just don't know enough about GRUB or the boot process to track it down myself.

**SilverWolf** · Nov 14, 2009, 08:19 PM

Re: kubuntu 9.04 won't boot

It turns out it didn't have anything to do with the upgrade process. The problem is that 9.xx is an unstable piece of crap, and won't boot properly even with a clean install. I tried all kinds of things, and just now finished installing 9.10 from the Alternate CD (because the LiveCD version wouldn't go to the install when selected from the menu and instead tried to do a regular LiveCD boot, which failed.) I guess I'm just going to have to go back to 8.04 or 8.10 and leave it there permanently. (And no, the LiveCD fail wasn't a tip-off, because I've found that no version of it since the very first works more than 30% of the time, and even when it does boot most of the hardware, networking, etc. doesn't work correctly if at all.) Ubuntu need to quit trying to keep up with the Joneses with the flashy fluff and start concentrating on creating an OS that works. The last 3 releases have been major steps backward.

**Snowhog** · Nov 14, 2009, 08:58 PM

Re: kubuntu 9.04 won't boot

Originally posted by SilverWolf

It turns out it didn't have anything to do with the upgrade process. The problem is that 9.xx is an unstable piece of crap,

That statement is simply wrong. Many Jaunty 9.04 users would disagree with your statement, myself included.

**MoonRise** · Nov 15, 2009, 06:45 AM

Re: kubuntu 9.04 won't boot

Originally posted by Snowhog

That statement is simply wrong. Many Jaunty 9.04 users would disagree with your statement, myself included.

I agree.

**mariappan** · Nov 18, 2009, 01:46 AM

Re: kubuntu 9.04 won't boot

Would you please tell what is in your menu.lst..

**Snowhog** · Nov 18, 2009, 08:32 PM

Re: kubuntu 9.04 won't boot

# menu.lst - See: grub( 8 ), info grub, update-grub( 8 )
# grub-install( 8 ), grub-floppy( 8 ),
# grub-md5-crypt, /usr/share/doc/grub
# and /usr/share/doc/grub-doc/.

## default num
# Set the default entry to the entry number NUM. Numbering starts from 0, and
# the entry number 0 is the default if the command is not used.
#
# You can specify 'saved' instead of a number. In this case, the default entry
# is the entry saved with the command 'savedefault'.
# WARNING: If you are using dmraid do not use 'savedefault' or your
# array will desync and will not let you boot your system.
default 0

## timeout sec
# Set a timeout, in SEC seconds, before automatically booting the default entry
# (normally the first entry defined).
timeout 60

## hiddenmenu
# Hides the menu by default (press ESC to see the menu)
#hiddenmenu

# Pretty colours
color cyan/blue white/blue

## password ['--md5'] passwd
# If used in the first section of a menu file, disable all interactive editing
# control (menu entry editor and command-line) and entries protected by the
# command 'lock'
# e.g. password topsecret
# password --md5 $1$gLhU0/$aW78kHK1QfV3P2b2znUoe/
# password topsecret

#
# examples
#
# title Windows 95/98/NT/2000
# root (hd0,0)
# makeactive
# chainloader +1
#
# title Linux
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz root=/dev/hda2 ro
#

#
# Put static boot stanzas before and/or after AUTOMAGIC KERNEL LIST

### BEGIN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST
## lines between the AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST markers will be modified
## by the debian update-grub script except for the default options below

## DO NOT UNCOMMENT THEM, Just edit them to your needs

## ## Start Default Options ##
## default kernel options
## default kernel options for automagic boot options
## If you want special options for specific kernels use kopt_x_y_z
## where x.y.z is kernel version. Minor versions can be omitted.
## e.g. kopt=root=/dev/hda1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8=root=/dev/hdc1 ro
## kopt_2_6_8_2_686=root=/dev/hdc2 ro
# kopt=root=UUID=aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475 ro acpi=off

## default grub root device
## e.g. groot=(hd0,0)
# groot=aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475

## should update-grub create alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. alternative=true
## alternative=false
# alternative=true

## should update-grub lock alternative automagic boot options
## e.g. lockalternative=true
## lockalternative=false
# lockalternative=false

## additional options to use with the default boot option, but not with the
## alternatives
## e.g. defoptions=vga=791 resume=/dev/hda5
# defoptions=quiet splash

## should update-grub lock old automagic boot options
## e.g. lockold=false
## lockold=true
# lockold=false

## Xen hypervisor options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenhopt=

## Xen Linux kernel options to use with the default Xen boot option
# xenkopt=console=tty0

## altoption boot targets option
## multiple altoptions lines are allowed
## e.g. altoptions=(extra menu suffix) extra boot options
## altoptions=(recovery) single
# altoptions=(recovery mode) single

## controls how many kernels should be put into the menu.lst
## only counts the first occurence of a kernel, not the
## alternative kernel options
## e.g. howmany=all
## howmany=7
# howmany=all

## specify if running in Xen domU or have grub detect automatically
## update-grub will ignore non-xen kernels when running in domU and vice versa
## e.g. indomU=detect
## indomU=true
## indomU=false
# indomU=detect

## should update-grub create memtest86 boot option
## e.g. memtest86=true
## memtest86=false
# memtest86=true

## should update-grub adjust the value of the default booted system
## can be true or false
# updatedefaultentry=false

## should update-grub add savedefault to the default options
## can be true or false
# savedefault=false

## ## End Default Options ##

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-16-generic
uuid aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-16-generic root=UUID=aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475 ro acpi=off quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-16-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-16-generic (recovery mode)
uuid aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-16-generic root=UUID=aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475 ro acpi=off single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-16-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
uuid aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475 ro acpi=off quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic
quiet

title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
uuid aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=UUID=aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475 ro acpi=off single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

title Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
uuid aca2fc75-8080-4e05-9485-e0087b5ae475
kernel /boot/memtest86+.bin
quiet

### END DEBIAN AUTOMAGIC KERNELS LIST

# This is a divider, added to separate the menu items below from the Debian
# ones.
title Other operating systems:
root

title Kubuntu GNU/Linux
root (hd0,0)
chainloader +1

title Ubuntu GNU/Linux
root (hd0,2)
chainloader +1

**SilverWolf** · Nov 26, 2009, 02:37 PM

Re: kubuntu 9.04 won't boot

Originally posted by Snowhog

Originally posted by SilverWolf

It turns out it didn't have anything to do with the upgrade process. The problem is that 9.xx is an unstable piece of crap,

That statement is simply wrong. Many Jaunty 9.04 users would disagree with your statement, myself included.

Okay, the OS itself of 9.04 is more stable, but KDE4.2 is not, and in fact some of the most critical functionality doesn't work. I had to replace the shipped networking and bluetooth components in order to get any reliable WiFi or bluetooth connections. As for 9.10, at least some of the issues are with the new kernals. My Eee PC 1000HE upgraded from 9.04 to 9.10 with no problems with the upgrade itself, but now a host of things are terribly broken to the point that I'm probably going to have to go back to 9.04. The most serious problems are that of the two kernels provided, 2.6.31-14-generic breaks sound completely, and 2.6.28-15-generic breaks the touchpad. My desktop fared marginally better - the sound works for some applications and not others. Many of the default settings are bizarrely incorrect. I'm getting lots of application crashing, and the OS itself is crashing often.

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kubuntu 9.04 won't boot

kubuntu 9.04 won't boot

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