[SOLVED] Borked brand new laptop

[DoYouKubuntu]

So my new System76 laptop arrived this afternoon; I posted from it in another thread, during the 5 minutes I was using its pre-installed Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

I tried, and failed, using the CLI installation command for Kubuntu I'd posted in that thread. Then I searched for other sites with instructions, and was humming along until I rebooted. Now I have...NOTHING!

When I power it on, the 'Kubuntu' logo appears for a moment, and that's that. I've left it for as long as 10 minutes, during which time its hard drive light flashed occasionally, but nothing.

I can get into its boot/setup menus, but nothing I've chosen has resulted in it booting up so I can, you know, USE IT.

This is a record for me. I've never borked a new computer in its first five minutes--in THIRTY-FIVE YEARS! Any/all help will be gratefully accepted.

[jglen490]

I seriously doubt it's "borked".

What was your process to get from Ubuntu to Kubuntu?

[claydoh]

Installing the full Kubuntu desktop on alongside another full DE might have conflicts or competing services

I'd have followed System76's recommendations:

https://support.system76.com/article...p-environment/

using kde-standard would give a Plasma desktop and applications, kde-plasma-desktop would give a minimal desktop. There would be a small number of Kubuntu utilities to add after the fact, such as software-properties-qt , kubuntu-settings-desktop, and kubuntu-restricted-extras to make the kde-standard kubunu-fied


Actually, I'd have suggested just installing Kubuntu fresh, and then System76-ing it:
https://support.system76.com/articles/system76-driver/

Very similar to this
https://support.system76.com/articles/install-ubuntu/

I did not catch the other thread else I'd have suggested using a different meta-package than kubuntu-desktop, or suggested the clean install + Sytem76 repos method.

[DoYouKubuntu]

I seriously doubt it's "borked".

I do hope you're right!

Nah, actually, I know it's not borked as in FRIED/unrecoverable, it's just a matter of sorting things out.

What was your process to get from Ubuntu to Kubuntu?

As in the link I posted. Worked fine until after 'reboot.'

[DoYouKubuntu]

Installing the full Kubuntu desktop on alongside another full DE might have conflicts or competing services

I'd have followed System76's recommendations:

https://support.system76.com/article...p-environment/

using kde-standard would give a Plasma desktop and applications, kde-plasma-desktop would give a minimal desktop. There would be a small number of Kubuntu utilities to add after the fact, such as software-properties-qt , kubuntu-settings-desktop, and kubuntu-restricted-extras to make the kde-standard kubunu-fied

Actually, I'd have suggested just installing Kubuntu fresh, and then System76-ing it:
https://support.system76.com/articles/system76-driver/

Very similar to this
https://support.system76.com/articles/install-ubuntu/

I did not catch the other thread else I'd have suggested using a different meta-package than kubuntu-desktop, or suggested the clean install + Sytem76 repos method.

I used "sudo apt install kubuntu-desktop" and along the way chose sddm [versus gdm3].

My normal method of installing Kubuntu on a new computer is to burn an ISO on a DVD, prior to its arrival. When it comes, I partition its drive [with gParted] per my preferences, which include formatting, then boot from the install disc and let it rip!

But I've also used the CLI method of installing KDE/Kubuntu...and didn't bork the computer!

Without a disc drive to boot from, I'm stuck. I have a lovely, shiny new laptop paperweight.

[Snowhog]

I can get into its boot/setup menus, but nothing I've chosen has resulted in it booting up so I can, you know, USE IT.

That implies you are getting beyond the Grub Boot menu. So, you should have no issue opting to boot (from Grub menu) into Recovery Mode, from which you should have Network connectivity. You could download the appropriate ISO and dd it to a thumb drive.

[GreyGeek]

NOTHING succeeds like a fresh install on bare metal using a verified USB Live.

[DoYouKubuntu]

I don't have a thumb drive. What about an external hard drive? USB, of course. I've got plenty of those, one of which has the current Kubuntu ISO on it.

[Snowhog]

Ensure that your laptop BIOS settings has booting from USB first in the list of boot devices, then yes, that should work.

[DoYouKubuntu]

I'm not getting anywhere. I've attached a USB hard drive and it's recognized, but I'm either not seeing, or don't have, an option to boot from a USB device.

I've used 'recovery mode' and repaired broken files, and it grabbed and installed tons of files, ending with 'a reboot is required,' which I do...and then it doesn't. Back to square one.

Here are some screenshots; in the various menus, I'm NOT finding a choice to boot from USB. You can see from the CLI that it's recognizing the external drive, Transcend.









So my question is...WTF?! I'm truly at a loss as to how things could get this screwed up just by installing Kubuntu. I remember a desktop I had about 15 years ago, and I used it to play with different DEs. I had KDE, GNOME, IceWM, XFCE and some other long-forgotten ones, all running side-by-side on that ancient box. I certainly didn't expect THIS to be a problem. What can I do to fix it? From a GRUB prompt? Otherwise?

[claydoh]

How did you create the bootable installer? You still have to 'burn' the iso to the usb drive, using dd, Etcher, or k/ubuntu's included usb creator.

[DoYouKubuntu]

How did you create the bootable installer? You still have to 'burn' the iso to the usb drive, using dd, Etcher, or k/ubuntu's included usb creator.

On another laptop, I downloaded the raw CD image from Kubuntu, saving it in the root directory of the external drive.

What can I do from a GRUB prompt to get back in business? Its list of commands, displayed by pressing [tab], is very short.

[claydoh]

So my question is...WTF?! I'm truly at a loss as to how things could get this screwed up just by installing Kubuntu. I remember a desktop I had about 15 years ago, and I used it to play with different DEs. I had KDE, GNOME, IceWM, XFCE and some other long-forgotten ones, all running side-by-side on that ancient box.

Usually, this has been the case, I have done so myself within the past couple of years. It has not always been perfect, but it usually worked, though I find using the less invasive metapackages to be much safer, and the "brand name" ***buntu-desktop ones to be sometimes prone to gotchas. Not this bad, though.

I am seeing a few instances of similar issues here and there out on the 'net, so it is not necessarily an isolated thing. My initial guess is that the kubuntu-desktop metapackage either is missing something important, or is broken in some manner, and simply was not noticed during testjng - there is not a test case on the trackers for this sort of thing, so unless someone discovers this and files a bug report, it would be easy to miss.

Part of the problem is the different meta-packages available that may complicate things. It is easy to install Xfce (apt install xfce4) without a full-desktop metapackage (xubuntu-desktop) that tries to turn your existing install into Xubuntu, for example. Gnome and plasma do as well, but the metapackages for these are less well known and of course confusing.


And there I go, Linux-splaining and not being much help for the current situation

[DoYouKubuntu]

How does this sound? I'll order a thumb drive, it'll arrive within a day or two, then I'll use another laptop to burn the Kubuntu ISO on it.

The only things I've ever 'burned' were discs--CD and then DVD. I haven't used 'dd' in probably 25-30 years. 30+ actually. I remember it from my first SCO Xenix box, and its Bernoulli drive--with EIGHT INCH floppies!

Is there anything specific to look for in a thumb drive? Will any do? Does anyone have personal recommendations? Do I do anything to prepare it? With discs, I just stuck them in the drive, then used k3b to burn the install image.

Thanks for the help. I'm incredibly frustrated right now. I have a bunch of things, all with nearing deadlines, happening simultaneously. Having an unusable brand-new laptop never crossed my mind as something that might be an issue...

[claydoh]

Any one will do as long as its over 2gb. Most are at least 4 these days

Usb3 is preferred as it will be faster but Usb2 will do just fine.

You don't have to do a thing to the drive. It will already be formatted as fat32, or exfat if it is over 32gb IIRC

If it is a big drive you will need to install exfat-utils in order to read and write files to it when using it as a thumb drive but it should not matter when making the bootable drive.


Plug in the drive and fire up the USB creator tool, or download Etcher and run that.

In either case all you do is select the ISO file and the USB drive and then hit Go or Write disk or whatever the button says. Wait a bit and its done

Plug the bootable drive in the new laptop and start or reboot it. You should be able to access a one-time boot device menu via an F-key. It looks like it will be f7 for System76 laptops. Hold down that immediately when powering on to get to it.

https://support.system76.com/articles/boot-menu/

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