Distribution troubles

[TWPonKubuntu]

This is not a rant.

For the last three days, I've been fighting some serious problems with multiple Linux distributions. Not just Kubuntu but also Linux Mint.

NOTE that all of the following tests are using the KDE frontend on a 32 bit system, Dell Latitude D820.

My Kubuntu 14.04.4 LTS OS went "glitchy", failing to boot or giving me only "test stripes" on boot. This began immediately after a daily update from the repository. Sorry I don't have the exact date or what was updated.

So I tried a full reinstall of Kubuntu 14.04.4 LTS from my 2GB USB media. It would not complete the install, locking up at various points during the install sequence.

I downloaded a new copy of Kubuntu 14.04.4 LTS, did a checksum to verify the copy, burned it into my USB media... and it failed again.

I then downloaded 14.04.3 LTS, 14.04.2 LTS, 14.04.1 LTS and STILL got the same failure(s).

Suspecting the media was faulty, I switched to a different USB flash drive (4GB) and went through the above sequence again. No luck, still failed to install.

I went back to my archive distributions on DVD and was able to install Kubuntu 14.04 Alpha 1 but when the install finished and I rebooted to the hard drive, the screens were nearly unreadable. It did run and I could mouse around and get some responses from various windows, but could not get a usable display of the desktop.

I downloaded Kubuntu 16.04 LTS, verified checksums and burned it to the USB drive (both of them), and while 16.04 will install, it does not like my Nvidia video "card" and will only give me the maximum resolution setting. Nouveau video drivers from the 16.04 repository will not install.

Plasma 5 does not play well with this laptop (Dell Latitude D820), which may explain the forgoing litany of troubles. But earlier releases of 14.04 LTS use Plasma 4, which had been working very well.

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Please note that I am able to change hard drives (simple process on my laptop) and run Linux Mint without major glitches, so this leads me to believe my hardware is ok. It also gives me a way to download distributions.

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SO, to make a long story even longer, I looked for other Linux distributions...

Mageia offers a 3.6GB distro, a fork of Mandriva with KDE. This WORKS on my laptop. Needless to say I am pleased.

So now I am testing Mageia 5 KDE. Aside from some changes in a few tools and a slightly different paradigm on user interfaces, it is very functional. I still need to rebuild my apache/mysql/php development environment with Mageia, but this is going well.

If I had a question, it would be to ask if anyone else has similar troubles? Kubuntu has been my "go-to" OS for years now (starting with 9.04) and I am very comfortable with it. Given my hardware limits and budget, I would will be using Kubuntu, except for the above problems.

Again, this is not a rant, just a report on how I've addressed some problems. It may help others and I'd like to hear from someone running similar older systems.

[GreyGeek]

Isn't the D820 getting long in the tooth? IIRC, I had been using a D820 laptop with a docking station and external mouse and 17" monitor for a couple years before I retired in 2008. That's nearly THREE computer generations ago. It's possible that updates many have slide you box out of the back end of the compatibility window.

I am using Neon, but I haven't rebooted for several updates. Had a big one yesterday. After I post this I am going to reboot. Let you know what happens.

EDIT: Things came up nicely. Have you tried Neon?

[Snowhog]

An eight, almost nine year old laptop. One would be hard pressed not to suspect onset hardware failure(s) as the likeliest of causes. When was the last time you had it opened up and properly cleaned?

[GreyGeek]

An eight, almost nine year old laptop. One would be hard pressed not to suspect onset hardware failure(s) as the likeliest of causes. When was the last time you had it opened up and properly cleaned?

See? That's what I mean about sometimers. My first thought in responding to the OP was to say that exact thing but in the process of writing I forgot to mention it. ... ... what are we talking about?

[TWPonKubuntu]

GG, your D820 sounds like mine, docking station, external mouse, external keyboard...
Yes it is old, but my budget does not allow for an upgrade.

Re Neon, it is strictly 64bit which cuts me off at the knees.

Yes, I know my support window for this system is no longer moving with the releases... But 14.04.4 WAS working perfectly until the very last update which may (MAY) have broken something.

Thanks for the input and as I noted, I'm functional with Mageia KDE, even if it isn't Kubuntu ().

[TWPonKubuntu]

An eight, almost nine year old laptop. One would be hard pressed not to suspect onset hardware failure(s) as the likeliest of causes. When was the last time you had it opened up and properly cleaned?

About 3 months ago, using my trusty tool belt and massive knowledge of how to break systems with just a screwdriver. Surprisingly, it was fairly clean, just a little dust here and there, mostly crumbs from eating lunch over the keyboard. I note that it was working fine before and after the cracking open of the case and cleanup...

As I noted, no budget for a new system, so I've scrambled to find a Linux distribution which still works.

[Snowhog]

Maybe 'asked and answered', but have you tried booting to a LiveUSB of 14.04.4 and seeing if the issues you are experiencing are present under that environment?

[TWPonKubuntu]

Snowhog,. yes, I needed to use the live install to start a working net connection before going into the actual disk install.

Interestingly, the Kubuntu install process itself is pristine, no video glitches, everything looks perfect in each version (12.04, 14.04, 16.04). I wish the actual install used the same video driver (probably Nouveau) when it writes the distro to disk.

[vinnywright]

Snowhog,. yes, I needed to use the live install to start a working net connection before going into the actual disk install.

Interestingly, the Kubuntu install process itself is pristine, no video glitches, everything looks perfect in each version (12.04, 14.04, 16.04). I wish the actual install used the same video driver (probably Nouveau) when it writes the distro to disk.

it dose ,,,,,,,,this sounds more like hard drive going bad , have you ran any tests on the drives your using ,

VINNY

[TWPonKubuntu]

Vinny, yes and there are indications of a failing drive. High seek rate counts and other errors. The number of "bad blocks" is still very low (10), but it is indicative of a problem.

Guess I need to start saving for a new system/drive...

[vinnywright]

Vinny, yes and there are indications of a failing drive. High seek rate counts and other errors. The number of "bad blocks" is still very low (10), but it is indicative of a problem.

Guess I need to start saving for a new system/drive...

if the drives are not to old they may have S.M.A.R.T self test ,,,,,,you can check them if they have this with the "smartmontools" package and their is a GUI for it as well "gsmartcontrol" ,,,,,,,

VINNY

[TWPonKubuntu]

Yes, which is basically what I did to get the quoted information.

The drive in question no longer has Kubuntu/Ubuntu running on it, since that was the original installation problem. So I used the Maqeia (mandriva) tools for disk analysis.

The drive is running ok with the Mageia OS, but it's days are numbered and I no longer store anything of value on it.

Thanks.