#1. Installation Issues.
1.a. Installation freezes at xx%
Caused by a bad CD burn (usually), a defective blank CD (sometimes), or a dirty/worn optical drive (occasionally). Linux Live CDs use extreme compression, resulting in the necessity of achieving a perfect bit-for-bit true burn, and an optical drive that reads it with zero errors. So here is the procedure:
- check/verify the md5 sum on your downloaded ISO file against the md5 sum listed for it on the download site (here's how, and here's more)
- set the burn mode to Disk At Once (DAO) mode if it is available
- set the burn speed to 4X -- or the lowest speed your drive offers
- don't even try it with a CD-RW -- they don't work
- if you're still making coasters, try a different brand of blank media or use a different PC for burning
- clean the lens on your optical drive (compressed/canned air might work)
- don't assume that the "Check CD For Defects" function is 100% reliable -- it isn't
- verify suspected bad CDs on another computer/optical drive (is it the CD or the drive that is causing the problem?)
- understand that everyone makes a coaster once in awhile
1.b. Installer doesn't see my SATA disk(s)
- Enter BIOS, and change the SATA mode from "AHCI" to "Legacy IDE" or "PATA" or "Compatibility" or whatever the other choice may be (after Kubuntu is installed, you can go back into BIOS and change it back to AHCI mode)
NOTE: (a) AHCI mode provides the fastest performance for most SATA hard disk drives, but it is normally not the best/fastest mode for a SSD
(b) The new installer is able to recognize recent-vintage SATA RAID controllers, and accommodate RAID arrays that were set in BIOS. If that is the case for your motherboard, then you're good to go. If the installer does not recognize your RAID array, it's probably because Linux has no driver for the RAID controller on your motherboard. Use "linux mdraid" and "linux dmraid" in Google if you need to learn about software RAID with Linux, and if it's truly an important requirement, you would be better off with a supported hardware RAID controller such as these. If you want to set up a software RAID, oshunluvr has written the guidance here. Guidance from the Ubuntu wiki is here.
- Try using the "Alternate Install" CD for installation, rather than the Live CD
- If you also have an IDE/PATA hard drive connected on your computer, disconnect either the power cable or the data cable prior to attempting the Kubuntu installation on the SATA drive. You can reconnect the IDE drive after Kubuntu is installed and Grub is booting it correctly. Subsequently, you will need to edit the file /etc/fstab to enable automatic mounting of the partition(s) on the IDE drive (see #15 below). If a bootable OS happens to be on the IDE drive, you will have to run update-grub, with a "sudo" prefix, to update the boot menu with the other OS
- note that some motherboards (primarily Intel) require that the partition to be booted has the "boot" flag set
#2. Video Issues
2.a. Live CD Doesn't Display Video
- Assuming it passed the md5sum check as described above and boots to the initial text menu, try F4 > "Safe Graphics" video mode, if it doesn't detect your video hardware correctly.
- The power-saving (ACPI) design, or video hardware in your computer may need a "boot option" to enable the Kubuntu KDE display. If that is the case, you'll need to press F6 "Other Options" and enter a suitable option. A link to the generic Linux kernel boot codes is here, and the "vga=" video codes are here -- you may have to conduct experiments if one of the standard codes won't do the trick. For laptops also review #14 below.
2.b. After installation, it boots to text only or black screen
- The combination of hardware in your system may not be one that was anticipated in the default Kubuntu kernel and display setup, so you may need to use a "boot option" aka "cheat code" during the boot process. After installation, these codes (see links above) can be can be added to the kernel boot line as listed in the /etc/default/grub on the line "GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="option option option". Use kate with "kdesudo" prefix to edit that file, and add the needed option. After the file is edited, run update-grub, with a "sudo" prefix, and then reboot and you will see the options on the boot menu.
As listed in the linked pages, there are codes to enable/disable some of the advanced power management features that can interfere with booting and display, and there are codes to control the size and color depth of the initial video display shown during the boot process, before the X server starts. After installation, you can experiment with boot codes, in order to learn which are effective for your system, by pressing "e" during the first 10 seconds when the initial boot menu is presenting the highlighted OS that will be booted. Next, highlight the kernel boot line and press "e" again. Now cursor to the right, to the end of the line, and carefully type the boot code to be tested at the end of the line, after a space. After you type the code(s) that you wish to try, press "Enter" once to return to the boot menu and then, with the kernel boot line still highlighted, press "b" to boot that kernel with the option you entered. This is not a permanent edit -- it is only effective for the instant case, so if it doesn't work you can reboot and try another. Don't forget to make a note of the one that works, so you can open the file /etc/default/grub with your text editor, in root mode, and add the boot option there to make it permanent.
Ubuntu's guidance for video configuration is here.
2.c. Proprietary ("non-free") Video Drivers -- How?
Installing and configuring non-free video drivers is a topic unto itself, and much has already been written elsewhere, including in Ubuntu's official guidance. So, briefly:
- Here's what I wrote for the Nvidia users. Method #1 on that page is the same for ATI cards.
- If you have an older monitor (CRTs, mostly) that does not provide the EDID to the system, then you may have to use a "modeline" to achieve the needed resolution. Here's guidance for that task.
2.d. After installation of a proprietary video driver, the splash screen is a disaster (or booting hangs there)
- Follow this guidance, except note that the command to update grub is
(not ...grub2).
#3. I get "Grub Error #xx" and nothing further.
Grub is the GRand Unified Bootloader, a tiny, special-purpose operating system that is designed only to boot your computer into your real operating system. Sometimes, depending in part on your BIOS and its settings, the Linux installer and Grub enumerate hard drives and partitions differently and, immediately after installation, the Grub boot menu has been written "pointing" at the wrong partition. This is very fixable. For "legacy" (ver. 0.97 or earlier) Grub -- i.e. pre-9.10 installations of *buntu, here is the manual.
Grub 2 (grub-pc ver. 1.98 or later), introduced with Kubuntu 9.10, is an entirely new, and more complex booting package, which uses scripts and configuration files from several locations to rebuilt your boot menu dynamically each time your kernel and/or relevant grub-pc packages are updated. Qqmike's comprehensive Grub2 Guide is here. Ubuntu's guidance is here. A recent guide to using your Live CD to repair Grub 2 is here.
#4. Dual Booting Problems / Windows Won't Boot / How To Dual Boot.
For Windows users, start with this. If Vista is on your computer, better check this also. If you happen to have a Linux system already, and wish to add Windows XP to it, here's your guidance. To dual boot with Win 7, check here. Resize Windows Vista/7 partitions is here.
#5. Hard Drive Partitioning Questions, Partition Sizes, Filesystems, What About Swap?
A very informative thread on the topic is here, another one is here, and screen shots of GParted in action are here. Ubuntu FAQ on swap is here, lots more about swap here. Partition Size: don't make your root partition less than 6GB unless you intend to manage it aggressively (you can install on less space, but it will grow rather quickly with package additions and updates.) Filesystem type for Kubuntu Linux OS: ext4 is recommended for typical installation on hard disk drives. JFS works great on 64-bit systems as it is a native 64-bit filesystem, but may require that it be booted from a separate "/boot" partition. Reiserfs is no longer recommended, due to the lack of development and maintenance. XFS is not recommended for the root filesystem, but is a fast filesystem suitable for data partitions (servers and storage). BTRFS is supported in *buntu 10.10, but (fair warning) is considered by Debian as being in "testing" status, and has not yet released a filesystem check/repair tool. USB thumb drive installations should be done on a FAT32 or ext2 filesystem - the "journalling" of ext3 and ext4 will just slow it down (further) and decrease the life expectancy of the device. Installation on a new technology SSD (Solid State Disk) is a topic in its own right -- there are additional complexities such as "partition alignment" that need to be considered, but ext4 will be a satisfactory filesystem. Relevant information on the fine points, regarding installation and configuration on solid state devices, is here and here (but please research the alignment considerations for your brand and model), and some excellent SSD performance tweaks are presented here, here, and here. Live CD partitioning toolkits are here and here.
Set up a separate /home partition guidance is here.
LVM guidance here
LVM with LUKS encryption guidance is here
#6. No Audio.
Start troubleshooting here and here.
Classic guidance here. In addition, your time would be well spent reviewing the official ALSA project information already on your system in the compressed file at /usr/share/doc/alsa-base/README.Debian.gz. The Intel sound module options database (handy for laptops) is here, and more "how-to" with the snd_hda_intel driver is here. Recent guidance for Phonon/Pulseaudio is here (HINT: you should install the paman, and pavucontrol packages, to work with it).
Headphone vs. Speaker twiddling guidance is here.
Recording -- way too many places to link; this will get you started.
#7. "Memory Measurement" questions -- Does Linux see it all? Where did it go? etc. etc. etc.
Thanks to donkult for posting this excellent information.
Remember that a 32-bit OS can only "see" about 3.3 GB -- to have more recognized, you must go to the 64-bit OS (and have 64-bit hardware, of course).
Also, the terms "BIOS memory remapping" and "shared video memory" are relevant to mysterious "missing" memory questions -- use them in Google to learn more.
Finally, this article and this article have useful data on the topic.
#8. Networking Issues:
8.a. Wireless Doesn't Work.
Basics here. Database of wireless chips and drivers is here -- find your chip with "lspci" and then look it up. Then go to here. Follow the guidance to install firmware, drivers, and kernel modules for your wireless chip, as applicable. Once you have reason to believe the hardware is good to go, then follow this to configure your system for the type of situation you have (roaming, home LAN, etc.). Here is how to remove the default network manager packages and replace them with the popular wicd package and supporting files.
8.b. Wired Ethernet -- need static IP, Knetwork manager makes it worse, no GUI available to work in, etc. etc.
Detonate has written the guidance here.
8.c. NFS Guidance is here and here (thanks growlebear!). Note that there is no longer a portman package, that function is now included in the rpcbind package.
8.d. Linux-to-Windows with Samba
- Official Samba site is here.
- More *buntu "how to" is here.
#9. "Suitable Codec Not Found / Flash / Java Won't Play / How do I Get Google Earth/Skype", etc.
As of 11.04, this seems to still be accurate.
Or, follow the guidance for your architecture and version here. As of ver. 11.04, my experience is that enabling the "partner" PPA, via your muon or kpackagekit manager, is sufficient to support the common multimedia needs.
#10. "I log in, the screen goes black, and then I get the login GUI again / Login Loops but I can't log in."
There are multiple possible causes, and thus multiple possible fixes. First thing to check -- if there is any possibility of a full filesystem (i.e. if "df -h" shows the root filesystem more than 94% full), see #16 below for methods to deal with that. Another cause of the problem is root ownership of files or directories within the user's home folder. Do NOT ever perform "sudo" or root operations, such as installing software or saving root-owned files, using your user's home directory -- this is a common cause of the "login loop" problem. Do NOT ever run KDE packages, like Dolphin and Kate, with a "sudo" prefix -- you should only use "kdesudo" to run them with root privileges. The permissions on the hidden files ~/.ICEauthority and ~/.Xauthority are easily changed by root use of your user's home directory while running in X, or root use of KDE packages with a "sudo" prefix, and thereafter the user is locked out. In that case, you (working in the terminal with "sudo" prefix) might recover by deleting these two files, restarting the X server (or rebooting the computer) and logging in to KDE again. If you have deleted those two files, and restarted, and it still won't let you log in, you're stuck with a more radical step. At your user's home directory prompt:
and log in again.
Doing this will destroy your desktop customizations, and return you to a default Kubuntu desktop. You do have the hidden directory ~/.kde_bak in which you may be able to find useful details about your previous desktop setup.
#11.a. "How do I install xyz application?"
First of all, if you are not experienced in manually installing software on GNU/Linux, DO NOT TRY TO INSTALL SOFWARE DOWNLOADED FROM THE INTERNET AND EXPECT ANTHING BUT A MESS. Make use of the 50,000+ packages already in the official *buntu repositories first.
The (slightly aged but mostly still valid) official guidance is here , for both Ubuntu and Kubuntu. The graphics on that page are from KDE 3.x. For Kubuntu 12.04, you click on the "K", then choose "Applications > System > Software Center" which opens the Muon Software Center, the default package manager front-end. Also under the System menu is the Muon package management GUI. In the official guidance are links to Synaptic package management GUI, which is the Gnome default package manager, as well as links to apt-get and aptitude, which are the two command line packages applicable to *buntu. Speaking of the command line to the Debian PacKaGe tool:
#11.b. "What's better, apt-get or aptitude?"
Article.
#12. Where is the documentation?
Hmmmm ... actually, where isn't it? My personal favorite Linux reference book is Beginning Ubuntu Linux by Keir Thomas. Reference documentation for all Linux commands included in your system are available at the Command Line Interface (CLI) by entering the command name preceded with "man", as, for example
which will return the manual pages with an output that begins like this:
Online documentation for Linux is vast -- here are links to just a few good examples:
The Linux Documentation Project
LinuxCommand.org
die.net
and for (K)(X)(Ed)Ubuntu it is here
and tons of great Kubuntu guidance is here.
#13. "I have/intend to buy printer xyz. Will it work with Linux?/ How do I install it?/ What drivers do I need?"
Look up your printer here and plan accordingly. Additional guidance for driver installation (thanks to slam at sidux forum):
We have choices with Linux, but you cannot mix different drivers and printing systems and achieve success. Instead you need to choose which one to use, and work only with that one. In particular, HP and Epson printers usually have four options for drivers/printing backends:
a) Standard drivers delivered with CUPS (recommended);
b) Postscript drivers for several printing engines (usually not needed, those who need them know why they do);
c) Gutenprint drivers (high quality/special features focused, sometimes the only option available for very new multi-function hardware with no CUPS drivers).
d) Drivers provided from the manufacturer, hplip/epkowa/etc. (try -- compare with CUPS/Gutenprint and decide accordingly).
and for the other brands:
e) For Canons, you may be stuck with no free driver available at all. In that case, for a fairly modest fee, you might be able to buy a driver here.
f) For Lexmarks and other unsupported brands, if the OEM has not provided the necessary design information, and there's no third-party driver available, you may be unable to use it on a Linux system (except this can be a good use for a Windows VM, see Bonus FAQ #2 below).
Don't waste your time on the KDE printer manager utility - do not use it, do not rely on the information it gives. Instead:
Open your browser and point it at http://localhost:631. Start with the CUPS drivers and test them. If they do what you need (printing letters, pictures, etc.) you are done. Don't go further and play with Gutenprint if you do not need it, its drivers come with a lot of confusing (and sometimes conflicting) options which might be understandable only to those who actually need them. Do not install the HP printing tools or Epkowa if you are having success with CUPS/Gutenprint drivers. If your first attempt fails and you wish to try a different driver, remove the first one before installing the second one.
HP's drivers follow their own workflow (the hplip package) for setting up and configuring a printer. Do not try to install those drivers via the CUPS interface (and again: do not use KDE print management).
#14. I have Laptop/Notebook xyz and I can't get anything to load
Referring to #2 above, this is where the acpi=off, noapic, and xforcevesa boot options seem to come in. Check:
a) here,
b) here, and
c) here.
# 15. How do I add an internal hard drive/ssd to my system?
1. Install the drive in the drive bay of your computer, connecting power and data cables as shown in your system user's guide.
2. Power on the computer, enter BIOS, and verify the new drive is correctly connected and showing in your BIOS. If you don't see it in BIOS, stop here and figure out why not -- Linux gets its information about your storage devices from BIOS.
3. Boot a Parted Magic, or GParted, or Ubuntu, or some Live CD that has Parted on it. The new partionmanager package (ver. 1.0+) for KDE works too.
4. Using Parted, with the new drive selected in the window on the upper right corner (don't get it wrong!) choose "Device > New Partition Table > Type = MS-DOS" and "OK" or "apply".
5. Still with Parted, right-click in the unallocated space graphic, choose "new" and make however many partitions you need, and set the filesystem type (ext4 recommended). I like to give each such non-system partition a label (it can come in very handy), but it is not required. Click "Apply" on the Parted menu and let the process complete.
6. Exit Parted, shutdown the Live CD session, remove the Live CD, and boot Kubuntu.
7. Open konsole, make new mount points, one for each partition (let's assume you made two partitions on the new drive)(partition names can be any alphanumeric, no spaces):
8. In the Konsole terminal, identify the drives as seen by Kubuntu:
and
9. With your terminal window still open so you can cut & paste, do Alt-F2 "kdesudo kate", open /etc/fstab for editing, and carefully add two new lines to mount the new drive/partitions. Use the UUID number that you found with the blkid command above to identify the partitions. For example, one new line might look similar to this:
10. After the edited /etc/fstab is saved, exit kate and mount the drives, using the terminal window, with
11. Verify you have the expected result with
You should see your new partitions on their mount points.
12. You'll want the ability to save user data on your new partitions -- you can't do it yet! In Linux, internal storage devices are, by default, "owned" by root -- the system administrator. There are good reasons to leave this design in place. So, open Dolphin with root privileges via Alt-F2 "kdesudo dolphin", and browse to the mount point, /mnt/VIDEOS. Right-click on the white space, choose "new" and make yourself a data folder with a meaninful name, like "VIDEOS-2011". Now right-click on the VIDEOS-2011 folder icon, choose "Properties" and open the "Permissions" tab. In the owner and group windows, where it says "root", change it to your user name in both places (assuming your user is also a group on your system). Put an "x" in the box in the lower left where it says "Apply to subfolders ...", and then "OK". Exit dolphin. The directory /mnt/VIDEOS/VIDEOS-2011 is now available to the named user. If the new directory is to be shared by multiple users, then perhaps you need to set the owner and group to "nobody:users". More on file and directory permissions is here.
For external E-SATA and SATA drives, here's good guidance.
Note 1: USB devices, including USB-connected hard drives -- the Universal Serial Bus is an entirely different mechanism for connecting devices to personal computers, and a different part of the Linux OS interfaces with the motherboard's USB controller to accomplish the interface. The whole theory and advantage of USB is "hot-pluggable" -- these devices are not expected to be connected at boot time, and can "appear" on any of multiple USB connectors on the computer -- so unless it is to be a permanent attachment, mounting USB-connected hard drives in /etc/fstab is not advisable.
Note 2: When using a *buntu Live CD, the Ubiquity graphical installer is known to have problems detecting SATA hard drives on some motherboard/BIOS systems. This is especially prevalent when an IDE-connected hard drive is also present on the system. In this situation, a better result is normally obtained when (a) the BIOS mode for the SATA channel is set to "Legacy IDE", (b) the Alternate Install CD is used for installation, and (c) any IDE-connected hard drives are disconnected during installation. The IDE drive(s) can be reconnected after the Linux OS is installed on the SATA drive, and the BIOS SATA mode can be reset to "AHCI", and the drive(s) should perform satisfactorily thereafter.
Note 3: For any device listed in /etc/fstab with a mount option of "auto", if it is not connected at boot time, you can expect to see an error in the boot messages, and/or a hung boot.
Note 4: oshunluvr's marvelous command to see all the drives, partitions, and their UUID numbers, in a neat table:
#16. Out of disk space, filesystem full, how can I tell where it went, etc. etc.
Rog132 explains here.
Also, to learn which directory is holding an unusual amount (number or size) of files, use
first at the "/", or root directory, and then change to whichever directory appears to have an unusually large size, and use it again to see which sub-directory is unusually large.
Another method is to produce a text file of all your files and their sizes, and then review it to see where the problem is:
#17. Why "sudo", who/what/where is root, kdesudo for GUI apps, etc. etc.
Official policy is here.
#18. 64-bit vs. 32-bit, should I or shouldn't I, what's the difference, does 64-bit have any apps, etc. etc.
Over the past 3 or 4 years, the few residual reasons to prefer 32-bit over 64-bit architecture have pretty much disappeared, such that it is now only "corner cases", such as proprietary software packages that are only available in a 32-bit version, that would cause one to consider installing the 32-bit OS on 64-bit hardware. Today (6 APR 2012) Muon shows over 55,000 packages available, on my 64-bit Kubuntu 12.04 system. So ...
#19. Do I need to defragment my hard drive -- how, when, & with what?
Not likely. This and this thread, and the links in them, cover the topic nicely.
#20. What about viruses and malware -- do I need an anti-virus package/what are they/where do I get them?
This is certainly a matter of personal choice (i.e. risk tolerance), and depends a lot on how you connect to the Internet and the nature of your e-mail connection/service. Here is an excellent dissertation, with supporting sources, to help you decide.
BONUS FAQ: "I'm a little worried worried about my hard drive -- how do I test it and verify it is OK?"
a. To test your hard drive, this and the included links should either set your mind at ease, or else confirm your worst suspicions.
b. Regarding the infamous laptop head unloading/load cycle issue, here's a great reference page.
c. The Parted Magic Live CD, ver. 4.4 and higher, now has a GUI-driven version of SMART that you can "click" to run the self-tests, long or short. There are other great hardware diagnostics on it, too, including CPU benchmarks.
d. Ultimate Boot CD also has a nice collection of diagnostic tools, including multiple hard drive test and data recovery tools.
BONUS FAQ #2: "I heard you can run a Windows app on a Linux box -- is that true?"
A: Yes. (within limits -- while running under Linux, you're not going to run Windows apps that directly access the BIOS, CPU, GPU, memory, or disk controller/drive hardware.)
There are basically three approaches:
- Wine -- a windows translation layer (package) that fools many Windows apps into running on the Linux OS. Try it first, but if your app is a heavy database or needs lots of access to your hardware (graphics-intensive games), it might not work. Install wine from the standard repos with
- VirtualBox -- one of the two most popular virtual machine (VM) packages. Here's a guide written a couple years ago that should still be accurate.
- VMWare -- the other VM package. I use VMWare Player to run my Win XP and Win 7 systems, which I need only to run a proprietary database that has no equivalent in Linux. There's an excellent forum at VMware where you can get any guidance you need, and there are posts on this forum by a few members who use VMware.
Note 1: Running Windows in a VM is a great way to overcome the lack of Linux equivalents for some special-purpose Windows software, such as:
- proprietary interface applications to cell phones or other USB devices, including printers that have no Linux driver available
- special-purpose databases (MS Visual FoxPro applications, for example)
- proprietary/closed interface requirements to commercial systems (e.g. you need to use IE to connect via Juniper Networks security application to MS servers for remote login, etc.)
Note 2: In case it's not obvious ... no advanced video game written for Windows is going to perform as well on Linux, in any emulator, as it does on Windows with a native Windows video driver!
I hope these are helpful!
1.a. Installation freezes at xx%
Caused by a bad CD burn (usually), a defective blank CD (sometimes), or a dirty/worn optical drive (occasionally). Linux Live CDs use extreme compression, resulting in the necessity of achieving a perfect bit-for-bit true burn, and an optical drive that reads it with zero errors. So here is the procedure:
- check/verify the md5 sum on your downloaded ISO file against the md5 sum listed for it on the download site (here's how, and here's more)
- set the burn mode to Disk At Once (DAO) mode if it is available
- set the burn speed to 4X -- or the lowest speed your drive offers
- don't even try it with a CD-RW -- they don't work
- if you're still making coasters, try a different brand of blank media or use a different PC for burning
- clean the lens on your optical drive (compressed/canned air might work)
- don't assume that the "Check CD For Defects" function is 100% reliable -- it isn't
- verify suspected bad CDs on another computer/optical drive (is it the CD or the drive that is causing the problem?)
- understand that everyone makes a coaster once in awhile
1.b. Installer doesn't see my SATA disk(s)
- Enter BIOS, and change the SATA mode from "AHCI" to "Legacy IDE" or "PATA" or "Compatibility" or whatever the other choice may be (after Kubuntu is installed, you can go back into BIOS and change it back to AHCI mode)
NOTE: (a) AHCI mode provides the fastest performance for most SATA hard disk drives, but it is normally not the best/fastest mode for a SSD
(b) The new installer is able to recognize recent-vintage SATA RAID controllers, and accommodate RAID arrays that were set in BIOS. If that is the case for your motherboard, then you're good to go. If the installer does not recognize your RAID array, it's probably because Linux has no driver for the RAID controller on your motherboard. Use "linux mdraid" and "linux dmraid" in Google if you need to learn about software RAID with Linux, and if it's truly an important requirement, you would be better off with a supported hardware RAID controller such as these. If you want to set up a software RAID, oshunluvr has written the guidance here. Guidance from the Ubuntu wiki is here.
- Try using the "Alternate Install" CD for installation, rather than the Live CD
- If you also have an IDE/PATA hard drive connected on your computer, disconnect either the power cable or the data cable prior to attempting the Kubuntu installation on the SATA drive. You can reconnect the IDE drive after Kubuntu is installed and Grub is booting it correctly. Subsequently, you will need to edit the file /etc/fstab to enable automatic mounting of the partition(s) on the IDE drive (see #15 below). If a bootable OS happens to be on the IDE drive, you will have to run update-grub, with a "sudo" prefix, to update the boot menu with the other OS
- note that some motherboards (primarily Intel) require that the partition to be booted has the "boot" flag set
#2. Video Issues
2.a. Live CD Doesn't Display Video
- Assuming it passed the md5sum check as described above and boots to the initial text menu, try F4 > "Safe Graphics" video mode, if it doesn't detect your video hardware correctly.
- The power-saving (ACPI) design, or video hardware in your computer may need a "boot option" to enable the Kubuntu KDE display. If that is the case, you'll need to press F6 "Other Options" and enter a suitable option. A link to the generic Linux kernel boot codes is here, and the "vga=" video codes are here -- you may have to conduct experiments if one of the standard codes won't do the trick. For laptops also review #14 below.
2.b. After installation, it boots to text only or black screen
- The combination of hardware in your system may not be one that was anticipated in the default Kubuntu kernel and display setup, so you may need to use a "boot option" aka "cheat code" during the boot process. After installation, these codes (see links above) can be can be added to the kernel boot line as listed in the /etc/default/grub on the line "GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="option option option". Use kate with "kdesudo" prefix to edit that file, and add the needed option. After the file is edited, run update-grub, with a "sudo" prefix, and then reboot and you will see the options on the boot menu.
As listed in the linked pages, there are codes to enable/disable some of the advanced power management features that can interfere with booting and display, and there are codes to control the size and color depth of the initial video display shown during the boot process, before the X server starts. After installation, you can experiment with boot codes, in order to learn which are effective for your system, by pressing "e" during the first 10 seconds when the initial boot menu is presenting the highlighted OS that will be booted. Next, highlight the kernel boot line and press "e" again. Now cursor to the right, to the end of the line, and carefully type the boot code to be tested at the end of the line, after a space. After you type the code(s) that you wish to try, press "Enter" once to return to the boot menu and then, with the kernel boot line still highlighted, press "b" to boot that kernel with the option you entered. This is not a permanent edit -- it is only effective for the instant case, so if it doesn't work you can reboot and try another. Don't forget to make a note of the one that works, so you can open the file /etc/default/grub with your text editor, in root mode, and add the boot option there to make it permanent.
Ubuntu's guidance for video configuration is here.
2.c. Proprietary ("non-free") Video Drivers -- How?
Installing and configuring non-free video drivers is a topic unto itself, and much has already been written elsewhere, including in Ubuntu's official guidance. So, briefly:
- Here's what I wrote for the Nvidia users. Method #1 on that page is the same for ATI cards.
- If you have an older monitor (CRTs, mostly) that does not provide the EDID to the system, then you may have to use a "modeline" to achieve the needed resolution. Here's guidance for that task.
2.d. After installation of a proprietary video driver, the splash screen is a disaster (or booting hangs there)
- Follow this guidance, except note that the command to update grub is
Code:
sudo update-grub
#3. I get "Grub Error #xx" and nothing further.
Grub is the GRand Unified Bootloader, a tiny, special-purpose operating system that is designed only to boot your computer into your real operating system. Sometimes, depending in part on your BIOS and its settings, the Linux installer and Grub enumerate hard drives and partitions differently and, immediately after installation, the Grub boot menu has been written "pointing" at the wrong partition. This is very fixable. For "legacy" (ver. 0.97 or earlier) Grub -- i.e. pre-9.10 installations of *buntu, here is the manual.
Grub 2 (grub-pc ver. 1.98 or later), introduced with Kubuntu 9.10, is an entirely new, and more complex booting package, which uses scripts and configuration files from several locations to rebuilt your boot menu dynamically each time your kernel and/or relevant grub-pc packages are updated. Qqmike's comprehensive Grub2 Guide is here. Ubuntu's guidance is here. A recent guide to using your Live CD to repair Grub 2 is here.
#4. Dual Booting Problems / Windows Won't Boot / How To Dual Boot.
For Windows users, start with this. If Vista is on your computer, better check this also. If you happen to have a Linux system already, and wish to add Windows XP to it, here's your guidance. To dual boot with Win 7, check here. Resize Windows Vista/7 partitions is here.
#5. Hard Drive Partitioning Questions, Partition Sizes, Filesystems, What About Swap?
A very informative thread on the topic is here, another one is here, and screen shots of GParted in action are here. Ubuntu FAQ on swap is here, lots more about swap here. Partition Size: don't make your root partition less than 6GB unless you intend to manage it aggressively (you can install on less space, but it will grow rather quickly with package additions and updates.) Filesystem type for Kubuntu Linux OS: ext4 is recommended for typical installation on hard disk drives. JFS works great on 64-bit systems as it is a native 64-bit filesystem, but may require that it be booted from a separate "/boot" partition. Reiserfs is no longer recommended, due to the lack of development and maintenance. XFS is not recommended for the root filesystem, but is a fast filesystem suitable for data partitions (servers and storage). BTRFS is supported in *buntu 10.10, but (fair warning) is considered by Debian as being in "testing" status, and has not yet released a filesystem check/repair tool. USB thumb drive installations should be done on a FAT32 or ext2 filesystem - the "journalling" of ext3 and ext4 will just slow it down (further) and decrease the life expectancy of the device. Installation on a new technology SSD (Solid State Disk) is a topic in its own right -- there are additional complexities such as "partition alignment" that need to be considered, but ext4 will be a satisfactory filesystem. Relevant information on the fine points, regarding installation and configuration on solid state devices, is here and here (but please research the alignment considerations for your brand and model), and some excellent SSD performance tweaks are presented here, here, and here. Live CD partitioning toolkits are here and here.
Set up a separate /home partition guidance is here.
LVM guidance here
LVM with LUKS encryption guidance is here
#6. No Audio.
Start troubleshooting here and here.
Classic guidance here. In addition, your time would be well spent reviewing the official ALSA project information already on your system in the compressed file at /usr/share/doc/alsa-base/README.Debian.gz. The Intel sound module options database (handy for laptops) is here, and more "how-to" with the snd_hda_intel driver is here. Recent guidance for Phonon/Pulseaudio is here (HINT: you should install the paman, and pavucontrol packages, to work with it).
Headphone vs. Speaker twiddling guidance is here.
Recording -- way too many places to link; this will get you started.
#7. "Memory Measurement" questions -- Does Linux see it all? Where did it go? etc. etc. etc.
Thanks to donkult for posting this excellent information.
Remember that a 32-bit OS can only "see" about 3.3 GB -- to have more recognized, you must go to the 64-bit OS (and have 64-bit hardware, of course).
Also, the terms "BIOS memory remapping" and "shared video memory" are relevant to mysterious "missing" memory questions -- use them in Google to learn more.
Finally, this article and this article have useful data on the topic.
#8. Networking Issues:
8.a. Wireless Doesn't Work.
Basics here. Database of wireless chips and drivers is here -- find your chip with "lspci" and then look it up. Then go to here. Follow the guidance to install firmware, drivers, and kernel modules for your wireless chip, as applicable. Once you have reason to believe the hardware is good to go, then follow this to configure your system for the type of situation you have (roaming, home LAN, etc.). Here is how to remove the default network manager packages and replace them with the popular wicd package and supporting files.
8.b. Wired Ethernet -- need static IP, Knetwork manager makes it worse, no GUI available to work in, etc. etc.
Detonate has written the guidance here.
8.c. NFS Guidance is here and here (thanks growlebear!). Note that there is no longer a portman package, that function is now included in the rpcbind package.
8.d. Linux-to-Windows with Samba
- Official Samba site is here.
- More *buntu "how to" is here.
#9. "Suitable Codec Not Found / Flash / Java Won't Play / How do I Get Google Earth/Skype", etc.
As of 11.04, this seems to still be accurate.
Or, follow the guidance for your architecture and version here. As of ver. 11.04, my experience is that enabling the "partner" PPA, via your muon or kpackagekit manager, is sufficient to support the common multimedia needs.
#10. "I log in, the screen goes black, and then I get the login GUI again / Login Loops but I can't log in."
There are multiple possible causes, and thus multiple possible fixes. First thing to check -- if there is any possibility of a full filesystem (i.e. if "df -h" shows the root filesystem more than 94% full), see #16 below for methods to deal with that. Another cause of the problem is root ownership of files or directories within the user's home folder. Do NOT ever perform "sudo" or root operations, such as installing software or saving root-owned files, using your user's home directory -- this is a common cause of the "login loop" problem. Do NOT ever run KDE packages, like Dolphin and Kate, with a "sudo" prefix -- you should only use "kdesudo" to run them with root privileges. The permissions on the hidden files ~/.ICEauthority and ~/.Xauthority are easily changed by root use of your user's home directory while running in X, or root use of KDE packages with a "sudo" prefix, and thereafter the user is locked out. In that case, you (working in the terminal with "sudo" prefix) might recover by deleting these two files, restarting the X server (or rebooting the computer) and logging in to KDE again. If you have deleted those two files, and restarted, and it still won't let you log in, you're stuck with a more radical step. At your user's home directory prompt:
Code:
mv .kde .kde_bak
Code:
sudo shutdown now -r
Doing this will destroy your desktop customizations, and return you to a default Kubuntu desktop. You do have the hidden directory ~/.kde_bak in which you may be able to find useful details about your previous desktop setup.
#11.a. "How do I install xyz application?"
First of all, if you are not experienced in manually installing software on GNU/Linux, DO NOT TRY TO INSTALL SOFWARE DOWNLOADED FROM THE INTERNET AND EXPECT ANTHING BUT A MESS. Make use of the 50,000+ packages already in the official *buntu repositories first.
The (slightly aged but mostly still valid) official guidance is here , for both Ubuntu and Kubuntu. The graphics on that page are from KDE 3.x. For Kubuntu 12.04, you click on the "K", then choose "Applications > System > Software Center" which opens the Muon Software Center, the default package manager front-end. Also under the System menu is the Muon package management GUI. In the official guidance are links to Synaptic package management GUI, which is the Gnome default package manager, as well as links to apt-get and aptitude, which are the two command line packages applicable to *buntu. Speaking of the command line to the Debian PacKaGe tool:
#11.b. "What's better, apt-get or aptitude?"
Article.
#12. Where is the documentation?
Hmmmm ... actually, where isn't it? My personal favorite Linux reference book is Beginning Ubuntu Linux by Keir Thomas. Reference documentation for all Linux commands included in your system are available at the Command Line Interface (CLI) by entering the command name preceded with "man", as, for example
Code:
man fdisk
FDISK( 8 ) Linux Programmer’s Manual FDISK( 8 )
NAME
fdisk - Partition table manipulator for Linux
SYNOPSIS
fdisk [-u] [-b sectorsize] [-C cyls] [-H heads] [-S sects] device
fdisk -l [-u] [device ...]
fdisk -s partition ...
fdisk -v
DESCRIPTION
Hard disks can be divided into one or more logical disks called parti‐
tions. This division is described in the partition table found in sec‐
tor 0 of the disk.
In the BSD world one talks about ‘disk slices’ and a ‘disklabel’.
Linux needs at least one partition, namely for its root file system.
It can use swap files and/or swap partitions, but the latter are more
efficient. So, usually one will want a second Linux partition dedicated
as swap partition. On Intel compatible hardware, the BIOS that boots
the system can often only access the first 1024 cylinders of the disk.
For this reason people with large disks often create a third partition,
just a few MB large, typically mounted on /boot, to store the kernel
image and a few auxiliary files needed at boot time, so as to make sure
that this stuff is accessible to the BIOS. There may be reasons of
security, ease of administration and backup, or testing, to use more
than the minimum number of partitions.
fdisk (in the first form of invocation) is a menu driven program for
NAME
fdisk - Partition table manipulator for Linux
SYNOPSIS
fdisk [-u] [-b sectorsize] [-C cyls] [-H heads] [-S sects] device
fdisk -l [-u] [device ...]
fdisk -s partition ...
fdisk -v
DESCRIPTION
Hard disks can be divided into one or more logical disks called parti‐
tions. This division is described in the partition table found in sec‐
tor 0 of the disk.
In the BSD world one talks about ‘disk slices’ and a ‘disklabel’.
Linux needs at least one partition, namely for its root file system.
It can use swap files and/or swap partitions, but the latter are more
efficient. So, usually one will want a second Linux partition dedicated
as swap partition. On Intel compatible hardware, the BIOS that boots
the system can often only access the first 1024 cylinders of the disk.
For this reason people with large disks often create a third partition,
just a few MB large, typically mounted on /boot, to store the kernel
image and a few auxiliary files needed at boot time, so as to make sure
that this stuff is accessible to the BIOS. There may be reasons of
security, ease of administration and backup, or testing, to use more
than the minimum number of partitions.
fdisk (in the first form of invocation) is a menu driven program for
The Linux Documentation Project
LinuxCommand.org
die.net
and for (K)(X)(Ed)Ubuntu it is here
and tons of great Kubuntu guidance is here.
#13. "I have/intend to buy printer xyz. Will it work with Linux?/ How do I install it?/ What drivers do I need?"
Look up your printer here and plan accordingly. Additional guidance for driver installation (thanks to slam at sidux forum):
We have choices with Linux, but you cannot mix different drivers and printing systems and achieve success. Instead you need to choose which one to use, and work only with that one. In particular, HP and Epson printers usually have four options for drivers/printing backends:
a) Standard drivers delivered with CUPS (recommended);
b) Postscript drivers for several printing engines (usually not needed, those who need them know why they do);
c) Gutenprint drivers (high quality/special features focused, sometimes the only option available for very new multi-function hardware with no CUPS drivers).
d) Drivers provided from the manufacturer, hplip/epkowa/etc. (try -- compare with CUPS/Gutenprint and decide accordingly).
and for the other brands:
e) For Canons, you may be stuck with no free driver available at all. In that case, for a fairly modest fee, you might be able to buy a driver here.
f) For Lexmarks and other unsupported brands, if the OEM has not provided the necessary design information, and there's no third-party driver available, you may be unable to use it on a Linux system (except this can be a good use for a Windows VM, see Bonus FAQ #2 below).
Don't waste your time on the KDE printer manager utility - do not use it, do not rely on the information it gives. Instead:
Open your browser and point it at http://localhost:631. Start with the CUPS drivers and test them. If they do what you need (printing letters, pictures, etc.) you are done. Don't go further and play with Gutenprint if you do not need it, its drivers come with a lot of confusing (and sometimes conflicting) options which might be understandable only to those who actually need them. Do not install the HP printing tools or Epkowa if you are having success with CUPS/Gutenprint drivers. If your first attempt fails and you wish to try a different driver, remove the first one before installing the second one.
HP's drivers follow their own workflow (the hplip package) for setting up and configuring a printer. Do not try to install those drivers via the CUPS interface (and again: do not use KDE print management).
#14. I have Laptop/Notebook xyz and I can't get anything to load
Referring to #2 above, this is where the acpi=off, noapic, and xforcevesa boot options seem to come in. Check:
a) here,
b) here, and
c) here.
# 15. How do I add an internal hard drive/ssd to my system?
1. Install the drive in the drive bay of your computer, connecting power and data cables as shown in your system user's guide.
2. Power on the computer, enter BIOS, and verify the new drive is correctly connected and showing in your BIOS. If you don't see it in BIOS, stop here and figure out why not -- Linux gets its information about your storage devices from BIOS.
3. Boot a Parted Magic, or GParted, or Ubuntu, or some Live CD that has Parted on it. The new partionmanager package (ver. 1.0+) for KDE works too.
4. Using Parted, with the new drive selected in the window on the upper right corner (don't get it wrong!) choose "Device > New Partition Table > Type = MS-DOS" and "OK" or "apply".
5. Still with Parted, right-click in the unallocated space graphic, choose "new" and make however many partitions you need, and set the filesystem type (ext4 recommended). I like to give each such non-system partition a label (it can come in very handy), but it is not required. Click "Apply" on the Parted menu and let the process complete.
6. Exit Parted, shutdown the Live CD session, remove the Live CD, and boot Kubuntu.
7. Open konsole, make new mount points, one for each partition (let's assume you made two partitions on the new drive)(partition names can be any alphanumeric, no spaces):
Code:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/VIDEOS
Code:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/MUSIC
Code:
sudo fdisk -lu
Code:
sudo blkid -c /dev/null -o list
Code:
UUID=82fffe8d-a8b1-49f7-afce-6ff01bc544bf /mnt/VIDEOS ext4 auto,users,rw,exec,noatime 0 0
Code:
sudo mount -a
Code:
sudo mount
12. You'll want the ability to save user data on your new partitions -- you can't do it yet! In Linux, internal storage devices are, by default, "owned" by root -- the system administrator. There are good reasons to leave this design in place. So, open Dolphin with root privileges via Alt-F2 "kdesudo dolphin", and browse to the mount point, /mnt/VIDEOS. Right-click on the white space, choose "new" and make yourself a data folder with a meaninful name, like "VIDEOS-2011". Now right-click on the VIDEOS-2011 folder icon, choose "Properties" and open the "Permissions" tab. In the owner and group windows, where it says "root", change it to your user name in both places (assuming your user is also a group on your system). Put an "x" in the box in the lower left where it says "Apply to subfolders ...", and then "OK". Exit dolphin. The directory /mnt/VIDEOS/VIDEOS-2011 is now available to the named user. If the new directory is to be shared by multiple users, then perhaps you need to set the owner and group to "nobody:users". More on file and directory permissions is here.
For external E-SATA and SATA drives, here's good guidance.
Note 1: USB devices, including USB-connected hard drives -- the Universal Serial Bus is an entirely different mechanism for connecting devices to personal computers, and a different part of the Linux OS interfaces with the motherboard's USB controller to accomplish the interface. The whole theory and advantage of USB is "hot-pluggable" -- these devices are not expected to be connected at boot time, and can "appear" on any of multiple USB connectors on the computer -- so unless it is to be a permanent attachment, mounting USB-connected hard drives in /etc/fstab is not advisable.
Note 2: When using a *buntu Live CD, the Ubiquity graphical installer is known to have problems detecting SATA hard drives on some motherboard/BIOS systems. This is especially prevalent when an IDE-connected hard drive is also present on the system. In this situation, a better result is normally obtained when (a) the BIOS mode for the SATA channel is set to "Legacy IDE", (b) the Alternate Install CD is used for installation, and (c) any IDE-connected hard drives are disconnected during installation. The IDE drive(s) can be reconnected after the Linux OS is installed on the SATA drive, and the BIOS SATA mode can be reset to "AHCI", and the drive(s) should perform satisfactorily thereafter.
Note 3: For any device listed in /etc/fstab with a mount option of "auto", if it is not connected at boot time, you can expect to see an error in the boot messages, and/or a hung boot.
Note 4: oshunluvr's marvelous command to see all the drives, partitions, and their UUID numbers, in a neat table:
Code:
blkid -c /dev/null -o list
#16. Out of disk space, filesystem full, how can I tell where it went, etc. etc.
Rog132 explains here.
Also, to learn which directory is holding an unusual amount (number or size) of files, use
Code:
du -h --max-depth=1 | sort -n
Another method is to produce a text file of all your files and their sizes, and then review it to see where the problem is:
Code:
du / | sort -n > du.txt
#17. Why "sudo", who/what/where is root, kdesudo for GUI apps, etc. etc.
Official policy is here.
#18. 64-bit vs. 32-bit, should I or shouldn't I, what's the difference, does 64-bit have any apps, etc. etc.
Over the past 3 or 4 years, the few residual reasons to prefer 32-bit over 64-bit architecture have pretty much disappeared, such that it is now only "corner cases", such as proprietary software packages that are only available in a 32-bit version, that would cause one to consider installing the 32-bit OS on 64-bit hardware. Today (6 APR 2012) Muon shows over 55,000 packages available, on my 64-bit Kubuntu 12.04 system. So ...
#19. Do I need to defragment my hard drive -- how, when, & with what?
Not likely. This and this thread, and the links in them, cover the topic nicely.
#20. What about viruses and malware -- do I need an anti-virus package/what are they/where do I get them?
This is certainly a matter of personal choice (i.e. risk tolerance), and depends a lot on how you connect to the Internet and the nature of your e-mail connection/service. Here is an excellent dissertation, with supporting sources, to help you decide.
BONUS FAQ: "I'm a little worried worried about my hard drive -- how do I test it and verify it is OK?"
a. To test your hard drive, this and the included links should either set your mind at ease, or else confirm your worst suspicions.
b. Regarding the infamous laptop head unloading/load cycle issue, here's a great reference page.
c. The Parted Magic Live CD, ver. 4.4 and higher, now has a GUI-driven version of SMART that you can "click" to run the self-tests, long or short. There are other great hardware diagnostics on it, too, including CPU benchmarks.
d. Ultimate Boot CD also has a nice collection of diagnostic tools, including multiple hard drive test and data recovery tools.
BONUS FAQ #2: "I heard you can run a Windows app on a Linux box -- is that true?"
A: Yes. (within limits -- while running under Linux, you're not going to run Windows apps that directly access the BIOS, CPU, GPU, memory, or disk controller/drive hardware.)
There are basically three approaches:
- Wine -- a windows translation layer (package) that fools many Windows apps into running on the Linux OS. Try it first, but if your app is a heavy database or needs lots of access to your hardware (graphics-intensive games), it might not work. Install wine from the standard repos with
Code:
sudo apt-get install wine
- VMWare -- the other VM package. I use VMWare Player to run my Win XP and Win 7 systems, which I need only to run a proprietary database that has no equivalent in Linux. There's an excellent forum at VMware where you can get any guidance you need, and there are posts on this forum by a few members who use VMware.
Note 1: Running Windows in a VM is a great way to overcome the lack of Linux equivalents for some special-purpose Windows software, such as:
- proprietary interface applications to cell phones or other USB devices, including printers that have no Linux driver available
- special-purpose databases (MS Visual FoxPro applications, for example)
- proprietary/closed interface requirements to commercial systems (e.g. you need to use IE to connect via Juniper Networks security application to MS servers for remote login, etc.)
Note 2: In case it's not obvious ... no advanced video game written for Windows is going to perform as well on Linux, in any emulator, as it does on Windows with a native Windows video driver!
I hope these are helpful!
)
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