Virtual Kubuntu - USB problem

[stuarte]

Hi all,

I'm trying to get a 2012 microcontroller board (board IDE also 2012) running on a virtualised Kubuntu 6.06 LTS using KVM/Libvirt/QEMU. So far I have reached the point where -:
a) the VM is installed and running;
b) I've managed to get an icon for my external/host USB drive to appear on the virtual desktop;

When I do a mouse over on this icon the virtual system tells me that the Device Node is /dev/sdc1.
When I right click on this icon and select mount from the dropdown menu a kio_media_helper dialog appears which says that it can't find /dev/sdc1 in either /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab.

Can someone please point me to what the fstab entry for this removable(!) USB drive would be ? I am just trying to replicate on the virtual machine the (ordinary user) hot plugging functionality that is available on the host machine.

Best regards,

Stuart

[oshunluvr]

9 year old hardware and a 15 year old OS? You must be a masochist, LOL

/dev/sdc1 /somemount somefilesystem defaults 0 0

should work

[stuarte]

Hi oshunluvr,

Thank you for so quick a reply. Please also accept my apologies for taking so long to respond, due to fully using my internet download data allowance for last month.

Thank you also for indirectly pointing out that I had chosen the wrong version of Kubuntu to virtualise. I had forgotten what (K)Ubuntu version numbers mean. What I needed, of course, was the 12.04 version, to go along with the 2012 microcontroller board IDE.

Another problem has arisen when trying to install kubuntu-12.04-dvd-i386.iso (a 3.3GB file from https://old-releases.ubuntu.com/rele...12.04/release/) onto the KVM/libVirt/QEMU VM, During the install, I get as far as supplying user info. At this point, when I click "continue" the installer immediately crashes. It displays an "Installer Crashed" dialog which displays the following.

Traceback(most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/frontend/kde_ui.py", line 957, in on_next_clicked
self.dbfilter.ok_handler()
File "/usr/lib/ubiquity/plugins/ubi-usersetup.py", line 806, in ok_handler
self.ui.hostname_error(make_error_string(self.cont roller, errors))
AttributeError:'Page' object has no attribute 'controller'

I assume that these errors are due to the host system not(!) running the ubiquity desktop environment as was. This seems to be indicated as this iso does run in "live mode" on the VM without any problem. I was able to play Solitaire without any problem arising. ;-)

It would seem that a KVM/libVirt/QEMU is not the way to go. It seems that this iso "wants" to be installed directly onto a physical HDD. This is a shame as I really would have liked to get this OSS stack running.

Best regards,

Stuart

[oshunluvr]

Curious as to why you apparently have assumed that since the hardware is 2012 you must also use a distro from the same year. IMO, you would actually benefit from using a currently supported distro or at least try to. The kernel maintainers don't remove support for old hardware as a matter of course, only when it's no longer of use to anyone. Unless you have direct information that your micro controller requires a specific kernel, I suggest beginning with a Ubuntu 18.04 legacy install. It's older, but still supported for a few more years.

[stuarte]

Hi oshunluvr,

Thank you for another swift reply. I am not choosing the version of the distro to suit the board. Rather I am choosing the version of the distro to suit the board's IDE which is also of 2012 vintage as I said in my original post. Also when I tried to install the board into my fully updated Kubuntu 20.04 LTS the installer complained that it could not find the following packages.


kub@kub-SATELLITE-L870-18V:~$ ldd /usr/lib/Sense/*Plugin | grep 'not found'
/usr/lib/Sense/CurlPlugin: /lib/i386-linux-gnu/libcurl.so.4: version `CURL_OPENSSL_3' not found (required by /usr/lib/Sense/CurlPlugin)
libssl.so.0.9.8 => not found
libssh2.so.1 => not found
libcrypto.so.0.9.8 => not found
libasound.so.2 => not found
libpangocairo-1.0.so.0 => not found
libpango-1.0.so.0 => not found
libcairo.so.2 => not found
libgobject-2.0.so.0 => not found
libgmodule-2.0.so.0 => not found
libglib-2.0.so.0 => not found
kub@kub-SATELLITE-L870-18V:~$

It turned out that all these libraries and their link files are one level deeper in Kubuntu 20.04. Also, the second line above involving libcurl clearly shows that the board's IDE installer is expecting an i386 environment. My thinking therefore was to set up an i386 version of Kubuntu 12.04 (in a virtual machine) in the hope that the looked for files would be found by the board's IDE installer in the places it was expecting to find them. This is logical, is it not ?

ASIDE: While I have been typing this response, a dialog entitled Error and stating the following has been appearing on my screen every minute or two.

Invalid server response.
Please try again.

This dialog also contains a red triangle which itself contains a white exclamation point. Is the server working properly ?

Best regards,

Stuart

[jglen490]

Yep, i386 is no longer supported in most Linux distros. But, that should not stop a new distro and kernel from supporting an older peripheral as long as the applicable libraries and modules can be found. What is happening is the IDE is expecting to find OS software in a different location than it now is. You could set up links, but that's a lot of effort, too. I don't have a simple answer, just some observations.