Kubuntu 18.04 Failure

[jglen490]

Not really a failure, because I did learn something - I think.

So I was on 16.04.4 (32 bit) since 16.04.1 was released. I liked it a lot and was very happy with the stability. In mid stream I switched to a better motherboard with a 64 bit processor, but 32 bit Kubuntu just kept on rockin' so I wasn't concerned. I did download a 64 bit 16.04.4, burned it to a thumb drive and a 64 bit 18.04 and burned it to another thumb drive. I put those two drives in the drawer for a while, waiting on 18.04.1.

I heard a lot of good things about Bionic, so a found the thumb drive with 18.04 on it and installed - manually. After completion, it popped up a message about EFI and GRUB not being installed. After checking and changing the BIOS settings, it happened again. So I pulled out the 16.04.4 64 bit thumbdrive and it installed just fine. That installer did show a box with info about EFI, but gave the option to just go back and do a "normal" install. After that no problems.

UEFI is a thing that will be with us for a long time, I understand that, and there may actually be some advantages. But, I just have no desire right now to go through the extra steps it takes to accommodate something that in my opinion is a solution looking for a problem.

Anyway, 16.04.4 64 bit is up a running well on my desktop box. Now off to discover somethings about UEFI before 18.04.1 comes out and I move to install Bionic again.

[Rod J]

I think you need to create a small fat32 EFI partition (200 - 250Mb is plenty) to install Grub on. I think you need to use GPT partitioning too.

I made the same mistake the first time I installed 14.04 on my new UEFI system. If you do a UEFI install it won't work without the EFI partition as you end up with no boot loader. I guess the 16.04 install probably used compatibility mode "normal" mode as you said.

[chimak111]

I think you need to create a small fat32 EFI partition (200 - 250Mb is plenty) to install Grub on. I think you need to use GPT partitioning too.

I made the same mistake the first time I installed 14.04 on my new UEFI system. If you do a UEFI install it won't work without the EFI partition as you end up with no boot loader. I guess the 16.04 install probably used compatibility mode "normal" mode as you said.

I have a Dell laptop with Ubuntu pre-installed.

$ sudo parted -l
[sudo] password for chimak: 
Model: ATA TOSHIBA MQ01ABD1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system     Name                  Flags
1      1049kB  525MB   524MB   fat32           EFI system partition  boot, esp
2      525MB   3747MB  3221MB  fat32           Basic data partition  msftdata
3      3747MB  195GB   191GB   ext4
6      195GB   509GB   315GB   ext4
5      509GB   826GB   317GB   ext4
4      992GB   1000GB  8312MB  linux-swap(v1)

Entries 1,2,3 and 4 are what came with the system. I shrank #3 to make room for Kubuntu 16.04 (#5) and Kubuntu 18.04 (#6).

So entry #1 seems to correspond to what Rod J mentions.

[kc1di]

It looks to me like what's happening is that the Ubuntu efi /grub install is not being over written by the 18.04 install. So what you would have to do is go into the live session and install it manually from there or you should be able to go to your ubuntu install and do an

sudo update-grub

and it should find the new install and add it to grubs menu.

[jglen490]

I think you need to create a small fat32 EFI partition (200 - 250Mb is plenty) to install Grub on. I think you need to use GPT partitioning too.

I made the same mistake the first time I installed 14.04 on my new UEFI system. If you do a UEFI install it won't work without the EFI partition as you end up with no boot loader. I guess the 16.04 install probably used compatibility mode "normal" mode as you said.

I appreciate the response, but I wasn't trying to install with UEFI, nor did the 18.04 present anything to indicate that it was trying to eliminate the grub install that was already on the drive (/dev/sda). The normal option at the bottom of the screen showing where Grub would be installed was showing "/dev/sda", as always and I did nothing but verify that it was there. Using the Manual install radio button, I did not change the existing partitioning, and all I did was to select /dev/sda1 as / and for formatting - like I always do. On /dev/sda2 I simply re-identified it for /home, and for /dev/sdb1 I re-identified it for /home/multimedia.

At no time did I change the partitioning scheme with the GPT option. If anything happened to change /dev/sda to GPT, it was something outside my selection.

So, when 18.04.1 comes out, I will download it, make a backup of everything under /home, make sure my motherboard is set to UEFI, then nuke /dev/sda with GPT, set a small fat32 EFI partition, and press on with the install. I was disappointed with the 18.04 installer, but I'll get over it!

[jlittle]

On at least some hardware, the choice of UEFI or BIOS boot is made when the machine boots from the install media. If it boots in BIOS mode, then it's a BIOS install, and vice versa. IIUC the installer can't change this. If you booted in UEFI mode, then manually partitioned as if it was BIOS, I wouldn't expect it to work.

On my Gigabyte motherboard, booting from a USB stick gives at least two choices for the stick, one for a UEFI boot and one for a "legacy" boot. I seem to remember older firmware needed a setting.

BIOS boots can be from GPT partitioned drives, but some measure must be taken to reserve enough space for the grub boot loader, aka core.img, or the first stage. I've never done this, but oshunluvr here swears by it IIRC.

Regards, John Little

[Qqmike]

jlittle, my understanding of all these issues matches yours, as you explained in Post #6, re booting UEFI versus booting legacy and installing the OS.

On my Gigabyte motherboard, booting from a USB stick gives at least two choices for the stick, one for a UEFI boot and one for a "legacy" boot.

That is how my ASUS motherboard in my PC works, too.
And, if booting with GRUB from a GPT, you just need a so-called Bios Boot Partition.

[jglen490]

O.K., thank you jlittle and Qqmike. I will keep that in mind. I don't recall being presented a boot option when booting with the thumb drive, but that's alright. 18.04.1 isn't coming out for a few more weeks - plenty of time to get it straight. And my 64 bit 16.04.4 is working well.

Like I said, UEFI - a solution looking for a problem ...

Thanks again.

[foxhound]

I don't want this message should be understood as an indictment, however the this O/S seems to be a real faillure.

Let's summarize the situation!
Yesterday I was happy to pass from Kubuntu 14.04 -where everything were fine- to Kubuntu 18.04. Today I tried to simply access to another windows desktop via the usual network -samba-. Impossible! Because 'too much of security'! I set up MySQL workbench with MySQL server, with the Workbench client I tried to access to mysql server -port 3306- impossible yet!
I tried to set up Amule, just for the fun, KAD is blocked! Amule does not work, is firewalled!
I tried to set up and launch Netbeans, bad idea! It did not work! Netbeans failed to launch. After I set up Eclipse, and I tried to launch Eclipse I retrieved this kind of beautiful message 'An Error has occured...! etc...'

. I foresaw to install Weblogic and Websphere, but ...it seems to be a bad idea too, especially regarding my "Hot" experience since yesterday! What the hell K 18.04 is? Is Kubuntu 18.04 be an O/S ?
Why didn't you warn us that Kubuntu 18.04 is only made for connecting funny smartphones, and tablets with Desktops ? But mostly not for other things!

I left the world of Microsoft since 2006 and I don't want to return! Since 2008 I only know the world of Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Yes indeed, in the past there were some bugs. It is normal! But at this scale I could never imagine!
What should I do now ?

[SpecialEd]

I don't want this message should be understood as an indictment, however the this O/S seems to be a real faillure.

Let's summarize the situation!
Yesterday I was happy to pass from Kubuntu 14.04 -where everything were fine- to Kubuntu 18.04. Today I tried to simply access to another windows desktop via the usual network -samba-. Impossible! Because 'too much of security'! I set up MySQL workbench with MySQL server, with the Workbench client I tried to access to mysql server -port 3306- impossible yet!
I tried to set up Amule, just for the fun, KAD is blocked! Amule does not work, is firewalled!
I tried to set up and launch Netbeans, bad idea! It did not work! Netbeans failed to launch. After I set up Eclipse, and I tried to launch Eclipse I retrieved this kind of beautiful message 'An Error has occured...! etc...'

. I foresaw to install Weblogic and Websphere, but ...it seems to be a bad idea too, especially regarding my "Hot" experience since yesterday! What the hell K 18.04 is? Is Kubuntu 18.04 be an O/S ?
Why didn't you warn us that Kubuntu 18.04 is only made for connecting funny smartphones, and tablets with Desktops ? But mostly not for other things!

I left the world of Microsoft since 2006 and I don't want to return! Since 2008 I only know the world of Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Yes indeed, in the past there were some bugs. It is normal! But at this scale I could never imagine!
What should I do now ?

You don't want your indictment to be taken as an indictment? Did you do a fresh install? All over the Internet reviewers are gushing about how good Kubuntu 18.04. is. I guesstimate the pros being about 95% to 5% cons. There will always be some hardware/systems that don't play well. You are in a small minority, why do you automatically blame the OS?

[oshunluvr]

Not really a failure, because I did learn something - I think.

So I was on 16.04.4 (32 bit) since 16.04.1 was released. I liked it a lot and was very happy with the stability. In mid stream I switched to a better motherboard with a 64 bit processor, but 32 bit Kubuntu just kept on rockin' so I wasn't concerned. I did download a 64 bit 16.04.4, burned it to a thumb drive and a 64 bit 18.04 and burned it to another thumb drive. I put those two drives in the drawer for a while, waiting on 18.04.1.

I heard a lot of good things about Bionic, so a found the thumb drive with 18.04 on it and installed - manually. After completion, it popped up a message about EFI and GRUB not being installed. After checking and changing the BIOS settings, it happened again. So I pulled out the 16.04.4 64 bit thumbdrive and it installed just fine. That installer did show a box with info about EFI, but gave the option to just go back and do a "normal" install. After that no problems.

UEFI is a thing that will be with us for a long time, I understand that, and there may actually be some advantages. But, I just have no desire right now to go through the extra steps it takes to accommodate something that in my opinion is a solution looking for a problem.

Anyway, 16.04.4 64 bit is up a running well on my desktop box. Now off to discover somethings about UEFI before 18.04.1 comes out and I move to install Bionic again.

UEFI is not required unless you use Windows or have a very restricted BIOS that demands it. UEFI is not a Kubuntu problem. However, using it with Linux is a solution to a very real problem - that Microsoft started. Blame them for that one stop and using their products. If you don't need it and don't like it, simply don't use it. Problem solved.

The installer (Ubiquity) has always been a PITA and it doesn't seem like it's going to improve. Hopefully, we will move to Calamares. Until then, I seriously doubt UBIQUITY (not "Kubuntu") did not "present anything to indicate that it was trying to eliminate the grub install that was already on the drive" as it always does and has as far back as I can remember. It's far more likely you just didn't see it:



To install without re-installing grub, you must launch Ubiquity from the command line and use the "-b" option for "no bootloader". A long time ago, there was a simple checkbox to prevent grub re-installation. For some unknown reason, a developer decided that no one would hardly ever want to install using Ubiquity without also installing grub, I mean who dual-boots? Oh yeah, almost everybody. This is the problem with free software - the person doing the development makes the rules. Feel free to develop you own installer, learn how to use another one, or work within the limitations of what has been provided - for free.

[oshunluvr]

I don't want this message should be understood as an indictment, however the this O/S seems to be a real faillure.

Let's summarize the situation!
Yesterday I was happy to pass from Kubuntu 14.04 -where everything were fine- to Kubuntu 18.04. Today I tried to simply access to another windows desktop via the usual network -samba-. Impossible! Because 'too much of security'! I set up MySQL workbench with MySQL server, with the Workbench client I tried to access to mysql server -port 3306- impossible yet!
I tried to set up Amule, just for the fun, KAD is blocked! Amule does not work, is firewalled!
I tried to set up and launch Netbeans, bad idea! It did not work! Netbeans failed to launch. After I set up Eclipse, and I tried to launch Eclipse I retrieved this kind of beautiful message 'An Error has occured...! etc...'

. I foresaw to install Weblogic and Websphere, but ...it seems to be a bad idea too, especially regarding my "Hot" experience since yesterday! What the hell K 18.04 is? Is Kubuntu 18.04 be an O/S ?
Why didn't you warn us that Kubuntu 18.04 is only made for connecting funny smartphones, and tablets with Desktops ? But mostly not for other things!

I left the world of Microsoft since 2006 and I don't want to return! Since 2008 I only know the world of Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Yes indeed, in the past there were some bugs. It is normal! But at this scale I could never imagine!
What should I do now ?

Since you're new to this forum I have some advice:

• If you have a problem, post about it in your own thread or owns that's at least related to your issue. For example, MySQL has nothing to do with UEFI.
• Read my post ("Please Read Me" link in my sig below) about how to post well so you have a better chance getting help.
• Post one issue per thread unless they are closely related. Not everyone is an expert in all things.
• General complaining without real information will never get you anything but ignored, at best.

Finally, we welcome you to the forum, to Kubuntu, and to post your problems. However, you are not required to upgrade or even use Kubuntu so do yourself and others a favor and get serious about upgrading and solving your roadblocks, or don't. But please vent elsewhere or at least in the non-technical portions of the forum.

[GreyGeek]

I don't want this message should be understood as an indictment, however the this O/S seems to be a real faillure.
.....
I left the world of Microsoft since 2006 and I don't want to return! Since 2008 I only know the world of Ubuntu/Kubuntu. Yes indeed, in the past there were some bugs. It is normal! But at this scale I could never imagine!
What should I do now ?

From what I've read about 18.04 failures it is due mainly to old or incompatible hardware. So, post better hardware specs!
inxi, lspci and/or lshw, for example.


Ten years experience running Ubuntu/Kubuntu? Did you do the basics before you installed 18.04?
Specifically,
1) Backup your 16.04 so you could restore it if things go south?
2) Verify the checksum of the ISO you used before you burn it, and the USB stick (or CD) after you burned it, to make sure your install medium is good?

Now that you have installed 18.04 did you check to see if it installed correctly?
sudo apt -f install
sudo dpkg --config -a
Repeating those two commands until no errors are returned.

IF you got no errors with those two commands then have you installed a foreign PPA or some non-repository apps that conflict with the versions of the libraries and of Plasma5 in 18.04?
What error msgs have you ignored?
What does your logs say about the errors you have noticed?

[jglen490]

UEFI is not required unless you use Windows or have a very restricted BIOS that demands it. UEFI is not a Kubuntu problem. However, using it with Linux is a solution to a very real problem - that Microsoft started. Blame them for that one stop and using their products. If you don't need it and don't like it, simply don't use it. Problem solved.

The installer (Ubiquity) has always been a PITA and it doesn't seem like it's going to improve. Hopefully, we will move to Calamares. Until then, I seriously doubt UBIQUITY (not "Kubuntu") did not "present anything to indicate that it was trying to eliminate the grub install that was already on the drive" as it always does and has as far back as I can remember. It's far more likely you just didn't see it:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7624[/ATTACH]

To install without re-installing grub, you must launch Ubiquity from the command line and use the "-b" option for "no bootloader". A long time ago, there was a simple checkbox to prevent grub re-installation. For some unknown reason, a developer decided that no one would hardly ever want to install using Ubiquity without also installing grub, I mean who dual-boots? Oh yeah, almost everybody. This is the problem with free software - the person doing the development makes the rules. Feel free to develop you own installer, learn how to use another one, or work within the limitations of what has been provided - for free.

Thanks oshunluvr! What I learned is that UEFI v. BIOS is not as big a problem as I perceived it to be originally. Yes, some hardware platforms have perhaps misused the technology - and perhaps with some "encouragement" from the gorilla whose initials are MS. Moving beyond that, I had left UEFI on my motherboard firmware after rolling an existing BIOS-based Kubuntu 16.04 installation onto the new MB. Unplugging and replugging hard drives is trivial, but it worked.

My new motherboard is no longer set to UEFI. The fact that a BIOS-based 16.04 had actually worked through a few reboots and cold boots on a UEFI motherboard is not mind numbing, but it is interesting ...

So I'll pay attention now and when 18.04.1 becomes available, I'll make sure I've set up a nice GPT platform (probably on some fresh hard drives) and use the applicable installation instructions. And yes, I do know how to back up my /home data. /home and /home/multimedia exists across two hard drives and I use rsync to back them both up to a USB hard drive that I plug in when doing that backup.

O.K., O.K., so it's Ubiquity that does the install, my bad for the verbal shortcut, and it would probably behave the same whether its Kubuntu or Mint (and whatever other distros use Ubiquity). And I see that there are A LOT of UEFI, BIOS, GPT, MBR instructions in the Miscellaneous Linux Info forum.

Thanks again.

[jglen490]

"This is the problem with free software - the person doing the development makes the rules. Feel free to develop you own installer, learn how to use another one, or work within the limitations of what has been provided - for free."

I hope that wasn't directed at me. I was having an installation problem that manifested itself in the way I described it. I don't think I called any dev a "jackass" or a "dummie", or a "klutz". Just presented what I saw, and now after looking for and reviewing posts on the subject, I have learned a lot and am prepared to press on with my next try.