Kubuntu 12.10 does not boot past boot-splash screen after Muon Software Update.

[judedawson]

Any suggestions or ideas, guys?

...am downloading the Kubuntu-32bit 12.10 iso installer file as a last resort - if this issue cannot be resolved...

I hope it can...

[judedawson]

Found these links today:

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/...ld-deps.1.html

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/...ilddeps.1.html

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/...apt-get.8.html

It might hold the answer to how I can install the missing dependencies. Will try it out this weekend...

[judedawson]

The outputs for command

sudo apt-get build-dep kde-runtime
sudo apt-get build-dep systemsettings

showed a whole list of missing dependencies.

Decided to return to basics and try again the commands that I had run at the initial stages of troubleshooting. I remember that when I ran them earlier, I did not have internet connection - which Steve & I discovered much later into the troubleshooting works.

I ran

sudo apt-get install -f

and there was a list if packages which needed to be removed.

Did an

sudo apt-get autoremove

to uninstall them.

I then ran these commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

My laptop is now downloading a whole lot of stuff. Will update when it's completed.

[judedawson]

Restarted laptop after sucessful install.

Repeated Step#44 - got the same result.

Repeated Step#48 - got a different result... the output for command

sudo service lightdm start

shows as

lightdm stop/post-stop , process 2001

Am running

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

now to see what it fixes (or breaks...)

[judedawson]

The dist-upgrade command ran successfully.

Repeated steps #44 & #48 with similar results - this time the message for #48 was slightly different.

Repeated step#88 and find the same missing dependencies...

Am running out of ideas and options.

Any help at this point is greatly appreciated...

[judedawson]

I have a strong feeling that it has something to do with the wrong ppa wanting to be installed instead of the correct one.

Output for

sudo apt-get build-dep systemsettings --install-suggests |pastebinit

is:

http://paste.ubuntu.com/5557267/

Current active ppas are:

http://paste.ubuntu.com/5557270/

What do you think, guys?

[judedawson]

I wish I had found & read this before I borked my laptop...

https://sites.google.com/site/easyli.../fatalmistakes

Oh, well - to the newbie reading this - check out the link and heed the warning

[judedawson]

Final update.

Due to lack of options and feedback, I was left with the final solution - I did a clean and complete re-install of Kubuntu 32-bit 12.10.

Note to self and fellow Kubuntu newbies reading this:

Remember the cardinal rule for all version upgrades - ALWAYS BACKUP your files BEFORE version upgrades. Thankfully, I did this before borking my machine...
Also - don't mess with (or install) PPA's and backports unless you are up to the challenge of working with a slightly unpredictable machine.
Finally - get some knowledge of command-line (konsole, terminal, etc.). It is a very powerful means of troubleshooting.

Thanks to Steve & Vinny for your tech-support.

From,
Jude

[SteveRiley]

Jude, I apologize for not being able to help you get this fixed. For reasons beyond my control, I had to cut down on the online stuff for a few weeks. But at least you're up and running now, and it's likely that you've learned quite a lot through all this. $DEITY knows I borked plenty of my own installs when I was first getting started.

[judedawson]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your follow up and for your honesty

Well, I certainly did learn a lot from this experience. No more messing with PPAs for no good reason.

The strange thing is, the problem did not go away...

After I had done a clean install of 12.10, my laptop ran normally for several weeks until Friday night last week. The Thursday night before that, I installed a security update that Muon prompted me to do. On Friday morning, my laptop ran fine. That Friday night, I almost had a heart-attack when a very similar problem to the one before happened again – after the boot-splash, Kubuntu just stopped at the command-prompt screen.

The most horrifying thing was that I had to complete a very important document by Sunday & had not done a backup since the re-install....

Thank God I did not panic. I still had the ISO install files for Kubuntu on my secondary laptop(MD5SUM checked OK). I created a Kubuntu 12.04 bootable-USB, fired up the laptop, booted from the USB, launched the Try Kubuntu option and copied over all the important files to my backup external drive.

I did a new install (again) on the laptop that Friday night – this time of 12.04LTS (ran a check disk to re-confirm the bootdisk was OK). Kubuntu installed almost perfectly – the plasma desktop effects were not working for some strange reason when all this while from 10.04 till 12.10 it was working just fine. This was not a big problem as it did not prevent me from running LibreOffice and completing my document.

I met my deadline, thank God! And my laptop did not crash

Last night, I set out to find a solution to the desktop effects problem. I read several forum posts on this problem – most pointed at the interface with the nVIDIA graphics card as the main culprit.

It was then that I came to a realization: I can't afford to have an unreliable and unpredictable laptop as my primary production machine. I need a laptop that is reliable , stable and predictable. Hardware related issues notwithstanding, I knew that I should be running an LTS version of the distro. After my recent experience, I was tired of having to constantly troubleshoot my laptop.

I had successfully upgraded my laptop for the past 2 years from 10.04 all the way to 12.10 (before borking it, of course...) and yet here I was at half-past-midnight on a Monday morning, tired and frustrated that a simple 12.04LTS installation was not going as smoothly as it should.

It was then that I decided I need a break from Kubuntu for a while. It didn't feel good anymore for me. I gave up. I ceased troubleshooting. I did a new and clean USB install of Ubuntu 12.04LTS. All those weeks working on my wife's 6 year old Acer netbook running Ubuntu 12.04LTS made me appreciate what I've taken for granted for some time.

Now, I for one, prefer KDE anytime over Unity. But I have grown so tired to have to work so hard on my laptop. I figured that I should take a break and compromise a little with Unity for a bit while my 'wounds heal'.

I'm certain that I'll return to Kubuntu in the near future – the recent troubles notwithstanding, I have always enjoyed Kubuntu.

Thanks, again for the effort put at helping me troubleshoot my laptop – I really appreciate it.

This isn't a “goodbye”. It's more of a “see y'all later”.

Thanks, all.

From,
Jude