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**Snowhog** · Sep 26, 2007, 09:20 PM

Re: CD doesn't boot

Well, the most likely *cause* is your video card - the "I can't run the LiveCD" is a common enough complaint - it isn't Kubuntu's fault, rather, a proprietary video driver that creates a problem.

You say you get the blank screen with a blinking cursor. That actually is good news, given that you don't get to a GUI desktop. Read this link and see if it doesn't help you get into a GUI desktop.

**Ander** · Sep 27, 2007, 01:10 AM

Re: CD doesn't boot

Snowhog > You say you get the blank screen with a blinking cursor. That actually is good news, given that you don't get to a GUI desktop. Read this link and see if it doesn't help...

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it:

1. Pressed Alt+F1 for a command prompt (well, after pressing Enter too---lucky guess).

2. sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

3. Answered "no" to Autodetect & accepted defaults.

When it finished:

Code:

xserver-xorg postinst warning: overwriting possibly-customized configuration file; backup in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.20070927055859

I then typed "startx" and got:

Code:

Fatal server error:
no screens found
XIO: fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"
   after 0 requests (0 known processed) with 0 events remaining.

Right. then...?

Snowhog > Well, the most likely *cause* is your video card - the "I can't run the LiveCD" is a common enough complaint - it isn't Kubuntu's fault, rather, a proprietary video driver that creates a problem.

I understand about proprietary drivers, but isn't this one of the wonderful "easy" distros with which Mark Shuttleworth is trying to convert the world to Linux?

It's not that Kubuntu can't identify the card; that's just a text string it reads from the hardware (in my case, "ATI Mobility Radeon X1400"). When it doesn't find a corresponding driver, shouldn't it boot to generic VGA rather than leaving a blank screen to baffle people?

And maybe I'm dreaming---but then, assuming a Net connection was detected, something like this would score big points:

Your system has a [card model] video card, which requires proprietary software that is not included with Kubuntu. Click here to download it.

(Note how we skip the geek term "driver", which would confuse many normal users.)

Or, of course, the world can go on using Windows. :?P

**Ander** · Sep 27, 2007, 10:15 AM

Re: CD doesn't boot

Er, sorry about the rant. I was just disappointed.

I've downloaded Kubuntu 7.10 and tried that. It produces the same Xorg errors, but at least I don't have to run the reconfig command first. Progress!

A friend just told me that he has the same video card (ATI X1400) and that 7.10 worked for him. (It booted to generic VGA; he was then able to install and get the right driver.) So could it be something other than my video card? Where should I start, clue-wise?

And should I restart this topic in the "Gutsy Gibbon" section, since I'm now trying to use a different version...? (I can't wait for "Audacious Aardvark", by the way.)

**dibl** · Sep 27, 2007, 10:21 AM

Re: CD doesn't boot

I read carefully and see you chose "no" to the auto-detect question, but you didn't say what you chose on the next screen. The instruction was to choose "VESA" -- did you do that?

**Ander** · Sep 28, 2007, 02:37 PM

Re: CD doesn't boot

dibl: Yes, I chose VESA.

My friend who got 7.10 to work said that Ubuntu has had USB issues on portables, so I tried it again without USB devices.

No luck. I copied some of the messages, below. As far as I could see, they were the same in normal startup mode and "safe graphics" mode.

Maybe I should try this with Ubuntu instead of Kubuntu? I don't imagine the results would be different---but more people use U., right? So there may be more of a chance that someone on the U. forum would understand this...?

Code:

Loading, please wait...
usplash: No usable theme found for 640x480
screen init failed

* Starting Hardware abstraction layer hald
grep: /etc/default/locale: No such file or directory
Starting K Display Manager: kdm.
* Starting Common Unix Printing System: cupsd
/usr/sbin/cupsd: error while loading share libraries: /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libc.so.6:
cannot apply additional memory protection after relocation: Operation not permitted
* Starting powernowd...
* Starting Avahi mDNS/DNS-SD Daemon avahi-daemon
* Starting DHCP D-Bus daemon dhcdbd
* Starting Bluetooth services
* Starting deferred execution scheduler atd
* Starting periodic command scheduler crond
* Checking battery state...
* Running local boot scripts (/etc/rc.local)

Then everything stopped.
Out of curiosity, I pressed Alt+F2 to get a command prompt, then typed "startx" (no quotes):

Code:

Backtrace:
XIO: fatal IO error 104 (Connection reset by peer) on X server ":0.0"
   after 0 requests (0r known processed) with 0 events remaining.

I pressed Ctrl+Alt+Backspace (or maybe the power button, briefly) and saw these at the end of the shutdown messages:

Code:

* Unmounting temporary filesystems... [OK]
* Deactivating swap...        [OK]
* Unmounting local filesystems...   [OK]
umount2: Device or resource busy
umount: /cdrom busy - remounted read-only
Segmentation fault          [FAIL]

* casper is resyncing snapshots and caching reboot files...
Please remove the disc and close the tray (if any) then press ENTER:

With other distros, pressing Enter does turn off the system, but here it had no effect; I had to power down manually.

**Ander** · Sep 30, 2007, 02:07 AM

Re: CD doesn't boot

Oops, I have to backpedal on something I said: I hadn't tried any other distros on this particular laptop; I was thinking of my previous one. (If there were an "embarrassed" icon I'd insert it here.)

Yesterday I tried Kanotix 2007 (which uses a modded Ubuntu kernel, BTW). The live CD did boot to KDE, and though the video was noticeably slow, it was usable. On the forum, Kano told me about a cheat code I could add to the start-up commands:

Code:

screen=auto fglrx

This caused Kanotix to automatically download the ATI video driver and install it to RAM. Voila. I then did a hard-drive install and it works perfectly.

I tried the cheat code with Kubuntu, but it had no effect. I also tried this at Kubuntu's command line (and don't laugh if I'm being naive):

Code:

apt-get install fglrx

...but after checking available packages (probably just on the CD, rather than online), Kubuntu said "package not found". Maybe a different command would work?

I'd still like to try Kubuntu---and once it works, I'd be glad to install it alongside Kanotix. If anyone solves this, will you please let me know?

Thanks, Ander

**Rog131** · Sep 30, 2007, 02:29 AM

Re: CD doesn't boot

Installing fglrx

Probably the easiest way:

Envy
http://www.albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html

Envy will detect, download and install the right version of the proprietary driver for your ATI or Nvidia card...

and

However if you cannot start the Xserver you might want to run Envy's textual interface.

Install Envy and let it install fglrx and edit xorg.conf.

Other ways to install fglrx

FAQ: Links - How to Install AMD(Ati) Proprietary Linux Display Driver (fglrx)
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3085652.0

More links:
Installation
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation

**Ander** · Oct 02, 2007, 05:20 PM

Re: CD doesn't boot

Rog131: Install Envy and let it install fglrx and edit xorg.conf.

Okay, let me get this straight (thanks for your patience):

1. I boot the Kubuntu CD, let it fail to load X, and switch to the command line.

2. According to the Envy HOWTO I just found (http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3086232.0):

Download the Envy script installer... You want the file "envy_0.9.7-0ubuntu11_all.deb" about halfway down the page. Download it to your Desktop, right-click it, and choose "Kubuntu Package Manager > Install..."

But I can't do that because I have no GUI---so instead, I'm guessing that I type this:

Code:

apt-get install envy_0.9.7-0ubuntu11_all.deb

But since I'm still running from CD, must I first add another path to my Repositories list? How do I do that from a command line?

3. The HOWTO continues:

The first thing that will happen is that [Envy] will fail to install, and report a list of dependencies... including fakeroot, python-glade, and some more python-related packages. Don't panic, just write down the names of the packages... open Adept or Synaptic and mark them for installation... (or use apt-get at a command line to install them). Then repeat the process to install Envy... [then] just enter:

Code:

sudo envy -t

...at the text prompt and it will re-install the driver for you.

If you'll confirm this, I'll go ahead and try it.

I must say I feel sorry for the many people who would feel boggled trying to understand this process. Considering:

_ How (apparently) evangelical the K/Ubuntu movement is

_ That the idea of a "live CD" is to show how easy it is to boot a Linux desktop; and

_ How many people have ATI cards

...wouldn't it seem like a good idea to make this a bit less geeky?

Thanks.

**Ander** · Oct 11, 2007, 01:17 AM

Re: CD doesn't boot

Anybody? I really would like to get it working.

Maybe there's an easier way than all this? Considering how easy it is with Kanotix, it seems odd that such hoop-jumping would be required with such a vastly more popular distro.

Couldn't someone just copy the pertinent script from Kanotix to K/Ubuntu? I'd do it myself if I knew how.

**McKenna** · Nov 16, 2007, 05:38 AM

Re: CD doesn't boot

This sounds very similar if not identical to me problem so can someone answer his final problem about fixing it when running from live cd?

**lde** · Nov 19, 2007, 03:19 PM

Re: CD doesn't boot

Would like to chime in here also. Am trying to test Feisty out on my machine from the Live CD, and I have tried several options, including:

The Safe Mode
The following from the Ubuntu Forum regarding how to install on an HP Pavilion dv 9000:
If boot hangs or fails, reboot. At the menu press F6 and add these parameters:
noapic irqpoll noirqdebug

- HP Pavilion dv6500t
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7500 (2.20 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
- 15.4" WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
- 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
- HP Imprint Finish (Radiance) + Webcam + Microphone
- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth(TM)
- 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive (single), with one large partition and the HP restore partition.
- SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support

It starts to load, but the screen goes completely black after a few seconds. Getting a little frustrating because I can't even get to this simple "check it out" step.

I should also mention that I was mucking about with partitioning the hard drive in Vista using its disk management tools before I started this. I killed the Vista recovery partition that the HP laptops come with, shrank the existing volume, moved the pagefile location to a new partition I created on the drive (which Vista only allowed to be ~8 GB). I killed the shadow files (I think), and then stopped there because: 1) Vista was not letting me squeesze anymore room out of the main hard drive partition, despite changing the pagefile, etc.; 2) a chap at my Uni's ITC department who uses a fair bit of Debian said that the Kubuntu LiveCD should be able to do partitions using QTPARTED. Anyway, am not sure if that is causing anything to go wrong.

Will welcome any solutions.

Thanks....

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