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**jankushka** · May 21, 2009, 10:12 AM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

you post struck me because i had just started krdc on the other monitor.
krdc works no problems here (i have to use it often at the office as these stupid folks do things with windoze).
the only issue i have with jaunty (except some apps not being particularly stable) is the network management plasmoid.
it doesn't yet support wpa enterprise (though, i think there's one in the proposed repos that does).
the rest is smooth.

my experience was:
feisty: rock solid
hardy: a total no go
intrepid: working, but a mess
jaunty: currently in every day use (on 2 different boxes).

my suggestion:
install jaunty clean.
conf file for newer versions of many applications have changed.
your old kde3 .kde directory is not to mess with kde4's.

--
box 1: sony vaio, dual core intel x86, intel graphics and wireless
box 2: dell precision, dual core intel x86, nvidia graphics, intel wireless

**DoYouKubuntu** · May 21, 2009, 10:36 AM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

Thanks for the comments!

Here's my rundown:

5.04 Hoary: super-duper rock solid -- so much so, I skipped the next three upgrades!

7.04 Feisty: also rock solid -- so I skipped the next two versions

8.10 Intrepid: the first time around, fine; no problems to speak of; since reinstalling after the Jaunty mess...lots of problems (as my OP indicates!)

9.04 Jaunty: problems, problems, problems

I should have mentioned--but my post was already an epic--that most of my installs were clean. I did try the version upgrade route on the laptop, but did clean installs on the others because I was never happy with the sizes I'd given their partitions originally. Also, after my initial problems with Jaunty on the laptop, I reinstalled Jaunty and wiped the / partition.

You know, this reminds me of something I meant to post about (I normally use the Ubuntu forums): When I was doing the *CLEAN* install of Jaunty--and I DEFINITELY chose to format the / partition...more than once...--I saw messages on-screen about conflicts with files from older versions. I sat here baffled at how a FORMATTED hard drive could contain INTACT files for it to conflict with.

**jankushka** · May 21, 2009, 10:51 AM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

i forgot gutsy: rock solid, too.
that has been my last production release before jaunty.
it's been working wonders for a long time.

there's no way a fresh install can conflict with anything else if you're installing in a freshly built file system.
that's for sure.
no questions.

when you say you format the / partition, you mean you keep everything in there?
i mean: /var, /usr, /tmp, /home, ...
for example, i keep /home separate on my laptops.

if you have nothing to lose on your hd, then you can put a new partition table on it.
when you get to the partitioning bit, pick "manual", then have it put a new partition table and then build your new partitions.

gotta go, sorry.
but that's the way to go, i think.
there cannot be conflicts if you're doing what you say you're doing.

**dibl** · May 21, 2009, 10:59 AM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

Originally posted by DoYouKubuntu

When I was doing the *CLEAN* install of Jaunty--and I DEFINITELY chose to format the / partition...more than once...--I saw messages on-screen about conflicts with files from older versions. I sat here baffled at how a FORMATTED hard drive could contain INTACT files for it to conflict with.

I also had that unhappy experience a long time ago when I was first experimenting with Kubuntu Linux. I agree with Jankushka that it should not happen when you choose "format", but it did happen to me as well.

Here's the solution -- do your hard drive partitioning and formatting with a different tool, and BEFORE you boot the Kubuntu installation CD. I have used GParted Live CD very successfully in the past -- Google will show you where it is on SourceForge. My current tool of choice is Parted Magic, available here:

http://partedmagic.com/

or download from here:

http://www.digitalincursion.net/partedmagic/

Burn a Live CD and boot it, and take care of your partitioning and formatting business. When you are done, then boot the Kubuntu Alternate Install CD and use it to install on the partition(s) that you made for the purpose. No need to format again (but you can if you wish).

**DoYouKubuntu** · May 21, 2009, 11:48 AM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

Originally posted by jankushka

there's no way a fresh install can conflict with anything else if you're installing in a freshly built file system.
that's for sure.
no questions.

Yep, that's what you'd think, but it did.

when you say you format the / partition, you mean you keep everything in there?
i mean: /var, /usr, /tmp, /home, ...

No, absolutely not. I always do it like this:

/
/home
/data
swap

So when I say I formatted the root partition, that's exactly what I mean. All my data stay safe on their own partitions.

there cannot be conflicts if you're doing what you say you're doing.

That's what I thought--and having 24 years' worth of experience with *nix, I thought I knew what I was doing. When I started programming and sysadmin-ing in the mid-'80s, everything was done from a command line. Believe me, I know what I'm doing.

**DoYouKubuntu** · May 21, 2009, 11:53 AM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

Originally posted by dibl

Originally posted by DoYouKubuntu

When I was doing the *CLEAN* install of Jaunty--and I DEFINITELY chose to format the / partition...more than once...--I saw messages on-screen about conflicts with files from older versions. I sat here baffled at how a FORMATTED hard drive could contain INTACT files for it to conflict with.

I also had that unhappy experience a long time ago when I was first experimenting with Kubuntu Linux. I agree with Jankushka that it should not happen when you choose "format", but it did happen to me as well.

Thanks for validating that it really DOES happen. Oh, it shouldn't...but it does.

I may give your suggestion a try. I just need to format the root partition, not partition the disk. I don't want to lose the data on the other partitions!

NOTE: I now have a new set of problems. Last night I decided to try doing the version upgrade [on the laptop] again, so I got it started and went to bed. It crashed part of the way through, yet Jaunty appears to be installed now. BUT...various things just aren't right. I'm going to post full details on the appropriate board.

**dibl** · May 21, 2009, 01:18 PM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

Originally posted by DoYouKubuntu

I always do it like this:

/
/home
/data
swap

So when I say I formatted the root partition, that's exactly what I mean. All my data stay safe on their own partitions.

For whatever it's worth (about two cents ....), if you are putting your data on its own partition, (a very wise choice in my opinion), there is no good reason that I know of to separate /home from the root filesystem. Just leave some extra capacity, for downloaded ISOs and things like that, and let the root filesystem be completely on a single partition.

**DoYouKubuntu** · May 21, 2009, 08:39 PM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

Originally posted by dibl

For whatever it's worth (about two cents ....), if you are putting your data on its own partition, (a very wise choice in my opinion), there is no good reason that I know of to separate /home from the root filesystem. Just leave some extra capacity, for downloaded ISOs and things like that, and let the root filesystem be completely on a single partition.

I see what you're saying, but since each user's settings are saved in their home directories I wouldn't want to lose those when I wipe the root partition. Plus, I like to save certain data in my home directory.

Update on my screwy problems! Okay, I reinstalled 8.10 (clean reinstall, formatting /) and then did NOT update anything, i.e., I left KDE 4.1 as is instead of upgrading it to 4.2 as I did before. Then I immediately ran the version upgrade to install Jaunty. I'm typing on my laptop with Jaunty and things look good! So far, anyway.

**jankushka** · May 22, 2009, 01:57 AM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

Originally posted by DoYouKubuntu

That's what I thought--and having 24 years' worth of experience with *nix, I thought I knew what I was doing. When I started programming and sysadmin-ing in the mid-'80s, everything was done from a command line. Believe me, I know what I'm doing.

sorry.
that came out the wrong way.
i was not suggesting you don't know what you're doing.
anyway.
this issue should be simple enough to sort out, though.
as dibl says: wipe the bloody thing!

cheers.

**DoYouKubuntu** · May 22, 2009, 11:51 AM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

Originally posted by jankushka

you post struck me because i had just started krdc on the other monitor.
krdc works no problems here (i have to use it often at the office as these stupid folks do things with windoze).

What's running on the 'doze boxes? Mine has TightVNC and it no longer even appears in KRDC's browse list. FWIW, I just reinstalled Jaunty and there's no difference...KRDC just doesn't work for the windoze box. All of the Linux boxes are recognized and can be connected to. But it's the 'doze box I need.

Also, I just tried a different approach. I navigated to the windoze computer via Network, Samba Shares, Workgroup, and right-clicked on the 'doze box; then, under Actions I chose "open remote desktop connection to this machine." That brought up KRDC with an error modal:

Malformed URL - KRDC
The entered address does not have the required form.

I'm at a complete loss.

**jankushka** · May 22, 2009, 12:17 PM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

i don't know what they have on those boxes.
i connect via rdp.
my connection string is as follows:

rdp://username%40domain@fully_qualified_hostname

and i had to put the %40 in place of @ for windoze to read username@domain.
vnc is offered as an alternative here, though (see attached snapshot).
don't know much more.
windoze is a total black box to me.
sorry.

hth

EDIT:
for samba, my connection string needs to be different.

smb://domain%5Cusername@fully_qualified_hostname/username$

so, what windoze will see is domain/username@....

Attached Files

**DoYouKubuntu** · May 22, 2009, 12:51 PM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

This is so frustrating! I've been running that 'doze box remotely for so long I just can't believe that it's not working now. Since KRDC isn't even seeing the computer--although it's plainly visible and accessible via the network--I don't know what else to try.

Just in case anyone's wondering: I did hook the 'doze box up to a monitor so I could verify that it's actually waiting for a connection, and it is. Nothing's changed on it at all. TightVNC is definitely running and it's just sitting there like it always does waiting for a connection. So I can't think of anything to change on it because it's set up like it always was when this worked.

Thanks for the info, jankushka, but unfortunately I'm still stuck.

**dibl** · May 22, 2009, 01:32 PM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

I don't if this is related to your vnc problem or not ...

On 9.04, but no earlier versions of Kubuntu, I have found it necessary to re-start vmware networking after booting the system, before the bridged network will work.

In other words, normal booting which includes "/etc/init.d/vmware start" does not actually get it running correctly, and if I start the VMWare Player, it will throw a "bridged network is down" error. However, if I simply open the console and issue

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/vmware stop

and then

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/vmware start

and THEN run VMWare Player, it starts correctly with bridged networking.

So, there's my tidbit for consideration -- better make sure all the services that you THINK are starting at boot time are really running correctly.

**jankushka** · May 22, 2009, 03:35 PM

Re: I wish I had left well enough alone (MANY problems)

guess you already tried tightvnc client and xvnc client, yeah?
just to make sure krdc is the problem.

running out of ideas...

ps:
my sys admins at work tell me our windoze server has "ms windows terminal services".
that's what allows me to connect via rdp.
you should be able to enable that.
it seems it is available in xp pro, or something, too.
they tell me ms are kind enough to allow a one user at a time free of charge setup (wow!).
just have to enable the service on the windoze box.

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